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Friday, October 22, 2010
Stacia Kane's Haunted Weeek
Welcome to Stacia Kane! Author of amazing urban fantasy, and owner of a kickass haircut, the Pens are so glad to have her here today. And the story of the knife fight between her and one of the Pens is not true.
So lately I've been having a little bit of trouble blogging. I think it's because I'm deep in the middle of writing the fourth Downside book, and my blogging always suffers when I'm working, at least when I'm working hard and it's taking a lot out of me. Which this one is. (Don't worry, you can't tell it's taking anything out of me at all, it sucks so hard.)
Anyway. Not only am I stumped as far as blogs are concerned (bloggedly stumped?), apocalypse has never been my thing. I know there are a few religions out there who keep insisting they know the exact date the world will end, and then when that day passes and everyone is still wandering around alive and everything they sort of pretend they were just kidding and the real date is in thirty years or so. Ha ha! They were just testing us, see? Or sometimes they say that the apocalypse actually has started, it's just a very slow-moving one, and we won't realize the world is ending until it's too late. Stupid us, huh*?
And of course I remember all of the panic around Y2K. My brother was convinced it was going to be anarchy. Convinced. He had stockpiles of food and water. (Yes, he is that guy. But he's still my big brother.) It was kind of an obsession with him, actually; I remember being over at his house one evening with my husband—he was my fiancé then—and our dad (that would be mine and my brother's dad, not mine and my fiancé's dad, because…well, yuck, and illegal too) and actually having to threaten to leave to get my dear brother to stop talking about how all of the bank systems will crash and everyone will need to protect their homes with shotguns because anarchy will immediately fall over the land.
Anyway. I know when people talk about apocalypses, (apocalypsi? No, it is –es, it's just fun to make that joke), they automatically think of zombies. It's all about the zombies, which frankly leave me cold (ha!), rather like apocalypsi do. I'm just not enamored of zombies; I don't understand the appeal. Unless they're magic-animated zombies, which…well, let's just say I've written those once and totally plan to again very soon.
The people who don't think of zombies tend to think of The Stand, and a superflu-type illness that wipes out huge swathes of people, leaving a small band of good people to fight the Devil. Or, well, at least the flu thing.
I've never really liked that idea, either. I honestly just don't like the idea of apocalypse. It freaks me out. I don't want it to happen. I don't want anything to ever end; I'm furious that it has to, frankly. If someone offered to turn me into a vampire I would take that offer in a heartbeat. Eternal life? I am so there.
So I don't like zombies, and I don't like horrible diseases…and yet I write in a post-apocalyptic world. Weird, huh?
Well, yes and no. In my world, right around Halloween of 1997—October 28th, to be exact—something happened. I think I know what happened, pretty much, but you don't get to yet. Somehow, the veil that separates the land of the living with the afterlife—the spirits of the dead—shattered or was torn or whatever, and the ghosts poured onto the earth, and they were pissed. Largely because people were alive and they weren't, so they couldn't enjoy any of life's pleasures anymore (they couldn't even really talk, in general), but because they were there to begin with, instead of in their afterlife, which was probably a pretty nice place for a ghost to be.
So because they were so mad they started killing people. Ghosts are translucent, yes—they even glow a little bit, not a lot, but a little tiny bit—but when they touch something they can solidify themselves around it. So a ghost who gets hold of a knife, for instance, can slash and stab a number of people, and those people really can't catch him to stop him. If they come in contact with magic, like if they pick up a spellbag or talisman or fetish or something, it powers them up and they solidify all the way.
This event, when the ghosts spilled out and started tearing things up like the Who in a hotel room, is called Haunted Week. It ended on November 3rd, thanks to this previously tiny little magical church group called the Church of Real Truth. Here's a bit of Church history I'm trying to find a way to fit into a book: the Church was formed in 1692 as a reaction to the Salem Witch Trials. Several people who heard about it had been sort of playing with magic themselves and didn't think there was anything evil about it at all, thank you very much, and any God who wanted them killed because of it wasn't a God they wanted much to do with, aside from the fact that their magical experiments led them to believe that there is no God (if there were, why would He allow their magic to work, right? If there is a God they shouldn't be able to influence anything).
So those founding members formed their little magic group, and met in secret while still pretending to be just as pious and proper as all of their neighbors. And now everyone in the Church sort of carries that act on to some degree—Elders wear pilgrim costumes, with knee pants and hose; women in the administrative offices are called Goodys and wear dresses and caps. They usually disapprove of a lot of things, too.
Because of the Church's three hundred-odd years of studying magic, they had some ideas how to get rid of the ghosts, using magic and psychopomps and the power of the earth. And they did, and it worked, and in exchange the Church basically got to write its own ticket as far as how the world is going to be run. And if you don't like it, they're perfectly happy to let all of those ghosts free again and you can just damn well deal with it. (The ghosts currently reside in an enormous cavern several hundred feet below the surface of the earth, called the City of Eternity. It's not a solid cavern cavern; it has sort of chambers and stuff, but it's just a big empty space.)
So. Now the Church is in charge—of a reduced population, because the ghosts killed like 2/3 of the world's population before they were finally sent away—and it's very totalitarian and dystopian, and that all happened because there was an apocalypse. So maybe you fans of such a thing should think about that next time you squee and clap your hands about zombies, thus putting all of us in danger (hey, who knows what causes zombies, right? Maybe they're like the Doctor in the Dr. Who episode where the Master has him trapped in a little cage, and he's all wrinkled and tiny, but Martha gets everyone to think about him at one particular time and it gives him back all of his life and vitality. I don't really understand how it worked, but it was cool).
So if the zombies come, it'll be your fault.
*This is a joke, and not meant to seriously denigrate anyone's religion. I think having faith like that is pretty cool; I don't, but I wish I did, so rest assured I think your religion is great and good for you and all that.
Stacia Kane has been a phone psychic, a customer service representative, a bartender, and a movie theatre usher. Writing is more fun than all of them combined. She wears a lot of black, still makes great cocktails, likes to play music loud in the car, and thinks Die Hard is one of the greatest movies ever made. She believes in dragons and the divine right of kings, and is a fervent Ricardian. She lives outside Atlanta with her husband and their two little girls.
And perhaps the rumor about the knife fight isn't completely untrue....
19 comments:
- Rachael Herron said...
Someday you will have to hang out with our Martha Flynn, which I don't think you've done yet. But you will. She can tell you about what else your brother needs to get done before the apocalypse and then you can bond over Die Hard.
- October 22, 2010 at 8:08 AM
- Sophie Littlefield said...
oh i'm so glad you're here today!! you're one of my favorite finds of the year. I loved reading about how your world evolved. i think so many of these themes, end times and zombies and so forth, are most useful in fiction when they are allegories for small-scale events, so small they may have only personal meaning. at least that's how i handle it. i'm just appreciative of everyone who has a "what if..." moment and thinks it through to its messy and glorious conclusion...and if that person can spin tales and write, so much the better.
- October 22, 2010 at 8:09 AM
- Sophie Littlefield said...
oh and i was pretending to ignore the Die Hard thing. ANOTHER of you? SERIOUSLY? you guys are nuts!! but yeah you have to meet our martha sometime :)
- October 22, 2010 at 8:09 AM
- Juliet Blackwell said...
I love hearing about all the background research that goes into people's kick-ass fiction. Great post. And I hope we can all get together again soon and sneak out and sit on the curb and smoke. Wait. Was that supposed to be a secret?
- October 22, 2010 at 8:16 AM
- Martha Flynn said...
Sophie, "another one" of us? Dude, it's ALL of us. You're this weird, lone hold-out.
Stacie also has to meet Adrienne, who is going to love the Dr. Who reference...in fact, we may keep Stacie...at least one of us has a dungeon, right?
- October 22, 2010 at 8:42 AM
- Unknown said...
Stacia--nice to 'see' you hear--we met in Orlando in the bar but I passed on the knife fights and the curb sitting. Love the backstory of how your world came to evolve :) I can't wait to read your work, I've been hearing amazing things about it from everyone. Thanks for visiting the Pens!
ps--am also a Die Hard fan
pps- Sophie--what Martha said...it's almost un-writerly of you not to love Die Hard ;)
- October 22, 2010 at 8:59 AM
- Sophie Littlefield said...
bitches, i *do* like Die Hard but I'm just not a mouth-frothing fanatic like y'all. Where's the love for, say, Mad Max???
- October 22, 2010 at 9:31 AM
- Adrienne Bell said...
I had the pleasure of meeting of Stacia and her impressive knife collection at RWA this year. She had some very flattering things to say about the neckline of my dress **blush**
But if I can pry you away from your Die Hard love-in with Martha and Lisa next time we meet, we'll have to talk some Doctor.
- October 22, 2010 at 9:37 AM
- Juliet Blackwell said...
Wait wait wait...now we're playing Doctor? Oh, I see, we're talking Doctor. I don't get it.
Oh, and yes Martha, I have a dungeon. I'd be happy to keep -- I mean *have*-- Stacia over.
- October 22, 2010 at 10:02 AM
- L.G.C. Smith said...
Stacia, welcome. I love your books, so this was really fun to read. I met you in Orlando, too, and was thrilled when Rachael said you'd guest for us.
Magical zombies are easier for me to bear given their long historical pedigree. You know. Celtic cauldrons. Armies of the dead. But I'm still not feeling much zombie love. I don't get the appeal.
Sophie, feel not alone in not loving 'Die Hard' with abandon. Much as I appreciated the intro I got at Martha's house, I came to it too late to go nuts about it. I can't get on the Mad Max bandwagon, though, either. Of course, you all know what ticks every box for me -- LOTR.
Back to Stacia -- I wish we had a good Anglo-Saxon word for psychopomp. That word always bugs the hell out of me. Maybe because I inevitably hear 'Pomp and Circumstance' when I read it. 'Psychopomp' is just not creepy or visceral enough. I can't come up with anything suitable -- ghost guide or soul seeker are the best I can do, and neither of those works. The concept, however, works brilliantly. Especially in the Downside books.
- October 22, 2010 at 10:19 AM
- Unknown said...
Great post, Stacia! I don't feel the zombie love, either, but your ghosts are very awesome. Don't want to run into one, but just sayin'...Love DIE HARD too, but I was being stupid, uh, I mean sensible, w/ your brother on Y2K. I refused to go to NOLA's Jackson Square New Year's Eve because I was convinced the power grid would fail and we'd all be killed by falling bullets (which happens periodically in New Orleans anyway so I'm not sure what the big deal was).
- October 22, 2010 at 11:34 AM
- Stacia Kane said...
Thanks Rachael! I will definitely do that! (And I'm going to talk about DIE HARD in a later comment.)
Thanks Sophie! I'm glad I'm here today too! And you know, I've thought a few times of how the ghosts in the series are kind of an allegory/symbol of the memories and unhappiness Chess can't seem to forget or move past. It's not something I've ever emphasized, but it is there.
Lol, Juliet, no secret, and we will definitely do it again. :-) You're actually the second person in the last month or so who's asked me if they're supposed to keep having a cigarette with me secret, which really surprised me! I feel like I don't have a choice, really; if I tried to sneak off by myself at shows and stuff and wouldn't let anyone go with me, everyone would assume I was shooting up. So given the choice, I'd much rather just admit I smoke.
I'm perfectly happy in a dungeon, Martha, as long as I have books, TV, and a computer with internet. I won't even try to escape. (I'd probably get a ton of work done, too.)
Thanks Lisa! Sigh, next time you'll have to join us for the knifeplay and curb-sitting. It was pretty cool.
- October 22, 2010 at 12:17 PM
- Stacia Kane said...
Oh, Adrienne, how can I pass up the chance to talk Doctor with someone that impressive in a low-cut dress? :-) And you know, we can always play Doctor too, if Julia wants to come along. Heh heh heh.
Thanks L! Oh, I love LOTR too, it's one of my favorite films ever (I mean looking at it as one long film broken into three parts, not that one segment of it is one of my favorite films ever and the other two are meh. I think they're all amazing.) There's room in my heart for all of them!
And yeah, the word psychopomp gets a little tiring to type out all the time, but it's never really bothered me as a word. I just love the concept so much and think it's so cool; I'd been wanting to use it in a book for ages before I finally had something it fit.
Magical zombies are awesome. I've totally got plans for them. Very exciting.
Thank you Suzanne! Lol, don't feel bad re Y2K. I think everyone, no matter how confident we were intellectually, was a bit nervous deep down. I didn't blame my brother for being worried, I just got tired of hearing about the full-scale turf wars that would break out within days of the New Year. :-)
- October 22, 2010 at 12:28 PM
- Stacia Kane said...
Okay, now, about DIE HARD. Here is why it's one of the greatest movies ever made.
If you take out all of the fantastic action and excitement and the pitch-perfect performances and notes of levity balanced with moments of gravity, you have a completely tight story with tension increasing every minute. Nothing in DIE HARD is wasted, not a line, not a moment. John McClane is on a place; his seatmate tells him to take off his shoes and wiggle them around. he does, and ends up barefoot.
His wife is using her maiden name. It perfectly illustrates the tension in the marriage, and also gives her a chance to keep her "true identity" hidden.
When he arrives, Ellis, the annoying cokehead, gets all braggy about the watch Holly was given for her great work. She hadn't told John. Another great example of their alienation, but also, the watch is important in the final moments of the film's climax, when she's almost pulled out of the window because Hans grabs the watch. (It's almost symbolic; is she going to keep the watch--i.e. stay at her job, devote herself to her new, independent life without John, or lose the watch and become his wife again?)
See what I mean? NOTHING in that film is wasted. The limo driver gets his chance to foil the robbers. Al gets to shoot Alexander Gudinov (RIP). The dickhead reporter exposes Holly to Hans, and gets punched in return. Every moment in that film has a purpose. Everything is used.
Even the setting. Placing them all in a high-rise office building--better yet, the top few floors of a high-rise office building--gives them fewer places to hide, and forces them to stay in close proximity to each other. That proximity increases the tension, because we KNOW that at any moment John could be caught. Not to mention they're high up, completely cut off from the rest of the world; if they had access to lower floors they might well have tried to escape that way but of course there's no chance from where they are.
Even the fact that it's Christmas is used perfectly, from the party to Hans's "It's Christmas. It's the time of miracles," to the Ho-Ho-Ho tape John uses to stick the gun to his back. It could have been any ordinary party at the Nakatomi building, but it's not, and the fact that it's Christmas once again ups the tension. They're not just in danger, they're in danger on Christmas!
There's lots more examples, of course, but now I'm just sort of running on. The point is, if you sit down and analyze DIE HARD as a story and as a movie, you'll see that it's put together so perfectly. I can't think of another movie that's made the same way. And that's why I think it's one of the greatest movies ever made; not just because it's awesome and I love it, but because the story itself, the craft of that story, is something we all try to emulate.
- October 22, 2010 at 12:48 PM
- Kristin Miller said...
Great post Stacia! Very cool to hear behind the scenes details into the world you've created.
I'm sorry to say I wasn't involved in the knife fight in Orlando...but I *DO* have a picture of one very talented mystery writer ready to slice everyone in the lobby of The Swan with said knife...wonder how much that could go for on the Pens black market? Care to bid, Sophie? ;)
- October 22, 2010 at 1:29 PM
- Sharron Riddle said...
Thank you for the great post! Love hearing about the world of ghosts. I'm also a TOTAL Die Hard fan all the way!!
- October 22, 2010 at 2:56 PM
- Unknown said...
I love your analysis of Die Hard, never connected the watch symbolism!! Also you sparked a fabulous thought on plot and tension. It should be a question that we ask every time we're editing, yes? What could up the tension in this scene? Those tiny details are what make work compelling.
so I played hooky today, did absolutely no work, and read Unholy Ghosts. Wow--LOVED it! :)
- October 22, 2010 at 4:14 PM
- Stacia Kane said...
Thanks Kristin! Hahaha, I'd love to see that picture!
It's just such a great movie, isn't it, Sharon? Nobody seems to appreciate it on a story level, as far as craft goes, you know what I mean? But it's just so excellently put together, it amazes me every time. And thanks!
You know, Lisa, it actually took several viewings for me before I caught the watch thing! It's so subtle, so beautifully done. And yes, I always ask myself that; my goal is to keep increasing the tension as much as I can, and how I can use information I've already planted. And of course to just keep going, sigh.
Thanks so much, I'm really glad you liked it so much! And playing hooky is AWESOME!
- October 22, 2010 at 11:50 PM
- Jeorge Mackay said...
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- February 14, 2014 at 8:27 PM


