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Sure, you could focus on the corrupt, quasi-fascistic side of Silvio Berlusconi's long reign over Italy. But as his adoring supporters will tell you, that's not the point of "Silvio!" What sustains a nation is the man's dyed hair and shameless libido. Devin Friedman goes in search of the self-appointed dictator of macho hedonistic unprosecutable pleasure
There is a place where all the breasts are large. Large, young, tanned, and naked. A place where everyone fucks and fucks and fucks and never dies. Where the men are rich and carefree and the women are beautiful and pliant and young. Where television quiz shows are strip quiz shows. Where sports-talk shows are sports-talk shows bookended by women in bikinis. The women in government, too, are the women of buoyant, ageless breasts. They are members of Parliament. They are the sexiest cabinet ministers in the world. In this place, most schoolgirls hope to get jobs someday doing the special TV shimmy-dance you do by yourself on-camera, and then maybe go on to marry a soccer player or take their place in the parliament of beauty. You don't have to pay tas in this place, and the laws are only laws until they limit your dreams. This place was invented by one man, a man who changed the world of rationing and punishment into a place that promises you can have everything you want and need never be punished again. This man dreamed up the television, he appointed the ministers, he started the revolution, and he is the greatest living exponent of his vision. A man who never, ever gets old, never goes bald, never gets untan or looks as short as he used to. A man who never, never stops smiling.
In the winter, before the regional elections, the Presidente has booked the ancient Temple of Hadrian for an event for his political party. Rome is the living museum, they say, and this space, made from giant slabs of stone 2,000 years ago, today features a large banner with the Presidente's face on it and a phrase that roughly translates as "Join me, at my shoulder, to defend your desires, your interests, and your freedom." A few minutes before the Presidente enters, a music video plays on a big screen, depicting a huge political rally in the streets of Rome. Violins are struck. The footage of passionate party members holding candles is replaced by a visual of two young men behind a counter, scooping gelato…and one of them begins to sing: There's a great dream / That lives in us. / We are the people of liberty. / Presidente, we're with you. Then everyone in the gelateria sings: Thank God there's Silvio! There are young people in a classroom, on the steps of a government building, serving cornetti at a coffee bar. They sing that they are the people who want to change this dream into a reality. Now the man mixing cement joins in and sings. We are the people who never give up, / Who reach out and encourage each other! Now the girls running on treadmills join in! There are no old people in the video, there are no ugly people, there are no immigrants. There are only strong, passionate young Italians in business-casual clothes, who sing with feeling: Thank God there's Silvio!
Silvio Berlusconi loves this song. He was once a professional singer on cruise ships—this is before he became the third-wealthiest private citizen in Italy and the seventy-fourth-wealthiest man in the world—and often employs a pianist to accompany him in his homes. As the video plays, Berlusconi, the Presidente, enters the room through a side door and then disappears among the party members almost immediately. He appears from time to time with a hand on a woman's shoulder or kissing a man affectionately on both cheeks. Then he bounds onto the stage, sits at a table next to a striking woman with lustrous, shiny red hair, clasps his big hands in front of him, and smiles.
"We are here to disturb you once more," Berlusconi says. "To present one of the many initiatives of the People of Liberty." The People of Liberty is the current name of his party. He changed it from Go Italy! a few years ago, which is what the Italians say when they're cheering for their World Cup team. He wears a navy suit tailored in the Italian-tycoon style, crisp baby blue shirt, navy tie with white polka dots wadded at his neck. His face and hair and teeth are impeccable. His skin is a perfect tawny brown that goes whiter at the neck, where the makeup fades out. His hair isn't identifiable as hair, per se. It's more color than substance, a deep, shiny brown, and it's pleasing. You would never confuse any of it—the hair, the teeth, the skin—for something real. But it doesn't matter. The artificiality has long been acknowledged. It's like a woman who has excellent fake breasts: The image pushes certain pleasure buttons. Sitting there and speaking about the upcoming regional election, he makes a compelling argument for face-lifts.
"The other day the minister brought me this mound of letters," he says. "I think 300 letters, which asked again and again: When are you finally going to ask us to do something useful for our country?" In response, he says, they will be founding a new initiative called Freedom Promoters.
None of this was his idea, he explains. It was the people's idea. And as party leader, he felt he must let the people take to the streets, give more of their time, promote even more freedom. The people of hate accuse him of having become a dictator in the manner of Mussolini or one of the Roman emperors. But they don't understand that he is just a conduit for the desires of the people.
"It is important that the party be democratic—really democratic," he says. "I only execute the wishes of local party members."
For example, it is true that he passed a bill whereby citizens don't vote for actual members of Parliament (MPs) anymore; they vote for a party, and the party picks them. And as a result of that law, Berlusconi's personal criminal-defense lawyer has been made an MP. Several women who used to be showgirls on his TV stations were placed on the party's roster, and another four were on the roster for the European Parliament. Berlusconi's physician is an MP now, as are a number of his former executives. The people aligned for no greater purpose than to bring Silvio Berlusconi down say it is like when Caligula made his horse a member of the Senate. But that's the most vile sort of untruth!
"I never gave the name of any candidate in any election," the Presidente says. "The names that came from the base in the regions were just communicated to me." Including, apparently, the name of his dental hygienist, possibly the leggiest dental hygienist in the Western world, whom the People of Liberty will make a regional councillor in this election.
Berlusconi and His Government of Beauty
The party really belongs to the people. People like the woman seated next to him, Michela Vittoria Brambilla. If you want to understand the hunger the people feel for a man like Berlusconi, she's a good example. She's over 40 now, but she hasn't let age diminish her beauty. She was once a contestant in the Miss Italy pageant, and after that she read the news on one of the Presidente's TV stations. When he lost the election in 1996, she was despondent. As the party's movimentista (the official in charge of movements), she was responsible for the party's grass roots, like the activist group the Thank God for Silvio Girls. Later he appointed her undersecretary of tourism and, more recently, tourism minister. She sits on the dais next to Silvio Berlusconi and watches him with consuming admiration as he speaks about wiretaps, another of the great crimes of the people who want to bring him down, the people he calls the Party of Hate.
"This is an election…between a government that is trying to fuel trust, optimism, and a left that is only capable of spreading pessimism and self-infliction," he says. "Every day there are attacks on freedom.… Like your telephone. Whatever we say over the phone that we think is private, not only is it not private, it is published in the newspaper the next day. This is like a bucketload of mud thrown on someone."
The Presidente has a problematic relationship with recording devices. Even in Italy—a land of much corruption and mistrust and a breathtaking volume of taping and countertaping—the Presidente is a special case. Thousands of conversations—his conversations, conversations about him, conversations he's sanctioned—have been preserved, and some of that tape has made it into newspapers. Here he is on tape saying, "It means we will not fuck," after two showgirls failed to show up to entertain him and a former prime minister. And here he is apparently trying to win the majority in the Senate by getting TV jobs for various women thought to be senators' girlfriends. And here he is last year, after the governor of Lazio was photographed in a hotel room with a Brazilian transvestite and some cocaine, allegedly telling the governor it would be smart to pay to make those pictures go away.
Not that any of it has had much political effect on him. Even now the Presidente is by far the most popular political figure in Italy. It's not that he's survived; he is Italian politics. Even those who dread him will admit: There's Silvio Berlusconi, and then there is no one.
Of all the stories that surfaced during summer 2009, the best is the story of Patrizia D'Addario. Even more interesting than the possible dalliance with a 17-year-old girl from Naples; more than the open letter his wife sent to the Italian press, lambasting him for, among other things, putting up bimbos for Parliament; more than the revelations about the series of titty parties he threw at his Sardinian villa. None of these immerse you as fully in the fantasy world of the Presidente as Patrizia D'Addario's story.
Earlier this winter, the former prostitute arrives in Rome for an interview with GQ. Negotiations have taken place. D'Addario lives in Puglia, in Southern Italy, but she refuses to take the train. She'd fly on a budget airline, but her cousin and media handler would have to accompany her. Domenico is his name. They would stay in an inexpensive hotel, but the hotel must be paid for by GQ, and it would be better if it were in the historical center of the city. The interview is conducted in a room at a different hotel, near the Pantheon. (GQ decides on a suite so that the interview wouldn't be conducted in the bedroom, which, you know… How would that look?)
In the early afternoon, the taxi drops Patrizia and Domenico at the hotel where the interview will be conducted. They both wear dark sunglasses and pull rolling suitcases, looking as if they were an infamous prostitute and her cousin.
Even though the interview takes place in front of a tape recorder and there is no photographer present, as soon as she arrives at the hotel room, Patrizia carefully applies eyeliner and concealer and redoes her perfectly straight blond hair, leaving a series of smudged tissues and used applicator brushes on the sink. She sits on her chair with extraordinary posture and maintains that posture throughout four hours of conversation. It's the kind of posture that says: I may be the most famous prostitute in Italy, but I have a great deal of respect for myself. Domenico—a man of probably 50 with receding gums and surgically implanted hair that has been precisely cut and blown dry, wearing a sweater that doesn't do much to hide his small breasts—sits on his suitcase in the next room typing on his laptop.
"He was fun," Patrizia says about the fucking of the Presidente. "If it weren't for the videos I had to watch and the songs we had to sing. And the girls. The girls offering themselves to him. That I didn't care for."
The D'Addario episode began in November 2008, on the night Barack Obama was elected president. Silvio Berlusconi was supposed to attend a party, hosted by an organization that promotes relations between Italy and the United States, in one of the many meticulously restored salons in the center of Rome. The guests were expecting him. The host, an important senator in Berlusconi's party and the head of the foundation, had made promises that the Presidente would be there. He'll come and have a drink, be seen, make easy conversation. He is good company, very generous with his time. "Behave as if you have a ray of sun in your pocket," the Presidente used to tell his salesmen, when he was reinventing the television-advertising industry in Italy. And there seems still to be no greater joy for him than to shine the beautiful sunlight in his pocket onto every man, woman, and child he meets.
There were some prominent American businessmen there and some important figures from the People of Liberty. Hors d'oeuvres were passed; several flat-screen TVs broadcast the American election news; everyone waited for the arrival of the Presidente. But Berlusconi didn't appear. Antonio Polito, the vice president of the organization, approached Berlusconi's senator: Where is the Presidente? The senator said, Be patient. We think he will be here soon. Ten o'clock passed, and then eleven. And then it became clear that Berlusconi would never arrive.
"It was surprising!" Polito said when I visited the office from which he now edits a small center-left newspaper. "He always makes a fuss over his friendship with America. Of course, we found out this was the night he was with the escort Patrizia D'Addario."
A month earlier, in the capital of the southern province of Puglia, Patrizia D'Addario, age 41, possessor of expensively treated blond hair, met a man named Giampaolo Tarantini at a coffee bar. Tarantini was a businessman from Puglia who, it would turn out, supplied girls to Berlusconi for parties in Rome and Sardinia. The meeting had been set up by a mutual friend. There was a real estate project D'Addario was involved in that had been stalled and that she believed, if only she got help from the right people, could change her life. They had something to drink and discussed the project, and then Tarantini said, Come out to my car so we can have a private conversation.
"He said, 'I can give you a chance to go to Rome and meet the prime minister, but we have to go right away,' " D'Addario tells me through a translator in the hotel room. "I said my fee is 2,000 euros for dinner, and he said, 'No problem. Money is no object.'"
She arrived by plane later that night. In his hotel suite, Tarantini explained the rules of the party she would be attending. She must wear a black minidress, no stockings, and very little makeup. If the Presidente liked her, she would be expected to stay the night. She told him that she agreed to dinner, not to spending the night, and Tarantini said, "We can talk about this later."
At nine o'clock, Tarantini's car arrived at Palazzo Grazioli with D'Addario and two other women. The police at the gate waved them into the courtyard, where Berlusconi's bodyguards met her and took her by elevator to the apartments on the second floor. This wasn't Berlusconi's permanent residence—he has villas in Milan, Sardinia, Bermuda, the Bahamas—but it's where he stays when he's in Rome. I was in the building this winter; it's a large square building with a courtyard punched into the middle, with halls and elevators that radiate a subterranean cold and a facade stained with centuries of soot. Berlusconi rents it from people who are or used to be dukes—the Grazioli family—and who still live like eccentric, decomposing royalty on the floor below.
When the elevator opened, D'Addario walked into a great salon. There was a piano near one wall and a giant white screen on another side of the room. There were close to twenty women at the party, all identically dressed: minidresses without panty hose and with very little makeup. Besides Tarantini, the pianist, and the butler, there were no other men. After a while, the Presidente made his entrance and took a glass of champagne. Two girls slunk up to him. "We work as a team," they said as they caressed each other, "but since the recession we haven't been working at all." He thanked everyone for coming to this meeting of the Thank God There's Silvio Girls. It is this club that sustained him in his periods of political darkness. And then the movie began, a compilation of highlights from the Presidente's career. Here I am at the White House, going to meet George Bush, he said. And that is when I hosted the G8 summit! At this time I addressed the United Nations. D'Addario says she doesn't wear a watch but that the movie portion of the evening lasted at least two hours. Periodically a little dog would trot up to the Presidente's feet so he could pet it.
"Isn't he cute?" the Presidente said. "A gift from Laura Bush! His name is Frou Frou."
After the movie, the video "Thank God There's Silvio" came on, and the Presidente stood and sang. The women stood up and formed a conga line that snaked through the room, singing along and cheering.
D'Addario says Berlusconi was interested in her right away. He'd been told about her. "He was definitely funny. Charming. He approached me and told me how cute I was. And he asked me about my project. I said, 'I'm a lonely girl who has problems, and I need these problems to be solved.'"
The Presidente was in a fine mood. He asked D'Addario for a slow dance. Even with lifts in his shoes, he was slightly shorter than she was. Up close, she could see the makeup on his face. After the dance, he picked seats for everyone at dinner. He took D'Addario's hand and said, "My little entrepreneur, come with me. You're sitting with me."
"He noticed that I wasn't at ease," D'Addario says. "So he sat me next to him."
