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Why selectLipton, Weinberger & Husick for filing your patent and trademark applications?We provide patent and trademark filing services for a flat fee; Our patent attorney meets with U.S.PTO patent examiners at the U.S.PTO, Alexandria, VA to advance the prosecution of the patent application; We have filed hundreds of patent and trademark applications for more than 300 clients over the past 20 years. Experience counts, especially when the rate of allowance of patent applications is about 45%. Representative patents that we have filed are viewable on the link "our granted and published patents". Representative trademark applications that we have filed are viewable on the link "our registered trademarks"; There is no charge for consultations or advice over the phone, or for any work requiring 15 minutes or less of our time; We set-up a docket for our client's intellectual property at no charge to the client; We provide prompt turn-around for work products. For example, our turn around time for drafting a patent application, or a response to an office action is about 5 days; We have authored books on patents and trademarks and published scores of articles on intellectual property. Our publications "Patent Your Idea", "Trademarks - A Guide to Filing and Prosecuting a Mark", and "Trademarks" A Guide for Registering, Opposing and Appealing a Mark" are available on amazon.com for a nominal cost. We assist clients in developing their patent strategy for obtaining patents, maximizing patent based revenue, and minimizing generic competition at no cost to the client. References regarding our patent and trademark filing services are available on request. Flat fees. Experience. Expertise. Prompt service. Cost effective pricing.
Most of our clients are located out-of-state and internationally. Given the nature of our patent and trademark filing work and the need to obtain the invention disclosure from the inventor in writing, the firm principally communicates with clients via email and phone to prepare and file patent and trademark applications. However, a meeting can be arranged at the firm's office if the client wishes to meet with our patent attorney.
Patent Application Filing Process:If you would like to file a patent application for your idea, listed below are the steps that we follow for drafting and filing your patent application with the U.S.PTO:
Step 1: Please e-mail your name and contact information to us at email@example.com, and we will send you a non-disclosure agreement and a fee agreement that recites our flat fee for filing a patent application.
Step 2: If you wish to proceed, please download, sign and return the NDA and fee agreement. We will then countersign the agreements and e-mail them back to you. You may then send us a description of your inventive concept to allow us to conduct a prior art search to determine if the inventive concept is new.
Step 3: If the inventive concept is new, you can instruct us to file either a provisional patent application, or, to file a regular non-provisional patent application both of which allow you to mark your product "patent pending".
A provisional application is generally filed if your funding is limited at this point, or if you wish to check out the market regarding the marketability of your product. After a provisional patent application is filed, you may contact appropriate persons to provide funding for filing a non-provisional patent application and for commercializing your product.
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You may pay by check, or by credit card with an additional 2% credit card processing fee, or, on a monthly installment plan with no interest. Step 4: We will send you the draft of the patent application for your review and edit. Your changes will then be incorporated in the patent application. Once you approve the patent application for filing, the application will be filed with the U.S.PTO.
Additional information on the patent filing process is provided on our website www.ipprocure.com; on the home page click on "patent application filing process". Representative patents applications that we have filed are listed on the link "our granted and published patents". If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us by e-mail at: email@example.com, or by phone at: 1-866-387-5386.


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NE-2: Omaha
June 18, 2018
Congressional District Office:
13906 Gold Circle #101 Omaha, NE
* Due to volatility of Congressional schedules, dates/times are subject to change. To the pastors-and-leaders welcoming us as prayer partners, thank you for your understanding and cooperation. Please check alerts for last-minute changes.
The Honorable Donald Bacon, Representative of Nebraska
Red + Blue = Purple
Not a politically correct convergence of feel-good platitudes, but a common trajectory, from varying Christian faith-traditions, toward one transcendent and Biblical goal: True oneness in Christ.
We'll be posting photos and video from the prayerwalk, so be sure to come back to this page after the event!

subset: commoncrawl


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IRONMAN South American Championship Mar del Plata, Argentina
Memorial Hermann
Cairns Airport
The IRONMAN World Championship in Hawaii is the most iconic one-day sporting event in the world, but it's not the only championship event on the IRONMAN calendar. The IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship heads to a new country each year, a unique format that showcases the many enticing places that IRONMAN races take place.
In addition, there are five regional IRONMAN championship races and four regional IRONMAN 70.3 championships set in some of the sport's top locations. For professional athletes, championship events offer increased prize money, ranking points, and at the IRONMAN distance, automatic Kona qualification. Age group athletes compete for more world championship qualifying slots and increased All World Athlete points.
Kailua-Kona, Hawai'i, United States
The IRONMAN World Championship takes place in Kailua-Kona, Hawai'i every October. In addition to the 1,900 professional and age-group qualifiers, 100 Legacy athletes compete in the world's most prestigious triathlon.
Started in 2006, the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship pits the world's premier short and middle-distance athletes against the best IRONMAN competitors in the world.
2019: Nice, France
As the capital of the Alpes-Maritimes on the French Riviera in the southeast coast of France, Nice first hosted an IRONMAN event in 2005 and since then has been one of the most popular locations on the IRONMAN race circuit.. The world championship is the pinnacle event in the IRONMAN 70.3 calendar and with global rotation that began in 2014, it showcases the best venues IRONMAN has to offer around the world.
2020: Taupõ, New Zealand
With a strong IRONMAN history that spans 20 years, Taupõ, New Zealand is best known for hosting IRONMAN New Zealand since 1999. The IRONMAN 70.3 Taupõ joined the family in 2015, and has since earned numerous IRONMAN 70.3 Athletes' Choice Awards. Taupõ is a unique and beautiful destination with a local community that has embraced IRONMAN events and the thousands of athletes that have competed there. The 2020 event will move from its traditional late August/early September race date to take place on November 28 and 29, 2020. This shift will take advantage of New Zealand's peak time of year with mild temperatures in the region's early summer months."
2021: St. George, Utah, USA
This striking Southwestern community has been part of the IRONMAN family since 2010, and currently hosts the IRONMAN 70.3 North American Pro Championship. The course begins in the beautiful Sand Hollow Reservoir, winds through picturesque Snow Canyon State Park, and finishes with a run through the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. Athletes always enjoy St. George's breathtaking scenery and views of the surrounding red rock canyons. The city's walkable downtown area features great local fare and boutique shopping, and the city is also only a two-hour drive from the nightlife of Las Vegas. The event's bike course and host city both have also earned numerous accolades in the annual IRONMAN Athletes' Choice awards.
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
The Standard Bank IRONMAN African Championship is staged in Nelson Mandela Bay, surrounded by tourist destinations that showcase the abundance of wild beauty indigenous to South Africa and the Eastern Cape.
The Woodlands, Texas
The Memorial Hermann IRONMAN North American Championship takes place in one of America's first master-planned communities, just north of Houston. Set in a beautiful resort area, the IRONMAN North American Championship offers a fast course in Kona-like heat and humidity, making it a great experience for those who aspire to compete at the IRONMAN World Championship someday.
Cairns, Australia
Cairns is the new home of the IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship, situated at the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. Set in one of the world's most iconic tropical locations and boasting a stunning backdrop that will take your breath away.
Frankfurt, Germany
With one of the most epic finishes in the sport, the IRONMAN European Championship routinely features a fast course and competitive fields. Hundreds of thousands of spectators line the course to cheer the athletes on.
Mar del Plata, Argentina
The IRONMAN South American Championship is hosted by Argentina's Mar del Plata which will lure and charm you with its oceanfront promenade, beaches, and elegant architecture.
Buenos Aires, Argentina
The IRONMAN 70.3 South American Championship will be hosted by Buenos Aires, in the cultural hotbed of Argentina.
St. George, Utah, United States
Set in the stunning mountainous area of southern Utah, the IRONMAN 70.3 North American Pro Championship has one of the most scenic courses on the IRONMAN schedule. It's also one of the toughest, which makes this a classic event.
Elsinore, Denmark
Home of Shakespeare's Hamlet, Elsinore plays host to the IRONMAN 70.3 European Championship. Swim in the majestic harbor area, cycle in the beautiful countryside, and run in stunning Elsinore city and along the majestic Kronborg Castle.
Western Sydney, Australia
The IRONMAN 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship heads to the Western Sydney in 2017. The championship event was held at Philippines, Cebu in 2016 and moves to IRONMAN 70.3 Western Sydney, Australia in 2017, with spectacular views of the Blue Mountains and a swim in the iconic Penrith Lakes.
Manama, Bahrain
IRONMAN 70.3 Middle East Championship in Manama, Bahrain is a unique point-to-point race that passes by the Kingdom's new and historic attractions.
Campeche, Mexico
Race through a World Heritage site among Mayan history and landmarks. Athletes will start IRONMAN 70.3 Campeche in the afternoon and finishing the race by sunset or early evening with the moon and the stars above.
Athletes will race for the top honors in the Asian TriClub Championship at IRONMAN 70.3 Xiamen located in the southeast coast of China in the tourist city of the Fujian Province famous for its attractive seascape.
Haines City, Florida
Top ranked clubs in the Americas for 2016 will get the chance to participate in the 2018 IRONMAN 70.3 Pan American TriClub Championship, which will take place at the IRONMAN 70.3 Florida.
Jönköping, Sweden
TriClubs from all around Europe will race at the European TriClub Championship which will take place at the 2019 IRONMAN 70.3 Jönköping where athletes will be treated to enchanting forests and expansive views over the Swedish countryside.
Buffalo City, South Africa
Newly added to the series, the African TriClub Championship will see the continent's best TriClubs battle it out for the crown of TriClub Champion at 2019 Standard Bank IRONMAN 70.3 South Africa.
Port Macquarie, Australia
Clubs will battle it out for top TriClub Podium honours at events throughout the season for eligibility to compete for the Championship Title at the Oceania TriClub Championship Final in 2017 at IRONMAN Australia | IRONMAN 70.3 Port Macquarie.