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By Lisa Capobianco
Staff Writer
With the fall in full-swing, the Southington Drive-in wrapped up its fourth season with its third annual Halloween Festival.
Hosted by volunteers of The Southington Town wide Effort to Promote Success (STEPS) group, the festival featured double showings: Monsters, Inc. and the 1979 version of Amityville Horror.
Attendees from Sout-hington and other areas showed off their costumes while volunteers of STEPS collected tickets and ran the concession stands.
"We never expected so many people to come out," said STEPS coordinator Kelly Leppard.
Dawn Miceli, a member of the Drive-in Committee, said a line of vehicles showed up an hour even before the event started.
"It was an unbelievable afternoon and evening," Miceli said. "There were 400 car loads and 1,200 walk-ins."
Besides the double-feature, the festival offered family-friendly activities including a haunted hayride, pie eating contests, pumpkin painting and face painting.
The Festival also featured "Trunk or Treat," in which attendees decorated the trunks of their vehicles and filled them with candy for children.
"People really went all out in decorating their cars, getting into the Halloween spirit," Leppard said.
Miceli said attendees started distributing candy even before the Drive-in Committee announced the activity, demonstrating the community's spirit of volunteerism.
"So many people decorated their trunk—one trunk was entirely filled with candy." "I was blown away."
Children also had the opportunity to take part in "Touch a Truck." Having Southington Fire and Police officials on standby, children sat in the front seat of fire trucks and police cruisers.
A total of ten trucks, including construction veh-icles, participated in the activity.
Spooky end for drive-in season
By Lisa Capobianco

subset: commoncrawl


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The first Taiwanese patient to be hospitalized with H7N9 avian influenza has recovered and was discharged after 35 days in hospital, National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) said at a press conference yesterday.
The imported infection is the only instance of H7N9 avian flu reported so far outside of China, where 130 confirmed cases causing 36 deaths have been reported to date, the hospital said.
"The patient, Mr Lee, developed symptoms of fever, night sweats and fatigue, but did not suffer respiratory tract or gastrointestinal problems, a few days after returning from China on April 9," NTUH deputy superintendent Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said.
"On April 16 he had a temperature of 40oC and was hospitalized and treated with Tamiflu [at Taipei Medical University Hospital]," Chang added.
"On the night of April 19 the patient started to experience shortness of breath," Chang said.
"The next day a chest X-ray showed he had pulmonary infiltrates in both of his lungs and he was immediately referred to NTUH, where he was treated with a double dose of Tamiflu, intubated for respiratory failure and quarantined in a negative-pressure room," Chang added.
The patient then received extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) treatment on April 22 due to the deterioration of his breathing and was given an intravenous injection of peramivir on April 24, the hospital said.
Lai Hong-shiee (賴鴻緒), director of the hospital's surgery department that was responsible for the ECMO treatment, said that similar to SARS, H7N9 can cause a "cytokine storm," in which immune cells signaled by cytokine to fight invading pathogens go out of control and overreact.
"A cytokine storm occurred in the patient and anti-cytokine drugs were administered," Chang said, while emphasizing that as this is the nation's only reported H7N9 infection, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that anti-cytokine therapy was key to Lee's recovery.
As a result, no standard operating procedure for the treatment of H7N9 has yet been established, Chang said.
Despite once being in critical condition and requiring dialysis, the patient was taken off ECMO on May 2, was decannulated and taken off a ventilator on May 7, and was transferred to a general ward two days later, NTUH said.
The hospital again confirmed that two throat swabs collected before the patient was sent to NTUH tested negative for the H7N9 virus, and it was not until an endotracheal aspirate was collected during intubation that the H7N9 infection was confirmed, first by NTUH medical technologists, and later by the Centers for Disease Control.
Lee, who was also present at the press conference, expressed his appreciation to medical staff and to his family for their support, and apologized "for having caused a scare due to my lack of care that led to the infection."
Meanwhile, in Washington, Taiwan's representative to the US King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) yesterday expressed his appreciation to the US for helping Taiwan in its efforts to produce a vaccine against human infection by the H7N9 virus.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) promised last month to share its results in developing a H7N9 vaccine with Taiwan.
In line with that commitment, a H7N9 master donor virus provided by the CDC was delivered to Taiwan recently, King said.
The cooperative effort was part of the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework under the WHO.
King said such cooperation is helpful in expanding Taiwan's participation in the operations of the WHO.
Earlier this month, King visited Nils Daulaire, assistant secretary for global affairs at the US Department of Health and Human Services, to discuss the possibility of future bilateral and multilateral cooperation, with a view to expanding Taiwan's involvement in the global disease control and prevention network.
Additional reporting by CNA


