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@sheilmcn I'd love to know the 5 most interesting things you learned from #lak12 today:)
— Brandon Muramatsu (@bmuramatsu) May 2, 2012
Following that challenge, I'm going to try and summarise my experiences and reflections on the recent LAK12 conference in the five areas that seemed to resonate with me over the 4 days of the conference (including the pre conference workshop day) which are: research, vendors, assessment, ethics and students.
Learning Analytics is a newly emerging research domain. This was only the second LAK conference, and to an extent the focus of the conference was on trying to establish and benchmark the domain. Aberlardo has summarised this aspect of the conference far better than I could. Although I went to the conference with an open mind, and didn't have set expectations I was struck by the research focus of the papers, and the lack of large(r) scale implementations. Perhaps this is due to the 'buzzy-ness' of the term learning analytics just now (more on that in the vendor section of this post) – and is not meant in any way as a critisism of the conference or the quality of the papers, both of which were excellent. On reflection I think that the pre-conference workshops gave more of an opportunity for discuss than the traditional paper presentation with short Q&A format which the conference followed. Perhaps for LAK13 a mix of presentation formats might be included. With any domain which hopes to impact on teaching and learning there are difficulties breaching the research and practice divide and personally I find workshops give more opportunity for discussion. That said, I did see a lot of interesting presentations which did have potential, including a reintroduction to SNAPP which Lori Lockyer and Shane Dawson presented at the Learning Analytics meets Learning Design workshop; a number of very interesting presentations from the OU on various aspects of their work in research and now applying analytics; the Mirror project, an EU funded work based learning project which includes a range of digital, physical and emotional analytics and the GLASS system presented by Derek Leony, Carlos III, Madrid to name just a few.
George Seimens presented his vision(s) for the domain in his keynote (this was the first keynote I have seen where the presenter's ideas were shared openly during the presentation – such a great example of openness in practice). There was also an informative panel session around the differences and potential synergies with the Educational Data Mining community. SOLAR (the society for learning analytics research ) is planning a series of events to continue these discussions and scoping of the domain, and we at CETIS will be involved in helping with a UK event later this year.
There were lots of vendors around. I didn't get any impression of any kind of hard sell, but every educational tool be it LMS/VLE/CMS now has a very large, shiny new analytics badge on it – even if what is being offered is actually the same as before, but just with parts re-labelled. I'm not sure how much (or any) of the forward thinking research that was presented will filter down into large scale tools, but I guess that's an answer in itself for the need for the research in this area. So we in the education community can be informed and ask questions challenging the vendors and the systems they present. I was impressed with a (new to me) system called canvas analytics which colleagues from the community college sector in Washington State briefly showed me. It seems to allow flexibility and customisation of features and UI, is cloud based and so has a more distributed architecture, has CC licensing built in, and a crowd sourced feature request facility.
With so many potential sources of data it is crucial that systems are flexible and can pull and push data out to a variety of end points. This allows users – both at the institutional back end and the UI end – flexibility over what they use. CETIS have been supporting JISC to explore notions of flexible provision through a number of programmes including DVLE.
Lori Lockyer made an timely reflection on the development of learning design drawing parallels with the learning analytics. This made me immediately think of the slight misnomer of learning design, which in many cases was actually more about teaching design. With learning analytics there are similar parallels but what also crossed my mind on more than one occasion was the notion of marketing analytics as a key driver in this space. This was probably more noticeable due to the North American slant of the conference. But I was once again struck by the differences in approaches to marketing of students in North America and the UK. Universities and colleges in the US have relatively huge marketing budgets compared to us, they need to get students into their classes and keep them there. Having a system or integrated systems which manage retention numbers, and if you like the more business intelligence end of the analytics spectrum, could gain traction far more quickly than ones that are exploring the much harder to qualify effective learning analytics. Could this lead us into a similar situation with VLEs/LMSs where there was a perceived need to have one ("everyone else has got one"), vendors sold the sector something which kind of looked like it did the job? Given my comments earlier about flexibility and pervasiveness of web services, I hope not, but some dark thoughts did cross my mind and I was drawn back to Gardner Campbell's presentation questioning some of the narrow definitions of learning analytics.
It's still the bottom line, and the key driver for most educational systems, and in turn analytics about those systems. Improving assessment numbers gets senior management attention. The Signals project at Purdue is one of the leading lights in the domain of learning analytics, and John Campbell and the team there have, and continue to do an excellent job of gathering data from mainly their LMS and feed it back to students in ways that do have an impact. But again, going back to Gardner Campbell's presentation, learning analytics as a research domain is not just about assessment. So, I was heartened to see lots of references to the potential for analytics to be used in terms of measuring competencies, which I think could have potential for students as it might help to contextualise existing and newly developed/ing competencies, and allow some more flexible approaches to recognition of competencies to be developed. More opportunities to explore the context of learning and not just sell the content? Again, relating back the role of vendors, I was reminded of how content driven the North American systems is. Vendors are increasingly offering competitive alternatives for elective courses with accreditation, as well as OERs (and of course collecting the data). In terms of wider systems, I'm sure that an end to end analytics system with content and assessment all bundled in is not that far off being offered, if it isn't already.
Data and ethics, collect one and ignore the other at your peril! My first workshop was one run by Sharon Slade and Finella Gaphin from the OU and I have to say, I think it was a great start to the whole week (not just because we got to play snakes and ladders) as ethics and our approaches to them underline all the activity in this area. Most attention just now is focusing on issues of privacy, but there are a host of other issues including:
*power – who gets to decided what is done with the data?
*rights – does everyone have the same rights to use data? who can mine data for other purposes?
*ownership – do students own their data – what are the consequences of opt outs?
*responsibility – is there shared responsibility between institutions and students?
Doug Clow live blogged the workshop if you want more detailed information, and it is hoped that a basis for a code of conduct can be developed from the session.
Last, but certainly not least, students. The student voice was at times deafening by its silence. At several points during the conference, particularly during the panel session on Building Organisational Capacity by Linda Baer and Dan Norris, I felt a growing concern about things being done "to" and not "with" students. Linda and Dan are conducting some insightful research into organisational capacity building and have already interviewed many (North American) institutions and vendors but there was very little mention of students. If learning analytics are going to really impact on learning and help transform pedagogical approaches, then shouldn't we be talking about them to the students? What does really work for them? Are they aware of what data is being collected about them? Are they willing to let more data from informal sources e.g. Facebook, 4square etc be used in the context of learning analytics? Are they aware of their data exhaust? As well as these issues, Simon Buckingham-Schum made the very pertinent point, that if students were given access to their data, would they actually be able to do anything with it?
Dear Student, here's what we store about you ( -> 12Gb dnld of numeric tables). Reciprocity implies sensemaking capacity #lak12
— Simon BuckinghamShum (@sbskmi) May 2, 2012
And also if we are collecting data about students shouldn't we be also collecting similar data about teaching staff?
I don't want to add yet another literacy to the seemingly never ending list, but this does tie in with the wider context of digital literacy development. Sense making of data and visualisations is key if learning analytics is to gain traction in practice, and it's not just students who are falling short, it's probably all of us. I saw lots of "pretty pictures" in terms of network visualisations, potential dashboard views, etc over the week – but did I really understand them? Do I have the necessary skills to properly de-code and make sense of them? Sometimes, but not all the time. I think visualisations should come with a big question mark symbol attached or overlaid – they should always raise questions. at the moment I don't think enough people have the skills to be able to confidently question them.
Overall it was a very thought provoking week, with too much to included in one post but if you have a chance take a look at Katy Borner's keynote Visual Analytics in Support of Education one of my highlights.
So, thanks to all the organisers for creating such a great atmosphere for sharing and learning. I'm looking forward to LAK13 and what advances will be made in the coming year and if a European location will bring some a different slant to the conference.


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Iran reportedly is preparing to send 4,000 Revolutionary Guard soldiers to Syria to defend President Bashar Assad's regime, as the United States intends to supply rebels with small arms through a CIA-run program.
Pro-Iranian sources deeply involved with Iran's security told The Independent that the decision to move soldiers into Syria was made before last week's presidential election.
Iran also is looking to open up a new front of the Syrian conflict in the Golan Heights region near Israel, The Independent reports.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is planning to bolster the strength of anti-Assad forces within Syria.
So far the White House has committed only to supplying rebels with small arms and ammunition, following confirmation that Assad's regime has been using chemical weapons.
On Sunday in Syria, Sunni extremists blew up a Shiite mosque in a village in the eastern part of the country that was stormed by rebels last week, another sign of the sectarian hatred growing in the country's civil war, activists said Sunday.
