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Book Two, Tales of the Black Court
"You will shed a tear, cheer and scream at your e reader while reading this book. The action is great and the love story takes a life of its own. Jessica weaves the best twisted fantasy."
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A rebellious prince, a reluctant witch, and a mysterious prophecy,
twisted together in a tale of Beauty and the Beast
Trapped in an underground palace Prince Kian must remain a beast, or give in to the queen's plan to strip him of his powers. But Kian refuses to submit to his mother's evil plan and is determined to escape both his prison and his curse—even if it means dabbling in witch's magic.
On the run for most of her life, Bryanna MacElvy has never learned to use her healing Gift. When she's pulled by Kian's spell into his prison, the prince sees the golden witch as his salvation. Refusing to let her, or to accept she is incapable of curing him, Kian offers her a terrible bargain—heal him, or give up her freedom forever.
Their lives entwined by fate, the prince must learn to love a human and Bryanna must learn to trust herself—or risk losing their freedom, his powers, and their passion, to the evil of the Black Queen.
Dare to enter Jessica Aspen's world of steamy, fantasy romance in book two of her fairy tale trilogy: Tales of the Black Court
"As a huge fan of fairy tales, I had no doubt that I would simply adore this series. What makes them even better and much more intriguing is the darkness that is woven so skillfully throughout them. Prince by Blood and Bone is the second novel in the ever so thrilling Tales of the Black Court trilogy by author Jessica Aspen, and let me say, this novel is awesome! The story moves along at a very rapid pace, easily able to keep me quite enthralled, much to my husband's amusement. Many of the characters were introduced in the previous book, and some new ones are also introduced, so it was a fantastic mix. I would recommend reading the books in order, as they each build on information from the previous novel. All in all, I absolutely loved this novel, and I believe readers will love it as much as I did." http://www.nightowlreviews.com/v5/Reviews/Hitherandthee-reviews-Prince-By-Blood-And-Bone-by-Jessica-Aspen
Add it to your Goodreads shelf today.
Hungry for dark twisted fairy tales of fantasy and seduction? Strong heroines and supernatural heroes come together, take on evil, and fall in love. Subscribe to my new release only mailing list to receive announcements when my latest in my steamy fantasy romance series Tales of the Black Court is released and download your surprise FREE EBOOK today.
Prince by Blood and Bone
Chapter One
Bryanna curled her head onto her knees and let her long blond hair fall over her face, effectively blocking out the burn of the Albuquerque sun, but completely failing to warm the cold, lump of loss in her belly.
Failing too, to shut out the arguing in the kitchen behind her.
"Mama, I've tried and tried to have a vision about Trina. You know I have. But it isn't coming through, and I don't know why!" Cassie's frustration sounded loud and clear through the open screen door. "We need to move on, we've been here too long and we're putting ourselves at risk."
"No." Their mother repeated. As if saying it over and over again would force Cassie to listen. "Trina knows we're here. If we move locations, she may never find us. We need to give her more time. It's not like you've received any visions of danger."
There was a moment of silence. And then her mother's voice quavered. "Have you?"
"Mama, it's been months," Cassie said. Even though Bryanna didn't want to hear what came next, she found herself holding her breath and listening, digging her fingers into the crumbling concrete of the stoop beneath her. "Trina stayed back to confront the faery queen's spy. She would have found us by now—" Another long moment of silence that lasted far too long before Cassie finished the dreadful thought. "—if she'd survived."
Bryanna lifted her head. The hot wind gusted, drying out her lips and blowing a stray tumble weed down the middle of the empty alley behind the house. It wasn't only the tension strung tight under their words that kept her outside, it was the subject itself. The loss of her cousin Trina had driven a wedge into their already stressed-out family. Now, not only had they stayed too long in one place, they risked losing what held them together.
Small, hot, infested with creepy New Mexican bugs, and located in a rotten neighborhood, the squat adobe house had to be one of the worst places her family had ever used during the last fifteen years of running. Bryanna poked a stick into the wide crack splitting the bottom stair of the back stoop and tried to focus on the sun, the heat, even the dusty smell of burning pavement. Anything but the rising argument going on inside the house.
Trina had never joined them at the safe house. Never contacted them. Never called.
"Mama, she's dead."
"No. I won't believe that."
Tears clogged the back of Bryanna's throat, and she felt like she choked on wet cotton.
She was supposed to be over this. She had to get over this. She was twenty years old now, and loss had become just another part of her sucky life.
It had been years since she'd cried like this, but losing Trina made her once again vulnerable and small—the lost little girl whose father had died and whose world had blown apart. The same little girl who'd had to leave toys and friends behind as what was left of her family fled the wrath of the queen of the faeries.
She stretched out her long legs in their short-shorts in an effort to add more color to her naturally pale skin. There was nothing for her to do. No decision for her to make or argue for. She agreed with both of them. They should stay. They should run. Either way, no one would listen to her.
"You said Trina would be alright." Her mother's voice cracked. "You said she'd be fine." Bryanna tightened her fingers into balls, her nails digging into her palms hard enough to draw blood.
"Things change. What I see will be accurate, but only for a short while. Mama, something's happened to her."
"I don't believe it."
"Whether you believe it or not, we need to move on, or risk the queen finding us." Right or wrong, Cassie always spoke as if the more firmly she said the words, the more right she was. "We're the last of the MacElvys, and we've survived the queen's purge only because we've been smart. Staying here is suicide."
An ant crawled over Bryanna's bare toe, cruising across her chipped, hot pink nail polish. The thought occurred to her that she should do something about the sorry state of her pedicure, but right now she didn't care. Right now none of them cared about much besides the growing knowledge that Trina must be dead.
While her mother and older sister battled it out in the kitchen, Bryanna leaned back and tilted her face to the sky. They'd make a decision, and she'd follow along. And anyway, even if she had a dog in this argument, it would take more energy than she'd had since Trina had gone missing to fight for her opinions.
Cassie's voice tightened. "Something's wrong. I have that heebie-jeebie thing crawling up my back."
"Nothing's felt right without Trina." Months of pent-up grief rushed out of Theresa's mouth and her voice cracked. "She's my baby, just as much as you girls are. I've raised her since she was little. I can't give up on her. I won't."
"I know, but…oh!" Cassie's voice cut off in mid-argument. Even the dry wind held still in the empty alley. This was it.
"Bryanna, hurry!" Theresa shouted.
Bryanna pushed off the warm, sunny stoop, and raced up the stairs. She wrenched open the creaky screen door in time to see her sister's eyes roll back into her head and her tiny mother springing to catch Cassie's long limbs as she collapsed.
Cassie's body jerked and went rigid.
The voice of prophecy emerged, thin and reedy and foreign. "The ogre hoard is coming. Flee! Now!" Her head lolled back, the riot of golden red curls blocking Bryanna's view of their mother's face. Theresa's body bent under Cassie's weight, and she struggled to keep her from hitting the hard Mexican tile floor.
Bryanna hesitated, the metal of the open screen door burning her hand.
"Run Bryanna, grab your kit." Theresa laid Cassie down on the floor. "This one hit her hard."
Bryanna edged around her prone sister and sprinted down the tiny hallway to their room and her nearly empty bag of pre-spelled herbal remedies. When she got back to the kitchen, her mother had Cassie propped up with a pillow. Cassie blinked her eyes and moaned.
Theresa held a wet cloth to her daughter's forehead, smoothing her long, red hair back and crooning soft soothing words.
Bryanna put on a kettle of water for the herbs before rummaging through her kit. "I think they're getting worse," she said. She pulled out the herbal tea they used for Cassie's fits. "We're almost out. This is one of the last packages of herbs I spelled last summer." She exchanged worried looks with her mother. The spells had taken hours and the tea was almost gone.
Theresa's brow knit. "I don't want to put pressure on you, but…"
Bryanna bowed her head and pushed the bitterness out of her words, "I'll try to help her."
She was a failure as a healer, and her family knew it. She was too young, too inexperienced, too inept. She should have had someone to help her with her Gift. Should have had more than some scraps of notes and the occasional words of wisdom from the few healing witches who had let them stay. Should have had formal schooling. Trina had had Theresa to show her how to be a green witch and Cassie's visions just came, everyone knew the Goddess favored psychics, but Bryanna had nothing.
No mentor, no training, no skills.
She spread her feet wide, closed her eyes, and inhaled, attempting to block out Cassie's panting and their mother's anxiety. She'd gleaned what she could from the one or two books that had survived their nomadic lifestyle. None of them had done much more than give advice on how to heal minor bumps and bruises. Psychic migraines weren't in the table of contents.
This wasn't working. She was too distracted by the pressure of her mother's expectations. She couldn't focus on her breathing, couldn't relax enough to open her Gift and draw power. Her sister needed her, and she was failing.
She took another deep breath and searched for serenity. A trickle of calm slid over her aura, coating her in a thin layer of peace.
"Get a bowl," Cassie panted.
Bryanna jolted. Her eyes flew open as her centering fractured.
Her sister's sheet-white face went an odd shade of green. Before she could react, her mother placed a bowl beneath Cassie's chin and lifted her up. Bile spewed from Cassie's mouth and the smell of vomit rose.
She turned away. Useless. She was useless.
Even if she got focused, she couldn't do much more than take the edge off of Cassie's pain. She was no better than a cup of her own herbal tea.
Theresa wiped Cassie's mouth. "Shhhh, sweetling. We'll get Bryanna's tea down you, and in an hour or so, you'll be right as rain."
"There's…no…time." Cassie tried to sit up, grimaced, and sank back, clutching her temple. Her green eyes were anxious. "The ogres are coming. Now."
"Don't be silly." Theresa shook her head. "You've always managed to keep us one step in front. There's time."
"No! I saw them." She clawed at her mother's hand. "They're here."
Bryanna lifted the faded yellow curtain and looked out the kitchen window. She frowned.
Small, run-down bungalows lined the deserted alley. Nothing out of the ordinary, just dusty dry yards, battered chain link fences, and another stray tumble weed kicking its way down the strip of dirt separating the houses. She went to the living room. The view out the front window seemed just as empty. She realized she couldn't hear anything. No kids, no cars, no people.
The tiny hairs on her arms lifted.
She let the front curtain drop. "There's nothing there, Cassie." She returned to the kitchen, crossed to the screen door, and pushed it open, taking another long look. Cassie was never wrong. The ogres would be here. Bryanna had never seen a premonition hit Cassie so hard, so fast. There was no way they could move her like this. She couldn't even lift her head without barfing, how could they possibly get her into the van and drive?
"Mama," whispered Cassie, as if she'd heard her sister's unspoken thoughts. "Mama, there isn't much time. You both have to go." She rolled into a ball on the hard tile floor, her drawn face hidden under her bent arm and loose curls.
"We aren't leaving you." Theresa's voice shook. She clutched Cassie's free hand, desperation and fear in her eyes. She spoke quietly, her voice tight. "Bryanna, make sure the doors and windows are locked."
Bryanna ran. With time, maybe she could center, and concentrate, and draw Cassie's pain. But Cassie said there was no time.
