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Advancing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights International Family Planning Perspectives Volume 28, Number 1, March 2002 Two recent studies yield contradictory findings on whether the decision to breastfeed affects the health of HIV-infected women. In one study, a secondary analysis of data from 397 seropositive new mothers in Nairobi, Kenya, women who were randomly assigned to breastfeed were three times as likely to die within 24 months of delivery as were those assigned to formula-feed.1 Moreover, infants born to HIV-infected women who died had an elevated risk of dying before their second birthday, even after the researchers controlled for whether the infant was infected with HIV. In the other study, also a secondary analysis, data collected from 566 seropositive mothers in Durban, South Africa, showed no significant difference at the univariate level in mortality by 15 months postpartum between women who chose to breastfeed and those who elected to give their infant formula.2 Further, multivariate logistic regression found no significant difference in morbidity, even after baseline CD4 counts and hemoglobin levels were controlled for. The Kenya Study The first analysis used data originally collected for a randomized trial that assessed the impact of infant feeding practices on the risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission. Women who attended four prenatal clinics in Nairobi from November 1992 through October 1997 were offered HIV testing; participants who tested positive were randomly assigned to either breastfeed or formula-feed. The infant-mother pairs, who were followed for a maximum of two years, were examined monthly during the first year postpartum and quarterly during the second year. For the mortality analysis, women who failed to keep their follow-up appointments were traced, and the cause of death for those who died was determined from hospital records or from relatives. The researchers used Cox proportional hazards models to calculate the relative risk of maternal death by feeding-group assignment. At the time of enrollment, there were no significant differences between the two groups by median age (23 years), weight (63 kilograms), number of previous births (one) or HIV-1 RNA viral load (48 virions per mLx103among women who breastfed, and 37 virions per mLx103 among those who formula-fed). However, women assigned to breastfeed were significantly more likely than those assigned to formula-feed to comply with their original feeding instructions (96% vs. 71%). The final sample for the mortality analysis included 197 mothers randomly assigned to breastfeed (of whom 39 were subsequently lost to follow-up) and 200 women assigned to formula-feed (33 later lost to follow-up). Eighteen of the breastfeeding women died during the two years following delivery (11%), compared with six in the formula-feeding group (4%). Cox proportional hazards models indicate a three-fold relative risk of death for breastfeeding women relative to those using formula (relative risk of 3.2, p=.01). Additional Cox models show that the association between being randomly assigned to breastfeed and dying within two years of delivery remained significant even after the women's viral load and CD4 count at enrollment were controlled for (relative risk of 4.7, p=.001). Women who were assigned to breastfeed lost more weight in the two-year postpartum period than did those assigned to formula-feed. Weight loss was significantly associated with mortality, as each kilogram that a woman lost per month raised her risk of dying by a factor of 3.4. Adjusting the mortality data for weight loss, however, did not change the overall association between breastfeeding and maternal death. An HIV-positive mother's CD4 count and her viral load were significantly associated with the risk of death. For example, the risk of dying among women with CD4 counts below 200 cells per mL was 14.7 times as high as the risk among women with counts higher than 500 cells per mL. Further, women whose viral load at enrollment was higher than the median were significantly more likely to die than were women with a viral load below the median (risk ratio, 8.0). The association between being randomly assigned to breastfeed and maternal mortality remained significant even after the researchers controlled for these biological markers of HIV progression. Finally, an infant's risk of dying, irrespective of the timing of the infant's death relative to the mother's, was significantly higher--by a factor of three--if the mother died; that increase in risk was greater still among babies whose death followed their mother's death (5.6). This association increased in magnitude once the researchers controlled for the infant's HIV-infection status (7.9). The investigators note that the small absolute number of maternal deaths, the loss-to-follow-up rate of nearly 18% and the fact that these Nairobi women constituted a highly selected subgroup all limit the generalizability of the findings. They hypothesize, moreover, that because nearly one-third of the women in the formula-feeding group did not comply with their assigned feeding practice, the study might underestimate the true risk of maternal death associated with breastfeeding among HIV-positive women. The investigators offer two biological mechanisms for the possible association between breastfeeding and mortality in HIV-infected mothers. First, the combination of HIV infection and breastfeeding in women who are already inadequately nourished may create an overwhelming metabolic burden. Second, lactation itself may increase the ability of HIV-1 to replicate--either because it raises the level of the hormone prolactin, which may further depress the immune system of an immunocompromised woman, or because factors such as nipple cracking, candida infection or breastmilk production enhance the replication of the virus. The authors conclude that "further research is needed into the mechanism of the association between lactation and maternal death" and into the efficacy of providing HIV-infected women who choose to breastfeed with nutritional supplements to lower their excess risk of mortality. The author of a related editorial3 points out several problems with interpreting the results of this study, including the fact that breastfeeding's effect on mortality among HIV-infected women was an ad hoc hypothesis; that women randomized to breastfeed had a higher median viral load at enrollment in the study; and that data on women's clinical progress and information on their actual feeding practice--as opposed to the one they were assigned to adopt--are missing. She concludes that the study "would benefit from being complemented by a creative analysis of actual feeding practice to further explore this complex issue." The South Africa Study The data used in the second analysis were originally collected in a vitamin A intervention trial among HIV-positive pregnant women. In this study, conducted at two prenatal clinics in Durban, South Africa, 566 women were recruited from July 1995 through April 1998 to randomly receive either a vitamin A supplement or a placebo. The women were asked to make an informed decision on whether to breastfeed or not; 410 women decided to breastfeed and 156 chose to give formula to their baby. The women were followed up for a mean length of 10.4-10.6 months (range of one month to 18 months). The researchers compared the two groups of women in terms of mortality and seven specific health conditions (pulmonary tuberculosis; candidiasis at more than two sites; pneumonia; ear, nose and throat infections; gastroenteritis; gynecologic infections; and cesarean wound sepsis). At the univariate level, there was no difference in mortality by 15 months postpartum between women who chose to breastfeed and those who opted to formula-feed (0.5% and 2%, respectively, p=.10). Moreover, there was no difference by feeding choice among all 566 women in the proportions who were diagnosed with any of the seven specific conditions (13% among those who were breastfeeding vs. 15% among those who were not, p>.10). Results of a multivariate logistic regression analysis indicate that the risks of morbidity for breastfeeding and nonbreastfeeding mothers was not significantly different (95% confidence interval, 0.43-1.39), even after baseline CD4 counts and hemoglobin counts were controlled for. In addition, the researchers collected data at three months postpartum on 10 general clinical symptoms* among 180 women at one clinic (147 who had breastfed their infant and 33 who had not), as well as follow-up CD4 counts and hemoglobin levels for 115 of these women (93 who elected to breastfeed and 22 who chose to formula-feed). Among the 180 women for whom detailed follow-up data on clinical symptoms were available, there was no difference by infant feeding choice in the proportion who reported any symptom (35% vs. 39%, p>.10). Moreover, among the 115 women for whom postpartum CD4 counts and hemoglobin levels were available, there was no significant difference in those counts between women who chose to breastfeed and those who chose to formula-feed (means of 239 and 249, respectively, p>.10); the researchers similarly found no significant difference in three-month postpartum hemoglobin levels by feeding choice (12.0 vs. 11.3, p=.07). According to results of a multivariate linear regression analysis, which controlled for the type of treatment women were assigned to (vitamin A supplement or placebo) and their baseline CD4 counts, there was no significant difference by decision to breastfeed in women's CD4 counts at three months postpartum (p>.10). The researchers note that their data provide no evidence of "deleterious effects of breastfeeding on the health of seropositive women." They conclude that "the counseling provided to HIV-infected women on feeding choice should continue to be based on current recommendations of UNAIDS."--L. Remez 1. Nduati R et al., Effect of breastfeeding on mortality among HIV-1 infected women: a randomised trial, Lancet, 2001, 357(9269):1651-1655. 2. Coutsoudis A et al., Are HIV-infected women who breastfeed at increased risk of mortality? research letter, AIDS, 2001, 15(5):653-655. 3. Newell M-L, Does breastfeeding really affect mortality among HIV-1 infected women? commentary, Lancet, 2001, 357(9269):1634-1635. *Loss of appetite, diarrhea, fever, swollen glands, fatigue, headache, unintentional weight loss, nausea, lower abdominal pain and night sweats.
is the 250meg really fully compatable with the 10-0meg disks? cause if it is, then there would be no point getting a 100meg one then right? (unless you don't want to spend the extra money) also is only 1meg/min fast enough for the USB model? compared to the 3meg/min or so on the internal.
Welcome back to our weekly diabetes advice column, Ask D'Mine — with your host veteran type 1, diabetes author and educator Wil Dubois. This week, Wil takes on a question about how insulin pump infusion sets can sometimes cause particularly fatty spots on the skin. Read on to find out what might help... Carol, type 1 from Montana, writes: I am trying to find out more about lipohypertrophy. I am a 62-year-old female who's had type 1 for 31+ years. I'm on the pump, have no complications, and go swimming three times a week. I also have what I call my "insulin island," fat across my midsection that doesn't seem to be connected to any other areas of fat (I am not overweight but have some pudge like most women my age). I have been trying to find out how many others with long-term diabetes have the same problem, and is it being addressed at all by the medical community? So far all I get is: 'Oh well, you should rotate your site more.' From what I have read, liposuction seems to be the only remedy. What I want to know is: is anyone lobbying for this, especially with insurance companies? I am not vain, as one doctor suggested (I've had grey hair for over 20 years) but am really feeling uncomfortable with my insulin island. Any answers or suggestions? Wil@Ask D'Mine answers: Your wish is my command. Here's my short course on lipohypertrophy, pronounced LIP-oh-hy-PER-truh-fee. Lipohypertrophy is simply a lump of fat under the skin that's made up of adipose tissue, the kind of fat used to store calories for times of famine. You can recognize lipolumps by touch. They feel "firmer" than the surrounding tissue because the fat lump itself is firmer than the rest of your jiggles, assuming you have any, of course. Where do they come from? From insulin injections. Well, more specifically, from taking too many injections in one location. How does this happen? Well, hold on to your butts, we're going to dive into some deep science here to explain this: Insulin exerts a hypertrophic effect on adipose cells stimulating lipogenesis through a lipogenic effect. (I told you to hang on.) It gets worse, as it involves little-known interactions between insulin and things like acetyl-CoA, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, and malonyl-CoA. Well, that's what I heard, anyway. But in the vernacular, insulin is fertilizer for fat. Insulin causes fat to grow, and the more insulin, the more growth of fat. So it makes sense that injecting in the same spot every day, day after day, week after week, month after month could cause a ball of fat to grow. Picture it like watering one part of your lawn more than the rest: The grass will grow higher and greener there. Other hormones can cause fat to grow too, but insulin takes the prize as the number one hormonal accelerator when it comes to fat growth. Lipohypertrophy is one of the rare cases where you ladies come out on top, 'cause it's more common in males than females. It's also more likely in heavier people than in thinner people, and more likely in those who use larger doses of insulin than smaller doses. The last two could be related, as heavier people generally need higher doses because insulin resistance closely correlates to body mass. I couldn't find much on the subject (and neither could our own AmyT a while back), but I had to wonder if pumpers are more likely to develop lipohypertrophy than shooters. After all, the garden hose stays in exactly the same place for three to four days with an insulin pump while even someone in the habit of injecting in the same zone won't hit the exact same spot each time.lipohypertrophy tummy Right. One more crappy thing to worry about. But I digress... Generally speaking, these lipolumps are small—rarely larger than one inch in diameter—so at first I thought your "insulin island" couldn't be lipohypertrophy. But then I saw this image of a poor man who has a spare butt on his stomach from decades of only injecting in two places on either side of his belly button. (And then I spent the next week staring at my own middle-aged paunch in the bathroom mirror fretting about my site-rotation technique.) So your island could be supersized lipohypertrophy, or it could just be garden-variety postmenopausal body shape. Either way, my proudly grey-haired fox, it's bugging you, so it has to go. So what are your options? First let's assume for a moment that your island is a form of lipohypertrophy. Why are your docs so unconcerned? Because left alone, normal lipolumps go away in 2-3 months. That makes them more of an acute injury from improperly executed therapy in the eyes of the white coats, than a genuinely worrisome complication of diabetes. And they're harping on site rotation, because this really is one of those cases where an ounce of prevention avoids a pound of fat. Or something like that. In theory, you can completely avoid lipohypertrophy by good site rotation technique. Oh, and to answer your questions about what is the medical community doing about this: Nothing. Because they view it as largely preventable, and if not prevented easily fixable by doing nothing and letting the body work it out. As to how many people are affected I don't think we really know. It's often called "common" in medical literature, and one study found it in almost a third of a small sample of type 1s. Of depressing interest, half of those T1s developed lipohypertrophy within two years of diagnosis, so you don't need to be someone with "long-term" diabetes to have lipohypertrophy. Beyond the cosmetic issue of LTS (lumpy tummy syndrome), lipolumps can actually pose a genuine health risk, as—even though they are created by insulin—they ironically do a piss-poor job of absorbing insulin and moving it on into the rest of the body. Injecting into a lipohypertrophy is almost guaranteed to reduce the effectiveness of the shot, so you need to ramp up the volume of insulin to compensate, thus throwing more fuel on the fire as more insulin begets more lipogenesis. And the fun doesn't stop there. If you then inject these high volumes of insulin into an area free and clear of lipohypertrophy, you can have a spectacular hypo. You'd think your health insurance would want to keep you healthy by removing all these risks, but you'd be mistaken. First off, they know that most lipolumps will go away, if left unmolested. Plus, as the typical lump is only an inch across, and since the typical American waistline is 38.8 inches, there are plenty of other places for patients to take a shot. So there's generally no medical necessity to justify the cost of the fix, which as you noted, is liposuction. And that's the rub. Well, the second rub. Liposuction is classified strictly as a cosmetic surgery, and cosmetic surgery isn't covered in most cases by health plans. (Unless you are a member of Congress.) However, there might be a wrinkle in your case. As you wear a pump and your primary pump sites are blocked by the fat, a very creative letter of medical necessity might be able to convince an insurance company to pay. But don't hold your breath. And of course, you could always pay out of pocket. One cosmetic surgery center had these helpful words of encouragement on their website: "Don't give up. Many people find that lipo can be surprisingly affordable. Convenient payment plans are often available as well..." Alrighty then. Moving on... If, on the other hand, your island isn't lipohypertrophy, but a postmenopausal "muffin top," out-of-pocket or convenient-payment-plan liposuction will still work, but you might also be able to get rid of at least some of your island with some tummy-targeted exercises and diet changes. As to any sort of movement to lobby for change on this whole subject, I'm not aware of one. Maybe you should start a little revolution. I'm sure our AmyT would join you, as she suffers from it too, and has written about the lipohypertrophy topic before. But before I run out of time and space today, I want to quickly touch on the flip side of lipohypertrophy, which is a nasty complication of insulin injections called lipoatrophy. Instead of a lump, you get a hole, a "dissolving" of tissue around frequent injection sites. Luckily we almost never see this anymore as it's an adverse immunological side effect much more common with old-school animal insulins. The modern analog insulins seem to have largely put an end to it. See? Sometimes diabetes does get better. Now all we need to do is help you swim away from that island of yours!
'People waiting for long to see something different in politics, who are we to say no' • Nivedita Khandekar, Hindustan Times, New Delhi • \| • Updated: Jan 20, 2014 23:53 IST AAP leaders Yogendra Yadav and Gopal Rai addressing a press conference in New Delhi. (PTI Photo) After years researching and writing about democracy, democratic theories and elections, the political animal that he calls himself, Yogendra Yadav, took the plunge into active politics with the launch of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in 2012. Considered the AAP’s Chanakya, the brain behind most of the fledging party’s strategies along with national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, the academician turned hands-on politician says people of this country have taken the business of looking after this game called politics. Excerpts from an interview by Nivedita Khandekar: AAP is recently through with Delhi elections and the government has just assumed charge. Isn’t it too early to fight Lok Sabha elections? For a barely year-old-party, do you have enough people, money and material? The honest answer is no. Ideally, if the election commission were to consult us on when to hold elections, we would say, give us a year, give us six months. (But) There is an opportunity, which has presented itself. And our responsibility is how to respond to that opportunity. Our responsibility is to strike a balance, to realise this is an unusual opportunity of a kind of that presents itself only once in two or three decades, may be once in a generation. We need to carefully map the contours, the limitations of this opportunity. This is precisely what we are going to do during the ‘Main Bhi Aam Aadmi’ campaign, the first membership drive by the AAP. When you say you are ready for the risk and don’t want to miss the opportunity, will you be able to fulfil expectations? For the AAP, it is more of a challenge than an opportunity. The opportunity is for the people. Those who have been waiting for long to see something different in politics in this country, suddenly all of them have decided this is the moment. And if they decide, who are we to say ‘no, this is not the moment’. After a very long time — I don’t remember the last time — people of this country have taken the business of looking after this game called politics. Aren’t we all glad people are supervising the politics? Delhi is a small geographical area, is cosmopolitan and has a smaller range of issues. For pan-Indian reach, how do you identify the issues for a diverse country? Delhi was special because it was geographically compact, media dense, more educated and less prone to what is loosely called vote bank politics. The moment we step out of Delhi, we meet the rural hinterlands, where the real questions are about rural India, agriculture and the condition of farmers. That has to be the principal agenda of the Aam Aadmi Party. And the issue of corruption itself has to be reframed in each state. So I would expect some set of issues that would remain common though they would have a local flavour. Corruption, the issues of gram swaraj and issues like education and health, these would remain Aam Aadmi Party constants all over India. Besides these, in every state, you would have very state specific issues. You talk of rural issues on your agenda. Aam Aadmi Party hardly has any presence in rural India. How do you address that dichotomy? It is true that right from Anna Andolan, we had greater presence in urban areas than in rural areas. But the question is, whether we are more in urban areas because of spontaneous reasons such as media coverage, because of the level of political awareness and a certain ease in gathering people, or, are we limited to urban areas because we carry an urban agenda? The Aam Aadmi Party has an agenda and a platform, which is a mix of rural and urban. Our real challenge is how to carry our message to rural India. And from the limited anecdotal evidence that I have, once the message reaches rural India, our appeal is as much in rural India. On the national scene, on the one hand we have Hindu resurgence vis-à-vis Narendra Modi and on the other hand, there is, say in UP or Haryana, still a lot of caste-based dominance. Where does the AAP stand? There was a surge for Narendra Modi in the second half of 2013 largely because there was a political vacuum. The ruling establishment had lost legitimacy, was politically paralysed and was morally repugnant. And people naturally drifted to whoever appeared to be offering a change, even if the change was no more than a substitute. The Aam Aadmi Party’s arrival has given an option to those who want change. Do they merely want a substitute from within the establishment or do they want alternatives? Delhi has demonstrated that alternative triumphs over substitute, if it is available. Something similar holds for the caste question. People do prefer candidates of their own caste, gotra or family, provided other things are neutral. But when they are given a real choice between caste as a factor and real development and welfare of the people, then they opt for those larger questions and do not go only by caste. Therefore the onus is on the Aam Aadmi Party to make this election a real and substantive choice. There have been efforts at labelling the Aam Aadmi Party based on party’s deliverance of promises in Delhi’s AAP government. How do you define the AAP’s approach — socialist, capitalist, leftist, right of centre, left of centre? How do you define AAP-ism? We have deliberately and consciously avoided these dichotomies, binaries of the 20th century, neither what is called left, nor what is called right. For us, the overall objective is very clear, which is defined by the Constitution of India, which is to create a just society, to create a society where the last person’s welfare comes first. Unfortunately the 20th century built religion around this simple and practical question of what serves the people better, especially on the question of state and market. The experience of the 20th century tells us that there is nothing called as absolutely free market with no state control whatsoever and that state control, state monopoly of everything is a complete disaster. So, the world that we are living in is a world where the markets are here to stay and state regulations are an absolute must. We will go for the best based on evidence and experience. We would rather be known as those who have a given set of objectives and are open to different paths for achieving that objective. It was a simple ‘bijli-paani-Lokpal’ agenda for Delhi elections. Which are the prominent issues that would take precedence over other issues in the national agenda? I can see four issues which would be kind of generic issues all over the country. First is creation of a strong anti-corruption mechanism; second is radical political decentralisation – Swaraj – by way of creation of gram sabhas, mohalla sabhas and serious decision making power to be devolved to them. Third, I would expect education — high quality public education; and fourth, health — affordable and high quality medical care — to become defining features of AAP politics. Then we would have different questions in each state. Electricity is such a diversified issue all over the country; in some places, the problem is supply, in other, it is pricing. For water, in most places it is the availability of water that is the issue, not so much the price of water. But why should we be limited by this template? There are areas where internal security is a bigger issue. There are areas where drug, alcohol is the biggest issue. So in politics, you do not determine issues in advance, you learn from the people as to what their problems are and you articulate it. As in the case of Delhi manifesto, we will do careful thinking, research, consult the best minds, experts, activists, public intellectuals and then come up with our best solutions. We would try to offer specific solutions to specific questions at the national level and also raise local constituency and state level specific issues. We will promise only what is feasible, which is what politics is. Internal or external security will be an issue. Recently there was a controversy about Prashant Bhushan’s remarks about Kashmir. Will your vision document and the subsequent national manifesto that are under preparation spell out your party’s stand on issues going beyond it, such as the displacement of Kashmiri Pandits? Our manifesto at the national level cannot remain silent on some of the major issues of our times. It cannot remain silent on questions like Kashmir, and within Kashmir, it cannot remain silent on the two or three big questions: the question of widespread popular alienation within the Kashmir valley; the question of the plight of Kashmiri Hindus, who were forced to leave their homes, and the question of regional parity and autonomy of the three regions of Kashmir. These should be addressed in any larger document, not necessarily in the manifesto. Manifesto is about making very specific promises at the time of election. Manifestos are not by themselves comprehensive statements of policy, but they are statements of programme of action. For Delhi elections, you had almost 10 months for candidate selection. Now, you hardly have two. Will the AAP’s Lok Sabha candidates be good enough? In Delhi we had more time, but we had a much smaller pool to choose from. Today the situation is different. There are, of course, a large number of just opportunistic seekers. But we also have the good fortune of being able to connect with some of the best people in our public and political life. Though there is a genuine regret. In Delhi, we could engage in extensive consultation and secret vote by our volunteers. In the case of Lok Sabha elections, the problem is not just that we don’t have enough time, but also our organisational structure is not fully in place. So we do not know, what is the voters’ list, therefore that experiment of secret ballot that we carried out may not be feasible, given the size of the Lok Sabha constituencies and fluid nature of our organisation. During Delhi elections, the AAP’s top leaders were personally involved in scrutiny of each candidate at various levels. For the Lok Sabha polls, you have declared a three-tier scrutiny. Do you have competent people for it? This time, much of the scrutinising will take place at the state level. We are setting up state committees, composition for which has been specified and each of the screening committee shall have an outsider, a person of integrity in public life and who is not an AAP office bearer. He/she will keep a watch, who will be an ombudsman to the process. As in the case of Delhi elections, we will go for transparency; every nomination will be made public for considerable time. As for the capacity of our state teams, I personally feel very confident. These are the people who joined the party at a time when this party had nothing to offer. These are people who came from movements and I feel quite confident that we will be able to go for the very good candidates. Your past experience of internal Lokpal has seen several changes over a small period of time. Are you confident about getting as many ombudsmen across states? Do remember that was a time when our party was nowhere and it was a very difficult task for someone to be seen to be to be attached to a political party while not being an office bearer or getting nothing out of that. We are grateful to those who gave us their time. We are hoping that now it would be not all that impossible for someone to be wished to be associated with the Aam Aadmi Party. Right from IAC days, there has been slightly more focus on Haryana. Is it only because it is next-door neighbour or is there more to it? Actually, Haryana has focused more on us than other states. During Ramlila Maidan agitation, no one was guiding, deciding, focusing. People were coming on their own, and it so happened that Haryana contributed significantly to the numbers, to the enthusiasm, energy during those days. It also contributed in big numbers to the Delhi campaign in terms of number of volunteers. Haryana has demonstrated one of the highest levels of energy in responding to the Delhi result as far as we can see. So that is what makes Haryana special. But it’s not that the party has chosen to make Haryana special, it has… like Haryanavis normally do… they have decided to stand out. In Haryana assembly elections, traditionally, caste factor has been dominant. Will the AAP be able to make a dent? We made a dent in Delhi. In Delhi, politics has more vote banks than people normally imagine. The AAP broke all those vote banks and created something new and different. The AAP simply ignored it and moved forward. Broadly speaking, that’s what we want to do in Haryana. The best way to tackle strictly caste-based vote loyalties is by not trying to enter that game. The best way to handle that is to sidestep it and is to play on your own wicket. We would raise people’s questions and try and shift the terrain of this equation. My own sense is that caste-based politics in Haryana has reached a point of saturation and is waiting for someone to say enough is enough. Now we want to talk about issues of life and livelihood, which is what we will try. You say you want to steer clear of caste-based politics. So will you maintain a status quo for certain political decisions taken in the past, for instance, OBC reservation for Jats? Fortunately there is a nationwide mechanism after a long and protracted confusion on this question. The Supreme Court has mandated a mechanism and laid down a clear procedure by which such decisions need to be taken. The courts have said that such decisions should not be arbitrary, should not be based only on the subjective perception of the government in power. The issue is already being debated. The National Commission for Backward Classes is to take a decision on this. The only thing we should insist on is that the decision be taken by a constitutional body following the strict standards that the courts of law have laid down and then whatever the decision, it should be accepted. What is your equation with Khap Panchayats? Khap Panchayats are basically communities handling their own issues. And these are more than what media portrays. But at the same time, the country’s legal system has to be honoured and law should take its course. The AAP will not do vote bank politics on the issue of Khaps. also read Political melody: Modi meets Pakistani ghazal legend Ghulam Ali blog comments powered by Disqus
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Holland Sentinel • 5 reasons women need friends • email print • In the hustle bustle of a woman's life, being with friends can fall to last on the list. However, whether the connection is spontaneous or lifelong, friendship is key for women at any stage. Friendships are vital. Authors Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton share in "How Full is Your Bucket?" that both men and women are typically happier after spending time with women. This is often due to a woman's ability to listen, empathize and encourage. And it doesn't need to be for long periods of time. Recently a neighbor and I, both in our pajamas, had a wonderful help-me-with-motherhood-and-life conversation. It was only for 15 minutes, but we both walked away rejuvenated and ready for life. Friendships help us develop ourselves. Applying what researcher Paula Pietromonaco says about friendship in Jo Ann Larsen's "I'm a Day Late and a Dollar Short": "The more [variety of friends] you have, the more likely you are to get feedback about yourself. This allows you to define yourself in different ways - competitive, creative, supportive, loving, intelligent, etc." So enjoy branching out with friends from a hobby group, walking group, church, community or volunteer. Each experience develops a different part of yourself. Friendships are fluid. Women can often feel subtle shifts in a relationship, whether it's from personality, situation or stage of life. Sometimes that can make us nervous or want to hold on tighter, but friendship needs to ebb and flow in its development. Often, I put friendship in three categories - concentric circles, if you will - outer to inner: Casual, Close and Core. Casual friendships are those you form at the baseball game, gym, etc., and are more of the "Hi, how are you?" kind. Close friendships are more frequent and meaningful, where you might go to lunch or share deeper life experiences. And Core friendships are those that are lifelong, where you resonate on a gut level and can reconnect regardless of how much time has passed. If we feel someone becoming more distanced, we can just give it time or address it with an "I feel" conversation such as, "I'm feeling a bit distant lately, is everything OK or is life just busy?" Either way, know that healthy friendships need a little room to grow at their own rate. Friendship is nurturing. A good friend inspires and motivates, making you feel good after talking with or being with that person. The friend is honest and supportive, caring about how you feel and who you're becoming. Virginia Pearce shares a story in the book "A Heart Like His" about a woman who decided to learn to play the piano at the age of 50. A year later she was invited to play before a group of a women, and though she started beautifully, she went blank. Her piano teacher, who sat in the audience, called out, "Don't be ruffled, just start over." The woman did, and made it through without a mistake. That's a great friend - to lovingly say what needs to be said at the right time. Friendships can become difficult. At times we just need a break from a certain friend, a little space, but other times we realize a friendship may be toxic. That means the person can be a dream-stealer, an energy drainer or an emotional black-hole. First, be aware if that is happening. Consider the last few conversations and write some buzz words on how you felt, like "confused," "self-doubt," "uncomfortable." Look for patterns. Next, consider decreasing the time spent with the person, then watch for any difference in yourself. Lastly, set an appropriate boundary on what kind of personal information you will share. For example, years ago I coached a woman, Jane, to help her lose weight, which she did. Each morning a co-worker asked about her success, then if they could lose weight together. But the co-worker didn't lose as quickly and began making negative comments to Jane. Eventually Jane stopped working on her goals completely until we figured out what was happening. With a new plan, Jane kept morning greetings more superficial with the co-worker, didn't share progress details and focused more positive energy on her goals, and she was able to turn it around. Healthy friendships make life a little rounder, so I encourage you to text, email or call a friend and connect today.%3Cimg%20src%3D%22http%3A//beacon.deseretconnect.com/beacon.gif%3Fcid%3D147227%26pid%3D46%22%20/%3E
The Horse Forum The Horse Forum (/) - English Riding ( - - Post Trot questions. ( rexing93 05-16-2013 12:16 AM Post Trot questions. Alright, new rider here...again. I have questions concerning the post trot this time though. I recently saw a 10 secondish long clip of me posting trot--and of course since I'm a new rider (going to my fourth ever lesson tomorrow), it isn't going to be the most elegant/perfect thing ever. Also in the clip my mount decided to be a bit sluggish. By that I mean my instructor had just handed me a crop as she couldn't even get my ever so stubborn/lazy mount to go...luckily after a very light tap she picked her speed up. ANYWAYS, enough about my "abuse" (I felt horrible for even having to use the crop XD)...for the post trot I honestly felt that I was posting too "high up". It wasn't like I was standing straight up in the saddle, but it was a bit higher than what it needs (I thought your hind end was supposed to ever so lightly pop out of the saddle?)... My question is... Since I'm new to English (haven't had much riding experience regardless), what can I do to fix the "too high" post trot? Of course I'll be having a conversation with my instructor tomorrow to see if I'm going crazy or if this is something I need to work on (and of course if it is something I need to work on she isn't going to ignore it, I'm sure). I'm at loss at what could cause this as I've looked in books/online to no avail. Quite frankly, I'm stumped and surely I'm not the only person that has/had this problem. And yes, although I'll be having a conversation with my instructor I'd still like some advice before I go to my lesson tomorrow as I'm one to mentally prepare myself. Obviously you guys haven't seen the clip, nor can I upload it at the moment to show (nor would I want wasn't as smooth as I had hoped), but in general--what are some causes that may be the reason for posting a bit higher than desired? Sorry if none of this makes sense...I feel like falling over and taking a nap at the moment. XD Thank you in advance as well! Skyseternalangel 05-16-2013 12:31 AM Do you feel brave enough to post the video? Sometimes instructors tell their students to physically stand to start to post... and that is wrong... and then your butt would be completely out of the saddle for a stride. Sometimes too short of stirrups can make you rise too high.. or if you are using your tippy toes to post.. again WRONG. Sometimes it's just all in your head. Sometimes you just have to think more of a diagonal post with your pelvis travelling towards your hands instad of just directly up. And you could be doing fine. Does that make sense to you? Golden Horse 05-16-2013 12:36 AM Worrying about nailing the rising/posting trot are universal believe me, so relax, it takes a while to master. First for me is taking the Mary Wanless, visualisations, and think first of tallness, a spring attached to the top of your head gently stretching you up, while weights on your heels draw your leg down. Now while you are tall, you want to rise, but it is NOT an up and down motion, your head spring is not pulling you UP. Now you need a piece of elastic tied to your belt buckle, going away from you at a 45* angle, so you think of rising from there, practice this at a walk first, just getting the feeling of gentle movement. Then try at the trot, weight sinking in your heels, sitting tall and relaxed and rising from your belt buckle, all you need to do is clear the saddle, you don't have to get acres of fresh air between you. You also can't possibly learn to rise in a good rhythm without your horse going forward in a good 1 2 1 2 trot, so a whip is very very handy, not abusive, it saves a lot of nagging and pushing on the horse. This approach works for me, but there are others, best of luck tinyliny 05-16-2013 12:43 AM If the horse is not moving with much energy, the rider ends up working a lot harder, often times. This might be part of the reason you are popping up too much. Good that you are aware of it. Give yourself some time to sort these things out. It takes time to get used to posting. soon you'll be able to do it while texting and eating ice cream at the same time. rexing93 05-16-2013 01:41 AM Skyseternalangel, it made complete sense actually :p as for the video, I just can't upload it tonight. Perhaps tomorrow morning I can get it to work. Golden Horse, thank you! I'll keep that in mind tomorrow! Tinyliny, that actually makes a lot of sense as she was BARELY going (it was at the speed of a quicker walk just with the 2 beats instead of the 4 XD). That could definitely be it because when I got her going at a much quicker pace it felt more..."right", so perhaps it was just because this clip was of her extremely sluggish trot XD Thank you all! Posted via Mobile Device ponypile 05-16-2013 01:59 AM It takes time to develop a good posting trot. In the mean time, try to think about relaxing your legs so they fall on the sides of the horse, not using them to push you up. Then let the horse's movement push you up. Like getting double bounced on a trampoline. It's tough on a horse that is sluggish and just plodding along, so tell the horse to liven up with you leg and a tap from the whip if you have to, and then let to movement make you post. Not post for the movement. rexing93 05-16-2013 12:18 PM Thank you, ponypile! I do think she was just barely going that was the cause for the unusual post because when she did get up and moving it felt much more "natural", if that makes sense. Thank you for the input though! I do appreciate it! Also, out of curiosity, does anyone know what the "double post trot" thing is? I heard two separate things about it so I'm a bit unsure of what it's actually used for. I thought you did the "double post" (down, down, up--then resume your normal posting) was used to get you back on the correct diagonal however I read that others use it as an exercise? Perhaps it's both? Anyone have any knowledge about that? XD Golden Horse 05-16-2013 03:22 PM Double posting, only needed to put you back on the right diagonal, it is a good exercise for kids, and anyone else to help you with feeling the right diagonal. Also it happens to me when I am tired, being horribly unfit I find myself double posting:oops: Finalcanter 05-17-2013 05:11 PM I just 'got' the posting trot and how to keep the horse moving last week; but my main instructor never taught me about diagonals. I learned that for one day with a different instructor. :/ Corporal 05-17-2013 05:42 PM Don't worry about posting too high. Stylistically, this is the fashion for Saddle Seat. For the rest of us, it's really more important that you learn to get your butt off of the saddle in a 1/2 seat every-other-stride and sit in the seat the other every-other-stride. If you post long enough you will become fatigued and "weighty". This will force your heels down and you won't be able to completely stand in the 1/2 seat. If your instructor can vary the posting trot to sit-stand-stand and/or sit-sit-stand, OR stand in 1/2 seat, or sit the trot without stirrups you will learn to become weighted and being weighted is what creates the balance when you are riding. If you are able to practice on a lesson horse for a good hour, I would suggest riding with the stirrup buckle pulled out and the stirrups crossed in front of the pommel at the walk mostly, then sitting the trot. When I took Hunt Seat Lessons way back in the 1970's, my instructor had us posting 3x on each rein without stirrups. There are MANY such exercises that improve your seat. You cannot however do these exercises on a spooky horse. In the meantime, just be patient with yourself. =D Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.5 Copyright ©2000 - 2015, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0
Boosted Booze and Marvin's Angels Highlights from the Blog at HOUSTONPRESS.COM Even the Lone Star Saloon Is Not Safe Crime of the Century so far unsolved By Paul Knight and Mike Giglio Location Info Lone Star Saloon 1900 Travis Houston, TX 77002 Category: Bars and Clubs Region: Downtown/ Midtown Here at Hair Balls and the Houston Press, we really love the Lone Star Saloon. Really. That's why we hope that police take swift action and find the dirty, dirty bastard that stole 21 bottles of liquor from Lone Star recently. "I hope they catch the SOB," Joe Lee Thomas, the Lone Star's owner, tells Hair Balls. "They took the most expensive liquor." He lost about $800 to $1,000 in booze. The crime is a bit of a mystery, because the thief didn't break into Lone Star, and the front door was found unlocked the next morning, Thomas says. He has a couple theories. First, the thief could have hidden in the restroom at closing, waited until everyone was gone, then come out and nabbed the liquor. (A laundry bag — used to carry the bottles — and $6 from the cash register were also stolen.) But Lone Star has a policy for the bartenders to check the restrooms for people before locking up, and it's a good policy because we've found people asleep in the stall. If the bartender forgot to check, this theory could work. Especially since the thief could have unlocked the front door to let himself out, because a set of keys hang on a hook in the bar's office, which is left unlocked. The keys, however, were still in the office, and that doesn't make sense to Thomas. Why would a thief with a laundry bag full of expensive liquor take the time to replace the keys? "They would have wanted to get the hell out of there," Thomas says. The second theory is that the bartender simply forgot to lock the front door, allowing anyone looking for an early-morning drink to stroll in and take the alcohol. Some of the stolen bottles were unopened, Thomas says, and others were taken from behind the bar. "The bartender [that was working the night of the theft] is coming in tonight. I haven't talked to her because she doesn't have a telephone," Thomas says. "But she's been with me for over a year and I haven't had any problems, as far as theft." About five months ago, someone broke into Lone Star through the side of the building. That thief — or those thieves — didn't steal any liquor, but busted open vending machines for the cash and change inside, according to Thomas. That was the first break-in at the Lone Star in about five years. Thomas also told us that an investigator with the Houston Police Department told him that three other bars have been broken into in the last month, and the thieves have taken liquor each time. Spaced City R.I.P. Marvin's Angels Last vestige of Houston icon gone By Richard Connelly It's been a little over two years since Houston legend Marvin Zindler took his shock wig, blue-tinted eyeglasses and excessively nipped-and-tucked face to that great Ice Machine in the Sky. For a while after his demise, KTRK kept alive his Angels in Action program, where doctors and other professionals would volunteer services to help down-on-their-luck kids or adults who needed eye surgery, wheelchairs, clothes, etc. Now it's gone. Lori Reingold, the longtime assistant who helped him run the program, no longer works at the station. "Why they didn't carry on the tradition, I don't know," Dr. Irving Wishnow, an eye doctor and close Zindler friend, tells Hair Balls. "His angels, all the people he recruited, still wanted to help out any way they could." It would seem a no-brainer: The program was voluntary, so it didn't cost the station much; it would be a way of keeping the Zindler name alive; and what TV news show doesn't love feel-good stories of helpless kids made happy? There are rumors that some KTRK brass had grown tired of Zindler's ego, though, so maybe that's why the plug was pulled. Station spokesman Tom Ash tells us it was simpler than that. "Well, he died," Ash said. "That was the main reason we stopped. There was a lot of stuff Marvin was doing that went with him." Halloween Countdown by Blake Whitaker Halloween is coming, and that means many, many costuming mistakes will be made by normally sane adults. To help stop this scourge, each week we will be offering tips and analysis of what to avoid, or possibly what to do. This week: How best to tap into '90s nostalgia. My Voice Nation Help Houston Concert Tickets
Hydrocarbon Processing Copying and distributing are prohibited without permission of the publisher Email a friend Maximize propylene from your FCC unit 09.01.2011 \| Knight, J., UOP LLC, A Honeywell Co., Des Plaines, IllinoisMehlberg, R., UOP LLC, A Honeywell Co., Des Plaines, Illinois Innovative use of catalyst and operating conditions increases on-purpose olefin production Keywords: [olefins] [naphtha] [propylene] [gasoline] [cracking] [FCC] [hydrocracking] [catalyst] [fluid catalytic cracking] Fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC) technology was developed to increase gasoline production derived from crude-derived vacuum gasoil (VGO) and, in some cases, atmospheric resids. T his continues to be the primary objective. According to a Purvin and Gertz study, as of 2010, cracking-based conversion accounts for approximately 50% of the world’s refining capacity with an additional 10%–15% for the North American refining market. As fuels market needs to evolve, FCC technologies are being repurposed to produce high-grade petrochemical feedstocks along with transportation fuels. This article investigates FCC evolving operations to meet future market needs. In general, demand for clean transportation fuels will outpace demand growth for other refined products; this is an encouraging projection for the conversion-based refiners. Conversely, data indicates that the outlook for US gasoline demand to 2020 shows a lower overall demand and a gradual decline (Fig. 1). This demand behavior can be explained by a number of factors: • A sharp price increases since 2004 causing the first wave of demand destruction • The post recession recovery for US gasoline demand in 2010 is nearly 8% lower than its peak in 2004. It is expected to decline to less than 0.5%/yr. • Ethanol blending is displacing petroleum-derived gasoline. From 2000–2009, ethanol usage as a gasoline blendstock steadily increased to its present average level of 4.5 vol%. • The Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) was signed into law by President Bush in December 2007. The EISA mandates, among other items, transportation efficiency improvements that include:  By 2016, the CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standards for new light duty vehicles will increase by 40%.  The Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) calls for a total of 36 billion gallons/yr of renewable fuel by 2022.  Propagation of hybrid power train technologies. Fig. 1. Gasoline demand growth and ethanol Worldwide propylene. In contrast to gasoline, the 10-year outlook in global propylene demand will outstrip co-production from available ethylene crackers, FCC units and other sources. This anticipated supply gap is expected to be filled through additional on-purpose propylene production from FCC units and other on-purpose cracking solutions. Fig. 2 provides the expected propylene demand and supply contribution by source. Although conventional-fuels-based FCC yields approximately 4 wt%–6 wt% of propylene; operating conditions, catalyst system and technology via revamps can increase propylene yields by as much as 5 wt%. In addition, new technologies are now available for both revamp and new unit applications and that enable propylene yields over 20 wt%. The fundamental question remains, what is the most economic propylene production solution from an FCC that takes into account the following: Fig. 2. Expected worldwide propylene 1. Expected fuels demand. Propylene production from an FCC has a direct negative impact on the quality of fuel products produced, in particular FCC naphtha. The impact is measured in terms of reduced naphtha yield and a shift in its molecular composition, 2. The highest propylene yield achievable given feedstock quality. The total potential for propylene from a particular FCC feed is determined largely by its hydrogen content. As the operating (reactor) severity of the FCC is increased, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and propylene production increases. Propylene production is accomplished through the cracking of olefinic naphtha to lower molecular weight olefins. Fig. 3 shows that there is a broad, continuous range of propylene yield from FCC technology for a gasoline operation at 4 wt%–6 wt-% propylene to a petrochemical operating mode exceeding 20wt% propylene yield. This figure summarizes the general relationship between yields for propylene at increasing operating severities for different quality feedstocks. Operating variables and chemical principles. Propylene production from an FCC unit is framed by several factors that when combined with licensed technology provide the means for propylene/petrochemical modes of operation. These factors include: FCC feed quality is the most critical parameter in determining propylene production potential. There is a strong positive correlation between the FCC feed hydrogen content and propylene yield. Feeds that are richer in hydrogen are capable of producing more propylene largely due to increased feedstock conversion. Furthermore, this potential for propylene is harnessed by the FCC technology and process conditions. The continuum of propylene yield as a function of technology and operating conditions is conveyed in Fig. 3. Fig. 3. FCC propylene yield as a function of feed and reactor severity. The feed hydrogen content is responsible for the width of the band in Fig. 3. Refiners with upstream feed-pretreating capability may be able to leverage this condition to further extend propylene production capacity. Unit conversion drives propylene yield and is closely related to feed hydrogen content. Propylene yield increases nearly linearly with conversion. A conversion increase is typically accomplished via rising reactor temperature and catalyst-to-oil ratio for a given feed and catalyst system. In the catalyst system, two elements that must be considered are the formulation of cracking catalyst USY zeolite and the level of pentasil within the system. As shown in Fig. 4, the first function of the catalyst system is VGO conversion to naphtha olefins. The second function of a high-propylene catalyst system is a pentasil function to rapidly crack the naphtha olefins into light olefins. Pentasil containing additives (ZSM-5) can increase propylene yield by a factor of two to three depending on the pentasil quantity. While ethylene co-production is generally understood, this is a kinetically controlled process that must be moderated for propylene maximization. Fig. 4. FCC reaction pathways to produce An additional consideration is the formulation parameters that mitigate hydrogen transfer reactions of olefins to paraffins and aromatics. The level of USY zeolite and its rare earth exchange directly impacts hydrogen transfer reactions. The pentasil and the cracking catalyst must function cooperatively as a system, and the pentasil quantity must be balanced with the characteristics of the cracking catalyst. Reactor hydrocarbon partial pressure can shift the FCC reaction equilibrium to favor low molecular weight olefins. The reduced partial pressure is achieved collectively with lowering operating pressure and the addition of reactor steam. An FCC utilizing new propylene technology fundamentals can operate at much lower partial pressure than a typical FCC while producing 50% higher propylene yields for the same feed, catalyst and conversion. A major engineering study was conducted to determine the relationship between propylene yield and plant cost. Larger equipment is required to process the increased molar flow and to ensure the larger vapor volumes resulting from the higher light-ends yields. These principles can also be applied to existing units, though a partial pressure floor is imposed by throughput and equipment design. Results of this study are data, as shown in Fig. 5. The data describe the relationship between propylene yield and relative plant cost for a reduction in partial pressure. Fig. 5. Plant cost as a function for propylene Equilibrium. Pilot plant and commercial studies have determined that commercial-scale FCC operation at high severity and with a ZSM-5 enhanced catalyst system produces light olefins in an equilibrium distribution. This equilibrium limit was determined by extensive monitoring of high propylene FCC units, bench-scale pure compound studies and circulating riser pilot-plant testing. Fig. 6 shows the distribution of light olefins by carbon number in the riser effluent (red bars). Fig. 6. FCC light olefin equilibrium distribution. Equilibrium calculations indicate that the light olefin products distribute by molecular weight and that this distribution is governed by thermodynamic equilibrium. Superimposing the distribution of light olefins from an equilibrium model calculation (blue bars) on the data from an FCC operating in enhanced LPG operating mode shows the C3–C5 olefins to be nearly in equilibrium. This observation suggests that the reactions producing light olefins may be controlled by equilibrium. To achieve propylene yields significantly in excess of 12 wt% for an average FCC feedstock, we must consider technology that acts to shift the equilibrium. To test the hypothesis of equilibrium-limited propylene, C3–C5 olefins were independently added to a VGO feed and processed in a circulating pilot plant with a high ZSM-5 equilibrium catalyst. The results validated the equilibrium hypothesis. When propylene is added to the VGO feed, the net propylene yield decreased from over 10 wt% to less than 4 wt% while at the same time, the net yield of C4–C8 olefins increased measurably. The independent addition of 1-butene decreased the net yield of total butenes and increased the net yield of propylene. The testing also showed that ethylene is also influenced by equilibrium, although not to the same extent, as residence time has the dominating effect. A comparison of the equilibrium calculations against the commercial unit data confirms that an equilibrium model of FCC reactions can be used as an accurate predictive tool. In short, reactions producing light olefins are controlled by an equilibrium mechanism and the thermodynamic equilibrium limits propylene production from the FCC. Based on this evaluation, a three-year comprehensive pilot plant, modeling and commercial benchmarking program were used to develop two models to handle the full spectrum of low to high-propylene FCC operations—the VGO and resid model and the olefin re-cracking model. The former augments the traditional yield and heat balance calculation with the effects of ZSM-5 interactions with reaction variables, while the latter describes riser cracking of light naphtha C4–C10 olefins over ZSM-5 modified catalyst systems. Considering that a base fuels FCC operation produces ex-reactor propylene yields in the range of 4wt%–6 wt%, we examine the requirements to further increase reactor propylene yield. Three categories can be defined that are characterized by the extent of scope, with each requiring additional capital and operational expense. For simplicity, these brackets do not consider the refiner’s base operation and configuration in terms of open capacity or propylene specific equipment. Considerations for open and available capacity include, but are not limited to: • Reactor section to address the additional molar flow • Regeneration section to address additional coke make due to higher operating severity • Recovery section to address change in vapor liquid distribution and propylene recovery • Treating section to meet the polymer-grade propylene product requirements. Incremental reactor propylene yield above the Base Case is bracketed according to these factors: a. 3% to 5%—Achieved through modifications to the catalyst system (use of shape selective ZSM-5 additive, modifying the cracking catalyst formulation) and an increase in reactor temperature. Typically, such increases require only modest changes to the recovery section and a metallurgical check to determine capacity to accommodate the reactor temperature increase. b. 5% to 9%—Same as list in item a, along with reduced hydrocarbon partial pressure. This is achieved by lowering the reactor pressure and/or adding reactor steam. Implementation may require modifications to enable additional wet-gas-compression capacity, main column condensing capacity and sour-water condensing capacity. c. Greater than 9+%—Same as in item b, along with targeted recycle (LPG and light naphtha) and may also wish to consider the applicability of new maximum propylene technology. This represents the ultimate propylene production scenario and will require reconfiguration of the gas concentration unit to facilitate use of the targeted recycle. The new propylene technology will require extensive reactor/regenerator section modifications since a second reactor will be added. European refiner. This refiner operates a stacked configuration FCC unit that was designed in 1960 for low conversion of VGO. This unit was the subject of a subsequent technology upgrade and feed capacity revamps over the last 40 years. In the late 1990s, the refiner commissioned a hydrocracker, resulting in a higher quality feed. Subsequently, an FCC revamp was commissioned to handle the higher conversion and increased yield of propylene associated with better quality feed. Prior to the feed quality change and unit revamp, the unit yielded approximately 4.5 wt% propylene, and a marginal increase was expected with the hydrogen-rich feed. A major revamp was conducted as a high-conversion enabler. The scope of the revamp included adding a new riser separation system with improved feed distributors. This revamp enabled a conversion increase that resulted in a 4 wt% increase in propylene yield. The refiner is considering further propylene production increases in conjunction with the catalyst manufacturer that would produce a propylene yield of nearly 13 wt%. This exemplifies increases in propylene yield that can be achieved as a result of FCC technology upgrades that enable effective increases in conversion and improvements to selectivities, a tuned catalyst system and feed quality improvements. Other refiner. A refiner replaced its 1940s thermal catalytic cracking (TCC) unit reaction section with a new high propylene FCC process so that it could substantially increase its propylene production through a simultaneous reactor-regenerator technology upgrade and a feed rate increase. Although a total reactor-regenerator replacement was required, the product-recovery section was revamped for higher propylene yield and recovery, and a propylene-recovery unit was installed. It was commissioned to produce 140,000 metric tpy of polymer-grade propylene. The new propylene-focused FCC unit was a major revamp of an obsolete cracking technology that substantially increased polymer-grade propylene production. This refiner has achieved more than 16 wt% propylene using an Arabian Light VGO. Existing FCCs can be, and have been, converted for operations at or near high propylene FCC conditions. Recently, a newer FCC operating with enhanced LPG yields revamped its reactor section to emulate the new high propylene FCC operations. As a result of this technology upgrade, this unit achieved an 18% increase in its propylene yield. The new high propylene FCC technology utilizes low partial pressure, high reactor temperature, a ZSM-5 catalyst system and features spent catalyst recycle technology. The spent catalyst recycle technology recycles carbonized, active catalyst from the stripper to the riser mix zone where it is mixed with regenerated catalyst. Since the recycled catalyst is heat balance neutral, the spent catalyst recycle can facilitate a significant increase in the riser catalyst-to-oil ratio. This technology also helps to suppress the riser inlet temperature, which in turn reduces dry gas yields, and the higher catalyst-to-oil ratio contributes associated with its operation to higher conversion. It allows the catalyst/oil ratio to be increased well beyond typical limits imposed by a traditional FCC heat balance. This enables a higher ZSM-5 content in the riser at any specific ZSM-5 concentration in the circulating equilibrium catalyst inventory. Furthermore, applying the spent catalyst technology with a ZSM-5 enhanced catalyst system works to improve the catalyst’s effectiveness, thus increasing conversion of light naphtha olefin and selectivity from the catalyst-to-oil increase. More on spent catalyst recycle technology. This technology can be used as a revamp option and can produce similar benefits including selectivity improvement and dry-gas management. In addition, because of its heat balance neutral effect, the net effect of the spent catalyst recycle is a delta coke increase that manifests as a regenerator temperature increase. This can prove to be invaluable for refiners processing severely hydrotreated feeds or is operating at a very low delta coke. Symptomatic of low delta coke operation is after burn and elevated carbon monoxide (CO) in flue gas that may require the elevated excess oxygen, an inefficient practice, and the use of CO promoter. Table 1 summarizes actual pre/post data for an FCC unit where the spent catalyst recycle technology was added to address the low regenerator temperature. Since its 2005 commercialization, the technology is operating in six units and is being designed or is in construction for an additional 12 units. Commercial application. Because propylene production is equilibrium limited, recycling higher molecular weight olefins can be used as another technique to maximize propylene yields. The linking of reaction equilibrium concepts with reactor and regenerator technologies results in the latest maximum propylene FCC technology. This latest technology—highest-yield propylene FCC process—uses a multi-stage reactor system comprising a primary hydrocarbon feedstock reaction stage, and a secondary recycle reaction stage utilizing a common regeneration stage with continuous circulation of fluidized catalyst between both reactor stages and the regeneration stage. The reactor/regenerator section is shown in Fig. 7. This system uses two reaction stages primarily to overcome equilibrium limitations to propylene yield and selectivity, and secondarily to maximize product flexibility. For propylene production relative to the severity/feed quality continuum, the highest-yield technology is represented at the far right side of Fig. 8 for those refiners that choose to maximize the production of propylene. Fig. 7. Latest maximum propylene technology Fig. 8. Mapping new reactor technology on the propylene continuum. This technology extends propylene yields to greater than 20 wt%. This substantial shift is achieved by the second reactor that recracks C4+ olefins to propylene. The second riser can be part of a major revamp, but plot plan considerations require case by case evaluation. This latest technology provides the ability to deliver the maximum propylene yield from the conversion of traditional FCC feeds. It can be the ultimate solution to those refiners whose primary objective from their FCC has shifted to maximize propylene production. The critical technology features of the latest maximum propylene process technology are: • Maximum riser containment. Each reactor riser is designed with its own proprietary riser termination device (RTD) and high-flux stripper to minimize post-riser vapor residence time. The post-riser reactions that occur at high reactor temperatures that can favor propylene production are accompanied by non selective gas yields and the undesirable hydrogen transfer of olefins to alkanes. • High catalyst to oil riser reactors. The reactors apply tightly contained riser reactor systems that operate at a very high (15–30) catalyst-to-oil ratio. Riser reactors were chosen over fluidized-bed reactors to minimize dilute-phase dry-gas formation and minimize hydrogen transfer reactions that are promoted by the extensive backmixing of fluidized bed reactors. • Second-stage riser cracking. The spent catalyst recycle reactor technology allows the second riser catalyst-to-oil ratio to increase beyond typical limits imposed by heat balance. This enables a higher ZSM-5 content in the riser at any specific ZSM-5 concentration in the circulating equilibrium catalyst inventory. Fig. 9 shows the second riser butene conversion and propylene yield increase with C/O ratio well beyond the 5–9 available from a traditional reactor configuration (without reactor technology). This increases conversion per pass and decreases recycle in the unit against a specific propylene production target, and enables direct conversion of butenes to propylene in the second riser without an intermediate step of polymerization. Fig. 9. New reactor process contribution to butene conversion. • Product recovery and targeted recycle. Effluent from each reactor is routed to independent main columns and partially integrated gas concentration. The first stage reactor effluent is routed to a standard main column with LCO, HCO and slurry products. Naphtha and lighter material are taken overhead to an enhanced absorption based product recovery system. This recovery system recovers propylene and produces a superheated C4-light naphtha stream that is feed to the second stage reactor. The second stage reactor effluent is quenched in a small column that preheats the fresh feed. The unconverted naphtha and C4- reaction products are routed to a depropanizer and debutanizer. This multi-stage reactor and product separation system can be the most capital selective design; this configuration produces the greatest yield of propylene per unit cost of production. It can provide exceptional performance through the reduction of non-reactive diluents from the second-stage feedstock, which consists of only convertible species or those that participate in the equilibrium shift. In a comparative study of 500,000 metric tpy propylene (50,000 bpsd fresh feed) units, application of the reactor technology required 12% less capital and 7% less operating cost per unit of propylene relative to a comingled product recovery system design. The lower expenses were due to decreased equipment sizes and the associated energy consumption. Moreover, the reactor technology produces a net reactor propylene yield in excess of 20 wt%, which exceeds the capability of currently available traditional FCC technologies. The FCC refining community will be faced with many interesting challenges over the next few decades. A shrinking forecasted US gasoline demand, coupled with potential economic and legislative factors will likely reshape the future for refining conversion. This will leave US refiners with the challenge of how to best utilize the expected open capacity while preserving the fixed asset base. As propylene demand grows, refiners can leverage their FCC technology through implementation of the concepts outlined in this article. Propylene’s remarkable demand growth requires new technologies to capture growth opportunities. Until recently, refiners were able to capture incremental shifts that had been met with success for meeting local demand. The first principles for propylene production from an FCC unit lend well to understanding the propylene potential, reactor conditions and catalyst selection for achieving incremental in propylene production shifts. In particular, the influence of equilibrium and the introduction of equilibrium manipulation augment these first principles. Potential propylene yields in excess of current practice and convention underscore the necessity for new technology offerings that allow the refiner to achieve propylene yields well in excess of the current commercial experience. HP Revised and updated from an earlier presentation at the 2011 NPRA Annual Meeting, March 21–22, 2011, San Antonio, Texas. Have your say • All comments are subject to editorial review. All fields are compulsory. Related articles Sign-up for the Free Daily HP Enewsletter! 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The Triumph Of Deep Learning Written by Mike James Friday, 14 December 2012 Article Index The Triumph Of Deep Learning Pre-training, Restricted Boltzmann Machines and Auto-Encoders Artificial Intelligence (AI) is full of false dawns where the next great breakthrough is here and intelligent machines and more will soon be with us. In this case the dawning has been very slow and it's more like progress than a revolution. Deep learning seems to have brought neural networks to their own particular breakthrough moment. How will we look back on this era? To a time when the solution was first found and all we had to do was push on in mostly the same direction? Or just another delusion? First we need to take a look at the long road that leads to where we are. If you know this history feel free to skip forward. In the Beginning Neural networks represent the "obvious" way of creating artificial intelligence. Look at the brain. Look very hard and work out what its components are doing. Then build the same components, using different technologies and put the components together - you must end up with a brain. This is like not know how to build a computer but trying to do so by creating transistor like elements and putting them together in the same arrangement. This bottom up approach to AI has been going on since the early days of computing and it has been alternately hailed as a great invention or damed as the latest snake oil, perhaps well intentioned but not going anywhere. The problem is that it is fairly easy to create things that behave like neurons, the brains major component. What is not easy is working out what the whole thing does once you have assembled it. It is assumed that neurons get excited by other neurons and when they get excited enough they "fire" and send their excitement on to other connected neurons. This is very easy to model but how do you determine how the neurons should be connected and what should govern the strengths of connection? In other words how do you organize a neural network and how do you train it? One Layer Goes To Many This problem was solved for single layers of artificial neurons back in the 1950s and it was the first of the great breakthroughs. Then some one, Minsky and Papert to be precise, pointed out that single layers of neurons couldn't learn a lot of things that we really would like them to learn. The limitations of single layer neuronal nets was a real blow and for some time work on neural networks was regarded as a waste of time. Then in 1970s a learning rule for multi-layer networks - back propagation was invented - and it looked as if neural networks were back in favor. With back propagation neural networks could learn anything. Multilayer networks could learn complicated things and they did - but very slowly. What emerged from this second neural network revolution was that we had a good theory but learning was slow and results while good but not amazing. It was difficult to believe that the typical neural network of the time could approach human intelligence. It seemed that even multilayer neural networks weren't particularly intelligent. As a result they fell out of favor once again and simpler but more effective techniques such as support vector machines came into fashion. AI went into applied engineering - it was a matter of what could be done with tweaked classical statistics and software. The real question, that received very little attention for such an important one, was - why don't multilayer networks learn? A Mediocre Performance The answer was pieced together in the 1990s and it all had to do with the way the training errors were being passed back from the output layer to the deeper layers of artificial neurons. The so called "vanishing gradient" problem meant that as soon as a neural network got reasonably good at a task the lower layers didn't really get any information about how to change to help do the task better. The problem is that there are many many possible ways for the lower layers to be set up and most of them don't help the upper layers do better but they don't make things worse either. In fact the only time the lower layers helped a neural network much is when they were essential to doing the job at all. The problem is that there may be many configurations of the lower layers that make it much easier for the upper layers to do their job but back-propagation will take a very long time to find them. The problem is made worse by the fact that the optimum configuration of a layer may also depend on the configuration of the layers below. What this means is that as training proceeds a layer may be optimizing its performance based on the non-optimal configuration of lower layers. Put simply the lower layers in a deep network are very difficult to train unless they are absolutely essential for putting up even a reasonable performance. All of this and other considerations account for the reason why neural networks trained using back-propagation generally don't produce great results and when they do it is because they have been hand tuned and coaxed into producing a better performance. For this reason it became common practice to believe that there wasn't much point using lots of layers. Deep neural networks generally didn't perform any better than shallow networks. This was also assumed to be an indication that the whole idea was something of a failure. After all if neural networks are a good idea then the deeper the network surely the better? Deep Networks and Structure Now all of this has changed. Neural networks trained using back-propagation work better than any alternative methods. They are regularly winning competitions and generally showing how good they are. They are making possible speech recognition, translation and all the sorts of things that we thought they would be able to do when first invented. What exactly is the breakthrough? The answer is pre-training. The idea here is that the lower layers of the neural network need to absorb some of the structure of the input so that the later layers have an easier job. One way to think of this is to realize that the raw data has a lot of complexity and redundancy. If this can be reduces to a set of features that summarize it reasonably well then these features are easier to work with than the original data. It seems reasonable that the lower layers of a neural network should be about extracting features from the raw data and the subsequent layers are about extracting features of the features and so on. For example, if you are training a neural network to recognize a face then it would be an advantage if the lower layers recognized features that are the fundamental parts of a face - mouth, eyes, nose and so on. A the next level these features would be organized into higher level features - pairs of eyes with different spacings, mouth and nose and so on. A general neural network directly trained on the data will take a very long time to find an organization that delegates the low level features to the lower layers and so on. Its training doesn't carry with it any notion of a hierarchy and it is simply free to adopt any configuration that gets the job done. It would probably get to a hierarchical organization eventually but it would take far more time than we ever give it. The temptation is to hand create the low level features, and indeed if you do this then the network does learn to recognize a face much faster. Hand-crafted low-level features are the way we have made AI work in the past, but for true AI we need the features to be learned along with the rest of the task. How can we get a structure into the network so that lower levels automatically extract features that might be useful? This is what the pre-training idea is all about. Last Updated ( Saturday, 15 December 2012 ) RSS feed of all content I Programmer - full contents Copyright © 2015 All Rights Reserved.