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Teacher killed in possible hit-and-run on I-4
Orlando police looking for gold car
ORLANDO, Fla. – The search is on for a gold-colored car that may have been involved in a deadly hit-and-run crash Thursday morning on Interstate 4 in Orlando.
Orlando police identified the victim as 61-year-old Steve Hughes, of Kissimmee.
Hughes' wife of 39 years, Sue, told Local 6 that her husband was on his way to work at Lake Eola Charter School in downtown Orlando at the time of the crash. Hughes had taught social studies at the school for eight years.
Police said Hughes was heading east on I-4 in the outer right lane around 6:20 a.m. Thursday when, according to witnesses, a car in the center lane may have tried to change lanes, possibly hitting Hughes' red Hyundai.
Hughes' car ran off the interstate and struck a tree near Orange Blossom Trail. He was pronounced dead at the scene while the driver of the other car kept going, police said.
In addition to his wife, Hughes leaves behind two daughters and four grandchildren.
"Our family is terribly saddened by the loss of our father/husband. We appreciate the community's tremendous outpouring of love, support and prayers that are guiding us through this. He was a man of great faith and we take comfort in that now. We ask that anyone with information that may be helpful contact the investigators at the Orlando Police Department," the Hughes family said in a statement.
Former students expressed their shock over their teacher's death on Twitter. One tweet reads, "Why do bad things happen to good people? I can't believe you're gone. You will be missed greatly Mr. Hughes."
Liley Thompson, 87, has lived right across the street from Hughes for two decades.
The Kissimmee resident described Hughes as a passionate educator, not just to students at Lake Eola Charter but to everyone he encountered.
"They're my neighbors, my friends, my protectors, they're everything," said Thompson. "Whatever (happened), especially if it is something that is not nice -- criminal-like -- I would like them to get the person."
I-4 eastbound was closed Thursday morning at John Young Parkway, backing up traffic for miles before it later reopened.
Anyone with information about the gold-colored car is urged to call Orlando police.
Copyright 2013 by ClickOrlando.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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text:
A grand jury has indicted a central Florida man in the deaths of his wife and her young children even though their bodies have not been found.
State Attorney R.J. Larizza announced Thursday that Luis Toledo will face first-degree murder charges in the deaths of 8-year-old Michael Otto and his 9-year-old sister Thalia. He is also charged with second-degree murder in the death of their mother, 28-year-old Yessina Suarez.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports grand jurors also indicted Toledo on tampering charges.
Suarez was reported missing on Oct. 23. Toledo was arrested and confessed that during an argument over their troubled marriage he struck her in the throat and killed her. He has denied killing the children.
Copyright AP - Associated Press


text:
By Alan Duke, CNN January 17, 2014 -- Updated 1128 GMT (1928 HKT)
|Cassandra Lynn Hensley was featured in Playboy in February 2006. She died Thursday at age 34
Los Angeles (CNN) -- Former Playboy centerfold Cassandra Lynn Hensley was found dead at a friend's home in Los Angeles, the coroner said Friday.
Hensley was 34.
The autopsy on Playboy's Miss February 2006 was done Thursday, but the determination of the cause of death has been deferred until toxicology testing is completed, Los Angeles County coroner's Lt. Joe Bale said. Lab results usually take several weeks to become available.
The model's body was found at 9 a.m. Wednesday in a home in the Marina Del Rey area, Bale said. Hensley, who lived in Fairfax, Virginia, told Philadelphia's Metropolis Nights magazine last month that there was "life after Playboy."
"I have been a part of many great experiences: travel shows, magazine covers, and of course giving advice to young impressionable girls who think they need to act a certain way for a chance to be a model -- classy not slutty," she told the magazine.
(Sources - http://edition.cnn.com)


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Michelle Knight needs "facial reconstruction" after Cleveland rescue, grandmother says
Updated at 2:23 p.m. ET
CLEVELAND One of the women who spent a decade in captivity may need reconstructive surgery for injuries suffered at the hands of her accused attacker, CBS Cleveland affiliate WOIO-TV reports.
Michelle Knight's grandmother, Deborah Knight, confirmed the information, telling WOIO-TV Thursday: "When she was severely beaten, he had beat her so bad in the face, she has to have facial reconstruction, and she's lost hearing in one ear."
On Friday, WOIO-TV reports that Knight was released from MetroHealth Medical Center, according to the hospital.
In a statement posted to the hospital's Facebook and Twitter accounts Friday, the hospital said Knight was "in good spirits and would like the community to know that she is extremely grateful for the outpouring of flowers and gifts."
Records obtained by WOIO-TV show Knight also may have faced physical abuse before she was kidnapped.
Records show David Feckley was charged and convicted in the early 2000s of child endangerment, for breaking the arm of Knight's infant son. He served eight years in prison. But a rape charge was dropped when the alleged victim, Knight, couldn't be found. She went missing in 2002.
Knight wasn't seeing visitors Thursday, not even her family. On Wednesday, her mother, in from Naples, Fla., met with Knight briefly at the hospital. A relative said the meeting was strained, and Knight asked her mom to leave.
Meanwhile, the community is showing its love and concern for Knight, lighting up social media. Someone even offered her a place to stay. One woman stopped by Knight's grandmother's house Thursday morning with balloons and flowers.
"I wanted to let her know people are thinking about her," said Lindsey Perkins, a total stranger.
On Thursday evening, friends and concerned citizens hosted a "balloon release" to honor her escape.


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LIFT UP: Snow to stoke good spring skiing
If a couple of weeks ago you looked up in the mountains and wondered, "What about spring?," rest assured. The latest snow dump will at least get us into April.
"I think the snow we just got gave us a real boost," said Heavenly Mountain Resort spokesman Russ Pecoraro. "We're really at a snowpack of close to 100 inches."
As usual in the spring, the South Shore's ski resorts will be packed with T-shirt-clad skiers and riders, a bevy of events and all-around festive atmospheres.
Highlights of the late ski season include a pair of eating contests at Heavenly and Sierra-at-Tahoe Ski Resort. At Heavenly on April 1, participants can try their hand, er, mouth in a bratwurst eating competition at 1 p.m. in Stein's, off of Patsy's run. At Sierra on April 15, the resort's fifth annual Salsa Showdown will feature a taco-eating competition.
Spring is also high time for competitions that involve skill not pertaining to the stomach. Sierra will host the Buckle Up Big Air in Memory of Greg Smith. Heavenly will host the bump-tastic Gunbarrel 25 with Glen Plake. And Kirkwood has both the North Face Masters snowboarding competition and the Freeskiing World Tour at the end of March, beginning of April.
For those of you that are just really feeling the spring season, the Heavenly Angel Fashion Show featuring beautiful women and new ski gear should suffice. Or, for those who just can't get off the slopes, check out Sierra's Telegrass Festival or Kirkwood's passholder appreciation days. There's also a Transworld Snowboarding Magazine park shoot at Heavenly in early April on features that will actually stay up for the general public once the shoot it over.
"People see things in the magazines that they don't get to ride," Pecoraro said. "This is their opportunity."
Heavenly will pull the plug on the season on April 15. Sierra and Kirkwood have yet to announce closing dates. On next year's passes, Heavenly has announced two options for the Vail Resort three-pack (Kirkwood, Northstar, Heavenly) starting at $379. Sierra debuted unlimited passes, which can be used through the rest of the current season, at $249 Friday.


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SS-3M Spring, stainless steel for 3/8 x 24 Antennas, Will work on Firestik FL series FireFly antennas
Medium duty (SS-3M)
Every antenna should have a spring. Springs protect the antenna, mount and vehicle. These springs are made from long lasting, top grade electro-polished stainless steel. The upper and lower inserts are made of chrome-plated machine brass and have standard 3/8"-24 threads to fit all Firestik antennas, mounts and accessories. The medium duty model works especially well with our 2ft "KW" & "FS" series antennas as well as the 3ft "FL" or "RP" antennas. The heavy duty model may be used with antennas up to 60". Physically, each spring is about 3.0" (76mm) tall with a diameter of 0.800" (20mm).
Additional Information
|Featured Product
|Made in the USA


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Women Tahari Womens Novel Leather Open Toe Casual Ankle Strap Sandals Brown Closure Type: Buckle 509088501 NLDLQJL
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- Mid heel dress sandal TAHARI by Elie Tahari represents a luxurious lifestyle targeting chic, modern yet busy career women. Afterfeaturing his luxurious runway collections season after season, Elie Tahari found a niche for an elegant but affordable footwear collection and TAHARI was soonlaunched. Here you will find a wide selection of TAHARI'sfootwear line such as his chic and versatile dress pumps that will take you from workto evening. TAHARI'sleather dresssandals are another popular choice to complement your evening outfits, and his wedge sandals in an array of colors and texturesare among women's favorite shoes.In our storeyou can also shop forTAHARI leather flats to complement your casual outfits such as skirts, day dresses and jeans. Here you will also find TAHARI all weather city boots, loafers, heeled sling-backs for your tailored but feminine outfits, and casual sandals in various heel heights, colors and a full range of sizes.
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Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed to have "hunted down" an American drone over Iranian airspace, but there may be a lot of internal politics involved in the all-out propaganda fest launched on state media to declare Tehran's military prowess in the Persian Gulf.
Iranian officials used the alleged intrusion to highlight what they called America's spying activity against Iran, effectively turning the media conversation into a celebration of the Guards' strength and focusing public attention away from a host of thorny subjects the regime has struggled with recently. Between the collapse of its currency, a sharp warning from the United States against Tehran's ally Syria, open rifts between factions of its own regime, and the embarrassing death of a blogger under torture, Iran has faced unusually intense pressure in just the past month.
Full story here.