As she closed the kitchen door, she spotted a whirl of dust forming in the alley behind the house. The small spiral was obliterated by a lurid, purple mist that shimmered in the hot sun. The mist grew as tall as next door's dead fruit tree, and blocked the view of the neighboring houses.
Fear slid up her back and her heated skin went cold. She'd never seen one, but she didn't have to, to know they were screwed.
"There's a portal forming in the road!"
She raced from window to window, shutting and locking every one with sweat-slick hands, knowing it was pointless. The strong arms of an ogre would make short work of the thin aluminum frames. She wished they'd been able to afford a rental with protective grates of cold iron over the windows, like most of the neighbor's houses had. Iron was protection from gang-bangers, ex-husbands, and the fae.
"Bryanna, go to my bedroom and bring me the box from my bottom dresser drawer," Theresa said. "Hurry."
"Just go!"
She ran to her mother's bedroom and struggled with the sticky drawer, digging through socks and scarves, flinging them on the floor in a mad rush. Her mother had transported the box from house to house, carrying it as if it were capable of blowing up in her hands. Never letting anyone else touch it, forehead furrowed and tense.
Bryanna's hand hit silk-covered wood. Even through the protective cover, a quiver of power thrummed under her fingertips.
She took a deep breath and pulled back the heavy, black silk. Strange runic carvings blurred and danced. She blinked rapidly until their movement settled down, before picking it up. Electricity shot into her palms and she dropped it back into the drawer. Wiping her tingling hands on her shorts she stared at it, a snake nestled among her mother's black, white, and purple socks.
An infinitesimal pop hurt Bryanna's ears in a sudden drop of air pressure. She darted a look out the bedroom window. The purple-grey mist had grown larger and darker, coalescing and opening into something she'd never wanted to see, the swirling maw of a portal.
She grabbed the box, ignoring the electricity shooting through her palms and up her wrists. She raced up the short hall and into the kitchen. Cassie's drained skin seemed even paler, her feathered eyelids were closed, and under the old, wool navy blanket, her long limbs shook.
Theresa eyed the box. "I never thought we'd be this desperate."
Bryanna crouched down next to her mother on the floor. "What is it? What does it do?" She put the box down, relieved when her hands stopped tingling.
A huge roar sounded outside. Then another, and another, until the sound of ogres was so loud that Bryanna could barely hear her mother.
"Whatever happens, hold on to your sister." Theresa stood up. "Come along, Cassie, it's time." She pulled her sick daughter up off the floor.
Cassie leaned on her mother. "Go without me. I'll hold you back." Her skin flushed green and she whimpered.
"Nonsense." Their mother passed Cassie over to Bryanna and she staggered under her sister's full weight. "Here you go, we'll be out of here in a jiffy."
Theresa opened the box. From the crimson, satin-lined interior, she pulled out a silver chain formed of inch-long ovals. A golden globe, the size of a large apple, swung from the chain. She pulled the necklace over her head and a soft, shimmering light spread out from the pendant.
The glow brightened. Bryanna blinked at the glare and cradled Cassie's head against her shoulder, sheltering her sister's sensitive eyes.
The kitchen wall shook. Chunks of ceiling fell, peppering them in dust and drywall. Bryanna stretched out her fingers and tugged the faded gingham curtain aside. The hairy face of an ogre smooshed against the glass, its brown, leathery lips spreading out wide.
She jumped.
Fingers still tangled in the curtain, she held her scream down deep in her throat and clutched her sister as more roaring ogres, clubs gripped in hairy fists, poured out of the misty tendrils of the portal and filled the alley. She managed to open her mouth and make her lips and tongue move, the words slow and choked. "Whatever it is, Mama, we'd better use it now."
"Hold tight girls, and pray it works. It's really only meant for one."
Bryanna firmed up her grip on her sister, swallowed at the rank smell of Cassie's breath, and shielded her from the chunks of old plaster raining down from above. Her mother wrapped her arms around them both, pressing the tingle of the globe between them. The glow grew bigger, enveloping them in a sphere of golden light. There was a slight dizzy feeling and the quiet pop of a bursting bubble.
Then the falling ceiling, the old kitchen, and the bulbous nose of the ogre crashing through the window, disappeared.
Prince Kian, only son of the Faery Queen of the Black Court, and her seemingly eternal prisoner, pawed at the book on the long wooden table. His talons cut deeply into the old vellum, shredding the page and digging into the binding.
"I don't understand why it's not working!" he growled, and yanked his claws out.
The book hit the floor hard, smacking down into a puddle of ash and liquid that was all that remained from Kian's failed attempt at a witch's retrieval spell. The crowd of rubbery white hobgoblins at his feet chittered their distress, fleeing into the shadows to bob and lurk amid the ruins of the wallpaper. Kian pushed away from the table, brushing past the hovering grey gnome at his side, and flipping off the hobgoblins with his middle claw.
Beezel flinched.
Kian breathed through his nose and struggled for control. He paced the perimeter of the chamber he'd designated his work space, the claws on his misshapen toes clicking on the marble floor.
Just because his ever-loving mother had forced him into this distorted shape did not mean he had to succumb to the animal instincts threatening to overwhelm him. Even if it would feel good, oh-so-good, to take out his frustrations on Beezel and the hobgoblins, he would resist.
"I followed the spell exactly. This should be easy for me. Not only am I a lord of the fae, I am a prince of the Tuathan, damn her!" He leaned in close and waggled his blade-like digits inches from Beezel's cringing face. "I can't bring light and fire—children's magics learnt at my nurse's knee. I can't grip a sword, nor ride a horse, and I can't free myself from this hell hole…yet." He stood up as straight as his current shape would allow him. "But I am determined to make this stupid spell work and fetch someone here who can play chess!"
The shaking gnome leaned away from his caustic glare. "Maybe, the trouble is, you aren't being specific enough." Beezel's voice was small and hesitant.
Kian turned away, his muscles straining from the effort of not beating the gnome senseless.
As far as gnomes went Beezel was a waste. He lacked the tall stature of the Galentian Gnomes and the book-smarts of the Scalian Gnomes. He was a whining, cringing, ignorant common cave gnome, with bulging eyes and grey scaly skin. And he was the queen's spy.
He was all Kian had in the way of companionship. Or was likely to get, given how this particular experiment had failed. But maybe the gnome was onto something.
"Explain." Inches from the gnome's perspiring face Kian let his large, hairy jaws gape open, revealing his ivory fangs, and uttered a low growl.
"I m-m-mean, Sire, you're asking for a chess companion, but that's all you've asked for. There m…m…may be m-m-many to pick from." The gnome quivered in front of him. "Be more narrow in your request, and maybe the spell will be able to ac-c-commodate you."
"I hadn't thought of that." He backed up a little. "I thought if I left it open, the spell would have an easier time choosing. Maybe it cannot make up its mind." He resumed his pacing. "It's witch magic after all. Witches use spells and cantrips, maybe some visualization is what's missing."
"You've been able to work some of the witch spells, sir."
Kian growled. "Yes. Small, pathetic things, like making glass glow." He resumed his pacing, trying to get his bestial anger under control so he could think. He'd struggled to do anything in the witch's book. Even small child's magics like calling fire required verbal spells with the correct intonation, and something called centering that he didn't understand. The fae didn't need to center.
"Beezel, maybe the witches need more than the words, maybe they need focus. I've been treating these spells like things to recite—get the pronunciation right and it should work—but that's not how fae magic works." He swept the little gnome off his feet and spun him around in the air. Beezel clutched his spectacles, his face turning an even paler shade of grey.
"Yes, sir. Maybe, sir. I don't know, sir. Gnomes don't do magic."
"Of course you don't." Kian stopped spinning. "Fae magic is like blood pumping, like moving a hand. I don't have to think about it, it just happens. But things feed it, like food, sleep, and emotions. I've got the food." He swung the gnome upside down to look at all the beakers and jars on the work table. "I've got the means." He plunked the gnome down. "Maybe what I've lacked was the intention." He scraped the book off the floor with his talons, dropping it on the table where its savaged pages splayed out from its broken spine.
If he had to be specific, he would ask for a woman. An, intelligent, attractive sort of woman. Someone curved and sexy and real. The idea of smelling, touching, tasting the soft, scented skin of a woman…
His mouth filled with saliva and his paw-like hands shook.
"Beezel!" The gnome jumped. Kian coughed and got his voice back under control. "Get it ready. We'll try again."
He hardly noticed Beezel's sigh of relief as the gnome readied the powders and beakers and flipped to the right page in the shabby book. This time, Kian pictured exactly what he desired. A slender, shapely, blond maid with chess playing abilities. One who smelled good enough to eat.
And, though he hardly dared even think it, banishing the thought before it had time to appear, he asked for one with the ability to free him from his prison.
This time, the potion developed a rosy pink glow, which crept slowly out of the glass and became a small pink cloud. The mist coalesced and grew larger, filling the room with the rich scent of spun sugar.
Kian's pulse beat hard in his throat. This was better than the last time. Much better.
The cloud expanded, tendrils of mist stretched out into the edges of the room. Goblins shrieked and screamed, climbing over each other and racing from the chamber.
Beezel squeezed into a corner. Kian himself moved back from the now sparkling puffy wisps. No sense in getting caught in his own spell—he didn't want to accidentally turn into a woman. Especially in his current state.
He snorted, thinking about being stuck between a woman and this mashed version of man and animal his mother had stuck him with. If he'd been forced to deal with female hormones as well as his bestial rage for the last fifteen years, he likely would have given in to his mother's demands.
The glow grew until it filled most of the large chamber, his tension growing along with it. This was the best spell he'd attempted since he'd been imprisoned and his hopes soared.
The puffy high pink cloud shivered. The mist retracted from the corners, speeding into the center of the room until the cloud was a globular, gelatinous mass about five feet around, crouching on the floor.
He waited. Nothing happened. The hobgoblins snuck closer.
He sagged. "Fuck me."
It wasn't going to work. He, Prince Kian, master of the hunt, superior swordsman, and wooer of women, was a failure at simple witch magic.
Kian peered into the mass, but it had a thick, spongy quality that defied examination. Beezel crept out of his corner and huddled next to him. Together, they waited for something to happen, afraid to disturb it.
"It's worse than before. Nothing is happening, but we're going to be stuck cleaning up this gunk." Kian eyed the pile morosely and mourned his blond vision. "I'm going to bed." He turned his back on the mess. Beezel and the hobgoblins would clean it up. He trudged toward the door.
He was never getting out of here. His mother would let him rot until he died.
Beezel grunted. "Sire!"
Kian spun around.
The mass quivered and shook. It began to emit a low whine, the pink gelatin texture reflecting the lantern light on its now shiny surface. The shaking increased. The floor vibrated. Beezel ducked under the table and hung onto a leg, but Kian couldn't take his eyes off of his creation.
The whine increased in pitch. Kian covered his still pointed ears, crouching in pain as the pink glob exploded in a burst of light. Twinkling sludge spattered everywhere, on the table, on the book, in Kian's face.
He wiped off the gunk and stared at the tangle of long limbs and golden hair.
Beezel's mouth fell open. "Sire, what have you done?"
Purchase Prince by Blood and Bone today:
Hungry for dark twisted fairy tales of fantasy and seduction? Strong heroines and supernatural heroes come together, take on evil, and fall in love. Subscribe to my new release only mailing list to receive announcements when my latest in my steamy fantasy romance series Tales of the Black Court is released.