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My team has been doing Java for a long time. We are switching to Ruby. We are finding that Ruby has limitations and that we have to do certain things in Java. I'm trying to find a way to call Java code from Ruby. I'm searching Google and such, and I always end up on a page describing how to call Java code from JRuby. That's not what I want.
Then I start to wonder why we're NOT using JRuby?! Instinctively, I'm thinking Java and Ruby is what we're doing. JRuby is the best of both worlds. What am I missing?
I've asked around a little bit and I've heard a few negative things about JRuby, such as memory issues or diminishing oracle/community support, or whatever. Is JRuby a dud? Or is it viable for real-world, large-scale, mission critical apps, the way Ruby/Rails supposedly is? Is there a reason that we should be coding in Ruby AND Java instead of just going with JRuby? Can we not use Rails if we do JRuby? I mean, why wouldn't you want access to all the comprehensive features in Java, combined with the ease/fun of Ruby?!


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Everyone dreams of a pad that's cooler, greener, more efficient, and ultra hi-def. So we combined some of our favorite gear with expert advice to transform four rooms from tired to Wired. Follow our tips to upgrade your living space — and your life.
A messy garage is a missed opportunity. Give yourself the souped-up gear cave you deserve. That's what aviation nut Greg Gambina did. He worked with Wired special projects editor Mark McClusky and the DIY Network's Garage Mahal show to create a hobby hangar that combines over-the-top form with top-gun function.
Gambina builds RC model airplanes, which means he's constantly fiddling with metal and small parts. We hooked him up with a complete Dremel workstation. Not only does he get a rotary tool ($160) for cutting and polishing, but a work stand ($44) transforms it into a light-duty drill press. It's plenty powerful for his needs, and it takes up a fraction of the room a traditional press would.
A computer in the garage is a godsend. You can get product info, plans, and more—plus pipe in TV and music. The HP TouchSmart 600t ($800) puts access to media and the Web at the tips of your grimy fingers. An optional TV tuner ($80) lets you watch the big game; a pair of Bowers & Wilkins MM-1 speakers ($500) gives clear sound wherever you are in the workshop.
For custom parts fabrication, we chose the MakerBot Industries CupCake CNC Deluxe 3-D printer ($950), which can print objects out of plastic. Five years ago, a machine that could quickly turn a CAD file into a physical object would have cost five times as much. Using simple tools like Google SketchUp, Gambina can spec out gear for his planes and tap into the large MakerBot community for ideas.
Finding a workspace for larger items can be a challenge. Gambina didn't want a huge, permanently installed bench taking up the room he sometimes needs for, you know, his car. Our solution? We hacked a BendPak motorcycle lift ($1,200) into a movable surface that can be raised and lowered to the perfect height for aircraft maintenance.
To feed Gambina's aviation obsession, we called in the crew from Swisstrax Garage Flooring to install a runway-inspired design, including landing lights for his car. Meanwhile, vinyl cabinet door stickers from Signs by Tomorrow bring the Blue Angels and the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk into his garage.
Photographs: Misha Gravenor
Wired senior writer Steven Levy does much of his work from his home in the Berkshires. But trying to keep all of his research organized while dealing with the particular challenges of a rural location was starting to hinder his creativity. Erin Rooney Doland, editor in chief of Unclutterer.com, used a combination of cool tech and simple life-hacking tips to whip Levy's work area into shape.
Levy likes to take his research notes into other rooms to work. So, in addition to having papers piled up all over his office, he had files scattered all over the house. Doland spent several days tidying up his workspace, a process that included replacing filing cabinets with filing carts (elfa Mesh Filing Cart, $99). Now Levy can roll his files with him wherever he goes.
Broadband isn't available in the Berkshires, so a cloud-based backup service isn't a good option for Levy. We connected his laptop via USB to a Thermaltake BlacX device ($60) that supports eSATA hard drives of up to 2 terabytes. His computer backs up every 15 minutes, and once a day he swaps out the drives. He stores one drive offsite in case of emergency.
Electricity is finicky where Levy lives, so we traded in his old surge protector for an APC battery backup power supply ($100). Now when there's an outage, Levy has a few minutes to save his work, close out of programs, and shut down all his equipment properly.
We used a Dymo label maker ($40) to ID both ends of each power cord. If Levy needs to crawl under his desk to unplug a piece of equipment, he doesn't have to waste time determining which cable belongs to which device. If you don't have a label maker, write the device name directly on the cable with a black or silver permanent marker.
Using simple Velcro ties (Belkin, six for $3), we purged the visual cable clutter in Levy's office by fastening cords to the legs of the desk. The aesthetics are better, and Levy no longer gets his feet caught up in a mess of wires. Storage bins from Rubbermaid keep small items organized and neat.
Photographs: Noah Sheldon
Wired executive editor Thomas Goetz had a great kitchen—for 1983. The Euro decor was more Cuisinart than haute cuisine, and his foodie spouse demanded better tools. Enter the professionals at Creative Concept Builders SF and Nicole Hollis Interior Design, who cooked up an ingredients list focused on eco-friendly appliances and locally sourced materials.
The gaping ovens on most pro-style ranges require a huge amount of energy (and time) to come up to temperature. This Aga Legacy ($5,500) is the exception: The three separate cooking areas—a convection oven, a seven-mode multifunction oven, and a compact broiler—heat up fast, saving on energy costs. Yet the main oven is large enough to hold a 20-pound turkey.
By swapping out a dated, non-Energy Star fridge for this Samsung French-door model ($2,500), the Goetz family will save $57 a year on their utility bill. The Samsung is also cleverly engineered to cram 23 cubic feet of food storage into a relatively small footprint.
These tea drinkers start each day with the kettle, but using a gas burner to heat water is slow and inefficient. Capresso's electric kettle ($60) boils water in less than two minutes. And like all good San Franciscans, the Goetzes are an NPR household. The iHome iP88G ($150) not only brings them Morning Edition, it charges their iPhones and iPods as well.
Part of going green is going local: The handmade tiles are from Heath Ceramics, based across the Golden Gate Bridge in Sausalito. And the countertops aren't your standard imported Italian granite. They're made of sustainable concrete (ash and recycled glass bottles) by Concreteworks, located just a few miles east in Oakland.
Though the kitchen looks brand-new, its original materials were reused and redeployed wherever possible. The cabinets, for instance, may look like solid cherry, but they're actually the old plywood ones with new doors. The butcher block was reclaimed from a Wired photo shoot. And contractor Ronnie Del Prado took gray paint, mixed it with some leftover grout, and—presto!—a chalkboard for the kids.
Photographs: Jason Madara
The Wards watch movies. Every night, Brandon, Kristy, and their two kids climb onto the couch and tuck into a cinematic feast. Discs, downloads, streams—they feed their film fix however they can. But as we discovered from the video the family submitted when they entered our contest for a $10,000 media room makeover, their previous setup was tragic: a cast-off computer monitor, an el-cheapo DVD player, and an iPod dock for sound. We sent Wired senior associate editor Joe Brown to the rescue.
The lady of the house demanded kick-ass sound. Hello, Bowers & Wilkins speakers! The big 684 front towers ($550) do the heavy lifting, while the HTM61 center speaker ($650) brings dialog to life. For the rear channels, we went with pint-size 685s ($325). We brought in a 400-watt ASW 610XP sub ($1,200) for burb-shakin' bass and laced it all together with Tributaries SP12-CL03S audio wire.
Speaks won't make a peep without an amp, and a better amp means better sound. So we spent more on the amplifier than on anything else save the TV. The Rotel RSX 1550 ($1,999) cranks out 100 watts of sparkling audio through each of its five channels, supports a zillion audio standards, and, should the Wards decide to go 7.1 in the future, is upgradable.
Initially, Brandon and Kristy wanted a 3-D set, but we talked them out of it: The technology is still too new, and there's just not enough content to justify the expense—remember, we only had 10 grand to work with. The LED-backlit Samsung UN55C6500 ($2,800) scored well in our tests, and though massive from the front, its razor-thin profile makes it a stunning centerpiece.
Where to put it all? The Wards' landlord won't let them wall-mount, so we used the Ikea Tobo ($319) media unit to protect the drywall. Positioning the set on the TV panel was a cinch with the Philips Simply Straight Mount ($100): Hang the wall piece sort of horizontal, affix a pair of rollers to the panel, and gravity pulls the screen straight. Sanus NF36 stands ($130) isolate the speakers from rattles.
The Wards don't have cable. Or satellite. Or an antenna. They have DVDs and some downloads. The family wanted something that would slurp content off their home network, stream Netflix, and, since this is the 21st century, play Blu-rays. Easy: Sony's PS3 ($300) has the connective skills and bitchin' video processor they need to watch pretty much anything. For the kids: a Nintendo Wii ($200).
Movie night sucks without popcorn. So we hooked up the Wards with Cuisinart's EasyPop ($60). Pour a little oil, some seasonings, and, of course, your kernels into the metal dish, put on the top, and turn it on. A couple of minutes later: killer corn. Our favorite thing about the EasyPop, though, is how it functions as its own bucket: Just flip it upside down and remove the heating element. Showtime!
Photographs: David Clugston
Where to Learn More
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On a recent Sunday morning in the black township of Kwa Thema, near Johannesburg, a young lesbian couple went to church. Kwa Thema is one of many settlements that were created by the apartheid regime to contain and control the black majority population, and it remains isolated today. The two women, Bontle Khalo and Ntsupe Mohapi, are leaders of a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender organization called the Ekurhuleni Pride Organizing Committee, or EPOC. The couple formed the group three years ago, to combat rising violence against gays in Ekurhuleni, their municipality. They were concerned in particular about a gruesome crime known as "corrective rape"—an assault in which a man rapes a lesbian in an attempt to "cure" her sexual orientation. Another L.G.B.T. organization, in Cape Town, says that it deals with as many as ten such incidents every week. Since 1998, at least thirty-one lesbians have been killed in attacks that were motivated by their sexual orientation and many of which began with corrective rape. Few arrests have been made.
Khalo, twenty-seven, and Mohapi, thirty-nine, go to the Victory Fellowship World Outreach church every Sunday, accompanied by Xolile Dzanibe, a gay male friend who helped to found EPOC. Victory Fellowship is one of many evangelical churches established in South Africa in the late nineteen-seventies. Its congregation is mostly black. Although few churches in the country welcome gays, Khalo, Mohapi, and Xolile told me that they were accepted here.
Members of South Africa's L.G.B.T. community encounter widespread discrimination, even though in some ways the country appears to promote tolerance—its constitution was the first in the world with a clause explicitly forbidding discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation. The language was included in the 1996 Bill of Rights, which was introduced two years after the transition from apartheid rule to democracy, and was intended to address South Africa's history of prejudice and legally enshrined segregation. But, in a country with high levels of poverty and inequality, and few policies in place to reduce them, hostility toward "difference" has barely slackened, and crimes against gays, and women, have increased. South Africa, with a population of fifty million, has one of the highest rates of violence in the world—more than forty murders a day, on average—and the highest rate of rape.
Statistics from the International Criminal Police Organization in 2009 indicated that a woman is raped in South Africa every seventeen seconds, and that nearly half the victims are under eighteen. One woman in two can expect to be raped at least once in her lifetime. A study by the South Africa Medical Research Council, also published in 2009, reported that one in four men admitted having committed rape at one time or another.
In South Africa, lesbians face assault twice as often as heterosexual women. Lesbian rape victims speak of verbal abuse by the perpetrators, including shouts of "We'll show you you're a woman," as though corrective rape were instruction in gender conventions. Unpublished research by the Johannesburg-based Forum for the Empowerment of Women suggests that black lesbians, especially those who are viewed as butch, and live in isolated townships, are particularly vulnerable.
In recognition of male as well as female victims, the definition of "rape" in South Africa's penal code was recently widened to include not only vaginal penetration but "vaginal, oral, and anal penetration of a sexual nature by whatever means." Anti-rape activists are pushing for more legal reform: an amendment of the sexual-offenses act to allow for heavier sentences, and the introduction of hate-crimes legislation, which would address corrective rape. The 2006 trial of Jacob Zuma, the nation's President and the leader of the African National Congress, was a blow to their cause. Zuma, then sixty-four, stood accused of raping the thirty-one-year-old daughter of a family friend. He said that the woman in question had provoked him, by wearing a skirt and sitting with her legs uncrossed, and that it was his duty, as a Zulu man, to satisfy a sexually aroused woman. Such statements reflect the deeply embedded views of many South African men. After a two-month trial, Zuma was acquitted.
Aggression against gays is a clear illustration of the gap between the ideals of the constitution and the attitudes of the public. Only six years ago, Zuma called same-sex marriage "a disgrace to the nation and to God." (He later apologized.) At a ceremony in January marking the anniversary of a Zulu victory over British imperial forces, the Zulu leader King Goodwill Zwelithini created a firestorm when he reportedly called people in same-sex relationships "rotten." "Today, we are faced with different challenges," Zuma said, in response. "Challenges of reconciliation and of building a nation that does not discriminate against other people because of their color or sexual orientation."
As Khalo and Mohapi walked into the church, they were embraced by some of the women who were setting up white plastic chairs on the cement floor. The service began with a congregation of about a hundred people, mainly women and children, singing hymns in several local dialects. After they settled into their seats, the church's deacon, a tall, brown-skinned man, walked to the altar to warm up the crowd before the sermon, which was to be delivered by a visiting pastor.
"I'd like to say, you are all so special," the deacon said. A younger man in jeans and a white T-shirt played a soft vamp on an electric keyboard. "I understand that some of you may not comprehend that, when you are hurt, God has nothing to do with that," the deacon continued. "Our God is an awesome God. He has never failed us!"
He began singing "O Come, All Ye Faithful." Khalo and Mohapi rose along with the rest of the congregation and began waving their arms in the air, swaying back and forth, with a dip every few beats, and singing, until the deacon shouted "Hallelujah!"
He went on, "The Scripture says, 'Fear not.' Fear can torture you. Fear can imprison you. . . . Whatever you are fearing this morning, chuck it out! If the Lord has good thoughts about you, he is on your side."
For Khalo and Mohapi, the deacon seemed to be speaking to the phenomenon of anti-gay violence, and bolstering the work of EPOC. The group had recently organized gay-pride marches throughout the municipality, demanding justice for Eudy Simelane, an internationally renowned athlete, and Noxolo Nogwaza, a member of EPOC. Both were lesbians who were brutally murdered, in attacks that seem to have begun with corrective rape. EPOC is also investigating the death of Girlie Nkosi, a lesbian who, a relative told EPOC activists, was stabbed in the abdomen with a sharp instrument by a man she had rejected sexually, and died from internal bleeding. The police, however, say that they have no reason to look into her death.
South Africans first became widely aware of the violence against lesbians when, in April, 2008, Simelane, a thirty-one-year-old former member of the national women's soccer team, was killed. Simelane was one of the first openly gay women in Kwa Thema, and was training to be the first female referee at the Men's World Cup, in 2010, in South Africa. Simelane was on her way home after a late night out with friends at a local bar, when a group of men jumped her and stabbed her multiple times in the face, chest, and legs. Her body was found face down in a drainage ditch. The entrance of her vagina was badly bruised, and some of the stab wounds, on the inside of her upper thighs, indicated to the doctor who performed the autopsy that the attackers had attempted to rape her.
"The whole community was outraged," Khalo told me later at EPOC's office, in Kwa Thema. The office is a cramped room in the back of the modest house that she and Mohapi share. The walls are covered with posters ("Just Let Us Be Happy People!") and pictures of EPOC members marching in a gay-pride parade. In one photograph, demonstrators are carrying banners that read "I Am Stabane," an appropriation of the otherwise derisive Zulu term for a homosexual person.
Soon after Simelane was murdered, four men were arrested in the case. Her celebrity undoubtedly made it easier for the police to find the killers. "A lot of people were there," Khalo said. "A lot of witnesses weren't afraid to speak out." At the trial, two of the suspects were released for lack of evidence. The other two were convicted. Thato Mhpithi, twenty-three, received a thirty-two-year prison sentence, and Themba Mvubu, a twenty-four-year-old who had had Simelane's blood on his clothing, was sentenced to life imprisonment. He smiled as he was walked from the courtroom. "I'm not sorry at all," he told reporters, as friends of Simelane's yelled that they wished he'd been sliced into pieces. It was a dramatic end to a contentious trial: Khalo recalled that the police had expressed disapproval of the way gay men in the courtroom were dressed, and had laughed at spectators in drag. At one point, the judge asked the prosecutor about the use of the term "lesbian": "Is there another word that you can use instead of that one?"
