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0.018608 | <urn:uuid:d04bd4e9-c5c1-481a-816b-e193ef0b1792> | en | 0.918631 | Are you M Schumann?
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ABSTRACT: The role of B cells in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been well established with the advent of B-cell targeted therapies. Alterations of peripheral B-cell subsets in RA and heterogeneous modulations of the B-cell compartment under tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibition have been described. In this study we examined the influence of rheumatoid factor (RF) positivity on the peripheral B-cell compartment and its modulation under TNF blockade. Consecutive patients with RA and inadequate response to methotrexate (MTX) were stratified according to RF status and a subset of them was included in a prospective study of weekly etanercept treatment. At baseline, RF-negative patients had a significant higher percentage of overall CD27+ B cells compared to healthy controls (HC) and RF-positive patients. In detail, RF-negative patients had 46.6% (range 15.7-86.8%) CD27+ B cells compared to 31.3% (12.9-56.9%, p = 0.026) in HC and 29.8% (19-73.3%, p = 0.04) in RF-positive patients. Within the CD27+ compartment, CD27+/immunoglobulin (Ig)D+ memory B cells were significantly increased to 26.4% (range 5.9-54.7%) in RF-negative patients compared to 14.9% (4.1-27.3%, p = 0.006) in HC and 10.5% (3.4-41.1%, p = 0.003) in RF-positive patients. During anti-TNF therapy, memory B cells increased significantly in relative and absolute numbers only in RF-negative patients. In RF-negative patients, we observed an enhanced frequency of peripheral memory B cells and an accumulation of pre-switch memory B cells. During anti-TNF therapy, memory B cells increased significantly only in RF-negative patients, suggesting that the peripheral memory B-cell compartment is more amenable to TNF inhibition in these patients.
Scandinavian journal of rheumatology 03/2012; 41(3):180-5. · 2.51 Impact Factor | http://www.researchgate.net/researcher/71382048_M_Schumann/ | dclm-gs1-242490002 | false | true | {
"keywords": "memory b cells, b cells"
} | false | null | false |
0.02156 | <urn:uuid:bf3a2db9-6a9d-40b6-bbdc-5668b214f364> | en | 0.978593 | • Report: #804288
Complaint Review: Meineke Car Care Center
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• Submitted: Fri, December 02, 2011
• Updated: Sat, December 10, 2011
• Reported By: Frank — Brownsville Texas United States of America
Meineke Car Care Center
6011 De Zavala Road San Antonio, Texas United States of America
Meineke Car Care Center Very bad service and Big scam San Antonio, Texas
*Consumer Comment: ripped off
*Consumer Comment: Yo, Meineke Guy!
*Consumer Comment: Really, Meineke? I mean, REALLY?!
*Author of original report: Why disrespect?
*REBUTTAL Owner of company: Owner Response #2
*Consumer Comment: Meineke for a gas line job?
*Consumer Comment: WOOOOOOW!!
*Author of original report: Lies and more lies
*Consumer Comment: At Least They Corrected the Issue
*REBUTTAL Owner of company: NOT a rip-off, just a mistake.
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I took my 2001 Chevy Impala in with a broken return fuel line. I was given a quote for the repair and it would come out at $450. Since my car was spilling gasoline under the hood, I decided to give the go ahead and I was told my car would be done that night. Nightfall came and I was called by Meineke and told my car was ready and I called my friend to take me there. When I got there the mechanic Hans and owner Rafael told me it was not ready that the fuel line had failed. Then Rafael told the counter attendant to bill me and that I should pay the $450 and that the car would be done by the morning. I payed and I started feeling uncomfortable with the situation.
I went back to my dorm and I started researching part costs. The fuel line cost $100 dollars online and I was charged $200 for the part. Hans had told me that he called every Chevrolet dealer in San Antonio and that the part was 200 dollars. [continued below]....
..... I then called every Chevrolet dealer and everyone told me they sold it for $101.93 so I confronted both Rafael and Hans and they told me they had to make a profit out of parts. I asked for the reciept and they had only paid $86 dollars for the part since they have an account with Ancira Chevrolet. This means they got a profit margin of 133% for the single fuel line. Later Rafael told me that they charge more than 100% for evey part they sell.
My car was done in the morning but when I checked under the hood, the fuel line had been routed through the front instead of through the back and I asked Hans to give me my old fuel line. I took it to another mechanic and my car was lifted. The mechanincs had done a horrible job. The metal fuel line was bent in come places and crimped in some places to compensate for incorrect placement. The fuel line did not even fit in the factory clips on the bottom of the car. This made me suspect that the mechanics had not bought the fuel line in the first place so I took pictures of the mechanic's work. I went to back to Meineke and I demanded a refund for my money since 1.) and original part was not used and 2.) the work done on my car compromised my safety. Rafael then told me that he could not refund my money and I told him that I did not trust any of his mechanics to do a second job on my car. He then told me that I could either take him to court or let him "fix" the job the mechanics had done. So I told him I would take him to court and then he told me to calm down and that he would buy the factory fuel line and fix my car. Then I confronted Hans about the work he had done and he was very irrate ( I was also irrate because of how they had tried to scam me) and he was talking profanities under his breath and was very aggressive when I told him he was a liar. He told me that the dealer sold fuel lines that looked exactly like the one they installed including all the dents and places were the fuel line was bent by hand severely crimping the fuel line and he challenged me to wait for the dealer fuel line so that we could compare it but the part never showed up that day making me wait for almost 3 hours. Then Hans told me my car would be finished by Monday.
I returned on Monday and the dealer fuel line finally arrived but the fuel line that was installed in my car was no where to be found. I thoroughly inspected the fuel line and It had no dents nor hand bends like Hans had previously explained to me. Then he told his team that they should start on my car and get it done as soon as possible and the hispanic mechanic replied rudely and aggresively " He can wait more hours" withoug noticing I was behind him. My car was finally done and when I arrived home I noticed garbage under my seats. My car is always clean from the inside. The mechanics had thrown dirty Q-tips inside,lots of plastic bottle caps, and an excessively oily shop towel and torn bits of of Meineke business cards. This is called RETALIATION and unprofessional behavior. Meineke is a scam and I have pictures and audio recordings of everything. My car was fixed but this cannot happen to anyone else.
This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 12/02/2011 03:37 PM and is a permanent record located here: http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Meineke-Car-Care-Center/San-Antonio-Texas-78249/Meineke-Car-Care-Center-Very-bad-service-and-Big-scam-San-Antonio-Texas-804288. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year.
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#1 Consumer Comment
ripped off
AUTHOR: GeorgeV - (USA)
you got ripped off, thats what mineke does. they wanted to charge my wife 980 dollars for a brake job, i priced the parts and i could buy all new rotors/drums/wheel cylinders and brakepads and calipers 4 times over for 980 dollars. i did the job myself or for $120 which included tools, a new thermostat and spark plugs. the pictures i see are a fire waiting to happen, there is a reason that those pipes are in a holder (so they dont rub thru) you might want to have ICE check out their employees too to verify they are valid to work on your car. 600 bucks for a fuel line WTF...
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#2 Consumer Comment
Yo, Meineke Guy!
AUTHOR: voiceofreason - (United States of America)
I give you the credit due having admitted that your company did do wrong by Frank, at least in the beginning.
However, I've seen this kind of "but then he" attacks done by other semi-apologetic firms before, including pretty recent ones, where out of one side of their mouth the company rep or owner admits to errors but from the other side continues to attack the poster as unreasonable, vindictive, scamming, etc.
It doesn't make your company look any better. It only makes it look worse.
It's like the VW shop in Wilmington, NC whose maniacal mechanic slammed a guys keys down on his hood and the dealer was too small a man to just let the rightfully enraged customer vent. No, the dealer backpedaled on his apology and actually got VW's permission not to have to service the guy's brand new warrantied car anymore, forcing him to travel 50 miles to another dealer.
That's just one example.
Do you not get that your utterly incompetent employee put the occupants of that car in danger?
And like Frank says, YOU weren't there. HE was!
You ought to just sit on your hands, mouth closed, take whatever shots Frank needs to vent at you and shut up.
Rerouted the fuel line. Hahahahahahahaha. I've got to find a way to work that into conversations as a saying.
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#3 Consumer Comment
Really, Meineke? I mean, REALLY?!
AUTHOR: cfeline5 - (United States of America)
Ok, just for the record, which can be verified from my profile; I am not a prolific writer on Ripoff Report, lol. I have been registered for little over a month and a half, have made one report of my own (which was my reason for coming here) and have made approximately 5 comments on other posts. The posts I comment on most are those in relation to my original complaint( online casino), or commenting on a business where I have worked(Verizon Wireless Tech Support) so I had insider info to share.
I commented on this one concerning Meineke because I wanted the PO to see the silver lining, at least the car was fixed, though I think he went through some rather uneccessary and unreasonable issues to get that accomplished.
I actually gave kudos to Meineke for at least fixing the problem! Why you feel the need to attack people for doing exactly what an open forum like this encourages is beyond me..you don't even KNOW me! I am not some professional writer paid to bash companies by the EDitor, for crimmeny's sake! Sheeeeesh!
Personally, I never go to Meineke because their prices are outrageous and far out of my range for somewhat simple repairs, but that is my personal preference; doesn't mean you guys don't do the job or are scamming people.
For you to take time to continue rebutting, then bashing innocent posters and the OP, as well as bashing this site is ridiculous. I don't know what the arbitration process through this site is, I've read right here on this site where companies call it the Ultimate RipOff because they must pay $2000 in starter fees for arbitration...I don't know if it's true or not , but, that is not my concern.
My concern is for someone who touts the 'professionalism' of the company to come on here and bash innocent people who are just giving their opinion. No need for all of that..state the facts as you see them and then let us innocent readers decide between all that is presented without accusing us of 'working for the Man'!
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#4 Author of original report
Why disrespect?
AUTHOR: Frank Hurtado - (United States of America)
I am much younger than you and I haven't disrespected you the way you have. This must be of concern to you. You can call BS on anything you want I will not call you anything. I am not out to trash you company I am Frank and I am a college student writing about what happened to me.
This is what is happening. Meineke did something wrong and unprofessional and you start pointing fingers at everyone. You call me BS, you say that the people that comment are fake, you call Ripoff Report also a fake, and you blame another company for something your mechanics did. So now everyone else is to blame for the things that happened to my car?
Also please stop filing a report if you "weren't there." If you werent there then I am not speaking to you. I am speaking to the people that did this to me. And if you think so bad about Ripoff Report, then don't use it. Unlike you they didn't take money from me.
The Chevrolet dealers have the same factory service manual to which they quoted me for 1.5 hours. Your mechanic also quoted me 1.5 hours of work but it came out as 1.6 hours in my receipt so that was more money on my part.
I do not have to send anything to your company. Sending you an email would only enable you to intimidate me privately instead of publicly. You did what you did and now I am writing about my experience.
Why do you get mad? If your company didn't do anything then you shouldn't get mad. Keep on disrespecting me and keep on acting aggressive I am not going to follow your footsteps. You call everyone else a liar but everyting points back to you.
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#5 REBUTTAL Owner of company
Owner Response #2
AUTHOR: Meineke - (USA)
Ok: first of all, I'm going to have to call BS on a lot of this. I have already admitted that we made a mistake and that we fixed it. I have already offered an apology and an explanation of our business practices. I was not there so I cannot refute what was said by any of the parties involved. So, I cannot concede nor deny any of Frank's claims about what anyone said.
But, I think that anyone reading this post will wisely see the truth in this matter: Frank feels like hes been gouged and he is now trying to trash a reputable business. In response to Franks rebuttal:
1. The $625 quote for your job at Ancira Chevrolet was quoted by Hector (Service Advisor) on 12/6/11 at 9:40am.
2. Frank claims that he called EVERY Chevy dealer in town and got exactly the same price quote. Not only is this pure exaggeration, but it is preposterous. I challenge anyone to call every single Toyota dealer in town (for example) and
ask for a quote on something uncommon, like a fuel pump or timing belt. See how many different quotes you get.
3. Frank says he found a BLUE rag and Q-Tips in the car. Our shop only uses RED rags. However, the car wash uses blue rags AND Q-Tips (hmm, coincidence?). We don't want our customers receiving their car from us if we have dirtied it. And yes, they appreciated us bringing this to their attention. They run a reputable business just like we do.
4. Frank claims that he has a business card with Rafael's name printed on it. Please scan it and email it to the shop (shop.1133@meineke.net). He needs proof that cards are being printed without authorization. To his knowledge, these
cards don't even exist.
5. Frank claims to have an audio recording of his conversation with "Rafael." Please forward the file to the same email address for confirmation (it needs to be known if someone is impersonating Rafael).
6. Frank: could you please describe "Rafael?" He has never met you but would certainly like to know who you met.
To all readers: please do a little research on this RipOff website. I think it would be wise if you knew how this business makes money and for you to learn a little about their arbitration and advocacy programs. Also, maybe you can
discern why there are comments from random people. The two comments on this complaint come from prolific writers on this website.
Listen: We have run a reputable and honest business for years. With so many shops to choose from, a large percentage of our business comes from repeat customers. Do we sometimes make mistakes? Yes. Do we fix them and stand by our
work? Absolutely. Can a shop stay in business in the same community for almost 18 years by scamming the same people who have been living there for the same period of time? I don't think so. Most shoppers have a good BS meter. I hope
that yours can sniff out the real reason for this complaint and the motives behind this website. Hey, you can start right here.
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#6 Consumer Comment
Meineke for a gas line job?
AUTHOR: voiceofreason - (United States of America)
Why would anyone use a Meineke for anything but brakes or shocks?
And what kind of morons reroute a high fire-risk component like a fuel line via any route other than the default factory installed route?
But that's what you get when you have a brake and shock installer do anything else. Same would go for a place that basically lives off oil changes, or replacing tires.
When a mistake could cost you your life, you ought to have the work done at a dealer.
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#7 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: cfeline5 - (United States of America)
After reading the PO's response to the owner of the company, I definitely feel the company lied just to make himself and his company look good. I was trying to give them some kudos for at least getting it right, but the PO should not have had to go through this much to get what he paid for.
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#8 Author of original report
Lies and more lies
AUTHOR: Frank Hurtado - (United States of America)
If Rafael did not speak with me then who did? Who was the person that came up to me and said, "Hi I'm Rafael, the owner of this place..." when I went to pick up my car at night after I was told it was ready to go? I would have remembered such a long title such as "operations manager" and this title never comes up in my audio recording and the two business cards I received have 1. Rafael on it it and 2. Hans written in pen and the old "master" technician's name crossed out.
I too am hispanic and I can speek perfect Spanish. What i wrote in my review was translated to English so that most people would understand. He said, "Dejalo que se espere mas horas" in a really agressive tone without realizing I was behind him and when he turned around, he saw me and quickly started working under the wheel well of one of the cars. I did not confront him because this situation could have escalated further.
The Chevrolet Ancira price in Rafael's comment was also over inflated. I called every single Chevrolet dealership in San Antonio including Chevrolet Ancira and their prices all coincided exactly. They would charge me $101.93 for the fuel line and $153.00 for installation which comes up to $255 not $625. The only reason I ended up in Meineke was because I was in that part of town when I noticed the smell of gasoline inside my car and this prevented me from researching prices for the fuel line and installation before actually letting any mechanic do work on my car. This made me feel like they took advantage of my situation.
My car's fuel line was removed the same day I returned the car. There is no way my car could have been driven across a street, that is being repaired. I saw when the fuel line was being removed and It was being yanked out through the bottom. The GPS tracking device inside my car never gave any coordinates for the "Car wash" across the street during the time fram of me returning my car to Meineke and me picking it up on Monday. My car's alarm has a hidden reserve battery to which I hooked up my gps tracking device so Even if my car's battery was disconnected, my car would remain secure and under my supervision for up to two weeks. If my car had been detailed, my rims wouldn't have had brake dust, my windows would have been clean, my car cupholder wouldn't have coke drippings from when I spilled my drink and I tried cleaning it while driving, my dash board wouldn't have had a layer of dust, and my car would have been sparkling on the outside and my leather seats would have been conditioned. I hadn't washed my car in a week and I keep nothing inside my car to avoid attracting burglars. The only two things inside my car where my windshield's sun shade and the engine cover on the passenger seat. Never was it inside my trunk nor out of sight. You might as well have been blind in order to miss the 2'x1.25' engine cover. I do not think the owner of the car washing place across the street would be fond of Rafael accusing his employees of trashing the inside of my car when It was never sent to them and I am sure they can explain the torn Meineke business cards under my passenger seat. The Q-tip did not contain ear wax, it contained used motor oil just as the blue mechanic shop towel did. Rafael never paid anything out of his pocket since I payed 200 dollars for the return fuel line which they bought two times at $86 each.(It was all payed by me).
I do not wish anyone the treatment I received and my sole purpose is to defend myself and not let any lies go unnoticed. Lying about what happened does not make the situation better, it only offends me more. Liars will lie but sooner or later those lies will catch up to them. The only reason that I left home happy was because this nightmare was over and I wouldn't have to deal with Rafael,Hans and the other mechanics ever again. The truth has now been spoken.
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#9 Consumer Comment
At Least They Corrected the Issue
AUTHOR: cfeline5 - (United States of America)
I think you had every right to be upset and it is really good that you took pictures and did research to support your claims of incorrect installation.
I think the company should at be commended for at least doing the job right, even if it was the second time. The owner who wrote the comment can't really say that the Hispanic man did not say rude things, 'bad english' is a handy excuse ; rudeness to the customer is not acceptable.
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#10 REBUTTAL Owner of company
NOT a rip-off, just a mistake.
AUTHOR: Meineke - (USA)
I really appreciate it when customers bring complaints to our attention. We don't get many, but it gives us an opportunity to fine-tune the way we do things by providing training and coaching where necessary. But, please read on to discover several things we did at the shop that Frank did not mention.
First of all, I'd like to point out that Frank (the author of the complaint) did NOT speak with Rafael, but with John, the Operations Manager, so I'm not really sure how you got Rafael's name. Nevertheless, most of Frank's complaint is accurate as far as I can corroborate. I completely understand Frank's frustration and anger with this situation and I probably would have felt the same way. However, we appreciate that Frank allowed us to fix the problem to HIS satisfaction. I am the kind of person that understands that mistakes will be made. But I want to see how the mistake will be corrected to determine if I will ever patronize a location again. We certainly hope Frank has the same attitude.
Here is how the mistake happened: As mentioned, the fuel line was damaged and leaking fuel. As you can surmise, this type of thing doesn't happen very often (can you imagine the public outrage if it did?). Although the techs have replaced and even hand-made fuel lines before, they had not installed one in this vehicle before. The mistake was that the tech installed this line from front to back (remember, this is about a 10-foot long hard metal line with several bends in it). In doing so, the line did not fit quite right and had to be adjusted to get clearance from the exhaust manifold. We did not find out until later that Frank had removed the engine cover and placed it in the trunk. The cover provides for the fuel line's protection. Nevertheless, the installation was poorly done and Frank was not happy with it. I do not blame him. (And yes, it was an OEM part, not an aftermarket part. If we really wanted to save money on our cost we would have made the line by hand)
Now, as Hans mentioned, it is not uncommon for us to have to adjust these types of hard metal lines to fit. We especially see it with fuel lines and exhaust components. After 10 years of being on the road things might shift and sag. While an existing component will conform to these minor changes, a NEW piece won't fit just right. Even though Hans was explaining a truth about some of these components, I don't believe it really applied here. The tech accepted a poor installation as the best he could do under the circumstances. This is NOT how we do business and we are very displeased that this happened.
So, what happens next? We purchase another line (out of our own pocket) and install it from back to front, making for a better fit. To make amends, we send the vehicle to the Wash Tub across the street to have the car detailed (again, out of our pocket). It turns out that the trash Frank found under his seat was from the Wash Tub (who else uses Q-tips?), and NOT retaliation by the techs. We have many of our client's vehicles detailed there and we have not had this problem before with them, but will certainly inform them of this situation.
Lastly, I'd like to point out that marking up parts is how ALL retailers make money. Frank makes it seem as though this is some sort of injustice and completely wrong. It is no secret that repair shops make money on marking up parts and on labor. You better believe that if you are getting a part close to the wholesale cost, then you are paying a steeper price for labor. Every shop has a formula for calculating the balance between parts and labor to arrive at a final price that is more or less equal to the market rate for that particular job. Additionally, the mark-up rate is different depending on the job as well. Our mark-up for an oil and filter change, for example, is about $1.25 total. We actually take a loss on this job type to attract new clientele (when you consider labor and overhead).
I priced this job today and Frank could have had his fuel line replaced at Ancira Chevrolet for $625. On the other hand, he could have bought the part himself and taken it to one of those places that installs your own parts and paid a total of about $250. However, those places do not warranty anything when you bring your parts in. What if they made the same mistake installing the line and damaged it? They would tell you that the line had to be adjusted to fit and that you still owed them for the labor, even if the part got damaged (just look up their reviews online and you will see that I'm telling you the truth). We are not the cheapest place in town nor the most expensive. However, we guarantee our work.
As far as how Frank was treated, I'm sure it could have been better. Hans did admit to a frustrated tone in reply to his frustration. That's just unprofessional and he has been counseled about it. The Hispanic guy Frank mentions is really the nicest guy on earth. Believe me when I tell you that his English is not good at all. What Frank heard may not be what he intended.
In the end, Frank left our store happy with the final repair. We apologized profusely for the inconvenience and we fixed our mistake. We detailed his vehicle in an attempt to go above and beyond. We were honest with Frank about the parts used and even showed him our invoice to show him our cost and to prove that it was an OEM part.
Yes, mistakes happen. But I hope that anyone reading this will believe that we care, that we will work hard to fix our mistakes, we are honest, and we will go above and beyond to make amends.
Thanks for reading.
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0.227913 | <urn:uuid:b7d6a2f8-56ea-49d5-a8a0-3b5d1727b7bd> | en | 0.959027 | If you had to guess how much money you could put aside this month, you'd probably think about your bills, the upcoming holidays, your cousin's imminent baby shower and sigh: "Maybe an extra $50?" Why is it that saving seems to come so easily for some of us and not others? It appears that there's a key difference between so-called tightwads and spendthrifts. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh have found that those in the first group find spending physically painful, which helps them hang on to their cash, whereas more profligate types focus on the pleasure of their purchases. At SELF, we don't think that spending or saving needs to hurt, which is why we've come up with a list of 10 inspired strategies to help you sock away an impressive $656 a month, starting right now, without undue consumption of ramen noodles or having to stay home every night, texting your friends by candlelight.
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0.025876 | <urn:uuid:510a75d6-f30a-48ed-a004-d13eb9aa64e5> | en | 0.945614 | 1. dino moxi
dino moxi edited the summary of The Man Who Loved Books Too Much Monday, July 4, 2011.
• The Man Who Loved Books Too Much, Is a True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession.
The man is John Gilkey, a serial stealer of books who, in one six-month period alone, purloined $100,000 worth of rare titles, normally by paying with dud cheques or using credit card numbers from receipts he acquired while working at Saks in San Francisco; the goal is to assemble "a vast rare books collection <as> the ultimate expression of his identity", and having to steal them only adds to the sport. His would-be nemesis is Ken Sanders, an irascible dealer who as security chief for a booksellers' body becomes a self-styled "bibliodick", seeing Gilkey as Moriarty to his Holmes; shuttling between them enables the author to detail Gilkey's four-year thieving spree and trace how Sanders finally got his man. Bartlett's model is clearly Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief, another study of obsession, and she is similarly deft in using a tale of crime as a portal into a curious subculture. Both men, she recognises, mirror her: Sanders as a sleuth, Gilkey as an avid collector of stories. Is she, too, guilty of theft, she asks herself, in taking his?
( see dino moxi’s edits | report abuse )
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0.064591 | <urn:uuid:e7b03a40-4081-457d-8860-aaa625b2794a> | en | 0.939567 | Soccer's dual market pulls in 2.6 Million average viewers
Both platforms (ESPN, Univision) that showed the match had their highest ratings ever for a World Cup Qualifier not involving Mexico.
Showing the United States v Panama after Mexico's qualifier is quality lead-in programming and a savvy decision that led to decent ratings for ESPN (0.8 rating, 1.4M viewers) and for Uni Mas (1.2M viewers), but is the combination that should remind advertisers, TV executives and soccer promoters that the demographics for soccer are both uniquely dual and valuable. The media markets that got those eyeballs on ESPN are also an example;
San Diego was the top market for the match telecast, delivering a 2.5 rating. Rounding out the top five were: Seattle-Tacoma, Wash. (2.5), Baltimore (2.1), Hartford-New Haven, Conn., (1.9), and Nashville (1.9).
The combined 2.6 Million average viewer number is just outside of the broadcast networks' prime time viewership, while half the country did not experience the match during prime time. ESPN coverage of the match on its own was the 10th most watched show on cable for the evening. The combined viewership would place the match at seventh most viewers that night for cable only and about 20th overall (including Spanish language non-sports).
Those are not NBA numbers (14 Million, lead the night). They are for a nationalistic event with strong lead programming and have little relationship to league matches for MLS, EPL or Liga MX. Instead they are just reminder that soccer is loved in this country. Part of it is by a somewhat hidden and growing demographic - the Spanish language sports fan. Tapping that for non-nationalistic soccer matches would be a key revenue expansion for MLS.
It is part of why Chivas USA exists. It why Miami is short-listed, particularly when it includes a Latino billionaire as one of the owners. It is why the SuperLiga existed and why the quest to catch Liga MX quality in the CCL is so important. It is why there is an MLS game of the week on a Univision property.
MLS has recognized the dual demographic nature of the American soccer fan. Tuesday night's qualifier against Panama is another reminder. Maybe those ratings numbers show that bringing some of the Latin-American talent back from Liga MX into MLS can help bring new eyeballs to a league with ambitious quality goals.
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| http://www.sounderatheart.com/2013/6/12/4424738/usa-panama-ratings-espn-unimas-soccer-tv | dclm-gs1-242660002 | false | false | {
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0.018996 | <urn:uuid:3a0555b3-dbdf-4b36-96e6-5b5eac9864ac> | en | 0.897312 | St. Clair Software
Default Folder X FAQ
Here are some questions and problems that people often encounter when using Default Folder X.
Before consulting this list, please check to make sure you are running the latest version, which is Default Folder X 4.6.1. If you need an update, you can get one by clicking on the download link in the right margin of this page. If you have a problem that is not addressed here or feel a question should be here but isn't, please send mail to
General Questions
Default Folder X Compatibility
General Questions
What applications does Default Folder X support?
Default Folder X enhances the Open and Save dialogs in both Carbon and Cocoa applications, so it should appear in all OS X-native applications. It cannot enhance non-native Java applications, however, because they do not use the standard OS X file dialogs. For more on compatibility, see below.
Is Default Folder X a 64-bit application?
Default Folder X is a combination of 64-bit and 32-bit code. This is necessary in order to enhance the Open and Save dialogs in all Carbon and Cocoa applications in both 32 and 64 bit mode. It should appear in all OS X-native applications. For more on compatibility, see below.
Does Default Folder X patch my system?
Default Folder X does not patch Mac OS X, but it does extend individual applications when they are launched. This means that Default Folder X loads a small piece of program code into each application's memory space (in RAM) so that it can communicate with Navigation Services, the OS X service that provides the Open and Save dialogs. Default Folder does not make any changes to your application or system files. Simply turning off Default Folder X or removing it from your system will completely remove it and all of its effects.
Default Folder X has been carefully designed and tested, but there is still a possibility that it may cause undesirable behavior or instability in an application. Fortunately, the robust design of Mac OS X isolates those effects to the application that is affected - Default Folder X cannot crash Mac OS X itself.
If you do encounter problems, please let us know at We try our best to make sure that our products work seamlessly with the applications you need.
Can Default Folder X make "Replace" the default button in the "Are you sure you want to replace that file?" alert?
This was never added to Default Folder X because you can press Command-R to activate the "Replace" button in those alerts. We didn't think it was worth the potential compatibility problems to provide a redundant feature.
Can I rename folders in Default Folder X's Favorites menu?
We plan on adding this feature to Default Folder X's preferences in a future release, but you can use the following workaround to do it now:
In the Advanced tab of your Default Folder X preferences, turn on "Create aliases of Recent Folders and Favorites in your Library folder". Use a file dialog once to make sure the aliases get created. Now go to HOME/Library/Favorites/ and rename the aliases for the folders that you want to rename. Default Folder X will rename the Favorites in its menu with those names the next time you use a file dialog.
How do I uninstall Default Folder X?
To delete Default Folder X, just run the installer again and click on the Uninstall button. If you no longer have the installer, you can download it from
Alternately, you can just remove these files (HOME refers to your home folder):
HOME/Library/PreferencePanes/Default Folder X.prefPane
/Library/ScriptingAdditions/Default Folder X Addition.osax
Default Folder X Compatibility
Does Default Folder X work with Mavericks?
Yes it does. But please make sure you're running the latest version of Default Folder X, as earlier versions did have issues with Mavericks.
What version of Default Folder X do I need?
For most users, we strongly recommend the latest version of Default Folder X, 4.6. It works correctly in Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) , 10.7 (Lion), 10.8 (Mountain Lion) and 10.9 (Mavericks). If you are still using Mac OS 10.5 or have a PowerPC Mac, you'll need to download Default Folder X 4.5.12.
How do I delete my preference file? Default Folder X is crashing, behaving strangely, or is causing other applications to crash.
This is almost always caused by damage to Default Folder X's preference file. Please download and run this AppleScript:
The script will take care of quitting Default Folder X, resetting your preferences, and then starting Default Folder X back up again. Please note that you'll need to set up your preferences again and re-enter your registration code after doing this.
When an Open or Save dialog appears, my entire screen turns gray. How do I stop this?
What you're seeing is part of Default Folder X's "Finder-click" feature.
Whenever you move the mouse over a Finder window, Default Folder X draws a gray shadow over the window. This shows you that clicking on the window will switch to that folder in the file dialog.
There's an option in your Default Folder X preferences called "Choose the Desktop for all other clicks outside a file dialog." This makes Default Folder X treat the entire screen as a window showing the Desktop, so it grays out the entire screen to show you that clicking there will do something. Turning off this option will stop the screen from turning gray. Alternately, you can turn off "Show gray outlines of Finder windows when the mouse passes over them" if you prefer to keep the behavior but don't want the visual effect.
There's a file in my Trash called 'Default Folder X Addition.osax' and it can't be deleted when I empty my Trash.
The short answer: Restart your Mac.
The longer answer: Whenever you install a new version of Default Folder X, the old one is moved to the Trash. The Default Folder X Addition.osax file is part of Default Folder X. The problem is, as a scripting addition, this component gets loaded into each application when that application is launched. It stays in use - and therefore can't be deleted - until all applications that have loaded it have been quit. Since this includes the Finder, it means that you effectively need to log out or restart before you'll be able to delete it from your Trash.
Default Folder X will also move its scripting addition to the Trash and install a new copy of it whenever you upgrade OS X. It does this to make certain that the scripting addition you have is compatible with the version of OS X you're running (different versions of OS X require different scripting additions). So you may run into this situation after installing an OS X update or upgrade.
Unfortunately, there isn't anything we can do to avoid this annoyance - it's part of the way OS X works.
The Default Folder X toolbar and windows all flash repeatedly whenever I use an Open or Save dialog.
You're probably running Spirited Away. That flashing is Spirited Away trying to repeatedly hide Default Folder X and Default Folder X insisting that it remain visible when you need it. Change your Spirited Away preferences so it ignores Default Folder X and the flashing will stop.
Weird things are happening in Mail, Xcode or some other application and I HAVE A LOGITECH MOUSE
Logitech's software includes a scripting addition called LCC Scroll Enhancer Loader that causes problems in numerous applications. Default Folder X makes these problems more visible because it tells OS X to load scripting additions into all applications as soon as they launch, so the LCC Scroll Enhancer is running in all of your apps, even if you're not using AppleScript.
To fix this problem, do the following:
1. In the Finder, go to the folder /Library/ScriptingAdditions/
2. Locate the LCC Scroll Enhancer Loader.osax file.
3. Throw LCC Scroll Enhancer Loader.osax in the Trash
4. Quit and relaunch any applications in which you've been having problems
Doing this does not appear to affect the operation of Logitech mice and will definitely get rid of some annoying bugs if you use Apple's Mail or Xcode. It may also clear up problems in other applications.
When Default Folder X switches to a new folder, it takes me to the folder that contains the one I asked for.
This most often happens when switching to a folder that resides on a file server or other external disk. To fix the problem, do the following:
1. Unmount the problem disk by dragging it to the Trash.
2. Go to any open window in the Finder and press cmd-shift-G.
3. Type in "/Volumes" and click th OK button.
4. You should see a folder with aliases for all of your drives. Throw any aliases to the problem disk or server in the Trash.
5. Log back in to the server or mount the external disk you dragged to the Trash in step #1.
Default Folder X should now take you to the right folder when you select one from a menu or click on one in a Finder window.
I have installed Default Folder X for all users on my machine, but it will not run for users configured with limitations.
If you set limitations on a user account so that a user can only run certain applications, you must add the Default Folder X background applications to the list so that they can be run at startup. To do this, take the following steps:
1. In the Finder, locate Default Folder X.prefPane (I assume you have it installed for all users by putting it in /Library/PreferencePanes).
2. Once you have located it, control-click on the Default Folder X.prefPane file and choose "Show Package Contents" from the popup menu.
3. When the contents window opens, open the "Contents" folder, then the "Resources" folder within it. You will see two applications, "Default Folder X" and "Default Folder X Helper".
4. Open System Preferences, choose the Accounts preferences, and select the desired user and go to the Startup Items tab.
5. Drag the two Default Folder X applications into the application list and turn on the checkboxes to give the user permission to run them.
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© 1996-2013 St. Clair Software | http://www.stclairsoft.com/DefaultFolderX/faq.html | dclm-gs1-242690002 | false | true | {
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0.146976 | <urn:uuid:a8ff1924-5f64-4a12-a065-ebd16ee3536f> | en | 0.951626 |
Infinite Loop (nothing to do with Nvidia...)
Discussion in 'The Alternative OS' started by Vehementi, May 29, 2002.
1. Vehementi TechSpot Paladin Posts: 3,199
Ok. So.
I was forced to install Red Hat 7.2 Linux on a different computer than I'm actually going to be running it on, due to my computer now that has dead PS/2 slots. So, I move the hard drive I want Linux to be installed on over to the computer I was going to use to install it. Installation goes without a hitch, and I get to the actual GUI on that computer.
I may just be the dumbest person to ever install Linux.
So I moved it (hard drive) over to the computer I'm going to be using Linux on. Boots up w/o a problem, then I get to the Red Hat screen, where I select what OS I want to load. Naturally, there's only Red Hat. But of course, I'm using a USB keyboard, and it doesn't detect it. Luckily, it automatically booted the selected OS, which was Red Hat. The first 15-20 lines of the loading process appear, and then a line that says "Uncompressing Linux..." or something of the like appears, and then some text appears beyond that. Problem is, I don't have time to read the text (I actually caught OK at the beginning) because my computer reboots right then and there. It keeps doing this, over and over until I shut down my computer.
This is very aggravating. There has to be a solution somewhere. Or, am I out of luck? :(
2. SNGX1275 TS Special Forces Posts: 12,029 +146
3. Vehementi TechSpot Paladin Posts: 3,199
Well, Phat had the same exact problem as me. Except he had a working keyboard and mouse, which I don't.
I need to know if there's something that I can add to a file on my other computer to fix this.
4. Nodsu Newcomer, in training Posts: 9,431
You'll need to turn off 'Plug and play OS' and enable USB keyboard in BIOS.
5. Vehementi TechSpot Paladin Posts: 3,199
Just reinstalled it w/ a working keyboard...thanks Nodsu! | http://www.techspot.com/community/topics/infinite-loop-nothing-to-do-with-nvidia.1682/ | dclm-gs1-242800002 | false | false | {
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0.019419 | <urn:uuid:d7baab9c-3acc-4e0c-852c-3ec61aaab214> | en | 0.95431 | View Full Version : Replacement bathtub for 60x30 alcove
04-24-2011, 07:54 PM
I'm renovating my 1955 bungalow's main bathroom. I removed the brown cast iron tub, and I'm looking for a replacement. The alcove is 60" x 30". I'm trying to find the deepest tub possible for the space. I bought an Aquatic Gelcoat fiberglass tub from HD. I pulled it out of the box, and found that the tiling flange is cracked on one side and therefore this tub is going back tomorrrow.
I'm a little leery of the fiberglass tubs now, seeing how brittle that flange was. I was looking at the Sterling tubs at HD, that are made of a material called vikrell, but I can't find any reviews of them. Americast seems like another good option as well.
I've done a lot of DIY work over the years, but never installed a tub. I plan to tile above the tub with a Kerdi waterproofing solution.
Any thoughts? We're not looking for the cheapest tub, but also not the most expensive. We plan to sell within a year or two.
04-25-2011, 01:28 AM
Vikrell or Americast is fine.
The Americast may have better resale value though.
04-25-2011, 07:16 AM
NOrmally a 30" tub is going to be 14" high. When you get to 16" high, then they are usually 32" wide.
You can get an Americast tub that is 60x30x17.5 or their Princeton which is 60x30x14
04-25-2011, 01:21 PM
Vikrell or Americast is fine.
The Americast may have better resale value though.
Do the Vikrell tubs require a mortar bed underneath? I've read mixed things about the Americast tubs needing (or prohibiting) a mortar bed for support.
04-25-2011, 03:01 PM
Vikrell doesn't need mortar, but then neither does Americast. However, any tub except cast iron can be improved with mortar.
If you install Americast, just sandwich some bisqueen between the mortar and the tub.
05-10-2011, 06:49 PM
Trying to install my Americast tub. The floor underneath the tub is about 3/4" lower on the left-hand side (drain side) than the right-hand side. I have to shim the tub about 3/4" to allow the tub to sit perfectly flat on my ledger board.
I was planning to do a mortar bed for this tub regardless of the floor level issue. Do I need to shim the floor at all? Or should the mortar bed just take care of this?
What's the recommended way to install the tub after the mortar? I was thinking I can put some 2x4's on top of the floor and slide the tub on those, then pull out the 2x4's. This way I get a solid bond with the mortar.
05-10-2011, 07:05 PM
I use a few piles of mortar, and allow the weight of the tub to squish the piles down. You don't have a lot of time for this, it sets up quickly.
With Americast, I normally just lift it up and set it down on the ledger board, making sure it's shimmed to level on the apron.
05-10-2011, 07:30 PM
So put down the plastic, then piles of mortar, then another layer of plastic. Try to drop the tub vertically on top of the mortar to squish it down, and level it before it starts to setup.
Few more questions:
1) Is it necessary that the tub apron be supported? Do I need to shim continuously to support the apron? Or is the mortar enough to support it?
2) I was planning to use deck mud (same stuff you build shower bases with). Seem OK?
05-10-2011, 07:46 PM
I would try to support at least part of the apron.
For the most part, the mortar should help support, but you do want the apron supported too.
3/4" in five feet. That's a lot, but I've seen others with that too. It's a good thing that you're catching it now. It will make it easier to tile.
05-10-2011, 08:10 PM
Yes, it would have made the tile much harder to do. The tub is now dry-fitted once again after I removed the 1/2" plywood from under the tub that I put down over the entire floor. I only have 1/4" gap now at the lowest point, which will be easily covered up by the Ditra and tile. I will cut some 1/2" and 1/4" lengths of wood, and try to support the apron as much as I can.
I was just practicing being able to level the tub, tilt it up in-place, and let it back down again. I can get the tub back to level within a few minutes, so I should be able to set it in the mortar with enough time.
The next issue appears to be with centering the tub in the alcove, which seems to be closer to 60 1/4" instead of 60 1/8" wide. There seems to be at least 1/8"+ of wiggle room from right to left. I have to match 3/4" thickness of the old plaster. With the old tub, they used 3/8" plaster board strips along the studs to shim the wall, and then 3/8" plasterboard on top of that to make 3/4".
I was planning to shim with 1/4" wood and then use 1/2" durock. With 1/4" strips of wood, the tub flange is just proud of the wood. I was thinking of chiseling out a little bit of the durock, in order to take into account this, and allow the durock to be perfectly flat. Essentially, it would be like cutting a rabbet 1/8" deep to clear the tub flange. Is that a good idea or not?
Sorry for all the questions...this is my first tub/tile job, and I'll be fine once I can move forward here. | http://www.terrylove.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-41507.html?s=8ad60fddd8310d12c6673a49843e62ba | dclm-gs1-242810002 | false | false | {
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0.064393 | <urn:uuid:0066ed55-219d-4621-ae81-e6a4c2bf5730> | en | 0.960847 | *Circus Announcer's Voice*
Welcome all to Elricbrothersfan's Blog! Just in case you were wondering, I'm Elricbrothersfan! Ha ha ha ha! This is my blog!
*Back to regular voice*
Yep. Kinda hope that was obvious and went without saying, but it's always nice to have it in writing.
Here's a little bit about myself:
Nickname(s): Elricbrothersfan, Elricz, Elri, El, Elricbros, Al, Elly, Anna (my IRL nickname that I forgot to add) (the list just keeps on growing, but I don't mind!)
Gender: female (Would all pervs please leave now. I don't want to have to start transmuting little prison cells all over the place here.)
Likes: Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (duh, that's why my screen name is Elricbrothersfan), Ouran High School Host Club, Naoki Urasawa's Monster, the Pokémon franchise, Soul Eater, crocheting, knitting, reading, friends, taking quizzes, anime and manga in general, making my own cosplay outfits (sorry, no pics), and it goes on...
Dislikes: pervs, slow internet connections (I regularly smack my laptop when it freezes up, aka all the time), preps (only because they're so... perfect, and I don't even compare), dogs that bark too much at all hours of the night and day (including my own adorable furballs), brussels sprouts (doesn't everyone hate them?)
TheO Friends (aka those that I have chatted with at some point and either subscribe to me, I subscribe to, or both/all, in no particular order): Keba Si Rota, Viollet, Spectre, IJNeptune, pandabearluv, sasusaku 4ever, dragonseiryuka, Blindloverr713, ultramaniaclover, Immortal Queen, TheDarkEclipse, AnnieSquiggle, FrAiSe TaRte, Strawhats Luffy, copycatkid, Manga Kid, chichi6, fuko chan, zxJohnFanime91xz, Inphinity, DemonsandAngels, Zuzu Uchiha, raven1995, somegirl, moletta, Angel, willotaku, fanglord, Linku-kun, infinatelove42, 36inc, sweetboy96
Enemies: none other than my laptop, and if you read above you'd know why
Cosplay: Edward Elric (Which, technically, is crossplay, plus I'm not blond, so... yeah, it was weird), currently growing my hair out to do a Conqueror of Shamballa version of Alphonse (I'm too frugal to buy a wig, plus my hair's just the right color, haha).
~Elricz (It's me, so don't freak out and think someone stole my blog! I listed Elricz as one of my nicknames so... read and don't freak. Which almost rhymes.)
Some of my favorite quotes:
"When I was a kid, I said to my father one afternoon, 'Daddy, will you take me to the zoo' He answered, 'If the zoo wants you, let them come and get you.'" ~Jerry Lewis
"一期一会" (Ichigoichie, each moment only once) ~Japanese Proverb
"He who laughs first, laughs last." ~ French proverb
"I don't know how to deal with [...]" ~ Crona from Soul Eater
Okay, there are more, but I can't remember where I got them from. So I'll add them later.
Chibi Fullmetal Alchemist Set... FMA Chibiness to the max!
View Count: 6008 HOLY frack... I hit 6,000! Thanks, guys!!
(edit 2) Went a little psycho there...
I've already succumbed to the pressure of English and Global studies... I'm a horrible person... my dad was asking me about the syllabus which has some things in it that he didn't like (some R rated clips and something about videotaping classes), and I was like, "You can sign it now (it's a homework grade, I have to turn it in tomorrow), just write a note like it says you can and then you can talk with the teacher later. I need it or I'll get a zero," and my grandma asks me about it and I tell her exactly the same thing *shouting at that point, I'm so stressed* and I begged her to let me go study for the COMC test that I'm practically pulling my hair out at... aklskldlskdl my dad might take me out of Global Studies 2 Honors and it makes me mad because I want to be challenged, I need this challenge because I've never had work this hard before and need to know what my limits are, and if he goes and takes me out it'll feel like I failed myself... I just really wanna cry right now, I don't know what to do... AADSLKDNGOIDSOISNGOIDSOISDS
Ignore the rantings of a stressed teen who's getting her butt handed to her tenfold... I'm just being a baby about it really *slaps self* I need to get a grip fast or I'm gonna lose it.
Edit: I'M SUCH A HORRIBLE PERSON... my grandma made me muffins to cheer me up... freaking MUFFINS... I LOVE MUFFINS... and all I've been doing all night is freaking out and getting an attitude and I AM A HORRIBLE PERSON... BAKABAKABAKABAKABAKA
Edit 2: I ate a muffin... a baby banana nut muffin in a little baby muffin paper cup... that made me feel better. It was so cute and small, I almost felt bad eating it. But I talked to my grandma and now I feel a lot better.
*dies in the corner*
That was one of the... ughhhh... days of school ever.
Algebra 3 CP was kinda fun; we got to play with toy cars to create probability scatter plots.
Global Studies 2 Honors... we have to write two full front/back pages of notes on a chapter from this book... and the stupid PDF is sideways because of the way the book was scanned. *dad performs PDF magic to make it so I can read it* And I have class with a couple of my friends, yay including the guy I had a crush on last year ORZ he's still as goofy as ever.
English 2 Honors... sucked I have a 34 question multiple choice test on the Count of Monte Cristo tomorrow and I'm SCARED OUTTA MY MIND. I mean, I read the book, but still... and Friday we have an in-class essay that's also part of the test. *crawls into a corner* The aforementioned friend didn't read the abridged version, sucks for him... no not really, I tried to help him and told him about cliffsnotes.com, which has a good summary he can read so he may or may not fail the test. BAKAAAAAA
Journalism looks fun... maybe. But the syllabus had so many spelling errors... bad omen.
Art, I actually have with my *freshman* cousin, and a girl from church who is really nice :) so that will be fun-ish. OOH! My cousin's actually talking to me and being nice, so that is a very good sign!
Dance 2... same old same old group of silly girls being silly... I almost fell over today, I was laughing so hard cuz we were playing the name game... *highlight of the day* that's the only class I'm not worried about, even though Imma be really sore soon, cuz it's at the end of the day.
I didn't get home till 5 cuz the bus was so overcrowded, the driver had to leave the kids at my stop behind, take care of the kids at the first few stops going home, then come back to school and pick us up :( I tried studying for the test, but it was so hot I couldn't muster the energy.
Then I come home, tell my grandma about my first day, change into my old PE clothes to get out of my *black* pants and kinda sweaty shirt, collapse onto a chair after eating a few Oreos and milk, then wait till my dad got home before we could eat dinner.
Now if you'll excuse me... I has studying to do.
BTW, TBH I just might cancel plothole #5 and double up next week... I don't think I'm gonna have time tomorrow with all the studying for Friday's test-ssay.
*dies in the corner*
Thanks to ye who wished me good luck (either yesterday or before that)... I think it would've been worse if y'all hadn't been so nice *gets death stare from grandma who prayed for me* and my granny too!
Back to the 'Ole Grind
Well... tomorrow is the first day of school... wish me luck!
I'm still kinda scared about English and Global Studies (scary, scary teachers and scary, scary, SCARY tests), but I think I'll be alright.
Shipping off to bed waay early (like 10:15 lol) cuz i know it's gonna take me at least a half hour or more to fall asleep. (Normal bedtime = 11 pm)
My tummy's already doing somersaults lawl, so hopefully I'll be able to eat something in the morning. (Oh and BTW, for anyone who cares, when I saw my cousin the other night she confirmed she's going to my school, and she'll be riding the bus with me, if I didn't already mention that.)
Guess that's g'nite... Wednesday Wisdom will proceed as usual, though it might be a special Back To School Edition! *just thought of this now* *shot*
First Public Appearance!
I failed to mention I saw a bunch of my friends* last night at a Peer Ministry meeting... akldhslkdsjlks I don't know how I forgot them... *is a terrible friend*
Anyways, we had Mass before the meeting (a new weekly mass right before the Youth Ministry nights, so it can lead right into it, though the kickoff isn't till this Sunday) and I saw a few of my friends. Afterwards I got a lot of compliments *terrible at taking compliments* about how the style suited me, looked really cute, couldn't believe I'd gotten it cut at GreatClips, other girls were thinking about going short like I did, etc... even one guy's mom complimented me on how I had a new glow about me. Think: Like, what?! I cut all my hair off... are you sure it's not the fact that more light gets to my face?!
So to me it was like this:
Self-Confidence: Plus 1,000,000,000... You have attained UltraMegaSuperSelfConfidence! You are now ready for sophomore year!
ORZ I'm bad at receiving compliments... I usually don't get any from anyone cuz I'm an ugly duckling so when I do get one, I don't know how to respond other than "Uhh, thanks(?)."
So... yeah... and I also saw my cousin and aunt at Target, and they liked it too *more compliments OTL* so the first day will definitely be interesting (if I see any of my friends, that is).
*Not a single person had an "OMG" face, so I thought nobody recognized me...
My tumblr... is elric-chan.tumblr.com.
OHMAHGEE what did I just do...?
I don't even understand how tumblr works... but apparently everyone nowadays has a tumblr... so yeah.
Edit: If you have a tumblr, comment with the URL or whatever I need to find you and I'll follow you. Im such a stalker lol And now the link should work. | http://www.theotaku.com/worlds/elricbrothersfanblog/?type_id=&media=&format=&page=9 | dclm-gs1-242920002 | false | false | {
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0.054193 | <urn:uuid:42c65b60-20fc-4601-abd1-f908c33dc2ef> | en | 0.965455 | Subscribe Feedback English
look up any word, like cenosillicaphobia:
a girl with some dope dance moves. one who is one with their inner dance. one that knows 1337 enough to write songs in it. a female version of a pufftron she puffs her hair in way that muffs the compitation.
Megan was dancing to the dope ass song while pointing and saying "EYYYY" as her puffy hair swayed in the wind just like a real mufftron does.
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0.97495 | <urn:uuid:8b105022-556b-46bc-afa7-e2fb5a182a2e> | en | 0.918257 | Subscribe Feedback English
look up any word, like cenosillicaphobia:
1. percasets disease
Percasets Disease causes mild-severe retardation. It is caused by placing chewing gum in your mouth and not chewing it.
Dude have you ever put a piece of gum in your mouth and forget to chew it?
yea, why?
Shit, i heard that gives you percasets disease. You better get that checked out!
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0.018515 | <urn:uuid:facab7db-dc44-44a1-ae7a-e300842d7957> | en | 0.940736 | Reply to a comment
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JimmyM writes:
I’m confused. The No on Prop 23 people tell us converting to green energy will reduce pollution. I don’t know anybody who doesn’t think that reducing pollution is a good idea. They tell us that converting to green energy is going to expand the economy provide more jobs. Again great ideas that everyone supports. They tell us that by converting to green energy we are all going to save money. Now I know that we all want to save money. So then why do we need a law like AB 32 that forces us to convert to green energy? Could it be that somebody is lying?
Now here is the truth, Green energy costs more-A LOT MORE- then traditional energy sources. AB 32 will force you, me and everyone else in this state (and ONLY this state) to buy this more expensive energy. This added cost will drive businesses and jobs out of California. VOTE YES ON PROP 23.
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cassandra9 writes:
in response to Piru_T:
This story is a fraud in itself, and is more about the war being waged the Enviroleftists with full blessings of their Democrat buddies in Sacramento and of course DC against the Oil Industry as a whole, rather than truth or fact.
Hydronic fracturing "Water Flood" has been used offshore and inshore for over 40 years.
This is nothing new!!
If I was to say that Agriculture and Densely Populated Metropolitan areas and to some extent Urban Sprawl was many, many, many times the threat to our oceans and environment I would be absolutely correct.
There are no known dangers from offshore fracking and while putting a microscope on an industry that in truth has a net positive on the health of the worlds oceans, especially here off the coast of California.
To continually cite the worst case scenarios such as Platform A in the late 60's which while bad when it happened had very little long term effects, however the effects of a 3 heavily populated metropolitan areas and agriculture has had devastating effects to marine life and the oceans health, which is the 1000 lb Gorilla in the room, not the mouse in the cage aka Offshore Oil.
In spite of all of the pressures man has place upon our local offshore waters, the overall health considering the gross misdeeds we have "All" done to our local waters over time is not bad at all, especially in comparison to what we have created in the South China Sea and Indian Oceans for the sake of Enviroleftist policies here in the US and Europe, which have forced our industrial complex overseas where no consideration or regulation of ocean pollution exists.
This gives a worldwide meaning to NIMBYism !!
I challenge any of you Enviroleftists to refute anything that I have written !
Why would anyone bother to challenge your parroting of industry talking points, cherry picked incidents, and bizarre spins.
Forcing our industry overseas, oh, yeah, leftists did that. Allowed industries to get a tax break for exploiting cheaper labor and bad environmental policy overseas, did we? Lobbied international confabs on climate change not to be too hard on the economy, did we?
Goodness, the oil industry is not as bad as it could be, not like ag. which is really bad because it has fossil fuel (pesticides and fertilizer) runoff spilling into the ocean, so let's give the oil industry a chance to be really bad cause that will solve the problem.
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0.027914 | <urn:uuid:32001a00-6743-4c3f-9db6-2607612d5bba> | en | 0.969685 | Flint RiverQuarium employees prepare for Gulf Coast Rescue - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports
RiverQuarium employees prepare for Gulf Coast Rescue
Posted: Updated:
By Tayleigh Davis - bio | email
ALBANY, GA (WALB) - A crew from Albany is still waiting for the "okay" to head down to the Gulf Coast to help save wildlife. That team includes a bird specialist at the Flint RiverQuarium who has experience removing oil from birds.
It's feeding time at the Flint RiverQuarium. I even got acquainted with a little blue jay who must have thought my camera was a tree. Bird specialist Amanda Barber will volunteer her time to save birds in the Gulf, including species at the RiverQuarium such as the Blue Heron, ducks, and Egrets.
"This isn't going to go away in a week and every bird you see when you go to the beach is in trouble," Barber said. "Every bird you see out even in the ponds-they're in trouble."
She understands oil stops them from being waterproof which means they lose insulation. They could even become overheated or chilled.
"If that oil seeps in, they're getting it all over their legs, they're getting it on their face as they try to get fish which are now oil covered."
That's one reason they use Pepto-Bismol to clear the birds' digestive tracts. Barber says out of all the birds rescued only half will likely survive, not to mention other wildlife including alligators and turtles. As a wildlife volunteer, she understands the reality that an everyday citizen volunteer may not.
"They're thinking they can go down there and save every animal and bring it back to health and release it, honestly that's not how it's going to be at all."
Barber and her group aren't sure what to expect, but they're preparing for the worst. Barber has experience removing oil from a swan that got covered in oil last fall.
Education Manager Melissa Martin will accompany Barber to the coast. Even if a whole generation of birds is at risk, her focus is on preservation.
"Conservation is very important and we want to have those animals available for the next generation to see," Martin said.
Whether the birds are in captivity or in the wild, their goal is to save as many lives as they can. Barber and other group members are waiting for clearance from the disaster Unified Command Center before they head to the Gulf Coast. First, they must receive hazmat training, and they're looking for a center in the Albany area. Learn more about the threats the oil leak poses to wildlife in the Gulf Coast region.