After dinner, he declared he was taking D'Addario on a tour of his apartment. Another girl joined them. They passed through a second grand salon and into his private quarters. In his bedroom, there was an enormous bed ringed in curtains, bigger than any bed D'Addario had ever seen. This is Putin's bed, he said. It was given to me by Vladimir Putin. They are close friends. The fall after this episode comes to light, he'll join Putin in St. Petersburg to celebrate Putin's fifty-seventh birthday. People like to guess what it is that Putin finds so companionable about Berlusconi, or if whatever it is can be deduced from the fact that Putin gave him a five-person bed as a gift.
The Presidente lay on the bed and pulled D'Addario next to him. The other woman was on his other side, and two more women joined them and lay at his feet.
"Do you like this bed?" he asked D'Addario, caressing her hand.
"It's huge," she said.
He said he'd like to take the girls to a spa. All the girls shouted, Yes, let's all go to a spa! After a few minutes of lounging in the bed, he took them to the next room and brought out a book of photographs of his villas. "What if we all went to my villa in the Bahamas for New Year's?" he said. All the girls shouted, Yes, let's all go to the Bahamas! He showed them pictures of ancient ruins at his Sardinian villa. He showed them pictures of rare cacti. D'Addario taped it all with a small digital recorder. In the hotel room, I ask her why.
"I taped every man I was with as an escort," she says. "It started because I was able to get my ex-boyfriend thrown in jail for abusing me. I was only able to do this by taping."
Tarantini told D'Addario that the Presidente had decided he'd like her to stay. But she said she was going to leave. She didn't like the harem vibe. Even when she had been to orgies, she explained, it was still basically one man for every woman. That night, though, "there was just one man with the right to copulate." She would later write this in her book, At Your Pleasure, Presidente. Tarantini docked her 50 percent of her fee for leaving early. Before she left, Berlusconi handed out gifts. There was a room full of them, and he went in and came out with gold butterfly necklaces inlaid with diamonds, which he gave to all of them.
"He gives women gifts," Antonio Polito told me when we spoke in his office. "In Rome there are at least fifteen or twenty girls driving around in green Minis from him."
After that night, Silvio Berlusconi wanted Patrizia D'Addario to come over again and this time stay the night. And so on the evening Barack Obama was elected, as various American diplomats and businesspeople waited for him to come to a party, she slept with him for the first time.
"When I came back the second time, it was the same thing. The same movie, the same songs. He watched it again like he never saw it. It was strange to me, but I guess it made him feel good."
There were only three girls this time. After dinner, the Presidente asked Tarantini to leave with the other two girls, then asked D'Addario if she wanted to take a shower. The next part of the tape she made was leaked to the press.
"I'll take a shower, too," he said. "And then, then you can wait for me in the big bed if you are done with it before me."
"Which bed?" she said. "Putin's bed?"
"Yes, Putin's bed.…"
"Oh, it's so cute…with those curtains."
D'Addario demurs about certain things, but she will say how he performed. "There are some rumors that he had problems because of a prostate operation, but he doesn't have these problems," she tells me. "He had no problems whatsoever. I spent the night, and I didn't do much sleeping. When the story came out, they asked me to give him grades. I gave him high grades."
In the morning, when she woke up, there were journalists in the apartment, waiting to get comments on the election of Barack Obama. The Presidente put a bathrobe over his pajamas and returned to the bedroom after he spoke to them. They had breakfast together. Some of what he said then was also leaked to the press. "I am the only leader in the world who has presided over two G8s, and now I will lead a third," he said. "I am unbeatable!" Around eleven, still wearing her dress from the night before, D'Addario was ushered downstairs by one of his assistants and into an inconspicuous Fiat Panda. Though they left by the back entry, there were still police at the gate. "Don't worry," the assistant told her, "they will pretend not to see you." A few months later, she was told she would be a candidate in Berlusconi's party for an upcoming election in Puglia.
She's angry about the whole affair now, because Berlusconi never came through on his end of the bargain, and the real estate deal languished. This was unconscionable to her. The rest she would have been okay with. In the summer, she found out she wasn't the only person who had tapes relating to her nights with the Presidente. She was called in by a magistrate who had stumbled onto the situation while investigating Tarantini for corruption. The magistrate took her deposition, but before her story could be leaked, she gave the interview to La Repubblica that made her famous. She says it was the best way to protect herself.
"The cognoscenti knew he was having sex," Antonio Polito told me. "We have many young girls in Parliament that he placed, and we knew about them." There was little evidence but a lot of fuss about one minister, Mara Carfagna. (A comedian named Sabina Guzzanti has been banned from television—and is being sued for libel by Carfagna—after saying at a rally in Rome that Carfagna, who is now minister of equal opportunity, got her job "by sucking the president's cock.") "Everyone in Rome knows that they were lovers," Polito said. "But what we didn't know for sure is the use of professional escorts."
The D'Addario scandal was the grand finale of the Summer of Presidente Love, which started last May when the story of Noemi Letizia broke. Noemi, a girl from Naples, had been at one of the parties at Berlusconi's Sardinian villa, and Berlusconi had gone to her eighteenth-birthday party, where he gave her a gold-and-diamond necklace.
"I dream of being a showgirl," she told a reporter in Naples. "I am also interested in politics." When the reporter asked her if she'd run for office in the upcoming regional elections, she said, "I'd rather have a place in Parliament. Papi Silvio will decide."
The Presidente's wife, Veronica Lario, made a public announcement soon after, saying she couldn't "be with a man who consorts with minors" and that he is "not well." She filed for divorce. Not long after, pictures taken at Berlusconi's Sardinian villa were published in a Spanish newspaper. There are lots of women in the photos, some of them topless. There was also a photograph that received considerable attention, of an older gentleman strolling naked on the pool deck, past two bare-breasted women, with what appears to be a partial erection. This man was Mirek Topolanek, the former prime minister of the Czech Republic. Then, in June, D'Addario's story broke in the papers, along with photographs some of the women at the party took of themselves in the Presidente's bathroom.
How exactly Berlusconi is able to survive such events—not just survive, but somehow emerge from every wounding stronger, like a shorter Italian version of Wolverine, with a face-lift and elevator shoes—is one of the great mysteries of world politics.
"People accuse him of taking care of his own business," one of his closest aides says, talking about Berlusconi's penchant for passing laws that have the effect of keeping himself out of jail or in power, "but the problems he has are the same for all Italian businesses, all Italian people.… Out of the personal bad thing, we make reforms for the common people."
There is a handsome coffee bar inside the Parliament building where the aide has agreed to answer a few questions. He looks a certain way, this aide, and speaks a certain way, but I am forbidden from revealing these things, because this is not the kind of aide who speaks publicly. The coffee bar is just outside a long corridor called the Transatlantico. This is where much of Italy's high-level political schmoozing takes place, and it's where prominent politicians meet with journalists to explain how exactly their Viagrist in Chief has managed to survive for so long. It got its name because it was designed in the manner of ocean liners in their golden age. The ceilings are about 4,397 feet high, and the floors are lined with long red carpets and sitting-room sofas. At ten o'clock in the morning, the chamber is preparing for a vote. There is a steady traffic of Italian men in nearly identical blue suits, plus a smattering of female MPs in short black pencil skirts and black patent leather stilettos. It's a breathtaking building to be in, the Italian Parliament, with its enormous and dimly lit reading room, its Byzantine-marble hallways lined with offices containing who knows what kind of gilded Roman treasures.
But how has he survived? I ask his aide. I remind him of all the books that have been written about the Presidente, about his suspected Mafia connections, about how the seed money for his first big real estate project came from a mysterious Swiss bank account. There are several books just about his sex scandals.
"It's not many books. It's one book over and over and over: The Dark Legend of Berlusconi."
What Patrizia D'Addario wrote about—isn't it more than a dark legend?
"That was a false scandal, raised by the opposition."
Paolo Bonaiuti, Berlusconi's spokesman, here making his rounds at the Transatlantico, has his Presidente talking points ready when he takes me into a small office in one of the corridors reserved for parliamentary officials. "You have a big tornado," Bonaiuti says in an ornate English. He's in his seventies and walks stiffly on calcifying hips. Today he's in a smart glen plaid jacket. "We have to wait until the dust settles.… If you try to catch the sex scandals in their reality, it's tiny."
Santo Versace, the brother of Donatella Versace, walks by the doorway just then in a blazer and a creamy lavender turtleneck, having just cast his vote. In a few minutes, Alessandra Mussolini, the granddaughter of Il Duce, will take the same path in a lovely silk dress.
"Every morning we risk a volcanic eruption," Bonaiuti says when I ask him about the resilience of the Presidente. "So many wiretaps that are irrelevant, totally irrelevant. For instance, about sexy adventures."
In the following days, I make a tour of the Talking Heads of Rome and ask some version of the same question over and over: How does the Presidente remain so firmly in power, despite the septuagenarian banging and the corruption scandals, etc.? Some people say it's because the opposition is weak. Some people say it's because the Presidente bangs hot escorts while people like the governor of Lazio bang weird-looking Brazilian transvestites. Everyone has a theory. Bonaiuti points out that he has never technically (arguably!) been convicted of a crime. Vittorio Feltri, the editor of the right-wing newspaper owned by Berlusconi's brother, speaks with me at his office in Milan. He smokes a cigarette and sits forward comfortably in his desk chair, in tortoiseshell glasses and a tweed cashmere blazer. Behind him is a bust of Mussolini, which he says serves as a "provocation."
"Part of the Italian mentality is that no one is demonized for their private life," he says. "You can't solve the problems by looking under the sheets of a politician. I have all the vices, so I can't judge anyone."
I ask him if people are impressed by a 73-year-old man sleeping with a woman half his age.
"It seems as if he doesn't just sleep with them!" Feltri says.
And the Italian people don't get mad that while he's hosting the Thank God for Silvio Girls, the GDP has basically stagnated during the past ten years?
"The Italians are rich," he says. "They eat well, they have nice houses. Even in the south of Italy, which is trash." Italians, he says, "cry a lot. But they fuck a lot."
When Berlusconi lost his job as Presidente the first time, in 1996, he hired two brothers named Crespi to help him regain office. It was their idea to do something called "the Contract with the Italians," which Polito says Berlusconi keeps in his bathroom so he can be reminded of his duty to the people even when he's on the toilet.
They've since parted ways. "We've been cured of Berlusconismo," one of the brothers told me. They work out of an office in the center of Rome now, as pollsters for other right-wing politicians. The genius of the operation seems to be Luigi Crespi, who looks a little like Karl Rove, if Karl Rove had charming facial hair and smoked cigarillos. When I visited them, he and his brother pointed out an illuminating trend in the Presidente's numbers. The Summer of Older Love did in fact do some damage to Berlusconi. But do you know what caused a bigger change? they say. This winter, during a campaign rally in Milan, a mentally unstable man threw a plaster replica of the Duomo at the Presidente. It broke his nose and two teeth and lacerated his face. (It was when he was getting his teeth fid that he met the leggy hygienist/soon-to-be regional councillor.) Immediately after he was hit by the statue, Berlusconi's bodyguards hustled him into his little blue Audi. Before they sped away, though, the Presidente reemerged and climbed on top of the car. He stood there, in the cold streets of Milan, for a long, melodramatic moment, his head tilted upward and a beautiful expression of pride on his face, bleeding from the mouth, among a crush of people and television cameras. After that, his numbers skyrocketed. Because he instinctively knows how to appeal to the soap-operatic sensibilities of the Italian public, like a character on one of his own shows.
There's a documentary about Berlusconi called Videocracy that was made by a Swedish-Italian director named Erik Gandini. When I ask him how he understands the Presidente's political vision, he says, "He loves the idea of having fun. Fun is the mantra of Berlusconi. The politicians before him, they were just the brain. Just the head and mouth was moving, and the body didn't exist. Berlusconi is very physical. Just like Mussolini. Very virile. The smile. The body. The idea of having fun is so, so crucial. And he could make people dream. That's the typical side of the narcissist: Where I am, there is paradise."
If there's a distillation of that fun, an image that, along with the proud, bleeding face, explains why the Presidente survives, it is the famous old-man penis from the Summer of Love, the penis belonging to the former Czech prime minister. It is a normal penis, white, either semitumescent or caught in an upswing so that, captured there in the air, it looks semitumescent, perched above a pair of legs that are not the legs of a young man—a little skinny, a little short. But here in the world provided by the Presidente, this penis is allowed to swing in the bright Mediterranean sunlight, for once freed from the suit pants of respectable early old age, happy and carefree and unashamed, surrounded by friendly women in thong bikinis who love and accept this penis for what it is. You can be that penis, Italy. You don't have to pretend to be young or virile or world-beating; you can just be you, an aging, graying, stagnating nation, and still thrive in the world of fun.
In the weeks after I visit Rome, Berlusconi's party will overcome a vast sex-for-government-contract scandal that involved 350 women, a Nigerian gigolo, and the government's most effective administrator and win the regional election. There will be another, smaller scandal brought to light, sparked by a newspaper's publication of wiretaps of the Presidente telling the supposedly independent telecommunications administrator to personally intercede to get an anti-Presidente show off television. A high-profile Berlusconi-related bribery case will be thrown out, because a court will decide that the statute of limitations should have been applied to an earlier date. The Presidente will pass a law stipulating that he doesn't have to stand trial in two other big criminal cases—cases that have been plaguing him—until 2012. His term will be up in 2013, when he's 76. No one is able to imagine an Italy without him. Literally not a single person I spoke to. It's as if he's defeated the Italian imagination.
"We don't know what will happen when he dies," Antonio Polito says. "We don't even know if his own political movement will stay alive without him."
You can think of Italy as Berlusconi's lover. Sometimes she is his ex-wife, Veronica Lario, romanced and married and then set up in a private villa to fend off humiliation and age. And sometimes she is Patrizia D'Addario, manipulated into giving herself up in exchange for something she never gets. The wife never knows where the husband is, the girlfriend spends her life waiting for him, and he shows up late to one and then the other with beautiful gifts, like a gold-and-diamond butterfly necklace. It's the kind of relationship in which, if you're the woman, something is always being done to you—seduced, neglected, danced through beautiful salons high on champagne—and you have the power to do nothing. But someday a whole nation will wake up, and there will be only an imprint in the sheets where the Presidente has been. I bet he'll have left a rose, or maybe a little note scented with cologne. But then it will be time to get up, see if there's anything for breakfast, think back on the night before. And the people of Italy will then have to decide if they've been made love to or merely fucked.
Devin Friedman is GQ's senior correspondent.


