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David Lynch puts down his oversize mug of David Lynch Signature Cup Organic Coffee and folds his thick, veiny hands in his lap. Despite remaining highly caffeinated at all times—he drinks at least 10 mugs of coffee every day—he looks as if he has stayed up several nights in a row. His thoughtful blue eyes are sunken, and their lids appear heavy.
Lynch grabs an American Spirit cigarette and motions toward an accordion-like lamp he designed. "Let's turn on the smoking lamp so we can begin smoking," Lynch says, turning the knob to power a light hidden beneath a translucent red glass shade. Given how much Lynch smokes, pretty much any lamp in proximity could earn this designation. He sips his coffee as he pulls his chair out, careful not to spill on his khaki pants, faded black blazer or black button-down shirt; per usual, the shirt's white buttons are fastened all the way to his throat.
For a man who has made bizarre, hallucinatory films such as Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, he doesn't seem that strange. There is no self-reflexive lesbian sex occurring on the premises. There is no jazzman's wife morphing into a pale old man who just might be Satan. There is not even an attorney stabbing his daughter to death because the demon inhabiting his body couldn't possess her too. In person, Lynch actually comes across as avuncular and disarmingly normal. He has typical interests—coffee, nature, music (the reason I'm here, since he is just a few weeks away from releasing his second album on July 15)—and he genuinely cares about other people.
"Where are you from?" he asks warmly after flicking his cigarette into an ashtray.
With both his cigarette and current cup of coffee nearly finished, Lynch directs me into the kitchen. He places his mug on the stainless steel countertop and starts to grind espresso beans from his personal collection. There are a trio of Lynchian coffee blends—house, espresso roast and decaf. The latter he could do without: "I never drink the decaf, because I love caffeine."
"One, two, three, four…," Lynch counts aloud while holding down the grinder button. He stops at 12 and pulls another mug from one of the many red cabinets surrounding us. "See this cup here?" he asks me. "It's clean, but it looks dirty."
He laughs for a moment and then inspects the cup a second time. Spots abound and there appears to be dust trapped inside. But Lynch forges ahead, opening the fridge to reveal a supply of fat-free milk. He takes a half-gallon jug and pours a small amount into the allegedly clean mug. "Now, this is what separates the little girls from the big girls," he instructs. "We'll do it in steps." He points to the espresso machine in front of him as the coffee is brewing. "Those black droplets look so beautiful." He repeats himself to prevent anything from being lost in translation: "So beautiful." It's the third and fourth time (by my unofficial count) that he has used the word "beautiful" to describe the process of making coffee.
Next, Lynch shows me how to froth milk properly. As the milk heats, he stands over me, watching intently. When a sufficient amount of time has passed, he feels the side of the metal pitcher to make sure it's warm enough. "Great job," he announces once the milk is evenly steamed. His voice has a rough, raspy edge, but with a precise and controlled meter. It is somehow commanding and reassuring at the same time, an invaluable trait for a director. These days, however, he's using it for something completely different than stage direction.
David Lynch sings.
In fact, he recently recorded his second solo album The Big Dream, distributed by Brooklyn-based Sacred Bones Records. He seems excited to share this aspect of his life with me. I follow him down a hallway into a long room set off from the kitchen. It's his sound-isolated recording studio and screening room, which served as Fred and Renee Madison's bedroom in Lost Highway. (Lynch composed original music for the score.)
Lynch created the space with the help of architect Peter Grueneisen in 1997. It took about a year to build; he later added the projection setup, which includes a JBL 3-Way Speaker System. The volume is almost oppressive, but the fidelity is extraordinarily high. Glistening guitars, keyboards, amplifiers and a large digital mixing board round out the gearhead's wet dream.
"Big" Dean Hurley, Lynch's writing and recording collaborator, mans the soundboard. The two met through a mutual friend and have worked together for nearly a decade. On The Big Dream, Lynch and Hurley create an organic tone with electronic elements, a stark contrast from their previous collaboration, 2011's Crazy Clown Time, which is drenched in echo, reverb and vocoder.
Big, 33, is short, bespectacled and dressed in a flannel shirt and jeans, looking as much like a carpenter as a music producer. By Hurley's request, Lynch recorded Bob Dylan's "Ballad of Hollis Brown" for The Big Dream, but his take is more influenced by Nina Simone's 1965 cover version. The track is trip-hop-inflected and punctuated by Lynch's keening, effects-coated voice. Other guests populating the album include Lykke Li on a bonus track entitled "I'm Waiting Here" and Lynch's 21-year-old son, Riley, on "Sun Can't Be Seen No More."
Lynch's favorite song on The Big Dream is "I Want You," which Hurley cues up for us. "It's about desire," Lynch explains in the press material for the album. "It's like riding a wave. It goes up and it goes down, but it's always moving." It's a simple song, but it's creepy and tense, with Lynch repeating lines including "I want you," "Make you mine" and "Hold you tight" in a quiet, vaguely disturbing manner. The music itself sounds like Massive Attack covering Screamin' Jay Hawkins's "I Put a Spell on You." All in all, it's a tad incongruous coming from a 67-year-old man.
Lynch has contributed to the scores of his films since he was a student at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in the 1960s. In the ensuing decades, he produced and wrote lyrics for Julee Cruise's first two albums and partnered with composer Angelo Badalamenti, with whom he has a jazz side project called the Thought Gang—though they have never gotten around to finishing the album they started 20 years ago. Lynch refuses, however, to play live anything he's written, due mostly to extreme stage fright. He also thinks his voice doesn't always sound great. "Like everybody, you hear a dry voice, and it's just that. Some singers you wouldn't mind hearing dry," he says. "But with me you would mind hearing it."
I ask Lynch if he would ever create a movie based on a character from one of his songs. "With all these different tools, you can alter a voice with a certain beat and a certain sound of the guitar, and a character will start emerging," he answers. "It doesn't mean you will make a movie based on this character, but it could happen."It won't happen any time soon, though, as Lynch claims he's not working on any films at the moment. And so, for now at least, his characters are best expressed via vocoder.
"I'd like to take another smoke break," Lynch announces. We walk back to the Glass Room, where he pulls out another cigarette. "We don't have the greatest day today," he laments once he's surveyed the dreary L.A. afternoon. I tell him that it reminds me of living in Philadelphia. He responds excitedly: "I lived on 21st and Cherry when I first went to school there.… Then I lived kitty corner to the morgue. After that, I lived on Poplar Street by Girard Avenue with [my first wife] Peggy and my daughter Jennifer. It was a three-story brick house with a full basement and a little backyard with a tree. It only cost $3,500, but it was broken into a couple of times, and our windows were shot out. A kid almost got killed right in front of our house. It was a great deal, but you paid for it in different ways.
"It took a year for the fear to leave me after coming to L.A.," he continues. "Any other place I would have gone, it would have taken more time. But the light is so beautiful here; it just sucked the fear right out of me."
Lynch has no fear of marriage, either; in fact, he loves marriage so much that he's been married four times. His latest wife is actress Emily Stofle, who appeared in his 2006 film Inland Empire and with whom he had his fourth child, Lula, now 10 months old. "Before the baby pops out, you don't know them. When they pop out, you see a little person start to emerge, and that's what gets you. They are their own persons. She is the sweetest thing."
I ask if he thought he would be raising a child at this point in his life. "No," he admits. "I never wanted to have children. I just wanted to smoke cigarettes, drink coffee, paint and make films, but it didn't happen that way."
He gazes at my cappuccino and asks how it tastes. I tell him that it's delicious. The room fills with shadows as it begins to get darker and cloudier outside. His mood seems to shift with the weather."We are on the circle of birth and death. When you are born, you have to die one day. It's a thing that hangs out there, and there is a certain amount of fear connected to it," he surmises.
I hear loud chirping from outside and glance out the window at the birds responsible for the noise. Lynch tells me that different kinds of birds have different personalities. He is fascinated by the winged creatures and sometimes tweets about them. For instance: "I like to watch & count birds in the morning. I've made friends with a hummingbird." And: "I made friends with another bird, which I don't know the name of. But one who likes to hop & fly into the air and catch flying bugs."
Recently, Lynch saw a red-tailed hawk sitting on a branch eating a rabbit. "He had this rabbit draped over a tree limb and he was picking the fur off so he could go in and get the goods," he says. "All kinds of things go on. People hang from hooks." Here, Lynch stops—as does the normalcy. After all, it couldn't last forever.
Danielle Bacher is a columnist at Playboy and LA Weekly as well as a contributing writer for Rolling Stone, Village Voice, Interview Mag and LA Times. Follow her on Twitter @DBacherwrites
This article was originally published on Playboy for iPhone. For more exclusive content and the best articles from the latest issue of Playboy, download the app in the iTunes Store.
Photo by Dean Hurley