©2010 WALB News. All rights reserved. Feedback | http://www.walb.com/global/Story.asp?s=12420378 | dclm-gs1-243150002 | false | false | {
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0.02252 | <urn:uuid:2cc0ed4f-c72f-4bf9-ab5f-7846807a5f63> | en | 0.95107 | Ten Miles Square
March 14, 2012 8:00 AM Mississippi, Alabama, and More — and, Newt Sees Conspiracies
By Jonathan Bernstein
If we stay on the same path, Romney is going to be the nominee unless some external unpredictable major shock happens, but this part of the fight will continue for at least a while.
So I want to talk about Newt Gingrich’s message just a bit. Newt’s basically peddling a conspiracy theory: the “elite media” (whatever that is) and the GOP establishment have conspired to select a “Massachusetts moderate,” but ordinary grass roots Republicans like him with his ordinary grass roots money and his outsider history are going to stop them. Now, put aside how silly it is that a guy propped up with Super PAC money is going around bragging about his small donors, or how the former Speaker who has lived in the Washington DC area for over thirty years is claiming to be an outsider, but consider the message.
Isn’t it, as someone might say, profoundly and fundamentally dangerous to the GOP? He’s basically saying that the nominee is completely illegitimate, isn’t he? Now, here’s the thing. I don’t believe that it matters very much if a few Newt dead-enders, if there are such folks wind up buying his latest snake oil; it might be a minor negative for eventual nominee Romney, but it’s balanced out by having Newt (and Santorum) constantly and visibly calling him out as a moderate — a minus for now, but presumably a plus in November.
But I do think it’s a dangerous idea to begin spreading within the party. So: has it spread beyond Newt? Are talk radio hosts, Tea Party leaders, and other high-visibility Republican leaders are echoing Newt’s conspiracy theories? Anyone know?
[Cross-posted at A plain blog about politics]
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0.367572 | <urn:uuid:0ec7649a-8091-4809-9603-984c7e9a724e> | en | 0.92576 | Health knowledge made personal
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Posted Nov 04 2009 10:01pm
Sperm may seem an odd choice of subject for a “young woman’s guide to gynecology and obstetrics.” But it is this last word, obstetrics, that makes sperm a good choice for an entry subject. Arguably, without sperm, obstetrics would not exist. This may not always be the case, but for the time being, each human pregnancy makes use of sperm somewhere in the process. So, let’s talk about sperm, baby!
Sperm is the male counterpart to the female gamete, the ovum (or egg). Technically, what we commonly refer to as a sperm should be considered more of a sperm cell called a spermatozoon (spermatozoa, plural). Since virtually everyone refers to the spermatozoon as a sperm, I will continue to use the word sperm in its place. The human sperm consists of, ostensibly, a head an a tail. This simple-looking structure belies its key importance in creating life. Stored within the sperm is a complex DNA code that will (usually)[1] determine the sex of the resultant child and influence its phenotypical appearance–short or tall, dark or light, thin or stout–and many other genetic factors.
Each sperm is about three micrometers at its widest and about fifty micrometers long. The tail of the sperm powers it forward, almost like a propeller, at about 1 to 3 millimeters per minute. The semen, the fluid in which sperm are expelled from the male, has a chemical balance that keeps the sperm mostly inert until it is neutralized by the acidic environment of a vagina. The sperm, when entering the vagina, journey upward in search of an egg to fertilize. If the sperm do find an egg they will attempt to penetrate the membrane. A single sperm will succeed in penetrating the egg and the fusion of the two begins the process of meiosis in which the DNA of the mother and the father are spliced together to form a new set of DNA.
At this point, the sperm has reached its goal and blends into the developing human. However, the sperm has many variations and not all sperm conform to the usual model we have in mind. Abnormal sperm are actually quite common and come in many varieties. For example, there are sperm with two heads, two tails, both, neither, and various other extra and missing parts. Most abnormally structured sperm do not pose a genetic complication or threat to a potential pregnancy. Because of structural deficiencies these abnormal sperm are not likely to reach an egg in the first place.
In all, sperm are an interesting and integral part to creating life and without them, there would be little basis for obstetrics. So, any time you are thinking about obstetrics keep in mind the “little swimmers” that help make it possible. Comments, questions, otherwise? Please bring them forward!
[1] I am careful to say that the sperm usually determines the sex of a child because certain genetic problems can preclude a child with XY sex chromosomes from developing male characteristics, including genitalia, thus the Y-sperm from the father in this case does not determine the sex of the child.
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0.075949 | <urn:uuid:6e73a479-4833-4ccf-9391-9f144a90aeda> | en | 0.941571 | WIBW - HomePage - Headlines
Documents: Ivins bragged he knew anthrax killer
By: AP
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Newly released court documents show suspected anthrax attacker Bruce Ivins e-mailed himself last year saying he knew who the killer was.
Ivins said he planned to turn over the information to his attorneys and congratulated himself for piecing together the information that had eluded the government for years.
Ivins signed the e-mail "Bruce" and wrote it from an America Online address by the name of "KingBadger."
The Army scientist killed himself in July as prosecutors prepared to charge him in the 2001 anthrax mailings that killed five people and sickened 17.
How is Friday the 13th for you?
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0.377581 | <urn:uuid:9c21ad6b-721a-4d15-afdb-0d11647d8bfd> | en | 0.904697 | Question of the Day 03-09-13
Updated: 3/08 6:33 am
According to one study, the average person does *this* at least six times a day. What is it?
Answer: talking to themselves
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0.592245 | <urn:uuid:241c24ce-5a88-4da4-8f22-1a40c72369a0> | en | 0.97658 | Custom Search
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Conspiracy Theories Revisited
President John F Kennedy was assassinated by the Mafia. Or was it the CIA? The FBI? Cubans working for Fidel Castro? The KGB? Or was it even something Jackie had done because of his involvement with Marylin Monroe? Or it COULD have been Lee Harvey Oswald acting alone. A lot of it depends on who you ask.
Princess Dianna was killed by the Special Air Service under order of the Queen. Or was it an al-Qaeda operation? Or maybe the CIA? The Mossad? Or was it just an accident caused by a drunk driver at the wheel of her limo?
Benazir Bhutto was killed by al-Qaeda. Or was it the Musharref administration? Or the CIA?
Anyone seeing a familiar pattern here?
The more influential the leader, the more speculation there is on how they die when they die an untimely death. No matter what the truth is, it will be lost in a web of suspicion and controversy, rumor, and accusation. Benazir Bhutto joins the ranks of JFK, Dianna, Elvis Presley, and Jim Morrison in the arena of speculations and innuendo surrounding her death. Her family has called upon the United Nations to investigate. England's Scotland Yard has just recently finished their own investigation into her assassination.
What IS clear is this: al-Qaeda claimed responsibility after the assassination. They aren't generally known to claim responsibility for an incident they weren't involved in.
Pakistan has been, and remains, a tinderbox waiting for the right spark to ignite it. Fortunately, so far, the death of Bhutto has not been that spark. It remains critical that Pakistan remain stable and that their nuclear weapons don't fall into the hands of radical extremists who would have no qualms or reservations about using them.
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0.058143 | <urn:uuid:064235de-d011-47c6-8993-6da57bc74934> | en | 0.983382 | He left car with me: Accused's kin
TNN Apr 1, 2009, 03.21am IST
NEW DELHI: Ajay Kumar, one of the accused in the Soumya Vishwanathan murder case, on Tuesday refused to undergo test identification parade (TIP) before a court. Alleging that he had already been photographed and video-graphed during the custody, Ajay refused to give his consent to appear for the parade.
Additional chief metropolitan magistrate Kiran Bansal further extended his judicial custody by five days. Meanwhile, a relative of accused Ravi Kapoor has recorded his statement as a witness before metropolitan magistrate Ravinder Singh under Section 164 of the CrPC, which could be treated as credible evidence against the accused.
Earlier, three other co-accused Ravi Kapoor, Amit Kumar Shukla and Baljit Malik who were first arrested in connection with the murder case of IT executive Jigeesha Ghosh, refused to undergo the TIP.
Police said that they would seek the remand of the three accused on Wednesday for further investigation. The three are mainly accused of the murder of Jigeesha Ghosh. They allegedly kidnapped her from outside her house in Vasant Vihar on March 18.
The three later took her inside a Santro car and forced her to reveal PIN of her debit card. Later they killed her fearing that the girl would identify them. They had thrown her body near a Surajkund in Faridabad.
The police which arrested them four days after the incident achieve the breakthrough after a CCTV footage showed the three shopping using Jigeesha's credit card. A constable identified one of the persons on the footage as Baljeet Malik who was picked up for questioning.
Malik spilled the beans and the three accused including, Ajay Kumar, were later arrested for their role into the murder of journalist Soumya Viswanathan, reported in September last year. | http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-04-01/delhi/28025493_1_baljit-malik-amit-kumar-shukla-jigeesha-ghosh | dclm-gs1-243490002 | false | false | {
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0.019216 | <urn:uuid:3d3bc2d0-12bf-4783-929c-28c27f036496> | en | 0.907256 | Edition: U.S. / Global
Posts tagged with
Performa 09: Joan Jonas Does Dante
Joan Jonas, Paula Court Joan Jonas, “Reading Dante.”
One of the highlights of Performa 09 is Joan Jonas’s “Reading Dante II,” which began its five-night run (with one matinee) at the Performing Garage Tuesday night. It amounts to a 60-minute multimedia collage in the round with moving parts and a smorgasbord of audio accompaniment. This includes music, loud crashes, traffic noises, and voices reading fragments of the work’s inspiration: the Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso of Dante’s “Divine Comedy.”
Dante comes across in fits and starts, but the piece confirms that no one tells a story or formulates theater with quite the loose-limbed flexibility and openness of Ms. Jonas. She is a shaman whose conjuring involves no sleights of hand. In keeping with her roots in the early 1970s Post-Minimalism (sub-section Process Art), cause and effect are equally visible, and the magic is all the stronger for being so simple and fully disclosed. Read more… | http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/joan-jonas/ | dclm-gs1-243510002 | false | false | {
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0.108599 | <urn:uuid:62f9af12-1933-40ec-bf5b-6a6c23e5da27> | en | 0.966673 | Japanese laws make abortion an economic issue
May 13th, 2012 by Philip Brasor & Masako Tsubuku
Women’s clinic in Chiba Prefecture
The abortion pill is available in most developed countries but not Japan, and the Asahi article implies that there is little chance of it being approved in the near future. Though the pill is expensive — in the U.S., it’s about $500 — it is still cheaper than a surgical abortion. There is no indication in the article as to the relative costs of the two surgical methods, but the writer says the reason for the preponderance of D&C in Japan is that “most abortions are performed by older doctors who prefer to use the method they’re accustomed to.” One gynecologist quoted in the article says that “Japanese doctors” prefer D&C because “they are more skillfull with their hands.” The Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology reported only 21 “accidents” related to abortion procedures in 2010, but this figure is not reliable since most abortions are not covered by insurance and so reporting is not thorough.
Tags: ,
6 Responses
1. Once again women get the shaft in Japan. Why aren’t there riots in the streets?
2. Maybe one of these centuries even the japanese people will have a government that rules in their interest.
Of course none of us will live to see that day……
3. The main reason abortion remains fairly routine in Japan is because it is highly lucrative for physicians, which is why their lobby in the Diet has fought so hard for decades now to prevent the contraceptive pill from gaining full “legalization.”
4. What the H(E)LL are you women complaining about?!? None of you must’ve been to the States within the past decade. There, a woman who wants to get an abortion is forced to look at the ultrasound & listen to the “heartbeat”(regardless if she was raped or has health issues); gets called “murderer” & spat on by religious protesters at the door; and in some states, a woman isn’t even allowed to CONSULT about getting an abortion without permission from the sperm donor. A grown, competent woman still has to get PERMISSION from the husband/boyfriend to make a health decision.
Compared to the mess going on over here – politicians have been seriously gunning to take down women’s rights lately – Japan is looking like Shangri La.
5. 210,000 abortions in 2010? Wow. That’s a lot of babies.
6. Why is it, when it comes to reproductive rights, everyone focuses on women?
No one ever mentions that by some strange magic men are financially obligated to pay for a woman’s choice to keep a pregnancy, even if there is no legal contract between them.
She is having an abortion due to financial struggles? What struggles? She can just have the state come after the man who consented only to have sex with her, not to be a dad. In so many cases it is HIS struggle, not hers.
A woman has reproductive choices, a man only has reproductive obligations.
And people wonder why there are so many soshoku danshi…?
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0.0188 | <urn:uuid:fbe751a2-ba11-4d0f-a1b1-78693ac18f11> | en | 0.95895 | Latin Alt-Music Boss Hit With Suit Alleging Kinky Sexual Harassment
Categories: Lawsuits
Tomas Cookman
See also: Nacional's Pastime.
Nacional Records is a little L.A. label (distributed by RED/Sony Music Entertainment) known for practically creating the "Latin alternative" category with spotlight-worthy artists such as Los Amigos Invisibles, Kinky and former members of the Tijuana crew known as Nortec Collective.
Now the label has to contend with unwanted attention for a sexual harassment lawsuit against its owner Tomas Cookman, who's also behind the annual Latin Alternative Music Conference in New York. Cookman denies the allegations:
The suit, filed in L.A. County Superior Court and forwarded to the Weekly by the plaintiffs' attorneys, claims the married label boss harassed two female employees and created a hostile work environment.
A summary of the claims alleges the following:
The lawsuit alleges that Cookman created a sexually hostile work environment for his female employees by, among other things, regularly leering at them from head-to-toe focusing on their breasts and buttocks, making sexual remarks about their clothing and their bodies and what he thought (or hoped) they would be like in bed, touching (or trying to touch) them in inappropriate sexual ways, making comments about sex and sex toys, openly displaying a pornographic video in his office, trying to have sex with them, trying to intimidate them by brandishing a machete or a knife when speaking to them, and openly referring to women by derogatory gender-based names (such as "b****").
The suit claims Cookman kept an apartment next to his home and invited a female employee there while his wife was out of town.
After one female worker got a tattoo, Cookman allegedly called her "a really bad girl" and said, "I would totally bend you over, pull your pants down and spank you," the suit claims.
Plaintiff Claudia Becerra alleges that he once emailed her a song called "Vente En Mi Voca," (cum in my mouth) and urged her to listen to the lyrics carefully.
Montse Perez, the other plaintiff, says Cookman once emailed her a photo of a man going down on a woman, discussed anal beads with her, and said derogatory things about gay men in her presence.
Tomas Cookman lawsuit
Damages sought have not been specified.
Cookman's attorney, Rebecca Aragon, issued this response, which was sent to the Weekly by a Nacional Records spokesman:
My clients, Tomas Cookman, Cookman International and Nacional Records, take these allegations extremely seriously and unequivocally deny all sexual harassment and other allegations of purported wrongdoing made by both plaintiffs. My clients have long been committed to providing a workplace free of harassment and discrimination and in accordance with the law. We are confident that the facts of this case will reveal that these allegations are completely without merit. My clients have a strong track record of promoting women in the workplace and in the entertainment industry.
My Voice Nation Help
Holy shit, if you read the complaint, he didn't just make derogatory comments about gay men, he made them about the label's OWN artists! Hope the artist drops him like it's hot.
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0.038366 | <urn:uuid:7a8381d5-a690-4007-9417-e0e56fccf3fa> | en | 0.995418 | Sea of Wealth Part 10
Though William was not willing to fly false colors, assuming that it would make his fate even worse if he was captured, he did order that their snake flag be taken down. There would be time enough to fly it if they went to fight. It seemed a poor idea to advertise that there was an American privateer in the waters around a force of ships under the control of the British. What mattered was where the British were going. William had left Master Hedge in Bridgeport, since that was a center of privateering, and therefore a city he felt comfortable in. The Fly had come from Bridgeport though, and that was enough to put William’s heart in his mouth. It meant that the British were likely on a similar course as William was, and they had a head start. He truly wished that he knew what their goal was.
Though William had sailed as quickly as possible to reach Bridgeport, with all sail on, and a strong wind at his back, when his lookout spotted the markings of Bridgeport, he ordered shortened sails. He did not wish to go flying into a British squadron, and for all that he knew, the British force had been sent to clear out the harbor that produced so many privateers. They therefore crept past the harbor before turning to enter it properly, the lookout having shouted that the harbor was almost empty. Matthew was hardly able to stand it as they did turn about, tacking in the wind, which was now against them. As soon as they were within rowing distance of the shore, William called for the ship’s boat to be dropped, and his ship to anchor. They were still at the windlass as he climbed down and ordered the boat’s crew to row him to the wharf. He was leaping from the little boat onto the dock before they could tie the ship to the post, and rushing off down the street to where he had set Master Hedge up in a shop.
It was morning, and William was not certain if Master Hedge would be at work yet, but he could hear the sound of hammering as he neared, and so rather than climbing the stairs to the upper portion of the building, where his former master lived, he headed to the workshop area where the old man made the barrels that went out on the privateers, William’s included. It was only as he ran, unsteady on his sea legs, towards the shop door, that William realized that the sound of Master Hedge’s hammer was one of the few noises in the town, and most of the shutters were closed tightly.
“Master?” called William.
“William?” asked a voice in return as the hammering stopped. It was a voice that had been giving William lectures since he was forteen. He gave a deep sigh of relief.
“I met a ship from this port that said that the British were attackin’, Master Hedge,” said William, entering the workshop to face the old man who still had a mallet in his hands and was looking with some curiosity at his wayward apprentice.
“So all of the town has heard, William,” said Master Hedge, setting down the mallet. “A man rode over from Norwalk to tell us that the British had landed near them. They are marching inland. The militia has already left to try and stop them. What I am wondering is what it is that has brought you to land knowing full well that the British are here in force, unless you are tired of life.”
“I am here for the same reason I sailed ta New York not sa long before, Master Hedge,” said William, folding his hands behind his back. Around Master Hedge however, it made him feel less like he was in command, and more as if he was a naughty boy who was being taken to task. “It is dangerous here, and I da not mean ta leave ya in danger.”
“I cannot say I think this much danger, though my neighbors disagree. A good many of them have already fled, or are hiding in their homes.”
“I thought ya used ta say ya was a coward, Master,” said William, looking sour. It was true that William had said that often when he was growing up, and he had doubted it then. Now he was certain the man had been wrong about himself. A man who could sit in the middle of a community that was preparing for war and calmly make barrels was no coward.
“I have asked you not to call me master,” said the old man.
“Ashamed of me?” asked William, though he knew it was not true. He was frustrated, and willing to play an emotional game if it meant getting some sort of reaction out of Master Hedge. He had come rushing up in an emotional state, and to see the calm old man at work as if nothing was wrong had rubbed him the wrong way.
“I was introduced to you as Matthew, and that is how I would remain,” said the cooper, not raising to the bait.
“When ya and I first met, ya were a prisoner, that was before ya did all ya could ta see that I got a good upbringin’. I’ll not disrespect that with ya first name, master,” added William, half out of spite. Then he realized he was standing here, debating the past with an old man,when he was not certain that the British would not be marching on them at any moment.
“And ya broke me out of a prison for condemned men,” added Matthew, smiling for a moment with some fondness, before seemingly remembering that it was not what ought to be considered a nostalgic memory. “That ought to clear our debts,” he said, seeking to give some reason to bring it up.
“If be equal, than ya ought tha listen ta my advice, which is ta join me on my ship, before the British decide to march back this way,” said William, growing frustrated.
“They never marched this way,” said Matthew, his voice reasonable. “They went through near Fairfield. It has little to do with me, no matter what my neighbors believe.”
“I will still be happier if ya would join me on my ship, where I can be certain of ya safety,” said William, desperately.
“Why would I wish to leave my new home?” asked Matthew, his voice reasonable. “I am growing too old for such changes too often. I would rather remain, and take my chances.”
“And if the British decide ta march through this village after all?” asked William.
“Then God has be fated to meet a violent death after all,” said Matthew, looking indifferent. It was just as William had feared would be his answer. Matthew was one of the greatest fatalist that William had ever met. His reason for not telling the courts that he had been forced to piracy with the crew that Matthew had been a part of was because he had thought that it was God punishing him for what he had been forced to do by them. It was true that Matthew had murdered, drank, gambled, and stole with them, but he had never wished to, and it had always been clear. It was simply dangerous on a pirate crew to behave in any different manner. William did not think much on God in general, but when he did, he imagined him to be rather more forgiving towards a man who had risked his life to get away from the men who were forcing him to commit such sins. Matthew’s escape from the pirate crew had been a bold one, full of danger, and William was not certain he would have tried it himself. Then again, he had enjoyed being a pirate. He just hadn’t enjoyed standing on the scaffold with a rope around his neck and a knot in his stomach. Hanging had acted as a warning and a deterrent, at least for William if not for the audience. William had learned to steal only with a license to do so.
“What would ya have me da, master,” wailed William, truly upset now. “I cannot leave ya as matters are. Steven would never forgive me. He still doesn’t believe I am lookin’ after ya with such care as I ought. If ya will leave with me, I can sail ya ta Boston, and leave ya in his household. That would make him right happy.”
“I’ll not be the awkward poor relative,” said Matthew, his voice firm. “I’m not a disgrace to you in the least, you not being respectable in any case. It would do great damage to Steven’s reputation if it was known about me.” William gritted his teeth, but he did not say anything. Matthew could have called him the illegitimate son of a snail and a sea monster and he would not have argued. If Matthew was still determined he was not respectable, than what was left was to prove to him differently.
“Ya still have the pistols I left ya when ya was left here?” asked William.
“In the trunk upstairs,” said Matthew.
“I’d suggest that ya move the pistols ta a place easier ta reach, while I think on what I might da about this.”
“I am well able to care for myself, as you ought to know,” said Matthew, smiling at the frustrated young man. “You have a crew to look after, and you will try their patience if you continue to look after me instead of prizes.” William sincerely doubted that at this point. He had brought his men a good deal of profit, and he had their loyalty, he could now ask much of them. More importantly was how much he suddenly had to prove. First he would have to return to the ship though. It had been bad enough when it had been Steven and Mr. Hedman who had been criticising him, but now it was Matthew as well, it seemed as though it was time to prove to them just what it was that privateers were able to do.
It was clear by their parting that Master Hedge believed that he had offended William, because he stood and gave him a rare hug, apologizing for his stubbornness. All the same, he made it clear he was not going to leave his new home. It would be to William to do something about it. Now that he had some land legs, having stood in the workshop long enough to remember what it was like to walk on a surface that was not rocking, William was able to run back to his ship’s boat faster than he had been able to run to the cooper’s shop. No sooner was he aboard then he called for all hands on deck. It was almost comforting for him to see all of their faces looking up at him, it was as if he had his own army. He was about to give up some of that power however, if only for a moment. It seemed only fair.
“Men,” he announced, looking down at the assembly from the quarterdeck. “I cannot say that we ought ta attack the British fleet, though it only a few miles from here. Ta da sa would be ta court ruin. We haven’t the power. We might da some good here, however, if ya would desire it. This is not a matter I’ll decide. I will leave it ta a vote.” Here there was muttering on the deck. That was not how any ship but a pirate ship was run, William’s words might well have been the ten commandments, and yet he was giving them the choice. For him it was a simple matter of morals, he had their trust, and he did not wish to use that trust for his own means without asking first, but to his men it was a thing of wonder.
“What good might we do, when we are not strong enough to fight their ships, Captain?” asked Mr. Ennis, the only man who ranked high enough to feel he could ask the captain a question in front of all of these men. William smiled at him, as much to show him that he had not done anything wrong as because the question amused him. It was the question of a man who had spent his life in the world of conventional ships and had never crossed that line. A man who did not understand that men trained to the world of ship fighting might just as well face men on land.
“It is my wish ta fight the British, but on land. I cannot have it said that on decidin’ they was ta strong for us, we slunk away, beaten without ever fightin’. It would be shameful. But there is na profit in it, sa I will have it up for a vote. This is a matter of pride, rather than business. I only have the right ta ya service for business.”
“Do you think it is possible for us to stop the British forces from reaching what they are after, or to stop them from reaching their ships, Captain?” asked Mr. Ennis, though it did not escape William that the words were spoken with more hope than doubt. William was about to dash that hope with realism, but he still looked at it as a good sign.
“I da not,” he said simply. “I am thinkin’ though we might make them pay for their intrusion, and protect some of those who live in these parts. The militia is movin’ as well,” he added, trying to remove the feeling that they would be facing down the whole British force alone.
“What did the town look like, Captain, that it has you all troubled?” asked Mr. Quince, apparently deciding that if it was safe to start asking his captain questions, he was going to join in.
“Scared, as ya would find ya own families if there was the enemy about, with na one knowin’ where they are headin’. Indeed, I reckon the only soul in that town not frightened would be Master Hedge, who is sittin’ a mankin’ barrels, as if he is well used to armies marchin’ past his house,” added William, producing a laugh from his men. Most of the crew had been with him when they had moved Matthew from New York to Bridgeport, and even if William had wished to hide his motives for wanting to protect this piece of land, some of his men would have undoubtedly whispered about it. It was better to be upfront about it all. “Now I am wonderin’ if ya men would join me or if we are ta turn out ta sea and allow the British ta da as they please here.” For a long moment William held his breath as there was a muttering in this crew, who were clearly unsure of what to do with their new power. His mind was filled with potential solutions to what he might do about the issue with his master not being willing to leave Bridgeport. The first thought that came to mind was to go with his men into the community and grab the man forcefully, with any things that could be quickly grabbed, and forcefully carry him onto his ship. It was likely to damage their relationship somewhat, but it was better than thinking he ought to have done it later if something did happen.
“I’m with the captain,” said Mr. Quince suddenly, interrupting the low voices to make the announcement. “I joined to fight the British, and I’ll put a bullet into a few of them for their boldness.” A couple of the sailors responded with shouts at this, mostly shouts of agreement William noticed.
“I will join as well, Captain,” said Mr. Ennis, subconsciously checking the sword he had strapped on when they had sailed into Bridgeport. It reminded William of the figure of a loyal knight, like he sometimes saw pictures of. Of course that would make him a king worth swearing loyalty which William did not believe for a moment. It made up his mind for him. It was clear that Mr. Ennis had been prepared to fight from the start, since they had not been certain but that the town was in the control of the British. It showed more thought that William had demonstrated, he thought with some regret. He had simply run ashore, as if that was not a possibility. Once again he wondered that he was still alive.
“Ya will stay here, and care for the ship, with any men who will not join us, Mr. Ennis,” said William, his voice firm. He was not so good at writing that he felt up to the task of writing Mrs. Ennis a letter explaining to her that her husband had died in a battle he had no business being in, except that his captain was a damned fool who had felt the need to prove himself to people she had never met.
“As your second in command, it is my duty to go ashore with you, Captain,” said Mr. Ennis, looking hurt. William did not have the heart to to tell him that it was his very sense of loyalty that made William reluctant to do anything that would make him feel as though he was taking advantage of the man.
“It is as my second in command that I would have ya remain aboard, Mr. Ennis,” said William instead. “Who is ta sail the ship if I am killed or wounded. Mr. Quince knows nothin’ of navigation. Ya are the only man I can trust ta look after matters if ought happens ta me. If the ship is in danger ya have ta set sail and we’ll meet ya back in Boston. I want all men comin’ along with me ta meet me on deck in a half hour, prepare ta be ashore for a time, so some biscuit ta each man, all armed.” This flurry of orders at least shut up Mr. Ennis, who was forced to enact them, since Mr. Quince was already rushing to go fetch things from his cabin. William followed suit, confident in the knowledge that the first mate would have every man kitted up and ready to go by the time that he emerged back on deck.
William’s first consideration was how he ought to dress. When he had run ashore to check on the welfare on Matthew, he had simply worn his sailor’s clothing, that being what he had been wearing already, and having nothing to hide from his master in that regard. Master Hedge was not the sort of man who would judge a man by his clothing in any case, so dressing as a gentleman would have been a waste of William’s time. Now however, with him going on shore at the front of a force to fight the British, William almost felt as though he ought to wear the clothing of a gentleman again, if nothing else to make an impression on the enemy. The tight pants were not exactly made for running through the woods in. In the end William compromised, wearing pants that were rather looser than was fashion, with a well cut jacket and a fashionable hat. Hunting boots finished off the outfit, rather than buckle shoes. There was not a chance he was going to go into a fight wearing that impractical footwear, catching it on everything and wearing the gold foil off of the buckle in all likelihood. He would have rather gone into the fight barefoot, but that would never do for the captain of a ship, not to mention a man who was trying to prove that he could be a gentleman.
William walked out onto the deck to find that Mr. Ennis had opened the weapon’s locker and was issuing a sea cutlass and a pistol to each man, though several men were issued muskets instead. William had learned the value of having sharpshooters a long time ago, back when he had still been a cabin boy. He took his musket men very seriously and trained them carefully. It was true that they would not be so effective since they would have no fighting top on a mast to fire from, but William imagined they would be more effective on land at hitting their target since they would not be rocking back and forth. Each man carried a bag at his side, which, according to instructions issued long ago to Mr. Ennis against a landing party, contained a spare flint, gun powder and bullets, and ship’s biscuit. William took such a pack for himself as well, though in his case the pistols were dueling pistols he had on ribbons around his neck, and the sword was his regular hanger.
It only occurred to William as he looked over the mass of men who were clearly readying themselves as a landing party that he had not known for certain how many of the men were with him. For all he had known as he had gone into his cabin, he was going ashore with only a handful of men. It turned out however that most of the crew seemed to be ready to join him in his adventure. Mr. Ennis walked over to him when he saw the captain come out of his cabin to report.
“I have asked some of the men to remain behind, Captain,” Mr. Ennis said, looking slightly ashamed. “I needed enough men to sail the ship.”
“So many wished ta join me, Mr. Ennis?” asked William, his voice shocked. This was something that he entirely viewed as his selfishness, and that his men were willing to fight though there was no profit for them other than their normal pay as a strange idea to him. He had something to prove, he had not thought they did.
“Yes, Captain,” Mr. Ennis paused, looking uncomfortable before he finally blurted out what was on his mind. “Should anything happen to you, what shall we do with the ship?” It was a question that came up less often than it might have in the privateering circles, since the owners of the ship were rarely their captain’s as well, or at least they often had investors who would claim the ship if the captain should die. William did not enjoy being told what to do however, and therefore would take no investors, and he had saved up enough through careful living to purchase the ship himself, going from a captain for hire to his own master over the years.
“Steven has instructions, Mr. Ennis,” said William, clapping the man on the back. His instructions to Steven were in fact very simple, but he was not going to tell his first mate all of his business, even though it would have an effect on Mr. Ennis’s life if anything did happen. Steven would own the ship from the moment that he died, but only on the condition that Mr. Ennis would be the acting captain if he lived longer than William did. Steven had not been pleased about being made both executor and heir to William’s estate, but William had been very firm on the subject. He had no one else that he could imagine making his heir. He knew that Steven would look after their former master, and so he was willing to allow Steven all of his money. Particularly because he did not trust Matthew not to throw all of the money in the ocean after William, if he was to die in his trade.
“You will do everything in your power to return, will you not, Captain?” asked Mr. Ennis, which was as close as he would come to showing any sort of sentiment towards a superior officer.
“That I will, Mr. Ennis,” said William, and he meant it. To die on land was something of a nightmare for him. He hoped that if he did, his men at least had the sense to bury him at sea anyway.
Sea of Wealth Part Nine
William did not see Steven or the shore for that matter for the rest of his stay in Boston. He did not blame his friend for not coming to see him off. After such an uncomfortable dinner, he did not imagine the lawyer wanted to risk William and his wife meeting one another again. When William saw the joy that Mr. and Mrs. Ennis seemed to bring one another he often wished that he had a wife, but when he met Mrs. Nolen he quickly changed his mind. Steven had once admitted to William that he had not married for love, and William was all too willing to believe it. Mr. Gull had arranged the matter for his young student, with the thought that the boy could use all of the help that he could get in ambition, and that having a wife who was ambitious would help to pull him up out of the ranks of the common people. He might have been right at that, but William felt it was a terrible price to pay. He would have thought that Margaret would have been a more pleasant choice, but William did not know the details of the courtship. He supposed she might have already been spoken for. That and she did not seem so ambitious, which was just as William liked it, though he supposed that was exactly the opposite of what Mr. Gull had been looking for in a wife for his adopted son. Harvey Gull had had a son of his own, and three daughters, and though he had been kind to Steven, it did not escape William’s notice that he had not offered Steven one of his own daughters in marriage to his apprentice in order to bring him properly into the family. Instead he had wed the lad who had been placed in his charge to a shrew, saying it was the best for the boy. William had indeed been fond of Mr. Gull, and was forever grateful to him for what he had done for Steven, but he was not entirely willing to forgive the man’s memory for Mrs. Nolen. Not as he sailed out of the harbor without having seen Steven again.
The sea swell under his feet put William in a far better mood however than he had been on land, or even in the harbor, where he was not entirely the master of all that happened. Of course the same was true on the sea as well, where a mixture of nature and God might sink his vessel without him having much say in the matter, but at least then they would not be scorning him as not really a gentleman. They would be looking at him with the same scorn as they looked on any man foolhardy enough to think that he could put two inches of wood between himself and the water and therefore avoid death. For now William was happy to see a wide open sea with no other ship in sight, though by all logic they would wish to see a British ship soon, to add to their catches quickly. The more their catches, the more profitable their cruises.
When the lookout gave a shout that there were sails on the horizon therefore, William rushed from his light midday meal to the deck, shouting that all of the men ought to stand by for action. They were to be disappointed almost a half hour later when the lookout shouted down that he could see the liberty tree flag at her mast. It was true that she might be sailing under false colors, but it was unlikely. It was considered dishonorable, though William had never been reluctant to do so, and he supposed it was possible he had a counterpart among the British. He therefore had his men relax, and ordered them to meet the strange ship, though he did ask that that they remain ready with the guns, just in case of treachery. Much could happen on the sea once a ship left land there were no witnesses after all.
“Ahoy,” shouted a voice from the other ship as they came alongside, and both ships shortened sail so that they could speak. William could see the men on the other deck, just as tense as his own men were. “What port are you last of?”
“We are the Beauty of Boston,” shouted William, stepping forward. “What of ya? What port be ya of, and what news da ya cary?”
Now that he was looking closely at the ship he could see marks of extreme damage, and the jet of water that was coming off the deck in several places looked as though it came from ship’s pumps. He could see several holes that looked as though they had been made from a cannon, but none of them would be causing the ship to sink. There must have been a hole below her waterline that the men were fighting. This ship would not be a threat, enemy or not. If she had been in a sea battle of the magnitude it seemed, she was not likely to have enough men left on her to stand against his large crew of trained fighters.
“Fly, last of Bridgeport,” said the voice from the ship. It had not been the captain who had been shouting, he could see the captain standing nearby, but now the captain did step forward.
“We retreat, with wounded. Have you a surgeon, ours has perished? We met with a British ship, and what looked like several more at that, sailing towards Connecticut, we were not equal to the fight.” William certainly could not disagree with that, though he did have to admire the man for trying. William knew that there was a Continental Navy ship named the Fly, but he did not believe that was who he was speaking to. The last time he had heard that ship was still being dry docked in Philadelphia after an encounter with a British ship. Instead he could spot another privateer, though one that seemed more honorable than he was. The captain in a paramilitary based uniform was a hint at that. A desire to seem respectable, while William stomped around the deck in canvas sailor’s trousers and a calico shirt as often as a coat when he was at sea. It was purely luck that at the moment he could be distinguished from the other men standing on deck, in part because the lack of tar on his clothing. Mr. Ennis and Mr. Quince generally dressed better than he did once they were at sea. If he planned to go into battle though William generally dressed as a gentleman, simply so he could not be accused of hiding from the enemy by disguising himself as a member of the crew. Captains were often the target of enemy snipers, and he would far rather they shot at him than the helmsman for example, though in one battle he had been forced to take the helm himself.
“We have a surgeon we will send over,” shouted William, humanitarianism fueling the response, though his heart was in his mouth. He had left Master Hedge in Connecticut thinking he would be out of the war. Even if they had to remain alongside the Fly for a few hours for his surgeon to do his work, the least he could do was go across as well and question the nature of the British ship heading towards the elderly cooper, not to mention an entire state he supposed.
Going aboard the Fly was worse than William had ever imagined. He had not seen such a shambles of a ship since the pirate ship he had served on as a boy had been taken by the navy. It was no wonder that the pumps were going. Now that he was on the ship he could feel how she sloughed heavily in each trough of water. He had no idea how she normally felt, but he doubted that any privateering vessel naturally was so sluggish to respond. She was sinking. He looked over at the captain, and doubted that the man was in well enough condition to even make a rational decision, though it had been hidden by the ship’s bulwarks, the captain’s side was a bloody mess, and William doubted he should have even been standing, though he had not had the medical advice to tell him that of course. He was a pale man, grasping a piece of wood as a cane for support, while looking feverish.
“We ought ta see ta ya first, Captain, if ya’d ga ta the cabin,” said William, forgetting instantly the question he had intended to ask.
“See to my men first, Captain,” protested the master of the Fly, shaking his head. “They are dying.”
“You ought to be lying down, sir,” said the surgeon, coming over the side of the ship to hear this and assessing the situation in an instant.
“We will look ta the wounded,” said William, looking about himself. Several men were working on the deck, all but a couple of them sporting some sort of makeshift bandage. “What of your officers, Captain?” he added.
“My second mate lives, Captain, last I was told,” the captain said. “My first mate was on the table, having an arm amputated, below when the cannon ball came and killed he and my surgeon as well.” William had to stop himself from nodding. On a man of war they would have put such an operating table, made of sea chests, in the ship’s cockpit, well protected from such incidents. On a sloop such as the one they now stood on, with eight guns that William could count, and therefore weaker than his own Beauty, there was nowhere with such protection. The ship had been wise to have any surgeon at all. It spoke of a captain who cared, and he looked at the swaying man with more favor.
“I will seek out the second mate, if ya will listen ta my surgeon and seek out ya bunk, Captain.” For a moment it looked as though the man would refuse, but already, William’s boat crew was climbing aboard and picking up the men who looked as though they might need a hand to walk.
William had seen many battle wounded and hospitals, that was why he would not allow any of his men to find their way to them. The whole Fly seemed as if it had been turned into one of those hospitals, once they went below the decks. Men seemed to have simply drapped where they could, with the forecastle being full of the worst cases. A few men still able to move were nursing those who were laying the hammocks. William left his surgeon to do what he could there, making use of the ship’s medicine chest. That at least had been spared from the cannon blast that had taken the life of the doctor who had sailed on the Fly. Several members of the boat crew that had rowed William across joined the doctor, mostly holding men down on the galley table, it being the only flat surface they could find on the ship. It seemed most of the sea chests had been blown to bits in the previously mentioned explosion as well. Every where William went, he asked after the second mate. He was finally directed towards the pumps that had been rigged up below decks to try to stop the ship from sinking.
“Any of ya be the second mate, or I’m supposing I ought ta say the first mate now, as ya might well be promoted,” William said, with what he saw as practicality, as he walked up to the largest group of un maimed men he had seen yet on the ship. They were nearly falling over with exhaustion, but they had the grim determination of men who knew that there were none who could save them if they gave up. A man looked up, though he continued at his pump handle, a bandage clotted with blood wrapped around his head.
“Who the hell’s askin’?” asked the man, the cloth around his head giving him a vicious look.
“Captain of the ship the Beauty, at your service,” said William, bowing to the man, well aware that his clothing did not speak of being a captain, and wishing he had changed when they had spotted the other ship. “I am a privateer of Boston, seein’ as ya are in need, I sought only ta see what it is I might da ta ease ya distress. My surgeon is at work in the forecastle. I wonder ya were not aware we had come aboard.”
“I was damned busy stoppin’ this ship from sinkin’ beneath our feet,” said the second mate of the wounded ship.
“I dare say we might be of aid with that as well,” said William, smiling. “If ya can continue with ya pumpin’ for a short time, that I might ga and fetch my carpenter and his mates, and some of my men ta take the pumps from ya.”
“We have a damn carpenter, for the lot of good it does,” the second mate, now releasing his pump handle and motioning to another man who was pumping. “We haven’t the men ta fother the hole.”
“I have,” said William.
It took him longer than he would have cared for to return to the ship and give the orders that were needed. Soon most of his own ship was empty as his men scurried across the wounded privateer. There were men who might have taken advantage of a wounded ship, no matter what side she was on, or perhaps would have just left her. William could not consider it. He might not have much of a conscious, not of the sort that men who were raised in the church seemed to have, where they thought that God would smite them if they did bad deeds, but instead he had the disapproving face of Master Hedge somewhere in the back of his mind. It seemed to fill the gap in his training nicely. He therefore directed the chaos of saving the ship. The fother had to be made, forcing strands of rope through a piece of canvass until resembled a thick mat. He would have liked it had they had one already made, but they did not, and he was forced to wait while it was worked on by several seamen. There was also the men at the pumps to be relieved with his own fresh crew. Not to mention the change of watch on his own ship with most of his crew not aboard. He left Mr. Quince there to run things, while he and Mr. Ennis did what they could to ease the mind of the wounded privateer ship.
“Drink this,” William said, tripping some rum into the mouth of the wounded captain. The captain did so greedily. It was clear that he was in a startling amount of pain. William felt guilty, but his main motive for nursing the man was information. Master Hedge was in Connecticut after all. Still, now he had the captain’s shirt open, and could see what the coat had been hiding on the ship. It was a wonder that the captain was able to stand at all. It must have taken a great force of will. A splinter, if that was what you could call such a large piece of wood, had struck the captain in the side, and remained there. It would have to be removed, and William only hoped that the captain had worn a silk shirt. He had heard that those fibers were easier to remove from wounds. “What happened?” he asked, once the man came up for air.
“I did tell you. We met a British ship, one of several, making for Connecticut, and we fought, though we were not equal to it. Better to die in battle than in a British prison,” added the captain, defending his decision, though he did not have to. William would have made the same choice. He was not much for surrender. Doing so had already nearly gotten him hung. Better to have a death that people would speak of, even if it did make the decks run with blood. As they had not had the men to wash down the decks, William had still seen some of the blood of the battle in the scuppers of the ship.
“Ya are sure they were makin’ for Connecticut,” said William, belaboring the important point in his concern.
“Full of red coats,” said the captain nodding. “It was the only harbor on their course,” he added.
“Ya seen the soldiers?” asked William, now growing even more concerned. That would mean this was not just an anti-privateering concern, this was an invasion.
“They were shooting at us,” explained the wounded captain, coughing in a way that made him wince, as the wound was forced to move.
“Da ya think that we might overtake them?” asked William, now voicing what was truly on his mind. He would not be happy unless he tried to save Master Hedge once again from paying for what he had chosen to do with his life. Their association was too well known. It was all too clear to anyone who was seeking retribution against the new American patriots what side Master Hedge fell on.
“To what purpose?” asked the captain of the Fly, actually lifting his head to look at William with surprise. “You are not thinking that you might succeed where we failed?” he added.
“Na, I’m not sa proud as that,” said William. “I’d not care ta have my ship shot ta hell. I am thinkin’ though, ya got away in the end, which means they be slow. We might yet land afore them and warn some of their comin’.”
“You are a good man,” said the wounded captain, laying back on his bed, while William tried to look like the selfless fellow the man seemed to think him to be. It was just as well that he was called away then to supervise the fother being put in place.
With the two ship’s carpenters working in concert, there was little for William to do in fact, as far as the mending of the ship was concerned. The fother was dragged down to cover the breech in the hull that had done such damage to the original sick bay of the ship, as well as her seaworthiness. With the water pressure pressing the fother in place and against the hole, the water coming in was greatly slowed. The ship might make it the few days into port, with the men having time to sleep in between shifts at the pumps. With this William also no longer felt guilty about leaving her to her own devices. They had done what they could. Having just left port, he had no inclination to return with her now, and certainly not in such an emergency. To his relief, the crew of the Fly did not suggest that they did so. They seemed to know how it went. Time was money for a privateer, they could not ask William to give up more than he already had. Most of a day had already passed. The screams had stopped from the forecastle, and so William imagined his surgeon was done as well. He sent a man to go fetch him. The man returned saying that the surgeon was not in the forecastle, just in time for him to come from the captain’s cabin, wiping his hands and covered in blood from numberless operations. Behind him came the members of the boat crew William had ordered to help the surgeon, looking sick and pale. It was not a job for the weak of stomach.
“I have removed the splinter, captain, and he might live,” said the surgeon, looking grim. “Better for making shore, they have better supplies than what remains in the chest.” William considered offering some of his medicine, but stopped himself. This was a ship that was going to return to port, while he was just setting sail almost. He was not going to handicap his ship and his surgeon through his kindness, not with the value of a well stocked medicine chest.
The second mate of the Fly was the one who saw them off of the ship, though the did not really need anyone and the man was tired enough he might have tipped over and fallen into the sea. It was clear that he felt that someone ought to see them back to their ship, all things considered, and his captain was unconscious, which William considered to be a mercy. On his ship, which felt fresh and healthy under William’s feet, they gave one last wave to the stricken ship, a call of good luck, and William ordered their change of course. The whole crew knew where they were bound, they too had been on the damaged ship, but there was not a word of complaint. It was only natural that they should go where the British were. It was how things should be. It was close as well, far closer than New York. William did not think it was his imagination that his men seemed to pay more attention to their cutlass drill than they had only a few days before. It seemed to come home to them once again that it might be the difference for them between surviving a battle such as what the Fly had faced, and death or imprisonment. William was not spared from this feeling. Once again he began to carry the longer bladed sailor’s knife that was his little quirk. It was not a gentleman’s weapon, but then it didn’t have to be. Not when he was so good with it. He had his proper weapons, his hanger, as close to a cutlass as one who wished to be called a gentleman could carry, and his pistols, but in a close fight he would rather have the weapon he had always killed with rather than a weapon people thought he ought to have.
A Day in the Life of a Ficus 16
In Which Jaws Learns Not to Believe Everything He Is Told
In all honesty, I forgot to post this one here. Sorry for the delay.
Also, a website:
Sea of Wealth Part Eight
“Did your family live there, Mr. Boyd?” asked Margaret, causing both Steven and William to freeze for a moment. Steven, because he knew that the matter of family was an uncomfortable one for William, William because he was not certain of how to respond.
“I was apprenticed ta sea captain who made port there. Seein’ that the captain was none sa kind, I jumped ship in the Indies, and found myself in the care of Master Hedge, who had na better reason ta take me in than he was a kind man,” said William finally. Part of it was a story that Mrs. Nolen had already heard Steven and William tell, and therefore he had to include it. It would never do to change his story now. Mrs. Nolen had rightly wanted to know why it was that her husband had been so excited and happy when William had walked into their house for the first time, and they had been forced to explain to her that in childhood they had shared a master, before going in different directions. This was necessary all the more since as soon as William had told Steven where Master Hedge could be found, Steven had made the long horseback ride to see him in New York. As Steven had never shown any interest in travel before this, it had confused Mrs. Nolen had required a lengthy description of all that the man who had once been called Master Blackwell, had done for the two boys. Including the kindness he had given them and how little that he had asked for in return. Steven had even suggested that the now Master Hedge ought to live with him in his house, but he had been kindly refused. Though his former master was an old man now, he had a sort of independence to him that seemed to have only grown worse with age. He was not going to have a boy who had once been in his care take care of him, all the more so because he wanted Steven to be able to pretend he was a gentleman, and having an elderly cooper hanging about the house was not the way to do this.
Matthew Hedge knew better than to say this around his older former apprentice, because he did not enjoy being yelled at. If William had had a home, Master Hedge knew all too well that he would have had a place in it, just as Steven had offered. The old cooper would have turned William down as well though. He did not feel that he had done so much as he had earned the right to weigh the two younger men down. William had instead offered the former Master Blackwell a berth on his ship as cooper, which had been refused, not to William’s surprise. His former master had no great love of the sea after all. He had gone to it first out of financial necessity, and stuck with it for as long as he had because he had been forced to at gunpoint. In any case, there was the fear that the other sailors and the mates would grow jealous if William broke ship’s discipline to shower attention on an old man who was simply a member of the crew.
“I have heard sometimes that captain can treat their men very cruelly, Captain,” said Mrs. Webber, her voice sympathetic, for which William was willing to forgive her the behavior of her sister towards him. Many people he had found, made the unfortunate decision that the sailors deserved all that their captains gave them, without question. William would certainly agree that there needed to be discipline on a ship, every man had to do his part, and if he did not there had to be consequences, but on his ship floggings were a rarity. Having felt the lash himself, he was less inclined to see it used on others.
“There are captains who feel that it will aid them in keeping their authority,” said Steven, he too had been unlucky in captains as a boy. It had been the reason that William had forced their master to buy his apprenticeship. Had he seen Steven die at the Captain’s hands, he would have killed the Captain, and that had been the last thing that his master had wanted.
“To treat freemen as slaves is shameful, Captain,” said Mrs. Nolen, voicing her opinion. William grimaced. He had no doubt that she had said this intentionally, as she knew the subject was an uncomfortable one for him. Still, it having been said, he felt he must respond to it.
“Ya will find, Mrs. Nolen, that the army does the same ta its men,” he pointed out, and then hated himself because it almost sounded as if he approved of this.
“I had meant to ask you though, Captain,” said Mrs. Nolen, looking pleased with herself and refusing to change the subject to the army. “I know that many privateers have slaves on their ships, haven’t you any?”
“Only freemen, Mrs. Nolen,” said William, his voice firm. There were men about the docks who made it their job to buy and sell the labor of both slaves and freemen to the captains of privateers, but the only black sailors that William would take were those who were not considered property. He could never be certain that a slave actually wished to join his ship, if he was being ordered to by a master, and he could not have a man risking death against his will. No, every one of William’s men knew the risk that he was taking when he signed aboard, and he agreed to it. He was never ordered to accept it against his will. William, who had always itched for a fight his entire life could not entirely tell what it would feel like to march into a battle you cared nothing for, but he doubted it would inspire much loyalty or valor, which was what he needed from his men. That might cause there to be another Master Hedge, who still awoke at night screaming as far as William knew, reliving in his dreams what he had been forced to do for the pirates against his will, and yet still blamed himself for. William sometimes had dreams too, ones where his first captain, the one who had owned his indenture, and his first kill, danced about him, a bloody mess. William did not think that he screamed however, for one thing, he lacked the guilt. The man would have killed him through ill treatment had William not joined the pirate crew and killed him first.
“Does that mean, Captain, that you are of the school of thought that says that white men fight the best?” asked Mrs. Nolen, refusing to allow the subject to rest, though Steven was giving her looks that ought to have turned her to stone. It was clear that he found her very embarrassing.
“Na, I am not, Mrs. Nolen. Had ya looked, ya would have seen that one of the men who helped hoist ya ta my deck was a black man, a fine sailor. My pilot as well. I simply cannot be havin’ with slavery, as I told Mr. Nolen.”
“You are all making Mr. and Mrs. Ennis very uncomfortable,” said Mrs. Webber from the end of the table where she had been listening with a look of disgust on her face. “It is not right that a fine dinner ought to go to waste while you fight about matters of politics.”
“Ya are entirely right, Mrs. Webber,” said William. “I am very sorry, Mrs. Ennis. Mr. Ennis knows well enough that I’d never think ta make ya not feel welcome at my table, but I da not always think when I hear somethin’ I cannot agree with, and I speak my mind, never regardin’ the company I’m in.”
“He has always been like that, Margaret,” agreed Steven.
“Well I cannot think I find it the manners of a gentleman,” said the widow, looking sour.
“Mrs. Ennis, if you have spent such time in exotic places you must have some splendid stories,” she added.
“Not really, Mrs. Webber,” said Mrs. Ennis, looking down shyly. “To follow her husband is the duty of a loyal wife.”
“My wife is too modest,” protested Mr. Ennis. “She is not telling the story of the hurricane. She was a little hero, Mrs. Webber.”
“What happened, Mr. Ennis?” asked William, bursting with curiosity.
“My ship was an island hopper, and we went out at all seasons, Captain. you have been to the Indies, so you would know that this means that we were sailing in the midst of the stormy season. The barometer was falling as we were sailing towards our home port, but the captain decided it would be be best to try to sail before the storm rather than try and try to find a safe harbor. Rebecca saw the storm coming, and rushed to the beach to watch for us, though she did not know when our ship was due. It must have been God that sent her that day.”
“I always worried about my husband when I saw a storm coming. Mr. Ennis thinks too much of it that I was there that day. There was a shelter on the beach that many of us who had sailor husband would go and stand in when it was poor weather. It is an anxious thing to have a husband at sea.”
“I imagine,” said Mrs. Webber, looking thoughtful. For a moment Mr. Ennis had a flash of amazing guilt cross his face. William only noticed it because he was watching for it. He could not imagine a man less likely to wish to cause any sort of unhappiness to his wife. “But none of the other wives were there that night, Captain,” put in Mr. Ennis, apparently deciding to carry on with the story in spite of difficulties. “Only my little Rebbecca was. She was standing in that little shelter to see as our ship was driven into the rocks at the entrance of the harbor. Each wave that came put us in more danger of being dashed to pieces and drowned. I am not able to swim, and even if I did have such ability, it would have done me little good in such seas. No swimmer could have braved those waves. We thought no one on the beach to see our plight, and that we were surely dead. Even as we worked to secure ourselves to pieces of wood, one of the men of the ship was washed to his death from the deck.”
“I make sure to know well every ship that my husbands sails on, Captain Boyd,” put in Mrs. Ennis here. “I like to be able to point them out to the children as they come to harbor. You might imagine my horror when I saw the lovely ship I had seen carry him from port last, smashed upon the rocks. I thought my heart would fly from me entirely. I hardly knew what I did. I ran as fast as I could across the beach to where a fisherman lived nearby, and I pounded on his door until I roused him and his family. When they saw the condition of the ship against the rock, the fisherman and his sons ran for their boat, for every moment counts against a ship in such condition, as all who live on the shore know. I cannot say what caused me to force them to take me with them. They lost precious time arguing with me about it. I simply could not stand on shore and watch them fight the storm to discover if Isaac was still alive. I did not mind the danger, I was too afraid for him, that we might already be too late.”
“So now imagine my entire amazement, tied already as I was to a piece of wood against the eventuality that I was to end in the water, to see a small boat entering the water of the harbor and skipping across the waves, with Rebbecca standing in her bow as if the storm was nothing but a passing thought. I was painfully relieved when I saw one of the fishermen pulling her to sit down lest she fall into the ocean and be drowned before I was. Still, she was there as we threw a rope down to the fishing boat, and I do not know with what force of strength she pulled herself aboard our ship, but she stood there almost as soon as we had connected the rope to the fishing boat. She was soaking wet, hair wild, hardly the woman that I knew, and yet she had fire in her eyes, Captain. It would have been enough to cause any man to listen to her. Still, my first thought was to wrap her in the great coat I had discarded as too heavy if I was thrown into the sea. Though she did not seem to feel the cold, I could not help but imagine the chill she might catch in her condition. There was not enough room for us the fishing vessel though, not for the entire crew, and at every moment the storm might grow worse and the fishing boat might not be able to return, or the ship might go to pieces. We had lost our ship’s boat already to a wave, and so we had no chance but the fishermen. It made my heart warm that for all of the danger the men were in, they all tried to convince Rebbecca to return with the first boat to the shore. She would have none of it though. She would not leave the deck of the ship without me, and as an officer, it was my duty to stand by the captain on the deck until the last of the sailors were clear of the ship and safe.”
“It would have been no better than to have stood on the shore to start with, and I would have taken space in the ship, which by rights belonged to your men. The slower they were off from the ship, the longer you were to be in danger, something I could not stand,” said Mrs. Ennis.