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Crowdsourcing: Newest Weapon in Cybersecurity
CloudFlare CEO Matthew Prince explains the value of crowdsourcing in fighting cybercrimes and hackers.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... I ... that's a new front and wipe security and it comes from Plough Fla ... while commit Digits I'm Simon Constable and hit a tells all about is co-founder and CEO off ... from a few friends he's with the onset thanks for bring us for having me ... so ... what is that they used to the cough let us that's different from the way web security was done the past ... traditionally when security has been stalled with on premise software hardware ... and the challenges band that if an attack happens against one customer that very little knowledge about that attack is actually spread to other customers what clapper does this different is that we literally crowd source of security across more than a million customers said if one of our customers is attacked ... we can immediately take the knowledge of how to stop an attack and make sure that everyone or network has that so it's open to Institute is part of the of the way Samsung's somebody gets this ... everybody gets the benefit of your knowledge confiding that's not everybody has a gaping hole in the securities fraud or that's exactly right but whatever customers wrote in an said Federer slogan should be if you mess with one being you mess with all three ... so what do you change the way you find some of the time and as I was that what happens ... to our system is constantly learning to literally every second it's taking knowledge about the attacks in data that it sees ... across are more than million customers the range from ... individual small logs to Fortune five hundred companies' uneven national governments uses that knowledge in order to make the entire network smarter and more secure ... Mentone been able to stop some of the world's largest cyber attacks ... tells us townhouse in your role in helping them file for the good times so several weeks ago an organization called spam house which is a nonprofit organization based in the UK could help stop e mail spam came under attack from an organization that was going to literally wipe them off the internet ... they called us and sign up ... and within instance we had their site back online in over the course of the next week the attack grew and grew and grew to fairly unprecedented levels getting up to three hundred Gigabit per second ... and that's a type of a class of no more taxes to put that in perspective for him to give its the site and that sounds big but I have no idea ... so the attacks that top U S financial institutions offline last fall were in the sixty gigabit per second range specified times that size that's for a ... while so you you help them flies off on what what did you do ... Sue was born network spans across twenty three data centers currently spread around the world the were able to mitigate that attacked by simply deluding across the entire the entire network and we use the knowledge of all of the attacks the Wi Fi in the past in order for tax penthouse another customer sticker on her ... to use them to have a tape some of them ... a bit above comparable to mine and I have to think like ... I had to ... in order to find the hackers just when you know that the best the best detectors think of it like a criminal ... we have we have four teams that are thinking about how we would actually know ourselves offline ... all the time but the real magic of quality was intended as an from my the intention of going concern us now know that this alien it be that as any good programmer is always thinking about the worst things that can possibly happen ... and so we have some of the best engineers in the world are working in order to make a system that can literally power the internet ... and that's what what we think we're building is literally a better internet which is faster and more secure ... write stuff ... the Prensa compound CEO ... cough cough