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Actor Maulik Pancholy, best known for his role on the NBC comedy "30 Rock," has officially come out to the public and revealed he is gay via a new interview with Out magazine.
Pancholy, who was placed on the magazine's annual "Out 100" list, told the publication about celebrating his anniversary with his partner.
"I just celebrated my nine-year anniversary with my partner," he told the publication. "It feels like a nice time to be celebrating something like that, especially on the heels of the DOMA and Prop 8 decisions."
Gay rumors have circulated around Pancholy, 39, for a while. Last year Out magazine identified him as an "out actor" after he played gay characters on shows like "Weeds" and "Whitney," the Huffington Post reports.
Pancholy, who played Jonathan on "30 Rock," is also a voice actor for one of the main characters on the animated Nickelodeon program "Sanjay and Craig."
The actor isn't the first openly gay cast member of "30 Rock," however. As HuffPo points out Cheyenne Jackson and Tituss Burgess are both openly gay actors.
From our media partner EDGE

subset: commoncrawl


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Saturday, March 7, 2009
I was really quietly irritated about all of it for a while--I mean, here are two kids who can tell a brachiosaurus from a diplodocus and that a pteranodon and a plesiosaur are NOT dinosaurs, and here they are talking about three-horns and the sharptooth and "I'm not a long-neck, YOU are!"
But you know, I finally figured that Matt and I are certainly big enough fangeeks in our own right--comic books, Buffy, sci-fi TV shows--let the kid own her fandom. So while we certainly don't let Syd watch the shows all the time, I did do some web research and downloaded her a DIY mobile, and some masks, and some coloring pages from the Land Before Time web site, and put some easy-reader Land Before Time books on hold at the library, and even checked out ebay to possibly buy her more of those little plastic critters (not for love nor money, apparently).
So, yep, baby's a fangeek. And now the rest of the shout-outs are all about me.
So Matt came home from work yesterday, and sat me down at the computer first thing, and he's all, "Now, Newsarama and Comic Book Resources are the premiere comic book resources, blah blah blah, but Robot 6 is the most popular blog and blah blah blah, and so I was taking a break at work and thought I would check it out, blah blah, and in this one post I was scrolling down, and I see a link to a tutorial for making gift tags out of comic books, and I know you like that stuff, so I click on it, and what do I see? YOU!!!"
I guess Robot 6 was kind enough to pick up my post on Crafting a Green World about making comic book gift tags, and now I have officially impressed my husband.
In other news, I have warned everyone and warned everyone about how bad I am at interviews (this one time, after I won a spelling bee at my junior high, the five o-clock news interviewed me on television, and... it was not pretty), but nilochlainn was nice enough to risk it anyway and interviewed me for the INCrowd Team blog over at etsy. She asks me a lot of interesting, nice questions and I basically go on and on pedantically. Apparently you do not need to get me started about the concept of traditional "women's work."
And if I can go on about that, remember that my official field of study is actually medieval studies, and think about how much more it is possible for me to go on about a single field of study.
P.S. Check out my ode to Artist Trading Cards over at Crafting a Green World.
6 comments:
Clever: call it fandom and not stress about your child liking something you're not fond of. I should have consulted you for advice! 8>
- March 7, 2009 at 10:18 PM
- cake said...
i have no interest in dinosaurs. i wish i did, but i just don't.
my kid hasn't gone there yet, with dinosaurs, thomas the train, spiderman, or anything. yet. i hope i can handle it as gracefully as you, when the time comes.
- March 7, 2009 at 10:31 PM
- said...
Fond memories of the Land Before Time series. Although it wasn't really a series when my kids were into them - I think there were maybe two or three out at the time.
- March 7, 2009 at 10:52 PM
- julie said...
Just ask me when I'm confronted at Goodwill with a 2T Land before Time Tshirt--letting her hang a Land before Time mobile that we construct ourselves and carry around a little Land Before Time figure are fine and dandy, but will I let her BROADCAST her fandom?
If she gives me the puppy-dog eyes, probably.
- March 9, 2009 at 10:43 PM
- Abby said...
My kid is a fan geek. For real. And I've decided, with each obsession I'm going to try and embrace it...i mean come on... I even got into NASCAR with him?! Beyond my wildest dreams did I think I'd ever go there. But, I think it's good to let your kids love something that's their interest, even if it's not yours. Plus, you expose them to so many varied and educational and fantasical things...
It's something she'll always remember, and when she's a mama...she can hand down her three-horn. :)
- March 10, 2009 at 2:55 PM
- julie said...
It's the mass media, consumer culture business that I'm not comfortable with. A fandom that relies upon the watching of a TV show just isn't okay with me; I've taught pop culture at IU for way too long to take for granted the thousands of unconscious, insidious ways that pop culture, especially TV culture, works.
I have to do a better job at engaging the imaginative aspects of Syd's love for cartoon dinosaurs--pretend play, drawing pictures, dictating stories, dress-up... Hmm, maybe instead of shopping on ebay for Land Before Time plastic dinos, I could just search through Will's huge dino stash for the right species for Sydney to play with.
I wonder if she'd buy that?
- March 11, 2009 at 2:59 PM


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Blood donations are critical. The majority of people in Hawaii need blood, but only a small fraction – about 2% – actually give it. Donations are needed every day to maintain an adequate blood supply and fulfill Hawaii's needs.
An hour of your time spent donating blood can mean a parent will see a child grow up. A son marry. A daughter graduate. It can mean a neighbor will come home from the hospital. A mother hold a newborn. A friend survive cancer.
Today, life expectancy has increased. There are more accidents. More diseases. More surgeries. More demand for blood. Baby boomers will also raise that demand. And the need is only expected to grow. More blood donors are necessary to meet the growing needs of Hawaii's patients. If not you, who?
Because each pint of whole blood is separated into three components – platelets, plasma, and red blood cells – one donation can help the lives of up to three people.
One donor wrote, "Donating blood is the most efficient form of community service. It doesn't cost you anything and the impact on the lives of the patients and their loved ones is enormous."
Medical science has yet to produce a synthetic option. Blood is vital to sustain a multitude of bodily functions, and life itself. If people lose blood from medical procedures, diseases, surgery or injury, or their bodies can't produce enough, there is only one place to turn: volunteer blood donors.
When asking donors why they donate, the most common response is, "It just seems like the right thing to do."
Would you carve out an hour of your day to save the life of someone you know? Of course you would. Why not do it for someone you don't know? Here in Hawaii, it's our nature to give. We enjoy helping others. It's in our blood.
Account Login
Sign in to schedule appointments, view your donation history, and more!
Please support Blood Bank of Hawaii by donating to the HawaiianMiles Charities Program!
Visit www.hawaiianair.com. Mahalo!


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This is the one I began a few weeks ago -- and finally getting around to work on it.
It isn't finished yet -- just a few tweaks.
However, the portrait served it's purpose-- in getting me back into watercolor.
I feel like I've been painting acrylic non-stop for years!
22" h x 15" w
not yet finished


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Kingston Lisle, the Gothic cottage built for Rugby's founder.
Rugby is located atop the Cumberland Plateau in East Tennessee. It is a restored Victorian village founded in 1880 by English author Thomas Hughes. Twenty of the original sixty-five buildings still stand as both a living community and a fascinating public historic site, unspoiled by modern development.
More information @ http://www.historicrugby.org
The United States is one of the most diverse countries on earth, jam packed full of amazing sights from St. Patrick's cathedral in New York to Mount Hollywood California.The Northeast region is where it all started. Thirteen British colonies fought the American Revolution from here and won their independence in the first successful colonial rebellion in history. Take a look at these rolling hills carpeted with foliage along the Hudson river here, north of New York City.The American south is known for its polite people and slow pace of life. Probably they move slowly because it's so hot. Southerners tend not to trust people from "up north" because they talk too fast. Here's a cemetery in Georgia where you can find graves of soldiers from the Civil War.The West Coast is sort of like another country that exists to make the east coast jealous. California is full of nothing but grizzly old miners digging for gold, a few gangster rappers, and then actors. That is to say, the West Coast functions as the imagination of the US, like a weird little brother who teases everybody then gets famous for making freaky art.The central part of the country is flat farmland all the way over to the Rocky Mountains. Up in the northwest corner you can find creative people in places like Portland and Seattle, along with awesome snowboarding and good beer. Text by Steve Smith.