“And so, as the ship broke apart beneath our feet, the captain of my ship, Rebbecca, and myself, stood on the deck, lashed to timbers as a precaution that I prayed more than ever before that we would not need. God was with us, the fisherman’s wife had run and alerted some neighbors who also launched their boats, and soon we were all carried off, the captain, Rebbecca, and myself in the last boat. She made not one complaint through it all, but stood it as well as a man. We likely would have all been lost had Rebbecca not acted though. She found us aid when we thought we had none, and she stood watch over us until we were all safe. She then fell into a fever that we thought would take her for certain, but she was brave in the face of that as well. I decided with that I had enough of the trade between the islands, it having nearly taken my wife from me,” finished Mr. Ennis. “We returned to Boston with our children, as that is where our parents reside. It is a comfort to me to know that Rebbecca can look to her parents for aid when I am at sea now.”
“Will ya da the same for us, Mrs. Ennis, if our ship ever falls on difficulties?” asked William smiling slightly.
“Heaven forbid,” said Mrs. Ennis, giving a shudder. “I will pray rather for your safety, as I always do when my husband is at sea, Captain Boyd.”
“It must be hard on ya indeed, Mrs. Ennis,” said William, his voice thoughtful. Danger was something that he accepted was a part of the job, like many of the other parts of privateering, it was sort of unpleasant, but it was part of what you did in order to bring home money and finish the day with a smile. It had never occurred to him that Mrs. Ennis might feel differently on the subject.
“My husband works hard to support our family, Captain Boyd, I know that. I must sound terribly ungrateful.”
“Not a bit of it,” said William, with some gallantry. “Now, Mrs. Nolen, if I were ta steal your husband away ta sea, I don’t suppose ya would meet it with such fortitude ta think that he was in such danger as Mr. Ennis faces every day.”
“I would imagine little better of you, Captain Body,” said Mrs. Nolen, making both her sister and her husband flinch slightly. Here it was clear that William was trying to joke with her, and she was not willing to unbend even so far. It was growing somewhat embarrassing for them. Still, William simply smiled at her, as he had made the comment had mostly been the benefit for the others, than because he honestly thought the comment would be well received by the woman.
“I had heard that you never press men or hire men to kidnap them, Captain Boyd,” said Mrs. Ennis, clearly feeling the need to defend her husband’s captain. Admittedly, the integrity of the ship did have an effect on the honor of Mr. Ennis, and therefore tied to her own honor, so he could blame her.
“Crimps are men rightly despised by all seamen, Mrs. Ennis. I will not have dealin’s with them.”
“Crimps, Captain Boyd?” asked Mrs. Webber, who had fallen quiet during the story of Mr. and Mrs. Ennis, though William had thought he had seen her tearing a little and Mr. Ennis had spoken of his wife’s bravery in standing by his side in danger. William idly wondered if she would have stood by her husband in such a way, had he not died of the bloody flux rather than in any danger that could be faced.
“Forgive me for using the sailor’s term, Mrs. Webber,” said William. “A crimp is a foul man who searches the docks for men ta drug and ta dump on a ship that cannot find men enough ta man her. He’ll never be a man with many friends. A sailor would rather chose his own voyage. I’ll not have dealin’s with them, and I need not. I find a printed handbill sayin’ I mean ta set sail is enough to find me men ta take orders from me. There are prizes enough on the sea that na men wishes ta miss the chance to hiss his pockets. Ya might well ask Mr. Nolen.” Steven shot William a withering glare, which William ignored. It was not as if he had spoken a mis truth about his lawyer friend. Just as he himself sailed the seas in search of prize money, Steven did the same around the prize courts, looking for a job where he would be payed in shares. It was only due to their long time friendship that William did not resent this in his friend.
“Do you capture so many prizes, Captain Boyd, that so many men feel that throwing their lot in with you is a path to wealth?” asked Mrs. Webber.
“He does,” said Steven, who knew of every penny that William was bringing in. It was indeed a healthy amount, and if his numbers were right, the shares that William’s me were getting were entirely enough to make them willing to take the risk. William’s system of shares meant that he was paying his men at least ten times what normal sailors were able to make, and that was math that made most men eager to take the risk. Sailors took risk every day in any case, simply for being sailors. The men with patriotic loyalty could serve the navy, the men who thought that being on peaceful missions would protect them for some reason from the ravages of the British could sign on with merchants, but for men who wished the largest return for risking their lives on the sea in a time of war, they ought to sign aboard a privateer. From what Steven had seen, they did, in droves. They also died. Steven knew just as well from the ship’s accounts that often the share was paid to a widow, or to a woman left behind when her husband fell into the hands of the British. What he would say is that William tried to minimize this, which was better than many of the other owners whose accounts he kept and whom he represented at the prize courts. William did honestly care about the plight of the common sailors.
“The chicken, sir,” said Caleb, having found that they had ended the soup and bringing in the main course, which he carved for them at the table. Mrs. Nolen did not seem to have any complaint about the chicken at least, much to the relief of all, and the conversation was able to turn to light talk about gossip and what the latest movements of the armies were across the land and sea. Even the ladies took an interest in this part of the conversation, as Washington was already a hero for all, so much better than the generals who had come before him. Even William was willing to admit that what the man was doing on land was impressive, though he was not so impressed with the manner in which Washington was dealing with the matter of the privateers, which he was also supposed to have charge of, and seemed mostly happy ignoring. There was also what Knox was doing to be discussed. As the man often considered by those of Boston to be loyal to the Congress as the hero of the siege that had liberated them. This being the case, the people of Boston followed the actions of the bookseller turned military leader with interest whenever they could. This peaceful conversation about war lasted until desert, much to the relief of both William and Steven. Both men were certain that the other would hate him or at least avoid him if this dinner did not go well. Meanwhile the recollections of the hurricane in the Indies seemed to have made Mr. and Mrs. Ennis even more loving towards one another than normal, and they seemed entirely wrapped in their own little world. William doubted very much that either of them would notice if the conversation did turn into an argument again. It was only as the Indian Pudding was brought out by Caleb that they were brought back to some sort of reality.
“When will you sail again, Captain Boyd?” asked Steven, though he had asked the question before. It was more immediate now, since now William had everything he had listed as what he needed.
“Mr. Ennis, when da ya think it best ta sail?” asked William, turning to his first mate, who looked surprised. William hurried to explain. “I have na family in this port, close as I have is Mr. Nolen, and I am happier on sea than land. I’d not like ta deprive ya or the men of the shore time ya have earned, and the time with loved ones ya deserve.”
“The day after tomorrow,” suggested Mr. Ennis, though William noticed that Mrs. Ennis gripped the first mate’s hand tightly with those words. It was clear she had hoped he would say a time longer from that date. The gesture made William smile, though he would never have mentioned it, as it would have embarrassed the lady.
“Shore leave for you, Mr. Ennis, until that morning, before noon. I am certain that Mrs. Ennis will like your company until then. We will sail the day after tomorrow on the evening tide.”
“Sir, I have had shore leave, what of the second mate, Captain?”
“Shore leave for him as well, Mr. Ennis.” William announced, generously.
“Then who shall keep watches?” asked Mr. Ennis, even more horrified than the last time that William had given him shore leave.
“I will take the second mates, as I da still need some sleep. The bosun will be well able ta take your watch, as we are in harbor. This is an order again, Mr. Ennis,” William added, trying to curtail any arguments. “It is none too often that we are in port, and less often that we are in Boston. Spend the time that ya are able ta ashore.”
“Thank you Captain Boyd,” said Mrs. Ennis, with a grateful voice that cut off anything else that her husband might have said. “You are the kindest of any captain my husband has sailed under,” she added, making William turn red. It was a rare thing indeed for him to be called kind by anyone. That was not something he generally wondered at either, because he knew that he was a bad man. He had always been a bad man, and before that he had been a bad boy. He assumed that was why his parents had sold his indenture, why the man who held his indenture beat him so badly, why he had turned to piracy, and why, even though Master Hedge had done what he could to reform him, he had returned to something well close to piracy as could be without being a hanging offense.
“A captain like none other I have met,” agreed Steven, smiling at William’s embarrassment. “The last captain I met thought ruling by fear was a far better thing than causing his men to love him.”
“That captain was a fool,” said William, still wishing that he had shot the man who had done so much damage to Steven as a boy, even though the man did not seem to show much signs of it. The lawyer, Harvey Gull, who had taken charge of Steven for William as he and Master Hedge had fled Boston due to piracy charges coming back to haunt them, had clearly been a kind man, who had healed what Master Hedge had not been able to. William wished that Harvey Gull had survived long enough so that he could have thanked him for his care of Steven. William was the older brother after all. He had a duty to thank every man who had ever helped Steven, and that he had missed a chance troubled him. Never mind that he had not even discovered the name that Steven had assumed until after Harvey Gull was already dead.
“Steven still has scars,” said Mrs. Nolen, for once looking as grim about the same thing as William.
“I suppose that Mr. Boyd has some as well,” said Steven, looking uncomfortable. While William knew all of Steven’s story, having been there and saved him from it, William had only given Steven slight hints into his own past, finding that the less that a respectable lawyer knew of such things, the less he would be guilty of covering it up.
“They have been well lost among the others,” said William, smiling, and trying to look as if it no longer mattered. He held up his hands for all present to see scars that crossed even them. Thus far he had been lucky that he only had the powder marks on his cheek, and a knife cut that ran past his mouth down his left cheek on his face. “I leave few battles without some sort of mark,” he added. He was about to add that he was lucky that he had all of his limbs, but then he remembered that Caleb was in the room and refrained. He had no wish to remind the man of the lose he doubt he forgot anyway.
“That is because Captain Boyd is always leading the charge,” said Mr. Ennis with some admiration in his voice, though William thought it was ill placed. William asked his men to take frightening risks on a daily basis, it was only right that he should join them in everything he asked of them and share the dangers. He had an unfair advantage over them as it was. He had been fighting for his life since he was nine on board of a ship. He was not likely to make one of the stupid mistakes that so often cost men their lives.
“We ought to returning home,” said Steven, pulling from his pocket a watch and looking at it. While William’s was a cheap model with a painting of a ship on it, Steven’s was one clearly made for a proper gentleman. For a moment William was jealous, and then he reminded himself of what salt water would likely do to such a watch. Steven was in a better position to be able take care of such a lovely piece of timekeeping so that it would be passed on to his children, if he was to have any. William sincerely hoped that he did. He looked forward to spoiling them, no matter what Mrs. Nolen would have to say on the subject. No one could spoil children like a sailor, who could bring treats back not only from the city, but from all over the world, and often had the best of stories to tell by the fireside.
“My boat is at your disposal,” said William, standing and bowing. “I am certain that Mr. and Mrs. Ennis will not mind keeping me company until it returns to take them ashore.”
“We might stay aboard tonight, Captain,” suggested Mr. Ennis, but Mrs. Ennis muttered something about the children and William shook his head.
“No, Mr. Ennis, I would not trust ya not ta take your watch on deck, though I have said ya needn’t. Ya will spend the night safe at shore, away from temptation.” Everyone laughed at that, even Mrs. Ennis and Mrs. Nolen. William escorted his guests onto the deck, into the fresh air, with some ceremony, and he arranged for the boat crew to make yet another trip to the shore, with his important guests aboard, while Mr. Ennis took the chance to instruct the bosun about taking his watch. William watched this carefully out of the side of his eye, always looking for potential trouble with the dynamic of his ship, but the bosun seemed to accept the responsibility well enough, and did not seem jealous. William did not remember that he had a wife, though he did have a woman aboard at the moment, and that might have accounted for some of his cheerfulness.
“Mr. Quince,” called William, bringing the second mate from his post as officer of the watch over to where they were standing as he watched Steven and the ladies of his house on their voyage to the shore. “Ya are ta join Mr. Ennis on shore leave until the day after tomorrow, before noon. The ship will sail that evenin’, sa get any restless out of ya before that. It will not be an easy voyage.” He would not have said that in front of Steven, who was likely to worry, but his men knew it to be the truth in any case, and so he felt no guilt in voicing it. With the increase of activity on the part of the American privateers came an increase of attacks from the British on the privateering ships, and an increase in the cruelty with which they treated those who were captured. Already the prison ships in New York harbor were growing famous, and William did what he could not to think of them. They said that hundreds of men had already died on them. William even suspected he likely knew some of them, though he could not be certain if they were living or dead. Privateers sometimes worked in concert in order to protect against capture, or to take on a larger prize, and he had heard that several of those ships that he had worked with had later fallen to the enemy. William looked at such risk as a part of the job, and had no time for true sorrow at their lose, only a vague sort of regret, that good men should fall.
“Where shall we sail, Captain?” asked Mr. Quince, it being a question only a man with his casual nature would have dared ask. For a moment William considered asserting his authority more than that, to tell Mr. Quince that they would sail where he directed them, and nowhere else, but then he decided against it.
“We’ll will go South,” he declared. “Towards New York, where there is no shortage of British ships to be had.” It was adding risk of course, to head in the direction of so many British ships was to raise the chance that they would meet one that they could not best, but with great risk came great reward, a saying that William did not know, but one that he certainly lived by. It was not the first time that William had asked his men to sail near those dreaded prison hulks, though the last time the mission had been more personal to him. His heart had been in his mouth the entire time they had been near the harbor, though it had been again later, as they had fought a British ship with his adoptive father on board. He had not been able to tell his crew they could not fight though. Not since that was why they had taken to the sea in the first place under his command.
Sea of Wealth Part 7
With ladies come aboard, William ordered a sling to be lowered. It was one thing to ask a man to climb up a ladder, but to ask a woman with her skirts and corsets to do so would have been madness, and ungentlemanly on top of it. By the time they had a sling rigged to lower for Mrs. Ennis, The Nolen boat was waiting for its turn, with the two ladies of the household, as well as Steven. Mr. Ennis, clearly tired of waiting as his wife was gently hoisted aboard, scrambled up the ladder and threw William a salute.
“Mr. Ennis,” said William, nodding an acknowledgement. “Caleb is waiting in my cabin to seat you and Mrs. Ennis. I am goin’ ta wait until Mr. Nolen and the ladies are aboard before I join ya.”
“I will remain with you on deck, Captain,” said the first mate. The look he gave William made it very clear to him that he was not going to win this, and therefore he did not try. It would have hurt his dignity to have the man below him disobey him in front of all of the sailors. He would have had to say something about it, and he wanted the dinner to be a friendly one.
It was slow going to hoist the women to the deck in the sling. As the boat she was in had arrived first, Mrs. Ennis was the next to come up, though by all rights it likely should have been Mrs, Nolen, had William cared about such formalities. Mrs. Ennis came to stand beside her husband, while the process was began again with Mrs. Nolen. Steven, like Mr. Ennis before him, decided to simply take the ladder and join William on the deck. He shot William a few warning glances, but William chose to ignore them. He had already known that it was likely to be stormy between himself and Mrs. Nolen over dinner, and he had accepted that. He did not require his friend to constantly reminding him of it. With Mrs. Nolen finally reaching the deck, in a process that reminded William very much earlier that evening when they had brought aboard the sacks of flour, her sister, Margaret, was finally helped into the sling by the boatmen below, and hoisted aboard. William bowed to all of his guests.
“Ladies, gentlemen, I would be honored if ya would follow me ta the cabin, where dinner is waitin’.” He offered his arm to Mrs. Ennis, who looked flustered and flattered all at once. She accepted it, while Mr. Ennis followed escorting Mrs. Nolen, and Steven offered his services as an escort to his sister-in-law.
William was impressed with how well Caleb had adapted himself to be a serving man at a gentleman’s table. It was true he was still simply a disabled sailor, and nothing to could take away either his poor clothing, or his wooden leg, but he had made an effort. William thought he could smell soap on his valet, and it was clear he had redone his own hair, and cleaned from under his fingernails for the occasion. William had been so occupied with his own preparations that he had not had the time to notice this before. He had a fine chance to notice it now however, as Caleb filled his glass with spruce beer. The others at the table chose between this or wine.
William seated himself at the head of the table, which was his right as the host. On his right was seated Steven, on his left his first mate. Next to them were seated their wives, while Margaret was seated at the foot of the table, by merit of not having a husband. William found himself feeling sorry for her. Both she and her sister Jane had made marriages of equal merit. She had married a printer, while Jane had married a young lawyer who was just starting on his own after the death of Mr. Gull, his master. Both had had an equal chance of living in comfort. It was unfortunate therefore that printer had died only a couple of years after his marriage, leaving them with no living children, and having used up much of their savings with his long illness. William did not imagine it had been easy for her to look to her sister and her brother-in-law for charity after this, and yet she had been forced to it. It was these thoughts that led him to address his first comments to her.
“I am hopin’, Mrs. Webber, that it wasn’t ta hard on ya ta come aboard. I know the sling is not sa comfortable as it might be,” he said. He had only been forced to use it once himself, after he had broken his leg falling down a hatch in a storm, but he had not enjoyed the experience. It was one thing to climb onto the deck of his own volition, but to find himself in a swing over the ocean had been unsettling.
“It was a fine experience,” said Margaret, much to his surprise, looking at him with shining eyes. “I have never been aboard a ship before, it was entirely novel.” she continued.
“I found it frightful,” said Mrs. Nolen, her voice firm, and quelling anything else that her sister might say. “A very trying experience indeed. I thought I would die of fright.”
“Ya did seem rather pale, Mrs. Nolen,” said William. “I am sorry it was sa unpleasant for ya.”
“You grow accustomed to it,” said Mrs. Ennis, looking down at her empty plate, as if having experience at being aboard a ship was something to be ashamed of, which was not how William thought of it at all. It had been a relief for him to know that there was at least one woman that he did not have to worry about when it came to bringing the women aboard.
Caleb brought out a large tureen of soup at this point, and it interrupted their conversation for a moment. Caleb was not trained in the manners of a servant, or the order in which people ought to be served, and he therefore seemed to have decided his own order in which things were to happen, to the amusement of William, though it was clear that Mrs. Nolen was offended. After Caleb had served William, he moved on to serve the first mate, followed by Mrs. Ennis. William could understand that a ship’s officer took priority to a seaman, but to the landsmen it must have seemed very strange. Mr. Nolen was served after this, then Mrs. Nolen, and finally Margaret, who always seemed to come last. Caleb, having fulfilled this duty, placed a loaf of bread and a crock of butter on the table, and went to stand in the corner, undoubtedly to wait until he saw an empty glass or decided it was time for the next course.
“A fish soup, I hope ya will find it well,” said William, with some pride in the skill of his cook. He did not even need to taste if before he knew it was going to be a lovely masterpiece.
“It is more spicy than I care for,” complained Mrs. Nolen, as the others at the table smiled with enjoyment. William very much doubted this was the case, but he also had no doubt that she would find fault with every course and that he might as well address it.
“Ya will have ta forgive my cook, Mrs. Nolen,” he said civilly. “He spent time in the Indies, where he learned a great love of the pepper pot, as they make in that part of the world. I have tried ta teach him ta cook for civilized folks, but he has trouble makin’ anything not of that part of the world.” Steven, from his breakfast with William, knew that this was a lie, but he also knew it was a lie motivated with peacekeeping, and so he smiled gratefully at William, something that William also ignored. It was not for the sake of Steven that he was doing it, even though that shamed him. William had wanted to do something for his first mate, who he admired, and the mate’s wife, and getting into a fight at the table he was entertaining them at would have been shameful.
“When my husband and I were first married, I spent some time in the Indies, as he had found a berth on a ship that traveled the islands there,” said Mrs. Ennis, shyly. “I found it a very enjoyable place, though not a place I would have wished to raise our children. I wish that I had learned some of the dishes. You are lucky in your cook, Mr. Boyd.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Ennis,” said William, smiling at her.
“I believe you spent some time in the Indies as well, Mr. Boyd?” asked Steven, clearly trying to keep the conversation along those seemingly harmless lines. To William they were not that harmless, as that was where he had been nearly hung as a pirate, but he did not have to mention that part to anyone but Steven, who already knew about it.
“I did, as a boy,” said William. “For me this soup is a taste of the home I knew there,” he added, again not entirely truthfully. He found it best not to be too honest about his past with strangers however. It would never do for anyone to undo the web and discover the truth of his piratical past, or who Master Hedge had been for that matter.
Sea of Wealth Part Six
“That is no cause for you to put yourself in harms way while I stay comfortable at home,” said Steven, and William looked troubled for a moment. He had had no idea that Steven was having such thoughts. As he had been pleased to have Steven out of harms way, he had imagined that Steven was just as pleased with the situation.
“I need ya in a place where ya can look after my goods while I am at sea, I can’t have ya leavin’ my money and things in the care of Mrs. Nolen. It’d not surprise me if she threw them inta the sea the moment I sailed.” Even Steven laughed at that. Having gotten Steven out of momentary funk, William decided it was an invitation to continue. “And if ya took my money with ya ta war, it would be as good as a target on ya. Ya would be carrin’ the money for the great privateer, William Boyd.” Steven shook William’s arm from his shoulders and stood back to look at him for a long moment.
“And the target that you have on yourself, that you never seem to consider, William?”
“Now ya will be soundin’ like Master Hedge,” said William, gently. “I know nothin’ else ta da. There is naught else that I am so skilled at. I told Master Hedge when he took me for apprentice that I was ta old then ta learn a new trade, and I am double that now.”
Steven looked at his former fellow apprentice with a sad look on his face for a moment, though William could not be certain if it was due to the risks that he was taking every moment, if it was because Steven was not able to join him in them. Finally Steven seemed to shake himself though out of whatever thoughts had plagued him.
“I had best return to shore now, if I am to bring Mrs. Nolen back for supper. She would not be well pleased if supper was made before I told her we were going elsewhere.” With the tenders now empty. Steven returned to the shore, more thoughtful than he had been when he had gone out with them. William was a fatalist, Steven was not. Steven believed far more that a man chose his path, and it troubled him to see that William always chose to be the one out of their adoptive family that placed himself in danger while trying to look after himself and Master Hedge, all the while saying that it was his fate. Steven doubted that William had been placed on the earth to put money in his pockets, even if that had been what role William had played in the recent past.
With both Steven and Mr. Ennis gone, William turned his attention to the normal chores about the ship again. Not only did he make himself the officer on watch for the period left of what he had releaved Mr. Ennis of, he also took the second watch from the second mate. Watch on watch was a longg time to remain on duty, but it meant that he was not putting the stress on the second mate how was undeserving of watch on watch, something often used as a punishment for officers. He would need the second mate on duty during dinner, while neither he nor the first mate would be on deck.
As the bell rang for the end of William’s second watch Caleb was there, waiting for him. William found himself hustled back into his cabin, while Caleb described the details of the plans that he and the cook had formed for the dinner that night. It was the first time that William had entertained any gentleman on the ship who was not a British prisoner taken by the ship. Nonetheless, he had to admit that his men had risen to the occasion admirably. While he had been on deck, Caleb had not only neatened his cabin, he had also laid out the clothing that William thought of as his gentleman’s best, rather than his ship clothing. It seemed strange to wear Macaroni clothing, and not just any, his best, on board the ship, but he had to accept it. Caleb was in the right. There were expectations for him as a host, and as he was going to be entertaining gentlemen and ladies, it was best that he played the part of one himself.
Caleb had only just finished dressing his captain’s hair when William heard the ship’s boat ordered to be ready. He had been so engrossed with thoughts of how he would be able to keep the peace between himself and Mrs. Nolen through an entire supper that he had not heard the ship bell ring out the half hour. He stood up, brushing the arms of his coat one last time, to make sure that none of the dust of storage remained on it. It had been some time since he had last had the occasion to wear this outfit. Indeed, the last time he could remember, was the day he had gone to see the new Continental governor of Massachusetts and asked if he could be of service to the Congress as a privateer.
“The cook is ready with the food?”asked William, trying not to seem too nervous in front of his servant.
“Yes, Captain. There will be a fried chicken that there was some difficulty in gaining. A fish stew, I am afraid that we caught the fish ourselves from the deck. Fresh bread. Indian pudding too.” William smiled. His men were going above and beyond with the chance to entertain. He had noticed the same when Steven had spent the night. Normally he would have made do with a few hot cakes with his coffee. It was clear to him that even if his men did not care for his prestige, they felt it would reflect poorly on themselves if he entertained his guests badly.
“Ta drink?” he asked.
“A punch made from Arak, a spruce beer the cook bought of a man in a boat, or wine,” said Caleb, looking pleased with the list. William could not blame him. He was half tempted to ask where they had found arak, which would not have lasted long had he known it was aboard, but he decided against it. Either one of his men had it, or it had been bought off of a man in a boat like the beer. As Caleb was so pleased to tell him the where he had found or managed to pick up all of the other items on the menu but that one however, William would not have been surprised if a man on the ship had been hoarding it for his own use.
Having taken one last look in the small glass that Caleb held up for him, to make sure that he was neatly shaved, William once again stepped onto the deck. of his ship. He could see several of his men glance over at him and grin before turning back to what they were doing. Across the deck, the second mate, Jacob Quince came hurrying.
“Ship’s boat just comin’ back now, wit the first mate and his lady aboard, Captain,” he announced. While William had a soft spot for his first mate for having traits that he lacked, he was fond of his second mate for the opposite reason. William sincerely doubted that Jacob had much more of an education than he did, and he had made up for, just as William had, by being unusually aggressive.
“Thank ya, Mr. Quince,” said William, clasping his hands behind his back in an attempt to look like the naval captains that he occasionally encountered, usually as the enemy, even when they were on his side. He had found early on that the proper men of the navy did not care for the privateers who they looked on as men of less morals. William was not by nature a stiff or formal man, so he was forced to take his cues from others when he wanted to seem as if he was.
“Sir,” asked Mr. Quince, seemingly unsure if he should say what he was going to say anyway.
“Yes, Mr. Quince?” asked William.
“You’re lookin’ right handsome, Captain,” blurted the second mate. “All the men was sayin’ it.”
“Thank you, Mr. Quince,” said William, letting down his veneer of propriety for a moment so he could grin at the man, who was starting to turn red with embarrassment.
“Boat alongside,” shouted one of the seamen, giving the second mate the chance to hurry away before he embarrassed himself further.
Sea of Wealth Part Five
Chapter Three
“Ahoy, ahoy Beauty,” came a familiar voice, and this time William did not wait for his watchmen to challenge the approaching boat. He rushed to the side of the ship and looked across the water, expecting to see Steven alone in a small boat, just as he had been before. This time however he was standing in the prow of a tender, with several other ships of the sort coming after him, all full of supplies as near as he could tell, including two goats that William could see bleating with justifiable complaint at their treatment. Steven, leaping from the lead boat onto the ship’s ladder and scrambling onto the deck, gave William a mock salute.
“What is all this Steven?” asked William, looking down at the tenders.
“Powder and shot, and some provisions,” said Steven looking proud of himself, which William was willing to admit was warranted. He led Steven to the quarterdeck, which was technically his territory while he was on deck by the tradition of ship etiquette. They could speak here with some privacy while not retreated into the cabin. As it was another fine spring day it would have been a shame to go inside, after a long and hard winter.
“I was across the city yesterday, and saw na sign nor rumor of shot or powder,” complained William.
“That, my friend, is because I know who has been keeping tight hold of it to drive up the price, that he might make the most money of it. I find it a foul thing, and I have no doubt that others would as well, so I shall not name any names. As I know too well who he is, he had no choice but to sell to me,” Steven added, with a grin. “There are advantages, William, to staying in a place long enough to learn everything about it.”
“How am I ta pay the man if I am not knowing who is sellin’ the goods ta me?” asked William.
“You give me the money, and I pay him,” said Steven, still smiling. “It is all legal, if not so moral, so you need not worry about accepting.” Now William laughed, hearing Steven speaking words that normally he would have himself.
“And the goats?” asked William, looking back down at the tenders, and finding some packages in them as well that did not seem likely to be shot or powder, not matter how well wrapped it was.
“Those are gifts,” said Steven. “I thought the crew might like them. There are some items for your private store as well. It seemed as though your cook would know what to do with anything I brought, judging by the breakfast you offered me yesterday morning.”
“I indulge my crew,” agreed William.
Instead of the normal sea cook, who was often simply a disabled sailor who could no longer climb the rigging, he had found a man who had once been a cook on land and trained him to the sea instead. It was amazing the difference that was made, even to the dull ingredients that the cook was forced to work with often. William was not so cruel however, as to ignore the needs of disabled sailors. With little work to be found on land for a man who only knew what it was like on the sea, and without a limb at that. Far too many such disabled men became beggars from what William had seen. It was a particular tragedy since it was so easy to lose a limb on the ship, especially on a fighting ship. All that it took was a cannon to be improperly loaded, or for an enemy to have a lucky shot, or for a mast to fall and crush a man. Taking a job for a disabled sailor from his ship had filled William with such guilt therefore that he had found another position that could be opened, without any effect on the rest of the crew. William’s personal valet on the ship, which most captains simply chose out of the general men of the crew, had instead been found among the ship’s disabled list. The look on Caleb Pyle’s face when he had discovered that he still had a place on the ship had been enough to tell William that he had done the right thing. This was the man who Steven had noticed serving them coffee, had he been paying closer attention he would have also noticed that the man had only one leg, though Caleb hid it well, being a rather vain man for a common sailor. For one thing he had chosen to wrap the wooden stump with leather to deaden its sounds against the boards of the deck. Among the pirates that William had once sailed with, there had been men who would choose clothing above all else from their prizes, the finer the clothing the better. He imagined that Caleb would be such a man, if that was the sort of ship he was on again. Occasionally he even pictured his valet in the finery of a gentleman, even though he never pictured such splendid clothing on himself, and he was the man’s superior.
“A fine crew of men,” said Steven, looking about the ship with approval. He had not had the chance before to actually see much of them, it having been dark. In any case, the last time he had concerned himself more with the ship herself than the men who sailed her. Though it did not escape him that the men were looking a little pale and tired. Having spent enough time on a ship in his youth however, Steven attributed it to its proper cause. The ship was in port and William was clearly a man who allowed his men to have their fun.
“How is Mrs. Nolen treatin’ ya,” muttered William, it being something that had troubled him, though it was hardly proper of him to inquire after another man’s domestic situation.
“Not speaking to me,” said Steven, looking a little grim, though he did not apparently take offense at the question. William glanced over make sure that Mr. Ennis had not overheard the discussion and then had a thought.
“I’m havin’ a dinner tonight,Steven, here on the ship, and I’d be much honored ya would come, with Mrs. Nolen and her sister as well. Consider it my way of tellin’ her how sorry I am for what happened at her dinner.”
“Have you gone mad?” asked Steven, apparently asking the question in earnest.
“A bit,” admitted William, “but not in this.”
“I’ll not forgive you if you seek to avenge yourself on my wife in some way,” warned Steven, his voice suspicious. William, looked at him for a moment with a blank expression, until realization dawned.
“Steven, I care very little if people like me. Few da. I cannot be bothered ta even try ta mend that, sa long as my crew will have me. Ya must trust me that provided Mrs. Nolen does not try ta hand me over ta the British, or accuse me of somethin’ likely ta give me the steps and the string, I will consider her a friend for your sake. If it will place that suspicious mind ya have at rest, I’ll tell ya I have invited my first mate’s wife for dinner, but its not proper that she should be the only lady at the table. I was tryin’ ta find a way ta solve this when ya arrived.”
“I will invite her,” said Steven, his voice a little reluctant. He clearly thought that this was still a bad idea.
“Mr. Ennis, ya have the remainin’ day ta spend with Mrs. Ennis,” William said, calling across the deck. “Dinner will be at four bells, I will expect you then. Ya may tell her that other ladies have been invited, as well as Mr. Nolen here, sa she will be in good company.”
“I am on duty, sir,” protested Mr. Ennis, though he walked over to speak respectfully, rather than shouting back across the deck.
“As the captain, it is my privilege ta relieve ya of your duty when I like,” William reminded the man, shooting Steven an amused glance. “I will take your place on deck, not havin’ a wife ta look after ashore. Take the ship’s boat, I will have it meet ya at the wharf at three bells ta bring ya back.” Having no remaining objection to make, and not even having to meet the expense of going ashore thanks to having access to the ship’s boat and crew, Mr. Ennis took his leave from the gentlemen with a low bow.
“Your men are loyal to the ship,” observed Steven, looking as amused as William. He was also happy though, simply to see that William had caused such loyalty in his men. The ship that Steven had found himself on as a boy had had far less loyalty, and the true factor he believed was the captain. His captain had tried to kill him as an example for the crew of who was in charge. From what he could see, William pulled power to make sure that his men were taken care of. Steven imagined it was the difference between a man who had been born an officer, and a boy who had learned his trade as a cabin boy, from the bottom up. While most of the crew of the ship The Dancy that Steven had served on, had jumped ship when they were able, Steven had heard already from the rumors around the city that the men of the Beauty had made a night of it ashore, and yet they were all aboard again from the way that the men were acting. Generally a man jumping ship was something that was observable in the behavior of the crew the next morning. There was no sullen behavior, no bullying apparent, only a few men who seemed to have hangovers, a few men in groups making gloves or sea pants while enjoying the sun, and then the usual watch, who were looking out to sea even though they were in port. Steven would not have been surprised, if an enemy ship did appear, if William’s ship knew of it before the town did. The men had clearly been taught to be on their guard.
“The men know that if we take a ship, I’ll be fair with them,” said William, as if that was all that it had taken to make such a cohesive ship. Steven knew far better, and so he simply grinned. People who were motivated by greed did not show such dedication to a man or to their duty. Still, it was likely to do no good to point this out to William, and so he did not.
“We had best get the goods aboard,” he suggested instead. So as the first mate set off towards the shore, the two men began to direct the loading of the supplies, swinging things up from the tenders and then supervising their stowing below in the hold. All but the goodies that he had brought for William personally, which were stored in the food locker in William’s room. This all took longer than it would have otherwise, since the other supplies that William ordered also began to arrive before they had loaded all of what Steven had brought. The powder and shot took precedence above all else for for William however, even above food. He could always buy food, powder and shot were expensive and rare. It was only after that he had the powder in the specially made powder room, stored by men who were not wearing shoes, only slippers, in order to stop any sparks from igniting the extremely volatile powder. The shot meanwhile was kept in a locker to keep it from shifting or rolling about, causing the ship to be unstable. That was not to mention how much damage a loose cannonball could cause once it gained velocity if it did start rolling. Only then did everything else get swung up. William was amazingly grateful to Steven, who stayed by his side through the whole process, and though he did not help much, it not being his ship, he did make good and entertaining company. Mostly Steven simply seemed entertained to be among the bustle of a ship again.
“It is a little nostalgic,” admitted Steven quietly.
“Just da not be gettin’ any ideas. If ya were ta follow me ta sea, I have na doubt that Mrs. Nolen would claim abandonment,” said William. Steven shook his head.
“No more of the sea for me, though if ever I was to go, it would be on your ship. You also judge Mrs. Nolen too harshly, though I know well why. She would be sorry to see me join the fighting as she has already seen a brother die that way.”
“Army or navy?” asked William, who had not known this about his friend’s wife.
“Army,” said Steven, “last year, during the fight for the city. I gave money for arms and the like, but I never joined the fighting,” he added, looking a little guilty.
“And it is best that ya da not,” said William, wrapping an arm around Steven’s shoulders protectively. “I can fight well enough for all of Boston if I must. Ya have a wife and sister-in-law ta look ta, and if ought happened ta ya, who would support them. I got na family at all that I care ta find, and none this side of the Atlantic at all.
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0.272794 | <urn:uuid:5cb83be0-8bad-4039-a806-e81c46bb8b9d> | en | 0.967837 | REVIEW: To Wed a Highland Bride by Sarah Gabriel
Dear Ms. Gabriel: In the 90s there was a small collection of historical romances that mixed in characters having some magic to them. they were sweet romances and the heroines were almost always of that fey, faerie nature. This book evoked some of that same sweet romance with an otherwordly touch. It’s nicely done but(…) | http://dearauthor.com/book-author/sarah-gabriel/ | dclm-gs1-243800002 | false | false | {
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0.046378 | <urn:uuid:e0b71b28-69e0-4346-acf4-6852b7aa39d5> | en | 0.945305 | From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Chhayavaad (Hindi: छायावाद) ("romanticism") refers to the era of Neo-romanticism in Hindi literature particularly Hindi poetry, 1922–1938,[1] and was marked by an upsurge of romantic and humanist content. Chhayavad was marked by a renewed sense of the self and personal expression, visible in the writings of time. It is known for its leaning towards themes of love and nature, as well as an individualistic reappropriation of the Indian tradition in a new form of mysticism, expressed through a subjective voice.
In, Chhayavad Yug is 1918 to 1937, and is preceded by Bharatendu Yug (1868–1900), and Dwivedi Yug (1900–1918), and is in turn, followed by the Contemporary Period, 1937 onwards.[1][2]
Chhayavad continued till later half of 1930s, when the golden era of modern Hindi poetry was gradually replaced by social didacticism inspired by the uprising nationalist fervour, when some of the later poets of this era, like Dinkar, Mahadevi and Bachchan took nationalist and social critiquing within their poetry.
Notable authors[edit]
Jaishankar Prasad, Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala', Sumitranandan Pant and Mahadevi Varma[3] are considered as the four pillars of Chhayavaadi school of Hindi literature. Other important figures of this literary movement were Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar', Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Makhanlal Chaturvedi.
Pandit Narendra Sharma नरेन्द्र शर्मा.
Though Harivansh Rai Bachchan became excessively critical of Chhayavaad later in his career and was associated with other genres like Rahasyavaad, Pragativaad and Haalaavaad.
Notable works[edit]
Jaishankar Prasad's Kamayani (Hindi:कामायनी) (1936) is considered an important magnum opus of this school, followed by Mahadevi Verma's, Nihar (Mist, 1930), Harivansh Rai Bachchan's, Madhushala (Hindi: मधुशाला) (1935).Ramdhari singh dinkarlohe ke pade hare hogene
Criticism of Chhayavaad[edit]
When it arrived, Chhayavaad was very well received by readers and critics alike. However, subsequent scholars have criticized Chhayavaad for excessive use of decorative language, romanticism aloof from contemporary social and economic malaise and setting stricter rules on meter, rhyme etc. | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chhayavaad | dclm-gs1-243860002 | false | false | {
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0.135007 | <urn:uuid:c15b5842-f628-473e-bfaf-b185cb02fcac> | en | 0.98398 | GTA Wiki
Whack the Racers/walkthrough
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< Whack the Racers
Revision as of 01:39, November 9, 2010 by Axeteam (Talk | contribs)
After meeting up with Chan he says he can't win without your help. You have to knock the racers of the track during the race. Get a fast car (for example the Comet next to Chan's garage, the Admiral near your first save point, a Cavaclade FXT or another car which isn't slow but also good on durability and weight) and head for the starting grid. When you get there you'll see the champ crashing his car and dies. Now only Chan and 3 rivals are left in the race. Crash into the cars to ram them off the track until Chan takes the lead. You'll need to maintain Chan's lead until the end of the race (3 laps). After you're done go and congratulate Chan with his victory. He'll say that he didn't need your help after all. (Suggestions: After ramming them off the track, try to keep them there such as stop suddenly and cause them to crash into the wall, when they are almost catching up, do this again.)
Mission Passed.
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0.115956 | <urn:uuid:0cf84376-18f6-4b81-b67d-f19775217dc1> | en | 0.930394 | Harry Potter Wiki
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"History of Magic needs to teach more WITCH history and less WIZARD history."
—A female Hogwarts student states her belief that the History of Magic curriculum is too male-centric.[src]
Feminism is a philosophy which holds women should have political, social, and economic rights equal to men's.[1]
Minerva McGonagall was "always something of a feminist."[2] When she announced she would be keeping her maiden name after marrying Elphinstone Urquart, traditionalists reacted with disapproval, wondering why she did not want to take the surname of a pure-blood family and give up the surname of her Muggle father.[2]
Notes and references
1. "Feminism on Wikipedia
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0.022533 | <urn:uuid:d4afaf6f-2b53-4e6f-b5e6-be7463b3bc74> | en | 0.811624 | Results 1 to 5 of 5
Page 1 of 1
FEZF2, a novel 3p14 tumour suppressor gene, represses oncogene EZH2 and MDM2 expression and is frequently methylated in nasopharyngeal carcinomaShu, XS; Li, L; Ji, MS; Cheng, Y; Ying, JK; Fan, Y; Zhong, L; Liu, X; Tsao, GSW; Chan, AT; Tao, Q201328
A novel isoform of the 8p22 tumor suppressor gene DLC1 suppresses tumor growth and is frequently silenced in multiple common tumorsLow, JSW; Tao, Q; Ng, KM; Goh, HK; Shu, XS; Woo, WL; Ambinder, RF; Srivastava, G; Shamay, M; Chan, ATC; Popescu, NC; Hsieh, WS2011125
The epigenetic modifier PRDM5 functions as a tumor suppressor through modulating WNT/β-catenin signaling and is frequently silenced in multiple tumorsShu, XS; Geng, H; Li, L; Ying, J; Ma, C; Wang, Y; Poon, FF; Wang, X; Ying, Y; Yeo, W; Srivastava, G; Tsao, SW; Yu, J; Sung, JJY; Huang, S; Chan, ATC; Tao, Q2011160
CMTM3, located at the critical tumor suppressor locus 16q22.1, is silenced by CpG methylation in carcinomas and inhibits tumor cell growth through inducing apoptosisWang, Y; Li, J; Cui, Y; Li, T; Ka, MN; Geng, H; Li, H; Shu, XS; Li, H; Liu, W; Luo, B; Zhang, Q; Mok, TSK; Zheng, W; Qiu, X; Srivastava, G; Yu, J; Sung, JJY; Chan, ATC; Ma, D; Tao, Q; Han, W2009115
Phospholipase c delta 1 is a novel 3p22.3 tumor suppressor involved in cytoskeleton organization, with its epigenetic silencing correlated with high-stage gastric cancerHu, XT; Zhang, FB; Fan, YC; Shu, XS; Wong, AHY; Zhou, W; Shi, QL; Tang, HM; Fu, L; Guan, XY; Rha, SY; Tao, Q; He, C2009132
Page 1 of 1 | http://hub.hku.hk/browse?type=author&value=Shu%2C+XS&value_lang=en_HK | dclm-gs1-244100002 | false | true | {
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0.986246 | <urn:uuid:449f440d-4e8b-4f2d-8f7f-8889636658f9> | en | 0.888632 | Inspire. Me.
Mallory. 25. California Girl. Dreamer. Writer. Believer. Childhood Sexual Abuse SURVIVOR. Shark Enthusiast. Potterhead. Fat Cat Lover. I am more complicated than you think, don't judge me just by this. My blog contains things that make me smile, things that express my feelings, things that make me cry, think, wonder....I am me. Take it or leave it.
silencemakesyousick(my new project TRIGGER WARNING!)
therewasamouse (disney blog)
Please follow both :) if you want :)
Home Theme Preguntas?!?
Hey you…follower of mine…
if you are reading this…
you’re awesome.
that is all. <3
Inner Discussion.
Me:Can I just be gone please?
Myself:sure why not....
Me:but what if...
Myself:What if what? No one will miss you. No one cares.
Me:yeah...i know.
You Are a Chimera →
You are very outgoing and well connected to many people. Incredibly devoted to your family and friends, you find purpose in nurturing others. You are rarely alone, and you do best in the company of others. You are incredibly expressive, and people are sometimes overwhelmed by your strong emotions.
so true:)
| http://ifiwasagreatwhite.tumblr.com/ | dclm-gs1-244110002 | false | false | {
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0.025867 | <urn:uuid:d70d40ba-b906-40ce-bf46-374c32b8ed6e> | en | 0.954853 | Shoni Schimmel drives to the hoop in a game against Gonzaga in last year's March Madness tournament
Shoni Schimmel's Basketball Season So Far
Going into tonight’s game against Cincinnati, the #14 ranked Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team, 8-2, are once again led by super sophomore Shoni Schimmel.
The 5’9” Schimmel cut her teeth playing basketball on the Umatilla Reservation where she grew up, and now the fleet-footed, she’s-got-the-ball-on-a-string point guard extraordinaire plies her trade in front of tens of thousands of fans. After making a gigantic splash her freshmen year, the stakes were high for Schimmel and her Cardinal teammates. After missing the first two games because of playing in an unsanctioned three-on-three tournament back at the Umatilla Reservation this summer, Schimmel is back and is better then ever.
Schimmel is currently second on the team in scoring (13.5 points per game, 108 total), steals (23), and three pointers made (22), while leading the team in assists (38, nearly 5 a game).
Schimmel’s younger sister, Jude, joined her sister at Louisville and is just getting adjusted to the speed of the college game. She’s had flashes of brilliance, foreshadowing a Schimmel-sister dynamic that should help keep the Cardinals in the hunt for a National Championship.
Playing alongside Monique Reid, Becky Burke, and Bria Smith, Shoni Schimmel is doing what she does best, getting everybody involved, making everybody body, and moving her team confidently towards the big dance, March Madness, where the Cardinals hope to improve upon their run in last year’s March Madness tournament, where they were ousted in the Great Eight by an upstart Gonzaga team. | http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/12/14/shoni-schimmels-basketball-season-so-far-67382 | dclm-gs1-244140002 | false | false | {
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0.046511 | <urn:uuid:2a6ee4ee-1d2f-4c89-a3bc-9fcb1dff41ff> | en | 0.980097 | Monday, August 08, 2005
At The Movies
Tonight I watched the movie Carandiru at a friend's house. An interesting flick about a doctor in an overcrowded Brazilian prison. The climax of the movie - a prison riot and the police countermeasures that ended it - are depicted in detail. The film was based on a true story and the police raid in question resulted in 112 prisoner deaths.
The raid, as described by the prisoners, showed police firing on those who had previously thrown down their weapons and waved white flags. Cops were gunning down men, execution style, all over the place. Those I was watching it with were slagging the police off, and I could hear the anarchistic cogs turning in their minds. This is what happens when you leave The Man in charge. Abu Ghraib! Camp X-Ray! Baxter!
Hang on, it's only a movie, dammit. This is the reality told by the surviving prisoners. Isn't that setting off some alarm bells, people? Like, take it with a grain of salt, people? No? Fine. I'm going to make a movie about the same event using only the police officers' stories. Here's the gist of it: A group of highly trained and humane police marksmen were target shooting using live ammunition at their training ground within the prison (realistic settings, yadda yadda). During that time, a marauding group of 112 prisoners happened to stray into the police line of fire. This was tragic, but fortunate, as the HIV-addled prisoners were heading over to the convent school next door where they were planning to have their wicked way with the nuns and children there. Believable?
The movie was a good way to pass a couple of hours, and obviously there's no denying that 112 people died in the event it depicts. Did they die in the manner purported, however? Or is my fictitious police story closer to the mark? No doubt, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. That is always best remembered before getting an emotional head of steam up.
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0.02288 | <urn:uuid:d13ce4a0-ec00-4246-ac09-818301ddd8db> | en | 0.950797 | Recommended podcasts:
Not a Good Idea
{ 1 comment }
The usual apology for IP (“intellectual property”) privilege is that effort has to be rewarded in an advanced society if justice is to be made to creators and producers.
Interesting: Marxists say the very same thing. They claim that previous effort (“frozen labor”) is that which gives value to economic goods. Well, Objectivists are doing the same in a more fashionable — yet equally flawed — way. They claim economic value is derived from frozen…thoughts. Yes, frozen thoughts. See, Objectivists consider labor performed inside our heads1 the source of economic value, and thus being the very core of value creation it has to be rightfully protected at all costs, right?
Wrong. The source of value is the customer’s valuation of said good during the time of sale.
Yes, ladies and gentlement, it is sales (that mundane and sordid act) that which generates an income in a free society (i.e. the division of labor). Sales are the only way in which demonstrated preference tells us that which is valuable to others. And if it is, they surrender certain amount of another good by giving it to us in exchange for what they need and want. That good is generally one of general acceptance (the most marketeable one), in other words, money. So in order to make money one has to sell. It does not suffice to sit, philosopher style (see pic), and wait for money to come to oneself. One has to know how to turn the idea into an attractive and/or useful product, which requires a whole different set of skills. Or find able partners for the risk-taking endeavor. Even choosing an adequate partner/team for production, distribution, and sales require entrepreneurial skills far beyond the usual thinker’s.
But in any case, it is not “who thought of this first?” that makes people buy more of brand X. The customer couldn’t care less either way. It is the positioning of brand X in the customer’s mind that creates what we call a true market niche for a product. Thus, it follows that it is opportunity, quality and ultimately demonstrated preference (sales) that determines commercial success. Alas, Capitalism is not the social system of thinkers (nor was Socialism, as it was predictably taken over by power-mongers): it is the social system of merchants. Yes, lowly, mundane, and anti-intellectual merchants.
This, to the despair of (Objectivist) NeoMarxism and Marxism, two philosophies founded by intellectuals who wanted to highlight the role of people like themselves.
1. A substantially less sweaty form of labor, of course | http://libertarianstandard.com/tag/ideas/ | dclm-gs1-244240002 | false | false | {
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0.033444 | <urn:uuid:5c41436b-e2c3-4825-9036-ce3de6866ba0> | en | 0.977537 | Remembering Professor Jerry Norman
A Pioneer in Chinese Language Studies
(Grace Norman)
(Grace Norman)
A Pioneer in Chinese Language Studies
by Chris Livaccari
When I began my own studies of Chinese, there were really only two books available that provided a clear and comprehensive account of the history of the Chinese language and a linguistic introduction to Mandarin and the various dialects. One was S. Robert Ramsey’s book, The Languages of China, and the other was Professor Norman’s volume on Chinese that is part of the Cambridge Language Surveys series. As an eager student of Chinese in college, I still remember picking up Norman’s book, which immediately shattered my limited understanding of what the term “Chinese” actually meant. At the time, I had heard of Mandarin and Cantonese and was aware that there were other “dialects,” but the book really opened a new understanding about the language, and about languages in general, that became fundamental for me.
The book opens with the assertion that “few language names are as all-encompassing as that of Chinese” and proceeds to explain how “Chinese” may refer to the “archaic inscriptions of the oracle bones, the literary language of the Zhou dynasty sages, the language of Tang and Song poetry and the early vernacular language of the classical novels, as well as the modern language in its standard and dialectal forms.” Norman goes on to explain how the “modern Chinese dialects are really more like a family of languages, and the Chinese of the first millennium BC is at least as different from the modern standard language as Latin is from Italian or French.” He takes this idea even further in the book, elaborating on how “the Chinese language, especially in its written form, has always been one of the most powerful symbols of this cultural unity. The aptness of language as a symbol of cultural and even political unity was facilitated by the use of a script that for all practical purposes was independent of any particular phonetic manifestation of their language, allowing the Chinese to look upon the Chinese language as being more uniform and unchanging than it actually was.”
It is difficult to overestimate the importance of these ideas. Even most people in China have probably not considered the notion that “Chinese” is a very nebulous thing indeed. Professor Norman brought this broad perspective to his writing and research, and to mentoring of his students, many of whom would take up leadership positions in the field. The many remembrances of Dr. Norman that have been posted by his students and colleagues reflect the fact that he was truly worthy of the designation “gentleman and scholar.”
One of his former students, Dr. Richard VanNess Simmons, now Professor of Chinese and Chair of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at Rutgers University, remembers Norman as “a teacher of subtle skill and great patience . . . a man of profound humility and easy humor, and a scholar of endless curiosity, immense knowledge, incredible penetrating insight, and lasting impact . . . whose genius allowed him to discover the larger picture through a preternatural command of the details.” Simmons goes on to say that Norman’s “kind generosity led him to impart his knowledge freely and humbly, with lucid simplicity, and without a trace of arrogance. He had a powerful influence on my life's direction and pursuits, an influence of a depth like that of my own father. He shall live on in all of our hearts and our work.”
This combination of erudition and humility is a rare thing indeed. For those of us that never had the opportunity to meet Professor Norman, his legacy lives on in the contributions of the students he mentored and the colleagues and friends whose work was guided by his insights. | http://moderator@asiasociety.org/education/chinese-language-initiatives/remembering-professor-jerry-norman | dclm-gs1-244410002 | false | false | {
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0.029307 | <urn:uuid:15ce5160-08a4-4afa-9aa8-0b825416c721> | en | 0.951944 | Submitted by Aclay 389d ago | interview
Nintendo on Wii U: 'Still a lot to do'
Nintendo has bold ambitions for the Wii U. Released just yesterday in the United States, Nintendo's first high-definition console is aiming to reshape the way consumers not only play games, but also enjoy entertainment. It's a lofty ambition, but after the Wii took the gaming world by storm, betting against Nintendo does not seem to be the wisest move.
To get a deeper insight into Nintendo's plans for the Wii U and beyond, GameSpot caught up with Bill Trinen, director of product marketing at Nintendo. Talking to GameSpot from inside the Nintendo World Store in the famous Rockefeller Center in New York City during Nintendo's Wii U launch event Saturday night, Trinen spoke at length about the Wii U. (Nintendo, Wii U)
richierich + 388d ago
Now tell us the specs please
Monstar + 388d ago
They don't want to, it's so bad. It's Wii all over again.
Srsly tho, if they did now.. it might turn a lot of gamers off. GPU-wise it isn't strong and i hear the CPU is the same.
Akuma- + 388d ago
they need to make the hardware 5 times more powerful
sitharrefus + 388d ago
They need all the vc games and wii ware to be in the eshop
The_Klank + 388d ago
richierich + 388d ago
I really feel screwed by Nintendo the only reason I preordered it was because I thought it was going to be more powerful than the current gen consoles. They were pretty crafty telling us that it had 2GB of ram but not giving us the full specs and not mentioning that the ram is slower than he PS3 and 360. I traded in my 3DS, most of my PS3 games and accessories for store credit towards the Wii U and now I find out that it is not more powerful than the current gen but probably on par with PS3 and 360. Maybe Pachter was right all along.
DreamTension + 388d ago
I'm disappointed there are no demos on the Wii shop...
millzy102 + 388d ago
firstly devs has said the GPGPU is stronger than current gen and it has 32mb eDRAM compared to the 360 9mb also we know the clock speed is slower but does anyone know what clock speed means? thought not its basically the refresh rate of data going into the CPU but that means nothing until we know how many computations the CPU can do. for example and these are made up figures but just to give you an idea, the 360 has a 3.2ghz CPU and let's say the Wii u has 2.5ghz which is only 700mhz slower, on paper this sounds worse but if the 360 CPU can do 4 computations a clock cycle and the 2.5ghz can do 8 computations a clock cycle then the 2.5 is technecaly better in 2 cycles it does twice the amount the 3.2ghz can. also we need to understand the pipeline which is essencaily a production line feeding data into the CPU and how efficaint it is at doing so. also I doubt the ram speed is true do you think it could run a game like assassins creed if the ram was slower, textures wouldn't load probably not at all or take a really long time which isn't the case, you can't open something up and have a look at components to decide these thing. you'll need to run a full diagnostic which no one has done yet. don't believe everything you here and of devs are saying its a stronger console it probably is as there the ones working on it.
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0.028573 | <urn:uuid:25a09921-98cb-4b5d-b5bf-68134a85be7a> | en | 0.979837 | Vivian Blackadder
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Vivian Blackadder
Gender: Female Female
Status: Unknown
Occupation Affiliation Rank / Title
● Federal Agent NCIS Special Agent
● NCIS: MCRT
● Federal Agent FBI Special Agent
First Appearance
● JAG: Ice Queen (episode)
NCIS: The Beginning (episode).
Last Appearance
● JAG: Meltdown (episode)
NCIS: The Beginning (episode).
List of Appearances
Vivian "Viv" Blackadder was a former FBI Agent-turned-NCIS Special Agent who investigated the murder of Lieutenant Loren Singer in the JAG (series) Season 8 episodes, Ice Queen (episode) and Meltdown (episode) which served as the official pilot for NCIS (series) before the show itself went solo.
During the two episodes, she was partnered with Anthony DiNozzo.
However due to negative reaction from test audiences, Blackadder was written out of the show altogether and as such, has not appeared in any of the main episodes of the NCIS series since then.
Viv in the field.