subset: commoncrawl


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HandyMan Studios is a group of experienced developers from all spheres of development. Our team has worked on indie games to AAA MMOs. We took the plunge by forming HandyMan Studios as an indie game company to make the kind of games we are passionate about. Currently we are working on a 2d multiplayer sci-fi sandbox game called Edge Of Space. HandyMan Studio's main goal is to create great games or die trying, and help support deserving indies any way we can to bring about a change in the industry.
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text:
Israel News - Stay Informed, Pray Informed
While Israeli hospitals have over the past year treated hundreds of Syrians escaping their nation's ongoing civil war, Sunday witnessed a first in this continuing humanitarian campaign: the birth of a Syrian baby in Israel.
The mother, a 20-year-old nurse who lives close to the Israel-Syria border, foudn herself in labor with no access to nearby Syrian hospitals due to fighting in the area between government forces and rebels.
Desperate, she did the only think left to her - she started walking toward Israel. To the young woman's relief, Israeli soldiers picked her up and provided immediate medical assistance before transferring her to Ziv Medical Center in the northern Galilee city of Safed.
Shortly after, the young woman gave birth to a healthy 7-pound baby boy.
"The team of Israeli midwives and doctors treated me with sensitivity and respect," she told Israel's Channel 2 News. "I really don't feel like I'm in an enemy country; everyone is helping me and caring for me."
Israel and Syria are still officially at war. But that hasn't stopped the Jewish state from providing medical assistance, some of it life-saving, to over 250 Syrians crossing the Golan border since February of this year.
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Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories
40 Years Ago, March 28, 1973
Mrkall files for highway position
Norman Mrkall of 1933 Harvey Road has announced his intention of seeking election to the post of highway superintendent in the coming elections. Mrkall, a Republican, will run as an independent candidate for the office now being sought by Ted Kumlander, endorsed Republican, Carl Johns, endorsed by the Democratic Party, and Earl Eastman, also running as an independent contender.
Mrkall, a lifetime resident of the Island, received training in highway development, engineering, and management of heavy equipment during his years of service in the armed forces.
The newly announced contender is chief of the volunteer fire company on the Island and operates a plumbing business here.
30 Years Ago, March 25, 1983
Sidway School to be closed in fall
The Charlotte Sidway School, the town's first centralized education constructed in 1937, will not open to classes in September.
The School Board, in a 6-1 vote Monday, decided to discontinue use of the school, which was substantially expanded in 1947 and renovated at a cost of $350,000 in 1977.
Continued decrease in the Island's school population and the spiraling cost of educational programs were some of the reasons given by board members who voted in favor of opening only Kaegebein and Huth Road schools beginning in September.
At one point it was indicated closing Sidway School would save considerable tax dollars ...
20 Years Ago, April 2, 1993
RE/MAX Grand Island to sponsor Isle Charity Golf Classic
The Grand Island Charity Golf Classic Tournament committee is pleased to announce that RE/MAX Grand Island, a local real estate company, will be the new sponsor of the charity tournament.
Michael P. McDonough, president and broker/owner of RE/MAX Grand Island said, "I'm very happy to be a sponsor of this very worthwhile event. It is a great opportunity to give back to the community, which has been so good to me.
... If things can be worked out with the state and weather permitting, the seven-story tall RE/MAX red, white and blue hot air balloon will be inflated and tethered Aug. 12 from 6 to 9:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Beaver Island Golf Course.
10 Years Ago, March 28, 2003
It is time for annual Grand Island Lions Club's Spaghetti Dinner
On Monday, March 31, the Lions Club of Grand Island will hold its 33rd annual Spaghetti Dinner at the Grand Island Holiday Inn Resort and Conference Center.
This fundraising event has enabled the club to sponsor local, state and international charities.
In addition, many Island groups support the success of the dinner, which in turn help the Lions fund the Special Kids Picnic, held annually in late June/early July.
This year's event, which is eat-in or take-out, will feature delicious spaghetti and meatballs, salad, Italian bread, soft drinks, milk, coffee and bar beverages.