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Technical Paper
Optical Spray Investigations on OME3-5 in a Constant Volume High Pressure Chamber
Oxygenated fuels such as polyoxymethylene dimethyl ethers (OME) offer a chance to significantly decrease emissions while switching to renewable fuels. However, compared to conventional diesel fuel, they have lower heating values and different evaporation behaviors which lead to differences in spray, mixture formation as well as ignition delay. In order to determine the mixture formation characteristics and the combustion behavior of neat OME3-5, optical investigations have been carried out in a high-pressure-chamber using shadowgraphy, mie-scatterlight and OH-radiation recordings. Liquid penetration length, gaseous penetration length, lift off length, spray cone angle and ignition delay have been determined and compared to those measured with diesel-fuel over a variety of pressures, temperatures, rail pressures and injection durations.


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Showing 1-7 of 7 items found in Sports & Gaming
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Danville Dans at Historic Danville Stadium
Built in 1946 as part of the Brooklyn Dodgers farm system, during the summer the field is home to the Danville Dans, a college summer wooden bat team. This NCAA-sanctioned, Major League-sponsored wooden bat collegiate league plays at Danville Stadium.
Visitors to Danville can watch special events such as concerts, trade shows, circuses and other performances throughout the year. The arena hosts the annual Dustbowl basketball tournament, Danville Dashers hockey and public ice skating.
Gordyville USA is a family-owned and operated establishment. The heated spacious building encompasses 160,000 square feet of space all under one roof. The multi-functional grounds are the site of several diverse events such as horse shows, flea markets, farm equipment sales, estate and land auctions, and the Annual Gifford Bank Craft Show. There is also a restaurant on the grounds.
Whether you have been golfing your entire life, or have just begun to appreciate the game, Harrison Park Golf Course offers a membership option that suits you and your family. Our challenging Par 71 golf course and friendly staff ensures our members will enjoy bringing guests out for a drink, as well as perfecting their game. Our prices are as competitive as any course in the area, and course conditions and aesthetics parallel or exceed any other golf course around.
Turtle Run Golf Club offers a par 72 championship golf course, designed by Jim Spears and opened in 1970, with four sets of tee lengths to fit players of all skill and experience levels. In addition to the golf course, Turtle Run offers a fully stocked golf shop, public swimming pool, bar and grill, and banquet center.
Wolf Creek Golf Club - Danville
This nine-hole course is open to the public seven days a week. Its two sets of tees both have a par of 36.
is today's state-of-the-art 18 hole course with excellent club house facilities, driving range, eight lakes, elevated greens, cart paths from tee to green, and plenty of sand. The Pro Shop comes complete with clothing, shoes, equipment (custom fitting) and a snack bar. The course is the "Hidden Jewel" of Central Illinois and puts a premium on course management.
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In response to the coming era of Internet of Things (IoT), the TS-453A innovatively supports the open-source Linux® platform as a gateway for IoT solutions to other smart devices. The TS-453A allows users to directly utilize various feature-rich Linux apps, enjoying a private cloud combining storage and IoT applications, and professional developers can develop and run IoT applications directly on the TS-453A. The secure, reliable TS-453A is packed with business-critical features such as Volume/LUN Snapshot – allowing files/folders to revert to a previous state in case of any corruption or file-loss. The TS-453A is powered by the latest quad-core Intel® Celeron® processor which allows users to enjoy 4K (H.264) video playback and 1080p/4K video real-time transcoding directly from the TS-453A to an HD/4K display.
- Supports the Linux® OS with direct output via HDMI
- Dual HDMI output for switching between duplicated and extended desktop options
- AES-NI hardware-accelerated encryption for efficient cryptographic performance up to 412 MB/s
- Supports 4K hardware decoding and transcodes 4K H.264 videos on-the-fly or offline
- Quickly find files using a real-time, natural search with Qsirch 2.1
- NAS and iSCSI-SAN unified storage solution for virtualization
- Supports VMware®, Citrix®, Microsoft® Hyper-V and advanced virtualization features
- A hybrid approach to virtualization in one NAS: Virtualization Station & Container Station
- Build a personal karaoke system with high-quality audio output with the new OceanKTV app


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Piecing together Tudor history.
For the past decade, Sophie Post has taught Tudor history at Falkner House School. The War of the Roses is a complicated topic for Year 5 students, spanning 118 years. By providing her class with interactive books and apps, her students are empowered to lead the lesson — turning a complex timeline into a hands‑on experience.
"We've taken a dry collection of dates and events and transformed them into an exciting adventure."
Sophie Post, Primary School Teacher, Falkner House School
Introduce the topic.
With iPad, a royal family holds court in the classroom.
Central to Sophie's lesson is the textbook she's created using iBooks Author. By making her own material, she's able to use interactive features to introduce Tudor history in a way that's customised, visual and personalised for her students.
Students take the lead on a walk through the past.
Sophie makes sense of the Tudor family timeline by turning it into a custom-made iBooks textbook, which includes a detailed interactive widget. From major battles to the royal line of succession, Sophie provides a comprehensive and visual exploration of the key events and many branches of the family tree.Learn more about iBooks See what teachers are creating with iBooks Author
"Now students can independently explore, discover and ultimately have a much clearer understanding of the subject."
Members of the House of Tudor
Battles and rebellions
With an interactive timeline on their iPad devices, students are able to review all of the details at their own pace — revisiting events until they understand them.Play again
Build student understanding.
Students team up to explore and interact with the timeline using their choice of apps.
Once students have a grasp of major milestones in Tudor history, Sophie breaks the class into smaller groups to investigate the details.
GoodNotes 4 – Notes & PDF
Tracing key moments in time.
Sophie provides each group with a work sheet that focuses on a different section of the Tudor timeline. Teams use the GoodNotes app to highlight the events they believe are the most important. Through debate and collaboration, students agree on the key events and use them in their next assignment.View GoodNotes 4 in the App Store
Puppet Pals HD
History takes shape.
After they highlight and select the most important events, Sophie has her students recreate them. They act out the events and characters with interactive puppets in the Puppet Pals HD app, add voices to historical images with the Morpho app or film their re-enactments using iMovie. They create rich visuals that leave a lasting impression of the historical events and the family tree.View Puppet Pals HD in the App Store
Maps & History: Maps of Europe
Pinpointing the scene
Students use Maps to target specific locations of historically important events such as the Battle of Bosworth. Once they've found the location, students compare it to the same location in the History: Maps of Europe app, giving them a glimpse of how it looked during the time of the Tudors. By comparing their current-day world to the Tudors' historical one, students gain context around important places and events, making the material more relevant and relatable.Learn more about Maps
"iPad can help tailor lessons to each child, so they can learn in the very best way possible for them."
The Tudor Rose represents the joining of two houses, which brought an end to the War of the Roses. Sometimes called the Union Rose, it is still used as the floral heraldic emblem of England today.Play again
Demonstrate learning.
With iMovie, all the details connect to form the history.
After working in groups to understand the pieces of Tudor history, the class comes together to assemble their individual projects into a single timeline, bringing the Tudor family tree to life.
Seeing the bigger picture.
For their final project, the class uses iMovie to place each group's recreations into chronological order. Using the timeline in Sophie's textbook as a guide, they create a dynamic multimedia interpretation of Tudor family history. They demonstrate that they've mastered the subject matter through a fun, collaborative and unforgettable learning experience.Learn more about iMovie
"If students have a great idea how to demonstrate what they've learned on iPad, I'm always open to it, because their idea is usually far better than anything I could have imagined."
iTunes U
Everything in one place.View in App Store
Sophie uses iTunes U to organise and deliver all of her lessons' books, materials, apps, movies and assignments directly to each student's iPad.See what you can do with iTunes U
Personalise and perfect your lesson.
With the variety of apps, books, podcasts, movies and music available through iTunes, designing a customised lesson is easier than you might think. Get started with the apps Sophie's class uses or explore other ways to integrate iPad into your classroom.View the British History collection on iTunes


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Let The Adventures Begin: KEEN® Men's Boots
Whether you are hitting the mountain trails, trudging through swampy marshland or jumping into a major construction project, KEEN® men's boots from DICK'S Sporting Goods are the footwear you need in tough conditions.
Choose from a large selection, including low hiking shoes, mid-shaft styles, steel-toe models and waterproof materials. With KEEN® hiking boots, you can cover ground in all weather conditions and terrain with confidence. KEEN® men's boots are durable, breathable and designed with specialized features, including slip-resistant outsoles, maximum traction, enhanced heel cushioning and flexible support.
For challenging working conditions, there's a pair of KEEN® men's boots suitable to any jobsite. With or without steel toe enhancement, the toughness and protection of KEEN® boots ensure you get the job done in safe and supportive footwear. Other features like roomy toe boxes and locking lacing eyelets are also available.
Explore the full selection of KEEN® shoes, boots and sandals at DICK'S Sporting Goods.