text: My husband and I met friends for dinner at the Bernards Inn over the weekend. The chef, Corey W Heyer, presented his fall menu which was fantastic to say the least! I ordered the sweet potato ravioli (sorry my picture does not do it justice) was out of this world! They were so delicate and delicious that you must order it! My cod fish was tender, tasty and wonderfully prepared. My dessert, which is what I live for - an apple tart with vanilla icream was soooo delicious. So I highly recommend you make a reservation for dinner at the Bernards Inn.

subset: commoncrawl


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THE growing problem with April Fools' Day is that the gags seem far more believable than the truths.
On Thursday, April Fools' Day, we received a press release that surely would end with "April Fools!" Instead, it ended with a phone number and website address for more information.
The press release heralded the coming of a three-game basketball series, this spring, one that will pit the Harlem Globetrotters vs. a team of current college all-stars. The games will be played April 25 through May 2 in Oakland, Detroit and Cincinnati. One will be televised on ESPN2.
Yep, having spent the last five months and two academic semesters running around the country playing NCAA basketball, a team of student-athletes will spend the last part of their second semesters – a time when other college students are preparing for or taking final examinations – traveling the country to play some more basketball.
More from the press release: One of the co-captains of the college team is Cincinnati senior Melvin Levett. Cincinnati, throughout this decade, has not graduated a single basketball recruit. Zero percent. Oh-fer-nine years.
The college's president doesn't seem to mind because Cincinnati has employed the same head coach, Bob Huggins, throughout this disgraceful period, a period that has seen UC's basketball team hit by NCAA sanctions as well as the arrest of several Bearcat basketball recruits.
Why should UC's president care? During this disgraceful period, UC's basketball team has been nationally ranked, the team has generated a fortune in TV appearance money, and its home games have packed the house.
But here's the kicker from the press release: A portion of the proceeds from the college all- star games will be donated to the United Negro College Fund. The games are in part being played by college kids during finals to facilitate college educations. *
APRIL Fools II: Thursday, April 1, marked the end of federal regulation of the cable TV industry. That led to widespread media reports that were almost too ridiculous to take seriously, except they were serious.
Most reports told of how the cable industry was now free to raise monthly subscriber fees.
Now? Where have these people been? Throughout the federally regulated period, prices annually rose two and three times greater than the rate of inflation.
Yet another report included a quote from a cable TV "expert" who said that the cable industry, because it doesn't want to again suffer federal regulation, won't be inclined to take advantage of an unregulated period by taking advantage of customers.
What suffering? If, during a federally regulated period, cable subscription prices rose greater than the rate of inflation, why won't they rise with the end of regulation? Federal regulation was a bad joke, an act rooted in political public relations and not consumer protectionism.
Cable rates will rise, and they'll rise by plenty. And when they do, the cable monopolists will publicly defend themselves by stating, "We haven't increased prices any more than what was done under federal regulations." *
FANCY Wins Again: A few moments after UConn's upset of Duke in Monday night's NCAA basketball final, and with emotions on both sides still spilling all over the floor, CBS cut from the live scene to present a taped package of players responding in digitalized slow motion to the final buzzer.
This couldn't have waited a few minutes? Not one person at the game would've turned away from what was happening on the court at that point to view this, yet that's what CBS forced upon a helpless national TV audience. Then CBS went to commercials. Ugh. *
RADIO As Visual Medium: Judging from the recent glut of advertising testimonials from WFAN employes for eye-laser surgery, working at WFAN is extremely harmful to one's eyesight.
By the way, the FAN staffers heard in the commercials received free eye surgeries in exchange for their commercial endorsements. If only there were ego-extraction procedures, I'd pay them. *
WE Didn't Do It, And We'll Never Do It Again: Our friends at Nike are always fixing problems that they swear don't exist.
First came on-site reports that Pakistani children, many younger than 12, were stitching Nike soccer balls for pennies per day while living in abject squalor. Nike denied the reports.
But then Nike announced that it was joining an organized effort among soccer ball makers to rid the industry of pre-teen workers.
Then came an ESPN "Outside the Lines" program from Vietnam that reported the high incidence of respiratory illnesses suffered by Nike factory workers who made sneakers. The report claimed that the glue used to construct the sneakers contained highly toxic materials. Nike denied the existence of any such problem.
Soon after, however, Nike announced that it would curtail the use of dangerous materials and replace them with safer substances.
And for years Nike has vehemently denied that its Third World factories employ workers at poverty-level wages. Nike rejected these claims as media distortions and fabrications. Its workers, said Nike, are treated just fine.
But last year Nike announced a new multi-faceted plan to improve the health and welfare of its 500,000 overseas factory workers.
And just last week, Nike announced that it was raising the minimum wages of employes in Indonesia to the equivalent of $29.50 per month, slightly above the country's new minimum wage (and roughly one-fifth of the retail cost of a pair of top-of-the-line Nike Air Jordans).
For problems that Nike denies exist, the company spends a lot of time trying to fix – or at least claiming to try to fix – non-existent problems.