Not much is known about Viv's personal life. The only piece of information that was ever given is that she had a brother but it was never revealed if she had any other siblings or if her parents are or were alive or dead at the time.
At some point, she joined the FBI for an unknown period of time but after the USS Cole bombing which killed Rex in 2001, Vivian quit or left the FBI, joining NCIS after learning that NCIS were the first agency on site in the aftermath of the attack.
She soon began developing a very strong obsession to get revenge for his death and even demanded that Gibbs get her on the kill team that would be going after the group responsible.
However Gibbs flatly refused, saying that NCIS wasn't going to be used as Viv's personal instrument of revenge and told her to focus on the job or get her butt back to the Hoover Building.
She later calmed down but once the operation to capture the terrorists began, she blew it and received a very hostile reaction from Gibbs, further driving a wedge between their already icy relationship. It could be assumed that this was responsible for ending Viv's career as an NCIS Special Agent.
It is unknown what became of her after the two-part episode but it is assumed that she either got fired from NCIS for jeopardizing or returned to the FBI by mutual agreement.
Viv in the morgue.
Viv in Observation.
Previously an FBI Agent, Viv's only goal and her sole reason for joining NCIS in the first place is so that she can avenge her brother Rex who died in the USS Cole bombings.
These actions regularly brings her into conflict with Gibbs who is hellbent on making sure that Viv doesn't use NCIS as her own personal instrument of revenge.
In regards to Loren Singer's death, Viv was the only one out of the Major Case Response Team who seemed truly convinced that Harmon Rabb was the killer and when Tony expressed his doubts, Viv was even reluctant to go any further after the investigation was closed, suggesting that she's willing to accept the evidence as it is and not be prepared to look deeper or go the extra length, even if it meant that the supposed murderer was being framed by someone else.
Leroy Jethro Gibbs
Viv and Gibbs's relationship is very cold and tense due to the fact that Viv is more concerned with avenging her brother who died in the USS Cole bombing than focusing on her job and duties as an NCIS Special Agent.
Anthony DiNozzo
Viv and Tony in the JAG Season 8/NCIS pilot episode, "Ice Queen".
Donald Mallard
Ducky and Viv in the morgue in "Ice Queen".
Unlike the others who accept Ducky's talking to the dead as being normal and part of his job, Viv finds it extremely disturbing and believes that the lack of respect for the dead that Ducky shows towards the victims he autopsies is disgusting.
Abigail Sciuto
Despite the fact that the two were never talking to one another, it's presumed that Viv and Abby don't get along either.
As such, Viv is the only member of the team that hasn't formed anything resembling a strong friendship to Abby but later took to Viv's sucecessors, Kate and Ziva.
Behind the Scenes
When Season One of NCIS officially began, the vacant position went to Caitlin Todd played by Sasha Alexander and following Kate's death in the Season Two finale, "Twilight, Ziva David played by Cote de Pablo took over the role and has maintained it to this day.
Viv with her NCIS colleagues, Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Anthony DiNozzo.
• Viv and Kate Todd are the only two NCIS characters who do not know anything about Gibbs's first family due to the fact that by the time that the Season 3 finale had aired, Viv had long since left the show and Kate had been killed off in the Season 2 finale, Twilight (episode).
• In a way, Blackadder has been in every episode of NCIS's run; the closing shot of the main title sequence of the blue sedan driving away from the camera, with the Capitol Building in the background, is lifted directly from Ice Queen (episode), when Vivian and Gibbs return from questioning several of the JAG officers.
• The pilot episodes, "Ice Queen" and "Meltdown" are the only two episodes where the main characters have any interaction of any kind with Viv. After that, no-one in the main series has mentioned or made any kind of reference to her since then.
• Viv can read deer tracks, a skill that she mentions that she learned from her murdered brother, Rex.
• During her short tenure on the team, Viv carried a SIG-Sauer P228 as her sidearm.
• Viv is also the only red-haired woman not to have been in a romantic relationship with Gibbs, possibly due to the fact that the two have a hostile or very tense relationship with each other.
Viv at her desk.
• While she was stationed at NCIS, Vivian had the desk in the far corner of the bullpen, the desk directly in front of Gibbs's and opposite DiNozzo's. Once she left, the desk was left empty for most of Season 1 until Agent Timothy McGee temporarily claimed it during Dead Man Talking (episode). McGee later claimed it as his own when he permanently joined the team in Season 2's See No Evil (episode).
• Viv holds the honor of being DiNozzo's first-ever female partner in the field with Kate and Ziva later replacing her.
• Along with Don Dobbs, Viv is the only female character whose fate after Meltdown (episode) is not known. In addition, both she and Dobbs are the only two characters from the backdoor pilot have not appeared in any of the episodes of the main NCIS series nor have they been mentioned since then.
• Viv's surname, Blackadder was the last name of the character played by Exec. Producer Donald Bellisario when he guest-starred in the 3rd season cliff-hanger, "To Russia, With Love". The name, "Blackadder" is also the name of a British comedy series that aired in the 1980s which starred Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) with the main character surname's being Blackadder.
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0.03467 | <urn:uuid:81a58162-6b39-440b-a04e-f5e1fe8c5ae1> | en | 0.967305 | 422 F3d 1113 Thornburg v. Mullin
422 F.3d 1113
Richard Alford THORNBURG, Jr., Petitioner-Appellant,
Mike MULLIN, Warden of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, Respondent-Appellee.
No. 04-6086.
United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.
September 7, 2005.
Steven M. Presson (Robert W. Jackson with him on the brief), of Jackson & Presson, P.C., Norman, OK, for Petitioner-Appellant.
Robert Whittaker, Assistant Attorney General (W.A. Drew Edmonson, Attorney General, with him on the brief), Oklahoma City, OK, for Respondent-Appellee.
Before KELLY, HARTZ, and McCONNELL, Circuit Judges.
HARTZ, Circuit Judge.
Applicant Richard Allen Thornburg was convicted in Oklahoma state court on three counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. After the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA) affirmed his convictions on direct appeal and denied his application for state postconviction relief, he filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma an application for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The district court rejected his application.
The district court and a member of this court have each granted certificates of appealability (COA), see 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1) (requiring a COA to appeal), permitting Mr. Thornburg to raise challenges to his conviction and sentence based on the following alleged errors: (1) the admission of testimony by a witness that he had passed a polygraph examination; (2) the failure of the trial court to give voluntary-intoxication and lesser-included-offense instructions; (3) the admission of hearsay testimony; (4) the admission of photographs of the deceased; (5) prosecutorial misconduct; (6) ineffective assistance of trial counsel; (7) ineffective assistance of appellate counsel; (8) the presence of a carving behind the judge's bench that contained eye-for-an-eye language; and (9) the denial of his request for an evidentiary hearing. We affirm.
A. The Crime
Once they were inside Poteet's house, Anderson held the men at gunpoint in the kitchen while Thornburg went to the back bedroom. Matheson could hear Thornburg and Poteet arguing about drugs and money. Then Anderson instructed Embrey to bring everyone back to the bedroom. The men injected Matheson and Poteet with drugs, as Anderson commented that he intended to "OD" them. Tr. III at 94. Anderson and Thornburg also injected themselves. Thornburg continued arguing with Poteet about whether Poteet shot him. He told Poteet that he was going to shoot him, but then said "better yet, I ain't gonna shoot you," and instructed Matheson to shoot Poteet. Tr. III at 97. Embrey and Anderson pointed their guns at Matheson, threatening to shoot him if he did not shoot Poteet. When Matheson refused to shoot Poteet, Thornburg shot Poteet in the side.
B. Court Proceedings
During the guilt phase of Mr. Thornburg's trial, the prosecution presented the above account through the testimony of Marvin Matheson and Donnie Scott. The prosecution also called several other witnesses.
Richard Goss, a Deputy Inspector with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI), testified that Scott had identified Thornburg in a photographic line-up on September 28th, the day of the murders, as the "one that was giving the orders." Tr. III at 208.
To place the three perpetrators — Thornburg, Anderson, and Embrey — together at the time of the murders, and to confirm the time, the state provided four witnesses. Eric Huber was living with Anderson, who was his boss at a trailer manufacturing company. Huber testified that he, Anderson's wife, and Anderson's son joined Anderson, Thornburg, and Embrey at a bar until it closed about 2 a.m. the morning of the 28th. They then went to the house of Dana Nath, but left there by 3 a.m. Thornburg, Anderson, and Embrey left in Thornburg's car, while Huber, Mrs. Anderson, and the Andersons' son returned home. About 6 a.m. Huber was awakened when Thornburg dropped Anderson off at the home. Huber also testified that Anderson moved to a hotel "right after the homicides," Tr. II. at 231, and that while living at the Andersons' he discovered a box with newspaper clippings about the murders. In addition, he testified that at the Andersons' instructions he had originally told the police that Anderson went home with his family and Huber after they all went to the bar. He said that he had not told the truth to authorities until two days before his testimony.
Dana Nath agreed with Huber that the group came to her house after 2 a.m. the morning of the 28th, and stayed about half an hour. She thought Thornburg, Anderson, and Embrey left together between 2:30 and 2:45 a.m.
Roy Scott, the uncle of Donnie and Jimmy Scott, testified that he drove past the Poteet residence as he was on his way to his nephews' house about 4:30 a.m. on the 28th to pick up Jimmy to go to Oklahoma City. He noticed a light-colored car pulling into Poteet's drive (Thornburg's car was gold). At the time of his testimony, Roy Scott was in jail on a charge of possessing a stolen vehicle.
Jatone Kennedy, victim Smith's girlfriend at the time, testified that she and Jimmy Scott had been out drinking on the 27th. She passed out at the Scott residence. Smith, angry because she had not come home, woke her around 2:00 a.m. on the 28th, and they fought as they walked back to their house. Once they reconciled, she told him that she had left her purse with his marijuana in it at Scott's house. About 4 a.m. he left to go to the Scott residence to get the purse. He never returned. Kennedy was on probation at the time of her testimony.
The state also called Loyd Keagans, one of the passers-by who rescued Scott. Keagans testified that he and his son left home at 5:05 a.m. on the 28th to see a football game in College Station, Texas. Shortly before 5:30 a.m. they passed by Poteet's house fully ablaze. They stopped to help. While Mr. Keagans approached the burning house, his son went to the neighboring house to use the telephone. On the way, the son discovered Scott, who insisted they take him to a hospital. They drove him to a nearby convenience store, where they called the Sheriff's Department. Although Scott's condition worsened while he was waiting for assistance at the convenience store, he was able to tell them that three white men were responsible, one "big" and one with "sandy hair," Tr. II at 112, and that there were three other people in the burning house who had been shot. Jeff Franklin, Chief of the Alex Police Department, testified that when he arrived at the convenience store, Scott told him that three or four people he did not know had shot him; one was tall, and one was a "heavy-set guy with long hair." Id. at 192.
The state also provided expert witnesses to describe the crime scene. Elvin Barnhill, an investigator with the State Fire Marshal's office, described what he saw on the morning of the 28th. Shepard was found in the northeast bedroom, Poteet in the hallway leading to the two bedrooms, and Smith on the bed in the southeast bedroom. Barnhill detected evidence of the use of accelerants (flammable substances) to promote the fire in four spots in the northeast bedroom, and he discovered burn patterns indicating a flammable substance near Smith and between his legs. Although the laboratory detected no accelerants in the material samples from the bedroom, Barnhill explained that it was not uncommon for such substances to "leach[ ] out" during a fire. Tr. II at 72. He also testified that the charring of the victims' bodies and their surroundings indicated an intense heat, suggesting that accelerants were used in both bedrooms. The pattern of charring indicated that the fire started in the bedrooms and headed west down the hallway. Barnhill further explained how one could start a fire by breaking a bottle containing gasoline and a lit wick. Finally, Barnhill testified that the fire was likely set intentionally between 4:45 and 5:15 a.m. on the 28th.
Fred Jordan, Oklahoma's Chief Medical Examiner, testified that each victim had been shot and some showed signs of burning while still alive. He said that Poteet's fatal gunshot wound would not have caused instantaneous death, but he would have died from loss of blood and collapsing of the lungs. Likewise, the gunshots wounds to Shepard and Smith would not likely have caused instantaneous death. Jordan also testified about various wounds present on the bodies, such as a gunshot wound on Poteet's left great toe. Susan Hart, a physical-evidence specialist and fingerprint examiner for the OSBI, testified that in Thornburg's car she found ammunition, a gallon jug, carburetor cleaner, a lighter, and Embrey's fingerprints. And Darwin Horman, a crime-scene investigator for the OSBI, testified that a Budweiser bottle was found in Poteet's driveway.
Julie Maxon, a long-time friend of Thornburg, testified that he had attempted to borrow her police scanner the night of the 27th, some six hours before the murders, and that he was unusually high that evening. She also testified to a prior incident in which Thornburg had been shot. The shooting occurred a few minutes after Thornburg had asked Jimmy Scott to pay him back $60 that he owed. Thornburg had told her that he thought Poteet had something to do with the shooting. Terry Alexander, a deputy sheriff who had investigated the September 23 shooting of Thornburg, testified that when asked about the shooting, Thornburg had told him "not to worry about it, he'd take care of it." Tr. III at 200.
A particularly unusual witness was Teresa Burgess, one of five patrons at the bar where Thornburg was arrested in the early morning of September 29. She was new in town and had never before seen Thornburg, but was sitting next to him. She overheard him say to himself, "[T]hree died last night and three more will die tomorrow." Tr. III at 218. After Thornburg was arrested, officers interviewed all the patrons, and Burgess told them what she had heard.
Mr. Thornburg's sole defense was alibi. He testified that he had been out drinking with Embrey, became extremely intoxicated, blacked out, and woke up the morning of the murders in the back seat of his car at Embrey's house. He also testified that he had no recollection of making the remark overheard by Burgess. On cross-examination he maintained that he had no recollection of the early morning hours of the 28th, although he conceded that if witnesses said he was up and about at the Naths' house, then he probably was. When asked why Matheson and Scott would say he was at the crime scene, Thornburg replied, "I have no idea," continuing to maintain that he was not a participant in the murders. Tr. IV at 73.
The defense called three witnesses to support the alibi. Embrey's girlfriend, Ruby Davis, testified that when Embrey came home intoxicated at about 3 a.m., he told her that Thornburg was in his car asleep. When she left the house some four hours later, she saw Thornburg asleep in the car. Roy Thornburg, Mr. Thornburg's brother, and Terry Mainka, a friend of his brother, both testified that they were all at the bar drinking the night prior to the murders, and that they put Thornburg in the passenger side of a car at the end of the evening because he was incapacitated. Finally, Patricia Evans, who had known Thornburg for 22 years, testified that as she passed the Poteet residence about 5 a.m. the morning of the murders, she saw two vehicles on the left-hand side of the road, and a man walking across the highway. She did not recognize the man as Mr. Thornburg, nor did she see his car.
The state called two rebuttal witnesses. OSBI Deputy Inspector Richard Goss impeached Ruby Davis. He testified that when he first interviewed her on October 2, 1996, she told him that Thornburg was not at her house the morning of September 28th. Then on October 9th she told him that she had not seen Thornburg at her house but had seen his car in her driveway. Goss also testified about a statement by Thornburg as he was arrested for the murders on the early morning of the 29th. When Goss informed Thornburg that he was being charged with three counts of first-degree murder, Thornburg replied: "[G]ood. Prove it, mother fucker. You couldn't get your keys if they were — you couldn't find your keys if they were stuck up your ass." Tr. IV at 78.
The final witness was Teresa Embrey, Roger Embrey's sister-in-law and neighbor. She had never been interviewed but called the OSBI the morning of her testimony because she "just th[ought] the truth need[ed] to come out." Tr. IV at 88. She testified that she was up at 5 a.m. the morning of the murders to say good-bye to her husband, who was going to work. When she looked across the road at Roger Embrey's house, Thornburg's car was not there. The only cars were Roger's and Ruby Davis's. When she looked again shortly before 8 a.m., Thornburg's car was there.
The jury convicted Mr. Thornburg on three counts of first-degree malice-aforethought murder, one count of first-degree arson, one count of shooting with intent to kill, and two counts of kidnapping.
At the penalty stage the prosecutor argued four aggravating factors in support of the death penalty: (1) the defendant knowingly created a great risk of death to more than one person; (2) the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel; (3) the murder was committed for the purpose of avoiding or preventing a lawful arrest or prosecution; and (4) the defendant was a continuing threat to society. In mitigation Mr. Thornburg presented the testimony of his wife and a medical expert who testified that he had organic brain damage and was subject to blacking out whenever he drank in excess. The jury found all four aggravating factors on each murder count and returned a death sentence. The entire trial, including jury selection and the penalty phase, took four days.
On direct appeal to the OCCA Mr. Thornburg was represented by new counsel. The OCCA affirmed his conviction and sentence. See Thornburg v. State, 985 P.2d 1234 (Okla.Crim.App.1999). Meanwhile, represented by his present counsel, he had filed a state postconviction application. It, too, was denied by the OCCA. After the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari with respect to his direct appeal on May 15, 2000, he filed his federal application under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, setting forth 14 grounds for relief. The district court rejected his request for an evidentiary hearing and denied relief. He appeals.
A. Standard of Review
Under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) we may not grant Mr. Thornburg relief with respect to a claim adjudicated on the merits by the state court unless the adjudication
28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). Moreover, factual determinations by a state court are presumed to be correct and the applicant has the burden of rebutting that presumption by clear and convincing evidence. Id. at § 2254(e)(1).
As the Supreme Court has recently reiterated,
A state-court decision is contrary to . . . clearly established precedents if it applies a rule that contradicts the governing law set forth in [Supreme Court] cases, or if it confronts a set of facts that is materially indistinguishable from a decision of [the Supreme] Court but reaches a different result. A state-court decision involves an unreasonable application of this Court's clearly established precedents if the state court applies this Court's precedents to the facts in an objectively unreasonable manner.
Brown v. Payton, ___ U.S. ___, 125 S.Ct. 1432, 1438-39, 161 L.Ed.2d 334 (2005) (internal citations omitted). "Avoiding these pitfalls does not require citation of [Supreme Court] cases — indeed, it does not even require awareness of [those] cases, so long as neither the reasoning nor the result of the state-court decision contradicts them" Early v. Packer, 537 U.S. 3, 8, 123 S.Ct. 362, 154 L.Ed.2d 263 (2002). Thus, when a state court adjudicates a federal issue relying solely on a state standard that is at least as favorable to the applicant as the federal standard, we presume an adjudication on the merits and apply AEDPA deference. See Harris v. Poppell, 411 F.3d 1189, 1196 (10th Cir.2005).
B. Admission of Polygraph Evidence
Mr. Thornburg first argues that his due-process right to a fundamentally fair trial was violated by testimony that Matheson had passed a polygraph examination. Our concern is not whether state rules of evidence were violated; we must confine ourselves to "deciding whether a conviction violated the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States." Estelle v. McGuire, 502 U.S. 62, 68, 112 S.Ct. 475, 116 L.Ed.2d 385 (1991). The issue here is whether the challenged evidence "so infused the trial with unfairness as to deny due process of law." Id. at 75, 112 S.Ct. 475.
During his cross-examination of Matheson, Mr. Thornburg's counsel asked, "How long did you stay in jail?" Tr. III at 146. Matheson replied:
Like four or five days and I gave a statement to them like when they arrested me in Alex they told me they'd give me a polygraph and if I was telling the truth that they would let me out on an OR [own-recognizance] bond.
And I sat in jail five days or longer, I don't know, or less, I don't know, and I passed the polygraph and I come in front of the Judge here and got an OR bond.
Id. Although evidence of passing a polygraph examination is inadmissible in Oklahoma, Birdsong v. State, 649 P.2d 786, 788 (Okla.Crim.App.1982), Mr. Thornburg's counsel did not object to this testimony. Confining its analysis to plain-error review, the OCCA wrote:
We find that Matheson's reference to the polygraph test was a single, isolated response which was not solicited by defense counsel's question. Although Matheson's response was potentially prejudicial because he not only stated that he took the test but also that he passed the test, this improper testimony was not unduly prejudicial under the facts and circumstances of this particular case. This is because Matheson was not the only witness who testified about the events which are the subject of this case. Significant portions of Matheson's testimony were corroborated by Donnie Scott who also was witness to the events which occurred at Poteet's house. Given the evidence presented against Appellant at trial, we do not find that the improper mention of the polygraph examination rose to the level of plain error in this case.
Thornburg, 985 P.2d at 1242 (emphasis added). In short, the OCCA found no plain error because the improper testimony was not "unduly prejudicial."
Oklahoma's plain-error test is rooted in due process. Two years before its Thornburg decision the OCCA had stated:
As the right to a fair trial flows from the Due Process Clause of the state and federal constitutions, it forms the very foundation on which the criminal trial must be based. See Okla. Const. Art. II, § 7; U.S. Const. Amend. 14; Massey v. Moore, 348 U.S. 105, 106, 75 S.Ct. 145, 99 L.Ed. 135 (1954) (Fourteenth Amendment requires fairness). Error which impinges on the fundamental fairness of trial is plain error.
Cleary v. State, 942 P.2d 736, 752-53 (Okla.Crim.App.1997). We see no practical distinction between the formulations of plain error in Thornburg and Cleary and the federal due-process test, which requires reversal when error "so infused the trial with unfairness as to deny due process of law," Estelle, 502 U.S. at 75, 112 S.Ct. 475. Because the OCCA applied the same test we apply to determine whether there has been a due-process violation, we must defer to its ruling unless it "unreasonably appli[ed]" that test. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). It did not.
The prejudicial impact of Matheson's statement was somewhat limited because he did not indicate what portion of his testimony the polygraph found truthful and the prosecution made no mention of the polygraph at any later point in the trial. More importantly, Matheson's testimony was strongly corroborated in its essentials by the testimony of one of the victims, Scott (who even testified that Matheson had shot him), and the evidence of guilt could reasonably be viewed as overwhelming. The OCCA could reasonably have determined that Matheson's unsolicited, isolated comment regarding the results of his polygraph exam did not infect the trial with such unfairness as to deny Mr. Thornburg his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process. See United States v. Blaze, 143 F.3d 585, 594 (10th Cir.1998) ("single unsolicited mention of a polygraph" did not merit mistrial due to other evidence of guilt established at trial); United States v. Tedder, 801 F.2d 1437, 1445 (4th Cir.1986) ("limited, inadvertent reference" to polygraph test did not entitle defendant to mistrial when jury had the opportunity to determine credibility through cross-examination, and other evidence supported defendant's guilt).
Mr. Thornburg relies on United States v. Scheffer, 523 U.S. 303, 118 S.Ct. 1261, 140 L.Ed.2d 413 (1998), to contend that the introduction of the polygraph evidence is a per se violation of his constitutional right to a fundamentally fair trial. But his reliance on Scheffer is misguided. Scheffer held that the per se exclusion of polygraph evidence was not a constitutional violation because of the inherent unreliability of polygraph evidence. Id. at 312. Scheffer does not stand for the proposition that the introduction of polygraph evidence necessarily constitutes constitutional error.
C. Failure to give voluntary-intoxication and lesser-included-offense instructions
1. Voluntary Intoxication
Evidence at trial indicated that Mr. Thornburg was intoxicated at the time of the homicides. Marvin Matheson testified that Mr. Thornburg injected himself with "crank" at Poteet's house. Tr. III at 93-95. Mr. Thornburg testified that he had been drinking heavily on the day of the murders, and two other witnesses testified that he was extremely intoxicated or high that evening. Under Oklahoma law voluntary intoxication may be a defense to first-degree murder if the "person was incapable of forming [malice aforethought] because of [his] intoxication." Okla. Unif. Jury Instructions-Criminal 8-36; see Crawford v. State, 840 P.2d 627, 638 (Okla.Crim.App.1992).
Mr. Thornburg's trial counsel failed to request a voluntary-intoxication instruction, but he argues that the trial court should have sua sponte instructed the jury on the matter. The OCCA reviewed the failure to give such an instruction for plain error and affirmed. In light of Mr. Thornburg's proffered alibi defense, it held that "while [an] Appellant is entitled to an instruction on his theory of defense, he is not entitled to instruction on every possible theory of defense." Thornburg, 985 P.2d at 1243.
Mr. Thornburg asserts that he was entitled to a voluntary-intoxication instruction despite his alibi defense. He relies on Mathews v. United States, 485 U.S. 58, 63-64, 108 S.Ct. 883, 99 L.Ed.2d 54 (1988), for the proposition that a criminal defendant has a right to raise inconsistent defenses if they are supported by the evidence. Even accepting that proposition, however, we reject his claim.
We review the district court's failure to give an instruction sua sponte "only for the denial of fundamental fairness and due process." Spears v. Mullin, 343 F.3d 1215, 1244 (10th Cir.2003), cert. denied, 541 U.S. 909, 124 S.Ct. 1615, 158 L.Ed.2d 255 (2004). A voluntary-intoxication instruction was not necessary for the jury to acquit Mr. Thornburg because of intoxication. The instruction would not alter the elements of the offense. It would merely alert the jurors (and emphasize to them) that one reason he might lack the requisite intent is that he was intoxicated. Although he claims that the trial court's failure to instruct the jury on the voluntary-intoxication defense relieved the state of its burden of proving specific intent beyond a reasonable doubt, the jury was informed that it could convict him of first-degree murder only if it found beyond a reasonable doubt that he possessed malice aforethought. And the trial court provided the following definition of malice aforethought:
`Malice aforethought' means a deliberate intention to take away the life of a human being. As used in the Instructions, `malice aforethought' does not mean hatred, spite or ill-will. The deliberate intent to take a human life must be formed before the act and must exist at the time a homicidal act is committed. No particular length of time is required for formation of this deliberate intent. The intent may have been formed instantly before the commission of the act.
Instruction 9, St. Ct. R. Vol. III at 458. The jury was not prohibited from evaluating Mr. Thornburg's intent in light of his intoxication. The jury could have heard the evidence of intoxication, decided he lacked the requisite intent, and acquitted him. A voluntary-intoxication instruction might have helped him, but it was by no means essential to the jury's considering the matter. See Hill v. Mitchell, 400 F.3d 308, 322-23 (6th Cir.2005) (absence of intoxication instruction does not establish that state failed to prove mental element of crime beyond a reasonable doubt); see also Henderson v. Kibbe, 431 U.S. 145, 153-55, 97 S.Ct. 1730, 52 L.Ed.2d 203 (1977) (trial court's failure to give instruction explaining causation element did not justify reversal); Foster v. Ward, 182 F.3d 1177, 1193-94 (10th Cir.1999) (trial court's failure to give unrequested cautionary instruction on accomplice testimony did not render trial fundamentally unfair). In short, failure to give an unrequested voluntary-intoxication instruction did not render Mr. Thornburg's trial fundamentally unfair.
2. Lesser-Included-Offense Instruction
Mr. Thornburg also contends that the trial court should have sua sponte instructed on the lesser included offense of first-degree manslaughter. See Beck v. Alabama, 447 U.S. 625, 100 S.Ct. 2382, 65 L.Ed.2d 392 (1980) (defendant entitled to requested lesser-included-offense instruction when evidence warrants it). But this court has repeatedly held that "a state prisoner seeking federal habeas relief may not prevail on a Beck claim as to a lesser included instruction that he or she failed to request at trial." Hooks v. Ward, 184 F.3d 1206, 1234 (10th Cir.1999); Spears v. Mullin, 343 F.3d at 1245 (failure to request lesser-included-offense instruction precludes habeas relief).
To the extent that Mr. Thornburg argues that Oklahoma's capital-punishment statute is unconstitutional because Beck requires a lesser-included-offense instruction for every capital charge, we disagree. Beck says only that a court must provide a lesser-included-offense instruction if the evidence supports the lesser included offense. See Beck, 447 U.S. at 630, 100 S.Ct. 2382. The Supreme Court foreclosed Mr. Thornburg's present argument in Hopkins v. Reeves, 524 U.S. 88, 118 S.Ct. 1895, 141 L.Ed.2d 76 (1998), when it held that Beck did not require "state trial courts to instruct juries on offenses that are not lesser included offenses of the charged crime under state law," even if the jury is left with only the option of convicting or acquitting. Id. at 90, 118 S.Ct. 1895. There the defendant was convicted of felony murder, a crime for which second-degree murder and manslaughter were not lesser included offenses under Nebraska law. Because there was no lesser included offense that the evidence would support, the trial court's failure to offer a lesser-included-offense instruction did not result in any constitutional error.
Here, the OCCA held that "[t]he evidence did not warrant instructions on First-Degree Manslaughter as there was no evidence of adequate provocation which is required to support a conviction for this crime." Thornburg, 985 P.2d at 1243. Because Oklahoma's manslaughter statute as interpreted by the OCCA on this occasion requires evidence of provocation — evidence that was not present in this case — the failure to give the instruction did not violate Beck.
D. Hearsay Statements
Mr. Thornburg contends that several hearsay statements by his codefendants were elicited by the prosecutor in violation of his Sixth Amendment right to confrontation. The state counters by asserting that (1) some of the statements were not hearsay, and (2) those that were did not prejudice Mr. Thornburg. Trial counsel did not object to the statements and the OCCA, while agreeing that some of the statements were hearsay, concluded that their admission did not rise to plain error. Thornburg v. State, 985 P.2d at 1243. The OCCA stated, "In addition to the few hearsay comments which indicated codefendants' intent to kill the victims, there were numerous of [Mr. Thornburg's] own statements properly admitted into evidence which indicated his same intent." Id. As we proceed to explain, we hold that most of the statements were properly admitted, and agree with the OCCA that any constitutional error arising in the admission of the statements caused no harm to Mr. Thornburg.
Mr. Thornburg asserts that the following statements, all introduced through the testimony of Matheson, violated his right to confrontation: (1) upon leaving his trailer, codefendant Anderson instructed Matheson "not to worry about locking [his] trailer, [he would] never come back," Tr. III at 73; (2) Anderson, while arguing with Poteet, said that they were far enough in the country to settle their score; (3) Anderson said that he was going to overdose them before giving the victims drugs; (4) Anderson insisted that Matheson shoot Scott, or Anderson would kill him (Matheson); (5) Embrey said that he did not want to be involved in shooting anyone; (6) Anderson told Mr. Thornburg that he thought the house would burn, and (7) Embrey responded that they could burn it because he had gasoline; (8) after recognizing a silver lighter at Poteet's house, Anderson said that someone had stolen it from him; and (9) after setting fire to the house, Anderson, over Mr. Thornburg's protests, commented that he still wanted to burn and kill Matheson.
"`Hearsay' is a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted." Fed.R.Evid. 801(c). See 12 Okla. Stat. § 2801(A)(3) (same). With the possible exception of statements (7) and (8), each statement either was not offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted or was admissible under an established exception to the hearsay rule for statements offered to prove the declarant's state of mind. See Fed.R.Evid. 803(3) (state-of-mind exception); 12 Okla. Stat. § 2803(3) (same). The statements were probably offered just to complete the narrative, and at most were offered to show that Thornburg was on notice that Anderson was intent on committing violence — a use that is independent of the truth of the statement of intent and thus is not hearsay. Statement (1) was not offered to prove that Matheson would not come back to his trailer (he did return); statement (2) was not offered to prove how far in the country they were; nor was statement (3), which was admissible to prove Anderson's intent to overdose the victims, offered to prove that anyone was overdosed (no one was). Statement (4) was an order. See United States v. Shepherd, 739 F.2d 510, 514 (10th Cir.1984) (orders are not hearsay because they are not offered for their truth). Statement (5) was irrelevant, and at most could have been offered to prove Embrey's state of mind. Similarly, statement (6) was not offered to prove Anderson's belief that the house would burn; and statement (9) was not offered to prove Anderson's murderous intent (Matheson was not harmed). Perhaps statement (7) was offered to prove that the perpetrators had gasoline and statement (8) was offered to prove that Poteet had stolen Anderson's lighter; but the statements could hardly have affected the outcome of the trial. The OCCA's ruling was eminently reasonable.
E. Photographic Evidence
During the testimony of its expert witnesses in the guilt phase of the jury trial, the state introduced six photographs depicting the charred remains of the victims' bodies, as and where they were found. Mr. Thornburg objected to the photographs in an in camera hearing before the trial judge, arguing that he had no plans to dispute the manner of death and that they served solely to inflame the jury. The trial court overruled the objection. Mr. Thornburg contends that the introduction of these gruesome photographs deprived him of a fundamentally fair trial and due process of law in violation of the Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments. The OCCA, reviewing his claims on the merits, held that the photographs were "probative insofar as they corroborate the medical examiner's testimony, depict the crime scene and establish corpus delictis." Thornburg, 985 P.2d at 1244. Although the OCCA found the photographs "disturbing," it held that their prejudicial effect did not substantially outweigh their probative value. Id.
"Federal habeas review is not available to correct state law evidentiary errors; rather it is limited to violations of constitutional rights." Smallwood v. Gibson, 191 F.3d 1257, 1275 (10th Cir.1999). The appropriate inquiry in this proceeding is whether the admission of the photographs rendered the proceeding fundamentally unfair. Id. at 1275.
Mr. Thornburg pleaded not guilty. Even if he did not dispute the manner of death, the state still bore the burden to convince the jury that its witnesses, both eyewitnesses and experts, provided an accurate account of events. The photographs corroborated their accounts. Indeed, Mr. Thornburg's defense counsel, in his guilt-phase closing argument, conceded that "to prosecute a case like this it makes sense to show the photographs, and they're graphic." Tr. IV at 122.
Perhaps we would not have admitted such evidence had we been sitting on the trial bench, but our role is a very limited one. Reviewing the record under AEDPA's constraints, and in light of the probative value of the pictures, the gruesome nature of the crime, and the other evidence incriminating Mr. Thornburg, we cannot conclude that the OCCA acted contrary to or unreasonably applied federal law in concluding that their admission was proper.
Mr. Thornburg relies on our recent ruling in Spears v. Mullin, 343 F.3d 1215 (10th Cir.2003), cert. denied, 541 U.S. 909, 124 S.Ct. 1615, 158 L.Ed.2d 255 (2004), to argue that the admission of the photographs in the guilt phase of the trial carried over to the sentencing phase and unfairly persuaded the jury to sentence him to death. But Spears is not apposite. In Spears photographs depicting the victim with 50 to 60 stab wounds were offered in the sentencing phase of a capital trial to prove conscious physical suffering. We held that the photographs were not probative for that purpose in light of the uncontradicted evidence that the victim died or lost consciousness early in the beating. Id. at 1227-28. Unlike the situation here, there was no logical connection between the photographs and the proposition they were offered to prove.
F. Prosecutorial Misconduct
Mr. Thornburg contends that a multitude of the prosecutor's statements during the guilt and sentencing phases of trial were improper and had the cumulative effect of rendering his trial fundamentally unfair and his sentence unreliable. His trial counsel made no objection to any prosecutorial comment, and the OCCA reviewed the contested comments for plain error. Without enumerating each specifically contested comment, the OCCA concluded: "We find that many of the comments complained of fell within the prosecutors' wide range of permissible argument. We also find that those comments which were inappropriate were not so egregious as to rise to the level of plain error." Thornburg, 985 P.2d at 1244-45. Mr. Thornburg concedes in his appellate brief that, viewed in isolation, the comments would not have risen to constitutional error. Instead, he asserts that their cumulative effect rendered the trial fundamentally unfair.
We therefore do not address each comment to determine whether it alone rendered the trial unfair. Our course will be to analyze each comment to determine the risk of unfair prejudice and then decide whether the cumulative impact of any errors rendered the trial unfair. We begin by distinguishing the challenged comments that were proper from those that may have been improper and should be included in the cumulative-error analysis. Because the OCCA did not identify the comments it thought improper, we conduct our own independent review of the record and federal law.
1. Comments Not Improper
a. Discussing Reasonable Doubt
During voir dire the prosecutor made the following comments:
In a criminal case we have to prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In a civil case it's beyond a preponderance of evidence. Do you understand the distinctions?
. . .
And we can't tell you what reasonable doubt means. We can't define it for you. Defense can't define what beyond a reasonable doubt means. And the Court can't define it.
The instructions won't say beyond a shadow of a doubt or all doubt. The Instructions say beyond a reasonable doubt.
Tr. I at 121 (emphasis added) (similar comments at 125). Although Oklahoma law does not permit jury instructions on the meaning of "reasonable doubt," Al-Mosawi v. State, 929 P.2d 270, 279 (Okla.Crim.App.1996), and an instruction defining reasonable doubt may deny due process if it misleads the jury about the burden the state carries, see Cage v. Louisiana, 498 U.S. 39, 41, 111 S.Ct. 328, 112 L.Ed.2d 339 (1990) (instructions equating "reasonable doubt" with "grave uncertainty" and "actual substantial doubt" violate due process), overruled on other grounds by Estelle v. McGuire, 502 U.S. 62, 73 n. 4, 112 S.Ct. 475, 116 L.Ed.2d 385 (1991) (clarifying that standard of review for erroneous jury instructions is whether they had a "reasonable likelihood" of misleading the jury), not all definitions of reasonable doubt are misleading. The Supreme Court held in Victor v. Nebraska, 511 U.S. 1, 17, 114 S.Ct. 1239, 127 L.Ed.2d 583 (1994), that a jury instruction stating that a reasonable doubt "is not a mere possible doubt" did not likely mislead the jury "because a reasonable doubt, at a minimum, is one based upon reason. A fanciful doubt is not a reasonable doubt." (internal citation and quotation marks omitted). Similarly, to state that "beyond a reasonable doubt" does not mean beyond "a shadow of a doubt or all doubt" was not a constitutional violation.
b. Eliciting Evidence of Codefendant's Attempt to Influence Witness Huber
Mr. Thornburg contends that the prosecutors improperly elicited testimony from state witness Eric Huber that codefendant Anderson and his wife had attempted to get him to provide a false statement to the police. Huber testified that Anderson, Embrey, and Thornburg left the Nath house together at 3:00 a.m. on the 28th and that Anderson was dropped off at his house about 6 a.m. by a gold car resembling Thornburg's. Huber, however, had made a contrary statement to police officers when he was first interviewed. Such a prior inconsistent statement is often used by opposing counsel for impeachment. And to reduce the impact of the impeachment, counsel may elicit the prior statement on direct examination and allow the witness to explain. That is what happened here:
Q. [Prosecutor]. Sir, did you give a different statement than what you've told this jury and law enforcement when you were interviewed?
A. [Huber]: Yes, sir. I did.
Q. That was back in October 3rd of 1996?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What statement did you give them?
A. I stated in that report that Glenn — Mr. Anderson rode home with me, his wife and his son and that I drove, and that was a lie.
Q. So basically you gave an alibi at that time.
A. Yes, sir. I did.
Q. Who told you, sir, to tell OSBI that statement — that story?
A. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson.
Tr. II at 230-31. There is, of course, always the possibility that defense counsel would not have tried to impeach Huber with the prior statement, in which case the misconduct of the Andersons should have been inadmissible. But if defense counsel wished to adopt that course, he needed to object to the direct examination concerning the prior statement. We see no impropriety in the prosecutor's anticipation of likely impeachment, absent something in the record indicating that defense counsel would forego the impeachment.
c. Prosecutorial Speculation and Inference
Mr. Thornburg also contends that the prosecutor speculated and argued facts not in evidence when he claimed that accelerants were used in starting the fire, that other jugs of gasoline may have been present in Mr. Thornburg's car that night, and that but for the two passers-by who discovered Scott, there would have been four, not three, deaths. A prosecutor may comment on and draw reasonable inferences from evidence presented at trial. See Hooper v. Mullin, 314 F.3d 1162, 1172 (10th Cir.2002), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 838, 124 S.Ct. 97, 157 L.Ed.2d 70 (2003). Undisputedly, the house was set on fire. The fire inspector testified that he detected four spots in the debris showing evidence of accelerants, and a photograph admitted into evidence showed a plastic jug in the back seat of the gold car driven by Mr. Thornburg. It is not beyond the pale to infer from this evidence that accelerants had been used to start the fire and that other containers of flammable substances had been present in the car that night. It was also reasonable for the prosecutor to imply that Scott, who was left seriously wounded in a burning house, may not have survived if he had not been rescued by the passers-by. These comments were not improper.
d. Demeaning Mitigation
Mr. Thornburg also argues that the prosecutor improperly demeaned his mitigation evidence as "excuses." Tr. IV at 199-202. We disagree. The prosecutor used the word excuse on two occasions. The first time, the prosecutor was merely incorporating the word excuse as employed by defense counsel in his closing argument moments before: "Not saying the alcohol isn't a defense in the sense of an excuse. There is no excuse. We're asking you for mercy. . . ." Id. at 199. In response the prosecutor said, "The State and defense counsel have one thing in common. Defense counsel just said there are no excuses. Folks, there's not. There cannot be excuses for what these three men suffered." Id. at 199-200.
Further along in his argument, the prosecutor again referred to the mitigation evidence as excuses but this comment was equally proper because the prosecutor was commenting on the express language of the jury instructions. The mitigation instructions specified that the jury could consider evidence produced by Mr. Thornburg that he "acted under circumstances which tended to justify, excuse or reduce the crime." St. Ct. Rec. at 503. The prosecutor said, "What facts have you heard that justify, excuse or reduce this crime? Any? Any of the excuses?" Tr. IV at 201. This characterization of the mitigation evidence, invited as it was by the jury instructions and defense counsel, falls easily within the wide latitude of argument allowed to prosecutors.
2. Possibly Improper Comments
Mr. Thornburg complains of other prosecutorial comments that are at least arguably improper. We will address them individually before considering whether their cumulative impact demands reversal.
a. Improper Witness Vouching
Mr. Thornburg contends that in final argument the prosecutor (1) improperly vouched for state witnesses by claiming that Donnie Scott, Teresa Burgess, and Teresa Embrey (codefendant Embrey's sister-in-law) had "no reason to lie," Tr. IV at 105-107; and (2) accused Ruby Davis of perjury when he said:
Let's talk about the Embreys and Ruby Davis. What motive does she have to get up here and lie to you? When she first talks to OSBI she never sees Richard Thornburg out there. Never at all. She sticks to the story about Mr. Embrey coming home and falling off the couch.
Second interview she never sees Mr. Thornburg there. . . . Second interview she throws in he was a big boy. I told him to stay away from those people.
What is she not saying in that statement? Yet, she comes in here in front of you and testifies, commits perjury on the stand, lies to you and says she never said those things. She said she was never asked. What motive does she have to testify? Her boyfriend, Roger Embrey, her friend Richard Thornburg.
Id. at 107-08 (emphasis added).
"Argument or evidence is impermissible vouching only if the jury could reasonably believe that the prosecutor is indicating a personal belief in the witness' credibility, either through explicit personal assurances of the witness' veracity or by implicitly indicating that information not presented to the jury supports the witness' testimony." United States v. Magallanez, 408 F.3d 672, 680 (10th Cir.2005) (internal quotation marks omitted). Likewise, an attack on a witness's veracity is improper only in similar circumstances. Thus, it is not improper for a prosecutor to direct the jury's attention to evidence that tends to enhance or diminish a witness's credibility.
Here, the prosecutor's statements appeared to be based on the evidence. Nothing at trial suggested any reason why Scott, Teresa Embrey, or Burgess would want to injure Mr. Thornburg. Also, the attack on Ms. Davis was explicitly based on her prior inconsistent statements to police officers.
Moreover, the prosecutor never indicated to the jury that he knew something more about the witness's credibility than could be deduced from the evidence at trial. Hence, this does not appear to be a case of improper vouching. Even if, in an (over)abundance of caution, we might say that the prosecutor stepped over the line, see United States v. Broomfield, 201 F.3d 1270, 1276 (10th Cir.2000) (assuming prosecutor's characterization of case as "case about perjury," defense witness's testimony as "lies," and argument that state witness "[had] no reason to lie" was improper vouching but deciding that any error was harmless), we would still be hard-pressed to find any substantial unfair prejudice.
b. Commenting on and Eliciting Evidence of Codefendant's Attempt to Influence Witnesses
Mr. Thornburg contends that the prosecutor improperly elicited testimony that the Andersons tried to influence the testimony of Jatone Kennedy, victim Smith's girlfriend. Kennedy testified that Smith went to get her purse from Scott's house about 4 a.m. on the 28th and that she never saw him again. On direct examination the prosecutor asked:
Q. Ma'am, has anybody approached you in this case about your testimony?
A. No.
Q. Nobody has?
A. I think in the beginning there were some people that tried to convince me to say things differently than — I mean, nobody —
Q. Nobody twisted your arm.
A. Right
Q. Who approached you, ma'am, about this case?
A. Corky [Mrs.] Anderson.
Tr. II at 216. In contrast to Huber, Kennedy had uttered no prior inconsistent statement.
Mr. Thornburg further complains that the prosecutor stated in closing:
"[Mr. Huber] also told you Corky Anderson tries to influence his testimony, Corky and Glenn. And first she lied and gave a story that Glenn went home with them. . . . Why are you creating alibis? Why do you have to create a situation if you haven't done anything wrong?" Tr. IV at 103.
We agree with Mr. Thornburg that it may have been improper for the prosecutor to elicit Mrs. Anderson's attempt to influence Kennedy or to argue that Anderson's attempt to create an alibi was evidence of Mr. Thornburg's guilt.
The state makes no real attempt to justify the conduct. Nevertheless, the real damage to Mr. Thornburg's alibi defense came from the testimony of government witnesses regarding the events at the time of the murder, not evidence regarding the Andersons' apparently feeble attempts to influence witnesses.
c. Appeal to Moral and Civic Duty of Jury
Mr. Thornburg also complains that during the guilt phase the prosecutor argued that the jury had a moral and civic duty to convict:
Justice is in your hands. Your decision here affects the lives of not only this defendant but other people in the community. We've shown you overwhelming evidence of why Mr. Thornburg would want to kill Mr. Poteet, why maybe he would want to kill Jimmy Scott, his motive, waited the night before, the next morning, his statements to Richard Goss when he was arrested.
Does that sound like meek, little, mild statements the testimony you heard from Mr. Thornburg up here? I will suggest to you that was the true Mr. Thornburg. With all the cuss words you can't prove it. He didn't say I'm innocent. What are you talking about? He said, you can't prove it. Folks, we have proven it. It's right here in front of you right now.
We talked about it in voir dire. We asked the question about passing judgment on somebody else. And that's a hard thing to do. Each of you in voir dire told us you could pass judgment. We've proven our case to you. We've shown it to you.
We've woven it together. Every little piece has fallen right in line. We've shown our case to you, said this is what we've got, this is the evidence.
One of you just got through reading a book before you came on here, When Justice Prevailed. Folks, justice must prevail in this case. Like I said, you're the ones that decide it. You are the justice in Grady County right now. You're the ones that make the legal decisions.
Justice must run in this case for three victims, for Donnie Scott. Mr. Thornburg has got to be told what he did was wrong. Not only was it wrong, this was terrible, folks.
One of you said about mass murder. One of the problems in our society is mass murder, violence, drugs, guns. This is a mass murder. This is three helpless people who were gunned down, kidnapped tortured, burned alive and left dead in a house.
Tr. IV at 112-113 (emphasis added). It is improper for a prosecutor to suggest that a jury has a civic duty to convict. See Spears v. Mullin, 343 F.3d 1215, 1247 (10th Cir.2003), cert. denied, 541 U.S. 909, 124 S.Ct. 1615, 158 L.Ed.2d 255 (2004). In a decision handed down during World War II, the Supreme Court warned that the prosecutor's references to the war constituted "an appeal wholly irrelevant to any facts or issues in the case," and could have jeopardized the verdict had the Court not reversed on another ground. Viereck v. United States, 318 U.S. 236, 247-48, 63 S.Ct. 561, 87 L.Ed. 734 (1943). But here the prosecutor's comments were firmly rooted in the facts of the case. We see little, if any, impropriety. See Spears, 343 F.3d at 1247 (statement that "justice cries out for [conviction]" did not render trial fundamentally unfair); Le v. Mullin, 311 F.3d 1002, 1022 (10th Cir.2002) (prosecutor's comment that jury "could only do justice . . . by bringing in a verdict of death" did not render trial fundamentally unfair), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 833, 124 S.Ct. 80, 157 L.Ed.2d 60 (2003).
d. Misstatement of the Evidence
Mr. Thornburg complains of prosecution comments about the defense's punishment-phase expert, Dr. Philip Murphy, a clinical psychologist. Dr. Murphy testified that excessive drinking and other injuries caused Mr. Thornburg's organic brain damage that led to blackouts during which he would lose consciousness. Dr. Murphy performed 11 tests and a clinical interview to assess Mr. Thornburg. In his closing argument at the sentencing phase of the trial, the prosecutor said: (1) "You heard Dr. Murphy. He spent 15 minutes looking at him and he said he's brain damaged?" Tr. IV at 200; and (2) "Dr. Murphy says that Richard Thornburg, as long as he's not drinking and in these blackouts, he's not a dangerous man. This is, of course, from his 15 minutes upstairs in jail." Tr. IV at 203-04. But nowhere in the record is there evidence about the amount of time Dr. Murphy spent with Mr. Thornburg. A prosecutor is allowed to comment on the evidence and draw inferences therefrom, but he may not speculate or refer to evidence never presented to the jury. See Le v. Mullin, 311 F.3d at 1020-21 (criticizing prosecutor for mischaracterizing evidence and suggesting that defendant had committed other murders when such facts were not in evidence). The prosecutor's 15-minute comments were improper.
On the other hand, defense counsel never objected to these statements. Also, the judge instructed the jury that it should consider only the evidence introduced at trial, that the attorneys' statements and arguments are not evidence, and that the jury bore the responsibility of determining the credibility of each witness. Such instructions may minimize the impact of a prosecutor's misstatements. See Darden v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 168, 182, 106 S.Ct. 2464, 91 L.Ed.2d 144 (1986) (jury instructions that "their decision was to be made on the basis of the evidence alone, and that the arguments of counsel were not evidence" helped remedy prosecutor's improper closing argument).
e. Comments on the Appropriate Sentence
Mr. Thornburg contends that the sentencing stage of his trial was fundamentally unfair because in his sentencing-stage closing the prosecutor (1) injected his personal opinion on the appropriate sentence and (2) misled the jury about sentencing alternatives. The prosecutor said:
And you must give independent consideration to each and every one of the murder convictions because every one of those individuals in there was a separate life, and that is they never deserved to die in the manner in which they died.
And we can't change that. But I can and you can give them at least individual consideration with the understanding that the man who murdered them, the man who led, the man who created this and the man who was out seeking for revenge that night, that he receive the punishment that is just under the statutes, under the law and most important in this case, as we discussed at the very beginning.
. . .
And we told you what the law is. That's merely the charges we file against somebody. But that's not easy. There's nothing easy about it. You know, we all try to be moral people, we think about trying to do good for our community, our society.
When we file a piece of paper, we're asking you to sentence this person to death. We're asking you to return a verdict allowing the State to execute Mr. Thornburg. So basically we're asking you the State for the authority to do that. There's nothing easy about that. We're talking about life and death. Nothing easy at all.
. . .
Justice, folks, cries for the death penalty in this case like no other case. Justice cries for the death penalty. There is no other reasonable verdict, nothing. Nothing can come close.
Talk about the sword of mercy. It's above Judge Winchester. The sword there. You live by the sword, you die by the sword, folks. We're asking you to return a verdict now of guilty which you already have. The maximum punishment is on everything.
If you really don't want Mr. Thornburg back on your streets ever again, then the only proper punishment is death. We're asking you to sentence Mr. Thornburg to that. It should not be a difficult decision. I know it is. We're talking about killing somebody. You're authorizing the State to kill somebody. But there is no other just verdict. This is justice.
Tr. IV at 195-96, 201-02, 205-06. Mr. Thornburg contends that these comments imposed the prosecutor's personal views upon the jury. It is improper for a prosecutor to inject his personal opinion on the propriety of the death sentence. It is also impermissible for a prosecutor to suggest that he "or some other authority, not the jury, [is] the final or true arbiter of . . . punishment." Sellers v. Ward, 135 F.3d 1333, 1343 (10th Cir.1998) (internal quotation marks omitted). As stated in Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320, 333, 105 S.Ct. 2633, 86 L.Ed.2d 231 (1985), "[T]he uncorrected suggestion that the responsibility for any ultimate determination of death will rest with others presents an intolerable danger that the jury will in fact choose to minimize the importance of its role." But a prosecutor is entitled to argue that under the facts and law, capital punishment is appropriate. See United States v. Ainesworth, 716 F.2d 769, 771 (10th Cir.1983) (distinguishing improper argument that prosecutor believes accused is guilty of crime or stating facts not in evidence from proper commentary that "on the basis of the evidence in the case, it is his belief that the defendant is guilty"). Here, the prosecutor did not suggest the existence of facts not in evidence, nor did he suggest that anyone other than the jury was responsible for fixing the appropriate sentence. On the other hand, his comments on the appropriateness of the death penalty could be taken as his personal view. We will assume that the comments crossed the line.
More troubling is the prosecutor's comment that did cross the line. In the last quoted paragraph he said, "If you really don't want Mr. Thornburg back on your streets ever again, then the only proper punishment is death." Tr. IV at 205. This statement could mislead the jury about possible punishment alternatives, suggesting that he could be released from jail at some point if not sentenced to death. "The State may not create a false dilemma by advancing generalized arguments regarding the defendant's future dangerousness while, at the same time, preventing the jury from learning that the defendant never will be released" if given a sentence other than death. Simmons v. South Carolina, 512 U.S. 154, 171, 114 S.Ct. 2187, 129 L.Ed.2d 133 (1994) (jury should have been instructed on possibility of life without parole); see also Kelly v. South Carolina, 534 U.S. 246, 122 S.Ct. 726, 151 L.Ed.2d 670 (2002) (requiring Simmons instruction when prosecution presented evidence showing defendant's probability of future dangerousness).
Nevertheless, the trial judge remedied this error when he instructed the jury: "Even if you find that the aggravating circumstance outweigh(s) the mitigating circumstance, you may impose a sentence of imprisonment for life or imprisonment for life without parole." Instr. 12 St. Ct. Rec. Vol. 3 at 504. Thus, the jury knew that it could keep Mr. Thornburg off the streets without imposing the death penalty. See Kelly, 534 U.S. at 257 n. 8, 122 S.Ct. 726 (jury instruction on parole ineligibility could cure problem raised by prosecutor's argument).
f. Invoking Sympathy for the Victims
Most troubling is Mr. Thornburg's contention that the prosecutor invoked sympathy for the victims during the guilt-phase closing argument:
Look at Donnie Scott. He's got a good job now. He's obviously off drugs. Who's to say he can't lead a very, very productive life? Who's to say Mr. Poteet, Mr. Shepard couldn't have done the exact same thing?
You know, is Mr. Thornburg today in Court, there's no question about that. Our legal system says this is his day in Court. But this is also our three victims' day in Court. This is Mr. Shepard's, Mr. Poteet and Mr. Smith.
. . .
Folks, we have three victims here who are not here today. Mr. Shepard, Mr. Smith and Mr. Poteet, they can't get up here and tell you on the witness stand how Mr. Thornburg slaughtered them. Shot them and left them to burn alive in the house. They can't get up here to tell us that. They're never going to be here. They're never going to testify. They're never going to be with their families for holidays, Christmases.
And you've got families here. This is also their day in Court, too, not just this defendant.
Tr. IV at 111-12. The prosecutor's comments that the victims may have led productive lives, could not testify at trial, and would never be with their families on holidays were irrelevant to proving Mr. Thornburg guilty of their murders. See Duckett v. Mullin, 306 F.3d 982, 991 (10th Cir.2002) (victim-impact statements improper in guilt stage).