The majority of South Africans subscribe to some form of Christian belief. This coexists with the remnants of traditional religions, which are imbued with patriarchal systems and ancestral notions of evil embodied in witches and sorcerers. During the apartheid years, when most Afrikaner whites belonged to the conservative Dutch Reformed Church, which excluded gays, homosexuality was a crime. Traditional black churches also weren't welcoming to homosexuals. That began to change in 1994, after the African National Congress came to power. Leading clergymen, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the anti-apartheid crusader Reverend Allan Boesak, supported gay rights. Although the Dutch Reformed Church unsuccessfully opposed any mention of sexual orientation in the new constitution, it eventually began allowing gays to hold positions in the church.
In 1996, President Nelson Mandela's multiracial government adopted a constitution that emphasized civil and political rights. Encouraged by the legislation and the national mood of liberation and diversity, gays came out in large numbers. In the years that followed, equality laws were tested and upheld in the courts, leading to equal protection for gays in the workplace. Sodomy laws were overturned. L.G.B.T.s gained rights in adoption, immigration, inheritance, and medical aid. They were permitted to serve openly in the military, and to have their sex change recognized on identity documents. The constitution mandated the creation of several state institutions to protect equal rights, including the Commission for Gender Equality and the South African Human Rights Commission. In the fall of 2004, in response to an application brought by a lesbian couple, the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the common-law definition of marriage must include same-sex marriage. In December, 2005, the Constitutional Court made any inferior status imposed on same-sex partners unconstitutional.
Most other African countries provide no legal protection for what many on the continent call "gayism." More than two-thirds of African countries have laws that criminalize consensual same-sex acts. Two men who held an engagement party in Malawi in 2010 were sentenced to fourteen years of prison and hard labor. (They have since been pardoned.) In Nigeria, the senate recently passed a bill that could impose a fourteen-year jail term on anyone who enters into a same-sex marriage, and a ten-year sentence on anyone who helps to arrange one. Vandals in Senegal, one of the more stable and progressive democracies in Africa, have dug up the corpses of gay men and desecrated them. Last year, a well-known Ugandan gay activist named David Kato was murdered. Earlier this year, one of Liberia's leading legislators introduced a bill that could impose the death penalty on homosexuals. And in Mozambique gays live under the threat posed by Article 71 of the penal code, which calls for "security measures" to be taken against anyone committing "vices against nature."
In recent years, South Africa—officially, at least—has stood in contrast to most of Africa. On June 17, 2011, South Africa introduced a resolution in the United Nations Human Rights Council, calling for an end to "acts of violence and discrimination, in all regions of the world, committed against individuals because of their sexual orientation and gender identity." It was called the council's first gay-rights resolution, and South Africa and Mauritius were the only African countries to vote in its favor.
In a speech in Geneva six months later, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged all African countries to respect gay rights, implicitly threatening to withhold American aid to countries that fail to do so. "Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights," Clinton said. "Gay people are born into and belong to every society in the world. Being gay is not a Western invention. It is a human reality." Clinton's statement was condemned by some leading African politicians.
This March, in a video message shown at a meeting of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an end to laws criminalizing homosexuality, citing seventy-six countries that have such laws. Leaning on a report presented by Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, who is South African, he stated that the constant violence against lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender people was "a monumental tragedy for those affected and a stain on our collective conscience."
Pakistan, in response, and on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Coöperation, led a walkout of Muslim states, arguing that the resolution would promote "licentious behavior" and lead to the "legitimatization of many deplorable acts, including pedophilia and incest." South Africa took a stand and prevented a walkout of African states during the debate.
South Africa's decisive move in the U.N. was praised by liberals as a moral and diplomatic victory, but it did not correspond seamlessly to the country's recent politics. In early May, the National House of Traditional Leaders—formed after the end of apartheid to advise the government on the interests and customs of various ethnic groups—asked Parliament to repeal the clause protecting citizens from discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation. The leaders were responding to the annual invitation of the constitutional-review committee—a multiparty parliamentary group—to submit suggestions for amendments, and they insisted that the "great majority of South Africans do not want to give promotion and protection to these things."
Patekile Holomisa, a traditional leader and an A.N.C. member of Parliament, who also chairs the constitutional-review committee, said that homosexuality was "a condition that occurred when certain cultural rituals have not been performed," and that gays should be taken to spiritual healers so that they could start to behave like other people in society. He warned that the A.N.C. could lose votes if it continued to ignore the values of its base by protecting gays.
The A.N.C. caucus pushed back against Holomisa the following day. A statement issued by the chief whip, Mathole Motshekga, emphasized that the A.N.C. "at no stage has considered debating this issue before Parliament."
For a historically conservative country like South Africa, regardless of its progressive laws, the shock of so many gays coming out of the closet at once was profound. Places like Kwa Thema and Cape Town developed a reputation for being friendly to gay men and women, with relatively little discrimination and lively night life. Still, gays who patronized the small bars known as shebeens often faced insults from straight men.
Dipika Nath is a former member of the Task Team on Sexual Offences and Gender-Based Violence, a group that the Department of Justice established after the murder of Eudy Simelane and several other gay women. Last December, Nath wrote an extensive study for Human Rights Watch, "We'll Show You You're a Woman," about violence and discrimination against black lesbians and transgendered men in South Africa. It was based on more than a hundred interviews, conducted in six of the country's nine provinces. "There are real gaps in just information of what sexual orientation is, what gender is, what gender identity is," Nath told me. "Coupled with that is a history of violence in the country." She cited a number of factors to explain the increase in violence, including mass migration of male laborers to cities, unsafe working conditions, and the legacy of segregation and apartheid policies that encouraged violent crime in townships by leaving them deliberately unpoliced. She pointed, too, to widespread firearm use, beginning during colonial rule and continuing through apartheid. Socioeconomic inequality has persisted in the post-apartheid era, as have alarming rates of unemployment, lack of educational and economic opportunity, uneven functioning of state institutions, and the devastating effect of H.I.V. and AIDS.
I asked Saki Macozoma, a prominent businessman and a former employee of the South African Council of Churches, about this period of transition. "We live in an age that one Xhosa writer called 'the generation of doubt,' with one foot in traditional society and another in some form of modernity," he said. He theorized that the fading authority of the clan, the unit that once instilled order in the lives of many South Africans, had created a "sense of rootlessness," opening the road to criminality.
At the EPOC offices, a woman named Lungile Cleopatra Dladla, from a nearby township, told me of the night she was raped. Dladla, a stocky lesbian in her mid-twenties, was walking home one night with a female friend who was also gay. An armed man, wearing a hooded sweatshirt, came up behind them and directed them to a field. "Then he undressed us," she said. "He tied us, and then he was going, 'Ja, today I want to show you that you're girls.' " He raped them both. "And then, immediately after, he dressed and untied my friend's hand and then untied my feet and then he walked. You could hear the grass—like a snake is walking through the grass. From a distance, he shouted, 'Now you can dress and go.' My friend untied my hands, I untied her feet, and then we started dressing. He even wanted to take my clothes, because they're man clothes: my shoes and T-shirt. He says he will leave the pants."
The young women went to the local police station, where, Dladla said, she was "victimized" again; the police insisted that she was not a woman. "They said, 'He's not a girl. How can he be raped?' " Eventually, a former classmate who happened to work at the police station recognized her, and the officers finally took down information about the crime.
Dladla told me that she had been raped once before, when she was six or seven. The perpetrator was her father.
About two years after she was raped in the field, Dladla started having trouble breathing. She went to a doctor, who sent her to a hospital, where she was informed that she was H.I.V.-positive and very ill. The H.I.V. infection was so far advanced, she told me, that if she hadn't been put on anti-retroviral drugs she would have died.
Dladla said her mother believes that she invited the rape, because of her homosexuality. Her mother has lost her job and has told Dladla she can no longer buy the healthy food that Dladla's doctor recommends. Dladla said her only solace is that her assailant was finally arrested and convicted.
According to the South African Medical Research Council, the number of sexual offenses that occur in a given year is nine times as high as the number reported. (The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that half of all rapes and violent crimes committed in the country go unreported.) In addition to shame, stigma, and fear of retaliation, victims of sexual crimes, like Dladla, have described experiencing indifferent, if not hostile, attitudes from authorities—a phenomenon referred to as secondary victimization. Dipika Nath's report indicates that South African policemen have also been commonly identified as perpetrators of sexual abuse.
Verdicts, too, tend to be lighter than advocates hope for. In 2007, a fourteen-year-old girl visiting from the United States was abducted while leaving a party and raped twice by the same man. The perpetrator could have received a life sentence but instead got eighteen years. This past February, four men were convicted of beating to death a nineteen-year-old lesbian, Zoliswa Nkonyana, after she left a bar in Khayelitsha, a township near Cape Town. It took almost six years to bring the case to court, and the men received sentences of eighteen years each. A news report on the South African Broadcasting Corporation's Web site called the sentences "heavy," but Nkonyana's stepfather said that he was disappointed.
On April 24, 2011, Noxolo Nogwaza, a twenty-four-year-old lesbian, was found dead in Tsakane, the township adjacent to Kwa Thema. Like Simelane, the soccer player, she had been at a bar in Tsakane and was on her way home with a friend in the early-morning darkness. At some point, apparently, she and the friend separated. The following morning, at about 9 A.M., Nogwaza's body was found in a ditch. It appeared that she had been raped. Her eyes had been plucked out of their sockets, her brain had split, and patches of her skin and teeth were strewn about. Although the neighborhood is densely populated, no one, including the security guards at nearby warehouses, came forward as a witness. Nogwaza's death, two years after the high-profile trial for Simelane's murder, brought greater attention to the increase in anti-gay violence, but there have been no arrests.
Captain Petros Mabuza, a rangy man with a genial manner, is the spokesman for the Tsakane police department. He said that at least five suspects had been taken in for forensic examinations but had been released. He speculated that the killer might have been drunk or on drugs.
I asked him if he thought that the case would ever be solved. One likely reason that no witnesses came forward at first, he said, was fear of revenge. Nevertheless, he told me, he was determined to find the murderers.
Mabuza admitted that his officers didn't have much experience with homosexuals, and that he was unprepared when, last November, L.G.B.T. activists marched on his police station, demanding action on Nogwaza's murder. He said that he was resolved to educate his officers about the trend of violence against lesbians, but that he knew of no other incidents of corrective rape in the area.
A few minutes away from the Tsakane police station, down a narrow alleyway, is the considerably smaller Kwa Thema police headquarters, an old brick building bustling with activity. The overseeing officer there is Colonel Matjie Johannes Manyathela. The Colonel's manner is as genial as Captain Mabuza's, and he, too, insisted that he knew of no other incident of corrective rape in the area. He was moved, he told me, by a discussion that he and Mabuza attended with local officials and leaders of the L.G.B.T. community, who told them that they were children of the same God. After the meeting, Mabuza said, he proposed setting up workshops to help sensitize the police and avoid further secondary victimization of rape victims by skeptical or hostile authorities.
Months later, no workshops have been conducted. Manyathela said that he spoke to his policemen after the meeting with L.G.B.T. representatives, telling them that they needed to respect the rights of homosexuals––rights, he reminded them, that are protected by the law that they have sworn to uphold. But Khalo told me that although EPOC had invited Mabuza to several meetings—including a memorial for Nogwaza—he failed to come, or even to send regrets.
Dipika Nath's Human Rights Watch report, she says, provides meticulous evidence of "widespread, if not epidemic, hostility and violence against gay people—a far cry from the promise of equality and non-discrimination on the basis of 'sexual orientation' contained in the constitution." Despite a lingering cultural conservatism, gay-pride parades are covered in the South African media, and gays have been featured in television soap operas. "Society," a show on the S.A.B.C.'s public-TV channel, had a story line in which a lesbian couple were attacked by men for behaving affectionately in public. The 2012 Mr. Gay World pageant was held in South Africa, and tickets sold out, although there was some controversy about the date, given that it would be held on Easter Sunday. (Mr. Gay South Africa came in second to the winner, Mr. Gay New Zealand.)
In daily conversations, however, many South Africans, especially men, maintain that same-sex relationships are "un-African." In a recent television special on corrective rape, the independent station ETV featured black men on the street saying things like "Sodom and Gomorrah were burned down because of this filth"; "It goes against nature"; and "We have lost our manhood because of these things." Another said, "These gay things ought to be killed."
Nath described the prevalence of gang rape in impoverished townships, a practice often referred to as "jackrolling" (after the Jackroller gang, which operated in Soweto in the late nineteen-eighties, and became notorious for abducting women and raping them). Not long after Nath and I met, a ten-minute jackrolling video went viral. The footage, taken and distributed by cell phone, shows a group of boys, between fourteen and twenty, raping a seventeen-year-old mentally disabled Sowetan girl. The girl, who doctors say has the mental capacity of a four-year-old, went missing for three weeks afterward. Her mother said that she had been raped several times before.
In Pretoria, I met with Juan Nel, a psychology professor and an L.G.B.T. activist who is also a member of the Task Team on Sexual Offences and Gender-Based Violence. Although Nel acknowledged that the recent cases of corrective rape "got the government to sit up straight," he told me that the national discussion about violence against women and gays should be broader. "The media have been very quiet when it's white men or black men who've been raped, sexually abused, assaulted, and subjected to grievous bodily harm," he said. Currently, the police are looking into a connection between the murders of eight gay men, all killed in similar fashion, in the small but populous Gauteng province, where Johannesburg and Kwa Thema are situated.
Tlali Tlali, the spokesman for the Department of Justice, has been involved with the Task Team since it was set up. He insists that the group is making progress, getting the government to act more quickly in making arrests in cases that might involve corrective rape and bringing them to trial. He told me that the government, in line with the demands of N.G.O.s representing the L.G.B.T. community, has embarked on a campaign to make officials in the criminal-justice system better aware of homophobic violence and to reduce the secondary victimization described by rape victims like Lungile Dladla. He said that the government is also determined to move faster on hate-crime legislation, and to promote tolerance through school curricula. But he seemed to suggest that the South African leadership had few illusions. "Based on our violent history, it may not be easy for us to overcome some of these challenges," he said.
When the service I attended at the Victory Fellowship World Outreach church was over, I approached the visiting pastor, Benjamin Mooke. I asked him if other branches of the church were as accepting of gays as the Victory Fellowship Outreach seemed to be.
He said, "We believe that Jesus, when he came, he was even able to talk to that woman," referring to the woman at the well in Samaria. "Jesus, realizing that this woman needed help, he didn't chuck her out. He said to her, 'Go and buy food.' And then he was left with her, and then he talked to her about the food and the truth was revealed and then she changed. We cannot fight the sinner. We don't reject that person. If we send him out from the church, where do we expect that person to get help? That person is coming to the church to get help."
I asked him if this meant that the church intended to undertake its own version of "correcting" gays and lesbians, and he told me that it was important to understand "what causes a person to be gay. What causes them to be lesbian. What causes them to be like that."
Undistracted by the noise that the cleanup people were making as they put away the chairs, Pastor Mooke continued. "We believe God created men and women," he said, but he added, as though speaking to the gay and lesbian community, "We have not made a stand, really, that we are for or against you." ♦