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The Best Lunch We Had in Portland: Lardo's Sandwiches + Sugar Cube's Sweets
"Eat your sandwiches from Lardo* then come get your sugar from me," said Kirsten Jensen from the window of her Sugar Cube trailer, parked in the same lot as Lardo. Once on wheels too, Lardo opened a brick-and-mortar this year and it doesn't get much better then eating one of their serious sandwiches, followed by an ice cream sandwich from Sugar Cube.
We listened to Kirsten, except we couldn't wait until dessert to try her Fizzy Lifting Drink: fresh ginger, plum drinking vinegar, salted plum "rocks" (that she buys at an Asian market), and ginger ale. It's exactly the tart, acidic, bubbly drink you need to cut these rich sandwiches.
Just look at that fried chicken. The boneless, skinless thigh meat is first buttermilk-brined overnight then rubbed in smoked paprika and garlic powder, then breaded and fried. Served cold, leftovers-style, the mighty hunk of chicken meat is still plenty juicy and tastes even better with Valentina hot sauce ("the Sriracha of Mexican food," as Max describes it) and creamy crumbles of Oregon blue cheese, Nueske's bacon, and mandoline-sliced-thin garlic dill pickles. It's one of those sandwiches where you're not entirely sure how to eat it, but then you just open wide and go for it.
The Cold-Fried Chicken Sandwich has been a staple on Lardo's chalkboard menu. We also tried the lamb special, deeply lamby after being slow-smoked for five to six hours. It's a baba ghanoush-like eggplant puree, fresh mint, meaty heirloom tomatoes from Groundwork Organics in Eugene, and goat cheese whipped with heavy cream, salt, pepper, and parmesan.
Lardo's chef-owner Rick Gencarelli is a Culinary Institute of America grad who's worked in kitchens in San Francisco, New York City, and a Vermont farm-inn-restaurant (the Inn at Shelburne Farms) but decided to move to Portland for the heck of it. "The best way to know Portland and for Portland to know him" was by opening a truck first, which he did in 2010, and now less than two years later, he's opened the new Lardo, a sandwich shop and bar with craft beers on tap and fun cocktails.
Rick says the "Pig Out" sign was somewhat inspired by this "Meat Dept." one at Olympic Provisions, the nearby salumeria. "The sign, the white subway tiles, the stools—it's all a mix of old and new at the same time."
It was now time to visit our pal Kirsten again for sandwiches of the sweet variety. She's been baking from her wee convection oven inside the trailer for four years ("it's insane, I agree!") and she recently published a cookbook. After studying pastry in Chicago, she started her "one-woman band" and you can't help but love this woman. She bakes soulful sweets, labels them with adorable signs, and serves them on vintage plateware.
How could we not get this Twisted Toll House Ice Cream Sando: it's two trailer-baked chocolate chip cookies studded with hazelnuts from the Freddy Guys orchard in Monmouth, Oregon, and a fat scoop of roasted banana ice cream with salted caramel in the middle. There are so many good things happening at once here: cookies, chocolate, Oregon-grown hazelnuts, roasted banana, ice cream, salted caramel...
But if that wasn't enough chocolate for you, get the Triple Threat Cookies. Triple chocolate chunk cookies baked with espresso and pecans smashing together a layer of silky, deeply chocolate ganache. You don't know where the chocolate cookie ends and the ganache begins, it's so decadently chocolaty with a coffee nuttiness and pecan nuggets.
"My friend dropped off some Italian plums," Kirsten said, pointing to the plum crostata on the glass display. This flaky, all-butter pastry was so good, it almost made Maggie cry (tears of joy).
We can't think of a better place to eat lunch in Portland. (And if vintage furniture is your thing, check out Lounge Lizard on the same block.)
Lardo + Sugar Cube
1212 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland OR 97214
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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It sounds like a technical question: As utilities comply with state laws requiring use of renewable energy, how much of that energy can come from out of state?
But, drowned out by all the din of the governor's race, a behind-the-scenes fight over that question may have a huge impact on the the number one concern of Californians: jobs.
Here's the short version: the state's Public Utilities Commission, which regulates utilities, has said utilities can get no more than 25 percent of their required renewable energy through out-of-state credits (called Tradeable Renewable Energy Credits, or TRECs, or T-Rex, if you prefer). Why? Regulators, backed by unions and legislators, want to encourage the production of renewable energy inside California, so the state can reap the jobs and tax revenues that come from its renewable mandates.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
Utilities and the Schwarzenegger administration are arguing against the 25 percent limit on out-of-state credits. They think requiring so much in-state renewable energy will cost utilities -- and ultimately ratepayers -- too much at a difficult economic time. And if businesses have to pay more for energy, that could cost California jobs.
The state is in uncharted territory here -- no other state has adopted our regulatory regime and mandates on renewable energy. It's hard to know what the right policy is, and it's far from clear who will emerge as the winner in this complicated fight.


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When I was in Trader Joe's last week, I was looking for some kind of sun-dried tomato sauce or pesto or something like that to spread on toast or bread or burgers. I thought I had seen something like this before there, but I couldn't find anything like that on this particular day. I did find Trader Joe's Roasted Red Pepper Spread with Eggplant & Garlic. I checked the ingredients and there was no gluten and no onion!!! There were under 10 ingredients (major bonus) and all of them seemed to be "Kim friendly". 🙂 Another bonus? Under $2! How can you not love Trader Joe's?
I have used this spread now in a dozen ways. I have topped salads with a tablespoon or 2 of this spread & then a tablespoon of plain Greek yogurt. I have spread on a toasted French roll (also from Trader Joe's). I have topped my turkey burger with the spread & then topped with goat cheese, stuck under the broiler & let it get all melty; then I placed the burger on top of some grilled eggplant slices. I have used on my turkey tacos & Mexican pizzas. I have used on my turkey sandwiches. Really, the possibilities are endless. This would be great to dip foccacia bread into or I bet it would taste great in an omelet or scrambled eggs too! I just now thought of that!
I highly recommend this product. If you are watching what you eat, it is low in calorie, too, at 15 calories/tablespoon and only 0.5 grams of fat.
Filed under: Family, Gluten-Free, Gluten-free Products |


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Health and Medicine Around the WorldCarret icon
(3 cr.) This course takes a comparative study approach by looking at the diverse ways in which societies throughout the world both define and respond to disease and illness. Special attention is paid to how differently people understand the body and its relation to illness, and the importance of cross-cultural understanding for treating and curing illness in pluralistic societies. Every Other Year
This course is currently not being offered. Please try again next session.


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MELVILLE, N.Y., Dec. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ: HSIC), the world's largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, medical and animal health practitioners, announced today that Ferdinand Jahnel, Vice President and Treasurer for Henry Schein, will present at the Oppenheimer 23rd Annual Healthcare Conference taking place at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York.
Henry Schein's presentation is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. EST on Wednesday, December 12 and can be heard via live webcast by visiting www.henryschein.com, clicking on "Investor Relations" and following the link for "Webcasts." A replay will be available on the Web site following the presentation.
About Henry Schein, Inc.
Henry Schein, Inc. is the world's largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, medical and animal health practitioners. The Company also serves dental laboratories, government and institutional health care clinics, and other alternate care sites. A Fortune 500® Company and a member of the NASDAQ 100® Index, Henry Schein employs more than 15,000 Team Schein Members and serves approximately 775,000 customers.
The Company offers a comprehensive selection of products and services, including value-added solutions for operating efficient practices and delivering high-quality care. Henry Schein operates through a centralized and automated distribution network, with a selection of more than 90,000 national and Henry Schein private-brand products in stock, as well as more than 100,000 additional products available as special-order items. The Company also offers its customers exclusive, innovative technology solutions, including practice management software and e-commerce solutions, as well as a broad range of financial services. Headquartered in Melville, N.Y., Henry Schein has operations or affiliates in 25 countries. The Company's sales reached a record $8.5 billion in 2011, and have grown at a compound annual rate of 18 percent since Henry Schein became a public company in 1995. For more information, visit the Henry Schein Web site at www.henryschein.com.
|SOURCE Henry Schein, Inc.
Copyright©2012 PR Newswire.
All rights reserved