They said that the demolition was carried out by Al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria and shows the determination of extremists to drive Shiites out of the village of Hatla in the Deir el-Zour region near Iraq. Last Tuesday rebels battled pro-regime militiamen there, killing more than 60 Shiite fighters and civilians according to activists.
In amateur videos of the latest incident, fighters walked into the mosque in Hatla and trampled on books, some with covers showing pictures of Shiite clerics. It then showed an explosion that brought down the building, but its dome remained intact.
Sunday's video posted on the Internet appeared genuine and corresponded with other Associated Press reporting from the area.
Rami Abdurrahman, founder of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that the mosque was demolished Friday, three days after the battle. Other videos that emerged earlier have showed rebels cursing Shiites and suggested fighters had burned Shiite homes.
"It's clear that they want to root out Hatla's Shiite inhabitants," he told The Associated Press.
The town was home to several thousand people, about 30 percent of them Shiites. It was considered a pro-regime community in the Euphrates River valley, where rebels -- including the Al Qaeda-linked group Jabhat el-Nusra -- have taken over much of the territory.
The Syrian uprising began more than two years ago with peaceful protests against President Bashar Assad, but later grew into a civil war that has killed nearly 93,000 people.
Most of the armed rebels in Syria are from the country's Sunni majority, while Assad has retained core support among the minorities, including his own Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, along with Christians and Shiites.
In the past year, sectarian bitterness has grown in the conflict. Each sect has been accused of massacres against the other, and Sunni and Shiite fighters from other countries have increasingly joined the battle.
Washington has expressed concern over last Tuesday's attack on Hatla.
Meanwhile, Assad's Jordanian neighbor and one-time Egyptian friend have grown frustrated with him.
Jordan's King Abdullah II told graduating military cadets Sunday that his key U.S. ally was ready to fend off any Syrian threats.
Abdullah said Jordan "will emerge victorious in the face of all challenges, the way we always have in the past."
Should the worsening Syrian crisis "become a threat to our country, we are capable at any time of taking the necessary measures to protect our country and people's interests," added Abdullah, whose country hosts more than 500,000 Syrians who fled the war.
Jordan, which backs the rebels against Assad's rule, is worried that the Syrian president may ultimately attack his neighbors with chemical weapons or that they may fall into the hands of militants if the regime collapses.
Jordan is hosting multinational military exercises involving thousands of U.S. troops. The U.S. also has agreed to install Patriot missiles along Jordan's 233-mile border with Syria and is allowing a squadron of 12 to 24 F-16 fighter jets to remain after the exercises.
Also Sunday, a Syrian official said Egypt's decision to cut off diplomatic ties with his country is "irresponsible," accusing Islamist President Mohammed Morsi of joining a U.S.-Israeli conspiracy to divide the region.
The official's statement broadcast on Syria's state TV came a day after Morsi told supporters in Cairo that his country is severing ties with Damascus, and closing its embassy in the Syrian capital. Morsi's decision was made amid growing calls from hard-line Sunni clerics in Egypt and the region to launch "holy war" against Assad's regime.
Morsi also called for a no-fly zone over Syria. The unnamed official said Morsi's call is a violation of Syria's sovereignty "and serves the goals of Israel and the United States" in the region.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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The Rance Allen Group's musical history is comprised memories from various points of their career. Many of the group's early musical memories were made during their years at Stax Records. This renowned, Memphis-based label played an integral role in launching the career of the Rance Allen Group and set the stage for many of their beloved hit songs.
Read: Tye Tribett Signs Major Deal
Along with celebrating over 40 years in music, the Rance Allen Group will honor Stax Records during the Black History Month/Stax Museum 10th Anniversary Celebration.
On February 5th, the Rance Allen Group will perform during the Stax Music Academy Black History Month musical event, "The Sacred Side of Soulsville", at the Cannon Center for Performing Arts, 255 N. Main Street in Memphis, TN.
"Sacred Side of Soulsville" is a taste of how Stax and the Soulsville Community have impacted the world. The concert will include music by The Rance Allen Group, selections composed by Herbert Brewster and Lucie B. Campbell and more who are connected to the Soulsville legacy.
Read:Kirk Franklin Joins GSN's American Bible Challenge
Rance Allen Group Honors Stax Records For Black History Month was originally published on elev8.com


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This is the second home that we have purchased using Neuman & Neuman, and once again, Ruth and the team didn't disappoint!!! They are extremely attentive and knowledgeable every step of the way. We have referred friends who also purchased homes using this team, and would absolutely do it again!! We can't thank them enough!
zuser20170708102041951 http://www.zillow.com/profile/Gregg-Neuman/Reviews/?review=3656540 September 29, 2017


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Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series
Since first coming to wide notice in the late 1990s, the Harry Potter book series by J. K. Rowling has been the subject of a number of legal disputes. Rowling, her various publishers and Time Warner, the owner of the rights to the Harry Potter films, have taken numerous legal actions to protect their copyrights, and also have fielded accusations of copyright theft themselves.[1] The worldwide popularity of the Harry Potter series has led to the appearance of a number of locally-produced, unauthorised sequels and other derivative works, leading to efforts to ban or contain them.[2] While these legal proceedings have countered a number of cases of outright piracy,[3] other attempts have targeted not-for-profit endeavours and have been criticised.[4]
Another area of legal dispute involves a series of injunctions obtained by Rowling and her publishers to prohibit anyone from distributing or reading her books before their official release dates. The sweeping powers of these injunctions have sometimes drawn criticism from civil liberties and free speech campaigners and led to debates over the "right to read".[5][6] One of these injunctions was used in an unrelated trespassing case as precedent supporting the issuing of an injunction against a John Doe.[7]
Outside these controversies, a number of particular incidents related to Harry Potter have also led, or almost led, to legal action. In 2005, a man was sentenced to four years in prison after firing a replica gun at a journalist during a staged deal for stolen copies of an unreleased Harry Potter novel, and attempting to blackmail the publisher with threats of releasing secrets from the book.[8] Then in 2007 Bloomsbury Publishing contemplated legal action against the supermarket chain Asda for libel after the company accused them of overpricing the final Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.[9]
Allegations of copyright and trademark infringement against Rowling[edit]
Nancy Stouffer[edit]
In 1999, American author Nancy Kathleen Stouffer alleged copyright and trademark infringement by Rowling of her 1984 works The Legend of Rah and the Muggles (ISBN 1-58989-400-6) and Larry Potter and His Best Friend Lilly.[1] The primary basis for Stouffer's case rested in her own purported invention of the word "Muggles", the name of a race of mutant humanoids in The Legend of Rah and the Muggles, and Larry Potter, the title character of a series of activity booklets for children. Larry Potter, like Harry Potter, is a bespectacled boy with dark hair,[10] though he is not a character in The Legend of Rah and the Muggles.[11] Stouffer also drew a number of other comparisons, such as a castle on a lake, a receiving room and wooden doors.[10] Portions of Rah were originally published in booklet form in 1986 by Ande Publishing Company, a company founded by Stouffer together with a group of friends and family.[12] Ande Publishing filed for bankruptcy in September 1987 without selling any of its booklets in the United States or elsewhere.[12] Rowling has stated that she first visited the United States in 1998.[13]
Rowling, along with Scholastic Press (her American publisher) and Warner Bros. (holders of the series' film rights), pre-empted Stouffer in 2002 with a suit of their own seeking a declaratory judgment that they had not infringed on any of Stouffer's works. The court found in Rowling's favour, granting summary judgment and holding that "no reasonable juror could find a likelihood of confusion as to the source of the two parties' works".[12] During the course of the trial, it was held that Rowling proved "by clear and convincing evidence, that Stouffer has perpetrated a fraud on the Court through her submission of fraudulent documents as well as through her untruthful testimony",[12] including changing pages years after the fact to retroactively insert the word "muggle".[12] Her case was dismissed with prejudice and she was fined $50,000 for her "pattern of intentional bad faith conduct" in relation to her employment of fraudulent submissions, as well as being ordered to pay a portion of the plaintiffs' legal fees.[12] Stouffer appealed the decision in 2004, but in 2005 the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling.[14] In 2006 she stated on her website that she was planning to republish her books and was entertaining the possibility of another lawsuit against Warner Bros., J. K. Rowling and Scholastic Press.[15]
The Legend of Rah and the Muggles is out of print. In early 2001, it was published by Thurman House, LLC, a Maryland publishing company.[12] Thurman House, formed by Ottenheimer Publishers to republish the works of Nancy Stouffer, was closed when Ottenheimer ceased operations in 2002 after filing for bankruptcy.[16] Stouffer later asserted that any copies of the book published by Thurman House are unauthorized because the publisher failed to honour its contractual obligations to her.[15]
