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Instagram is my social media soul mate. When all your excitement and hard work are met by nothing more than few likes from a handful buy likes on instagram fast delivery it's easy to get discouraged. I've been on the platform for over three years, and it's hard to imagine a day without it. It takes all of the clutter of Twitter and the "I really don't care about your life" updates from Facebook, and simplifies your experience into a visually engaging feed of highly filtered photographs, ahhh. It's everything I'm looking for when waking up in the morning, killing time on the train, or drinking wine post-work. Mindless, visually engaging updates from friends, brands, and celebrities; yes I'm in full-blown Insta-love. And clearly, I'm not alone. With over 400 million users, Instagram is the fastest-growing social network amongst adults in the U.S., according to Pew Research Center. Now that the majority of consumers are Insta-obsessed, marketers have been scrambling to keep up. For many the territory feels unknown and intimidating. You've mastered the art of the 140-character tweet and you've devised a strategy to reach customers through the cluttered Facebook news feed, but Instagram is like starting from scratch. Marketers are ashamed to see their follower count at 10 people after 4 weeks of posting updates. You know what hashtags are unless you've been living under a rock. You probably use them on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and even Google+ (if you're into that). Nowadays, most wedding events are even branded with a couple's hashtag. Why? Because of Instagram. People post pictures and rather than stalking unknown attendees, you can see all of the Instagrams through the common hashtag page. But, which hashtags should you use for your business? Popular ones. Shockingly enough, the hashtag #ourcompanyisthebestandyoushophere isn't going to get a lot of traction. Instead, use the search icon to see which hashtags are currently trending.
If you think direct-messaging features on social channels are marketing wastelands, guess again. Mercedes-Benz told Adweek that it gets roughly 100 direct messages daily from customers and prospects on social channels like Facebook and Instagram. That constant communication inspired a cheerful "Secret Santa" effort that is running until a few days before Christmas. Mercedes is direct-messaging its Facebook and Instagram followers with the chance to send a loved one a gift courtesy of the brand. The German company is giving away 1,000 items such as a leather chronograph watch (retail price: $179), a Harmon Kardon bluetooth speaker ($249) and Mercedes-branded products that cost more than $100 like a wool throw blanket and leather tote bag. Instagram is gaining popularity day by day and the how to get more followers on instagram you have, the more effective it becomes. "We had this clever idea of helping our customers find the perfect Santa gift," said Mark Aikman, general manager of marketing services at Mercedes-Benz USA, which worked with agency Razorfish on the initiative dubbed "#MBSecretSanta." "We hope people will continue to follow the brand [on social] for some pretty amazing things," he said. "This is definitely not a hard sell." Indeed, the company is not collecting any data or lead-generation information for future marketing efforts. And Mercedes is only messaging people who already follow the brand—it's not spamming people. It's asking individuals for the name, mailing address and social-media handles for the recipient of the gratis holiday present. If Mercedes-Benz is typical, then companies are using direct messaging on social platforms more than most folks realize. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter only started letting brands ping users in such fashion during recent years, and it had been unclear how often companies actually use the opportunity.
Instagram is a powerful and fun social tool that allows you to market your business to hundreds of new customers everyday! There are over 200 million Instagram users, and learning simple strategies to gain targeted followers can significantly increase your businesses revenue. Getting instagram followers is essential to increasing your Instagram presence, but knowing ... This will get your comments section more active, which will attract more. Once you spend a couple of hours learning the powerful Instagram marketing techniques in this course, it will pay off with reaching thousands of new customers, and building a strong trustworthy relationship with them. Instagram will skyrocket your brand awareness to a level beyond your expectations. When making a purchasing decision, people online use your social media presence as a measure of the quality, and trustworthiness of your business. Nothing speaks trust and quality louder than having a thousands of targeted, real, and loving Instagram followers on your profile (of which you can contact at any time!) Instagram for Business Contents and Overview This Instagram course contains over 40 lectures and 3 hours of content. It's designed for anyone with less than 10,000 Instagram followers who want to learn how to use Instagram to grow their business. In this course, you will learn the how to create a powerful Instagram profile for your business designed to effectively appeal your target customer. You'll then learn, using the incredible Instagram promotional strategies, how to gain hundreds of followers, comments and likes for your business account every single day. Best place how can i buy instagram likes Boost your instagram followers today. By the end of this course, you'll have valuable skills that will help you effectively build a strong community of Instagram followers, convert them to email addresses, and finally sell them your products and services. You'll also receive practice activities, live demonstrations, and helpful resources to guide you through the entire process. From setting up your Instagram account, gathering a strong relevant following, to increasing the profit of your business.


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The 25th anniversary of the annual Brisbane Marathon Festival will attract thousands of competitors who are ready to run through the streets of Queensland's Capital City on 7 August 2016.
You can not only challenge yourself on course, but you can also challenge yourself and friends to raise funds for your favourite charity.
Our official charity partners for the Brisbane Marathon Festival 2016 are Cystic Fibrosis Queensland and Arthritis Queensland.
Set yourself a goal on 7 August. Whether that be running your best distance or helping a worthy cause. We are behind you 100%

subset: commoncrawl


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Wrap Your Mind Around This Sports Betters
I love Bill Simmons. He is one of my favorite writers. If you bet on football (or sports at all), and I do not, you'll want to read this. Even if you aren't a better you might find this interesting.
When It Comes to the Point Spread, Sometimes Numbers Do Lie - The Triangle Blog |
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:15 AM. |
Copyright 1997 - 2014 - BlackandGold.com


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Italian Favorites
Various Composers - Hal Leonard Corporation
40 classic songs, dances and arias of Italy, including: Carnival of Venice; Ciribiribin; Come Back to Sorrento; Funiculi, Funicula; Il Bacio; La Donna e Mobile; Margarita; Mattinata; O Mio Babbino Caro; O Sole Mio; Oh Marie; Santa Lucia; Tarantella and more. Includes Italian lyrics with English translations when applicable.
Select a Product
My Library
Full Song List