Opinion and Forefront GIBSON: A bus system like Charlotte's would offer many benefits March 26, 2011 Ron GibsonQuestion: What is one big idea from another city that you’d like to implement here? A huge concept from another city that I would like to implement here would be the overhauling and expansion of the city’s bus service known as Indianapolis Public Transportation Corp., or IndyGo. Charlotte, N.C., a city of similar size, operates approximately 325 buses with 74 routes on a budget of $110 million while IndyGo has an annual budget of $55 million with only 150 buses and 29 routes. How does Charlotte run twice the number of buses on nearly three times as many routes as IndyGo? Money and management! Why doesn’t Indianapolis have a thriving bus system? The demand is there; ridership was up about 5 percent last year. It’s estimated that 20 percent of residents have no access to transportation. Transportation would add to the quality of life, and promote tourism and economic development. Frankly, there is no excuse for this city’s current mass-transit system. I believe the citizens deserve the amenity of a bus system to get anywhere in the city in a timely manner the way they should be able to depend on other basic public services such as police and fire protection. However, it boils down to dollars and management. There is a lot of talk about IndyConnect, but there are too many obstacles, such as legislative approval and obtaining dedicated funding sources for the $10 billion price tag. Therefore, there will not be a regional mass transportation system within the next 10 to 15 years. The IndyConnect concept assumes the city of Indianapolis will implement a significant expansion of IndyGo. So, why not start today? IndyGo’s current funding source depends on 25 percent to 30 percent of property tax revenue, plus state and federal funding and bus fares. Charlotte’s bus system is mostly supported by a sales tax. Being realistic, no politician in his or her right mind would advocate for any tax increase in this economic climate. Thus, it will take creative sources of funding to grow IndyGo. There are 10 school corporations plus 20 public charter schools that must provide transportation for students. In other major U.S. cities, students use public transportation to get to and from school. Why can’t we promote the city’s bus service for public schools, colleges and universities, such as the partnership with IUPUI? A series of agreements that contract school bus services would help school corporations’ shrinking transportation budgets and greatly enhance IndyGo bus services. For initial expansion capital, a portion of the monies from the sale of the water company should be directed to IndyGo to reduce the amount of wear and tear on the streets and roads by promoting use of the city’s bus system versus automobile usage. While the current administration has been creative in funding the Capital Improvement Board and other projects such as North of South using tax revenue, we should be as creative in growing a necessary amenity such as an adequate bus system that promotes a much more quality city and promotes economic development. Marion and surrounding counties have scores of thousands of people who want to go many places at various times. With IndyGo, the only place you can go is downtown and, if there’s a route to your destination, you might be able to get there. To get back, you must go downtown again and change buses again. That archaic routing was necessary in the days of trolley cars and electric buses; we must modernize. This requires some money, of course, but more important, a customer-centric approach to meeting the needs of citizens and visitors alike. Use of tax dollars is sadly necessary to provide the meager bus service of today. My administration will pursue every avenue to grow IndyGo into a quality service that will be the envy of cities everywhere.• A consultant, Gibson is a former City-County councilor and a candidate for the Democratic nomination for mayor of Indianapolis. Send comments on this column to [email protected]. Recent Articles by Ron Gibson / Special to IBJ Comments powered by Disqus
A new survey conducted by Consumer Intelligence Research Partner (CIRP) suggests that of Apple's iPhone customers between July 2012 and June 2013, an impressive 42% of them were upgrading from a previous iPhone. Better still, it compares Apple to Samsung, and shows that only 7% of Samsung's mobile customers moved across from using an iPhone. The key stats as presented to Fortune: • 42% of Apple's customers between July 2012 and June 2013 were upgrading from another iPhone All interesting factoids, and there's many a discussion we could have about each of them. It's interesting to see that Apple commands a greater share of the BlackBerry switchers, perhaps more comfortable with the stable environment and the ecosystem that Apple provides, and is more like the BlackBerry they know than what Samsung is serving up. Also good news for Apple is that their brand loyalty continues to be pretty high. Attracting new customers is always on the list, but you have to retain the ones you already have to stand any chance. The survey doesn't differentiate which of the Samsung customers came from another Samsung phone, just Android, so while their retention figures match Apples, it doesn't mean they as a brand are keeping as many of their customers as Apple does. Apple also took a good chunk more Samsung customers than Samsung did Apple customers. Tell me though, what do you think of all these figures? Are you a long standing iPhone owner, or have you recently switched? Now is an even more exciting time to be thinking of getting on the platform with iOS 7 and new hardware right around the corner. Or, perhaps you've switched or are thinking of switching to Samsung? Tell us why! Source: Fortune Richard Devine More Posts ← Previously Next up → More next-generation iPad and iPad mini casings purportedly leak, this time in silver Reader comments I left my 4S for a GS3 over a year ago for two reasons. 1. Auto-Correct is an abortion of an "intelligent" typing system 2. The iOS UI was just plan 100% boring. 3. Most of my apps that were on iOS are also on Android Well with the new 5S there's a new and better UI, auto correct looks like it might work and though most of my apps were on Android almost all looked and some even worked horribly compared to the iOS version. Plan on me repenting of the errors of my ways with sleeping in front of an Apple Store next month for a 5S I bought a nexus 7 to test the android waters and I love it for messing around, but I am not ready to go to android yet. 1. Though there are most of (not all) the apps, there are quite a few that are missing. And as a blogger said, I am sure I can live without them, but its painful to do so. 2. The app quality is night and, as many android apps aren't as updated. A great example is Zite. 3. I have a lot of speciality productivity apps, that simply aren't on Android. Eg, Mendeley. The substitutions aren't good enough. 4. I have a lot invested in iOS, so unless what I am getting is a clear huge benefit, there is no reason to switch platforms , just because I am bored. I have little time to be bored these days. 5. Android still feels unfinished and I am running 4.3. Apps crash on weird places, the apps aren't well written sometimes, it has weird lags, it feels like running Ubuntu on a machine, which feels great, and potentially better than everything else, but just isn't quite there yet. This of course is my opinion and I will be upgrading to the next iPhone. My nexus 7 will continue to be my window into the Android world. I'm dying for a bigger screen iPhone, something between the current one and a iPad mini for which I have little use. But,... Even without that I won't switch for any Android device: I've left windows mobile years ago, sacrificing customization for peace of mind, and still don't regret it. My phone is a tool for me, I shouldn't be the tool for it. Sent from the iMore App I was an origonal HTC EVO 4G owner loooong ago. Then moved to 3GS, then tried Samsung Galaxy SII.. hated it.. tried HTC One S, was OK.. Moved back to Apple with iPhone 4 .. liked it but wanted to try the Nexus line.. Galaxy Nexus.. was ok .. but in the end got me a iPhone 4S then moved to the iPhone 5 and love it. I would like a larger screen.. but mostly, I want the software updates, including the notification center, etc. Extreme example of a phone hopper.. I used to be totally against Apple for the longest time always saying I "wasn't going to conform" as if Apple users were like the Borg or something. I got my first taste of iOS in 2011 when I won an iPad from work. At the time I had an Android phone so after a few months of using my iPad I decided, why not get an android tablet, it's gotta be the same. Boy was I wrong. I used that crap for about 2 months before I put it on Craigslist, sold it and proceeded to buy another iPad. But I was still using my android phone, I was having too much fun with all the customization. After a while that got boring so I decided to jump over to Windows phone, another bad idea. Luckily I found someone else that wanted to make the same bad move I did so I traded my HTC windows phone for an iPhone 4, then traded that for an iPhone 5 since I was up for upgrade when that came out and the rest is history. I think these are all interesting facts, parts of a story, but not necessarily the same story. Doesn't paint a clear picture, and doubtful Apple, Google, or Samsung would use this to tell them anything. Just seems like an article (the original, not necessarily this one) that has all the keywords for links/clicks. Sent from the iMore App Not a week goes by the some study shows apple or android besting each other in one thing or another..... I'm an apple and certainly prefer their platform. At the same time though sometimes we as fans have to take step back, realise we have to really great platforms to choose from and between the two have given us so many more computing options outside of the windows monopoly that was stagnating technology only a few years ago. Let the Samsung, google and Apple billionaires fight over who is best at this or that and I think the focus for most of us should be just to enjoy the technology. I had a BB Bold and loved it. I got my wife an iPhone 4 and after playing with it, I was hooked. I switched over when the 4s was released and haven't looked back. I JB'd it to get the customizations but I'm now running beta 6 of ios 7. Might upgrade to the iPhone 5s when it comes out. I'd never go to android. Our daughters have a Galaxy tablet and I can't stand it. Apple all the way! Hate to state the obvious, but this article did, so I will also: of course more are switching to apple from Samsung...there is only one iPhone. There are many premium androids to choose from S4, S3, HTC One, NEXUS 4, LG optimus G, etc... With all the choice you cannot compare directly...i said all this to say the article says nothing... I'm a Windows guy but I love Android and have some apple products and could really care less who is "winning" just give me more great products and good tech articles. To read. re: "There are many premium androids to choose from ..." Yet Samsuck is the only Android handset manufacturer making any money. The other Android handset manufacturers (and iPad clone manufacturers) are operating at barely break-even or at a loss. Tell us all how much longer that business model can be sustained. Switched from GS3 to iPhone 5 not bashing Samsung its just apple works out better for me but I do miss the bigger screen Sent from the iMore App I have been an Android fanboy since the Droid X and still to this day I am an editor for an Android website. Having said that, I'm very happy with my iPhone 5 and may upgrade to an 5 S when it comes out. I got the Galaxy S 3 thinking that it would be all that I needed, but the radios were not strong enough to deal with the somewhat flaky signal at my home. The phone was constantly dropping LTE and switching to 1X. It's a nightmare. So I got an iPhone 5 in February and I've not looked back. The hotspot and data work perfectly and I've kinda grown to love the simplicity of not having to tweak a billion settings for my phone to work. While I've sacrificed some customizations and miss widgets on my home screen, but the fact that my iPhone keeps a steady LTE signal makes up for all the shortfalls of the iOS platform. Also I now love iMessage. My wife took the S3 and I'm upgrading her to a S4, hopefully the Samsung radios will be better on the new S4, however having had the S3 and the GNex disappoint me, I don't have high hopes for it working well at my home location. We will see. I do know quite a few people that went from iPhone 4 to the S4, which makes sense considering how old the iPhone 4 is now, so I wonder how accurate the numbers in this survey are. Sent from the iMore App re: "...3 times as many Samsung users switch to iPhone than the other way around" And those who switch from iPhone to Samscum are low-value users anyway. The ones with few iTunes / App Store purchases and little or no data in iCloud. Apple doesn't need them all that much anyway. Buh bye. There's no hard numbers to give you an idea of what this percentage indicates. It's just like cancer rate increases: 25% more likely of having an already 0.00001% chance! gasp The transfer rate of 33% vs 11% could be relative only to their own numbers within their ecosystems, i.e. 100 from Samsung to Apple, but 1000 Apple to Samsung. I was with android since the g1. Had the entire galaxy line (s-s4) plus 3 Moto phones. Plus 4 tabs. I got tired of foreclosing of every app plus a lot of apps being serious data hogs. So back in June I traded in all my android phones for the iPhone 5 ipad4 iPad mini and COULD NOT BE HAPPIER. A polished ui no shitty apps and great devices. ESP signal service. There is no comparison between radios on apple to any android phones. So i don't understand why android users are on here. Sent from the iMore App I got the 4S and the Galaxy S3. As for tablets, I got the Mini iPad and the Samsung Tab 3. As for 4S vs. Galaxy S3 it goes like this. I love how the S3 has an Micro SD drive and plugging it to the PC via USB is so easy and convenient, like a portable hard drive. Bypassing iTunes is a huge advantage. I hate iTunes for its cumbersomeness. Also, with Samsung flat screens being everywhere and the best, yet another good reason to have a Samsung smart phone for its All Share or mirroring capability. Having said that, setting alarm and taking notes on Samsung is just a lot slower and less intuitive. Apple still gets the job done faster, I guess less menus and less custom settings also means faster basic tasks. Apple's build quality is also better but sometimes when you touch the phone while its being charged sends you some mild electric current buzz on your fingers. This doesn't happen on plasticky Samsung. Again, a plus can be a minus sometimes and vice versa. As for tablets, hands down the Tab 3 beats the Mini. For obvious reason is Flash player, enough said. Secondly, I can download Torrent straight to my Tab 3 memory or SD card memory up to extra 64 GB, using Torrent App and Kickass Torrent App, awesome. I no longer need to download on PC, copy to phone through iTunes and takes half-a-day. Being able to download and save is a huge plus on the Tab 3, can't do it on the Mini. And I don't like to jail break or do any other weird hacks to be able to do something on the iPhone/iPad which is basically a ready function on the Samsung Phone/Tab 3. If Apple doesn't improve its product or open it up a bit more, its going to suffer the Macintosh fate back in the days, when Windows just plain ate it up in the open market because of open compatibility. This is what I feel with Tab 3, it really does everything. You can even copy and move files from Tab 3 memory to the SD card and vice versa, like on a computer. You can download subtitles for movies, unzip them with an app, copy it into movie folder, and voila, all without having to sync through a computer or at the mercy of iTunes and its never-ending updates and lags. So what's my conclusion, Apple is pretty but high maintenance and picky, sorta' like a hot girl who's high maintenance. Samsung is the girl next door, cool with anything, doesn't cost as much, but then again doesn't wow you, but makes your life easy. Less drama. I have been an apple customer for 5 years. I own iPhones, iPads, Apple TV, and a Mac. The products are great but apple is greedy. They cut out google so they can control and make money off of the maps. They refuse to incorporate flash even though many websites still use it. But most importantly they refuse to put out innovative products. Everything for the last few years is an incremental upgrade. Remember when the first iPad didn't have a camera? But it had an empty spot in it where the iPad2 put the camera. So I was forced to buy the first ipad and then the incremental upgrade. That is greed. Lastly, most people want a bigger screen. Apple knows this but is waiting until demand for its tiny iPhone 5 screen disappears. Then they will force us all to want the bigger screen. that sh..t. I ordered a samsung galaxy note 3 with the galaxy gear watch. Apple will no longer fool me into spending money every year on one incremental upgrade. Thanks for all the fun years apple. I am switching to Samsung. Hi Shervin and how has your experience with Samsung been, now that you have switched to the watch and note 3? Thanks for your reply. I'm think of switching and researching Well the fact that my new Samsung phone sent me an alert to reply to your comment is impressive. My iPhone never did that. To answer your question: The bigger screen is amazing. When I hold my wife's iPhone 5 I can't believe how tiny the print is. Everything pops out and feels alive on the note 3. It functions completely differently than an iPhone tthough.My brain has become accustomed to using the iPhone for so many years that I find myself struggling to get things done as fast. For instance the keyboard. There are no real keys on an iPhone or note 3. It's wherever your brain feels the keys should be. So I'm just relearning with the note 3. Also there is a lag with almost everything the note does vs. Iphone. If I press an icon it takes a split second longer on the note. So if you're used to the iPhone sometimes I end up pressing something twice because I didn't think it registered and it will open up whatever it was two times. I still haven't found an easy solution to get all my songs from iTunes to my note 3. Also there is another greedy thing Apple has done to sabotage people from switching. With i0s7 they made it that if someone switches to any other type of phone then people with iPhone will continue sending texts via imessage to me. My note 3 only receives sms texts. So I do not receive texts from people who have iphones. I have to ask them to go into their phone settings and remove imessage and replace with sms when texting me. I know some people who thought their Samsung was broken and returned it to go back to iPhone just for that reason. It's Apple greed and being sneaky. The galaxy gear watch is wonderful for me. I love the way it looks and feels. If you love gadgets then it will suit you. It is still a very basic peace of technology and some people hate it. I love it. I grew up watching Knight Rider as a kid and always wanted to talk to my watch! And I am in no way a nerd. I just love technology. The cool thing about buying new stuff these days is you can always sell it online for half of what you paid so you don't lose too much if you hate it or get an upgrade the next year. I love my note 3 and galaxy gear. I'm hating Apple more everyday for the lack of innovation. Samsung shows the courage to put out a product even at the risk of people hating it. I commend them for that and recommend them highly. Dear Shervin, many thanks for your detailed reply. Much appreciated. I don't hate Apple or Samsung...I see their difference and for e.g. the fact that my message came to your Samsung is a matter of setting this in this portal not the phone. Also the iMessage issue you mentioned in also users lack of knowledge as you can set it to send as normal text if iMessage doesn't function and if you don't have iMessage activated then the text sends as normal SMS ..but thee are minor.I'm quite a gadget freak-ette and know my way around new technologies etc - I have been trying out the GNote3 and have found it frustrating as you say - even for me who loves to change settings and set everything to be different and custom for me, I find it difficult to navigate, but as you say it is a matter of re-learning. I'm "glad" you also mentioned the lag as I have noticed that as well, and 1-2 apps crashed when I was working with them....I know Apple is a closed-environment and I do enjoy it - thing really work and work seamlessly, so I'm hesitant to change (the phone only) Customers that find out later that it is a closed environment simply haven't done their home-work before investing (-; One last thing, what I am really impressed with in the GNote3 is the crispness and clarity of the display - blew me away! And yes, Apple is lagging behind in innovation the result for me? I will keep 'testing' for a while...but am more "not convinced" to switch at the moment. Again, many thanks for your time you spend on your reply! Enjoy your Ssamsung experience. Cheers! Marketa
While the recession might make some businesses wonder if they can afford to implement green and sustainable initiatives, others are making an entire business out of them. Several Inc 500\|5000 companies owe their growth to keeping stuff -- theirs or yours -- out of landfills, while some find or use renewable energy sources to power business and offer sustainability. It's a sign of sustainability's increasing migration to the mainstream that these companies are but a tiny sample of those on this year's list that could be considered "green." "Companies that aren't doing anything or are cutting back due to the downturn are going to be that much more behind," says Ted Ning, director of LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability), a social community for the segment of the population focused on health and fitness, the environment, personal development, sustainable living, and social justice. "What we are facing is limited resources. If people are using virgin materials constantly, and not implementing anything in terms of reusing or repurposing, the cost of those virgin materials is going to increase due to scarcity. Consequently, the end product will be more expensive." Ning calls this "ecoflation," -- a scenario that forecasts a drop in earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of 19 percent to 47 percent by 2018 for fast-moving consumer-goods companies that do not develop strategies to offset the risks posed by environmental concerns, according to the World Resources Institute. But a number of companies on this year's Inc. 500\|5000 list aren't waiting for the scenario to play out. Indeed, they are at the heart of the green business movement. Here's a look at some of most innovative: Liberty Tire Recycling, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, No. 1508 Liberty Tire Recycling has kept 100 million rubber tires from landfills -- or the equivalent of 25 percent of the country's annual scrapped tires, according to the Rubber Manufacturers Association. Crumb rubber is turned into artificial turf, playground surfacing, doormats, and mulch. Another big market is tire-derived fuel, which is clean-burning, with a higher BTU than coal, and is used to run power and other industrial plants. The company's major customer, Marshall, Texas-based TieTek, which produces composite railroad ties, is slated to switch all of Chicago's railroad crossties, the planks of wood on either side of the rails, from wooden to Liberty's recycled rubber. Eco-Products, Boulder, Colorado, No. 270 You won't find Eco-Products' cups, cutlery, and food containers in landfill -- or if you do, they won't be there for long. The products are certified compostable, which means that 90 percent of the material will disintegrate within 120 days and will leave no toxic residue, as defined by the Biodegradable Products Institute. The company sells to Google, Busch Gardens, and Disney and just launched its first retail line, Green Stripe, in 126 Kruger's stores, according to CEO Steve Savage. Solar panels at Eco-Products' headquarters provide 80 percent of the building's power needs. Flipswap, Torrance, California, No. 81 Flipswap, founded in 2004 by brothers Sohrob, Cyrus and Rahmeen Farudi along with Edo Cohen and Andrew Berman, has collected over 1 million cell phones. The cell phones mostly come through retailers that collect old phones when a customer gets an upgrade, and through an online free-shipping rebate program for consumers. Still, that's a far cry from the 150 million phones that turn over every year in the United States alone, and the 900 million sitting in drawers or improperly disposed of. If Flipwap could get at those, Sohrob says, it could attract larger customers that want big numbers of the same phone model. For now, it resells 98 percent of the phones it collects, mostly to retailers in China, South America, and South Africa -- places where a used but still fancy iPhone is a status symbol, even if it doesn't have a working data plan. For every phone Flipswap can't resell, it plants a tree through American Forest's Global ReLeaf program. TexasCarpetRecycling.com, Grapevine, Texas, No. 2240 In 2007, after Corporate Floors had been pouring floors and installing carpet for businesses for 13 years, a client asked that its old carpet not end up in landfill. CEO Thomas Holland says he wanted to accommodate, but couldn't find anywhere to send commercial carpet. So he created TexasCarpetRecycling.com, diverting 1,500 tons of carpet from landfills in 2008. The company is on track to double that this year. The service will take any carpet, in any condition and with any type of backing. About half can be reused as carpets, and some are ground into pellets to power cement kilns. The FruitGuys, San Francisco, No. 2001 Sustainability is in the The FruitGuys' DNA. The business started in 1998, says CEO Chris Mittelstadt, when he called up his friends working in offices in San Francisco and said, "What do you guys need?" They complained of sitting on their butts all day and eating chocolate and soda from the vending machines. When Chris and his team started showing up with fresh seasonal produce from local growers, eventually they started hearing, "The fruit guys are here!" In 2004, after the dot-com crash, a lot of his former customers had dispersed across the country, and wanted to keep getting fruit deliveries. The FruitGuys have now set up hubs in Chicago and Philadelphia to serve more customers without having to ship products more than a couple hundred miles. Source Technologies, Albuquerque, No. 247 Daniel Sandoval had 12 years' experience working on waste fuel technologies for other companies, but now, as the CEO of Source Technologies, he can also be considered, at least in part, as a matchmaker. Source Technologies has developed patented technology to convert toxic gas into a source of renewable energy. The company is able to match big power users to the waste products that can fuel them. For its biggest customer, Frito-Lay, Source Technologies purchased the gas rights to a landfill not far from its client's Rosenberg, Texas, plant, built a landfill gas-to-energy facility, and constructed a six-mile pipeline connecting it to Frito-Lay's operations, which are now powered solely by this waste fuel source. Dave Haft, vice president of sustainability for Frito-Lay, says his company's renewable energy policies have resulted in reductions in natural gas use by 30 percent, electricity by 25 percent, and water by 50 percent, all by pound of produced product, in the last 10 years. Without those reductions, Frito-Lay would be spending $50 million more this year on those resources. StarchTech, Minneapolis, No. 2577 "We basically took a Cheeto and reformulated it,' says Ed Boehmer, CEO of StarchTech, a company that produces biodegradable packing peanuts made from renewable resources. StarchTech packing peanuts are made from the byproducts of corn starch and are cheaper and easier to make and transport than polystyrene peanuts. The best part? Once a package arrives safely, the peanuts can be dissolved in water. A condensed version of the peanuts can be shipped in mass to retailers and puffed on-site to shipping size, using a desktop-sized extruding machine. Alltech, Lexington, Kentucky, No. 3598 Dr. Pearse Lyons, who founded Alltech in 1980, thinks highly of animal health, especially that of livestock: Livestock health correlates very closely to the rest of the ecosystem's health, since they are our food, they compete for our food, and they contribute nutrient runoff, solid waste, and methane to the environment. Alltech manufactures natural ingredients for use in animal, alcohol, and food production, mainly animal feed supplements. The company recently teamed up with Goshen, Cali.-based feed maker O.H. Kruse to develop and launch Green Feed, the company's first whole feed rather than a feed supplement. The horse feed uses locally available ingredients, has minimal grain content in order to use less of the global food supply, contains the optimal amount of supplements to decrease the nutrient content wasted into manure and reduce the risk of groundwater contamination, and is sold in bags made of recyclable materials and printed with soy-based ink. Lyons' goal is for Alltech to be Kentucky's third 'super-brand' -- after Kentucky Fried Chicken and Muhammad Ali.
Think things are jam packed on the Internet already? Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants to make it even worse. His consortium of handset vendors, network infrastructure companies, and browser firm Opera say they have signed on to a vision of connecting the roughly two-thirds of the planet not already online. Sound good? Not to a great many critics. Bloomberg's editors wrote: "And, as always with Facebook, the wondrous free benefits come with a catch. Or two catches, in this case." Jillian York, a director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told Huffington Post, "I don't think this is Internet as a human right, I think it's Facebook as a human right." Oddly enough, the great humanitarian impulse of Zuckerberg sounds as though it will heavily benefit Facebook in the long run. It's not that what he did was inherently wrong or unprecedented. Many tech companies have talked about making technology available to some group or other in a way that was actually an attempt to seed the market. For example, Apple has been extremely successful in the past in offering steep educational discounts. The intended effect, though, was to get matriculating students accustomed to Apple hardware, increasing the possibility that they would push for its adoption when in the workforce. Microsoft has done the same thing for years with its software and now has begun to offer free Surface RT tablets to schools. (That wouldn't have anything to do with the massive write-off of RT hardware, as you might as well give it away if people aren't buying.); Google is offering free Internet in the cities where it builds a high-speed infrastructure. Of course, there would be all that valuable user data going right to the company. The basic idea is old. Henry Ford did a variation in which he paid his factory workers much better than the going wage. Why? If they didn't make enough, they'd never buy his cars. There's something to be said for organically enabling people to become customers. But too often, companies like Facebook are ham-handed about the process. It's one thing to enable people to eventually become your customers. It's another to try to spin what is essentially a business move into a humanitarian purpose. Even if your intentions are honorable, few will ever believe you.
Shop Talk: CEOs search for the right technology Choosing the right network may be the most important technology decision you make Royal Construction's computer setup was getting to be a royal pain in the you-know-what. In the spring of 1998, the $4-million company, which is based in Eau Claire, Wis., had strung together its three computers and a printer in a Microsoft Windows "peer-to-peer" network -- an arrangement whereby each device was connected to the next by a cable. The design was supposed to enable each user to view files on the others' hard drives and to print documents from his or her desk. But after six months, the system still wasn't working properly, so the staff returned to its old system, a "sneaker net," copying the desired file onto a diskette and running it over to the one computer that was connected directly to the printer. Even more of a nuisance to Royal Construction's owner and CEO, Tim Pabich, was what he had to go through to check on the status of an account. "I'd have to ask Cheryl, our bookkeeper, to check for me," he says, noting that the account files resided on her hard drive. "She'd then have to print all that out, or I'd have to go look at her screen." Something had to be done -- and Pabich didn't feel that it was fair to ask the company's regular IT troubleshooter, a friend of his, to take on such a big project. So instead the CEO grilled his colleagues and combed through the yellow pages in search of networking consultants. The few who seemed appropriate were brought into the office. "I basically threw my hands up in the air and asked them, 'What do I need? What hardware? What software? Do we need to start over?' " says Pabich. He ultimately went with a small-business reseller called Computer Business Solutions (CBS), which is also based in Eau Claire. The reason? The CEO felt that CBS was the only consultant that took the time to understand his situation by asking him about things like the type of software he was running and his plans for the future. "The others just were not asking me questions about how much I knew or what my needs were," recalls Pabich. Pabich also appreciated the way CBS network specialist Dan Gharrity helped him increase his knowledge about Royal Construction's needs so that he could evaluate the consultants' proposals better. Gharrity pointed out how relevant Royal Construction's growth plans were to the selection of a network, for example. And whereas proposals from other consultants consisted of a laundry list of applications with a lump-sum price tag, Gharrity's provided individual price breakouts and indications of which applications were essential and which were of the "wish list" variety and could be implemented later. Gharrity created a three-step plan. First, he upgraded the computers' operating system, replacing the old Microsoft Windows 3.1 with Windows 95. He also exchanged the bookkeeper's Pentium 100MHz computer for a more robust Pentium II 266MHz model. Since the company's most important data were stored on the bookkeeper's hard drive, it was crucial that her computer be more powerful than the others. Second, he replaced the varied generic network cards in the computers with 3Com cards. In order to be linked together with cables, computers must have network cards inside them. And brand homogenization would simplify the maintenance of the system by making it much easier to troubleshoot problems. Error codes would be consistent across the system, for example, rather than a jumble of numbers that took time to decipher. And third, Gharrity changed the "topology," or design, of the network from a ring configuration to a star configuration. While a ring design is fine for a small network and has the added benefit of being less expensive to implement because of lower cabling costs, it's more vulnerable to crashes. Like a string of Christmas-tree lights, computers and other devices in a ring configuration are dependent on one another: if one locks up, the entire network goes down. In a star topology, on the other hand, each device is connected to a central piece of equipment called a hub. If a cable connecting a particular device to the hub is damaged or somehow incapacitated, then only that device is affected. Gharrity started Royal Construction with a four-port hub, which allows up to four devices to be linked in the network. About two weeks after CBS had come to the rescue, Royal Construction's new network was up and running. Pabich was ecstatic about the time it was saving him. "I could now do my own editing of estimates," he says. "In the past, we had to pass hard copies with my handwritten comments on them back and forth three times." And the star design, with its resistance to breakdowns and its faster transmissions, not only kept the network up and running but also allowed users to open and use files much more quickly -- benefits that enabled Pabich to finally use Timberline's Gold Collection, an accounting package designed specifically for the construction industry. Sure, there were some glitches in the plan's implementation. For one, a miscommunication led to Pabich's purchasing a Hewlett-Packard printer that was incompatible with the new network. With some configuring, Gharrity did get it to work, but he replaced it as soon as he could with an Okidata printer. "I've learned it's not going to run smoothly right away," says Pabich. "I remember being pretty frustrated as we switched to this new system. But Dan was very responsive as we got the bugs worked out." In the end, the pain and the $13,000 investment were worth it. "We can probably now handle 25% to 30% more jobs with the same number of people," says Pabich. As the superstition goes, if you break a mirror, you're in for seven years of bad luck. For Kirkegaard & Associates, a $2.8-million architectural-acoustics consulting company based in Chicago, a "broken" mirrored hard drive on its server resulted in bad luck of a more concentrated variety: a network shutdown and a bill for $7,000. The price tag included some $5,800 in consulting fees to diagnose and fix the mirroring (a setup in which any action taken on a file on one hard drive -- whether it's created, changed, or deleted -- is simultaneously replicated on another drive) and, finally, $1,200 for a new mirrored hard drive and other parts. But those numbers don't begin to reflect the loss in productivity that Kirkegaard & Associates experienced. "When the system was down, we had to resort to faxing clients instead of using E-mail," says founder and president R. Lawrence Kirkegaard. "Also, our employees had to go to the office's backup tape to retrieve the files they were working on. That all worked, but it increased the time it took to get the work done." The company's Novell Netware client/server network hadn't always been so troublesome. In a client/server setup, all the key files are stored on a "server," which is essentially a desktop on steroids. Employees work on the files locally, on their own computers (or "clients"), but save them on the server. The server can also carry out numerous other officewide functions, such as handling E-mail, backing up files, and hosting additional applications. As you might imagine, a server can receive a lot of use -- though it often may bear no visible signs of wear and tear. Unfortunately for Kirkegaard & Associates, says company associate Scott Pfeiffer, an acoustics expert and computer maven whom Kirkegaard eventually turned to for IT advice, the consultant who'd set up the company's network had skimped on the server: he'd used a Dell Optiplex, which is designed to be a desktop computer, instead of using a more robust model. Although using a desktop computer as a server is not unreasonable if you've got a limited budget, it generally means less RAM and a weaker power supply and cooling system. With Kirkegaard & Associates' server crammed with five hard drives instead of the two it could optimally handle, says Pfeiffer, the cooling system was definitely being stressed. Sure enough, the server -- specifically, the hard drive that housed the company's network software -- overheated and failed about a year after it was installed. Downtime was not supposed to be an issue, though, because the hard drive was mirrored, which meant that an exact replica of the software ensconced on it, including all changes and updates, was being maintained, in real time, on another hard drive. But tell that to the Optiplex. The first time the server failed, in 1996, says Pfeiffer, a new consultant concluded that the system had never been properly mirrored in the first place. The second time it failed -- more than two years later -- the mirroring was intact but the company had to call in yet a third consultant to get it started again. And the third time -- well, Kirkegaard wasn't about to let it happen a third time. "From an overall economic standpoint, it was time for us to make the move," he says. The president was ready to begin a major search to find long-term consulting help to upgrade the entire network. Having learned firsthand not to go on paper credentials alone, Pfeiffer decided to take a kind of test approach in assessing IT talent. "The idea was to bring in a consultant and get him to work on a small-project-to-small-project basis," says Pfeiffer, referring to such projects as adding a color printer and fixing a computer that constantly crashed. "Once we were confident that he was good at what he did, we would then consider him for the big work." The added benefit was that consultants could learn about the system while they were doing their job, so that a costly needs analysis could be eliminated. "Every consultant we talked to said that he wanted to conduct a needs analysis, which would cost us about $2,500. But we didn't want to spend a few thousand dollars to find out that we didn't like the consultant or his recommendations," says Pfeiffer. Three consulting companies and several projects later, Pfeiffer found a good fit with the people at EMO Computer Products, a computer-services company based in Naperville, Ill. To get going, Pfeiffer bought the hardware setup that had been recommended by EMO: a Hewlett-Packard NetServer (it holds 256MB of RAM compared with the maximum 128MB of the Dell desktop) that was equipped with level 5 of redundant array of independent disks, or RAID. With RAID, a real-time copy of a hard drive is "striped," or duplicated across multiple hard drives, so that any one hard drive can completely fail and the server will continue to work without a hitch. Moreover, the hard drives were "hot swappable," which meant that any of them could be pulled out of the server without first having to shut the thing down. Most important, the server had a cooling system that was equipped to cool up to 12 drives. Pfeiffer was able to save $1,500 to $2,000 on the equipment by going through CDW, based in Vernon Hills, Ill., a mail-order computer reseller with much greater buying power than EMO. He bought the equipment and had it shipped to EMO's offices. Now he was ready to wrestle with software choices. The 3.12 version of Novell Netware that the company was running couldn't be easily maintained remotely and was Y2K incompatible. Pfeiffer considered two options: getting a later version of the Novell software (he'd already nixed the idea of installing patches) or switching over to the popular Microsoft NT platform. "The world said NT, but my experience with Novell was so good -- the software hadn't failed once during the past four years -- that I was reluctant to change," he explains. When EMO dug up a small-business version of the Novell software -- Netware 4.2 -- that addressed the company's concerns and was less costly to implement than either NT or the full-blown upgrade of Netware, Pfeiffer decided to stick with what was tried and true. EMO then began installing the system, a process that took two months. All told, Kirkegaard & Associates spent about $16,000 on the upgrade, with a little more than half of that amount going for equipment from CDW. (Pfeiffer also bought a superfast digital-linear-tape, or DLT, drive to replace the company's DAT backup drive.) The rest went for software and services from EMO. As of this writing, the new network has been in place for only five months. But the improvements in productivity at the company have been noteworthy. For starters, the increased capacity of the server means that it has to be cleaned out far less often, leaving staff members more time to concentrate on their clients. "Before, everyone was slowed down since they had to be involved in the decision making as to which files would be deleted or would stay," says Kirkegaard. And, of course, there's the peace of mind that the new server brings. Mie-Yun Lee is the editorial director and founder of BuyersZone, an Internet-buying service that features expert purchasing advice and tools for small and midsize businesses. You can conduct your own search for a network at Sandra Boncek contributed to this article.
Understandably, with the recent recession and anemic economic growth, many employers are looking at ways to reduce costs. Oftentimes, employee perks are the first cuts to improve margins. Don't do it. Here's why. I just spent Saturday at the eighth annual Beryl Health Family Day. We brought our employees and their families together to spend the day enjoying face painting, rock climbing, fishing, bingo, softball games, balloon hats, a "ranch Olympics," and some delicious barbecue. Close to 800 people attended, and we spent thousands of dollars to support it. Could those dollars have been saved and applied directly to our bottom line? Sure. But dollars were invested wisely on the bounce house and lemonade because of the dynamic returns we'll get. Here are five ways I know the company picnic pays off: 1. It shows commitment. Employees are aware of the sluggish economy and notice other employers are cutting back. By sticking with beloved events, even in tough times, our employees return that devotion right back to us each day they come through our doors. 2. It breaks down walls. We work hard all year long and build up natural silos between departments. But when the manager of a different department is in the batter's box hitting for your assistant's team, he can't help but root for her. We're building camaraderie, and connections. 3. We support families. Don't underestimate the value of being loved by the little ones—not just because it's a joy to see the smiles of hundreds of kids. When those children leave our picnic, they can talk about the great place that mommy and daddy work. Bridging the relationship between work and family means as a company we have hundreds of chicken-nugget eating, homework-doing champions waiting for our employees to come home. 4. We inspire gratitude. The appreciation I witness from all employees who attend these events is heartwarming and affirms our purpose. They know we don't have to do it, and are thankful. And that encourages employee loyalty and continued hard work. 5. I feel rewarded. I admit, there's one more personal payoff. Family Day is one of only a couple of times each year that I can look around and see hundreds of smiling faces all at the same time and take pride that it wouldn't have happened without our company. Nothing beats 800 people enjoying something you poured your heart into. I mean it. Think twice before you cut the company picnic, or events like it. Invest in smiles (and lots of sunscreen), and you'll get the financial and emotional reward.
Fan Fictions Fan Fictions Fan Fictions Adi/Mets UnExpected Ch 13 Up! PyaarSe IF-Sizzlerz Joined: 08 October 2006 Posts: 11440 Posted: 11 September 2007 at 3:37pm \| IP Logged Adi & Maithili FF – Unexpected CH 1 – Exchange Favors Vikram Aditiya Mehra aka Adi hurries through the hallways of his college. He needs to get out of there right now before… "Ditching class again?" says a nearby shadow. A young womam appears out of the darkness as she steps into the afternoon sunlight. Great. This is not at all what I need right now. "Is staying put in class too much for your teeny brain to handle Adi!" Arrgghh. This woman. "I thought you were going to try to avoid making my life hell, especially after all the help I gave you with your …." Before she could finish, Adi rushes past her. "Hey! Adi!" running after him. She grabs a hold of his arm. "What's wrong?" her voice full of genuine concern. "Let go Maithili! Lecture me later. Right now I have to get home. Mama needs me." Without throwing another glance her way, Adi walks off. Maithili is left feeling like an idiot. She and Adi had traveled a lot since their earlier days of complete and utter indifference for each other. They had, dare she say, become close to being friends, but they still maintained the fun bickering that had existed in their past relationship. Before when Maithili had stopped Adi thinking that he was cutting class again, she was doing just that. She was being blunt with Adi and thus, fighting with him because that's what they did probably because both of them still irritated each other, affected each other, clashed with each other. They never held anything back from each other. When they get along, they really get along. When they have fun hanging out, they really have fun. And when they fight, they really fight. "Oh god. He should have said something before I mouthed off," she whispers in the empty hallway and walks away. * * * "Uncle! Where's Ma?!" Adi storms into his mansion of a home. Mr. Suresh Mehra comes downstairs and calmly points upstairs. Adi rushes up the stairs and bursts open his mom's room door. "Hi beta," weakly replies his mom with a smile. "Oh my god, Ma. You see me, you can talk to me. Oh my god," he hugs her tightly. "All thanks to Ms. Janki." All thanks to someone else too. * * * "Hey Adi!" Maithili comes out of the library doors and power walks towards Adi. "Maithili," he says sternly. "Look, I'm sorry about yesterday. I didn't know.." Puts out his right hand to signal her to stop, " Listen. I owe you ok. I owe you big. My mom's all better now," the sparkle in his voice returns as he says that. "What? Wow! I'm so happy for you Adi!" "And since I don't want to have to owe you for life. I will do something for you." "Come on Adi. You don't owe me. I just convinced Ms. Janki Devi to help, that's all. The person you really owe is her, not me." "But I can't really show her how much her help meant other than just saying thank you over and over again. But with you, I can do better," he says while smirking. "And what would this something be that you want to help me with," folds her arms in response to his smirk. "Come on Mets," putting his arm around her shoulder, "use your own brain for once." She elbows him in the chest. "Ok. Ok," takes his hand off her. "Adi, I am doing great. I don't need help with anything. Your undying gratitude will be payment enough," smiling sweetly at him. "Hell no. I know you Ms. Maithili and you are no angel. More like an angel-looking devil who will pressure me to do something embarrassing as payback." She laughs lightly. "So before you do anything like that, I will help you with a certain crush you have. Can't say much for choice, but …" Maithili shoots daggers at him with her eyes and stops his speech midway. "To win Pranay, I don't need you." "Oh yes you do. More than you know," turns around to see Pranay coming up the stairs. Adi sees Pranay look at them and so he decides to put his proposition into action right then. Maithili follows Adi's glance and is about to say hi to Pranay when something strange happens. Adi comes close to her and kisses her on the cheek. "I'll call you tonight sweety!" Adi says loudly as he walks down the crowded hallway. Still a little in shock, "Sweety! Vikram Aditiya Mehra come back here!" she runs after him not even realizing that she had left her "crush" alone without saying a word. CH 2 – Um…Help? The volume inside Adi's car continues to escalate as the two people sitting inside it keep on arguing like an old married couple. "Adi, no," Maithili says firmly. "Come on Mets! The plan is already in motion. Did you see Pranay's face after I kissed you?" Adi starts laughing as he reminisces about the much-loved event. I …didn't. Why didn't I look at Pranay? I did not even acknowledge his presence. Oh god. Stupid Adi! If he was not there to distract me, I would have been nicer to Pranay. Idiot, it's all his fault… "Kahaan ho aap?" Adi waves his hand in front of Maithili's face. Maithili, in reaction to her thoughts, slaps Adi's arm. "Ow! What was that for?" tends to his bruised arm. "For being….," she's lost for words. "Haan … being what," pushing her forward. "You. For being you," exhales deeply. Maithili, in frustration, gets out of the car and begins walking. She stops after just getting a few yards away. "Um…excuse me, miss?" Adi sticks his head out of the driver's side window. "Where do you think you are going to get at your speed?" She doesn't even need to turn around to know that Adi's signature smirk is spread across his face. Maybe I'll smash that prized face of his. Well, after he drives me home. I certainly am not going to walk home. Stomping her way back, Maithili sits back on the passenger seat. "Listen. Just so we're clear," turns her head to face Adi's grin. "I could have taken a taxi home." "Oh, yeah. Of course. Of course you could have," saying without meaning it. "And I'm seriously. I don't want your help," folds her arms and turns back to look at the road. "Why's that," Adi starts the car and gets out of the college parking lot and onto the main road. "Afraid that you will really fall for me?" looks briefly at Maithili and gives her a wink. "Ha! Tumare sapno main! You know what Adi, fine. Help me." "What was that? Someone pleading for help. Ok, I will help you Maithili with your monkey face of a friend as long as you stop begging, I will... Ouch!" Maithili had driven her fist into his leg. "Maithili! I'm driving!" "Then you should keep your mouth shut, no?" smiling devilishly at him. God, she was an exhausting creature. * * * "Hey Ma," Adi throws his keys on the table and goes to hug his mom on the couch. "Hi beta. How was college?" "Don't know, magar masti was there," smiling innocently. "Can I meet her?" "Huh?" Adi looks utterly confused. "Your recent girlfriend. I want to know what she is like. Your cousin told me that you have finally found someone special," Adi's mom smiles. Adi regains control of his dropped jaw. "Sharvan? He told you," his hands turn into fists. "Haan, just a few minutes ago." I'll handle that punk later, but right now how am I going to deal with this. I can't disappoint Ma. Who will I bring over? Who… A light bulb goes off inside Adi's head. "Ok Ma. I'll bring that special someone. You are going to love her," a naughty smirk appears on Adi's face. * * * " So sorry Mets. Mama asked and I…" "You said my name?! Kyun?" she narrows her eyes at him. You have to ask. It's payback for those pesky little slaps you keep giving me. Coming out of his thoughts, "I don't know. Maybe because I had just been hanging out with you before Mama asked me," Adi pretends to be deep in thought. "Bullshit. Paagal ho kya. You have thousands of girlfriends to choose from." "Woh to hai," smiles and daydreams about his various girlfriends. "Exactly. You could have said so many other girl's names," rolls her eyes. "But silly little me didn't say their names, I said your name," points at her. Sighs slowly, "No," turns to walk away. "Maithili please!" Adi falls down on his knees and puts his hands together for effect. "Adi, I said," sees him on the floor and realizes that everyone in the hallway was looking at them. "Adi! Get up," rushes to him. "First say yes," sniffs loudly. "Arrggh…Yeh lalka. Fine, yes. Now get up!" "Of course my princess," immediately stands up and grabs Maithili's hand. "If you kiss my hand, I will slap you so badly that nani ki yaad …" Adi automatically drops her hand. "As you wish sweetheart. I am your humble servant," gives her a bow. Maithili walks away before Adi could continue to embarrass her in front of their peers. "This is going to be fun," smiling to himself. CH 3 – Getting Ready Maithili stands looking at herself in the full length mirror that lies in her bedroom. She is wearing a black long sleeve Indian suit that she believes is just the kind of conservative dressing needed when meeting your "boyfriend's" parents. As she spins around in front of the mirror to give herself one last look, an unseen figure smirks outside her window. "Absolutely no!" Maithili turns around to see Adi climbing through her window. Complete shock spreads across her face and anger also manages to creep its way in. "ADI! Get out! What if I had been changing?!" "What if indeed," raises an eyebrow. "You," narrows her eyes, "how did you get up here…," she walks up to him and looks out her window. Turning back around to stare him dead in the face, "A ladder!" "Shhhh….," he goes and locks her room, "do you want us to get caught?" "Us?! Arrgh… where did you get a ladder from? No, HOW did you get it here?" she puts her hands on her hips. He's taken back by her attitude, "Uff …tumhara gussa. You look so good in anger." Adi pretends to grab his heart while Maithili rolls her eyes. "Adi," she says with a snap in order to capture his attention. He laughs lightly and answers, "I dragged it here," flexes his biceps. "You live more than 5 miles away," folds her arms. Putting his arm down, "Ok so I paid someone to carry it for me," jumps face down on her bed. Maithili rushes to him and tries to pull him off her bed. "Adi…get…off," she says in between breaths. Shaking his head like a little kid, "Five more minutes mommy. Do you know how tiring it is to pay someone to carry a ladder for you?" Maithili finally gives up and Adi turns so that his back now faces the bed. "You could have come through the front door." "But where's the fun in that. Oh yeah and you are not wearing," points his finger at her clothes, "that." Maithili looks down at the dress it had taken hours to decide upon. "Kya! This is perfect. Classy, conservative, …." He jumps off her bed and puts his hands up to motion her to stop, "Ok bahenji magar-." "Bahenji?!" the color red flashes across her eyes. "No, no, no," he runs around her room as she chases after him with a ruler she grabs off her desk. "No, no, Mets listen," he steps onto her bed with his hands up like a guilty criminal. Adi feels a sharp pain on his ankle. "Take your shoes off!" Maithili aims for Adi's other ankle but he's too quick for her. In what seems like less than a second, Adi gets off the bed, takes the ruler from Maithili and bends her arm behind her back. "Look firecracker," he whispers into her ear. Maithili tries to hit him with her other free arm but Adi drops the ruler from his hand and uses his newly free arm to stop her hand. "Let go! And stop talking into my ear!" "Kyun? Kuch kuch hota hai," deliberately speaks directly into her ear. "Adi, my feet are still free," says calmly, "and if you want to protect the precious members of your body who are very delicate, I would suggest that you let me go." In an instant, Maithili is free from Adi's grip and she turns to see that Adi had taken a book off her desk to use it as a shield around his delicates. Seeing this she can't help but laugh. "Paagal ho tum," he's still holding the book. "So?" folds her arms. "This paagal ki boyfriend kyon idiot hai?" looks knowingly at Adi. "Fine," drops the book, "girlfriend ho so you have to make a good impression." "And this dress will…" "That dress will get you kicked out." Maithili looks confused. "Mama hates anti-modern girls," looks seriously at Maithili. "But I'm not anti-modern," she protests as she throws her hands in the air. "I know that. But that dress says something else," Adi begins walking in a close circle around Maithili. Adi folds his arms and puts his right hand under his chin as he inspects Maithili. This makes Maithili feel unnerved. Stupid. It's his dilemma and I'm only helping him and he is being so mean and he doesn't even care that I put so much time into the dress selection and…why does he have to walk so closely by me! "What does the dress say?" decides to ignore her growing uncomfortability. Adi stops walking and faces her, "Promise me you won't hit me." "Yeah, I promise." "It says… bahenji," covers his head using his hands. Maithili giggles and pinches his side. "Alright, so what should I wear." Adi walks over to her closet and smiles mischievously. "Oh a nice mini-dress should be fine." "What?!" walks up next to him. "I don't owe a mini-dress." "Kya? No way," Adi jokes, "did they get stolen?" "Do you want another hit with that ruler?" Adi immediately closes his laughing mouth and walks out her window and down the ladder. "Adi I was kidding. I'm not going to hit you, I promise. Don't be scared." Maithili is about to pop her head out the window when Adi's head pops back in and he gets in with a bag in his hand. "Who were you talking to? Is there another Adi here because the last thing I am is scared of teeny little you," he comes close to her face and her narrowing eyes. "Shut up. What were you doing down there? You do know we have a bathroom up here right," smirking at him. "Hehehe, very funny," puts the bag on her desk and starts circling her again. "Now what," Maithili says in frustration as she pushes Adi aside, grabs a chair and sits down with her back looking at her desk. "Stupid question but you do know how to dance right?" he walks towards her. "Why? It's just dinner. Not like I'm going to a party, right?" leans back on the chair. Adi's silence and grin speaks volumes to her. "No!" she begins to get out of her chair but Adi blocks her path. He pushes her chair back until its back hits the desk and it has two legs on the floor, two in the air. His face occupies her entire vision as he continues to come close to her. Wha…wha…wha…what the hell's going on? "What are you doing?" "Just testing," he grins on. "You have to be this close to me when we dance and if we are to be boyfriend/girlfriend, this lack of space should not be uncomfortable, should it?" he winks at her. Oh, but it is uncomfortable you moron. "No, it shouldn't," smiles sweetly, "but staring at your ugly face with an inch of space between us is excruciatingly painful." Adi's grin turns flat as he watches Maithili's grin widen. He gently moves away and Maithili is able to breathe normally. What was that Maithili? It's Adi, not Pranay. Why is your heart racing like you just ran 10 miles. "Take this," Adi pulls Maithili out of her dialogue with herself and hands her the bag he brought in. "What is this?" "Your perfect dress to make the perfect first impression on my mom," walks out her window and steps on the ladder. "Ok, now I have to go sweetheart," blows a kiss her way to which Maithili makes an "eww" face. As Adi's smirking face descends down the ladder, Maithili pulls out a black mini-dress from the bag and sets it in front of herself while she looks at the mirror. "ADI!" looks outside her window, "this thing is the size of a hand towel." Adi stops, turns around, starts walking backwards and gazes up at Maithili from the ground. "Oh honey, you will be the talk of the party and Mama will love it. Now be a good girl and put it on." It's too dark to see Adi's face clearly but Maithili knew he was laughing. "I hate you Vikram Aditiya Mehra!" she shouts loudly. "But I love you sweet crazy Maithili!" shouts back the grinning shadow. CH 4 – Party Time "Kamina. What did you think you were doing?" "Hey, I was just spreading what everyone in college is saying," proclaims a defensive Sharvan. Adi looks baffled at his cousin's words. "What are they saying?" "That our player Adi has fallen for the feisty Maithili." "So? Gossip should not be considered fact-" "Wait, wait, wait, bhai-jaan," Sharvan interrupts Adi. "I was there watching your Romeo act," Sharvan falls to his knees and puts his hands together in imitation of Adi. "Saala," Adi is about to kick Sharvan. Quickly getting up, "Hey Adi! You can't hit me at my own birthday party." "You're lucky it's your birthday or you'd be pounded meat right now," he says seriously. Sharvan lets out a laugh. "Oh by the way, where's aunty? I haven-…." Sharvan's mouth stops moving and he seems to be stunned by something. "Yo!" Adi waves his hand in front of his cousin's face. "Kya hua? Seen a ghost?" Sharvan just nods towards the doorway entrance. As soon as Adi turns around, his heart skips a beat and everything goes blank expect for the figure standing not too far away from him. Maithili has entered wearing the black mini-dress that Adi had mischievously given her. She holds on tightly to the long trench coat she had been wearing a minute ago. It was her ticket back inside her house. Adi continues to stare at Maithili and remains in his dream world with his mouth slightly open. Oh God, she looks ……………… At his side, his cousin, looking back and forth from Maithili to Adi, feels like he's in DDLJ's sequel. Noticing movement, Sharvan pushes Adi's jaw up. "She's coming," whispers sideways. "Huh? Kya?" Adi finally comes out of his coma-like state. "I think you should wipe the drool off your face. Most girls don't like that," Sharvan states mockingly. "Ssssshhhh!" Adi hisses at him. Maithili walks towards them with a small smile on her face. The kind of courteous smile one would have at a public gathering, a smile that doesn't have any real connection to the person's actual emotions. As she walks, her dazzling beauty conveys itself in a clearer vision. Adi realizes that her eyes keep diverting themselves to look at the floor. He understands now why he is so mesmerized by Maithili in a mini-dress. It's because she doesn't look like she's trying to show off her beauty like most other girls; she feels awkward and shy in the dress, but on top of that she probably doesn't even realize how stunning she really is. Adi manages to tear his eyes off Maithili for a second just to realize that almost every other man's attention is on her as well. Experiencing an unfamiliar feeling in his gut, Adi pushes his feet to move and meets Maithili halfway. "Hi gorgeous," he gives her his trademark smile. "I would say hi handsome, but I don't want to lie," she retorts back as her hand unconsciously tightens its grip on her coat. "Ok, how about you call me handsome after you fall for me cause you know it's just a matter of time." "I'll call you handsome the day I've gone blind." "Aww, why do you hurt me so, Mets?" places his hand on his chest, "dukh hota hai yaar." (shout out to Amit PaulJ) "Sukh milta hai yaar," mimics Adi's hand gesture. Shifting his focus to Maithili's coat, "You can put that on Mets." "Why? So you can get to tease me for eternity about what a chicken I was. No thanks," moves her head upward to show that she has dignity. "Yaar, I won't. Kasam se," looks affectionately at her. "I'm not a duffer Mr. Vikram Aditya Mehra." "Why don't we discuss the accuracy of that statement later. One thing at a time sweetheart," tries to take the coat out of Maithili's hand. "I said no," tilts her head upward again. "Mets, let me give you some advice about a lot of the guys at this party. They are dogs, actually men in general are dogs." "No argument here," faces Adi, "In fact, I'm looking at a dog right now." "Yes, but I'm a good doggy," winks at her. " 'Woof!' 