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High Visibility Shirts | HiVis Work Shirts | ANSI Safety Shirts
High visibility work shirts are perfect for a wide variety of weather conditions and work environments. Select from hi vis Lime or Orange in a variety of materials, including: moisture-wicking polyester micro mesh, birds eye knit and oxford jersey. The reflective stripes are also available in a number of styles; such as 3M Scotchlite silver tape, high contrast performance tape/stripes, and highly breathable tape. Our hi vis work shirts are offered in non-ANSI, ANSI Class 2 and ANSI Class 3 compliance.
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Beautiful model-turned-actress Lily Cole has reached superstar proportions in Europe, and is likely to become as well known as an actress in the US following her portrayal of the titular character's daughter in the acclaimed Terry Gilliam film "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus". Also studying at Cambridge University, the actress talked to our Los Angeles correspondent Paul Fischer in this exclusive interview.
Question: What was the process like for you to get Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus Interview? And were you already at university when this came to you, or were you about to go to Cambridge? What was the timeline?
Cole: I was due to go to Cambridge that year that we filmed it. And once I'd been offered the part, I asked the university to postpone it by a year, and then I started in 2008 at university. So, I'm in my second year now.
Question: Were you offered the part, or was there some kind of audition process?
Cole: Basically, the casting director, Irene Lamb, had approached me at my modeling agency to audition for a film called Rage, by Sally Potter. So, I did kind of an improvised audition with Irene and Sally for that and they obviously liked me. [LAUGHTER] So they gave me the part in that film, and off the back of that, Irene recommended that Terry meet me. Then I read Terry's script and met with him for a few hours to talk about the script and the part and lots of other things and that was it.
Question: Now, Terry's an incredibly visual filmmaker. On paper, how did the script come across to you? And how did you interpret it?
Cole: Really powerfully. I mean, there's so much going on in the film, it was so rich in the script, and really different narratives and different relationships. And even the visuals that indicated on the page – even if it's only black ink on white paper. If you use your own imagination to kind of dream up how it might look – and even though I didn't quite comprehend how it would look in the final print, you can kind of get an idea. I was excited by it immediately.
Question: Could you identify with this character, in any way?
Cole: To an extent. I mean, I think she's familiar to me, and she's very unfamiliar to me. But there's certainly probably a similarity between myself and herself. But inevitably, I mean she's kind of very isolated and strange, Gypsy kind of upbringing that wasn't quite like my own. But my Mum's kind of a very thoughtful creature, maverick like Dr. Parnassus too, so maybe it's not too far.
Question: As a relative newcomer to movies, you've worked with – I guess you could call them three fairly interesting men in this film. Chris Plummer, Terry, and Heath. What did you learn as an actor working with these three very different gentlemen?
Cole: I think just very inspired, you know? All of them are very inspiring, and brilliant human beings and as you say, all very different. They've all kind of – master of craft, and they're all – you know, committed to art, to creating, and to the process involved. And I feel very lucky to have worked amongst them.
Question: Tell me about Chris Plummer, and how intimidating it was to play his daughter.
Cole: I think I was just intimidated by the whole scope of the project. And we sat in a read-through, and – you know, with Terry, with Heath, with Christopher, Nicola, Andrew, Verne, and myself. And the gravity of these men, and how experienced and how talented they were really hit me for the first time, and I was certainly intimidated to take on such a large role, as such an inexperienced, professionally-speaking, actor.
Question: How surprised were you by the final product because it is such a visual film. And there is so much that Terry obviously had to do after you guys did principle photography. What surprised you about the movie when you saw it for the first time?
Cole: Visually, do you mean?
Question: Yes.
Cole: It was just much more expansive, and more amazing, than I'd ever kind of imagined it to be. And – I mean, you imagine one thing on the page, then it just becomes a whole other beast. And even though I'd worked with Terry throughout the whole process, and been aware of what they were trying to achieve, read the script, and knew where the visual direction was going, I really hadn't prepared myself quite how crazy his imagination gets, and quite how brilliantly it was realized, and how impressive the CGI work was.
Question: Now you started modeling at a very young age. And I know it kind of came about by accident, I guess, if you believe all the different stories about how it began. How surprised are you that that led to such a strong international career for you?
Cole: I don't know. I guess if I was to look at it with more perspective, I'd be very surprised. But it's all happened very kind of gradually for me, and to me, so I've kind of just taken each new step on the way as it comes. I certainly count myself extremely lucky to have had the career I've had in modeling, and then to be given these opportunities to act as well, too.
Question: Was it a difficult transition from modeling to acting? Or was it a much more seamless transition for you?
Cole: For whatever reason, it's been incredibly seamless, you know? I don't know if I finished completing that transition yet. But I was asked to do a film with Marilyn Manson, which was the first project I was committed to.l, then I was asked to do the British comedy St. Trinian's, and then I was asked to do Sally Potter's film, and off the back of that, I was asked to do Terry Gilliam's film. So one thing really just led to another, and I feel grateful for how fluid that process has been.
Question: So why was it right for you to embark on academia, as well?
Cole: I haven't really embarked on it so much as I've just continued it. I like experiences that teach me something, or that I learn from, or I can grow from. And in the same way that experiences such as making a film with Terry has been a real learning curve, and I've met really extraordinary people– learning something from a different route, albeit books, is fascinating too. I'm studying History of Art, and studying the greatest artists of the last two, 3000 years is quite an extraordinary background knowledge to have when you're working with modern-day artists such as Terry, and other directors and actors they have around them, and the DPs. It's actually similarly artistic, I feel.
Question: What do you hope to ultimately do with the degree, if anything? Do you want to use it to further your own goals as either somebody who was working in front of, or even eventually behind the cameras?
Cole: I think that whatever you experience, you just build up a bank of it to put into any work, if your work is anything artistic. I doubt I'll ever use it as a career, as a degree, per say, but having that kind of reference and knowledge of art history will help me as an experience with acting, and perhaps with directing, if I ever choose to do that, or working, as you say, behind the camera. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do at the moment. But I'm hoping that I'll do the best as I can with whatever it is.
Question: Does Cambridge give you a sense of being grounded, given the kind of international modeling career that you had come from? Do you feel that there is definitely life beyond modeling and acting and fame, I guess? Like, other careers to do?
Question: Well, being at university. Does it give you a sense of being grounded? Do you feel that – you know, being amongst students, do you feel as if – you know, there is definitely life beyond this kind of life ?
Cole: I find that when I did my A-levels, I was modeling a lot, and I've made that commitment to finish – you know, I could have left when I was 16, and I stayed to finish my A-levels. And I found that it gave me a great perspective on the industry I was working in. And – you know, every industry, and every kind of social circumstance of society is kind of a bit of a bubble, and its own world. And it's really great to go between those worlds, so that you can see them for what they are, certainly now.
Question: What are your plans next professionally? What is coming up next for you, do you know?
Cole: I'm supposed to do a film with Mary Harron the beginning of next year, and there are things vaguely in the pipeline.
Question: Is this the most creatively fulfilling time in your young life so far, do you think?
Cole: The most creative time? To an extent. I mean – probably not, actually. [LAUGHTER] When I was younger, I was much more creative. And – just because – you know, all my time was spent being creative, and making stories or plays or dances or books or cards. And – I had a really, really creative upbringing. When I was 18, I left school for a year. I lived in New York for the most part, and learned to play the piano, and started dancing again, and had a very creative time. Right now, I find that if I get given the opportunity to do that in a film, I'm sure I feel that kind of expressiveness again. But at this present moment, studying is much more intellectual, it isn't as creative. And doing promotion with a movie is not the most creative aspect of the process.