text: Did we just find out huge plot points from Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World?Alasdair Wilkins10/24/12 9:00amFiled to: morning spoilersIron man 3Thor the dark worldTransformers 4hobbitCloud Atlasdoctor whofringeOnce Upon a TimeGrimmMockingbird laneperson of interestAmerican Horror StorysupernaturalarrowVampire diariesOrphan blackBeauty and the BeastBeing HumanTopFb571EditPromoteShare to KinjaToggle Conversation toolsGo to permalink Doctor Who is headed deeper inside the TARDIS than we've ever gone before. Transformers 4 might feature a major action star... well, Mark Wahlberg, at any rate. BBC America's clone drama Orphan Black is officially happening. Plus videos for The Hobbit and Cloud Atlas! Advertisement Spoilers from here on out! Top image from Cloud Atlas.Iron Man 3Andrew Lawden, who has performed as the official Iron Man cosplayer at various Marvel events, apparently decided to blow past every non-disclosure and confidentiality clause imaginable and just up and reveal everything he knows about Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World. His comments are apparently based on what he has seen at various company events. Anyway, keeping in mind we can't be absolutely sure this is all legitimate, here's some of what he has to say about Iron Man 3: Advertisement "Well, there's going to be a big fight sequence with The Mandarin, who's the main villain, which will involve none other than forty different iron man suits. There's an amazing rescue where The Mandarin basically wants to bring down the American government and kill the President, and he launches an attack on Air Force One. All of them – the President and his men and staff – get sucked out of the plane, and Iron Man rescues them by forming this amazing human chain in the sky."There's some pretty spectacular stuff that goes on. There's an amazing sequence where he has this rooftop house that he builds to store all his Iron Man suits, and it gets attacked by The Mandarin and these gunships [...] I was shocked to discover there are like forty Iron Man suits written into this feature in various ways…so that's going to be pretty impressive. But apparently he needs this Iron Man army to go up against The Mandarin's forces."There are some more details at the link. [Screen Rant]Thor: The Dark WorldAnd here's what he has to report about the Thor sequel: Advertisement Sponsored "Thor becomes reunited with Jane who becomes possessed by a Dark Spirit, which is connected with the Dark Elves; a race the Asgardians have fallen out with many years beforehand [...] The Dark Elves attack Asgard, and they take a huge hit. So Thor has to rebuild Asgard by putting together an army to go and take the battle to the Dark Elves and defeat them. But the only way he can do this is – he needs to cross over to the Dark World, and the only person who has access to the dark side of Asgard is his old brother Loki, who at the beginning of the film is locked up in prison."So what happens is Thor basically has to negotiate this truce with Loki, and he goes on this great trek with Jane, all three of them. They go to this far side of Asgard, which is being shot in Iceland, where they train and assemble an army to go and attack the Dark Elves' world."Again, check out the link for more. [Screen Rant]Transformers 4While the Jason Statham rumors are apparently now a thing of the past, the latest casting rumors suggest Michael Bay is looking at what is arguably Statham's nearest American equivalent (give or take Bruce Willis fifteen years ago), as Mark Wahlberg is reportedly in early talks to take on the lead role in the film. Wahlberg is currently working on Bay's relatively low-budget bodybuilder heist movie Pain & Gain, so this isn't a totally random casting suggestion, although it's still best to take it with a grain of salt. It's also suggested that Walhberg's character would be the father of a teenage daughter, which is likely the high school senior role seen in recent casting calls, and this daughter would become the focus of the subsequent entries in the franchise. [Twitch Film]The Hobbit: An Unexpected JourneyHere's a TV spot. Cloud AtlasHere's a behind-the-scenes video about the cast. Doctor WhoHustle actor and So Solid Crew member Ashley Walters will reportedly play one of a trio of brothers known as the Van Baalens that form an intergalactic salvage crew in an upcoming episode. He says, "In our episode it'll be the first time people get to see so much of the TARDIS", and indeed the episode is referred to as "Journey to the Center of the TARDIS." It seems that this is the tenth episode of the series, and it's by "Curse of the Black Spot" writer Stephen Thompson. [Radio Times and Dr. Who Online]Fringe Here are some promo photos for this Friday's episode and fourth overall, "The Bullet That Saved The World." [SpoilerTV] Advertisement And here's a sneak peek for the episode. Here's a short description for the sixth episode, "Through the Looking Glass and What Walter Found There":A KEY PIECE NEEDED TO DEFEAT THE OBSERVERS IS UNCOVERED — A Fringe team member takes on a new role, and Walter follows leads to a key piece needed in the battle against the Observers.[SpoilerTV]Person of Interest Here are some promo photos for the fifth episode, "Bury the Lede", which airs next Thursday. [SpoilerTV]GrimmThe twelfth episode is reportedly called "Season of the Hexenbiest", and here's a short description: Advertisement Advertisement Adalind returns to wreak havoc as she avenges her mother's death; Captain Renard's obsession escalates; Monroe receives a surprise visit.[SpoilerTV]Mockingbird LaneHere's a sneak peek at the almost certainly one-off pilot episode for Bryan Fuller's Munsters reboot, which will air this Friday. Once Upon a Time Here's a bunch of promo photos for the sixth episode, "Tallahassee", which airs November 4 and guest stars Lost alum Jorge Garcia. [SpoilerTV]American Horror Story: AsylumThe fourth and fifth episodes of the season will be a two-parter, and in true, batshit insane American Horror Story fashion, the episodes are called "I Am Anne Frank" parts one and two, because any other title might run the risk of not being utterly psychotic. Anyway, here are short descriptions for both episodes: Advertisement Advertisement Chapter 4 – "I Am Anne Frank, Pt. 1" (Airs November 7, 10:00 pm e/p) – A new patient claiming to be Anne Frank exposes Arden's past. Kit learns why Grace was admitted to Briarcliff.Chapter 5 – "I Am Anne Frank, Pt. 2" (Airs November 14, 10:00 pm e/p) – Sister Jude employs a renowned Nazi Hunter to gather evidence against Arden. Kit makes a surprising confession. Bloody Face is unmasked.[SpoilerTV]SupernaturalThe CW has released short synopses for the episodes of all its shows through the end of November sweeps. Let's start with Supernatural: Advertisement Wednesday, October 31 – "Blood Brother" (9:00-10:00pm) Dean gets a call from Benny (guest star Ty Olsen), the vampire he befriended in Purgatory, asking for help after getting into a brutal fight. Dean takes off on a "personal day" to help his friend. However, when things go bad, Dean calls Sam (Jared Padalecki) for help.Wednesday, November 7 – "Southern Comfort" (9:00-10:00pm) Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) go to Missouri to investigate a murder and find that Garth (guest star DJ Qualls) is already on the case, and the murderer is an avenging ghost.Wednesday, November 14 – "A Little Slice of Kevin" (9:00-10:00pm) Mrs. Tran (Lauren Tom) and Kevin (Osric Chau) work to concoct a demon bomb to use against Crowley (Mark Sheppard), and Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) are stunned when Castiel (Misha Collins) appears and tells them he escaped from Purgatory.[SpoilerTV]ArrowAnd now onto Arrow: Advertisement Advertisement Wednesday, October 31 – "An Innocent Man" (8:00-9:00pm) Oliver (Stephen Amell) still hasn't figured out how to get back in Laurel's (Katie Cassidy) good graces, but a late night bonding session with Thea (Willa Holland) gives him the inspiration he needs. Looking into a suspicious murder case, Oliver realizes an innocent man, Peter Declan (guest star Lane Edwards), was framed by one of the targets on his list.Wednesday, November 7 – "Damaged" (8:00-9:00pm) Detective Lance (Paul Blackthorne) arrests Oliver (Stephen Amell) for murder, and DC Comics' villain Deathstroke (guest star Jeffrey Robinson) appears in a flashback to Oliver's days on the island.Wednesday, November 14 – "Legacies" (8:00-9:00pm) When a gang of brazen bank robbers dubbed The Royal Flush Gang threaten Starling City, Oliver (Stephen Amell) is forced to confront the scope of his mission and decide whether to stray from his father's list. Diggle (John Ramsay) pushes Oliver to look past the list and start helping those who really need him.[SpoilerTV]The Vampire DiariesNext up is The Vampire Diaries: Advertisement Thursday, October 25 – "The Rager" (8:00-9:00pm) While Connor (guest star Todd Williams) continues his search to uncover the secrets of Mystic Falls, Stefan (Paul Wesley) takes Elena on a thrilling motorcycle ride in an effort to show her that life can still be fun.Thursday, November 1 – "The Five" (8:00-9:00pm) At a fraternity costume party, Damon (Ian Somerhalder) takes advantage of the wild scene to give Elena (Nina Dobrev) a lesson in choosing a victim. Meanwhile, Klaus (Joseph Morgan) tells Stefan (Paul Wesley) about an encounter with a powerful group of vampire hunters in the 12th century.Thursday, November 8 – "The Killer" (8:00-9:00pm) When Connor (guest star Todd Williams) takes Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen), Matt (Zach Roerig) and April (guest star Grace Phipps) hostage at the Grill, Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon (Ian Somerhalder) have a serious disagreement about the best course of action, and Elena (Nina Dobrev) is again caught between the two brothers.Thursday, November 15 – "We All Go A Little Mad Sometimes" (8:00-9:00pm) Terrifying hallucinations leave Elena (Nina Dobrev) shaken and confused, causing her to make a dangerous mistake.[SpoilerTV]Here's a sneak peek at tomorrow night's episode, "The Rager." Being Human (US) Here's the first promo photo for the third season premiere, "It's a Shame About Ray", which will kick off the season on January 14, 2013. [SpoilerTV]Orphan BlackFollowing the decent success of BBC America's first original series Copper, the network is officially beginning work on its second series, the previously announced clone mystery drama Orphan Black. Here's the latest info: The enthralling new (10 x 60) drama from Temple Street Productions stars previously announced Tatiana Maslany (Cas & Dylan, Picture Day) in the lead role of Sarah, an outsider and orphan whose life changes dramatically after witnessing the suicide of a woman who looks just like her. Joining the principal cast is Maria Doyle Kennedy (The Tudors, Downton Abbey), Dylan Bruce (As The World Turns, The Bay), and Jordan Gavaris (Degrassi, Unnatural History). The series is shooting on location and in studio in Toronto, Ontario through February 2013.After witnessing a woman's suicide, Sarah assumes her identity hoping that cleaning out the dead woman's bank account will solve all of her problems. Instead, the street smart chameleon is thrust headlong into a kaleidoscopic mystery. She makes the dizzying discovery that she and the dead woman are clones... but are they the only ones? With an assassin hot on her trail, Sarah is racing for answers. Rounding out the principal cast is: Kevin Hanchard (The Listener, Republic of Doyle), Michael Mando (Territories, Les Bleus De Ramville), Elizabeth Saunders (Saving Hope), and Ron Lea (Saving Hope, Saw IV).There's even more at the link. [SpoilerTV]Beauty and the BeastOh, and if anyone cares, here are those descriptions for Beauty and the Beast: Advertisement Advertisement Thursday, October 25 – "All In" (9:00-10:00pm) Vincent (Jay Ryan) puts his own safety at risk when he brings his healing skills to the aid of an innocent young girl, and Cat (Kristin Kreuk) works out a way to communicate with Vincent without revealing his location to Muirfield.Thursday, November 1 – "Basic Instinct" (9:00-10:00pm) When Vincent (Jay Ryan) revives a 19-year old boy who was left for dead in a dumpster, Cat (Kristin Kreuk) questions the boy's employer (guest star Madchen Amick). Later, Cat is offered a deal by Muirfield agents, and Vincent offers to sacrifice himself to protect Cat.Thursday, November 8 – "Saturn Returns" (9:00-10:00pm) Cat (Kristin Kreuk) learns that her sister, Heather (guest star Nicole Gale Anderson), is planning a surprise birthday party for her, so she puts her birthday plans with Vincent on hold, leading to unexpected romantic complications.Thursday, November 15 – "Worth" (9:00-10:00pm) After she's seemingly stood up by Vincent, Catherine wonders if it's because he saw her kissing Evan at her birthday, but Vincent mysteriously blacked out on his way to meet Catherine and is now searching for answers. Catherine's case pulls her into the sophisticated world of the SoHo art scene. When Vincent finds Catherine all dressed up to go to a gallery opening — with Evan — he has to admit that his feelings for her are growing deeper.[SpoilerTV]Additional reporting by Rob H. Dawson and Charlie Jane Anders.Reply57 repliesLeave a reply