The Wyrd Sisters[edit]
In 2005, Warner Bros. offered CAD$5,000 (later CAD$50,000) to the Canadian folk band the Wyrd Sisters for the rights to use their name in the film version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.[17] Rowling had written a scene in the novel in which a band called the Weird Sisters appeared at a school dance, and the group owned the rights to the name in Canada. However, the offer was declined, and instead the band undertook a legal action against Warner Bros., as well as Jarvis Cocker of Pulp and Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway of Radiohead, who were to play the band in the film.[18] All plans to use the name in the movie were later abandoned. Despite that decision, the Canadian band filed a CAD$40-million ($39 million) lawsuit against Warner in Ontario court. In connection with the lawsuit, the band brought an interlocutory injunction hoping to prevent the release of the film. The injunction application was dismissed.[19] The entire suit was dismissed in November 2005. In June 2006, an Ontario judge decreed that the band pay Warner Bros. CAD$140,000 in legal costs, describing their lawsuit as "highly intrusive".[19][20] The group stated that they planned to appeal the decision.[19] Jarvis Cocker initially wished to release an album of "Weird Sisters"-themed music with collaborators including Franz Ferdinand, Jack White and Iggy Pop, but the project was dropped as a result of the lawsuit.[20] The Wyrd Sisters reported death threats from irate Harry Potter fans.[21] As of March 2010, the lawsuit has been settled out of court, the details sealed.[22]
Adrian Jacobs[edit]
In June 2009, the estate of Adrian Jacobs, a children's author who died in 1997, sued Rowling's publishers, Bloomsbury, for £500 million, accusing her of having plagiarised "substantial parts" of his work in writing the novel Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.[23] In a statement, Jacobs's family claimed that a scene in Goblet of Fire was substantially similar to Jacobs's book The Adventures of Willy the Wizard: Livid Land: "Both Willy and Harry are required to work out the exact nature of the main task of the contest which they both achieve in a bathroom assisted by clues from helpers, in order to discover how to rescue human hostages imprisoned by a community of half-human, half-animal fantasy creatures."[23] They also launched a joint suit against Rowling and her publishers. Bloomsbury countered with a statement of its own, saying that "This claim is without merit and will be defended vigorously," and that Rowling "had never heard of Adrian Jacobs nor seen, read or heard of his book Willy the Wizard until this claim was first made in 2004, almost seven years after the publication of the first Harry Potter book."[23] The Jacobs estate, driven by his son and grandson, have published a website with details and excerpts from the book, according to the Toronto Star.[24] In July 2010, the estate filed suit against Rowling's American publisher, Scholastic, demanding that the company burn all copies of Goblet of Fire.[25][26]
On 6 January 2011, the US lawsuit against Scholastic was dismissed. The judge in the case stated that there was not enough similarity between the two books to make a case for plagiarism.[27] In the UK courts, on 21 March 2011, Paul Allen, a trustee of the Jacobs estate, was ordered to pay as security to the court 65% of the costs faced by Bloomsbury and Rowling, amounting to over £1.5million, to avoid the claim being struck out. It was reported in The Bookseller[28] that Paul Allen has appealed against paying this sum. As a condition of the appeal, he paid £50,000 to the court in May 2011.[29] The claim was formally struck out in July 2011 after the deadline for Allen's initial payment was missed.[30]
International publications[edit]
In 2002, an unauthorised Chinese-language sequel titled Harry Potter and Bao Zoulong (Chinese: Simplified: 哈利波特与豹走龙, Traditional: 哈利波特與豹走龍, Hanyu Pinyin: Hālì Bōtè yǔ Bào Zǒulóng) appeared for sale in the People's Republic of China. (In English-language media this was mistranslated as Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-to-Dragon.) According to translated excerpts, the book principally consists of the text of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, but with most names changed to those of Harry Potter characters.[31] The book was quickly recognised by media outlets as a fake.[32] Rowling and Warner Bros. took steps to stop its distribution.[31] Copies were briefly distributed around the world, including e-book copies traded on the Internet. In November 2002, the Bashu Publishing House, in the southwestern city of Chengdu, agreed to pay a £1,600 fine and publish an apology in China's Legal Times for printing and distributing the novel.[33] As of 2007, the identity of the anonymous "author" has not been discovered. The opening of Harry Potter and Bao Zoulong, translated into English, was included in several news articles.[33] As of 2007, it is estimated that there are fifteen million copies of fraudulent Harry Potter novels circulating in China,[34] among them titles such as Harry Potter and the Porcelain Doll (otherwise known as Harry Potter and Ciwawa), Harry Potter and the Filler of Big, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Relative Prince, and Harry Potter and the Golden Armor. In 2007, Rowling's agents, the Christopher Little Literary Agency, began to discuss the possibility of legal proceedings concerning a fake version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that appeared in China ten days before the actual book's publication.[34]
In 2003, legal pressure from Harry Potter's publishers led an Indian publisher to stop publication of Harry Potter in Calcutta by Uttam Ghosh; a work in which Harry meets figures from Bengali literature.[35][36] The case was settled out of court.[37]
Also in 2003, courts in the Netherlands prevented the distribution of a Dutch translation of Tanya Grotter and the Magical Double Bass, the first of Dmitri Yemets' popular Russian series about a female apprentice wizard. Rowling and her publishers sued, arguing that the Grotter books violate copyright law. Yemets and his original Moscow-based publishers, Eksmo, argued that the books constitute a parody, permitted under copyright.[2] The Dutch courts ruled that the books did not constitute parody and thus were not allowed to be sold in the Netherlands.[38] Later that year, as the Dutch translation Tanja Grotter en de magische contrabas was still legal in Belgium, the Flemish publishers Roularta Books decided to print 1,000 copies (and no more) in order to let people decide whether it was plagiarism, hoping that under those circumstances Rowling and her publishers would not sue.[39] Rowling did not sue, but as there was a lot of interest in the book (Dutch people could buy the book by postal order from another Flemish publisher, Boekhandel VanIn) it was soon sold out.[39] The books continue to be published in Russia and have spawned several sequels.[40]
In August 2008, Warner Bros. filed a lawsuit against production company Mirchi Movies due to the similarity of the title of their Bollywood film Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors to the Harry Potter film series. Mirchi Movies CEO Munish Purii claimed there is very little similarity between Hari Puttar and any elements in the Harry Potter franchise, and explained that Hari is a popular Indian name, while "puttar" means "son" in Punjabi, although Indian versions of Harry Potter also translate Harry's name to Hari Puttar.[41] The film was delayed until late September. Warner Bros. claimed that the title was confusing, but Mirchi Movies claimed they registered the name in 2005.[42] On 24 September 2008, the court in Delhi rejected Warner Bros.' claim, saying that Harry Potter readers were sufficiently able to distinguish between the two works. They also accused Warner Bros. of delaying the action, since they were aware of the film as far back as 2005.[43]
Other accusations of infringement[edit]
In 2000, in the lead-up to the release of the first Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone; Warner Bros., the film's distributor, sent a series of letters to owners of Harry Potter fansites, demanding that, to protect their copyright, they hand over their domain names.[4] The action resulted in negative publicity for the company when the 15-year-old webmaster of the British fansite harrypotterguide.co.uk was reduced to tears by what were described by her father as unnecessary bully tactics. Eventually the corporation backed down in the face of media opposition and declared that, as the site was non-commercial, it did not violate the trademark.[4][44]
In their May 2004 issue, the US Army publication The Preventive Maintenance Monthly, which instructs soldiers on how to maintain their equipment, featured a spoof comic based on Harry Potter, featuring a character named Topper who resided at Mogmarts School under Professor Rumbledore.[45] The publication received notice from Rowling's lawyers that the comics breached copyright, though the magazine's editor, Ken Crunk, claimed that no violation had taken place, as "[t]he drawings do not look like any of the characters from Harry Potter".[45] After a discussion with Rowling's representatives, the magazine agreed not to use the characters again.[46]
In 2004, Rowling and Time Warner launched legal actions against bazee.com, now the Indian branch of the online auction site eBay. The site had hosted illegally created e-books of Harry Potter, which Rowling had never agreed to be published.[47] In 2005, Rowling warned her fans on her website that various "signed" Harry Potter memorabilia appearing for sale on eBay did not in fact use her signature. She urged her fans to protest eBay to prevent other children from being swindled.[48] In 2007, Rowling launched lawsuits against a number of users of the site,[49] obtaining a series of stay orders preventing them from selling her work. However eBay claimed that in her dealings with the media, Rowling had falsely claimed that her injunctions had been against eBay itself.[50] In June 2007, eBay filed papers with the Delhi High Court, alleging that Rowling had caused them "immense humiliation and harassment".[50] The High Court circumvented the application, claiming that it could not make such a judgment until the case went to trial.[50]