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Managing Director,
Global Head of Corporate Services and Real Estate
Services Division, Jersey City
Services Division, Jersey City
Joined GS
Hartford and Hebron, Connecticut
BA, Economics
Georgetown University Law Center
Tailoring, Activities at the beach with my family
I received a BA from Yale and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center. As a young lawyer at a large New York City corporate law firm, I worked with several investment banking teams on large real estate transactions and litigations. I was always impressed with the bankers from Goldman Sachs, and I decided that I wanted to change careers to become an investment banker with the firm.
I applied to several M.B.A. programs and when I was admitted to business school, I resigned from my law firm job. When my clients at Goldman Sachs heard that I would be leaving the practice of law to go to business school so that I could pursue a job in investment banking, they asked me to interview with them for a summer internship following my first year of business school. After eighteen interviews with representatives of Goldman Sachs, they made me an offer to join their Real Estate Investment Banking team. That offer came exactly one week before I was scheduled to start my M.B.A. classes. I landed my dream job at my preferred firm without having to complete another graduate degree.
I head Goldman Sachs' Corporate Services and Real Estate group. Our group is responsible for supplying a wide variety of services to the firm, including the real estate that the firm uses to conduct its business. Currently, Goldman Sachs works out of approximately 170 locations across 92 cities in over 30 countries. As the firm has continued to grow its business lines in several of our existing locations (e.g., Bengaluru, Salt Lake City, Singapore, Sao Paulo and Mexico City), as well as its business platforms in new locations, our team has been leading the charge in finding appropriate places for the firm to do business.
We are responsible for ensuring that all of the firm's businesses have office space, data centers and business continuity facilities to support their needs. Sometimes we develop our own facilities (e.g., 200 West Street in New York, 30 Hudson Street in New Jersey and data centers in London and New York), and sometimes we lease them. Next door to our global headquarters in New York, we own a hotel and retail complex. We also own sites where we might one day develop additional facilities.
Having a global role enables me to monitor different real estate markets all around the world. It also gives me exposure to a wide array of landlords and developers. Every market is different, with different dynamics and laws; this makes for a very challenging and energizing experience.
My work is very team-based. Members of my team are located in Jersey City, London, Bengaluru, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo. We would not be able to adequately cover all of the Goldman Sachs locations unless we worked effectively as a team. The most challenging part of the job is working with teams across several different time zones, where different languages are spoken, and where different legal systems and real estate products exist.
I have found there to be a wide array of opportunities at Goldman Sachs. In my 20 years at the firm, I have spent ten years working in Real Estate Investment Banking, two working in Real Estate Merchant Banking, and eight in Corporate Real Estate. In addition, I have also worked on a variety of real estate projects with Goldman Sachs' Special Situations group and the Realty Management Division - two other businesses that are very real estate intensive.
There is nothing more rewarding than helping the firm establish a business in a new location. Having Goldman Sachs employees enter a new office space and feel like they are "at home" is very rewarding.