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This panorama was done as part of a larger collection digitization effort at the North Carolina State University Insect Museum, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF DBI-0847924). The purpose of this image is to enable virtual browsing of our research collection. The snapshot feature of this website allows for annotations of these images, including: taxonomic determination of specimens, suggested corrections, questions, and loan requests. For more information about the museum, please visit insectmuseum.org .
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ToggleMinimizeGigaPan Stitch version 1.0.0804 (Macintosh)
Panorama size: 210 megapixels (14844 x 14184 pixels)
Input images: 35 (5 columns by 7 rows)
Field of view: 58.1 degrees wide by 55.6 degrees high (top=23.6, bottom=-31.9)
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Image size: 3648x2736 (10.0 megapixels)
Capture time: 2012-01-23 02:35:16 - 2012-01-23 02:38:54
Aperture: f/8
Exposure time: 0.02
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Horizontal overlap: 26.1 to 35.7 percent
Vertical overlap: 27.5 to 34.3 percent
Computer stats: 4096 MB RAM, 4 CPUs
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Alignment: 2:22, Projection: 32 seconds, Blending: 2:06
(Preview finished in 3:21)


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Novi Michigan
3 responses
Kathleen Shea gave props (16 Oct 2009):
Latrenia Bryant gave props (20 Oct 2009):
kevin stewart said (21 Oct 2009):
This one I like as well. Its a common shot and that you made a near black and white ( albeit toned blue) it allows the type to be read in a way that pays homage to old signage.
Also by Jesse McClear


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ViewsWatchers |
Ceramic is a ghost town in Stokes County, North Carolina, United States approximately ten miles southeast of the county seat of Danbury, near Belews Lake. Ceramic as a community ceased to exist at least 6 decades ago. The community was started by a ceramic pipe and drain tile manufacturing company, presently the "Pine Hall" brick company. Only remnants of the factory exist, it appears that fire may have caused its demise. The huge clay pits are surrounded by overgrown trees and underbrush and are nearly impossible to find. The only residents are small game and coyotes. [edit] Research Tips


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If Selling Used Software is Legal Then Why Not Used eBooks?
This particular case involved a Munich-based company, UsedSoft. They specialized in buying and reselling used software licenses (which the original buyers are no longer needed). While that in and of itself is not a shocking activity, a close reading of the license doc itself showed that Oracle forbids resale (they all do, pretty much). According to this new ruling, that clause isn't enforceable in Europe.
That is of particular interest to anyone who reads ebooks. You see, most every ebook is sold under a license that includes a similar - and now unenforceable in Europe - clause. Here's what Amazon says:
Unless specifically indicated otherwise, you may not sell, rent, lease, distribute, broadcast, sublicense, or otherwise assign any rights to the Digital Content or any portion of it to any third party, and you may not remove or modify any proprietary notices or labels on the Digital Content.
Sorry, Amazon, but according to the ECJ at least one of those clauses isn't valid anymore (though it will likely take a lawsuit to get Amazon to admit it).
Now, some might argue that this also invalidates the DRM on the ebooks, but I'm not so sure. This ruling only covers transferring the content to a new owner; DRM currently prevents it but that's a technical issue, not legal.
And do you know what? I think Amazon will love this ruling (once they calm down). Amazon is currently a great place to find used paper books, and I bet they'd love the chance to take a commission when people sell used Kindle ebooks to one another.
Note that this would involve 3rd party sales, just like the current used book market on Amazon. All Amazon would have to provide is a mechanism to remove an ebook from one account and authorize it to another. That's a technical issue, and best of all (from Amazon's viewpoint) they don't have to unlock the DRM.
That sound you hear right now is a thousand publishers saying "oh, crap". Their greatest enemy is positioned to build another secondary market which the publisher can't touch. I bet you hadn't thought of that one, had you?
image by upyernoz