In October 2007, Warner Bros. sued a group constructing a façade during a Hindu religious festival in the Indian city of Kolkata for ₹2 million (US$25,000), claiming that they had erected a giant replica of Harry Potter's school, Hogwarts, without their permission. Initial reports stated that, as the effort was not for profit, it did not violate Rowling's copyright.[51] The Associated Press claimed that the High Court of Delhi, where the petition was filed, allowed the organisers to carry on with the temporary construction with an order that the structure had to be dismantled after the festival was over[51] and that the court refused to impose any compensation on the basis that the organisers were involved in a "non-profit making enterprise".[52] However, these statements were later retracted: the court had in fact ruled in favour of Warner Bros., but no fine had been ordered, and Warner Bros. claimed that they had only requested a fine because such action was necessary under Indian law.[53] In November 2007, Rowling discussed the case on her website, listing the rumours that she had targeted a non-profit organisation as "Toxic" and saying, "The defendants were not religious charities, and theirs was not a religious celebration. On the contrary, it was a large-scale, commercial, sponsored event involving corporations that included a major Indian high street bank. The event was, however, set up while a Hindu festival was going on ... The court ruled that Warner Bros. rights had indeed been infringed, and that events such as the one in question would need Warner Bros.' permission in the future. The court also restrained all the defendants from any future events infringing Warner Bros. rights."[54]
On 31 October 2007, Warner Bros. and Rowling sued Michigan-based publishing firm RDR Books to block the publication of a 400-page book version of the Harry Potter Lexicon, an online reference guide to her work.[55] Rowling, who previously had a good relationship with Lexicon owner Steve Vander Ark, reiterated on her website that she plans to write a Harry Potter encyclopedia, and that the publication of a similar book before her own would hurt the proceeds of the official encyclopedia, which she plans to give to charity.[56] A judge later barred publication of the book in any form until the case was resolved.[57] In their suit, Rowling's lawyers also asserted that, as the book describes itself as a print facsimile of the Harry Potter Lexicon website, it would publish excerpts from the novels and stills from the films without offering sufficient "transformative" material to be considered a separate work.[58] The trial concluded on 17 April 2008.[59] On 8 September 2008, the judge ruled in her favour, claiming that the book would violate the terms of fair use.[60] In December 2008, a modified (and shorter) version of Vander Ark's Lexicon was approved for publication and was released 16 January 2009 as The Lexicon: An Unauthorized Guide to Harry Potter Fiction.
In November 2007, The Scotsman reported that Rowling had threatened legal action against American computer programmer G. Norman Lippert for allegedly violating her intellectual property rights by producing and publishing the online novel James Potter and the Hall of Elders' Crossing, an unofficial and unauthorised continuation of the Harry Potter series. Written as a fan fiction project for Lippert's wife and sons, the novel is set eighteen years after the end of the last official instalment in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and describes the adventures of Harry Potter's son, James Sirius Potter, during his first year at Hogwarts. A specialist in intellectual property law at Strathclyde University commented that, "If an insubstantial character from a novel is taken and built up by another author in a new story, that can be a defence against copyright infringements."[61] However, after Lippert offered Rowling an advance copy of the novel, Rowling dismissed her threat and said she supported the novel and any others like it. Lippert subsequently produced a sequel, James Potter and the Curse of the Gatekeeper.[62] After the novel first appeared online in early November 2007, some Harry Potter fans on the Internet initially speculated that the site might be part of an elaborate viral marketing campaign for an official continuation or spinoff of Harry Potter, one either written or at least approved by Rowling herself.[63] On 9 November 2007, Rowling's agent Neil Blair denied that Rowling was in any way involved with the purported project,[64] and Warner Bros., the studio which owns the rights to the Harry Potter film series, denied that the novel was in any way connected to the official Harry Potter franchise.[65]
Legal injunctions[edit]
Rowling and her publishers have brought a series of legal injunctions to ensure the books' secrecy before their launch. These injunctions have drawn criticism from civil liberties campaigners over their potentially sweeping powers over individual freedoms.
In 2003, in an attempt to maintain secrecy over the impending release of the fifth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Rowling and her publishers sought and received a groundbreaking injunction against "the person or persons who has or have physical possession of a copy of the said book or any part thereof without the consent of the Claimants".[7] The ruling obtained, for the first time in British law, an injunction against unnamed or unknown individuals; before then, injunctions could only be obtained against named individuals. Lawyers Winterbothams noted that, "The new Harry Potter style injunction could be used if you expected a demonstration or trespass to take place, but which had not yet begun, so long as you could find a description for the people expected which the Court was satisfied identified 'those who are included and those who are not'".[7] The "Potter injunction" was later used against a camp of Roma travellers.[7] In 2006, pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline employed the injunction against anonymous animal rights campaigners who had sent threatening letters to their investors.[66]
The series garnered more controversy in 2005 with the release of the sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, when a Real Canadian Superstore grocery store accidentally sold several copies before the authorised release date. The Canadian publisher, Raincoast Books, obtained an injunction from the Supreme Court of British Columbia prohibiting the purchasers from reading the books in their possession. A comment by a media lawyer that "there is no human right to read" led to a debate in the public sphere about whether free access to information was a human right. Michael Geist, the Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, said in response, "The copyright law claim was particularly puzzling. While copyright law does provide copyright owners with a basket of exclusive rights, the right to prohibit reading is not among them. In fact, copyright law has very little to say about what people can do with a book once they have purchased it."[6][67] Free-speech activist Richard Stallman posted a statement on his blog calling for a boycott until the publisher issued an apology to the public.[5] Solicitors Fraser Milner and Casgrain, who represented Raincoast and formulated the legal argument for the embargo,[68] have rebutted this, saying that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms applies only to the government, not to private litigation, and does not offer any protection of the right to read in any case, and the innocent purchasers of the Harry Potter book had no more right to read it than if they had come into possession of someone's secret diary.[69]
In 2007, Scholastic Corporation threatened legal action against two booksellers, Levy Home Entertainment and DeepDiscount.com, for selling copies of the final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, before its release date of 21 July. In an official statement, Scholastic appealed "to the Harry Potter fans who bought their books from DeepDiscount.com and may receive copies early requesting that they keep the packages hidden until midnight on 21 July."[70] Customers who agreed not to read the book received a special Harry Potter t-shirt and a $50 coupon for Scholastic's online store.
In June 2005, Aaron Lambert, a security guard at a book distribution centre in Corby, Northamptonshire, England, stole a number of pages from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince six weeks before its intended publication date. He was arrested a day later after negotiations to sell them to John Askill, a journalist from The Sun, turned violent. Lambert reportedly fired a shot from his imitation Walther PPK pistol, but Askill was unharmed.[71] At his trial the following October, Lambert pleaded guilty to threatening Askill and to attempting to blackmail Harry Potter's publishers, Bloomsbury.[72] In January 2006, Lambert was sentenced to four and a half years in prison.[8] In November 2011, in her testimony before the Leveson Inquiry, Rowling said that the Sun had attempted to "blackmail" her into a photo-op in return for returning the stolen manuscript.[73]
Accusation of libel[edit]
In July 2007, a dispute arose between Harry Potter's British publisher, Bloomsbury, and Asda, a British supermarket chain owned by the US corporation Wal-Mart. On 15 July, a week before the release of the final Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Asda issued a press release accusing Bloomsbury of unfairly fixing their prices. Asda spokesman Peter Pritchard claimed that Bloomsbury was "holding children to ransom" and that, "[i]t seems like Bloomsbury need to do a quid-ditch as they have sent their prices up north on the Hogwarts Express. By setting the recommended retail price at this level can only be seen [sic] as blatant profiteering on their part." Pritchard went on to say that Asda was acting to "champion the right of young readers", and that the recommended retail price was "twice the average child's pocket money and £5 more than the average children's bestseller".[9] Asda had planned to sell the book as a loss leader at £8.87, or half Bloomsbury's recommended retail price of £17.99 and below the wholesale price of £9.89.