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London Fashion Week Tickets
City-Wide Celebration
Designers A-Z
LFW Dates
Positive Fashion
Press Portal
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Corporate Hospitality
Fashion Forward designer Holly Fulton launches Autumn / Winter 2013 capsule collection on eBay for London Fashion Week
To celebrate eBay's sponsorship of Fashion Forward at London Fashion Week, one of the world's largest marketplaces is to partner with designer Holly Fulton to offer a special capsule collection. The exclusive edit will give consumers the chance to own seven premium pieces from her Autumn / Winter 2013 collection, inspired by 70s art school rockers and seductive muses.
The collection will launch on www.eBay.co.uk/Holly from midnight on Tuesday 10th September until midnight on Wednesday 18th September and includes four limited edition items exclusively available on eBay; the statement Jake cotton sweatshirt in black and Jake cotton t--shirt in cre`me -- screen--printed with a snake and heart--motif, and the Beatrice & Patti necklaces -- two art deco--inspired chokers that contrast a graphic design with the pixelated effect of Swarovski crystals.
Three further signature items from Holly Fulton's Autumn / Winter 2013 collection will be available, including the Hearty necklaces in black and red and the statement Blair sweatshirt – featuring a playful Bear & Heart screen--printed motif.
The partnership reflects eBay's sponsorship of the British Fashion Council's Fashion Forward initiative which aims to support the business development of rising UK based designers. 2013 recipients are Holly Fulton, David Koma and Michael van der Ham.
"I'm a huge eBay fan so it was a great opportunity to be asked to pair with them for London Fashion Week. I'm excited to see how our pieces are received in an online platform and it's fantastic to have the chance to connect with such a broad and diverse consumer base. All the pieces incorporate our signature graphics and encapsulate the spirit of the AW season" - Holly Fulton.
Twitter @eBayFashion_UK #HFeBay
For more information please contact Hugh Gallagher at Exposure
+44 (0) 20 7907 7145


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Introducing a powerful additive / subtractive synthesizer, image synthesizer as well as audio resynthesizer, Harmor.
Additive / subtractive
Just like its little brother Harmless, Harmor is driven by a powerful additive synthesis engine. Its modules will look familiar to subtractive synthesizer enthusiasts: oscillators, filters & phasers, these are featured in Harmor but, because performed through additive synthesis, offer more freedom. You don't just select filter types, you draw them.
You wanted more, so also featured is the multipoint envelope editor of Sytrus fame, applied to over 40 parameters, in 2 independent parts. Through the same envelope/mappings, randomize any parameter or link it to key or velocity, and even fine-tune each unison voice independently.
Processing units can be rearranged in a semi-modular way. If you need one of the 2 filter units processed after the blur unit, that's no problem.
Audio resynthesis
Being an additive synthesizer, Harmor can resynthesize audio files as well. The reproduction will be faithful, not a vague sound-alike as in many additive synthesizers. Resynthesis can of course be tweaked, providing time stretching, pitch shifting, or less conventional manipulations of partials.And of course, the result of the analysis can still be turned into an image for further editing.
Additive synthesis is generally very CPU-consuming, but not Harmor's engine. Its efficency is in fact, comparable to that of subtractive synthesizers. Voices may be generating hundreds of harmonics in parallel and still not overload the CPU. Processing being multi-threaded, extra CPU cores come in handy.
System requirements
|2Ghz AMD or Intel Pentium 3 compatible CPU with full SSE1 support
|512Mb RAM.
|30Mb free disc space.
|DirectSound or ASIO compatible soundcard.
Resynthesis or image-synthesis, Harmor features both. Import a piece of audio and time-stretch or pitch-shift it (with formant and transient preservation). Convert this to an image and edit each partial individually!
Two parts
Two independent parts (or "layers") for even more complex sounds. Parts can be imported from other presets.
In the effects section you will meet all the usual suspects: distortion, chorus, delay and reverb, as well as the mighty Soundgoodizer based on the Maximus engine. Just like processing units, effect slots can be re-ordered.
Each part has its own effect mix amount.
Looks pretty
If you don't understand it, visualize what it's doing, best way to learn! Watch how each partial evolves in the built-in spectrogram, a picture is worth a thousand words.


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Pictured: Leanna Coskren tallied Harvard's first goal of the
season at 11:17 of the second period.
Photo courtesy: David Silverman Photography
HAMILTON, N.Y. -- The eighth-ranked Harvard women's hockey team killed two Colgate power plays in the final four minutes of the third period to earn a 2-1 victory over the Raiders in the Crimson's season opener Friday afternoon at Starr Rink. Christina Kessler made 29 saves, helping Harvard (1-0, 1-0 ECAC Hockey) finish 5-for-5 on the penalty kill, while Leanna Coskren and Anna McDonald provided the scoring with a goal apiece.
Early on in the second period, Evan Minnick gave Colgate (1-6, 0-1 ECAC Hockey) a 1-0 lead as she fired the puck past Kessler at 5:32. Less than six minutes later, Harvard knotted the game, as Kaitlin Spurling and Randi Griffin earned assists on Coskren's first goal of the season, coming at 11:17 of the second stanza. After successfully killing Colgate's second power play of the game later in the second, McDonald netted a goal after receiving a pass from Katharine Chute with 1:10 remaining in the frame, putting Harvard ahead, 2-1.
With 4:07 to play in the third period, Harvard was called for a roughing penalty and the Raiders pulled goaltender Lisa Plenderleith to give Colgate a 6-on-4 advantage. The Raiders fired three shots on goal, but Kessler stopped each one to keep Harvard in front. The Crimson later found itself down a skater with 56 seconds left because of a tripping penalty, but once again, Kessler and the Harvard defense stood tall, as the Crimson netminder made three more saves to preserve the victory.
Colgate had a 30-22 advantage in shots for the game, including a 16-4 lead in the third period. The Crimson continues its road trip at Cornell Saturday at 3 p.m.


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Terrance Roberts, who has done a world of good in fighting gang activity in Denver, has made public the money problems his organization is having.
Specifically, the Prodigal Son Initiative, may soon have to shut down because it is running out of money.
That's the gist of a piece Westword published on its site Thursday, citing Roberts' Facebook posting on the situation.
"It's looking like we might have to shut our doors," Roberts said, according to Westword. "With all the work we've done, we are still struggling to get support. If we don't get support pretty fast, we are going to have shut down in March."
What a shame it would be if the anti-gang group dissolved due to a lack of financial support. Roberts has been a steady, credible and effective voice in inspiring young people in northeast Park Hill to stay away from gangs.
Denver cannot afford to lose such a community asset.


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U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
Troutdale Clinic Receptionist Sexually Harassed by Patient, Federal Agency Says
ROANOKE, Va. - Southwest Virginia Community Health System, Inc. violated federal law by subjecting a female employee to a sexually hostile work environment, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today. Southwest Virginia Community Health System consists of a group of eight non-profit community healthcare centers throughout the Southwest Virginia region. The EEOC said that the misconduct occurred at a healthcare facility in Troutdale, Va.
According to the EEOC's lawsuit, Karen Ross, who worked as a receptionist at the facility, was subjected to sexual harassment by a male patient from around April 2009 through Dec. 9 of that year, and again from around June 8 through Sept. 15, 2010. The suit alleges that the harassment included unwelcome sexual comments, such as the patient inviting Ross to "run away with" him, telling Ross that he was "visualizing [her] naked," and suggesting that Ross have sex with him. The suit further alleges that the comments were made both in person, when the patient visited the facility where Ross worked, and by telephone when the patient called in to the facility. The EEOC said that Ross complained to her supervisor about the patient's sexual harassment, but the supervisor did nothing to stop the abusive conduct.
Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Roanoke Division (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Southwest Virginia Community Health System, Inc., Civil Action No. 7:12cv424), after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC seeks compensatory damages and punitive damages for Ross, as well as injunctive relief.
"Once an employer is put on notice that any of its employees are being subjected to sexual harassment, it must take prompt corrective action to stop it," said Lynette A. Barnes, regional attorney of the EEOC's Charlotte District Office, whose jurisdiction includes the state of Virginia. "This is true regardless of whether the harasser is a co-worker, her supervisor or a third party. The EEOC is committed to using all available means, including litigation, to combat sexual harassment in the workplace."
The EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws against employment discrimination. Further information is available at www.eeoc.gov.