'Woof!' " Adi tries his hardest to make Maithili laugh but she doesn't relent. "Oh come one Mets. That deserved at least a small chuckle," looks gloomily at her. Maithili remains quiet with her nose in the air. "Wait a minute. You aren't mad at me are you ?!" waiting in anticipation for her response. "Call the press! Adi is not as dumb as he looks. It's unbelievable," Maithili makes a fake shocked face. "Mets I already said I'm sorry-" "Um, when was that? In your dreams," puts her free hand on her hip. Adi realizes his error in speaking and seeks to correct it. "In my heart. Didn't you hear?" looks at her lovingly. "How can I hear your heart when you don't even have one?" "Now that was not cool yaar. Ok, I am really sorry, but I really didn't expect you to wear this," says innocently. "Have we met?" throws her hand forward in a ready-for-handshake form, "Hi, I'm Maithili. The girl who does not back down from anyone." Grabs hold of Maithili's offered hand, "And I'm Adi. Maithili's boyfriend." "Yeah just for tonight," tries to get her hand free from Adi's grip. "Boyfriend-ji, can you do me the honor of letting go of my hand?" she fakes a smile. "Girlfriend-ji, but your hands are unnaturally soft. I like them," he brings her hand to his face and starts stroking it. "Adi! Stop! Adi!" Watching all this out of the corner of her eye, Adi's mom smiles adoringly. She walks up to them and puts her hand on Maithili's shoulder. A startled Maithili lets go of her grip on Adi's collar as Adi lets go of her hand. "Mama, aap…" "I'm fine Adi. I was just on my way upstairs." "Haan, you should take it easy and rest." "Don't worry beta," she shifts her smiling face to look at Maithili. "Hi aunty. You look well. You probably don't remember me. I'm-" "Maithili," she finishes the sentence, "Janki-ji told me." "It was great meeting you Maithili. Night Adi." "Goodnight Mama," says as she walks up the stairs. "Ouch!" Adi grabs his knee as the pain on his foot grows from being stabbed with the heel of Maithili's shoe. "What kind of an introduction was that?! She hates me! She must hate me!" "Wait Mets, she doesn't," still wincing in pain. Maithli walks off. A few minutes later, after Adi is no longer hurt, he spots Maithili trying to shoo off a guy. The guy keeps on coming onto Mathili until she manages to walk away. Adi stops himself from going over and beating the man to a pulp. He is about to go check if the music is disturbing his mom when he notices that the guy who was bullying Maithili has slipped some pills into the juice she has ordered from the bartender. Maithili unknowingly starts drinking it. Adi runs over to her and knocks the almost empty glass out of her hands. "Adi, what…" Next, Adi walks up to the smiling guy and starts punching him uncontrollably. (Just pretend it's Pranay) Sharvan breaks them apart. "Adi, what are you doing?!" "Get this slime out of here." Adi turns around but he cant find Maithili anywhere. He asks a bystander and the man states that she just walked out the door. Adi runs outside his house and finds a drugged Maithili playing in the water fountain by the entrance gates. As Maithili runs around in the fountain, she spots Adi coming up to her. "ADI!" she jumps out of the fountain. "Adi's here. Adi's here. Yippeee!" she drags him into the fountain and starts splashing water on him. Adi just stands motionless and can't help but smile at her. "Ok. Me tired now. Me go to sleep." Maithili is about to fall backward into the water with her eyes closed when Adi catches her while shaking his head. He leans over, grabs her coat which she had left hanging over the statue in the middle of the fountain, and wraps her in it. "Now I guess I can test if my workouts are being helpful." Adi pushes Maithili onto his back and starts heading back inside. He exhales deeply, "I am definitely going to hit the gym tomorrow." CH 5 – One Way to Start a Morning Adi keeps shifting around on his couch in order to avoid the morning sunlight and turns around just in time to see Maithili start to move around a little on his bed. He swiftly yet quietly gets up from the couch and slips in next to the half-awake beauty. Waking up from a throbbing headache, Maithili clutches the back of her head tightly as she tries to open her squinted eyes. She straightens her back against the headboard and forces her eyes to burst open. As soon as her vision gets clearer, she sees that she is wearing a gigantic robe and also notices a figure lying next to her. She moves her head so vigorously to her side that her neck comes severely close to breaking, but she has to know what horrid mistake she has made and with whom. Still pretending to be asleep, Adi tacitly shifts on the bed so that his face is in plain sight. He continues to wait for the sound of Maithili's scream but it doesn't come. With his eyes still closed, "Shouldn't you be freaking out by now?" As an answer, a pillow hits him right across the face and a pair of small feet kicks him from under the covers until he is lying face down on the floor. "You! Argh…Idiot!" Maithili picks up another pillow and stands up on the bed in order to walk over to him, but Adi pulls himself off the floor and grabs the pillow out of her hands. "Ms. WWE wrestler, take a chill pill ok?" Adi stands on the floor of his bedroom while Maithili appears a few feet taller than him standing on top of his bed. "Chill pill? Oh, I'm going to take something alright – you onto the floor," puts her hands on her hips. "Oooo- (like Atul) … dirty," he smirks back at her. "Tum. Ahhh!" shouts in frustration. "But really Mets, is this how you behave with someone who you've gotten so close with. Literally, of course," smiles innocently. "Ha! As if!" "Kya!" he asks with a tad bit of confusion. "You think that I think that we …" chuckles a little. "Paagal ho kya? As soon as I saw it was you who was next to me, I knew nothing happened. And anyway, you think I didn't realize that there's a pillow and a blanket on the couch over there." Adi looks at the couch and mentally hits himself on the head. "You're loosing your touch Adi. But don't worry," places her hands on his shoulders from her spot on top of the bed, "we will find you a nice ladka I mean ladki. It shouldn't be that hard because after all you are a man's man I mean ladies man." Maithili grins down on Adi as he clutches onto the pillow that's still in his hand. "Are you implying something Mets?" asks in anger. "Nnnooo. No, no, yes I mean no," removes her hands from his shoulders. Unable to take it any longer, Adi throws the pillow at Maithili's face. "That was for hitting me earlier." "Oh, you are going to be sorry, Vikram-ji." "Ok, I hate that name so stop saying it," points his finger her way. "That's exactly why I'm saying it Aditya-ji," giggles and runs towards the bathroom. She grabs the hand-held shower head and points it towards Adi who had come running after her. "Dare me?" Adi turns the tap of the bathroom sink that's near him on and puts his hands under it to let the water store itself on his hands. "Like that's going to do anything." "Hey! I have great aim." "Oh we'll see." Without hesitation, she turns the shower head on and water willingly squirts out and strikes its main target. Adi in return, begins to throw water from the sink and hits Maithili in the face. This commotion continues for some time until Maithili throws her hands up in defeat. "I'm tired." "No, you're the loser." "I would pick this shower head again but it just occurred to me that you use it everyday and who knows what kind of germs are on it," she gives him a sweet smile. "Well now that you've used it, it should be germ-free and just to make sure that none of my nasty germs have gotten on you, let me…" Adi tosses another hand-full of water at Maithili which splashes itself against her face. Wow! She looks so…beautiful. It's really unbelievable. Just then, he himself gets hits in the face with water. "I decided to give this thing one last good use before it's back in the hands of its filthy owner." "Oh how sweet of you," he says sarcastically as he runs his hand through his wet hair. Maithili looks at him silently. Why am I staring at him? What's wrong with me? Why is he taking off his shirt? What?! "Wh-wha-what are you doing?" she walks up to him. Adi's head pops back into view as he finishes taking off his wet shirt. "What, it's wet so logic suggests that I should take it off." He notices her awkwardness and smiles mischievously. "You know," throws his shirt over his shoulder, "you can take your wet clothes off too." He starts to walk up to Maithili as she begins to walk backwards. "Because like you said, I'm a man's man, right?" "That was a joke. I was kidding. Ha ha," she says nervously and turns to walk out of the bathroom. She is almost out the door when her foot steps on a wet spot and she begins to slip backward but Adi puts his hands on her stomach and places her against him, Still holding her tightly, "You know Big Feet, you really should watch where you are going," he says softly into her ear. "And you really should watch where you put your hands. Now, let me go!" "mmm… no. That's a stupid suggestion. Suggest something else," he begins to snuggle up to her in a feeling that's similar to that of a hug. She struggles to try to remove his hands from her stomach but they remain stuck concretely. So instead she does the only thing she can, she places her hands on her hips while Adi's hands still hold onto her stomach. "Well, don't we look like a pair of newly weds," Adi says as he stares at mirror. Maithili also looks at the mirror and gets scared to see just how physically close she and Adi are. "Yeah right. Me and you married? You and I are just friends and we will always be just friends, got it?" Adi lets go of Maithili and turns her around to face him. "Then why are you just in a robe Mets? Where are your clothes huh?" Adi stares at her seriously while Maitili pulls the robe around her tighter. "I mean did they just vanish into thin air or what?" his grin returns. "You…you…" her face goes numb. Adi winks at her and leaves the bathroom. "A set of clothes is in the closet for you Mets. Change and come downstairs for breakfast ok, sweetheart?" The sound of a door closing is heard as Adi leaves his bedroom. Maithili frantically opens the closet and takes out black jogging pants and next to it a shirt that has "Boys Rule!" across the front. She sighs deeply and opens her robe to see a familiar mini-dress still on her, "That….," lost for words, Maithili just smiles in the now empty room. comments appreciated :) Edited by roygvib - 20 May 2008 at 10:39pm tsamhita IF-Dazzler Joined: 13 January 2006 Posts: 3452 Posted: 12 September 2007 at 7:21am \| IP Logged brilliant!!!!!!!!! Embarrassed LOL Big smile love the relation Adi adn mets share in your ff!!!!!! Embarrassed pls continue!!! Clap i'm full of praise Big smile LOL Embarrassed aisha1 Goldie Joined: 13 October 2005 Posts: 2426 Posted: 12 September 2007 at 12:29pm \| IP Logged i think its superb brillant , i love their discuss i loooooooooove the dialogue u should continue do a drama lol sov seriously i think ur a n amazing writter PyaarSe IF-Sizzlerz Joined: 08 October 2006 Posts: 11440 Posted: 16 September 2007 at 1:09am \| IP Logged thanx guys Embarrassed CH 6 – Maybe I Shouldn't Have Done That Still inside Adi's room, Maithili opens the door and peeps outside to see if the coast is clear. There's no one in the hallway, so she quickly steps out the door and tip toes her way down the stairs. Thinking she has heard some noise, she hides behind a pillar that's at the end of the staircase. Maithili carefully tries to move her head in the direction of the dining room because that's where the noise had come from. Suddenly she feels the eerie sensation of being watched and then someone's breath on her neck. Maithili shrieks loudly with her eyes closed. Standing behind her, Adi covers his ears and squints his eyes at the sound, but his lips pose themselves in a grin. Maithili finally turns around and all sense of fear runs away from her face as anger clearly begins to display itself through her facial expressions. Ok Adi. Now would be a good time to run. "What are you doing?! " "No, what are you doing walking around like a thief darling?" He says sweetly and tries to put his hands on her shoulders but she whacks them away. "You think I want your mom to catch me at her house in the morning wearing her son's clothes?!" Her voice escalates with every word as she throws her face in front of Adi in an aggressive manner. "She's not here sweetie pie, so no need to go all psycho on my, ok?" Adi pulls Maithili's right cheek and gets an elbow to his gut. Maithili walks to the dining room table and sits down just as Sharvan comes out of the kitchen with a sandwich. Seeing her in the "Boys Rule" shirt, he lets out a chuckle. Maithili shoots a glare his way. He stops chuckling and pretends to cough. Then he sits opposite Maithili at the table. "Good morning Maithili. Slept well with Adi," begins to lift his sandwich off the plate but the tablecloth pulls the plate and the sandwich in the opposite direction where it lands on the floor next to Maithili who holds the white tablecloth in her hands. At that exact second, Adi enters the room. Seeing the mess, he asks, "What did you say to her Sharvan?" "Me? Bhai," he walks up to Adi and whispers to him, "She's crazy." "Tell me something I don't know." "What's with the gup-chup huh?" Maithili stands up and looks their way. "Ok, I'm leaving," Sharvan claims with a bit of fright and before exiting, says softly to Adi, "What were you thinking?" "Mini-Adi na kya bola?" she comes up to him. "Fine. Idiot na." "That's better," proclaims Adi. "He was just saying how great you looked this morning," Adi lies with a hope-she-believes-me smile on his face. "Ah-huh. Well, what would you like for breakfast?" she says sweetly. "Um…," he is baffled by her sudden change in attitude. "Well, I'll make it for you," she heads for the kitchen. "Oh, okay." Oh, okay? What the – Adi, you should have declined. You are going to be so sorry. Best get ready to eat poison. Ten minutes later, Maithili appears out of the kitchen and sets a delicious looking sandwich on the table in front of Adi. Sharvan, who has just come back downstairs after changing, passes by the dining room and sees Adi with Maithili's sandwich. He mouths a slient "no" to Adi. Adi looks over Maithili's shoulder to see his cousin choking himself to indicate that soon he will be doing the same thing. Ignoring his cousin's advice, Adi takes a bite of the sandwich after a deep breath. He begins to chew the portion he had bit off and is surprised to find it tasty. Sharvan throws his hand on his forehead and shakes his head as Adi eats the sandwich. "How is it?" "Yummy," Adi mumbles with his full mouth. "Oh that's great. You know I used a special ingredient." "Really. What?" he takes another bite. "My spit," she says as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Adi spews out the bite he took onto his plate. "That's disgusting," Sharvan comes into the room but keeps his distance from Maithili as he walks up to Adi. "Serves him right," Maithili folds her arms and tries to keep a straight face. "Bhai, you okay?" Adi continues to throw out the bites of sandwich that still linger in his mouth. "Do you want me to call you a doctor?" That did it for Maithili; she starts laughing uncontrollably. "Duffer. I wouldn't waste any part of my being on you, not even my spit." Adi gets up from his seat and goes to her. "Haan, I made you a delicious sandwich and you threw it away. How does it feel huh? Poor Adi, lost something he loves, ha!" she shoots daggers at him through her eyes. "So are we even now Mets?" Adi asks in anger. "You wish," she walks closer to him. "You try to humiliate me by making me wear this stupid shirt and try to make me believe that something inappropriate happened last night and scare the heck out of me when I come downstairs and then confuse me when you come near me and then …." "Wait, wait, wait. I confuse you when I come near you," Adi smirks back at her as he steps closer to her. Stupid, stupid, stupid. What are you doing? Maithili quit looking dumbfounded like a moron and say something quick. Speak! Come on, open that mouth and talk before Adi comes any closer. "I…..," she tries to stall. "I…..," she tries again. "Woh…..," she trails on. "Yes," Adi smile widens. "Hey, who's Tanu?" Sharvan stands at the doorway of the dining room holding a purse in one hand and a vibrating cell phone in the other. Glad to be saved from the interrogation but fearing what's coming next, Maithili quickly jumps towards Sharvan and grabs her purse and cell phone out of his hands. "Oh god, she's going to kill me. I have to go guys. I'll give these clothes back to you soon, Adi. Bye guys," she says fast and is out of the door in less than a minute. With a disappointed look and a frown on his face, Adi goes to Sharvan and slaps the back of his head. "Ouch! What did I do?" the unfortunate bystander grabs his head in pain. Edited by roygvib - 16 September 2007 at 1:33am tsamhita IF-Dazzler Joined: 13 January 2006 Posts: 3452 Posted: 16 September 2007 at 1:41am \| IP Logged loved this part!!!!!!!!! Tongue Tongue oh!!!! maihtili's confused when adi is near her Embarrassed Big smile Tongue continue soon pls!!! Tongue aisha1 Goldie Joined: 13 October 2005 Posts: 2426 Posted: 16 September 2007 at 6:18am \| IP Logged haaaaaaaaaaaaa sharvan kabab main hadi anyway love this part Inshira Goldie Joined: 09 October 2006 Posts: 1394 Posted: 16 September 2007 at 9:27am \| IP Logged It really gd read this in kggk n i love it Tongue PyaarSe IF-Sizzlerz Joined: 08 October 2006 Posts: 11440 Posted: 16 September 2007 at 6:43pm \| IP Logged /\/\ - danke Embarrassed CH 7 – No I Don't! "You love Adi?!" "Kya! I didn't say that!" "Then what are you saying, Di." Maithili's younger sister, Tanu asks in frustration as she stumbles forward and dives into her older sibling's bed. Maithili turns away from brushing her wet hair to see Tanu sprawled across her bed. A flashback of Adi doing the same thing enters her mind as she recalls when he had climbed into her room unwelcomed last night. "Why do people love to jump onto my bed like they own it," she mumbles under her breath. "Kya bola?" "Oh, nothing." She finishes brushing her hair and goes to sit next to a lazy Tanu, but first has to push her sister's feet away to make some room on the bed. She stops herself from completely pushing her off the bed because of what her sis had done for her the previous night. "Hey thanks again, Tanu for covering last night. I was really scared that dad would be waiting for me this morning with a stick." "Aw you're welcome Di. After all, what I said wasn't completely a lie because you were suppose to be at your friend, Lina's house all night. I just failed to tell dad that you changed your plans and were now going to a crazy and out of control party." Maithili laughs a little at Tanu's interpretation of last night's events. "Now all you have to do for me is…" "Ah, here we go," Maithili rolls her eyes. "Tell me exactly what happened with you and Adi," Tanu sits up. "I told you nothing happened," Maithili rises her voice. "I just got confused for a minute that is all, ok." Tanu's tone clearly conveys the lack of conviction she had on her Di's words. She had been anxiously waiting all morning for Maithili to show up and tell her about her event-filled night. Maithili had told her everything in great detail but when it came to certain parts like Adi blocking her from getting out of her chair and preventing her from slipping in the bathroom, Tanu noticed a clear feeling of uncertainty over her Di's face. Or was it confusion? Love? Nah. "Ok, so you don't love him," Tanu finally says in conclusion. "Thank you. Yes, I don't," Maithili says with relief. "You're just confused about your feelings for him," she says in the same matter of fact tone as her prior statement. "Yes. No! What?!" An outraged Maithili steps off her bed and looks angrily at her soon to be sorry sis. * * * haven't used these in awhile. Woohoo for location change. * * * Just as Tanu is questioning her sis, Sharvan is also poking around at his cousin brother's answers. "I don't believe you." "Well it's the truth." "Still don't believe you." Sharvan sits on the sofa while shaking his head and a cushion hits him right in the face. "Still don't believe me?" Adi sits on the sofa right opposite Sharvan with a smiling face. "What is with you hitting me? Today is just not my day. First I get glared at and my sandwich gets ruined by that monster…" "Hey! Watch it," Adi threateningly points a finger at his cousin. "Ok. Ok," he throws his hands up in a surrendering position. "Ruined by your monster girlfriend." Adi considers the change of description and declares, "I could get used to that one." "It sure as heck fits her," Sharvan whispers to himself. "Said something?" "Oh, no. No. No," he reaches back and touches his still bruised head. "So Adi, nothing happened at all last night." "But she was wearing your clothes." "Maybe she just liked my clothes." "Right, Maithili wanted to wear the 'Boys Rule' shirt," Sharvan fold his arms in disbelief and sarcasm. "Well, she was just too angry for nothing to have happened." "You obviously don't know Mets that well?" "Oh, but you most certainty do know her huh?" Sharvan leans back into the sofa. "What is that suppose to mean?" Adi raises an eyebrow. "What you think I didn't notice the way you were egging her on to admit something?" "Weren't you busy fiddling with her purse?" "Yeah, and it's not like I have ears right?" "Well then didn't you see she was about to break and spill her guts out?" Adi asks with an abnormal amount of enthusiasm. "Oh. God. No." Sharvan looks like he has been hit in the face with something a lot heavier than a cushion, maybe a bus. * * * "Di, calm down ok. And sit down would you," Tanu tries to get Maithili to retire from her standing position. "First of all, I am not confused by Adi. I know exactly how I feel about him. He's my friend and I also hate him at times." "Yeah that's not confusing at all Di." "Shut up. Then tell me, since you're so smart, what you think." * * * "Sharvan? Yo, Sharvan!" Sharvan snaps out of his trance and looks sadly at Adi. "Why in the world are you looking at me like I am about to die?" Adi wears a very puzzled expression on his face. "you wanted her to say something because you want her to feel something for you, yaar." "Have you gone mental? Why would I want that?" From their respective locations, Tanu and Sharvan both say simultaneously, "You like him, Di/You like her, bro." A moment of disbelief passes over Adi and Maithili before they both yell back at their respective relatives, "No I don't!" * * * "Fine Adi. If you don't like her, then why has it been weeks since the last time I remember seeing you go out on a date?" "Oh that's easy. You're blind!" Adi shouts at him. "And you're in denial. I always thought you loved fighting with Maithili way too much, but I didn't know your case was this serious." Sharvan starts shaking his head again. "You know what. I need a break from your foolishness." Adi grabs his keys from the table that lies in between the two sofas and heads for the door. "Going to see her aren't you, Mr. Romeo," Adi's cousin yells out loud. "Sharvan, I think you should tell your dad that you're going to need new headlights!" Adi yells back. "Woah! No Adi! No!" he runs after his bro. * * * "Di! Di! Please open the door now. I said I'm sorry!" Tanu's voice smashes its way through the locked door of Maithili's closet and enters her di's room. "Dad is spoiling her too much. She says whatever she wants, whenever she wants. She thinks I like him? Him? As if, now stay in that locked closet until you change your mind," Maithili talks to herself as she paces around in her room. "Now what!" Maithili peeps outside her window and sees an all too familiar car with an even familiar driver. "I came to get my clothes back, sweetheart because I can't leave without my favorite shirt, but I forgot to bring a ladder this time," Adi stands firmly in her driveway next to his precious car. Inside her room, Maithili sighs heavily as Tanu's voice climes in, "Ok I've changed my mind, Di. He likes you! He clearly likes you!" 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The state of Merge Records, after a Grammy win and a mini label festival \| Music Feature \| Indy Week Pin It "A lot of bands that would have been kicked off of most any other label for not selling enough records, bands like ours that wouldn't be able to exist past one album on a major label, have been developed on Merge." Wild Flag, a new Merge band featuring members of Sleater-Kinney and Helium, played Local 506 Friday during Merge Madness. Photo by D.L. Anderson In March, it's a risky wager to attach your name to college hoops, especially around here: We shut down blocks for bonfire parties. We've got rivalries that run so deep they annually ruffle relationships with co-workers, friends, even spouses. And on the first weekend of March, when the ACC Tournament is nagging at the boosters of our three biggest schools, it's hard for a lot of people to think about much else. Around here, March Madness lives up to its name. For many in the Triangle, an event sporting the inveterate insignia of Durham's Merge Records—12 plain black letters in two simple rows on a white background—might be the only thing that can compete with roundball. And now more than ever, really: On Feb. 13, The Suburbs, the third record by longtime Merge band Arcade Fire, took home the Grammy for Album of the Year. It wasn't the first time the award has gone to an album on an independent label, but it was the first time a band considered to be indie rock has taken the title. In the last five years, the winners have included U2, Taylor Swift and The Dixie Chicks. Or, to put it in local basketball terms, it's akin to North Carolina Central's team bringing home the NCAA tournament championship. But that's just one of Merge's recent successes. Indeed, add that trophy to a 2010 that saw The Suburbs debut at No. 1 on Billboard's album chart, joining entries from Spoon and She & Him that both bowed in as part of the Top 10 and about a dozen other albums that were, simply put, consistently good or great. Merge is, well, marching. Merge Madness—a series of four concerts in nine days featuring five Merge artists playing in the label's original home of Chapel Hill over the last two weeks—was the de facto hometown victory lap. Posters sent out to local record stores as a giveaway featured each of the bands embossed on basketball jerseys. Starting with Superchunk's near-perfect rock romp at Cat's Cradle and culminating with Telekensis and The Love Language's raucous Sunday close to the event's three consecutive nights at Local 506, it was an expectedly enjoyable run of varied pop and rock. Still, there was a feeling that many were there for more than just the music. Every time Mac McCaughan or Laura Ballance, the founders and leaders of both Superchunk and Merge, walked through a crowd, there was a reverent hush. They were celebrities, heroes even, in this environment. Another old friend or acquaintance would walk up and offer his or her congratulations. More than a by-chance rock 'n' roll festival, Merge Madness suggested that locals were showing up to be part of a success that, not too long ago, didn't seem possible. "Things are going well," McCaughan says, hurriedly speaking about the label's year over the phone in his office. It's a hectic day at Merge headquarters. Most of the office will leave Wednesday to head to the music conference South By Southwest in Austin, so the work week will be short. "We're busy, which I think is a good thing. Last year was a busy year. In terms of the number of releases and the number of releases by well-known bands, this year might be surpassing it in terms of what everyone has on their plate. That's the real challenge, making sure that every release that we're putting out gets the proper attention." Merge's workload is considerable: They've already released or announced 11 LPs for 2011. It doesn't rival the output of a major label, but it's impressive given what Merge relies on to get the work done. Merge began as a bedroom and living room label for Ballance and McCaughan in 1989, bolstered by friends and volunteers; as of last August, the label only employed 14 people. With the work of producing and promoting about 20 records in a year spread out among such a small number of people, it means each staff member has to put significant time behind each release. It's working: The Suburbs recently pushed past 500,000 copies sold, meaning it will soon be granted Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America. She & Him's Volume 2 and Spoon's Transference debuted with sales weeks of 47,000 and 53,000 respectively. For some, this could be an impetus to change the way they do business. Though some of these sales figures are bolstered by extreme first-week download discounts, such as the $3 albums offered up by Amazon, they still resulted in an influx of cash for the label, money that could be thrown at other projects. For McCaughan and Merge, such strategies never entered into the equation. "We look at each release and try to make informed and realistically possible predictions about how a record is going to do and then make budgets around that," he says. "Those budgets contain how much we can afford to spend on promotion, advertising, that kind of stuff. In that way, we try to tailor the budget of each release in a way that means that at the end of each release, no one's going to be thinking, 'Man, we went a little crazy with that. We shouldn't have spent so much money.'" Essentially, this means that the amount of money Merge spends on a record is directly related to how successful they think it can be. Cash isn't thrown behind artists to force attention and momentum. Profit from a band's previous effort is funneled back into their next release, growing the provisions for each band based on how close they come to the goal Merge projects for them. This limits the risk that Merge takes with each new effort and reduces the pressure on the artists to make something they think will sell well. They make what they make, and Merge—the rare label that rarely drops artists—decides how to treat it. "Bands have a chance to develop," says Kelly Crisp, keyboardist for pop duo The Rosebuds, who recently finished Loud Planes Fly Low, their fifth album for Merge, due this summer. "That means this is a label that's willing to stick with a band through their weird phases, anything that they want to do or try or express themselves in different ways. I feel that a lot of bands that would have been kicked off of most any other label for not selling enough records, bands like ours that wouldn't be able to exist past one album on a major label, have been developed on Merge." Varying the way they fund releases allows Merge to stick to their most defining principle—signing bands they like. Success is relative in their scheme, so it makes room for releases that might sell a thousand records and others that might sell hundreds of thousands. It's allowed them to keep Spoon, Arcade Fire and other more well-known acts while holding on to something like East River Pipe. The lush, inventive pop project of F.M. Cornog since the late '80s, East River Pipe doesn't tour. His songs fall on the ethereal side of spacey. It's not a recipe that results in high sales, but because of the way Merge operates, the label can keep him on. They released his new LP, We Live in Rented Rooms, earlier this year. Still, Merge isn't exactly an anything-goes label. The musical tastes of its owners show through with nearly every selection. Like Superchunk, the spunky, energetic dynamo that gave birth to it, Merge's bands generally share a propensity for pleasing pop melody. There are exceptions, of course, but the hooks generally come in a dozen different forms—from the blown-out '60s revival of The Love Language to the emotional folk of Conor Oberst. The success of Merge's releases often comes back to that sort of engaging craftsmanship. Merge's catalog, then, is defined by a symbiosis between artistry and accessibility. "You just sort of associate with Merge like a brand, in a good way," says The Love Language's singer Stuart McLamb, recalling the way he was drawn to their records in college. "When you see that Merge stamp on the back, you know it's probably going to be a really great record. I went through a huge phase where I just bought a bunch of records just because they were on that label, and 90 percent of them turned out to be really great." Merge's approach could have dragged the label away from the community that fostered it, but Merge remains committed to being a significant contributor to the area's culture. The label is a regular sponsor of both Durham's annual Troika Music Festival and the Independent Weekly's Hopscotch Music Festival. It's an area show promoter of sorts, too, bringing in special events like the Arcade Fire-headlined "Change Rocks" show in 2008, which promoted early voting, and Merge XX, the weeklong 2009 festival that celebrated the band's 20th anniversary and crammed nearly the entire Merge roster into Chapel Hill's Cat's Cradle and Memorial Hall. Merge Madness was another expression of that commitment. Yes, the shows were largely a celebration of the best year the label has had, but they weren't just for Merge. They were meant for the community to join the party. "In terms of the way everyone here identifies, it's certainly important to us to not just be seen as a record company or a media company that's existing outside of any context at all," says McCaughan, a Raleigh native. "The context of where we are is important, not just because there are bands on the label that are from around here. We exist in a place where it's a good place to have a business, but it's also just a good place to live." Subscribe to this thread: Add a comment • Comments that include ad hominem attacks will also be removed. Permitted HTML: • Proper web addresses will automatically become links. Latest in Music Feature More by Jordan Lawrence Latest videos from the INDY Twitter Activity The title is click bait and not reflective of the content, sure, but have you people ever been on the … by fullsarah on What it's like to be a grown man whose favorite band is three women (Music Feature) I really want to see Snarky Puppy and BadBadNotGood. To bad I dont have the money for tickets :'( by Jacob Crim on Art of Cool: Don't miss these acts of 2015 (Music Feature) RSS Feeds \| Powered by Foundation
General And Administrative Leverage DEFINITION of 'General And Administrative Leverage' A variable within a cost benefit analysis of an acquisition where the potential reduction in overall general and administrative expenses of the combined company are considered. Through synergies and cost-saving programs, the general and administrative costs of the combined company often will be considerably less than the sum of the general and administrative costs of the two independent companies. The more the potential savings, the more attractive the acquisition becomes, when all else is equal. INVESTOPEDIA EXPLAINS 'General And Administrative Leverage' When valuing an acquisition it is essential that a company accurately value the benefit of a target company's general and administrative leverage. One of the reasons, a company would want to acquire another company is the economies of scale that can be achieved. Subsequently, if the cost savings that have been identified from general and administrative leverage are overestimated, the acquiring company may be worse off after the acquisition. But it is important to note that this is only one aspect of the overall analysis of a potential acquisition. 1. Acquisition 2. Economies Of Scale 3. Synergy 4. Merger 5. Acquisition Premium 6. Target Firm 1. How can a company resist a hostile takeover? Several different defense strategies can be applied by existing corporate boards to ward off a hostile takeover. The most ... Read Full Answer >> 2. How does a letter of intent work in the context of mergers and acquisitions? A letter of intent, or LOI, is used to set forth the terms of a proposed merger or acquisition. It is usually the first step ... Read Full Answer >> 3. What happens to the shares of a company that has been the object of a hostile takeover? The shares of a company that is the object of a hostile takeover rise. When a group of investors believe management is not ... Read Full Answer >> 4. What are some roles of an investment bank? Related Articles 1. Forex Education Mergers & Acquisitions: An Avenue For Profitable Trades 2. Economics What Are Economies Of Scale? 3. Options & Futures The Basics Of Mergers And Acquisitions 4. Fundamental Analysis Explaining Enterprise Multiple 5. Chart Advisor 3 Basic Material Stocks Poised For A Pop 6. Stock Analysis Will Kraft-Heinz Be a Winner? 7. Investing WhatsApp: The Best Facebook Purchase Ever? 8. Fundamental Analysis Private vs Public Equity: What's Best? 9. Investing News Sun Pharma And Ranbaxy: An Ideal Pharma Marriage? 10. Investing Facebook's Most Important Acquisitions You May Also Like Hot Definitions 1. Carrying Value 2. Capital Account 3. Brand Equity 4. Adverse Selection 5. Wash Trading Trading Center
Iowa Public Television Ancient History The Incas (#110) Six hundred years ago, in less than a century, the Incas, located in present-day Peru, forged an empire equal to that of the Greeks and Romans. They built their empire largely by treaties based on providing food for all of its citizens. In the process, The Incas built architectural wonders for all eternity. Today, Machu Picchu stands as a glorious reminder of this once incredible empire. [28 minutes] Closed Captioning PBS Video « Upcoming Episodes All Episodes • America's Prehistoric Civilizations: The Mound Builders (#101) Had they been made of stone, they would have been among the greatest wonders of the ancient world. These were the pyramids and effigy earthen works by the Mound Building Cultures of the eastern half of the United States. This is the story of the 3000-year Native American tradition that culminated with the construction of cities rivaling any on the planet when Columbus landed in the New World. [28 minutes] • Ancient Britain--Stonehenge to Celtic Iron Age Forts (#102) It was once believed that the island of Britain was shaped by continuous invasions and conquering tribes from Europe. But now we know this isn't true. Follow the incredible saga of a glorious 7000 year evolution of Ancient Britain's people - from the earliest Stone Age clans, to the builders of Stonehenge, to the formation of Bronze Age tribes and the founding of Iron Age Hill forts, all leading to the castle building kings and queens and knights that we recognize today. [29 minutes] • Ancient Pueblo People: The Anasazi (#103) They stand today much as their builders left them 500 years ago. These are the cities of the Anasazi, the ancient Pueblo people of the Four Corners region of the western United States. How did a civilization, against all odds, became so successful at agriculture that they were able to produce a leisure society capable of not only building these incredible cities, but also producing some of the greatest pottery, rock art and trading networks the world has ever seen. How the Anasazi did this with a social organization not governed by kings or queens or other hierarchical rulers is one of the great mysteries of ancient history. [27 minutes] • Greek Accomplishments (#104) It has been said that all western art and science is but a footnote to ancient Greek accomplishments. In this program, the story is told of how Greek thinkers laid the foundation for architecture, painting, sculpture, history, philosophy, medicine, literature, zoology, botany, mathematics, astronomy, theater, and finally, the western scientific methodology. It is a history of a series of brilliant Greek thinkers from Homer in 700 B.C. to Ptolemy in 150 A.D. [27 minutes] • Rome Reexamined: The Rise of the Roman Republic (#105) Learn how from the humblest beginnings, Rome rose up to become the first self-governing republic. By including the vanquished and allowing anyone to move up through the ranks of its unique society, Rome came to control much of the Mediterranean world. [28 minutes] • Rome Reexamined: Military Triumphs and the Death of the Roman Republic (#106) • Rome Reexamined: The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire (#107) • Rome Reexamined: The Splendor of Imperial Rome (#108) • The Greek City-State and Democracy (#109) During the golden age of the Greek city-states 2500 years ago, the Greeks gave the world something more valuable than architectural wonders or material wealth ... the ideas of democracy, liberty, freedom of speech and the pursuit of truth for truth's sake. This program tells how a group of people invented self-rule based on citizenship, at a time when they were surrounded by tyrants and despots. [27 minutes] • The Maya (#111) The Mayas are best known for their spectacular architecture that made up their city centers, but they are also the most misunderstood of the great ancient civilizations. First, they were not the blood thirsty warrior society as they often portrayed; and second, they were the world's first environmental farmers, creating a thriving agricultural society on poor land through advanced farming techniques and a profound sensitivity to their environment. [41 minutes] « Upcoming Episodes « Back to Programs A-Z
One in 4 rural households living in fuel poverty A pensioner suffering from fuel poverty Credit: Age UK A report out today reveals that up to a quarter of rural Yorkshire households are living in fuel poverty The Rural VCS Policy Group highlights shocking figures that a quarter of households in particular areas within Yorkshire are living in fuel poverty. The districts with the highest score in terms of fuel poverty include Hambleton (20.6%); Scarborough (22.7%); Craven (23.6%); Richmondshire (24.3%) and Ryedale (26%). According to Age UK, health issues associated with fuel poverty cost the NHS £1.36bn annually across the UK. A pensioner suffering from fuel poverty Credit: Age UK Children and young people and the elderly are most affected by fuel poverty. Living in a cold home more than doubles a child's chances of suffering respiratory problems like asthma, and teenagers are four times more likely to suffer mental health problems. Older people living in cold homes are at higher risk of death and illnesses like heart and respiratory disease, and older people are three times more likely to die in the winter in a cold home as in a warm one. Judy Robinson, chief executive at Involve Yorkshire & Humber, said: "Fuel poverty in rural areas has a detrimental impact on the health and well being of residents. Voluntary organisations can support people to find alternatives.'"_ Rural areas make up 81% of the Yorkshire and Humber region. _Fuel costs in rural areas are often higher than in urban areas but incomes are lower. Households in rural areas are at a much greater risk of being classed as being fuel poor due to the age and type of homes people live in. 56% of homes in rural areas are in the lowest energy efficiency bracket, compared with just 7% in urban areas. Simon Bowens, Friends of the Earth, said: "Identifying sources of heating that remove communities away from fossil fuels is to be recommended, fossil fuel prices will in the long term increase, further compounding the issues around fuel poverty and the health problems associated. _ "Where appropriate bio mass boilers, ground source heat pumps, air source heat pumps and hydro schemes should all be explored in the remoter rural areas especially as part of community-led planning for new development."
1. National Labour wins South Shields vote View all 24 updates › Lib Dems couldn't 'compete seriously' in South Shields Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has responded to election results after UKIP gained at least 88 county councillors, and the Liberal Democrats secured just 352 votes at South Shields. Mr Clegg defended the result saying that the party was "on a journey" from being a "protest party" to a "government party". More top news
NetSpot helps you optimize your Wi-Fi networks When you set up a Wi-Fi network, whether using access points (base stations) from Apple or another vendor, you're usually playing a guessing game. Where should I put a base station to get the best coverage and performance? Or multiple base stations? Apple provides some tools to help, including the somewhat hidden Wi-Fi Diagnostics program (buried in /System/Library/CoreServices/), but using them requires some expertise, as well as keeping your eye on ever-changing signal-strength numbers. NetSpot bypasses the technical in favor of the visual. This free site-survey software is a remarkable aid in laying out even a small-home network, using a Mac laptop as your survey tool. You start with a map of a single floor, which you either draw using a few primitive graphics tools or load as an image file which is used as the background. You give the map a scale in meters or feet by marking the distance between two known points. Finally, you mark the region of the map that represents the area you're going to scan. With the map ready, you simply walk the area with your laptop. At any position, clicking the corresponding location on the map tells NetSpot to perform an on-the-spot scan of any and all Wi-Fi signals it can find. You can mark as many spots as you want--the more you mark, the better your results, especially in a house or office that has dead areas due to a poor network layout, or thick walls, furniture, or appliances that block Wi-Fi signals. I tested by mapping most corners and doorways. When you click the Stop Scan button, NetSpot draws a color-spectrum heat map in which the indigo end of the spectrum represents the weakest (or no) signal-to-noise ratio (SNR, the measure of how much information may be carried, a rough gauge of throughput), and the red end represents the strongest. This is a bit confusing, as a typical user might think of green as best, yellow as moderate, and red as worst. A scale at the bottom of the finished map at least helps you calibrate your head. Instead of SNR, you can view your site's raw signal-level or noise-level heat map using the Visualize pop-up menu, or choose to see the signal-to-interference ratio, a different measure that can be useful if there are lots of nearby networks. Also available is an oddball but useful access-point-counting visualization that lets you view only regions in which base stations' signals overlap. (You can tweak this last option to show only regions in which a minimum number of routers overlap.) By default, NetSpot shows the entire range of measurable signal for the signal and noise visualizations, but you can choose a higher minimum and/or a lower maximum. For example, if you want to ensure that you have at least a certain SNR (which essentially means that the network can operate at or above your desired minimum speed), you could set that SNR as the minimum; anything below that minimum simply won't appear on NetSpot's map. Figuring out such a threshold, however, is beyond the scope of this review. NetSpot could improve on this feature by adding bandwidth tests that would allow some educated guesses about the typical range of Wi-Fi speeds at a given spot. The map also identifies the rough position of each base station. I was stunned by how well it performed this task in my home. I have three base stations, one on our main floor, and the other two at opposite ends of the basement; while walking the main floor, NetSpot placed the basement and upstairs AirPort routers within a foot of their actual positions by triangulating signal-strength measurements. If an estimated placement is incorrect, NetSpot offers a slider for adjusting the signal threshold at which an access point is thought to be detected. However, pushing the value higher may cause some access points to disappear--to avoid that, drop a pin during your survey phase as physically close to each base station as possible. (Unfortunately, you can't manually designate, on the map, the precise location of a base station.) Click any base station on the map to get detailed information about it and its offerings. NetSpot's map initially displays only signal information for base stations on the network to which your Mac is currently connected (assuming you're connected to one), as well for the base stations of nearby open networks. But the utility gathers information for every other router it finds, as well, and you can choose precisely what's displayed. NetSpot is able to track separately the 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks created by simultaneous dual-band routers, such as 2009 and later AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule models. The Detected Wi-Fi Networks list on the left side of the main window lets you choose whether or not each router's readings are integrated into your map. A Configure pop-up menu below that list allows you to choose routers by channel, which can be helpful in choosing an unused Wi-Fi spectrum if you're in a crowded network environment, such as in an urban apartment or condo. If you have multiple networks of your own, or have access to multiple nearby networks--some people live above a Starbucks--you can see how these networks fare individually or together. You can also click any point on the map and get a list of all the selected base stations and their corresponding visualization data (such as the SNR or quantity of base stations at that point), interpolated from the points at which you took scans. You can toggle individual base stations in a multiple-unit network to get a sense of how well each base station covers the map. If you have areas of poor reception, this information can be used to show where you might move a router to improve coverage (and then, of course, follow up with a new bit of NetSpot testing). You can also determine whether you need to add a base station. Each kind of visualization can be exported as a PDF that you can print out or carry around on your various digital devices. Base stations checked in the detected list are included in a chart, as well as on the colorized map. My old house has lathe-and-plaster walls, thick joists, and basement storage that block Wi-Fi signals. Using NetSpot, I confirmed that my aforementioned three base stations (which are connected by ethernet) are set up in locations that are close to optimal. But it also helped me discover why a laptop upstairs always connected to a base station downstairs: The laptop is used directly above one of the basement base stations, and despite the floor and ceiling in between, that base station provides the strongest signal of any of the three access points. NetSpot's developers told me that this free version is their first attempt at building Mac OS X wireless site-survey software. A free version will always be available, but they plan to eventually release a paid version with more, and more-advanced, features. That's good news. NetSpot is already an easy tool to use and master for one-time surveys of modest setups. Those with more significant deployments, or networks that are set up and torn down regularly, will surely benefit from whatever the developers can add to this nifty toolkit. Glenn Fleishman, a senior contributor at Macworld, is the author of Take Control of Your 802.11n AirPort Network, recently updated for Lion. This story, "NetSpot helps you optimize your Wi-Fi networks" was originally published by Macworld. What’s wrong? The new clean desk test View Comments You Might Like Join the discussion Be the first to comment on this article. Our Commenting Policies
1008. There is often a great deal of confusion regarding the distinction between structures which are in equilibrium and those which are resonance forms. What about the following pairs? 1027. Which Lewis dot structure for NO2+ has the lowest energy? 1031. The enolate anion of ethyl acetate has the following structure: Which resonance structure has the lowest energy? 1037. How would the bond strength of the double bond in an alkene compare to that of a single bond in the corresponding alkane? A. The double bond would have the same strength as the single bond. B. The double bond would have less than twice the strength than the corresponding single bond. C. The double bond would have exactly twice the strength of the single bond. D. The double bond would have more than twice the strength of the single bond. 1082. Here is the most important resonance structure of the p-nitrophenol anion: Is p-nitrophenol more or less acidic than phenol? more 1083. Here is an important resonance structure that shows donation of electron density by the -OH group in p-aminophenol: Is p-aminophenol a weaker or stronger base than aniline? stronger 1089. The structure below that has an error is: 1090. Converting between the two resonance forms below (left to right) involves electron pushing of: (A) a lone pair from O to C (B) a lone pair from C to O (C) a pi bond to C (D) a pi bond to O 1121. Chemists determine the activation energy for a reaction by A. measuring product amounts B. measuring rates C. calculating from bond dissociation energies D. calculating from H values More questions are needed for this section. Please submit contributions to
1C84 Hoek, Jan B. - Thomas Jefferson University - Thomas Jefferson University Jan B. Hoek, PhD Contact Dr. Hoek 1020 Locust Street Jefferson Alumni Hall, Suite 269 Philadelphia, PA 19107 (215) 503-5016 (215) 923-2218 fax Most Recent Peer-reviewed Publications 1. Silence on the relevant literature and errors in implementation 2. Adiponectin fine-tuning of liver regeneration dynamics revealed through cellular network modelling 3. Amygdalar neuronal plasticity and the interactions of alcohol, sex, and stress 4. Pharmacological ceramide reduction alleviates alcohol-induced steatosis and hepatomegaly in adiponectin knockout mice 7. Chronic Ethanol Feeding Alters miRNA Expression Dynamics During Liver Regeneration 8. Coordinated Dynamic Gene Expression Changes in the Central Nucleus of the Amygdala During Alcohol Withdrawal 12. Mitochondrial morphology and dynamics in hepatocytes from normal and ethanol-fed rats 15. Acetate causes alcohol hangover headache in rats 16. PI3K/Akt-sensitive MEK-independent compensatory circuit of ERK activation in ER-positive PI3K-mutant T47D breast cancer cells 17. Mitochondria-targeted cytochrome P450 2E1 induces oxidative damage and augments alcohol-mediated oxidative stress 18. Advancing alcohol biomarkers research 19. Integration of energy metabolism and control of apoptosis in tumor cells 20. Systems-level interactions between insulin-EGF networks amplify mitogenic signaling
NDIC seal linked to Home page. National Drug Intelligence Center Connecticut Drug Threat Assessment Update July 2003 Other Dangerous Drugs The availability and abuse of other dangerous drugs (ODDs) including club drugs--particularly MDMA, GHB and its analogs, LSD, and ketamine--and diverted pharmaceuticals pose a moderate threat to Connecticut. The distribution and abuse of MDMA and diverted pharmaceuticals have increased throughout the state. Club drugs primarily are distributed and abused by teenagers and young adults at raves or techno parties, nightclubs, and on college campuses. Diverted pharmaceuticals typically are distributed from bars and other public areas and abused by individuals of various socioeconomic classes and age groups. Club Drugs. MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine, also known as ecstasy) is the most widely available and frequently abused club drug in Connecticut. Teenagers and young adults are the primary abusers of MDMA in the state. The Governor's Initiative for Youth 2000 Student Survey, conducted by the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, indicates that 4.0 percent of high school students surveyed in grades 9 and 10 reported having abused MDMA within the 30 days prior to the survey. In May 2002 a 16-year-old East Hampton female slipped into a coma and died after abusing MDMA at a party. This was the first overdose death in Connecticut attributed solely to MDMA. Caucasian criminal groups are the dominant transporters and wholesale-level distributors of MDMA in Connecticut. MDMA primarily is transported into the state from New York City, typically via private or rental vehicles. Caucasian and Asian criminal groups transport additional quantities of the drug into Connecticut from Canada via the same methods. Additional quantities of MDMA are produced in Connecticut. Federal, state, and local law enforcement officials seized an MDMA laboratory in North Stonington in 2001 and another in Thompson in 2002. MDMA Laboratory Seized in Thompson Federal law enforcement officials arrested four Caucasian men, aged 24 to 28, in Thompson on charges of conspiring to produce MDMA and intent to distribute the drug. Officials seized a high-yield MDMA laboratory operated by these individuals, which was concealed in three rooms under a trailer home in Thompson that belonged to one of the arrestees. The individuals had produced MDMA since at least April 2001, and the tablet press in the laboratory was capable of pressing 6,000 tablets per hour. Source: Drug Enforcement Administration Boston Division. Caucasian teenagers and young adults are the primary retail-level distributors of MDMA in the state. The drug typically is distributed at raves or techno parties, in bars and nightclubs, and on college campuses. Wholesale quantities of MDMA sold for $5 to $15 per tablet in the first quarter of FY2003, according to the DEA Boston Division. Retail quantities usually sold for $15 to $30 per tablet during the same period. To Top To Contents Other club drugs such as GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate) and its analogs (GBL, BD, GHV, and GVL), ketamine, and LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) are available and abused in Connecticut. According to the DEA Boston Division, GHB sold for $5 to $10 per dosage unit during the first quarter of FY2003. Ketamine sold for $40 per dosage unit. LSD sold for $50 to $150 per 100 dosage units and $3 to $5 per dosage unit during the same period. Caucasian local independent dealers are the primary transporters of GHB and its analogs, ketamine, and LSD. These local independent dealers also serve as the principal wholesale- and retail-level distributors of these drugs. GHB and its analogs are transported into the state from various domestic and foreign locations primarily via package delivery services and private vehicles. LSD and ketamine typically are transported into Connecticut from sources in California via package delivery services. Ketamine, a veterinary anesthetic, occasionally is stolen from veterinary clinics in the state. Retail-level distribution of ODDs typically occurs at raves, techno parties, dance parties, and nightclubs, or from private residences and at prearranged meeting locations. GHB Analogs Analog Chemical/Alternative Name GBL gamma-butyrolactone furanone di-hydro BD 1,4-butanediol tetramethylene glycol butylene glycol GVL gamma-valerolactone GHV gamma-hydroxyvalerate Diverted pharmaceuticals. Diverted pharmaceuticals such as oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet), hydrocodone (Vicodin), methadone (Dolophine), methylphenidate (Ritalin), alprazolam (Xanax), and diazepam (Valium) pose an increasing drug threat to Connecticut. The diversion and abuse of prescription opiates such as OxyContin, Vicodin, and Percocet are increasing rapidly. Heroin addicts in Connecticut sometimes use prescription opiates, particularly OxyContin, as a substitute for heroin when heroin is not available, according to the DEA Boston Division. Diverted pharmaceuticals typically are obtained through common diversion techniques including prescription fraud, improper prescribing practices, "doctor shopping" (visiting multiple doctors to obtain prescriptions), and pharmacy theft. There were two armed robberies of pharmacies involving OxyContin reported in Connecticut in 2002. Caucasian local independent dealers and abusers are the primary retail-level distributors of diverted pharmaceuticals in Connecticut. Diverted pharmaceuticals typically are distributed from bars and other public areas. In the first quarter of FY2003, the DEA Hartford Resident Office reported that oxycodone sold for $5 to $10 per tablet, Vicodin for $5 to $6 per tablet, Percocet for $6 to $8 per 10-milligram tablet, hydrocodone for $3 to $5 per tablet, and methadone for $8 to $12 per dosage unit. Hallucinogens. The availability of PCP (phencyclidine) is limited in Connecticut; however, the drug often is abused in low-income housing areas. In 2002 one individual in Connecticut died after ingesting a combination of PCP and MDMA. African American criminal groups are the primary transporters and distributors of PCP in the state. These criminal groups obtain the drug from sources of supply in New York City and transport it back to the state for distribution. PCP often is sprayed on crushed mint leaves or marijuana and then smoked. Loose PCP-laced marijuana--which often is packaged in a plastic bag--is called wet, and PCP-laced blunts are called illy. Hartford PCP Distributors Arrested Law enforcement officers with FBI, the Connecticut State Police, and the Hartford Police Department arrested 11 members of an African American criminal group for transporting 2 to 6 gallons of PCP a month from New York City to Hartford, Connecticut, for distribution. Authorities reported that group members purchased the PCP from two Belize nationals in Harlem for $300 per liquid ounce, then transported the drug back to Hartford using private vehicles. The PCP usually was contained in various 32-ounce plastic or glass bottles during transport and was sold for $600 per liquid ounce in Hartford. Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation Meriden Resident Agency. To Top To Contents To Previous Page To Next Page To Publications Page To Home Page End of page.
calendar>>April 19. 2012 Juch 101 DPRK's Satellites for Peaceful Purposes to Continue Orbiting Space: KCST Spokesman Pyongyang, April 19 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Korean Committee for Space Technology (KCST) Thursday released the following statement: Since the KCST's announcement of the planned launch of satellite Kwangmyongsong-3 on March 16, the issue of the DPRK's satellite launch has become topic of debate in the world. The U.S. and Japanese reactionaries and their special class stooge Lee Myung Bak are taking the lead in the smear campaign. It is their brigandish assertion and their lackey's nonsensical talk that the DPRK should not be allowed to launch a satellite for peaceful purposes. They claim that as Kwangmyongsong-3 was launched by Unha carrier rocket, it was not a satellite but a long-range missile and it, therefore, seriously threatened the U.S. mainland and Japanese archipelago and made south Korea unstable. Finally, they made a far-fetched assertion that the DPRK's launch of the above-said satellite was "a violation" of the UNSC resolution and a grave "violation" of the DPRK-U.S. agreement and a military "provocation" to them. We would like to ask them whether the U.S. and other satellite launchers have ever launched their satellites after getting approval from someone and has there ever been a precedent that satellites lifted by carrier rockets of other countries were not termed satellites. Did the U.S. or Japan lift their satellites with puffs of breath or with magic strength? We have never recognized the UNSC resolution, a product of sinister intentions of the hostile forces. Moreover, it does not contain any paragraph banning satellite launch of the DPRK. The February 29 DPRK-U.S. agreement has no paragraph banning the satellite launch of the DPRK, except the paragraph which says the U.S. respects the sovereignty of the DPRK and no longer antagonizes it. The situation goes to prove that it is none other than the U.S., Japanese reactionaries and the Lee group blindly following them that cooked up the illegal resolution and are unilaterally scrapping the bilateral agreement by abusing it in wanton violation of other country's sovereignty and the fair international order. No sooner had the UNSC, which has lost impartiality as an international body long ago, again issued its presidential statement finding fault with the DPRK's satellite launch for peaceful purposes than the Lee Myung Bak group recklessly kicked off a smear campaign to please its master as if it had been waiting for it. This disgusting behavior of the traitor reminiscent of a rabid dog's desperate barking is shame on the Korean nation. The KCST clarifies the following principled stand after coolly following the moves of different forces before and after the DPRK's satellite launch for peaceful purposes: 1. It is necessary to eliminate as early as possible such special class stooges as traitor Lee in order to develop space science and technology of the nation as required by the age of knowledge-based economy. By origin, Lee Myung Bak is an underwit with 2MB of knowledge in terms of science and technology and he lacks even elementary scientific thinking ability. He claimed that the DPRK's satellite launch was a product of "arms race," unable to distinguish a satellite from a long-range missile. This is because he is such underwit that he is unable to judge even the most elementary issue of politics and military affair. He learned peculiar craftiness and disposition as a dealer while living in Japan and became a running dog of the U.S. and Japanese masters. It is quite natural for this guy to lack such great thinking ability as a human being. As it became clear that the north was supposed to launch a satellite, Lee quickly echoed his master's demand for holding it in check and is now barking like a rabid dog. It is Lee who never misses the chance to bluster "the launch of missile should be checked at any cost" and "there will be international aid and cooperation if the north dismantles nukes and opts for reforms and opening", unaware of where he stands. Among the successive "masters" of Chongwadae there was no such "immature president," "foolish president" and "ignorant president" as Lee Myung Bak. It is by no means fortuitous that the south Korean political and social circles are becoming vocal demanding Lee quit politics as early as possible, describing his four year-term politics as "failed politics", "wicked politics" and "politics with nothing worth retrospection." Lee should respond to the desire and demand of the mindset of people by leaving this world, though belatedly. It is the invariable stand of the KCST that such human scum as Lee should be eliminated at an early date to develop space science and technology of the nation. 2. In order to put space science and technology on orbit, it is necessary to shatter all the obstructions of the hostile forces in the field of science and technology, too, and firmly protect the sovereignty of the country. Sovereignty is what keeps the country and the nation alive. Any country and nation deprived of its sovereignty is more dead than alive. That is why the Korean people have as ever struggled with the indomitable faith and will that they cannot abandon the sovereignty of the country and the nation though they may sacrifice their lives. To launch satellites is the DPRK's legitimate right to independence and it is an exercise of sovereignty in line with the Outer Space Treaty which stipulates the use of space for peaceful purposes shall be the right of all countries. Accordingly, the U.S. or any other existing satellite launchers are not entitled to interfere in the DPRK's satellite launch for peaceful purpose. If such arrogant encroachment upon the sovereignty of the DPRK by the U.S. and Japanese reactionaries and their followers are overlooked, they will try to deprive people of the most elementary right to existence, their right to eat, use and live in the long run. It is the ambition of the U.S. and Japanese reactionaries and their followers for domination under the jungle law to deter the DPRK from launching satellites for peaceful purposes if it does not yield to their high-handed and arbitrary practices. The Korean nation is no longer a miserable weak one in a colony in the past when it regarded sycophancy and ruined nation as its fate. It is no longer a weak country which had been ruthlessly trampled down by big powers after being reduced to a theater for re-dividing colonies. Our socialist country is a full-fledged political and military power which put the dignity of the nation and the sovereignty of the country onto the highest level in the world as it is holding the great men in high esteem. Absolutely intolerable is the outrageous attempt of the U.S. and Japanese reactionaries and their followers to stretch tentacles of aggression and domination even to space. It is the steadfast stand of the Korean Committee for Space Technology to achieve the equal development of space science and technology by thoroughly protecting the dignity of the nation and the sovereignty of the country. 3. The army and people of the DPRK will shatter all the obstructions of the U.S. and Japanese reactionaries and their followers and more dynamically advance for the peaceful use of space along the road of Songun. Scientists and technicians of the DPRK have already wound up the specific and scientific probe into the cause of Kwangmyongsong-3's failure to enter its orbit. We have a comprehensive state plan for space development including expansion and strengthening of space development institutions as required by latest science and technology and continued launch of working satellites needed for the country's economic development. The U.S. is now keen to deprive the DPRK of its right to space development while showing off food "aid" worth a petty amount of money but it is nothing but a foolish dream. Our army and people have lived without any U.S. "support" and someone's "cooperation". We have all substantial foundations for enabling our people to fully enjoy wealth and prosperity under socialism, without tightening their belts any longer. The might of our socialist country can never be gauged by the calculation method of those obsessed by money making such as Lee Myung Bak or by the calculation method of the imperialists. The U.S. and Japanese reactionaries and their followers should deeply grasp the profound meaning of the aphorism that the single-minded unity and invincible military capability plus the industrial revolution in the new century precisely mean our thriving socialist nation. The sky-high spirit of Juche Korea dynamically advancing toward the development of cutting-edge science and technology will be fully displayed in the struggle to conquer space, too. The world will clearly know how the struggle for justice and truth for protecting sovereignty will be crowned with victory, while watching dignified satellites of the DPRK being put into vast space one after another. No matter how loudly the U.S. and Japanese reactionaries and their followers may cry and no matter how frantically the Lee Myung Bak group of rats may squeak, the DPRK's satellites for peaceful purposes will be put into space one after another.