Two days later, Bloomsbury responded that the claims were "potentially libellous" and that:
Asda's latest attempt to draw attention to themselves involves trying to leap on the Harry Potter bandwagon. This is just another example of their repeated efforts of appearing as Robin Hood in the face of controversy about their worldwide group, which would suggest they are perceived as more akin to the Sheriff of Nottingham. Loss leaders were invented by supermarkets and have nothing to do with Bloomsbury Publishing or Harry Potter and we deeply regret having been dragged into their price-wars.[9]
Bloomsbury stated that the price hike of £1 from the previous Harry Potter novel was due to it having been printed on recycled paper. "There is a price to be paid by the consumer for environmental best practice", a Bloomsbury spokeswoman said.[74]
Bloomsbury CEO Nigel Newton said, "[They have] unleashed a very disingenuous, self-interested attack on us. This is complete nonsense and all they're doing is grandstanding as they've done on the price of aspirin and bread. They try to turn it into a big deal as though it's a moral crusade for them, but it's nothing of the kind."[74]
That same day, Bloomsbury cancelled all Asda's orders of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, or roughly 500,000 copies, citing unpaid bills from the company totalling £38,000 for unauthorised returns of the sixth Harry Potter book.[74] "The two matters are completely unrelated", said a Bloomsbury spokeswoman, "We decided today that we couldn't risk having arrears with anybody."[9] The dispute had been "going on a while – going on for weeks actually."[75] Asda responded that Bloomsbury owed them £122,000 ("for pulping and for other book trade issues and work we have done for them"[74]) and that, as one company spokesman claimed, "It just seems funny that after we expose the potty Potter price hike, Bloomsbury are trying everything they can to stop kids getting hold of Harry Potter at a price they can afford."
Asda paid the bill within hours, and claimed that Bloomsbury would be in breach of contract if it did not allow the store to sell its books. However, Bloomsbury claimed that the block on Asda's orders was still in place as, "Unfortunately, we've now had to initiate a significant libel claim against them. That matter will have to be dealt with. If they want their 500,000 books, they'll have to come and make peace with us ... It could be good news for all their disappointed customers, because they don't have to go to a soulless Asda shed to buy their book and they can share the magic of Harry Potter at an independent or specialist bookstore instead."[74]
Upon receipt of Bloomsbury's legal letter, Asda responded that, "There is nothing defamatory in our press release. Everything there is factual. It is a commentary on how we see things."[74] Said another Asda spokesperson, "If they don't supply us with the books, it will have a massive implication and [be] a breach of contract – but I don't think they will do that."[74]
Later that day, however, Asda released a statement retracting its original comment: "We apologise unreservedly to Bloomsbury for [our] press release dated 15 July and withdraw our statement. We look forward to a good relationship with Bloomsbury going forward, including selling the latest Harry Potter book from 00:01 am BST on Saturday 21 July and many other Bloomsbury books in the future".[76] In response, Bloomsbury lifted the block and Asda was allowed to sell its books. The original press release was then expunged.[77]
The rationale behind Asda's initial press release remains uncertain. Neill Denny, commentator for thebookseller.com, opined that "the whole episode has the whiff of a badly-conceived PR stunt by ill-briefed senior executives at Asda out of touch with the subtleties of the book world."[78] Ralph Baxter of Publishing News concurred: "For Asda ... it may be seen as mission accomplished, a high-risk strategy to maximise publicity for its Harry Potter offer rewarded with television, radio, Internet and newspaper coverage. And the association of Asda with low prices has no doubt been entrenched in a few more minds."[79]
- ^ a b "Rowling seeks 'Grotter' ban". BBC News. 13 March 2003. Archived from the original on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2006.
- ^ "Fake Harry Potter novel hits China". BBC News. 4 July 2002. Retrieved 11 March 2007.
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- ^ a b Oliver, Mark (19 January 2006). "Man jailed for Potter theft". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 23 May 2007.
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- ^ a b c d e f g Scholastic, Inc. v. Stouffer 221 F. Supp. 2d 425 (S.D.N.Y. 2002)
- ^ "All Things Considered: Harry Potter". NPR Radio. 3 December 1998. Retrieved 3 September 2008. (Rowling interview)
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{{cite magazine}}
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- ^ a b c "Wyrd Sisters continue Harry Potter battle with studio". The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 3 July 2006. Archived from the original on 7 May 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
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- ^ Collins, Leah (4 August 2007). "Wyrd Sisters keep fighting the good fight, fan mail or not". The Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
- ^ Lambert, Steve (2010). "Wyrd five-year court battle over Harry Potter movie ends with secret settlement". Winnipeg: Canadian Press. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
- ^ a b c "Rowling didn't plagiarise". Reuters. 2009. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
- ^ Lesley Ciarula Taylor (18 February 2010). "J.K. Rowling sued for plagiarism". Toronto Star. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
- ^ Sloan, Karen (2010). "It's Harry Potter and the Allegation of Plagiarism". The National Law Journal. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
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- ^ "Harry Potter plagiarism case dismissed". BBC. 7 January 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ^ The Bookseller Trustee of Willy the Wizard Makes Appeal over Court Costs (29 April 2011)
- ^ The Bookseller, 24 May 2011
- ^ "Harry Potter plagiarism claim struck out". The Guardian. 18 July 2011.
- ^ a b Eimer, David (9 November 2005). "Beatrix Potter court victory deals blow to China's publishing pirates". Independent on Sunday. London: Independent News and Media Limited. Archived from the original on 31 January 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2007.
- ^ "Fake Harry Potter novel hits China". BBC News. 4 July 2002. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
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- ^ a b 'Tanja Grotter' wel in België te lezen Archived 20 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Nieuws.nl, 2003-09-25. Retrieved on 2008-09-25 (in Dutch)
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- ^ Harish V Nair, 'Pottermania defeats Rowling at Salt Lake', Hindustan Times, Kolkata Edition, 2007-10-13
- ^ "Correction: Festival-Harry Potter story". Associated Press. 17 October 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2007.
- ^ Rowling, JK (2007). "Rubbish Bin: J K Rowling demands 2 million rupees from religious charities in India". jkrowling.com. Archived from the original on 16 November 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2007.
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- ^ CHEESER (9 November 2007). "Elder's Crossing, James Potter, Book 8, RIP". Archived from the original on 11 November 2007. Retrieved 9 November 2007.
- ^ Tench, Dan (23 May 2006). "Animal extremists can no longer hide behind a web of secrecy". The Times. London. Retrieved 30 May 2007.
- ^ Malvern, Jack (13 July 2005). "Reading ban on leaked Harry Potter". The Times. London. Retrieved 11 October 2007.
- ^ "Important Notice: Raincoast Books". Raincoast Books. 25 August 2005. Archived from the original on 18 October 2007. Retrieved 27 October 2007.
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- ^ Richard Allen Greene (2011). "J.K. Rowling chased from home by press, she says". CNN. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
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- ^ "Asda Apologises following Potter Book Row". UK News Lifestyle Extra. 17 July 2007. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
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- ^ Baxter, Ralph (2007). "The Great Stand-Off". Publishing News Online. Archived from the original on 13 November 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
External links[edit]
- Online transcription of the judge's ruling in Rowling v. Stouffer
- RealMuggles.com, Nancy Stouffer's web site
- Tanya Grotter official website (in Russian)
- harrypotterguide.co.uk Claire Field's fansite
- slate.com on the issues raised by Harry Potter parodies
- Descriptions of various Asian illegal translations
- 'Harry Potter plagiarism case struck out'


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New Report Benchmarking Air Pollution from Top 100 Electric Companies Shows Carbon Dioxide Pollution Increasing
Report Also Shows Wide Disparity in Emission Rates; High Percentage of Pollution from Three Companies, Five States
BOSTON (April 14, 2004) - A new report rating air pollution emissions performance of America's 100 largest electric power producers reveals important trends in the industry, and sharp contrasts between the best and worst emissions performers. The report shows overall emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) are dropping, thanks largely to standards created in the Clean Air Act of 1990. Meanwhile emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), which remain unregulated, are soaring.
The report found that wide disparities in pollution rates persist industrywide, with some companies responsible for far higher pollution rates than their total electricity production would account for, and that few power plants use currently available, state-of-the-art emissions control technologies to lower their emissions. A decade after the Clean Air Act Amendments mandated SO2 and NOx reductions from the electric power industry, the researchers say coal plants -- many of which are not required to install state-of-the-art controls -- are being used more intensively, contributing to a rise in CO2 emissions.
The report comes at a time of intensifying debate over the future of regulation in the electric power industry, increasing uncertainty for the companies over future regulation of pollutants mercury and carbon dioxide, and rising investor concern about risk exposure of companies with continued high emissions. Public awareness of the dangers of power plant pollution has also been on the rise with increasing bans on fish consumption for fear of mercury poisoning, and rising asthma rates among children in urban areas.
Benchmarking Air Emissions of the 100 Largest Electric Generation Owners in the U.S. - 2002, was released by Ceres, a national coalition of environmental and investor groups, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (PSEG), one of the electric power generation companies included in the report.