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This green-on-green landscape has it all: variations in height, shade and texture.
Sometimes we go overboard with color in the garden: carpets of pastel bulbs in spring, big bold patches of orange and red and purple in summer, and then washes of crimson and gold in fall.
If it's a crime to plant loads of color, then I plead guilty. Color just feels good. Or does it?
The last few years during my morning walks around my neighborhood, I began to notice that my eyes were continually seeking out green-on-green gardens, landscapes that relied on nothing for their beauty other than year-round evergreens and perhaps a lawn area and some especially bright green summer additions.
These islands of green, especially when well maintained and planted in harmonious combinations of shape, size, texture and tone, are so calming to the eye. Winter, spring, summer, fall: A green-on-green garden looks lush and healthy, elegant on any size property.
During my walks, as season followed season, I noted that all of the most appealing green gardens had several specific components:
Embrace the shade by planting this classic composition: ferns, moss and hydrangeas.
Composition and Definition
The composition – the mix of plants and their placement – in any green-on-green garden usually falls into one of two categories: uniformity of color and texture for a smooth and ultra-calming feel, or a crazy quilt of contrasting shade and texture (all green, mind you) to create visual stimulation.
On a large lot, particularly one with a large house, the uniform look is undeniably regal. Wide plantings of just a few species create a stunning backdrop for a single specimen tree with a splash of color; say, a Japanese maple set amid an expanse of low pines and ferns.
Even a small yard can have a much grander feel if it contains a mix of plants that draws the eye here and there or strong contrasts, such as a closely-cropped boxwood hedge.
In any case, what I call definition is the practice of separating each plant from its neighbor with a ribbon of space, a little gap where pruning leaves just an inch of air. Plant as many different things as you like, but make sure to keep them looking sharp by defining each one.
This long view of the Virginia plantation Gunston Hall includes a sweep of lawn, billowing boxwood and well-spaced evergreen and deciduous trees – a symphony in green.
Form: Shape and Height
Remember that evergreen plants can range from just a few inches tall, in the case of mosses and sedums and ivies, to hundreds of feet high, such as the largest conifers. In between those extremes, you will find endless variety. As you shop for plants to design a green-on-green garden, be sure to note the estimated mature heights of all plants in order to create fullness and privacy without too much overlapping vegetation.
And keep in mind that some plants are naturally slender, some are low and spreading, while others grow into rounded or conical forms or may even trail over a wall or container. Don't crowd too many of the same form together, but fit different shapes around each other for maximum depth and finesse.
A shady all-green landscape plan brings the temperature way down, no matter how hot the setting, and the slightly shaggy look makes it easy to relax underneath the boughs.
Color: Tone and Shading
So many greens! Boxwood … consider those shapely branches a standard "medium green." But green includes so many other shades – from almost white to nearly black, yellow green, blue green, pale creamy green, light clear green, dark green that blends into purple, and on and on.
With so many greens, it's easy to end up with a muddled look when designing a green garden. Plant only what you really like – preferably in just a few shades – until you decide how plants look together through the seasons. I like sharp contrast, like a bright mid-green hosta next to the dark leaves of rhododendron, or a blue-green hosta next to fresh green ferns.
Think of greens as a fashion statement. The medium green of boxwood is like denim: It goes with everything, from hot chartreuse green to the shadowy underside of Bosnian pine (Pinus leucodermis).
The formal garden at North Carolina's Tryon Palace is rich with textures and shades of green – from the lightest green hydrangea blossoms, through the green of boxwood, to the darkest green undersides of bay laurel (foreground).
Texture: Mix or Match
Consider a magnolia, a holly tree or a rhododendron; the leaves are glossy and actually reflect a lot of light. Conifers may have a rough, shaggy texture that absorbs light. Ferns are airy and move in the slightest breeze, whereas cacti and yuccas are generally rigid and have fine tendrils or clumps of spines that throw their own delicate shadows and hold winter's snow in sculptural patterns.
Use texture as a way to extend the green garden, since the same shade of green may actually appear in many different "looks" depending on surface texture.
This streetscape offers shades of green even in late winter, before most trees have leafed out. Various shades of evergreens are punctuated by the bright spots of color of a white pine.
Green Groupings
What to plant? Here are plant groupings that may give you some new ideas. A green-on-green landscape needs strong evergreen structure: height, width, shape, and density or openness of branch structure.
Bowwood can provide much-needed structure in a green-on-green garden. Boxwood can live hundreds of years and survive low winter temperatures.
Boxwood (Buxus spp.) or holly (Ilex spp.): What's the difference? There are many boxwood cultivars, the same with holly. In some cases they look nearly identical and can function the same way: an evergreen backbone that can be massed and shaped any way you like, or left to grow naturally. An easy way to tell them apart is by leaf arrangement: Boxwood have opposite leaves, while holly have alternate leaves. Boxwood growth is softer; holly more stiff.
Hosta: Made for shade, hostas come in every green imaginable, with a huge variations in leaf size, shape and colors. It can be fun to bring something new into the garden and then watch it take hold.
Ferns: A large planting of ferns can brighten up a dark corner of a green-on-green garden. There is an amazing range of size, shapes and textures. Once established, they fill in quickly.
Conifers: This is a group of plants with endless interest. Look to dwarf conifers that won't grow out of bounds; some are even small enough to grow in containers.
Cacti and friends: Are deer a problem where you live? They might leave cacti alone, and you can enjoy their phenomenal shapes unfolding all year. As wildflowers, many cactus varieties can withstand freezing temperatures as well as hot beach sand. The same goes for handsome Yucca filamentosa, which is available in both green and variegated forms.
Spineless succulent plants are also available in many shapes and colors, so mix them into the green garden here and there.
Green flowers: Many summer favorites come in green or near-green shades, including roses, gladioli (Gladiolus spp.), Chrysanthemum, daylilies (Hemerocallis spp.), hellebores (Helleborus spp.), bells of Ireland (Moluccella laevis) and Hydrangea.
A version of this article appeared in Carolina Gardener Volume 26 Number 6.
Photography courtesy of Rita Randolph, Emily Jenkins Followill, Nan K. Chase, and Phillip Oliver.


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Good morning! Can you believe we're almost to May? That means iNSD! More information on that is coming, but I can promise you that the designers are going nuts working on things for it. I can tell you that it all starts on Thursday, May 02, and will continue through-out the weekend.
This week, the designers also designed some wonderful goodies for y'all. Connie's got her Project 2013 series continuing into May. Angelclaud has some beautiful templates. Snips and Snails, our guest, even has something that's just cherry, I mean cheery!
Speaking of wonderful designs, I picked out some, in my opinion, wonderful layouts this week. Two of them are using Fresh Air, the April Monthly Mix, and the other was created using Nature's Delight, the April Buffet.
Created by melissavt. I love the cluster work and the layers. So beautifully done!
Gorgeous layout by catgoddess. I love the splatter of paint under the picture and paper layers. Just makes the flutterby stand out so much more.
Beautiful layout by emscraps. The clusters are amazing. It creates a beautiful scene!
Before you go and look at the amazing new designs, here are some WONDERFUL freebies created using Fresh Air!
Broken up into 3 downloads – (due to the large file sizes ) be sure to download ALL THREE zips to get this AWESOME freebie worn papers set!
Link 1- http://bit.ly/13u8pwd
Link 2- http://bit.ly/YOkjx
Link 3- http://bit.ly/10yTELz
And now, on to the amazingness that are the designers here at Gingerscraps!
Remember, when you spend $10 in the store, you get a great grab bag! This month's was created by Luv Ewe Designs.
Add-on: https://store.gingerscraps.net/Feeling-Happy-Add-on.html
Borders: https://store.gingerscraps.net/Feeling-Happy-The-Borders.html
Alphas: https://store.gingerscraps.net/Feeling-Happy-The-Alphas.html
Bundle: https://store.gingerscraps.net/Feeling-Happy-the-Bundle.html
Kit: https://store.gingerscraps.net/Cherry-Picking-by-Snips-and-Snails-Designs.html
Stacked Papers: https://store.gingerscraps.net/Cherry-Picking-Stacked-Papers-by-Snips-and-Snails-Designs.html
Alphas: https://store.gingerscraps.net/Cherry-Picking-Alphas-by-Snips-and-Snails-Designs.html
Cardstock: https://store.gingerscraps.net/Cherry-Picking-Cardstock-by-Snips-and-Snails-Designs.html
Alpha: https://store.gingerscraps.net/She-s-Even-More-Beautiful-Alpha.html
Krafties: https://store.gingerscraps.net/She-s-Even-More-Beautiful-Krafties.html
Torn papers: https://store.gingerscraps.net/She-s-Even-More-Beautiful-Torn-Papers.html
Journal Cards: https://store.gingerscraps.net/She-s-Even-More-Beautiful-Journal-Cards.html
Template Pack 1: https://store.gingerscraps.net/She-s-Even-More-Beautiful-Template-Pack-1.html
Template Pack 2: https://store.gingerscraps.net/She-s-Even-More-Beautiful-Template-Pack-2.html
Bundle: https://store.gingerscraps.net/She-s-Even-More-Beautiful-Bundle.html
Alpha Pack AddOn: https://store.gingerscraps.net/Project-2013-May-Alpha-Pack-AddOn.html
Journal Cards: https://store.gingerscraps.net/Project-2013-May-Journal-Cards.html
WordArt Pack: https://store.gingerscraps.net/Project-2013-May-WordArt-Pack.html
Flair Pack: https://store.gingerscraps.net/Project-2013-May-Flair-Pack.html
Facebook Timeline Covers: https://store.gingerscraps.net/Project-2013-May-Facebook-Timeline-Covers.html
Kathy Winters wants you to know that she's hosting a chat on Saturday, April 27!
Hope you can be there! It's always a blast!


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Charitable Lead Trusts
A charitable lead trust is designed to provide an income to Colonial Williamsburg for a period of years and then to distribute the remaining trust assets to you or your heirs, typically children or grandchildren.
Lead trusts can be appealing if you desire to transfer significant assets to your heirs at a reduced cost in terms of estate and gift taxes, and also want to benefit the Foundation. These trusts can also be structured to provide current income tax benefits rather than estate tax savings.
For more information please call
the Planned Giving Office at 1-888-CWF-1776
or email [email protected]