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An economist friend drew my attention to this old Phil Donahue interview of economist Milton Friedman. I think it dates back to 1979 (the year I graduated from high school). It has gotten me to wonder what Friedman would say about this Occupy [fill in the blank] movement–and also how the point he is trying to make in this interview says about what the Occupy movement should really be about. Is it some inherent evil of capitalism that the 99 percent are outraged about? Is greed something you find only in capitalism and not in other economic structures? Is greed at all an essential quality of capitalism, or is it something a bit less evil–say, "self interest" in the utility maximizing or profit maximizing sense?
My daughter Emily (a freshman at Sarah Lawrence College) got me thinking about this last question. I have every incentive to pursue my "selfish" interests, optimizing with respect to market prices and my economic capacity. Does it mean I will not provide for my children or even other people's children, or animals or the environment–or that I will argue that my taxes should be lower and my own part of government benefits larger? No, it depends on what is in my own individual utility function–what makes me "happy." Part of what may make some of us happy is a more equitable income distribution. (Economists model "altruism" as having other people's utility levels embedded within our own individual utility function.) Capitalism and the free market system are not necessarily incompatible with a more just society. It seems we might be blaming the economic system when the real problem is probably the political system. Neither an economic system nor a political system can change one's basic human character. There will always be some not very nice and not very smart (i.e., not so "evolved" or "civilized") people around, but society doesn't have to fall because of them, depending on how much of a "say" we give them in our society. I don't think it's the "fault" of a capitalist economic system at all.
It strikes me that the problem with our political system is that it's become out of sync with our individual values–those "selfish" interests (is that different from "self interests," btw?) that aren't necessarily inconsistent with maximizing social welfare. Like Friedman says, there will always be many "greedy" people in any kind of society–just as much as there will always be many generous people in any kind of society. I'd like to believe that inherently, most of us are very "good" people. I think we're very confused people though. We don't know exactly what we want, and we don't know how to communicate it within our political system. We're easily told by our politicians and the media what we should want and value, rather than the other way around.
And then of course, there's always my pitch for a "benevolent dictatorship" that I could fall back on–emphasis on "benevolent." My daughter Emily points out that it is apparently the "feminist" in me that believes that that benevolent dictator would have to be a woman!
I find this question–exactly what are we outraged about and protesting about in the "Occupy" movement–so fascinating. I find this Friedman video so thought provoking. What do you think? Is it greedy capitalism, our dysfunctional political system, or some inherent human weakness in all of us? Please discuss!