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The Brooklyn Eagle reports that after almost 70 years, Brooklyn's Empire Roller Skating Center has announced that it is finally closing its doors on April 23. Rink operator Michael Feiger said that it would be turned into a storage facility — online rumors said it would be used for a Costco warehouse. The Eagle says that the rink was built in the late 1930s on a site that had been used as a parking lot for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
See the full story here.
Friday, March 9, 2007
Last Roller Rink in NYC to Close
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text:
Billy liked to think he was an aware guy. He liked control, and prided himself on maintaining the upper hand in any given situation.
Falling asleep in the arms of Helen Gates was not an example of this.
Falling asleep in bed with a woman wasn't something he did. Period. But with Helen? It was infinitely worse. She was at the apex of everything. Not a woman, but the woman. Not that he'd ever tell her that, or that she really needed him to verbalize it. There was an unspoken understanding between them, an agreement that went unacknowledged. They were lovers, with all the trimmings. There wasn't any question about that now; not after the night they'd shared, all the talking they'd done between each mind-blowing session of sweaty, toe-curling sex. Gone was the attempt at casual fucking. This, between them now, was something much more dangerous.
And yet, when Billy slowly opened his eyes, his mind groggily rewinding, fear wasn't what he felt.
Helen was next to him, flat on her stomach so he could see the long pane of her bare back and choppy mane of black hair. She slept silently, her back rising and falling with each breath. He was content to watch her like that for a while, one of his arms trapped beneath her head. They'd been tangled in the sheets, he noticed, their bodies twisted in the white fabric until it had knotted around their legs. His hips were the only thing still covered, Helen's body completely bare for him to stare at.
And stare he did. She was perfect to him, despite the large scar on her thigh and the patches of freckles that spanned her shoulders and back. He knew her body like it was his own, down to the tan lines her racer back tanks left between her shoulder blades.
Dangerous. Very dangerous.
"I can feel you staring."
Billy snorted a laugh, Helen's voice muffled by mattress. She'd woken without even a change in her breathing.
"It's a fine ass to stare at." Her laugh was throaty as she lay facedown beside him. Then a sigh fell between them. Billy let his eyes droop closed for a little while, content to maybe drift off.
Helen rustled the sheets, his temporary peace shattered. Opening one eye, he watched her tug at the covers, ripping them from his hips. When the cold air hit his crotch, Billy hissed and sat up, glaring as Helen shuffled off with the bed sheet wrapped around her body.
"Are ya kiddin' me?" He snorted after her, shaking his head. It wasn't like he hadn't seen every intimate inch of her. But Helen continued to shuffle out of the bedroom entirely, plucking her clothes off the living room floor.
"I wasn't planning on this little sleepover, Darley." She muttered from a distance. "People are gonna wonder where the fuck we wondered off to all night long."
"And morning." He murmured with a smirk, interlacing his fingers behind his head as he propped against the headboard. Helen stepped into the doorway for a moment, in only her bra and jeans, shaking her head at his cocky smile.
"It's a wonder that thing is still attached." She muttered, eyeing what he wasn't trying to hide.
"Still attached and working." He purred. They exchanged a moment of silence, a decision being made. Then Helen laughed and ducked from sight.
"Find someone else for seconds. I gotta go." Billy didn't hide his disappointment, because Helen didn't make another appearance in the doorway. So he went to her. Walking out into the living room, he caught her fixing her hair in the reflection of a window. He watched her rub her eyes and comb her messy mane with her fingers, a feeling of dread finally sank into his stomach. It was dark and ugly, like a cloud sitting in the distance. And it was nearing, only a few hours away.
"Ya sure about this?" He came up behind her slowly, watching her face in the window. She looked up into his eyes and they held, her expression hardening in understanding.
"Don't have much choice, do we?" She finally answered, avoiding his gaze to straighten the jacket on her shoulders. Billy took a final step, his jaw grazing her temple.
"You can always run." He whispered, his hands framing her hips. Helen sighed and stared at him, unreadable as she ground her jaw. When she finally did speak, she held his eyes.
"Like I said…" Turning around, she looked up at him, standing on her toes to kiss the left corner of his mouth. "…don't have much of a choice." With both hands, he held her there and kissed her again, this time slowly. When he pulled back, he didn't let go until she put her hands on top of his.
When the phone call came, Joey groaned as he reached for the nightstand. Danny was lightly hugging him beneath the sheets, her hair tickling his chest. The bruises on his arms and torso hurt, but looked worse more than anything. And as he flipped the phone open, he pretended his split lip didn't hurt when he spoke.
"Heard ya threw a fucking tantrum at the Roses." Billy's voice felt like a cup of coffee in Joey's belly, warming him with relief.
"Jesus Christ, where the fuck were ya?" As gently as he could, Joey moved from Danny's arms, sliding across the bed. When he stood, he swallowed a groan and walked out of the room. "I waited for ya all goddamn night."
"I was busy."
"Well I would fuckin' think so!" Joey hissed, grabbing handfuls of his hair to tug with irritation. "What's the fuckin' news with these Russian motherfuckers?" His blood was pumping through his veins as he thought about the asshole who'd threatened Danny's life.
"I'm takin' care of it, alright? You just lay low 'til this shit is over." Gritting his teeth, Joey nearly threw his phone across the room. Holding his voice down, he took a breath before he hissed his reply.
"Fuck that. I'm not waitin' around for shit." Looking back into their bedroom, he caught sight of her red hair in the mess of blankets. "I need ta know, Bill. I want that fucker."
"Listen ta me, Joe." Billy's voice lowered in warning, sending a flash of fear down his little brother's spine. There were only a few things in life that could ward Joey off, and that tone was one of them. It didn't always work, but it always resulted in Billy getting what he wanted, one way or another. "This shit is my problem. They came for me. You are going to stay out of it."
"FUCK THAT BILL." Joey didn't bother quieting his anger, spit flying from his lips as he yelled. "THEY TRIED TO KILL MY GIRL." Before he had a chance to continue, the line was dead, his brother hanging up without another word. Enraged, Joey threw his phone, watching it break against the wall and fall in pieces to the floor.
"Joey!" Danny was at his side in a heartbeat, her face shocked as she reached for him. "What's wrong? What happened?"
"He thinks I'm gonna just wait around?" He spat, pulling from her gentle hands. "FUCK HIM."
"Joey, stop." Her voice was stronger as he stumbled towards their bedroom, his face red and his hands shaking. It didn't matter that his face was a bruised mess. It didn't matter that his ribs hurt like hell and his gut was reeling. All he felt was rage. Pure, unfiltered rage. Pulling on his pants, he wandered around the bedroom looking for his keys. If his brother wasn't going to listen to him on the phone, he was going to hear him loud and clear in person.
"JOEY STOP." Danny's voice broke through and he whirled around, watching her pant lightly in the doorway. "You're not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell that was about!" Pointing back at his broken phone, Danny looked angry and scared, her bruises faded and yellow around her face. Meeting those determined eyes, Joey huffed a few breaths and ran his fingers through his messy hair.
"Billy is pushin' me out of the Russian thing. Won't let me in—"
"GOOD!" Danny threw up her hands. "Maybe then all this shit will STOP!" A tear slipped out of her eye, but she flicked it away like it meant nothing. "Joey, we've been on a rollercoaster of shit for so long. When can we just…STOP."
Throwing her hands up in the air again, she sat hard on the bed. "…I want to wake up in the morning knowing that you're going to be okay when I go to bed that night." Joey wiped his face in frustration, but he listened, hearing her over the roar of his pulse. "I want to go to the store alone and not be afraid! I want to have the chance to move into a house and own a car and marry you!"
Joey's heart stopped in his chest.
"Marry me?" Danny's flopped a hand on the bed and Joey sat beside her, his anger suddenly replaced with something very different.
"I'd like the opportunity." She whispered, gently stroking his face as to avoid his injuries, yet she didn't meet his gaze. "But if you chase after your brother, you'll end up just like him. Alone."
Sid knew the exact moment Helen was in the house, because suddenly there were a whole lot of voices coming from downstairs. Unhappy voices. And when footsteps stomped up the stairs, he braced himself for an entrance.
"Why the fuck did ya bury Neil without me?" Helen burst through the bathroom door without a knock, taking up the doorframe with her wrath. "I thought we fuckin' agreed—"
"Ya never came home, Hell. The fuck did ya want me ta do?" He murmured, careful to continue shaving his face with controlled strokes of his razor. In nothing but a towel and his skin, Sid stood at the sink, inches from the mirror.
"I would have waited for you!" She hissed, slapping his arm with a flick of her wrist. Closing his eyes, Sid missed cutting himself by a millisecond, holding in his irritation as he lowered his razor into the sink.
"The kid needed ta be put in the ground." He spoke carefully, looking back at the mirror only when he felt the control return to his temper. "If this shit tonight goes bad, at least one of us will get a proper burial."
She had no reply. Staring at him in the mirror, Helen watched as Sid smoothly shaved the remaining hair from his neck, tilting his head back to run the length of his jaw.
"So where were ya anyway?" The question instantly brought a darkness to her eyes, and Sid shook his head as he ran the razor under a stream of water. "Darley."
"Fuck you." She hissed.
"No, fuck you Hell." He turned his head to face her for the first time, shaving cream covering one of his cheeks. "Ya spent what could be your last night with that prick, and all the boys know it." Looking back into the mirror, he shook his head a second time before he started another stroke from his throat. They didn't speak for a long while, until his face was nearly clean. Helen simply watched him make long passes with his razor, her eyes hard and angry.
"I'm sorry."
The apology was so out of character, Sid nearly sliced his cheek open. Looking back at her, he set his razor down and cocked an eyebrow.
"What?" With a sigh, Helen leant against the doorframe.
"I'm sorry I wasn't here, okay?" She crossed her arms and stared down the hallway, her expression difficult to read. "I've got some shit ta figure out." Sid watched her for a moment, saw the way her eyes relaxed and her mouth loosened at the corners.
"Good thing we're all dyin' tonight." He finally broke the silence, wiping his face on a towel. Helen frowned in confusion. "Dead people don't have problems."
Billy almost didn't answer the phone when it rang. Fresh out of the shower, he was tempted to shut it off for an hour or two. The world could fuck off. He had so much going on already, the last thing he wanted to do was allow the world back into things. Billy wanted to be in bed with Helen again. He wished he'd held her down, naked on that mattress, until they'd been fucking like the animals they were, forgetting all the complications that came with their lives.
Unfortunately, he'd left after she'd driven off. And after a few short calls, he'd decided to wash away the previous night. He let it drip off in the scalding hot water, falling away like a lost memory. The plan was to move on like it had never happened.
So when the phone rang, it took him a few seconds to flip it open and speak.
"The price has changed." His stomach turned ice cold as a familiar Russian accent bit into his ear.
"Is your boss too busy to talk to me himself, or are ya just his bitch?" He listened as the one-eyed Russian swore under his breath, and the phone was passed.
"Mr. Darley, I trust you had a pleasant night's sleep."
"The fuck is this bullshit about prices being changed?" Billy hissed into the phone, glaring at nothing in particular. "Are we partners, or what?" Andrei let out a little sigh, painting a picture of the snobby younger man perfectly in Billy's mind.
"I still vant Ms. Gates, but I want her alive, Mr. Darley." Billy swallowed, closing his eyes.
"I vant you to bring her to me. Alive."
"So she can escape you assholes and come after me? Don't think so, pal." Faking Helen's death was one thing, but bringing her to Andrei alive was very much another. There weren't any tricks up his sleeve for this. Billy felt the heat of panic swirling in his gut. There wasn't a play for him to make.
"You bring her to me, tonight, at Marion Bay Storage, or I'll send this to the police."
His phone beeped angrily in his ear and Billy pulled it away, staring at a picture message. When it opened, the frown dropped from his face, leaving him blank.
"Do ve understand each other, Mr. Darley?"
A/N: Oh lord, I finally updated. I know it's been a while, and I'm so sorry, but life has been kinda crazy. A big thank you to ollie-oxycotyn for inspiring this chapter. :) I'm going to try and keep these chapters shorter so I can get more of them out on time. Hope you enjoy! Love you all.


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From 1999 to 2012, there wasn't anyone who epitomized the small-town championship mentality of the city of Green Bay more than star wide receiver Donald Driver. With a 1,000-watt smile and a massively charitable spirit, Driver endeared himself to Packers fans.
Driver, a seventh-round pick out of Alcorn State who was never supposed to amount to anything at the professional level, retired following the 2012 season as a franchise icon. His 743 receptions for 10,137 yards stand as franchise records.
The four-time Pro Bowl wideout not only made an impact on the field, but was also a major influence and inspiration off of it.
In a ceremony held at Titletown Brewing Co. in downtown Green Bay on Saturday, Driver was honored with his own statue and even had a street named after him.
"To have a statue that has my name on the back of it, it has nothing to do with me, it has everything to do with you," Driver said to the many Packers fans in attendance (via Packers.com). "Because you all have put me on a pedestal that I would have never thought to be standing on."
No one thought Driver would be standing on it either, but here he is, both a legend as a football player and a human being.
In case you may have been wondering, the statue was actually re-purposed in Driver's honor. Prior to the decision, the statue was a generic wide receiver. Here's a look at the work being done on it:
[H/T: CBS Sports]


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Articles Tagged GripsSearch BP ArticlesAll Blogs (including podcasts) Active Columns Authors Article Types
This is a BP Premium article. To read it, sign up for Premium today! May 27, 2015 6:00 am
Everybody violates the foreign substance rules, and it's harmless, so we should just do away with the rules, right? Wrong. It's becoming an annual thing. Last week, Will Smith and Brian Matusz were ejected and suspended for applying foreign substances to the ball (really, for being found with foreign substances on their bodies while on the mound), touching off what's fast becoming a hopelessly convoluted conversation. Last year, of course, it was Michael Pineda making the headlines. In 2013, Clay Buchholz came under fire. In 2012, Joel Peralta's ejection from a game against his former team led to Joe Maddon and Davey Johnson yelling at each other, first on the field, then through the media. (That incident, if nothing else, brought us the phrase "weird wuss.") Each time it happens, we rehash the same arguments, which could easily boil down to a bullet-point list but tend to be couched in anecdotes, ballplayer quotes and summarized histories of doctoring the ball. Since I did all of that in the first paragraph, though, I have a chance to simply deliver that list of bullets:
May 30, 2013 12:30 pm
Unraveling the secret of an unusual pitch. Jeff Samardzija has become one of my favorite pitchers. But for a few years, he was a thorn in my side. Okay, maybe more like two thorns.