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Moreliator needed a new t-shirt design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 89 designs submitted by 14 freelance designers.
I will need the .PSD in AT LEAST 300dpi quality and FULLY LAYERED, and I will need to be able to have the design on a transparent background so that I can decide in the end what color shirt I want to put it on. This t-shirt contest is for smashboards.com - see full description please. Submissions of copyrighted material (Nintendo characters, etc) will not be accepted.
See taglines in description
Desired Color Scheme:
This will be screenprinted so please no more than 3 colors max. PREFERENCE GIVEN TO SHIRTS THAT USE LESS COLOR OPTIONS.
Desired Style:
The design should incorporate some aspect of the video game (without infringing any copyrights) and may include the text SmashBoards or Smash World, or one of the tag lines mentioned above.
A maximum of 3 colors may be used, with white and black counti
Accepted File Formats:
vector, psd 300dpi (FULLY layered, please)
This contest is for a t-shirt design for the website Smash Boards (http://smashboards.com). The website is dedicated to Super Smash Bros. fans. Super Smash Bros. is a video game that was originally made for the Nintendo 64. Since then, its sequel has come out for the gamecube, and another one has been announced for Nintendo Wii now (the official Nintendo site--not ours-- is http://smashbros.com if you want to browse the type of game/graphic style). Basically, it is a fighting game where characters from all different games (e.g. mario, kirby, bowser, DK) duke it out. Players use smashboards.com to organize tournaments and travel all around the country to play in these events.
The following image is an example of something I like - my friend made it for me years ago and we have used it as a logo, but unfortunately I do not have a high enough DPI version of it to use on a t-shirt:
The most important thing to remember is that YOU CANNOT USE COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL. This means you cannot use any art that Nintendo has rights to. Unfortunately, this means you cannot use the Smash Bros. Symbol. You cannot use Nintendo characters, even if you hand draw them. You cannot use certain items that are distinctly porperty of Nintendo (such as the power-up mushroom with a face that).
As a general rule of thumb, if you are unsure as to whether you can or can't use something, then the answer is probably no. The only images from the game that you CAN use are ones that are generic enough, such as a white hand or a sword.
I am not a huge fan of shirts that have the logo covering the entire front or shirts that are too busy. The design will be printed on a normal short-sleeved t-shirt. I will do my best to keep up with feedback everyday to help you out!!
About 50% of the users on the site are teenagers between ages 13-18, the rest are mostly college aged. I am not necessarily looking to advertise my site on the T-Shirt, so whether or not you include the site name on the shirt is not as important to me. I'm more interested in a smooth looking design that people will want to wear. But including the text could work too I'm open to things!!
Here are some tag lines that you can work with, along with some explanations.
Don't Get Hit
When one of the best Smash Bros. players in the world was asked about how to win and get really good at smash, he answered "Don't Get Hit." So there's a bit of humor to this tag line.
SWF: Living life, 4 at a time
SWF stands for Smash World Forums, the name of the boards at smashboards.com. In the video game, a "life" is referred to as stock. Typically games are set so that each players get 4 stock (or four lives), meaning once they die four times they lose. This clever tagline was thought up by one of our members.
Show me your moves
A taunt that has become a kind of motto for the super smash bros. series.
My hope is to find winners for EACH tag line. I am only responsible for declaring ONE winner, however, if I see suitable designs for each tagline I am willing to declare a winner for each and pay each $150!!
Finally, I am also looking for a generic "SmashBoards.com" shirt and will be accepti


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Item Description
Articles of Association
Author: Proslavery Association of Clay County, Missouri
Date: June 7, 1856
Written document concerning the formation of a organization in Missouri with the purpose of making Kansas a slave state. Includes the purpose of the organization and three articles.
Location of Original: KSHS Call Number: Port Vault K 978.1 P945a 185?
Item Number: 100163 Number of images: 1
Keywords: Kansas question; Missouri; Money; Proslavery; Proslavery activities; Proslavery prospects; Proslavery support
pg. 1
pg. 2


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In American football, this type of motion is called "strafing." In association football, it's jockeying. This two minute tutorial gives you another good look at the soccer sim's gameplay while educating you on the finer points of advanced defense.
FIFA 11 arrives two weeks from tomorrow in North America, Sept. 30 in Australia and Oct. 1 in Europe.


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Location-based technology is here, and we're currently witnessing the emergence of the missing piece of the puzzle—a shift in the consumer mind set. For this reason, retailers need to be considering the use of location-based technology to improve their customers' experiences, drive revenue and increase operational efficiency.
Retailers need to understand what value for their consumers, their employees and their organization can be unlocked through using location services, and then incrementally introduce the change over the coming years.
The table below provides a snapshot on the main types of location-based technology and their relative merits.


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Roberto's rules
It may still be very early days but it appears as though Roberto Martinez's influence is already taking hold at Goodison Park. Alex Dunn looks at the Spaniard's first game in charge and is surprised with just how different Everton were in their approach
By Alex Dunn - @skysportsaldunn
Last Updated: 22/08/13 8:19am
From the School of Science to the Holy Trinity to the Kendall class of '81-87 it's fair to say Everton supporters of a certain vintage have on occasion hankered after a more refined version of the football dished up by the Dogs of War or the latter day equivalent moulded by Moyes.
That's not to downplay or patronise an unimpeachable record of consistency achieved over more than a decade of the wily Scot's prudent tenure or even question the tactical make-up of a side that has oft been accused by its harshest critics as being one-dimensional; antiquated even in being incapable of changing style or system dependent on the opposition.
There is little doubt that when time has validated David Moyes' achievements on Merseyside his name will be carefully stitched into the club's rich tapestry but there is a sense a parting of ways was not quite so hard for many Gwladys Street regulars to stomach as imagined by the casual observer from the outside looking in.
This was not an unhappy marriage but for some, when the curtains were drawn the old bedroom spark just wasn't there any more.
The manner in which Roberto Martinez's enterprising if ultimately fatally flawed Wigan Athletic side so guilefully pick-pocketed Moyes' men at Goodison in the FA Cup last season clearly did not go unnoticed in the Everton boardroom. Bright, personable and with tactical soundbites to rival Brendan Rodgers across the city, Martinez is the quintessential modern manager. Had he not got Wigan relegated playing pretty football his credentials would be even stronger.
For me, Moyes' Everton were an unconventional beauty; a voluptuous plus size stunner amidst a sea of identikit models reared on a diet of tiki-taka and celery. Alas, to hit a diagonal to a target man is not merely unfashionable these days but downright offensive. It has perhaps been overstated how robust and direct Everton were under Moyes compared to how Martinez teams played at Wigan and before that Swansea, but there's little doubt that on a rudimentary level this was not a like-for-like appointment.
A trip to Norfolk to play free-spending Norwich then was always likely to be one of the opening day's more intriguing sub-plots. And so it proved.
"I think you need to have wider options and I think the squad is ready to be pushed and to be in a position where we can be flexible and do different things," said the Spaniard in the game's build-up.
"It is not changing everything in the way we play. We are not losing anything, but trying to add. I don't want to be a team that can only play in one way and to do that you need to experiment.
"This is about making ourselves a bit more expansive in terms of how we play and that is going to be a real strength for us."
That Everton dominated possession at Carrow Road has been well documented but was this representative of an overhaul of his predecessor's key philosophies or rather a more subtle tinkering job? It is of course a somewhat arbitrary, if not knee-jerk, task to attempt to extrapolate telling conclusions from a single game and yet such were the differences from previous seasons it would be equally remiss not to at least highlight them.
In terms of personnel Martinez resisted the temptation to field any of his new signings and instead appeared to set-up an Everton XI that was more Moyes-like than a thousand-yard stare on receipt of a journalist's impertinent question. The graphic below shows the side picked by Martinez on Saturday, alongside that selected by Moyes in the corresponding fixture last season on February 23. Talk of apeing Wigan's 3-4-2-1 formation proved redundant as Martinez elected to stick with Everton's tried and tested back four, with Nikica Jelavic operating as a lone front man.
The personnel of the side may have changed only slightly but a shift in its personality was evident throughout 90 minutes that saw Everton dominate 67.5 per cent of possession and enjoy a pass completion rate of 88 per cent, up from a 79 per cent average last season.
If you compare the two graphics below it becomes clear Martinez has been true to his word of placing greater emphasis on width. The change is most evident in the positional play of Seamus Coleman (23).
It's a point Jamie Carragher was keen to make on Monday Night Football: "It's the same personnel. None of his signings actually played against Norwich. But there's definitely been a shift. Just look at the positions of Coleman, Jagielka, Distin and Baines. Especially the width of the pitch - the two full-backs - you wouldn't associate that with a David Moyes Everton team."
Whereas last season Coleman's average position was dead on halfway, on Saturday he provided repeated penetration down the right and was more an auxiliary winger than full-back. Indeed, such were his buccaneering endeavours only Jelavic and Kevin Mirallas operated further forward. Leighton Baines created more chances than any other player last term and it would appear Martinez wants similar ammunition from the opposite flank. Coleman's 91 per cent pass accuracy and goal is cause for optimism. Jelavic will also draw heart from the fact he was not the isolated figure he too often cut when the goals dried up. Steven Pienaar, Ross Barkley and Kevin Mirallas proved an innovative and interchangeable triumvirate playing in the pockets just behind and either side of him.
The beguiling performance and stunning goal of Barkley has manifest hyperbolic, at least for now, talk of an England call-up but it's just as interesting to note the difference in Marouane Fellaini. Last season the Belgian had just two players operating in front of him, whereas on Saturday there were six. In the past he has spoken openly of his frustration at being used in an advanced position by Moyes and it would appear his new manager is ready to acquiesce with his wish of playing in a withdrawn holding role.
"Sometimes I look at myself and ask, 'What is my best position?' I think it's a defensive midfielder, that's the best one. The manager (Moyes) might like it sometimes when I play up front because I can cause trouble for the defenders, but for me my best position defensive midfield - stopping the opposition and then looking to impose myself on a game."
Facing the opposition's goal rather than with his back to it, Fellaini attempted his most ever passes in an Everton shirt at 81 with a 91 per cent accuracy, up from a 79.29 average in 2012/13. Of those passes, just seven were long.
Carragher went on to add: "You'd normally expect a manager to stamp his authority on it and maybe 10 to 12 games in you can see it slowly building. I think there has already been a big shift.
"Who would have said that at the start of the weekend - most passes and most possession (surpassed by Manchester City on Monday). They have always been the team that would grind the results out. You'd expect Manchester United, Swansea and Chelsea up there with those stats. You wouldn't expect Everton and that shows the effect Martinez has already had."
|Opening weekend - Passing
|Manchester City
|Swansea City
|Opening weekend - Possession
|Manchester City
Perhaps the most telling statistic from Saturday was the number of passes Everton played in their own half, 221 against a season average last term of 142. Persistently they avoided the temptation to go long, with their usual target Fellaini no longer the easy get-out ball. Greater patience in their build-up play is likely to be a trope to watch out for in a side that already is starting to mirror its manager.
They certainly did in the manner in which they conceded. But that's another story. For now, though, the mood at Goodison is one of quiet optimism and if Martinez can deliver the type of football he's made his trademark but with better players there's every chance Everton will keep moving forwards, whilst at the same time retaining the 'fast, forward-thinking football' that has been a hallmark of club's identity from before Moyes, from before Kendall.
After all, if football really is a science Martinez is exactly the type of man you want in the lab.