Hi , I'm Zane Kesey and this is my wife, Stephanie, we own and operate Key-Z Productions, a small mail order company out of Pleasant Hill Oregon. Our hope is to enlighten people of their psychedelic past, and to enable them to learn about the people who brought them to the present. ZANE KESEY- STEPHANIE KESEY KEN BABBS & KEN KESEY WITH FURTHUR Ken Kesey (in red) and Ken Babbs ([email protected])with Further. The bus is often thought to be spelled "Furthur," and it was, for a brief period when they were hiding from the authorities in Mexico, that way nobody would recognize the psychedelic bus.... In the late 1950's, a promising young graduate from the University of Oregon was accepted into a Stanford writing fellowship along with other future novelists. While there, a friend suggested earning extra cash by participating in some experiments involving chemicals at the psych department of the college. Being an athlete, Ken was the perfect guinea pig for testing these chemicals, which included psilocybin, mescaline and LSD. Needless to say, Kesey was very affected by these mind-altering drugs. During a part-time orderly job at the psychiatric ward of the local VA hospital, while still feeling the effects of these chemicals, he began to have hallucinations. He envisioned an Indian sweeping the floors; it was just what had been missing for his current writing project. His new novel needed a narrator to keep the story in third person and "Chief Broom" became the vital ingredient for his new novel, "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest." Ken began throwing parties on campus at the little bohemian comunity he live in called Perry Lane. Soon these parties became well known for their wild nature and certain chemicals that were mysteriously finding their way into the punch. Before long these parties were attracting too much attention, and Ken, with the money from his new novel, bought a cottage in the mountains by a small town called La Honda. He moved to this new home with his wife, Faye, and his three children. Eventually the parties started up again in this mountain hideaway with his friends, who had become known as the Merry Pranksters. In the summer of 1964 ,Ken bought a 1939 International Harvester school bus to drive him and the Pranksters to New York to see the World's Fair. They painted the bus with brooms, mops, spray, splash and feet. Eventually the bus was fully psychedelic and equipped with sound systems, platforms on top and, added to the rear, turrets to climb up and down from the top platform, a windshield on top to break the wind and a generator on the back to power their equipment. The word "Further" was painted on the destination shield to show thier confidence in the old bus. They recruited Neal Cassady (from Jack Kerouac's On The Road) to be the driver of Further. Ken decided that this bus trip was going to be worthy of a movie, so they bought some 16mm film equipment and striped outfits for the crew to wear. The bus trip to New York and back was a big success with a lot of drama archived on film. Back at La Honda the crew continued their parties, showing clips of the trip to the chemically induced audience. Soon they realized that the "party" was too big for the house. They began to put together "happenings" at local halls, with sound effects hooked up to microphones, light shows, film, costumes, strobes, and any other weirdness the could find. A PRANKSTER ARCHIVES! local struggling band known as the "Warlocks" joined in with their Psychedelic-Blues; later they changed their name to the Grateful Dead. The Pranksters put up posters around town telling of these "Acid Tests," but the time and location were kept secret until the last moment. These Acid Tests would be a bombardment of sight and sound that were enhanced by a big garbage can full of "Electric Kool-Aid." Eventually the govenment decided to make LSD illegal and Ken and the Pranksters fled to Mexico. After coming back to the U.S. to do one last performance, known as the "Acid Test Graduation," Ken and a few others were busted on a marijuana charge. Upon release from jail, Ken moved to a farm in Pleasant Hill, Oregon, "settled down," and raised his family there......But every now and again he got the itch to do "something weird" soon to be updated!? The bus at the Kesey Farm
Check out some available loans that are similar to this one! Independiente San Lorenzo Group In this Group: Maurin Irlanda, Monica Alexandra, Madeleine, Germania Leonida, Juan Alberto, Benny Germania, Silvana Patricia, Norma Benilda not pictured Madeline started this business when she was ten years old, in an effort to help her mother to put food on the table every day. She is a single mother and has two sons, ages six and four who attend school. Madeline says she decided on this line of work because there was no opportunity for a more formal job. She only has a high school education and did not find any other work. In order to do her work, she gets up every day at 4:00 a.m. to prepare breakfast and lunch for her children who stay home alone until she gets back from work. Her work inside the swamp is very difficult since she must stick her hand down in the mud about 50 to 60 cm and feel her way around to find one or two molluscs. If she does not find anything she must move on until she does. Many times there are reptiles and toads that can bite and produce fever and weakness. Depending on the type of reptile it can even cause death. The swamp fishing area is an hour and a half from San Lorenzo, in the ocean, and the boat owners buy 100 molluscs for $8.00, then sell them to intermediaries at a price of $14.00, says Madeline. With this loan, she wants to become an intermediary since she knows how much her colleagues suffer doing this work. She wants to pay a just price and be able to expand in the business so she can feed her children better food and spend more time at home with them. Madeline is the one raising her hand up in the photograph. She is the leader of the group of eight people who will receive loans of $400, $500, $1,000 and $1,200, depending on how long they have been in the group. Their previous loans were repaid on a normal basis, with nothing further to mention. View original language description ↓ Desde los 10 años inicia esta tarea con el fin de ayudar a su madre y conseguir el pan de cada día. hoy Madeline es madre soltera de 2 niños varones de 6 y 4 años de edad y que asisten a la escuela normalmente; Madeline dice que se dedicó a esta tarea por la falta de oportunidad en un trabajo formal, solo estudió hasta el bachillerato y no encontró oportunidad en algún empleo formal. Para la realización de esta tarea, ella se levanta todos los días a las 04H00 am. para dejar preparando el desayuno y el almuerzo para sus hijos que quedaran en casa solos hasta la tarde donde regresara de esta faena. Al llegar a los adentros del manglar, es muy difícil la tarea, ya que para sacar 1 o 2 conchas, se debe introducir la mano en el lodo a una profundidad de 50 - 60 cm y al tacto lograr encontrar la concha, de no ser así, se busca otro lugar hasta encontrar el producto. Muchas veces, nos encontramos con reptiles, y pejesapos, que al picar, produce fiebre, debilidad y según el reptil, puede producir la muerte. los lugares de donde se saca la concha quedan a una hora y media desde San Lorenzo, mar a fuera. y los dueños de las embarcaciones, nos compran las 100 conchas en $8,00; para luego venderles a los intermediarios a un precio de $14,00 dice Madeline. Con este crédito, ella espera convertirse en intermediaria, ya que conoce lo que con sus compañeros sufren realizando esta tarea. Desea comprar a un precio más justo y poder crecer más en este negocio; así, podrá brindar una mejor alimentación a sus hijos y pasara más tiempo con ellos en casa. Madeline se presenta levantando la mano en la fotografía, ella es líder del grupo de 8 personas quienes recibirán créditos de $400, $500 $1000 y $1200 según la antigüedad. Cabe indicar que los créditos anteriores, fueron pagados de forma regular sin presentar novedades. Additional Information More information about this loan About VisionFund Ecuador This is a Group Loan About Ecuador • $10,200 Average annual income • 29 View loans » Ecuador Loans Fundraising • $23,137,225 Funds lent in using Kiva • US Dollars Loan transacted in USD Success!! The loan was 100% repaid A portion of Independiente San Lorenzo Group's $5,100 loan helped a member to buy molluscs and provide other mollusc collectors a fair wage. 100% repaid Repayment Term 14 months (Additional Information) Repayment Schedule Mar 20, 2014 Apr 28, 2014 Currency Exchange Loss: Apr 17, 2015
No. 89,430 1. A law enforcement officer's subjective motive or deviation from normal procedure in investigating a traffic violation is not determinative of the motorist's claim of an unlawful detention so long as the officer was justified in his or her actions because of the traffic violation. The question of whether a detention exceeded the scope and duration permitted for a traffic stop is to be viewed objectively. 2. While conducting a routine traffic stop, a law enforcement officer may: (a) request the driver's license, vehicle registration, and proof of insurance; (b) run a computer check on the license and registration; and (c) issue a citation. During the permissible time allowed to diligently investigate the traffic violation, the law enforcement officer is allowed to concurrently investigate whether an odor of alcohol is emanating from the driver and whether there are other observable indicia of intoxication. Appeal from Norton District Court; WILLIAM B. ELLIOTT, judge. Opinion filed June 13, 2003. Affirmed. Daniel C. Walter, of Ryan, Walter & McClymont, Chtd., of Norton, for appellant. R. Douglas Sebelius, Norton City Prosecutor, of Norton, for appellee. Before BEIER, P.J., JOHNSON, J., and WAHL, S.J. JOHNSON, J.: Dustin R. Stewart appeals his convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) and transporting an open container, based upon the trial court's denial of his suppression motion. Finding Stewart's detention did not extend beyond that which is permissible for a lawful traffic stop, we affirm. Thad Brown, a City of Norton law enforcement officer, stopped Stewart's vehicle for an inoperable headlight. In the process of effecting the stop, Brown ran a radio check of the vehicle license tag. As Brown approached the stopped vehicle, he saw Stewart putting Copenhagen tobacco in his mouth. Upon making contact with Stewart, Brown noticed a strong odor of alcohol emanating from inside the vehicle, which also contained a passenger. Brown asked for Stewart's driver's license and insurance information. Stewart produced his license and the vehicle registration; he could not produce an insurance card. Brown's normal procedure would have been to call on the radio to check the driver's license. Brown then asked Stewart to step out of the vehicle and accompany Brown to the patrol car. Brown had Stewart remove the tobacco from his mouth. Inside the patrol car, Brown detected a strong odor of alcohol coming from Stewart. During a brief conversation in the patrol car, Stewart admitted that he had consumed beer at a rodeo in Nebraska, as well as drinking a few on the drive home. Brown asked Stewart to perform a preliminary breath test (PBT), which he did. When the test indicated the presence of alcohol, Brown had Stewart exit the patrol car and perform field sobriety tests (FST). Based on Stewart's FST performance, Brown administered another PBT, which Stewart failed. After arresting Stewart for DUI, Brown seized beer from Stewart's vehicle, including an open can. Stewart was charged in municipal court with DUI, transporting an open container, and no proof of liability insurance. The no proof of insurance charge was dismissed, but Stewart was convicted of the remaining charges. He appealed to the district court and filed a motion to suppress, claiming the scope and duration of his detention violated his Fourth Amendment rights. The district court denied the motion, finding "that the officer's detection of an odor of alcoholic beverage in dealing with the defendant gave the officer reasonable, articulable suspicion to believe there existed an alcohol-related violation and expand the scope of his detention of the defendant to investigate further." The trial then proceeded upon stipulated facts, and Stewart was convicted of DUI and transporting an open container. The sole issue on appeal is the denial of Stewart's suppression motion. The ultimate determination of the suppression of evidence is a legal question requiring independent appellate review. State v. Alvidrez, 271 Kan. 143, 145, 20 P.3d 1264 (2001). Stewart contends that when he was required to exit his vehicle, his detention was expanded beyond that which is permissible for a routine traffic stop. Stewart relies on Brown's candid statements that he always issues a warning ticket for a defective headlight violation and that he removed Stewart from the vehicle to ascertain whether the odor of alcohol was coming from Stewart, rather than from the passenger or another source within the vehicle. However, the United States Supreme Court has taught us that a law enforcement officer's subjective motive or deviation from normal procedure is not determinative of an unlawful detention claim so long as the officer was justified in his or her actions because of a traffic infraction. See Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806, 135 L. Ed. 2d 89, 116 S. Ct. 1769 (1996) (permitting evidence obtained through pretextual stop based upon traffic infraction). Therefore, the question should be whether Brown's detention of Stewart exceeded the scope of a routine traffic stop, when viewed objectively. The stop of a moving vehicle always constitutes a seizure. State v. McKeown, 249 Kan. 506, 510, 819 P.2d 644 (1991). The scope and duration of a seizure must be strictly tied to and justified by the circumstances which rendered its initiation proper. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 19, 20 L. Ed. 2d 889, 88 S. Ct. 1868 (1968); State v. Damm, 246 Kan. 220, 224, 787 P.2d 1185 (1990). "'A traffic stop is a seizure within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment, "even though the purpose of the stop is limited and the resulting detention quite brief." [Citation omitted.] An ordinary traffic stop is, however, more analogous to an investigative detention than a custodial arrest. We therefore analyze such stops under the principles pertaining to investigative detentions set forth in Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S. Ct. 1868, 20 L. Ed. 2d 889 (1968). To determine the reasonableness of an investigative detention, we make a dual inquiry, asking first "whether the officer's action was justified at its inception," and second "whether it was reasonably related in scope to the circumstances which justified the interference in the first place." [Citations omitted.]' [Citations omitted.]" State v. Mitchell, 265 Kan. 238, 241, 960 P.2d 200 (1998). Stewart concedes that the initial stop was lawful, but suggests that Brown was only authorized to detain him for the few minutes required to issue a warning ticket. Stewart argues that Brown had to allow him to leave after writing the warning ticket unless Brown had reasonable suspicion that Stewart was driving under the influence. Continuing the argument, Stewart asserts that the smell of alcohol, alone, is insufficient suspicion of DUI because it is not unlawful to drink and drive; it is only unlawful to drive while under the influence. Curiously, in arguing his detention exceeded the permissible scope and duration of a traffic stop, Stewart sets forth the following quote from State v. Schmitter, 23 Kan. App. 2d 547, Syl. ¶ 5, 933 P.2d 762 (1997): "While conducting a routine traffic stop, a law enforcement officer may request the driver's license and vehicle registration, run a computer check, and issue a citation. Once the driver has complied and produced his or her license and registration, if no information is obtained in the computer check, he or she must be allowed to leave without further delay. In order to justify a further detention for questioning on matters not related to the original stop, the officer must have reasonable suspicion that the individual has committed, is committing, or is about to commit some other crime." Stewart's own cited authority establishes that his traffic stop, standing alone, justified an investigative detention beyond the time required to write a defective headlight warning ticket; he could be detained for at least the time required to run a driver's license computer check. Inexplicably, neither party discusses the no proof of insurance charge and whether Brown could have arrested, or at least further detained, Stewart for that violation. Nevertheless, Brown was permitted to call in the driver's license. If he had returned to his patrol car with Stewart's driver's license to effect the computer check from the patrol car radio, we would not find that to be an unreasonable delay. Stewart would continue to be detained during this process, albeit normally seated in his vehicle. Therefore, the total length of time Stewart was detained prior to Brown's initial request for a PBT was not beyond the permissible time of detention for a routine traffic infraction stop. Brown unquestionably had reasonable suspicion, shortly after Stewart entered the patrol car, that Stewart had been drinking and driving. At that point, Stewart's departure had not been unreasonably delayed beyond the normal time required to do a computer check and write a ticket. To find that the detention was expanded beyond the scope of a traffic stop, we must find that Brown was not permitted to have Stewart accompany him to the patrol car, i.e., the nature of the detention, rather than the duration of detention, had exceeded that which is permissible for a traffic stop. Stewart complains that he should not have been required to exit his vehicle based solely upon a defective headlight infraction. However, after a vehicle is lawfully stopped for a traffic violation, the police officer, even without any suspicion of an additional crime, can order the motorist to get out of the vehicle; such an order is reasonable and does not violate the Fourth Amendment. See Pennsylvania v. Mimms, 434 U.S. 106, 111, 54 L. Ed. 2d 331, 98 S. Ct. 330 (1977). Having the detainee walk to and enter the patrol car during the time permitted for the law enforcement officer to run a driver's license check does not change the nature of the detention. Only the place of detention has changed; Stewart was not free to leave whether he was sitting in his car, standing beside his car, or sitting in the patrol car. As noted, Brown's subjective motives are not determinative, so long as he did not exceed the permissible scope of the lawful traffic infraction detention. Following a traffic stop, an officer is not required to close his or her eyes to all offenses that are not traffic related. State v. MacDonald, 253 Kan. 320, 324, 856 P.2d 116 (1993). Brown was permitted to concurrently investigate the source of the odor of alcohol and other observable indicia of intoxication, so long as he was diligently pursuing the traffic stop investigation. Cf. State v. Kirby, 12 Kan. App. 2d 346, 355, 744 P.2d 146 (1987), aff'd 242 Kan. 803, 751 P.2d 1041 (1988) (appellate court looks to whether the officer diligently pursued a means of investigation that was likely to confirm or dispel his or her suspicions quickly). Brown testified that he was at the driver's door "not more than a couple of minutes" and that he and Stewart were in the patrol car a "[c]ouple minutes probably." At the time that Brown obtained reasonable suspicion to commence a DUI investigatory detention, he was diligently pursuing the permissible traffic stop investigation. The district court did not err in denying the suppression motion. Comments to: WebMaster, [email protected]. Updated: June 13, 2003. URL: http://www.kscourts.org/kscases/ctapp/2003/20030613/89430.htm.
Climate change doubters speak out after release of White House report KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Climate change is controversial and not everyone believes it is happening. Try to ask someone their opinion about climate change and the conversation's climate can—well-- change. People like David Botello have strong opinions. He doubts man had much to do with climate change. "I believe in climate change but I don't necessarily think we caused it," he said. A climate change interview turned as volatile as the weather in Oregon recently, when a reporter asked Senate candidates why they doubted the science. The journalist who apparently doubted them began to write on his notepad: "Blah, blah, blah". And then, what was indisputably hot, was the rest of the conversation. After one of the Senate candidates told the journalist he thought man made climate change was a myth, the journalist replied, "What do you think about the Easter Bunny?" One of the candidates, before he abruptly left the interview, said, "(you) disrespectful thin skinned liberals." The doubting, though, extends beyond politicians to scientists well versed in atmospheric science. The University of Missouri's Nobel Prize winning professor for his research on climate change, Dr. Tony Lupo, is a global warming doubter. "At this point, I don't see enough evidence that humans are the primary cause of climate change," Lupo said. On Tuesday, the Obama Administration released the third U.S. National Climate Assessment. It's a scientific assessment of climate change and its impacts across every region of America. The report recommended urgent action to stop climate change and build a sustainable future for families. The White House said the nation's states need to be empowered to cut the greenhouse-gas pollution that is driving climate change. Lupo poked holes in the White House report that vowed to cut carbon pollution. "Five years ago, these same scientists were telling us winters would be shorter and warmer and now they say it will be colder and. Which is it?" he questioned. Dr. Lupo believes humans are likely a contributing factor but the climate has caused extremes in atmospheric conditions for millions of years; it's just the way of the world, "Millions of years ago, our climate was hotter than it is today." And four times in the last 130 years, he said it's been as hot or hotter than the drought of 2012 that parched the earth. 1000 years ago, "It was warm enough to grow grapes and wines in England and for the Vikings to colonize on Greenland. Neithter of those things are happening today." And what about those polar bears and their ice that's melting away? "Out of Alaska, they're (polar bears) thriving in these regions. This is part of the ebb and flow of the climate, some good things happen and some bad things." Both sides agree, what's heating up is the divide about the controversial issue and there's no end in sight. Print this article Back to Top
Criminal Code Proposal Could Lower Drug Penalties Date 2014/2/10 5:25:13 \| Topic: News JEFFERSON CITY (AP) - Missouri lawmakers are considering an overhaul of the state's criminal laws this year that would include the creation of new felony and misdemeanor classes. Original Image But within the 1,100-page bill is a more substantive change in the state's drug policy. The Senate measure, endorsed by a committee this week, would reduce the penalties for first-time marijuana possession offenders. Instead of facing a year in jail and a $1,000 fine, offenders would only be subject to a maximum $500 fine. The bill would also reduce the maximum prison sentence for other drug possession charges. Similar House legislation, however, would leave the penalties the same as current law. Its sponsor says the criminal code overhaul should be separate from changing Missouri's drug policy. This article comes from KTTN-FM AND KGOZ-FM The URL for this story is:
El Paso heavyweight boxer David Rodriguez said he was attacked with a knife outside a Scottsdale, Arizona nightclub last Friday morning. Warning, graphic content:photo of Rodriguez recovering in the hospital. According to the ABC affiliate in Phoenix, the incident happened just before 3 a.m. at N. Buckboard Trail and E. Shoem an Lane. Police were flagged down and led to two victims that had been stabbed. The first, whose name has not been released, was a 33-year-old man who was stabbed in the upper arm. Rodriguez spoke with us by phone during his recovery process. According to Rodriguez, he doesn't remember much of the attack. He believes his attackers were attempting to slit his throat. "I started blacking out, I started losing conciousness," said Rodriguez. "I mean, I thought I was a goner. I though, 'I guess this is the way the story ends.'" Neither Rodriguez nor the other victim were able to give a detailed description of their attackers, only that it was a black man who was with two other black men and a light skinned woman. Both Rodriguez and the other victim were transported to a local hospital. The unnamed victim was treated and released while Rodriguez remained in the hospital for treatment of his non-life-threatening injuries. "I lost so much blood I don't even remember being in the ambulance," said Rodriguez, telling ABC-7 he blacked out several times before waking up at an Arizona hospital. ABC-7 sports director Raul Martinez spoke with a member of Rodriguez's training team. Guy Taylor said Rodriguez told him that he and a friend were coming out of a club when a man with a knife attacked the boxer. Taylor said that the man slashed Rodriguez in the face with a knife from his ear to the jaw bone. Taylor said he lost a lot of blood and had to get 100 stitches, but he expects to make a full recovery. Rodriguez was not able to identify his attacker.
« Back I already laugh a lot. Why do I need to join a laughter club? The spontaneous laughter that comes throughout the day comes for a few seconds here and there. If you add up, it does not make even 5-6 minutes in 24 hours. That is not enough to bring physiological and biochemical changes for health benefits. Moreover, laughter that comes by using humor is not always positive. It involves sarcasm, ridicule and at times it is vulgar and offensive. Humor is based on individualism and different cultural traits and there is no guarantee how much we can laugh. In contrast, laughter in Laughter Yoga is unconditional and we laugh with other people for the pure joy of it. In order to get scientifically proven benefits of laughter one needs to laugh for at least 15 to 20 minutes with breaks of relaxation in between. That is only possible by doing laughter as an exercise. • Hits: 1640 Bookmark and Share
January 1984 Questions Presented 1. An attorney inquires whether his belonging to a barter association would comport with the Code of Professional Responsibility. In payment for his services he would receive "trade dollars" or "units" that could then be used to obtain goods or services from other members of the association. Members pay a join-up fee, annual dues, and a percentage on all "purchases" to the association. The organization promises that if it is not successful in bringing the new member a certain level of "units" during the first year, the membership fee and dues will be refunded. 2. If an attorney may properly belong to a barter association, can he pay court costs himself and receive barter units in payment for those costs? Bartering in a one-on-one situation has been practiced throughout history and has been and remains ethically permissible for attorneys. The new form of barter associations, however, presents a number of ethical problems. The barter association promises to provide its attorney members with a certain level of business or refund their fees and dues. This guarantee violates DR 2-103(E): "A lawyer shall not knowingly assist a person or organization that recommends, furnishes, or pays for legal services to promote the use of his services . . . ." The barter association does not meet the requirements of any of the exceptions to this disciplinary rule. In fact, one of the association's rules and regulations provides for a bonus to members who introduce and sponsor new members. Participation in the barter association also violates DR 2-103(C) which bars a lawyer from giving anything of value to an organization to recommend or secure his employment. The entire thrust of the barter group here is to promote the use of its members' services. The more business generated among its members, the more profit the barter organization makes. The membership fee, annual dues, and percentage fee on each transaction, which an attorney member would be required to pay, must all be considered as the giving of value to secure employment. Additionally, the percentage charge on each transaction may involve an impermissible sharing of legal fees with a non-lawyer. DR 3-102. ABA Informal Opinion 1430 mentioned several other problems with a bartering exchange organization, including: 1. The rules of the exchange do not contemplate the duty of an attorney to refuse employment in some circumstances as expressed in EC 2-30 and DR 2-109. Since fees paid to the exchange by a lawyer member are based upon the employment of the lawyer by other exchange members and since the lawyer's membership is subject to cancellation or recall by the exchange . . . the lawyer may not have sufficient freedom in refusing a member's case. 2. Another possible problem could arise in the termination of a lawyer as a member of the exchange. e.g., does the lawyer have a duty to continue with the representation of an exchange member/client or can he withdraw? 3. There are also potential conflict of interest problems depending upon the definition of the lawyer's relationship with the exchange and its members. e.g., can the lawyer represent an exchange member against the exchange, a member against another member, or a nonmember against a member? ABA Comm. on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, Informal Op. 1430 (1979). Since the answer to the initial question is no, the Committee does not address the second question. Bartering on a one-to-one basis is ethically permissible. However, participation in a barter association in which the attorney would exchange his services for barter units that would then be used to obtain goods or services from other members of the association, with a percentage on all purchases being paid to the association, is ethically improper. The committee does not address whether a bartering organization may be devised that would satisfy the requirements of the Code of Professional Responsibility. (9-0.)
Re: Tough Driving [May 26June 1]. Marc Cooper is my new hero. Its such a relief to know someone out there feels the same as I do about those useless contraptions called SUVs. How it ever became hip to drive around in something that looks like a delivery truck, Ill never know. A year ago, I met a guy who told me he designs BMWs and Land Rovers. I asked if hed ever considered equipping them with turn-signal indicators. To his credit, he not only got the joke, but told me the company had told him to design these things so as to appeal to the arrogant and narcissistic among us! On a recent trip to San Diego on the 405, to pass the time, my son and I counted how many SUVs signaled when changing lanes. The answer? One in five. That just about sums up the SUV drivers personality profile. As a rule, I hate bumper stickers. (Have you ever noticed that its always the angry person with the Mean People Suck sticker who cuts you off?) Well, I finally saw one I like, obviously a message to those Westside women in their SUVs, yakking on those cell phones designed to make them feel important: Hang Up and Drive. Billy Vera Los Angeles Many thanks to Marc Cooper for articulating the hatred I have always felt for SUVs (which I call suck-you-vees). Its always cracked me up that the effete-yuppie types who drive these abominations wouldnt be caught dead anywhere near dirt roads or wilderness areas, though supposedly thats what the things are designed for. Presumably, theyre the same nimrods who live in the hills, but freak out when mountain lions wander near their manicured back lawns. I drive a Honda Civic and take great pride (and, admittedly, great risks) in cutting off SUVs every damn chance I get. Inspired by Mr. Cooper, I will continue to do so with a sense of mission. Kathy A. Bekele Ive just finished Marc Coopers Tough Driving. This SUV slayer is an American Hero, and the Impala SS he drives is a real mans car. All I can say is Marc Cooper for president! Kevin Burns Los Angeles Congratulations to Marc Cooper for his indictment of shameless SUV drivers, but shame on him for buying into the exact same type of irresponsible, car-based identity politics that he attacks. His sarcastic pride in his own wasteful vehicle and his chain of militaristic, confrontational analogies smack of the same type of stupid machismo he pins on the pseudo-cowboys in their four-by-fours. And as for his dismissal of the aesthetics of an old soap-bar Volvo, point well taken, but I would hazard a guess that most of my peers who inherited these safe and responsible cars from their yuppie parents prefer them to the faceless, gleaming pebbles of todays modern look. Scott Stubbe Los Angeles While I understand the intent of his piece, some of the facts Marc Cooper chose to bolster his objective were simply wrong. First of all, ironically enough, many in the media did indeed lash out at large rear-drive sedans such as the Impala because of their size and as Cooper calls it gas guzzling, but that was in the context of 10 years ago. Today, the 26 miles per gallon full-size sedans such as his Impala achieved on the highway (and that achieved by full-size sedans such as those the Ford Motor Co. continues to build) is five to 10 miles per gallon more than the typical full-size SUVs being used today to run down to the store to pick up a loaf of bread. And as far as weight goes, despite its length, that Impala weighs 4,200 pounds, not the 4,700 being quoted by Mr. Cooper, making it a good 1,000 pounds less than a typical full-size SUV today. In fact, the weight of his Impala is more in line with the typical small SUV being sold today, and yet it has more room, gets better gas mileage, and is faster and better-handling. Seems to me, if everyone who drove big SUVs today was driving an early-90s Impala or Buick Roadmaster Estate station wagon, we could cut the smog and gasoline that their owners waste by at least 30 percent. Who would have thought 10 years ago that owning a Buick Roadmaster might actually make you environmentally sensitive? In any case, I have now joined Mr. Cooper in protecting my own safety by welding a spiked, reinforced, CHP-style push bumper to the front frame of my 1998 Z/28 Camaro (capable of 28 miles per gallon, by the way). To paraphrase a line from Mad Max, see you on the road, Ford Excursion owners. Evan Richmond Sierra Madre Re: Things Fall Apart [May 26June 1], I applaud Celeste Fremon for saying all the right things and telling it the way it really is in L.A. or any other place. My second husband was a foster child, and he had one horror story after another, and this took place in the sleepy little towns of Connecticut. I myself was a victim of my fathers sexual perversion, and of my mothers undiagnosed extreme mental illness and unbelievable abuse. No, I was never taken away, but if I had been, what would I have been taken to? Only another horror story. This country simply does not care about the needs of children who are not born to the rich, the loving, the kind, the good and lets be real, how many people like that are there in this world? The one thing I truly believe, without rehashing all the wonderful points the author makes, is that bringing back orphanages good, well-provided-for orphanages would be better than the indifferent, abusive homes children come from and the indifferent, only-in-it-for-the-money (or worse) foster homes they so often go to. Thank you for running this article. Isabelle Ghaneh Ridgefield, Connecticut Thank you for Celeste Fremons article on Sophies boys. We all need to address the plight of these children under the governments wing. I adopted a child from that system 12 years ago. The damage done by physical and mental abuse, while in the system, was disturbing. I would, however, like to encourage anyone considering fostering or adopting. The road is rough for these children. Life has given them a different road map from the one many of our other children take, but the rewards are there. They may struggle in school and on the sports field, but they take us to places we could have never traveled without them. They are a gift waiting to be opened. Karen Inouye Los Angeles Re: Ben Ehrenreichs Terrible Waste [June 28], this hilarious, and frightening, article lends credence to a statement made by Patrick McGoohans character (Number 6) in The Prisoner: Dont vote it only encourages them. Shawn OGrady West Hollywood Re: Marc B. Haefeles Hang On [City Limits, June 1622]. Why would anybody share a race spot with someone whos going to plaster the location all over the pages of a newspaper? I sympathize with the theme of the piece, believe me, but the location where my son and his friends go to run their Camaros and Mustang 5.0s and Turbo Vairs and blown Civics will have to remain secret. Theres not going to be another legal dragstrip in L.A. County. Its a guerrilla activity, and I think mostly thats how the participants want it, like raving. Letting them have it their way is part of growing up gracefully, and yeah, you never stop growing up, if youre lucky. Peter Jones Signal Hill Sponsor Content
Playing Favorites At first, the 20th anniversary of Outfest seemed like a good excuse for the Weekly's film critics to do what critics love to do best -- make 10-best lists. But who cares, really, what we think? Instead, we've called and e-mailed a bunch of artists and filmmakers and asked one simple, scintillating question: "Which gay- or lesbian-themed film do you love most and why?" Their responses were warm and generous and full of surprises -- and included, we note with satisfaction, one 10-best list. DAVID ANSEN (film critic, Newsweek) One of the first movies that pops into my mind, although you could argue whether it's a gay movie or not, is Sunday, Bloody Sunday [1971; John Schlesinger, director]. Seeing it in 1971, it felt sort of post-liberated. It made no fuss. It accepted gayness very matter-of-factly. And the Peter Finch character was so moving. He was just this guy. There was no issue at all. That made a huge impression on me. MIGUEL ARTETA (filmmaker, Chuck & Buck, The Good Girl) The Times of Harvey Milk [1984; Robert Epstein, director] has so much humanity to it, so much compassion. I'm not gay, but my brother is, and watching that movie was a big moment in our relationship. I'd always felt, Oh, I understand him very well, yet watching that movie made me redefine our relationship. It took me by surprise. It's a movie I watch when I'm feeling like making films is bullshit. It helps me get closer to a feeling that says, "There is work to be done. Do not live a foolish life." RON ATHEY (performance artist) All things Pier Paolo Pasolini. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom [1975] is the best example of how -- except for maybe in his unfinished novel Petrolio -- Pasolini used gay sex acts to attack, rather than entice. Set in fascist Italy, the jaded libertines, the big-dicked guards and the storytelling whores make edge-play as true to De Sade as allowable, and it's still almost unbelievable. Graphic sex on the screen is not always pornographic. SHEILA BENSON (former chief film critic, Los Angeles Times) What struck me about Aimée & Jaguar [1999; Max Färberböck, director] is that, except for Don't Look Now, it has the hottest love scene I've seen almost anywhere, between any two people, much less two women. And I was thrilled that on a recent Charlie Rose, Richard Gere got director Adrian Lyne to admit that, true to the immemorial tradition of American directors, the sexiest sequence in Unfaithful [2002] -- where Diane Lane's entire body shivers and trembles at her lover's touch -- was a direct lift from Aimée & Jaguar. Bless his heart, Gere made Lyne cop to it. KAUCYILA BROOKE (conceptual artist, director of photography program, CalArts) I saw The Killing of Sister George [1968; Robert Aldrich, director] after I first came out, and it terrified me -- the established lesbian relationship in the film is so dysfunctional -- but I saw it again in 1990 and thought, "This is fabulous." There's a scene in which George [Beryl Reid] -- I love that her name is George -- makes Childie [Susannah York] eat a cigar butt, and at first George gets off on Childie's disgusted face. But then Childie triumphs by pretending to love the cigar butt, that it's the best thing she's ever had. Power, playing back and forth. Later, an executive at the TV studio named Mercy, played by Coral Browne, seduces Childie in ä one of the hottest lesbian sex scenes I've seen. Childie is laying there in a kind of empire-waisted dress with a little white collar, and she's got a fall on, and has long hair and bangs -- very little-girl. And Mercy opens Childie's dress and pinches her nipple and sucks her nipple, and the way it's edited -- the expressions on Childie's face, the older woman/younger woman aspect of it, the shifting of power -- is extremely erotic. Really wonderful. BILL CONDON (filmmaker, Gods and Monsters) The last couple of times I've seen Parting Glances [1986; Bill Sherwood, director] I've been struck by how Sherwood does so much with the idea implied by the film's title. This movie has more exit scenes and exit lines than any movie I've ever seen. It's always people leaving, and I think that's part of the movie's underlying structure, so it really packs a wallop when the lead character, Michael [played by Richard Ganoung], goes over to his ex-boyfriend, played by Steve Buscemi, and declares that he's only been in love once and it was with him. In a movie about how people are constantly moving on to the next thing, the idea of this guy going back and trying to hold on to something really hits you. And, of course, there's this great resonance because we never got to see more Bill Sherwood movies [Sherwood died in 1990 from AIDS complications]. There's such exuberance and joy in the film, too. It's very special. DENNIS COOPER (novelist, Frisk, Try, My Loose Thread) One of the first amazing things for me was Kenneth Anger's Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome [1954]. It's one of his very poetic films, collaged and hallucinatory and just weird. It's not a sex movie, yet it's fused with a druggy kind of eroticism. Anger's Kustom Kar Kommandos [1965] is a great one too. It's just three minutes of this leather guy polishing an old hot rod. It's fantastic. ALAN CUMMING (actor, filmmaker, The Anniversary Party) [via e-mail] My favorite moment in a gay movie is in La Cage aux Folles [1978; Edouard Molinaro, director] when the drag queen is trying to eat toast in a manly way, but failing miserably. It's a really hilarious scene, and even though it's sort of a cliché, it's still an honest and warm movie. I love the U.S. remake, too, but you can't beat the French-toast bit! MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM (novelist, The Hours, A Home at the End of the World) [via e-mail] Adam Sandler's Big Daddy [1999; Dennis Dugan, director], which is not likely to strike many as a gay movie of any sort. It's a guy movie, actually. But Adam Sandler's colossally straight character has a posse of dudes he hangs out with, and two of them are gay men, who are each other's lover. It's mentioned, offhandedly, that they met in law school, fell in love, and that's that. The two men are clearly in love with each other; they're neither macho nor swishy (not that we're not entitled to be as macho and/or swishy as we want to be); they're smart and cool, and they rock along in the story with everyone else. Adam Sandler is seldom mentioned on any lists of those helping out with the revolution. And yet. With that movie he told uncountable Americans, the majority of whom are young straight guys, that it's officially uncool to be anything but utterly accepting of gay people, and for that I bless him. Rock on, Adam. VAGINAL DAVIS (performance artist) I've got so many favorites, but the one that ä really floored me was Taxi zum Klo [1981; Frank Ripploh, director]. The thing that made the movie remarkable, it was a narrative film that also featured hardcore sex in it. It wasn't a porno film. It was a fascinating story. And the sex was relevant to the film, and it was unabashed. When I saw that movie, I was in high school. My school sent me to the film festival where the film was playing. There I was, 16 or whatever, seeing this really raunchy movie with homosexual sex. That would not happen today. But people back then were smart enough to see that this movie was not just for prurient interests. DAVID DRAKE (actor, writer, The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me Does porn count? Actually, one movie I identify as having to do with my little faglette identity is, believe it or not, The Poseidon Adventure [1972; Ronald Neame, director]. The whole concept of the world being turned upside down, of struggling to follow one's instincts to find the way out, hit me very hard as a little gay boy. SANDI SIMCHA DUBOWSKI (filmmaker, Trembling Before G-d) I measure movies by how many blocks I cry after I've left the theater, and Debra Chasnoff's documentary, It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues In Schools [1996] really got me. The idea that eight- and 10-year-olds were discussing homosexuality in a serious way at school just floored me. It was too beautiful, too beautifully human. JIM FALL (filmmaker, Trick) In 1985, I was in college and Artie Bresson, who was a porno filmmaker, made this movie, Buddies, that was the first film to deal with AIDS. [Arthur Bresson Jr. died in 1987 of complications from AIDS.] I got to work on it as a production assistant. It's about this guy dying in the hospital and this uptight guy who volunteers as a buddy, and it's a very sad film, but it came at a time when there wasn't anything else. We were very much in mourning, and this film was cathartic. New Line Films distributed it. Actually, I just realized that Fine Line, which is part of New Line, released my movie, Trick. That's funny. I never connected that. That's very sort of amazing. Wow. JOHN FLECK (performance artist, actor, starring in the Outfest 2002 film On_Line) The first time I ever saw gay people was in Rebel Without a Cause [1955; Nicholas Ray, director]. Sal Mineo, the way he just melted whenever he was around James Dean. Back then I didn't know what the hell was going on, but it was kind of exciting, sexually. And Tony Curtis in Some Like It Hot [1959; Billy Wilder, director] was kind of beautiful. It wasn't very homoerotic but it was gender-bending, which for a young kid in Cleveland, Ohio . . . RICHARD GLATZER (filmmaker, Grief, The Fluffer) Todd Haynes' half-hour short Dottie Gets Spanked [1993] is fantastic. He made it between Poison and Safe. It's about a little kid, six or something, who falls madly in love with a Lucille Balltype character named Dottie. His worship of her marginalizes him in front of his parents and his schoolmates. The boy's parents never spank him, they don't believe in it, but he wins a contest to be on the Dottie Show, where she happens to get spanked. The boy instantly falls in love with the idea of spanking, because it's so clean and neat and something his parents won't do. Here is the imprinting of a little kid, and you just know his sexual life will be shaped by the moment. There's a beautiful ending where he realizes that he's got to try to be normal, so he makes this little casket lined with foil and buries this especially sensational picture he'd drawn of Dottie being spanked -- one that had really disturbed his father. And it's not a shameful thing, that burial. It's like he's storing it. You feel it will re-appear someday. The seeds of artistry. CATHERINE GUND (documentary filmmaker, Hallelujah!) John Grayson [After the Bath] -- he never let the limitations of the media stop him from expressing himself. When a form of expression occurred to him, he found a way to put it on the screen. He was a pioneer in that way. So was Sue Fredrikson [Black and White], in a different way. She used the medium less, she twisted it less, but didn't shy away from putting what she wanted on the screen. STEPHEN GUTWILLIG (executive director, Outfest) Todd Haynes is one of our most important filmmakers, and Velvet Goldmine [1998] is his least appreciated, most gorgeous film. It captures the period of glam rock with more energy and eroticism than anyone would have thought possible and also seems to me to tie together 100 years of queer history. It's an enormous triumph. CHARLES HERMAN-WURMFELD (filmmaker, Kissing Jessica Stein) There are so many movies, yet, in a way, so few movies. The Celluloid Closet [1995; Robert Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman, directors], based on the Vito Russo book, is the one that helps me understand what gay movies are, that makes me say I'm only going to make queer movies. ANDREW HOLLERAN (novelist, Dancer From the Dance and In September, the Light Changes) For me, growing up in the '50s, it was the Danny Kaye movies, like On the Riviera [1951; Walter Lang, director]. Kaye was so fey, so quick-witted and alive. And he could dance! Oh, and there were the pirate movies. So many pirate movies. All those half-dressed men with their chests all oiled up. Just wonderful. For real movies, of course, there's Suddenly Last Summer [1959; Joseph L. Mankiewicz, director] and that terrifying sequence when Sebastian is being pursued to his death by street urchins -- a gay man who's made the wrong pickup one time too many. DAN IRELAND (filmmaker, The Whole Wide World, The Velocity of Gary) Gallipoli [1981], directed by Peter Weir. It's a gay movie. I'm sorry, but it is. It's about two guys [Mel Gibson and Mark Lee] in love, with one who wants to be with the other so badly that he sacrifices his life in the end. It's so beautiful. They're so much in love. Peter knew what he was doing. I don't think Mel did. Just the scene where they climb up the pyramid, and they're sitting there watching the sun go down and the camera lingers on them, just sitting there next to each other, smoking a cigarette. I mean . . . call it what you want. ALEXANDRA JUHASZ (co-producer, Watermelon Woman) I'm more interested in documentary than narrative film, and the films that come to mind are those that pushed new boundaries and broke newä ground for other filmmakers to follow. Marlon Riggs' Tongues Untied [1991], an amazing documentary that mixes traditional and avant-garde filmmaking styles, and does important work for minority groups and the minoritized gay community. It was the object of national political debate, and it worked at both the local and national levels to give exposure to the issues in the gay and black communities. Also Gregg Araki's The Living End [1992], which is a brilliant film out of his interesting body of work. It's important for where it pushed HIV/AIDS representation in films, as well as for its portrayal of gay male sexuality. And Senorita Extraviada [2002] by Lourdes Portillo, an examination of misogyny and masculine culture, about a town in Mexico where poor working-class women are being murdered. It's a beautiful, really smart film. MOISÉS KAUFMAN (founder and artistic director of Tectonic Theater Project; filmmaker, The Laramie Project) Law of Desire [1987; Pedro Almodóvar, director]. Beautifully written, beautifully shot, and Antonio Banderas is naked in it. MICHAEL KEARNS (actor, director, acting coach) I remember seeing Some Like It Hot [1959; Billy Wilder, director] as a kid and being completely entranced by the idea that these men were wearing women's clothing. And by Marilyn Monroe in her every scintillating moment. But it was the last line of the movie [spoken by Joe E. Brown to Tony Curtis], "Nobody's perfect," that really hit me, that sent out some sort of message that whoever you're attracted to is okay, as long as it's genuine. That's what went into my little head. SHANNON KELLEY (director of programming, Outfest) I finally saw Parting Glances [1986; Bill Sherwood, director] one night a few years after it was released, on a fuzzy, pirated cable station. I was still in the closet then. And even though the picture quality wasn't good, I drank in as much of it as I could. It was thrilling. Here was a social world that had its own beauty and its own way of absorbing pain, where people supported each other. It would be another several years before I finally did come out, but I think of that film as having been a personal resource for me. It gave me hope. ROBERT LEE KING (filmmaker, Psycho Beach Party) My favorite lesbian movie is Bound [1996; Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski, directors], because that scene where Gina Gershon is fixing Jennifer Tilly's sink actually gave me a movie boner, which I didn't think was possible in a lesbian movie. And, of course, Scarlett O'Hara remains a great inspiration. RANDAL KLEISER (filmmaker, The Blue Lagoon, Grease, It's My Party) [via e-mail] My favorite gay film of all time is Cabaret [1972; Bob Fosse, director]. I was in college and felt like I was living the life of the Michael York character, that he was going through the same conflicts I was experiencing. There's a montage where Liza [Minnelli] and Michael smile at each other across a room that inspired a sequence in Blue Lagoon [1980; Randal Kleiser, director] between Chris Atkins and Brooke Shields, and the near-three-way scene inspired a scene in Summer Lovers [1982, Randal Kleiser, director]. BRUCE LaBRUCE (filmmaker, Hustler White) [via e-mail] The gay-themed film I love the most is The Boys in the Band [1970], because although it was directed by William Friedkin, who also directed The Exorcist and Cruising, it is much scarier than any other film he ever made. GREG LAEMMLE (vice-president, Laemmle Theaters) There was a time when one of my young sons was really into pink. He had a pink tutu, and he would dance around the house and say he was going to grow up and be a pretty pink ballerina. I didn't have a problem with it, really. Whatever. In this same time, I saw Ma Vie En Rose [1997; Alain Berliner, director], and there's that scene where they find the boy in the freezer, and I thought, "Oh, God, this is what can happen if you're not sensitive to whoever he is." CHI CHI LARUE (adult-film director, drag queen personality) Female Trouble [1975; John Waters, director] changed my life. I was living in Minnesota and was a fan of Divine's music and persona, but her movies certainly didn't play there. When it finally came to the video store, my friends and I rented it as a sort of perverse inquiry. I watched it over and over. It changed my look on everything freaky and brought me screaming out of the drag closet. I was always afraid to shave my mustache off, thinking that I was keeping a little of my masculinity, but Divine showed me I could be big and beautiful. And dirty! EVERETT LEWIS (filmmaker, The Natural History of Parking Lots, Luster, featured in Outfest 2002) One night in New York, over 20 years ago, when I was starting out on an architectural career, I went to see East of Eden [1955; Elia Kazan, director], which blew me away and made me want to make movies. I came out of that theater floating. It was like a drug. And for years I thought it was the movie, but recently I realized that the movie was nothing and James Dean was everything. And that I went into this whole moviemaking thing, in essence, in pursuit of a guy, led by desire for a guy. CRAIG LUCAS (playwright, screenwriter, Prelude to a Kiss, Longtime Companion) [via e-mail] Hi. I don't know if you can call it gay/lesbian-themed, but the movie that gave me the most pleasure with a gay leading character and storyline was The Opposite of Sex [1998; Don Roos, director]. It made me laugh and laugh and think that there may be hope for independent movies after all. Hope this helps. MING-YUEN S. MA (experimental video artist) The Japanese film Black Lizard, written by Yukio Mishima, is a wonderful, very campy '60s-noir over-the-top crime story in the style of Aubrey Beardsley, all decadence and deco illustrations, very twisty. Black Lizard, this beautiful female criminal mastermind, is played by an onnagata, one of the male kabuki actors who specialize in playing females. For half the film, Black Lizard is a real, convincingly beautiful glamour girl. The other half she looks like a bad drag queen. TIM MILLER (solo performer, author of Body Blows) I remember seeing Derek Jarman and Paul Humfress' Sebastiane [1976] at the old Four Star on Wilshire when I was in high school. Such an amazing movie, so full of heat and sex. It's a re-telling of the Saint Sebastian story, set on some remote Mediterranean island full of cute men whipping each other. I remember that the film kept burning up, literally, five or six times. I think of that melt, that explosion, as the movie's content eating through the celluloid. JOHN CAMERON MITCHELL (actor, filmmaker, co-creator of Hedwig and the Angry Inch) [via e-mail] I'm in a bit of seclusion now, writing. Let me be the gay Leonard Maltin. My favorite gay-themed movies, in no particular order, are: Taxi zum Klo, a sweet 1981 tale of a German elementary-school teacher/leather queen that has the best narrative use of explicit sex that I've seen in a gay film. Happy Together (1997), Wong Kar-Wai's best. Dog Day Afternoon (1975), goes without saying. The Naked Civil Servant (1975), John Hurt as Quentin Crisp! Sunday, Bloody Sunday (1971), bisexual love triangle, John Schlesinger's best. This Special Friendship (1964), love in a French boarding school. Boys Don't Cry (1999), uh-huh. Mala Noche (1985), Gus Van Sant's first and best, still not on video. Entertaining Mr. Sloane, Joe Orton's 1970 black comedy. Un Chant D'Amour, Jean Genet's 1950 prison poem, featuring a fine black-and-white hard-on. The Hours and Times (1991), John Lennon's gay moment by the last of the true L.A. independents, Chris Muench. Paris Is Burning (1990), Jennie Livingston's classic doc. The Times of Harvey Milk (1984), genius history lesson. Falconpac 1-15, porn from back when sex was in. DAVID MORETON (filmmaker, Edge of Seventeen) Head On [1998; Ana Kokkinos, director] is a great rush of a movie, so energizing that it made me want to make more movies. But I also want to name What's Up, Doc? [1972; Peter Bogdanovich, director] because I sometimes think it's the movie that single-handedly made me gay. With Barbra and Madeline Kahn and Ryan O'Neal in those boxer shorts -- for me, it was gay nirvana. EILEEN MYLES (novelist, Cool for You) My favorite lesbian movie is The Parent Trap [1961; David Swift, director] with Hayley Mills. I love that movie so much. I saw it when it was new, and I had a best friend who I was in love with, and this was our favorite movie. We studied it endlessly and got our hair cut like theirs and adored Hayley Mills, who was sort of an early-teen butch icon in 1961. Well, you have to understand butch from a 10-year-old perspective. She was as tomboyish as you got at that time, and she had a theme song, and she had a best friend/girlfriend who looked just like her. She had everything. And the double image played right into that place of imagining what it would be like to have sex with someone who was like you. CASSANDRA NICOLAOU (filmmaker whose short Interviews With My Next Girlfriend screens at Outfest 2002) It was way back in 1987 that I saw I've Heard the Mermaids Singing, Patricia Rozema's (When Night Is Falling, Mansfield Park) first feature film. I was on my very first date with my very first girlfriend, and to be honest I'm surprised I made it out of there alive, what with my sweaty palms, my heart palpitations and girls kissing on screen. Aside from the debut of Anne-Marie MacDonald (who's in my film at Outfest) and a magical use of the now-overused Delibes' Lakmé, the thing I most remember about Mermaids is that it proved to be great foreplay. LAURA NIX (filmmaker whose feature The Politics of Fur screens at Outfest 2002) Pee-wee's Big Adventure [1985; Tim Burton, director] is a movie that is so clearly gay without ever using the word "gay." At the end of the film, when Dottie asks Pee-wee if he would like to go to the drive-in with her, he falls down on the ground laughing. He isn't mature enough to date yet, but we also know that even if he was, he wouldn't take a girl to the movies. And then he explains to her "Dottie, this is about things you couldn't understand." When Simone asks Pee-wee what he dreams about, he tells her "a snake and a donut." A kid watching that doesn't get it, but a gay audience knows exactly what he means. Pee-wee's Big Adventure is one of the most gender-subversive films I've ever seen. I wish more films were like it. KIMBERLY PEIRCE (filmmaker, Boys Don't Cry) My first choice is La Dolce Vita [1960; Federico Fellini, director] because when I first saw it as a kid, I was totally obsessed with Anouk Aimée and Anita Ekberg, and didn't know why, then finally figured it out. I love that it celebrates desire and sex without apology, which is very homo to me. My second choice is Heavenly Creatures [1994; Peter Jackson, director] because I love those girls -- love their desire and love their rage. JOHN RECHY (novelist, essayist, City of Night, Rushes, The Coming of the Night) Howard Hawks' Red River [1948] stars two iconic but opposite gay figures -- John Wayne and Montgomery Clift. One very macho, one very sensitive, struggling against each other. I doubt that I thought so in 1948, but when I've seen the movie subsequently, I think, "This is a gay relationship." It ends up in a great fistfight between the two men, a fight that is very sensual, in a sense, because you just know, even if they don't, that they really want to do otherwise. DAN SAVAGE (syndicated columnist, "Savage Love") South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut [1999; Trey Parker, director]. It's the best gay movie in the last 20 years. The love scenes between Saddam Hussein and Satan were really moving, they really touched me. The movie had a queer sensibility that was completely thrilling, and the movie played like one long joke for musical-theater queens, because every song is a takeoff on a very specific number in another musical. It showed how thoroughly integrated into the culture gays and lesbians are -- that you could do this movie with Satan as a sensitive, thoughtful man in an abusive relationship. It's completely queer. And you know, who needs a coming-out film anymore? Thirty years ago it was a huge issue, because it was so much more scarring and traumatic. Now, it's nothing. Now, Satan's out. DIRK SHAFER (filmmaker, Circuit, Man of the Year) Longtime Companion [1990; Norman René, director] devastated me, really made me cry, because it brought back memories of so many friends I’d lost. Especially then, when so many more were dying. Even today, I can’t stand on the beach without thinking of all those characters who’d died coming back at the end, holding hands, coming across the beach — it gives me chills just to talk about it. Jean Genet’s 1950 silent film Un Chant D’Amour ["Song of Love"] is smoky, grainy and erotic. The prisoners share cigarettes through some sublimated version of a glory hole. The trancelike state held me captive. I saw it someplace in downtown Manhattan as a teenager, maybe the Anthology Film Archive. There, I also saw the terrifying Vinyl [1965], Warhol’s early take on A Clockwork Orange. With its professional sadist torturing Gerard Malanga (I think) and its creepy "scenario" by Ronald Tavel (a real genius and hero of the underground), I was launched. It led me into a porn house, where I saw The Pledgemasters [1971; David P. Parrish, director], purportedly a documentary filmed at a real fraternity initiation/hazing. These films had a shared S/M behavioral-modification subtheme, linking sex, imprisonment, humiliation and (weirdly) freedom. They stayed in my imagination and created a whole pool of psychoerotic imagery that still haunts me. KEVIN THOMAS (Los Angeles Times film critic) Rosa von Praunheim’s It’s Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, but the Situation in Which He Lives [1970] is an extraordinary film. It’s about a young gay kid who comes from a small town to Berlin and gets a job as a waiter and falls in love with another waiter and finds paradise on Earth, and of course the whole thing falls apart in about three weeks. He gets used up, is reduced to hustling, and, finally, there’s a fanciful epilogue in which he’s rescued to a halfway house and nursed back to health by very handsome men. Wishful thinking! But the film suggests how gay society takes on straight views of youth and materialism and magnifies them many times over. And how destructive that can be. It’s rather crudely made, in Rosa’s inimitable semidocumentary style, but it’s very powerful and timeless. GUINEVERE TURNER (screenwriter, actress, Go Fish) Hedwig and the Angry Inch [2001; John Cameron Mitchell, director] blew me away. It represents to me a new wave of queer cinema. We've gone from "We're here, we're queer" to "Figure this one out." It's so much more complex, exactly the kind of film I want my mom to see. TINA TYLER (adult-film star and director) I was 15 and living on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, a tiny sports-minded town four hours from any major city. I was a social outcast in my teens, feeling lonely, not good enough, not worthy of love. And I saw The Rocky Horror Picture Show [1975; Jim Sharman, director] and thought, "These are my people. I need to be hanging with them. I need to move! I need to get to where there's people like this." BRUCE VILANCH (humorist) I’m tempted to say What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? [1962; Robert Aldrich, director], because it reminds me of so many gay relationships: One of them is always in drag, the other can’t get out of bed. But since I’m sure you’d like a serious, soberly considered answer, I’ll nominate the picture that moved me the most, an independent film called Parting Glances [1986; Bill Sherwood, director]. It’s an ’80s item about friendship and loss and fag hags and middle-class people living as bohemians and the beginnings of the AIDS catastrophe and commitment of many different stripes. And there’s a great show scene. BILL WEBER (filmmaker, The Cockettes, screening at Outfest 2002 Awards Night) I was going to Kansas University in 1972, and gay films pretty much didn’t exist, except The Boys in the Band [1970; William Friedkin, director], which literally scared me. I hadn’t come out of the closet, and I thought, "Oh my god. Are these my ancestors?" But then Tricia’s Wedding [1971; Milton Miron, director] came around. It was a movie of a play the San Francisco performance troupe the Cockettes produced that parodied Tricia Nixon’s White House wedding — they did it the night of the wedding — with bearded drag queens and people who looked like women but didn’t have breasts. Doing drugs and doing a send-up of the White House. I thought, "My god. These are my ancestors!" YVONNE WELBON (filmmaker, Living With Pride: Ruth Ellis at 100) I don’t have one that I love most, but I do have one that I loved first: Entre Nous [1983; Diane Kurys, director]. I saw it over and over again. It wasn’t explicit, but the two women in it were both beautiful. I was still in college and trying to figure stuff out for myself, and in the postscript it said it was a true story, that it was Diane Kurys’ mother’s story. I loved that. This was real, this had really happened to somebody. Maybe it could happen to me. WASH WESTMORELAND (filmmaker, The Fluffer) I chose for my special movie My Beautiful Laundrette [1985; Stephen Frears, director] because it was the movie my last-ever girlfriend took me to see. This was in the north of England. I was 19. She was very smart so afterwards, she sat me down and said, "Well, what did you think of that?" I was so shaken by the movie that certain images and ideas from it have stayed with me ever since. There's that famous scene when Daniel Day-Lewis and his Pakistani lover are making love in the back of the laundrette and he squirts champagne into his lover's mouth. It's so charged. I think at certain ages we go to the movies for explanation or identification and this film provided both for me. It was a doorway to a different way of looking at the world. EDMUND WHITE (novelist, A Boy’s Own Story, The Married Man) The first movie I ever saw that spoke to my condition was Rebel Without a Cause [1955; Nicholas Ray, director]. I was 14 or 15. Until then, it had never occurred to me that a movie could address me and my life. Earlier films had moved me (Two Years Before the Mast, because Alan Ladd was half-naked in it and severely beaten), but this was the first one that was about a gay boy who hangs out with a straight couple and is in love with them — which was exactly my case in high school. The aimless, apolitical rebelliousness of the ’50s and the covert homosexuality of Sal Mineo, which found an object of love in the covert homosexuality of James Dean — this was a life-changing experience for me. MARY WORONOV (artist, writer, actress, Eating Raoul) Wong Kar-Wai's Happy Together [1997] is very urban and terribly romantic. But not romantic in the way they try to put a happy heterosexual ending on so many of these gay affairs. No, this was terribly true to life, and it was so powerful how the main character accepted his fate and just went on. Very beautiful and tragic. Editorial assistance was provided by Amy Nicholson and Pandora Young. Sponsor Content
Common Floor Cheers for Cheerleading Floor cheers for cheerleading are a major part of riling up a crowd during any sports event. These cheers are practiced on cheerleading mats and then used at the game on the sidelines, especially when the game gets so noisy that regular cheers can't be heard. The Basics Of Floor Cheers Floor cheers are choreographed with rhythmic claps, stomps and beats. Since they rely so much on stomping and beating on a hard surface, they are mainly used at basketball games, where they have the most impact thanks to the basketball floor. Many different types of floor cheers can be performed during breaks in the action of a game. While people often think of floor cheers as large routines that are done in the middle of the court or field, some floor cheers take as little as 30 seconds to perform on the sidelines. Floor cheers are designed to fit wherever they need to during the course of the game, so the head cheerleader is prepped with a variety of different cheers of different lengths. She pays attention to the game so she knows what type of cheer to use and when. Standing Floor Cheers Many cheers are done while the cheerleaders are standing in a line in front of the bleachers. They perform a series of stomps and claps, along with a chant that can be echoed by the crowd. The cheerleaders will normally move in unison during a standing floor cheer, but they might add in some acrobatic moves toward the end of the cheer, like toe touches, depending on how long the cheerleaders have to complete the cheer. Sitting Floor Cheers Cheerleaders all sit together in a line in between the game and the crowd. The sit with their knees pointed in the same direction, also called pinwheel seating. Once the cheerleaders are seated, they all wait for the captain to start the cheer by saying "Ready, Okay." They use their hands and feet to create a rhythm on the floor. The stomps and claps can be heard even above the din of the game and the roars of the crowd, which make them a perfect fit for basketball games. They also give the cheerleaders a break to rest while still keeping the spirit of the game up. Related Life123 Articles Frequently Asked Questions on More Related Life123 Articles Being aware of common cheerleading injuries can help you structure safer routines and find coaches who are properly qualified.
When it comes to file-sharing lawsuits the UK remains calm view full story http://www.downloadsquad.com – In today's day and age it's pretty rare for the owner of a large-scale copyright-infringement website to escape the law. They can run, but they can't hide! The cases are often settled out of court, but when they do go to trial it's incredibly uncommon to see a not guilty verdict. But that all changes today! Go UK! The owner of Oink, one of the largest British-run file-sharing sites, has walked free. Alan Ellis ran the site between May 2004 and October 2007, first from his home and then later from dedicated servers in Amsterdam. At its peak the community and its private BitTorrent tracker had 180,000 users. Its shut-down was orchestrated by British and Dutch police after a two-year investigation by the IFPI and BPI -- this was by no means a small-time operation! That Ellis is walking away is really quite an achievement, both for him and the British legal system: he simply told the court that he had no intention to defraud copyright holders. When asked why he set the site up, while giving evidence, he said: "It was to further my skills. To better my skills for employability." I'll end with a great quote from Oink's Wikipedia entry; it was said by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails: "I'll admit I had an account there and frequented it quite often. At the end of the day, what made Oink a great place was that it was like the world's greatest record store. Pretty much anything you could ever imagine, it was there, and it was there in the format you wanted. If Oink cost anything, I would certainly have paid, but there isn't the equivalent of that in the retail space right now." Share tweetmeme_url = 'http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/01/15/file-sharing-copyright-lawsuits-the-uk-remains-calm'; tweetmeme_source='DownloadSquad'; tweetmeme_style = 'compact'; When it comes to file-sharing lawsuits the UK remains calm originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read \| Permalink \| Email this \| Comments (General)
Greatest NFL Quarterbacks of All Time 1. Joe Montana 2. Tom Brady 3. Drew Brees 4. Dan Marino 5. Bart Starr 6. Bob Griese 7. Brett Favre 8. John Elway 9. Johnny Unitas 10. Peyton Manning 11. Roger Staubach 12. Steve Young 13. Joe Namath 14. Fran Tarkenton 15. Terry Bradshaw 16. Phil Simms 17. Dan Fouts 18. Otto Graham 19. Troy Aikmen 20. Aaron Rodgers 21. Kurt Warner 22. Ben Roethlisberger 23. Donovan McNabb 24. Daunte Culpepper 25. Jim Kelly 26. Warren Moon 27. Sammy Baugh 28. George Blanda 29. Len Dawson 30. Sonny Jurgensen 31. Bobby Layne 32. Y.A. Tittle 33. Jeff Hostetler 34. Norm Van Brocklin 35. Bob Waterfield 36. Michael Vick 37. Vinny Testeverde Author Comments: Which ones am I missing? I'm basing my rankings on general greatness: their natural talent, their ability to win, and their leader/champion aura. bart starr... sammy baugh... fran tarkenton... otto graham i still think dan marino is the best qb of all time. Here's a list of all the Hall of Fame quarterbacks of the modern era. You've covered many of them, but I think Bart Starr, Bob Griese and Fran Tarkenton deserve a place somewhere on your list. Terry Bradshaw 1970-1983 Len Dawson 1957-1975 John Elway 1983-1998 Dan Fouts 1973-1987 Otto Graham 1946-1955 Bob Griese 1967-1980 Sonny Jurgensen 1957-1974 Jim Kelly 1986-1996 Bobby Layne 1948-1962 Dan Marino 1983-1999 Joe Montana 1979-1994 Joe Namath 1965-1977 Bart Starr 1956-1971 Roger Staubach 1969-1979 Fran Tarkenton 1961-1978 Y.A. Tittle 1948-1964 Johnny Unitas 1956-1973 Norm Van Brocklin 1949-1960 Bob Waterfield 1945-1952 Steve Young 1985-1999 i like ur list....but i have a few discrepencies. Michale Vick? whats his career passer rating? isnt it like 70? hes on of the most dangerous players in the league...but not even on of the best QBS. Kurt Warner? 2-3 good years before he hit the crapper. Jeff Hostetler? ok pal he had one good moment and was a decent NFL QB.Daunte Culpepper? only one good season...cud be gone from minnesota soon.Mcnabb....never won the big one and is the center of turmoil.Blanda was mostly a kicker pal...not a legendaary QB. a career backup with a few good moments here and there. Vinny testaverde? doesnt he own the record for most INT in a season.....where is drew bledsoe on this list. hes top ten every passing category, a known great locker room guy, consistent, doesnt lose games, just has a hard time winning big ones. kinda like mcnabb or manning. former top pick has no respect from u obviously but mike "70 rating" vick does. strange. vick is a bust as a QB. hes lived up to his esplosive better than a steve mcnair or kordell stewart was in the 90s as far as production. not even a good playoff QB.same with culpepper and mcnabb and manning. manning is great no doubt and deserves to be on this list and one day will be 1 on it. but think bout bledsoe on this list or even a mark brunell or a jim plunkett Thanks for the great comments. I'm not an expert at stats and I'm too lazy to research them so I appreciate the insight. The criteria I use for this list is: natural talent, ability to win, and leader/champion aura. Statistics are definitely solid evidence of natural talent, but the ability to pull out a win is what separates the good from the great. The leader/champion aura is more subjective and gives the list more flexibility. Of the specific names you mention, I like Bledsoe. I think he has been impressive with Dallas, but he needs to show he's a Super Bowl contender. Vick certainly may have been a premature addition to this list. Mark Brunell doesn't impress me as I never felt he had that presence to pull out a win in tight situations. Hostetler certainly should come down a bit. Testaverde has been possibly the most inconsistent quarterback in NFL history, but I think how long he has hung in there is pretty impressive. Kurt Warner peaked, was considered awesome, then just feel apart absolutely. McNabb has some incredible talent, but he is weak in being able to pull out a win in tight ones. Perhaps not quite worthy of inclusion on your list, but a special mention to Archie Manning for respectable career numbers of his own and the fact he raised two damn fine quarterback sons, Peyton and Eli. Nice to see Bobby Layne on the list. Too often he's forgotten. How you've got Griese in the top 5 I'll never know. Anybody interested in my top 25 can look at I'd say you got the top 3 right and in the right order. However based solely on victories, the top ten would be; Favre (181 wins) Elway (148 wins) Marino (147) Manning (131) Tarkenton (124) Unitas (118) Montana (117) Bradshaw (107) Moon (102) Kelly (101) When you start looking at the number of titles they each one. Montana, of course, won all 4 Super Bowls he played in and NEVER threw an interception in any of those Super Bowls. Bradshaw also went 4-for-4 in Super Bowls. Bart Starr is the only NFL QB to win 3 titles in a row (1965-1967) and won five in 7 years. Aikman and Brady won 3 each and Brady is obviously not done yet. But then you get to Otto Graham. Counting his four years in the AAFC, he led the Browns to a 105-17-4 record. The Browns won all four of the AAFC championships and went a perfect 15-0 in 1948. The Browns joined the NFL in 1950 and won the title. In Graham's 6 NFL seasons, Cleveland went to the tilte game 6 times, winning three. Overall, Graham played a total of ten years in the AAFC and NFL, took his team to the title game EVERY year he played and won seven. camdensdaddy - I did look at your list and it's good one for sure. You obviously researched it and put the time in. However, Marino at Number 9 is totally unacceptable. Number 9 is a joke and an assault on my sensibilities. Whereas, I understand it's all a matter of conjecture and this is your opinion, which you are undoubtedly entitled to. Plain and simple, you missed the point entirely. Bradshaw - better than Marino? Not even on a good day! Bradshaw threw 212 TD's and 210 interceptions. I think you give him to much credit for those 4 Super Bowl victories. Then again, you probably see the logic in Lynn Swann being in the Hall of Fame and not Cris Carter - because Carter never won a championship. Swann caught 336 passes for 5462 and 51 TD's. Carter had 1,101 catches for 13,899 and 110 TD's and yet no Hall of Fame. Don't be one of those people who equate shining in the Super Bowl as a free pass to the Hall of Fame. Bottom line - If you don't have Montana, Marino, and Favre as three of your top five then you, my friend, just don't get it. most appearances by a qb in a super bowl plus top ten in all stats reg season and post season.2 super bowl victories. with no running game and un nameble recievers still 5 superbowl appearences and many play off victories!the best ever. his name is john elway!!!!!
Leicester attacked by Prince Rupert (71 words) Historical Context Note Prince Rupert of the Rhine, King Charles' nephew, made his attack on Leicester at the end of May 1645 primarily as a divisionary tactic. The Parliamentarians had attacked Oxford, one of Charles's strongholds, and Rupert decided to attack the Midlands town of Leicester to draw forces away from Oxford. The Royalists used their artillery to bombard the city walls, and after successfully breaching the walls, they took the city with little difficulty. Related Groups 1. English Civil War
M's New M Girl Daily Advice Column Hey M Girls! M Reader m-cool-girl wrote: "I have a boyfriend, but I haven't told my dad about it because he doesn't want me to be around boys. What should I do?" And M Girl's answer is: "He may not know now, but eventually your dad will find out about your new crush. If you sit down and explain the situation to him and let him meet your new boy, he may be more willing to let you hang out with him. Lying to your dad will only make things worse!"