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The Unfamous Paula Spencer Lyrics
It's like a meditation when I'm drinking tea with my sisters that I never even knew really. I'm trying really hard not to drink no more but I want to drive the wagon through the store. My name is Paula Spencer, with the gob you can dispense sir. I don't need a drink or you to walk me home cause I'm old now and damnit I don't care. I stepped young into this world and I got married. I didn't know what I was doing no one can really. That's when I started drinking with my husband see and getting seven kind of shit beat out of me. I'd terrorize my children for their own booze, they didn't even trust their ma to buy them shoes and when the kids and me are happy now and times are good, I want to hold them but I don't think that I could. Life is like a box of stale chocolates you can be sure of all the bleeding shite you'll get. But now I'm working steady and its going fine and I've yet to touch a single glass of wine. It's like a meditation when I'm drinking tea with my sisters that I never even knew really. I shower my kids with love although they won't trust me but it's as good now as it's ever going to be.


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Northwestern Wildcats
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Reunion Tower coupon
Coupon From
Reunion Tower
300 Reunion Blvd E
Dallas, TX 75207
Map it
Phone Number
$2 off General Admission to Reunion Tower's GeO-Deck
Receive $2 off an adult general admission ticket to Reunion Tower's GeO-Deck when you present this coupon or mention code "USFam"! From 470 feet up you'll experience breathtaking 360-degree panoramic views, high-definition zoom cameras, interactive touch screens, telescopes, photo ops and an indoor/outdoor observation deck that lets you see for miles in any direction. The journey begins in our PIX photo experience at the bottom of the tower. Guests are able to take their photo in front of a green screen and change their backgrounds to one of six images of the Dallas skyline. Next, guests board the elevators that are ready to usher them 470 feet in the air in 68 seconds to the GeO-Deck. This indoor/outdoor observation deck lets guests explore the city unlike anywhere else. Step up to the interactive touch screen Halo and with just one swipe discover local hidden gems, historic landmarks, museums, parks and much more. Ready for a different view? Head outside for a lap around the exterior deck and feel the wind in your hair as you stand 470 feet on the outside deck! For more information visit reuniontower.com
Aug. 31st, 2019
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As we have no control over your water conditions or acclimation procedure. The guarantee for shipping is live arrival only, someone must be available to receive shipment, if there is a problem you have 1 hours to E-mail a photograph of the fish in our unopened bag in the box it was shipped in for credit on your next purchase. No credit or refund on shipping charges.
As we have no control over your water conditions or acclimation procedure. The guarantee for pick up is you may inspect the fish you have selected along with us to confirm its health before leaving our warehouse. We will even show you the fish eating if you wish. We can not be held responsible for any issues of health or life after you leave our warehouse with your purchase.
Every purchase comes with PJ'S Tropical Fish support, If you have issues or need advice with any item you have ever purchased from us. Just contact us via email or phone(1-920-979-4542) and we will be glad to help you.


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Feb. 5, 2005
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Gonzaga's Anne Bailey hit a three with 42 seconds on the clock to break a 59-59 tie and lead Gonzaga to a West Coast Conference victory against Santa Clara in women's basketball action tonight at the Leavey Center. The Bulldogs then made four of six free throw attempts to seal the 66-61 victory and improve the nation's longest win streak to 16 games.
Michelle Cozad led Santa Clara with her first double-double of the season, netting 16 points and 10 rebounds, but the Broncos even their overall record to 11-11 and move to 5-4 in conference play. Ashley Burke led all scorers with a season-high 23 points and the Bulldogs improve to 20-2, 9-0. Bailey finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Gonzaga held a lead through the first half, and was up by as many as seven, but the Broncos stayed close. In the final 30 seconds of the half, Ashley Gonnerman kicked out the ball to Kayla Huss, who hit a three from the top of the key to half Gonzaga's lead at intermission, 31-28. Burke had 16 points at the break as the Bulldogs hit 50 percent from the field and almost doubled their advantage on the boards, out-rebounding Santa Clara 23-12.
Santa Clara made its move midway through the second half, and held Gonzaga without a basket for 7:16 on the clock. The Broncos went on a 12-0 run during that span, sparked by a Cozad lay-up. Santa Clara led by as many as five heading into the final six minutes of regulation.
Gonzaga's Shannon Mathews went drove the length of the court for a basket that tied the ballgame at 57 with 2:47 remaining. Ashley Graham hit a jumper to keep the Broncos ahead, but Gonzaga responded with a basket by Dominique Harris. A Bronco turnover set up Bailey's three-pointer from the left wing that gave the Bulldogs the lead for the rest of the night. The Broncos turned the ball over on their next two possessions and were forced to foul, where Raeanna Jewell and Shannon Mathews combined to make four of six from the charity stripe. A Tori Markey putback in the final 10 seconds provided the final score.
Huss and Tracey Walker each finished with 11 points. Gonzaga saw 15 points and six assists from Mathews, and 10 points and nine rebounds from Stephanie Hawk.
These teams, which combined for 19 three-pointers when they met in Spokane last month, made only four today. The Broncos, who lead the nation in treys made per game, accounted for three tonight.
The athletic department also celebrated National Women in Sports Day during this contest, with 60 youths pairing up with Broncos student-athletes to make posters before the game and enjoy juice and cookies during halftime.
Santa Clara remains in conference play and will visit the East Bay to take on Saint Mary's next Saturday. The contest will air live on Fox Sports Bay Area, and tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.


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RICHMOND, Va. – The VCU Baseball team placed three student-athletes on the Virginia Sports Information Director's All-State Teams as announced by the organization on Wednesday.
Sophomore outfielder Bill Cullen was named to the first team, while junior relief pitcher Blake Hauser and sophomore third baseman Joey Cujas earned second team honors.
Cullen, the 2011 VaSID Rookie of the Year, was just one of four recipients to be honored as a repeat selection. Cullen was an offensive force in 2012, batting .347 on the year with 27 extra-base hits, including nine triples. The nine triples hit by Cullen set the VCU single season record and finished the regular season tied for the lead nationally in the category. The Colonial Heights, Va., native earned third team All-Colonial Athletic Association honors for VCU, while posting a .987 fielding percentage (144 putouts, three assists, two errors).
Hauser recently drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 13th round, put together a strong 2012 season that also saw him earn second team All-CAA honors. The Chesterfield, Va., native made 30 appearances out of the bullpen, while posting a 5-2 record and picking up 10 saves. Hauser (pictured left) finished the season with a 3.03 ERA, fanned 66 batters and limited the opposition to a .136 batting average in 35.2 innings of work.
Cujas, a first-team CAA performer in 2012, played and started in all 59 games for the Black & Gold. The Midlothian, Va., native batted .390, roped 21 doubles and drove in 49 RBI. Cujas finished the season with a .963 fielding percentage on 38 putouts, 118 assists and six errors.


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Your pet could have a mouthful of trouble
Almost certainly any pet over 4 years old is in dental pain," said Dr. Tony
Woodward, who was just getting warmed up.
"People just think teeth look pretty or not," he said.
Woodward, one of only 110 board-certified veterinary dental specialists in the world, is clearly passionate about his work.
Ask the owner of Animal Dental Care in Colorado Springs about February being Pet Dental Health Month, and he's off:
"Nobody even knew it was a health problem until the last 15-20 years, even veterinarians." he said. "Most vets don't learn dental in veterinary school.
"Older dogs have pain and don't show it. In the last 15-20 years, we
started to realize a lot of things. A poodle can have 15 abcessed teeth. When we fix it, the animal acts younger.
"We now know that dental disease can cause other diseases in dogs and
cats: heart; liver, kidney.
"If your pet has gum disease, it will damage the liver and kidneys and can even cause infection in the blood stream."
Not to mention it makes it tough for pets to chew and causes bad breath – and "bad breath alone can keep pets and humans apart."
One of Woodward's central points is that unless dental x-rays are taken a
veterinarian won't catch all the problems because most problems are hidden under the gum line.
Another thing he wants people to know is that anesthesia is necessary.
"Anesthesia-free" dental procedures are ineffective and will not address
all of the problems in the animal's mouth, such as deep gum infection and
damaged back teeth, so be sure to talk to your veterinarian about their
dental procedure process."
People are scared to have their pets under anesthesia, but if it is high
quality then the risk is extremely low, Woodward said.
"Be sure your veterinarian performs pre-surgery blood work, uses IV fluids
during procedures,and monitors the pet's blood pressure constantly," Woodward added.
What can owners do to prevent dental disease?
For dogs, Woodward says avoid chew toys that can break teeth like cow hooves, pig ears, hard nylon bones, ice cubes, and large knotted raw hides, even though they can help clean teeth.
In cats and dogs, the most effective way to prevent dental disease is to brush the animal's teeth daily, use pet-friendly oral rinses, and allow them to chew bendable and flexible toys.
"The most important thing to remember is to take your pet in at least once
a year for an annual check-up and be sure a comprehensive dental exam
is included," Woodward said.
"And lastly, do anything you can to disrupt plaque," he said.
The Colorado Veterinary Medical Association, which provided some of the
information for this blog, calls on pet owners to celebrate Pet Dental Health Month from here on out by brushing your pet's teeth daily, getting
teeth examined at regular physical exams, and following your
veterinarian's recommendations for dental procedures and cleanings.
Animal tracks – Dog owners end up walking more than 23,000 miles – almost as far as walking around the world — with their pet during its lifetime, a new study has found.
The study, covered in an article by the Press Trust of India – has shown
the average person walks their dog for eight hours and 54 minutes a week, covering 36 miles; it adds up to ng 1,855 miles a year or 23,739 miles in an average canine's lifetime of 12.8 years.
The study by insurance firm 'Esure' shows the average dog gets two walks
of around 47 minutes plus one short walk of about 13 minutes a day,
totalling to 107 minutes and covering about seven miles.
Reach John Davidson at email@example.com