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Why Rockfish Prefer Spot
I could feel the five-inch white perch on my line swimming toward the bottom 30 feet down. The pulses of its efforts transmitted plainly up the line on my bait-casting rod. As the baitfish reached its goal and settled down, I lightly thumbed the narrow spool of my casting reel and lifted my rod tip just enough to make the fish's movements a bit more frantic.
I was drifting over some nice marks on my depth sounder off the mouth of the Severn, and I suspected the arches represented sizeable rockfish.
Spot Versus Perch
Had I been using a small Norfolk spot on this live-lining outing, I would have been a great deal more confident. But spot are exceedingly hard to come by as yet, and little perch aren't.
The rockfish bite continues throughout the Bay, though fish larger than 30 inches are becoming scarce in the Bay's upper reaches. The stripers that are being caught, however, are fat as footballs, and skin infections continue to be few and far between. Starting from Swan Point to the north of the Chester on the Eastern Shore and the Baltimore Light off of the Magothy to the west, good schools of rockfish are schooling at the mouths of the tributaries, feeding up and providing excellent sport for anglers chumming, chunking and fishing cut bait. Many fishers have also begun jigging on the schools and doing well, though a lot of that action is with smaller fish.
Rockfish find it hard to resist Norfolk spot this time of year but will ignore a live perch unless everything looks just right. I was swimming my whitey, lightly hooked in front of its dorsal fin, on clear 14-pound test fluorocarbon line tied with a loop straight to the 4/0, short-shacked live-bait hook. I hoped that setup was invisible to the striper and allowed the baitfish to move freely and naturally.
My thumb suddenly picked up the tics of some urgent efforts on the part of the small perch, so I released almost all pressure except that necessary to prevent a spool overrun if something big and fast was after my bait.
Abruptly my spool whirred as that something grabbed my bait and jetted off across the depths. If you're fishing spot under those conditions, in a moment or so you can usually (and safely) drop your reel in gear and set the hook. Because spot are soft rayed (no prickly spines in their fins), stripers will chomp down and immediately eat them tail first, head first or even sideways.
Perch, on the other hand, have needle-sharp dorsal, pectoral and even anal fins, and so present a special challenge to hungry rockfish. They can't be swallowed tail first; only headfirst so their fins can be forced down flat. No matter which way they're captured, the striper has to stun the prey with a mouth crunch, maneuver it into position, and all the while guard against pilferage by hungry fellow rockfish swimming nearby.
Patience Is Key
If you try to set a hook quickly, immediately after a take, you will snatch the baitfish from the striper's mouth. That will leave your intended quarry perplexed, alarmed or alert to your attempt at deception.
Patience is the keyword in this scenario. Anticipating the actions of the rockfish as it swims below in the form of a long 10 count will give it time to perform the necessary manipulations and get your bait down. Only then can you give a good heave and set the hook.
Even having struck well and been rewarded with a heavily bowed rod, you're still not quite free to lean on the fish and bully it in. There is no way of knowing exactly where your hook has found purchase.
There is a significant chance with a perch as bait that the hook isn't penetrating anywhere in the bass but remains stuck in your baitfish. Your baitfish, now lodged by its sharp spines in the fish's throat, is the only thing keeping the bass on your line.
If the striper is not particularly large and has a narrow gullet, it will be unable to eject the baitfish. But if it's a good-size rockfish with a correspondingly larger throat, you could yank the baitfish (and your hook) right out and lose the fish.
Fight it carefully, I told myself. The struggle was a fairly long one. When the fish put on its final tantrum at the side of the boat, mouth agape and pointing right at me, its head shaking vigorously, I released almost all line tension.
When it stopped and turned to head back to the bottom, I resumed pressure with my rod, halted its departure, turned it sideways, then led it into the net. As I pulled the big striper out of the net bag, it gave a mighty shake and the perch (and my hook) popped out and landed on the deck.
That was a close call. I sure hope the Norfolk spot show up soon.


text:
As Michael becomes ever more conflicted with his mission, he travels to Mexico with Sonya in order to help James with an important job. Anxious to finish the operation, Strong hires freelance mercenaries to extract James on site... but brings along a... (more)n unexpected guest.
Aug 15, 2013
Sep 05, 2013


text: We will be live tweeting our vague, incomprehensible, and often mispelled tweets (curse you iPhone spell checker!) for the Star Wars Collectibles panel at 11 am and Hasbro at 1 pm (Pacific Standard Time). Be sure to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook, where our feeds will also stream.


text:
Wall Street has decided that Google+ is a success and added around $20 billion to Google's value, according to its stock prices.
So somewhere between the launch of Google+ on June 27 and July 7, stock price soared from $482.80 to $546.60, according to TechCrunch. (As of 9 a.m. Monday morning, the price is $529.91 a share.) That's a boost of $20.6 billion.
Not all news is good news, because investment banker Morgan Stanley decided to downgrade Google on Friday because it felt Google is laying out too much money on Google+ without plans on how the tech giant will make a profit, according to the Associated Press.
U.S. & World
To me, it's interesting how investment bankers are warning investors about an established tech company with a solid background, yet decided that Zynga, a company that creates social games on Facebook, should be valued at $20 billion. Wall Street makes money on trades and gambles, not steady companies with small but dependable growth. So while seeing that Wall Street views Google+ as a valuable commodity may be reassuring, it should not be the only measure of success.


text:
As he confronted several neighbors over a loud stereo two years ago, retired Houston-area firefighter Raul Rodriguez brandished a gun and warned, "I am standing my ground here" – a warning that was picked up by the camera he had set up to film the scene.
As the camera was knocked to the ground, a barrage of gunfire ensued, as Mr. Rodriguez killed Kelly Danaher, an unarmed elementary school teacher, and wounded two other unarmed men.
On its face, the scenario appears, as Rodriguez apparently realized, a classic example of a "stand your ground" defense. In all, 33 states – including Texas – have stand-your-ground laws that say a victim of a potentially deadly attack has no obligation to retreat, but can use lethal force in defense.
Yet on Wednesday, a jury in Houston took five hours to find Rodriguez guilty of murder, dismissing the stand-your-ground defense on a simple point: If Rodriguez had not provoked the fight and brandished the weapon first, it's unlikely anyone would have been killed.
"This is not what stand your ground is," said Kelli Johnson, the prosecutor.
In all the states that have passed some version of stand your ground since Florida's landmark law in 2005, defendants can't claim the "no duty to retreat" protection if they're in the commission of a crime or if they initiate the confrontation.
Now, as stand-your-ground laws are scrutinized in the wake of George Zimmerman's shooting of Trayvon Martin in Florida, with critics claiming that the laws turn shooters into judge, jury, and executioner, the Texas case offers an example of the law's limits.
In Florida, Mr. Zimmerman was originally released without charges because police, referencing the stand-your-ground law, found no reasonable cause to disbelieve Zimmerman's self-defense claim. The state only charged Zimmerman after the governor, under a storm of criticism, appointed a special prosecutor to investigate.
The Texas verdict shows, some say, that the legal process can weed those who attempt to abuse the law, with courts retaining significant power to determine appropriate use of force even in states where there's no "duty to retreat."
"What the Texas case says is you have to take each state law and each fact pattern on its own terms and you can't make sweeping generalizations, as many opponents of stand your ground laws have, that this is a license to kill – it's clearly not," says Cornell University law professor William Jacobson, who runs a conservative blog at Legal Insurrection.
Statistics indicate, however, that the stand-your-ground defense is generally effective. In Florida, about 70 percent of stand-your-ground defenses – which have grown in number annually since Florida passed the first version of the law in 2005 – are successful. Nationally, homicides are twice as likely to be ruled justifiable in stand-your-ground states.
While the Florida law, for instance, wasn't intended to protect criminals in the commission of a crime, it has protected defendants involved in gang shootings and drug deals gone bad, as well as defendants who shot and killed someone retreating from an altercation.
Thanks in part to its broad definition of "stand your ground," as well as the national attention on the Trayvon Martin case, Florida has remained in the center of the stand-your-ground debate. Two state task forces are looking into whether the law needs to be changed. Moreover, the Florida Supreme Court recently ruled that juries have to weigh immunity decisions on the preponderance of evidence, not evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. Florida courts continue to debate how the law should be applied when someone is shot in retreat, or if the stand-your-ground claimant has an illegal gun.
Texas may join states like Florida and Michigan in reviewing its stand-your-ground law, especially as Trayvon's parents this week released a video pleading with state residents to ask legislators to take another look at the laws. But aside from the potential for minor tweaks, legal experts say, stand-your-ground laws are likely to withstand scrutiny and are unlikely to be repealed.
Legal verdicts like the one Wednesday in Texas, however, could further clarify the limits of stand your ground.
On the 22-minute video he made as he confronted his neighbors over the noise of a party, Rodriguez tells a police dispatcher: "It's about to get out of hand sir, please help me. Please help me, my life is in danger now.... Now, I'm standing my ground here. Now, these people are going to try and kill me."
Rodriguez says he didn't pull out his gun until Mr. Danaher approached him in a threatening way. Jurors, however, ultimately agreed with the prosecutors' description of Rodriguez as an out of control neighborhood bully with a gun.
"He felt like he had ultimate control, control to determine who lives and who dies," said Donna Logan, Harris County assistant district attorney.