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Ed McDonald
The Author
The Book
Ed 's Blog
More from Ed
5 out of 5 stars Compelling and Thought Provoking
Cyber War Attack! is a very compelling book. The characters are developed so well that they become vivid in the mind's eye while reading. The plot is one that is believable in our age. We depend on computers and electronics to survive in our daily lives. This book can make us gain some insight into what life would be like if all computers were offline and unable to have power restored to them. We would find ourselves without food, water, heat, air conditioning, means of travel. We would be, literally, thrown into the 19th century.
This book is very thought-provoking. Every concerned person should read this and realize that - even though it is fiction - these things can happen!
I am looking forward to the sequel to Cyber War Attack!
Mr. McDonald has given a cliff-hanger to whet the appetite for his next volume. Keep up the good work!
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D. Spencer
4.7 out of 5 stars I Wish They Would Make a Movie of it!
I love this book. I wish they would make a movie of it. I think this is one of the best books i've read in a while., Ed McDonald is a great with forsight, and I wish this book was longer. A great read
Cheznie Woods
4.4 out of 5 stars A Great Book! I Pictured Myself There with the Characters.
What a great book! The writing and editing were just excellent. This book took me to another place. I easily pictured myself right there in Arizona with the characters. IIt actually had plenty of things going on in the story to keep me turning pages.
Royce Ramal
5 out of 5 stars
A Realistic Scenario with Realistic Characters
This is a very realistic possibility, well presented. A real protagonist who would probably love to do exactly what the book describes. Having lived in Tucson, where much of the story is set, the "stage" was very familiar. The characters are well developed. The good guys are good, while at the same time believably human. The bad guys are entertainingly scumbags. And while it's a suspense thriller with action, at the same time it's a story about people.
I'm waiting for the next book in the series, to find out what happens next!
William R. Penning


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An expert on church-state relations will be the guest speaker Thursday at the annual Brotherhood Luncheon sponsored by south Broward religious organizations.
The Rev. Dr. Charles V. Bergstrom of the Lutheran Council Office for Governmental Affairs, based in Washington, D.C., will speak at noon at the Orangebrook Country Club, 450 Estrada Drive.
Sponsoring the luncheon is the Inter-Faith Council of Greater Hollywood in cooperation with the Greater Hollywood Ministerial Association, Hollywood City Commission, Jewish Federation of South Broward, South Broward Council of Rabbis and the South Broward Deanery of the Archdiocese of Miami.


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We're back with season 3 with the one and only, Jovian Zayne! She is a leadership and professional development coach, and the founder of the On Purpose Movement. If you've ever wondered how to discover your purpose and how to live it out, this episode is for you!
Listen to the episode below or subscribe on iTunes.
Our 3 Key Conversation Topics:
- We all have internal narratives that define how we live our lives and spend our time. These narratives are incredibly important to explore
- Breadcrumb experiences, the experiences that aren't necessarily our calling, lead us to our bigger purpose, i.e. we need to get comfortable with pivoting
- Let go of this idea of needing to figure out your passion
Abide App - iPhone version & android version
On Purpose Movement - Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Want more from Jovian?
Instagram: @JovianZayne
Want more from me?
Join our squad & Subscribe on iTunes
Instagram: @Hiwote.g


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Summer Camps Change Lives
Energize, Strategize, Maximize
Steve's unique blend of camp and teaching experience make him the perfect fit to train your resident or day summer camp. He offers Pre-Season Training, Mid-Summer Slump / Energize Training, C.I.T. Training and Full / Half Day Camp Evaluations. Steve has worked with over 800 different summer camps across the United States since 2004 and has a strong following of loyal clients.
Steve's pre-season staff week trainings are incredibly popular. They are an awesome blend of professional content, humor and experiential learning that all of your staff will better for having experienced. It is a unique mix of moving, audio-visual, small group work and large group dynamics that sets Steve's work apart from others.
Keynote Address/Conference Speaker
Keep It Simple
Steve is a nationally recognized Keynote speaker, having given over 100 Keynote addresses to camp conferences and school districts across the United States. His "Keep it Simple" message blended with his humor and perspective are the perfect fit for your conference!
Full & Half Day Camp EVALUATIONS
Sometimes when all we see is ourselves, we lose sight of who we are.
Are you ready to open the doors of your camp and make your entire organization better for doing so? If so, this is the best investment you can possibly make in your camp. Steve has worked with over 800 summer camps in the last 14 years and while no one has "seen it all", he certainly has seen a lot. Steve will spend a half day or an entire day at your camp WHILE CAMP IS IN SESSION WITH KIDS! (from breakfast until the end of evening program for overnight camps or from drop off to pick up for day camps) He will observe your staff interacting with kids, your physical plant and the general infrastructure of your camp. He will meet with the admin team and will even meet with your staff to do a motivator if you want. Your camp will receive a detailed analysis and write from Steve about his observations. His clients refer to this as "can't miss" program that pay huge dividends for years to come!
Pre-Season Staff Training: Full and Half Day
'Back to Basics'
In either a half-day program (up to 3 hours) or a full-day program (up to 6 hours) Steve covers the following topics with your staff and much much more . . . goal setting, effective communication with kids, staff and parents, tone and body language interpretation, how to work with difficult campers/staff, team dynamics, team building, safety, customer service, excellent teaching pedagogy, the magic our working at camp and many more . . . Steve's loyal clients swear by his work to start the summer.
Mid-Summer Slump/Energize Staff Training
Like Caffeine for Your Staff
Bring Steve back to your camp or bring him to your camp for the first time in the middle of the summer. He is exactly the "shot in the arm" that every staff needs to finish the summer strong. He covers similar topics to his pre-season training, but adds in a little more a motivational angle to keep your staff inspired to finish their summer strong!
CIT Training
Counselor In Training (or whatever you call your young leadership program)
The strength of your C.I.T. program will determine the strength of your camp staff in the future. Steve facilitates either a half-day or a full-day young leadership training that is one of the best in the business. He will help your young leaders see how important their work is with kids as well as understand the serious and impactful nature of their work as role models for kids. He does this through his typical high energy and positive approach to leadership.


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Foot insoles are one of the most overlooked accessories when it comes to footwear. Despite how they seem, foot insoles actually play a very important role. It has been the basic idea that our footwear gives our feet full protection. However, as we walk around our feet can actually be put under shock and pressure which over time can result in foot complications. The insoles in our footwear are important as they are made to make our shoes more comfortable and give better protection to our feet.
Having proper foot insoles is beneficial to the health of the wearer's feet and they can add more comfort to walking and reduce any stress from doing daily activities when wearing shoes. Ordinary foot insoles are usually enough for your feet, but there are better choices out there. Orthotic foot insoles are specially designed foot insoles that make your feet feel a lot more comfortable and come with other benefits. Here are five reasons why you should wear orthotic foot insoles.
- Orthotic foot insoles help reduce the risk of developing foot complications – Orthotic foot insoles are created using materials that have high quality. This helps keep the wearer's feet comfortable which in turn prevents any foot complications from developing. With a good build quality, the orthotic foot insole will be great in absorbing a lot of impact from running, walking, or even standing which prevents any pain or discomfort.
- Orthotic foot insoles improve the flexibility of your feet – The tissue in the heel of your foot can be thin and any impact from movement during the gait cycle will subject the foot to lots of pressure and shock. If this continues on gradually, the foot will be less flexible. By wearing orthotic foot insoles, the shock and pressure hitting the heel of your foot is reduced keeping your feet flexible.
- Orthotic foot insoles help to correct existing complications of the feet – Foot insoles aren't only good for preventing foot complications. If the wearer already has foot complications, they can rely on foot insoles to correct them. Orthotic foot insoles can be specifically designed for the wearer to correct any anomaly in the feet and biomechanical structure of the wearer. However, a medical professional should first be consulted beforehand.
- Orthotic foot insoles enhance the comfort of the wearer's shoes – Orthotic foot insoles are built using high quality materials allowing them to give great support and cushioning to the shoes of the wearer. This can make the wearer's footwear a lot better in terms of comfort. Since they reduce the shock your feet feel during movement, you will obviously feel more comfortable wearing orthotic foot insoles in your shoes.
- Orthotic foot insoles make you shoes last longer – Not only are orthotic foot insoles beneficial for the wearer's feet, they are also good for the wearer's footwear. Having orthotic foot insoles extends the lifespan of one's shoes because of the way they reduce impact and keep the wearer's feet in proper shape which in turn, maintains the shape and look of the shoes being worn.