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nzurek needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 121 designs submitted by 21 freelance designers.
UVic Industry Partnerships
UVic Industry Partnerships is an industry liaison and technology transfer office for an university. UVic Industry Partnerships connects industry with academia through research collaborations, joint funding applications, and technology/Intellectual Property licensing. We assist the University members by facilitating/coordinating these partnerships, and we offer business development and intellectual property protection services (ie patents).
We are a small office of 10 full time people with backgrounds in business, chemistry, biology, electrical engineering, materials engineering, law and much more. We work very closely with all of our clients (faculty members from the University) to advance their discoveries though assisting with grants etc and commercializing their technologies.
We have two groups that we are targeting. The University community (faculty, students, staff, board of governors, stakeholders) and Industry (CEOs, Business Development Officers, CTOs etc from technology firms, labs, R&D companies and pharmaceutical companies)
We are a service for the University community but the community is not obligated to use our services. We want to strengthen our brand to encourage faculty and students to use our services more often for their technologies and discoveries.
We want to be able to approach industry (technology companies, pharmaceutical companies etc) with a professional brand when we are trying to get them to support University research and invest/license university technologies.
With the logo we want to balance how we are friendly and helpful to our clients (University faculty) and how we are professional, innovative and business minded to the industry that we are marketing University technologies and research to.
Key words: Collaboration, partnerships, technology, synergy, science, innovation, connections, research, academia, industry, opportunities, liaison, patents, launchpad, accelerator, advancing
We would like a logo that represents one of the above keywords but the logo is not easily confused as something else
Any colors can be used.
The logo should be recognizable in black&white and in color.
The logo should be able to stand alone from the "UVic Industry Partnerships" brand name (iconic logo).
The logo must look professional, not cartoonish. The logo must be able fit into the Academic and technology industry world.
Vector Versions Required. If selected please provide font style used.
If you have any questions about what we are looking for, please do not hesitate to ask.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Great Northern Construction
44332 Sterling Hwy, Soldotna, AK 99669
(907) 262-8883
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44332 Sterling Hwy
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Kenai Peninsula
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(907) 262-8883
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According to our records, this business is located at 44332 Sterling Hwy in Soldotna (in Kenai Peninsula County), Alaska 99669, the location GPS coordinates are: 60.4854662 (latitude), -151.0674277 (longitude). Great Northern Construction is categorized under Dozer Services (SIC code 1794). Current estimates show that the unit has a sales volume of $318,000 and staff of approximately 2 people. You can contact the company by phone at (907) 262-8883.
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text: Basal Cell Nevus Syndrome Basal cell nevus syndrome also known as Gorlin syndrome is a hereditary condition characterized by multiple basal cell skin cancers. Other common findings include jaw cysts, pits on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet, calcium deposits in the brain, developmental disability, and skeletal (bone) changes. The appearance of a person with this condition may include a larger head size, a prominent forehead, broad bridge of the nose, widely spaced eyes, skin cysts, and small skin bumps called milia. The jaw cysts and basal cell skin cancers may develop in the first ten years of a person's life, but they may not appear until the teenage years or any time during adulthood. Symptoms The primary indicator of this disorder is the appearance of a type of skin cancer known as basal cell carcinoma. Symptoms include: • Broad nose • Cleft palate • Heavy, protruding brow • Jaw that sticks out (in some cases) • Wide-set eyes The condition may affect the nervous system and lead to: • Blindness • Deafness • Intellectual disability • Seizures The condition also leads to bone defects, including: • Curvature of the back (scoliosis) • Severe curvature of the back (kyphosis) Diagnosis and Treatment Diagnosis is based upon identification of characteristic symptoms, a detailed patient history, a thorough clinical evaluation and a variety of specialized tests. Most medical sources cite that the presence of specific clinical symptoms is sufficient for a diagnosis of the condition. It is important to get examined by a dermatologist often, so that skin cancers may be treated while they are still small. Persons with this condition may also be seen and treated by several other specialists, depending on what part of the body is affected. For example, a cancer specialist (oncologist) may treat tumours in the body, and an orthopedic surgeon may help treat bone problems. Why choose CARE? Ultra Modern Technology CARE Hospitals is one of the best Oncology Hospitals in India. We, at CARE Hospitals, make it our top priority to ensure that the most technologically advanced treatment options are available to patients who come to us for cancer treatments. Our Oncology department utilizes modern technology such as the LINAC (Linear Accelerator), PET CT Scan, to treat and diagnose various types of cancers. Expert Team of Doctors At CARE Hospitals, we create an environment of excellence in diagnosis, treatment and academics. Considered the best cancer specialists in India, our highly experienced team of doctors, nurses and staff works with tireless dedication towards improving patient health and ensuring the best possible clinical outcomes. Our standard of care demands that treatment plans not only are patient-centric and multidisciplinary, but also personalised for each patient. High Success Rate Cancer care is complex, prolonged and intense – both for the patients and the team that treats them. We, at CARE Hospitals, take pride in rendering treatment that has a high success rate. Our goal for our patients in the long term, is to ensure that the cancer doesn't relapse. Our LocationsHyderabadVisakhapatnamRaipurBhubaneswarNagpurPuneHyderabad Banjara Hills The CARE Group's flagship CARE Hospitals, located in Banjara Hills – a prime location in Hyderabad, was set up in the year 2000. Today, the multispecialty hospital has 435 beds, including 120 critical care beds, with an annual inflow of 1,80,000 outpatients and 16,000 in-patients. Address Road No 1 Banjara Hills Hyderabad – 500034 Email firstname.lastname@example.com Phone +91-40-30418888 Emergency 105711 Location Map Banjara Hills(Outpatient) The Group's flagship CARE Hospitals, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad — a super specialty hospital — began patient care delivery at the CARE Outpatient Centre in October 2012. Located in the heart of the city, a km away from the in-patient hospital, it is India's largest integrated outpatient centre with 65 beds. Address Road No 10 Banjara Hills Hyderabad – 500034 Email email@example.com Phone +91-40-39310444 Emergency 105711 Location Map Nampally CARE Hospitals, Nampally, Hyderabad, is the first hospital established by the CARE Hospitals Group in 1997. The hospital began as a 100-bed Heart Institute, focusing on cardiac care with a core team of 20 cardiologists, one operating theatre and one catheterization laboratory. The hospital was expanded and upgraded in the year 1998 and again in 2000 and is now a 266 bed facility. Address Exhibition Grounds Road Nampally Hyderabad – 500001 Email email@example.com Phone +91-40-30417777 Emergency +91-40-30417777 Location Map Musheerabad Guru Nanak CARE Hospitals, Musheerabad, Hyderabad, is a 101-bed multispecialty hospital, equipped with the best of both medical staff and infrastructure. With round-the-clock facilities and the best medical expertise, the hospital offers patients specialized care in over 45 specialties. Address 1-4-908/7/1 Musheerabad Hyderabad – 500020 Email email@example.com Phone +040-30219000/9111/9123 Emergency +040-30219000/9111/9123 Location Map Market Street CARE Hospitals, Secunderabad, was established on 1st June 1998. It has earned the reputation of being the best family hospital in the neighborhood and has treated hundreds of patients successfully over the years. Address Near Clock Tower Market Street Secunderabad – 500003 Email firstname.lastname@example.com Phone +91-40-30114500 Emergency +91-40-30114500 Location Map Hi-tech City The new 275-beds CARE Hospitals near Hi-tech City, is strategically located in Hyderabad's silicon hub and is one of the most modern facilities in the region. It offers personalized care to the software population in a 3,10,000 sq ft area with 13 floors. Address Old Mumbai Highway Near Cyberabad Police Commissionerate Hyderabad-500032 Email email@example.com Phone +91-40-33623500–3999 Emergency 1800 108 3999 Location Map Visakhapatnam Ramnagar CARE Hospitals, Ramnagar, Visakhapatnam, is an integral part of the CARE Hospitals Group and has been delivering quality healthcare since 1999. It continues to uphold the CARE Group's mission of providing guidance, care and relief to all patients. Care with compassion and emphasis on putting the patient's interests above one's own are the hallmarks of the Group. Address A S Raja Complex Waltair Main Road, Ramnagar Visakhapatnam – 530002 Email firstname.lastname@example.com Phone +91-891-3041444 Emergency +91 891 2522622 Location Map Maharanipeta CARE Hospitals, Visakhapatnam, made a name as a premier Heart Institute after its inception in 1999. On 11th December 2009, the hospital became part of the CARE Hospitals Group, and was re-launched by Mr. N. Sambasiva Rao, Commissioner of Police, Visakhapatnam. Address 17-1-1, KGH Road Maharanipeta Visakhapatnam – 530002 Email email@example.com Phone +91-0891-3067000 Emergency +91 891 3067044/22 Location Map Railway New Colony The new CARE Hospitals at Railway New Colony introduces a bouquet of services for residents of the smart city. This is the third CARE Hospitals Group facility in the city. Like the other two hospitals in Vizag, the facility is well designed with comfortable seating arrangements in the OPD. Address 43-9-201, SLV Arcade Opp Sreekanya Theatre Railway New Colony Visakhapatnam – 530016 Email email@example.com Phone +91-0891-2554811, 2754811, 2784811 Emergency +91-0891-2554811 Location Map Raipur Ramkrishna CARE Hospitals Ramkrishna CARE Hospitals is the leading corporate multispecialty hospital in Raipur, with 215 beds. The preferred hospital for the people of Chhattisgarh and the adjoining states, Ramkrishna CARE Hospitals strives to integrate new ideas and research with humane care and compassion. With the installation of a cath lab and commencement of cardiothoracic surgery, Ramkrishna CARE Hospitals is set to develop into a centre of cardiovascular care and an institution of excellence in the state of Chhattisgarh. Address Aurobindo Enclave, Pachpedhi Naka, Dhamtari Road Raipur – 492001 Email firstname.lastname@example.com Phone +91-771-3003300/ 1 / 2 Emergency +91 771 3003364 /457/364 Location Map Bhubaneswar Aditya CARE Hospitals CARE Hospitals, Bhubaneswar, was inaugurated on 24th September 2007; full-fledged services started from October 2007 onwards. The 98-bed largest, private, multi-superspecialty corporate hospital in the city, it has experienced doctors, well-trained paramedical professionals and state-of-the-art equipment. CARE Hospitals has incorporated the latest techniques in patient care to stay abreast of the changing scenario in medical science while providing quality health care at an affordable price. Address Plot No 329/1929 (P), Chandrasekharpur Bhubaneswar – 751016 Email email@example.com Phone +91-674-3053200 Emergency +91 9937299112 Location Map Bhubaneswar – (Prachi Enclave) The CARE Hospitals Group's first greenfield hospital, and its second facility in the city, is now operational at Prachi Enclave, Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. A state-of-the-art multi superspecialty hospital it offers services in the core specialties of Cardiac Sciences, Neuro Sciences, Renal Sciences, Medical and Surgical Gastroenterology and Orthopedics, as well as high-end Critical Care and Emergency medicine and all major specialties. Address Plot No. 324, Unit No. 42, Prachi Enclave , Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar – 751016 Email firstname.lastname@example.com Phone 0674-3021999 Emergency +91-7077711777 Location Map Nagpur Nagpur CARE Hospitals, Nagpur, has been acclaimed as a hospital par excellence for its contribution to healthcare in Nagpur city and the surrounding regions. This 105-bed hospital, commissioned on 19 November 2006, has earned a reputation for being the best provider of quality healthcare of international standards at affordable rates. Address 3 Farmland, Panchsheel Square Ramdaspeth, Wardha Road Nagpur – 440012 Email email@example.com Phone +91-712-3982222 Emergency +91 9423623456 Location Map Pune Galaxy CARE Hospitals Galaxy CARE was recently upgraded to a multispecialty 125-bed facility. New services such as a Cath Lab have been added. The Laboratory, General Ward and Endocrinology Departments have come up on an entirely new fourth floor. With its modern infrastructure and vibrant colours that are more than matched by the energy and enthusiasm of the team. Address 25-A Karve Road Pune – 411004 Email email@example.com Phone +91-20-30244100 Emergency +91 20 30244100/2/3 Location Map


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Financial Aid
We believe that a Boston College education is a worthwhile but expensive investment. And we know that applying for financial aid can be a confusing and lengthy process. We hope that the resources provided on this site will give you and your family the tools and information necessary to help make a Boston College education possible. The financial aid staff is committed to working together with you as you navigate this process. Please let us know how we may help.
Financial Aid Mission Statement:
To serve as a bridge between students and their educational goals while fulfilling our responsibilities as stewards of federal, state and institutional funds:
- Counsel – To provide an open and welcoming environment to serve our students and their families in a student-centered culture with clear and effective communication, customer focus, and mutual respect.
- Access – To provide the tools and resources to help remove the financial barriers to accessing quality higher education.
- Equity – To treat each family equitably, understanding each situation is unique in its circumstance.


text:
Like Gomer Pyle.. all of a sudden he was a singer, an amazing singer.
It may not be just in the singing area but perhaps something else..
who knows. I loved the "Walrus song, aboslutely amazing"
"Surprise, surprise, surprise"
I think Jim reallyy likes checkered shirts, don't you?
I wonder what his favorite checkered shirt is.
I have a favorite checkered pants, I call them my
"Marilyn Monroe pants"


text:
POMONA >> An Upland man was shot multiple times Tuesday while sitting in a parked car in Pomona and was found dead later in an Upland home, according to police.
Pomona police were called to investigate a report of a man with a gun in the 800 block of west Holt Avenue shortly after 2 p.m., police said. They learned a man had fled in gray vehicle after allegedly shooting a man in a white vehicle, police said. After a search no victim was found.
Later Upland police were called to a home in the 1500 block of Sullivan Street where they found Jose Suazo, 36, of Upland dead from gunshot wounds, police said.
When they discovered Suazo was the victim in the Pomona shooting, they called Pomona police.
Pomona Police detectives are investigating the shooting, police said.
Anyone with information regarding this homicide is asked to call the Pomona police 909-620-2085. For anyone willing to provide information who wishes to remain anonymous, contact "Crime Stoppers" at 1-800-222-8477 or "We-Tip" 1-800-782-7463.