Notwithstanding their clear irrelevance to Mr. Thornburg's guilt, however, the prosecutor's appeal was already implicit in the evidence. The jury knew that there were three men murdered, that they were shot and left in a burning house, and that they could not appear in court to testify. And because the evidence had shown all three victims to be drug and alcohol abusers, the prosecutor's speculation on their possible "productive" lives was most likely an attempt to avoid any jury nullification based on the victims' own reprehensibility. While condemning such comments during the guilt phase, we can doubt their inflammatory impact.
3. Cumulative Error Analysis
We now address whether the above errors entitle Mr. Thornburg to relief. The only errors that could have affected the verdict of guilty are the prosecutor's possible vouching for witness credibility or lack thereof, his argument that the Andersons' attempt to influence witness testimony was evidence of Mr. Thornburg's guilt, his suggestion of a civic duty to convict, and his invocation of sympathy for the victims. The only errors that could have affected the sentence are the prosecutor's improper reference to the time Dr. Murphy spent with Mr. Thornburg and the prosecutor's possible expression of a personal view that the death penalty was the only appropriate sentence. "A cumulative error analysis aggregates all the errors that individually might be harmless, and it analyzes whether their cumulative effect on the outcome of the trial is such that collectively they can no longer be determined to be harmless." United States v. Wood, 207 F.3d 1222, 1237 (10th Cir.2000) (internal quotation marks omitted). We review alleged cumulative error under the same standard required for individual error — here, whether the improper comments as a whole "so infected the trial with unfairness as to make the resulting conviction a denial of due process," Donnelly v. DeChristoforo, 416 U.S. 637, 643, 94 S.Ct. 1868, 40 L.Ed.2d 431 (1974), or rendered the sentencing "fundamentally unfair" in light of the heightened degree of reliability demanded in a capital case. Le, 311 F.3d at 1024.
On direct appeal the OCCA reviewed the cumulative effect of all the trial errors (not just prosecutorial misconduct) and held, "While it can be found in the present case that there were some irregularities during the course of the trial, even taken together, these cannot be found to have been so great as to have denied [Mr. Thornburg] a fair trial." Thornburg, 985 P.2d at 1250. We must defer to this ruling unless it constitutes an unreasonable application of the cumulative-error doctrine. We hold that it is not.
First, the evidence against Mr. Thornburg was very strong. One forced participant in the murders and one victim testified extensively about Mr. Thornburg's role in the murders, the arguments about the drugs, the shootings, and the fire. Teresa Burgess, a totally disinterested witness, testified that she overheard Mr. Thornburg at a bar the night after the murders say, "[T]hree died last night and three more will die tomorrow." Tr. II at 218. The eyewitness testimony was corroborated by witnesses who described the activities of these perpetrators during the night in question — leaving an unaccounted-for gap from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m.; by the testimony indicating Thornburg's anger at Poteet and interest in retribution; and by the expert testimony of the fire investigator and the medical examiner. Mr. Thornburg's alibi defense lay in the testimony of Ruby Davis, Roger Embrey's girlfriend, that he was asleep in his car in their driveway the night of the murders. But that alibi was undermined by Ms. Davis's prior inconsistent statements and the testimony of Huber, Nath, and Teresa Embrey.
In light of the strength of the evidence of guilt, the OCCA could reasonably conclude that the prosecutor's misconduct did not necessitate a new trial.
As for the sentencing phase, Mr. Thornburg put on only his wife and Dr. Murphy to testify to his drinking problems, his blackouts, and his good qualities as a father and husband. Although the prosecutor erred in referring to the amount of time Dr. Murphy spent with Mr. Thornburg, the jury had already rejected the blackout defense during the guilt phase, and his susceptibility to blackouts is not a particularly compelling mitigating factor. In contrast, the state supported the aggravating factors with evidence that the victims were likely burned alive and consciously suffered, that Mr. Thornburg continued to disrespect authority while in prison and was a continuing threat, and that he put the life of more than one person in danger. The OCCA could reasonably decide that the sentence was not the consequence of any prosecutorial misconduct.
Giving due deference to the OCCA under AEDPA, we cannot set aside the verdict or sentence on the basis of prosecutorial misconduct.
G. Ineffective Assistance of Trial Counsel
Mr. Thornburg contends that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to (1) object to the polygraph evidence, (2) object to the hearsay evidence, (3) object to the prosecutorial misconduct, (4) object to improper victim-impact testimony, (5) obtain proper instructions on mitigation and (6) request instructions on voluntary intoxication and first-degree manslaughter.
The familiar Strickland standard for ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims requires satisfaction of two requirements: (1) a showing that counsel's representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and (2) a reasonable probability that, but for the errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 688, 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). The OCCA reviewed this claim and found counsel's performance deficient, but held that Mr. Thornburg could not succeed in showing prejudice.
The OCCA held:
In his eighth proposition, [Mr. Thornburg] contends he was denied effective assistance of trial counsel. Appellant cites as deficient performance trial counsel's failure to object to testimony concerning a polygraph examination, counsel's failure to utilize the defense of voluntary intoxication and request instructions on this defense and the crime of First Degree Manslaughter, counsel's failure to object to inadmissible hearsay, counsel's failure to object to the rebuttal testimony of Teresa Embrey, counsel's failure to object to prosecutorial misconduct, counsel's failure to object to improper victim impact evidence, and counsel's failure to request proper instructions on mitigation. To successfully prove ineffective assistance of counsel, Appellant must show: (1) that defense counsel's performance was deficient; and (2) that he was prejudiced by the deficient performance.
The merits of all but one of the claims set forth in this proposition as ineffective assistance of counsel have been discussed in this opinion. We found in each proposition that error had occurred but because the error had not been met with timely objection from defense counsel relief was not warranted as the error did not rise to the level of plain error. In light of our discussion of the merits of these claims, this Court finds that defense counsel's failure to object to testimony concerning a polygraph examination, counsel's failure to utilize the defense of voluntary intoxication and request instructions on this defense, counsel's failure to object to inadmissible hearsay, counsel's failure to object to prosecutorial misconduct, counsel's failure to object to improper victim impact evidence, and counsel's failure to request proper instruction on mitigation rendered his performance deficient. However, because we do not find that Appellant was prejudiced by counsel's deficient performance, relief is not warranted on the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.
Thornburg, 985 P.2d at 1245 (internal citations omitted). In light of the following analysis, we cannot say that the OCCA's decision was contrary to or an unreasonable application of federal law. With respect to the challenged polygraph testimony, we have upheld the OCCA's conclusion that it did not so taint the trial as to render it fundamentally unfair. We have also concluded that most of the challenged hearsay was not actually inadmissible hearsay and the remainder was not so incriminating as to prejudice Mr. Thornburg. And in reviewing the prosecutorial misconduct cumulatively in light of the entire trial, we have upheld the OCCA's conclusion that prosecutorial errors did not so infect the trial as to warrant reversal.
With respect to the two failures of trial counsel that were not appealed to us on the merits — failure to object to victim-impact testimony and failure to request a proper mitigation instruction — Mr. Thornburg fares no better. He contends that his counsel should have objected to the testimony of victim Terry Shepard's daughter and victim Keith Smith's mother. But he does not say why his trial attorney should have objected to the testimony. The witnesses testified only about the effect that the loss of their loved ones had on their lives; they were instructed by the prosecutor not to comment on the crime, Mr. Thornburg, or appropriate punishments. The Supreme Court has held:
Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. 808, 827, 111 S.Ct. 2597, 115 L.Ed.2d 720 (1991). The complained-of testimony does not appear inconsistent with Payne's limitations. The OCCA reviewed the merits of the victim-impact claim and held, "While the victim impact testimony complained of was speculative in nature and bordered upon impropriety, its focus on emotion was not so overwhelming as to divert the jury from its duty to reach a reasoned response." Thornburg, 985 P.2d at 1246.
Turning to the failure to request proper mitigating instructions at the trial's sentencing phase, Mr. Thornburg's brief to our court does not state what instructions should have been given. We infer from his § 2254 application in district court that he desired a specific instruction concerning his alcoholism and organic brain damage. The OCCA ruled on direct appeal, however, that the absence of such a specific instruction was not plain error because a mitigating instruction encompassing intoxication and brain damage was given, Thornburg, 985 P.2d at 1249-50, and Mr. Thornburg was not prejudiced by the failure to request such an instruction, id. at 1245. The judge instructed the jury:
Evidence has been introduced as to the following mitigating circumstances:
The Defendant did not have any significant history of prior criminal activity
The Defendant's capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law was impaired
The Defendant was under the influence of mental/emotional disturbance
The Defendant acted under circumstances which tended to justify, excuse or reduce the crime
The Defendant's age
In addition, you may decide that other mitigating circumstances exist, and if so, you should consider those circumstances as well.
Sentencing Instr. 11; St. Ct. Rec. at 503. In light of that instruction, the OCCA's ruling was not an unreasonable application of federal law.
Only one subissue of Mr. Thornburg's ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim gives us pause: counsel's failure to request a voluntary-intoxication-defense instruction. Although the OCCA ruled on his appeal that the evidence did not support a voluntary-manslaughter instruction because of the absence of provocation, Oklahoma courts have on occasion said that voluntary intoxication can reduce first-degree murder to first-degree manslaughter. See Pickens v. State, 885 P.2d 678, 682-83 (Okla.Crim.App.1994), overruled on other grounds by Parker v. State, 917 P.2d 980 (Okla.Crim.App.1996). Had Mr. Thornburg requested a voluntary-intoxication instruction, he may have received an instruction on a lesser included offense.
But regardless of the requirements of Oklahoma law, the decision to forego the voluntary-intoxication instruction was not objectively unreasonable. Mr. Thornburg relied on the alibi that he had passed out in his car parked in the Embreys' driveway the night of the murders. His attorney could have viewed the voluntary-intoxication defense as a long shot requiring the jury to believe that Mr. Thornburg was at the scene of the crime but was too intoxicated to know what he was doing. Although the alibi defense turned out to be weak, belatedly raising an inconsistent defense could further weaken what little there was of the defense he had.
Moreover, there is no reasonable probability that the jury would have found the defense persuasive. It convicted Mr. Thornburg despite a barrage of evidence of his intoxication and an instruction on the requirement that it find malice aforethought. Even without deference to the OCCA, we hold that counsel was not ineffective for failing to request a voluntary-intoxication instruction.
H. The Eye-for-an-Eye Carving
Behind the judge's bench in the courtroom in which Mr. Thornburg was tried was a wooden carving on which appears the phrase, "An Eye for an Eye & A Tooth for A Tooth." Mr. Thornburg contends that the presence of this carving in the courtroom was structural error automatically requiring reversal. The phrase "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," according to Mr. Thornburg, is widely invoked by proponents of the death penalty and has the potential to sway a jury to impose a death sentence, not as a result of the individualized judgment that our constitutional law requires, see Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280, 304, 96 S.Ct. 2978, 49 L.Ed.2d 944 (1976), but because of religious commandment. He also contends that his trial counsel was ineffective for not raising the issue at trial and his appellate counsel was ineffective for failure to raise the issue (both on the merits and as a ground of ineffective assistance of trial counsel) on appeal.
Mr. Thornburg's merits claim and his claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel, however, face the hurdle of procedural bar. Mr. Thornburg failed to advance either claim in state court until his petition to the OCCA for postconviction relief. The OCCA refused to review the claims, applying a state procedural bar for failing to raise an issue that could have been raised on direct appeal. See Thornburg v. State, No. PC-99-490 at *3.
In a § 2254 proceeding a state court's prior "adequate and independent finding of procedural default will bar federal habeas review of the federal claim." Harris v. Reed, 489 U.S. 255, 262, 109 S.Ct. 1038, 103 L.Ed.2d 308 (1989). We have had several occasions to express concern about whether Oklahoma's procedural bar is "adequate and independent," particularly with respect to ineffective-assistance claims, see, e.g., Cannon v. Mullin, 383 F.3d 1152, 1172-74 (10th Cir.2004) (for state rule of procedural bar to be adequate to bar claim of ineffective trial counsel because of failure to raise claim on direct appeal, state must provide procedural mechanisms permitting defendant to develop factual basis of claim on appeal), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 125 S.Ct. 1664, 161 L.Ed.2d 491 (2005); but Mr. Thornburg, who had new counsel for the direct appeal of his conviction, does not challenge independence and adequacy here. See Hooks v. Ward, 184 F.3d 1206, 1217 (10th Cir.1999) (defendant bears burden of contesting independence and adequacy of state procedural bar once state has asserted the affirmative defense).
An adequate and independent finding of procedural default can be overcome only if the party claiming error can establish cause for failure to raise the issue when required and show that the failure produced actual prejudice. Engle v. Isaac, 456 U.S. 107, 129, 102 S.Ct. 1558, 71 L.Ed.2d 783 (1982). "While the nature of a constitutional claim may affect the calculation of cause and actual prejudice, it does not alter the need to make that threshold showing." Id. Thus, even structural errors are subject to state procedural bars. See McCracken v. Gibson, 268 F.3d 970, 976 (10th Cir.2001) (state procedural bar applied to allegation of structural error, although court alternatively addresses the merits and holds that error was not structural).
As cause for the failure to raise the issue on direct appeal, Mr. Thornburg claims ineffectiveness of his appellate counsel. The OCCA rejected this ineffective-assistance-of-appellate-counsel claim in Mr. Thornburg's postconviction proceedings: "The brief filed in [Mr. Thornburg's] direct appeal reflects that appellate counsel raised eighteen non-frivolous claims at least equally meritorious to that which was omitted and is at issue here. We cannot find that appellate counsel's failure to investigate and litigate the . . . issue as fully as [Mr. Thornburg] claims he should have rendered counsel's performance unreasonable under prevailing professional norms." Thornburg v. State, No. PC-99-490, at *5 (Okla. Crim.App. Nov. 9, 1999).
Regardless of the merits of the OCCA's analysis, we agree that Mr. Thornburg's appellate counsel was not ineffective for failure to raise the biblical-reference issue. Appellate counsel is not ineffective for failing to raise an argument based on facts that he could not reasonably be expected to know. Not only was the presence of the biblical reference in the courtroom not obvious from the trial record, it was completely absent. For appellate counsel even to be aware of the issue, he would have had to assume a duty to visit the courtroom in which Mr. Thornburg was tried. Appellate attorneys work from a trial record, and we will not impose on them a duty to inspect courtrooms. Mr. Thornburg's trial counsel did not object to the carving; that may have been poor judgment, but it left the record devoid of anything that could have directed appellate counsel's attention to the eye-for-an-eye language. The prosecutor did make a reference to the sword in closing argument: "Talk about the sword of mercy. It's above Judge Winchester. The sword there. You live by the sword, you die by the sword, folks." Tr. IV at 205. But he did not mention the phrase engraved on the sword. Mr. Thornburg even candidly admits as much in his brief to this court:
The error of the ever-present adage "An Eye for an Eye, A Tooth for a Tooth," should have been objected to by trial counsel, and should have been asserted on direct appeal by appeal counsel. To be sure, the error is not apparent from the record. There is nothing in the paper record of Mr. Thornburg's trial to indicate that the artwork containing the Leviticus passage was in front of the jury. Trial counsel failed to make that record. Direct appeal counsel would not have known of the error, even investigating the case, as a reasonable investigation would not normally take the direct appeal lawyer into the courtroom in which the trial was conducted.
Aplt. Br. at 49. Accordingly, we reject on the merits Mr. Thornburg's claim of ineffective appellate counsel. As a consequence, Mr. Thornburg is procedurally barred from raising the biblical-reference issue or the related claim of ineffective trial counsel.
I. Denial of an Evidentiary Hearing
Finally, Mr. Thornburg appeals the district court's denial of his request for an evidentiary hearing on his Sixth Amendment issues. Mr. Thornburg has shown no reason to conduct an evidentiary hearing. He does not state what he wishes to prove at such a hearing and he argues no issues on appeal for which further evidence would be relevant. The district court did not err in denying his evidentiary-hearing request.
We AFFIRM the district court's denial of relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. | http://openjurist.org/422/f3d/1113/thornburg-v-mullin | dclm-gs1-244540002 | false | false | {
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0.031591 | <urn:uuid:634f8de3-133d-4359-96ae-94b859a90b95> | en | 0.944415 | Breaking News: Derek Ramsay and Cristine Reyes break-up
Derek Ramsay and Cristine Reyes break-up? This news became viral online and netizens responded to the said rumors that Derek Ramsay and Cristine Reyes break up. Cristine Reyes is said having video scandal with former bf Rayver Cruz. If they break-up, will this be the reason?
Derek said “I want to keep this private. Thanks for understanding,” ayon kay Derek o sa text na ipinadala nito sa Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Noong isang buwan, inamin ng aktor ng TV5 na exclusive na silang nagde-date ng aktres mula sa ABS-CBN.
Enchong Dee and Sebastian Castro allegedly have Video Scandal
Enchong Dee and Sebastian Castro allegedly have Video Scandal which rumors goes viral online.The alleged video scandal of Enchong and Sebastian widely spreads all over the internet. Sebastian Castro admitted that he is a gay which spreads in social medias earned different reactions.
After a day of leakage of video scandal of Chito Miranda and Neri Naig, another rumored video scandal from celebrities circulates online, but now it's both male. Many believes that this is just a hoax news at ginagawa lamang para panira at para magigigng patok sa internet.
Excerpts of the blind item, which is a conversation between Diaz and a source reads as follows:
“Mga 10 seconds lang po yung sex video. Kitang-kita po yung mukha nila pareho.”
“Kita ang buo nilang katawan. Hubo’t hubad sila pareho. Panakaw yung pag-video ng friend ko, eh. Hindi siguro alam ‘yon ni ________ (Young Actor).”
“Bini-BJ po ni YA yung kaibigan ko. Tapos, kinukunan nito ng video sa celfone niya.”
Bakit ipinakita sa kanya? “Wala lang po. Gusto lang niyang iyabang na ikinama daw siya ni YA.”
“Kitang-kita naman po ang mukha niya saka ‘yung friend kong kapartner niya na kaklase niya sa college. Pero sabi po ng friend ko sa akin, last year pa daw ‘yan nangyari. Gusto niya kasing i-prove sa akin na bakla talaga si YA.”
Viral na ba ‘yung video? “Sabi niya sa akin, hindi naman daw niya ikakalat, eh! For personal file lang daw niya po.”
People immediately speculated that the Young Actor was actually Enchong and the lover was pertaining to Sebastian. (
Enchong Dee and Sebastian Castro allegedly made a video scandal together.
While the internet was abuzz Monday about the Chito Miranda and Neri Naig scandal part 2, there were also rumors floating around that "Muling Buksan ang Puso" star Enchong Dee allegedly has his own video scandal with openly gay model and Youtube sensation Sebastian Castro.
There are actually two versions. There's another rumor swirling that it is only Enchong in the video doing something which straight people don't do.
Enchong actually has been a favorite subject of issues like this year after year since he entered showbiz. In 2010, there was this so-called Enchong Dee alleged video scandal with a certain Van Mike Burgos. The next year, he was linked to a video of someone who's simply just a lookalike.
Then in 2012, his pictures were being used by a "Gay Indonesia Only" Facebook Page in order to attract potential clients.
And now, this 2013, Enchong Dee and Sebastian Castro allegedly have a video scandal.
First of all, do these two know each other personally? Have they met? Are they friends? or what?
Yesterday, Sebastian aired his reaction in all of his social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) after he was bombarded with questions about his alleged video with Enchong. And here's what he said.
sebastianslife: "Sorry to disappoint. Im about 90% sure i dont have a sex vid. Unless my ex secretly taped us, in which case someone will die very soon."
He also posted a screenshot of tweets from his followers who were asking him about the video.
But wait, did Sebastian just admit that Enchong is his "ex"? He was reacting to tweets about an alleged video with Enchong right?
And he's only 90% sure? Meaning, there's still 10% that such video exists.(
Philippines' First Snowfall: Bizarre Phenomenon
Philippines' First Recorded Snowfall: Bizarre Phenomenon
Is there snowfall in Philippines July 24, 2013? or just an Hoax? Mayroong video ngayon sa Youtube na nagsasabing First Snowfall here in the Philippines and it was happen in Southern part of the country. It was not confirmed yet but many believes that this is only a fraud and false news.
The publisher of the video is RodsburghNewsLive
reference: Trending Video
The Success of "The Mistress" - For All Ages
Star Cinema's "The Mistress" is making a killing in the box office and it is an indication the subject is no longer taboo in Philippine media and in the social hierarchy.
The film has an unusual story because the young mistress (sensitively played by Bea Alonzo) is shared by father and son ( Ronaldo Valdez and John Lloyd Cruz). The triangle is completed by Hilda Koronel who plays The Wife and here you see the admirable trait of a silently suffering wife accepting his philandering husband for what he is.
The subject of sexual prowess as a basic component of this relationship is openly discussed in the film and it is liberating to know they come from the mouths of matinee idols previously associated with wholesome cinematic image. Olivia Lamasan does a good job in this film by highlighting the love angle more than the extra income factor that goes with the illicit relationship. But the hard part is that father and son can't possible share the mistress and she can't possibly be re-invented as future wife of the son after the break-up.
Katy Perry's EX-BF is Dead - Why?
Actor Johnny Lewis, who appeared on “Sons of Anarchy” and dated Katy Perry, was found dead in Los Angeles in what can only be described as a bizarre double death.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department tells Yahoo! that the bodies of 28-year-old Lewis and 81-year-old Catherine Davis were found at Davis’ Los Feliz home Wednesday at 10:40 a.m. when law enforcement arrived to investigate a 911 call about a woman screaming. Lewis, whose lifeless body was found in the driveway of the home, is the suspect in the elderly woman’s murder. He allegedly beat the woman to death, became involved in a scuffle with two men at a neighboring house (assaulting one of them), and then returned to Davis’ home, where he fell or jumped off the roof.
According to a report on TMZ, Lewis – who rented a room from Davis – was released from L.A. County Jail just five days before the double death. He had “several cases” filed against him and was recently in rehab, states the report. Further, TMZ says Lewis is also suspected of killing a cat in Davis’ home, which was ransacked.
A toxicology report will determine whether drugs or alcohol were involved.
60th FAMAS Awards 2012 Winners
“Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story” emerged as the big winner during this year’s Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) Awards, held at the Manila Hotel in Manila City on Tuesday, September 25.
The film won five awards, including best picture. Laguna governor Jeorge “ER” Ejercito won best actor for his role as Asiong Salonga in “Manila Kingpin.”
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart Plans to Get-Away: Romantic Holiday
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart are reportedly intent on going on a romantic holiday.
Robert was left heartbroken earlier this year when Kristen publicly apologised for cheating with married filmmaker Rupert Sanders. The Twilight hunk has apparently forgiven Kristen for her infidelity.
The couple’s relationship is fragile at the moment and they believe they need to get away from the public spotlight to repair their union. | http://pilipinascelebrity.blogspot.com/ | dclm-gs1-244580002 | false | false | {
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0.019221 | <urn:uuid:83304946-24fb-40c3-b936-1774fd6ff691> | en | 0.896695 | Search tips
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1. Tocotrienol supplementation in postmenopausal osteoporosis: evidence from a laboratory study
Clinics 2013;68(10):1338-1343.
Accelerated bone loss that occurs in postmenopausal women has been linked to oxidative stress and increased free radicals. We propose the use of antioxidants to prevent and reverse postmenopausal osteoporosis. This study aimed to examine the effects of tocotrienol, a vitamin E analog, on bone loss due to estrogen deficiency. Our previous study showed that tocotrienol increased the trabecular bone volume and trabecular number in ovariectomized rats. In the current study, we investigated the effects of tocotrienol supplementation on various biochemical parameters in a postmenopausal osteoporosis rat model.
A total of 32 female Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups. The baseline group was sacrificed at the start of the study, and another group was sham operated. The remaining rats were ovariectomized and either given olive oil as a vehicle or treated with tocotrienol at a dose of 60 mg/kg body weight. After four weeks of treatment, blood was withdrawn for the measurement of interleukin-1 (IL1) and interleukin-6 (IL6) (bone resorbing cytokines), serum osteocalcin (a bone formation marker) and pyridinoline (a bone resorption marker).
Tocotrienol supplementation in ovariectomized rats significantly reduced the levels of osteocalcin, IL1 and IL6. However, it did not alter the serum pyridinoline level.
Tocotrienol prevented osteoporotic bone loss by reducing the high bone turnover rate associated with estrogen deficiency. Therefore, tocotrienol has the potential to be used as an anti-osteoporotic agent in postmenopausal women.
PMCID: PMC3798611
Estrogen Deficiency; Ovariectomy; Tocotrienol
2. The effects of Cosmos caudatus (ulam raja) on dynamic and cellular bone histomorphometry in ovariectomized rats
BMC Research Notes 2013;6:239.
Cosmos caudatus is a local plant which has antioxidant properties and contains high calcium. It is also reported to be able to strengthen the bone. This report is an extension to previously published article in Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (doi:10.1155/2012/817814). In this study, we determined the effectiveness of C. caudatus as an alternative treatment for osteoporosis due to post-menopause by looking at the dynamic and cellular paramaters of bone histomorphometry.
Forty female Wistar rats were divided into four groups i.e. sham operated, ovariectomized, ovariectomized treated with calcium 1% ad libitum and ovariectomized force-fed with 500 mg/kg C. caudatus extract. Treatment was given six days a week for eight weeks.
Dynamic and cellular histomorphometry parameters were measured. C. caudatus increased double-labeled surface (dLS/BS), mineral appositional rate (MAR), osteoid volume (OV/BV) and osteoblast surface (Ob.S/BS). C. caudatus also gave better results compared to calcium 1% in the osteoid volume (OV/BV) parameter.
C. caudatus at the 500 mg/kg dose may be an alternative treatment in restoring bone damage that may occur in post-menopausal women.
PMCID: PMC3702396 PMID: 23800238
Cosmos caudatus; Osteoporosis; Femur; Bone histomorphometry; Ovariectomized rats
4. Palm Tocotrienol Supplementation Enhanced Bone Formation in Oestrogen-Deficient Rats
PMCID: PMC3485551 PMID: 23150728
5. Two Different Isomers of Vitamin E Prevent Bone Loss in Postmenopausal Osteoporosis Rat Model
PMCID: PMC3484319 PMID: 23118785
6. Virgin Coconut Oil Supplementation Prevents Bone Loss in Osteoporosis Rat Model
Oxidative stress and free radicals have been implicated in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis. Therefore, antioxidant compounds have the potential to be used in the prevention and treatment of the disease. In this study, we investigated the effects of virgin coconut oil (VCO) on bone microarchitecture in a postmenopausal osteoporosis rat model. VCO is a different form of coconut oil as it is rich with antioxidants. Three-month-old female rats were randomly grouped into baseline, sham-operated, ovariectomized control (Ovx), and ovariectomized rats fed with 8% VCO in their diet for six weeks (Ovx+VCO). Bone histomorphometry of the right femora was carried out at the end of the study. Rats supplemented with VCO had a significantly greater bone volume and trabecular number while trabecular separation was lower than the Ovx group. In conclusion, VCO was effective in maintaining bone structure and preventing bone loss in estrogen-deficient rat model.
PMCID: PMC3457741 PMID: 23024690
7. Eurycoma longifolia upregulates osteoprotegerin gene expression in androgen- deficient osteoporosis rat model
PMCID: PMC3493384 PMID: 22967165
Eurycoma longifolia; Osteoporosis; Orchiectomy; OPG; RANKL
8. Labisia pumila Prevents Complications of Osteoporosis by Increasing Bone Strength in a Rat Model of Postmenopausal Osteoporosis
Estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) is the main treatment postmenopausal osteoporosis. However, ERT causes serious side effects, such as cancers and thromboembolic problems. Labisia pumila var. alata (LPva) is a herb with potential as an alternative to ERT to prevent complications of osteoporosis, especially fragility fractures. This study was conducted to determine the effects of LPva on the biomechanical strength of femora exposed to osteoporosis due to estrogen deficiency, using the postmenopausal rat model. Thirty-two female rats were randomly divided into four groups: Sham-operated (Sham), ovariectomized control (OVXC), ovariectomized with Labisia pumila var. alata (LP), and ovariectomized with ERT (Premarin) (ERT). The LPva and ERT were administered via oral gavage daily at doses of 17.5 mg/kg and 64.5 μg/kg, respectively. Following two months of treatment, the rats were euthanized, and their right femora were prepared for bone biomechanical testing. The results showed that ovariectomy compromised the femoral strength, while LPva supplementation to the ovariectomized rats improved the femoral strength. Therefore, LPva may be as effective as ERT in preventing fractures due to estrogen-deficient osteoporosis.
PMCID: PMC3443997 PMID: 22991574
9. Nigella sativa: A Potential Antiosteoporotic Agent
Nigella sativa seeds (NS) has been used traditionally for various illnesses. The most abundant and active component of NS is thymoquinone (TQ). Animal studies have shown that NS and TQ may be used for the treatment of diabetes-induced osteoporosis and for the promotion of fracture healing. The mechanism involved is unclear, but it was postulated that the antioxidative, and anti-inflammatory activities may play some roles in the treatment of osteoporosis as this bone disease has been linked to oxidative stress and inflammation. This paper highlights studies on the antiosteoporotic effects of NS and TQ, the mechanisms behind these effects and their safety profiles. NS and TQ were shown to inhibit inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1 and 6 and the transcription factor, nuclear factor κB. NS and TQ were found to be safe at the current dosage for supplementation in human with precautions in children and pregnant women. Both NS and TQ have shown potential as antiosteoporotic agent but more animal and clinical studies are required to further assess their antiosteoporotic efficacies.
PMCID: PMC3438907 PMID: 22973403
Clinics 2012;67(9):1077-1085.
Osteoporosis increases the risk of bone fractures and may impair fracture healing. The aim of this study was to investigate whether alpha-tocopherol can improve the late-phase fracture healing of osteoporotic bones in ovariectomized rats.
In total, 24 female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups. The first group was sham-operated, and the other two groups were ovariectomized. After two months, the right femora of the rats were fractured under anesthesia and internally repaired with K-wires. The sham-operated and ovariectomized control rat groups were administered olive oil (a vehicle), whereas 60 mg/kg of alpha-tocopherol was administered via oral gavage to the alpha-tocopherol group for six days per week over the course of 8 weeks. The rats were sacrificed, and the femora were dissected out. Computed tomography scans and X-rays were performed to assess fracture healing and callus staging, followed by the assessment of callus strengths through the biomechanical testing of the bones.
Significantly higher callus volume and callus staging were observed in the ovariectomized control group compared with the sham-operated and alpha-tocopherol groups. The ovariectomized control group also had significantly lower fracture healing scores than the sham-operated group. There were no differences between the alpha-tocopherol and sham-operated groups with respect to the above parameters. The healed femora of the ovariectomized control group demonstrated significantly lower load and strain parameters than the healed femora of the sham-operated group. Alpha-tocopherol supplementation was not able to restore these biomechanical properties.
Alpha-tocopherol supplementation appeared to promote bone fracture healing in osteoporotic rats but failed to restore the strength of the fractured bone.
PMCID: PMC3438250 PMID: 23018307
Bone; Fracture; Osteoporosis; Vitamin E; Alpha-tocopherol
11. The Effects of Tualang Honey on Bone Metabolism of Postmenopausal Women
PMCID: PMC3437962 PMID: 22973408
12. Effects of Palm Vitamin E on Bone-Formation-Related Gene Expression in Nicotine-Treated Rats
PMCID: PMC3434599 PMID: 23049610
13. Effects of Low-Dose versus High-Dose γ-Tocotrienol on the Bone Cells Exposed to the Hydrogen Peroxide-Induced Oxidative Stress and Apoptosis
Oxidative stress and apoptosis can disrupt the bone formation activity of osteoblasts which can lead to osteoporosis. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of γ-tocotrienol on lipid peroxidation, antioxidant enzymes activities, and apoptosis of osteoblast exposed to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Osteoblasts were treated with 1, 10, and 100 μM of γ-tocotrienol for 24 hours before being exposed to 490 μM (IC50) H2O2 for 2 hours. Results showed that γ-tocotrienol prevented the malondialdehyde (MDA) elevation induced by H2O2 in a dose-dependent manner. As for the antioxidant enzymes assays, all doses of γ-tocotrienol were able to prevent the reduction in SOD and CAT activities, but only the dose of 1 μM of GTT was able to prevent the reduction in GPx. As for the apoptosis assays, γ-tocotrienol was able to reduce apoptosis at the dose of 1 and 10 μM. However, the dose of 100 μM of γ-tocotrienol induced an even higher apoptosis than H2O2. In conclusion, low doses of γ-tocotrienol offered protection for osteoblasts against H2O2 toxicity, but itself caused toxicity at the high doses.
PMCID: PMC3432387 PMID: 22956976
14. Effects of Tocotrienol and Lovastatin Combination on Osteoblast and Osteoclast Activity in Estrogen-Deficient Osteoporosis
Statins are HMGCoA reductase inhibitors and had been demonstrated to stimulate bone formation in rodents after high oral doses. Observational studies on patients treated with oral statins were varied. Delta-tocotrienol had been found to stimulate the cleavage of HMGCoA reductase and inhibit its activity. Tocotrienols were found to have both catabolic and anabolic effects on bone in different animal models of osteoporosis. The current study aimed to ascertain the effects of delta–tocotrienol and lovastatin combination on biochemical and static bone histomorphometric parameters in a postmenopausal rat model at clinically tolerable doses. 48 Sprague Dawley female rats were randomly divided into 6 groups: (1) baseline control group; (2) sham-operated control group; (3) ovariectomised control group; (4) ovariectomised and 11 mg/kg lovastatin; (5) ovariectomised and 60 mg/kg delta-tocotrienol; (6) ovariectomised and 60 mg/kg delta-tocotrienol + 11 mg/kg lovastatin. These treatments were given daily via oral gavage for 8 weeks. Delta-tocotrienol plus lovastatin treatment significantly increased bone formation and reduced bone resorption compared to the other groups. Therefore, the combined treatment may have synergistic or additive effects and have the potential to be used as an antiosteoporotic agent in patients who are at risk of both osteoporosis and hypercholesterolemia, especially in postmenopausal women.
PMCID: PMC3425381 PMID: 22927884
15. The Effects of Cosmos caudatus on Structural Bone Histomorphometry in Ovariectomized Rats
Osteoporosis is considered a serious debilitating disease. Cosmos caudatus (ulam raja), a plant containing antioxidant compounds and minerals, may be used to treat and prevent osteoporosis. This study determines the effectiveness of C. caudatus as bone protective agent in postmenopausal osteoporosis rat model. Thirty-two female rats, aged 3 months old, were divided into 4 groups. Group one was sham operated (sham) while group two was ovariectomized. These two groups were given ionized water by forced feeding. Groups three and four were ovariectomized and given calcium 1% ad libitum and force-fed with C. caudatus at the dose of 500 mg/kg, respectively. Treatments were given six days per week for a period of eight weeks. Body weight was monitored every week and structural bone histomorphometry analyses of the femur bones were performed. Ovariectomy decreased trabecular bone volume (BV/TV), decreased trabecular number (Tb.N), and increased trabecular separation (Tb.Sp). Both calcium 1% and 500 mg/kg C. caudatus reversed the above structural bone histomorphometric parameters to normal level. C. caudatus shows better effect compared to calcium 1% on trabecular number (Tb.N) and trabecular separation (Tb.Sp). Therefore, Cosmos caudatus 500 mg/kg has the potential to act as the therapeutic agent to restore bone damage in postmenopausal women.
PMCID: PMC3424602 PMID: 22924056
Osteoporosis in elderly men is now becoming an alarming health issue due to its relation with a higher mortality rate compared to osteoporosis in women. Androgen deficiency (hypogonadism) is one of the major factors of male osteoporosis and it can be treated with testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). However, one medicinal plant, Eurycoma longifolia Jack (EL), can be used as an alternative treatment to prevent and treat male osteoporosis without causing the side effects associated with TRT. EL exerts proandrogenic effects that enhance testosterone level, as well as stimulate osteoblast proliferation and osteoclast apoptosis. This will maintain bone remodelling activity and reduce bone loss. Phytochemical components of EL may also prevent osteoporosis via its antioxidative property. Hence, EL has the potential as a complementary treatment for male osteoporosis.
PMCID: PMC3403331 PMID: 22844328
17. The Effects of Piper Sarmentosum Water Extract on the Expression and Activity of 11β-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Type 1 in the Bones with Excessive Glucocorticoids
Background: Long-term glucocorticoid therapy causes secondary osteoporosis leading to pathological fractures. Glucocorticoid action in bone is dependant upon the activity of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 enzyme (11β-HSD1). Piper sarmentosum is a local herb that possesses the ability to inhibit 11-βHSD1 enzyme activity. We aimed to determine the effects of Piper sarmentosum water extract on 11-βHSD1 expressions and activity in the bones of glucocorticoid-treated adrenalectomized rats.
Methods: Forty male Sprague–Dawley rats (200-250 g) were used. Twenty-four animals were adrenalectomized and received intramuscular injection of dexamethasone (120 μg/kg/day). They were simultaneously administered with either Piper sarmentosum water extract (125 mg/kg/day), GCA (120 mg/kg/day) or distilled water as vehicle by oral gavage for two months. Eight animals were sham-operated and given vehicle daily, i.e. intramuscular olive oil and oral distilled water.
Results: Following two months treatment, dexamethasone-treated adrenalectomized rats had significantly lower 11β-HSD1 dehydrogenase activity and higher 11β-HSD1 expression in the femoral bones compared to the sham-operated and baseline group. The rats supplemented with Piper sarmentosum water extract had significantly higher 11β-HSD1 dehydrogenase activity and lower 11β-HSD1 expression in the bones.
Conclusion: The results showed that Piper sarmentosum water extract had the ability to prevent glucocorcoticoid excess in the bones of glucocorticoid-treated adrenalectomized rats through the local modulation of 11β-HSD1 expression and activity, and may be used as prophylaxis for osteoporosis in patients on long-term glucocorticoid treatment.
PMCID: PMC3470290 PMID: 23115429
Piper sarmentosum; 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1; dexamethasone; glucocorticoids; osteoporosis
18. Frequencies of glutathione s-transferase (GSTM1, GSTM3 AND GSTT1) polymorphisms in a Malaysian population
Glutathione S-transferase (GST) is a xenobiotic metabolising enzyme (XME), which may modify susceptibility in certain ethnic groups, showing ethnic dependent polymorphism. The aim of this study was to determine GSTM1, GSTM3 and GSTT1 gene polymorphisms in a Malaysian population in Kuala Lumpur.
Material and methods
Blood or buccal swab samples were collected from 137 Form II students from three schools in Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur. Genotyping was done by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP).
Glutathione-S-transferase GSTM3 gene frequencies were 89% for AA, 10% for AB and 1% for BB. The gene frequencies for deleted GSTM1 and GSTT1 were 66% and 18% respectively.
This study suggested that the Malay population is at risk for environmental diseases and provides the basis for gene-environment association studies to be carried out.
PMCID: PMC3258772 PMID: 22291790
gene; glutathione S-transferase; polymorphism; Malaysians
19. Effects of Repeatedly Heated Palm Oil on Serum Lipid Profile, Lipid Peroxidation and Homocysteine Levels in a Post-Menopausal Rat Model
McGill Journal of Medicine : MJM 2008;11(2):145-151.
Oxidized unsaturated fatty acids may contribute to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. In the present study, we examined the effects of heated palm oil mixed with 2% cholesterol diet on serum lipid profile, homocysteine and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) levels in estrogen-deficient rats. Twenty-four female Sprague Dawley rats were ovariectomized and then were divided equally into four groups. The control group was given 2% cholesterol diet only throughout the study period. The three treatment groups received 2% cholesterol diet fortified with fresh, once-heated or five-times-heated palm oil, respectively. Serum TBARS, lipid profile and homocysteine levels were measured prior to ovariectomy and at the end of four months of the study. Five-times-heated palm oil caused a significant increase in TBARS and total cholesterol (TC) compared to control (F = 22.529, p < 0.05). There was a significant increase in serum homocysteine in the control as well as five-times heated palm oil group compared to fresh and once-heated palm oil groups (F = 4.432, p < 0.05). The findings suggest that repeatedly heated palm oil increase lipid peroxidation and TC. Ovariectomy increases the development of atherosclerosis as seen in this study. Feeding with fresh and once-heated palm oil does not cause any deleterious effect but repeatedly heated oil may be harmful because it causes oxidative damage thereby predisposing to atherosclerosis.
PMCID: PMC2582674 PMID: 19148313
palm oil; heated oil; menopause; atherosclerosis; lipid peroxidation
Results 1-19 (19) | http://pubmedcentralcanada.ca/pmcc/solr/reg?pageSize=25&term=author%3A(%22Salem%2C+Ahmed%22)&sortby=score+desc&filterAuthor=author%3A(%22Mohamed%2C+Norazlina%22) | dclm-gs1-244630002 | false | true | {
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0.19486 | <urn:uuid:871fbca2-573e-458f-bfd5-7011d4e6ad39> | en | 0.830297 | chapter 4.3 theorems
Created by pixienat
6 terms · lalala
theorem 4.5
corollary 4.6
every equilateral triangle is equiangular and all angles are congruent.
theorem 4.7
corollary 4.8
every equiangular triangle is equilateral.
theorem 4.9
in an isosceles triangle, the ray that bisects the vertex angle bisects the base and is perpendicular to it. it is also the altitude to the base.
theorem 4.10
a point is on the perpendicular bisector of a line segment if and only if it is equidistant from the endpoints of the segment.
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0.126899 | <urn:uuid:ac48620a-c44c-45c9-9bfc-902ef49009ca> | en | 0.901905 | Mrs.Brown Chapter 10 Vocab
Created by Moonbc95
18 terms
traits or characteristics from parents to offspring through the inheritance of genes.
Having different alleles at one or more corresponding chromosomal
Relating to a cell that has two identical allele
an offspring resulting from cross-breeding
Law of independent
The law of independent assortment applies well to most plants and animals, but only to those genes which occur on non-homologous autosomal chromosomes.
Law of segregation
that one of a pair of alternative alleles whose effect is masked by the activity of the second when both are present in the same cell or organism.
a characteristic feature or quality distinguishing a particular person or thing
having primary control, authority
The act or process of initiating biological reproduction by insemination or pollination
The genetic makeup, as distinguished from the physical appearance, of an organism or a group of organisms
A collection of various kinds; a variety
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0.999417 | <urn:uuid:ffba6dce-657a-46be-95aa-21624558da59> | en | 0.82405 | Ch. 31
Created by SloanBousselaire
39 terms · Term Study
cytoplasmic streaming
this allows for fungus to grow so fast because cell walls are gone, cytoplasmic contents of other cells can contribute to growth at the end of the cell
all fungi share which of the following characteristics:
A) symbiotic
B) heterotrophic
C) flagellated
D) pathogenic
E) act as decomposers
B) Heterotrophic
which feature seen in chytrids supports the hypothesis that they diverged earliest in fungal evolution?
A) the absense of chitin in cell walls
B) coenocytic hyphae
C) flagellated spores
D) formation of resistand zygosporangia
E) Parasitic lifstyle
C) Flagellated Spores
A) ascospores
B) basidiospores
C) zygosporangia
D) condidiophores
E) ascocarps
D) condidiophores
The photosynthetic symbiont of a lichen is often:
A) a moss
B) a green alga
C) a brown alga
D) an ascomycete
E) a small vascular plant
B) a green alga
among the organisms here which are thought to be the clostest relatives of fungi?
A) animals
B) vascular plants
C) mosses
D) brown algae
E) slime molds
A) Animals
the adaptive advantage associated with the filamentous nature of fungal mycelia is primarily related to
A) the ability to form haustoria and parasitize other organisms
B) avoid sexual reproduction until the environment changes
C) increased probability of contact between different mating types
D) an extensive surface area well suited for invasive growth and absorptive nutrition
D) an extensive surface area well suited for invasive growth and absoptive nutrition
Which describes Fungi correctly?
A) phototrophs
B) chemotrophs
C) photoautotrophs
D) heterotrophs
D) heterotrophs
How do these heterotrophic fungi eat?
A) by attacking their prey with stinging enzymes
B) by secreting digestive enzymes, then digesting
C) by using mycelium to capture prey
D) by fixing nitrogen
B) by secreting digestive enzymes and then digesting it
Fungi are heterotrophs that are
A) sapophonic
B) sapotrophic
C) heteromonophyletic
D) secreted
B) sapotrohpic
Fungi are more closely related to
A) animals
B) plants
C) bacteria
D) cnidarians
A) animals
What is a mass of hyphae called?
A) mycorrizae
B) flagellated protists
C) septate
D) mycelium
D) mycelium
Which is the correct order of an asexual fungal life cycle?
A) spore producing structure > spores > mycellium > germination
B) spore producing structure > germination > spores > mycellium
C) mycellium > germination > spores > spore producing structure
D) spore producing structure > spores > germination > mycellium
D) spore producing structure > spores > germination > mycellium 1n
True or False: Spores produced by asexual reproduction in fungus are genetically identical to their parents, there is no recombination
Which is a true expression of zygomycetes?
A) spores
B) fruit
C) mold
D) lichen
C) mold
Which is an example of ascomycetes?
A) lichen
B) mold
C) mushrooms
D) pilobolus
E) both B and A
A) lichen
Which is an example of a basidiomycete?
A) mushrooms
B) rusts and smuts
C) maiden veil fungus
D) shelf fungi
E) all of the above
E) all of the above
How might humans use fungi for their benefit?
A) a drug used to get high
B) a way to inhibit growth of an animal
C) fermenting alcohol
D) make soda
E) both C and D
E) both fermentation and making citric acids to make soda
What infections might a fungus create?
A) pink eye
B) toncellitous
C) yeast infection
D) all of the above
C) yeast infection
The cyanobacteria on lichen are
A) ants
B) produce O2
C) are photosynthetic
D) fix nitrogen
E) both C and D
D) fix nitrogen
Fungis (along with bacteria) are primarily responsible for
A) producing oxygen
B) keeping the forest floor stocked with nutrients
C) producing phosphorus
D) human use for essential nutrients
B) keeping ecosystems stocked with essential nutrients for plant growth
Which characteristics distinguish fungi from members of other multicellular kingdoms:
A)grow by forming multicellular filaments
B)eat by ingesting food
D)eat by absorbing food from environment
True or False: fungi eat by secreting powerful hydrolic enzymes into their surroundings > break down into small compouns > fungi absorb into their bodies and use
Fungi's ecological role may be
A) mutualists
B) predators
C) photoautotrophs
D) all of the above
A) mutualists, as well as parasites and decomposers
Describe the basic body plan of a fungus
cell walls are made of chitin, body of fungi form a network of hyphae which is called a mycelium which infiltrate the food for the fungus
True or False: Most fungus grow above ground, hence a mushroom aids the ability to get nutrition
false, most fungus grow undeground, the mushroom is simply a reproductive structure
Mycorrhizae are
A) parasitic relationships with plants and fungus
B) a symbiotic relationship formed while the fungus fees
C) a mutal relationship between fungi and plant roots
D) more than one above
C) mycorrhizae are mutally beneficial relationships between plant roots and fungus
A) are inside the plant root
B) are wrapped around the plant root
C) grow haustorium
D) absorb water & nutrients especially phosphorus
E) more than one above
E) more than one above: B) and D)
endomycorrhizae are mycorrhizae that are wrapped around the plant root and also absorb water and nutrients especially phosphorus
During plasmogamy
A) the heterokaryotic stage preceeds this
B) two parent mycelia unite through cytoplasms
C) the haploid nuclei fuse to produce two diploid cells
D) zygotes and other tansient structures form
B) two parent mycelias unite their cytoplasm
During karyogamy
A) the only diploid stage in reproduction
B) nuclei fuse
C) the production of diploid cells occurs
D) yeilds proper 2n cells
E) all of the above
What makes the heterokaryotic stage special in fungal sexual reprodcution?
A) they are the only diploid stage
B) they release sexual signaling molecules called phermones
C) they are the only haploid stage
D) they do not fuse their nuclei together and are only n+n
D) the hyphae only fuse their cytoplasm, not yet their nuclei, after plasmogamy the cells become heterokaryotic or n+n
Opisthokonts refers to which of the following:
A) a group of prokaryotes
B) the polyphyletic group that forms a clade
C) refers to the posterior location of flagellum
D) the clade who's ancestor was a unicellular flagellated protist
E) more than one above
E) a opishokont is both a clade whose ancester was a unicellular flagellated protist (includes animals, fungi and protistian relatives) the name also refers to the posterior location of flagellum
Which suggests that fungi and animals are more closely related to one another?
A) fungi evolved from a single-celled bacterium
B) the study of microsporandia
C) their common ancestor who has flagella
D) none of the above
C) the common ancestor to fungi and animals was a unicellular flagellated protist
True or Flase: Nearly all zygomycetes form arbuscular mycorrhizae and are therefore extemely ecologically important
False. Nearly all GLOMEROMYCETES form arbuscular mycorrhizae with about 90% of the plant species
List a few ways in which humans use fungi.
Make bread, ferment alcohol, make citric acids, make antibiotics like penicillin
Which is true about the relationship betwen farmer ants and fungi?
A) they are mutualists
B) they are harmful to one another
C) they have been known to wipe out entire species of ants
D) the fungi break down plant leaves into substances that the ants can digest
E) both A and D are true
E) farmers ants and fungi depend on eachother for life: the ants feed the fungi leaves which gives them nutrients and the fungi break down plant leaves into substances that the ants can digest
What is a lichen?
A) what forms from a symbiotic relationship between animals and plants
B) a symbiotic association betwen photosynthetic microorganisms and a fungus
C) fungi that live on the inside of leaves or other plant parts without causing harm
D) small clusters of hyphae with embedded algae
B) they are a symbiotic association between photosynthetic microorganisms and fungi. they act as pioneers by growing on rocks, trees, rotting logs
Which of the following are the roles of the fungal component of lichen?
A) algae provide carbon compounds
B) cyanobacteria fix nitrogen
C) the provision of a sustainable environment for growh
D) the enablement of rusts and smuts
E) all but D
E) all are correct but D
Which is the most correct answer as to how do lichens act as pioneers for burned soil?
A) they are the only organism strong enough to penetrate such hard surfaces
B) they influence the land with rich minerals
C) they break down the surface by physically penetrating & chemically attacking it
D) none of the above
C) they break down the surface by penetration and chemicals, also nitrogen-fixing lichens add organic nitrogen to some ecosystems which make it possible for a succession of plant to grow
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Spelling - Words I Found On E-Bay : eBay Guides
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Guide viewed: 4137 times Tags: Spelling
I do a lot of searching on E-Bay for various things, and I have noticed that a lot of people have difficulty with 'spelling'. In the following paragraphs, I have given just a few of the many wierd and unusual way words have been used. For example; when they wrote 'Died' (Gone to Heaven), what they really meant to write was 'Dyed' (Changed Color). Get the Idea ? I will list the various world found, with a comment, followed by a / (slash), then the word that should have been used.
Died (Gone to Heaven) / Dyed (changed Color); Pure Bread (with Flour) / Pure Bred (Horsie); Grate (Opening cover) / Great (Excellant); Do (Effect) / Due (Bills, bills, bills); Nastalga / Nostalgia; Naval (Ships at Sea) / Navel (Belly Button); Fossil (Petrified Organic Remains) / Old (Passed Its Prime [ like me ]). Inferred (To Indicate) / Infrared ( Invisible Light); Dose Not (Forget the Pills) / Does Not ( Can't Be); Broach (Tool for Making Holes) / Brooch (Pin to wear); Emplied / Implied; Commemorable / Commemorative; Medal (Decoration) / Metal ( To make medal ); also Metal / Medal; Excavation ( Hole in the ground) / Extension (Lengthen); Verses (Parts of a Poem) / Versus (Against); Londanary / Londonderry; Lenght / Length; Angel (With wings) / Angle (With degrees); Beatle (Musical group) / Beetle ( A pesky bug); Erie (City on Lake Erie) / Eerie (Creepy); Feint (Attack) / Faint (Weak); Insolated (kept away) / Insulated (Kept cold); Fascinator (Charmer) / Fastener (Holder); Cheep / Cheap; Vary / Very; Serf (Peasant) / Surf (For beach bums); Brake (Slow the car) / Break (If the brakes don't work).
These three words were found on the same page; Scenner / Scanner; Reachareable / Rechargeable; Documet / Document.
My favorite was one where someone misread a label inside a Russian Balalaika (Musical Instrument) To them the word appearted to be NACNOPT, but it was actually the Russian word PASPORT.
This one is really funny; LIEDER HAUSEN for LEDERHOSEN. Lederhosen is German for Leather Pants, while Lieder Hausen would translate to House where songs dwell, but could also have the connotation, "Keeping A Disorderly House"
This list does not include wrong or misspelled words by non-English speaking persons, on foreign web sites or on E-Bay. They can be forgiven. After all, English is difficult to use correctly. Does anyone know what a 'Gerund' or 'Partciple' is ? I never could figure out what they were.
Always, and I emphasize, ALWAYS, check and double-check your spelling. Nothing ruins an otherwise nice web site or E-Bay presentation faster than poor spelling and poor grammer
Guide ID: 10000000007030676Guide created: 06/05/08 (updated 19/08/13)
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ian freeman ufc veteran
Stuart Wheatman 'The Machine's' Biographer
Interview with Ian Freeman's biographer Stuart Wheatman.
SFUK : first of all tell us how you and Ian hooked up?
Stuart Wheatman : I was pretty sure I'd heard of him before because he was always in the Sunday Sun (local paper). It was just after Ian won the Travis fight when I read the next article about him and it will always stick in my mind: "I may be just some guy from Dipton but I've just beaten one of the hardest men on the planet" - as soon as I read that there were fireworks going off in my head! I read on and Ian said something along the lines of 'I hit him as hard as I could', and seeing a picture of him I knew that it must have been like being hit by a truck. I knew I had to get in touch with him so I contacted the paper and we arranged a meeting.
We had a few phone conversations before meeting up and it developed from there. The first time we met was in Sunderland just before Christmas '99. We got through around a gallon of coffee and myself, Ian and Carl (Ian's mate and corner man) had an excellent ice breaking chat about anything and everything. On the way back to Newcastle on the train I was sure it was going to be the start of something big - I was that excited I even phoned my girlfriend to rant and rave about it! A few more calls and we left things until the new year ... but on Sunday the 2nd of January, Ian phoned me to wish me a happy new year. I was kinda off guard (and hung over) so it was right then that the friendship started and the rest looked sure to follow. It was obvious that we would do something .... but early on we weren't sure what. We started talking more and then we both knew it would become a life story type of book. It had to be heard.
SFUK : Are you a fan of MMA or did you know Ian from his reputation outside of the sport?
Stuart : I've always been into fighting, action movies and all that - but more as a spectator! It's a fascination to me. As far as I knew, the likes of this only happened in films - but then I found out that people are actually out there and doing it. What I'd heard about MMA was minimal and I only thought it existed in the United States, if at all. Me being someone who tries to keep his head to the ground, the whole scene then was underground. Something like the Octagon....I just thought it was pure mythology. Then seeing the Travis Fulton fight I knew it was real. Since meeting Ian, Julian and getting together with TMA - it's came a hell of a long way. Of course I'm no expert, but people come up to me now and strike up conversations about it. That shows how much it's progressed - even my mother knows how to tap someone out!
But yeah, I knew of Ian (vaguely) through his reputation as a hard man of the region. Every area has them but not every area has one quite like Ian....then it turns out that he's not just a local hard man but an international one. It was only after I'd met him to discus his achievements in the sport when I realised he was that same person I'd heard of. While we were getting to know each other Ian invited me to a meeting. This was a meeting of some of the people who worked for him - all massive hard geezers packed into a room and then me sitting in the corner trying to look like I do that kind of thing every day. God knows what they were all thinking with me being there - I only knew Carl. Then Ian turned up and to see the respect he was given was phenomenal. This wasn't because of what he is - it was because of who he is: A genuinely sound bloke. That was when I was sure of his reputation outside the ring. No one had to tell me about him - I could see it for myself right then. People I knew were worried about my safety for even going to the meeting (sounds mad now) but I knew I was going in there as the safest person in the room.