The Commons: Like a lawfully authorized bridge over navigable waters It is to the Macdonald government’s eternal shame that it did not enact a proper FAQ in 1882 Across the way, Thomas Mulcair laughed. Once more Mr. Mulcair laughed. Mr. Clement shook his head, appearing rather unimpressed. The Commons: Like a lawfully authorized bridge over navigable waters So are they moving a lot of freight on Balsam Lake these days? Cameron Lake? Are they floating log rafts around and around Lake Rousseau looking for an outlet? Take a look at this map and tell me what this is all about? • Obviously they’re protecting ancient portage routes to Tony’s place…you ahistorical ignoramus. 2. Breaking news, paternity tests will prove that Pierre Poutine is the illegitimate child of Pierre Poilievre and Jenni Byrne…seems mr pollypocket has a history of owning a robocall company and ms. Byrne had the key to the CIMS database.. plant a seed in a young election worker and voila Pierre Poutine is born!! 3. The Campbell river, the Bella Coola river, small!! I lived on the Puntledge in Courtenay BC for quite a while, it isn’t that smaill. There’s a river outside my house – the Hay River – that isn’t small. I was through the Liard river and Stikine this summer – those suckers are scary. Good find NDP. • Because under the Environmental law that was, “Under the old act, anytime a federal agency or department had to provide a license or grant some kind of approval, that federal body had to ask the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency to perform an assessment.” So NWPA had to grant approval, meaning the environmental law triggered an assessment. 4. This is putting the finishing touches on the export of Bulk Water to the US; A conservative dream since their conception! Paul Martin and the Liberal chiefs were onside with this even while thumping their “Red Book” which was already shredded. In his first term in office Harper pushed the responsibility of whether to export bulk water or not over to the provinces. The only thing held back was waters under the Navigable Waters Act. The mighty Peace River was the one they were after! The Alberta Conservatives have got a fully engineered plan, put up in 1982. Named “The Weatherford” project its design covers 8 large pipelines running south to the US. This includes 8 pumping stations; each one taking the power of a city! This design is capable of moving 2/3rds of the flow of the Peace River! What is missing is a ice free year round sump to draw that amount of water from. The BC Liberals answered the call there offering to build a hydro electric dam on the Peace River just down from Hudson’s Hope. They were criticized because the dam would not produce enough electricity to pay for itself. Between this new dam and the Hudson Hope dam there will be a large, deep lake formed, a sump from which a year round supply of water will be available to the pipeline. Harper is eliminating all the Federal Hurdles for this project. I asked Bob Rae if he was on side with this and he wouldn’t answer the letter. Alberta’s conservatives have relentlessly pushed the privatized water plans. Calgary Brewing and Malting have huge allotments of ground water that will be for sale to the City of Calgary who’s water is about to run out as the St. Mary’s glacier and Rocky Mountain snow pack and glaciers diminishes. I cannot for the life of me figure out why Albertans continue to vote Conservative! They have done nothing short of rape this province of its resources while nodding and smiling at the electorate whom they consider to be dunces. • Hey cyberclark – I guess your biggest concern is where you’re going to get your Kool Aid supply once the water’s all gone. 5. I am outraged that no one has pointed out, so far, that the fourth GG was the MARQUESS of Lorne, not the Marquees of Lorne. Innocent readers will think that the GG was just a bunch of big tents. • I am profoundly ashamed. My apologies to the Duke. • Why are you referring to a Duke as a lowly Marquess anyway? That title goes to his son, like a throwaway. • Thanks. Just so you know, I wasn’t really outraged, but felt I had to go along with the normal tone of comments. Mildly amused would have been more accurate. 6. Does anyone besides me wonder if the CHS might have planted a bomb here, by excluding so many well-used (and loved) large lakes and rivers in non-Conservative ridings, and by specifically including so many lakes in Gazebo Tony’s riding? If that is the case, brilliantly played, sirs. slow clap 7. The NWPA was never a environmental Act, it did however trigger the Federal EA (CEAA),quite a bit through the “Lawlist”. In 2009 the NWPA was modified which reduced many of the issues and with the removal of the Lawlist under CEAA, most issues were dealt with. The NWPA needed fixing but I suspect they went further than they should and those chicken will come home to roost when First Nations and NGO’s start taking companies to court for interfering with the common right of navigation, which still exists and in fact the change to the NWPA places all the liabilities onto the proponent. I expect that with the changes to the Fisheries Act, the NWPA and CEAA, you will see more blockades and court challenges, back to the 80′s and 90′s it will be and companies might end up wishing they hadn’t pushed so hard for these changes. Note: Even some lakes that are charted by the Hydrographic services are not listed. Sign in to comment.
Sunday, 28 March 2010 When Chicken Licken met Goosey Loosey The demolition men are hard at it again up at the Love Shack. Mr Grigg, Nobby Odd-Job, Mr Loggins and Mr Sheepwash are in dismantling mode as they tear apart the old bungalow high on the hill. Mr Sheepwash narrowly misses impaling himself on a rusty nail and Mr Loggins puts his back out. Mr Grigg comes home in a flap, desperate to use the lavatory but unable to get his overalls off in a hurry. I fear he might follow through. Here in the Grigg household, spring has arrived, which means my twice-yearly sort-out of the bedroom drawers and wardrobe. The winter clothes are going away, which probably means we'll have snow next week. There have been numerous developments since my last post. The sheep and lambs have been moved into the pasture near Pelly Sheepwash's house and the spring bulbs are coming out just in time for Mrs Bancroft's homecoming after five months away. Contrary to local gossip, she has not been detained at Her Majesty's pleasure but is on a round-the-world adventure. The most curious happening this week was down at the henhouse. One of the hens has given birth to a goose egg. This miracle of nature has the fingerprints of Celebrity Farmer - or maybe his brother - all over it. With Easter just around the corner, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Pelly found a gift-wrapped chocolate egg next weekend with a great big red bow around it. Or even better, a beanstalk that reached high into the sky. It's magical, this place. You couldn't make it up. That's about it. Love Maddie x 1. If I were you I'd be checking that henhouse regularly - in fact, set your alarm clock so that you'll be first. You never know - the next offering could be the Golden Egg. 2. It sure does sound like magic. It has all the makings of a great children's story or several. :) 3. Maddie it truely does sound magical... hard not to smile ;) 4. Hmm, what have the hens and geese been up to?! 5. Your posts have been making me laugh. I love your style. Popular Posts
Nov 19, 2010 Fighting In Mafia Wars by Customer Support While visiting Zynga Customer Support, I found a few updated pages dealing with fighting and the combat equation. I'm re-printing them here. Click on the title links to check for updates or review more topics. Most of you may already know how the fighting equation works but it's a good review. It was nice to see confirmation that the luck factor exists and accounts for some of those fights you lose and can't figure out why. Fight Strength has dropped in Mafia Wars Updated 11/17/2010 04:20 PM Here’s how your Mafia Strength should be calculated Mafia Fight Strength Up to Image 501 mafia members and hired guns help you in fights, each using a weapon, armor, vehicle, and animal from your inventory. Image Mafia Attack Strength is the total equipped offensive power of everyone in your mafia. Image Likewise, Mafia Defense Strength is your total mafia's defensive power. Make sure you have at least one weapon, armor, vehicle, and animal for each of your mafia's soldiers. Your four strongest offensive and defensive items (one for each category) add a bonus to your total mafia's strength. Raising your attack and defense skills provides a secret increase to your mafia's strength that your opponent cannot see. Our programmers recently discovered an error in which the formula for calculating Mafia Attack and Defense Strength was potentially using too many items for players of certain mafia sizes. For example, if a player had 24 mafia members, and her top weapons were - 5 Big Cannons 10 Medium Cannons 300 Small Cannons The old (incorrect) formula used the statistics from 5 Big Cannons, 10 Medium Cannons, and 300 Small Cannons. The updated (correct) formula uses the statistics from 5 Big Cannons, 10 Medium Cannons, and 10 Small Cannons - a weapon for each of her 24 mafia members and herself. As players increased mafia sizes or improved their loot inventory, a flaw in the formula would sometimes reduce their attack/defense strength closer to their correct level. This formula has now been corrected (as of 8/24), and fighting is now fairly calculating for all players. Players that experienced occasional reductions in attack/defense strength should no longer see this happening. Fighting in Mafia Wars Updated 11/08/2010 04:22 PM Fighting Basics: Fighting in Mafia wars is as simple as navigating to the Fight tab and selecting a player whom you would like to attack. You can also attack players directly from the Mafia Wars home page by selecting a player who has attacked you in your Player Updates box. If you click on your opponent’s profile name you will be taken to their profile page. On your opponents profile page you can see a little bit of information about who it is you are about to attack. From this page you also have the option to "Sucker Punch" or to attack your opponent directly. Sucker Punch is a cheap shot that will do very little damage and will not award you experience points. However, the Sucker Punch is always successful, and is very useful for antagonizing people. If you choose to attack your opponent directly, things will get a bit more complicated as the combat engine takes several aspects of game play into consideration when determining a winner. We can't spell out all the details for you, but the following breakdown should provide you with enough information for you to set yourself up to properly attack other players or defend yourself: Crew Size: Regardless of your overall mafia size, only 501 of your mafia members will be able to assist you in a fight. Any members above 501 can help you in the game in other ways; however they will be of no assistance to you in a fight. The Arming of your Mafia: Each member of your mafia that will be assisting you in your fight will be armed with one item from each of the Weapons, Armor and Vehicles categories of your inventory. The game will automatically assign the items in your arsenal that have the highest attack value if you are attacking or the highest defense value if you are being attacked. Items that have the same stats are interchangeable. For example, since the .50 cal and the mini-gun have the same attack value, they are interchangeable when attacking. Stat Manipulation and the Combat Calculator: Improving your attack or defense stats will increase your odds of winning when attacking or when defending against an attack. There are 2 stats that determine the outcome of a fight. Stat 1: Attack and Defense Skill ('Your Skills' in picture above) - This stat is all of the skill points you have allocated to attack or defense. Stat 2: Mafia Attack and Defense Strength (Your Mafia in picture above.) - This stat is determined the attack and defense strength of your best 501 items per category multiplied by how many mafia members you have. Increasing your attack skill (stat 1) will not increase your attack strength (stat 2) Combat Calculator: When a fight is conducted, the attacker will use his attack skill and attack strength against the opponent’s defense skill and defense strength. The exact calculation that combines skill and strength is a secret. However, if an attacker had 400 attack skill and 40,000 attack strength, and went up against an opponent that had either 401 defense skill / 40,000 defense strength or 400 defense skill / 40,001 defense strength, he would usually lose (as long as no other random variables came into play). Power attack: Once you realize that you’re able to win the fight in question you can use a power attack. Power attack allows you to do five attacks in rapid succession, provided of course the opponent has not been iced already. If part way through these five attacks your opponent is iced, the power attack will stop at that point. Your stamina will not be wasted; it will only use as much stamina as attacks were required to ice the person, up to a max of 5. Call your Mafia: Sometimes you might find you can’t beat someone in a fight, but maybe someone in your mafia can. You have the option to post a request to your Mafia members to attack someone. The button will show up in the fight window if you’ve attacked them or as a link in their profile if you are viewing their profile page. This will allow you to bring the full force of your mafia against someone as they will get a bonus for attacking the person if they follow the link you post, until the first time the opponent gets iced. Be warned of course, some people might not like you painting a target on them for your mafia to hit and might well do the same back to you. There are items that players can acquire in game that will give them one time bonuses to their attack or defense stats. Top Mafia Assistance and Critical Hits: If your opponent has a high level Bodyguard in their Top Mafia that is watching their back then there is a percentage chance that they will be able to win the fight regardless of the damage that you deal against them. In addition, there are casino odds built into the game which will allow for a Critical Hit which is more or less a lucky shot. Take Half Damage: There is an assist option that is randomly applied in which a member of your opponent’s mafia can take a bullet for them; this results in their damage taken being reduced by 50%. So you can effectively deal more damage and yet still lose the fight as the damage you dealt was distributed over two players. 1. Does that Top Mafia Assistance and Critical Hits still comes into play in fights these days? 2. I haven't seen the Critical Hit in a long time, but it may just do it without saying it. The Family member taking 1/2 damage still is displayed. Which is basically the opposite of a Critical Hit. I do end up Icing opponents quite often when I lose. So the Critical Hit, while not saying it, is still very likely happening. I took a long time off playing this game though, so I'm not up to date with all the latest things... and changes seem to be happening faster these days than they were a year ago. I'm curious if anyone is has figured out the fight calculations again. The way it was a year ago, you had to dump certain lame loot because it would get used instead of the better loot you had. I do know they changed it about a year ago... not sure if they fixed it though. 3. Mine went too 11k and now back to 121l ;)
- or - Sorry, we couldn't find those details. Enter your email address: Sorry, we couldn't find that email. Register with MaltaToday now or enter your details manually below... First Name: Last Name: Sorry, we couldn't find that email. Sheryl Crow diagnosed with brain tumour Cancer survivor Sheryl Crow reveals she has been diagnosed with a benign brain tumour. 6 June 2012, 12:00am Singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow American singer, songwriter, producer and actress Sheryl Crow, 50, has revealed that she has been diagnosed with a brain tumour. However, she has reassured her fans that the cancer is benign. Crow, a mother of two, had been diagnosed with early stage breast cancer in 2006 which had been successfully treated during the same year. In an interview with Las Vegas Review-Journal, Crow said she had insisted on a brain scan after repeatedly forgetting the lyrics to her own songs. "I haven't really talked about it," she told the newspaper, adding that she had been diagnosed last year but wanted to keep the news a secret. Crow said she had a history of memory loss dating back to the 1990s when she forgot the lyrics to A Change Would Do You Good while singing in a show in Las Vegas. "I worried about my memory so much that I went and got an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). And I found out I have a brain tumour," she said. "And I was like, 'See? I knew there was something wrong'."
Does The End of EGM Spell Doom for Game Magazines? ( By:Nadia Oxford Date: Friday, January 30, 2009 Before 2009 had aged a week, game-related message boards and news sites were ablaze with an announcement that jarred gamers out of their post-holiday hibernation: the 1UP Network had been sold to Hearst Media, and long-running game magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly would cease publication immediately. When a magazine exists long enough to grow alongside a generation of gaming pioneers--and even usher the children of said generation into game reviews, previews and columns--it seems untouchable. Times change, though: day turns to night, spring turns to winter and print media turns into online websites. EGM had twenty healthy years and a huge roster of talented editors and writers who deserve to be remembered fondly. From the convincing April Fool's jokes to the back-and-forth between the Review Crew, every gamer has at least one “Oh yeah! Remember when--” story about the magazine (and older gamers used to ponder the true identity of the mysterious writer Sushi-X). Still Alive Long before the death of EGM, it became apparent that the role of game magazines was fading, at least in America. Depending on your viewpoint, it seems as if magazines in their entirety have outlived their usefulness, as have newspapers. Realistically, printed media will endure for a while longer. Specialized trade magazines still sell, and some game magazines are finding comfortable niches that keep them out of obsolescence's reach. But gamers make up a different demographic than subscribers who shuffle to the mailbox every month for their edition of Cat Fancy, and the readership for game magazines has altered considerably over the past ten years or so. Gaming is a hobby that centers around technology; it only makes sense that the same generation that grew up among game consoles and computers would take to the Internet like Pac-Man to a power pellet. We used to depend on publications like EGM for our game news and reviews, but the role of magazines lessened when acquiring news and opinions became as easy as opening Netscape. New Audience Magazines wisely began expanding their content beyond reviews, news and previews to include exclusive features, in-depth game designer interviews and even recollections about retro titles. This brand of varied content has sustained remaining publications since, but sadly, when an investor demands an instant return, game magazines are slow to return those numbers in spite of subscribers. Game magazines are certainly still enjoyed by many, but their necessity has been diluted. Simply put, game magazines will survive, but they must fight in a hostile environment. Young gamers will continue to opt for the Internet over magazines. Pocket money doesn't come easy, and the early years of gaming sow a strong interest in news, reviews and a sense of community. Developer interviews and trim, well-edited features, which are becoming the life blood of game magazines, are of more interest to twenty- and- thirty-somethings. The Children Aren't the Future Any way you look at it, game publications have undeniably reached a transitional period: they're not for kids anymore. Those of us who grew up with gaming magazines and witnessed their boom in the early '90s can't help mourning for a generation who will never really know what it was like to wait an entire month for game news. Though that may sound like the kind of lamentation that should be preceded by anecdotes about walking to school uphill in the snow (both ways), it's strange to consider that there's no more need to milk every page of a game magazine for information. Kids no longer need to pore over every paragraph and flip the pages back and forth until they become worn. Even fun identity gimmicks like EGM's Sushi-X don't hold up in an age where Facebook, instant messaging and Wikipedia will unravel a mask of mystery in no time. But anonymity isn't all it's cracked up to be. EGM had a tight writing community that has since broken up and gone off onto other projects. One way or another, you can find and follow a favorite writer, whether it's through another gaming website, or a blog, or a podcast. In this way, EGM is not dead. Its state of matter has changed. We were fortunate to have known it for so long, and we're fortunate that the components that made it great will still be able to hang around in some capacity.
[Nameplate] Partly Cloudy ~ 62°F High: 70°F ~ Low: 57°F Friday, Apr. 24, 2015 Tyrades! Oh Come, All Ye Extraterrestrials Friday, November 20, 2009 According to the Washington Post and Catholic News Service, our view of the universe as a gated community may be crumbling. The Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Sciences recently held its first major conference on astrobiology, the new science that seeks to find life elsewhere in the cosmos and understand how it began on earth. The attendees primarily focused on the scientific aspect, but it's certainly not too soon to ponder the theological impact of discovering life on other planets. Churches would have to do a lot of adjusting if we ever started mingling with these hypothetical extraterrestrial. Most of us aren't ready to hear someone gush, "Gimme eight bingo cards -- one for each tentacle." Community outreach programs would have to teach EML (English as a Millionth Language). Soup kitchens would ring with shouts of "Hey, there's a fly in my soup! Got any more?" Deacons would have to learn to calm down the over-eager. ("I know it's called a church bowling league, but we don't really bowl with church buildings. Now set it down gently.") Snoozing during the sermon would go high-tech as members used suspended animation chambers borrowed from their alien brethren. Youth ministers would become envious of one another. ("Oh, you're lucky. You got the cocoon-stage class. I got all the raging hormones of the semi-mature crystalline class.") Of course some sincere religious leaders take an earth-centric view and denounce all this speculation about life on other planets. ("God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and E.T.! Genesis doesn't say anything about flying saucers...or North America or...uh, I think I left my iron plugged in..."). They lump astrobiology in with evolution as one of the heresies that can undermine the faith of their followers. Perhaps, but people find their own ways to undermine their faith. ("Agghh! My red-letter edition Bible has started fading to pink. Guess I'll have to stay home and watch football and drink Bud Lite. Doggone it!") (I understand that some religions are more open to the idea of extraterrestrials. The Koran supposedly mentions life on other planets. So I guess the suicide jockeys at Roswell, New Mexico got their 72 little green virgins.) I guess the main issue is how would aliens fit into our picture of sin and redemption? What kind of sins would aliens even be capable of? ("You're a hypocrite. You pretend to be something you're not." "Of course, you moron! I'm a Venusian shape-shifter! That's what I do!") Yes, if we do discover aliens and the consensus is that they should be preached to, the confessional booth would hear some strange stuff. ("Uh, to tell you the truth, my son--I'm assuming you're a male of the species-- I'm not sure I can identify the beverage, curse, or bodily orifice mentioned in your confession -- but if you've got room for a semi-trailer of rosary beads....") Let's hope the aliens don't take umbrage at our missionaries and declare intergalactic war. If a confrontation erupted, we would see the unleashing of forces that make the atomic bomb pale in comparison. And that's just the Catholic school nuns. No matter how all-encompassing the war, some people will still be in denial. ("Uh huh...so you're the emperor of Alpha Centauri. Right. Stop staring at me with your eyeball stalk and produce your birth certificate. I think you're from Kenya.")
Sensors Sensors 1424-8220 MDPI 10.3390/s140304466 sensors-14-04466 Article An Interactive Tool for Outdoor Computer Controlled Cultivation of Microalgae in a Tubular Photobioreactor System DormidoRaquel* SánchezJosé DuroNatividad Dormido-CantoSebastián GuinaldoMaría DormidoSebastián Department of Computer Sciences and Automatic Control, UNED, C/Juan del Rosal, 16, 28040 Madrid, Spain; E-Mails: (J.S.); (N.D.); (S.D.-C.); (M.G.); (S.D.) Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail:; Tel.: +34-91-398-7192; Fax: +34-91-398-7690. 03 2014 06 03 2014 14 3 4466 4483 13 01 2014 21 02 2014 04 03 2014 © 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. 2014 This paper describes an interactive virtual laboratory for experimenting with an outdoor tubular photobioreactor (henceforth PBR for short). This virtual laboratory it makes possible to: (a) accurately reproduce the structure of a real plant (the PBR designed and built by the Department of Chemical Engineering of the University of Almería, Spain); (b) simulate a generic tubular PBR by changing the PBR geometry; (c) simulate the effects of changing different operating parameters such as the conditions of the culture (pH, biomass concentration, dissolved O2, inyected CO2, etc.); (d) simulate the PBR in its environmental context; it is possible to change the geographic location of the system or the solar irradiation profile; (e) apply different control strategies to adjust different variables such as the CO2 injection, culture circulation rate or culture temperature in order to maximize the biomass production; (f) simulate the harvesting. In this way, users can learn in an intuitive way how productivity is affected by any change in the design. It facilitates the learning of how to manipulate essential variables for microalgae growth to design an optimal PBR. The simulator has been developed with Easy Java Simulations, a freeware open-source tool developed in Java, specifically designed for the creation of interactive dynamic simulations. photobioreactors biocontrol biotechnology laboratory education simulators interactive programs modeling Java Microalgae are of increasing interest for research and industry. Microalgae culture for energy production has emerged as an interesting alternative to fossil fuels and biofuels [1,2]. Its great potential to produce a wide range of important biochemical components for food or medicine is also well known [3]. Even though in the last years microalgae biomass has generated overwhelming interest, cultivation of microalgae is not an easy task. Difficulties arise from, e.g., the need to avoid contamination, the energy supply and cultivation conditions. For example, high light intensities can lead to photo- inhibition, but low intensities probably limit the photosynthesis activity and other related cellular processes. Present only a few hundred tons of products are produced in closed photobioreactors (PBR for short). One of the most important hindrances to a sustainable commercial use of algae cultures is the lack of suitable PBRs to guarantee optimal microalgae growth conditions. The design and development of a PBR for maximum production of microalgae involves many questions: detailed knowledge of light distribution, mass transfer, scalability, etc. Apart from maximum production, other factors such as design, cost effectiveness, low maintenance costs or energy requirements need to be optimized. To date, no PBR fulfills all these requirements. On the other hand, process sensing is an essential and integral component of PBR technology. Industrial PBR systems demand accurate tracking of multiple culture parameters to correctly reflect the process dynamics, and from which appropriate actions can be implemented to enhance process performance. In addition to the standard sensors for temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH, many sophisticated electronic sensors for measuring a variety of culture and process parameters (such as viability, metabolic activities, biomass and nutrient concentrations) are available. However, most of these sensors are limited by high cost, poor long-term stability, or both. Furthermore, installation of the required manifold of electronic hardware sensors would make the PBR system prohibitively expensive not only in terms of design and construction, but also maintenance. These considerations suggest the necessity of advanced simulation tools in order to let researchers study new methods to improve the productivity. These tools would help investigate in depth the design and control of optimal PBRs to enable production under controlled and commercially competitive conditions. The field of biotechnology is characterized by rapid changes in terms of novelty and by highly sophisticated processes (for instance, PBRs) that require careful design, operation and control in order to be run under safe and optimal conditions. Therefore facing a highly competitive global economic environment operational excellence is the key to exploiting these opportunities. This has to be added to the inherent complexity of the biological systems. To cope with all these issues innovative, reliable, smart, and cost-effective manufacturing processes are demanded, but, to meet these requirements involves the education of new engineers and vocational training students with tools that take advantage of the application of novel information and communication technologies to education in biotechnology and bioprocesses. The use of computer simulations in the control process field to build models or to model real-world phenomena in order to help students gain insights into the behaviour of complex systems is of growing importance. Prominent advantages of virtual laboratories are not new [46]. Interacting with a simulation in virtual laboratories enable learners to gain better understanding of real systems, processes or phenomena through exploration, testing of hypotheses, and discovering explanations for processes. In this context, the development of PBRs simulators tailored to the student profile is necessary. To date and to the authors' knowledge, no virtual laboratory for a PBR system has been developed. For vocational training students or plant operators, the development of virtual laboratories to master the operation of a PBR more from a qualitative view that from a quantitative and engineering perspective is justified. For the control and chemical engineering student, PBR simulators are fundamental to appreciate the complexity of these multivariable biological processes. The advantages of a PBR interactive simulator, such as the one described in this paper, are clear, either for students or from an industrial point of view. It provides opportunities for users to modify their mental models, by comparing the outputs of the model with their expectations, and also it engages or motivates students to explore different effects which will lead to understanding. From an industrial point of view, the necessity of more advanced simulations PBR environments is compulsory. Many design factors must be optimized and balanced to implement an algae growing system in a large commercial facility. The paper is organized as follows: Section 2 describes the PBR system. Section 3 presents the real system overview. In Section 4 some environmental issues are shown. Section 5 presents the PBR system developed in Easy Java Simulations (EJS for short). The paper ends with some concluding remarks and considerations about further works. The Photobioreactor System Photobioreactor Design Mass cultivation of microalgae requires an appropriate culture system. There are different technical solutions for such cultivation [7,8]. Basically they can be classified in open PBR (known as raceways), which are open to the air, and closed PBR. Open Systems The benefits of open systems lie in the ease of construction. They are also less expensive to build and maintain than closed systems. An open system can be in the form of a lake, pond, or some large open vessel that can hold water. Major limitations of this design include: (a) its susceptibility to evaporation; (b) the contamination by invasive species, which could take over the pond requiring draining and/or treatment; (c) the requirements for large areas of land; (d) temperature fluctuations that can affect algal growth; (e) in addition, once microalgae flourish, it is also difficult to get the maximum amount of light to all the microalgae since the pools are somewhat deep and efficient circulation is problematic. Closed Systems Closed PBRs create an enclosed growing environment for algae cultivation where light, air, and nutrients are supplied at regulated levels to ensure optimized growth. Some benefits of these closed systems are: (a) microalgae cultures can grow free of potential contaminants such as microorganisms; (b) they provide higher production rates than open systems; (c) they are easier to manipulate and control, allowing the optimization of the essential variables and providing high growth rates; (d) they have less evaporation than open systems; (e) interior lighting can be adjusted for proper exposure levels. Problems with closed systems involve mainly the fact they are more expensive to set up and the facilities require greater amounts of maintenance. An important factor of PBRs to maximize the growth conditions is their design, that is, the geometry employed to get an efficient distribution of light. The most common closed PBR geometries are the flat plate, the annular, and the tubular ones (see Figure 1). A complete description of these categories is given in [9]. Flat plate PBRs have received much attention due to their large illumination surface area. Generally, these PBRs are made of transparent materials for maximum utilization of solar light energy. Accumulation of dissolved oxygen concentrations in flat rates PBRs is relatively low compared to tubular PBRs. It has been reported that with flat plate PBRs high photosynthetic efficiencies can be achieved [1012]. Annular reactors are typically translucent large diameter containers filled with algae suspended in a liquid medium, in which gases are bubbled from the bottom of the container. Since no precisely defined flow lines are reproducibly formed, it can be difficult to control the mixing properties of the system which can lead to low mass transfer coefficients, poor photomodulation, and low productivity. Moreover, to work with sufficient volume, the large diameter leads to a considerable dark fraction in the middle of the cylinder. This part does not contribute to productivity or may even have detrimental effects on growth. The tubular PBR is one of the most suitable types for outdoor mass cultures. Most of them are usually constructed with either glass or plastic tubes. They consist of straight, coiled or looped transparent tubing arranged in various ways for maximizing sunlight capture. Properly designed tubular PBRs completely isolate the culture from potentially contaminating external environments, allowing extended duration algal cultures. Mixing of the cultures in tubular PBRs is usually done either with air-pump or airlift systems. This design is very suitable for outdoor mass cultures of algae since they have a large illumination surface area. On the other hand, one of the major limitations of tubular PBRs is their poor mass transfer. It should be noted that mass transfer (oxygen build-up) becomes a problem when tubular PBRs are scaled up. For instance, some studies have shown that very high dissolved oxygen levels are easily reached in tubular PBRs. Comparing the three ways of engineering closed PBRs, the tubular ones facilitate better control of many culture environment parameters such as the carbon dioxide supply, the water supply, the optimal temperature, the efficient exposure to sunlight, the culture density, the pH level, the gas supply rate, or the mixing regime. Production Cycle in a Closed PBR Tubular System Even though not all PBRs look alike, they basically work in the same way. A working schematic of a generic tubular PBR system for outdoor microalgae culture is shown in Figure 2. An outdoor microalgae culture only needs nutrients, sunlight, and carbon dioxide to grow. From a mixing unit, the culture flow usually progresses to a pump which moderates the flow into the tube. Built into the pump is the CO2 inlet valve. The tubular loop itself, which acts as a solar receiver, is used to promote the biological growth by controlling the environmental parameters. Different sensors are usually available in the tubular loop such as oxygen sensors to determine how much oxygen has built up in the plant, or pH or temperature sensors. Once microalgae have completed the flow through the tubular loop, they pass back to the mixing unit. Efficient mixing should be provided in this unit in order to produce a uniform dispersion of microalgae within the culture medium, thus eliminating light gradients or for distributing the nutrient concentration. Likewise air is bubbled through the bottom of the mixing unit to provide good overall mixing, sufficient supply of CO2, and efficient removal of O2. At this stage, an optical sensor determines the harvesting rate. When the microalgae are ready for harvesting, they pass through the connected filtering system. This filter collects the microalgae ready for processing, while the remaining microalgae pass back to the mixing unit. After harvesting water with nutrients can be added to the mixing unit. Another system incorporated into many PBRs is a built-in cleaning system that internally cleans the tubes without stopping the production. This is an agitation system which prevents the microalgae from sticking to the walls of the vessel and diminishing the amount of available light. Real System Overview Description of the plant The virtual laboratory described in this paper is based in the microalgae production facility located in “Experimental Station of Las Palmerillas”, property of the CAJAMAR Foundation (Almería, Spain; see Figure 3a,b). The facility consists of 10 tubular fence-type PBRs built as described in [1315]. Each PBR is made of a 400 m-long tube of 0.09 m diameter, with a bubble column 3.5 m high and 0.4 m in diameter for degassing and heat exchange. The tube diameter was optimized to maximize the culture volume per reactor, but minimizing yield losses caused by an excessive light path for photosynthesis. The tubes are optimally arranged to maximize the interception of solar radiation. The tubular PBR model consists of two parts, which are a solar receiver (a continuous tubular loop) and a mixing unit (a bubble column). The culture is continuously recirculating from one to the other part using airlift and mechanical pumps. As the mass transfer and fluid-dynamics phenomena are different in each part, they are modeled separately. In the bubble column both liquid and gas phases occur. On the one hand, the bubble (airlift) column circulates the culture through the solar receiver, where most of the photosynthesis happens. On the other hand, the oxygen produced by photosynthesis accumulates in the broth until the culture returns to the airlift zone where the accumulated oxygen is stripped by air (oxygen desorption) in order to prevent gas bubbles from recirculating into the solar receiver. In the external loop, the liquid circulates by a centrifugal pump where pure CO2 is supplied on demand for pH control purposes. Perfect mixing is considered in the liquid and gas phases. Cooling water pumped through a heat exchanger coil in the mixing unit is used for temperature control. The complete system, as well as the data capture system and the control software which actually control and monitor all the facility activity, were designed and built by the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Almería (Almería, Spain). Measurement and Performance Instrumentation In the PBR system process sensing is an essential issue. In industrial PBRs it is desirable to reflect in a correct way the process dynamics in order to implement correct control actions to enhance the process performance. To this end many sensors and actuators are incorporated into the system for measuring a variety of culture and process variables (such as biomass, nutrient, concentrations, etc.). The industrial PBR system on which this virtual laboratory has been inspired is endowed with different measurement and performance units. The sensors can be grouped as follows: Temperature sensors: To measure the water temperature at the inlet and outlet of the heat exchanger, the average temperature of inlet water, the temperature of the mixing unit, the temperature of the culture, the ambient temperature, and the solar radiation. Flow sensors: Different digital flowmeters are used to measure the CO2 flow, the air flow supplied to the bubble column and the heat exchanger inlet and outlet water flow. pH sensors: Three different sensors placed at the entry of the column, in the central area of tubes and just before the point of the CO2 injection. Dissolved oxygen sensors at the upper and bottom part of the column. Turbidity of the concentration of biomass sensor: Located between the pump and the CO2 injection. Although the PBR has all these sensors, the model implemented to control the system only uses a few of them. These are the three pH sensors, three temperature sensors situated in the external loop (one on top, one at the bottom, and the last at the halfway point of the loop), and the two dissolved oxygen sensors. It must be noted that this control system design (number of sensors, local controllers, etc.) is specific for this particular PBR design, but it can be easily extended for a different system. In addition, there are a series of specific measures required for the operation. For example: the ambient temperature, the temperature at the inlet and outlet of the exchanger, the medium temperature water, the turbidity, the molar flow of CO2, the solar radiation, the air flow, the flow rate of cooling water, the medium flow, the flow of CO2, and the frequency of the CO2 injection pump. For all the above mentioned measures, sensors are used. In order to use all these sensors, the PBR has a series of actuators such as a proportional valve (1–5 volts) flow CO2 input, a proportional valve for water in the heat exchanger, a proportional flow valve medium (nutrient), a frequency inverter in the internal fluid of the reactor recirculation, a proportional valve for air supply into the bubbling column. From the actuators' point of view is important to note that the pump drive of the culture is driven by a frequency inverter which achieves the desired speed (set to 0.9 m/s). In addition, the entry of CO2 is controlled by a DC solenoid valve located just after the pump, so that the inflow is regulated manually by means of a rotameter (this flow has a value of 3 or 5 L/min). Moreover, the air in the column is controlled by a continuous valve, whose typical value is set at 80 L/min. Finally, the input to the heat exchanger flow is regulated by a continuous valve and this in turn is connected to two proportional valves, one for hot water and one for cold water, while the flow of medium is introduced into the reactor by means of a continuous valve located at the top of the column. Both performance measurement signals can be handled in real time in a way that is easy and simple, using a data acquisition module implemented by the Department of Chemical Engineering of Almería University. The Mathematical Growth Model Any model for a microalgae production system must consider the relationship between light availability and photosynthesis rate, the mixing and the gas–liquid mass transfer inside the system [15]. Bearing in mind these principles, a general growth model for photosynthetic microorganisms in PBRs can be developed, irrespective of the PBR design. The model of the PBR in this paper is based on mass balances, transport phenomena and equations simulating the biological phenomena taking place inside the culture. The modeling of the tubular PBR can be divided into two main parts. The first part is the column, which can be approximated to a perfectly mixed reactor and where the composition of the output current is equal to the composition at any point within the reactor. The second part of the model is the external loop regarded as a flow reactor piston, wherein the composition of each differential volume varies relative to the length of the reactor. Perfect mixing is assumed in each differential element. The number of differential elements in the virtual laboratory is a parameter that can be interactively changed when the user wants to change the precision of the results. The model includes mass balances in both the liquid and gas phase. For the liquid phase, changes in dissolved oxygen concentration are related to the gas-liquid mass transfer rate and the photosynthesis rate. Regarding the biomass concentration, it has been considered as directly dependent on the photosynthetic rate. Similarly inorganic carbon concentration can be calculated by a mass balance to the liquid phase. In the gas phase a mass balance is established for the oxygen and for the carbon dioxide. For readers interested in these aspects, a complete description of the model and assumptions about these balances are given in [16]. The main variables involved in the process of photosynthesis of microalgae cultures—dissolved oxygen, pH of the culture, biomass concentration, temperature, concentration of total inorganic carbon, oxygen mole fraction, mole fraction of carbon dioxide, and CO2 losses—have been included in the model. To include the influence of dissolved oxygen concentration on the photosynthesis rate, an inhibition model has also been used. A schematic representation of the model is shown in Appendix A. As the mathematical model used in the laboratory is based on fundamental principles instead of empirical equations [16], it can be applied to other PBR types. As a result, a complete dynamic simulation model is obtained, thus enhancing its applicability in the design and operation of microalgae-based processes. Environmental Issues Solar Radiation Based on the equation of the Sun's position in the sky throughout the year, the amount of solar radiation on a surface at a particular tilt angle can be calculated theoretically as a function of latitude and day of the year. The virtual laboratory incorporates the simulation of the horizontal solar radiation (direct, diffuse, and global), that is the radiation measured on a horizontal surface. The solar radiation is considered by assuming the PBR is south-oriented to obtain the maximum solar insolation. It must be noted that no real data are used to simulate solar radiation, only synthetic values derived from a data model. Just by setting the latitude and the longitude of the PBR location and the clearness index it is possible to simulate solar radiation in a correct way. The clearness index represents the proportion of the extraterrestrial solar radiation that is lost due to absorption in the atmosphere. Broadly, this index is equal to the global solar radiation on the surface of the Earth divided by the extraterrestrial radiation at the top of the atmosphere. It varies from around 0.8 under the clearest conditions to near zero under overcast conditions. This index is useful to determine the local weather effects on the simulations or to define possible experiences in an easy way. We can, for instance, simulate and compare a set of cloudy or sunny days just by interactively changing the value of this index. It must be mention that the value of the clearness factor is fixed for each simulation. However the user can modify on-the-fly the value of this parameter using the corresponding editing field in the tool. Detailed information about the implemented solar radiation equations is available in [17]. Temperature Model Temperature is a very important variable for the growth of microalgae, being difficult to control. In the virtual laboratory temperature variations can be simulated inside the reactor, so it is expected to be a useful tool for the simulation and design of microalgae PBRs. Temperature profiles have been determined as a function of both operating (mass flow and inlet temperature) and environmental conditions (ambient temperature and solar radiation). Not only the mass flow and inlet temperature, but also the ambient temperature and solar radiation conditions have been taken into account. The temperature mathematical model formulation includes heat conduction in the tube walls, convection inside the tube, and solar radiation. See [18] for details. This model combines theoretical concepts of thermodynamics with classical theoretical and empirical correlations of fluid mechanics and heat transfer. The Volume Element Method (VEM) has been used to formulate the problem. In this way, the reactor pipes are divided into lumped volumes, such that only one time-dependent ordinary differential equation (ODE), based on the first law of thermodynamics, is produced for the temperature. Interactions between volumes are established through empirical heat transfer correlations for convection, conduction and radiation. Low computational demand with the inclusion of the main physical phenomena is the major advantage of the method used. Control Architecture PBRs are very complex systems with many inputs and outputs which allow a great range of operability to manage them. From a control point of view, in a PBR different variables such as the CO2 injection, the culture circulation rate or the culture temperature can be adjusted to maximize biomass production. Usually, PBR systems are controlled by means of on/off valves and thus classical on/off switching controllers are implemented. Also, system dynamics and disturbances are not considered in the control system design. In our lab, we try to improve the control architecture by including three low level PI control loops to manage the CO2 flow rate, the culture circulation rate, and the culture temperature. See Appendix A. In the three controllers, the same methodology has been used [19]. First, models of the three actuators are identified (valves for the injection of CO2 and cold water, and a pump for the culture velocity), and then the controllers are designed. See [20] for details. In each loop, four possible control modes are available: manual, on/off, and PI with two modes (time-based and event-based). See [21] for details on the selected event-based strategy. Regarding the harvesting, the tool allows the simulation of an ideal harvesting process using a manual control. The user can require a decrease in the biomass concentration at a particular time of the simulation. The Photobioreactor Simulation Tool This section describes the main features of the simulator. The simulation of a PBR system demands a graphical user interface (GUI) with a high degree of flexibility. The simulator has been programmed with EJS, a freeware open-source tool developed in Java, specifically designed for the creation of interactive dynamic simulations [22]. Users can access the laboratory by visiting the University Network of Interactive Labs [23] with standard Java-enabled web browsers. Description of the Simulator Figure 4 shows the main window of the simulator. It displays the schematic representation of the PBR, which has been made as self-explanatory and realistic as possible. In the figure, the different components of the system can be clearly visualized. The mixing unit is represented by the vertically-oriented bubble column and the solar receiver is the horizontally-located tubular loop. In this simulation tool the fence-like vertically horizontal stacked PBR is simulated. It is not possible to simulate other configuration like for example a horizontal (on the ground laying) PBR. The color of the bubble column and the tubular loop varies from pale to dark green according to the instantaneous biomass concentration. Along the tubular loop, there are three red circles pointing to the places where the sensors of pH and temperature are located. Also, there is a centrifugal pump at the output of the bubble column to circulate the culture and pure CO2 is supplied on demand for pH control after the pump output. Before the centrifugal pump and at the bottom of the bubble column, there is a manual valve to supply air to the column (air flow rate) for the oxygen desorption. At the bottom part of the main window there are six panels which allow not only changes in multiple parameters of the system but also the management of the system operation process in a proper way. In the Simulation panel different parameters associated with the global radiation model or the simulation interval in days can be modified interactively (see Figure 5a). When changes in physical parameters of the PBR are required such as the pipe and column lengths or the column and pipe diameters, Design panel must be selected (see lower part in Figure 4). Three different control loops, represented in the main view, have been implemented in the simulator: (1) loop to control the CO2 flow rate, located below the tubular loop. This control is needed because the use of CO2 represents a major operational expense in microalgae culture which has to be minimized; (2) loop to control the culture circulation rate – the liquid circulation rate controls the turbulence in the system for light integration; it also determines the mixing behavior and the mass transfer capacity and it greatly avoids detrimental concentrations of dissolved oxygen in the tubes. It is located besides the centrifugal pump; and (3) loop to control the culture temperature, located at the top of the bubble column. In the Control Panel (see Figure 5b) the user can select the control operation mode making use of the three subpanels, one for each control loop. If the system is run in manual mode, the user needs to directly set, using the editable field provided to this end, the value of the manipulated variable. Obviously, the simulation addresses its main pedagogical target when it is set to a particular controller. The options available are manual, on/off, time-based PI, and SSOD PI control [21]. Depending on the selected controller the user can manage different parameters. The simulator also provides in the Profiles Panel the possibility of loading sets of data obtained from previous real experiences. It allows users to conduct experiences using real information, not artificial values. For example, it is possible to load a file with real solar radiation data obtained from a weather database instead of using the artificial radiation data. It is also possible to select, using check boxes available in the View Panel, the time plot of the main system variables (biomass, pH, dissolved O2, global radiation, injected CO2, O2 productivity, PBR temperatures profiles or controller signals). Other parameters related to the model system temperature or to the initial states of the main variables of the system (biomass concentration, pH, dissolved O2) can be also interactively changed in the Radiation and in the Biological Panel, respectively. The components of the described interface provide the basic functionality required to operate the application. At the top of the main window, a menu bar provides some additional features. It allows users to load or save a simulation and to select a predefined experiment to be performed. The user can also save a configuration, saving the geometrical, operational, biological and radiation parameters of a particular simulation in independent files. The simulation can be played, paused, and reset using the standard push buttons of the interface. A Practical Example This section presents a usage example of the simulator described above. Suppose that we want to measure the daily variation of the main variables such as culture pH, biomass concentration or dissolved oxygen in the culture for a particular PBR geometry, when no other parameters change. First the geometry is defined in the design panel, then the evolution of these variables can be observed just by selecting in the View Panel the corresponding variables (see Figure 6a). As it can be observed, the dissolved O2 in the culture and the pH present a similar behavior. Dissolved O2 increases in the morning, reaching the maximum at midday, whereas in the afternoon, a decrease in dissolved O2 is observed due to a reduction of the photosynthesis rate. This variation indicates the existence of an oxygen accumulation term. Variation of culture pH is similar. The higher the solar irradiance is (see Figure 6b) the higher the pH of the culture is. Note that the solar radiation profile is easily obtained just by checking the global radiation button in the View Panel. The biomass concentration increases during the daylight period. Thus, accumulation of biomass in the reactor takes place. The effect and control of the CO2 injected gas on daily variation of culture parameters can also be studied in an easy way. Figure 7 shows how the culture pH can be satisfactorily controlled with the increase and reduction CO2 flow rate in the injected gas. In this experience CO2 flow rate in the injected gas increased from 0 to 2.16 L/min at t = 4.15 h and then decreased from 2.16 to 0.72 L/min at t = 12.8 h using manual control. In this case, the steady state of the culture pH is 7.5 and 7.9 when the CO2 flow rate increases and decreases, respectively. However, if we address different experiences it can be noticed that the daily mean pH of the culture depends on the CO2 content. Nevertheless, similar daily variations in culture conditions are observed whatever the CO2 amount injected is. Suppose we address a similar experience setting the CO2 flow rate to 2.16 L/min but using instead the PI control implemented in time-based mode. Figure 8 displays the pH culture evolution for such a case. The steady state of the culture pH is reached again at 7.5. In Figure 8 the evolution of the controller signals can be observed. If we carry out the same experiment but using the PI control implemented in event-based mode, the evolution of both pH and controller signals is the one showed in Figure 9. In this case the pH steady-state is reached at 7.5, but more than two hours before it is reached with the PI time-based controller. Many other experiments can be carried out with the simulator such as the influence of CO2 content of the injected gas on the analysis of the biomass or in the dissolved O2, the control of the culture temperature, the O2 productivity, etc. PBRs are among the most promising culture systems for potential large-scale production of microalgae-derived high-value products. The clear necessity of developing innovative reactors to directly take into consideration the needs of the production of energy can be considered, for instance. Overall it can be said that many of the attempts to produce microalgae biomass have so far failed because of poor PBR engineering. There is a lack of scientific consensus on how a suitable and scalable PBR has to be designed [24]. In this sense, the optimal design and control of PBRs is an interesting and difficult control problem that is being widely analyzed. This work focuses on the development of a virtual tubular PBR laboratory. To date, no other interactive simulator has been developed for PBR systems. The developed virtual lab is a valuable aid for both teaching and research in PBR systems. It helps to learn how a PBR works and to understand how the essential variables involved in the algae growth behave and interrelate between each other. As the culture productivity of a PBR is to a great extent dependent on both hydrodynamic and geometric parameters, using this interactive tool, the performance of a specific design can be analyzed. This can help either to address any issues that occur during algae growth or to provide solutions in the design of an optimal PBR, so using this tool it will be possible to simulate different controls over the growth environment resulting an interesting way of achieving the highest productivity. Several works can be carried out to improve the laboratory in the near future. A more advanced harvesting process has to be developed to reproduce the real behavior of this operation. An automatic variation of the clearness index should also be included. New high level control strategies must be implemented to control different variables of the system. Using advances control strategies optimal culture conditions have to be determined in order to maximize biomass productivity. The implementation of Nonlinear Predictive Control has already been used in PBR systems to this end in previous works [25]. It would be nice to apply this methodology to our simulation tool. The level of nutrients is also an essential variable to be controlled in order to ensure optimized growth. Moreover, a tilted surface could be incorporated into the PBR system by modifying the solar radiation estimation properly, because now only horizontal solar radiation is taking into account in the model. This work has been funded by the National Plan Projects DPI2011-27818-C02-02 and DPI2012-31303 of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and FEDER funds. Appendix A A schematic representation of the model is shown in Figure A1, where the nomenclature used is the following: [CO2]: carbon dioxide concentration in the liquid phase [O2]: oxygen concentration in the liquid phase [Cb]: biomass concentration CT: inorganic carbon concentration YCO2: carbon dioxide to nitrogen molar ratio in the gas phase YO2: oxygen molar ratio oxygen to nitrogen in the gas phase PH : PH in the culture A complete description of the growth model can be found in [16]. Schematic representation of the model. Appendix B In order to get a simulation as real as possible, models of the actuators used in the PBR located in the Almería facilities were included in the interactive simulator. First, to identify the operation points of each actuator many experiments were made by using the reaction curve method. So, incremental and decremental step inputs of the same amplitude were applied to each actuator. With all this information, the cooling water valve dynamics was approximated by first order systems with delay, the CO2 valve by a first order system with a zero, and the culture pump by dynamics of second order. After obtained the three transfer functions, these were validated with different data to the previously used in the identification phase in order to check that the simulated dynamics were similar to the real ones. In Table B1 the transfer function obtained for each actuation system is shown. Transfer functions of the identified models. Culture pump CO2 valve Cooling water valve 5.14 ( 315.5 s + 1 ) ( 319.5 s + 1 ) 3.6 ( 1400 s + 1 ) 1059 s + 1 2.4 81.9 s + 1 e 329 s As said before, the control of these actuators can be done by selecting manual or automatic operation. In case of choosing automatic, there are three options available to the user: on-off control, PI control with antiwindup mechanism, or event-based PI control (similar to PI controller but with a send of delta sampler located at the output of the sensor). Using the actuator models of Table B1 and the lambda tuning method, PI parameters for the three controllers were obtained. The transfer functions of the controllers are shown in Table B2. Transfer functions of the PI controllers. Culture pump CO2 valve Cooling water valve 0.39 ( 1 + 1 635 s + 1 ) 0.28 ( 1 + 1 1059 s + 1 ) 0.09 ( 1 + 1 81.9 s + 1 ) Currently, the dynamics of the actuators presented in Table B1 cannot be changed by the user in the graphical user interface. In next versions, a new tabbed panel will be included to let users modify the dynamics depending of the actuators selected for designing their own PBR. 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Effect in the culture pH when variation in the CO2 injected flow rate occurs. pH and controller signals evolution for the CO2 flow rate control using the PI time-based mode controller. pH and controller signals evolution for the CO2 flow rate control using PI event-based mode.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (In Children and Adults) Symptoms, Causes, Treatment - How is autism treated in children and adults? - MedicineNet Autism and Communication (cont.) Medical Author: Medical Editor: How is autism treated in children and adults? What common sociobehavioral interventions are used to treat autism? There is only one treatment approach that has prevailed over time and is effective for all persons, with or without autism. That treatment model is an educational (school or vocational) program that is suitable to a student's developmental level of performance. One such program is the Son-Rise Program. For adults, that treatment model refers to a vocational program that is suitable to the individual's developmental level of functioning. There is an increasing trend, however, in advocacy for children with autism, to segregate these children into small, highly structured and controlled academic and vocational training programs that are almost free from auditory and visual stimulation. All instruction is broken down into manageable segments. Information is presented in tiny units and the child's response is immediately sought. A classic stimulus-response approach is used to maximize learning. Each unit of information is mastered before another is presented. A fundamental behavior such as putting hands on the tabletop, for example, must be mastered before the child is required to perform any other tasks, or before more information is presented. The long-term effects of this type of treatment as well as the ability of the child to transfer this to a broader context continue to be evaluated. For people with autism whose symptoms include self injurious behaviors, the focus of treatment has shifted from restriction and punishment to more of a focus on understanding potential motivators for negative behaviors, as well as rewards and other encouragement and support for using appropriate behaviors. Medically Reviewed by a Doctor on 10/17/2014 Patient Comments Viewers share their comments Autism - Experience Question: Please describe your experience with autism.
London Calling: Jamie Rowe's a lucky man. London Calling frontman and the voice behind Gardian and Adriangale talks about his new nu-album and life around him. G'Day Jamie, Hope this finds you well. The album is out now in Europe and was for some time available as an alternative package off your website. How have the responses been to this album? Happy? The response has been great! We have established a great core audience of powere pop fanatics around the globe. Since I am not in Europe, I can't really guess how the album is connecting. It's too early to tell. Also, I am pleasantly surprised to see people in the melodic rock circles enjoying it. I honestly wasn't sure they would be open to the London Calling sound but I was wrong! You are an established vocalist, well known for your work with Guardian and Adriangale among others, how hard is it to launch a new name, a new band and a new direction - a new start as it would be, which London Calling clearly is for you? It's very difficult to launch a new band right now. Obviously the recording industry is having it's well publicized troubles and that spills onto bands like us. The direction isn't very difficult because I am doing most of the songwriting so it's not like I'm playing strange music. If you look closely at my entire body of work with Guardian, pay attention to the songwriting credits along the way. London Calling is not too far removed from Buzz (ex:Lead The Way) and BottleRocket (ex:Revelation or What does it take) era music…which I wrote most of back then. It's nothing new for me it's just I finally have a focused outlet for it. Strip down the production of You and I from Guardian's Miracle Mile disc and you could have an L/C track. The sound of the band - how would you describe it to those who have not yet sampled the music? "In Color" &"Heaven Tonight" era Cheap Trick + vintage Sweet meets Foo Fighters and Weezer along the way. Modern but with a classic foundation. Why the move to modern pop/rock / nu-breed? Where does your love of this style stem from? It's just a change in musical taste over the years. It's where my heads at these days. People who know me personally aren't surprised at all. For instance when I played the New Sensation album for Guardian's David Bach his comment was "Man, you finally got to make the record you've always wanted to". But if you look at what I've recorded over the years, I can see it could be confusing. My first concert was Cheap Trick when I was 10 years old...I never got it out of my system...candy pop songs wrapped in rock...that's what I like to hear. Do you have influences? What other bands of 2004 impress you? I am constantly being influenced...I still have a sense of wonder about music…the exciting feeling of "What's next"...Bands of the moment that I really like are Sugarcult & The Kicks, Rooney made a fine disc last year. I also get my rock taste satisfied with The Darkness (sorry Andrew) ;-) [Editors note – I'm not anti-Darkness! Just fix that guys voice!]. I'm looking forward to a new Butch Walker disc as well. They aren't really "current" but Third Eye Blind has been my favorite band for about 5 years now. Stephen gets a bad reputation as a person...but man he writes incredible songs and the way he phrases his vocal lines is a major influence to me. The songs remain very memorable and catchy as hell - tell us some more about the ones featured on the album. What period were they written over? Do you have favourites? Thanks for the compliment! They were all written last year in 3 different writing/recording sessions. We have a total of 20 tracks in the can recorded to date. "Super Natural Girl" was one of the first songs we worked up as a band and it remains a fan favorite. My personal favorite is "Beautiful Day"...I love the energy and the positive atmosphere of the song. "American Dream" is a commentary on greed and I also really like it...It's powerful. I'm still a sucker for a ballad so "You Make My World Go Round" is another one close to my heart. "Song About Nothing" is always fun too. Are there any positive signs of breaking through to a wider audience with this release - any interest from the majors? We have been approached by about 10 major labels here in the U.S....we have been very fortunate to have gotten the ears of the industry. The thing we are struggling with is not really musical...the industry is in chaos. We have had A&R from Columbia and Warner-Reprise come to see us and then a month later have lost their jobs due to industry cut backs. So we start over. I think when things calm down and settle...if we have persevered...it'll pay off. But we are happy to have things like the internet and Atenzia to expose our band to the public. How are the band's live shows going? Can you compare it to those you have done in the past? It's been great...we have played with a diverse number of bands...for instance we played with Sponge last night...but we have also played with Stryper! I LOVE a good London Calling show…it's a total rush…very satisfying. I can't really compare it to anything in the past...I have played for 60, 000+ people in Brazil with Guardian and 50 people for London Calling in Los Angeles at The Knitting Factory and had both of them rock my world. Once again, starting over fresh with a new band…you have to earn your way up...that in itself is rewarding...challenging...but rewarding. Tell us about the other guys in the band - their roles within the band and their personalities? I knew all of these guys for years...Derek and Jon played with another artists that opened a 3 month Guardian tour...I spent a lot of time with them even back then. Derek is the drummer and he is simply the best I have ever played with...bar none. I don't think we've ever played with another band who didn't mention how good he is after the show. Derek is a laid back guy who loves 70's era nostalgia and listens to everything from Ronnie Milsap to Death Metal to Weezer. Jon is the guitarist...he grew up on Slash so he plays a kinda tight/sloppy style. Jon can "shred" but plays within the song. A true guitar hero who'll likely never be perceived as one. Jon is very true to his Kentucky roots and is picked on occasionally (in love of course) by his bandmates. Matthew is a solid bassist and very outgoing. A great personality and not a day goes by that someone doesn't compare his to Sean Penn. He brings alot of life to the show. All these guys are great friends and quality people. My relationship with them is not centered on the band...it was established before...it's a great thing to play music with people you love and respect. We all share a common faith in Christ too! Can you tell us about your currently available solo album? Yes, it is called Dios De Amor/ Songs For Heaven and Earth. It is 10 songs in Spanish and the same 10 again in English. It is a Christian-themed recording ala Guardian. It's not hard rock and it's not Alternative...it's acoustic based rock for the most part. Scaled down sound too. It reminds me of Swing Swang Swung era Guardian. You can get it from www.jamierowe.com or any quality Christian music outlet. Singing in Spanish? Plus a DVD? Is there anything you can't do?! What's on the DVD? There's plenty I can't do! The DVD has 4 music videos shot in Russia as well as a video Biography pout together by the Latin Label...I was extremely pleased with the DVD. Have you found being referred to as a Christian artist restrictive in anyway? Have their been frustrating stereotypes used over the years? In ways, it probably has been. There are those who simply don't want anything to do with the Christian faith and don't want it in their music. I tend to meet a lot of people who have an idea about me when they meet me and will be on their "best behavior" around me thinking I'm gonna flip out or something...but they quickly learn I'm just a dude who lives life the best I can and I happen to believe in Jesus. To me, music doesn't have to have a blatant message to paint a picture of faith. It's sprinkled all through the London Calling cd as well as other things I record...it's just a natural part of me at this point. And you have recently been featured on another release - the marvelous Adriangale record! So, you guys saved the best until last did you?!! Yeah, Vic came to the sessions with some really strong material and evidently the melodic community is eating it up! Vic should be writing for Def Leppard and David Coverdale. I think he could put some fire under their rumps. I heard this will be the last AG album you plan to sing on. Can you explain why this decision was made? Yes, Crunch was my last Adriangale CD. I have reasons as to why I don't want to record with that project anymore. But it's really irrelevant info. All I will say is there is a section of my fanbase that wanted to hear the classic raspy voice and those records I did record were for them! There are 30 or so songs of me singing in an 80's style with 80's performance and production. Enjoy it to the fullest. Don't let what's not coming keep you from enjoying what you have in front of you. I will say that I will likely never sing a whole album as a session vocalist anymore. It's confusing to the public. If I ever decide to record in that style again, it would likely be with Guardian in some capacity. How did you become involved in the Liberty & Justice project. You track included on the album was one of the best and showcased yet another side of your versatile voice! Justin Murr called and asked. Simple as that. I do session work all the time. I would like to say that I was happy with "Noise" but I think the overall quality of the album could've been better. But it was cool to see Justin make that record happen. One guys idea becoming a reality. Pretty cool. I recorded an acoustic track recently for the next one he has planned. Any plans to sing on heavier material like that again in the future? Not really.... but ya never know. Like I said...I do session work all the time. The rasp is on call at all times. It's not difficult. What else are you working on right now? I just co-produced some tracks for my brother's band Nineteen88. It's a novelty hard rock record. I wrote a track called the Metal Pokey for it...you put your left fist in...put your left fist out…etc...really silly but fun. Other than that I am always writing and getting ready to do some Latin American touring for my solo disc. Anything you would like to add Jamie? I would like to add 4 plus 4...and that happens to be 8! ;-) Actually...thanks to all those who have been with me for a decade and are still supporting my career. Melodic Rock fans are certainly passionate about their music...so if I "make the cut"...I am honored. What's next for London Calling? I hope a lot more of the same...I would love to bring London Calling to Europe and Asia for touring…we all would love that. I hope Atenzia has success with us...they are kind of similar to us…some familiar names doing something new. I hope we can lock in a quality U.S. deal for the band...but if not...we'll keep doing what we are doing. Many thanks for taking time out to do this interview! This was a fun half hour to answer some questions...anything else you need just e-mail. Thanks Jamie!