The report analyzes 2002 data submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Energy Information Administration (EIA) by the 100 largest power companies in the United States. These companies account for about 90 percent of all power plant air emissions in the nation. The report includes mercury emissions data reported to government agencies in 1999, the only year for which power plant mercury emissions have been reported. Environmental and public health impacts associated with the emissions evaluated include: acid deposition in forests, lakes, and streams (NOx, SO2); ground-level ozone, or "smog," a lung irritant (NOx); fine particulates implicated in lung disease (NOx, SO2); regional haze (NOx, SO2); and global warming (CO2). In addition, mercury is a neurotoxin that can collect in tissues of fish and is especially dangerous to pregnant women.
The study found that a small number of companies produce a relatively large amount of electric power industry emissions, with three companies -- American Electric Power, Southern Company, and Tennessee Valley Authority -- responsible for 25 percent of the SO2 emissions, 21 percent of the NOx emissions, 18 percent of the CO2 emissions, and 24 percent of the mercury emissions from the electric power industry. Less than 20 companies account for half of the industry's total SO2, NOx, CO2, and mercury emissions.
The benchmarking effort also found wide disparities in emission rates--the amount of pollution generated for every kilowatt-hour of electricity produced -- reflecting differences in both management strategies and generating assets.
Power plant air emissions are concentrated in states along the Ohio River Valley and in the South. Five states -- Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and West Virginia -- are the source of 30 percent of the electric power industry's NOx and CO2 emissions, and nearly 40 percent of its SO2 and mercury emissions.
The report also found disparities in pollution rates unaccounted for by the amount of electricity generated. For example, although Southern Company produced four times more electricity than Calpine, the company was responsible for 6,300 times more SO2 emissions. American Electric Power produced 28 times more electricity than Panda Energy, but 436 times more NOx emissions. Xcel Energy produced 18 times more electricity than Avista, but emitted 52 times more CO2. The Tennessee Valley Authority produced 24 times more electricity than Cogentrix, but 377 times more mercury emissions.
According to the report's sponsors, this kind of comparative analysis is useful for financial analysts and investors assessing company risk exposure in emerging regulatory scenarios and even potential legal actions.
David Gardiner, Senior Advisor, Ceres, and former Assistant Administrator of the EPA in the Clinton Administration, said, "It is clear from this report that when emissions standards are set and enforced, pollution goes down, and companies are less exposed to financial, legal, and regulatory risk. It's a win for the public and a win for investors. For an industry that is generally short on cash, the disparities could translate into significant losses for individual companies and their investors if proactive measures are not taken to set standards that will lower emissions industry-wide."
In addition to Congressional power industry-specific proposals, both the House and Senate are considering a nationwide limit on carbon dioxide emissions that would be enacted in a "cap and trade" scenario. Similar measures enacted to limit SO2 and NOx resulted in reductions of those pollutants.
Dr. Daniel Lashof, Science Director, Climate Center, Natural Resources Defense Council, said: "This report shows that not enough is being done right now to protect the public health, ensure the long-term viability of this industry and prevent global warming. We have the technology now to reduce pollution, but polluters need to stop staving off pollution controls and get to work fixing the problem."
Investor concern has been particularly focused on carbon dioxide, the major greenhouse gas that causes global warming and is not currently regulated at the federal level. Some of the nation's largest CO2 emitters -- American Electric Power, Southern Company, TXU, Xcel, and Cinergy -- received shareholder resolutions this year requesting reports on their preparedness for regulation, and some have agreed to report to shareholders as requested.
A number of electric power companies have worked with the investors and other groups seeking a near-term decision on carbon dioxide regulation.
Ronald Drewnowski, Director of Environmental Strategy and Policy, PSEG, said, "The comparative emissions information included in the report helps us understand how our environmental performance stacks up against competitors and also helps us integrate environmental targets into comprehensive business strategies. We share the view that our industry requires clarity and certainty about future environmental requirements so that we can rationalize investment decisions on behalf of shareowners. The report provides important context for the public policy process that will determine what these requirements will be."


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[Note: This online symposium originally appeared on Evangelical Outpost in November 2006.]
"Torture is not always impermissible," argues Charles Krauthammer in "The Truth About Torture," his provocative essay in The Weekly Standard. "However rare the cases, there are circumstances in which, by any rational moral calculus, torture not only would be permissible but would be required (to acquire life-saving information). And once you've established the principle, to paraphrase George Bernard Shaw, all that's left to haggle about is the price. In the case of torture, that means that the argument is not whether torture is ever permissible, but when—i.e., under what obviously stringent circumstances: how big, how imminent, how preventable the ticking time bomb."
The "truth" about torture is an issue being widely addressed throughout the country, yet our sense is that the Christian intellectual community has been relatively silent on this important issue. We believe a symposium of this nature could significantly aid and inform the Church and the wider culture and help provide clarification on the principles involved in judging this practice. In order to open the dialogue we have asked several leading Christian ethicists and opinion journalists to respond to Dr. Krauthammer's article and to address the questions: "What is the truth about torture from a Christian worldview? Is torture ever allowed? And if so, under what conditions and circumstances?"
The responses appear below in alphabetical order:
Darrell Cole :: John Jefferson Davis :: Daniel Heimbach :: Mark Liederbach :: Kenneth Magnuson :: Albert Mohler :: Richard John Neuhaus :: Robert Vischer


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Rumor has it that the producers of "Love & Hip Hop New York" have decided to drop both Yandy Smith and her baby daddy Mendeecees from the show!!
In case you missed it, Mendeecees Harris is accused of being an "alleged" child predator. Apparently Mendeecees was picked up by the Feds during the summer of 2012 and while many assumed it was because of drugs or guns, it had to do with the child molestation.
MUST READ: "Love & Hip Hop's" Yandy Smith Opens Up To Mashonda About Becoming A Mom
Want more of this story, head on over to DiaryofAHollywoodStreetKing.com and get more deets!
MUST READ: Tahiry Says She's Not 'In Love' With Joe Budden & Tension With Raqi Is 'Real'!
Did Yandy & Her Man Mendeecess Get Dropped From LAHH? was originally published on hellobeautiful.com


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A few weeks ago, I picked up a mini ottoman at a thrift store for $5 dollars. It was a beige patterned fabric that was ordinary, but nothing special. I dreamed of a perch in my office for my feet and my morning coffee, so I set my sights on reupholstering it in a pale blue silky fabric.
Here's a peek at the end result:
Here's a look at what it was before I reupholstered it:
We all know the best way to understand how an object functions is to literally take it apart. So that's what I did – I ripped the bottom off of the ottoman and examined its insides to understand how to construct one in the first place. I wasn't surprised by what I found. A basic ottoman is made with very basic construction.
Take a look inside:
As you can see, it would not be complicated to build a basic ottoman. All you would need is some plywood or particle board, cut to the shape you want, and screwed together to form a box or rectangle. Add some basic supports for stabilization and for placement of your ottoman's feet. If you desire tufting, drill some holes in the top.
Here's a look at the threaded anchor where the feet fit:
In addition to the basic box, purchase some bun or tapered feet from a home improvement store, and stain or paint them to the color you choose. Fit a double ended threaded bolt inside the feet, then screw the feet into the anchor in the frame of your ottoman.
The final step would be to add a piece of foam to the top, and secure it with batting for a comfortable seat.
My task was to make a new slipcover for my existing ottoman, and tuft it with four new fabric covered buttons. Making a slipcover for a small ottoman is a simple sew project.
I didn't find any fabric within my price range at the fabric store, so I used a pale silky blue window panel that I purchased from Target for $15. In my opinion, 84 inches of fabric from a window panel for $15 dollars is a pretty good deal. ("Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes…" Bonus points if you can name that scene.)
I used pins to attach my sides to each other, inside out, and then sewed them together.
Now would be a very good time to say this: I. Hate. Sewing. Corners. I can't stand them. I can never get them right. My three dimensional corners are never perfect. So I am soliciting help from true sewers out there with real and genuine skills. What is the secret to perfect corners ? Help !
Even with my rudimentary sewing skills, I was able to form a fitted slipcover, and continue with my project. I stapled my new slipcover to the ottoman, and then tufted the top with some new fabric covered buttons.
The supplies you need to tuft a bench or ottoman are make-to-match button kits, long decorator needles, twine or strong thread (I use embroidery thread), and a staple gun. I had some needles and thread leftover from this tufted bench project.
Follow the instructions on the button kits to make your own buttons:
Tufting a bench or ottoman is not complicated, as long as your holes are pre-drilled. Here's a picture of what the predrilled holes looked like inside my ottoman before I recovered it.