SFUK : Your writing style is gripping, is this your first book?
Stuart : Cheers! Yeah it's my first book but saying that - it's our first book. It's all team work between the both of us and if it is gripping to read, imagine the reality of it! It's Ian's enthusiasm that shines through and because we are both a bit handy at what we do for a living, I think it's a good combination. I teach and write screenplays as my 'day job'. I've got another book / film I started before this - a gangster type thing I had in mind and then 'Lock, Stock' came out. I was like, 'D'oh!!' So hopefully if our book is well received it might mean I can get on with projects like that and use this one as my track record - who knows! (Already got Ian and Dave Courtney in mind to star in that one) Most writing projects are based on track record so it's great to finally get something out there.
I've got a few scripts that are 'in development' or waiting for production funding - so hopefully this will encourage people to invest some money in me. I've been working on a sitcom with a company that want to take it into production - but in the end, most things like that come down to money and the lack of it. Frustrating for a lot of people. It's the best thing in the world when people say it's gripping. A friend phoned me to say he was nearly crying with laughter while reading it on the bus. That kind of response makes it all worthwhile... it's something we've spent a lot of time on: For people to actually read it is good enough but to get the feedback like that is even better.
SFUK : Now I know Ian's a great story teller, so was writing the book easy?
Stuart : As Ian says - fighting for him is not a chore and writing for me isn't. He's a brilliant talker - a natural in any interview, conversation - whatever. He's not the type who just waffles on. In the early days of the research interviews we didn't even know if we'd get it published but we started recording everything and it built up from there. I think the research was probably the hardest thing. I was all over the place meeting up with Ian's friends and family to record interviews. All of them made me feel welcome and spoke freely about everything - made some friends along the way! Then I had to transcribe every interview, every tape, every conversation, so in that respect it was laborious.
I used to go to Ian's place at about 8am and leave at 5pm - then go home and type it all up, but even when spending time together without the tape going, we were still working. Even if we couldn't find the time to talk face to face I'd send the questions over, Ian would tape his responses and mail it back. Writing it was the most enjoyable thing I've done. We were each others shadow for so long I almost felt I was Ian at times! There was always gonna be points here and there that weren't right so every bit I was writing Ian would read it and we'd talk it over and change things. I think if it was too easy for us we would think something was up. It was important for both of us that it sounds like Ian. If it sounded like me (or anyone else) talking it would show straightaway. You'd know it was just me living out Ian's life but in the writing it was like I was possessed by him. I could see him doing something or could hear him say it as I was writing. The main thing was contact: Even if we went for a day or two without seeing each other, we'd be on the phone, email and fax all the time.
SFUK : Where there any events that were traumatic to write?
Stuart : Too right, mate. Sounds weird saying this but there were a few times where I was writing with a lump in my throat. That was real emotion coming from the both of us and I think it does show. We were both going through it all. There is one particular incident that was traumatic for Ian. This was the first chapter I put together because it was the most personal one in the book. When Ian read it it brought it all back and until you know what he's been through, it's impossible to understand. When he read it he phoned me to tell me he should hate me because it brought it all back, but at the same time we knew that if it moved him that much then it was heading in the right direction. I got off the phone and I was shaking - sort of upset but happy at the same time, but it was excellent to start it off on the right foot.
Getting those emotions out and understanding what it was like was quite draining for us. Same as the emotion / anger of a street fight: Ian knows that it was probably just a fluke that he didn't kill someone. I used to imagine what it would be like getting on the wrong side of that was traumatic! He even shouted at me once and after that I had a good idea of being on the wrong side of him. Just like method acting! I was bricking it. It's not just a book where Ian grows up, becomes a bouncer - hits a load of people, then hits a few more in the ring. We go through everything with him - love, hate, depression, happiness - the lot.
SFUK : I've been lucky enough to have read a preview of a few stories and it's a rollercoaster ride of excitement, terror and courage. Ian has stressed that the stories are 100% true with no exaggeration, c'mon tell us is it really so!
Stuart : I don't think anyone could make this sort of thing up and get away with it! One of the first things anyone notices about Ian is his honesty. When he says 'I could have killed someone and I didn't care' - you believe him. When he says 'If I had a metal bar on me at the time I would have smashed his skull in' - you believe him. If he says, 'Don't take my politeness as a weakness' - you know he's not kidding. Because there are that many people who were around Ian when these things happened, if they were not true he'd lose his credibility. The people he's fought will know that none of it is made up. There was a few times where I got a bit too carried away and started writing all kinds of things into fights and Ian would stop me. I'd be like, 'Whoa, this sounds good and that sounds good....' and Ian would tell me it didn't happen like that. When it came down to detail he was meticulous - he wouldn't feel comfortable with over exaggerating.
The thing is, even with the extreme violence there is always some element of comedy somewhere that creeps into it. It was hard to decipher some of the interview tapes for all the laughing. It's not really in his nature to make things up and in that sense it is a real credit to him. To read everything he's been through and know it's not just some made up story really gets you thinking.
SFUK : As Ian's biographer you must know him better than most now. Do you feel that becoming a MMA champion, and achieving the incredible success, that his personality has changed along the way?
Stuart : I think he has changed along the way and hope that it comes out in the book. When he was a doorman he's the first to admit that there were times when he was a hated and feared man. Even his friends didn't know when he was about to lose his temper. He was known as some kind of monster.....barred from every night name it. All those people are still his friends and would describe him as a totally different person now. I know listening to them talk about 'those days', he literally was a different man. He'll not make excuses about it or try to detach himself from it. When you know what was in his head at the time you see that he was reacting to it. He was handling things the only way he knew how. When you speak of him now, the first thing you'll say is that he's a gentleman. He is. His MMA success hasn't changed him as a person, I don't think. He knew the success was in the post. He's not the type to let things go to his head.
SFUK : What strikes you most about 'The Iron Ambassador'?
Stuart : His suntan! (only joking Ian!) I think it's his courage, drive and determination. Anything he embarks on he'll take it as far as he can. You just need to look at his fighting record to see that. He just won't give up. I don't think he'd know how to. When he lost the first UFC fight I wasn't sure what was going to happen. It was his first ever loss and even he didn't know how he'd react to it. It just made him more determined to get back there. He couldn't wait and I think that's a good message to all other fighters. A lot of people were watching him and how he would cope. I think most of all it's just the fact that he's not what you expect. You may not think he's gonna be clever, witty, funny or whatever when you see him in the paper in a story about violence. When he was on 'Close up North' to defend MMA, no doubt they were licking their lips at the prospect of him falling flat on his arse but he took it all in his stride and proved a lot of people wrong.
SFUK : Do you think the book glamorises violence or is it ultimately an ANTI VIOLENCE book?
Stuart : Not too sure. I think we all love a good punch up but it doesn't mean it's glamorous. It's in no way a moral stance where Ian is saying he was a nasty man and has changed his ways. It doesn't say it is a good or a bad thing but it does say it exists. Like it or not it goes on everywhere. The book doesn't have a message in that sense - most fights that take place start off in a club and it is a punter wanting to take the world on. That was quite a big concern for us because we don't want it to have a sort of subliminal 'violence is great' message in it. In the days when Ian worked the doors he would get into at least five fights every night. He enjoyed it. If he didn't, he wouldn't be doing it. It was (and is) his job to fight. I think in any kind of street fight these days he's got control. It's controlled violence as opposed to the days of being a madman. I think it brings home the truth.
Violence is unpleasant and at times the will shock. At the same time it's hard to say we're not glamorising it because we've produced a book featuring it. Some of the ways Ian describes fights are entertaining to say the least. It will be interesting to hear other views about it. On the anti-violence side of things it probably does have a message - don't mess with The Machine!
SFUK : When is it launched?
Stuart : It's due out in March of next year. We'd hope for it to be earlier - next week would do! When we started on it, it seemed like a lifetime away and even though it sounds a long time now - we'll be promoting it in other ways leading up to it.
SFUK : Will you and Ian be doing a promotional book tour?
Stuart : That would be excellent. I hope so. Again it's something we've discussed and would love to do it. Ian would like to meet all his fans and it would be a good way of showing our appreciation.
SFUK : How do you think it will do in terms of book sales?
Stuart : From what I understand, there are advance sales. Ian fighting in USA and Japan has increased his popularity so we are looking towards a Japanese version too. It would be excellent for it to sell in the same proportions as all the other biographies, so who knows. I think when people realise that it's not just a book for fight fans or a martial arts book, then it has a good chance of selling well. It's the sort of story that will appeal to people of all ages. It gives a good insight into a certain lifestyle. It would be good to have a best seller on our hands - no doubt about it.
SFUK : Good luck with it, I'll be buying a copy for sure.
Stuart : Thanks a lot mate. We'd both like to give a big thank you to SFUK for allowing us to publicise the book. Thanks to everyone involved for their support, encouragement and all the kind things you've all said about it. Cheers
SFUK 31 August 2000
Ask Ian Freeman any questions at the SFUK forum
Look out for Ian "The Machine" Freeman’s web site at
Ian "The Machine" Freeman is available for seminars and training sessions.
If you would like SFUK to interview you, contact us here
Back Home
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kung fu | http://sfuk.tripod.com/interviews/freemanbook.html | dclm-gs1-244760002 | false | false | {
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Comment: Re:Because they are expensive to make (Score 1) 384
by Ayanami Rei (#26067145) Attached to: Used Game Market Affecting Price, Quality of New Titles
Oh no, we understand that.
It's quite simple. If the game is any good, then there won't be any used copies to by simply because no one wants to sell it.
The publishers' main concern is that first initial rush to buy the game after its released; that translates into money for the developer. Long tail sales are irrelevant and the royalties are crap unless you wrote Starcraft. So if you can make your game last for four weeks before someone gets tired of it, you've succeeded, you will get ample cash money to fund development of the next one.
If your target market is reselling the product at a rate which competes with the all important initial sales in a significant way, THEN YOU SUCK AT MAKING GAMES GET A DIFFERENT JOB. I don't know, work for Hollywood, put those texture and explosion making skills to good use. Lord knows Hollywood doesn't pay anyone the big bucks for a movie because of solid writing.
MSI Develops a Heat-Driven Cooler 173
Posted by Soulskill
V!NCENT tips us to a write-up about an addition to MSI's Ecolution motherboard which harvests heat from the chipset to power a fan. The device is based on a Stirling engine. The heat from the chipset expands a trapped gas, which pushes against a piston to generate power. The article contains a YouTube video of how the device works. According to MSI, the device has 70% efficiency.
Operating Systems
+ - Nintendo's curious reasearch OS in javascript
Submitted by
Ayanami Rei
Ayanami Rei writes "From The Ajaxaian, Nintendo apparently is working on an open source research operating system (translated SourceForge page here). It's an x86 kernel written in C++ with some basic drivers so far, bootable in QEMU and bochs. A particularly interesting feature of this work is that the entire userland is written in Javascript. They even bundled a Squeak interpreter running in the JavaScript environment as a demonstration. Firefox has demonstrated that JavaScript can be a capable language for developing graphical applications and interfaces. Nintendo's WiiShop is certainly written in it; could other Wii channels or other portions of the system be web technology powered, and what does this portend for future Nintendo products?"
Comment: This is irrelevant (Score -1) 402
by rebeka thomas (#21433989) Attached to: Comparing Memory Usage of Firefox 2 vs 3
Why is memory use of a browser even relevant? Anyone reading slashdot already has 4GB or more, and quibbling over 62MB or 100MB or 200MB is like spending an hour of your time trying to save $5. It's such a small amount as to be irrelevant, and in that hour you could have earned 10 times that amount.
+ - Jack Thompson Blames Games for VA-Tech Shooting
Submitted by Cheeziologist
Cheeziologist writes "In an interview on Fox News today, Jack Thompson, notorious critic of the supposed effects of video games on children and young adults, claimed that "he [the gunman] immersed himself in counter-strike [and] half-life" and that it was the influence of these video games that caused the gunman to open fire on the Virginia Tech campus, killing approximately 30 people."
The Courts
+ - The Beginning of the end for Jack Thompson?
Submitted by Buzzsaw5
Buzzsaw5 writes "Looks like anti video game activist and jackleg lawyer Jack Thompson's unscrupulous actions in his crusade to bring down Take-Two (publisher of the Grand Theft Auto game series), and anyone who disagrees with him, may have finally caught up to him. As reported at GamePolitics, Thompson "faces a disciplinary hearing before a referee appointed by the Florida Supreme Court. The pending judicial review follows a recent recommendation by the Florida Bar that five counts of professional misconduct against Thompson should proceed to the state's high court for action. If the charges are eventually upheld, Thompson could face disciplinary action up to and including disbarment." Thompson has assured GP that the Florida bar is in more trouble than he is (presumably for daring to sully his prophetic image). The sad thing is that regardless of the beat down he's facing, clueless and/or sensationalist media outlets and activists will continue to give credence to Jack Thompson's inanity, slander and outright lies. Don't expect Thompson to go down without a fierce fight, as he will do anything to remain relevant."
+ - Dreaming in Code
Submitted by
AdamBa writes "Scott Rosenberg's new book Dreaming in Code chronicles the attempt by Mitch Kapor's Open Source Applications Foundation to produce a new Personal Information Manager, code-named Chandler. Beginning in the spring of 2002, Kapor gathered programmers together with the somewhat vague goal of producing a new piece of software inspired by Agenda, a Lotus product from the late 1980s. The new product would be cross-platform and open source; the other details were still to be determined.
Rosenberg's book sports the obligatory back cover blurb comparison to "The Soul of a New Machine". It's the latest in a long line that purport to be the worthy successor to Tracy Kidder's Pulitzer Prize winning 1979 tale of a computer project at Data General. Although the book is worth reading both for programmers and the rest of the world, it falls short of the master in a couple of ways.
First of all, unlike Kidder's heroes who eventually triumph over long odds, Chandler doesn't get finished (disclaimer: I work at Microsoft, which produces Outlook, a potential competitor to Chandler). It progresses at an excruciatingly slow pace, until after 3 years Rosenberg gives up and publishes the book. The product is still shuffling towards a 1.0 release; one of the best aspects of the book is that the participants are still out there, blogging and coding away. Chandler may well mirror the Mozilla project, getting bogged down at the start before gradually moving out of the "large pile of interesting code" phase at which the book bids it adieu, and eventually maturing to take over a part of the world; but right now it's unclear what the future holds.
More importantly for the story, Rosenberg does not spend much time delving into the motivations and inner feelings of his characters. Kidder's big advantage at Data General was that he was actually present during the project, rather than relying on the after-the-fact interviews that guide many similar books. Rosenberg was also there for the duration, sitting in meetings and watching the team work. But aside from some quotes from blog posts at the time, we never get a sense for what the characters are thinking. They wind up very two-dimensional, identified mostly by their previous work experience and area of Chandler that they own: there's the old Mac guy working on a prototype of the UI, the Next manager trying to architect the system, the former Lisp programmer designing the repository, the two dudes from Netscape thinking about network protocols, and so on (somewhat strangely, but presumably intentionally, Rosenberg rarely even describes anybody's physical appearance). This is an important oversight because it is apparent that the participants are not completely aligned in how they would implement Chandler; the slow pace is partly due to doubts about the technologies, algorithms, and features that have been chosen. The result reminds you of a basketball team composed of All-Stars who haven't practiced together much, with each one grumbling that if they were only given the ball more, the team would win. Drawing out some of this internal dialogue would have emphasized its impact on the project. It also would have demonstrated the somewhat artificial nature of the open-sourceness of the project; people were initially brought together and told to work out their differences, rather than being able to evaluate the current state of the project and decide if they wanted to participate (one notable battle is between the team members who want to get some code working and then improve it, and those who want to do more up-front design: the fight continues until those who advocate the former plan give up and abandon the project one-by-one).
At one point Rosenberg actually writes, "By now, I know, any software developer reading this volume has likely thrown it across the room in despair, thinking, 'Stop the madness! They're making every mistake in the book!'" (luckily, he said it about 10 pages before I was about to do just that). Certainly the Chandler team did err in a variety of ways, but to my mind they made one overarching mistake. They ignored the obvious "elephant in the room" problem with their plan: trying to make a distributed PIM that synchronizes without a server. Instead of figuring out an algorithm that would work for that, they spend their time debating over details of visuals and network protocols. It's somewhat puzzling why such an individually experienced team would have such a collective blind spot. In the end it takes a new arrival on the team to point out that this problem is extremely hard, and eventually redirect the project towards a server-based approach. This new person is also the first one with prior experience working at Microsoft, a fact that you can interpret as you wish (to me, as a Microsoft employee, it made the mild potshots that Rosenberg directs at the company seem silly).
The other decision that caused problems, but is never questioned by the team or the book, is the plan to produce an application that runs on multiple platforms (WIndows, Mac, and Linux). The fact that Microsoft writes almost all of its software for a single platform is an often-overlooked technical advantage, which makes it simpler for the company to develop applications, and lessens the test burden significantly. The decision to go cross-platform leads to a dependency on a cross-platform GUI builder, which leads to problems when it doesn't support features that the team needs. Although I understand the motivation to go cross-platform, the team also missed the fact that for an open-source project, cross-platform porting is a perfect task for someone outside the core team. Get your code working great on one platform, induce extreme amounts of envy in someone who runs a different platform, and let them scratch that itch until you are cross-platform.
Rosenberg takes a 70-page break in the middle of the book to look back on the history of software development in general, trying to understand if there is a better way. He presents some fascinating research from the early days of programming, making you realize that all the problems we have today were perfectly anticipated by programmers 30 years ago (unfortunately, they didn't have any better answers than we do). I was hoping that I would get some good advice from this section, but his overview of development practices is somewhat cursory, and he gives roughly equal time to the important (test-driven development), the futuristic (Jaron Lanier has resurfaced after his virtual reality heyday and is now somewhere beyond the gravitational pull of the inner planets), and the incomprehensible (Charles Simonyi and his thing-that-Charles-Simonyi-is-working-on-that-nobo dy-groks). Rosenberg admits that he doesn't fully understand all this stuff, and we have to cut him some slack: we don't fully understand all this stuff either.
A better place to gain wisdom for your own software project is simply to play fly-on-the-wall as the team — despite the best of intentions, no financial concerns, and very smart people — makes the same kinds of mistakes that we always read about, but "know" that we would never make ourselves. They plan too many features, don't make realistic schedules, can't decide on goals for their interim releases, etc. They even have the advantage of a brilliant (to my mind) usability design insight, that the program should present the user with a model based on David Allen's "Getting Things Done" plan of a single to-do list. This is the direction in which Outlook is moving, but the Chandler team nevers takes much advantage of this vision. In the end the project is a great example of what not to do, and Rosenberg does a great job of telling that story. As Kapor muses at the end, "I do think that organizationally and personally we've learned an enormous amount about how to develop software. We've kind of reinvented the wheel. These are things that other people know, so it's taken us a little longer to learn those things. But having learned them, that's a kind of intellectual capital, and I'm absolutely firmly intent on reapplying it and staying the course." It's not clear why the Chandler team needed to reinvent so much that others already knew; but hopefully people who read the book will realize thay they are not immune to problems either, and do a little bit more of whatever it is that you need to do more of, and a little bit less of whatever it is you need to do less of. The question of just what those things are won't be any clearer when you are done reading Dreaming in Code, but at least you will know that you aren't alone."
XML::Simple for Perl Developers 186
Posted by Zonk
from the weekend-project dept.
+ - New material stiffer than diamond
Submitted by
sporkme writes "A team has developed a new material that has taken the hardest substance crown from diamond. From the article:
They mixed molten tin, heated to about 300C, with pieces of a ceramic material called barium titanium — often used as an insulator in electronic components. The particles were each about one-tenth of a millimeter in diameter and were dispersed evenly through the tin using an ultrasonic probe.
The work was done at universities in the United States and Germany."
Byte your tongue. | http://slashdot.org/~xsupergr0verx/firehose | dclm-gs1-244790002 | false | false | {
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0.0277 | <urn:uuid:d57eee6a-7eb2-4bfd-9b04-6d45d4dd0656> | en | 0.95808 | Jessie J goes swimming in infinity pool on top of towering skyscraper, we sit at our desks
We really are getting SICK of seeing pics of celebs off sunning themselves in various exotic locations but these snaps of Jessie J really do just take the biscuit (ew).
Jessie J went swimming on top of a skycraper, as you do. Copyright: [Jessie J]
Not only is she swimming, in a bikini looking hot, but the swimming pool is on top of a blimmin' sky scraper in Singapore.
It doesn't come much more showbiz than that, celebs always have to go the extra mile don't they?
[Related article: Rihanna teases us with half naked pictures of herself]
[Related article: Rihanna gets her boobs out on Twitter. Standard]
Jessie took to her Instagram to share the experience, meaning we can gawp at the whole thing while sitting at our desk eating a bag of Doritos.
Appaz, the dip was a pretty big deal for Jessie, 24, who previous to this suffered from vertigo.
Jessie also flashed her bum in the pics, don't pretend you hadn't noticed! Copyright: [Jessie J]
Talk about facing your demons square on, eh?
Along with the snaps, Jessie posted the message: "Posting a picture of herself in the water, she wrote: 'Facing my fears with @alishadobson #heights I did it. (sic)"
Jessie arrived on her hols on Sunday and has posted a series of pictures on Twitter to keep us all updated with her trip...
Not jealous at all.
Alessandra Ambrosio proving exactly why she is a Victoria's Secret model. Copyright: [Splash]
1 / 30
Yahoo omg!
Sun, Dec 8, 2013 21:00 GMT
| http://uk.omg.yahoo.com/gossip/the-juice/jessie-j-goes-swimming-infinity-pool-top-towering-210931737.html | dclm-gs1-245010002 | false | false | {
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0.056024 | <urn:uuid:a9101520-2576-4ebc-a540-fbfcf1d81d50> | en | 0.713385 | Laurentiu Todié
Rego Park, NY
User Stats
Profile Images
User Bio
Laurentiu Todié
Artist Painter, Sculptor, Photographer
Email: - Telephone: (718) 459-7057
1952: Born in Constanța, România
1961: Takes painting lessons from Ionel Mătăsăreanu and Cornel Iosif
1970: First show at the Youth Culture House, Constanța - Creates posters for theatrical & musical events
1977: Escapes Romania and obtains political refugee status in Paris, France
1979: Applies and is accepted to emigrate to the USA
1985 June: One Man Show at Le Tricorne Gallery, Paris, France
November: One Man Show at Celladon Gallery, Soho, NY
Together with his brother Cristian, decides to sign their work “Todié”
1986 June: SNECMA, Paris Le Temps Infiniment Présent
September: Le Tricorne Gallery, Paris Perspective
November: Le Tricorne Gallery Déformations Mécaniques
1988 December: Espace Gran Dia, Paris Bonne Année Monsieur Todié
1989 November: One Man Show at Ron Stein Gallery, Soho, NY
2006: Project Chronophotography (photographic time capture)
2010: Project Recycled Pixels (Abstract Pop Art)
2011: ArtAbility (group show) 414 Paoli Pike, Malvern, PA 19355
External Links
1. pellisco
2. Richard Young
3. bravomodels
4. Jose Antonio Caso
5. Benjamin Disinger
6. Wolfgang Karl
7. Times Square Arts
8. Petros Vrellis | http://vimeo.com/laurentiutodie | dclm-gs1-245040002 | false | false | {
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0.129698 | <urn:uuid:abac377d-e32c-4984-912e-f32015ed55a2> | en | 0.962864 | Now Playing Tracks
Salvador Dali, The Persitence Of Memory (detail), 1931
The Persistence of Memory is by far Salvador Dali’s most recognizable painting, and there are many references to it in popular culture. Although it was conjectured that the soft melting watches were the result of Dali’s interpretation of the theory of relativity, Dali himself state that their inspiration was camembert cheese melting under the sun. The sequence of melting clocks in a disjointed landscape is the depiction of a dream that Dali had experienced, the figure in the middle of the painting being the face of the dreamer himself. The general interpretation is that the painting, which portrays many melting watches, is a rejection of time as a solid and deterministic influence.
To Tumblr, Love Pixel Union | http://whereareyouamanda.tumblr.com/ | dclm-gs1-245080002 | false | false | {
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0.027197 | <urn:uuid:369c0103-ca78-48cc-a9e3-bf13438171d3> | en | 0.961936 | News & Politics
comments_image Comments
4 Simple Steps for Taking Your Money Out of the Vampire Banks
Bank Transfer Day (Nov. 5) is just around the corner. Time to assert your economic citizenship and end the dysfunctional relationship with your blood-sucking bank.
Can't pitch a tent at Zuccotti Park? Not to worry. There's something meaningful you can do to stand up to vampire banks that bleed the economy -- and your wallet. The feeling of satisfaction amply rewards the inconvenience.
I know. I decided to break up with my bank this week. The whole thing was an arranged marriage from the start. HSBC and I were joined because it gobbled up Marine Midland, the bank I actually signed up for in the late 90s. The truth is that my bank was taking advantage of my trust and abusing my loyalty. So I said sayonara.
Does my bank care? From a financial perspective, not really. (Although if enough municipalities, states and big pension funds move their money, that could start to hurt.) But breakups are bad for PR, and the symbolic action against the menace of Too Big to Fail is good for citizen morale.
Bank Transfer Day is the brainchild of Kristen Christian, a 27-year-old Los Angeles art-gallery owner who picked Nov. 5 as a hat tip to British folk hero Guy Fawkes. In 1605, Fawkes attempted to blow up the House of Lords and was captured and executed, but not before impressing King James with his "Roman resolution." (When asked what he was doing with so much gunpowder, Fawkes memorably replied: "to blow you Scotch beggars back to your native mountains.") If the 28,000 likes on the Bank Transfer Day Facebook page is any indication, Christian's idea has sparked a wave of populist enthusiasm. We're in a season of inspiration, and it feels good to stand up and be counted. By something other than your vampire bank's actuary. Let's get started.
1. Facing Reality
If your institution's name is Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citibank, or Chase, you may skip this step. Your bank is a Too Big to Fail behemoth that helped tank economy and used your tax dollars as a life preserver. It's time to sail on.
Otherwise, do a little research. My own bank, HSBC, is a bit lower down in the list, but according to Forbes magazine, it's the world's second-largest banking and financial services group and second-largest public company -- what William K. Black calls a "systemically dangerous institution" (SDI). In other words, a Too Big to Fail poster child.
HSBC is guilty of several crimes against humanity, including star billing in the subprime crisis and a penchant for fighting regulation that would make the banking industry safer.
Furthermore, HSBC is currently making mind-blowing profits (they doubled in 2010). Yet it has recently sent letters informing me of jacked up fees on ATM usage and line of credit accounts. Why? Could it be that HSBC is colluding with Bank of America, which recently announced open season on customers with its new debit card fee? Something sure smells rotten.
I therefore proclaim HSBC unworthy of our relationship. If you're not sure about your bank, there's a handy tool available to help you make an assessment. In partnership with the Move Your Moneycampaign kicked off in '09 by Arianna Huffington, economist Rob Johnson, and filmmaker Eugene Jarecki, Chris Whalen's firm Institutional Risk Analytics offers a proprietary system that grades banks using FDIC data. Simply enter your zip code and you will find a list of high quality banks in your area. If your bank is not on that list, take a long, hard look. Small doesn't necessarily mean better, which is why Whalen's tool only lists banks which are financially sound and FDIC insured, no matter what the size.
And consider the financial advantages of escaping the clutches of monster megabanks. Smaller banks and credit unions usually give you better deals on credit cards, for example, because their business models have not relied on penalty fees and the shady practices that go along with them. They also often superior rates on loans and other services.
2. Finding a New Dance Partner
Whalen's tool will also help you find a new institution. When I typed in my zip code, a constellation of banks and credit unions popped up on a New York City map. My next steps were to make a list of the things that are important to me (easy walking distance, free checking, low ATM fees, etc) and start shopping.
There were a couple of credit unions in my hood, but not really close enough to be convenient. Even in this era of electronic and online banking, I prefer a bank I can walk to in a jiffy. Some of the small banks nearby required minimum balances on checking accounts, which spells fees, so I crossed them off the list. After comparing offerings online, the bank that seemed to fit my requirements was Amalgamated Bank, with two branches within 10 blocks.
Other than its extremely ugly name, Amalgamated is known as America's only union-owned commercial bank, started in 1923 by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America to serve working people. Labor unions, despite their flaws, remain a key force against plutocracy. So Amalgamated certainly beats HSBC in terms of social value. It also has free checking, lower out-of-network ATM fees ($1) and no minimum balance required on either checking or savings accounts.
You may fear a lack of ATMs with smaller banks, but Amalgamated, like many, is part of a huge, surcharge-free network called AllPoint, with machines at Target, CVS, Walgreens, and other common retail outlets. There are over 4,000 Allpoint ATMs in New York and New Jersey, and there's a web tool and mobile app that allows me to search for nearby machines wherever I am. With the ridiculous $2.50 charged by HSBC on out-of-network ATMs, I'm actually a lot less likely to incur fees with Amalgamated. The deli right across the street from my apartment has an AllPoint ATM. Yippee!
Bonus: Amalgamated is actually the bank used by the Occupy Wall Street movement, and advertises signs supporting the protesters at locations near Zuccotti Park. This cheered me as I headed to the not-so-fancy main branch on 7th Avenue in Manhattan. To my surprise, no one at Amalgamated had ever heard of the Move Your Money campaign. The young manager who helped me stared blankly as I told her all about it and peppered her with questions. An older manager quickly appeared explaining that the young woman was a manager-in-training who likely did not have Protest 101 as part of her curriculum. The more experienced manager had not heard of the campaign either, but she was vaguely aware that some folks were upset about "uh, which bank was it with those debit fees?" Okay. A little cluelessness and a surprising lack of PR acumen. But there were pro-labor signs on the wall and I got lots of spiffy brochures on services like free checking -- which includes actual rebates on debit card use rather than fees. Sold!
3. Planning Your Exit
You'll want to keep your current checking account open for a little while in order for any outstanding checks to clear and to allow time for a new account to be set up. But you can go ahead and close down your savings account. It took me exactly ten minutes to do that at HSBC and put a stop on the automatic monthly transfer from my checking to my savings account. You can get your money in cash or just transfer everything over to your checking account.
I had a fantasy of going all 99 percent on the folks at HSBC, but the only people at my branch were two friendly women behind the counter and a couple of tellers. When asked why I was closing my savings account, I politely mentioned the new fees and noted the rather low (practically non-existent) interest rates. They just smiled and assisted me. It was that simple.
The next step was to open a checking and savings account at Amalgamated. If you do automatic bill paying, you will have to switch those systems over, and that's a bit of a hassle. Banks know this, which is why they encourage customers to use them. If you have allowed any businesses to directly debit your account, contact those businesses and provide them with your new bank's information. You'll also want to ask your employer to reroute your paycheck if you use direct deposit. Your new bank will provide you with an authorization form. Then you can order your new checks and debit/ATM cards, which will typically arrive within 1-2 weeks. You should also consider ordering a new credit card and getting rid of your old one.
4. The Final Good-bye
Once direct deposits are going into your new account and you've made sure that there are no outstanding checks or automatic debits that need to clear, go ahead and close your old checking account. But make sure you follow your bank's produces for doing this or you could end up with fees for having an empty of inactive account.
I found that the whole process was actually pretty painless. Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) has introduced a bill to ban nasty practices like exit fees to make ending your dysfunctional bank relationship even easier.
Having taken the plunge, I invite you to join me. The water feels good. And even better, no sharks.
Lynn Parramore is an AlterNet contributing editor. Follow Lynn on Twitter: twitter.com/LynnParramore
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0.236032 | <urn:uuid:fd66cc5b-c1cd-4363-af2f-970ab1b7bd19> | en | 0.958177 | Original Link: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6531/arctic-cooling-accelero-hybrid-vga-cooler-review-not-for-the-faint-of-heart
Introducing the Arctic Cooling Accelero Hybrid
Source: Arctic Cooling
Installation, Part 1
Installation, Part 2
Congratulations! You've assembled the shroud on the Arctic Cooling Accelero Hybrid. You're halfway to a quieter, frostier graphics card. Now it's time to run the risk of somehow damaging or even frying your gaming hardware. It's time to install the heatsinks.
Arctic Cooling includes a thermal glue for applying the RAM and VRM heatsinks that is, make no mistake, a glue. That means that once you've gone down this road, there's no turning back for you and your card. Those heatsinks are there to stay, and if you want to go back to air cooling you'll probably have to buy an aftermarket cooler from Arctic. I initially tried to use thermal tape for this so that I wouldn't be locked in, but found that while it might have sufficed for testing, it wasn't going to be a long term solution. Figuring "in for a penny, in for a pound," I used the thermal glue. As far as I can tell, the glue Arctic Cooling includes is nonconductive, and it'd have to be, since it's so thick that it's difficult not to let a little strand here or there touch the PCB.
Arctic Cooling includes a wide variety of heatsinks for use with your card. The glue has a minimum one hour curing time, and a little dab will definitely do you. Once you've let the glue cure, though, it's good to go and definitely reliable. You'll want to cover the RAM and all the VRM circuitry, as VRMs can run ridiculously hot on high end video cards. There's also insulation tape included to make sure the heatsinks don't touch anything they're not supposed to and thus cause a short, but if you're careful you won't need it; I didn't.
Interestingly, putting the whole card together isn't actually as difficult as everything else is, just a little fiddly. There's a black foam pad you want to install behind the GPU die on the back of the card so the backplate doesn't come into contact with any circuitry. From there, Arctic Cooling suggests spreading the included MX-4 thermal paste onto the waterblock and pressing the combined block and shroud into place.
The fiddly part comes in when you have to line up the backplate with four spacers above the mounting holes in the PCB and then get the screws to go through the backplate, the spacers (which are not adhered to the PCB), the PCB, and into the waterblock. I found the easiest way to do this was to gingerly place the spacers on the back of the card, put the screws through the appropriate holes in the backplate, then carefully lower the backplate into the spacers, which you can then slide to push the screws through the PCB, and eventually line up with the waterblock. Screw everything in, and you're actually pretty close to done.
The power cable for the shroud connects easily enough to the PCB, and then there's a single molex lead that comes out of the shroud. This is going to wind up providing the additional power needed to drive the pump. Arctic Cooling also includes a PWM-driven 120mm fan that attaches to the radiator (the PWM lead actually connects to the shroud as well), and from there it's really up to you where you want to install it inside your case.
Of course, when you're done you think to yourself "oh, that wasn't so bad," but the reality is that Arctic probably could've done more to make this a much easier process. All of the spacers should've already come with adhesive attached to them, the insulation tape is finicky, and good-quality thermal tape or adhesive for the heatsinks would've been appreciated. The glue definitely does the trick and seems to transfer heat exceptionally well, but the permanence of it makes me antsy. I also feel like the shroud didn't need to be so unusually shaped; there's no card it's ever going to look good on, though the 80mm fan apparently does wonders for cooling the PCB components.
Testing Methodology
Fan and Radiator Testing Configuration
CPU Intel Core i7-2700K overclocked to 4.4GHz @ 1.4V
Motherboard Zotac Z77-ITX WiFi
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB GDDR5
Memory 2x4GB Corsair Value Select DDR3-1333
Drives Kingston SSDNow V+ 100 64GB SSD
CPU Cooler Corsair H100i with dual 120mm Noctua fans
Power Supply Corsair CX430
Enclosure BitFenix Shinobi XL Window
Thank You!
Performance Results
Of course, for the Arctic Cooling Accelero Hybrid, the proof is in the testing. Once I was satisfied that I hadn't bricked the GeForce GTX 680 during assembly, I went about testing it in eVGA's OC Scanner X software. I've actually been pretty happy with OC Scanner X in personal use, and it generates enough heat to give the coolers a good workout.
I will say that what I found in testing, while not necessarily unexpected, was still pretty impressive.
Ambient temperature during testing was ~21C.
Idle Temperatures
Unsurprisingly, idle temperatures are pretty impressively low for both cooling systems, but already the Accelero Hybrid is able to produce a substantially better result well outside of the margin of error.
Load Temperatures
Once a load is applied to the card, though, all bets are off. The Accelero Hybrid blows past the reference cooler, producing a massive reduction in thermals. Keep this in mind, I'm going to come back to it later.
Load Noise
Since the reference cooler and Accelero Hybrid both idle below the 30dB floor of our sound meter, idle noise results aren't listed. What's impressive is that the Hybrid is almost dead silent under load, regardless of the increased pressure applied to the cooling system. So while the reference cooler gets louder the harder you push the card, the Hybrid seems to have plenty of thermal headroom to spare.
Using the Arctic Cooling Accelero Hybrid on the GTX 680 has also revealed another interesting wrinkle. While overclocking on the GTX 680 is mostly limited by the Power Target, the reference cooler definitely introduces some thermal limitations. I've seen the GPU clock of the 680 take a step back and begin to throttle a little once it goes north of 70C, but because the Accelero Hybrid has so much thermal headroom, that throttling almost never happens. With the fan control manually maxed out at 85%, I registered a noise level of just 31.3dB in testing, but have actually been able to push the 680 north of 1.3GHz. The stable 6.6GHz clock on the GDDR5 has been consistent between the reference cooler and the Hybrid, but the added headroom for the GPU has allowed me to move past the ~1.2GHz I was able to attain on the stock cooling.
As I've been writing this review, I've actually been steadily testing overclocking on the GTX 680 plus Hybrid by incrementing the GPU Offset +10MHz, running it through OC Scanner X for fifteen minutes (and accepting no artifacts), then benchmarking it in 3DMark 11's Extreme test. This is by no means a thorough stability test, but it's a decent way to poke around the edges of the card's tolerances. I can't imagine how much hotter and louder it would be running with the reference cooler, but with the Hybrid at 85% it's peaking at 63C. That's at 1.3GHz, sustained load.
Conclusion: Expensive, Difficult, Potentially Worth It
My experiences with the Arctic Cooling Accelero Hybrid have revealed a product that's not unlike a powerful weapon. The end result of having the Hybrid installed on a GeForce GTX 680 is almost something that must be seen to be believed, and I imagine the AMD Radeon HD 7970 version is just as impressive (if not possibly even more vital given the GHz Edition's notorious noise level). At the same time, the Accelero Hybrid is really, really not for amateurs.
Creating something like the Accelero Hybrid is an uphill battle from the word "go." There isn't a whole lot that can really be done about that; they could produce a broad variety of individual packages for each card type, but that's not cost effective for them, and the Accelero Hybrid is expensive enough as it is. Assembling this kind of product was just going to be fiddly.
The problem is that I still feel like it could've been made at least a little simpler. The shroud itself feels chintzy, and the awkward shape and size isn't particularly attractive and oftentimes feels like it's even in the way a bit when doing assembly. Parts of this process could have been handled before the product shipped: all of the spacers could've been on adhesive sheets, the rubber pads could've been preinstalled in the shroud (and the shroud itself could've had spots that properly fit the spacers), and I have to wonder if they couldn't have even just built the shroud and waterblock as one single large piece. The instructions are for the most part detailed, but they aren't perfect, and more detail and care would've helped.
And then there's that price I keep mentioning. The Arctic Cooling Accelero Hybrid sells for a not inconsiderable $169 ($149 for the 7970 version), so they abuse your wallet, your time, and your fingers. With so much stacked against it, it's hard to fathom why you'd actually go through all the hassle. That is, until you actually see it in action.
What Arctic Cooling is asking for the Accelero Hybrid is an awful lot, but you actually do get quite a bit in the process. For the GTX 680 at least, the Accelero Hybrid is a substantial improvement. Thermals drop close to the 30C that Arctic Cooling advertises, which is tremendous, and the Hybrid is slightly audible at its worst. The card runs much quieter, much cooler, and because of this, the GTX 680 at least can actually gain a little bit of performance headroom. So you're looking at $169 and a couple of hours of work in exchange for a substantial amount of upside.
The price and difficulty of assembly rule out an Editor's Choice award, and this product is most definitely not for everyone regardless, but if you have the experience, time, patience, and funds required, there's a strong case to be made for making this upgrade.
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Description: I'm not a litigator. I work on contracts for my clients.Without publicly disclosing specific details about my clients private contractual matters, I can say that I read the contracts, advise them on what the terms mean, their obligations, and how to adjust the contract to better suit their needs. We then negotiate with the other parties and usually it is possible to arrive at the best deal possible for everyone. | http://www.avvo.com/attorneys/01860-ma-valerie-lovely-1368336/legal_cases/65474 | dclm-gs1-245250002 | false | false | {
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0.037851 | <urn:uuid:7b32173d-6a3b-481e-8d0c-07b560a799cd> | en | 0.972089 | Waymon Hudson
The Palin Book Banning Controversy
Filed By Waymon Hudson | September 14, 2008 12:00 PM | comments
Filed in: Entertainment, Fundie Watch, Living, Politics
Tags: book banning, censorship, library, Palin videos, religious right, Sarah Palin, Wasilla
More information is coming out about Palin and her quest to ban books from the Wasilla Library during her time as Mayor. sarah_palin.jpgA New York Times article details disturbing information about Palin's push for censorship of books she considered "immoral". Care to guess the focus of her ire?
"Daddy's Roommate", a book that helps kids understand same-sex families.
Laura Chase, the campaign manager during Palin's first run for mayor in 1996, as well as Palin's mayoral predecessor John Stein, both confirmed that she pushed to have the book removed from the library because it "didn't belong there." Ms. Chase read the book, found it inoffensive, and suggested Palin read it. Palin's response was that she "didn't need to read that stuff."
Here's the full excerpt from the article:
But in 1995, Ms. Palin, then a city councilwoman, told colleagues that she had noticed the book "Daddy's Roommate" on the shelves and that it did not belong there, according to Ms. Chase and Mr. Stein. Ms. Chase read the book, which helps children understand homosexuality, and said it was inoffensive; she suggested that Ms. Palin read it.
"Sarah said she didn't need to read that stuff," Ms. Chase said. "It was disturbing that someone would be willing to remove a book from the library and she didn't even read it."
She scares the bejeebers out of me too.
Palin was well-known for inserting her religious beliefs into her governing, and this dangerous censorship is a prime example. Her blind push to rid a library of a book she never even read, simply because it mentions gay people, is disturbing to say the least.
And not only did Palin want the book banned, but when the librarian refused, she tried to fire her for not giving "full support" to the mayor. Palin reversed course on the librarian's dismissal after a local outcry, and later said the discussions about banning books were "rhetorical."
"Rhetorical"? To me, this kind of dangerous censorship, and the ensuing political payback for those not towing the line, is one of the biggest indicators of Palin's value's and governing style. To me Palin isn't just the "unqualified moose-hunter" or any of the other jokes made about her. She is a dangerous religious zealot who seeks to enforce her views on everyone she governs.
And she might be a heartbeat away from the Presidency.
Here's a report from ABC about Palin's book banning efforts:
iPhone users: Click to watch
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Why an I not at all surprised of which books she wanted to ban, nor that she didn't bother to read them.
As frightening as book burning is, the same article painted her as GW Bush's kindred spirit when secrecy and cronyism are concerned.
Did I say burning? Oooops, my bad. Close enough.
Well, I'd expect her to want to ban it even if she did read it.
I think liberals would do well to keep on pushing the fact that she's a completely insane fundie. Americans are sick of them, and there's ample evidence of wacky stuff she's done.
I wish all Americans of any faith would take a moment and quietly slip in to the back of a large, well established, Assembly of God church service just to get an idea of the playbook Sarah Palin calls the shots from. My partner's dad is an Assembly of God minister and we have had first hand exposure to their kind worry for our morals. As children, my partner and his sister weren't allowed to go to movies, listen to music (other than hymns), watch television, dance, play cards, go to the theatre and the list goes on. Granted that was thirty plus years ago and the church, which Palin is a member of, has put a fresh coat of purity paint on all those old temptations. But the basis of what that Church teaches is still there. Now they sing in "Passion Plays" at Christmas and dance onstage at church only to illustrate the downfall of unclean morals. And there's plenty of money behind that church, make no mistake.
Banning books is the least of it.
Why is a person who wants to ban books even considered electable in a free society? It's appalling.
I just wanted to pass along a link to an article on the same subject at Salon.com. It sent a cold chill down my spine.
Robert Ganshorn Robert Ganshorn | September 15, 2008 3:50 AM
Thank you Waymon. I still remember those old prohibitions of the Catholic priests of what movies we could see. How dare people think for themselves! Many do not want to.
I'm really hopeful that the media does a thorough investigation of Palin and it ends up sinking the entire ticket. Sadly, the VP usually doesn't hurt/help much - Quayle didn't cost Bush I the election, for example. Of course, Quayle was just stupid - not a rabidly right wing fundie.
I don't understand how someone is allowed to ban books from a library. A library is there so that people can get information. It's a resource. Daddy's Roommate is not an "immoral" book. This stuff makes me mad. What do you guys think about what the pastor said in this video? WE JUSTIFY OUR SIN AND THAT'S WHY WE FEEL GUILTY??! | http://www.bilerico.com/2008/09/the_palin_book_banning_controversy.php | dclm-gs1-245320002 | false | false | {
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[Sat/Sep/2012 at 4:52pm]
I feel a lot lately like he doesn't support/encourage the things that are important to me. Getting him to read anything I've written (even if I swear it's short) is like pulling teeth. He hates listening to me talk AT ALL about the political climate lately (even though he's smarter than me and I would love his insight on certain things and this is the first election I've cared about and I think it's important). He shows 0 interest in anything I've sketched, no matter how proud of it I am. I mentioned getting back into painting and he literally said NOTHING until I made an issue out of his silence. even when I bitch about work (like he does almost every day after work) he gets this expression like "oh, this again."
I just want some semblance of interest in the things that are important/hurtful/personal/serious to me. I listen to him bitch, I participate in his rantings, I have read his ENTIRE manuscript at least once, I've made notes and suggestions and everything in it (which, by the way, were promptly dismissed with "oh i wasn't interested in that right now"), I encourage him when he says he wants to do something, I've made a specific and dedicated effort to be less negative about his ideas for future endeavors and I've made a concerted effort to be more helpful/encouraging about those things.
Why should I be trying so hard when I get absolutely none of it back?
[Wed/Sep/2012 at 2:06pm]
I'm probably just setting myself up for disappointment here but I left my ("old") best friend, Jess, a message on FB asking her if we can catch up over lunch. She's been (seemingly) intentionally distant the last few years, and I don't even know if I want to re-kindle our friendship or just get closure or what but I know I miss her now and then.
I'm not that close to a lot of people I used to be close to and maybe I'm just too anti-social to make new friends or maybe I am feeling sentimental or maybe I'm just a glutton for disappointment but oh well.
Maybe if she totally blows me off I can just take that to mean she doesn't want a friendship with me and let it go. I've been angry, I've been sad, I've been bitter, but really, where's any of that gotten me?
The sad thing is that I don't even get lonely anymore. When I'm feeling "lonely" it's usually just that I want Jared to come home. I don't really get the urge to be around other people.
But where will that leave me if something were to ever happen to Jared? Is it wrong to want friends because I'm worried that if he were to ever leave my side I'd probably do whatever I could to follow him? I don't know. I don't even know if that's what I want.
I think I just want my best friend back but I'm trying to cushion the nearly-guaranteed blow of her rejection.
Which she probably will, because even though in High School she was always cool about everything and understanding and open-minded, since she's gotten involved with her husband she seems less so. When we were turning 21 (our birthdays are 3 days apart), I was enthusiastic about drinking together. Apparently she decided I was peer-pressuring her into it and legitimately stopped talking to me.
When we DID finally do something together after that, we ended the evening at my house and I am a regular pot smoker, so I ASKED HER if it would offend her if I had a bowl. She said no, and so I started smoking. Because it is considered rude not to offer, I said, "If you want some, just say so, but don't feel like I'm pressuring you because you are definitely more than welcome not to smoke." (or some variation of that; i'd deliberately tried to make it clear that I was not trying to push her into it - I was simply being polite).
And I have only heard from her once after that - to ask me if I wanted to go to the funeral of one of our old classmates. I didn't get the message in time and so I missed it, but that was all. A week or two ago I posted on her wall that I couldn't believe it had been 2 full years since we'd last SPOKEN (about the funeral) and said, "how did that happen." All she could say was "Life is crazy that way..."
Maybe I'm imagining it because I'm sensitive about the way she just dropped our entire friendship because she felt like I was "peer pressuring her into drinking" ON OUR 21ST FUCKING BIRTHDAY. I guess I just don't understand how she didn't know me well enough to just say, "I don't think I'm ready to drink," or "I really don't want to." That's all it would have taken. I've never been the type of person to shove something down someone's throat.
Jared never liked her anyway. But he's never liked 95% of my friends, so whatever. He just doesn't like most girls (which should be a comfort to me)
[Fri/Sep/2012 at 9:33pm]
oh how things can change so quickly.
overnight, for example. without a single word from me about it.
[Sun/Aug/2012 at 4:41pm]
these headaches seriously won't quit. i think i'll have to request the other BC option (that they give me now and then) even though it's a little more expensive. i don't THINK i get headaches on that one. they're both supposed to be low hormone dosages though - so I shouldn't be getting headaches AT ALL.
maybe i need to just wait it out and exercise more. maybe eat a more well-balanced diet.
[Sat/Aug/2012 at 6:12pm]
I guess I should know already before I ask that getting you to read anything I've written - no matter how short it is, how important it is, or how proud of it I am - is like pulling teeth while you're still awake.
I should know better than to ask and be disappointed but I just keep trying
[Sun/Aug/2012 at 6:35pm]
i have had a headache every day this week and most of them go away for like half an hour after I take ibuprofen and then they just come back :((((
[Tue/Aug/2012 at 3:44pm]
Cue heart attack
[Mon/Aug/2012 at 8:58pm]
[Mon/Aug/2012 at 2:33pm]
we drank all day yesterday and ended up cuddling instead of fooling around. ♥ what is better than that, please?
[Sun/Aug/2012 at 1:36pm]
so last night we didn't play at all - screwing up our mutually noted every-other-day routine haha - because once we started drinking we were both sleepy. Still, it was a fun night and we have today off together so we decided to drink all day and play later once we're drunk. the drinking movies we've selected for the day: Universal Soldier, Reefer Madness, Return of the Jedi.
Going to be a good night :)
[Fri/Aug/2012 at 8:59pm]
so full from chinese food. and sweaty.
and my chair keeps sinking lower and lower and making a farting sound.
[Mon/Aug/2012 at 2:55pm]
been making progress with the manuscripts this weekend, which is a nice change. it's been a long time since i've just sat down and used my free time to really work. i keep half-assing it lately, but this weekend's been much better. got tons done on the outline for book one, plus I'm editing as I go so I've probably edited 13k. Not a fine-toothed edit, but it's still progress. And for AoA I wrote almost 1.4k, so I'm hoping that gets picked back up until we finish it in a few chapters so I can finally mark it complete.
le sigh [Sun/Aug/2012 at 5:10pm]
it is hot and we are cleaning up the kitchen and such and it is making me cranky to be this sweaty.
trying to not be mean to him for no reason. i hate being this muggy. :||||||
but, there is(/are) veggie pizza, hawaiian pizza, and garlic knots in my future! and orange cream vodka.
and a sexy beast of a husband to maul later
[Sun/Jul/2012 at 11:25pm]
I wish pinterest would just email me my invitation now please. Anne got me hooked on finding things I can do for my apartment AND NOW I CAN'T SAVE ANY OF THEM UNTIL IT LETS ME REGISTER.
[Tue/Mar/2011 at 3:58pm]
fb fortune cookie:
Look for new outlets for your own creative abilities.
hmmm. interesting.
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Commercial Aviation: Boeing has been a leader in the commercial aviation field since its inception nearly one hundred years ago. Safety and technology innovation are our trademarks. We work with all levels of government to ensure that our products are competitive in a rapidly changing and increasingly challenging global environment that, at times, is an unlevel playing field.
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Education: Here at Boeing we know the value of good education. We promote various educational initiatives throughout the country from mentoring and volunteer projects, to career fairs. Boeing is also a proud supporter of innovative programs such as STEM, which emphasizes science, technology, engineering and math.
Energy & Environment: As a company, we take great strides to improve the environmental performance of our products. From bio fuels to solar technology, we are aiming to produce competitive new products which significantly reduce their environmental impact. Our airplanes today produce 70% less carbon than jetliners of the 1960’s.
Financial Services: Boeing utilizes low risk financial instruments to manage cash, pay suppliers, and perform other routine transactions. We support a practical implementation of the Wall Street reform law that makes sense for the enterprise and for our shareholders.
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Innovation & Competitiveness: Boeing has always been a company on the leading edge of innovation. We pride ourselves on being a trendsetter, introducing revolutionary products to the industry. The 787 Dreamliner is a perfect example, utilizing innovative composite materials which cut down on fuel consumption and noise levels, making an overall more pleasant travel experience.
Tax: Boeing supports comprehensive tax reform to ensure that U.S. companies like Boeing are more competitive in the global marketplace.
Trade: Exports are a vital part of the U.S. economy, and Boeing is proud to be one of the U.S.’s leading manufacturing exporters. Exports help create jobs and are an important means to spur the economy. As a company, we encourage fair international trade practices to ensure that we can operate on a level playing field with our competitors. | http://www.boeing.com/boeing/aboutus/govt_ops/policy_positions.page | dclm-gs1-245370002 | false | false | {
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0.01978 | <urn:uuid:ec18cf96-b6b9-4971-b676-6e40b8175c9a> | en | 0.768892 |
Reference EN 60289:1994/A11:2002
Title Reactors
Project Number 12119
Abstract/Scope This standard applies to the following types of reactors: shunt reactors, current-limiting reactors including neutral-earthing reactors, damping reactors, tuning (filter) reactors, earthing transformers (neutral couplers), arc-suppression reactors, smoothing reactors, with the exception of the following reactors: small reactors with a rating generally less than 2 kvar single-phase and 10 kvar three-phase, reactors for special purposes such as high-frequency line traps or reactors mounted on rolling stock.
Current Stage code 6060
Current Stage code date 2002-02-13
Current Stage code deadline 2003-02-01
Deadline date for vote
Order Voucher
IEC Technical Body IEC/TC 14
Reference Document
ICS 29.180 - Transformers. Reactors
Keywords Reactor
Note Superseded by EN 60076-6:2008
Special National Condition(s)
Categories - Aspects
Product Life Cycle
Annex ZB.2.3 Noise emissions Use B2B
Deadline Date
6060 2002-02-13 2003-02-01 export to doc file EN
5099 2002-02-01 2002-06-01
5061 2001-11-28 2002-02-01
5020 2001-08-10 2001-11-23
4099 2000-10-12 2001-04-12
4020 1999-11-29 2000-05-31
3099 1999-09-08 2000-02-08
3020 1998-02-20 1999-10-31
Implementation Dates
date of Availability (DAV) (2) 2002-02-13
date of Announcement (DOA) (3) 2002-08-01
Superseded by EN 60076-6:2008
Normative reference (6)
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0.052867 | <urn:uuid:a7d8e669-266c-4fdd-af48-090de96df484> | en | 0.90026 | "The Clarence Dobbins Revue"
VOCALS: Clarence Dobbins
Upon his dicharge from the U.S. Marine corps Mr. Dobbins became the opening act for local artist Mr. Freddy Waters where he proformed at the Nashville hot spot The Bamboo lounge. In mid 80's he joined a local big band called the Kadillacs out of Franklin,TN. As the lead male vocalist of the Kadillacs he was given great opportunitys to share the with some of the top names in the bussiness, Atrist such as: Amy Grant, Vince Gill, Doug Stone, Stevie Nicks, Just to name a few. In 2000 Mr. Dobbins formed his own band "The Clarence Dobbins Revue" Where he then began to do spot openings for such artist as Al Green, Bobby Blue Bland, and Ms. Dorthy Moore.