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Human societies with very high mortality during childhood an early adulthood over many generations will be (relatively) low IQ societies - because reproductive success is mostly a matter of rapid development, early sexual maturity, and high fertility (number of childbirths) hence smaller and simpler brains.
Reproductive success is mostly a matter of fertility, sheer numbers of babies, to compensate for the high chance that each will be killed before completing reproduction.
Societies with high mortality during childhood and also during early adult life may well favour rapid increase in general intelligence over the space of relatively few generations, insofar as higher intelligence reduces mortality rates.
Fertility will be (and needs to be) significantly above two babies per woman on average, but beyond this number, fertility is almost irrelevant because reproductive success comes from lowering mortality.
Societies (such as the whole modern world) which have low mortality rates in childhood and early adulthood (low by human historical standards) will become (relatively) low IQ societies if they are secular - due to lower fertility among those with higher IQ -
- but this will not necessarily happen if/when societies/ groups (which must be coincident) are orthodox, traditionally religious (perhaps monotheistic).
So there is one high IQ sweet spot for sure (high mortality through into early adult life with universal above-replacement fertility) and one possible sweet spot (low mortality but fertility differentially higher in higher IQ).


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So lately I have been wanting to get back into making canvas so this afternoon I took the plunge and just started working away. I watched Christy Tomlinson's new video and got inspired. I don't like to copy so I used some ideas from Christy but also used my own design and ideas. Surprisingly these only took me 2 hrs. to complete both!
Here is the first canvas.I made a banner out of the AC Ruffled paper and AC clothes pins.
And the flowers are made from Crate Paper buttons and She Art papers.
Second Canvas:
I made the house out of the She Art papers. Love the colors!And check out the stems...there clothespins!
Friday, March 23, 2012
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When Should We Retire?
Twentieth-century answers to that question have much less to do with the health and happiness of the retiree than we have been led to believe
April/may 1983 | Volume 34, Issue 3
It would be comforting, perhaps, to believe that we have indeed progressed. But viewed through the lens of history, our present retirement policy appears to be a step backward, a regression—in time, at least—to a nineteenth-century world based solidly on the work ethic. More important, a glance into the past makes clear that significant changes in policy have always been made to serve broad economic and social needs rather than those of elderly people.
"Retirement," of course, means something very different now from what it did in the nineteenth century. In fact, retirement as we have understood the term since 1950—either as something forced upon us or as a great block of leisure time granted as the reward for years of labor—did not exist to any appreciable extent in 1900 or even in 1935.
Today, despite recent inroads on the institution, for most of us retirement calls up a montage of images of how we expect to spend a span of years. Retirement is late breakfasts, a thoroughly read newspaper, watching the Cubs at Wrigley Field on a Tuesday afternoon, framing pictures down in the basement or doing needlepoint in the living room, Meals On Wheels, getting by on Social Security, moving to St. Petersburg.
For turn-of-the-century Americans, retirement was something altogether different. The common lot of the elderly was work, not leisure. Aside from judges and railroad men, very few employees were subject to mandatory retirement. Even ordinary pension plans were rare, with coverage being limited to Civil War veterans, public employees in major cities, and a handful of workers in private industry.
In the absence of pension plans and Social Security, workers who were neither required to retire nor could afford to do so stayed on to staff the nation's shops, factories, offices, government bureaus, and professions. In 1903, for example, 114 employees of the Treasury of the United States, representing nearly 2 percent of its staff, were between the ages of seventy and seventy-nine, while another 12 were more than eighty years old. In 1913 the Protestant Episcopal Church maintained 406 clergymen who were seventy or older, and 41 who were eighty or older. In that year, more than one-eighth of the church's total salary payments went to clergymen above sixty-five. A decade later the Chicago school system employed two eighty-three-year-old principals and six principals and teachers over seventy-five.
Most of these older people labored as hard, and presumably as productively, as their younger colleagues. Others, usually with the approval of their employers, combined work with "on-the-job" retirement. Federal employees who were also Civil War veterans were, according to one source, "permitted to hold their present positions without disturbance, irrespective of the work done by them." Some "government paupers"—a term commonly used to describe aged employees—came to work on crutches or in wheelchairs. A 1904 report on Chicago's police department found "incapacitated men tucked away in every corner, guarding schools when there is no necessity … doing messenger duty when there is no necessity. …" In 1911 the New York Factory Investigating Commission discovered that the critical occupation of factory inspector was being used as an informal retirement mechanism. "There are a great many inspectors," one witness testified, "who have reached that age, where it is very hard for them to do practical inspection work; that is, to climb the stairs, to go out on fire escapes, and to go down into dark basements.…" Many corporations and government agencies transferred older workers to less demanding tasks and even tolerated special arrangements. In Philadelphia, for example, an elderly teacher twice a day left her class in charge of a student monitor while she took a nap.
While, to us, this on-the-job retirement may seem flawed by a tolerance for inefficiency or even corruption, the system was in some ways workable and humane; it allowed thousands of older people to receive a dependable, if somewhat reduced, source of income through an arrangement made on the basis of personal ties between employee and supervisor. And these ties often, if by no means invariably, ensured that workers would be treated as individuals, with special needs and abilities.


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Cavendar felt left out of the Ethereal club |
A gander of giraffes |
Swapping minfernal stories |
For the most part, all my interactions have been positive. Here's to making new friends! And having new pets (thank you my dear pet battle friends!)
Cavendar felt left out of the Ethereal club |
A gander of giraffes |
Swapping minfernal stories |
That's awesome that you got to meet up with like-minded people on your server, I haven't seen anyone talking about pet battling on mine.
That's really pathetic that someone would take double advantage of Luxy that way. Not only was she being nice and doing something that the scumbag was too lazy to do, but they bullied her into giving up HER rare pets (multiple?). Grrr, people suck sometimes.
Oh, I love when I type a comment and then lose it.
Yay for new friends! I love meeting awesome people!
Boo to that guy! Overall the pet community is awesome and I have made a lot of friends, there have been a couple of incidents with some jerks but for all the bad people there are plenty of good out there, and some amazing!
In hindsight I can see a million ways I could have avoided giving him my own pets, it seemed easier at the time to just be done with him. He probably is laughing about it though!
Thankfully I have only met lovely people from all my transactions and it's even better when they are on your server. They know who they are :)
ReplyDeleteI met a lovely person on my server through our being avid pet collectors, another reason to love battle pets! OMG! Level other people's pets? That is selfless, and then to get treated that way, that's awful.
I wish there would be more nice ppl and less shitty ppl in the world. Sad to hear about what happened to your friend. To help someone and then have it blow back in your face must be so annoying. Hope it doesn't deter her from helping ppl in the future.


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An army of models, carousers and beautiful creatures of the night is being lined up for a lavish private masquerade ball for a Saudi prince at the Top of the Standard tonight. Sources tell us, "There will be a big birthday party for the Saudi prince, and they are closing out the entire Boom Boom Room for him. Casting calls went out to modeling agencies, particularly asking for the most beautiful Russian girls." Among the 400 guests expected at the Meatpacking District bash — listed as a costume party "hosted by Saud" with a "black-tie dress code recommended but not mandatory" — are J
ustin Timberlake, Swizz Beatz and Usher. Along with the fancy invite, guests are also given a helpful history of masquerade balls (which is sure to be avidly digested by the models). It reads, "Masquerade balls were costumed public festivities that were particularly popular in Venice. They were generally elaborate dances held for members of the upper classes . . . Masquerade balls became common throughout mainland Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. A Swiss count is credited with having introduced the Venetian fashion of a semipublic masquerade ball to London in the 18th century, with the first being held at Haymarket Opera House. Throughout the century the dances became popular, both in England, then colonial America." Meanwhile, we're told a large young Saudi contingent has gathered at the Plaza Hotel in preparation for tonight's big bash.