text:
Midi-PyreneesHoliday villas and gites to rent in Midi-Pyrénées, a region with a rich cultural, historical and natural heritage where to enjoy a sightseeing, hiking or skiing holiday. Rent a vacation house in Midi-Pyrénées, it is simple on Welcome Worldwide Holiday Villa Rentals. We offer a wide range of self-catering holiday rental accommodation in Midi-Pyrénées: country gites, cosy cottages, ski chalets and apartments. Choose your short-term holiday let direct from the owner and enjoy your holiday in Midi-Pyrénées.
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text:
Pope brings Jesuit order to forefront
In the day since Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis, religious scholars have begun dissecting his writings, teachings and philosophy.
Exactly who is this Argentinian Jesuit chosen to lead the Roman Catholic church? Why did he take the name of the founder of another order, the Franciscans? Is there a message in his decision to visit Rome's Basilica of St. Mary Major, where he arrived in a Volkswagen and not the papal Mercedes, before celebrating the traditional first papal Mass at the Sistine Chapel?
In San Diego County, religious experts are hungry for more intel on the new Holy Father.
For Jimmy Akin, that means using his elementary and rusty Spanish skills to learn first-hand what the former cardinal from Buenos Aires believes and advocates as he waits for English translations of Bergoglio's works.
"We are in the process of learning about him. I'm very encouraged so far," said Akin, senior apologist for the publisher Catholic Answers, a radio host and the author of books such as "Mass Confusion," "The Salvation Controversy" and "Father Knows Best."
The new pontiff is being highlighted for his seeming humility — living in a small apartment and taking the bus — and outreach to the poor. He's also being painted as a social activist, unlike his immediate predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, who was best known as a theologian.
But scholars caution against making hasty comparisons.
"Be careful of the all-too-simplistic narrative that pits Benedict against Francis as 'traditionalist' and 'modernizer,'" said Michael Barber, a professor of theology, scripture and Catholic thought at John Paul the Great Catholic University in San Diego. "Simply put, Francis has advocated the teachings of both John Paul II and Pope Benedict. Benedict was no 'business as usual' pope: He appointed the first woman as undersecretary of a pontifical council. He systematically revised canon law, enacting stricter regulations for clergy involved with sexual abuse. He implemented key reforms of the Vatican bank."
Akin and Barber are both experts on Catholicism and devout Catholics.
After studying the different paths of Christianity, Akin converted from the evangelical church to Catholicism. He studied philosophy of religion at the University of Arkansas.
As a boy, Barber aspired to play baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Then a lecture by Scott Hahn, a former Protestant pastor who became a Catholic, changed his mind.
"This man gave up everything and risked his whole career to become Catholic," said Barber, who went on to earn a doctorate degree from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. "I found his arguments compelling and wanted to learn more."
Akin and Barber point to several important factors in understanding Pope Francis: his Jesuit order, his papal name and the clues offered by his first few actions as pontiff.
The Society of Jesus
Jesuits and Franciscans are two of the church's orders, each with its own focus but all united in the core tenets of Catholicism.
The orders represent communities of members who take certain vows such as poverty, chastity and obedience, Barber said.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola founded the Jesuit order in the 16th century. Since that inception, the order has concentrated on spreading the faith, promoting education, helping the Holy Father and pursuing missionary work. Some of the world's most famous universities and preparatory high schools are run by Jesuits.
"In the 16th century, Protestantism was also beginning to spread and Jesuits were enlisted at that time by popes and other officials to help explain the Catholic faith," Barber said. "Many of the early Jesuits therefore were sent to Germany, the place where Martin Luther launched the Reformation."
There are about 2,900 Jesuit priests and brothers in the United States and roughly 20,000 worldwide, he said.
"Interestingly, the greatest of all Catholic missionaries ... is probably St. Francis Xavier. Many have speculated that, in addition to St. Francis of Assisi, Pope Francis is named after him," Barber said.
Like Franciscans, the Jesuits live out their vow of poverty. But Franciscans are known to have the strictest interpretation of that pledge.
Becoming Pope Francis
Pope Francis has conveyed a message about his deep commitment to living out his vow of poverty, as well as his dedication to simplicity, during his first hours as pope, Akin and other religious scholars said.
Akin completed a study of papal names last year and at the time, he speculated that the next pope might choose the name Francis if he wanted to forge a new emphasis.
"I thought if we got an unprecedented name, it would likely be that one because the name Francis sends all the right signals," Akin said. "It is the name of a popular Catholic saint, Francis of Assisi, who was known for his humility, service and compassion."
St. Francis is also known for experiencing had a vision in which he was told by Christ to "rebuild my church." It is that vision that many believe is leading the new pontiff.
"I think the name signifies Pope Francis' desire to bring similar reforms to the church today," Barber said. "I think he's going to challenge religious orders to re-examine the way they live their vows."
Going to St. Mary Major
Pope Francis' visit to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major may have revolved around an icon there called Salus Populi Romani, or "the protectress of the Roman people," which is an image of the Virgin Mary, Akin said.
Akin believes the stop symbolized Pope Francis' personal devotion to the Virgin Mary and his commitment to his role as Bishop of Rome.
"He had a very direct, personal connection with the members of his flock in Argentina and he may want to establish that same kind of relationship with a Christian community in Rome," Akin said.
"He is not just the pope with a global role, he is the pastor of the church in Rome itself," he added. "Popes have had to find a balance between those two roles."


text:
"Today the potato is the fifth most important crop worldwide, after wheat, corn, rice and sugar cane. But in the 18th century the tuber was a startling novelty, frightening to some, bewildering to others—part of a global ecological convulsion set off by Christopher Columbus.
About 250 million years ago, the world consisted of a single giant landmass now known as Pangaea. Geological forces broke Pangaea apart, creating the continents and hemispheres familiar today. Over the eons, the separate corners of the earth developed wildly different suites of plants and animals. Columbus' voyages reknit the seams of Pangaea, to borrow a phrase from Alfred W. Crosby, the historian who first described this process. In what Crosby called the Columbian Exchange, the world's long-separate ecosystems abruptly collided and mixed in a biological bedlam that underlies much of the history we learn in school. The potato flower in Louis XVI's buttonhole, a species that had crossed the Atlantic from Peru, was both an emblem of the Columbian Exchange and one of its most important aspects.
Compared with grains, tubers are inherently more productive. If the head of a wheat or rice plant grows too big, the plant will fall over, with fatal results. Growing underground, tubers are not limited by the rest of the plant. In 2008 a Lebanese farmer dug up a potato that weighed nearly 25 pounds. It was bigger than his head.
Many researchers believe that the potato's arrival in northern Europe spelled an end to famine there. (Corn, another American crop, played a similar but smaller role in southern Europe.) More than that, as the historian William H. McNeill has argued, the potato led to empire: "By feeding rapidly growing populations, [it] permitted a handful of European nations to assert dominion over most of the world between 1750 and 1950." The potato, in other words, fueled the rise of the West.
Equally important, the European and North American adoption of the potato set the template for modern agriculture—the so-called agro-industrial complex. Not only did the Columbian Exchange carry the potato across the Atlantic, it also brought the world's first intensive fertilizer: Peruvian guano. And when potatoes fell to the attack of another import, the Colorado potato beetle, panicked farmers turned to the first artificial pesticide: a form of arsenic. Competition to produce ever-more-potent arsenic blends launched the modern pesticide industry. In the 1940s and 1950s, improved crops, high-intensity fertilizers and chemical pesticides created the Green Revolution, the explosion of agricultural productivity that transformed farms from Illinois to Indonesia—and set off a political argument about the food supply that grows more intense by the day."
via How the Potato Changed the World | History & Archaeology | Smithsonian Magazine.