Notice how the buttons are secured with the use of thin twine and a staple gun. I use the same technique by threading my decorator needle, pushing up the needle through the top, threading my fabric covered button, pushing the needle back down through the hole, pulling taught, and securing with a staple gun. For a tutorial in greater detail on tufting, see this post on my tufted bench.
Here's an up close look at my tufting job. Pay no attention to my less than perfect corner. Grrrrrr.
After all of that work, I have a new perch for my morning coffee.
So, who wants to come over for coffee and make fun of my bad corners?


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The best guitar gear of the year: 2012
The best guitar gear of 2012
Have you been good this year? No? Didn't think so. It's a shame really, because as ruddy-cheeked seasonal worker Santa prepares his yearly breaking and entering spree, all the non-naughty guitarists out there - you know, the ones who practice hard and don't down seven pints before a gig - will surely be receiving some of the best gear of 2012.
It's the same every year: just when you think you've seen every possible guitar in every conceivable shape, every handy gizmo and heavenly amp, a brand new stack of gear hits the shops and makes you want to part with your hard-earned cash all over again.
In the spirit of Christmas - for here at MusicRadar the bells never stop jingling at this time of the year - we've trawled through every review and new release to bring you the very best of this year's guitar goodness. Over the next few pages you'll find new spins on old classics, impressive newcomers and plenty of reasons to put a hefty dent in your end-of-year pay packet.
So here it is: the very best guitar gear of 2012, complete with links to full reviews and the noble runners-up in each category. Enjoy, and have yourself a cracking Christmas surrounded by your nearest and dearest guitars. Oh and family and friends, don't forget them...
Solid body electric guitar of the year
It shouldn't be possible to be able to improve on a classic so many years after its introduction, but with the Les Paul Classic Plus, Gibson has done exactly that.
It's a stunner of a guitar, somehow managing to be both beauty and the beast. It's got the looks, sure, but we're after much more than that for north of £1500, and the Classic Plus delivers: bell-like tone, sustain that will still be hanging around when you've retired and a choice of neck profile (either a rounded '50s or slim '60s style neck is available) all help make the Les Paul Classic Plus our solid body of the year.
5 out of 5
FULL REVIEW: Gibson Les Paul Classic Plus
Also in the running
BUY: Gibson Les Paul Classic Plus currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co. | Thomann | Gear4Music
Semi-acoustic electric guitar of the year
It looks beautiful, it plays like a dream and Elvis played on in the '68 Comeback Special - yep, the Hagstrom Viking Rex-Tone was hands down the best semi we saw this year.
That's no small feat in an incredibly crowded and competitive area of the market, but if you can get your hands on one of these you'll see why it came out on top instantly. Fantastic playability, a smorgasbord of tonal variety thanks to all those lovely switches, and a pair of smashing pickups meant that this King-approved beauty ruled in 2012.
5 out of 5
FULL REVIEW: Hagstrom Viking Rex-Tone
Also in the running
PRS SE Custom Semi-Hollow with Bigsby
BUY: Hagstrom Viking Rex-Tone currently available from:
UK/Europe: Thomann | Gear4Music
Best small guitar amplifier of the year
A proper Orange head, with all the tone that heritage implies, for under £100? What fresh madness is this?
In a year packed full of genuinely great sounding small amps, the Orange Micro Terror managed to top the lot. How? With a combination of killer rock tones, surprising volume and the ability to punch way above its diminutive weight, that's how. The eye-wateringly low price point didn't hurt, either...
4.5 out of 5
FULL REVIEW: Orange Micro Terror
Also in the running
BUY: Orange Micro Terror currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co. | Thomann | Gear4Music
USA: Sweetwater | Full Compass
Best medium guitar amplifier of the year
In the year that we said goodbye to Jim Marshall, it's fitting that a descendent of his world-changing amplifiers demonstrated exactly what makes Marshall such a revered brand.
The updated DSL40C blew our reviewer's mind-hole with its effortless ability to throw out everything from pristine clean tones through to rock raunch and ultra high-gain goodness. Loud and loaded with everything the discerning rocker could ever require, it's the mid-sized combo that proved once again that there's nothing quite like a Marshall.
5 out of 5
FULL REVIEW: Marshall DSL40C
Also in the running
Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister 36
BUY: Marshall DSL40C currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co. | Thomann | Gear4Music
USA: Sweetwater | Full Compass
Best large guitar amplifier of the year
It looks and sounds like it came from outer space, so sweet are the tones that can be wrung from the Carvin VL300 Legacy 3.
Steve Vai has really outdone himself with his signature head this time. Three channels of super-versatile tonal nirvana, running the range from sweet and soulful cleans all the way to filthy ultra high-gains that are filthier than a whore's drawers. Mightily impressive, with superb build quality and head-turning looks, the Legacy 3 wins the heavyweight battle for the best large guitar amp of 2012.
5 out of 5
FULL REVIEW: Carvin VL300 Legacy 3
Also in the running
Best acoustic guitar of the year
It would seem that in 2012, you've really gotta have Faith.
The brand has gone from strength to strength this year, winning all sorts of plaudits and a stream of stunning reviews here on MusicRadar. On the evidence presented with the Neptune, it's easy to understand why. A highly impressive baby jumbo bursting with character, the Neptune stuck out a mile in the incredibly competitive acoustic market. Impressive.
5 out of 5
FULL REVIEW: Faith Neptune
Also in the running
BUY: Faith Neptune currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co. | Gear4Music
Best electro-acoustic guitar of the year
Snappily named it may not be, but the Ibanez AW250-ECE LG makes all the right moves when plugged in.
Ibanez may not be widely known for their acoustics, but we were highly impressed with this feature-packed electro-acoustic. Boasting a Fishman Sonicore, cedar top and a choice of jack and XLR outputs, it's as sweet a sounding an electro as we had out hands on all year.
5 out of 5
FULL REVIEW: Ibanez AW250-ECE LG
Also in the running
Vintage Paul Brett VE8000PB-12
BUY: Ibanez AW250-ECE LG currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co. | Thomann
Guitar FX of the year
Any pedal that proudly proclaims itself to be 'pure valve filth' is going to do well with us, but it's the fact that the Blackstar HT-Metal backs up its claim to dirtiness so well that impressed us most.
Have no doubt, this is a seriously heavy pedal, able to dial in the very darkest of tones but with enough versatility to find space in any discerning distortionite's pedal board. Almost frighteningly good at its job, the HT-Metal is an essential buy for any worshipper at the altar of rock.
5 out of 5
FULL REVIEW: Blackstar HT-Metal
Also in the running
EC Custom The Mystical Sustainer
BUY: Blackstar HT-Metal currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co. | Gear4Music | Reddog Music
USA: Sweetwater | Full Compass
Guitar accessory of the year
Like all the best innovations, the Rock Slide Swamp Slide makes you wonder why the features it boasts weren't thought of decades ago.
The tapered interior makes for a supremely comfortable slide playing experience, and does something we didn't think possible - brings the slide bang up to date. Superb.
5 out of 5
FULL REVIEW: Rock Slide Swamp Slides


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The biggest surprise of living in San Francisco this past decade has been the number of excellent Arab restaurants that have opened in the area. Starting out with the first Truly Mediterranean falafel parlor on 16th and Valencia, to the Old Jerusalem on Mission and 26th, my greater neighborhood now boasts some of the best Middle Eastern food in the United States. As good as anything I've had in Brooklyn or LA.
So, it was with great pleasure that I discovered the other great local Arab restaurant: San Bruno's Mideast Market, on El Camino Real. Run by a guy from Bethlehem, together with an exhaustively stocked store carrying everything from cans of Ahmad Ceylon tea and fresh pita, to Marcel Khalife CDs and Elite Turkish coffee, once a week, my entire office will head over at lunch and imbibe the best falafel I've ever had in the US.
Call it a sign of feeling old. Or perhaps surprise that, after feeling so dislocated for so many years, those aspects of Middle Eastern life that I miss the absolute most would somehow find me here, in the middle of a war. Speaking in Hebrew with the owner as I paid for my food, giggling, my coworkers stood outside the entrance, marveling at the fact that the awning above included the Spanish word for "butcher."
Granted, if you want something like shakshouka, you still have to drive down to Los Angeles to get it. But, if what you want are the basics - falafel, hummus, shashlik, baklava and, as this establishment serves up, ezme (along with a few other curiously Turkish side dishes) - you can't find any better than what local places like this make available. There's so many surpluses to it all, in context, it feels positively utopian.