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From the Voyager episode "Dark Frontier"... PARIS: When the New World Economy took shape in the late twenty-second century and money went the way of the dinosaur... And Enterprise is set mid-22nd century. This magical and never-quite-explained moneyless economy of Gene Roddenberry's supposed utopia didn't exist yet. Were there any references to money on the show? I don't recall any.
I can't recall the show saying anywhere if they'd given up money, or that they still used it. Perhaps even B&B realized that was a glaring plot weakness and just avoided addressing the issue.
No. They had to pay for the vacation on Risa (in a cut-out scene) but that's it. As all other Starfleet Trek characters in all other shows the main characters in ENT are not motivated by money. Who would be when he could be on the first human deep space exploration mission.
I think money could have been an interesting addition to "Demons" and "Terra Prime" - if only for Paxton to crow about how much Starfleet is costing the people of Earth every year, and the cost of the Xindi attack.
The other problem with a moneyless society, is how were people compensated when their cash, property, products, farm goods, and stock certificates suddenly became worthless.
Of course there are costs. An absence of of money doesn't imply that the is no scarcity anymore. Even in the 24th century Starships are scarce. There are trade-offs, if you don't produce an NX-01 you can produce something else with it.
They traded with spices (Season 3) and with goods. They had to pay the automated repair station (I forget with what). I'd say they were paid, but we didn't see anyone really talking about it. Perhaps that was a missing Season 5 story - Mayweather Gets Audited.
They had to pay the ARS with something. Even if they did have money, the Federation didn't exist yet and it would have been Earth money - with no interstellar value.
That wasn't a problem, since the moneyless society probably came to be shortly after WWIII when the Vulcans came along. At least I think that was the initial idea. No poverty, no diseases, and a re-orientation of the entire human society, all that happens after First Contact.
My theories: 1) Credit. Everything is done on a evolved form of credit. The more you work, the more credit you get. It's all electronic with no real value outside the system. Sure there's an exchange rate, but outside the Federation/Earth you're not going to get as much as you would back home. 2) Energy/Replicator "Credit". You're guaranteed a basic level of living whether you work or not: A place to live (apartments/dorms), food, clothing, medical care, etc. But if you want better you need to work to earn the "Credits" to replicate bigger and better things. Example: Everyone may have a good, basic, sturdy communicator, but if you want a I-Communicator 5s you need to earn the replicator credits to replicate the device. Everyone might be entitled to a PADD but if you want the latest and greatest from Rigel III, you gotta earn the credits. Or it could be some combination of the two.
I still cling to the idea that a moneyless society is only possible when you have almost unlimited energy and the ability to turn energy into matter, or at least rearrange matter, using replicators. There is certain stuff that can't be replicated, like Dilithium, or Latinum, which is why these things still are worth a lot and even serve as a currency in some cultures outside the Federation. It's also the idea that only Earth, human society, has no need for money. Humans are the most evolved and also naive culture in the Federation, after the Vulcans, who probably don't need any money either. We regularly see how humans are made fun of because of such things like having no currency at all. We also regularly see how Earth is spoken of as the Paradise. Which means Earth is pretty unique. I guess humans adopted the no money thing from the Vulcans, shortly after WWIII. They also adopted some of their philosophy, which is why most humans now work to better themselves and the rest of mankind, instead of hunting for wealth, treasures and nationalism. Vulcan isn't considered the paradise, though, because it's a barren wasteland and Vulcans don't have emotions. Earth is the best of both worlds.
One thing I liked with Enterprise's early years was nearly everyone they met would say, "Earth? Never heard of it." We were the country hicks of the galaxy.
The thing is we almost NEVER see anyone using currency in Star Trek. The Ferengi don't have money, they trade with latinum. They don't use credits or paper representing latinum - they use actual bars/strips/slips of latinum. Nearly all trade is one commodity exchanged for another. The only real currency portrayed has been credits - such as what Uhura used to buy her tribble. I would guess that those credits have a value linked to a real physical commodity and are not cash as we think of it.
The obvious setup here is that the consumer economy has ceased to use money. Yes, industries still count the pennies so that meals, skyscrapers and starships can be produced and personnel can be trained. But everything is free of cost for the consumer, and no individual person ever gets paid. That's not particularly different from how things are run today, even. You can be a "consumer" at a school and pay zero pence for your education and get zero pence for homework, for example. Or a soldier who only gets symbolic pay and totally free lunches, until returning to the civilian life. Paying and getting paid is for other people outside your immediate framework, and does not affect your own existence. It's just that consumer economy today is a fairly large sector of the overall economy, and the various (and numerous) no-salary, charity-labor organizations very much operate within this larger framework. But even in the late 22nd century specified by Paris, consumer economy might have become an utterly insignificant fraction of the overall economy, and nobody would even notice if people stopped paying for food or electronics and stopped getting salaries. There's no inherent need to have people handle money. That can be left to businesses, corporations, organizations - and totally automated for greater efficacy. Well, there is the aspect of using money to blackmail unwilling people into working, but that is completely dependent on how many people need to work in order to keep the world running for the rest. By the late 22nd century, it might be that only 0.0002% of Earth's population needs to contribute labor in order to keep the planet spinning, and a well-organized IT system will make it trivially easy to get volunteers for all the required jobs. Say, you need somebody to keep the sewer-cleaning machines working - so you draft a new guy for the job every week, as the work isn't particularly inspiring but isn't particularly demanding, either, and volunteers will line up for such brief, diversionary spells. And you need a brain surgeon - so you draft a dedicated volunteer who just loves being a brain surgeon, because that's what you would have to do in a salary-based system as well, because it takes immense dedication to go through the required studies for that particular job for a potential future financial compensation but current near-starvation. Basically, money probably did go the way of the dinosaur - it mutated into birds, and now soars high above the consumer, never touching him. Except when dealing with less sophisticated economies, but happily only Starfleet will typically have to get its hands dirty with that sort of thing. Timo Saloniemi
We have the beginnings of it now. The government qualifies me as permanently disabled. Once a month they do a direct deposit to my bank. In addition to that, I'm covered by Medicare. I rarely carry cash (due to the neighborhood). When I worked during the 80s, I usually had at least $35 on me every day. Now I do most transactions through either bank/credit card, or online payments. The only check I write is for rent. I don't receive rent subsidies or food stamps.
They traded with spices in S3 because Earth money would have been worthless to an alien living in the expanse. They paid the automated repair station with 200 liters of warp plasma. Well, not really, seeing at they used the plasma to blow up the station, which subsequently and creepily repaired itself.
One would assume that the interstellar community would be accustomed to strange barter deals as the primary form of payment, as local currencies would indeed be worthless. If you got a billion Earth dollars from trustworthy Earthlings as payment for your plasma inducer, you could not know the true value of that sum - sailing to Earth with your billion, you might buy a lump of nickel that satisfactorily compensates for your inducer, but you might also find out Earth values its nickel more than your own culture does and you'd only get a disappointingly tiny amount with the billion (even though you thought you had the rate of the Earth dollar down pat after discussing with the Earthlings how much sodium carbonate you can buy with it). Better to barter directly for the nickel, then. It would be a system like this that would be in place when the United Federation of Planets was founded. Would moving to a single currency be worth the hassle? Or should barter still be encouraged, as it would also encourage individual planets to retain their self-sustenance and keep the UFP much more robust against internal and external threats, financial or otherwise? Timo Saloniemi


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(5 quotes found)
"We will be in a very tough position if the request is not supported by the voters. There is no way to try to skim this. This would be a significant cut. We are facing a significant long-term challenge."
Paul Costello
"The Kellogg-Hubbard Library faces serious financial challenges. We realize we are bringing our request to voters at the last minute, but in the face of a potentially large deficit the board felt we needed to take immediate action."
"The whole idea that started this program was to get people out of harm's way."
"Vermont is not known for gated communities."
"The Internet is now beginning to have new avenues of access within the People's Republic of China. We thought it was a powerful way to extend our hand across to the people of China and the health professionals of China."


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Alcohol and the consequences of consuming too much too often, have been with us for thousands of years. It's only been in the last 50 years or so through science, that doctors have begun to understand how this substance affects the human body and brain. Fifty years of science vs. thousands of years of speculation, myth, and guessing.
Science has begun to unlock the mystery of the effects of alcohol. These advances have allowed new tools to be developed in treating alcohol dependence. Understanding how alcohol dependence affects the brain will help you understand today's treatments. Click on the subject for which you would like more information.
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"Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains" sees two Survivors bite the dust when Candice Woodcock and Danielle DiLorenzo are voted out in two Tribal Councils.
The Villains are now suspicious of Candice because anyone who would flip on her own tribe that quickly is a threat. I'm not sure I'd jump to that conclusion just yet. Sure, vote her out soon, but not before Colby and Rupert. The Heroes don't like her because she voted out Amanda, so Candice has a hard road ahead of her.
Rupert calls Russell worse than Johnny Fairplay. Really? Really? Russell is deceitful in the game but c'mon. I can't stand people who act like swearing on their kids/mothers/spouses lives are some kind of heathens when they go back on their word. I hate the self-righteous people who treat it like it's not a GAME. It's a game whose description is "outwit, outplay, outlast." Deceit is part of it, it makes it fun and people who take the game so seriously like Rupert are annoying. I find Russell to be an incredibly snake-y "Survivor" player but that is how these things go and the self-righteous, sanctimonious attitude is 100x worst to me.
Immunity Challenge
Each person is on a wooden perch with their arm chained to a wooden bucket. If their arm drops, they are out. Jeff is offering temptations along the way and there is a twist at the end. After one minute, Sandra and Russell both want the first temptation without even seeing it, so they step down. WOW. That is weak sauce, Sandra and Russell. They get to share cookies and milk, which is nice and all, but after ONE MINUTE? Are you kidding me?
Colby drops next for donuts and a milkshake. Candice asks Danielle if Parvati will hang on because somebody has to beat Rupert. When Jeff offers up PB&J, Danielle, Candice and Jerri all step down. So it's Parvati vs. Rupert. Wow. Everybody sucks. They totally abandoned Parvati in this challenge and now she's their only hope. I think I may have just thrown myself behind Team Parvati and screw everybody else.
Then Rupert slips and Parvati wins. Rupert is kinda whiny, saying he could've "gone hours" and now he's going home tonight. Oh, cry me a river, Rupert. At the end of the challenge, Jeff reads a new clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol to the whole group.
Back at camp, the search is on for the Idol. Sandra find sit and gets too nervous so she hides it again in another bush. Rupert decides to pretend like he has the Idol, so he sticks a big rock in his pocket. Russell falls for it 100% and tells Sandra they need to split the vote.
Danielle and Parvati want to split between Rupert and Colby, but Jerri wants to blindside Candice because she's not trustworthy. So Colby and Rupert realize their only shot is voting for Candice. It could still send Colby home but it's their only shot.
Tribal Council
Candice gets raked over the coals by Rupert, Colby and kind of Jeff for voting for Amanda, but Russell sticks up for her, saying that it could've been a huge move for her. During the vote we only see Candice vote for Rupert and Colby vote for Candice, with a smarmy little, "I can honestly say I'm proud of the way I played this game … can you?" Oh, spare me, Colby. Seriously, get bent. This is a game, let's all have a little sense of humor about it.
The votes go Rupert, Rupert, Rupert, Candice, Candice, Candice, Candice and Candice. Rupert and Colby are pretty excited that their plan actually worked, while Jeff sagely says that it's a risky move when you betray trust in order to gain trust. Oh, Jeff Probst. You need to market a Probstism a Day calendar.
Post-Tribal 2
Russell is mad that the votes didn't split between Rupert and Colby. He hates that they got fixated on Candice and is worried Colby will start winning. That's a legit concern, Colby's a baller when he wants to be.
Immunity Challenge 2
The challenge is a course. The first leg is is a race for a peg that goes through a table maze. The first five move on to a climbing wall. The first three move on to the final round that is a slide puzzle. Colby and Jerri don't make it out of round one. The climbing wall fells Sandra and Danielle; Russell makes it up the wall like a little monkey. Wow. In the final round, Russell gets his slide puzzle first and wins.
Post-Challenge 2
The Villain girls want Rupert gone, but Russell knows he needs to split up Danielle and Parvati, so he starts working on Danielle to get rid of Parvati. Danielle is hesitant. Russell then goes to Parvati and says Danielle wants to vote Parvati off at Top 5 or 6. Hmmm. Sneaky.
But the girls are not falling for it because they aren't stupid and realize that Russell is playing them. But Russell goes to Colby and Rupert and gets them on board with voting for Danielle. He tries to get Jerri, but it doesn't seem like she buys it.
Tribal Council
Jeff wants to know who is in charge and nobody really knows. Parvati and Danielle then totally spill the beans about Russell's shenanigans and he flounders around trying to defend himself. Yeah, you got caught with your hand in the cookie jar, Russel. Just admit it. Danielle then starts crying. Oh dear. There's no crying in "Survivor," Danielle! Suck it up, basketcase.
In her fit of emotions, Danielle admits that she is closer to Parvati than Russell thinks. Russell reacts, Parvati reacts and Jeff reacts. It's hilarious. Oh, Danielle. You are in trouble if you survivor tonight's vote, Danielle.
During the vote, we see Parvati vote for Rupert and Russell vote for Danielle. The votes go Rupert, Rupert, Rupert, Danielle, Danielle, Danielle and …. DANIELLE. WOW. Jerri went with Rupert, Colby and Russell. Oh, Jerri. That might have been a HUGE MOVE for her, if she can get those boys to align with her and pick off Parvati and Sandra. Interesting.
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Amanda: The fight with Danielle was 'more of a brawl'
Parvati has Russell 'in the palm of her hand'
'Me and Coach got our own show at Ponderosa'
Jerri Manthey is an awesome woman
Rob: Russell 'made the right move'
James: Rooting for Parvati out of spite
credit: CBS