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We've set your shipping destination to:
Prices vary based on delivery destination (it's a tax thing), so please change it if you're not shipping within United States as it might affect the price!
Order now for a chance to win!
online - get a response within seconds
We deliver nearly everywhere within days
Oh, and they never expire...
A 2010 Vintage from well-known wine producer Jacob's Creek. More info
Shiraz Cabernet - superb with a nice hot chilli. Use some chocolate too. That's my tip. More info


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Most of us Samsung Galaxy Alpha owners are probably already a bit miffed at having paid full price for a device that is now available for less than half of it's original retail price. Having said that there is no doubting that it is the best phone in it's class by a country mile.
The problem lays here… I can't help feeling like we are being treated like second class citizens by Samsung. We pay a small fortune for a device that was the same price as Samsung's flagship model the Galaxy S5 when it was released and yet we are STILL waiting for an update that other devices got LAST YEAR!!! More than half a year later!
I don't want to use software to root my phone. I don't want to use a foreign version of the update and change the language settings. I don't want to use Samsung Kies to update a non legitimate version of the software. What we need Samsung.. Is to be treated like an owner of a premium device. A device that we paid you good money for.
Rant over.
Here are some essential downloads for anyone who doesn't feel the same way that I do but still wan't the update:
Samsung Kies: http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/usefulsoftware/KIES/
Odin Download: http://odindownload.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUIK2w5t85Y


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Yesterday we went to the park to celebrate my niece Kendall's 1st birthday. Isn't she cute!?
Both of Kendall's parents are way talented behind the camera! Her daddy, Andrew, took this shot. Andrew studied cinematography at The L.A. Film School and is actually working on a short film project, called Billy Brown, that when completed will be entered into the Atlanta Film Festival. Check it out:
You can read more about the project here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/billybrown/billy-brown-short-film. And if interested you can become a backer of the film. (Um, if I were you I would go ahead and get in on this project so that when Andrew makes it big in L.A. you can say your name is in the credits of his first film festival entry). Just sayin.
Thanks for stopping by! :)


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Welcome to "Ask a Hottie," Break's weekly column in which I become increasingly sad for the state of romantic relationship in today's world. Not because we live in a society where hookup culture has become the practiced norm, but because most of these people who send me questions are a few cents short of a dollar. That's putting it nicely, as this week's question involves some light stalking, misplaced anger and the friendzone. For those of you playing Ask a Hottie Bingo at home, congrats – there's three chips for you and we haven't even gotten to the question yet.
Obligatory photo of myself done and over with, here we go!
Got a question you'd like answered? Email firstname.lastname@example.com!
Q: I've been friends with "Annie" for about five years. We go out all the time, talk every day and have lots of common interests that we share even though we live on the opposite sides of our city. When we first became friends, I had a crush on her but realized that she had quickly put me into the friendzone. I managed to hide my feelings and push them away since she told me she did not return them, and that if I continued to behave this way she would no longer be friends with me.
Annie started dating "Jake" two months ago. Jake is not good for Annie. He is rude, arrogant and thinks he's too cool for working as an investment banker, though he acts like the perfect gentlemen around everyone. Annie is over the moon for him but I know they are not a good fit. I saw them at her house the other day and it looked like they were arguing, and Annie has been weird around me lately.
I asked Annie what has been wrong, and she told me that she's noticed I have feelings for her and that we should maybe take time apart from our friendship. Admittedly, I did not react well to this and asked her if Jake was talking shit about me behind my back and denied having any feelings. She said it had nothing to do with Jake and that she came to this decision on her own.
This is heartbreaking. How do I get Annie to realize she's being manipulated by Jake and save our friendship?
A: Repeat after me:
- No one is obligated to be your friend
- No one is obligated to be your friend
- No one is obligated to be your friend
You hear that? It's the sound of rational, sound advice entering your eardrums. Kind of tinny and the sound quality is borderline shit, but you'll do well to remember it the next time you go and act like a Mr. Nice Guy.
What's a Mr. Nice Guy, you ask? A Mr. Nice Guy is a dude who is your friend on paper and to your face, but the moment the girl either gets wifed up or says she's not interested in him, he turns into a dick and gets so passive aggressive it's like he's reverted into a 13-year-old girl.
That, my friend, is you. You had feelings for Annie and knew she didn't reciprocate, so you buried them down deep in the hopes that one day she'd come around. Spoiler alert: she didn't. And at the rate you're going she probably never will, but you know what? I think you already know that.
Why? Because it feels like you're leaving out information in your question to make yourself look better, but since I've been the Annie in your story more times than I can count I can tell when there's bullshit being thrown around. Like when you said "Jake is not good for Annie. He is rude, arrogant and thinks he's too cool for working as an investment banker, though he acts like the perfect gentlemen around everyone" – well, which is it? Is he a gentleman or is he a douche? From what it sounds like, you're the only one who thinks he sucks, and you're drawing that conclusion from the fact that he works in finance and is a "perfect gentleman" to everyone around him. You think this is some elaborate ruse on his part to fool everyone and then pop out at the end like "MORONS, I actually AM a giant douchebag!! DON'T YOU ALL FEEL STUPID NOW???" Please – you're making up faults in this guy because he's with the girl you wish you had.
And y'know, there's always the chance that Jake acted shitty around you while Annie wasn't present to see it, but had that happened you probably would've mentioned it. Instead, you told us that you and Annie live on opposite ends of your city but that you saw her and Jake arguing at her house the other day – um, why are you driving by her house? She doesn't live near you. Why are you lingering on her property long enough to see her fighting with her boyfriend? Wait, I KNOW – it's because you're a Mr. Nice Guy who is slowly unraveling into the same douche that you think Jake is pretending to not be. Oh how the turn…tables.
Oh, and let me point out that you don't know that Jake is the one who told Annie to not be your friend anymore. For all we know he is! But you don't. We don't. And so to assume that Jake is the reason behind Annie dumping you rather than that she came to that conclusion on her own is a little offensive – she threatened to burn your friendship once in the past, why can't she follow through in the present? You've demonized this guy into being the boogeyman between the two of you when the reality is that YOU'RE the boogeyman, not him.
If you've made it this far, congrats – but I already told you the solution to your problem, which was to come to the sobering realization that no one is obligated to be your friend. If that's not good enough, my second piece of advice is to apologize to Annie for being a Mr. Nice Guy and tell her that if she ever needs someone to talk to, you'll be there. Other than that, fuck off and download a Tinder or something. Annie is not going to be the "one who got away" because you never actually had her in the first place, so instead of pining away why don't you take matters into your own hands and find someone who actually likes you. Just try not to drive by her house at random hours during the day – maybe it's just me, but I don't think any girl wants a guy who includes "Casual Stalking" on his resume.
Got a question you'd like answered? Email email@example.com!


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I'm getting a new ASUS USB-AC68 Dual-band AC1900 USB 3.0 Wifi Adapter and new router LINKSYS EA7300 MAX-STREAM™ AC1750 MU-MIMO GIGABIT WI-FI ROUTER......Wireless speeds up to 1700 Mbps........up to 1300 Mbps for 5 GHz........up to 450 Mbps for 2.4 GHz/5 GHz.
Now my question is the speeds Spectrum has. If I'm understanding it right, the highest speed is 50Mbps, I have the 20MBPs now so even with the new equipment I won't get any faster speeds?
Solved! Go to Solution.
Why are you wasting your money?
Your speeds are limited by what you're paying for.
@debgram wrote:
I'm getting a new ASUS USB-AC68 Dual-band AC1900 USB 3.0 Wifi Adapter and new router LINKSYS EA7300 MAX-STREAM™ AC1750 MU-MIMO GIGABIT WI-FI ROUTER......Wireless speeds up to 1700 Mbps........up to 1300 Mbps for 5 GHz........up to 450 Mbps for 2.4 GHz/5 GHz.
Those speeds are for marketing purposes ONLY, and are NOT what you'll ever get in the real world.
Ok I see that now. I do need to upgrade my router it's like 6+ years old already. When the new adapter comes in I'll return that one and for the same price I can get a different router and network adapter.
Linksys Wireless N750 Dual-Band Router
Linksys AE3000 IEEE 802.11n USB WiFi Adapter
I did notice that the other internet providers don't offer much over 100Mbps. Why don't they offer higher?
Speeds over 100 meg?
Because they can't afford the infrastructure to do so and there is really no need for more than 10 megs per device. higher speeds = eratic packet transfers
okay then why do these companies make routers and network adapters handling those high speeds? People buy these products and claim their speeds are better. I do research before I buy anything and the internet speed stuff has me a bit confused.
And the marketing departments of those device manufacturers are very happy that you don't understand that your router doesn't need to be able to handle multiple gigabits of data sent between your various devices when the speed of your internet connection itself is less than 100 Mbps. Faster isn't always better!
I have Spectrum formally Time-Warner, I was paying 59.99 for basic internet, when Spectrum took over they gave you another 5 gigs so I was getting 20 gig for $60.00. I was looking on Spectrum website and was able to change to 60 gigs for $64.99. I didn't have to change email which I figured they shoudn't. They also have a 100 gigs for 104.99. Using the 60 gigs now and wow it is way better. After doing research on all those routers and their claimed speed, I can't imagine a 1300 gig internet speed, it seems to unreal.
You guys opened my eyes to look further into this, thanks for all your help.
Only reason is for people running a network drive or to copy everything from one machine to another.
But, even then, I've tried to copy using USB3 and found the limiting factors were the drives and processors themselves and not the USB3 link.
USB3 is 200 megs or so