KEYBOARDS: Steve Rossi
GUITAR: Kenny Cramer
Drums: Marvin Sams | http://www.clarencedobbins.com/index-1.html | dclm-gs1-245550002 | false | false | {
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0.088325 | <urn:uuid:6f8c0f41-56e7-4c5b-86f0-656b86321ac2> | en | 0.959518 | Bob Kravitz agrees with the Colts, whines about it anyway
Written by Nate Dunlevy on .
A: A sportswriter who doesn't even want that access whining about it.
Yes it's true, our intrepid columnist managed to break his hot streak by stinking up the joint today with a pointless whine about the Colts' treatment of the media. The same man who encouraged bloggers to use their real identities for the purpose "gaining access" to the team, today complains that the team allows ignorant fans to do real time tweeting from training camp, but not members of the media. Remind me again why I didn't file for that press card?
To begin with Bob's mini-screed is utterly disingenuous. Bob says:
12...teams (Colts again) have determined they don't want those dangerous new media around.
I do not tweet. I do not blog. When it comes to the modern tools of the media, I'm one of those old fogeys who pines for the days of the Gutenberg press.
is now decrying the lack of tweet/blog access? Sorry Bob, but you don't get to mock new media openly AND complain that the Colts don't respect it. Try leading the way next time. Try being an advocate for new media yourself, then you can rip the team for its antiquated state. The truth is that I don't blame the Colts for being tight with information. As a fan, my only concern is that Jim Irsay fields a winning team. Beyond that, who cares? Is it great when guys do wonderful in-depth features on my favorite players? Yes. Is it more wonderful when my team wins? Hell, yes.
I'll trade access for wins any day. Ultimately, I don't really believe that being tight-fisted with access leads to more wins, but Polian does, so for now I'll defer to him. I doubt that having BBS or Demond Sanders in the press box would hurt the Colts at all. Those guys would lay down in traffic if it meant helping the team win. By the way, that is the real issue with bloggers...we are 'homers'. That's the only thing that should worry people when it comes to credibility. Somehow that never comes up in these discussions.
Kravitz is still hung up on the issue of credibility:
A reporter, however, can go to the public relations director and find out the player had to attend a relative's funeral and will return the next day. If a reporter can't tweet the true story, that fan-produced misinformation is then out in the public sphere for an hour or even more.
Nothing against Bubba from Beech Grove, but in terms of credible, accurate information, I'd rather get my camp news from a beat reporter with access than some guy who bags groceries.
He doesn't seem to understand that the team agrees with him. The Colts don't take bloggers seriously. They don't care what bloggers write; they figure no one will take it as seriously as info from the main stream media. Now, we can argue the validity of that point all day, but the fact is: Kravitz is criticizing the Colts because they believe what he believes.
Now, I agree that prohibiting notebooks was overkill. It was just a nice little "eff you" from the club to the press corps. I'm glad they saw the light of day on that.
Beyond that however, Kravitz should ease up. Until he is willing to accept that bloggers and fans can have legitimate, credible insights, he has no right to complain that the Colts treat fans and media differently. He's worried the MSM can't compete with the immediacy of blogs. He shouldn't be. I thought the MSM had access and credibility and insight. Even in the "give it to me now" online world, those things still carry tremendous weight.
But if the access of the MSM doesn't matter because fans can watch the press conferences live, and the credibility of the MSM is shreded by stuff like the Roethlisberger mess, and the insight of the MSM is limited to the stuff that Kravitz offers...
Well, let's just say I can see why he's scared.
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0.142277 | <urn:uuid:4a5a4081-aaca-4464-ac1c-129d4c37db8f> | en | 0.988894 | 12-Gauge Gives Comic Fans "25 to Life"
Wed, September 15th, 2010 at 6:33am PDT | Updated: September 15th, 2010 at 9:45am
Comic Books
Alex Dueben, Staff Writer
"25 to Life is in stores today
Earlier this summer, CBR News spoke with actor and director Eriq La Salle, best known for his work on "ER," about his teaming with 12-Gauge Comics on a new three issue miniseries "25 to Life." We discussed the crime comic that teams an FBI unit with racist militia leader serving a life sentence in order to hunt down a serial killer.
Now, with the series' first issue in stores today, we've spoken with the rest of the creative team about the title's origins, story and more. Keven Gardner is the publisher of 12-Gauge Comics, and has worked with Jason Pearson, Brian Stelfreeze, Trace Atkins, Rosario Dawson and many other creators on a wide range of titles. "25 to Life" scripter Doug Wagner has written numerous comics throughout his career, including 12-Gauge's "The Ride," and is working on one of the upcoming "Red" prequels for Wildstorm and a "World of Warcraft" graphic novel. Artist Tony Shasteen is best known for his work on "The Talisman," based on the Stephen King and Peter Straub novel, and 12-Gauge's "The O.C.T." Series colorist JD Mettler has worked extensively with Tony Harris, including coloring the just-finished "Ex Machina" in addition to comics like "Justice League: Generation Lost," "H-E-R-O" and "The Talisman" where he worked with Shasteen.
Story continues below
So, "25 to Life" was an hour-long television pilot script that Eriq had written.
Wagner: He actually had written two pilots. One for cable and one for network TV. He liked parts of both of them, so he wanted me to grab pieces of both and integrate them into one story. So it was an hour long pilot for each.
That's interesting, because reading the comic, it clearly wouldn't work as a network show.
Wagner: Oh no. Not anymore. [Laughs]
I would imagine that combining the the two scripts really gave you the chance to make the story your own.
Wagner: The one [Eriq] gave me in the beginning was the network version and it wasn't anywhere near as dark. It was kind of bland. I was worried about it in the beginning, and he said, "You didn't put any cool scenes from the cable one in." I was like, "You didn't supply me with the cable one!" So he finally gave me that one and I was like, "This has some cool scenes that I can work with." Luckily he had people getting blown up and killed in that one. [Laughs]
Tony, JD - how did you guys get brought on board "25 to Life?"
Tony Shasteen: This has kind of been in the works for a while now, and it was worked around everybody's schedule. I was coming off of "O.C.T.," the book I did with 12-Gauge and Rosario Dawson. I was looking for something different and this being a crime drama and being dark appealed to me. Plus, it's Keven and Doug. They're friends of mine and I've always enjoyed working with them, so I jumped at it.
JD Mettler: That was it mainly for me, too. I've known Tony for a long time and we've been trying to work together forever. It's only really been in the last year or so that we've gotten the opportunity to. I've known Keven and Doug for a while, too. We tried to work together a few years ago, but it fell through. This was just a great time to do it. Coincidentally, when Tony had first started [illustrating the series], he actually used me as the model for Pratt, the bad guy. [It's kind of] fun that I'm getting to color Tony and myself as this neo-Nazi freak in this story. [Laughs]
I was taking it just for the artwork and the chance to get to work with Tony. I got the scripts and read them, all three in a row, because as soon as I was done with one I had to read two and then I had to finish it. The pacing and the story was really great.
You two also worked together on the last few issues of "The Talisman" comic adaptation which was published through Del Rey, correct?
Shasteen: Yeah JD jumped onboard for number five.
EXCLUSIVE: Pages from "25 to Life"
Mettler: Right at the end, before they cancelled it, I got to do a couple issues. This was a way to continue working together. Tony had already finished penciling "25 to Life" at that point, so I got to basically rolled right into coloring that and basically keep working with him.
Tony, the stuff people know you for is "The Talisman" and "O.C.T.," which are definitely fantasy stories, but still remain somewhat grounded and realistic. Were you actively looking to do something else, something like this?
Shasteen: I love those types of movies and TV shows and books. That's the kind of story that I'm drawn to, generally, outside of comics as well. For me, if it's a good story that I know I'm going to enjoy doing, that's what I'm drawn to. I don't have to do superhero stuff. I don't have to do reality-based stuff. It just has to be a good, well-written story and I have to be into it. That's all it takes. I'm easy.
The color palette and the art play a big role in the storytelling of "25 to Life," with the opening scene brightly lit and set during the day, then getting dark and shadowy from there. It really sets the tone for the book.
Wagner: It was definitely intentional to start mid-day in bright blue skies and a warmly lit bank. Then after the explosion, basically the entire story goes to Hell and it never really slows down until issue three. It definitely gets darker and grittier from there on out to hopefully make people feel icky about the story, because it's definitely creepy.
Shasteen: That's one of the things that appealed to me, too, with drawing the book. I was able to do essentially whatever style I wanted to. I didn't want to do super-realistic. This is a lot more graphic than some of the other books that I did, but it is such a fast paced book, it didn't need to be bogged down with so much detail. The story dictated this style for the coloring and the pencils and inks.
The first issue is definitely a dark story and there are enough hints that it won't get any better. There are cheap, easy ways to make it clear things are bad, but you avoid them pretty handily. What's the key to setting the tone?
Wagner: Storywise, I think it's how you set it up. Obviously in the beginning, the whole bank scene sets it up. It's quirky and odd, because right up front we're not giving you a lot of dialogue. We're not going to tell you what's going to happen. Tony did a great job in the first couple of pages. You're like, "Is this cop robbing a bank?" It starts off a little odd and usual, then when he blows up, it's just this, "Holy cow, this isn't going to be a normal 'Hey, he gets thrown in jail' type of story." It's going to be different and it's going to get darker as it goes along. I mean Santana, the main character, is dark. We open up and he's sitting in an electric chair. [Laughs] Then they go and get JD and throw him in the story.
Mettler: Pratt. Not me.
EXCLUSIVE: Pages from "25 to Life"
Wagner: I'm sorry. They get Pratt and throw him in the story. This ex-militia racist. You've got so many overtones in there, with racism and somebody doing what appears to be hate crimes. You throw all that in there in the first issue and there's no doubt that it's going to be dark. There's no other way you can go with it.
Shasteen: From an artistic standpoint, just because a story is dark and there is a lot of violence, it doesn't mean you have to show a lot of gore. Not that I'm against gore; I'm cool with it. He blows up, but you don't have to show all the bits and pieces. It's just one of the ways to approach it. If you go too far, it turns into more of a horror book and not the police procedural/crime book that it is. There's a line that you have to walk. I mean it's still an R book, I guess. Is it an R book?
Wagner: I would say PG-13.
Gardner: When Eriq was telling me about the story, something that was reflected really well in the way the book was executed was, he wanted it to be provocative. Controversial and provocative are two of things he mentioned that he was thinking about. That's a lot different from just going for shock value. I think that's the easy way out. It's harder to really generate true emotion as opposed to shock.
What specific challenges were involved in translating scripts that were intended for television to comics? The book has a great momentum and doesn't feel like it loses anything in translation.
Wagner: Obviously, the challenge there was how you fit [everything] in. You have to look at it as a three act play. You've got to ask, where are the breaks? Where am I going to leave it where people will want to come back for more? The momentum, I won't lie, that was tough. I mean, in a script, you have scenes that take five minutes, but I've got two pages. You've got to really pay attention to your page turns and stuff and go, "Well, this should be three pages, but I've got to figure out how to squeeze it into two."
I would imagine there's a lot of material that had to be cut for space considerations alone.
Wagner: Unfortunately, you just have to choose and pick what scenes you think are going to work and what's important to the story. When Eriq first saw the scripts, the thing that took him aback was the [cuts I made to the] dialogue. I was like, dude, for a comic we have a lot of dialogue. Tony had to struggle with pages that have a lot of dialogue for comics, and he pulled it off beautifully. Eriq was like, "Couldn't we put this line back in?" I'm like, "Dude - that's three sentences. [Laughs] We can't put that back in, it's too much!" So, yeah, there were a lot of challenges in it, but Eriq was really professional and easy to work with.
When we're first introduced to our protagonist Sanatana, sitting in electric chair - even more than the bombing, I think that really sets the tone for the rest of "25 to Life".
Wagner: There's a fine line between the criminal and the cop. That's something a lot of people have said over the years. Law enforcement guys that are really dedicated, really motivated, they could have gone a little bit differently in life and they could have been criminals. You've got a guy Santana who's walking this line. He's actually working with criminals to catch criminals ,and he's got a lot going on which, hopefully, we'll revisit in another series down the road. The electric chair thing reflects that, because he's probably one step removed from being a mastermind criminal.
"25 to Life" #1 is on sale now.
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TAGS: 12 gauge comics, eriq la salle, 25 to life, keven gardner, doug walker, tony shasteen, jd mettler
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0.025349 | <urn:uuid:da9ce22e-2fb8-4c19-9e8b-c4571af9e53a> | en | 0.97494 | Boil order issued in Osage and Maries Counties
Posted: 03.29.2011 at 4:37 PM
A boil order was issued on Tuesday for Public Water District #4 in Osage and Maries Counties.
The boil order is effective immediately for people on the Argyle side of the water tower until further notice because of low pressure due to water line construction. During maintenance, workers cut into the line which caused the pressure to drop.
Officials said it was a necessary part of the construction process.
Officials said the boil order affects 400 people, including many elderly citizens. | http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/story_print.aspx?id=598716&type=story | dclm-gs1-245630002 | false | false | {
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0.054608 | <urn:uuid:5ccfe079-e27a-4d1f-902e-a5c629d6ebe8> | en | 0.965029 | Reply to a comment
Reply to this comment
shieldsawyer writes:
in response to sipowicz:
There are SO many problems with the voucher system, but this is one of the most obvious. I have taught in both private (religious) and public schools, and I know that part of what makes a private school education desirable is small class sizes and the personal attention that comes as a result. When private schools start reaching maximum capacity, class sizes go up, reducing the effectiveness of the private school teacher. Anyone who doesn't believe in the relevance between class size and quality of education is utterly clueless. When the private school reaches its maximum, it starts turning down students. Do we really believe that private schools will be unbiased in their selection of who gets in and who doesn't?
The whole voucher system is horribly flawed, and this is just one of the flaws that will affect the students who apply for the vouchers.
Do you object to Sig schools lottery (where certain students aren't allowed unless they meet specific standards)?
Just curious..
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0.970755 | <urn:uuid:13469d5b-c71d-41f5-b63d-0a406a887f88> | en | 0.960061 | Reply to a comment
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soulcasserole writes:
Why hasn't Sheriff Williams commented on his deputy Stuart Mosby that he fired but has not be charged with the theft???
Is it because Mr Mosby comes from a family that is heavily involved in the Democratic party?
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0.371113 | <urn:uuid:dff2d62f-3839-4701-931d-733ac09d3158> | en | 0.833435 | Regular Expressions
Written by: Callum Macrae
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By martinig
Published: Jun 27 2013 / 01:55
Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is about identifying the root causes of faults or problems and addressing them instead of treating the symptoms. It’s a process that grew out of accident investigations to become a standard feature of hardware engineering. If something is broken, instead of just fixing it at the point of discovery, let’s investigate and try to fix the underlying cause at the point of origin. This principle is applicable for software development, so much so, that it could have been developed to deal with software defects.
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0.081105 | <urn:uuid:78486417-b868-4fa2-bb15-3f922365fa94> | en | 0.987878 | Bulldogs all smiles after win
IN a passionate three- quarter-time address, South Launceston coach Mitch Thorp told his teammates to keep running and keep smiling.
It was an excellent message, actually including a few extra words which I omitted to avoid overworking the `f' key on my computer.
In summary, he was telling his team that grand finals and close contests were surely what they all played for so a 12-point lead at the final change against the reigning premier should be a scenario for enjoyment not concern, smiles not frowns.
It was a message well received. South Launceston ran for the rest of the afternoon so that they could smile for the rest of the week.
The magnitude of the result - a 16-point win and first flag this millennium - was summed up by Thorp describing it as the pinnacle of his footballing achievements, which also include appearances and a goal at the sport's elite level not to mention being picked in front of Joel Selwood at the 2006 national draft.
It was always destined to be a historic afternoon. When else has a team fought for a flag it knew it couldn't defend?
AFL Tasmania's well- oiled PR department promotes the State League under the slogan "It's better live."
It has an unfortunate, if apt, double meaning.
For much of a season Thorp described as "interesting", fans might have wondered if it was going to remain live for much longer.
For at least three member clubs, it won't be next season.
But after a campaign in which crowds have been known to turn out in their hundred, for the grand final they came in their thousands.
And watching it live was a reminder how impressive it is to see Russell Robertson take a screamer, how much a behind post wobbles when Thorp runs into it and quite how drunk members of cheer squads can become.
The game began with so many wasted opportunities and behinds that Thorp might have thought he was still at Hawthorn.
In soccer, a score of 5-0 is a sign of ruthlessness, in footy it's a sign of wastefulness.
After it took 18 minutes for Will Hanson to break the deadlock, lead changes in the second quarter were like scandals in the AFL - frequent and damaging. Whenever it seemed as if things had gone a bit quiet, another would come along to keep reporters busy.
The Bulldogs edged the third term to set up Thorp's Churchillian address and by the end Zane Brown had a head bandage to complement his rat's tail and Penguin high-flyer Robbo knew it was time to hang up the boots when an ump ruled one of his trademark marking attempts unrealistic.
Meanwhile the South cheer squad completed their pilgrimage from town end to what the ground announcer humorously called "the George Town end" and finally to the railway workers hill.
At least they were keeping fit.
And, like their players, they were smiling.
Tablet - Narrow
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0.439916 | <urn:uuid:648a7148-895b-4455-9d08-f94f303fff39> | en | 0.972921 | I Am Self Conscious
Good Enough
Am I good enough? What if I think I am, but really I'm not? What if I always tell myself I'm not, and I make it come true? How can I be sure? If people say I am, do they mean it? Is it just out of pity? I look at myself and I can't decide. How do I move forward when I don't know where I stand?
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1) Don't feel sorry for yourself
2) You have no reason to be down other than in response to the paths you have chosen in life.
3) be responsible for yourself. If you feel this way, then take responsibility for it. Own it. Then you can get over it, and grow as a person.
4) Read & Take advice from people.
5) Don't just take your own advice, you need feedback from friends to make you feel good and reassure you.
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Bacchus Vascular Inc. Patent applications
Patent application numberTitlePublished
20110046542APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR CLOT DISSOLUTION - Clot disruption and dissolution are achieved using a catheter having the ability to infuse a thrombolytic agent, aspirate clot and fluid, and allow passage of a guidewire. Optionally, the catheter may also include a mechanical agitator for further disrupt clot in the presence of the thrombolytic agent. A flow resistor in the catheter provides for infusion and/or aspiration to be concentrated primarily at a clot treatment area in a blood vessel while also providing optional infusion and/or aspiration distal to the treatment area. In some embodiments, infusion, aspiration and guidewire passage occur through a common lumen. The thrombolytic agent, such as tPA, streptokinase, or urokinase, is directly released into the clot at the point where the agitator is engaging the clot. In this way, the thrombolytic activity of the agent is enhanced and the dissolution of the clot is improved.02-24-2011
20090177259METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PLACEMENT OF A STENT ADJACENT AN OSTIUM - The present invention provides for treatment of ostial occlusions through placement of scaffold in a side-branch adjacent the ostium.07-09-2009 | http://www.faqs.org/patents/assignee/bacchus-vascular-inc/ | dclm-gs1-245980002 | false | false | {
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0.020485 | <urn:uuid:ecb7a4c4-f918-4c81-8ea5-7b8a0420687c> | en | 0.978584 |
Shrewsbury super sub Matt Harrold makes Boro pay
Adam Jones
Published 16/11/2010 11:08 by Adam Jones, read by 76 people.
Shrewsbury Town will have come away more content after a controversial goal from the only chance they created was enough to take a point from Stevenage. The Boro again should really have won the game and created several clear chances in the first half but as usual failed to profit.
Stacy Long dropped to the bench to allow top scorer Chris Holroyd to return after his cup game omission and Joel Byrom won a place on the bench after recovering from fracturing his eye socket several months ago.
Seven minutes in, Stevenage won a free kick 20 yards out which was laid off for Michael Bostwick to shoot. The Shrews’ keeper did well to block the ball but failed to hold it and the predatory Holroyd nipped in to turn the ball into the net. It was a perfect start and one Stevenage wanted to build on while Shrewsbury remained under-par.
Poor passing and static defending gave Lawrie Wilson a chance to run clean through when he intercepted the ball but he lacked the composure needed in front of goal and scuffed his shot, sending it trickling narrowly wide of Chris Neal’s right hand post. Another free-kick from Bostwick almost produced the same outcome as before when Neal again failed to hold the ball but this time he clutched it at the second attempt as Holroyd looked on with a wry smile.
The on-loan striker fashioned another chance when he picked up the ball in an innocuous position and proceeded to work his way into the area before squaring for Jon Mousinho who, from ten yards out, was hassled and couldn’t get a shot off. A corner led to another Boro opportunity as the ball fell to Bostwick a few yards out. The less said about his rising half volley the better.
The second half started with a double substitution for the Shrews and it was replacement Matt Harrold who would score the equaliser ten minutes after the re-start. A foul in midfield led to Shrewsbury taking a playing a quick free kick down the left wing. Fans protested as the ball had been rolling when struck and was not in taken from where the foul was committed, which the referee had been particularly insistent on in similar situations before the incident. The ball was crossed in to Matt Harrold, who smashed it in from a position that home fans claimed was offside.
With the sting of injustice spurring them on, Boro attacked in numbers and a minute later almost retook the lead when Holroyd saw his first time effort from a corner dip just over the bar.Ben May’s shot almost embarrassed the keeper who was grateful to feel the ball bounce off his face after it slipped through his hands.
A double substitution saw the introduction of impact player Yemi Odubade and Charlie Griffin as Boro went all out to gain full points. Odubade’s snap-shot had Neal diving desperately across his goal only to see it go wide but the best chance of the second half fell to Jon Mousinho, who had time to control a headed ball from Bostwick at the back post before setting himself for a volley and missing the ball entirely.
More frustration for Boro’s ambitious players and management, who in the program notes outlined intentions to be in a play-off spot by Christmas. The fact that chances have to be taken was also a theme and seems to be a lesson that Boro are having to learn the hard way.
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0.036736 | <urn:uuid:06d6cb26-0d9c-401f-8e84-c1ce12f976c3> | en | 0.968267 | Baulkham Hills Tamil says refugee plan won't stop the boats
Baulkham Hills resident and Tamil community spokeswoman Sara Nathan says sending asylum seekers to Nauru and Manus Island will not stop them getting onto boats and heading for Australia.
Mrs Nathan said she was very happy refugee numbers would be increased following the release of the Asylum Seeker Report on Monday.
''It’s a welcome change,'' she said.
‘‘But I’m really disappointed that they seem to have some inconsistency in sending people to Nauru and leaving them for a long period in Indonesia.
''There are people there who have been assessed as refugees by the UNHCR and they’ve been waiting for 10 years.
''They’re at the end of their tether and they’re getting on boats because sitting in Indonesia waiting doesn’t seem to be helping them.''
Mrs Nathan described the report as ''a crazy political thing''.
''They’re trying to make it difficult for people,'' she said .
''If they took those people in some sort of order and people knew exactly how long they had to wait, then nobody would get on boats.
''People say they’re queue jumpers, but where is the queue?''
Mrs Nathan said people sent to Nauru would receive education and health care.
''If they’re waiting in Indonesia or Malaysia, there is none of that.
''The question to ask the Australian government is how many Tamil refugees have they taken in the past five years from Indonesia and Malaysia? The answer is five families.
''I’m disappointed that there doesn’t seem to be an orderly way of bringing refugees to Australia.
''If you process them in Indonesia and Malaysia they won’t have to get on boats anyway.
''Before we [Australians] play cricket with Sri Lanka and talk about trade relationships, we need to talk to them about their human rights violations .
''Then no-one will need to get on a boat.''
Tablet - Narrow
Tablet - Wide | http://www.hillsnews.com.au/story/247066/baulkham-hills-tamil-says-refugee-plan-wont-stop-the-boats/ | dclm-gs1-246170002 | false | false | {
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0.032915 | <urn:uuid:ca430de9-23b8-4bae-bfec-e01ea3ab56f7> | en | 0.959689 | • The Hollywood Reporter on LinkedIn
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Transportation strike may paralyze Hollywood
Teamsters dispute with studios may lead to Aug. shutdown
A labor drama playing out behind closed doors could lead to an Aug. 1 strike by thousands of transportation workers, which could shut down most television and film productions in Los Angeles and possibly elsewhere.
If it seems unlikely, think again: The Teamsters' contract with the studios expires at the end of July, and negotiations appear to be at an impasse. Sources close to both the union and the producers say neither side will budge.
A strike would be the third Hollywood work stoppage in less than three years, following a WGA strike in 2007-08 and a SAG stalemate in 2008-09 that led to a suspension of most movie production. It would be the first Teamsters action since a series of strikes during the 1980s. Unless the producers hire replacement workers -- a contingency they already are preparing for -- production would grind to a halt.
The hang-up is a single issue: Will the Teamsters' annual raise be 2% or 3%? That 1% difference amounts to tens of millions of dollars per year, according to a management-side source -- not insignificant to an industry reeling from the recession, collapsing DVD revenue and uncertain new-media business models.
A studio-side source called the proposal "a solid, very respectable" deal. But the union wants the same 3% annual raise that IATSE members got in their most recent deal. IATSE represents below-the-line workers such as cinematographers and editors. There is no love lost between the two unions, though a recent meeting between 399 leader Leo Reed and IATSE head Matthew Loeb might have mended some fences.
The studios argue that the IATSE deal was negotiated in April 2008, before the economic meltdown. More recent agreements, such as AFTRA's one-year extension of its daytime deal, have featured annual raises of 2% or less. Offering the Teamsters a better deal "could make AFTRA look foolish," said a source.
Another concern for management is the upcoming SAG and AFTRA primetime negotiations, which begin in two months. A 3% raise for the Teamsters could embolden SAG and AFTRA to insist on the same. The DGA, negotiating in mid-November, likely would accept no less, and the WGA next year would want 3% as well. That ripple effect -- so-called "pattern bargaining" -- could multiply the cost of a Teamsters raise dramatically. Even a compromise at 2.5% would be costly.
A strike would be costly as well.
The 100-day WGA walkout was estimated to have drained the Los Angeles economy of $25 million a day.Whether a Teamsters work stoppage would have that kind of effect is unclear, but August represents the height of fall television production. Preproduction and production already are at full tilt, which one longtime union member said indicates that the studios don't anticipate a strike. In the 1980s strikes, this person said, the studios began shutting down production in advance of a work stoppage.
In any case, a management-side source indicated that a 2.5% raise is not a possibility without some concession from the Teamsters.
In addition, both sides' leaders have personal reasons not to yield.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, controlled by the major studios and networks, is headed by a new president, Carol Lombardini. The Teamsters negotiation is one of Lombardini's first solo outings, meaning she is under enormous pressure to avoid a strike or an overly compromised deal.
On the other side of the table, Reed faces a bitter challenge from an insurgent slate for the first time in 10 years. The election takes place in two months; a deal perceived as weak, or a strike perceived as unnecessary, could provide ample ammo for the insurgents.
Reed, the AMPTP and other Hollywood unions and guilds declined to comment for this report.
Time is running out: Another negotiating session is scheduled for Friday, and two days later comes the union's meeting to either ratify the deal or vote for a strike authorization.
That authorization is not actually a strike, but without an eleventh-hour resolution, a walkout would be likely a week later, on Aug. 1.
Jonathan Handel is an entertainment attorney at Troy Gould and a frequent commentator on entertainment labor matters. | http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/transportation-strike-may-paralyze-hollywood-25650 | dclm-gs1-246190002 | false | false | {
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0.026789 | <urn:uuid:a538c9c2-4470-4fdf-9037-c750749db5a9> | en | 0.847676 | Gnocchi Tomato Recipes
Enjoy our collection of gnocchi tomato recipes submitted, reviewed and rated by community. Meet people who are looking for gnocchi tomato recipes.
CC: 14
Wegmans Handmade Potato Gnocchi With Seasoned Tomato Sauce
Wegmans Nella Neeck shows you how to make home made gnocchi like her Nonna used to make in this video. This is a bit time consuming but really tasty, inexpensive, and hearty. This recipe yields fluffy, light, pillow like gnocchi and making it from scratch is... - 134.276
Gnocchi Turkey Tomato Bake
For recipe directions, please refer to the video - 84.0412
Easy Tomato Gnocchi
If you like trying different dishes in Italian cuisine, then do check this out. The Chef shows how to make tomato gnocchi in the video. This is so delicious and easy to make. So don't forget to check out the video. - 79.6367
Semolina Gnocchi With Veal And Tomato Sauce
GETTING READY 1 Lightly grease a casserole. 2 In a pan, combine mashed potatoes and milk. 3 Bring to a simmer. 4 Add semolina and nutmeg. 5 Stir until the mixture becomes thick and very stiff. 6 Remove from the heat and gradually beat in the... - 44.8199
Gnocchi With Peas And Tomato Sauce
Gnocchi With Quick Tomato Sauce
MAKING 1. In a saucepan place all the ingredients. 2. Boil. 3. Once boiled simmer for 20 minutes uncovered till the liquid reduces to a thick consistency. 4. Add seasonings. 5. In two shallow flameproof bowls add little sauce. Combine the drained gnocchi. 6.... - 44.2585
Spinach Potato Gnocchi With Uncooked Fresh Tomato Sauce
MAKING 1. To prepare the sauce, in a large, nonmetal bowl mix all the sauce ingredients well, cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate the sauce for 2 hours. 2. In a large pot cover the potatoes with cold water, bring to a boil and cook the potatoes until they... - 44.179
Gnocchi With Tomato-basil Sauce
To make the gnocchi, put the potatoes and water in a saucepan and cook for 30 minutes, uncovered, over medium heat. Drain and remove the potato skins while still hot by rubbing with a clean dish towel. Rice the peeled potatoes and let cool for 2 to 3... - 43.0158
Gnocchi With Spinach, Tomato And Pine Nuts
Combine the cream, undrained crushed canned tomatoes and garlic in large pan. Bring to boil; simmer, uncovered, about 5 minutes or until sauce thickens slightly. Add sun-dried tomatoes and olives; simmer, uncovered, 2 minutes. Meanwhile, cook gnocchi... - 37.6636
Ricotta Gnocchi With Smoked Tomato Sauce
Ricotta Gnocchi, is a classic dish which I truly enjoy doing. The ingredients that are used in this dish needs to be followed carefully, for good results. - 33.384
Gnocchi And Tomato Bake
Gnocchi In Tomato Sauce
Place frozen tomato sauce in 1-qt bowl; cover. Microwave at High 2 1/2 to 5 minutes, or until defrosted and slightly warm, stirring and breaking sauce apart every minute. Add frozen gnocchi to tomato sauce; cover. Reduce power to 70% (Medium-High). Microwave... - 33.1681
Tomato Gnocchi
In a sauce pan gently simmer the tomato sauce, reducing to 1/2 cup (125 ml) in volume. Cook the potatoes by steaming them until they are fork tender. Puree the potatoes, blend in the tomato sauce, nutmeg and basil. Slowly add the flour until a soft dough is... - 31.8504
Sweet Potato Gnocchi With Tomato Sauce
Sweet potato gnocchi with tomato sauce. It's great for the health conscious, but it looks like it tastes pretty good too. a! - 16.0388 | http://www.ifood.tv/network/gnocchi_tomato/recipes | dclm-gs1-246230002 | false | false | {
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0.037839 | <urn:uuid:0e1eb539-c026-4511-8ad3-71f5a6540b17> | en | 0.923029 | Bond Quote
Dictionary Says
Definition of 'Bond Quote'
The price at which a bond is trading. A bond quote is typically expressed as a percentage of par value, with the percentage converted to a point scale. The price that someone is willing to pay for the bond is always given in relation to 100, or par value. A bond quote above 100 means that the bond is trading above par, while a bond quote below 100 means that the bond is trading below par.
Investopedia Says
Investopedia explains 'Bond Quote'
Quotes for corporate and government bonds are represented either by a percentage of the bond's face value or as a dollar value. Corporate bonds are quoted in 1/8th increments, so a quote of 99 1/8 represents 99.125% of par ($1,000), or $991.25. Government bonds are typically quoted in 1/32nds. Municipal bonds may be quoted on a dollar basis or on a yield-to-maturity basis.
Articles Of Interest
1. Basics Of Federal Bond Issues
2. Corporate Bonds: An Introduction To Credit Risk
3. Where can I get bond market quotes?
4. Advanced Bond Concepts
5. Bond Basics Tutorial
6. Reading Financial Tables Tutorial
7. Three Ways To Play Bonds In 2014
8. An Unprecedented Opportunity In Municipal Bonds
9. Low Interest Rates May Remain In Place For Decades
10. Perpetual Bonds: An Overview
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Small public companies with a market capitalization below $50 million.
Trading Center | http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bondquote.asp | dclm-gs1-246300002 | false | false | {
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0.033356 | <urn:uuid:f6404c04-3c02-4626-9e9b-81f334ab087e> | en | 0.975039 |
Mexico's new leader has a message for U.S. officials as he heads to Washington this week: Ties between the neighboring nations must go beyond the drug war. Just four days before his inauguration, Mexican President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday. And he says he wants to reshuffle the list of priorities the United States and Mexico share.
In a remote town in northern Mexico, a 10-year-old-boy is struggling with his homework. His name is Oscar Castellanos and the fifth grader is getting extra help from his father because he's having trouble adjusting to his new school. The student enrolled at Leona Vicario Elementary in the town of Cananea is technically a foreigner in his father's land. Oscar was born in Arizona and is a U.S. citizen. He recites the U.S. pledge of allegiance by memory without hesitation. His English accent is that of a boy raised in the American southwest.
A Mexican beauty queen was killed during a weekend shootout in the restive northern state of Sinaloa, authorities said Monday. Maria Susana Flores Gamez , 20, was the 2012 Woman of Sinaloa. She was killed Saturday during clashes between criminals and military troops in the municipality of Mocorito. Two others, both men, also were killed in the shootout.
On December 11, 1997, the world agreed that climate change needed to be tackled. The grandly named United Nations Framework on Climate Change adopted the Kyoto Protocol on that day, and it was eventually ratified by 191 countries. Now it's about to expire with a whimper.
As Bangladesh prepared to mourn the deaths of more than 100 clothing factory workers, firefighters battled a blaze at another apparel factory near Dhaka on Monday.
When Joe Saenz walked up to a Whittier, California-area home in summer 2008, a surveillance video shows he was smiling, rubbing his hands and greeting associates, according to authorities. On the streets he was known by the nickname "Smiley," and his demeanor that day fit that handle -- right up until he reached the front yard of the home. That's when, the FBI and police say, he drew a gun and shot one man several times in the head, execution-style. It was not the first murder Saenz was accused of. Authorities also say that in 1998 he killed two rival gang members and kidnapped, raped and killed his girlfriend. The FBI placed Saenz on its 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list in 2009. Authorities suspect he later became a hit man for a Mexican drug cartel. Saenz eluded arrest for 14 years. But on Friday, authorities announced his capture in Guadalajara, Mexico, after a tip led officers to his location.
The shells of tiny snails in parts of the Southern Ocean are being dissolved as the water becomes more acidic as a result of the burning of fossil fuels by humans, scientists say.
Rory McIlroy is to trim his schedule to focus on 2013's four major trophies after a fairytale year in which he won both the U.S. PGA and European Tour money lists to finish on top of the world rankings. | http://www.ksat.com/news/ADVISORY-CNN-Wire-Outlook/-/478452/17545338/-/item/1/-/6koucbz/-/index.html | dclm-gs1-246380002 | false | false | {
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0.060756 | <urn:uuid:5c60dfa1-eeea-4f97-acd0-3a69cb8eb171> | en | 0.979813 | Scriptural Giants: Friend of God
False and wicked priests tied Abraham to a pagan altar to be sacrificed to the false gods that he would not worship. As the priest of Elkenah strutted forward and raised the dagger over Abraham’s heart, Abraham struggled to free himself. But the bands held tight. Helpless, Abraham called upon the Lord to save him.
Abraham’s plea was heard, and an angel appeared, speaking comforting words as he unloosed Abraham’s bands. “Abraham, Abraham, behold, my name is Jehovah, and I have heard thee, and have come down to deliver thee.” He told Abraham many more things and destroyed the altar and the pagan statues. Then the Lord smote the wicked priest of Elkenah. Because of his great faith, Abraham had been saved; and because of the wickedness of the people, the Lord cursed the land with a famine.
“Get thee out of thy country,” the Lord commanded Abraham, “and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee.”
Abraham did as he was commanded. He took his wife, Sarah (Sarai), and his nephew Lot and Lot’s wife, and they settled in a land called Haran. Later, the Lord again instructed Abraham: “Arise, and take Lot with thee; for I have purposed to take thee away out of Haran, and to make of thee a minister to bear my name in a strange land which I will give unto thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession, when they hearken to my voice.”
Once more Abraham and Sarah departed from their home, taking with them Lot’s family and others who had been converted to the gospel. They traveled south, but the famine persisted in this part of the land, so they continued on into Egypt. During these years the Lord taught Abraham many things. He gave Abraham the Urim and Thummim and showed him visions concerning the creation of the earth and other doctrines of the gospel.
After the famine ended, the Lord led Abraham back to the promised land. Many years had passed, and the Lord had blessed him and Sarah in many ways, except with children. Finally Sarah gave Abraham her maid, Hagar, to be his wife and to give Abraham a much-wanted child. Hagar bore Abraham a son, who was named Ishmael.
Then one day an angel came and told Abraham that Sarah would have a son. Sarah was then ninety years old. She laughed when she heard the angel’s news, because she thought that she was too old. But nothing is impossible with the Lord. As the angel had promised, she gave birth to a son, Isaac. Abraham and Sarah were now very happy.
As Isaac grew, however, there were many problems between Hagar and Sarah. Finally Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away. Isaac was the promised son, and the priesthood inheritance was to be his.
Abraham loved the Lord and tried hard to live all the commandments; he also loved his children very much, especially Isaac. It must have been very difficult for Abraham when the Lord commanded, “Take now thy son … Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the Land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.”
Abraham hated human sacrifice. He knew the fear of being tied to an altar—and the terror. But the next morning he arose early and, taking Isaac and two servants with him, departed for Moriah. After three days, they saw Moriah in the distance. Leaving the servants behind, Abraham and Isaac approached the mountains. Isaac, by then a strong young man, carried the wood for the burnt offering. As they approached the mountain, he asked, “Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
They reached the appointed place, built an altar, and laid the wood for the fire. Then Abraham bound Isaac and laid him on top of the wood to be the sacrifice. How his heart must have ached! This was the promised son whom he had waited so many years for, whom he loved very much. But the Lord had commanded, and Abraham would obey. As he took the knife to slay his son, an angel appeared and said, “Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son … from me.”
Abraham then saw a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. In thankfulness, he offered the ram as the sacrifice instead of Isaac.
When Sarah was 127 years old, she died. Later Abraham married Keturah, who gave him six more sons. But Isaac was still the promised son who was to receive the inheritance.
Abraham lived to be 175 years old; then he died and was buried in the cave of Machpelah with Sarah.
[illustration] 1. Abraham is about to be sacrificed by the priest of Elkenah.
[illustration] 2. Abraham reveals the Lord’s command that he (Abraham) and Lot and their families and followers leave Haran.
[illustration] 3. An angel tells Abraham that his wife, Sarah, will have a son.
[illustration] 4. Abraham holds his newborn son, Isaac.
[illustration] 5. Isaac and Abraham prepare for the trip to the Land of Moriah as commanded. | http://www.lds.org/friend/1987/07/scriptural-giants-friend-of-god?lang=eng | dclm-gs1-246400002 | false | false | {
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0.027248 | <urn:uuid:915e1102-7c41-41a8-9e75-55f2150876f1> | en | 0.919651 | Search 400,000+ Teacher-Reviewed Online
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Proclamation of 1763 Teacher Resources
Find Proclamation of 1763 educational ideas and activities
Showing 1 - 20 of 48 resources
Resource Type
9th - 12th
Students consider the impact of the Proclamation of 1763. In this colonial America lesson, students determine the how the proclamation affected the British Crown, the colonists, and the Indians and present their findings to the class.
In this online interactive history quiz worksheet, students respond to 50 multiple choice questions about the American Revolution. Students may submit their answers to be scored.
Fifth graders examine the causes and effects of the American Revolution. In groups, they make a portfolio page and write a response to the Proclamation of 1763. They also make a timeline of the events of the Boston Massacre and answer questions about taxes. To end the lesson, they complete their examination of four events during the war and describe their importance.
Students create timelines that span from the Seven Years' War to the Treaty of Paris. In this colonial America lesson, students research the provided primary images and documents from the era as well as information about events during the time period from other sources. Students use their findings to participate in a timeline activity.
In this online interactive history activity, students respond to 19 matching questions regarding the events that led to the American Revolution. Students may check their answers immediately.
In this early American history worksheet, learners respond to 15 multi-faceted questions about the French and Indian War, Proclamation of 1763, American Revolution, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and Constitutional Convention.
11th - 12th
"Stolen from Africa, brought to America,/Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival." Bob Marley's "Buffalo Soldiers" provides high schoolers an opportunity to explore the rich history of the Rastafarians in Jamaica and the Buffalo Soldiers of the 1800s. Class members watch videos, access mini-pages, read articles, and listen to music before crafting their own song comparing a current social movement to the Buffalo Soldiers.
“First-Person Narratives of the American South,” a collection of primary source materials, offer class members a chance to compare the views of two women who experienced Major General William Tecumseh Sherman’s March to the Sea. Using the provided worksheet, groups focus their comparisons on the women’s views on slavery, their experience of the march, or their beliefs. For the male perspective of this event a link to the journal of George Washington Baker is provided.
The discussion continues: Who started the Civil War? So why not get your intelligent learners involved. Readers use the account of Confederate spy Rose O’Neal Greenhow to begin their analysis of who started the war. Scholars are challenged to confirm or refute perspectives on the matter by using other accounts and opinions on who or what is to blame. They are assessed by their completion of “Perspectives on the Civil War” worksheet.
Fifth graders view primary documents to become familiar with the causes of the American Revolutionary War. In this Causes of the American Revolution lesson, 5th graders answer questions based on the documents. Students complete a graphic organizer projected on an overhead projector.
Students explore colonial cooking. In this cross curriculum George Washington and colonial America history lesson, students follow a recipe for cranberry pudding, a possible favorite of George and Martha Washington. Students measure and combine ingredients, then complete a worksheet in which they convert pounds to kilograms and Celsius to Fahrenheit.
Explore the Declaration of Independence in this US History lesson. Middle schoolers compare and contrast viewpoints of the Loyalists and the Patriots as they discuss the issue of colonial independence from Britain. They present support for both groups using a debate format, and then they come to a consensus about how the signing of the Declaration of Independence was a positive step in US history.
After identifying the key principles at the heart of the Declaration of Independence (consent of the governed, representative government, limited government, the social contract, the basic rights of humankind, the ideal of equality among the people of the world), groups create a children’s version of the Declaration of Independence accessible to third graders. First, they craft a one-page summary of their section of the document. Next, using large, simple text, they illustrate their page with images and symbols appropriate for their audience. The pages are then assembled into a children’s book on the Declaration.
Students examine perspectives of the Civil War. In this Civil War lesson plan, students read first person narratives of the Civil War from 2 women on the homefront. Students compare and contrast the narratives of the women with one another. Students may also compare them their points of view with that of a male.
Students examine the causes of dissatisfaction that led to the American Revolution. Then they make a Flap Vocabulary Book and glue on a map of the thirteen colonies and make a title page called "Road to War in it." Students also identify and interpret the Proclamation Act of 1763, the Sugar Act 1764, the Stamp Act 1765, and what the colonial mindset what during this period.
Students identify and examine the Declaration of Independence and ascertain its true intent and its eventual realization. Then they analyze the Declaration of Independence and summarize the intentions of the Declaration. Students also evaluate the degree to which public policies and citizen behaviors reflect or foster the stated ideals of a democratic republican form of government.
8th - 12th
In this online interactive history quiz worksheet, students respond to 50 multiple choice questions about colonial America. Students may submit their answers to be scored.
Students analyze the different roles assumed by various Native American tribes during the American Revolution. They examine the issues involved for Native Americans in choosing the British or the American side of the conflict, such as maintaining trade or preserving homelands. They complete several online activity worksheets after reading some of the information about the Indian's involvement in the American Revolution.
Eighth graders investigate the role of South Carolina in the American Revolution. In this colonial American lesson, 8th graders analyze primary documents and images to determine how the state was involved in the outbreak of the war and how they felt about the war. Students also listen to a lecture and write essays on the topic. | http://www.lessonplanet.com/lesson-plans/proclamation-of-1763 | dclm-gs1-246410002 | false | false | {
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0.022449 | <urn:uuid:b29f7400-c035-4a46-91ba-0f7e2f14a685> | en | 0.930894 | Skip to main content
Annex A: Structures - Selection Groups
Courses available as re-sits only have been omitted from these Selection groups. Students permitted to take these courses should refer to previous editions of the Regulations to see how those courses can be counted in the groups concerned.
Prerequisites for courses apply only to degree students. Prerequisites are given in the text within brackets after the course name. The prerequisites must be passed before the course may be attempted.
Although prerequisites and some exclusions are outlined below, fuller details are given under the individual syllabuses in Annex B. | http://www.londoninternational.ac.uk/sites/default/files/governance/regs_html/regs_1112/psr_emfss_old_2011-2012_supp/psr_2011-2012_emfss_old_supp_74.htm | dclm-gs1-246440002 | false | false | {
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0.022247 | <urn:uuid:a0d41898-a4d8-49cb-a0ce-2734e6e82822> | en | 0.979696 | August 31, 2013
U-M 59, CMU 9: Notes, quotes and observations
Michigan didn't play a perfect game Saturday in a 59-9 win over Central Michigan. It was, however, a great game for the U-M coaches in many ways - a blowout win, a chance to play a ton of people, several positive signs and enough mistakes that they don't have to apologize for harping on them this week rather than patting them on the back.
Not that they would, anyway. It's the rare occasion when one of the coaches goes out of his way to praise his group (like defensive coordinator Greg Mattison did at Illinois a few years ago). There's no such thing as perfect, and many times great isn't good enough.
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0.04663 | <urn:uuid:95ff7273-a491-4434-b277-7a4075a128e6> | en | 0.979541 | Joyhubs announced a new browser based MMO game Siege on Stars and the official closed beta is schedule to open in April 12, 2013.
After peaceful exploration of the galaxy, four factions are now competing for new resources, new homes, and power over all space. In the game, players can choose from the different four factions, each with their own history, powers, and territory. Players are able to explore the galaxy around them as well as fight other ships, mine for minerals, and upgrade their ship. Elements of RTS, MLG and RPG are merged together to create a game all players can find interesting and exciting.
The story is told of how four factions of men started to explore space and how an undisturbed adventure for many who ventured to new planets and created new colonies became the start of war among all men. When the humans grew too large and claimed too much of the galaxy, other unknown aliens decided to act on these encroaching creatures and a war among them started.
As the large battle began, peace was lost among all the four factions of the space explorers. It wasn’t until the aliens were defeated that peace could return. But with man’s follies, peace was only a short lived dream and battles for the galaxies rose again. | http://www.mmowood.com/siege-on-stars-to-launch-in-april-12/ | dclm-gs1-246620002 | false | false | {
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0.058442 | <urn:uuid:d36be3fb-aa95-453f-a83b-c3ace2dd58ec> | en | 0.966193 | Health Care and the 2012 Election
| Tue Oct. 18, 2011 7:44 AM GMT
This isn't exactly big news or anything, but the Los Angeles Times reports today on just how much of a litmus test repeal of Obamacare has become for Republican activists:
Republican activists, increasingly optimistic they can win the White House and Senate next year, are beginning to lay the groundwork for a multi-pronged campaign in 2013 to roll back President Obama's sweeping healthcare overhaul. The push includes an effort to pressure Republican candidates to commit to using every available tool to fully repeal the law, a tactic pioneered by conservative activist Grover Norquist, who made an anti-tax pledge de rigeur for GOP politicians.
…Some activists are so concerned that Republicans will miss their chance that they are trying to lock GOP candidates into using a controversial parliamentary tactic known as budget reconciliation to circumvent Senate Democratic opposition to repeal. "This needs to be a threshold question for both presidential and Senate candidates," said Michael Needham, head of Heritage Action for America, an advocacy group affiliated with the Heritage Foundation that supports many tea party positions.
I've been trying to think whether anything like this has really happened before. Has repeal of a major new law ever been the subject of such a feeding frenzy during a presidential campaign? There have always been small blocs that were dedicated to repeal of, say, Social Security or Medicare or the ADA, but I can't remember such a position ever being front and center for an entire party as its top concern.
A lot of progressives were pretty unhappy that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ended up so watered down before it passed. There was no public option! For that reason and others, enthusiasm among the Democratic base for Obama's reelection is pretty muted right now. But my guess is that it won't stay that way: Once Republicans have an actual candidate nominated, the lefty base will find its outrage again. I sure hope so, anyway.
Because watered down or not, Obamacare is our best hope for national health care anytime in the next decade or two. It's not nearly as bad as its critics think, and in any case, it's something that can be built on. But if it's repealed? Then you can say sayonara to health care reform for at least a decade, and probably more. At a minimum, nothing serious will happen until we have a Democratic president and something close to a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate again. I'd put that at 20 years away.
That's really what the 2012 election is about. All the shouting aside, neither party is going to end up doing anything very different about the economy. Nor is there really all that big a difference between the parties on foreign policy these days. No, the single biggest accomplishment of the past decade has been the passage of Obamacare, and the single biggest difference between the parties going forward is whether or not it gets repealed, ending health care reform for another decade or two. In the end, that might not be enough to get the liberal base fired up, but it should be.
Front page image: TalkRadioNews/Flickr
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0.063659 | <urn:uuid:6ff942ee-683d-4688-8764-a94544dbf2ce> | en | 0.969628 | Josh short for....
(29 Posts)
iheartmycat Sun 10-Mar-13 01:37:52
KobayashiMaru Sun 10-Mar-13 01:42:52
DessieLou Sun 10-Mar-13 01:51:06
monsterchild Sun 10-Mar-13 01:59:19
anonymosity Sun 10-Mar-13 02:27:57
Your kid, you call him whatever you like.
iheartmycat Sun 10-Mar-13 03:46:15
mammmamia Sun 10-Mar-13 04:45:11
Not to everyone's taste but you could do something like that?
LentilAsAnything Sun 10-Mar-13 09:59:29
TobyLerone Sun 10-Mar-13 10:00:51
Nope. It's bonkers.
OkayHazel Sun 10-Mar-13 13:49:16
I really like Joshua Joseph!
PrincessOfChina Sun 10-Mar-13 13:54:33
Welovegrapes Sun 10-Mar-13 13:57:20
Don't do that - weird.
Just call him Joshua Joseph
TheFallenMadonna Sun 10-Mar-13 14:01:23
Still18atheart Sun 10-Mar-13 14:20:24
nope imo
Joshua = Josh
Joseph = Joe
But even that sounds a bit too daft complicated and confusing
Thistledew Sun 10-Mar-13 14:23:22
I know a Joseph, shortened to Joss.
badtime Sun 10-Mar-13 15:05:22
I was also going to suggest Joss.
He could also be Joey rather than Joe.
Shoppinglist Sun 10-Mar-13 21:31:57
Also Seph is another nickname.
Gumps Sun 10-Mar-13 21:38:05
I like jose as a shortening for Joseph.
NowPlayingZone Mon 11-Mar-13 10:05:26
It's a bit daft.
Joshua Joseph would be better IMO
WormCanner Mon 11-Mar-13 12:17:15
everlong Mon 11-Mar-13 14:56:47
Just call him Joseph wink
iheartmycat Mon 11-Mar-13 21:21:01
nectarini1983 Mon 11-Mar-13 21:32:38
Josh is short for Joshua. ..end of.
Joseph can be Joe or Jos.
Or as suggested have Joseph as middle name?
MortifiedAdams Mon 11-Mar-13 21:37:59
Tbf, I cant accepted nicknames came to be:
*Harry for.Henry
*Sacha for Alexandra
*Peggy for Margaret
WormCanner Mon 11-Mar-13 21:55:11
pollypanic Mon 11-Mar-13 22:24:53
I know a Josephine who is called Josh. She's Irish, so I don't know if it is an Irish thing? It confuses a lot of people since she is a female Josh - not a problem you'll have.
seeker Mon 11-Mar-13 22:27:46
Why wouldn't you be comfortable with wee Joe? Particularly as your father is not longer with you?
My ds is Little Pat to his older Irish family- I think it's lovely.
Just call him Joseph. Fab name.
pollypanic Tue 12-Mar-13 14:44:28
I agree seeker. I love Joseph. Why shorten it? Your Dad was Joe, your son is Joseph.
Josh from Joseph, although I think is possible, sounds a little contrived.
Or just use Joshua. The biblical father-(grand)son link (clutching straws...) Joseph's son was Jesus which is the same name as Joshua (one is the Hebrew/English translation the other the Greek/English). See what I've done there?.....
Good luck!
Clary Tue 12-Mar-13 20:08:23
Josh is short for Joshua. Why not use Joseph as a middle name?
Josh is very very very popular too - I am a secodnary teacher and I teach about eight; if I include my DCs' mates (they are 13 and under) that adds another half a dozen.
BTW Josephs are not always shortened. One of the Josephs I teach (there are a number of those too) is always called by his full name.
Join the discussion
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0.936394 | <urn:uuid:57485511-3d85-4dfb-9608-c41eb36f306f> | en | 0.925563 | Tonight’s challenge is aimed firmly at the ant enthusiasts, testing advanced knowledge of both myrmecological geography and collecting techniques.
Photographed in Kibale forest, Uganda
Which of the following ants are most likely to be recorded from the array pictured above?
To win all 10 points for this week’s mystery, you have to be the first person to correctly pick the most likely samples, with no errors.
Good luck! | http://www.myrmecos.net/2012/11/05/monday-night-mystery-60/ | dclm-gs1-246730002 | false | false | {
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0.032371 | <urn:uuid:e1e0bc44-42d1-437b-81ac-cb7237731088> | en | 0.976961 | Reply to a comment
Reply to this comment
bsdetector writes:
Mark has always had the ability to take complicated situations and describe them in terms that can be easily understood. That's why his writing has so often been persuasive. In the past.
But his writing talent apparently doesn't work in reverse. The writer is obviously incapable of taking a crassly simplistic political situation and placing a complicated spin on it.
Sorry, Mark, but the flavor of Kool-Aid you've been drinking is clearly obvious.
Time to change into a clean shirt.
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0.541877 | <urn:uuid:43457bd7-9f48-4111-baf7-dfeacf62feb5> | en | 0.701066 | City Double Stretch Wide Leg PantGet Adobe Flash player
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• May We Suggest | http://www.nyandcompany.com/nyco/prod/Apparel/Pants/Career/City-Double-Stretch-Wide-Leg-Pant | dclm-gs1-246810002 | false | false | {
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0.155001 | <urn:uuid:09bc3a07-d2c7-47be-b0d0-60acc9f56f71> | en | 0.988127 |
Clark Jess Tyler, U.S. Navy
July 13, 2013
Word War II - 133rd Sea Bee Battalion (Construction Battalion)
Tactical Area of Responsibility- Iwo Jima, Japan; Guam
Medals/Honors - World War II Victory Medal, Asiatic Medal, Navy Unit Citation, Presidential Unit Citation
Article Photos
Early life
New father Jess was a heavy equipment crane operator, working for various companies that chose their operators from the Union Hall. Companies like AC Wahl, the Dunkirk U.S. Radiator Co., the builders of the Fourth Ward water tank located off of Roberts Road that was built in 1934, the Chautauqua County bridge building project - they all contacted Jess Tyler for his expertise in heavy-duty lifting.