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A Visit from Meier's Weltreisen!
On Saturday, November 14th, 2015, the team at Cajun Encounters was honored to welcome Meier's Weltreisen to town for a Honey Island Swamp Tour.
Working in partnership with the St. Tammany CVB and Louisiana Office of Tourism, PNO's group sales manager, Leslie Cunningham, and coordinator, Hannah Alley, organized the visit, greeting the group with packets and goodies for their customized private tour.
The group was accompanied by Louisiana German Rep Karen Gilsdorf and St. Tammany CVB Manager Tanya Leader.
While out in the swamp, the tour was led by the renowned Captain Bishop, who has appeared on countless blogs and tv shows!
It was certainly a joy to have the folks at Meier's Weltreisen come out on the water with us.
Top tour operators in Germany, specializing in USA bound travel, the group came to town to experience all that New Orleans has to offer first hand.
What a ton of fun!!


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Young illustrator Conrad Roset, living in Barcelona, Spain, is successfully following his life-long passion for drawing and teaches others to do the same as a professor of illustration at the School of Design BAU. Conrad found the reward of living in Internet era: his sketches attracted the attention of Zara, the fast-fashion mega brand and an illustration career ensued. Afterwards he launched himself as freelance artist and until now he has various collaborations from ad agencies and publishing companies to music bands and fashion labels.
Conrad Roset, La Princesa y el Rey Pez
Jonas Löfgren is a young Swedish illustrator who draws sulky, mysterious young feminine figures. His graphite and watercolor heroines remind me of Wednesday Adams or of Amelie, both intelligent, fearless, young ladies with a quirky persona.
Jonas Löfgren - Diamond no.5
Laura Laine is a young Finnish fashion illustrator who enlisted in her work resume titles like New York Times, Elle Girl, Páp Magazine, Fashion Forecast and Trendi. She also did sketches for international labels such as Escada and Zara and also for more personal projects: such as a poster for Finnish designer Daniel Palillo, a logo for Wunder Fashion Store in Helsinki or a desktop wallpaper for art&design blog Kitsune Noir .


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Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900) was an Irish playwright, novelist, poet, and short story writer. Known for his barbed wit, he was one of the most successful playwrights of late Victorian London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day. As the result of a famous trial, he suffered a dramatic downfall and was imprisoned for two years of hard labour after being convicted of the offence of "gross indecency". The scholar H. Montgomery Hyde suggests this term implies homosexual acts not amounting to buggery in British legislation of the time. Source: Wikipedia


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Archives, SCOUT, Italia, San Marco, Kenya
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Galaxy none-reference 9800 GTX does Tri-Way SLI 3-way SLI has been long limited to NVIDIAs reference cards. Manufacturers seldom work on it. But now Galaxy works out 9800GTX with 3-way SLI support and 3DMark Vantage score is out. With three 9800GTX, the system scores P16594 in 3DMark Vantage. We receive these pics from galaxy. These 9800GTX comes out with a redesigned cooler which are similar to Galaxy 8800GTs cooler, with the heatsink covering almost the whole PCB and extending to the back panel. The Galaxy 9800GTX also features dual DVI and a HDMI out. http://en.expreview.com/2008/08/07/g...y-sli-support/ |
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Ultimate Sansa e200 Fix
EDIT (advcomp2019):
Since the links are dead on RCM post I removed them. The other two should be OK. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here's how to recover most E200 problems that you may experience such as player rebooting constantly and not being able to listen To use this you put your player in recovery mode To put in recovery mode 1. Turn player off 2. Put the hold switch on 3. Hold record and plug in USB cable --------------------------------------------------------------------------- To run program 1. Download the file here 2. Run it 3. Select 16MB-FORMAT 3. Click unzip 4. Unplug Sansa E200 series 5. Turn hold off 6. Wait for it to reboot 7. Reload tunes You can follow the same directions for the R series now too Do the same as above only get the program for the "R" series here Now you can remove the hebrew firmware or the new firmware (New Firmware: 1.03.07P) with the Sansa recovery tool too Just download this file Boot into recovery mode Run the program being sure to select the 16MB-PARTITION as the drive to copy files too Safe remove the player after running the program Turn off hold Unplug and wait for it to reboot WARNING DOING THIS WILL FORMAT YOUR PLAYER. YOU HAVE TO COPY YOUR SONGS BACK ON AFTER DOING THIS If you want to just format the player without having to downgrade the firmware use this. Switch to recovery mode and copy this file to it |
If that does not work here is another ultimate sansa e200 fix
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...29&postcount=1 |
Slaughter's signature has always worked for me :)
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Spring Development and Maintenance Activity - Work Days
We will meet at Hunting Hollow entrance parking lot at 8:30 AM on Saturday May 19. This is an overnight activity, and we will be finishing up and exiting the park by 1PM Sunday May 20.
We'll be checking condition of springs throughout the southern and eastern parts of the park. Work groups will travel by 4wd vehicles to spring sites to examine the condition, clear vegetation, fix leaky pipes and repair spring boxes.What to bring: work gloves, sturdy boots, rubber boots, drinking water, food and snacks. Also bring your swimsuit, fishing gear, fishing license, and bicycle for after work activities. NO DOGS!
Bring your camping gear, we'll camp overnight.The Camp Facilities at Pacheco Camp are not "plush" but will allow for a pleasant overnight outing. Bring camping equipment. Water is available in camp. After work activities, and with conditions permitting, a campfire is built for BBQ'ing and warmth. There are serveral scenic hiking destinations in the area.
Participants under the age of 18 must provide a signed parental consent form. A blank copy can be found at http://coepark.net/pineridgeassociation/images/forms/dpr208c.pdf
The Hunting Hollow entrance and parking lot is located on the south-west edge of the park on Gilroy Hot Springs Road north-east of Gilroy.
The Hunting Hollow gate and parking area is open 24 hours a day, year round. You can arrive at the entrance and park any time of day or night. You can self-register for day use or backpacking. Be sure to take a park map with you when you head into the backcountry. You'll find free handout maps at the bulletin board in the parking area. You can also study a large park map stapled to the bulletin boards. Large maps are available for purchase on weekends when the parking area is staffed (in March through June).
There are no car camping sites at the Hunting Hollow entrance.
Dogs are not allowed beyond the Hunting Hollow entrance. See Dogs at Coe Park for more information.
No drinking water is available at the Hunting Hollow entrance, so be sure to bring what you'll need.
The Coe Park Hunting Hollow entrance is located on Gilroy Hot Springs Road, the same road you take to get to Coyote Reservoir.
To get to the entrances, take Highway 101 to Gilroy (which is about 10 miles south of Morgan Hill and 25 miles south of San Jose). The distance from 101 to the Hunting Hollow entrance is about 9 miles.
Take the Leavesley Road exit (County Road G9) and head east.
After about 1.8 miles, turn left (north) on New Avenue; go a little over half a mile and then turn right (east) on Roop Road. About 3.3 miles up Roop Road, you'll pass the Coyote Reservoir Road on the left.
The Hunting Hollow entrance is about 3.3 miles past the Coyote Reservoir Road turnoff.
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Are you interested in learning more about Henry W. Coe State Park and sharing your knowledge with park visitors? How about helping out with annual events or maintenance of springs and trails? If so, visit our Volunteer page.
Thank you! We rely on your generous support.