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ProfNet Experts Available on CBD for Restoring Balance In the Body, The Art of Empowerment, Combating Hate In America, and more
Also in This Edition: Jobs for Writers, Media Industry News
Aug 16, 2019, 16:25 ET
NEW YORK, Aug. 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Below are experts from the ProfNet network who are available to discuss timely issues in your coverage area.
You can also submit a query to the hundreds of thousands of experts in our network – it's easy and free. Just fill out the query form to get started: http://prn.to/queryform
- CBD for Restoring Balance In the Body
- The Art of Empowerment
- Combating Hate In America
- 2 Tips for Moving with Kids
- The Geometry of Your Pillow
- Media Insider News
- Blog Profiles: Veterinarian Blogs
CBD for Restoring Balance In the Body
Bryanna Fissori
Receptra Naturals
"We live in a stressful time that encompasses not only mental stress, but also physical stressors like environmental toxins or genetic defects that throw the body out of its ideal rhythm. Homeostasis refers to the concept that a body or cell will work to monitor and maintain a certain state of equilibrium in response to various factors. The endocannabinoid system works to maintain homeostasis by using cannabinoid receptors to monitor reactions in the body. When a discrepancy is detected, cannabinoids are synthesized to interact with receptors. Then they stimulate a chemical response to address the issue. CBD interacts with the endocannabinoid system to keep the body in balance. Though eating correctly and minimizing exposure to toxins can also help promote homeostasis, taking CBD is something that virtually everyone can do to optimize balance and wellness."
Bryanna Fissori is a spokesperson for Receptra Naturals, a family-owned Colorado hemp CBD extract company that uses organic farming practices and is dedicated to improving quality of life worldwide. She is also a national and international professional MMA and boxing competitor. Bryanna is the team captain for one of the top female MMA teams in the nation, and she teaches free women's self-defense classes. Her dedication to physical fitness is a perfect fit for her role at Receptra supporting health and wellness and active lifestyle communities.
Bryanna holds a Juris Doctorate from California School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Business from California State University, Chico. She has been writing professionally since age 17 and has well over two decades of competitive speaking, marketing, and debate experience. Originally from Northern California, she now resides in Colorado. Learn more at www.ReceptraNaturals.com.
Online Press Kit: https://receptranaturals.onlinepresskit247.com
Website: https://receptranaturals.com
Contact: Michelle Tennant, email@example.com
The Art of Empowerment
Crystal Andrus Morissette
Author, communication expert, founder
S.W.A.T. Institute
"Empowerment is an art in and of itself. It requires us to be mindful, aware, courageous, and assertive; to wake up and be present; to expand our level of consciousness by paying attention to the 'now' – the present moment – with all of our senses. It requires us to know, for certain, that our life matters, our needs matter, and our happiness matters."
International best-selling author, Emotional Age and communication expert, and women's advocate Crystal Andrus Morissette is a worldwide leader in the field of self-discovery and personal transformation. She is the founder of the S.W.A.T. Institute (Simply Woman Accredited Trainer), an empowerment coach certification exclusively for women that she created with fellow female visionaries Louise Hay, Marianne Williamson, Dr. Christiane Northrup, Colette Baron-Reid, and Sandra Anne Taylor, among others. Crystal is the author of several best-selling books, including "The Emotional Edge: Discover Your Inner Age, Ignite Your Hidden Strengths and Reroute Misdirected Fear to Live Your Fullest." She is also certified in nutrition and sports medicine. Crystal overcame seemingly insurmountable odds – her parents' turbulent divorce, rape, abuse, homelessness, cervical cancer, a traumatic head injury, and more – to create a life of joy and purpose. Now, she is helping women all over the world to do the same. Crystal has appeared on Oprah.com, the New York Post, Fox TV, the Daily Mail, CBS Radio, CTV, CityTV, Global TV, Slice TV, the Globe and Mail, and the Toronto Star. She lives in southern Ontario with her husband and two daughters. Learn more at www.CrystalAndrusMorissette.com and www.SWATInstitute.com.
Online Press Kit: https://crystalmorissette.onlinepresskit247.com
Websites: www.CrystalAndrusMorissette.com and www.SWATInstitute.com
Contact: Klaudia Simon, email@example.com
Combating Hate In America
Mark Bello
Author, CEO, General Counsel
Lawsuit Financial, Inc.
"1) Hate crimes against minority communities affect all Americans: When people feel emboldened to act out and target minorities, no one is immune. 2) We are in this together: You don't have to be black to believe that black lives matter, any more than you have to be Muslim to believe Muslim lives matter or gay to believe that LBGTQ lives matter. 3) Take a stand against hate: Now is not the time to rest on our laurels – stay vigilant and consistent in pushing back on hate. Ignoring the problem only means it will continue to grow and spread, eventually becoming so powerful that the evil wins."
Mark M. Bello is an attorney, civil justice advocate, and award-winning author of the Zachary Blake Legal Thriller Series. He draws upon 42 years of courtroom experience, a passion for justice, and his creative writing style to pen captivating novels for his readers and hard-hitting commentaries on controversies in the news. Bello was one of the first attorneys to sue the Catholic Church over sexual abuse by clergy, an experience that inspired his debut novel, "Betrayal of Faith." Through his "ripped from the headlines" novels, he takes readers deep into the courtroom fights to protect our most precious rights, and gives us a front row glimpse into what victims face when standing up for justice. His fourth novel, "Betrayal in Black," is scheduled for release in 2019. Bello is CEO and General Counsel for Lawsuit Financial, Inc., a national provider of lawsuit funding, and a leading expert on financing litigation. A native of Detroit, Mich., he earned his law degree from Western Michigan University's Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Oakland University in Rochester.
In his books, articles, and blogs at www.markmbello.com and www.legalexaminer.com, Bello calls out abuses of power as he empowers readers, the media, and ordinary citizens to fight for their rights as guaranteed under the Constitution. Bello and his spouse, Tobye, have four children and eight grandchildren. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling and spending time with his family. For more information, visit www.markmbello.com.
Online Press Kit: www.markbello.onlinepresskit247.com
Website: www.markmbello.com
Contact: Anita Jakab Kovacs, email@example.com
2 Tips for Moving with Kids
Katy McQuaid
Author, leadership consultant
McQuaid Corporate Performance, LLC
"1) Good friends remain good friends even if they don't see each other often. 2) Moving to a new place is a chance for new beginnings and the opportunity to make new, special friends."
Author and leadership consultant Katy McQuaid spent more than three decades in the CIA, including 12 years living abroad. Her work in communities all over the world and the endearing, unconditional love of her four-legged muse Grace inspired her to write the "Everybody Loves Grace" series of illustrated books. Parents, kids of all ages, executives, and organizational leaders hail the series as a beacon of hope and inspiration for anyone navigating change or challenging circumstances.
Katy is the founder of McQuaid Corporate Performance, LLC and a graduate of Penn State University where she attended on a full scholarship, lettered all four years as a swimmer, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in finance. She is also a graduate of the Vanguard Executive Development Program at Duke University, the Pinnacle Executive Leader Program at Kellogg's School of Management, and is currently finalizing her studies to become a certified trainer for Conscious Transformation. Katy's goal is to support people and organizations in experiencing successful, meaningful, and empowered transformations.
Katy was the first female Senior Executive in the CIA's Logistics Career Service as well as the first Senior Executive Support Officer in the South Asia War Theater (and the first and only female to date in the position). She also held a key Support Officer position during the transition of US intelligence activities from one city to another in one of the largest European offices. Katy served as an Elder at Pathways Church in Denver, Colorado and currently serves as Chair of the Dorcas Aid America Board of Directors. Learn more at www.EverybodyLovesGrace.com.
Online Press Kit: https://katymcquaid.onlinepresskit247.com
Website: https://www.everybodylovesgrace.com
Contact: Anita Jakab Kovacs, email@example.com
The Geometry of Your Pillow
Evita Kunke
Honeydew Sleep Company
"It's all about your pillow's curve. That's where it starts. Side sleepers like to squish their pillows down, causing one side to expand. This can actually apply unwanted pressure on your neck and have a negative impact on your alignment. So, having a little curved cutaway lets you snuggle and get that cozy sensation you love, but without disturbing the alignment of your neck. That small change in the geometry of the pillow makes a huge difference in getting a great night's sleep."
Evita Kunke is a co-founder of Honeydew Sleep Company – a California-based family business that is dedicated to making the best pillows in the world. Evita learned how life-changing proper sleep alignment could be after changing her mattress helped heal the painful bulging disc in her back. After meeting and marrying her husband Jonathan, she joined him in the mattress sales business in 2013. The couple and Jonathan's father Fred founded Honeydew Sleep Company to create an all-new kind of support pillow that would help people fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and wake up feeling truly refreshed without any aches and pains. Evita is also a photographer, writer, interior decorator, and event planner, She holds a B.A. in Theatre from California Lutheran University. Learn more at HoneyDewSleep.com.
Online Press Kit: HoneydewSleep.OnlinePressKit247.com
Website: HoneyDewSleep.com
Contact: Klaudia Simon, email@example.com
Following are links to job listings for staff and freelance writers, editors and producers. You can view these and more job listings on our Job Board: https://www.cisionjobs.com/jobs/united-states/
Following are links to other news and resources we think you might find useful. If you have an item you think other reporters would be interested in and would like us to include in a future alert, please drop us a line at firstname.lastname@example.com
- MEDIA INSIDER NEWS. CBS and Viacom announce deal to reunite in mega merger, The Spectator is launching a U.S. print version, and more: https://prn.to/2OXVZ1O
- Blog Profiles: VETERINARIAN Blogs. Each week, we feature blogs we love to follow. This week is all about outstanding veterinarian blogs: https://prn.to/2MlzHoK
PROFNET is an exclusive service of PR Newswire.
To contact ProfNet: email@example.com or 800-776-3638, ext. 1
SOURCE ProfNet


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Carp Ranching
For more than a century we have been harvesting carp from the lakes at Knepp. Draining the lakes to catch up the carp also enables the Estate to carry out the regular repairs needed for the lakes' penstocks. Knepp Lake (properly known as Knepp Mill Pond) and Hammer Pond are artificial lakes over 500 years old and need constant maintenance.
In 2012, Arron Standing took over as our partner and today he stocks and harvests all three of the main lakes on the estate. Fewer fish are stocked today than in the past, meaning far less disturbance to the lake bed. Clearer water and more vegetation encourages water fowl - and swans in particular. In 2017 there were 24 mute swans on Knepp Lake - many more than there have been for decades.