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Attorney General threatens Twitter injunction-busters
'Not something I particularly want to do'
The government's chief legal adviser has warned that people who breach privacy injunctions by publishing details on micro-blogging site Twitter and other websites could be prosecuted for contempt of court.
Attorney General Dominic Grieve told the BBC's Radio 4 programme, Law in Action, that he would consider taking direct action against individuals who flouted the privacy orders online.
Normally such a breach of orders made in civil cases in England and Wales need to be addressed by the claimants concerned.
They can seek to have individuals punished for breaking the terms of a privacy injunction, as in the recent media storm surrounding Manchester United footballer Ryan Giggs.
The football star began legal proceedings against Twitter just days before Lib Dem MP John Hemming used parliamentary privilege to out the sportsman's injunction, which Giggs had used in an effort to suppress details of an alleged affair with an ex-Big Brother contestant.
Grieve said this morning that he would consider undertaking contempt proceedings against those who breach such orders, including Twitter users and newspapers.
"If you're a tweeter and you're susceptible to the jurisdiction of our national courts in England and Wales, it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that you may find yourself being brought into court for contempt. And the fact that you're doing it on Twitter doesn't give you some blanket exemption," he said.
"I will take action if I think that my intervention is necessary in the public interest, to maintain the rule of law, proportionate and will achieve an end of upholding the rule of law.
"It is not something, however, I particularly want to do."
Those found guilty of contempt for breaching court orders usually face fines and sometimes a stint in prison. ®
Sponsored: Detecting cyber attacks as a small to medium business


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Since 2006, I have been writing about the benefits of wearing gloves. Now, there is more justification than ever for my admonitions and recommendations on the topic. Currently plaguing Americans and the rest of the world are norovirus and MRSA; the deadly ebola virus is rampant in Africa, and other antibiotic-resistant diseases are proliferating. Most of these viruses are spread by surface-contact. Wearing gloves while out in public, especially while shopping, and disinfecting them when you get home can save your life. And hospital-acquired diseases are now common, so do your best to avoid hospitals and other heath-clinics.
Hospital-acquired infections can be caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi or parasites; they are spread by touching contaminated surfaces, clothing and implements, or skin-contact with infected people. Viruses may be contracted from surgical procedures, catheters, or by inhaling airborne pathogens.
Common hospital infections are MRSA and C Difficile. These micro-organisms may already exist dormant in the patient's body or be contracted from the air, contaminated surfaces and hospital equipment, healthcare workers or other patients. Hospitals must employ pre-screening for MRSA or C-Difficile prior to surgery.
These infections and viruses are often resistant to antibiotics, and the lack of effective therapies may necessitate amputation of fingers or limbs. If you find yourself having to be in the hospital as a patient or visitor, wear disposable gloves before touching any surface, tool, item of clothing or person.
Relying on antibacterial gels and liquids is no longer adequate for self-protection against dangerous germs. Wearing gloves can not only enhance your elegance, but you will be more confident about your safety and survival.


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Kaitlin Spurling collected four points in the 8-0 win over Yale, narrowly missing a hat trick (Gil Talbot).
Game Highlights
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Three first period goals proved to be more than enough as the No. 8/9 Harvard women's hockey team dominated play from start to finish in a 8-0 pounding of Yale Friday at Ingalls Rink. Harvard improves its overall record to 13-6-1 and its conference mark to 10-4-1 with the convincing win.
In all, seven different Harvard players scored in the game that saw the Crimson match its season-high for goals in a game. Goalie Laura Bellamy needed just nine saves to record her second consecutive shutout and fourth of the season. The nine shots allowed marked a season-best mark for the Crimson defense.
Harvard bolted out of the starting blocks, posting a pair of goals within the first 4:30 of the first period. Jillian Dempsey intercepted a clearing pass by a Bulldog defender in the offensive zone, dragged the puck to her backhand and lifted a shot past Jamie Leonoff for a quick 1-0 lead. Kaitlin Spurling followed suit just 46 seconds later, picking off a Yale clearing attempt and beating Leonoff for back-to-back unassisted scores.
The Crimson continued to dominate play in the first and with 5:48 left in the period, Spurling struck again, wristing a shot into the top corner for her second goal of the game. The guests finished the first with a 16-2 advantage in shots.
It was more of the same in the second as Gina McDonald stretched the Harvard lead to four with a goal just 2:50 into the frame. Seven minutes later, it was rookie Samantha Reber, attacking from the opposite side and netting her fourth goal of the season which forced Yale to make a goaltender change. Harvard continued to own the shots advantage, outshooting the hosts 17-3 in the second.
The Harvard offense was quiet through the first half of the final frame, but rediscovered its stride in the back half of the period, netting a trio of goals in the final nine minutes. Kalley Armstrong found the scoresheet at 11:07 of the third off passes from Hillary Crowe and Michelle Picard and Crowe netted her own goal just over two minutes later. Elizabeth Parker registered the final Harvard score, converting a pass from Alisa Baumgartner at 17:19.
Harvard is back in action tomorrow afternoon in a 4 p.m., showdown with Ivy foe Brown in Providence, R.I.


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Advent was especially deep this year: the home-made cards, the counting down of the days with the vintage German calendar, the Office in the dark each morning, 7 am Mass, the walks around the neighborhood at night, the opening of the heart, the forgiveness of self and others, the planning of the December 25th dinner.
Christmas eve I thought to attend a vigil family Mass.
I loved seeing the families and the children. After weeks of "O Come, O Come Emmanual," as always we finally got to sing a couple of opening carols.
Then the priest gave his homily.
He opened by addressing the kids. "We all get excited about our presents, don't we?" he said. "Well, I got so excited about mine that I opened one of them first. And you know what I got? A selfie stick!"
I froze. I did not know what a selfie stick even is but I knew it couldn't be good, and I could also guess. (One brand describes itself as "a Selfie taking package comprised of an extendable monopod and a remote bluetooth button)" [sic].
"Anyone who knows me knows I love to take pictures of myself and my friends!" the priest continued, producing a wand-like object from his cassock and turned it this way and that for all to admire.
This, while a poor woman on the run is undergoing labor in a manger. This, on the night the shepherds watched their flocks by night and the Savior of the world was born. This on the altar on which Christ was crucified.
A selfie stick.
The "new evangelization" was complete. A Catholic priest, on the holiest night of the year, was delivering a homily encouraging children to shop, buy useless consumer goods, and take pictures of themselves.
You could say, Hey, give the guy a break, so he likes to take pictures of himself and his friends. But gone are the days when we pasted the photos in an album reserved for our cousins, grandchildren and close chums. The whole purpose of selfies is to put them on the internet in order to project in image of ourselves as loved, as thriving, as "happy." The whole effect is to hide from ourselves our terrible emptiness, our fear that we are not loved, our terror in this culture of success of being perceived as losers.
While I'm on the subject, since when did the Mass become a low-grade Oscars ceremony? As this one continued, we were encouraged to clap six or eight times. We clapped for the children who read, the parishioners for whom this was their first time at the church, for the choir, the people who bought poinsettias, for the servers, for the priests.
We clapped for everyone but Christ for the very good reason that you don't clap for Christ, you prostrate yourself before him.
And don't try to pin it on LA. You know and I know this stuff goes on all over the world.
The next day I hosted Christmas dinner for 12 friends. Just as I stood to say grace, one of them straggled in late and before even saying hello, produced a camera and started snapping photos. "Put that thing down," I surprised myself by hissing. "Do not post pictures of this on Facebook."
Partly I was annoyed at the boorishness of a guest who'd show up an hour late to a sit-down Christmas dinner. Partly the day before I'd gone to my FB account and been confronted with a ready-made Year in Review, "curated" by some repulsively intrusive marketing algorithm. How dare you purport to tell my story, to witness to my life?
But mostly that Christmas eve Mass had shaken me to my core. I have always been an abjectly grateful convert. I have always quoted Romano Guardini; "The Church is the cross upon which Christ is crucified." I've always known to take what I like and leave the rest, not in the sense of being a cafeteria Catholic but in the sense of realizing that the aesthetic and sensibility of the Church is not tailor-made for me, and that nothing trumps the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, that the insult of bad music, bad art, bad homilies and sometimes bad theology are to Christ, not to me.
But this was an experience I'd not quite had before, of literally feeling like I was worshiping at an altar of a different God than the priest himself. To think a selfie stick is a good thing, period, never mind a good thing to promote to children on Christmas eve, evinces an orientation of heart, a prayer life, and a lack of concern for the suffering of the world and the forces from which that suffering springs that are so diametrically opposed to my own that I quailed. "They have taken my Lord away and I don't know where they have put him," as Mary Magdalene said...
Listen, I'm as narcissistically disordered as anyone: probably more so. That is precisely why I'm so often before the Blessed Sacrament, more or less ceaselessly in prayer, and continually examining my conscience, more often than not appalled at the extent of my half-heartedness, my hypocrisy, my out-for-myselfness. I struggle constantly with the need to make a livelihood from my writing, and thus to make known the availability of my work and speaking schedule, versus the very narcissism of which I speak.
But it's one thing to be cognizant of our tendency toward idolatry and another to celebrate it.
From the chapter "Notes on Consumerism" in Jeff Dietrich's The Good Samaritan:
"This process of substituting image for reality, surface for substance, began with the invention of photography a little more than a hundred years ago. Stuart Ewen quotes Oliver Wendell Holmes in a euphoric but prescient vision:
'For Holmes, photography signaled the beginning of a time when "the image would become more important than the object itself, and would in fact make the object disposable." "Form," he proclaimed, "is henceforth divorced from matter." Men will hunt all curious, grand, and beautiful objects, as they hunt the cattle in South America, for their skins, and leave the carcasses as of little worth.' "
I'm sure that priest is a wonderful guy. I liked his bearing, his voice. I appreciated the way he said the rest of the Mass. But I can't get that image of a Catholic priest, brandishing a "selfie stick" on the altar, out of my mind.
And we laughed at the silly Native Americans who feared the white man's camera would steal their souls.