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PS3 / XBOX 360 | Japan |
By Spencer . December 23, 2011 . 12:08am
Mecha, mecha, and more mecha. These screenshots from Armored Core V show some of the robots you can customize and shoot down in online battles.
Armored Core V comes out for PS3 and Xbox 360 on January 26 in Japan.


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Preview For Next Week's Live Impact – Open Fight Night Returns
IMPACT WRESTLING Preview: Open Fight Night Returns LIVE On Thursday
– The monthly "Open Fight Night" returns, involving the competitors in the Bound For Glory Series! All 12 Wresters in the BFG Series will be in action – 6 men make challenges, 6 men will be called out! Who will take the early advantage in the point standings? Tune in and find out!
– What will be X Division Champion Austin Aries' decision about Hulk Hogan's officer of a potential World Title shot?
– Also on the broadcast, TNA President Dixie Carter and AJ Styles vow to come clean about the recent allegations by Daniels and Kazarian
– In addition, the Knockouts Championship will be on the line on the LIVE IMPACT! Knockouts Executive Brooke Hogan will announce on the broadcast who Miss Tessmacher will defend the gold against that night!
– Plus, it's also the return of the monthly "Gutcheck" – one newcomer will get the chance to prove themselves! Will they make the cut and join the TNA Wrestling roster?
– The road to the July 8 "Destination X" Pay-Per-View event continues, with more news on the big event!
All this and much more on Thursday's IMPACT WRESTLING broadcast LIVE at 8/7c on SpikeTV
Recent photos of The Undertaker at an airport »
source: ImpactWrestling.com


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Bush League
After vowing publicly that no piece of art would be cut, Arizona State University Art Museum director Marilyn Zeitlin chose to "eliminate" several pieces originally slated for inclusion in the "Democracy in America" exhibition, which will open as scheduled at the museum on August 31, to coincide with the debate between George W. Bush and John Kerry on October 13 and the November presidential election.
When New Times first reported that the exhibition was being planned and included many anti-Bush works ("Heil to the Chief," Joe Watson, July 1), ASU administrators promised that the show would not go on unless it was politically balanced. More than 400 pages of e-mails and correspondence written as far back as February through July 21 between museum staff, ASU administrative officials and the artists who were asked to participate in the show reveal how this "balance" was achieved: Anti-Bush works were eliminated; Zeitlin allowed work she called "mediocre" to be included; and ASU administrators with no background as curators, including President Michael Crow, weighed in on the content.
According to the documents New Times received, Crow asked at least twice since early July to see the work to be included in the exhibition, and told Bob Wills, the dean of the Herberger College of Fine Arts, that, "I don't like surprises that seem to be potentially negative to the overall image of fairness and impartiality that we must take as [an] institution."
First Amendment advocates say a public university is under no obligation to present a fair and balanced art exhibition, and that inhibiting the museum could be construed as a violation of academic freedom. Crow and some members of his administration clearly disagree.
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In advance of a coordinated preview of the show for Crow in late July, Wills told museum staff in an e-mail, ". . . I can assure you -- from concerned legislators to university administrative folks -- there is the highest level of interest and concern that I have ever seen -- in 40 years of dealing with controversy.
"We should have avoided this situation entirely, and the processes which have brought it to life," Wills continued. "And we need to devise plans . . . and agreements for how and why it will never happen again."
In late June, Zeitlin -- the lead curator of "Democracy in America" -- told New Times she wouldn't "pull any of the pieces" the museum had obtained for the exhibition, and that curators would "work to add balance." At the time, Stacey Shaw and Denise Tanguay, two spokeswomen for the Herberger College of Fine Arts, had concluded that, of 30 exhibition pieces set to run in the show, "one-third (10) appear to be anti-Bush . . . [and] almost one-third (8) are anti-war," according to an e-mail from Shaw to Zeitlin and Wills, who, as dean, granted final approval of the show. Shaw went on to say that the exhibition was "clearly one-sided."
Shaw refused to grant New Times' request to interview Zeitlin until an August 30 press preview of the exhibition. Wills declined an interview request until the preview day as well. And ASU spokeswoman Nancy Neff told New Times that Crow's schedule was booked.
But the e-mails reveal that Zeitlin and curators John Spiak and Jean Makin -- in the weeks following Crow's demands to see the show's content and an explanation of each piece -- scrambled to find art to correct the imbalance. Spiak, who originally sent out a fact sheet on the exhibition to New Times on June 16 and has since refused to comment on the show, even contacted The Late Show With David Letterman, hoping to obtain video of the show's spoof on the "Kerry-Edwards `Love Fest.'" The museum curators also agreed to add a subtitle to the show -- "Political Satire, Then and Now" -- so that the show could include political cartoons. In order to create an exact "50-50" balance, Spiak searched for pro-war work as well, and Zeitlin assured Wills that "we also know of several mediocre pieces that focus on Kerry that we can add."
But after exhausting their resources, Zeitlin e-mailed this message to Makin and Spiak on July 13:
"I didn't sleep last night," Zeitlin begins. "I realize what I sent last night as the `balanced' list was still too heavy on the Bush-negative. We are going to eliminate Conal and the other two pieces that go with his. By eliminating these three, we bring the con-Bush total to SIX, with the con-Kerry at FIVE. Adding a bunch of political cartoons and counting them as one . . . we should get this thing through. Budde's pieces about oil are out, Chagoya's big piece is out and replaced by the [Ronald] Reagan piece from the collection, Ryan McNamara is out.
"I'm really sorry to have to go this route," Zeitlin concludes, "but I see no alternative."
The following pieces -- all considered critical of Bush and/or the war in Iraq, according to the curators' working checklist -- are no longer in the show: two of a series of three prints collectively called Be the Revolution by artists Robbie Conal, Mear One and Shepard Fairey; Jim Budde's ceramic piece Con Tex or Roll Out the Barrel; Road Map (F-14 Jet) by Enrique Chagoya (although, in fairness, this piece will not be included because of a scheduling conflict); Peter Kuper's scratchboard piece Richie Bush; Bitter Pill, a cooperative piece by David Attyah and S.A. Bachman (an ASU alum), also known as Think Again; and a photographic installation by Ryan McNamara called Angry Americans, a collage of eight photos of children making angry faces which Shaw and Tanguay felt was "anti-war" when presented alongside works that were overtly so, according to an e-mail from Shaw to Zeitlin and Wills.
Zeitlin's censorship of her own show might have weakened its (and certainly her own) boldness, but it hasn't entirely removed the exhibition's teeth. While most of the 60 pieces in "Democracy in America" are now neutral works, many with historical perspective, there are several pieces still blatantly critical of Bush -- including Lynn Randolph's The Coronation of St. George, Kuper's Ceci n'est pas une comic, and Conal's Read My Apocalips. (It's unknown why Zeitlin chose to keep Conal on the "Democracy" roster, although Conal signed a loan agreement with the museum for that specific piece back in June.) Pieces considered critical of Kerry in the working checklist obtained by New Times include Budde's Kerry in Idaho -- although Budde says it's a stretch to say his piece is critical of the Democratic nominee -- five digital prints from caricature artist Linda Eddy, and some editorial cartoons from the East Valley Tribune's Mike Ritter.
According to anti-censorship advocates, ASU is under no obligation to present a balanced exhibition.
"A university museum does not necessarily endorse the views of the artists it exhibits," says Svetlana Mintcheva, the arts program director for the National Coalition Against Censorship in New York City. "It would be constitutionally acceptable for the university museum to put on a show that was entirely critical of the current administration. But there is a climate of fear in nonprofit institutions and educational institutions, and they're worried about their funds and how they're perceived."
Eleanor Eisenberg, the executive director of the Arizona Civil Liberties Union, says if university administrators force a public museum to create a so-called balanced exhibition, the university is violating the curators' constitutional rights. "Not only is it a violation of First Amendment rights," says Eisenberg, "it's a violation of academic freedom."
According to the correspondence obtained by New Times, ASU administrators are more concerned about losing the presidential debate -- which will take place at Gammage Auditorium -- and its anticipated multimillion-dollar impact on the Valley. Wills told Zeitlin in a June 29 e-mail that, per the university's agreement with the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, it was imperative that ASU not endorse one candidate over the other, which he felt was a fine line that "Democracy in America" was walking, and could result in ASU's loss of the debate. "Part of the university contract regarding the debates," Wills wrote, "is that the institution will remain impartial concerning the candidates and their campaigns." As a result, he added, "the contemporary pieces need to be balanced, both in numbers and in ideas."
"They aren't curating this exhibit. They're playing politics," says Ryan McNamara, a former Phoenix artist now living in New York City, who says his Angry Americans was cut from the show last week when John Spiak called him and informed him of Zeitlin's decision. "It's almost comical that this show is called `Democracy in America.' One of the pillars of democracy is that everyone's voice is heard. And here they are, silencing those representative voices."
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