Tyler started his schooling in a one-room schoolhouse, sharing the space with other children in kindergarten all the way up to eighth grade. The teacher knew all the subjects at all the levels, and children were not held back because they had "learned what they needed to for now." Students progressed at their own rates, entering the next level when they had mastered the previous. One thing Tyler and his schoolmates never had to worry about was dozing off in class in the winter. The heat from the potbellied stove often took three or four hours to reach the back of the room!
Tyler and his siblings spent a lot of their free time outdoors. They played baseball, hunted, fished and trapped in the winter. They didn't have televisions sets, video games or iPods, but they had wonderful and healthy childhoods. Parents back then didn't have to wonder if their children were getting enough exercise or eating too much junkfood.
In 1939, Tyler was off to high school. He wanted to follow in his father's footsteps, and he knew that the only way to do that was to get educated in the trades. The city of Dunkirk could provide just that, with their School 10. This was Dunkirk's newest school, built to teach high school students the trades. They could then take that knowledge with them to find jobs after graduation, much the way BOCES functions now. The city called the school "Industrial High School." It taught English, history, mechanical drawing and mathematics for half the day, with the other half devoted to trade shop. Trade shop options included wood, electronics, mechanics or automotive.
To amuse themselves when they were bored one day, Tyler and his friends made up a new game. They didn't have any sporting equipment, so they got a stick and a soda can and concocted a new version of ice hockey they named "Cheeny." The game drew more and more players until teams were formed, with the Madurski boys, the Sysols and the Kuzaraus joining the fun.
Tyler's father began getting more and more jobs in the city of Dunkirk. It made sense, then, for the family to move to Dunkirk's Fourth Ward.
Joining the Navy
Since both Tyler and Sysol were trained at a vocational school, they were both sent to Camp Peary in Williamsburg for 13 weeks of training. This wasn't the "regular" boot camp that most recruits were sent to; the camp in Williamsburg focused on more specific training. From there, Tyler went to the Navy's heavy equipment school in Gulfport, Miss., where he worked with cranes, bulldozers, high lifts, graders, and more. After that, Tyler was sent to the base maintenance equipment department. The responsibilities of the personnel there were to maintain all of the base's trucks, cars, buses and heavy equipment. All was going well for Tyler, but as a young man with visions of battle glory, he wanted to see some action. He heard that the Navy was forming a new battalion called the 143rd Sea Bee Battalion. Tyler signed up and was accepted.
Not long after they landed at Pearl Harbor, they disembarked for Maui, another Hawaiian island that few had heard of. The island was beautiful. For a few minutes, the sailors forgot why they were there. But the captain's voice over the intercom reminded them and soon they were unloading the ship to prepare for the coming weeks of training in 100 degree heat.
In that weather, even the equipment ran differently. The men of the 133rd had to adjust themselves to the heat and learn how to operate their machinery in the new climate. The men trained around the clock, often being put on night patrol. It was a time of uncertainty. Tyler and his fellow sailors didn't know where they would have to go next, or what awaited them there.
Overseas duty
"The Stars and Stripes," a military newspaper, kept mentioning a place with a funny-sounding name: Iwo Jima. But while the sailors laughed at the name, they also thought it sounded scary and far-away. When they heard rumors that they may be sent there, they told themselves that it must be a quiet old Japanese Island and there was probably a simple reason why they had to go there. The rumors were confirmed, but the men still nervously laughed it off - until the first official meeting about their newest mission. The commanding officer told them that Iwo Jima may be the single-most important island to win when it came to who would ultimately be the victor in WWII, the Axis or Allied powers. Iwo Jima wasn't some silly little island. It wasn't a place to laugh off.
The danger the 133rd and other troops faced on Iwo Jima was very real. Sixty men from Tyler's battalion never made it off the island. Sixty Sea Bees lie buried there, dead because of the harsh rules of a world at war. Of the sixty, four were close friends of Tyler's. Tyler, along with his fellow battalion members, mourned the dead men until and after his discharge in 1946.
Coming home
Tyler didn't waste time when he returned to Dunkirk after the war. He married his wife, Eleanor "Tilly," at the Lutheran Church of Dunkirk on Sixth Street. The newlyweds moved first to Fifth Street, then to Hamlet Street in Fredonia. But the couple missed the more rural life, so they moved again to Mixer Road in Forestville, where they raised horses and had a grape vineyard. The couple eventually had two children, Tim and Beverly.
But Tyler was an intelligent man in addition to a hard worker. He started his own construction business and named it the "C.J. Tyler Construction Co." His business included the operation of dump trucks, bulldozers, trenchers, cranes and trailers - the machines that he had become so familiar with in the Navy and on Iwo Jima. Tyler's company specialized in local excavating, working for plumbers when they needed trenching for new water lines, hauling stone and topsoil and more. Tyler's hard work and business sense earned him a much-deserved retirement in 1987, but this Navy veteran couldn't sit idle. He kept busy by working on old cars as a hobby and doing carpentry work to pass the time. He also has four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren to keep tabs on!
Clark Tyler's story is another one I can relate to. I wasn't in WWII, but I understand the service and the sacrifice of the Sea Bees. When I was in Vietnam, I saw evidence of the Sea Bees' hard work all around me; they are responsible for building every outpost that service members come across. One of my first assignments in Vietnam was to wait for helicopters to fly in Sea Bees so that they could build bunkers as part of Operation Niagara, which caught Viet Cong and NVA infiltrating from the north. When the Sea Bees landed, they went to work building the bunkers as calmly as if they were constructing a house in Fredonia, but with a quickness and efficiency I hadn't seen before. When I got back from patrol, I was amazed to see how much work they had done in just a short amount of time. When it comes to the Navy, I take my hat off to the Sea Bees; the Corpsmen, who are trained to give first aid and medical treatment, especially in battle situations; and the Chaplains, or as we called them, the "sky pilots," clergy persons who served the religious needs of the troops.
Many heroes were made at Iwo Jima. The most famous photograph from WWII was taken at Iwo Jima by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal. Referred to as "Flag Raising at Iwo Jima," it shows six Marines planting the American Flag on Mount Suribachi a short time after the island was secured. The image has since been turned into a statue for the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial and has been reproduced as a victory stamp, in addition to showing up in many other forms. There were rumors that the photograph was staged, but it was absolutely authentic. The Marines planting the flag did so under the threat of Japanese snipers, who were still all over the island. It was the son of one of those Marines who wrote "Flags of Our Fathers," about the Marines involved, their service up to that day, the famous photo and their lives after the war.
Tyler still thinks about the men from his battalion whose remains still lie there on that far-off island that was the crux of Allied victory in WWII. Some may wonder why the remains of those men have never been brought home. The answer is complicated and involves many factors. First, with the fires of battle stoked and raging on Iwo Jima, the military couldn't always immediately notify families that their loved ones had been killed. So, the bodies may have been buried for months before the families found out. Also, transportation of remains wasn't a priority during the war; the war was. Ships had to prioritize transport of things like ammunition, fuel, supplies, food, water and medical equipment. When the war ended, the government offered to bring back what remains they could, but many families decided to let their fallen heroes rest in peace, alongside the very men they fought and died with. As the families saw it, those men - soldiers, Marines, sailors, seamen, Airmen and officers - rested in the very best of company.
Heroes like Clark Jess Tyler are the only ones who can truly tell us what Iwo Jima was like during those hectic days of battle. The movies only tell you the Hollywood perspective. Ask a man like Tyler and you'll get the real story - the story of how he and the other Sea Bees constructed an airstrip, plants, hospitals and water lines on an inhospitable island made of hard rock and deep ruts; how they made it possible for damaged B-29s to land safely instead of crashing and dying in Pacific water; how they, the Marines, and other Allied troops gave our bombers access to Japan's mainland and how that access ultimately helped defeat the Axis powers and win World War II.
I am looking for:
News, Blogs & Events Web | http://www.observertoday.com/page/content.detail/id/586784/Clark-Jess-Tyler--U-S--Navy.html?nav=5011 | dclm-gs1-246840002 | false | false | {
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0.018372 | <urn:uuid:364b8a0e-8c17-49c4-9dbc-ba9b66fb29b7> | en | 0.968312 | Then freedom happens. And only in freedom is there consciousness, only in freedom is there godliness. Godliness is total freedom. If you live moment to moment – not knowing where you are going, not knowing from where you are coming – if the past is irrelevant and the future also and only the present has any relevance, any reality, you go beyond being Jewish.
Everybody is born a Jew. Rarely, very rarely, somebody dies and dies not as a Jew. That is a rare blessing. Just by calling yourselves Christians nothing is changed. Only labels change. The container changes but the content remains the same.
Jesus has failed, but not because his revolution was not worthy of success. Jesus has failed because his revolution was too much for you; it was beyond you. Just to look that far away, that high, is impossible. Your eyes are fixed on the earth; you have completely forgotten the sky. And because you have forgotten the sky, you have forgotten that you have wings. Looking down, groping in the darkness of the earth, you have become creepers, like a snake. You are no longer birds, birds of heaven.
Jesus failed because you are so deep in unconsciousness. And Jesus will go on failing. His very effort is such that success is almost impossible. As far as society is concerned, he may never succeed. Only with individuals is success possible.
Hence, all those who have known…. Ask the awakened: Buddha, Jesus, Krishna, Zarathustra. You will always find their insistence is on the individual. They know well that at the most you can expect a few individuals to rise high. The greater part of humanity will do everything it can to save its bondage, to remain secure in its imprisonment, to remain comfortable and live somehow – dragging life as a burden – and die somehow. The greater mass will not listen, will not understand, will not try to transform themselves. Religion is individual.
And religion has no names. Whenever somebody becomes religious, immediately he is no longer a Hindu, a Mohammedan, a Christian. He is simply religious. It is an understanding: it is a different kind of knowing, a different way of seeing. And when you see differently, you see a different reality. The reality depends on your eyes. If your eyes change, the reality changes.
If you are calculating you will never be able to know more than matter because calculation has its limitations. If you are too arithmetical you will never be able to know that which is beauty, that which is good, that which is true. You will never be able to know, because calculation cannot lead to that.
How can you know a beautiful flower by being arithmetical? You can count the petals, but you will miss the beauty. You can count the parts, but you will miss the whole. And you are certain to miss the beauty which surrounds the flower, which exists like a climate around the flower but cannot be caught hold of by counting the petals. You have to forget counting, you have to forget the mind that counts.
From Osho, Come Follow to You, Vol. 2, Chapter 2
Copyright © 2012 OSHO International Foundation, Switzerland. All Rights Reserved | http://www.osho.com/library/online-library-calculation-miss-comfortable-0d0fab99-33e.aspx?p=1 | dclm-gs1-246890002 | false | false | {
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0.999687 | <urn:uuid:1fb791e9-f8c7-4ed1-a59c-3bd60b27400e> | en | 0.948552 | TV Watch
Pop Quiz: Desperate Housewife or Mommie Dearest?
Can you tell the difference between the ladies of Wisteria Lane and the wire hanger-hating icon? They're more alike than you think! By Cara Lynn Shultz
Who said, "I should have known you'd know where to find the boys and the booze?" | http://www.people.com/people/package/quiz/0,,20055177_20229618,00.html | dclm-gs1-246980002 | false | false | {
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0.022285 | <urn:uuid:89f8d1d7-70b3-41e8-9e45-95a41b3bd16f> | en | 0.92359 | 11 Annotations
michael j. gresk m.a. Link to this
a meat turnover. pastry dough is wrapped around a filling ( usually meat &/or vegatables) and baked. a variety called a 'cornish pasty' survives today.
Nigel Pond Link to this
More on the Cornish pasty at: http://www.cornish-links.co.uk/pasty.htm
Alan Bedford Link to this
Here's a modernized recipe for a traditional venison pasty of a type that Pepys might recognize: http://www.macbeths.com/recipesvenison.html
and here's another, but it lacks the vegetables:
Andrew Hamilton Link to this
I have had venison pasty (and it was delicious) in Charleston, S.C., where game is plentiful. It was, essentially, a coarse venison pate with a pastry covering.
Paul Miller Link to this
To Season a Venison Pasty from a seventeenth century recipe.
mingle it, then wring out ye juice of leamon into ye pepper & salt & season it,
first takeing out ye leamon pills haveing layn soe a night. then paste it with
David Quidnunc Link to this
Upper Crust to Underground to Down Under
"The Cornish pasty is the original hand-held convenience food with a pedigree that dates back to the Middle Ages. In the 13th and 14th centuries, pasties were filled with venison, beef, lamb, salmon and lampreys (eels), dressed with rich gravies and sweetened with dried fruits. It was a high table dish enjoyed almost exclusively by royalty and the upper classes.
"The pasty became synonymous with Cornwall some 500 years later, thanks largely to the development of tin and copper mining in the county. Filled with beef, potatoes, onion and turnip, the pasty was a highly portable, well-insulated and nutritious meal ideally suited to the gruelling conditions underground. ..."
"When Cornish miners emigrated to work in the USA, Australia, South Africa and South America they took their pasty-making skills with them."
-- "The Cornish Pasty" http://www.agrebooks.co.uk/pasty.htm
David Quidnunc Link to this
Pasty as State Religion
"From the moment you cross the Makinac Bridge from downstate Michigan onto the Upper Peninsula, you see signs for "Pasties." Everywhere. ...
"I also asked him to describe one, and he told me that just recently, a tourist had come in and asked the same question. Roger gave him a lengthy explanation, and as the man left, he yelled to his wife in the car, 'Stew in a bun.'"
-- "Sidetrip: Pasties with a twist," by Michael Vitez, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 6 July 2002 http://inquirer.philly.com/go/pasty/
Les Barker Link to this
The cornish pasty was traditionally an entire meal (or so the tradition goes). It contained the savoury part at one end and the sweet part at the other. Whether or not there was some indication as to which end you should start from, I can't say.
JWB Link to this
Upon John Winthrop's arrival in America:
"... returned with them to Nahumkeck (aka Salem), where
we supped with a good venison pasty and good beer,..."
Winthrop's Journal, "History of New England" 1630-1649. Volume: 1. Contributors: James Kendall Hosmer - editor. Publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons. Place of Publication: New York. Publication Year: 1908. Page Number: 49.
Terry Foreman Link to this
Wikipedia on Pasty (including its venerable history)
Terry Foreman Link to this
Elizabethan Venison-Pasty receipe
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Rite Aid - Bottle date altered. advice please.
Company Rite Aid
Product / Service RX Refill
Category Drug Stores and Drugs
Views 117
I went to go pick up my pain medicine. Norcos. As usual. But when i did, i was told i was too early. I know this sounds like BS but i didnt believe it. And the pharmacist said she can look up the date on her end and show me that i was early. And went ahead and printed out a paper that said i was early. 3 days early. She notified me that i can only fill this med 2 days early. So i was told to wait until the next day...
I asked her to transfer the prescription to a 24 hour pharmacy so i can pick it up at around midnight. I then picked it up. after midnight and was done.
BUT the kicker is, i knew she was wrong, so instead of arguing with her more, i looked up online to research my debit card purchases. DEBIT, NOT CREDIT. And yes, i made the purchase on a different date. A date that would have allowed me to pickup my meds that day, rather than wait until the next day. But what puzzels me is that paper that she showed me, was a copy of my last moth prescription. With the incorrect date on it. "allegedlly" ...
I now know this, and can prove it. My bottle date was altered. And as far as my doctor making a mistake. I also have my appointment reminder email, with the correct date, that does NOT match with the bottle. And voicemail as proof for this aswell. But the key is the debit card purchase,was made on a a different date thatn listed on the bottle. If needed i will use it. I even called my insurance company, and they informed me that the prescription was sent in to them as a claim on the incorrect date that i actually picked it up on. ?????? So the pharmacist sent the claim for the meds, a day early.......
How do i handle this. Why did this happen? and what do i need to do? Should i assume that the person (RPH) that filled me last month, is the culprit, and if so how can they make a mistake like this? Was there a motive? Is the pharmacist doing this, so they can adjust the amounts of this medication in stock, for their own substance abuse addiction? Or just plain mean and want to hurt a pain sufferer. BTW none of these pharmacists gave me grief, other than when i was denied a pick up on my meds that day. No dirty looks, or comments, so what gives? I am a 30 year old woman, with 4 herniated discs, DDD, and Spondylosis. I feel i was either judged, or taken atvantage of. I am ready to report this pharmacist to the board of pharmacy. But i have never heard of this kind of corruption happening at this level. And now i am a victim. On the other hand i dont want to raise *** with anyone, and possibly deter my doctor from me in anyway. But i feel that somthing currupted is going on here, and i dont want my name involved.
Please email me on what i need to do. I would only assume that the pharmacist who filled it the previous month was who did this to me. But i cannot figure out the motive. Please help out a fellow pain sufferer. savinette84@gmail.com
Thank you. 1015a5b
Comments (7) Hide comments
Comment review as anonymous or
Aug 16 from El Sobrante, California
I have had this happen to me before (with the same meds). Honestly, there is not a whole lot you can do..... Do you have your bottle (the one you were trying to refill? Does that bottle match the paper that they showed you?
I am not trying to cast blame on anyone BUT you would not be the first person whom a pharmacy took advantage of so that the meds can go out the back door....
Best thing to do is keep good records (I keep the tax receipts that they give you with your scrip until I pick up my RF, and I also mark the date I picked up my meds down in my phone calendar). You also have the right (at least where I am in California) to ask them to pull the original scrip from your Doctor (doesnt matter if it was called in or you brought it in).
Last thing I will say is that the DEA (Federal and most States) are cracking down on "early" refills, and 2 day's early is about the norm for a C3 drug (Hydrocodone is a C3 under the controlled substance act). This is do to the fact that most insurance companies will fill a scrip 5-7 days early on their end and people have been taking advantage of that.
Good Luck and hope it works out for you.
Aug 16
It is refreshing to hear a normal comment from a person who has been through this, rather than a *** pharmacist, who thinks they are god and are probably popping pills by altering dates and whatever they can in order to get their fix. I know my bank is not wrong and i know somthing is wrong. But ill tell you this, ill never go back to this pharmacy again. ever. Part of me wants to just because i like to keep it consistant and at one place, but this pharmacist ruined it. Its not hard to find norco, maybe its harder to find harder meds, but not norco. So thank you so much and i have kept everything, and i am ready to do whatever it is that i need to to put this person in her place.
Aug 16 from Walnut Creek, California
Definatley report this pharmacist, they are obviously doing somthing wrong and there is no denying it, i cannot believe how many bias pharmacists are commenting on this like hypocritical priks. Makes me sick to my stomach. Good to know that other victims are voicing their opinion on this. I hope this pharmacy fires this pharmacist.
Aug 21
A controlled medication can only be filled 2 days early. Company policy -- regardless with what the insurance company allows. Your insurance company does not dictate when you can fill the medication. It is CONTROLLED for a reason!! Get with it. By the way, us pharmacists have heard your story before. OVER AND OVER AND OVER.
Aug 28 from Walnut Creek, California
Me get with it? WOW, How about you get with it, are you a doctor? NO NO NO NO NO NO. And there is a reason for that. Just because idiots pop oxys doesnt mean i sell my measly pain pills. Actually my doctor dictates when i get my meds, you dont know if i had medication stolen, destroyed, or have an emergency family matter that allows me to get my meds filled early so i can get them in time. YOU dont know. This is why insurance allows it, and i know you think you control it, but you dont, you only put pills in a bottle all day, no decision making.
Aug 28
That is too funny. Actually the pharmacist does decide when you get it. Even if a dr calls and says fill it early for whatever reason, it's the pharmacists decision if you get it or not. You are rediculous and ignorant.
Aug 28 from Walnut Creek, California
Haha.its so cute that some pharmacists think they decide when a patient gets their meds....lol this is the "God complex" we LLC hear about. Lol soon funny. I know he is full of it. Honey there is something called a Doctor/prescriber who decides.not you. You only fill what is told by the doctor. Deal with it. Btw accidents happen and you never will have a right to decide when to fill. Ever. Until someone reports you is when you will be reminded of you job description.
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0.155698 | <urn:uuid:54e130cb-6209-4afd-857d-e22d39749f1b> | en | 0.929878 | en The Future of Nuclear Power <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p><a href="/sites/"><img alt="" class="media-image" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; float: left;" typeof="foaf:Image" src="" /></a> Nuclear power isn't disappearing anytime soon, <a target="_blank" href="">according to a report</a> from the International Atomic Energy Agency. By the end of last year, nuclear accounted for about 15 percent of electricity production worldwide, and its overall capacity will continue to rise through 2030. </p> <p>France gets 78 percent of its power from nuclear, and a number of Asian countries are betting on it to meet their electricity needs. China has four reactors under construction now, and intends to launch a five-fold expansion by 2020. </p> <p>In the US, 103 reactors provide nearly 20 percent of our electricity, but building a new plant involves an uphill PR battle, due in part to the fact that we still haven't figured out what we're going to do with the waste.—Gregory Mone</p> </div></div></div> Tue, 23 Oct 2007 20:25:01 +0000 Gregory Mone 114313 at Dirty Destruction <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><div class="media media-element-container media-default" style="width: 525px;"><img alt="" class="" data-image_style="article_image_large" typeof="foaf:Image" src="" /><div class="field field-name-field-file-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> by FAS </div> <div class="field field-name-field-file-caption field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> Radiation scattered by the explosion of a dirty bomb in Lower Manhattan could cause one cancer death per 100 people in an area half the size of Manhattan [inner ring], one per 1,000 over a bigger area [middle ring], and one per 10,000 within the 386-square-mile area where decontamination would be advised under current Environmental Protection Agency standards [outer ring]. </div> <div class="field field-name-field-file-credit field-type-text field-label-hidden"> FAS </div> </div><p>Although experts debate the ease of building a crude nuclear bomb, no one disputes that it is far easier to build a simpler weapon known as a dirty bomb—a conventional bomb that scatters radioactive material. A dirty bomb produces no nuclear chain reaction, no mushroom cloud. Yet its aftereffects could be devastating. In a 2002 computer simulation run by the Federation of American Scientists, a single foot-long piece of radioactive cobalt of the type commonly used in food-irradiation plants was blown up with TNT in lower Manhattan. The simulation found that a 300-square-block area would become as contaminated as the permanently closed zone around the Chernobyl nuclear plant, and that cancer caused by residual radiation could be expected to kill one in 10 residents over the next 40 years. Under current U.S. safety standards, the entire island would have to be evacuated.<br /><br /><br />Unlike a nuclear bomb, a dirty bomb can be made from radioactive materials such as cesium, strontium and iridium, commonly found in hospitals and construction sites. Experts fret about security at such sites, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission says that because these materials decay quickly and only negligible amounts have been lost or stolen in the U.S., it’s doubtful that terrorists could have accumulated enough to make even a single dirty bomb.<br /><br /><br />Dangerous amounts of material have gone missing elsewhere, however, and the U.S. is working with the International Atomic Energy Agency to inventory existing sources and, when possible, remove<br /> or lock them up. It’s a monumental task, but the possibility of<br /> Manhattan becoming another Chernobyl makes it essential.</p> </div></div></div> Tue, 01 Feb 2005 19:40:00 +0000 bonnier-admin 113134 at Can Terrorists Build the Bomb? <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>Last fall, the race to stop terrorists from acquiring a nuclear bomb passed through Tashkent, Uzbekistan. There, on the morning of September 19, a Russian Antonov 12 cargo plane touched down carrying two nearly indestructible steel canisters. Under the watch of elite security forces armed with machine guns, Uzbek officials unloaded the canisters and drove them to a remote, wooded area about 20 miles from the Central Asian capital. Waiting there at the Institute of Nuclear Physics, which houses a small nuclear reactor used for scientific research, was a team of Americans, Russians and officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency. With extreme care, they filled the canisters with 24 pounds of reactor fuel containing highly enriched uranium, the ideal ingredient for a terrorist nuke. Area roads were closed off as an armed convoy rushed the cargo back to the airport. The canisters were loaded back onto the Antonov 12 and flown to Russia, where their contents were sent to a secure facility and blended with less-potent materials to create a mixture that is of little use to aspiring terrorists.</p> <p><br /><br />Amid the conflict in Iraq and the hunt for Osama bin Laden, this is a side of the war on terrorism you rarely hear about: the drive to prevent terrorists from acquiring the ingredients for a nuclear bomb. In recent years, operations similar to the one in Uzbekistan have been conducted in Libya, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria. These efforts reflect an intense and growing concern within the U.S. government about the specter of nuclear terrorism. It is one of the few issues on which President George W. Bush agreed with his former rival, John Kerry, who called nuclear terrorism the greatest threat that we face in the world today.<br /><br /><br />That threat comes not just from suspected weapons programs in Iran and North Korea, but also from Al Qaeda<br /> and other terrorist groups. Last year Michael Scheuer, who ran the CIA’s Osama bin Laden unit for several years in the late 1990s, wrote a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee warning of the “careful, professional manner in which al-Qaeda was seeking nuclear weapons . . . in deadly earnest.” More than a decade ago, bin Laden allegedly tried to buy a canister of uranium in Sudan for $1.5 million. (He appears to have been scammed.) In August 2001, he met with two Pakistani nuclear scientists. And later that year, crude sketches of nuclear weapons were found in Al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. Scheuer told CBS’s <i>60 Minutes</i> last year that bin Laden even sought a religious edict from a Saudi cleric on whether he could use a nuclear weapon against America. The cleric’s answer: Go for it.<br /><br /><br />Intent isn’t the same as capability, of course. But of more than a dozen nuclear-arms experts I interviewed, almost all agreed that assembling a crude nuclear bomb, though extremely difficult, is by no means impossible.<br /><br /><br />Just ask Graham Allison. In his recent book <i>Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe</i>, he concludes that a terrorist nuke attack is “inevitable” unless the U.S. works much harder and faster to safeguard nuclear material. A former assistant secretary of defense who served under President Bill Clinton and now teaches government at Harvard University, Allison is actually taking small bets from colleagues that terrorists will detonate a crude nuclear bomb in a U.S. city within a decade. “If this happened tomorrow,” he says, “I could almost explain it more easily than I could explain why it <i>hasn’t</i> happened.”<br /><br />Not everyone is as alarmist as Allison. Most experts with whom I spoke said that a nuclear terror attack is plausible but not inevitable, and that there’s no way to precisely gauge the odds. “I don’t think the public ought to lose a lot of sleep over the issue,” says nuclear physicist Tom Cochran of the Natural Resources Defense Council.<br /><br /><br />There is a consensus, though, about how such a nightmare would unfold. What follows is an examination of each step a terrorist organization would need to take to pull off a nuclear attack, and what is being done to raise the hurdles.<br /><br /><br /></p> <p><b>STEP 1: ACQUIRE RAW MATERIALS</b><br /><br />Buying or stealing an entire bomb would be extremely difficult, because most countries guard their nuclear weapons zealously and outfit them with mechanical locks or electronic codes to prevent tampering. Nuclear <i>material</i>, on the other hand, is at least in theory a lot easier to get. And, says Laura Holgate of the nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative in Washington, D.C., “Once you have material, everything is easier. Our mantra is, â€It’s the material, stupid.’”<br /><br />Two metals can produce a mushroom cloud: uranium and plutonium. Uranium can be found in nature, though not in bomb-grade form. Uranium ore mined from the earth consists almost entirely of the relatively stable isotope U-238 and has only tiny amounts of the isotope<br /> U-235, which is highly fissile—it splits easily, releasing large amounts of energy.<br /><br /><br />Before it can be used in a bomb, uranium must be “enriched,” a process that sifts out nonfissile U-238 to increase the proportion of fissile U-235. The more the uranium has been enriched, the more fissile it becomes and the less is required to make a bomb. Scientists generally consider uranium consisting of more than 20 percent U-235 to be “highly enriched” and suitable for a bomb, although uranium used in advanced nuclear-weapons programs and some nuclear reactors is enriched as much as 90 percent.<br /><br /><br />Enriching uranium is a vastly complicated and expensive process well beyond a terrorist group’s reach. It requires the use of expensive centrifuges whose production and export is closely monitored and which require sophisticated expertise to operate. Iraq tried in vain for years to enrich uranium, and Iran is approaching success only after decades of effort. “Iran has poured hundreds of millions—some would say billions—into their program, and as far as we know, they’re not there yet,” says Charles Ferguson, a science<br /> and technology fellow at the Council on<br /> Foreign Relations. Manufacturing plutonium is even more daunting. Plutonium is produced by irradiating uranium in<br /> a nuclear reactor—hardly a practical option for most terrorists.<br /><br /><br />But while Iran and other nations are seeking full-fledged production capabilities, a terrorist group simply has to get its hands on enough material for a single bomb. All the next Mohammed Atta would need to make a bomb big enough to instantly obliterate everything within a third of a mile is about 100 pounds of uranium enriched to 90 percent: a lump about the size of a bowling ball, or a<br /> bigger lump if the enrichment level is lower. It takes even less plutonium, which is far more fissile than uranium, to build an equally destructive bomb: about 35 pounds, a grapefruit-size hunk.<br /><br /><br />Given its greater potency, you might expect terrorists to covet plutonium for their bomb. Plutonium is so radioactive, though—far more so than uranium—that handling it can be quickly fatal. For the same reason, it makes radiation detectors go wild. Detonating plutonium requires a complex bomb design, with multiple explosive charges timed to exquisite precision. Finally, it tends to be stored at military installations and commercial power reactors, where security is generally very tight.<br /><br /><br />Uranium is an easier target. “Highly enriched uranium is more plentiful and more dispersed,” Cochran explains.<br /> “It’s less well-guarded in the commercial<br /> sector. It’s easier to handle in terms of toxicity.” Even prolonged exposure to uranium brings no short-term health effects. It can increase long-term cancer risks, but that wouldn’t deter a sui-<br /> cide jihadist. Uranium’s relatively low<br /> radioactivity also makes it harder to detect than plutonium. And crucially, Cochran says, “it’s easier to construct a crude [nuclear] device” from uranium.<br /><br /><br />That makes highly enriched uranium the ultimate attainment for a nuke-<br /> building terrorist. Unfortunately, there are about two thousand tons of it stored worldwide. “Russia is the mother lode,” Holgate says. Huge military budget cuts in post-Soviet Russia allowed nuclear safeguards to lapse badly in the 1990s. The U.S. has been working with Russia to improve security at its nuclear facilities, but less than a quarter of Russia’s sites have been upgraded to meet standards set by investigators from the U.S. Government Accountability Office who visited several Russian nuclear facilities<br /> in 2000 and 2001. At one site, they<br /> discovered a gate to the main nuclear-<br /> storage area wide open and unattended. At another, no guards responded when the visitors set off metal detectors. Not much nuclear material seems to have leaked from Russian military facilities, however, and although there have been numerous reports of attempted sales of stolen material, most have been frauds or “involve extremely small quantities of material,” Cochran says.<br /><br /><br />A more worrisome source of nuclear material is the civilian world, including research reactors such as the one at the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Uzbekistan. Some 130 reactors powered by highly enriched uranium operate in more than 40 countries, the product of an early Cold War-era program in which the U.S. and U.S.S.R. helped their allies obtain nuclear technology. Several more reactors are shuttered but may still<br /> keep fuel onsite. Collectively, the world’s research reactors contain 22 tons of<br /> highly enriched uranium, enough to build hundreds of nuclear bombs.<br /><br /><br />Research-reactor fuel tends to be stored under notoriously light security.<br /> A later GAO report, published last year, found that “the fence surrounding the [unnamed foreign research reactor] facility was in poor condition, security guards at the front gate were unarmed, and there were no guards at the reactor building, which we entered without escort.” And security often amounts to little more than a couple of lightly armed guards—no match for a team of terrorists like the group that seized an elementary school in Beslan, Russia, last summer.<br /><br /><br />Unlike the bulky, extremely radioactive fuel rods used in commercial nuclear power plants, research-reactor fuel usually consists of small pellets that weigh only a few pounds each and aren’t too hot to handle. “[A] thief could easily put several of them at a time into a backpack,” wrote Matthew Bunn, a nuclear-proliferation expert who works with Graham Allison at Harvard, in a 2004 report.<br /><br /><br />Despite all this potential, virtually no nuclear material is known to have been smuggled out of research reactors. Which raises the question: If highly enriched uranium is so poorly protected, why<br /> hasn’t more material gone missing? Proliferation experts cite two reasons for this happy surprise. In Russia, they say, the loyalty of underpaid military officials and nuclear scientists appears to be stronger than expected. Second, fears that organized crime syndicates would try to reap huge profits through nuclear smuggling have not yet been borne out, Holgate says. Why not? “Other activities of organized crime are way less hassle,” she suggests.<br /><br /><br />Fortunately, it’s only getting harder<br /> for terrorists to steal nuclear material. During the 1990s, a joint U.S.-Russian program upgraded security at dozens of former Soviet nuclear installations. And in recent months, security has been improving at many civilian research reactors. With the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI), a program begun by the Energy Department last year with a budget of $450 million over 10 years, the U.S. hopes to secure vulnerable nuclear material around the globe. That means cataloguing nuclear material, increasing security at research reactors and, in some cases, removing uranium from places like Uzbekistan’s Institute of Nuclear Physics. Also under the GTRI, the U.S. is working to convert research reactors to run on uranium with an enrichment level below 20 percent, which is virtually useless for bomb-making.<br /><br /><br /></p> <p><b>STEP 2: EXTRACT URANIUM</b><br /><br />If a terrorist does manage to acquire fuel from a research reactor, preparing it for use in a bomb requires expertise, chemicals, industrial equipment, explosives and a clandestine workspace. None of these, however, is beyond the reach of a well-organized and well-funded terrorist group such as Al Qaeda.<br /><br /><br />Assembling a bomb requires metallurgy and engineering skills, as well as some familiarity with conventional explosives. A terrorist group would surely love the help of a nuclear scientist, but such expertise is not a prerequisite. No stage of the process requires classified knowledge. The relevant chemistry formulas, for instance, are in graduate-school textbooks. It might not even take a big team. A study done by the federal Office of Technology Assessment in<br /> 1977 concluded that such a project could be done with “at a minimum, one person capable of researching the literature in several fields, and a jack- of-all-trades technician.”<br /><br />The first step in building a bomb is to process reactor fuel—typically a uranium-aluminum alloy —into pure uranium. (Terrorists could skip this part if they managed to get hold of bomb-ready uranium from a military installation.) “You can use nitric acid,” Ferguson explains, which is cheap and available even in high-school labs. A terrorist chemist would cut up the fuel and dissolve it in a vat of boiling acid, then use an organic compound to isolate the uranium. Ferguson says the ideal compound for this is<br /> tributyl phosphate (TBP), although other compounds may also do the job. TBP has commercial uses, such as the production of plastics and ink, which might provide cover for a<br /> terrorist ordering large quantities (probably in the hundreds of gallons.)<br /><br /><br />If all goes well, the TBP should attach itself to the uranium and, like oil and water, separate from the acid. “You stir, and you have TBP and uranium floating on top. The bottom is acid and aluminum. So you basically just skim [the top] off,” Ferguson explains. All that’s left is to wash away the TBP. Given uranium’s low radioactivity, this work could be done in lab coats and goggles in a small warehouse.<br /><br /><br />Regulators can’t do much to make this step more difficult. One possibility is to restrict the sale of TBP. “Some countries track it, some don’t,” says Michael Levi, a nuclear-terrorism expert at King’s College at the University of London.<br /><br /><br />If a terrorist group obtained the necessary chemicals, extracting enough uranium for a bomb could take only a few weeks. The bomb-makers could then get down to the grunt work of construction. “I think the hardest step in the process is the extraction of uranium,” Ferguson says. “Once they do that, then it becomes very simple.”<br /><br /></p> <p><b>STEP 3: ASSEMBLE THE BOMB</b><br /><br />The nuclear weapons stockpiled by the U.S. and Russian governments are far more sophisticated and lethal than anything a terrorist could build. Instead a<br /> terrorist would most likely opt for the simplest nuclear weapon, called a gun bomb. Like a rifle, a gun bomb uses a conventional explosive charge to fire a bullet. But in this case, the bullet is a lump of uranium that slams into a second piece of uranium at the other end of the barrel. The impact compresses the two pieces, creating a “supercritical mass” that sets off a nuclear chain reaction. It’s a simple but proven method. “The Hiroshima bomb was literally a cannon barrel that slammed two pieces of highly enriched uranium together,” Bunn explains.<br /><br /><br />Casting the bomb’s uranium into two separate pieces is a relatively straightforward machine-tool task. Slightly more complicated is devising the cannon that will fire the uranium. Terrorists could either fashion their own cannon or acquire a military cannon like a Howitzer. This choice would depend somewhat on the quality of uranium they had acquired. The more highly enriched the uranium, the less powerful the cannon that would be required to create a chain reaction. Although you can’t buy a modern Howitzer on eBay, it’s not impossible to get heavy conventional military equipment. As the NRDC’s Tom Cochran notes, military hardware of every type is currently “lying around all over Iraq.”<br /><br />Actually detonating such a bomb may be the easiest step of all. Basic gunpowder is ideal for firing the cannon, Levi explains. The bomb could be triggered with a cellphone or a garage door opener<br /> —technology no more sophisticated than that used in Iraqi roadside bombs.<br /><br /><br />Last year Senator Joseph Biden asked scientists at three national laboratories to see if they could assemble the mechanical components of a gun-style bomb with commercially available equipment alone. A few months later, they reported back that they had done it.<br /><br /><br />The process of building a crude bomb is made even easier by the fact that—unlike state-run nuclear programs, which are typically held to strict safety standards—terrorists can afford to make mistakes. A bomb made from 100 pounds of 90 percent highly enriched uranium could deliver an explosive yield of about 10 kilotons, or slightly less than the force of the 1945 Hiroshima blast. A smaller blast would occur if the uranium were of a lower enrichment grade or if the cannon misfired because of design flaws. But even a one-kiloton explosion would level a city block, killing everyone in the vicinity and igniting huge fires. Radiation would kill perhaps thousands more. Mass panic would ensue. In other words, even a relative dud would be an absolute catastrophe.<br /><br /><br /></p> <p><b>STEP 4: DELIVER THE BOMB</b><br /><br />Of course, terrorists couldn’t simply air-mail their bomb to the White House mailroom. Transporting it would be<br /> the final challenge. And depending on<br /> its design, a crude nuke might weigh between half a ton and a few tons. Delivering the bomb to its target is “not trivial,” Levi says. “It’s one thing to smuggle a small piece of uranium into the country. It’s another thing to smuggle a fully built several-ton hunk of steel.”<br /><br />Nevertheless, a huge cannon would still fit easily into a cargo-shipping<br /> container, more than 23 million of which arrive in the U.S. every year. Approximately 5 percent of these<br /> are inspected by customs officials on arrival. All customs workers now wear radiation detectors clipped to their belts, which sniff the air for gamma rays given off by uranium and plutonium. A uranium bomb, however, would be hard to detect. A 2002 GAO report found that the belt detectors had “limited range” and “may be inappropriate for the task.” What’s more, simple lead shielding can block gamma rays. More sophisticated radiation detectors are being installed at all ports of entry, though these might miss a lead-shielded bomb. The limitations of these scanners are one reason that the federal government gave up on a “Ring around Washington” project, which would have placed radiation sensors on major land and water approaches to the capital.<br /><br /><br />Even efficacious scanners might overlook nuclear materials that were smuggled into the U.S. in small amounts and then assembled into a weapon in the very city that the terrorists had targeted. That’s why most experts strongly agree that the best strategy is to stop terrorists at step one, by preventing nuclear material from being stolen in the first place.<br /><br /><br />After years of relative inattention, September 11 made this mission a<br /> higher priority for the federal government. In the past three years, Congress has increased funding for the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program, which now spends more than $1 billion a year upgrading security<br /> at former Soviet nuclear sites such<br /> as weapons factories and nuclear<br /> submarine bases, reprocessing Russian nuclear material into a form that can’t readily be used for bombs, and employing 40,000 nuclear scientists who might otherwise work for “states of concern” or terrorists. The Global Threat Reduction Initiative and operations such as the one in Uzbekistan signal a new aggressiveness by policymakers who, like the president, are all too aware of the threat of nuclear terrorism.<br /><br /><br />Critics insist that these programs aren’t moving with enough urgency. At the current speed, Bunn notes, our efforts to secure Russian nuclear material will take close to a decade. The GTRI’s mandate is to remove unused uranium fuel from the world’s most worrisome research reactors by the end of 2005. But given that each operation has taken months to plan, that date seems overly optimistic. And the Energy Department doesn’t expect to retrieve spent fuel—which can also just as easily be made into a bomb—until 2010.<br /><br /><br />The good news is that, given enough time and resources, sensitive material can be secured. “Nuclear terrorism is preventable,” says Graham Allison. “If you don’t have highly enriched uranium or plutonium, you can’t make a bomb. No highly enriched uranium, no mushroom cloud, no nuclear explosion, that’s it. Locking down things that we don’t want people to steal is not brain surgery.” Unfortunately, neither is building a nuclear bomb.</p> </div></div></div> Tue, 01 Feb 2005 19:00:00 +0000 bonnier-admin 114629 at | http://www.popsci.com/taxonomy/term/104554/feed | dclm-gs1-247050002 | false | true | {
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0.364801 | <urn:uuid:17063c3d-7a5b-4396-9119-9162e73467fe> | en | 0.902077 | In mathematics, the term well-defined is used to specify that a certain concept or object (a function, a property, a relation, etc.) is defined in a mathematical or logical way using a set of base axioms in an entirely unambiguous way and satisfies the properties it is required to satisfy. Usually definitions are stated unambiguously, and it is clear they satisfy the required properties. Sometimes however, it is economical to state a definition in terms of an arbitrary choice; one then has to check that the definition is independent of that choice. On other occasions, the required properties might not all be obvious; one then has to verify them. These issues commonly arise in the definition of functions.
For instance, in group theory, the term well-defined is often used when dealing with cosets, where a function on a coset space is often defined by choosing a representative: it is then as important that we check that we get the same result regardless of which representative of the coset we choose as it is that we always get the same result when we perform arithmetical operations (e.g., whenever we add 2 and 3, we always get the answer 5). f(x1)=f(x2) whenever x1~x2, then the definition makes sense, and f is well-defined on X/~. Although the distinction is often ignored, the function on X/~, having a different domain, should be viewed as a distinct map tilde{f}. In this view, one says that tilde{f} is well-defined if the diagram shown commutes. That is, that f factors through π, where π is the canonical projection map XX/~, so that f=tilde{f}circpi.
As an example, consider the equivalence relation between real numbers defined by θ1~θ2 if there is an integer n such that θ1-θ2 = 2πn, where π (not italicized) denotes Pi. The quotient set X/~ may then be identified with a circle, as an equivalence class [θ] represents an angle. (In fact this is the coset space R/2πZ of the additive subgroup 2πZ of R.) Now if f:RR is the cosine function, then tilde{f}([theta])=costheta is well-defined, whereas if f(θ) = θ then tilde{f}([theta])=theta is not well-defined.
Two other issues of well-definition arise when defining a function f from a set X to a set Y. First, f should actually be defined on all elements of X. For example, the function f(x) = 1/x is not well-defined as a function from the real numbers to itself, as f(0) is not defined. Secondly, f(x) should be an element of Y for all xX. For example, the function f(x) = x2 is not well-defined as a function from the real numbers to the positive real numbers, as f(0) is not positive.
A set is well-defined if any given object either is an element of the set, or is not an element of the set.
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• Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature | http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Well-defined | dclm-gs1-247160002 | false | false | {
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0.454932 | <urn:uuid:b42a7347-cbb0-4718-8bd6-ec9c2dc73120> | en | 0.935793 | Rheumatoid Arthritis
What does the term arthritis refer to in Rheumatoid Arthritis?
A Answers (1)
• ADevi Nampiaparampil, MD, Pain Medicine, answered
Arthritis is a general term that refers to joint injury and damage. A joint is any area where two bones come together and can move against each other. For example, the knee joint is the area where the femur (the thigh bone) and the tibia (the leg bone) come together.
The most common type of arthritis is "osteoarthritis." This is usually caused by wear-and-tear. We will all have osteoarthritis if we live long enough.
People with rheumatoid arthritis can also develop joint injury and damage. However, the cause of the injury is different. In rheumatoid arthritis, the body mistakes its own cells for enemy cells (ex. bacteria, cancer cells, etc.). Therefore, it attacks its own cells. The body forms "antibodies" against its own joints, which leads to joint inflammation and damage.
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0.987598 | <urn:uuid:1a153da9-3f14-48fc-bb64-70fd532406f2> | en | 0.92731 |
Game To Nominate: Can you name the letters of the Greek alphabet by matching to their symbols?
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0.021725 | <urn:uuid:c786203b-0078-48e7-934e-9f2fd99b6b0e> | en | 0.958527 | Best of both worlds down on the farm
Last updated 07:41 10/10/2013
Professor Danny Donaghy discusses milk production with No1 dairy farm manager Jolanda Amoore.
Fairfax NZ
FRESH LOOK AT MILKING: Professor Danny Donaghy discusses milk production with No1 dairy farm manager Jolanda Amoore.
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Danny Donaghy takes out a pen and draws a curve on his whiteboard.
"That's the Manawatu River," the Massey University professor of dairy production systems says. Then he sketches in Massey's No 1 dairy farm. It hugs the river for 3.4 kilometres in two terraces that slope down to the water's edge.
But what he doesn't draw is just as significant. Behind the farm are research centres and the university campus. Across the river is the city of Palmerston North, home to 80,000 people.
Then there's the river. Decades of agricultural, industrial and human waste have dirtied the waters. The regional council, supported by rural community groups and dairy industry bodies, is acting to clean it up.
Now Massey is doing its bit.
It is putting Noth1 farm at the service of dairy farmers, industry agencies, agribusiness companies and local government. It is asking them to come up with ideas for management systems and technologies to trial on the farm. It also has plenty of its own research to test.
The aim is to improve profitability, but not at the expense of the environment.
Donaghy taps the whiteboard. "We've got a heap of river frontage and it's about reducing our environmental footprint."
No 1 is not in a sensitive catchment and complies with resource consents. "We don't want to be complacent about that. We are near a major river that has issues with pollution and there's quite rightly an emotive issue around that.
"We're not content to play it safe," he says. "We're putting ourselves out there alongside the farmers who are facing this and looking at how we can work together to solve it."
Farmers' ideas and experience will be valued. Innovation doesn't come just from a laboratory or a research study. "We want to work with those guys, test a few of their ideas under controlled conditions - a field laboratory.
"You've come up with a great idea - like a new way of dealing with effluent, or putting x amount of the farm into a particular crop, or using a new type of fertiliser - but if you were to make that sort of system change you could face success or ruin.
"We can do it under more controlled conditions on a smaller scale and say ‘this works because of that and that'."
Crucial will be measuring and monitoring every step of the way. He ticks off a list of data: soil moisture, soil nutrients, pasture growth, quality and species, density of plants, number of grazings, rumen pH temperature, milk production, milk solids and reproductive performance. "We've got equipment that's logging stuff, in some cases every half-minute. When you're throwing a million data points up on a screen you can start drawing trend lines and its ‘Wow, this is what's going on!'."
Measuring the farm's nitrogen leaching will start with using the Overseer program to work out what changes can be made to stocking rate, grazing, pastures and fertiliser and monitored it across the farm with soil probes.
Returning to his sketch, Donaghy ponders a plan for the riverside land. "Do we retire the land, does it become a riparian planting zone, or a combination of riparian planting and a cut-and-carry system. Crops like lucerne could be grown there and harvested and fed to the cows elsewhere so they don't get on there and urinate."
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The nearby Linton army camp would like a walking/riding track from the city to the camp. "Do we have a track through the farm? Does it become a riparian planting/walking track/nature trail that helps to bring the city closer to farmland. That's the sort of stuff we've been throwing back and forth with regional and city councils and a few school and community groups."
The idea of bring schoolchildren to see where their food comes from appeals to him.
The list of possible research areas is a long one, including animal welfare, dairy production, energy efficiency, sharing information, farm business management, life-cycle management, pastures, rural sociology, soils and hydrology.
One is already underway. Once-a-day milking began a month ago with the aim of getting the farmers' working week down to 40 hours and a great deal of interest is being taken in which of the farm's 240-cows - a mixture of purebred jerseys and holstein-friesians and crossbreeds - best make the transition.
Massey's agronomy group is looking at pastures - alternative legumes, grasses and herbs - and its precision agriculture centre will also be involved. Fonterra, LIC and DairyNZ are also keen to test new cowshed technology.
With 500 veterinary students and 700 agriculture students on campus the farm will also be used more for teaching.
"I'm having more meetings than hot dinners at the moment and hearing more ideas than people in the room," Donaghy says. "Whatever we do, we're going to do it properly. And use it as a teaching tool, stream it into classroom and bring students to the farm. It's also about extension, getting the results out to the people who need them.".
He also find himself having to steer the discussion back to the underlying aim of the project - to monitor the environmental effects.
"How do we improve production without buggering up the environment? That is the question and it will still be here in 5-10-50 years time. It's not going to disappear."
- © Fairfax NZ News
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0.074823 | <urn:uuid:dd2b4e8c-3e77-41db-957f-bfa3a3d5ee1b> | en | 0.960886 | 'Bad batch' of heroin kills woman
Last updated 02:08 26/01/2013
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'I gave you my son and you returned him broken' Corby sentence likely slashed Gay marriage laws overturned in the ACT Australia PM smacked his kids Town fights off bat invasion with noise party Shark 'kill zones' upset Couple stabbed over builder's bill Paedophile who bought baby jailed 30 years Bus driver 'traumatised' by massacre exercise Dogs sniff out over 100 at festival
A woman has died and a number of other people have been hospitalised in Sydney as a result of a "bad batch" of heroin, police say.
In a statement, police said a 50-year old woman died at Liverpool hospital yesterday after overdosing on what they described as a "bad batch" of the drug.
Police said numerous other people in the city's southwest were hospitalised after overdosing on the dodgy heroin.
Inspector Greg Tetley from Liverpool police station said he believed the "particular batch is causing people to unwillingly overdose".
"It's important we get the message out to the community in order to prevent any further harm," he said in a statement.
"If you are unsure or concerned, I'd urge you to seek medical treatment."
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0.020925 | <urn:uuid:edd2d579-7f6e-4b2d-951e-9c004278b316> | en | 0.935844 | Question for The Sims Social
Guest asks: Added Dec 6th 2011, ID #232584
Question for The Sims Social
I am stuck on the quest Like, Total Emergency. I clicked on other sims but couldn't see the "Confess Attraction" Can someone help me?
Ask.com and get
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Guest answered: Added 8th Dec 2011, ID #462260
If you don't see "Confess Attraction" right off the bat, you may need to go through a few other romantic socials such as "Flirt" or "Compliment Appearance" before "Confess Attraction" appears.
Note that you need to be in a Friendly relationship with that sim; if you're already in a romantic relationship, "Confess Attraction" might not appear (your romantic partner already knows you're attracted to them).
Guest answered: Added 7th Feb 2012, ID #480423
I have the same problem, can't seem to find any answer. Did you get it fixed after all?
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0.022134 | <urn:uuid:3551a369-5c3b-4e7a-9b06-9999e94a5151> | en | 0.949433 | Page 1 of 5 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 43
1. #1
Yet another wetsuit question...hooded or not?
2. #2
I say hood it. The water does get pretty cold here. If we are lucky the 3/2 goes through mid December. Plus after two or three cold waves on the head, doesn't feel good at 48degrees. Also I own a 5/4/3 dry lock and it is a very good suit. Head stays relatively warmer and no neck rush from being open. I use three mil gloves hands never get cold.
3. #3
Thanks for the input. Just to be clear I'm talking about wetsuits with attached hoods vs not. If I got a wetsuit w/out an attached hood I would still buy a hood to wear or a vest with a hood.
4. #4
id say go with attached hood.
5. #5
Join Date
Oct 2012
UGHHH! :(
I have gone as low as 44 degree water in a 4/3 without the hood and just a surf cap. 3mm gloves and boots. wasnt too cold.
6. #6
Get it w/o the hood.. and get a hooded vest. You will have days when you don't want the hood... You will also have days when a 3/2 wit the hood is all you need.
7. #7
Does trevolution only buy hoodless suits now that he's got that spit hood courtesy of the PD?
Comfort and pain are all subjective to the individual. Mid-40's and I'm hoodless. But I wouldn't advise anyone else to do some/most of the things I do.
Bi-stater had good points about days not wanting the hood and also the 3/2 plus hooded vest being more than adequate on others.
8. #8
Take a look at the O'neill Mutant...
9. #9
Join Date
Aug 2012
Primate Camp
If you like hearing, and pain free ears, wear the hood in the colder months.
10. #10
Join Date
Apr 2013
Hammonton, NJ
Hood ...........
And get a 5 mil ......scratch the 4 mil. They're absolutely pointless for the mid-Atlantic region. You can wear a 5 mil until it's time to don the 3 mil. These guys who get too hot because it's 50 F in the air and 53 in the water have menopause or something. You can wear a 5 mil until 54-55 F. Plus it will give you that added warmth. It gets cold in Virginia, man.
And wear earplugs during the cold months........just do it. | http://www.swellinfo.com/forum/showthread.php?20235-Yet-another-wetsuit-question-hooded-or-not&p=186212&mode=linear | dclm-gs1-247460002 | false | false | {
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0.699068 | <urn:uuid:adf840a2-5572-4adf-a265-c2ffa931cb67> | en | 0.974838 |
Hard Drive takes up smoking... input requested
Discussion in 'Other Hardware' started by rhybeka, Nov 11, 2006.
1. rhybeka Newcomer, in training
forgive my newbieness, but I'm in need of a bit of assistance.
my 450w power supply had taken up buzzing sporadically when I was running high end games (ie, World of Warcraft, etc), and then started buzzing even when I was only running the OS and surfing the web. I removed a few of my components, with the sound remaining decided it wasn't a heat issue, but the power supply was most likely going out. Without wanting anything fried, I went out and purchased a 600w power supply. I swapped it out and plugged everything back in. It booted just fine, just had an issue with the case fan not starting up (that was my bad, didn't have it plugged into the PSU). It turned off after POSTing. The second time I booted it, smoke actually rose from the harddrive, and I got the burnt rubber smell. Is there such a thing as too much power? Everything else appears to be ok - just looking for some input before I trek to take this psu back. Thanks! Oh - here's my specs -
Mobo : Foxconn/ECS with an AMD Athlon 64 3000+, 1GB mem (non overclocked), wireless network card, GeForce 6800, TV Tuner Card
2. Rik Banned Posts: 4,987
A psu will only give the system what it needs upto its maximum capacity, so, no, it's not down to too much power!!!!
It's far more likely that the hard drive was already on its way out!!!!
Unless, was it a hard drive that had both sata power and normal molex power connectors on it? If so, fitting both could have caused that, you are supposed to use one or the other only!!!!
3. rhybeka Newcomer, in training
I'm going to feel very retarded if that was it - but I think you may be correct. I had the molex connector in instead of the other power. I corrected that, but now the psu won't even power on sooo - I'm guess in the process I blew something
4. korrupt Newcomer, in training Posts: 1,060
If its still under warratny you can probably get it replaced as long as you don't tell em it was youre "redardation":p That caused it.
5. rhybeka Newcomer, in training
yeah - was able to get the psu replaced no problem, but it appears the SATA drive is toasted literally... it overheats the second I power the PC on, so I'm headed to the HD forum to see if someone can recommend a good data recover company...
6. Rik Banned Posts: 4,987
So, other than the lack of hard drive, does the pc work now???? | http://www.techspot.com/community/topics/hard-drive-takes-up-smoking-input-requested.62791/ | dclm-gs1-247470002 | false | false | {
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