II: The Climber's Obsession In profile, K2 looks like a child's drawing of an idealized mountain: a jagged, snow-clad pyramid of black stone, nightmarishly steep on all faces and plunging 10,000 feet to the surrounding glaciers. Spotted and named by members of a British trigonometric survey in 1856, K2 stands astride the Pakistan-China border in the Karakoram Range, at the center of the greatest agglomeration of high peaks on Earth. An Italian team first reached the summit in 1954, a year after Sir Edmund Hillary knocked off Everest. Everest may be 800 feet higher, but K2's notorious weather, its mind-boggling exposures, and its immense technical challenges make it far more dangerous than its taller sibling. In all, more than 3,679 climbers have summited Everest, while 210 have died. For all the righteous critiques of Everest and its commercial cattle drive, that mountain is actually getting safer. Only two climbers were lost in the 2008 season. The odds on K2 are much worse: Just 299 people have reached the top, and 77 have perished in the attempt, many after reaching the summit. Although numerous climbers have summited Everest multiple times, just three people have ever reached the top of K2 twice. Some years, nobody makes the summit at all. For many among the obsessive, competitive fraternity of high-altitude mountaineers, K2 symbolizes the greatest test of will and ability a mountain can pose. American climbing legend Ed Viesturs, who summited after climbing through a storm, calls it "the holy grail of mountaineering." Many who fail and live are drawn inexorably back, as though the mountain has its own gravitational pull. "Everest is a circus," says Wilco, who summited that peak in 2004. "It has nothing to do with mountaineering." But his ice-blue eyes light up when he tries to describe the allure of K2: "It is the mountain of mountains. It's the most difficult, the most dangerous, the most savage, the most ... you can't imagine." It was a sentiment he shared deeply with Gerard McDonnell, even though both men had nearly been killed on K2 before. This August marked Wilco's third trip to the mountain. In 1995 he was climbing between Camps 1 and 2 on the Abruzzi spur, the most common route, when he got caught in a massive rockfall. A chunk of rock slammed him in the face and shoulder, shattering his cheekbone and snapping his arm. His humerus was jutting through his skin, and he lost a liter and a half of blood as his team desperately evacuated him to Base Camp, where he waited five days for a rescue helicopter to arrive. But he recovered, kept climbing, and returned again in 2006, this time in a large expedition that included Gerard. The competitive, no-nonsense Wilco got along well with the amiable Irishman, whom he met for the first time on that expedition. A folk musician, motorcyclist, sometime oil worker, and avid mountaineer who'd lived in Alaska for nine years, Gerard showed a penchant for fun that was countered by his serious, professional approach to climbing. Wilco knew right away that this was someone he could trust. During the 2006 expedition, Gerard too was almost killed by falling rocks, not far from where Wilco had nearly died a decade before. One stone struck his Kevlar helmet with such force it caved in a golfball-size section of his skull. He was evacuated by helicopter to the military hospital in Skardu, the closest major town. Wilco visited Gerard in Alaska the following year. The Dutchman already had in mind a plan to assemble a small team of highly skilled, well-equipped climbers who wouldn't need to depend on hired porters to make a summit attempt. Gerard was eager to return with him. They agreed that they should avoid the rockfall-plagued Abruzzi Route, which Gerard likened to climbing through an asteroid belt. "We did not even discuss whether we should return to K2 or not," Wilco recalls. "We simply agreed that we would go back." III: Waiting in Base Camp On May 17, 10 weeks before they stood on the summit, Wilco and Gerard and the rest of their team gathered in sweltering Islamabad, Pakistan. From there it was a two-day drive along the Karakoram Highway to Skardu, then another day by jeep to the village of Askole: the end of the road. With an army of 100 porters, each carrying a 50-pound barrel of gear and provisions for the long siege of the mountain, they marched for a week up mountain trails to K2 Base Camp, a moonscape of shattered rock atop the crevasse-riven Baltoro Glacier at 16,000 feet. Wilco had recruited seven climbers he really trusted and secured sponsorship from Norit, a Dutch water-purification company. Along with Gerard there were Cas van de Gevel, a broad-shouldered and soft-spoken boyhood friend whom Wilco had climbed with for decades, and Pemba Gyalje, a Nepalese Sherpa who had summited Everest a half-dozen times, as well as several younger climbers. The first team to arrive for the 2008 climbing season, Norit K2 had Base Camp to themselves for several weeks, and they quickly set to work. Wilco's plan was to follow the Cesen Route up the flanks of K2, establishing a series of camps connected by fixed safety lines. It was to be a classic siege-style attack, setting 2.5 miles of fixed ropes up the mountainside to ferry supplies and equipment among four rather precariously situated camps. Their camp had a mess tent, a shower tent, a solar-powered internet hookup, even a refrigerator hacked into the glacier. None of the team members would use supplementary oxygen, and the only Sherpa that they would rely on was Pemba, a full member of the expedition and the team's most experienced mountaineer. Climbing K2 is a colossal physical undertaking, but the work of fixing the lines – setting up higher and higher camps and moving up and down the route – would help prepare them for their final push to the summit. Only 50 climbers had ever reached the top of K2 via the Cesen, but both Wilco and Gerard considered this newer route to be safer. During downtime Gerard wrote occasional dispatches to friends and family: a good-luck wish to his girlfriend back in Alaska, who was climbing Denali; a thanks to his mother for sending some holy water. For the most part the outside world faded away, and the team focused on the vast brooding pyramid that "we hope to befriend over the coming weeks," Gerard wrote. The mountain did not seem overly friendly. Jet-stream winds raked the summit, and avalanches rumbled ominously down its sides, sometimes sliding almost to Base Camp itself. At night the glacier groaned and cracked as it inched its way down the valley, sometimes disgorging the remains of dead climbers brought down from the upper slopes by avalanche: a human rib, a skeletal leg sticking out of a boot, an entire torso with the face half-pecked away by crows. The climbing season is short in the Karakoram, from mid-June to early September, and in the first weeks of June a virtual UN of expeditions began to arrive to prepare for their own summit bids. A French team came, then a large, heavily outfitted Korean expedition, which had flown in several Nepalese Sherpas at great expense. Most other expeditions relied on Pakistani high-altitude porters, or HAPs, who were paid $2,500 each, with a $1,000 summit bonus, roughly equal to the average annual income in Pakistan. They were followed by Serbians, Austrians, Singaporeans, and an Italian pair that included Marco Confortola, a 37-year-old alpine guide from Padua, with a gold hoop earring and a buzz cut. There was also an American-led expedition that included Eric Meyer, a 44-year-old anesthesiologist and specialist in high-altitude medicine from Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The only medical doctor in Base Camp, Meyer became the de facto GP, doing everything from diagnosing acute mountain sickness to pulling rotted teeth. Gerard's friend Rolf Bae, 33, a Norwegian polar-exploration legend, arrived in camp fresh from a 27-day ascent of 20,623-foot Great Trango Tower. He came to climb K2 with his wife Cecilie Skog, 33, the only woman to reach the seven summits and both poles. They formed a strikingly beautiful and charismatic couple, having been recently married and full of plans for a life of adventures together. By late June the population of Base Camp had swelled to around 80, the brightly colored tents scattered across the gray expanse of the glacier like candy sprinkles. It was still a far cry from Everest, with its internet cafe and high-paying clients. Of all the international mountaineers who had arrived in Base Camp by the end of June, only Shaheen Baig, a skilled Pakistani HAP, had previously stood atop K2. Despite all their preparation and training, none of the other climbers was familiar with the uppermost reaches of the mountain. If for some reason Shaheen Baig could not make it, the summit push would become that much more difficult. As June wore into July, the peak remained almost perpetually shrouded in storm clouds. The Norit K2 team made a dash for the summit around July 4, only to turn back before reaching Camp 4 when a brief weather window slammed shut. "Morale hit a new low for the team," wrote Gerard on July 16. Whiling away the seemingly interminable days in Base Camp, Wilco worked on a meticulous model of an old barn he was renovating in Holland. Gerard, a talented musician, kept his spirits up by playing drums with the HAPs and camp staff on upturned supply barrels. When a pregnant mouse started hanging around the mess tent he named her Sheena and serenaded her with the old Ramones tune "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker." Voluble and friendly, the Irishman was well-known and well liked in every expedition's camp. He kept his hopes up for a change in weather, but he knew the short season was dwindling away. Even some of the food barrels were beginning to run low. Still the team tried to stay hopeful. A snapshot shows a party they threw for their Italian friends, a few precious cans of beer scattered on the table, Marco's arm thrown around Gerard's shoulders. To keep their hard-won acclimatization, small groups would hike to the Base Camps of neighboring peaks, or trek up to the Gilkey Memorial, a cairn of glacial stones erected by an American expedition in 1953 after the death of their 27-year-old teammate Art Gilkey. The entire team had abandoned its summit bid in a fruitless effort to save Gilkey's life, at great risks to themselves. Their actions are now legendary among mountaineers and are often cited as representing the highest ideals of selflessness and teamwork, the very soul of mountaineering. The cairn has since become a monument to all K2's fallen, adorned with plaques and tin plates stamped with the names and dates of those who never returned. So late in the season, it became clear that any sign of decent weather would lead to a rush on the peak. There were big egos on K2, of course, not the least of which was Wilco, who worried that some of the other expeditions weren't as well organized as his own. Wilco was especially critical of independent climbers who show up in camp and sponge off more prepared expeditions. He mentions Nick Rice, a 22-year-old self-styled "extreme high-altitude athlete" from California, who brought a generator to run his blogging laptop but no rope. "This is not how you climb K2," says Wilco. With so many climbers on the mountain, the teams recognized that their best hope was to work together, to avoid getting in one another's way. A successful summit push would require careful planning of who would bring what supplies to Camp 4 at 26,000 feet – particularly the final sections of rope to be fixed on the route toward the summit. "The expedition leaders met 10 times. We were really ready for it together," says Wilco. Only, the weather failed to cooperate. On July 20, frustrated by the heavy snow and wind, a 61-year-old independent French climber named Hugues d'Auberede decided to give up and head home. But two days later there was a great surprise: Four independent weather reports, paid for by different expeditions, identified a likely shift in the jet stream by the end of July. "Just skip your work for another two or three weeks and then you can summit K2," Wilco told him. Hugues phoned his wife in France and decided to stay. "Morale in camp is very high," wrote Gerard in a dispatch. "Electric." Final preparations were made, and the strategy was set. A large group – the Koreans, Serbians, Norwegians, Americans, Austrians, Spaniards, and Italians – would start up the standard Abruzzi Route on July 27. The following day the Norit K2 team, along with Hugues and a few others, would ascend the Cesen Route. The two teams would converge July 31 at Camp 4, on a corniced ridge called the Shoulder. They would join forces to set fixed ropes for the final push to the summit, more than 2,000 vertical feet above. Before leaving Base Camp, Gerard sent one final message, finishing with the lines: "Let luck and good fortune prevail!!! Fingers crossed. Sin e anois a cháirde. Ta an t-am ag teacht." The last lines were in Irish Gaelic. They mean, "That's all for now, friends. The time is coming." IV: Rush for the Summit All routes up the southeast ridge of K2 – by far the most popular way to the top – converge at a steep ice couloir known as the Bottleneck. About a mile up the slope from Camp 4, climbers must head straight up the 50-degree couloir, then traverse left beneath a nightmarish overhanging wall of ice more than 300 feet high. After the traverse, the route angles up steeply toward the snowfield that leads to the summit. Climbing through the Bottleneck is like staring into a loaded gun, as fissured ice blocks called seracs, ranging in size from refrigerator to school bus, can crack off and fall without warning. To negotiate the Bottleneck the teams agreed to send a nine-man trailbreaking party, along with 600 meters of rope, to fix a safety line along the route and pack down the snow in advance of the main summit party. Pemba was in the first group, as were several of the Pakistani HAPs, but one key person was missing: Shaheen Baig, the HAP leader who had been atop K2 before. He was vomiting uncontrollably from drinking bad water and had been sent down to Base Camp by Eric Meyer, the doctor. Wilco believes Baig's absence fatefully crippled the trailbreaking party. There was another problem: ropes. Wilco's team had agreed to bring up 400 meters of rope, while the Italians had pledged 200. But when the teams reached Camp 4, the Italians' HAPs had brought only 100 meters. That left them with just 500 meters, which might be enough to navigate the Bottleneck, but nobody was sure. "It was our first inkling that things were not going to go well on the summit push," Meyer says. The trailbreakers were meant to set out at 10 pm, but due to delays over the rope and the hypoxic slowness of humans at high altitudes, they didn't leave Camp 4 until half past midnight. Wilco says several of the planned nine trailbreakers "just didn't show up," so there were only four or five headlamps creeping up the slope in the darkness. The strategy had been to start placing the ropes at the Bottleneck itself, where the gentler slope of the Shoulder steepened into the 50-degree couloir. But somewhere in the dark early hours of August 1, the trailbreaking party began fixing the ropes too soon, several hundred feet below the mouth of the Bottleneck. Pemba was helping break trail at the head of the group when the climbers unexpectedly ran out of rope. They were forced to fix their last anchor near the top of the Bottleneck, leaving the long traverse beneath the hanging glacier unprotected. Marco would later accuse the trailbreaking crew of using a section of Pakistani rope "not fit to tie hay bales with." Meanwhile, huddled in their down suits in their tents, Wilco, Cas, and Gerard had barely slept, so anxious were they to begin the impossibly long summit day. They got up, melted snow for water, and affixed crampons by headlamp in the black night. At 2:30 am they joined the ragged line of climbers that had set out along the Shoulder. Within hours, as a beautiful sunrise lit up the Karakoram's spires, the group began to stack up in a long line at the base of the Bottleneck, with more than 20 people waiting directly beneath the precipitous ice wall. The Bottleneck was jammed up, and Wilco was furious that the rope had been fixed through the "easy part" of the passage. "We lost many, many hours because of this stupid thing, which we already talked about many, many times in Base Camp," he says, deeply frustrated. A decision was made to cut a lower section of the rope and use it to protect climbers as they made their way across the traverse. A knife was passed down to cut the rope near its bottom anchor, and the rope was pulled back up to the head of the line. The weather was perfect, the sunshine brilliant. A photo of Gerard shows him helmetless, down jacket tied around his waist, looking up from the back of the long line at the immense white, hanging glacier. Beautiful as it was, the scene was anything but benign. "It's really difficult to describe how ominous this overhanging serac was," recalls Meyer. Still far below the crowd at the Bottleneck, Meyer and his Swedish teammate Frederik Sträng realized they could never make the summit before dark and made the difficult decision to turn around and return to Base Camp. The situation, Meyer says, "had badness written all over it." V: The First Victim As the climbers trudged up into the bottleneck, just after 11 am, a Serbian climber named Dren Mandic unclipped himself from the rope. Numerous early press reports claimed that Mandic was trying to pass other climbers, but Lars Naesse, a Norwegian who was right behind him, says this is not true, that Mandic was merely adjusting his oxygen system. While unclipped, the Serb stumbled and fell backward, crashing into Cecilie Skog and knocking her down. Still falling, Mandic grabbed wildly at the rope, jerking two other climbers off their feet. He then lost his grip and tumbled down the steep couloir, pinwheeling hundreds of feet back down toward the Shoulder. "Just one moment, and he was gone," says Wilco. A few minutes later Meyer and Sträng got a radio call reporting that Mandic was still moving and decided to climb back up to see if he could be helped. At the same time, two Serbians and an inexperienced Pakistani HAP, Jehan Baig, were descending to the spot where Mandic lay. By the time they arrived he was dead, but on orders from their team leader in Base Camp, the Serbians decided to try to bring the body back to Camp 4. Body recovery above 8,000 meters is usually considered an unnecessary risk, but it wasn't a steep slope, and it didn't seem overly dangerous to the group. But not long after they started moving Mandic, Jehan Baig began to lose his balance, grabbing in a panic at the ropes attached to the body, then at Sträng, who screamed, "Use your ice ax!" As Jehan Baig began sliding down the glacier, picking up speed, he made no effort to self-arrest with his ice ax – perhaps a mountaineer's most hard-wired act of self-preservation – and rocketed headfirst over the edge of a huge cornice. Deeply rattled, the group covered Mandic's body with a Serbian flag, anchored it to the mountainside with an ice ax, and trekked back to Camp 4. In the Bottleneck, things were not going well. Near the back of the line Wilco, Cas, and Gerard were growing impatient as the group slowly made its way along the traverse, waiting as ropes were put in place. In such a high-altitude traffic jam, one can move only as fast as the slowest climbers. Pemba, a world-class mountaineer climbing without oxygen, watched in frustration as an exhausted Korean climber spent almost an hour moving just a few paces up the rope. "When you are going up so slowly in a group of maybe 20 people, it's like an inchworm," says Wilco. "With more people around, everyone thinks it'll be okay. But on K2 there is no safety in numbers." One of the strictest rules of mountaineering is the turnaround time: an agreed-upon hour at which a summit attempt will be abandoned, no matter what, to allow enough time to return to camp in daylight. It was already 2:30 pm when the group made it through the traverse and out from beneath the overhang. They had lost six hours in the Bottleneck, but the remaining climbers did not turn around. They could almost see the summit now. News reports and climbing blogs later ascribed the decision to press on so late in the day to groupthink, a case of summit fever. Reinhold Messner, widely considered the greatest living mountaineer, called the decision "pure stupidity." But the climbers knew that if they didn't go for it now, there would be no second chance. K2 has one of the longer summit days in the Karakoram, as much as 22 hours, and the weather was perfect. Marco Confortola shouted to the group that the Italian expedition of 1954 had reached the summit at 6 pm. "K2 is not a matter of making a time schedule," Wilco says. "Once it gets dark, you go back, but if you have ropes it's not a problem." But the ropes were questionable at best. At the end of the traverse the trailbreakers had found a section of climbing rope made out of 8mm cord, fixed into the slope from the season before. The line had spent a year being exposed to the punishing elements and intense UV radiation at 27,000 feet, but it was the group's only protection as they began the final pitch toward the summit, a thousand feet up a 50-degree ice face. The Norwegians reached the summit at 5:20 pm, followed by the Koreans and their porters. Next came Pemba and Gerard, who reached the summit at 6:30, then Hugues and his porter Karim. Wilco and Cas made it by 7 pm. All told, 18 people reached the summit, a patch of ice-covered rock no bigger than a living room, marking a tie for the single-day K2 record. The Norit K2 team spent maybe a half-hour on top, snapping photos and congratulating one another, shouting and embracing and delighting in their achievement after so many foiled attempts. The first Irishman atop K2, Gerard held up his flag with an ecstatic smile, then placed a victorious call to his girlfriend in Alaska. He handed the phone off to Pemba, and the three of them started down just as Marco arrived, the last to reach the top, at 7:30. In Marco's summit shot, taken by Cas, the sun can be seen fading behind him. The Italian's photo was taken with a flash. VI: Lost on the Mountain Ten hours later, on the last morning of his life, Gerard McDonnell woke up shivering in his down suit. He had managed to doze off on a small snow ledge that Marco had carved for him. The first light brightened the sky at around 5 am, and he could see that Marco and Wilco were also alive; they had all miraculously survived the night on the mountain. But even in daylight, the route down was still not clear. Gerard and Marco stood and traversed back and forth across the slope, trying to find the way. Wilco, whose water bottle had disappeared somewhere on the way up, was severely dehydrated and beginning to go snowblind. "I said, 'Listen, I'm not going to discuss anymore. I'm going down. I have to survive. Doesn't matter if this is the right direction or not; I'm going down. Directly down.'" He didn't care which side of the mountain he ended up on: "If it's China, it's China." With that, he left his companions and set off alone. Throughout the night there had been chaos and confusion up and down the mountain, with no one certain who was attempting to climb down or who was bivouacking above the Bottleneck. Worried teammates sent out frantic calls to find out who was trapped in the death zone, above 26,000 feet, but communication was a mess: Batteries had died in the cold, radios were switched off, and sat-phones had been handed off to other climbers. Meanwhile, the mountain exacted a terrible toll. Worried about the time and feeling fatigued, Rolf Bae had turned back before the summit, while his wife Cecilie and his friend Lars pushed on. Rolf waited for them above the Bottleneck; when they returned he began to lead them to Camp 4. Rappelling down the fixed lines as the moonless night deepened, the three had been the first to reach the traverse at around 10 pm, crossing back beneath the immense overhanging serac. Cecilie watched the beam of Rolf's headlamp bobbing in front of her as they made their way across the difficult traverse. Suddenly there was a rumble, a shower of snow and ice, and a huge jolt on the line that knocked Cecilie off her feet. Rolf's light had vanished. Rolf Bae had walked to the North Pole. He had skied across Antarctica. He had made all the right decisions, turning back less than 200 yards from the summit. But on K2, fate always plays the last card: A huge section of the hanging glacier had calved off and slid down the Bottleneck, sweeping him to his death. The falling serac scoured the fixed ropes from the Bottleneck and left the 17 climbers trapped above with the choice of climbing down without a safety line – in the dark – or waiting in the death zone for a rescue that would probably never arrive. Unaware of the icefall that had killed Rolf, Cas followed Pemba down through the Bottleneck an hour or so later. In the darkness, he passed Hugues, who was descending alone. The 61-year-old Frenchman was out of bottled oxygen, and his porter Karim Meherban, last seen on the summit, had by now vanished. Continuing on, Cas blithely descended a 50-meter emergency rope the Norwegians had hung at the spot where Rolf had been killed. He could feel that the rope was unanchored, dangling into the couloir, and he went very slowly to avoid slipping off its end. Minutes later, as Cas picked his way down the Bottleneck in the darkness, a human form tumbled past him a few meters away. He believes it was Hugues, either coming off the end of the rope or falling in the descent. Not far behind Pemba, a Nepalese member of the American team named Chhiring Dorje and another Sherpa, nicknamed Little Pasang, reached the top of the Bottleneck. Somehow Little Pasang had lost his ice ax in the descent. Down-climbing without an ax would be suicidal. So Chhiring, a 10-time Everest summiteer, did something astonishingly selfless. He tethered Pasang to his own harness, and the two Sherpas began the 500-meter down-climb together. "If we stay, we will die," Chhiring told Little Pasang. "If we fall down, we will die together." Twice they slipped, and both times Chhiring managed to arrest their fall with his single ice ax. The next morning, Wilco somehow stumbled upon the correct route down to the top of the traverse. But the rope was indeed gone. Partway down the slope he found out why. A group of three Korean climbers were badly tangled in ropes, with one dangling upside down. They had been out all night and were in very bad shape, semiconscious and unable to stand. One Korean told Wilco that they had radioed for help, and a rescue party of Sherpas and other Koreans was on its way up. Wilco gave the Korean his spare gloves and kept descending. At a press conference after the tragedy, another member of the Korean team stormed up to Wilco and basically accused him of leaving the three Koreans hanging on the mountain. "It was a question of survival," Wilco told him. "There was nothing more I could do to help them, and they said that they were waiting to be rescued." A hundred yards below, Wilco looked back up and saw that Gerard and Marco had followed his route down and arrived at the Koreans. Too exhausted to climb back up the slope, he shouted at them. There was no response; all five seemed to be barely moving. Disoriented, Wilco wandered farther and farther down the steeps, free-climbing down an unknown route. He was utterly lost, with no idea where he was in relation to Camp 4. His only notion was that down was good. This is where events become confused in the memory fog of hypoxia, exhaustion, and cold. Later on Marco would claim that he and Gerard had stopped for three hours to try to help the dying Koreans; Wilco thinks that if they had stopped for so long it would have been suicide. Whatever the case, Marco said that every time he tried to get the Koreans to stand, they would slump over. One Korean was bootless, he recalled, and Marco had tried to cover one foot with a spare glove. By mid-morning Marco and Gerard had left the Koreans and continued toward the traverse. A trained mountain rescuer, Marco felt sick that he hadn't been able to help the Koreans, but his own situation was growing desperate. He could barely feel his frozen toes as he kicked his crampons into the ice. Suddenly, Marco said later, Gerard turned around and began to climb back up the slope, back toward the Koreans, offering no explanation. Marco continued along the traverse and down into the couloir. He had been out on the mountain for more than 30 hours, and he later said he dozed off in the snow. He woke up to a loud cracking noise far above. Another icefall roared down the Bottleneck, slamming into Gerard. Marco watched in horror as his friend was swept toward him in a roiling mass of ice and snow, coming to a halt 50 feet away. He could see Gerard's boots sticking out of the ice, his body ripped apart and strewn across the slope by the force of the slide. Marco had only met Gerard in Base Camp that spring, but weeks later, he would break into tears at the memory of his friend "Jesus," with whom he'd conquered the greatest mountain of his life and with whom he'd survived one of his worst and scariest nights. "He was always smiling," Marco told an interviewer. "He was a flower." Gerard touched people that way. In Ireland, his memorial service would draw more than 2,000 mourners. VII: Rescue VIII: The Lucky Ones The survivors trickled into base Camp like soldiers defeated in battle. Wilco, Cas, and Pemba made it by late evening on August 3, and in the mess tent hospital, Meyer began the delicate process of warming up Wilco's frostbitten toes and Cas's fingers in a bath of heated water. He also tried an experimental application of Alteplase, a $1,000-per-dose medicine usually used to prevent tissue damage in stroke and heart attack victims. Marco was still out on the mountain, exhausted and in agony from his frozen feet. After Gerard was killed, he had fallen asleep again in the snow. "I would have died there if it were not for Pemba," he later said. The Sherpa had climbed up from Camp 4 carrying a bottle of oxygen to revive the unconscious Italian. As they descended together another avalanche rumbled through the Bottleneck, a chunk of ice hitting Marco in the head. Pemba still managed to drag him, half-conscious, back to the relative safety of Camp 4. But Marco still had to get the rest of the way down on his crippled feet. In the morning an army rescue helicopter picked up Wilco at Base Camp, then took a pass over Camp 2, hoping to make a risky high-altitude sling rescue of Marco. The pilot decided against it and flew Wilco to the military hospital in Skardu. (Cas was evacuated on a separate helicopter.) As Wilco was lifted up and away from the vast wind-scoured peak that had haunted him for so many years, he clutched the model he had made of his barn back in the Netherlands. Meyer, Klinke, and the remaining members of the Norit and American teams gathered in Base Camp, exhausted and shattered. In Gerard's tent someone had found a final precious can of beer, which Gerard had been saving to celebrate a successful return from the summit. The group sat around in a circle on the glacier, while each took a sip from the can, sharing memories of their lost friend: his endless jokes, his broad smile, the way he would sing in Gaelic, the way he was friendly to everyone he met. The president of Ireland proclaimed him a national hero. Marco limped in a day after Wilco and Cas were evacuated, having spent a total of four days on the mountain. His feet were black with frostbite, and he too was airlifted out. The surviving members of the Korean team hired a military helicopter to carry them back to Skardu. For the rest there were the somber tasks of packing the gear of their dead friends for the long trek back to civilization and hammering the names of the dead into tin plates to hang at the Gilkey Memorial, a symbol of how the mountains bring out the best in us even as they exact a heavy price. Whether the events on K2 displayed the highest ideals or the final degradation of mountaineering remains unanswered. Meyer and his teammate Paul Walters returned from the Karakoram with similar conflicted feelings. The greatest moments of heroism and selflessness in the entire tragedy were displayed by those who'd been pushed hardest, the Sherpas: Pemba going out again and again on the mountain to save Marco, to search for Wilco in the snowy wastes; Chhiring descending with Little Pasang clipped to his harness. Saddest of all, a Sherpa named Big Pasang had ascended the Bottleneck to try to save his Sherpa friend Jumic, who in turn had tried to rescue the three stranded Koreans. Pemba later saw the two Sherpas' lifeless bodies, broken and tangled in rope, in a debris field at the base of the Bottleneck. "People underestimate what an entirely different level the Sherpas are on as climbers," says Meyer. Even more remarkable, he adds, "is their enormous sense of responsibility for the people they are climbing with." But despite all those acts of selflessness, many climbers feel that something must change in K2 mountaineering. Walters feels that some of the summiteers had approached K2 with the "mentality of clients, almost," relying on the Sherpas' skills and endurance. "There were so many useless climbers on the mountain," says Pemba. "Lazy, didn't want to do hard work. Always looking for a HAP or a Sherpa to set the lines or break trail. It was not fair mountaineering." Meyer lays some of the blame on the business model of expedition sponsorship. "If what they're after is publicity," he says, "their sponsors were probably not disappointed." Walters takes it further. In his view, everybody involved has a commercial interest in pushing mountaineering to its limits, from the lowest-paid HAPs to the multinational corporate sponsors. That money has poisoned mountaineering, he believes. "For all the people backing climbing, this is a good result," he says bitterly. "People know if they can push it to some sort of an edge, they'll get more sponsorship. They want to be at that limit, I think. And that's why nobody took the decision to turn around and go back. Rather than coming back as great survivors or heroes, they would have come back as failures. Just ordinary failures." IX: No Regrets In his hotel room in the monsoon swelter of Islamabad, a week after he had stood on the summit of the world's deadliest peak, Wilco van Rooijen unwraps the bloody bandages from his feet. The toes are hideously swollen, shading from magenta to black like overripe plums, the skin bursting. He grimaces as he soaks them in a tub of warm water. Hopefully the experimental treatment Meyer gave him at Base Camp will save them, but he won't know for months. Cas, his friend and climbing partner for 20 years, dabs them gently with iodine before bandaging them again. Soft-spoken and shy by nature, Cas chokes up when he talks about Gerard as he tries to reconstruct and understand what happened on the mountain. Cool and dispassionate, almost aloof, Wilco talks for hours, going over every moment of what he remembers from the climb, of what went wrong. Having finally conquered the peak of his dreams, he is not afraid of the rumor mill of the mountaineering world or of the opinions of pundits. "I have nothing to hide," he says. "With this tragedy, if you're really surprised about this, then you don't understand anything about it. If you don't want to face the risk, don't go to K2."
Three weeks into their expedition, Chris Jewell and his team arrived at what looked like a calm, rock-enclosed lake about 100 feet wide. But as they knew, this was no lake: It was a sump, a low-lying trench where water collects – and they were almost a mile beneath the surface of the Earth. "When our toes were at the water's edge, we knew we were in new territory," says Jewell. "You're going somewhere no one else has been before." Since its discovery in 1965, Sistema Huautla, a cave system tucked into Mexico's Sierra Mazateca mountains, has lured explorers from around the world. "If Dr. Seuss had done a book on caves, it would look like this," says veteran caver Bill Steele, 65, who has taken over a dozen trips to Huautla since the late '70s and joined in for part of this year's trip. Thanks to its seemingly endless passages, waterfalls up to 60 stories high, and natural wonders like the massive, 300-foot-high chamber called Anthrodite Hall, it is, Steele says, "probably the best cave on earth - lots and lots of variety." This year's expedition, organized by Jewell, a 30-year-old software consultant and caving enthusiast from England, had one objective: to go beyond that trench – called Sump 9, discovered in 1994 – and set a new record for the greatest depth ever reached in the Western Hemisphere. The only option? Dive into the murky water to see where it would take them. "We knew there was an opportunity to look for new passages," says Jewell. "Most people reach a sump and think it's time to go home. We were just getting started." The seven-week trip began in late February. The 40-person international team slogged more than a thousand pounds of gear, including rope, wetsuits, and headlamps, into the cave. They spent two weeks rappelling to an underground camp about a half-mile into the Earth, navigating some of Huautla's 20 waterfalls as well as passages deluged with waste-filled water surging through the mountain from villages above. The cavers occasionally surfaced for cooked meals and rest, but the record-breaking portion of the journey began when five divers, including Jewell and fellow Brit Jason Mallinson, spent 10 full days underground exploring Sump 9. After locating an underwater passage, Mallinson plunged in, traveling a distance of 265 feet. With that dive, he reached a total depth of 5,069 feet, officially the deepest known point in the hemisphere. "Things like Everest you can scout from a plane with binoculars," says Jon Lillestolen, 33, an American member of the squad. "With caving, you don't know what's around the next corner. Huautla definitely lives up to its legendary stature. It's just monstrous."
Waste Not By Gabe Meline This year, Napa County's recycling program expanded more than ever to include not only such traditional recyclable items as cans, bottles and plastic bags, but also those awkward items that no one feels are really right to put in the trash can. As environmental awareness continually increases, so does that weird pile of un-throw-away-able junk in the backyard. What to do with that plastic bucket full of eight-month-old car oil that was once so recklessly poured down the storm drain? What to do with the old washing machine that was fixed five times on long Saturday afternoons before finally going completely kaput? And what to do with the kids' old computer monitor that stopped working when a glass of Fanta accidentally disappeared into its ventilation slots? But even trickier are pharmaceutical drugs, sharp syringes and razor blades. Putting pharmaceutical drugs down the drain can be incredibly harmful to the environment and our habitat, and it doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize the dangers of chucking razor blades and needles in the trash. In fact, as of Sept. 1, 2008, a new state law makes that practice illegal. On Saturday, Oct. 11, the city of Napa hosts a collection event for unused or expired pharmaceuticals and home-generated "sharps." Place syringes and razor blades in a puncture-proof container, such as an old bleach bottle or coffee can, and bring them to 1539 First St., Napa, on Saturday, Oct. 11, from 10am to 4pm. Also, pharmaceuticals and sharps, along with other household waste, will be accepted at a special hazardous waste collection event on Saturday, Oct. 25, from 9am to 3pm at the Napa County Fairgrounds in Calistoga. For more information, see or For disposal of other problematic items, Napa area residents can head to a consolidated area of disposal centers located around Highway 29 and South Kelly Road. The bucket of used oil can be taken to the Napa-Vallejo Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility at 889-A Devlin Road in American Canyon. Open 9am–4pm on Fridays and Saturdays, the facility also accepts old paint, propane tanks, batteries, solvents and cleaners. Call ahead of time to check that your waste can be dropped off, at 1.800.984.9661. As for the soda-soaked computer monitor? Around the corner, there's the Napa Recycling and Composting Facility at 820 Levitin Way, which will take broken old computer parts and other assorted e-waste like cell phones and TVs. Concrete, tires and metal can be brought as well. Open Monday–Friday, 8am to 4pm, the facility appreciates calls ahead of time at 707.255.5200. What about the broken washing machine? The Devlin Road Transfer Station, at 889 Devlin Road in American Canyon, takes bulky items such as appliances, mattresses and furniture. It's open daily from 8am–4pm. 707.252.0500. Send a letter to the editor about this story.
[MetroActive Movies] [whitespace] 'L'Atalante' Hard to hold: Jean Daste falls for a restive Dita Parlo in L'Atalante. Modern Love Classic 'L'Atalante': gritty fairy tale with contemporary feel By Richard von Busack IN GREEK MYTH, Atalanta was a girl who "could outrun all human kind/ or girls or men," as the poet Ovid describes her. When it came time for her to marry, she made a bargain with her suitors: each one could challenge her to a race. If one of them won, she'd marry him; if not, she'd kill him. And how does this legend apply to the barge named L'Atalante, the setting for a 1934 film by Jean Vigo? Could it be a mock-heroic French joke? Barges aren't known for their speed. In a larger sense, Vigo was like one of Atalanta's doomed suitors, succumbing because he relentlessly pursued his desire to make films. Dead at 29 of tuberculosis, Vigo left behind three short films and one full-length classic: L'Atalante. The story is fairy-tale simple, yet told with implications that are absolutely modern: this combination of magical and social realism is what Wong Kar-Wai and Lars von Trier are groping for. L'Atalante (which opens Friday, March 30, at the Rafael Film Center in conjunction with its retrospective on Vigo on March 31 and April 1) is a romance set against the iron and smoke of an industrial corridor, on the banks of a canal between the poky, forlorn French villages in the north and the river Seine's mouth at Le Havre. Jean (Jean Daste), the newly married barge captain, takes his bride Juliette (Dita Parlo) aboard L'Atalante to join the rest of the crew--a jocular, rowdy second mate named Father Jules (Michel Simon, France's answer to Charles Laughton) and his assistant, apparently a half-wit. At first, the voyage is as happy as can be, considering the grimy surroundings. But as the barge approaches Paris, Juliette begins to be bored, and she runs off. Jean breaks down; it's up to old Jules, as uncouth a sailor as you've seen in a movie, to round up the strayed wife. It's a commercial tale, not too different in outline from the 1938 French hit The Baker's Wife. Directing it was a bid for money; Vigo's previous short film, Zero for Conduct, a banned political outrage about a rebellion at a boarding school, is just as surreal and troubling; the barge is sleepwalking as much as floating, covered in a cold silver fog. The characters on the boat also seem masked, as if in a Melville story. Even Father Jules' pet cats, which infest the barge, aren't completely cute or tame; they scratch their way through the picture. At times, Jules' compassionate interest in the captain's wife seems gloating, even bullying, in the way he shows his tattoos and trinkets to her. Juliette is played by the 28-year-old Parlo--later the gentle, bereaved German widow in Grand Illusion. Yet here she's very much the child-wife, most delighted in toys and by the monkey-mannish tumbling of a peddler (Gilles Margaritis) who beguiles her away from the boat. Vigo's subversion of a sentimental plot is complete in such moments where the captain becomes a moon-calf, licking a block of ice in his sadness or sticking his head into the oily water to try the superstition that one can see the face of a lover in the dim light underneath the surface. L'Atalante's voyage proves the utter necessity of love in surroundings where all is ruined and blighted. The film shows how romance, like a shaft of light, brings out hidden beauty in the least likely scenery. Though created at an early stage of film history, it's a stunningly confident and developed work. In his short run as a filmmaker, Vigo passed many artists, proving that the race is not always won by those who endure it. 'L' Atalante' opens Friday, March 30, at the Rafael Film Center, which also screens Jean Vigo's three other films--'A Propos de Nice,' 'Taris,' and 'Zero for Conduct'--on Saturday and Sunday, March 31 and April 1, at 1118 Fourth St., San Rafael. For details, see Movie Times or call 415/454-1222. [ North Bay \| MetroActive Central \| Archives ] Copyright © Metro Publishing Inc. Maintained by Boulevards New Media. Foreclosures - Real Estate Investing San Jose.com Real Estate
Rock On Love The sextet currently known as Rocn Son Steve Satterwhite There was a time when a young man with a dream in his heart and a guitar in his hand had to go to the City of Angels to make it as a rock and roll star. That was then. This is now. In the past decade, the Latin divisions of nearly every major recording label have migrated east. For Latin rockers like Roc'n Son, the road to stardom runs through Miami. The Cuban-born band members studied music together in the early Nineties in Havana's rigorous schools for the arts. After graduation keyboard player Raul del Sol ended up in Argentina; his kid brother, percussionist Joel del Sol, found himself in France; drummer Leo Garcia landed in Uruguay; singer Eduardo Rodriguez in Mexico; bass player Eduardo Madareaje in Venezuela; and guitarist Ahmet Barroso in the United States. Just over four months ago, the friends reunited in South Florida to form a band. "We're not political immigrants," explains Raul del Sol, Roc'n Son's leader. "We're not even economic immigrants. We came to Miami to pursue our profession." The rockers went about that task diligently, drawing on the discipline of their early training. Their first rehearsals took place in the cramped confines of a mobile recording studio. The musicians and their instruments barely fit in the borrowed truck's four square feet, but they still made room to practice several hours a day, four days a week. By the time the group moved into more spacious digs, Roc'n Son had fused the diverse musical influences soaked up by each member in third countries. The foundation of their sound, however, is summed up in the band's name. "Roc," the international noise of youth, was invented in the United States but is played with passion from Havana to Patagonia. Son is the traditional Cuban dance music, blending European harmonies and instrumentation with African rhythms. Rather than strictly adhere to rock and roll's typical straight-ahead beat, Roc'n Son riffs around the syncopated suspensions that characterize son and salsa. "It's not just the arrangements," notes Rodriguez, the lead singer, who danced at Havana's famed cabaret the Tropicana and with a host of pop stars before giving his vocal chords a try. "The melodies might be rock, but the timbre of the voice is always son." Better known as Chino, Rodriguez sets the Roc'n Son tone not only with his throat, but with his sinuous movements and often-outrageous attire. In Chino's dance Roc'n Son's musical mix can be seen, not just heard, as aggressive poses familiar from rock punctuate the subtle Afro-Cuban undulations of his torso and pelvis. His fashion sense is just as eccentric. He's been known to don bug-eyed sunglasses and red rubber pants, West African skirts, and Chinese pajamas. The musicians who back the novice singer have been in the business long enough to know that image sells sound. "Listen, Chino's voice is good," Raul del Sol concedes, "but more than that, he gives us style; he gives us a look." The long-haired dancer can carry a tune well enough by U.S. rock standards, but his high cheekbones and chiseled torso certainly help the melody along. A gaggle of giddy female fans swoons and sings at every show, presaging the teen appeal the band hopes to have. Del Sol makes no effort to hide Roc'n Son's commercial aspirations. He eschews the provocative stance taken by the veteran rockers he knew while living in Buenos Aires. "Argentine rock tends to be very political," he observes. "We had enough of that growing up in Cuba." Instead del Sol writes songs about love, dance, and having a good time. "But that doesn't mean they're superficial," he contends. "What's more profound than love?" "For us pop is a way to translate the music we grew up with into a language anyone can understand," Roc'n Son's songwriter explains. Here on the home turf of Gloria Estefan and Ricky Martin, more and more recent arrivals strive to translate their own music into a language everyone will buy. Sponsor Content
How can I use Voice dialing on my Nokia device (Series 40 phones)? 1. Press and hold the right selection key to activate Voice dialing. For the first time, you will be prompted to train voice recognition. 2. After the training, press and hold the right selection key, the device will beep and a short tone is played. 3. Say the voice command clearly. If the voice recognition is successful, a list with matches is shown. The device plays the voice command of the match on the top of the list. After about 1.5 seconds, the device dials the number. You can also quit at any time during the dialing process.
‘The Mid’ Area Boys Basketball Top 10 Some of these schools have had nice non-league results, but it is in league, which begins next week, that all the tales will be told. The team that is the most fun to watch is the third ranked Rams. They run, they shoot, they play defense, and then they do it again. 1. Gabrielino Eagles: 12-2 2. El Monte Lions: 9-6 3. Temple City Rams: 7-5 4. South El Monte Eagles: 4-4 5. Duarte Falcons: 3-3 6. Monrovia Wildcats: 6-7 7. Arcadia Apaches: 3-6 8. La Puente Warriors: 3-8 9. Rosemead Panthers: 3-8 10. Bosco Tech Tigers: 4-9 Print Friendly
The Great War The one-day battle had 60,000 British casualties—the largest of any battle Britain has been involved in before or since. Included in a separate booklet is Adam Hochschild’s narrative essay that places the art in context. Hochschild gathered lots of fascinating facts and statistics about the battle. First, rain delayed it for several days. Before the battle, British soldiers added 55 miles of new train tracks. Over 224,000 shells were shot in just one hour. The cacophony was so loud that civilians heard it in Hampstead Heath in London. And before the battle, hospitals in England were ordered to clear their wards of convalescents so that there would be room for the injured. What a magnificent artist Sacco is. He manages to impart to the opening scenes the excitement and jollity of new recruits who have no idea about their destiny. Sacco also gave a sad and melancholic air to the trenches on the day of the battle itself. The world looked grey except for the white explosive clouds rising skyward. The only view of nature was a single copse of trees that stood out amid a ruined landscape. Later, Red Cross trucks and rows and rows of covered cots with corpses and the injured paint a stark reminder of war’s reckoning. For a nonfiction account of the war, read Adam Hochschild’s To End All War: a story of loyalty and rebellion: 1914-1918. It concentrates on the moral issues that this very destructive war raised among those who favored it and those who opposed it in Great Britain.
Name: 'The truth about Ami', chapter 2. Author: Cony E-mail: Rated: PG-13 (some swearing and just the smallish amount of lemon you'll ever see) Stuff at the bottom. I see her showing me the pendant. And it's open. There, I see, for the second time this day, the thing that has scared me the most since . . . that day. A picture. Yes, that's what I'm so afraid of. A picture of a beautiful girl. She has long, long blue-black hair. Her eyes are blue too, and by the looks on her face, she seemed very happy when the photo was taken. She has about 14 or 15 years. Her long hair is taken in a loose ponytail, which lets a few bangs hang out of it and dance in front of her face. My eyes open wide in horror, as I stare directly at my worst nightmare. But, my instinct kicks in, and makes up a very good answer. "She's . . . was my sister". I see as Minako's face pales a bit, and her eyes darken. "What do you mean was?". I'm about to tell her she's an idiot, but I hold myself. "She's dead". She takes her hand to her mouth and covers it, in an attempt of not letting me see her horror filled face. "Dead?. But . . . she doesn't look much older than you. As a matter of fact, she looks just like you". My back stiffens, but I keep fighting. "She died four years ago, before I meet you". "Before you met me?. But, how come any of the girls haven't told me anything about this?". Baka, I say to myself. "I meant before I met Usagi-chan, before I discovered I was Sailor Mercury". "Oh. Sorry". "Don't be. It happened long ago". It seems I did it. I convinced her. I'm about to sigh in relief, when she asks another question. "But, you look so similar. How can that be?". Answer. Answer!. ANSWER!! I say to myself. My head seems empty of ideas. I can't think. I can't breathe, I can't . . . wait. Calm down. Breathe deeply. Nothing's wrong. Minako can't discover your secret. She would never do it. She doesn't have the intelligence to. Now, think. Why can two persons be so alike?. Appart from being sisters . . . being twins!. Yeah!!. "We . . . (necessary trembling voice, as I let my face drop as if I was in real pain) . . . we were twins". Anyone else would have understood not to ask anymore, but anyone doesn't include Minako, the queen of the de-brained. "Twins?. Cool!. Why didn't you ever told us about her?". I feel a sensation creeping up my head. Anger . . . no, it's fury. I clench my hands, and bare my teeth. I can feel my eyes glowing in anger, as I look up to her again. "'Cause she's dead, Mina-chan" I say. Her expression changes abruptly, I don't know if for the information I gave her or for the look on my face. Only then, I realise that I've let my temper win over me. I look away, desperatly trying to control myself. Over and over again, I repeat to myself: . The mask that went off for a couple of seconds returns, and I'm calm (on the outside at least) again. I turn my look back to her, and see she's looking at me with strange eyes. "I'm . . . I'm sorry Mina-chan. It's just that . . . anytime I talk about her, I get very sad". I see her calming down. BINGO!. One point for me. "Sorry Ami-chan. I never thought talking about her would disturb you so much". "It's Ok" I say, internally yelling in joy. "But, I think you should've told us about this. I mean, we're friends right?". I wonder a bit. Friends?. The only one I've called friend was Hiroshi, but that was a long time ago. So, how would I call Usagi-chan and the rest of them?. Technically, it would be a cover. A protection. Something to pass unnoticed. But, I must answer. "Yeah". "Well, then, let's call the others. They should know. Can I use yor phone?". Call the rest?. Here?. Now?. She's got to be kidding me!!. Then, a plan starts taking shape in my head. "Sure. Go ahead. In my night-table, there's one". I see her grinning, with that stupidly grin pasted on her face. She turns around, and gives me a perfect target. I harden my hand, leaving it as a perfect 180 degree angle. I then slowly and noiselessly walk to her, as I hear her voice talking on the phone: "Hello?. Usagi-chan?. Yes, it's Minako. Could you please come to Ami's house?. Yes, it's very important . . .". Her voice drifts off, as my mind focuses solely on the precise point on her neck where I should strike. Now, her voice has turned into a humm on the back of my mind, as I walk closer and closer to her. My steps are silent, and my hand is steady. I know it won't hurt her, if I do it correctly. I mean, after three years of not practising a hit, you get kinda . . . unused to it. But, as they say, it's like learning how to drive a bike, you never forget it. I feel the adrenaline running through my body, as the familiar feeling spreads over me. It's like being back in the old times. Her blond hair swayes back and forth, but I don't notice it. All I can see now is that point, just where the shoulder meets the neck. It's calling me, telling me to hit it. And then, I'm right behind her. I can feel the smell of her shampoo, and see the red bow she always wears almost inside my eyes. I stretch my hand up, and bring it down violently, striking her right were I'm supposed to. At the contact of my rigid hand with her soft skin, I feel her stiffen, and instantly her voice shuts down. I can't see it, but I know she has opened her mouth trying to scream. But, my blow was hard and quick, and appart from completely paralizing my victim, it also closes the vocal cords. All she can do is make some coughing sounds. My experienced ears hear the shrieking voice of Usagi on the other end of the phone, saying: "Mina-chan!. Mina-chan!. Are you allright?. What's going on?. Mina-chan!". I slowly pick up the phone, and hang it on it's receiver. I look down at the not-moving girl on the floor, my eyes a pair of rocks, as I see her struggling to speak, a desperate look on her eyes. "Don't worry", I say, surprissing myself as I use a tone I didn't remember I had, "I just paralised you. In about an hour you'll be able to move again. Just stay there for a while, and you'll feel nothing when you recover. If you move too much, your neck will hurt for a week or two". I see her hands spasming. I know what she's trying to do, but I don't care. I see her eyes, and notice a glint of determination on them. I see she believes she knows what's happening. Poor girl. She doesn't have a clue. "No Mina-chan. It's not what you're thinking. I'm not possesed by a youma, and I haven't gone crazy. I just couldn't allow you to spoil my plans". Then, I completely ignore her coughs and shrieks, as she tries to get my attention. I must do things quickly, beacause I know Usagi has already called the others, and they're headed here. It'll take her about 10 minutes to arrive, more or less depending if she told Makoto and Rei while she was inside or outside of her house. I step over Minako, and take the pendant from her hand. "You're the only one who knows about this. I should kill you". I see her eyes opening wide and she tries to move her head in a denying motion. I laugh at her desperation. "Don't worry. I won't. Now, good-bye". I jump over her again, and walk to the door. I close it behind me, and walk downstairs. The pendant is light in my hand, but it's a heavy weight when it comes to emotional charge. So, I decide not to pay attention to it. I reach the front door, and quickly open it and ran outside. The heavy rain inmediatly wets me all over, pasting my short hair to my neck. I close my eyes, and tilt my head up, trying to get this feeling as the most I can. Then, I turn around, and jump to the roof of my house. Yeah, I know that humans can't jump ten meters just like that, but remember, I'm not an average human, I'm a Senshi. Appart from the powers this warrior-thing gives me, in my past I was taught how to use hard floor as a real spring-board. It's very simple when you get it, it's just a matter of physics and such. But, it's really hard to explain in words so, I'll leave it to your imagination. I jump, and land gracefully on the roof. The tiles don't even sound under me. I congratulate myself, 'cause after these three years, I haven't lost this ability. I feel my long, leg-long skirt stick to my limbs, and I can't take it any longer. With almost animal-fury, I bent down and slash it with my fingernails. The ripping sound is like heavenly bells to my ears, and I hold the piece of cloth in front of me as a price. "You'll bother me no more, ugly thing", I tell it, my voice slowly recovering it's ancient tone of order. My real voice is about the same tone than Mizuno Ami's, but it just sounds different. My opinion?. Mine's a lot better. At this point, I decide it. For the last moments of my life, I'll no longer be Mizuno Ami. She has dissapeared. I'm again myself, me, moi, yo. I look down, watching my long legs appear from under my now shorty-shorty skirt. I ran a bit, jump and stretch, relieved of feeling this physical freedom again. I thought that so many time inside long skirts was going to get me plasted. Then, I open my mouth, and yell, not caring that I'm already soaked beyond belief, and that the sound of thunder and rain muffle my words: "I'm free again!. FREE!!". I can't believe it. It feels so good . . . so . . . I can't describe it. It's as if I've just finished what was meant to be, and now am free again to do as I please. Laughing, I jump from roof to roof, running away from my house, my place of destination fixed on my head. It feels so clean to run under the rain . . . as if it could wash all my sins away . . . But, no one can . . . nothing can purify me now . . . I'm as dark as the enemies for so long I fought, as evil as the one I always said I was going to defeat, as bad as it's allowed, and far more . . . I'm a sinner. So, soon enough, I'll end this. My torture will be over, my fate changed. A few thunders explode in the sky, as if in a futile attempt of making me change my mind . . . it seems as if nature herself was trying to hold me back, to prevent me from arriving where I'm headed . . . but not human, inhuman, extraterrestrial or future force will be able to stop me this time. I'm tired of being the weak one, of always being looked on less, to always die first, to always have others to protect me . . . I'm going to be myself now, for the last minutes of my life. I haven't told you how I'm gonna end this, have I?. Well, it's simple. I've decided to go to the Aragosai Cliffs, on the north part of the city. They are over than 60 meters over the sea, and several suicidal people have finished their lifes there. There's no way of surviving if you jump from there. If you don't die from the fall, you'll surely drown down in the sea. I jump now from a relatively small roof to one that's very high on the air. It just takes a little more effort from me to reach it, and I continue my running. Hmm, I wonder how does it feel like to die. Yes, I now I've died twice before, but those two were as Sailor Mercury, and I have a feeling that dying as a "normal" person is going to be different. The first time, I was brought down by a youma, one of those Doom 'n Gloom girls. I killed one of those bastards at least. When I think of it, I can still hear the sickeningly sound of my neck breaking against the ice, or the cry of agony that youma screamed when my power atomized her . . . Or the second time, against Sailor Galaxia. That time, I had a crush on Kou Taiki. He was a lot like Hiroshi, so I let my feelings dominate me. It was one of the few times I let my heart go free . . . and I never regretted it so much . . . I opened myself to him, told him almost everything about me, even died for him . . . and the stupid baka never realised what he meant to me. I sacrificed my star seed for him, yet he never cared deeper for me than for the others . . . to him, I was just another girl-fan who had a crush on him. Idols!. Hmph!. Never get too involved with one, or the ilusion of a fantastic and wonderful singer will dissapear. The only good thing I came out with of the terrifying experience it meant having to get your star seed taken, was to learn, once again, that I wasn't made for love. I mean, when they left to go back to their planet, Seiya-kun waved goodbye to Usagi-chan, not caring Mamoru-san was in front. Even Luna got a goodbye phrase!. Yaten-kun was a nice boy, only that strong affection he showed for Luna-san gave me the creeps sometimes. But, did Taiki-kun even blinked an eye on goodbye?. NO!. He said a plain old: "Goodbye girls!". Girls!. Not even a special thing for me!. Me, who up to that time had silently hoped for him to stay, or even to show he cared for me . . . he was so like Hiroshi-san . . . strong, cute, intelligent, brave, and his eyes sometimes showed the same hatred and loneliness he did. But, as long I sometimes longed for him to notice me, for him I never was nothing more than a girl who had an amazing intelligence, and the only one who shared with him the top marks at school. I remember the first time he (actually he was in his female form, as Sailor Star Maker) saved me. She carried me in her arms, away of danger, as Hiroshi did so many times. After that, she smiled to me, a smile I've only seen years ago, a smile of understanding. Then, the second time, was when I won a prize to meet him for being the best video-player in Japan. I talked to him a lot that day, about moral facts and such. Back on their planet they didn't seem to have a lot of valours . . . I ended up on a fight against a very powerful zombie. She was beating the crap out of me, until "help" arrived. Help, you say?. It was a disaster. After those typical so corny-sounding speeches the Senshi always give before starting a fight, the zombie beated as all with her eyes closed. Jupiter didn't stand a chance, and Rei and Minako weren't even wearing their Senshi fukus. They said they wanted to fight with their super-heroines-made-out-of-shinning-paper-outfits they were wearing. That time was one of those I was willing to kill one of them with my bare hands. I was so furious, I felt an unusual energy boil inside me. I felt as a strange wind started swirling around me, and I knew my aura was visible. I felt surrounded by power, pure raw power. Just then, I opened my eyes and saw the zombie had shoot some misiles which were headed straight towards me. I then was about to let my energy consume me, and show them that being the smallest one didn't mean to be the weakest, when guess what?. Mrs. Opportunity arrived. Her already known speech: "Hold on right there!. I am Sailor Moon, champion of justice . . . ."yada, yada, yada type of stuff interrupted my concentration, AND the zombie's too. My power was no longer necessary, so I felt it returning to the deep corners of my soul. Again, Usagi stoped me from unleasing my energy. She's been the cause of all my disgraces, no matter how innocent she may look. I see you're wondering about Ryo Urawa, aren't you?. Well, what can I tell you?. He was nice, and really liked me it seems, but . . . he was so innocent . . . his eyes didn't know anything about life, they were full of childish hope . . . I taught him that destiny is made by yourself, and saved him from evil General Zoisite, but that was it. I think of him more like a soul I helped, a boy to whom I showed the right path to follow, but nothing more. I gave him my picture just to give him strengh, not because I cared for him. And when he returned, to tell us evil Prince Endymion was trying to get the Seven Shadow Warriors together, Makoto forced me to go on and search him, eventhogh I had no intention on doing so. When I think of it, Urawa was a Shadow Demon, yet his appearance was so innocent . . . Jupiter and I finally found him at an alley, escaping of Endymion. Jupiter fought him, while we ran. We finished on an amusement park, and there it was were the Prince of Earth found us. He took Urawa-kun easily, and started making fun of my powers. That was what really pissed me off. How dared he who wasn't even using his own powers, but Negaforce created ones, talk about weak powers?. I was angry, but couldn't show the real reason, so told him it was about his taking of Urawa. I fought him, and defeated him. That should've showed him that Sailor Mercury is no weak link. Then, Jupiter and Moon arrived, and tried to heal him. I never really cared if he was good or evil, he saved us both ways, and that's why he's here, so . . . Well, then, Urawa was free again, and I had to play the oh-I-was-so-worried part, which I think went out quite well. But, later on, we had a serious conversation, where I told him I wasn't ready to love yet, which was a big lie, but he never knew about it. He decided to leave, and to come back when I called him. He can wait sitting on a chair, 'cause I don't plan to. Well, enough of flashbacks, let's get back to action. I again return to where I am, and look down. I see the lights and cars passing under me at incredible speed. I grin, as I hear a startling sound, which after a second of thinking, recognize as a group of doves I had scared. It feels so good to be jumping like this . . . I know no one can see me, because of the heavy rain, but of anyone did look intently enough to try and locate me, they could only be able to distinguish a light-blue blur, and then nothing. I pay no attention to a woman screams of terror, as I miscalculated a distance and landed on her terrace. I feel and unsual type of floor under my feet, and grin again, as I know it was a flower-pot I broke. Less than a second later, I'm meters away from her, already ready to jump into the air again. I wonder if this is what Haruka-san feels while she races on her car. If it is, I can perfectly understand why she likes it so much. The feeling of a strong wind caressing your skin, on your sides, above you and under you, as if trying to push you higher into the air . . . yet, diving into the depths of a swimming pool or the sea is more breath-taking (no pun intended) for me. In the distance, I can now see the cliffs. No worry is in my heart, as I smile again, at last feeling the freedom that's about to come. Then, I notice the buildings have ended. I'm completely on the air, with no surface to land on, but I don't care. I'm going head first, directly to collide with the hard earth floor. I turn around sometimes, and put my feet first again. I spin around, flexing my body to slow my fall, and then land gracefully on the ground. No impact hits my knees, legs or spine, because I changed my weight to hit equally on every part, so the effect dissapears. Yet, my right foot aches a bit. I believe it's for the extra weight rain water puts on me, and so many years of not doing it. I think I sprained it. Carefully, I jump (little this time), and land again. As soon as my right foot makes contact with the ground, a sizzling pain runs up straight to my head. I bit my lower lip, holding back a curse. Baka!, I say to myself. . I then slap myself mentally again. That's make two of them by now. I'm going to DIE!. I shouldn't worry about nonsense like that. I believe you're wondering about how I broke my foot, if I've been running, jumping and landing on knee-high -heels boots for so long?. Simple. When I'm in Senshi form, my body is stronger and can surely handle a lot more than when I'm a normal human. I am slowly, very slowly, walking towards the edge of the cliffs, feeling as a hevy weight is being lift from my heart as I approach my end. The rain has stopped a bit, only the necessary to allow me to look where I'm going. No more lightings hit the sky, and I look up, wondering why did it stop so suddenly. I don't care. I look down again, as my foot is carried as a dead weight by my right leg. This is one of the times on which I wished I had Hotaru-chan's healing powers. But, it doesn't matter. I've finally reached the edge of the cliff, and the beginning of the end. I look down, to the sea which crushes against the rocks, a lot of meters down there. I'm here now. The sea waves splash on the rocks, meters and meters under me, as if calling me to join them. I can hear the call of water . . . I can feel it calling me . . . I'm coming . . . I'll answer your call . . . I raise my right foot, and wave it in the air as I take a step forward, just empty space under it. I'm enchanted by the sound, the rhytmic sound of tons of salty water splashing all at the same time. I'm coming. I take my foot down, ready to let go the other one, now the only thing holding me to the world of the living . . . "WAIT!". A thundering voice fills my ears. The spell is broken, and my leg unconsciously returns to the edge of the floor. I turn around, ready to freeze to death anyone who dared to interrupt me. "WHAT?. What do you want?", I say, before even taking a look at who talked. My eyes flare in anger. I stop in mid-turn, as I see who's standing just a few paces away from me. Usagi, Rei, Makoto and Mamoru, who's holding a somehow unsteady Minako are staring at me wide-eyed. I notice Minako's moving, and 45 minutes have passed since I hit her. That girl has an amazing power of healing, far more developed that I had thought. "What are you doing Ami-chan?", I hear Usagi's voice. I grit my teeth, and look away, as I clench my fists, just to hear her name makes me sick. "My . . . name . . ." I mutter, barely controlling my fury, "is . . . not . . . Mizuno Ami!!". At last, I can't hold it back anymore. Tears, tears of anger slide down my cheeks. Why can't they just leave me alone?. All I want is for them go away, and be alone!. I look at them through my wattery eyes. I see they don't understand . . . their eyes are so pure, so innocent, so . . . childish. They don't seem to understand the harshness of life. Their eyes are big, and full of love. They still believe in goodness and innocence. Yet, on the group standing before me, there are one pair of eyes that are different. Who, you ask?. Mamoru's. His eyes are smaller, thinner, and a glint of suspiciousness on them always. I know mine used to be like the girl's, but now, they are just like Mamoru's. That's the weird thing I always felt on him, the thing that made him different from us . . . I mean . . . them. Their eyes shows that he has suffered, he has cried, he has felt how hard life can be . . . just like me. Rei takes a step forward. And asks, the light rain wetting her long hair: "Ami-chan, what do you mean?". I run two steps towards her, and stop myself in time as I realise I was going to kill her right here. I let my tears go freely, and I see they've just noticed them. "For the last time. I_am_not_Mizuno_Ami". Words refuse to leave my throat, and I must push them out. "Ami-chan, we now you've been under a lot of preassure later, but there's no reason for you to---". Makoto's words are cut short, as I run to her, grab her neck and her right hand, and putting a little of my weight onto her, I jank her into the floor as hard as I can. I sit on her stomach, and hiss to her and the rest who are staring at me with such a question-mark on their faces, that if the situation wasn't so serious, I would've been laughing a long time ago: "My name is Suiseki Reiko!. Get that on your stupid heads!". I feel Makoto wriggling under me as she tries to break free, but her legs are held by my weight, and her arms by my own. I know that Makoto surely weighs more than I do, but who said that for that she's supposed to be stronger?. I use some special movements Hiroshi taught me a long time ago, and I completely inmovilize her, by just plainly sitting over her. "Ami . . . Ami-chan . . . what are you doing?", she manages to croak out. That was it. That was the drop that triggered the gun. I take her wrists, bringing all her upper part up, including her head. As soon as she's staring directly at my eyes, I smile evilly, and slam her head hard onto the mud. "DO NOT CALL ME AMI-CHAN!!!. MY NAME IS REIKO, SUISEKI REIKO!". A red curtain covers my eyes, and I can only see rage now. I start pumping her head up and down, screaming all along. I cry and scream, as I let years of sadness and sorrow escape by hitting Makoto. I'm no longer able to crontrol me, my emotions are stronger than any barrier you could put in front of me. Everything is going to end now . . . but as I slam Mako-chan for the 30th time into the floor, two strong arms wrap around me and take me off her. I scream and fight never really caring to see who's the one who's holding me. In the middle of my moving, I see as Makoto is being helped to stand up by Rei-chan and Usagi-chan. I think I see something red coming out of Mako-chan's mouth . . . blood?. I didn't hit her that hard. I stop struggling, as my doctor instinct forces me to look closer. Yes, she's vomiting blood. She must have bitten her tongue. Only then do I notice I can't move. I look through the corner of my eye, and see that the one who's holding me is Mamoru-san. He's strong, as I feel his muscles move under his shirt. I never thought someone as skinny as him could be this strong . . . I mean, I can count with the fingers of one hand the ones who have been able to hold me back . . . and survived to tell it. I try to break free by just squirming, but it seems so many rose-throwing has given him a special strengh on his arms. I can't escape with my simple techniques, so I'll use the level two stuff. I quickly and swiftly kick Mamoru on his knee, right over the bone, where I know hurts the most. As I see him doubling over in pain, and letting me free, I give a silent thank to the Biology class they taught me . . . they've proven to be far the most useful class I've ever received. I ignore the pain in my foot, as I had to kick him with the right one. Although it's broken, it still hurts like hell when I even move it. But, they don't know about this, and rule number one is never let your enemies know your weaknesess. So, I swallow the pain, and jump away from him, hearing his painful groan as a background music. I faintly hear Usagi's cry of : "Mamo-chan!" as she lets Makoto fall and runs to her love. I end up giving them the best view of my back, as I look into the never-ending ocean. I know this is a perfect opportunity to jump . . . none of them is concerned about me, their worries are divided between Makoto and Mamoru. But, something holds me back. A feeling of wrongness, of something missing . . . I've got to do something before I finish my life. And now I know what it is. I have to tell them what's happening. As much as I've learnt to hate them, they deserve to know the truth . . . and if I do tell them, at least someone will remember me with longing. So, I wait, and turn around, waiting for them to gather again. "Ami . . . I mean, Reiko-chan" corrects Rei, as she sees my flaring eyes, "what's happening?". "Nothing", I answer, my voice as calm as a glass of milk. "I'm just being me". "Being you?. But, Ami-chan, what's wrong?". This Usagi never undertands. Never. She insists in calling me by that awful name I hate so much, and I know I must give her a lesson. I prepare to run again, not caring about the pain in my foot, when I hear a whisper behind me. A voice which is full of hatred and anger, a voice I know he only uses when he's facing a terrible enemy: "Don't you even think about it. You've already hurt Mako-chan and me, and I won't let you put a finger on my Usako, do you hear me?". I smile, and without looking back, I say: "Mamoru-san, you're faster than I thought. But, you know something cape-boy?. No one tells me what to do!". Then, I quickly take my elbow back, and shudder as I feel it making direct contact with his stomach. I hold back a bit though. I don't want a pissed off Moon princess behind my back, now do I?. As he (again) doubles over, this time bitting his tongue for not groaning, I jump away. I finish just in the edge of the cliff, my right foot aching so much I feel like if I had a hell down there. "Did you understand now?. GO AWAY!", I tell them. There's no time for telling them my story. They'll never let me. If I let them catch me, they'll inmediatly sent me to mental hospital, and in there I'm never going to be able to escape, no matter how smart I am. "Reiko-chan", at last that brat of Usagi used my true name, "what are you doing?". I smile, a true smile for the first time in this evening of hell, and answer: "I'm going to jump". I see them openening their eyes in horror. "What?. But, Reiko-chan, why?". "Because I'm so tired of living that I decided to finish myself. Any problem with that?". Minako seems to awaken of a very long dream. A quick look to my watch makes me realise two things: one, the hour has passed, so Minako can move freely now, and two, this is how they found me. I forgot this damm wrist-communicator Luna gave us was also a way for locating the others. They must have followed my signal, and they found me. I slap myself mentally, making them three now. Minako then moves her jaw, trying to get all her control back: "Reiko-chan", she says her voice sounding a bit strange. Her vocal cords must be aching, "let us help you, we are your friends". I nodd, and close my eyes. I can feel her voice reaching my brain, awakening memories of the time we spent together, of how we laughed, how we fought . . . I close my eyes hard, enclosing the memories again. No, this is my descision, and no one can take it away from me. I open my eyes, and say sadly, though a sardonic grin is on my lips: "You were never my friends". I wonder if I can legalize their surprise expressions. I can make a lot of money out of it, you know?. I can see it, "Incredibly stupid-looking faces, two for ten yens!". I continue, amusing myself for the changing on their faces: "You were never my friends. You don't know me. You were just a cover I used, so they wouldn't catch me. You're just and excuse for me, a load I must carry . . . but now, no more". Mamoru has raised again, and asks: "They?. Who are they?". I realise I have talked too much. My only option is to jump now. There's no coming back. There's only this way . . . Hiroshi, I'm coming. Three steps separate me from my death. I take one step back, and I see as they try to run towards me, in an attemp of stopping me. "Don't", I say, raising my hand. "Don't come any closer. If you do, I'll jump". They freeze on their tracks, and I see they're desperatly trying to think of something that might stop me. Again, they don't have me. They've relayed too much on my smart observations, and they don't know what to do if I don't tell them. I realise I'm enjoying this a little bit too much. It feels so good to see them hurt, to make them bleed, to make them experience the worst pain and torture ever . . . I take another step back, and I can feel now the sea breeze caressing my back and legs. It's a welcome call, because forever I'll be part of them . . . as soon as I walk one more step backwards. As if they had thought it at the same time, they all raise their hands, and call for the power of their planets. Four cries pierce the air, and magic is unleashed. I notice for the first time that Mamoru doesn't say a thing, he just closes his eyes and is enveloped by light. As the light dies, I see in front of me Sailor Jupiter, Venus, Mars, Moon and Tuxedo Kamen. I grin, and without even taking my power-stick out, I close my eyes, and wait for the magic to surround me. As I open my eyes again, I see they're very surprised. I know they're wondering how did I transform without even whispering the words?. All that screaming and yelling was never necessary. If you have the right mind control, you can easily transform with just thinking it. "Hold on right there!. How dare you posess the body of one of my dear friends?. You've made a terrible mistake youma, and now you'll pay for it!. I am Sailor Moon, champion of justice!. I'll right wrongs and triumph over evil monsters like you!", says Usagi, with the familiar hand gestures. "And I am Sailor Mars, Senshi of fire and soul!. I will never allow you to live after what you've done!. In the name of Mars, I'll punish you!". Rei's speech wasn't much more original than Usagi's. Here comes Makoto. "I am Sailor Jupiter, Senshi of Thunder and protection!. In the name of true friendship, I'll punish you!". The same thing than the two others. As I see Minako opening her mouth to speak, I yawn, and say: "Yeah, yeah, I know what you're going to say. You're Sailor Venus and etcetera, and bla, bla, bla, and you're going to punish me, right?. Can't you girls think of something a bit more original?, And you Tuxie, don't even think about saying yours, 'cause it's the worst of all. How can you always come out with speeches about love, romance, pure hearts, pure dreams and that type of stuff?. Just stop talking and fight!". I see as five five sweatdrops appear on their heads, and the girls blush, while Tuxedo Kamen coughs to hide his embarrasment. The question is just over their face, but they keep quiet. Good for them. I'm in no mood to be answering questions right now, less let the one who dares asking live . . . as a matter of fact, why wait for them to make the mistake?. Why not kill them right away?. I mean, they are from no use to me . . . and I enjoy a lot making people suffer . . . I bet if I killed Usagi first, the rest, and specially Mamoru-san would be so sad they wouldn't even put up a fight. I think a bit, and see that when I hit Mina-chan was for my purposes, but I never intended to make her suffer. But, when I hit Mako-chan, I liked what I was doing . . . seeing her bleeding, the look of hurt in her eyes . . . everything was so . . . fulfilling. It felt so good . . . so right . . . I bet that if I took the time for it, I could think of five different ways of killing them, slowly and painfully. Torture would feel so good for me now . . . yet, I have no time. I carefully look by the corner of my eye, and see just thirty centimeters separate me from falling. I grin, and turning around to face them, say: "It ends now . . .". I see Minako, no, Venus, waving her hand, and I know what she wants to do. She wants to stop me with her Love-me Chain, but I can easily dodge it. I see the small yellow hearts appearing from nowhere, but it's too late. The descision is made and the step taken. I gracefully leap into the empty space, and feel as the sea breeze brushes my legs, my bare arms and my face. A smile is on my face, as I now know my torture will end. I hear a cry of desperation above me, but I don't even care to look up to see who screamed it. I fell a hole on my stomach, as if I was going on a roller coaster . . . though this is a roller coaster I will never return of . . . I close my eyes, waiting for the impact to arrive. Everything seems to be happening in slow camera . . . the sound of waves is no longer audible . . . the rush of the wind on my ears doesn't reach them anymore . . . I can see flashes in front of my eyes . . . pictures of happy moments . . . the true happy moments I spent with you Hiroshi . . . that day . . . that doomed day . . . replays over and over on my head . . . bringing some tears to my eyes . . . but, I fight them away . . . there's no reason to fight anymore . . . I'm coming to meet you . . . we'll be together again . . . forever . . . partners forever . . . partners till the end . . . And then, it ends . . . Author notes: Well?. What can I say?. Told you action was coming. Not that it was BIG action, but that's the best I can do!. I never said I was an action writer!. Abyway, don't think that just because she jumped things are over yet . . . as a matter of fact, from now on, explaning starts. Yes!. You'll finally get what in the name of Mercury was I always talking about!!. Who was this Hiroshi character Ami always kept mentioning?. Well, read and finf out on chapter 3!. As usually, email me with your comments and criticisms, Even flames, (if necessary) will be accepted!. My adress, (actually it's my mom's) is ,I-ll be waiting!. As usually, Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, and this is just a fans work to her own wonderful work. See ya!