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Hierarchical Linear Models I: Introduction
Dr. Aline Sayer, University of Massachusetts Amherst
The hierarchical linear model (HLM) provides a conceptual framework and a flexible set of analytic tools to study a variety of social, political, and developmental processes. One set of applications focuses on data in which persons are clustered within social contexts, such as couples, families, schools, neighborhoods, or organizations. Interest may center on the magnitude of social contextual effects on personal outcomes, the context-specificity of relationships between person background and person outcomes, or interactions between measurable features of social context and personal background.
A second set of applications concerns individual growth or change over time, where time series data are clustered within persons. Interest focuses on the shape of mean growth, the variability in individual growth curves around the mean growth curve, and person-level characteristics that predict differences in growth curves. A third set of applications involves a combination of both of the first two types: persons changing over time who are also nested within social context. The goal is to assess the correlated and interactive effects of personal background and social context of trajectories of individual development. The course will consider the formulation of statistical models for these three applications.
Participants will be exposed to a wide variety of examples, with emphasis on the interpretation and reporting of results. Topics include an introduction to the basic two-level model for continuous outcomes, assessment of fit, checking model assumptions, single and multiparameter hypothesis testing, the extension to three-level models, and nonlinear models for binary outcomes. Participants should have strong backgrounds in multiple regression analysis.
This workshop is offered in collaboration with the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan.
Registration Info:
Registration for this workshop is maintained by ICPSR.
- Navigate to the ICPSR online portal. You will be asked to log in to your ICPSR MyData account. If you do not have an existing MyData account, you will be prompted to create one.
- PERSONAL INFORMATION will need to be added into a registration form.
- CLASS SELECTION: Select UMass courses by going to the 3-5 day section at the bottom of the course listing and clicking the appropriate box.
- FEES AND PAYMENTS: Make payment arrangements. You can either pay yourself or have an appropriate administrator (e.g., the Graduate Studies Director in an academic department) make arrangements to do so on your behalf.


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Need to find something in Edmonton? Have a question about moving, travelling or living here? This is the place to get answers from people who know.
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Corner Derby St & Kent Road, Pascoe Vale 3044
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Dogs - Basic health and care
Allergy season is here
With a spring in our step, there is a new found feeling of motivation to get back into being active. We all know what comes with this change in season… hay fever.
Boarding your dog
Leaving your pet with someone you don't know can be a daunting and confronting task however for some pet owners it is a matter of necessity. Here are some tips on how to select a facility for your pet and make their stay as comfortable as possible.
Bringing home your new pet
Bringing a new family member into the home is often a much awaited event for existing members of the family. However, there are many factors that need to be considered to ensure your new pet settles in to the family including introducing existing pets, house and toilet training and healthcare.
Can you hear me?
Our pets can hear sounds at a much higher frequency than us mere humans and rely on this ability for different needs. Therefore, it is important as pet parents that we familiarise ourselves with their ears so that we can notice any changes as well as prevent any infections that may develop.
Caring for your dog - vaccinations, worming, flea, feeding
Introducing the basics on pet healthcare for your dog from check-ups, vaccinations, parasite control, bathing your pet, socialisation and training, travel, pet insurance and things to watch out for.
Caring for your puppy - vaccinations, worming, fleas, food, desexing and more
Information provided to help you with all the necessary health care your new puppy will require, including vaccination, check-ups, worming, flea control, dental care, nutrition, desexing, microchipping, bathing, socialisation and training, home environment, and pet insurance.
Collars and Harnesses - Choosing the right accessory
Collars and/or a harness are an essential accessory for every pet and a fashion highlight for some too. It is however essential that you should choose carefully as a poorly selected and fitted one may cause unnecessary injury.
Desexing - about the sterilisation procedure
Surgical desexing involves removing part of the reproductive system of an animal whilst under a general anaesthetic. There are many different names to describe this procedure but the correct word in
Desexing - the intricacies of sterilisation
Desexing and neutering are umbrella terms for the surgical sterilisation of both male and female animals. Females are 'speyed' by removing the ovaries and uterus, and males are 'castrated' by
Desexing - the medical and behavioural benefits of sterilisation
There are important medical and behavioural benefits to consider when deciding to desex your pet.
Dog-ercise – you know it's good for you and your dog
Exercise is as important as feeding a healthy, well balanced diet to your pet. Not only will it provide essential health benefits but it will also provide mental stimulation and important social contact with other canines and people.
Early socialisation for your puppy
Ideally you should expose your puppy to as many of the things he/she is likely to encounter as an adult as possible. Whether it be with other boisterous puppies, excitable (friendly) adult dogs, children, loud people, loud noises or even the sound of traffic.
Ears - problems, cleaning and giving drops
Get familiar with your pet's ears, so that you know what they should look like. Look out for changes on a regular basis, note changes and find out what you should do, treat ear problems and learn how to clean your pet's ears
Eyes - cleaning, checking and staining
At home eye cleaning and eye checks will keep your pet comfortable and free from eye related problems. Homecare is particularly important for pets that are more susceptible to eye problems such as dogs with flat noses and cats with long hair that can irritate the eyes. White coated pets will also benefit from regular cleaning to prevent tear staining.
Feeding a fussy eater
There are many reasons why pet's turn their nose at the food bowl, and there is unfortunately no 'trick' to feeding a fussy pet, however here's some tips on how you can encourage eating.
Feeding and exercise for a desexed pet
Removal of organs that produce hormones will slow your pet's metabolism down.
Feeding treats to a pet with a prescription diet
If your dog jumps to the sound of the word 'schmako' or your cat lives for a special treat then it is likely you are one of many pet owners who are tempted to sneak their pet a snack. For most pets,
Feeding your dog
A dog's dietary requirements change depending on its stage of life, activity level and physiological state. For instance, a growing puppy requires high levels of many nutrients, like protein, to develop strong bones and muscles. Older dogs do not require nearly as much protein, in fact high-protein diets can over-tax body organs such as the kidneys and actually shorten the dog's life.
Feeding your puppy
The feeding requirements of a puppy vary depending on a number of factors including breed type, sex of your dog, age and their activity level. From birth to about 3-4 weeks of age, a mother's milk should satisfy a puppy's nutritional needs. From 4 weeks onwards a puppy will need solid food supplements.
Five tips for a healthy dog coat
Maintaining healthy skin and coat is an extremely important part of your dog's overall health. To keep your dog happy and healthy and their coat in optimal condition, just follow these five steps.
Flatulence in Dogs
Let's talk about a stinky subject that plagues doggy loving households everywhere; pet flatulence. We have all experienced that moment of shock during a snuggle with our furry family member, when suddenly a less than unpleasant smell engulfs the room.
Fleas - solving a flea problem
Fleas are tiny dark brown parasitic insects that infest the coat and skin of pets. Find out how to tell if your pet has fleas, how pets get fleas, prevention and why it is important all year round. The flea lifecycle and the products that can help destroy the flea lifecycle.
Flies - tips on how to stop flies annoying your pet
Flies carry bacteria and are capable of causing not only damage to the body of your pet, but serious stress and discomfort if not repelled. If flies have access to infected skin, they can lay eggs inside the wound and these eggs are what will hatch to become maggots.
Focus on worms
Both dogs and cats need to be regularly treated for worms. The most common type of worms are roundworms, hookworms, whipworms and tapeworms. Most of the time your pet can be infected with worms without you even knowing.
Giving your dog a bath and tips for shampooing
Shampooing your dog for the first time, or not sure how often your pet should be washed, and what about hydrobathing? Check out our tips for shampooing here. Thoroughly wet your dog all over. The
Giving your pet a tablet - hints and tips
From time to time your dog or cat will require medication such as worming tablets, or antibiotics. Giving tablets to your pet can be tricky business so here's a few tips that can help make medication time less stressful for you and your pet.
How to control the shedding
The most satisfying task to accomplish is getting the house nice and clean! We all enjoy that first sip of a hard-earnt cup of tea after sitting down and appreciating all your hard efforts. These moments are often short lived, especially with our furry friends around!
Inventive ways to feed your dog
Feeding your dog a balanced diet of both good quality pet food and fresh food, twice a day, helps your dog's digestion and gets them the right amount of nutrition.
Is your dog enjoying all the essential nutrients?
Where do we begin with nutrients for our curious canines? There are a lot of things we need to remember for our pet, vaccinations and parasite control to name a few, when it comes to food it seems like a whole new game. And it is!
It's time to visit the Vet
We have all been in that position before. Keeping a watchful eye on that one spot that our furry friend keeps itching. Then the internal fight begins on whether you should take them straight to the vet or are you just overthinking this?
Keeping away the Winter Blues in Pets
Hibernation season is upon us! As the temperature outside is dropping, all we can think about is getting cosy with our favourite winter blanket, a nice cup of tea and staying as close to the heater as possible.
Laparoscopic Spaying
For our female spays we can offer the option of minimally invasive laparoscopic spays (ovariectomy). Is laparoscopic spaying right for my dog? The Choice Is Yours Of course, traditional spaying is
Let's learn about nutrition
The world of pet food is as confusing as ever. From different brands to new and interesting treats, it is difficult and stressful to make the decision on what the best food is for our fur child.
Nail clipping for dogs
Understandably nail clipping can be a stressful if not frustrating time for dogs and dog owners. However keeping your dog's nails neat and tidy is essential for preventing potential breaks, tears, ingrown nails and soreness as well as other problems related to posture and back care.
New Year, New Vaccinations!
January is the month of motivation; we are getting everything in order to prepare for a prosperous and positive year. This new beginning is usually a reminder for most pet parents to get all their pet's vaccines updated...
Obesity in Pets
We all love our pets and without perhaps realising it we may be loving them to death. Sneaky snacks, an oversupply of food and a lack of daily exercise has made obesity the most common health issue vets see...
Orphaned puppies - feeding and healthcare
Raising an orphaned litter of puppies can be a time consuming exercise but one that is associated with many rewards. Puppies may be orphaned for many reasons such as rejection by their mother,
Problem Puppy Behaviours: The Do's and Don'ts
All puppies are super cute, but can also be very naughty. These behaviours can be very simple to eliminate, here are some tips to help you out with some common problem puppy behaviours
Puppy Play, Vaccinations and Diseases
Playing with puppy-friends in a new environment such as the local park or beach is a very exciting time for any puppy. However, there are a number of highly contagious diseases which exist in the
Puppy socialisation and parvovirus protection
You should expose your puppy to as many of the things he/she is likely to encounter as an adult as possible. Here's how you can have peace of mind for your pet's safety and give them adequate opportunities to socialise.
Scratching or itchy skin - does it mean fleas?
Irritated skin can be a result of many problems such as skin diseases, allergies, ear problems and other illnesses. However, it is a good idea to rule out fleas as they are extremely irritating and when left to breed and multiply, they can cause other related issues such as a flea allergy.
Skin - the difference between canine and human skin
The epidermis is the body's environmental shield that works as a barrier against injury, disease, and damage from ultraviolet light and is constantly replaced. Canine epidermis has a turnover rate of 20 days ...
Surviving the spring skin symptoms
Spring can be a challenging time for pet parents and their fur babies due to a range of symptoms that can arise from the warmer weather, spring flowers and a high pollen count.
The benefits of exercise for your pet
Dogs and cats are full of energy and that energy needs to go somewhere, otherwise problem behaviours may start and your pet will become more prone to health issues.
The benefits of preventative care for your pet's health
Your vet can give you advice on how to look after your pet, but as a pet owner the responsibility is with you to make sure your pets are fit and healthy.
The ideal bodyweight range for your dog by breed
Do you know what the ideal body weight is for your pet? Use this handy list to find your dog's breed and their ideal weight range. If you think your dog is overweight make sure you see use our body condition score report.
The importance of good nutrition for your pet
A balanced and nutritious diet equals a happy and healthy pet, but getting the right amount of nourishment can be a tricky business.
The importance of routine blood tests for your pet
Each year at your pet's annual check-up, your vet may recommend getting a blood test. Ultimately you have the final decision if you would like the test completed and that choice should be respected.
The Importance of Vaccinations for your Pet
Vaccinations are an extremely important element of your pet's health and wellbeing. This article will give you the reasons why vaccinations are so important in giving your pet a happy and healthy life.
Tick Paralysis
Coming into the wet season ticks become a problem in northern NSW and QLD, and there are a number of types of ticks.
Urine sample collection at home
Obtaining a urine sample from your pet can be tricky business. If your veterinarian or veterinary nurse has asked you to collect a urine sample from your pet at home, here are some handy tips on how to go about it.
Vital Vaccinations for your furry friend
The life of a pet parent can be summed up in three simple words: messy, stressful and (above all) rewarding. We would do absolutely anything to keep our furry child safe...
Weight - Body Condition Score
Is your pet a healthy weight? Use the visual indicators to select a Body Condition Score for your pet.
Worms and your dog
Worms can have a serious health effect on puppies, so intestinal worming should never be overlooked. As a rule, all puppies need to be wormed every two weeks until 12 weeks of age, then every month until 6 months of age. After six months of age an adult dog needs to be wormed every 3 months.