text:
Success in Generating Skyrmion Molecules and Driving Them under Low Current Density
Magnetic materials that enhance the magnetotransport property and for the high-density/low-power consumption magnetic memory
(2014.02.21 Update)
The University of Tokyo
National Institute for Materials Science
RIKEN, the University of Tokyo, and NIMS succeeded for the first time in generating and visualizing electron spin vortex state "skyrmion molecules" with topological charge 2 within a thin film of "La1+2xSr2-2xMn2O7," a layered manganese oxide which is a ferromagnetic material with uniaxial anisotropy.
RIKEN (President: Ryoji Noyori), the University of Tokyo (President: Junichi Hamada), and the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS; President: Sukekatsu Ushioda(*Open in new window)) succeeded for the first time in generating and visualizing electron spin vortex state "skyrmion molecules" with topological charge 2 within a thin film of "La1+2xSr2-2xMn2O7," a layered manganese oxide which is a ferromagnetic material with uniaxial anisotropy. While the current density required for driving domain walls within a ferromagnetic system is about 1 billion amperes per square meter, they managed to drive those skyrmion molecules with one-thousandth that density . This result was achieved by a joint research group led by Dr. Xiuzhen Yu, Senior Research Scientist, and Dr. Yoshinori Tokura, Group Director (Professor at the School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo) of the Strong Correlation Physics Research Group, RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (Center Director: Dr. Yoshinori Tokura), and Dr. Koji Kimoto(*Open in new window), Unit Director of the Surface Physics and Structure Unit, Advanced Key Technologies Division (Division Director: Dr. Daisuke Fujita(*Open in new window)), NIMS.
Magnetic memory devices, which use the direction of electron spins within materials as magnetic information, are considered to be promising next-generation devices with high-speed and non-volatile properties. In recent years, magnetic memory devices that manipulate domain walls within ferromagnetic nanowires by using spin polarized electric current have been intensively studied. However, moving domain walls requires a large current density of at least about 1 billion amperes per square meter, and the large power consumption presented a problem. Therefore, a way to drive them under smaller current density had been sought.
In this respect, attention has been paid to "skyrmions," which are magnetic topological textures in which electron spins are aligned in a vortex shape. Unlike ferromagnetic domain walls, skyrmions have no intrinsic pinning sites and can avoid obstacles in the device. Thus, they can be driven under smaller current density than ferromagnetic domain walls. A single skyrmion has topological charge 1, which is equivalent to 1 bit of information. Skyrmions with higher topological charge had been predicted theoretically, but they had never been actually observed. The joint research group succeeded for the first time in generating skyrmion molecules with topological charge 2 in layered manganese oxide La1+2xSr2-2xMn2O7 while controlling the uniaxial anisotropy and the externally-applied magnetic field, and in driving them with one-thousandth the current density conventionally required for driving ferromagnetic domain walls. Such findings will bring about great development in designing novel magnetic memory devices with high-density and low power consumption with use of skyrmions. The research result has been published in the online edition of the British science journal Nature Communications on January 25 (January 26 JST).