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Unfortunately, few serious-minded films adopt for their setting what some urban wags derisively call "flyover country," but Arkansas native Jeff Nichols has made it a point to honor Middle America. The writer-director set his auspicious 2007 debut Shotgun Stories in Arkansas and his acclaimed second feature, Take Shelter, in Ohio. Nichols returns to his Arkansas roots for Mud, a highly personal tale of undergrown men and overgrown boys experiencing the growing pains of love turned unrequited, and the realization that nothing—not freedom, not security, not innocence, not love—lasts forever.
Mud takes the subjective viewpoint of fourteen-year-old Ellis (Tye Sheridan, one of the boys from Terence Malick's The Tree of Life). Ellis doesn't give a second thought to his life on a houseboat with his folks (Ray McKinnon and Sarah Paulson, gently representing for misunderstood parents everywhere): he likes it just fine, pitching in with his father's scrape-by fishing trade and literally testing the waters of the Arkansas delta with his best friend Neckbone (Jacob Lofland). But we meet Ellis at a key transitional adolescent moment, when his built-up self-confidence gives way to a new series of insecurities. The most predictable of these is Ellis' initiation to the dating world, which he explores with admirable nerve by striking an out-of-line older boy, then striking up a conversation with the girl at hand, May Pearl (Bonnie Sturdivant). Ellis' dubious gallantry—more primally hormonal than reasoned—confirms trouble ahead for the first-time lover, bold but naive.
Less predictable but no less disruptive to Ellis's status quo are the suddenly impending divorce of his parents, which rattles the boy's very worldview, and his surprise encounter with a drifter calling himself Mud (Matthew McConaughey). Across the Mississippi River, on a small island, a boat has become lodged in the high branches of a tree ("Hell of a thing," Mud enthuses). The wishfully thinking Ellis and Neck intended to make the boat their own, but they discover Mud has moved in while he awaits a reunion with his girlfriend Juniper (an entirely resonant Reese Witherspoon). Obviously, Mud also has reason to lay low (or high), and there's plenty more than meets the eye, which, as it is, includes a gun stuck in the back of his jeans. But Mud's confident masculinity makes him magnetic to the searching Ellis, at just the moment his father has become a disappointment.
The river, the island, the gun, and the situation of a domestically dissatisfied boy drawn to adventure and faced with a rogue all bring to mind The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This acknowledged literary touchstone and the authenticity of setting make Mud a uniquely American tale, but all the same the universal blooms from the specific. Like any boy working out life, Ellis has much to think on: the mysteries of love and marriage, and what kind of man he needs to be to solve and thereby master them. Every man around seems to have an opinion on the subject, including Ellis' father ("Man's supposed to be in charge of his own affairs"), Mud ("As men, we've got to take advantage where we can"), Neck's uncle and guardian Galen (Michael Shannon, who has appeared in every Nichols film), and Ellis's neighbor—and Mud's grizzled father figure—Tom Blankenship (Sam Shepard), who makes his point about Mud in the form of a question ("You think he's a badass, don't you?") even though he knows he's wasting his breath.
Because men can talk themselves blue, but there's no substitute for experience. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, the first lesson being disillusionment of the worst kind: betrayal in love. At various times, both Ellis and Mud wear worrying expressions of entrancement at the natural allure of Juniper, and Ellis' reckless heart heedlessly opens itself to hurt from all corners: his parents, May Pearl, and the slippery Mud. "You can't trust love," Ellis' father warns. "If you're not careful, it'll up and run out on you." Nichols gives wry musical expression to this lesson in the "doin' it song" favored by Galen: the Beach Boys classic "Help Me, Rhonda." Like Nichols, Galen sees the song's yearning as half-full, as a promise of moving onward and growing upward: "So you get your heart broke? Don't walk around with a shit look on your face. Get back in there."
There's nary a disappointing performance in Mud, from the distinctively real newcomer Lofland up to the veteran Shepard, whose work as a playwright echoes through Nichols's oeuvre. But what takes Mud over the top—despite an incongruous action climax—is the phenomenal work of McConaughey and Sheridan, who clearly bring up each other's game. Both show seemingly limitless capacity for subtle intellectual and emotional projection, and when the script calls for the intensity they've been holding in reserve to spill out, neither disappoints; instead their emotional truth—in quietly breathtaking character arcs—powerfully confirms Nichols' themes. Mud's perspective is unapologetically male, but posits a prismatic diversity of masculinity productive for the reflection of any unfinished man.
Lionsgate sends Mud home in a Blu-ray special edition that features a beautiful transfer and a winning collection of extras. The picture quality is outstanding: obviously the spanking-new source is clean, clear, and detailed, but the image is particularly distinguished in its rich color and insinuating contrast. The lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix also can't be faulted: few films benefit more from environmental ambience than this one, which subtly renders the Arkansas delta in a way that helps to envelop the viewer in the story. Dialogue, too, comes through with crystal clarity.
Nichols provides a director's commentary that can't be beat. Leaving few gaps, Nichols lays out every pertinent detail of the story's development, his directorial choices, work with the actors, and production, along with discussion of why the material resonates so much for him personally.
"A Personal Tale" (11:37, HD) expands on that lasy point, but also serves as an all-around featurette including set footage and interview clips from the cast and producers.
"The Arkansas Ensemble" (7:11, HD) allows the same contributors to comment on actors, characters, and casting in a swift survey of all the major players.
"Southern Authenticity" (6:14, HD) hones in on the film's setting, as understood and respected by Nichols.
Lastly, "The Snake Pit" (1:30, HD) examines the filming of a key sequence.
Review gear: |
Panasonic Viera TC-P55VT30 55" Plasma 1080p 3D HDTV
Oppo BDP-93 Universal Network 3D Blu-ray Disc Player
Denon AVR2112CI Integrated Network A/V Surround Receiver
Pioneer SP-BS41-LR Bookshelf Speaker (2)
Pioneer SP-C21 Center Speaker
Pioneer SW-8 Subwoofer


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The Indian team is scheduled to play two warm-up games against Sri Lanka and Australia ahead of its ICC Champions Trophy Group B opener against South Africa next month in England.
The practice match against Sri Lanka is scheduled on June 1, followed by the tie against Australia on June 4, according to BCCI sources.
The 15-member Indian squad, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, will leave for England from here on May 29, three days after the Pepsi Indian Premier League final match at Kolkata.
India would begin their campaign of the eight-team tournament against South Africa at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, Wales.
They are to clash with the West Indies at the Kennington Oval in London on June 11, and then conclude the four-team group engagement on June 15 against arch-rival Pakistan at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka are in Group A.
The top two teams from each group will progress to the semifinals scheduled on June 19 and 20 at Kennington Oval and Sophia Gardens respectively with the winners advancing to the June 23 final to be played at Edgbaston.


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CribWrap® Wide 1 Long Brown Fleece Rail Cover
CribWrap® Wide 1 Long Brown Fleece Rail Cover
-70% Off$6.00
Protect your baby and protect your crib! Trend Lab's CribWrap® Rail Cover for wide rails is the perfect solution for protecting your crib and teething baby. With super soft brown Sherpa fleece on the top, a light padding in the middle and a waterproof backing, you no longer have to worry about your baby ingesting wood or harmful toxins. Just wrap and tie on this simple solution to protect your crib rails from teeth marks and drool discoloration, and to preserve your crib investment for years to come. Long rail cover measures 51 in x 18 in with 6.5 inch ties. Also available in 2 piece set for side rails. Fits crib rails measuring 8 in – 18 in around.
CribWrap® Rail Covers are PVC, lead and phthalate free.
Fabrics & Trims
- Front 100% polyester
- Back 100% polyurethane
- Filling 100% polyester
Care Instructions
- Machine wash cold with like colors.
- Do not bleach.
- Line dry.
- Do not tumble dry.
- Do not iron.
- Do not dry clean.


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YOGA AND THE SACRED FIRE explores the evolution of life and consciousness according to the cosmology and psychology of Fire, viewing Fire not only as a material but also as a spiritual principle. It shows how Yoga's deeper fire wisdom can help us move forward to an enlightened planetary age, where humanity and nature can again be one in a higher awareness. It is a breakthrough book in new thinking about Yoga for the current global crisis, showing the ecological basis and future of yoga.
Considered to be David Frawley's most thoughtful and innovative book. It takes not only the origins of Yoga but of world civilization back to the ancient fire wisdom and universal religion of light, through which we can once more reclaim our true role in life to promote the unfoldment of consciousness for the benefit of all. Excerpts from the book occured in Self-Realization Fellowship magazine.
Required reference for our Advanced Yoga and Ayurveda course and recommended for all those wanting to understand the basis of David Frawley's writings.