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No one can turn back the hands of time, but with the benefit of hindsight, we often wish that we had made different choices or had had information to help us make a better decision. Cory and Jah were diagnosed with HIV at about age 16. Now 25, they reflect upon five areas of support they wish they had received from adults that might have helped them protect themselves.
1. Offer Sufficient Parental Guidance
"I grew up in a very Caribbean family where I couldn't go to my parents about sexual topics, so lots of times you just try and figure them out on your own," say Cory. "If someone can just tell you these things and share their experiences, that would improve so much."
Having a parent who is open to conversations about safer sex and STDs, including HIV/AIDS, is extremely essential to a young person exploring his or her sexuality. Parents and other role models should strive to create a safe space for young people to share their questions or concerns about sexual activity -- whether or not the parent understands or agrees -- so that they receive information from people who love them unconditionally, rather than being educated by friends, the streets or others who don't have their best interests in mind.
2. Provide Holistic Sex Education
Both at home and in school, it's essential that adults provide young people with sexual-health education that extends beyond traditional heterosexual relationships. This can help them understand the risks -- no matter their sexual orientation or the behavior they engage in -- and protect themselves from HIV and other STDs.
"In high school, our sex-education classes covered the male and female relationship," says Jah. "I knew about STDs and even HIV/AIDS, but I didn't realize it would be among males having sex with males, or even females, for that matter."
3. Focus More on Life Skills
It's one thing to understand theoretically your risk of acquiring HIV/AIDS, but putting that information to use so that you make good decisions in real-life situations is essential to the prevention equation.
"Young people need to be equipped with basic life skills that teach you how to deal with certain situations regarding sex and relationships," says Cory. "It's about critical thinking. You have to think about it -- don't just rush into it."
All sorts of pressures and distractions can lead to bad decision making, especially when hormones are raging in sexually charged situations. Young people need the members of their proverbial village -- whether their parents and caregivers, members of their extended family, teachers, counselors or peer support groups -- to teach them reasoning skills and how to think clearly about the consequences that their choices hold.
4. Expose Them to Mentoring Relationships
"I wish I had mentors that could have spoken to me about HIV/AIDS and safe sex, as well as gay individuals in my community that could positively influence me to make safe and smart decisions," says Jah.
All young people need at least one individual to listen to them without judgment and give them advice from a place of experience. This is particularly important for young MSM of color, who are at extremely high risk of acquiring HIV.
Having an older figure to give guidance and advice, especially about sex and preventing infectious disease, can be life changing. Oftentimes a young person needs to go outside of familiar settings to receive insight free of judgment.
Says Cory, "I mentor young people now, and I simply ask them what they want to know because I know there are certain things they can't ask their parents."
5. Don't Gloss Over Sexual Facts
When grown-ups speak to young people about sex, they often sugarcoat both the facts and their experiences. But adults' good intentions aside, this type of selective sharing leaves young people with a distorted perception. It's important to have candid and honest sexual conversations with young people so that they feel confident that they know the truth about being sexually active.
Jah says, "I wish information was given a lot clearer so that I really knew how I could have better protected myself."
Adults cannot afford to be timid with youths when it comes to their sexual health. This is especially true with respect to young Black people. Adults have the power to teach them how to combat HIV/AIDS. But they must be willing to provide youths with specific facts in a straightforward discussion.
Aspiring journalist Lakin Starling is a senior at Spelman College in Atlanta.


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LezCab Holiday Gala Set for The Duplex, 12/16
LezCab is a monthly cabaret series of musical theatre songs written by, performed by, and/or about queer women. This month's cabaret, a holiday gala, will be held Sunday, Decmber 16th at 9:30pm at The Duplex in Manhattan's West Village. There will be a reception following the concert at West 3rd Common in Greenwich Village.
This event will feature out performers and writers, including Jana Fisher, Kate Foster, Sharisse Francisco, Anna Gothard, Laura Margaret, Linday Naas from The Lesbian Love Octagon, and Corynne Peters, and will be hosted by Maggie Keenan-Bolger.
The evening will be directed by Rachel Kunstadt with musical direction by Britt Bonney. LezCab is founded and produced by Grammy Award winner Thirza Defoe, Rachel Kunstadt, and Teresa Lotz.
The Duplex is located at 61 Christopher Street. There is a $10 cover, plus a two-drink minimum. For reservations, call (212) 255-5438 or visit www.theduplex.com. For more information on LezCab, visit www.lezcab.com.