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About Calvary Public Hospital Bruce
Calvary Public Hospital Bruce is located in the northern suburbs of Canberra, ACT. Spread over two campuses, we serve the communities of North Canberra, Belconnen and the Gungahlin precinct and surrounding areas of the ACT and NSW.
The Bruce campus offers acute and sub-acute services, while the Barton campus is home to the Clare Holland House Hospice, the 19 bed inpatient unit, a Specialist Community Palliative Care Service and the Calvary Centre for Palliative Care Research.
Our model of care sees multidisciplinary teams work collaboratively to provide a high quality of patient care to our 256 bed hospital and associated community and ambulatory care services.
We offer an extensive range of medical, surgical and maternity services. Our Emergency Department is open 24 hours per day, every day of the year, seeing in excess of 56,000 presentations a year. Suitable patients may receive medical care in their home or other residential setting through Calvary's Hospital in the Home program.
From our Barton campus, Clare Holland House is the leading provider of palliative and end-of-life care in the ACT, providing a mix of inpatient, outpatient and residential / community based services.
Services provided by Calvary Public Hospital Bruce campus include:
- a 24/7 emergency department
- intensive and coronary care
- medical and surgical inpatient services
- maternity services
- voluntary psychiatric services
- specialist outpatient clinics
- Hospital in the Home service
Service provided at Clare Holland House Barton campus include:
- 19-bed inpatient specialist palliative care service
- palliative care outpatients clinics
- community based domiciliary palliative care service
You can find out more about our existing and future services in our 2017-2020 Strategic Plan which is available below.
As a teaching hospital, Calvary Public Hospital Bruce is affiliated with the Australian Catholic University, the Australian National University and the University of Canberra as well as providing clinical placements for a number of other tertiary providers.
Established in 1979 by our founders, the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary, Calvary Public Hospital Bruce is part of the ACT Health Services network, and is funded by the ACT Government under the Calvary Network Agreement.
Regional Management Team – ACT – Hospitals
Barbara Reid
ACT Regional Chief Executive Officer
Judi Childs
Regional Chief Human Resource Officer
Calvary Public Hospital Bruce Executive Team
Mark Dykgraaf, General Manager, 6201 6101
Professor Frank Bowden, Director of Clinical Services – Medical, 6201 6592
Narelle Comer, a/g Director of Clinical Services – Nursing & Midwifery, 6201 6160
Karen Caldwell, Director of Clinical Governance, 6201 6818
Judi Childs, a/g Director of People & Organisational Development, 6264 7239
Melanie Andrews, Chief Financial Officer, 6201 6204
Community Advisory Council
The Community Advisory Council assists the CEO with, and provides advice on, community and stakeholder engagement. Through this group local consumers and communities can help us to make the best decisions when it comes to planning our services. Representatives are drawn from a broad cross section of the community and meet with Calvary Public Hospital Bruce executives on a regular basis.
Consumer representatives
- Robert Gunning
- Caroline Hughes
- Fr Tony Percy
Calvary representatives
- Brenda Ainsworth
National Director Calvary Public Hospitals, Calvary
- Barbara Reid
Chief Executive Officer, Calvary Public Hospital Bruce
- Frances Brown
Director Mission Integration, Calvary Canberra


text:
TOURISTS on the French Riviera have told of their horror after a fierce wildfire ripped through the countryside, leaving Brits to sleep on the beaches and forcing 12,000 to flee.
Brit couple Diana and John Wardill, from Yorkshire, were among those caught up in the terrifying blaze.
The flames spread so close to their house in St Tropez that they got in their car and fled, the couple told the Yorkshire Post.
Mrs Wardill said: "It was shocking. It happened so quickly.
"As soon as the flames touched an umbrella pine, it just crackled up. It sounds a cliché but it was just like a tinder box."
After packing their bags and driving away to escape the flames, the couple spent the night by the seafront – but they were not alone.
Many tourists were forced to pitch up makeshift beds on the beach as they sought sanctuary from the blaze.
Among those caught up is The Sun's Travel Editor Lisa Minot, on a camping holiday with her family at Le Camp du Domaine in Bormes-les-Mimosas.
This afternoon she told how Brit holidaymakers were being handed conflicting advice from French officials as they try to handle the situation.
Lisa said: "There's some chaos here with some people told to take their cars and others told not to.
"People have now been told to sit on a public beach and wait.
"There is an emergency centre where they are giving out water but it's now full and doesn't have enough room for the full campsite."
Tonight holidaymakers are preparing to spend another night camping out after being warned it is "too dangerous" to return to their accommodation.
Anne Davies, 74, from Exeter, told the Telegraph she was not looking forward to bedding down on the "cold" beach where she had spent the previous evening.
She said: "We spent seven-and-a-half hours here without blankets or sleeping bags.
"Tonight we've got sleeping bags, and we've bought bread and cheese for supper.
"It's not too comfortable but we're not miserable. It's the Dunkirk spirit."
Earlier, Lisa had told The Sun: "The fires have been going all night, our campsite has its own beach and at two o'clock this morning they evacuated everybody.
"There are about 1,000 pitches in the campsite, they evacuated everyone down to the beach and we have been here ever since.
"There are very strong winds ... and this is what is hampering the efforts to fight the fire, because they really cannot predict where the flames are going to go next."
She later added: "The fire is now under control and we're heading back onto our campsite.
"There's really quite a sizeable British community here with about 30 per cent of people on our site being British.
"The fires last night reached the fence of our campsite. We have heard that two other campsites on the other side of the road may have been destroyed with a lot of caravans gone."
She continued: "These campsites have a lot of pine trees for shade. But with pine cones on the floor, they have gone up like a tinder box."
Foreign Office Travel Advice: South of France Wildfires
Where are the fires?
Near St-Tropez. Some other sites in the Provence-Alpes- Cote d'Azur have also been affected, including Maures, Sainte-Baume, Bornes-les- Mimosas and Var.
Fires have also been blazing in the northern tip of Corsica.
What advice is there for those who are currently there?
The Foreign Office is telling holidaymakers to follow the advice of local authorities and monitor local media.
You can follow the situation on Facebook and Twitter by monitoring the hashtags #Incendies and #Feuxdeforets and by following the social media channels of the local fire service.
Authorities have tweeted that people should avoid the affected areas and facilitate the passage of rescue by not obstructing traffic lanes and by limiting their travel in problem areas.
What advice is there for those about to go?
There is no direct advice from the Foreign Office concerning whether holidaymakers should or should not travel to the French Riviera.
They are referring people instead to local authorities. Toulon Airport was closed for a short time on Wednesday but has now reopened.
She described how thousands of tourists had earlier been moved onto the beach and told not to move.
More than 4,000 French firefighters backed by soldiers have been drafted in to battle the flames, while Italy sent two firefighting planes overnight.
Nineteen fire planes roared overhead as they dumped water on the 10,000 acres of land engulfed by flames.
At least 12 firefighters and 15 police officers have been injured - mainly through smoke inhalation.
Describing the mass evacuation during peak season in the popular holiday haunt, fire chiefs said: "The evacuations, at least 10,000, followed the progression of the fire.
"It's an area that doubles or triples its population in summer."
Rene Carandante, the deputy mayor of La Croix-Valmer - one of the areas hit badly by the flames - said: "It's a disaster area. There's nothing left."
Questions started to emerge this afternoon about how the fires had begun.
Mayor of badly-affected Bormes-les-Mimosas, Francois Arizzi, said: "The blaze may have been started by arsonists.
"The investigation will tell us, but I suspect there was malice."
More than 600 firefighters are battling fires in the area - where many Brits are believed to be on holiday.
Among those evacuated yesterday was Brit film star Joan Collins.
The 84-year-old tweeted: "Luckily we were able to evacuate last night, not easy with 11 people in the house! We are all ok.
"Thanks everybody for good wishes about our safety in fire, all seems ok although fire still Burning started by BarBQ. (sic)".
Also evacuated were the Luxembourg royal family from their plush Cabasson property.
But not all were bowed by the wall of flames on the horizon.
Sun-seekers were pictured relaxing on the beach as they vowed to continue their holidays - all while the wildfire burned barely a few hundred yards away and fire planes roared overhead.
Witness Mirjam vanden Broeke tweeted: "Mega fire close to St. Tropez.
"With a lot of wind at the moment, so things seem pretty bad out there."
A further 2,000 acres burned in the Var region with two villas destroyed in La Croix Valmer while a huge fire in the neighbouring Luberon region was under control on Tuesday.
most read in news
On the island of Corsica up to 5,000 acres have been destroyed by a huge blaze.
Fire crews said high winds were helping to fan the flames.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at firstname.lastname@example.com or call 0207 782 4368