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Sam Burgess has declared his decision to switch rugby codes was "an opportunity I had to pursue".
The Great Britain and England rugby league international has agreed a three-year deal to join Premiership club Bath.
He will move to the West Country from the NRL side the South Sydney Rabbitohs later this year.
Yorkshireman Burgess, 25, will remain with the Rabbitohs for the Australian rugby league season before making the switch to Bath and rugby union in October, with the ambition of going on to become a dual international for his country.
Bath claimed Burgess had turned down "far more lucrative offers from elsewhere" to move to the Recreation Ground.
It is thought a transfer fee in the region of £500,000 has been met to secure Burgess' release from his Rabbitohs contract.
The Rugby Football Union, with an eye on the 2015 Rugby World Cup, was thought to be willing to part fund a move that would buy Burgess out of the remaining two years of his contract with the Australian side.
But Bath, whose chairman is multi-millionaire businessman Bruce Craig, appear to have found the money elsewhere after confirming Burgess's signing.
Burgess looks set to challenge for a midfield place when he arrives at Bath, and he could forge a centre partnership with former St Helens half-back Kyle Eastmond.
Burgess said on the Rabbitohs website: "I'm happy this has all been sorted out before the start of the season so that I can concentrate on my game and the team without any other things in the way.
"An opportunity presented itself to head back home to England and to pursue a chance to represent my country in two different sports.
"With 2015 being a Rugby World Cup, it was an opportunity I had to pursue, and I thank the Rabbitohs for allowing me to make this move and start the next chapter in my sporting career."
Burgess, who has scored seven tries in 13 appearances for England, left Bradford Bulls for the Rabbitohs in 2010 and he had three years left on his contract with the NRL side.
He added: "This has been a tough decision for me to make, as I've loved my time in Sydney with the Rabbitohs. However, I'm very excited about the challenge that this move offers me.
"Bath are a very ambitious club, who have a talented young squad, brilliant coaches and a world class set-up and ethos, and I can't wait to get my head down and start learning the game."
The 25-year-old admitted it was difficult keeping the news to himself as the deal went through, and he tweeted on Monday: "Been a tough few weeks having to stay quiet. Thanks for everyone's support. Now down to business and playing this weekend, can't wait."
The Rabbitohs said they had negotiated "an undisclosed release fee" and had also secured a clause in Burgess' release giving them "first and last" offer on his services should he return to rugby league at any point.
In a statement posted on their official website, Bath said: "Bath Rugby are excited to confirm that English rugby league sensation Sam Burgess has chosen to sign a three-year deal with the club, which will see him cross codes and arrive at the Recreation Ground this October.
"At 6ft 5in and 18st, power and strength are obvious qualities, however he is also known for his deft handling and as a strong leader."
And the Bath head coach, Mike Ford, added: "I've known Sam since his rugby league days in England, and he is an exceptionally talented athlete.
"He's hard working, a huge presence both on and off the field, and an ambitious young Englishman, all of which are qualities that we are building our squad around.
"I've no doubt Sam will fit in seamlessly here at Bath and we're looking forward to having him join us and start making the transition."


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The emphasis of this lesson is deepening students' understanding of how and why we measure precipitation across the globe. Students will look at NASA Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) data gathered during hurricanes and how this data can... (View More) prove essential in helping scientists forecast the amount of precipitation. Students will also learn how the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission is enabling scientists to collect new information on hurricanes. The lesson uses the 5E instructional sequence. (View Less)
In this lesson students use climatograms from different U.S. locations to observe patterns in temperature and precipitation. After describing geographical features near these locations, they will use graphs to compare and find patterns in the... (View More) effects that mountains, oceans, elevation, and latitude have on temperature and precipitation. A research activity will then ask students to gather information on temperature and precipitation patterns around the world using the MY NASA DATA Live Access Server and other sources, with the goal of creating their own climatogram. This lesson uses the 5E instructional model. (View Less)
This textbook chapter makes the case for preserving desert old growth forests, and endangered species. The captive breeding program for the black-footed ferret is presented as a case study. Students learn about conservation practices they can do,... (View More) such as adopting a species or garden. The chapter includes an authentic unit assessment where students produce an essay on a biodiversity topic. The resource includes a link to current news articles and a teacher's guide. This is the eighth and last chapter in the unit, Losing Biodiversity, examining the endangerment and extinction of entire species of plants and animals throughout the world due to human actions. The resource is part of Global System Science (GSS), an interdisciplinary course for high school students that emphasizes how scientists from a wide variety of fields work together to understand significant problems of global impact. (View Less)
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This textbook chapter presents a real case study involving the the logging of an old stand forest from three perspectives, that of the environmentalists, the wood products industry, and a politician. An associated writing activity engages students... (View More) in reviewing the different viewpoints, and writing a "letter to the editor" for or against the logging of old growth forest. This is chapter 3 in the unit, A New World View, which introduces global systems science, emphasizing the concepts of environmental diversity, Earth as a system, and sustainability. The resource includes a textbook chapter, integrated hands-on and inquiry activities, links to current news articles, and a suite of pre- and post-unit assessments. A teacher's guide supports classroom use. The resource is part of Global Systems Science (GSS), an interdisciplinary course for high school students that emphasizes how scientists from a wide variety of fields work together to understand significant problems of global impact. (View Less)
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Students will learn about how human activity impacts Earth's climate through reading a NASA press release and viewing a NASA eClips™ video segment. Then students will examine simple mathematical models that predict changes in the Earth system in... (View More) response to human activity. This activity is part of the Space Math multi-media modules that integrate NASA press releases, NASA archival video, and mathematics problems targeted at specific math standards commonly encountered in middle school textbooks. The modules cover specific math topics at multiple levels of difficulty with real-world data and use the 5E instructional sequence. (View Less)
Students will use NASA's Global Climate Change website to research five of the key indicators (vital signs) of Earth's climate health. These indicators are: global surface temperature, carbon dioxide concentrations, sea level, Arctic sea ice, and... (View More) land ice. They will use this information, shared in their expert groups, to create an informative poster about their assigned key indicator. The poster will be used by other groups to learn about all five of the key indicators and how Earth scientists use these indicators to analyze changes in Earth's climate. The lesson plan uses the 5E instructional sequence. (View Less)
In this activity, students will research weather proverbs, analyze the scientific validity of three weather proverbs and present their reasoning in an essay. As an extension, students may survey 15 senior citizens to determine most frequently heard... (View More) weather proverbs and the proverbs they feel were most scientifically valid, then create histograms charting this information. Students may also compare their Student Cloud Observations On-Line (S'COOL) observation record of clouds with their findings regarding the validity of the weather proverb, "The higher the clouds, the better the weather," to determine if the days high clouds were observed were days of fair weather. (View Less)


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Sunday, May 28, 2006
not one meow, and i'll give you a treat, no you can't have
chocolate pinky, shoosh. They'll never know. How will I
explain it cc? HOW WILL I EXPLAIN IT? Well, as I was
getting the milk out, for breakfast, FOR PANCAKES, 'it'
fell on the floor, 'it' had to be tossed-of course. Bon apetit!
36 comments:
- Sorrel Sparks said...
This is lovely! Really like the colours, and the simplified details. Really nice warm welcoming feel to the room. This is beautiful!
- Sunday, May 28, 2006 4:57:00 PM
- Janet said...
Yes!...everything Sorrel said!!!
- Sunday, May 28, 2006 5:34:00 PM
- arvindh said...
WOW! That is a fantastic illustration!
- Sunday, May 28, 2006 6:29:00 PM
- Artsy Momma Chic said...
beautiful! I love the style and the details!
- Sunday, May 28, 2006 7:35:00 PM
- Lady Guedes said...
I just love it.
The colors, the place, the family...
Really wonderful illo!
- Sunday, May 28, 2006 8:20:00 PM
- AscenderRisesAbove said...
wonderful... I could see a series of these
- Sunday, May 28, 2006 8:21:00 PM
- Kaya said...
Very cute, great illustration and the writing works too.
- Sunday, May 28, 2006 8:32:00 PM
- Cindy said...
I like how the light from the fridge illuminates the scene.
- Sunday, May 28, 2006 9:22:00 PM
- Michael O'Connell said...
what style… great work…
- Sunday, May 28, 2006 10:39:00 PM
- TXArtcGal said...
This is absolutely fantastic! The texture, the shadows, the composition, the concept...everything! Fabulous!
- Monday, May 29, 2006 12:01:00 AM
- curiouskitty said...
this is beatiful! i love the colors, the style and the lighting's really great!
- Monday, May 29, 2006 1:17:00 AM
- ValGalArt said...
this is so beautiful!!! love he light and the kitties standing up!!! really wonderful!
- Monday, May 29, 2006 1:59:00 AM
- Linda said...
this is wonderful, i like the movement and lighting you've created and beautiful scene.
I especially like the standing kitty.
- Monday, May 29, 2006 3:07:00 AM
- Teri C said...
Love the light and atmosphere you have created with this light-hearted sketch.
- Monday, May 29, 2006 11:34:00 AM
- pablo said...
Is very beautiful I think, whatever is going on it look happy.
- Monday, May 29, 2006 11:44:00 AM
- Robert McLaughlin said...
Wow, what an exceptional illustration. Your use of the light emanating from the fridge really does it
- Monday, May 29, 2006 11:54:00 AM
- ratlion said...
- Monday, May 29, 2006 2:51:00 PM
- the heartful blogger said...
How gorgeous! Great take on the topic, love the way the light shines.
- Monday, May 29, 2006 3:58:00 PM
- michael dailey said...
wow it only 3am and eveybody is just dying for breakfast. or could it be they're just waiting to be the last 1 standing so they can finish of that last piece of cake. great painting lov the brush work
- Monday, May 29, 2006 6:12:00 PM
- Jaimie said...
I love the somewhat abstract quality of this piece. Everyone crowded round the fridge. clever!
- Monday, May 29, 2006 7:01:00 PM
- AndyDoodler said...
Wow! This is awesome- concept wise and on a purely visual level.
Awesome work of art- I'm jealous of your talent.
Is that 3am or pm? The clock is the only lonely or distant looking thing there. May happy moments last forever.
- Monday, May 29, 2006 9:27:00 PM
- Princess Pepper Cloud said...
I love the atmosphere and the family togetherness in this. Everyone is up for a midnight snack, with just light of the refrigerator to light the way.
- Monday, May 29, 2006 10:10:00 PM
- steve said...
Yeah, the dark lighting here, and everyone gathered around the fridge creates a real sense of time and atmosphre here. Isn't ao hard to resist feeding your pets and not being able to explain to them why chocolate is so bad for them? Fine job here!
- Tuesday, May 30, 2006 11:27:00 AM
- Paula said...
Great scene you painted here. LOL, he whole family is present.
- Tuesday, May 30, 2006 11:49:00 AM
- creative kismet said...
Beautiful! I love the colors and the warmth of the mellow lights and dark shadows. Wonderful illustration!
- Tuesday, May 30, 2006 3:10:00 PM
- Alina Chau said...
This is beautiful, so warmth and charming, you make an everyday moment special!!
- Tuesday, May 30, 2006 3:28:00 PM
- Amy Zaleski said...
What a neat slice of life! I feel like I have a snapshot into an intimate family moment. The cats are so cute, and the lighting is amazing. The other details such as the kids paintings on the fridge, the dangling teddy bear, and the tea kettle are just so nice.
- Tuesday, May 30, 2006 5:57:00 PM
- carla said...
The light in this is amazing! What a great scene...it makes me want to knoiw more about this family. I love that about your paintings...they contain whole lives in them..so narrative.
- Tuesday, May 30, 2006 8:05:00 PM
- Lou said...
Another great one! I love the lighting from the refrigerator on the people. Just a happy feeling. Made me smile seeing the family gathered around the fridge. Not enough "family time" in the world any more.
- Wednesday, May 31, 2006 9:05:00 AM
- The Tart said...
U have totally outdone yourself this time. This is one of my all time favorites, EVER!! The kitties are just too cute & the colors/your style ~ awsome.
I would love to be in that cozy kitched with all of U.
The Tart
; )
Psssssst. Thx 4 your nice comment today, much appreciated. Cupcake kisses to all!
- Wednesday, May 31, 2006 4:36:00 PM
- violetismycolor said...
nice one...so much detail!
- Wednesday, May 31, 2006 6:40:00 PM
- Twisselman said...
Great lighting and a wonderful set-up for the storyline. Gotta love the cats, one politely waiting expectantly; the other a little more aggressive.
- Thursday, June 01, 2006 9:50:00 AM
- Christy Beckwith said...
Your illustrations are absolutely beautiful.
- Thursday, June 01, 2006 9:48:00 PM
- modroom said...
I love your take on subjects and outlook. Though not catching up much on blogoshere comments at moment, I appreciate your visits so just letting you know I think you have a wonderful and talented touch and it's good to know you're out there!!
- Friday, June 02, 2006 9:59:00 PM
- miragee said...
Your paintings are so striking in terms of lines and colors. I really love your art!
- Friday, June 09, 2006 6:43:00 AM
- Genevieve said...
this is exciting. i love night pictures and you truly capture the essence of the good secrets night can contain.
- Monday, June 12, 2006 9:01:00 AM