Watch It On DVD: Now \| On Blu-ray: TBD False Prophets Filmed independently under the title Gas Station Jesus, this contemporary parable stars Lori Heuring as Maggie Tate, who finds herself pregnant by "miraculous conception." Miraculous or no, Maggie doesn't want to have the baby, but is pressured to do so by a group of threatening-looking Christian fundamentalists. She ends up stranded at a remote gas station with an enigmatic old preacher named Isaiah (more
July 5, 2007 The current BOTM from 2004. Since we'll be adding more Babes as the year continues , you'll need to check back often. Too bad, eh? January 2004: Paula Anybody thirsty for a Corona? Want some lime to go with that? How about a '97 Mustang GT with a Superchip, a BBK cold-air kit, underdrive pulleys, Cobra R wheels, a Bullitt fuel door, sequential taillights, Flowmaster mufflers, a Mach 1 chin spoiler, Steeda Sport springs, and 3.90 gears? Yeah, yeah, we're getting to it. For those who turn to this page first, you are checking out Paula Filiplak of North Charleston, South Carolina. Not only is this her car, but she's also been a subscriber of 5.0&SF for three years. She's obviously a woman of taste, but if you weren't already impressed, get ready. She's a 34-year-old mother of three! Paula says, "Robert, my husband, believes the BOTMs are all young chicks and I'm too old, so I need to prove him wrong!!!!" Easy on that old stuff, Paula. I'm 34 too, and we don't practice age discrimination unless it's regarding the publisher. You easily outshined all the young chicks in the BOTM folder this month, so you tell Robert he's a lucky man. February 2004: Janice There's nothing quite like a sun-drenched tan, a pair of anklets, and a GT-40 intake. At least that's the case if you're lucky enough to be Michael Giffone of Deer Park, New York. It's Michael's '91 LX that's adorned by his wife (sorry, fellas), Janice. Though she doesn't own the car, she does drive it now that Michael is done modifying it (she even helped pay for the mods!). When the car was stock, Janice banged the gears to a 14.3 e.t. Since then, Michael has added a Lightning 351 short-block topped with Trick Flow Twisted Wedge heads and the aforementioned GT-40. The package is rounded out by an E303 cam, 24-lb/hr injectors, a 75mm mass air meter, and Janice in the driver seat. Michael says Janice can't wait to get it back to the track in its current form. I'm sure most of our readers would be ecstatic to have a wife excited to head to the track at all, much less to drive their car. Think your gal is BOTM material? Then send your photos and cardescriptions to BOTM, 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords, 3816 Industry Blvd.,Lakeland, FL 33811, or finish.line@ primedia.com. March 2004: Nikki Matt Muller says he's the luckiest guy in the world 'cause he's got beauty and speed. We're not sure if he's talking about his lovely girlfriend, Nikki, perched on the hood, or about his black '98 Cobra convertible. He did spend quite a bit of his time talking about the Cobra, however. It's equipped with chrome Cobra R wheels, Bridgestone tires, lowering springs, a MAC H-pipe, a Pro-5.0 shifter, a DiabloSport chip, and a Saleen S351 wing. Nikki is equipped with--well--never mind. Matt does report that she's a car buff, who helps him keep the black Cobra in tip-top shape. And, she owns a Mineral Gray '02 V-6 Mustang of her own. Sounds like he really is a lucky man. April 2004: Lee Ann We've all heard the phrase "love is blind," but in Jim Walbert's case, love might just be color-blind. When he and his lovely wife, Lee Ann, purchased a Laser Red SN-95 for her to drive, it was in need of paint. Lee Ann wanted lime green with orange-yellow flames. It wouldn't be our first choice, but Jim took one look at Lee Ann and began sanding the car. She helped, and in a short while she had the eye-catching Mustang she wished for. Now that's love. In addition to the paint job, the car scored a Saleen wing, a hybrid Cobra R/SVO hood, 3.73 gears, an X-pipe, Flowmaster mufflers, and--naturally--clear taillights. Jim had a brass shift ball made for the car, and Lee Ann loves to bang the gears. We'd guess you'd have to have a brass shift ball in a lime-green Mustang. Hats off to Jim for delivering Lee Ann's dream Mustang.
The Coronet and Cabbage Inn "I don't even know if this graveyard is hallowed ground anymore," Dana adds with a concerned expression. "We may want to hold off on any rites until we're finished here. Burning the dogs isn't an issue for me, but making sure those guards get a proper burial is the least we can do." You live another day to kill the dead. There are several shovels around, but you decide to cover up the sentinels' bodies to protect their remains from animals, and delay the burial for later. You set up camp and other than bats and other harmless nocturnal creatures, you are able to rest safely. Aria, having spent the night in a comfortable bed, meets up with the rest of the group and you are all ready and able to re-enter the mausoleum. Game continues HERE. Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Copyright ©2000 - 2015, vBulletin Solutions, Inc. Myth-Weavers Status
Obama Welcomes Syria Chemical Bid, Expects Assad Compliance: U.S. Ready for Military Action if Diplomacy Fails إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية W460 U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed the deal reached Saturday to strip Syria of chemical weapons but said much remains to be done and Damascus must comply with the accord. In a statement, Obama said that if the regime of President Bashar Assad does not live up to the deal Washington reached with Syria's ally Russia, "the United States remains prepared to act." Obama said the accord was made possible 'in part' by what he called his credible threat to use force against Syria as punishment for its alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians last month. The new accord gives Syria a week to provide details of its chemical weapons stockpiles, and says Syria must give international inspectors unfettered access to them with the goal of removing them by the middle of next year. "While we have made important progress, much more work remains to be done," Obama said. Obama had said earlier on Saturday he was willing to give diplomacy a chance to help resolve the Syrian crisis, but warned the military option was still on the table. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov were engaged in a third day of talks following Moscow's surprise initiative to finalize an agreement on eliminating Assad's chemical weapons. The Russian plan has led Obama to put on hold planned military strikes in response to an August 21 chemical attack outside Damascus that Washington blames on the regime and says killed more than 1,400 people. "We're making it clear that this can't be a stalling tactic," Obama said of the discussions in Geneva. In Geneva, Kerry said the United States and Russia had clinched a deal that would include the threat of force and under which Syria must present details of its chemical weapons stockpile within a week. The United States has estimated that Syria possesses around 1,000 metric tonnes of various chemical agents, including mustard and sarin gas, sulfur and VX. The Russian estimates had been initially much lower, a senior U.S. administration official said. Obama pointed to "indications of progress" after the Assad regime acknowledged for the first time that it possessed chemical weapons and applied to join the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention. "We'll keep working with the international community to see that Assad gives up his chemical weapons so that they can be destroyed," the president said. "And if current discussions produce a serious plan, I'm prepared to move forward with it." Invoking a "duty to preserve a world free from the fear of chemical weapons for our children," Obama repeated his call for an international response. "A dictator must not be allowed to gas children in their beds with impunity. And we cannot risk poison gas becoming the new weapon of choice for tyrants and terrorists the world over," he said. Comments 8 Thumb irus_da_virus 14 September 2013, 13:50 And if the UN reports clearly identifies the Assad regime as being the one that executed the chemical attack, will Assad's destroying of these weapons make up for it?its like i shoot someone with a gun and then I receive no punishment because I surrender my weapon. Handing over the chemical arsenal doesn't make him innocent. This doesn't make sense! Missing VINCENT 15 September 2013, 04:10 If Assad did it, you are absolutely correct. Thumb benzona 14 September 2013, 16:49 Obama let down the majority of Syrians. 17 millions out of the 22 millions want Bachar out, jailed or killed. Missing peacelover 14 September 2013, 18:59 wolf,on this one i agree with you.i hope what you said will happen. Missing helicopter 14 September 2013, 20:42 Even though I wish, hope and pray that the 5 points happen, but as a Lebanese I am most concerned with points 1 and 3 (Shebaa farms and returning refugees who are in Lebanon). I would sign a peace treaty if these two points happen, get my country back to its previous glory, business/banking/tourism and add technology and industry to the mix. create employment, stop corruption and strengthen Lebanon militarily and economically. We have tons of internal work to do to get our own house in order. Missing VINCENT 15 September 2013, 01:06 You are absolutely correct It is all about setting an example which inherently sends the correct message to the rest. For hundreds of years, all the civilizations that existed and those who moved on starting from Anatolia to the to Mediterranean coasts of Lebanon and Syria have shared common interests, cultures, goals, etc. Setting the correct example benefits us collectively and sends a firm and resolute message to those would want to divide and harm us. Our civilizations have survived the rigors of oppression and tyranny throughout the times, but time can also be our friend giving us the opportunity to develop new relationships and coalitions. Missing phillipo 15 September 2013, 07:49 If all this were to happen then there would be no Israel, so your "problem" would be solved. However : 3) Do you think that Abu Mazen would agree that the Palestinians who have stayed in their homes for the past 65 years would become a minority in the State of Palestine? 4) Hamas in Gaza have stated that they will never recognise an Israeli State. Why just between Israel and Palestine. Upon signing a peace treaty the problems with Lebanon and Syria would automatically be solved. 5) So you want a State of Palestine "Juseinfrei", free of all Jews, so how about Israel doing the same with all the Israeli Arabs and sending them to Palestine. You and your cronies would certainly complain about that. Missing phillipo 15 September 2013, 07:52 "but we must set an example first" That example must be for the President and/or the Prime Minister of Lebanon sending a letter, either directly or through a third party, to the President and/or the Prime Minister of Israel asking for immediate talks towards a peace treaty between the two countries.
Unicef WES Project Water, Environment and Sanitation Project There is a huge taboo in most Indian households, especially in the villages, to build toilets. In the rare event of one being built, the skill on how to use them, keep them clean and where and how the waste from it is treated or cleaned, is never quite understood. Even simple acts such as washing hands thoroughly has never been explained to any of us very well, and few people are aware that well washed hands can prevent diarrhea, dysentery, and a whole host of other diseases that prove fatal for many children in India, every year. UNICEF Chennai funded Nalamdana to train about 100 village volunteers (young men and women) through 2008 and 2009 in the Krishnagiri District of Tamilnadu state, on passing on key messages on hand washing, toilet use, and the safety, and advantages to building and using toilets.These trained teams performed plays in their village taluks from August through December 2009. In connection with the previous theatre training and performances, UNICEF had requested Nalamdana do a short term project (September to December 2010) addressing the same WES issues focusing on the Thally block of the Krishnagiri District. Toilet humour and quirky characters acted in filmy style have the audiences laughing and cheering while they get key messages on these health issues. The Nalamdana team did their homework as always, to asses the practices in the area, meet with the Block Development Officers and the Cultural team members of the Krishnagiri Cultural Society at the Thally Panchayat office, and based on their findings, they planned the refresher theatre training and the 50 theatre performances. As a result, that year, these trained performers staged these plays at the 50 Pancahyat villages of the Thally block. Performances and toilet construction From 20th to 23rd September 2010, Nalamdana conducted a refresher theatre training workshop for the 30 select UNICEF volunteers from Mathur, Bargur, Vepanampalli, Kelamangalam, Oothangarai, Thally and Krishnagiri blocks. New plays addressing the key issues: - safe water practices - importance of hand washing - construction and usage of toilet were developed and practiced during the workshop. These trained volunteers were split into three groups and each group was given specific dates to perform the role play in the 50 identified villages of the 50 panchayats in the Thally block. The results of these performances were beyond anything that Nalamdana or UNICEF had hoped for. Several houses have built toilets just outside their homes, and a few people have even built the toilets attached to their houses. It is now seen as a status symbol, and those who had toilets they weren't using, are now using them regularly! UNICEF has sourced a subsidy and at least a part funding for the construction of these toilets.
Page from Galileo’s “Starry Messenger” Galileo’s “Starry Messenger” contained the first telescopic drawings of the moon to be published. Galileo showed the moon to be a solid body with irregular surface features. This drawing correctly shows mountain tops catching the sunlight and casting shadows, the length of which Galileo used to estimate the mountains’ height. —Bruno, L.C. (1987). The Tradition of Science. ones. The students recognize that each of their explanations may have seemed plausible until all the evidence was brought into play. Moreover, they were not embarrassed to give up an explanation that did not work when the evidence pointed in another direction. When such displacement occurs, scientific understanding advances. At this point in the unit, Mr. Gilbert finds it very helpful to assign a take-home exam. Each student is asked to look at all the activities the class has completed thus far. The assignment is to select and then record in a summary table all the evidence that supports or refutes the class’ model of the phases of the moon. “You should consider each and every activity we have completed. Your job is to construct an argument for either the acceptance or rejection of your model. Pay particular attention to the data we gathered during our observations of the moon. What patterns in the data support or refute your model?” Mr. Gilbert writes the assignment on the board: • Part 1: draw and label your model. • Part 2: list the evidence that supports your model. • Part 3: list the evidence that refutes your model. • Part 4: write 1) an explanation using science concepts for the phases of the moon; 2) a list of questions you now have about the motion of the moon. • Total: no more than 10 pages. It will be a major part of your grade for the unit. This vignette illustrates how a wide variety of learning outcomes can result through different kinds of investigations by students. It also Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Terms of Use and Privacy Statement
Lighthouse Project - Chapter Four: War years introduced SW Florida to hundreds of soldiers On the cusp: Many of them returned to live here First Lt. William "Bill" Savidge wears a white-collared shirt embroidered with an airplane logo where a left breast pocket would be. Sitting on a couch in his 10th Street North house in Naples, the 89-year-old's large hands rest steadily in his lap, except to show pictures of the fighter planes he flew during World War II — AT-6s and P-40s."He was very young, he was excited, and he loved to fly," said Betty Briggs, Bill Savidge's daughter. In January 1944, Bill Savidge was assigned to the then recently built army airfield base in Naples to train fighter pilots and bombers for the war. Along the way, he fell for a local girl. It took six weeks for Savidge to fall in love with and marry Olivia of the Storter family, the family who founded Everglades City. On their first date, he took the Naples-born-and-raised "goody girl" to a movie. To this day, neither of them remember the film's title. At that time, the early 1940s, Southwest Florida was still largely untouched — Naples even more so. In 19 years — by 1959 — Naples and Southwest Florida went from a barren, rural and rugged swampland to a place of vision, planning and stability. In 1940, Everglades City was home to the county seat, school board, and the first and only bank until 1949. The first Naples water plant was in the works. Mosquitoes roamed free. Olivia Savidge graduated from Naples High School in 1942. She said she could count on her fingers the number of people in her graduating class. Census data shows around 5,000 people lived in Collier County at that time. "You could go all the way down the bay and not run into one boat," Savidge recalled. He and Olivia Savidge said they spent many weekends and afternoons boating and fishing for mullet, mackerel and snapper, depending on the season. There was only one jail called the Paw Paw Patch. It had two cells and was in a papaya patch, an area that's now Naples City Hall. The jail was built for $381.68. People said it was a "mosquito hell" during the summer months. The World War II airfield base brought hundreds of young men to Naples who otherwise never would have traveled to the remote, southwest corner of Florida. Seventy-eight soldiers trained at the base when it opened Dec. 23, 1943. At the height of the war, several hundred men and 75 aircraft were assigned there. "We were stationed along the shoreline," Bill Savidge said. "Bombers would go out over the Gulf. We would fly up the coast and we would attack them. That was our mission." The men stationed at the Naples base simulated attacks against Buckingham Army Airfield pilots in Fort Myers to prepare them for real combat. But Bill Savidge's training quickly turned into live combat in Japan. He is quiet about that time. In 1945, he was sent to Iwo Jima to replace lost fighter pilots. He flew about a dozen missions over Japan. He also sent dozens of letters home to his new wife and firstborn child. He returned to Naples after the war. They knew everybody, which was easy because Naples was so small. "Maybe 200 homes," he said, shrugging his shoulders. But Naples was on the cusp of a boom. War veterans returned seeking a peaceful, comfortable lifestyle. They had fallen in love with the untouched beaches, palm trees and local women. Visionaries flocked to the area to cultivate dreams out of the swampland. W. Roy Smith was one of those dreamers. His vision became the Naples Plan: the roads, parks, playgrounds and zoning that is still seen today. W. Roy Smith came to Naples in 1936 to audit the books for Standard Oil. Before he could finish his audit, he made the decision to move his family to Naples permanently. "He couldn't even concentrate on the books," said his son Jim Smith. He said his father remembers deer and flocks of turkey crossing the unpaved streets and the open lands spotted with unruly vegetation. At that time, Naples was a sawmill town, a fishing village and a place for eccentric adventurers. The city budget was around $10,000. The only stable landmark was the "old beach hotel" or Naples Hotel that was eventually torn down in the 1960s. There was no water, no city hall, and no hospital. W. Roy Smith was elected the first official mayor when Naples became a city in 1949. Speed Menefee was the first mayor of the town of Naples in 1925. W. Roy Smith and local town engineer, William Cambier, questioned: "What does this fishing village need?" From that discussion, the Naples Plan was born. The budget was $300,000. The town council approved the plan in 1947 with a tax exempt fund so people could make charitable donations. It paid for parks, a police and fire department, 3.5 miles of road and civic improvements to beautify the city.One thing still needed to be controlled: the mosquitoes. "It was easier to wipe them off than to smack them," Jim Smith said. That changed in 1950 when the city developed its own mosquito control district. It covered six square miles. Jim Smith remembers running with his friends behind jeeps with big turbine engines spraying a fog of malathion through the streets. "You heard the buzzing, you knew they were coming down the street," he said of the jeeps, quipping that "everybody my age should be dead or have cancer" because of the chemicals. Controlling the mosquito population made Naples a "livable" city, he said. A year later, W. Roy Smith made a pivotal decision to buy the county's two-thirds share of the then abandoned Naples airport for $8,311.18 — the original amount paid by the county in 1941. "City officials saw the benefit of having an expanded air service," said Ryan Frost, director of airport operations at Naples Municipal Airport. "They kept it alive." Frost said the only reason Naples and Collier County are so successful today is because of the easy access the Naples Municipal Airport provides to the beaches, unlike Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers. By the 1950s, the water system developed by Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co. President W.B. Uihlein, was well under way. Bill Savidge got his first job out of the war working as one of two city employees for the water department. ■ Medals of Memory ■ Invasion of Our Lifetime ■ Vietnam Wall Memorial ■ Purging Demons "My first job was digging ditches," he joked. But Bill Savidge played an important role in making Naples modern and prosperous. "Mr. Uihlein took him under his wing," said Briggs of her father. In 1948, Bill Savidge was named superintendent of the city water department. In 1952, the water plant officially opened. The population in Naples was around 1,700. As the town grew, residents realized the urgency for a comprehensive medical system. The lack of doctors in the area forced people to go north to Lee County for medical emergencies. Naples Memorial Hospital opened its doors to patients in March 7, 1956, with 50 beds. A 1956 aerial photo shows the hospital bordering an empty U.S. 41. The hospital was considered to be among the most modern in Florida. Its name was later changed to Naples Community Hospital. The comprehensive water system, parks, roads and hospital transformed the Naples wilderness into a sophisticated and comfortable city. Local historian Doris Reynolds said even though Naples started out as a small town, it was inevitable it would change. The rugged, rural and oft-beloved pioneer lifestyle had to eventually transform as people discovered the white, pristine beaches. "We were never destined to be that small," she said, "when you have seven miles of sand and the Gulf lapping onto the beach." She said it was planned by the very wealthy in a "farsighted way," referring to the visionaries of the time like W. Roy Smith, Glen Sample, who developed Port Royal, and Uihlein. But those individuals, like Bill Savidge, who stumbled upon Naples because of the war or through word-of-mouth, were no less important to its growth and vitality. Reynolds said the difference between rich and poor was hardly noticeable in the 1950s. Rather, everyone wanted to see the close-knit community succeed. "This town had everything I wanted in life," Reynolds said. "It was a small town but I instinctively knew it had a great future. There was so much energy and vitality that other places didn't have. There was a lot of promise." As for Bill Savidge, he retired from the city in 1985 after 38 years of service. He rarely flew planes again. Briggs, 66, said her dad saw the best and worst of it during the war. "He put that part of his life to rest," she said. "I've had a wonderful life," her father said. "Overseas and here." Naples Daily News polls
Maryland Bill Would Create Registry of Animal Abusers Bill would also toughen laws against offenders View Comments () Maryland lawmaker will consider a new bill designed to crack down on people who abuse animals. Frederick Sen. Ron Young has introduced a measure that would toughen current laws. It would also create a registry of animal abusers similar to registries for sex offenders. Animal abusers would be fingerprinted and their photographs would go into a data base that could be reviewed by the public online. There’s hope that if this information is made public it would help prevent future abuse. One animal advocacy group, Maryland Votes for Animals, said Maryland ranks 36th out of all 50 states when it comes to laws that protect animals from abuse and neglect.
Logo of narLink to Publisher's site Nucleic Acids Res. 2011 Jul 1; 39(Web Server issue): W551–W556. Published online 2011 May 11. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkr312 PMCID: PMC3125748 Bisulfite sequencing is a widely used method for measuring DNA methylation in eukaryotic genomes. The assay provides single-base pair resolution and, given sufficient sequencing depth, its quantitative accuracy is excellent. High-throughput sequencing of bisulfite-converted DNA can be applied either genome wide or targeted to a defined set of genomic loci (e.g. using locus-specific PCR primers or DNA capture probes). Here, we describe BiQ Analyzer HT (http://biq-analyzer-ht.bioinf.mpi-inf.mpg.de/), a user-friendly software tool that supports locus-specific analysis and visualization of high-throughput bisulfite sequencing data. The software facilitates the shift from time-consuming clonal bisulfite sequencing to the more quantitative and cost-efficient use of high-throughput sequencing for studying locus-specific DNA methylation patterns. In addition, it is useful for locus-specific visualization of genome-wide bisulfite sequencing data. DNA methylation is a widely studied epigenetic modification. It is present in all vertebrates and many invertebrate animals as well as in plants (1). In mammals, DNA methylation plays an important role for developmental gene regulation and for germline repression of repetitive elements (2). Aberrant DNA methylation patterns are frequently observed in cancer (3) and may also occur in many other human diseases (4). The link between locus-specific DNA methylation alterations and common diseases has created significant interest in using these epigenetic alterations as biomarkers in drug discovery and clinical diagnostics (5). To investigate the many roles of DNA methylation in development and disease, researchers depend on experimental methods that accurately measure DNA methylation patterns at high accuracy and affordable cost. Many technologies with different advantages and disadvantages have been developed over the last 20 years, but only bisulfite-based methods provide quantitative DNA methylation data at single-base pair resolution (6). In bisulfite sequencing, the DNA is treated with sodium bisulfite, which selectively converts unmethylated cytosines into uracils but leaves methylated cytosines untouched (7). Hydroxymethylated DNA, which has recently been detected in some mammalian cell types, is also left unconverted and is indistinguishable from methylated DNA using bisulfite-based methods (8). Bisulfite sequencing has recently been used to obtain the first genome wide, high-resolution maps of DNA methylation in the human genome (9,10). Bisulfite-based methods also performed well in a benchmarking study of DNA methylation mapping technologies (11). Along with technologies for DNA methylation mapping at a genomic scale, locus-specific bisulfite sequencing plays an important role as gold-standard validation method and promises to become a standard technology in clinical diagnostics (12). Locus-specific bisulfite sequencing has traditionally been performed by Sanger sequencing of a few dozen hand-picked DNA clones, making this method rather time-consuming and costly. To address these limitations, researchers increasingly use high-throughput sequencing instead of Sanger sequencing (13–15), which has three major advantages: (i) due to the increased sequencing throughput, it becomes feasible to obtain highly quantitative DNA methylation patterns for the loci of interest. This is particularly relevant for studying heterogeneous tissue samples and for clinical diagnostics; (ii) due to lower per-base costs and the use of multiplexing to sequence many samples and/or loci in a single machine run, the sequencing costs are substantially reduced; and (iii) the cloning step for isolating DNA populations that carry the DNA sequence of a single DNA molecule becomes obsolete because current methods for high-throughput sequencing measure the sequences of individual DNA clones. A major roadblock for the wider use of high-throughput bisulfite sequencing is the lack of software tools for processing and analyzing the large number of sequencing reads that are generated by this method. Several software tools have been developed for processing small-scale bisulfite sequencing data obtained by conventional Sanger sequencing. The BiQ Analyzer (16) software from our group has recently been updated to version 2.0 and continues to be a useful tool for interactive analysis of small-scale bisulfite sequencing data. Alternative tools include the QUMA web service (17), BISMA (18) and several more specialized programs (19–22). None of these tools can be scaled to the read numbers that are typically obtained by high-throughput sequencing. For this reason, recent studies utilized custom data analysis scripts, none of which are conveniently available (13–15). Here, we describe BiQ Analyzer HT, a comprehensive software tool for locus-specific analysis of high-throughput bisulfite sequencing data. BiQ Analyzer HT builds on concepts that we originally developed for the popular BiQ Analyzer software (16), but it was redesigned and rewritten to meet the challenges arising for the analysis of high-throughput bisulfite sequencing data. All functionality of BiQ Analyzer HT is available through a web-startable graphical user interface, which guides the user through the data analysis (Figure 1). As an additional option, it is possible to run the computationally intensive parts of the software on a remote high-performance computer while maintaining the user-friendliness of a graphical interface run locally. Finally, BiQ Analyzer HT provides an optional command-line interface to facilitate integration into automatic data analysis pipelines. Figure 1. BiQ Analyzer HT workflow. Bisulfite sequencing data are generated either for the entire genome or selectively for a defined set of genomic loci using commercially available high-throughput sequencers (A). To reduce sequencing cost, bisulfite-converted ... BiQ Analyzer HT facilitates locus-specific analysis, quality control and visualization of high-throughput bisulfite sequencing data. The tool takes sequencing read data as input, and it produces quality-controlled output tables and diagrams of the inferred DNA methylation information for each sample, locus and DNA methylation site. BiQ Analyzer HT is a Java-based program which can be run on any computer which has a recent version of the Java Virtual Machine installed. The tool is available as a self-installing Java Web Start distribution, and as a downloadable installation package for computers that are not connected to the Internet. BiQ Analyzer HT’s project-based user interface supports the interactive analysis of bisulfite sequencing data for multiple target loci in multiple samples. A typical analysis consists of three phases: (i) data import; (ii) sequence alignment and quality control; and (iii) visualization and export of the inferred DNA methylation information (Figure 1). To prepare high-throughput sequencing data for analysis with BiQ Analyzer HT, the user first applies vendor-specific software to perform base-calling, to resolve any sample multiplexing and to convert the data into one of two standard formats, FASTA or BAM. When importing FASTA files obtained by locus-specific bisulfite sequencing, BiQ Analyzer HT expects one file per sample and locus. We currently provide a custom script that automatizes data preparation for the Roche 454 sequencing platform (http://biq-analyzer-ht.bioinf.mpi-inf.mpg.de), and we will add similar scripts for other platforms based on user demand. Alternatively, genome-scale bisulfite sequencing data can be imported as BAM files, which are most conveniently generated with BSMAP (23). When a new BiQ Analyzer HT project is initialized, an output directory is created into which the software writes its analysis results (Table 1). The user specifies the project structure by adding samples and by loading FASTA files that define the genomic reference sequence of each locus. The resulting tree structure is shown in BiQ Analyzer HT’s main window. Once the data are loaded, this tree can be ordered either by samples or by loci, depending on the biological question of interest. Table 1. Analysis results generated by BiQ Analyzer HT Read alignment and inference of DNA methylation information are controlled by parameters that the user selects on the setup screen. While the default values often provide good results, it is recommended that the user runs a first analysis with default parameters, inspects the results and then adjusts the parameters as necessary. Data set-specific choice of quality control parameters can sometimes compensate for quality issues that may be present in the primary data. For example, a decrease in alignment stringency parameters allows for retaining reads with reduced similarity to the reference, which would be removed by the default filtering criteria. This can be essential to process highly polymorphic sequences such as retrotransposable elements and DNA repeats. Once satisfactory results are obtained, the inferred DNA methylation data can be exported in several formats, including sequence alignments, data tables and DNA methylation plots. Table 1 summarizes all output items. The sequence alignments provide a detailed account of how the DNA methylation levels were inferred. In addition, they can be used to identify allele-specific polymorphisms or evidence of structural variation in the sequence data. The data tables facilitate exploratory data analysis using spreadsheets, in-depth statistics using statistical software such as R/Bioconductor (24) and epigenetic biomarker development using BiQ Analyzer’s companion tool MethMarker (25). Finally, the DNA methylation plots visualize the results of BiQ Analyzer HT analyses for use in papers and scientific reports. The visualization module of BiQ Analyzer HT utilizes the publicly available GSEA library (26) for plotting DNA methylation heatmaps. BAM file handling is implemented using the Picard library (http://picard.sourceforge.net), and parts of the sequence processing code are based on the BioJava framework (27). BiQ Analyzer HT implements a data processing pipeline that is run for each combination of locus and sample in the project tree. The pipeline aligns all sequencing reads from the corresponding input file to the locus-specific genomic reference sequence, and based on these alignments it infers which cytosines are methylated or unmethylated by comparing the read sequence with the reference sequence. The key steps of the data processing pipeline are outlined in more detail below. All analyses are conveniently accessible via the graphical interface. They can also be run from the command line, which facilitates integration with automatic data processing pipelines. Read alignment The analysis of bisulfite sequencing data crucially depends on accurate alignments. This is an inherently difficult task when complex genomic regions with repetitive elements and structural variation are studied and further complicated by the fact that bisulfite-converted DNA has substantially lower information content than genomic DNA. For this reason, speed-optimized seed-based aligners such as BLAT (28), MAQ (29) and BWA (30)—which are commonly used for aligning high-throughput sequencing data—could undermine the accuracy of BiQ Analyzer HT. After exploring several alternatives, we chose to use the Needleman–Wunsch algorithm (31), which is guaranteed to find the optimal (although not necessarily the correct) alignment between each sequencing read and the reference sequence. Furthermore, we made several modifications to the algorithm that account for recurrent issues with bisulfite-converted DNA (Supplementary Text S1). To partially compensate for the fact that the Needleman–Wunsch algorithm is substantially slower than current short-read aligners, we use a highly optimized implementation of this algorithm. This implementation provides excellent performance for read numbers in the order of 104 per locus on a standard laptop computer (Table 2). Furthermore, the read alignment can be outsourced to a remote high-performance computer, which makes it feasible to process in the order of one million reads per locus on a standard laptop computer. Table 2. Performance comparison of software packages for locus-specific analysis of bisulfite sequencing data Quality control and read filtering Based on the pairwise alignment of the sequencing reads with their corresponding genomic reference sequence, the data quality of the bisulfite sequencing experiment is estimated. Basic quality measures include the alignment score and sequence identity with the bisulfite-converted reference sequence, the estimated bisulfite conversion rate (fraction of unconverted cytosines outside of the analyzed methylation context, e.g. ‘CG’) and the number of DNA methylation sites with missing data. The sequencing read data can be filtered for each of these quality measures in order to quickly discard low quality or otherwise unsuitable reads. The threshold values of each quality measure are set to empirically chosen defaults, but users may need to adjust these parameters interactively to account for the characteristics of their specific data sets. Inference of DNA methylation patterns BiQ Analyzer HT's default settings focus on CpG methylation which is the most common modification of eukaryotic DNA. The user can also choose to include other symmetric and asymmetric methylation contexts in the analysis, such as CpHpG and CpHpH. A methylation context is defined by a pair of DNA sequence motifs, one of which matching the methylated and the other matching the unmethylated state. The positions of potential methylation sites are detected by scanning the reference sequence for matches of the methylated motif. Next, the methylation state is determined by comparing the read and reference sequences at each potential methylation site, and the site recorded as methylated, unmethylated or missing value (‘1′, ‘0′ and ‘x’, respectively). The collection of DNA methylation states for all sites in a given sequencing read constitute its methylation pattern, and the number of methylated sites divided by the total number of sites that are not missing values defines the mean methylation of a sequencing read. Data visualization and export The inferred DNA methylation data and quality control information can be exported for documentation and follow-up analysis using statistical tools (Table 1). The resulting tables list the quality measures, DNA methylation patterns and mean methylation levels for each sequencing read that has not been filtered out during quality control. Prior to exporting these tables, they can be sorted by one of the quality measures or by the inferred DNA methylation information. To confirm the practical utility of BiQ Analyzer HT for large data sets and to assess its performance relative to existing low-throughput tools, we benchmarked the tools on data sets with up to one million reads mapping to a single locus (Table 2). These data set were obtained by multiplexed locus-specific bisulfite sequencing on the Roche 454 sequencing platform. Briefly, three classes of repetitive elements (RE1, RE2 and RE3) were amplified from bisulfite-treated mouse DNA, and several thousand reads were sequenced for these repetitive elements. To evaluate BiQ Analyzer HT’s performance for higher read numbers, we further constructed artificial test sets from the actual data set of region RE3 by reusing sequencing reads multiple times. The results of this benchmarking shows that all existing tools have severe limitations in the number of reads that can be processed (Table 2). In contrast, with BiQ Analyzer HT, we could successfully analyze a data set with one million reads mapping to a single locus. BiQ Analyzer HT provides comprehensive support for locus-specific analysis, quality control and visualization of high-throughput bisulfite sequencing data. It addresses the bioinformatic challenges of using high-throughput sequencing as a fast and cost-efficient alternative to clonal bisulfite sequencing, and it is fully compatible with multiplex analysis of several loci and samples. The alignment algorithm was specifically optimized for bisulfite-converted sequences, and it supports the analysis of both CpG and non-CpG methylation patterns. In summary, the combination of locus-specific high-throughput sequencing and interactive data analysis with BiQ Analyzer HT provides a highly practical approach for measuring the DNA methylation patterns of 10–100′s of loci in 100–1000′s of samples, for example, in the context of biomarker validation and clinical diagnostics. http://biq-analyzer-ht.bioinf.mpi-inf.mpg.de (This website/software is free and open to all users and there is no login requirement). Supplementary Data are available at NAR Online. CANCERDIP project (HEALTH-F2-2007-200620); ColoNet project (BMBF 0315417-D). Funding for open access charge: Max Planck Institute for Informatics and Saarland University. Conflict of interest statement. None declared. We would like to thank Dr Sascha Tierling and Dirk Schuemacher for helpful discussions and the provision of test data, Yassen Assenov for advice with Java programming and Fabian Müller for advice on the BAM format. 1. Suzuki MM, Bird A. 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[PMC free article] [PubMed] 12. Bock C. Epigenetic biomarker development. Epigenomics. 2009;1:99–110. [PubMed] 13. Korshunova Y, Maloney RK, Lakey N, Citek RW, Bacher B, Budiman A, Ordway JM, McCombie WR, Leon J, Jeddeloh JA, et al. Massively parallel bisulphite pyrosequencing reveals the molecular complexity of breast cancer-associated cytosine-methylation patterns obtained from tissue and serum DNA. Genome Res. 2008;18:19–29. [PMC free article] [PubMed] 14. Taylor KH, Kramer RS, Davis JW, Guo J, Duff DJ, Xu D, Caldwell CW, Shi H. Ultradeep bisulfite sequencing analysis of DNA methylation patterns in multiple gene promoters by 454 sequencing. Cancer Res. 2007;67:8511–8518. [PubMed] 15. Varley KE, Mitra RD. Bisulfite Patch PCR enables multiplexed sequencing of promoter methylation across cancer samples. Genome Res. 2010;20:1279–1287. [PMC free article] [PubMed] 17. Kumaki Y, Oda M, Okano M. QUMA: quantification tool for methylation analysis. Nucleic Acids Res. 2008;36:W170–W175. [PMC free article] [PubMed] 18. Rohde C, Zhang Y, Reinhardt R, Jeltsch A. BISMA–fast and accurate bisulfite sequencing data analysis of individual clones from unique and repetitive sequences. BMC Bioinformatics. 2010;11:230. [PMC free article] [PubMed] 19. Carr IM, Valleley EM, Cordery SF, Markham AF, Bonthron DT. Sequence analysis and editing for bisulphite genomic sequencing projects. Nucleic Acids Res. 2007;35:e79. [PMC free article] [PubMed] 20. Grunau C, Schattevoy R, Mache N, Rosenthal A. MethTools–a toolbox to visualize and analyze DNA methylation data. Nucleic Acids Res. 2000;28:1053–1058. [PMC free article] [PubMed] 22. Xu YH, Manoharan HT, Pitot HC. CpG PatternFinder: a Windows-based utility program for easy and rapid identification of the CpG methylation status of DNA. Biotechniques. 2007;43:334. 336–340, 342. [PubMed] 23. Xi Y, Li W. BSMAP: whole genome bisulfite sequence MAPping program. BMC Bioinformatics. 2009;10:232. [PMC free article] [PubMed] 25. Schüffler P, Mikeska T, Waha A, Lengauer T, Bock C. MethMarker: user-friendly design and optimization of gene-specific DNA methylation assays. Genome Biol. 2009;10:R105. [PMC free article] [PubMed] 27. Holland RC, Down TA, Pocock M, Prlić A, Huen D, James K, Foisy S, Dräger A, Yates A, Heuer M, et al. BioJava: an open-source framework for bioinformatics. Bioinformatics. 2008;24:2096–2097. [PMC free article] [PubMed] PubReader format: click here to try Save items Related citations in PubMed See reviews...See all... Cited by other articles in PMC See all... • Compound • MedGen Related information in MedGen • PubMed PubMed citations for these articles • Substance Recent Activity Your browsing activity is empty. Activity recording is turned off. Turn recording back on See more...
Noctuidae - Acontiinae Ponometia new species 1 Diagnosis: Ponometia new species 1 is weakly sexually dimorphic. The male is easily identified. The basal half of the forewing to the postmedial line is pure white with a most a highly diffused scattering of light scales at the base and a small brown dot on the costa in the location of the antemedial line. The postmedial line is strong accentedly with black on its inner side and with a triangular projection reaching the inner side of the reniform. The reniform is ovate and distinct, filled with light gray. A subterminal line is present as a vague yellow-green line stretching from the apex to the inner margin. The terminal line is a regular line of dark brown dashes. The fringe is white, but with brown patches; one about one-fourth the distance from the forewing apex and the other near the inner angle. The dark patches in the fringe give the male a slightly falcate appearance even though the outer margin is evenly curved. The female is similar to the male, but not as distinctly marked. In particular the postmedial line is not as distinctly edged with black and the subterminal line is white, not yellow-green. Wing expanse from base to apex in one selected individual 11 mm. Distribution: (Based only on material in the USNM). This undescribed species is known only from southern California. Identification Quality: Good Larva: Unknown Foodplants: Unknown Distribution map based on specimens in the USNM Ponometia new species 1 Ponometia new species 1 is most likely to be confused with Ponometia actus. The male of the new species 1 is easily separated because of its much more distinct markings. The general appearance of new species 1 is broader relative to the elongate, pointed appearance of acutus. The female of new species 1 is less distinctly marked than the male, but the maculation is still more marked than that of acutus. The hindwing of the female is pure white except along the outer margin. The male aedoeagus has two major spines in new species 1. Only one major spine is present in acutus. Ponometia altera is easily identified by the double, black postmedial line filled with dull yellow-green. Similar Species Ponometia acutus Ponometia altera
Print this page NETWORK’s Voting Record - How Members of Congress Voted on Key Social Justice Issues Each year, NETWORK publishes a chart of key votes on social justice issues that indicates how all of the senators and representatives voted. This is an excellent tool for evaluating how well your elected official serve the common good. Congressional offices are delighted when they receive high rankings from us. Here are some ways you can use the voting record: 1. Contact your Members of Congress to discuss their overall records and specific key votes. And ask your friends and neighbors to do the same. Legislators need to know that constituents are paying attention to how they vote. 2. Share the voting records of your legislators with people in your area. 3. Write a letter-to-the-editor or op-ed about your legislators’ votes. You can see NETWORK’s most recent voting record here [Photo: Sister Marge Clark, NETWORK Lobbyist, delivers current voting record to Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), who received a 100% rating from us.]
Hi. I’m an artist, art director, graphic designer, illustrator and lots of other things. I live in San Francisco, California. Everyone likes to read stories, so I figured that I'd tell you mine. It all began when I was about 6-7 years old. I remember spending countless hours looking at a particular section in a phone book which contained international calling codes. As tempting as it may sound, the reason why I kept staring at this phone book wasn't necessarily for overseas prank-calling (that's a whole different story that will not be covered in this section). No, it just happened to be filled with all of the country flags in the world. I was captivated by each and every single flag as I studied its shapes, patterns, and color combinations. This was the first time I realized that I really liked art. Art has always been my obsession. Whenever a pencil or pen finds my hand, its inherent mission is to indulge my eyes with shapes they can agree with. Yet drawing isn't just a quest for perfect forms; it also helps me think by allowing me to pour my thoughts in a tangible manner. It almost feels like having the best therapist in the world as it listens without prejudice to anything you want to express, without worrying about any lines you can't cross, any rules you can't break, and any thoughts you can't think of. As long as there is something for you to put your fingerprint on, anything is fair game. Digital art did not come to the picture until I was about 9 years old when I received my first computer, a Macintosh LC, that I inherited from one of my parent's friends. After I became bored of the games it came with, I drifted away to some folders lying within folders and eventually found myself drawing with Aldus Superpaint; this was the first desktop publishing application I had ever used and I immediate fell in love with it. I no longer needed to buy expensive brushes, paints, or sheets of paper to begin creating. It felt like freedom. My canvas became the screen, my paints became pixels, and my brush became a mouse. It didn't take much for me to start creating my own desktop icons, movie posters, and illustrations. I was amazed and felt empowered to be able to create intricate forms with very few restrictions. Luckily, my devotion to the art and craft of graphic design led me to become obsessed with it and consequently paved the way for my career. When it comes to creation, there is one piece of unsolicited advice that I would like to give you: boredom is good. If you're a creative person, being bored is probably the best tool you have at your disposal; it makes you want to make, invent, and improve things. However, one must be careful: the dangers of boredom can lead to sloth, which is why it is important that you put enough effort into everything you make. In addition, the more work you create, the more you'll realize how much power you have as a communicator. I've realized over the past few years of the immense opportunity and responsibility I have to communicate meaningful messages that can create awareness to issues that need attention and, hopefully, inspire positive action. Now, let's get down to brass tacks. My approach is simple: I try to make things that will grab people's attention. Most pieces I create are a personal take on a particular subject, which is why my work tends to sway between art and design. For the most part, this approach is often seen in my poster work as well as in music-related projects due to their tendencies of allowing such freedom of expression. In spite of this, I find that my most successful projects are the ones that have been created through such idiosyncrasy. This approach not only gives me an avenue for personal expression, but it also allows the work to create a dialogue between itself and an audience, thereby being effective in generating awareness to the subject at hand. This is also the primary reason why I consider myself more of an artist rather than a designer. As a designer, I am constantly at the helm of criticism and judgement during the creative process. These opinions, as correct or incorrect as they may be, are the subject of my interest in understanding how others perceive my work. And as an artist, curiosity for such discourses leads my artwork to convey an open interpretation without compromising my own point of view. For gallery and exhibition inquiries on my poster work, CV/résumé requests, or any other comment/question/funny jokes you may have, please contact me here. (También puedo hablar en Español) Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to read this long ass page... I hope I didn't bore the shit out of you, but if I did, you should go make something. Have a nice day.
Structure of English Provides the grammatical knowledge necessary for a descriptive analysis of the structure of contemporary English, from the level of word class through phrase structure analysis to the description of complex sentence patterns. On completion of the course students should be able to provide a grammatical analysis of English sentential structure. • Semester 2 - 2015 • Semester 1 - 2015 Learning Outcomes 1. Understand grammatical terminology and levels of grammatical analysis 2. Analyse sentences in terms of word classes, phrase structure, grammatical relations 3. Apply grammatical knowledge to the analysis of English sentential structure. A descriptive analysis of the structure of contemporary English. Topics covered will be selected from the following: formal criteria for word class identification analysis of simple clause structures grammatical relations finite and non-finite subordinate clauses coordination and apposition interrogative structures topicalisation structures such as existential, extraposition, cleft and pseudo-cleft Assumed Knowledge LING1110, LING1100, LING1111 or equivalent knowledge of elementary grammatical terminology. Assessment Items Written Assignment: Written Assignment 1 Formal Examination: Final Exam Written Assignment: Written Assignment 2 Written Assignment: Written Assignment 3 Contact Hours Ourimbah and Callaghan
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A federal judge is issuing no immediate ruling after holding on hearing on whether Utah can prohibit plural marriage. Kody Brown and his four wives, stars of the reality show "Sister Wives," claim the law is unconstitutional. The Browns did not attend the hearing Thursday in Salt Lake City. The judge spent most of the time grilling a state lawyer on why he shouldn't throw out Utah's bigamy law. It's stricter than the laws in 49 other states - most of them prohibit people from having multiple marriage licenses. Read or Share this story:
Police are looking for a man who they said robbed a woman at an Arlington convenience store by snatching money from her back pocket. Police were called to the Snappy Food Store in the 2700 block of Trollie Lane on Friday. They said 29-year-old Kimberly Kelly was in the store when the robber took money visible from her back pocket and fled the area. This is the same convenience store where Moussa Maida was murdered in a robbery in 2008. The killer, Michael Yacob, was tried, convicted and sentenced to death last year.