text:
Do you have a decompression table in your practice? If not, are you thinking about getting one?
For years there has been quite a bit of hoopla in chiropractic around spinal decompression machines. Trying to get to the bottom of things is sometimes a difficult task.
First, let's address a few issues some chiropractors have with decompression.
It's not uncommon for people to say "that's not chiropractic, therefore I'm not getting one of those." Well, this person is correct, spinal decompression is not chiropractic. If you're goal is to have an adjustment only practice without any instrumentation or electronic device, then you should not get a decompression table.
But for doctors who want an excellent way to help their patients, a spinal decompression machine is the #1 therapy device I recommend. Why do I recommend it so much?
Two reasons…
#1.) It helps herniated/bulging/degenerative disc patients get better in ways that no adjustment can. Some people will argue that their technique can do the same thing. I've not researched every chiropractic technique available, but I've yet to come across one that can pull on the pelvis of a patient with 80lbs of pressure, alternating between relaxing and pulling every 30-45 seconds for a total of 15 minutes.
#2.) The marketing for this is so much easier to do. No, not because it's a fancy piece of equipment. Not because it's a gimmick. But because the people who are suffering from disc problems are desperate for a solution. If you're faced with a lifetime of shots, dangerous pain pills and/or surgical fusion of your spine, how quickly are you going to try something non-invasive like spinal decompression?
Realize, #2 would be insignificant if decompression didn't work. Ethically it has to work before you can market that it does.
The Bad News
Unfortunately, some hyped up marketing a few years back really altered what chiropractors thought of spinal decompression. Many doctors thought "true spinal decompression" could only be found in spending $100k on a table. If you thought this, then the only 2 choices were to either send a house payment every month for this table or not pursue decompression in your practice because it was out of your price range.
Then, more hyped up marketing (in the form of patient advertising) entered the picture and state boards got involved in banning certain types of marketing. Some states even looked for ways to prevent chiropractors from using spinal decompression, saying it wasn't in their scope of practice.
I realized that there had to be another way to do this whole decompression thing. One marketing guru couldn't have cornered the market on spinal decompression in chiropractic.
After a bit of research, I found quite a few manufacturers that make good decompression tables. Of course, then I had to prove to myself that these tables did actually do decompression, since I had been brainwashed as well into thinking only one table was "TRUE DECOMPRESSION." ( Turns out there all classified by the FDA as traction tables anyway 🙂
I won't go into the details, but most tables that claim decompression actually do decompression. It's just a matter of how easy it is to use and how nice it looks. Arguments against this are just an old marketing technique (which is sometimes valid, but not here), where you try to get everyone to think your product is the only "real" table that does decompression, and the rest just do traction. You probably heard of this, often times called the unique selling proposition.
The funny thing is, years later, very few people who bought a DRX table will argue that Chattanooga, Saunders, Lordex, (and all the hundreds of other manufacturers) are not doing decompression. Five years ago, 'them was fightin words'. I even remember threats of lawsuits being thrown around and patenting the words "spinal decompression."
For $8-10k I could get a table and start helping patients get better. Combined with chiropractic adjustments and other strength building therapies, I saw some amazing results. Not to mention my average case values went up considerably.
Was decompression just a fad, one that has died out?
Well, the $100k tables probably don't sell like they used to. But spinal decompression is alive and well.
Do you think there will be more or less patients with herniated discs in 2010? How about in 5 years from now? Decompression is not a fad because spinal disc problems are not a fad.
Important: Marketing Is Key
Don't do like many chiropractors I speak with have done. Don't spend a ton on a table, and forget to market the thing. You've got to market it for what it does, otherwise it's just an overpriced traction table sitting in your office collecting dust.
This is why I wrote the decompression ads in The Ultimate Chiropractic Ads. It was difficult to find ethical marketing that wasn't hyped up, so I learned to write my own. And they have done extremely well.
If you don't have a table yet, don't wait. Start getting quotes now as the new year is right around the corner. Be ready to hit your decompression marketing strong in January.
If you already have a table, make sure you're planning the first quarter of 2010 with some strong marketing.
Watch a free webinar where I cover my Area Exclusive decompression marketing program here:


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Topic: Mystery Illness Targeting Children (Read 7031 times)
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Mystery Illness Targeting Children
October 02, 2014, 04:47:20 pm »
Barb Adams,
Amerika Now
Health officials continue to investigate a mysterious illness that is causing polio-like symptoms targeting children in Colorado and at least two other states.
Ten children in the Denver area, ranging in age from one year to 18, have presented symptoms of a mysterious illness that has caused partial paralysis and/or muscle weakness according to Denver's [url = http://www.9news.com/story/news/health/2014/09/29/mystery-muscle-weakness-kids/16442241/]9News.com[/url]. Health officials are investigating whether there is a connection between these symptoms and the children being infected with enterovirus D68 (EV-D68).
Doctors at Children's Hospital in Aurora, where the affected children are being treated, report that while the children have exhibited varying degrees of muscle weakness, all of them have displa*** some type of motor function disruption, cranial nerve dysfunction, and changes in their spinal gray matter. Additionally,
reports that several of the children had some facial drooping, difficulty swallowing, and speech impairment. Several of the children were able to return home after spending a couple days in the hospital, four are still being treated, and one child remains in intensive care, requiring assistance for breathing and eating.
The children will continue to be monitored closely for years afterwards say doctors at Children's Hospital, and the CDC has notified other hospitals around the country to be on the alert for similar symptoms or outbreaks.
Dr. Chris Nyquist of Children's Hospital believes collaboration between hospitals is vital. "EV-D68 has spread throughout the country, so more and more hospitals are having children with severe respiratory illness infections, and so that's why it's really important for this collaboration and getting the word out to our other health provider colleagues to find out if there other cases because whatever is going on is not very common at all, it's actually quite rare."
Two other states have now reported patients with similar symptoms according to
on Thursday. Doctors at Boston's Children's Hospital have "...identified four patients with the same symptoms. And a child in Washtenaw County, Michigan, also developed partial paralysis in the lower limbs after being hospitalized with the virus."
What is known thus far is that the majority of the children affected by the mystery illness were vaccinated against polio, and each case was preceded by a respiratory illness. Testing done by health officials is inconclusive, as only some of the children tested turned out to be positive for enterovirus D68.
Earlier this year in February 2014, at least five and as many as 20 children, all within a 100-mile radius in California, also developed a poliomyelitis-like paralysis.
Five of those patients did not recover limb function
. Like the cases in Denver, those children had been vaccinated against the poliovirus and had a mild respiratory illness which preceded the symptoms of muscle weakness and paralysis. Only two of those children tested positive for enterovirus D68.
Dr. Vincent Racaniello
, Higgins Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Columbia University, has studied enteroviruses for more than 30 years, including poliovirus. After the outbreak in California, he speculated on those cases.
"Acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) is the term used to describe the sudden onset weakness in limbs," says Racaniello. "AFP can have many etiologies, including viruses, bacteria, toxins, and systemic disease."
Professor Racaniello doesn't believe that poliovirus is causing the paralysis. "The majority of the children were vaccinated against poliovirus, and even if the immunizations failed, it seems unlikely that wild-type polioviruses would be circulating in this area."
So could the vaccinations be causing the paralysis? "Vaccine-derived polioviruses can cause paralysis, but the U.S. has not used this type of vaccine since 2000," says Dr. Racaniello, referring to OPV, or orally-administered poliovirus vaccine. Currently, the U.S. uses IPV, which is given as a shot.
According to
, however, the number one health threat affecting children is vaccines. "Vaccines, all vaccines, are immune suppressing; that is they depress our immune system; the virus present depresses immune function, and the foreign DNA/RNA from animal tissues depresses immunity. Chemical toxicity and depressed immunity likely make vaccines the number one long-term health threat to children." Also, PreventDisease.com notes "There are also similarities to mycoplasma and to newly-discovered nanobacteria, currently considered to be the smallest forms of life and known to contaminate commercial vaccines. Nanobacteria are ubiquitous and may be involved in the pathology of many diseases currently considered of unknown cause."
Millions of people deal with an enterovirus every year in the U.S., usually in the form of a cold. Occasionally, the illness turns more serious, requiring hospitalization. EV-D68 "...has been isolated from some of the paralyzed children," says Dr. Racaniello, but "This isolation does not mean that the virus has caused the paralysis."
"Enterovirus infections of the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts are very common and often do not result in any signs of disease," says Racaniello. "Enterovirus type 68 was first isolated in California (in 1962). The virus is known to cause clusters of acute respiratory disease, and there is at least
one report
of its association with central nervous system disease." He believes "...it is an unlikely cause of the paralytic cases in California based solely on the past history of the virus and the fact that other enteroviruses are more likely to cause paralysis."
Professor Racaniello furthers questions "...why enterovirus D68 would evolve to become substantially more neurotropic: entering the central nervous system is a dead end because the infection cannot be transmitted to a new host." He prefaces his statements saying they're "...pure speculation based on very little data and that the paralysis might not even be caused by an infection."
"At this point a great deal of basic epidemiology needs to be done to solve the problem-if indeed it can be solved at all."
Adding to already heightened fear levels, on Tuesday the CDC announced the first patient diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S. But as Jon Rappoport of
reports, perhaps "The Dallas patient is being used to forward a fear/quarantine/vaccine agenda." Maybe, as he notes, we need to "remember the infamous swine flu debacle of 1976" for perspective.
Last Edit: October 13, 2014, 10:57:12 am by submissions
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