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We're in the middle of a huge crisis. As usual since I work in media.
But infographics is a good job, not just because, if you're reading this, is because you like it. But because there are still opportunities being an infographics journalists.
Just some examples of full-time jobs in media posted on the SND:
- Graphic artist (The Virginian Pilot) - Norfolk, Virginia (USA)
- Interactive graphics designer (The Baltimore Sun) - Baltimore, Maryland (USA)
- Interactive Graphic Artist (Florida Times-Union and Jacksonville.com) - Jacksonville, Florida (USA)
- Graphics Editor (The Wall Street Journal) - New York, USA
- Graphics Artist (San José Mercury News) - San José, California (USA)
- Graphic Artist (The Globe & Mail) - Toronto, Canada
- Infografista (La Tercera) - Santiago de Chile, Chile
- Infographic, english & arabic (Times of Oman-Al Shabiba, Oman) - Muscat, Oman
And these are just some examples...
- Share


text:
04018XT3ER324TC Weg Motor 40HP 3PH 1800RPM 324TC Frame TEFC C-Flange XP NEMA Prem Footless 208-230/460V
Weg C-Flange Explosion Proof NEMA Premium Efficient Totally Enclosed Fan Cooled Motors suitable for applications requiring UL or CSA certification for hazardous locations. Thermally protected with thermostats, all motors manufactured are submitted to hydrostatic as well as other routine testing at the factory to ensure compliance to the required specifications. WEG NEMA Premium Efficiency Explosion Proof motors are specifically designed to meet or exceed all EPAct requirements for energy efficiency


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WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- The looming fiscal cliff has received almost as much publicity as the Mayan prediction of the end of the world. This column has warned that the nation also faces a strategic cliff that could pose even greater jeopardy than from the fiscal woes. But there is a third and possibly more precipitous cliff.
This should be called the "decency cliff." When a nation fails to live up to basic standards of decency, bad things happen. Revolutions, uprisings and repressions occur.
The United States now teeters on this cliff. One of the symptoms is the explosion of what can be called "mini-McCarthys," pint-sized versions of Tail Gunner Joe McCarthy the disgraced and reprimanded U.S. senator from Wisconsin.
For those not of an age or disinterested in politics, McCarthy was the most vile of politicians -- a liar, drunk and mentally unstable individual who, in the 1950s, made a career of ruining Americans merely by calling them communists. McCarthy even had the temerity to accuse Gen. George Marshall of heinous behavior before the Senate finally censured McCarthy and ended the reign of terror he so embraced.
Two examples of this decency cliff are self-evident. The first is what, if anything, will be done in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., school massacre in which 20 young children were brazenly killed. The second is how we treat potential appointees for high office.
The roots of this decency gap are decades old. Political correctness was an antecedent. Cultural censors attacked the use of any language that wasn't plain vanilla in content on the grounds of offending some group, somewhere. And the U.S. Supreme Court wasn't helpful.
In three of the worst cases of jurisprudence since Plessey vs. Ferguson -- District of Columbia vs. Heller, which changed the meaning of the Second Amendment about gun rights; Bush vs. Gore, which elected a president; and United Citizens, which permitted political action committees unlimited political spending -- the forces of indecency have been multiplied.
Hence, not only is it fair game to conjure up the most horrible misrepresentations and slanders about individuals. Vast funding is available to fund those slurs and wrongful allegations.
Regarding gun control, it is inconceivable that this nation doesn't have stronger prohibitions beginning with mandatory licensing for all gun owners and users. Tragically, the 1986 Heller decision ignored the meaning of "a well-regulated militia" as the basis for the right to keep and bear arms. And apologists for the broader interpretation of the Second Amendment duck this latest tragedy by arguing we need to focus on fixing mental health and a culture of media violence first.
Regarding the "mini-McCarthys," Ambassador Susan Rice was the latest casualty. While this column opposed her nomination, the reasons had nothing to do with the Benghazi tragedy or alleged coverup -- a coverup that the Accountability Panel headed by Ambassador Tom Pickering and Adm. Mike Mullen absolutely rejected. She was simply not the best-qualified person for the job of secretary of state.
Now, former sergeant and U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. is in the sights of the mini-McCarthys. Branded an anti-Semite and anti-gay, Hagel's extraordinary service to his country in war and in peace is being tarnished for obscenely perverse and wrong reasons. In full disclosure we are colleagues at the Atlantic Council and have been friends for a long time.
Make no mistake: Chuck Hagel would make a great secretary of anything. But his suitability for the position isn't the issue. Decency is. And people who make slanderous and simply wrong accusations must be held accountable.
Given the pernicious and septic nature of our political system and the overriding proposition that "you are either with us or against us," decency is unlikely to win through without some help from the president and the public. So where is the outrage?
U.S. President Barack Obama can navigate the nation back to a course where common decency and civil dialogue aren't automatically excluded from politics.
First, the White House must craft a basic gun control bill. Then, this bill should be subjected to a national referendum. Surely, money for that referendum can be easily raised. No doubt such a bill would secure a large majority in its favor. So armed, it will be difficult for Congress to bow to the National Rifle Association and other lobbies and reject this bill.
Second, the administration must be pro-active in defending people it is considering for high office. As Sergeant Hagel knows, "no-man's land" is the worst place to find oneself in war and in peace. Clearly, eminent Americans should stand up and correct the record especially against overtly slanderous and deliberately misleading charges.
Finally, the public has a role. The issue isn't politics. The issue is decency. And here we face a dangerous cliff unless we are prepared to change course.
(Harlan Ullman is chairman of the Killowen Group, which advises leaders of government and business, and senior adviser at Washington's Atlantic Council.)
(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)


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I'm committing early, for maximum credit when my predictions bear fruit.
- Wiggins
- Evans
- DeGendt
- Hesjedahl
- Andy Schleck
I'm not convinced Hesjedahl, while he was strong enough to barely win the Giro, is fast enough in time trials to win this Tour, and lacks the explosiveness or superior aerobic power on climbs to gain back the time there.
DeGendt was stronger at the end of the Giro, though, and he was faster in the time trial despite an epic effort the day before. That's a good sign for the Tour. He's also relatively young, so is still improving and discovering his abilities.
And forget about Frandy. Still, you can't ignore their prior success, so I don't see them dropping further than fifth.
Wiggins is possessed this year: a man on a mission. If he doesn't crash, I think he's the strong favorite. Evans looks good but is getting a bit old, and will have a hard time holding off a Wiggins who can avoid bad luck.


text:
BRACE for the Storm Workshop
This event prepared specifically for homeowners.
The BRACE for the Storm workshop will be conducted via the internet.
This workshop will provide participants with a thorough understanding of how to prepare their homes for the next disaster while helping them to learn how to save money on the windstorm portion of their homeowner's insurance premium.
March 22nd, 2018 7:00 PM through 9:00 PM
Phone: 850-241-3565
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com