He’d become a house guest, noncommittal and impassive. She tried to see to it he wasn’t disturbed, nothing to trip him up: a book, perhaps, laid down in some rash motion might scare him off an edge, although he had a talent, it seemed, for focussing on himself. He’d been so carefully attended, she thought—her warning human guests to watch for him on the coverlet, not overreact to his homely presence. She kept close guard, as was her nature, a kind of partner to help him make it through the cold. She’d done the research when he showed up; she knew all his business, she had a duty. With these advantages, how had he taken it upon himself to die? But there he was in that trite pose, feet in the air, as if arranged on the sink top for her to find him. She brushed her teeth, considering all the pine trees surrounding the house, their heavy scent calling the half-sleeping one at the rightful time. Hardly another month and he would have been free, piercing and sucking that sap deep in the cones. Subscribe to The New Yorker
Date: Sun, 06 Jun 2004 21:31:41 -0700 From: Xavier Subject: Stepson Joys #1 This story is fictional, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. My teenage stepson David has always been attractive. Blonde hair and the bluest eyes. I've heard his father was well endowed. "It was like a banana!" says my wife. I've always wondered if this kid blessed with such great looks also possessed another attribute that would be of great interest to me. He's very modest, and so I've never had the chance to really see it. The closest I've got is sniffing his dirty underwear, and finding the occasional pube to further stoke my curiosity. One day we went on vacation to Florida and went swimming. When he came out of the ocean, I was secretly admiring his awesome looks when I noticed that his wet trunks were perfectly gripping the nicest basket. I've often wanked to fantasies about him. Little did I know an opportunity would present itself to fulfill those fantasies. One day we were camping. It was a really warm night, so we were sleeping on top of our sleeping bags in our boxers. He's always been a sound sleeper and was gently snoring. I was enjoying admiring his tight ass through his boxers, the curves of his youthful body when he rolled over onto his back. He was sporting wood. My eyes were drawn to his creamy, fuzzy, runner's thighs, and his nice little 6-pack. I kept coming back to his rocket. Man it was big. I felt this overwhelming urge to reach out and touch it. Dare I? My heart was pounding in my throat. My dick immediately came to life. I started to sweat a little I was no nervous. I stretched my hand out and gently trace the outline of his cock's head. It reacted to my touch and his breathing changed. I quickly pulled my hand back and feigned sleep, listening intently to his breathing. Phew! He didn't wake up. I had decided I had crossed the line too far. Better to relieve myself and just go to sleep. But I couldn't. The feel of his head responding to my touch, the scent of young man assaulted my nostrils. I reached out again, hand slightly shaking from fear. I knew I wouldn't be satisfied just touching the cotton of his boxers this time. If I was gonna risk, I was gonna risk good. Besides, I wear boxers. I know that the general sometimes pops out of the tent to check on the troops. So I gently maneuvered the slit in his boxers so that his head would pop out. I exposed the loveliest piece of meat I've ever seen. It was perfect. Plenty of pubes poking through, just the right mix of veins on the shaft, and a perfect shape to the head. I pushed the boxer slit down a bit to play with the pubes. They were slightly damp from the heat. I brought my fingers up to my nose and inhaled the sweet scent of his boyhood. God my dick was harder than it's ever been. I took my fingertip and gently stroked up the shaft and around the piss slit. I heard him moan softly in his sleep, but there was no sign he was waking up. Thank God he was such a sound sleeper. I decided I had to feel his nut sack. I slid my finger up his boxers leg and along his thigh until I could feel one of his balls. They were the perfect size. God this kid had lucked out. I gently stroked that fuzzy scrotum, getting lost in the thrill, the adrenaline rush from the high risk. I stopped to make sure he was still asleep. He knew I was gay. I had come out to his mom last year. We were no longer married but still lived in the same house. That made it extra risky. If he caught me, there would be no way to get out of it. I had always wondered if he might be bi, but I decided that was probably just wishful thinking. But the silky smoothness of his shaft kept calling me away from my logical thoughts. I became completely obsessed and lost myself in stroking his dick. His slit leaked out some precum. I tasted some of it. Sweet nectar. If only I could . . . His legs moved. I immediately stopped. He was opening his legs up for me more, but he still seemed asleep. I paused for what seemed like an eternity, the sound of my heart pounding in my ears. Do I stop? That would be the wisest choice of course. But there's no way my lust would allow it. I encircled his shaft with my fingers, the tips almost touching the base and the head touching my palm. I gently went up and down with the slightest touch. His dick twitching beneath me spurring me onward. I had become so focused, I didn't hear his breathing completely change for a while. Panicked, I pulled away and tried to pretend I was asleep just in case he hadn't completely woken up. "Frank?" I softly fake snore. "Please let him buy it. PLEASE." I vowed to myself I would not touch him again. What was I thinking?! "Frank!" he softly hissed. Damn. He KNEW I was awake. Still I would try to play my game. I yawn loudly and try to sound confused: "Wha?" "Why did you stop?" Did my ears REALLY hear that? Have to play stupid. "Stop what? Snoring?" "You KNOW what I mean." "David, did you have a dream?" "I didn't have a dream and you know it." I felt his hand feeling for mine in the darkness. "Dave, I'm so sorry. It won't happen again. I promise, I . . . " His hand grabs mine and pulls it back to his crotch. "Like I said, why did you stop?" He takes my hand and rubs it up and down his dick. "Like you always tell me, finish what you start." "Are you serious?" His response came in the form of pulling his boxers down past his knees and then kicking them off. "Finish what you started." I took over gently stroking his marvelous dick. I couldn't believe this was happening. I would stroke him for a while and then trace lines along his thighs, his belly, play with his nipples and was thrilled to hear the sharp intake of breath that would accompany some of my movements. "Frank, I want it wet." I lick my palm and then put my palm on his head and rotate it. "That's not what I meant. I want it WET." My heart jumped out if my chest. Did he really mean what I thought? That would be the best thing on earth. I would love to take those thick 8 inches all the way down my throat and feel his seed fill my mouth. But no way could he mean that. "What do you mean?" "For someone so smart, I sure have to explain a lot." "I'm just kind of confused Dave." Just then I felt a strong hand at the back of my head pushing my mouth to his crotch. "Open wide." I did not have to be told twice. I immediately took the ample head into my mouth and felt his body respond. "Yes" he says as his hand continues to guide my head. After bobbing up and down for a bit, my throat relaxes enough, and I plunge his cock all the way, taking it to the hilt. I can smell his scent and his pubes tickle my nose. His pelvis pushes up in response to my deep throat and he breathes harder and faster. I pull off of his shaft and take his balls into my mouth. He is writhing in ecstasy. He pulls my head back to his dick, and I take it to the hilt again, going up and down like a starving man having his first meals in days. His hands are pushing my head down in keeping with my rhythm, and his hips are thrusting up and down as he greedily fucks my mouth. I hear him moan more, and his leg muscles tighten. I play with his balls as he fucks my mouth, and I am quickly rewarded with a mouth full of his sweet cum. He seems to shoot forever, and I swallow every drop and continue sucking him as his body moves every which way beneath me. "Frank, that was better than I ever imagined." "Ditto Dave. Thank you." "Thank YOU!!" We lie together for some time, my head resting on his thigh as my eyes pay close attention to his slowly shrinking cock. I begin playing with his pubes again and stroke his sack with a feather's touch. "Frank, can we do that again?" I have died and gone to heaven. "Any time you want bud, as long as we keep it between us." "Duh." We share a laugh. "Frank, have you ever. . . " "What?" "Have you ever taken it up the butt?" "Yes. Many times." "Do you like it?" "Yes, very much. You wouldn't think so, but there are a ton of nerves down there." "Can I do it to you?" Did I hear correctly?!! I'm so glad I thought ahead and brought some Vaseline to prevent chapped lips (from the wind guys). "If that's what you'd like." I notice his dick is no longer flaccid. Blood is filling it up again. I reach out and outline the sensitive skin on the head. I then pull him onto his side facing me and then take his growing dick into my mouth and lovingly caress it with my tongue, bringing back that raging wood I had fallen in love with earlier. With one hand on his butt, I push him into my mouth more. He begins to move it in and out, gently rocking back and forth. I get out the Vaseline and lube up my hole and then smear a healthy portion on his dick. "Climb on board Dave" I say as I assume the doggie position. He comes up behind me, and I love the sensation of the hairs on his legs rubbing against mine. I reach back and guide his dick to my hole. "You got a big piece of meat, and it's been a while for me, so try to take it a bit slow at first. I'll tell you when you can go for broke." His head pushes past my sphincter, and I feel like every nerve in my body is being stimulated and a moan escapes my lips. He stops. "You OK Frank?" "Oh hell yes. I'm better than OK. I'll tell you if you need to stop." He continues slowly pushing forward, sometimes moving just a bit out and then moving forward again. I feel his thick head rub past my prostate. I reach back, put a hand on his cheek and pull him into me. "Go for it Dave. God that feels so good." He thrusts forward, and I feel his large balls bump against my own. He then begins fucking me, slowly at first, going in and out, in a nice, steady rhythm. When he pulls out a bit and then starts to go back in, I thrust my ass backward into him. He intensifies his pace, ramming my ass and pounding away. The slapping noise of our bodies hitting together combined with his balls bouncing against my sack, his heavy breathing and his dick filling my hole is so intense. I'm really getting into it now, enjoying every feeling in my body "Fuck me Dave, fuck me!" He's always been a kid who likes to please people, so immediately he complies, shifting his body for better pumping. I then feel his hand wrap around my dick, and he pumps my dick as he rams my ass. I feel his body beginning to quiver and I shoot my load just as I feel his weight upon me. I can feel his warm wetness inside me and the pulsing of his cock as he empties his load inside me. His head is on my back, and he's breathing hard. He softly kisses my neck. "I love you Frank." I slowly lay down with him still on top of me and his manhood still inside me. "I love you too. Any time you want me, I'm yours." "How about a good night blow then?" "Again?!" "Well . . ." he says sheepishly. I can visualize his grin as he says this. "Pull it out and clean it off." Again, he is quick to comply. I begin sucking him off again. He's fucking my mouth like crazy. I roll over onto my back pulling him on top of my face and he fucks my face like a pro, his fuzzy nuts bouncing on my chin. Then suddenly he pulls off. I open my eyes to see what's going on and feel him changing position. I think "Oh my God" and then feel my cock go into his mouth. I grab his ass and pull his cock into my mouth as we suck each other. This is so incredible I cum quickly. He gags a bit but keeps swallowing. He pulls his dick out of my mouth and plants his lips on mine. I feel his tongue push into my mouth, and we share an intense kiss. He then moves his dick back to its original place and continues face fucking me. I finger the tip of his hole and he starts moaning like crazy. Shortly his whole weight is pushing into me as he buries his shaft down my throat and unloads yet again. I continue playing with his balls and his ass while he catches his breath. He sits on my chest and reaches back and starts playing with my cock. I extend my neck so I can lick the tip of his cock. He gets me hard again and then shocks the hell out of me again as he grabs the Vaseline. "Ready for another fuck Dave?" "Yes, but not the way you're thinking." I feel the sticky gob going up and down my cock, and I finally understand what he means. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He responds by sliding backward until my cock is lined up with his hole. He inserts my head a little into his ass. "Dave, go slowly and take your time." He smiles me at me with that angelic face, and I am driven heavenward as I feel the head of my dick enter his virgin ass. I cup his ass cheeks with my hands and stroke them as he slowly feeds more and more of my cock into his straining ass. I see a look on his face that is mixed with a little pain and a lot of joy. As he gets at least half of my shaft in, I shut my eyes and am lost. He is slowly riding me, pushing me into him bit by bit. I resist the urge to bury my whole dick in him. I begin playing with his cock and he sits all the way down. I moan so loudly I'm sure they can hear it for miles. He is slowly riding up and down my cock, and I respond with my own thrusts. "Get on your stomach" I order him. He doesn't question and lays down with his ass in the air almost begging me to penetrate him. I take a moment to enjoy the sight of his open ass, his balls hanging down and think of how many times I've fantasized about this. I insert my cock once again and slowly go to the hilt, pull it almost all the way out, and push it back in. I repeat this several times to loosen him up more and then begin to really pump. I kiss his back and his neck, and he turns his head to kiss me on the lips. I reach around and begin jacking him off slowly as I fuck him. The wetness of his mouth is too much for me. I pull out and ease him onto his back and suck his tongue into my mouth. I spread his legs apart and lift them up and put his feet over my shoulders. I begin fucking him in earnest again, pounding him as his feet bounce up and down on my shoulders. I stretch out on top of him and kiss him passionately as I continue pounding his tight little ass. I kiss his neck, sucking on it slightly. My pounding increases until I almost collapse as I hit orgasm. I lick his nipples while I finish ejaculating into his ass. I reach back and jack him off as I continue kissing him all over until he shoots all over both of our stomachs. I pull out and lick up the salty-sweet treat he has just given me and then collapse onto my side. We move into spooning position and begin to fall asleep. As I squeeze him into a hug, he whispers "I love you." As he snuggles more closely to me, I whisper back "I love you." In the morning I am awoken by the sound of birds outside and something hard pushing between my ass cheeks. I know this is gonna be one helluva day as well. ============================================ I hope you enjoyed this story. I plan on doing more of them. Let me know what you think:
Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2003 20:26:43 +0000 (GMT) From: Real Org Subject: The Wedding - Part 1 Standard Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and is intended for Adults Only, so if you're not, go away! Please feel free to distribute this story freely as long as its content is not changed, including this header. There is nothing better than recieving feedback from readers, so if this stoy gets you going please drop me a line and let me know. See email address at the bottom. Enjoy! My name is Tamzin, I'm a 32 year old, highly successful career woman. Looking back it's a little sad really, because I have done very little with my life except pursue my career. Now I am at the peak of my profession, rich enough not to have to worry about money for the rest of my life, but also very lonely. I have never had a long term romantic relationship with any one. Of course I experimented at University, several semi drunken evenings I found myself in bed with both sexes. Since then however, my only sexual relationship has been with my own hands. That's not for want of offers of course, I am well aware that I am an attractive woman, 5' 9", slim, long straight blond hair, green eyes, well proportioned pert breasts and ass. I make an effort with my appearance so that I look good in my business suit, and it has served me well in furthering my career. I had received the invitation to my cousin Jane's wedding a few months ago. At first I was just going to make some excuse about not being able to get the time off, but then I decide if I was going to get myself out of this lonely rut I had dug in my life, I needed to get out and socialise and this seemed like an ideal starting point. My alarm went off at 6:00am as usual on Friday morning, but I wasn't in any rush, it was Jane's wedding tomorrow and I had to drive up to her house in the Yorkshire Dales as I would be saying there for the weekend. As I lay there luxuriating under my silk duvet, I took the opportunity to relieve the tingle of sexual tension dancing around my loins. I didn't want the distraction of being horny this weekend, and regular masturbation was the only cure at my disposal at the moment. With my eyes closed, my left hand alternately massaging both breasts, and my right handing rubbing circles over my clit, it wasn't long before my fingers were sticky with juices. 25 minutes later I moaned as waves of orgasmic spasms washed over me. I was a little surprised and frustrated at how quickly I had cum and considered going for a second but decided it one would have to suffice. I lay there for another 15 minutes enjoying the afterglow and then got up, showered, dressed, and packed, ready for my trip. After a quick lunch I climbed into my Range Rover having decided it would be better suited to driving in the Yorkshire Dales than the Aston Martin. Leaving my Kent mansion I worked my way to the motorway and settled in for the 5 hour drive to Yorkshire. I arrived as planned at 6pm after negotiating the half mile dirt track that provides the only access to my cousin's farm house. I was glad I had chosen the Range Rover. I was surprised to see so many cars parked outside the house and hopped they weren't all staying the night, the farm house wasn't small but it would still be a squeeze. I was greeted by a smiling young girl, I would guess around 15-16 years old, she wasn't slim but looked muscular rather than fat and had a very pretty face with long black hair and deep blue eyes. "Aunt Tamzin, is that you! Wow nice car!" she said excitedly. "Yes, I'm Tamzin, but I don't think I can be your Aunt" I don't have any brothers or sisters. "Oh please" she said while hugging me tightly "I don't have any real Aunt's and your so beautiful and sophisticated , it would be so cool if you were my Aunt. I'm Angela, Jane's my mum, so we are family". "What ever you like" I said, feeling slightly self conscious about the feeling of her firm young breasts pressing against my stomach. I wasn't used to that much physical contact. "Oh cool!" she said while hugging me even tighter. Just then another woman appeared in the door way, it took me a few seconds but then I recognised her, it was my cousin Jane. "Tamzin is that you, I'm so glad you could make it, I wasn't sure you would be able to find the time what with your busy schedule and everything. Come in and meet everyone. Angela get Tamzin's bags out of her car would you." There seemed a hit of resentment in her voice, I suddenly had the feeling that I perhaps I wasn't really welcome. A shiver of apprehension ran down my spine as I walked through the front door of the farm house. Jane led me into the main reception room and introduced me to everyone. Inside it smelled of dust and old furniture with a hint of manure, not very pleasant! I was greeted by smiles, but behind the smiles I could clearly see the resentment that unfortunately still goes with having money in the British society. I began to wonder if this trip was such a good idea after all. After an awkward evening of trying to make conversation it was time to turn in. I found Jane and asked her which room I would be sleeping in. "Oh, I'm sorry Tamzin I forgot to tell you, a few more people turn up than expected so I have had to put you and Angela in the caravan out back. It's a new caravan, quite comfortable, and even has its own toilet and shower, I hope that's alright." "That's fine" I said. Actually it was great, Angela was the only person that actually seemed genuinely pleased I was here. I hadn't been looking forward to spending the night in the house, sharing a room with people that obviously didn't like me. "Wait here I'll go find Angela" Jane returned a few minutes later with Angela in tow. "Angela, take Tamzin out to the caravan will you, we're all turning in now." Angela grabbed my hand and all but ran out the back door with me stumbling along behind. She dragged me across a field to a new looking caravan about 100m from the back of the house. Inside the caravan was well lit with a small kitchen area, bathroom and a large double bed at the far end which was already made up with a duvet and pillows. "There's only the one bed so we have to share, you can use the bathroom first if you like." Angela said. I was in no mood to argue, I just wanted to get some sleep. I grabbed my wash bag and night shirt, then went into the bathroom. Once inside I washed my face, cleaned my teeth, relived myself, striped out of my clothes and put on my night shirt. As I exited the bathroom Angela wolf whistled. I wasn't sure what to make of that but my brain was now in sleep mode so I just climbed under the duvet and fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. I only vaguely noticed that Angela was now completely naked as she made her way into the bathroom. I awoke early in the morning, it wasn't light yet but the sky was beginning to turn from black to a dark shade of blue. I was lying on my right side looking out the caravan window through a gap in the curtains, I felt very relaxed, warm, and horney! My left hand drifted down between my legs and began to massage my mound I began to breath harder as the pressure mounted in my pussy. A bolt of electricity shot through my chest as something squeezed my left breast and tweaked the nipple through my nightshirt. It was then that I realised that Angela was lying up against me with her left arm draped over my side and now massaging my breast. I was horrified, my God what was I doing!! I immediately drew my hand away from my crutch and lay still trying to control my breathing, in the vain hope that Angela might still be sleeping and didn't know what I had been doing. I lay there for what seemed like several minutes not making a noise, while the feeling of her gentle breath on the back of my neck was gradually driving me mad. Then I sensed her moving to bring her mouth up close to my ear. "Don't stop. It's only natural, nothing to be ashamed of" she whispered in my ear "here let me help you". I was lost, I didn't know what to do, and to make matters worse I was more turned on than I had ever been in my life! Angela hooked her right arm under my neck, brought her hand back up to my left breast and resumed her fondling. At the same time she gently ran the fingers of her left hand along my left arm that was now resting hesitantly along my left side. When she reached my thigh her hand found its way to the hem of my nightshirt before dipping under and making its way back up the inside of my left leg towards what was now the centre of my world. She moved agonisingly slow but eventually reached my pussy, cupping it with her hand, frustratingly she paused once again before finally simultaneously squeezing pussy and pushing her index finger inside of me. Not realising I had been holding my breath ll this time I let out a long drawn out moan."aahhhhhhhhhhhhh". I was close to the best orgasm of my life and them some! Yet what seem to be making it all the more intense was that I had been brought to this state, in the space of just a few minutes, by girl of less than half my age who had no right to be this experienced at pleasuring a women. I new it was wrong but at this time my sense of right or wrong was no match for the carnal desire I was experiencing. By now she had some how managed to free my left breast and was now sucking on the nipple while gently nipping it with her teeth. At the same time the palm of her hand pressed firmly against my mound while gently rubbing in a circle. Her index finger was still inside me, tickling the roof of my vagina, I felt my legs begin to go rigid as I reached the edge. Then she removed her finger, and for one horrifying second I thought she was going to stop, but then she reached down further with her thickly coated index finger and just tickled the rose bud of my virgin anus... "ah ah ah ahhhhhhhhhhh gooooood". The effect was simply sensational and my orgasm hit like an enormous unstoppable wave that washed relentlessly through me for what seemed like forever. Unseen by me, an evil smile spread across Angela's mouth, I was hers now! When I finally began to come down from my orgasmic stupor it was abut half an hour later and I found my self in the shower with Angela while she gently cleansed us both of various bodily fluids. We stepped out of the shower and she dried us both off, thankfully avoiding any unnecessary contact with my now hyper sensitised nipples and pussy. Moving out of the bathroom Angela picked out some clothes for me and helped me get dressed. It was all done so casually I didn't even notice that she omitted to include any underwear. To be continued... All feedback greatfully recieved: E-mail:
Mr. Okra has carrots Follow on Twitter on June 25, 2009 at 2:14 PM, updated June 26, 2009 at 3:11 PM Two mimes had sweat beading on the silver dust that covered their faces and arms on Thursday. They stood in the shade, hard against the fence around Jackson Square. Their white buckets had no tips. Hardly anyone was walking by. They looked listless, defeated. They didn't speak a word. A yellow school bus full of little children drove up Decatur Street and the children were singing loud with the windows down. The kids, they don't know from heat. They don't know from troubles. There were only two tarot readers in the Square. If you paid them, they could tell you: "It's hot." A little white wooden box inside the Square, under a tree, says "temperature station" on it and the thermometer inside it said 96. In the shade. There was a lone skateboarder in front of the Cathedral, making that clack-clack-clack that skateboarders make. Mr. Okra cruised slowly down Dumaine Street keeping his steady sing-song monologue blaring out of the squawk box on top of his Technicolor pickup truck. "I have carrots! I have watermelons! I have bananas!" A guy named Pete was sweeping the street in his black uniform. He was smiling. He said: "You gotta stand cool. You gotta make a living. You gotta do what you gotta do." Mr. Okra drove down Chartres with his carrots, watermelons and bananas. It was 96 in the shade. Little children sang on the school bus home. A voice broke in on the radio. And it looked like rain the day that Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett died.
4.4 Specifying the Location of the WAR If the Identity Manager User Application WAR file is in a different directory from the installer, the installer prompts for the path to the WAR. 1. If the WAR is in the default location, click Restore Default Folder. Or, to specify the location of the WAR file, click Choose and select a location. 2. Click Next, then continue with Section 4.5, Choosing an Install Folder.
NUFORC Home Page National UFO Reporting Center Sighting Report Occurred : 3/20/2012 20:25 (Entered as : 03/20/12 20:25) Reported: 3/20/2012 7:12:40 PM 19:12 Posted: 5/13/2012 Location: Woodbury, MN Shape: Fireball Duration:5 minutes total 4 separate fiery looking balls traveling at a high rate of speed from the NW sky toward the SE sky. I observed a total of 4 high speed traveling fireballs beginning in the northwestern sky, traveling very quickly across the sky toward the southeast. As each ball crossed above it almost appeared as if the fire was like a rocket burner moving in a circular direction. As each object traveled away it became less and less intense. I imagine this was due to the distance traveled. As the first object was reaching the more southern half of the sky, the next one appeared. I thought I may have seen what appeared to be lightening but I can't be certain and there are no current storms in the area.
The museum facade Robert S. Feranec :: The Cohoes Mastodon (Mammut americanum): The Cohoes Mastodon was discovered in 1866 during construction of Harmony Mill No. 3 near Cohoes Falls on the Mohawk River in the city of Cohoes, New York. The mastodon’s remains were found deeply buried in two potholes, which had been worn into the bedrock by the swirling action of water and stones at the end of the last Ice Age. How and why this young male mastodon died is unknown. We do know from skeletal evidence that it had been in poor health and may have died a natural death, although some research on the skeleton also hints that it may have been killed by ancient American Indian hunters. In life, the Cohoes Mastodon stood about eight and one-half feet high at the shoulder, was about fifteen feet long, and weighed between eight and ten thousand pounds. Is this a Mastodon or a Mammoth? Although mastodons resembled mammoths (also extinct) and elephants, they were not closely related mammal species. The ancestors of the mastodons diverged from the evolutionary tree, about 15 million years ago, long before those of the mammoths and elephants did. A major difference between mastodons and mammoths was the shape of their teeth. Mastodon teeth had pointed cusps used to cut and crush the coarse, often woody plants on which they fed. In fact, the name mastodon is derived from Greek words describing the shape of their teeth, “mastos”, meaning breast, and “odous”, meaning tooth. In contrast, mammoths and elephants, had molar teeth that were flattened on top, suitable for grazing on grasses. The different diets and habitats of mastodons and mammoths suggest that they behaved differently. What Happened to the Mastodons?: The End-Pleistocene Mass Extinction Why did mastodons, mammoths and many other large mammals become extinct about 10,000 years ago, while other animals did not? The question has puzzled researchers for over one hundred years. One explanation is that climatic change caused their habitat to shrink in size. Along with their low birthrates, this environmental stress made these mammals especially vulnerable to predation and disease. Perhaps, like mammoths, mastodons were also hunted by early American Indians. The most probable explanation is a combination of human hunting and climatic change caused the mastodons and other large mammals to go extinct. << back << Cohoes Mastodon Office of Cultural Education \| New York State Education Department Join us on Facebook See us on YouTube See us on Flickr
Nicholas Kristof says, "Chinese has about two dozen expressions for 'wife,' " but "most of the terms are unflattering" (On Language: "Chinese Relations," Aug. 18). In a recent visit to China, I heard men referring to their wives as wode furen (my esteemed consort). The word furen is normally reserved for addressing ladies of distinction, such as Chiang furen (Madame Chiang Kai-shek). It is a far cry from the egalitarian airen (spouse, literally meaning "lover") in use since the Communist government abolished the feudal-sounding xiansheng (husband) and taitai (wife) some 40 years ago. I take this exaggerated formality as a yearning among urban, educated Chinese for old-time civility and decorum. NAILENE CHOU WIEST Ossining, N.Y.
Writing Code Has Become Self-Expression Jeannette M. Wing Jeannette M. Wing is the President's professor of computer science and the head of the computer science department at Carnegie Mellon University. Updated June 16, 2011, 12:12 PM Today's students have grown-up tech savvy. They live in a world of exploring the Web and of personalizing their devices. Cyberspace is the anytime, anywhere laboratory where you can design and run your own experiments by writing just a little software. It’s affordable by anyone with access to the Internet. And each piece of software is an individual’s expression of creativity, much like poetry or music. Computer science can be fun and empowering. Cyberspace is the anytime, anywhere laboratory where you can design and run your own experiments by writing a little software. Every other discipline and profession has become more reliant on computation, so demand has increased for people with computational skills. While the ability to program a computer is important, the ability to think computationally is even more so. Computational thinking facilitates the invention and manipulation of abstractions (e.g., algorithms), which is central to managing complexity and building scalable systems. Students know that by majoring in computer science, they will have an edge over those without those skills. They will be in high demand by all sectors, not just by information technology companies. Advances in computer science have the potential to dramatically transform our approaches to societal challenges such as health care, energy, sustainability and education. When people talk about the smart grid, smart vehicles, and smart buildings -- what makes them “smart”? Computer science. When people talk about personalized medicine and personalized learning, how do you think personalization is possible? Computer science. We’re not there yet, but the next generation of computer scientists can help us realize these visions -- with immeasurable benefits to society and the economy. Join Opinion on Facebook and follow updates on twitter.com/roomfordebate. Topics: Technology, colleges, students Computer Science’s ‘Sputnik Moment’?
Eva Bradley - And you have a nice day, too Forget politics and religion. If you want to know the real moral fibre of someone important to you, stand next to them at the supermarket. Not only will you figure out your compatibility levels on all sorts of deal-breakers such as trim vs full fat and free range vs caged, you will also get the chance to see how they treat the checkout chick. Believe me, how they treat the checkout chick is all you need to know. We've all been standing in line having a sneaky read of Woman's Weekly when some pompous git in front has got hot under the collar about a bruised apple or the price of milk and taken it out on the girl packing his bags. It's almost as offensive as the more common sight of shoppers who manage the entire process of packing and paying without once looking the clerk in the eye or saying hello. The benefit of working as a teenager in menial jobs is that I learned early that people on minimum wage have brains, too. This will come as no surprise to those carefully wrapping our frozens and swiping our Eftpos cards, however, given the way some people treat those in the service industry, it's clear not everyone thinks this way. When the chips are down and the stress levels high, some of my best conversations are the light and airy ones I have with the checkout chick on the way home from work. The connection is brief, the conversation pleasant and the subject usually refreshingly light (with the odd exception such as the time at checkout 10 when I mistakenly asked how the assistant's day was going and stood there watching my icecream melt as she regaled me with the unsavoury details of her unravelling marriage). As much as I enjoy chatting to the checkout chick, I'm also always keen to embrace new technology, and so after months of suspicion and curiosity I finally plucked up the courage to try out Pak'n Save's automated self-checkout facilities. Designed for those with only a couple of items but used by idiots like me with far too many, the automated machines scan the barcodes of your products, weigh your fruit and vegetables, prompt you to swipe your Eftpos card and basically do everything for you bar raising and educating your children. It seemed neat. But like most of my encounters with technology, the love affair was short lived. The honeymoon period ended when the machine kept trying to pass my avocados off as aubergines and the relationship soured further when the barcode reader wouldn't follow its job description and read the barcodes. Those items that I did manage to scan eventually spilled over the sides of the capture area where they are weighed to prevent theft and eventually the spectacle of me chasing errant tomatoes over the floor caught the attention of the checkout chick on hand to help fools like me that couldn't help themselves. As she patiently processed my purchases and explained slowly and patiently (a little like you would to an especially dim child) that the item limit was there for a reason and it was best to weigh and label the tomatoes in the vegetable section first, I fell in love. She was kind, she was informed, she understood my frustration and, best of all, she was not a machine. Automation may have certain efficiency gains and undoubtedly it is the way of the future but, as long as the thing processing my groceries remains a human being, I shall take every opportunity I can to talk to her because the only conversation I could have with the self-checkout machine was the one-way kind with all sorts of language I can't reproduce here. Eva Bradley is an award-winning columnist. - Hawkes Bay Today © Copyright 2015, NZME. Publishing Limited Assembled by: (static) on production apcf01 at 25 Apr 2015 12:24:57 Processing Time: 533ms
Conor Friedersdorf: NSA reforms should go beyond phone calls Almost 10 months after Edward Snowden revealed that the U.S. government is spying on virtually all of us, using dragnet surveillance that tracks and stores all phone numbers we dial, President Obama has finally issued a proposal for reforming the National Security Agency. The NSA would stop the mass collection of phone data. U.S. phone companies would continue to keep detailed records of every call that Americans make, and would be required to provide individual records to federal authorities should they ever lawfully request them. And the NSA would need a court order before it could target a phone number for surveillance. Records of all phone calls in America would also be kept for as little as 18 months, rather than the five years they're reportedly kept by the NSA. These reforms are better than nothing. If Congress passes them into law, our privacy would be better protected than it is now. Necessary as they are, however, these reforms are not sufficient. Under the new plan, the NSA would still be able to collect all phone records from innocent people suspected of no crime, so long as the innocents were within “two hops” of a suspected terrorist. In other words, the government gets all the numbers dialed by the suspect himself; but also the phone records of the people he called (one hop); and the records of the people they called (two hops). Admittedly, this could prove useful to counterterrorism investigations. Say one of the Boston Marathon bombers called a friend, John, who called five other phone numbers: A, B, C, D and E. Perhaps one of them has ties to terrorism, too. Why not scrutinize them all? On the other hand, the Boston bombers presumably called pizza delivery businesses and doctors’ offices. Should the thousands of Americans who happen to order pies from the same Papa Johns, or visited the same medical group, automatically have their private communications seized, scrutinized and stored by the government without any cause for suspicion? That's guilt by association. Adequate reform would require at least reasonable suspicion of a crime for all private communications seized and searched by the state. Congress should also make sure that private information the NSA has accumulated in secret over the past decade is fully purged from the servers of government and private contractors. Finally, there's the biggest problem with the proposed reforms: They deal only with phone surveillance conducted under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, even though NSA spying on innocent Americans goes far beyond that program. As civil liberties attorney Michelle Richardson put it, “This is an important first step for the protection of our phone records, but what about our Internet, financial, medical, political, library or other records?” Those records are just as sensitive, she argued, if not more so: “They reflect where we go, the people we know, the churches and political parties we belong to, how we spend our money.” Ending the phone dragnet is important. But it's as problematic for government to spy on email, traditional letters, or notes carried by pigeon. It all goes back to the Fourth Amendment: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.” In a Chicago Tribune editorial, “Congress, Tread Carefully on the NSA,” the newspaper's brain trust asserted that “the overarching goal for new legislation is the same as the NSA’s mission: Protect the American people.” In fact, the most important and enduring protection that U.S. citizens have enjoyed, for more than two centuries, is the United States Constitution. NSA reform legislation should protect and defend the Bill of Rights. Liberty is the overarching goal. User Agreement Comments are encouraged, but you must follow our User Agreement Programs & Promotions Business Directory Ads by Google
Free: Some Great Park proposals (2/26/09) Lest I be accused of having nothing good to say about the Great Park, I heard a couple of ideas mentioned last week that when compared to the rest of the plans, seem 1) inexpensive and 2) to make sense. I ran into former Aliso Viejo Mayor and Green Partier Karl Warkomski at the unveiling of the "Comprehensive" Park Plan. He's back from a couple of years in North Carolina and still carrying his cork wallet. I showed him my Duct Tape wallet which, while not made of a renewable resource, also never has to be replaced because I just keep adding strips of tape, as necessary. The roll I have will last the rest of my life. Anyway, Warkomski is now heading the Laguna Canyon Foundation and is pushing to create (or re-create, I suppose) a wildlife corridor linking the Cleveland National Forest to the Laguna Coast wilderness parks. Compared to the Big Trench or Lake Larry or any of the other mega-expensive items on the wish list, this corridor doesn't require much more than designer Ken Smith and Larry Agran keeping their hands off a strip of land that runs along the far eastern edge of the Great Park. I know: a lot to ask. The other element that should be recognized is the donation of 5,000 Valencia orange trees byJoan Halvajian, a citrus grower and Laguna Beach philanthropist. The donation was secured by at-large G.P. Board member Walkie Ray. As Agran remarked, "When was the last time you saw orange trees planted in Orange County?" That was Larry's best quote, and probably the most solid - maybe only solid- park progress to come out of the meeting. I calculated. If you plant 125 trees per acre, which is typical, the Great Park has been given 40 acres of trees. That, per O.C.'s annual crop report, would represent an astounding 45 percent increase in our county's Valencia orange crop. Quite a gift. But even if I was ready to give the G.P. Board some props, Councilman and board member Steven Choi, ever the Agran antagonist, couldn't leave it alone. Choi remembered that the last time Irvine was given some orange trees, they didn't get watered and a bunch died, and he was concerned that nothing was stopping this from happening again. So Choi, in so many words, was saying he's worried Larry will kill the trees. I do so love my Irvine politics. I like that Bill Kogerman, one of the other at-large directors, brings a whiff of reality to the process, even if he ends up voting with Agran. Kogerman, a retired Marine Corps colonel, interrupted at times to point out that certain board members were blathering beyond their allocated time. He also questioned why Smith was proposing that the early phase of park-building includes Lake Larry, which is expensive and calls for busting up a bunch of runway that has yet to be busted up. "I fail to (understand)," Kogerman barked, "why we would even think about (creating) the lake." (It dawned on me that near the park we have residing a, uh, captive labor pool that historically has been used for the purpose of turning very large pieces of rock into very small pieces of rock. Vendors may send proposals to: Warden, James A. Musick Facility, Irvine, CA 92618. Please c.c. me so I can claim compensation at the Consultant's Trough and Petting Zoo.) Kogerman also questioned why Smith would create a grand portal to the park at this stage - or as the colonel put it - a "magnificent entrance and (it) then goes to not much of anything." I'd have loved to watch him back in the day, dressing some butter-bar second lieutenant down to his skivvies for failing to salute. Ray, meanwhile, brings a businessman's perspective. When equestrian interests asked about putting a stable in the Great Park, Ray drilled into why it'd be successful there when it hasn't been at the OC Swap Meet site. A legitimate question, but hay - I mean, hey- put the same economic scrutiny to the balloon or any of Larry's sacred cows. And I don't suppose Ray will be invited to speak at the Fountain Valley Mayor's Breakfast anytime soon. When discussing the rather, uh, flat nature of the Great Park site, Ray said he didn't want another Mile Square Park, which he called "absolutely a disgrace" in "purporting to be a park." Which gave me an idea for a perhaps more-accurate name for the 1,300-acre Great Park: Two-Square-Mile Park. Just trying to help. User Agreement Comments are encouraged, but you must follow our User Agreement Programs & Promotions Business Directory Ads by Google
Day for Night: A Novel Autor: Reiken, Frederick Editorial: Little Brown and Company Formato:Tapa Dura Precio de Lista:$24.99 Nuestro Precio:$4.99 (80% Descuento) USD Day for Night: A Novel : "If you look hard enough into the history of anything, you will discover things that seem to be connected but are not." So claims a character in Frederick Reiken's wonderful, surprising novel, which seems in fact to be determined to prove just the opposite. How else to explain the threads that link a middle-aged woman on vacation in Florida with a rock and roll singer visiting her comatose brother in Utah, where he's been transported after a motorcycle injury in Israel, where he works with a man whose long-lost mother, in a retirement community in New Jersey, recognizes him in a televised report about an Israeli-Palestinian skirmish? And that's not the half of it. In DAY FOR NIGHT, critically acclaimed writer Frederick Reiken spins an unlikely and yet utterly convincing story about people lost and found. They are all refugees from their own lives or history's cruelties, and yet they wind up linked to each other in compelling and unpredictable ways that will keep you guessing until the very end. Categoría Sub-Categoría Ficción General ISBN 13:9780316077569 ISBN 10:0316077569 Formato:Tapa Dura Tamaño:9.20" l x 6.10" w x 1.10" h
Online Exclusive Will is more important than Skill We’ve all seen the dash-cam videos available on law enforcement sites, YouTube, or “Insert-Cool-Name-Here” Tube. Many of these real-life video clips are pure entertainment IE: the drunk that gets Tasered five times because he won’t comply and surrender. If we sort through all the trash we can indeed find actual recorded traffic stops and other “in progress” calls that have training value. Some of the training value is positive as in “see that worked well” and others are a form a negative reinforcement, “don’t ever do that!” On the dark side, the moment in-car video recording began we knew that at some point what the camera recorded would end up as part of a post-mortem investigation. Sooner or later a cop would get killed and the entire scene would be caught on the dash-cam. No doubt it’s pretty damn morbid. From an emotionless, analytical standpoint, it is critical to determine what mistakes an officer made that contributed to his/her untimely death. Sometime no mistakes were made. You can do everything right and still buy it. Those cases, nonetheless, are truly rare. Most often when an officer is killed or injured severely there were one or more tactical mistakes made that gave the bad guy(s) the upper hand. A Small Arms and Tactics program where I’ve instructed for has three days worth of Judgment-based Engagement Training. We utilize the FATS system as well as Simunitions converted rifles and pistols for “Shoot/Don’t Shoot” training. On Day 1 of JET training (you knew a cool acronym had to be involved) we show the students a dash-cam video that involved a deputy who was murdered during a traffic stop. I cringe each time I watch. Despite numerous hostility indicators the deputy allows the man to challenge him, retrieve a rifle from behind his truck seat, load said rifle, and kill the officer. By the time the officer made the decision to shoot, his attacker had a huge tactical advantage. The attacker was committed to the assault and was operating on his own terms. The murder weapon was a Ruger Mini-14 in .223 Remington, a tremendously more powerful cartridge than the officer’s .40 S&W pistol. During our class we take time to discuss and dissect the incident. Rather than second guess the deceased officer, we have the students consider what went wrong and more importantly when the incident reached the point of no return. That is, when did it change from a “routine” traffic stop to a deadly force situation? When I was much younger, yes I was young once, I read a report in a martial arts magazine about a man who was killed, stabbed to death, by a street hood. The reason this was mentioned in an M.A. periodical was because the man in question was a Black Belt instructor in some form of Karate (I can’t remember which discipline). At the time I was just a teenager with perhaps six months of martial arts training under my belt. When you are low ranking kid, white, yellow, blue belt, you look up to the black belts as invincible demigods. How could that happen? My young brain pondered. How could a Black Belt be killed by some punk? Well, how could a fully trained and certified police officer be killed by a man twenty-five years his elder? When you cut through all of the minute details, it comes down to one distinct and ever so important factor; Will. That is, the will to immediately do what is necessary to not only survive but destroy your attacker. The Black Belt murder took place more than twenty years ago and I can only speculate how it went down. However, the deputy’s murder was recorded for all to see. He got caught up in the broken-record syndrome or for you younger folks, he was stuck in a verbal loop. The officer kept yelling “show me your hands” and “drop the gun” over and over again, ad nauseam. While the cop was stuck in verbal loop mode, the killer went about deliberately retrieving, loading, and firing his rifle. The killer had made the decision to act and was totally committed to it. From watching the tape it was obvious that the officer was not committed or committed far too late. The killer had the will to carry through with his intended plan. Those on the outside; non-cops and non-gun people would wonder at this situation. Wasn’t the deputy trained? Of course he was. I’ll guarantee you he went through a State-approved academy and was current on his firearms qualification. Hell, for all we know he might have been a great shot on the range with his service pistol. I feel confident that he had demonstrated the required skills to be out on the road. That’s the real rub, isn’t it? The cop with demonstrable skill was nonetheless murdered. Yes, the killer obviously had some skill with a weapon. There is no doubt about that. But skill wasn’t the deciding factor in this encounter, it was will. While I don’t want to sound like Dr. Seuss here, skill doesn’t matter without will. The Skill and the Will How do we instill in someone the will to do what is necessary? From the most serious of perspectives, how we teach them to apply deadly force without hesitation? This is probably a good time for politically concerned Chiefs and Sheriff’s to look away. Yes, will is more important than skill. However, combine the will with a high level of skill and you have something. First and foremost we must understand or admit that a firearms qualification is not training. A Qual. course is simply a practical exam to determine if you have mastered the required physical skills. That’s not Paul Markel talking out of his sphincter; the U.S. Supreme Court has held that qualification courses are not a substitute for training. Officers must be trained to deal with situations they are likely to encounter in their job. These include low-light situations, shoot/don’t shoot scenarios (judgment-based training), multiple target/attackers, emergency driving, etc. Force on Force scenario training is not just some cool novelty, it is an absolute must if we genuinely hope to prepare officers for the rapidly evolving, hyper-violent encounters they will likely face out there. Too often the FATS trainer is seen as a neat novelty item that officers are put through once. Force on Force scenarios with role-players involve a lot of time and logistics and therefore are difficult to put together. I’ve attended private training academies with veteran officers whose first real FOF was during that school. They’ve been on the road five, ten, fifteen years but never had the opportunity to get serious Shoot/Don’t Shoot training. In my mind that is not only negligent, it’s criminal. It is during FATS or FOF training that each officer will experience their own personal epiphany. They’ve been taught the Tueller Drill or had “action vs. reaction” explained to them. However, it is not until they experience it for themselves that they realize just how fluid and dynamic violent encounters are. They realize that hesitation will indeed get them killed. Parting Thoughts When it comes down to it, the simple fact is that the will to win, to defeat the enemy, is more important that simply having the skill. I won’t bore you with “dog in the fight” clichés by now you should get the point. The question is a very personal one that only you can answer. You’ve spent years acquiring the skill you need, do you have the will to apply it? Web Links: About The Author:
GlobalData: US needs to 'fast-track' LNG exports to compete in global market The US's lack of approved export terminals has prevented energy companies from competing in the growing global LNG market, despite the fact that the country is now the world's largest natural gas producer, said an analyst with research and consulting firm GlobalData. Global LNG capacity will rise an average of 10%/year during 2013-17, projected Carmine Rositano, GlobalData managing analyst, downstream oil and gas. Much of that change will be facilitated in Australia and Qatar, which will respectively hold 20% and 16% of global LNG capacity. Australia will see the Gladstone, Gorgon, Wheatstone, and Queensland terminals come online, increasing the country's LNG capacity by 10 bcfd over 2013... Why Register? Why Subscribe? Subscriber Help or Subscribe Stay Connected
Back to the previous page Artist: N.W.A Album: Efil4zaggin Song: Real Niggaz Don't Die Typed by: OHHLA Webmaster DJ Flash [opening dialogue] Die nigga! We are born to die nigga You've been dyin for 400 years Niggaz know how to die Niggaz don't know nothin else, but dyin Niggaz dream 'bout dyin [repeat 4X] "I'm a motherfuckin nigga" - "with an attitude" [Dr. Dre] I got a case, of spittin in a motherfucker's face So me and my ace, we got a taste of a motherfucker's billy club, he took his gun and put it to my head and said, "Nigga start runnin" So tell me what's the next episode? Is he crazy, does he want to chase me or waste me? I thought "Run nigga run" but I caught myself Because my secondary thought was death I've got head and heart real, but still a motherfucker said I want another black motherfucker dead Niggaz ain't good for shit to me Cause it's a race for second class, so get your ass up against the wall bitch! And then he tried to jump me but the punk became a victim of a walkby Fuckin with Dre, you get a foot up in your asshole It's just another way to let you know Nigga send 'em, nigga send 'em, nigga send 'em Y'all can't fuck with me! Real motherfuckin G ("You out there?") Straight from the streets of the C.P.T. ("Well clap your hands to what he's doin") Tellin you why, real niggaz don't die! [Chorus: repeat 2X] "I-iiiiiii, just want to celebrate!" ("Get on down!" - "Here it is") [MC Ren] Real niggaz don't die cause they eventually multiply The niggaz I'm with, they take an eye for an eye Because the times are so wrong, gotta stay so strong Niggaz gotta keep it goin on and on And don't let no paleface throw your ass in a snail race Have your residence occupyin a jail space That's what they want to do cause the system is fucked around I try to let you know with the record that's underground They don't give a fuck about a nigga, they would rather pull the trigger and have you runnin from barrels smilin sayin "Geez!" ("You out there?") So nigga get smart and rebel back I'm not with that black shit so I'm not gonna yell that All I see is niggaz getting harassed And can't do nothin about it but get a foot in they ass, yo But if every nigga grabbed a nine And started shootin motherfuckers it would put 'em in line And that's how it's supposed to be When a pussy-ass nigga try to fuck with me Yo, because it's useless to try To kill a nigga cause nigga a motherfuckin real nigga don't die! [interlude dialogue] Die nigga, everywhere you go! Niggaz dyin Niggaz been dyin for 400 years ("I'm a motherfuckin nigga" - "with an attitude") Only the good die young, so that makes me young and bad Puttin ass-kickings on the niggaz that never had So I guess that makes me tough shit Straight up gangsta, wrong nigga to fuck with So how can a nigga die, when he's causin the bloodshed by shootin motherfuckers in the head? Tryin to make a nigga extinct because they fear me But never wanna hear me So I'ma let 'em know how a nigga's livin Takin from motherfuckers cause nobody ain't givin a damn thang! To a nigga, a real nigga So I'm living by the motherfuckin trigger Cause a nigga ain't afraid of bein locked up I'm out of luck, so why should I give a fuck? But they still want to try To kill a nigga like me but motherfuckin real niggaz don't die! [Chorus] - 2X [over Chorus] A real nigga don't die! Yeahhhh, motherfuckers! ("Die, nigga!")
7448 Colorado Ave Hammond, IN 46323 (219) 742-1608 View in a new window. write a review • Satisfaction : 1.0 • Creativity : 1.0 • Unobtrusive : 1.0 • Value : 1.0 • 1.0 • 1 Reviews Review: Unsatisfied Bride and Groom • Margaret T • Wedding Date: 04/02/2010 • Reviews Posted: 1 • A free photo by a guest. • He had a bridesmaid and groomsman miss the bridal party dance because he left a camera at my home. His assistant chose to party and stepped on my dress while dancing which made me fall on dance floor. • Album, video - WHICH HE NEVER PRODUCED leaving us with NO video, two photographers who chose to eat, drink and dance. Package had bride was to pay for 1 meal and I ended up paying for three. These people where also dressed like slobs. Very unprofessional service. • Rushed and uncomfortable. I had to keep instructing him on what to take pictures of. He was very unprofessional as to how long it took to get pictures back. Also, purchased an 8 x 10 which when we picked up we noticed black specs all over our skins. I had the after 5 unshaven look. We paid for this but Gene Kellar never produced. He claimed he had to send it back out to be fixed and refused to credit our card and again never produced or returned our calls. Do not pay him in advance for anything. Can't believe he is still in business! Overall Rating: 1.0 / 5.0 • Satisfaction : 1.0 • Creativity : 1.0 • Unobtrusive : 1.0 • Value : 1.0 Vendor Comment: I first read this late last night when I was pretty tired. My first reaction was this is a mistake since I don't remember anybody in recent years being this upset with anything we have done. When I got up this morning, I looked through my records and I found who it was. We did her photography and video in July 1999. I definitely need to respond to this venomous and vial misrepresentation of my business, my work, which I take a great deal of pride in doing, and my character. 1) Yes, I did leave a filter for my camera at her house. It happens when you are concentrating on the task at hand. I told her about it when we were taking outdoor photos in between the ceremony and the reception. It wasn't a big deal and I didn't need it the rest of the day and I would get it from her when they picked up their photos. But they volunteered to get it, I don't know what they were doing and why it took them so long to get back, but I never told them to go get it. 2) I had a new employee with me that day that I was training. They only hired us for a one cameraman video coverage and I told her that her video would be shot by one of my veteran cameramen. And I was going to bring along someone to shoot a second camera as a learning experience. And if the footage was good I would include it in her finished video as a thank you for allowing me to do this training ( there is no way to learn to shoot a wedding other than to shoot a wedding ). Everyone I know trains employees in this way since you can't very well stage a wedding for the purpose of training. And the client gets something for nothing if the training video is good. It's a win-win situation for everyone. As it goes, my trainee was female, attractive and as the reception was winding down, she was done shooting and someone asked her to dance. I don't know what happened and how they collided on the dance floor, but those things happen sometimes when people are dancing. If it would have been anyone else she would have probably laughed it off, but she just added it to her collection of things that she perceived as wrong doing. 3) The video is not done because she has never given me the names of the wedding party, the music she wanted in the video, or instructions as to the style of editing she wants. I am not going to put the time into doing the editing without all the information and then have her not be happy because it wasn't done according to what she contracted for and then have to spend time redoing it. Besides, she only paid a minimal deposit, it is far from being paid for. I should be on her case to pay up. 4) As far as eating, drinking, and dancing. Our photography and video contracts stipulate that the client is to provide a meal for us if we are working for them for more than 5 hours. Even though we sit down to eat, we are still working and if something happens during dinner like cutting the cake, we stop eating and go back to work. The only other option would be to leave the wedding to get something to eat. We are the only vendor that is with the bride and groom for the entire day and unfortunately, we are not machines and need some nourishment. Yea, I have to admit we drank a lot of DIET COKE. It was a hot July day and you have to stay hydrated or you might be in trouble. I have never met anyone who would be that callus, heartless, or cheap as not to offer someone something to drink on a hot day. Most catering locations include unlimited soft drinks as part of the banquet package. We never, and I mean NEVER drink liquor on the job, period. Neither myself or my video cameraman dance. We are both married and our wives can't even get us to dance. My trainee was asked to dance by one of her guests. She was done shooting and she probably didn't see any harm in it. Even though everyone is partying, we view the reception as work time. 5) On hot summer days, we don't wear suits because it gets very uncomfortable. We wear dress pants and comfortable shirts so that we can stay cool. Maybe we are not fashionable in her eyes, but by no means were we slobs. In fact most of their guests were dressed the same as us. 6) I had been shooting weddings successfully for 19 years prior to her wedding and continuously for the 11 years since her wedding. I could be wrong, but I don't think I would be shooting for 30 years if I was as bad as she is making me out to be. Most of my business doesn't come from any advertising, but rather from word of mouth from satisfied clients. Besides, after you have done hundreds of weddings over a course of 30 years and you hear something like this, you have to consider the source. As far as her telling me what to take photos of, there are some people who are control freaks and feel that they are experts at everything and if they don't take control, it won't be done right. When I run into these people, it's easier to let them control things rather than fight with them all day. The way I look at it, they hired me as a professional to do what I do best, if they don't trust me and my experience to do the right thing, they shouldn't have hired me in the first place. If there are photos of special people the client wants that are not part of the wedding party or immediate family, I would expect them to point them out to me since I am not clairvoyant. 7) As far as getting the photos to her. My computer records show that the proofs were printed and ready 1 week after the wedding. I am not sure when they picked them up, but they were ready. They placed an order November 3, 1999 and my records show they were printed December 3, 1999 and again, I don't know when they picked the order up. I consider this a timely fulfillment. 8) As far as I know, all of the photographs she received were good except the one she indicated in her complaint (that's one out of three hundred). Again, for an entire weddings worth of photos to have only one photo with a problem is pretty good in my book and doesn't deserve this kind of damaging comments. The photo she is upset about was a 16 x 20, not an 8 x 10. As I tried to explain to her 11 years ago, what she was seeing is the normal grain in the film that you see with film on enlargements. A photo of that size is meant to be viewed from a distance where you would not even notice the grain. But, if you inspect it close up, you well definitely see it. The photo has been here for her ever since, but she refuses to pick it up. 9) Any time she had called me, I answered her concerns. Maybe she can't accept my answers, but I can't help someone who is not educated in photography but has all the answers. Think about this for a minute. I have been shooting wedding successfully for 30 years and I can count on one hand the number of clients who have been unhappy for one reason or another. I'm not perfect, but I always try to remedy any problems, it's good business to have happy clients. And here you have someone holding some sort of vindictive grudge 11 years after the fact. The statue of limitations on some criminal acts would have run out by now. I was unable to communicate with her 11 years ago and with her making comments like this now, I don't think there is any reason to make any attempt to try and talk now. If she wants her photo, she paid for it and she can come and get it. If she wants her video, she can pay for it and bring the information I need to complete it and I will surely finish it. write a review
Origami Flamingo (This page is under construction... To be completed very soon!) 1. Start with a square piece of paper, coloured side up. Fold the top corner of the paper down to the bottom corner. Crease & open again. Then fold the paper in half sideways. 2. Turn the paper over to the white side. Fold the paper in half, crease well & open, then fold again in the other direction 3. Using the creases you have made, Bring the top three corners of the model down to the bottom corner. Flatten model 4. Fold top triangular flaps into the centre and unfold 5. Fold top of model downwards, crease well and unfold 6. Open the uppermost layer of the model, bringing it upwards and pressing the sides of the model inwards at the same time. Flatten down, creasing well. 7. Turn model over and repeat Steps 4-6 on the other side. 8. Fold outer edges into the centre. 9. Turn over and repeat step 8 on other side. 10. Fold one side in to the centre line (the top layer only) 11. Mountain-fold the back layer backwards along crease shown. 12. Fold left side upwards along crease shown. Crease well and 13. Inside reverse fold along the crease just made. 14. Fold this crease as shown, open out and then outside reverse fold. 15. Fold down head, crease and unfold, then outside reverse fold. 16. Fold down front wing along crease shown, and repeat on the back. 17. Fold down point at top in line with wings, and tuck in behind back wing. 18. Optional step: Flamingos have beaks that point downwards, so if you like you can fold the tip of the beak to make him look more realistic! New! Comments Jumping Frog
Permalink for comment good distro by emh on Fri 9th Jan 2004 02:13 UTC I've used DSL and like it a lot. Amazing how much is packed into a modern distro with only 50 meg. I can be online within 10 min of popping in the cd, very few distros offer that. As far as mini cd distros, there is LAS, but this is oriented towards security. Maybe there is a small morphix. I'm getting a small 486 or PI laptop to tinker with, will put DSL or zipslack or something like that on it.
Nvidia Goes Direct, Drops XFX Page: 1 Earlier this week, some unsuspecting users walked into Best Buy and came upon an odd surprise: boxes of graphics card bearing the words "Designed and built by Nvidia" and no other apparent partner logo. Confused, these users (namely Kyle from HardOCP) decided to go to the source and ask Nvidia about what was going on. This is the response he got: Now apparently the program wasn't supposed to start until the 10th, but who's going to sweat the details? Also, despite the big "built by Nvidia" words, the cards are actually contracted out the usual OEM standby Foxconn. Support is supposedly provided direct from Nvidia, with the cards being backed by a 3-year warranty. Price-wise, the GTS450 was seen to be at $199 and the GTX460 at $299, putting these direct sale cards at a questionable price-point. A number of people expressed concerns at how their AIB partners would feel about this move. Evga gave CNN the politically typical "no comment" while making sure to mention they could provide better support, but overall partners must be feeling pretty shafted about things. So how is Nvidia handling this possibility? Apparently by giving them the boot. It seems that Nvidia has chosen to drop one of their bigger American partners, XFX, though their AMD/ATI partnership probably played a role in this choice as well. Both the direct sales and XFX dropping were things that were rumored to be occurring back in January, so it looks like Nvidia is just playing catch-up here with their backlog of "political" moves. So in the space of six months Nvidia has lost two major American partners (with BFG having dropped GPU sales in May and going under in August) and have begun a direct sale campaign. Where does that leave them? An odd, questionable position that's for sure. Many have been comparing the situation to that of 3dfx, who went through similar actions before finally dropping being acquired by Nvidia. While the situations aren't really quite the same, it's still an amusing parallel to be drawn considering what ended up happening to the company. One would hope Nvidia has a better grasp of what they're doing this time around. Discuss in our Forums
Welcome Stranger to OCC!Login \| Register Nanodiamonds Solve Prehistoric Mystery Category: Science & Technology Posted: August 28, 2014 02:07PM Author: Guest_Jim_* Over 13,000 years ago, many great animals lived in North America, including mastodons, saber-toothed cats, and even American horses, but they all disappeared at the end of the Pleistocene period. The exact cause of this mass extinction has been a matter of debate for some time now. Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara however have new evidence that may solve the mystery. Studies of prehistoric times often require looking at the many layers of materials beneath us. Each layer was deposited at a certain time and the materials of each layer can tell us about the Earth's situation at the time, and about certain events. Across what is called the Younger Dryas boundary, the researchers have found many nanodiamonds. These small carbon crystals are found in their cubic forms, like those we use for jewelry, and as hexagonal crystals. What makes these particular diamonds important though is that they could only have been formed by a massive event, such as a cosmic impact. The only other barrier that has had more than one identification of nanodiamonds is the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. The nanodiamonds in this barrier are the result of the cosmic impact that killed off the dinosaurs and many other species on Earth, 65 million years ago. Source: University of California, Santa Barbara Register as a member to subscribe comments. This news has comment postings disabled because it is now archived. © 2001-2015 Overclockers Club ® Privacy Policy Elapsed: 0.0395491123
skip to navigation Pampers® Village a place to grow Welcome! Join now or Log in More helpful answers sent to your inbox Get great Pampers articles in personalized emails. How can I get our 15-month-old to sleep in her crib instead of our bed? 3 people commented on this article Read bio Hide bio Hide You are not alone. This is one of the most common problems pediatricians help parents cope with. Fundamentally, there is nothing wrong with allowing your child to sleep with you. In fact, there is a school of thought that advocates a "family bed" and considers nighttime parenting as important as daytime parenting. I don't subscribe completely to this point of view, but I don't challenge any parents who choose to do this. Her presence is interfering with restful sleep, however, so it's time to do something. Since she awakens at the same time every night, you can try a technique called scheduled awakening. Wake her 10 or 15 minutes earlier than her usual time and move the time back by 10 or 15 minutes every night. In a couple of weeks, you can eliminate this habit. Well-meaning friends may tell you to let her "cry it out," but most pediatricians see that as cruel and the last possible resort after you have tried all other techniques. Member comments You might also like A soft and strong wipe for a refreshing clean Find out about Pampers® Natural Clean Wipes Pampers® Natural Clean Wipes
babies on television Baby Borrowers: What about the babies? I've never been much of a fan of reality TV. Putting ordinary people (who are always prettier or meaner or whinier than anyone person I've ever met) in weird circumstances to show what happens just isn't entertaining to me. I've got kids, I deal with... Flickr RSS
Roger Olson, Rosemary Ruether, and Male Aggression From Roger’s summary of Ruether’s study: Now, how does Ruether’s view support my own? It seems to me that the root cause of the present male malaise is resentment arising from the perception that males are viewed by society as, at their core, inferior to females. One education expert noted (in Newsweek’s “The Boy Crisis” cover story (January 30, 2006) that in today’s public schools boys tend to be treated as “defective girls.” Boys and young men cannot help but pick up the not-very-subtle messages in the media that boys and men are fundamentally flawed. Many young men were raised solely by women with no male role models other than sports celebrities or rock stars. Most companies give women six weeks to six months off for maternity leave; most give fathers no time off when their child is born. There’s a whole complex of problems that are almost too subtle for most people to notice, but they go deep into social psychology. The feminist movement has done wonderful things for women, but it has had the (mostly) unintended consequence of making young men feel insecure about themselves. The result goes two directions—either toward acting out in anti-social ways or toward retreat from the pursuit of prestige and power into game playing. About Scot McKnight • http://disorietedtheology.wordpress.com Paul A. I think plenty of women would beg to differ with the idea that society treats them so well. Perhaps we should wait until women receive equal pay for the same work as men before we start bemoaning the deficiencies of maleness. Also, it’s an odd time to be writing this, given the political debates currently taking place over whether or not a group of mostly male politicians and religious leaders should have the right to deny low- and middle-income women the access to affordable health care, including the ability to regulate the cycles and systems of their own bodies. To the extent that society worships women, it is solely in relationship to their ability to provide pleasure for men. Which is not exactly healthy for either gender, but it certainly is not an evidence of women being treated as superior to men. • Darren King One thing I have noticed over time is that, in advertising media, the trend seems to be, when portraying a family situation, to make the man/husband/father look like a imbecile. This is probably strategic, in that women make most household purchasing decisions. However, that said, if our goal is gender equality, this is a step backwards. That said, on the other hand I’m still shocked by the degree to which highly sexualized portrayals of women pervade in advertising, and in society in general. Take GoDaddy commercials for instance: I am honestly shocked that more women don’t stand up and say “boycott this company, they treat women like objects.” Even in professional sports, cheerleaders are dressed like strippers. This is family-friendly entertainment? Come on, I don’t want either my son or my daughter seeing those portrayals – it hurts them both. And I love me some basketball! Stop the insanity! • John Inglis Aside from the fact that the “no equal pay for equal work” is a myth (i.e., apparent differentials in received income relates to factors other than doing the same work, even where the same nominal is used to categorize data), Roger’s point is about men, not women. I’m sure that Roger (who believes in women pastors and teachers) would be first in line to state that women get a raw deal and should be better treated. Roger is trying to understand where male failings can be traced to. Part of it is a social and cultural context. • Elaine This sounds more like a white male “problem” than a male problem in general. Black males have been dealing with the so-called “deficiency” problem for most of modern American history. Males of several ethnic groups have been singled out as “deficient” in times past – native American males, then Italians, Chinese and Hispanics. • Kyle Paul, many of your points are valid, but there’s a whole batch of truths being peddled that women possess a more dynamic and therefore intelligent way of problem-solving within interpersonal contexts, which is almost every context. “This is the era of negotiation, of shades of gray, of multitasking, of verbal reasoning and communication. This is the era of the woman.” That’s a rough paraphrasing of a sizable minority of psychological and sociological tracts these days, and while it’s not my point to address the veracity of these claims, these claims are omnipresent enough that at least one critical and pervasive conversation has men often feeling a step behind their female counterparts. Gender inequality can be domain specific and affect both genders adversely. • Joe Canner Dr. Olson notes that one of the solutions Ruether offers is: “Men and women must share fully the parenting of children from birth and the domestic work associated with daily life.” This proposal, if valid, would require a substantial shift in the way most people think of parenting. It wouldn’t be enough for men to do more around the house in the evenings and on weekends. In my estimation, to achieve true equality, it would require women going back to work, at least part-time, withing the first year or two (say, after weaning) and would require men cutting back and shifting hours so that they could be the parent when the woman is at work (because the mother is usually seen as the primary parent even when the father is present). It’s an interesting proposal, but I doubt that there are many couples who would be up for it. • EAB #6 I know quite a few couples who would be up for both parents working part time or three quarter time so that both parents can be with their kids more, but I don’t know of many companies that would be accommodating. This would require a huge paradigm shift in the American business world. • Kenny Johnson Really? Do you think that’s so unusual? My wife works part time (about 30 hours) and I work full time (40 hours). And we both share parenting and domestic work. In fact, I probably do the bulk of the cleaning, etc. Because my wife work’s part time, she definitely does more of the parenting than I do as she’s just with him more, but otherwise I’d say it’s pretty equal. I also take time off for things. For example, we will both be going to the Kindergarten “orientation” coming up. I took the day off. • Joe Canner EAB #7: Yeah, the kind of job flexibility required for the arrangement I envision would be hard to come by, even for those couples who had the desire. Kenny #8: Perhaps this is more common than I realize, but I’m not just talking about men doing equal chores. Ruether’s proposal is that child-rearing be equal. This would only work if the working hours were such that both parents were with the kids the same amount of time and both shared equally in the parenting when they were both present. The former would require significant job flexibility (as per EAB #7); the latter would require a significant paradigm shift compared to traditional child-rearing considering how the mother is usually seen as the primary caregiver and many fathers would defer to her if they were both present. • ft sounds like shame. I just listened to a Ted Talk on Shame. The speaker shared how men and women experience shame. here is the link. I think it pertains. • Mike M Let’s see: men have no say (denied the right) in whether their partner has an abortion or not. Men are imprisoned because they are unable to pay child support. Courts consistently deny parenting rights to men because “mom knows best” even if she is crazy, incapable, and/or a highly skilled manipulator. Men are barred from marrying their partners because governmenment subsidies cease once the vows are spoken. A 13 year old girl can legally kill her fetus and obtain “Plan B” abortificants and hormonal birth controls yet a 40 year old man can be imprisoned for using anabolic steroids. Hmmm, seems the stuff rage is made of. The poular phrase “keep government out of the bedroom” seems to apply only to gays and women and not straight men. Once the government legalizes and then pays for prostitution will I believe this is a just and honest society. • Diane I listened to a keynote speaker recently bemoan all the ways people kick poor Indiana (that state) around and had my moment of truth: Everyone believes they are the victim. Thank you, Elaine, for pointing out this is about white men, not men in general. This post reads as snarky “payback” for the legitimate complaints women have raised at males hsitorically being treated as normative.

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