text:
To: A. Daniel Weygandt, Former US Consul General to Italy
To: Paolo Costa, Former Mayor of Venice, Special Commissioner to Italian Defense Minister, Italian Member of European Parliament, President, Port of Venice
To: Ignazio La Russa, Italian Minister of Defense
cc: David H. Thorne, US Ambassador to Italy
cc: William Gill, Office of the US Consul, Milan
cc: Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State
cc: Barack Obama, President of the United States
Dear Dan, Dear Paolo, Dear Ignazio:
Many of my readers are curious and puzzled as to why this situation has happened to me in particular. I, too, was absolutely in the dark as to what was going on until yesterday, when I read the letter that Paolo Costa wrote to former Defense Minster Arturo Parisi on September 17, 2007 (see below). Suddenly, everything tumbled into place and started to make sense.
All I have to say, boys, is: SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!
I can tell you what has felt like: as if I am stumbling around a real-life video game, trying to survive, without knowing who my enemies are or why I am under attack. It is as if I have stumbled into someone else's nightmare. All sorts of stories of who I am have been created: if you are a Jew, I am a Nazi. If you are a Nazi, I am a Jew. If you are Catholic, I am the devil. If you are the devil, I am a saint. Or, I am a Russian spy. Or, I am working secretly for the Austrian Empire. Or, I am secretly working with the Chinese. My favorite is that I am a Templar, because I really do feel like one:) And so on. It is a game I am not familiar with, nor do I want to learn how to play. Dan, you, especially, are completely aware of how naive I am when it comes to politics. Sorry to disappoint everybody, but in reality I am just a writer. Everything else is either utter fantasy, or deliberate character defamation. In a way, it is sort of like an honor that so much effort has gone into the attempt to silence my voice. I guess it is based upon what Paolo Costa states needs to happen: eliminate the elements of local opposition at its roots.
The methods that have been used against me -- violence, starvation, forcing me out of my apartment, interfering with my means of earning a living, defamation of my character, veiled threats, etc., etc. -- are bully tactics and the lowest form of warfare.
The most appalling incident was when a dagger-shaped piece of glass was forced into my foot during a pedicure. It is so far beyond anything in my experience that, to this day, I can hardly believe it happened. However, there are many people who actually saw the glass embedded in my foot. There are hundreds of people here in Venice and Meran who have seen and touched the piece of glass itself, which has since been confiscated by the police. I shaded the glass with a pencil, as I was afraid that it would disappear, as many of my documents have had a tendency to do -- which is why I made this stencil:
|Updated on May 19, 2015 since previous photos were no longer visible (last updated 3-29-2015)
|Updated on March 29, 2015 after discovering previous photo was no longer visible... AGAIN
In case people are not reading the comments, here is an Anonymous comment posted yesterday:
Anonymous said...
Knowing Mr. William Gill personally as a man of incredible integrity, kindness and empathy, I am suspicious of Ms. Bauer's rants about this situation. Honestly, without hearing Mr. Gill's side of this story, we cannot know what is going on here. To be direct, she sounds defensive to the point that I wonder what she did to engender such a response from a person as caring and thoughtful as Mr. Gill. Sounds like the Consulate has had enough and is setting a limit on her. Most of you out there have never met or had contact with the person she is absolutely trashing in her blog but let me be the sole voice standing up for him. I am not related to him, but have had professional contact as an American through an embassy where he was incredibly helpful and kind. What have you done Ms. Bauer? Can we have details??? Why were you held by the police?
Now, everyone can read for themselves that I have asked Mr. Gill myself for his side of the story as I have never in my life met the man and have no idea whatsoever as to why he had an antagonistic attitude toward me -- which is why I said I must have been confused with another Catherine Bauer -- not impossible, as the name is common enough. As to what I have done -- you can all read for yourselves what I have done. I have written this blog, Venetian Cat - Venice Blog, and I have written two novels, HARLEY, LIKE A PERSON and HARLEY'S NINTH. I am completely transparent. I have never been arrested. Up until last year, when all these shenanigans started, I had perfect credit without even a finance charge or a late fee. I commit all my "sins" in public, and that includes swimming in the nude:) I think, more importantly, the question is: where is my apartment located and what do THEY want to do to the Rialto area?
Now, everyone can read for themselves that I have asked Mr. Gill myself for his side of the story as I have never in my life met the man and have no idea whatsoever as to why he had an antagonistic attitude toward me -- which is why I said I must have been confused with another Catherine Bauer -- not impossible, as the name is common enough. As to what I have done -- you can all read for yourselves what I have done. I have written this blog, Venetian Cat - Venice Blog, and I have written two novels, HARLEY, LIKE A PERSON and HARLEY'S NINTH. I am completely transparent. I have never been arrested. Up until last year, when all these shenanigans started, I had perfect credit without even a finance charge or a late fee. I commit all my "sins" in public, and that includes swimming in the nude:) I think, more importantly, the question is: where is my apartment located and what do THEY want to do to the Rialto area?
Here's a little story: either last summer or the summer before (I have it written down exactly but my notes are locked inside my house and I do not have the key:), about 9:30 at night, I heard some construction going on across the Grand Canal. I looked out over my balcony and saw scaffolding going up on the side of the Rialto Hotel where the terrace is located. I was exhausted, but I thought: they cannot put up illegal construction right in front of my eyes. I went downstairs, walked over the Rialto Bridge and found five policemen standing in front of the Rialto Hotel. I said, "So, now we are allowed to do construction at night?" They said, "Construction? Construction where?" I said, "You are standing here." I took a few steps to the right. "Construction there." Two of the policemen came over with me. They said, "Do you have identification?" I said, "I came out without out it." I pointed across the canal. "I live right there. My name is Cat Bauer. I know the mayor, the vice-mayor, the presidents of the universities, the heads of the Casinò, the Patriarch, the doctors, the lawyers, the Indian chiefs. Tell them it's me complaining. I am going home." I went home and got the binoculars that Ludovico de Luigi gave me to spy on our mayor (and we will not get into those details -- I never used them for that purpose, Mr. Cacciari:) After twenty minutes, two men came down off the scaffolding. After two hours, the scaffolding was gone. I will confess to getting on my knees and giving thanks to God:)
There are absolutely sacred rules when it comes to the structures and buildings of Venice. That is why they are still standing after 500-1,000 years. Venice was constructed by enlightened beings, and their ghosts still walk the calli at night, weeping for what is happening to their city. I can hear them weep. This what they say: The rules of construction cannot be broken, or the whole city will come down. And I am sorry, Paolo Costa, if that takes a lot of time, but you of all people know it is the way it works in Venice. Better to get things right before, than spending much more later to fix errors.
As I think those involved are aware of by now, legally there is no reason why I cannot enter my apartment, which I intend to do. It is no longer a case of "does this mysterious document exist?" We have moved from gray to black and white, and I now have solid black and white evidence that the eviction is illegal, if not downright criminal.
Of one thing I am certain: if I have been abused this way by the "Powers-That-Be," we certainly do not want them as the "Ruling Class," and we certainly do not want their negative influence in Venice herself. As you know if you read this blog, every nation has tried to conquer Venice throughout millennium. This is yet one more battle, fought with real estate instead of bombs.
You cannot build a solid structure if the foundation is rotten, or the whole thing will collapse. I absolutely agree that the Rialto area needs improvement, but if you start by trampling all over people and using force, lies, cheating and other forms of bullying, it is doomed to fail. Venice was built by noble people using the highest principles. It is as if the Barbarians have almost figured out how to invade the island! I don't know much about the military, but I do know something about film crews. To me, the military is behaving like a badly organized film crew, who comes in, shoots the scene, trashes the place, and trots merrily off again, leaving destruction in its wake. Oh, wait. Sometimes they give you new flowers and plants.
Since, to this day, I have yet to find a lawyer who will handle this matter -- even though I have approval for di ammisione al gratuito patrocinio a spese dello Stato for two actions: 1) to contest the eviction and 2) to claim the 63.675,00 euro overpayment -- I have scanned and am in the process of uploading many of the documents I have in reference to the illegal eviction, which can be found at a new blog called: Venetian Cat - Eviction Documents at:
My method is to be as transparent and honest as possible. I am sure I have made mistakes, but if I have, it is because of ignorance, and is not intentional. They are sometimes in Italian and sometimes in English, and anyone who is interested can draw their own conclusions as to what is going on.
I am, however, looking forward to the film festival next week, and focusing the Venetian Cat - Venice Blog once again on what I love to write about: art, film, culture, architecture, etc. I sincerely hope that since we now have our new Ambassador in place -- I won't even repeat the bizarre conversation I had with the Embassy before the David Thorne had been sworn in... oh, why not -- at this point, it even becomes funny:
Cat: This is Catherine Bauer in Venice. May I please speak to David Thorne?
Male voice: I do not know this man. You must speak to the Consul in Milan.
Cat: I have tried to talk to the Consul in Milan. The Consul in Milan does not want to speak to me. David Thorne. He is the Ambassador-Designate.
Voice: I do not know this man. Hang up and call back the switchboard and ask for him.
This I do.
Cat: This is Catherine Bauer in Venice. May I please speak to David Thorne?
Female voice: There is no one here by that name.
Cat: He is the Ambassador-Designate.
Voice: Do you want to speak to the secretary of the Ambassador?
Cat: Yes! Please.
Female Voice: May I help you?
Cat: To whom am I speaking?
Voice: My name is Gail.
Cat: Gail, my name is Catherine Bauer, and I am calling you from Venice. I am having a problem with my apartment eviction (I say this in Italian.) You do speak Italian, don't you?
Gail: No, I don't.
Cat: But you are the secretary to the US Ambassador to Italy...
Gail: I'm just temporary.
Cat: May I speak to the Ambassador?
Gail: There is no Ambassador.
Cat: Let me get this straight: You are the temporary secretary who does not speak Italian to the US Ambassador to Italy who does not exist.
Gail: That's correct.
I left my phone number. That was a few weeks ago, so now that David H. Thorne is officially in place, hopefully we can arrive at an amicable resolution -- especially since when I went to check my mail today, someone had torn my name off my mail slot! My name was there on Wednesday -- in fact, my phone bill had arrived; the phone is still connected and still in my name.
I am ready for a serious conversation.
All the best,
Cat Bauer
Here is the Paolo Costa letter. The most important thing to remember is that I HAD ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA THEY WERE EXPANDING THE MILITARY BASE UNTIL A FEW WEEKS AGO and I JUST READ THIS LETTER YESTERDAY. Although I found it on a Peace & Justice site, I am not a hippie -- in fact, on a lot of issues, I am rather conservative:). After what has happened to me, I would imagine that the major press has been blocked from reporting, and the alternative press is the only place it gets some airplay. In any event, I had arrived at the same conclusion just by what my what was happening to me personally, so it is a bit of a relief to know there was some logic behind what has got to be the most bizarre experience of my life.
Letter by Special Commissioner Costa to then Defense Minister Arturo Parisi on the need to eradicate the local opposition to the base as well as how to circumvent the Minister of the Environment's intention of subjecting the project to an environmental impact study. [emphasis added]
Vicenza, September 17, 2007
Distinguished Sir
Honorable Professor Arturo PARISI
Minister of Defense
Dear Minister, dear Arturo,
The time has come for a final decision regarding the expansion project of the U.S. military base at the Dal Molin Airport in Vicenza.
This is a decision that can now be made by taking advantage of the groundwork done in the past months by the Commissioner (which has been summarized by the Director of GENIODIFE, General Resce) and that must now be made in order to establish a positive momentum for the completion of the project and eliminate the elements of local opposition at its roots.
As concerns external non-local opposition elements (apodictic pacifism and anti-Americanism) it will be necessary to intervene with a well thought-out information campaign that, of course, must not regard only the Commissioner.
The three day protest – increasingly characterized by anti-globalization elements – that took place in Vicenza from Thursday, September 13 to Saturday, September 15, at the conclusion of an activist campout that lasted from September 6 to 16, could be the last demonstration of opposition enjoying local support; but only if we act in a timely manner to eliminate the reasonable concerns – because they are valid – of this opposition. I am referring to the concern over traffic created by access to the new base, which could increase the problems of an already difficult traffic situation due to the historic formation of the city of Vicenza, and that of the use of the last important large green area of the city for the base expansion. These are reasonable concerns that should be separated once and for all from those tied to anti-Americanism, anti-Militarism a/o apolitical pacifism, that is, from the concerns that have nothing to do with the characteristics of the new U.S. military base in Vicenza.
After months of relative calm, due to the summer vacation period and the possibility of an alternative solution of lesser impact disclosed by the Commissioner in its communications and in its authorizations for the advancement of the project, today there are renewed risks due to the activities of the Presidio Permanente supported by the anti-globalization movements of the North East, if not those of all of Italy and beyond. It is foreseeable that tensions will increase as soon as the initial work of clearing the area, work already under contract, begins.
This is, therefore, the moment to intervene decisively and transform the possible alternative solution, which has already been made public, into a definite solution, and to start using this alternative solution in communications.
We need to be able to state – with certainty – that the new U.S. military base is nothing more that the reuse, with some expansion, of the area west of the runway, already in use by the Italian Air Force and therefore the area east of the runway, the large open field that would have been destroyed according to the first proposal, and which ignited the local opposition, would remain intact. This assertion, together with another that has already been put forth, that access to the new base will be organized, both temporarily and in the long term, so that it will not interfere with the local traffic and above all traffic crossing the historic center of Vicenza, would remove all reasonable concerns of the opposition movement.
If I may I would add, as must be added, that Vicenza will be compensated for its "sacrifice" with the completion of the new road north of the city and with other possible initiatives in the areas of higher education and health care, the complete package should pave the way for the project.
But it is imperative that we make use of all means and do so immediately.
In order to do this, it is necessary to complete the work that I have conducted, also during the month of August, with U.S. representatives (in Vicenza with the U.S. commander of Camp Ederle, in Rome with the U.S. Embassy, and in Venice during a meeting with Rep. Loretta Sanchez, Chair [note: she is a member but not chair] of the House Armed Services Committee) to convince them that the alternative "west" solution, though technically more complicated, is instead the only solution that, if defined immediately, can make it through the authorization process and possible legal proceedings while still meeting deadlines foreseen by the United States for the transfer of the paratrooper contingent from Germany to Italy. I demonstrated to the U.S. officials how it is still possible to respect the deadlines with the "west" solution, while I warned them that this solution is certainly more costly (and therefore they must obtain the additional funds needed from now to 2011).
The Prime Minister is aware of this proposed solution and he has given me the go ahead.
It follows that several documents from the respective Ministries will be necessary, first and foremost the Defense Ministry.
The first, and this is crucial, is the definition and respect of a date not after June 30, 2008 for the liberation on the part of the Italian Air Force of the Dal Molin area. I realize there are some difficulties, also of a financial nature, tied to the helicopter maintenance program, however these must be overcome — perhaps taking advantage of the budget session that will take place at the end of the month — because the definition of a date is a fundamental condition to reassure the U.S. regarding the respect of deadlines for the completion of the project. The decision should be made by the end of the month in order to add it as an amendment to the call for bids to be published by September 30, 2007 so that bidding companies will be in a position to consider this date in the offers they must present by October 16, 2007.
It is evident that this decision must be communicated in a timely manner to General Enrico Pino of the COMIPA (Joint Committee on Military Servitude) of the Veneto Region, which will examine the project – both solutions east and west of the runway – on September 26, 2007.
The second regards the decision of whether or not the expansion project of the U.S. military base in Vicenza is subject to a VIA (Evaluation of Environmental Impact).
It is clear that this point represents an obvious risk to the possibilities of proceeding while respecting deadlines; and it is possible that it could even put the final decision in jeopardy , since currently is it entirely predictable (and has already been practically announced) that the Minister of the Environment intends to subject the project to a VIA. This can only give rise to likely obstacles – the case of the MOSE project has set an indicative precedent – capable of being resolved only through the extreme solution of a resolution by the Council of Ministers, which could result in lacerations that in a moment such as this I believe are better avoided.
According to legal opinions I have gathered, which the State Attorney Marco Corsini, who is assisting me in the activities of the Commissioner, is ready to discuss with those from your office, the project of the U.S. base at Dal Molin is not subject to a VIA since it is an administrative procedure relative to "facilities destined for national defense" (which are associated with infrastructures financed with NATO funds and other allied forces) introduced by petition prior to July 31, 2007, the date in which Law 152/2006 went into effect, and therefore subject to regulations in act previously (see article 52, comma 2), and for such type of intervention the VIA is excluded.
I therefore feel that while we await the necessary analysis, we should avoid expressing willingness toward the position of the Minister of the Environment , expressions that perhaps in the view of political opportunity could help attenuate some current pressures, but that later would be difficult to retract.
It seems to me evident, in any event, that asserting that the project is not subject to the VIA would be more promising if referred to the project of substantial re-use of the existing Italian military structures (west solution) rather than the use of the large open field (east solution).
The third act, to be put together starting with the Defense Ministry and to be concluded under the direction of the Prime Minister's Office, regards the elaboration and the signing of a "framework agreement" with all interested parties in order to make official the deadlines, actions and responsibilities, to which appropriate publicity will be given.
Best regards,
Paolo Costa
To read the entire article, click here:
To read more about the expansion of the base at Vicenza and the strong-armed tactics being used:


text: I've been trying to research how to make a simple java .wav player, but I can't find anything useful. If there is a way to play the file if it's already in my project folder, then that would be greatly appreciated. I am just looking for some source code, tutorial, or anything that's easy to follow in order to make a .wav java player. Thanks!


text:
Delegate Terms and Conditions
Terms and Conditions for Argus Americas conferences
1. Agreement
1.1 These "Terms and Conditions" set out the contract between Argus Media, Inc., a Delaware corporation, having its principal place of business at 2929 Allen Parkway, Suite 700, Houston, Texas 77019 ("Argus"), and the Company in the "Registration Form" submitted by you regarding the attendance by the delegates ("Delegates") at the event(s) (each an "Event") specified in the Registration Form. The expressions "we", "us" and "our" refer to Argus and "you" and "your" refer to you acting for and on behalf of the Company.
1.2 These Terms and Conditions, the Registration Form, the "Argus Confirmation of Registration" (if applicable) and the "Event Invoice" in respect of the Fees (as defined below) set out the entire "Agreement" between you and us. In the event of any conflict, the Terms and Conditions shall prevail. Please print and retain a copy of these Terms and Conditions for future reference.
1.3 You personally warrant and represent that you have all necessary authority to enter into and to perform your obligations under this Agreement on behalf of the Company. You undertake on behalf of yourself and the Company that you, the Company and the Delegates will observe and comply with this Agreement. By submitting the Registration Form, you agree to be bound by this Agreement, which shall only become fully effective and binding when we issue an Event Invoice.
2. Event attendance, program and materials
2.1 Subject to availability and provided Argus has received payment in full of the Fees, Argus grants a revocable, non-exclusive, personal right to each of the Delegates to: (a) attend the Event; and (b) use the materials made available by us at the Event (the "Event Materials") for the purpose of supporting their attendance at the Event.
2.2 You acknowledge and agree: (a) to comply, and procure the compliance of the Delegates, with all applicable laws, regulations and requirements (including without limitation health and safety requirements) in respect of the Event; and (b) that no films, photograph or other recordings of all or any part of the Event are permitted without our prior written consent. We reserve the right to refuse admission/eject any Delegate without liability to/from an Event for any reason.
2.3 Argus reserves the right in its sole discretion to change the content, speakers, location, and/or timing of the Event without liability. Argus shall use reasonable endeavors to notify you of any Event changes by no later than when it notifies other Event delegates.
2.4 Argus will use reasonable endeavors to satisfy any access or dietary requirements provided it is notified of such requirements in the Registration Form. You acknowledge and agree that, due to the nature of the location/venue of the Events, it may not be possible for such requirements to be satisfied.
2.5 You acknowledge and agree that unless otherwise stated views expressed by speakers at the Event do not represent the views of Argus.
2.6 All Event Materials are provided to you on an "as is" basis and we give no warranties, representations or guarantees that the Event Materials are in sequence, accurate, up-to-date or complete or that use of them will meet the particular requirements of the Delegates. Use of the Event Materials is entirely at your and each Delegate's risk.
2.7 You acknowledge and agree that, unless otherwise expressly stated, we own all intellectual property and other rights in all Event Materials. You shall not, and shall procure that the Delegates shall not, disclose, distribute or use the Event Materials other than as expressly permitted in clause 2.1.
3. Fees
3.1 Argus shall be entitled to submit an Event Invoice for the registration fee together with all applicable taxes (including without limitation VAT) for the attendance by the Delegates at the Event (the "Fee") upon receipt of a Registration Form from you. The Fees are not refundable in whole or in part other than as expressly set out at clauses 4.1 and 4.2.
3.2 You shall pay the Fee in full without deduction or set-off: (i) within 30 days of the date of the Event Invoice; or (ii) by the first day of the Event, whichever is earlier.
3.3 Argus may (at its sole discretion) offer discounts (including without limitation "early bird" discounts). To qualify for any "early bird" discounts, you must have (a) submitted your Registration Form within the discount period specified on our website for the Event, and (b) paid the Fees in full within 30 days of the date of the Event Invoice.
3.4 You shall pay/procure payment of the Fees into any bank account and by any method of payment that Argus shall reasonably request. From time to time Argus may, but is not obligated to, accept payment by you of the Fees via a third-party payment intermediary (the "Third Party Payment Provider"). Use of the Third Party Payment Provider is entirely at your own risk. You should ensure that you read any third-party privacy policies and terms of use before using such services.
3.5 Without prejudice to any other remedy that may be available to Argus, Argus shall be entitled to charge interest of 2% above the Prime Rate as published in the Wall Street Journal in force at the relevant time in respect of any overdue payment.
4. Cancellations, Substitutions and Termination
4.1 If one or more Delegate is unable to attend the Event, (a) you may cancel this Agreement and Argus may in its sole discretion refund fifty percent (50%) of the applicable Fees or offer a credit towards another Argus event provided notification of such non-attendance is received by email sent to the email address from which the Confirmation of Registration is issued at least 30 days prior to the commencement of the Event (no refunds/credits will be given for cancellations received thereafter or non-attendance of all or any part of the Event for any reason) or: (b) "Delegate Substitute(s)" may attend provided that Argus receives notification in writing to the email address from which the Confirmation of Registration is issued at least 48 hours before the first day of the Event and in its sole discretion consents to such substitution. You acknowledge that a refund/credit is your sole remedy in respect of any cancellation under this clause.
4.2 If the Event is cancelled for any reason within our control, then in Argus' sole discretion the Fee will be fully refunded or a credit offered towards another Argus event. We shall not be liable for any loss, damage, costs (including without limitation travel, visa or accommodation costs), expenses or other liabilities incurred by you and/or the Delegates in connection with such Event cancellation. You acknowledge that a refund is your sole remedy in respect of our cancellation under this clause.
4.3 Argus shall be entitled in its sole discretion to terminate all or any part of this Agreement immediately on written notice if (i) you, the Company and/or any of the Delegates is in material or persistent breach of any of its obligations under this Agreement and has not remedied such breach (if capable of remedy) within thirty (30) days of written notice from Argus; or (ii) there is a change of Control of the Company (where "Control" means the power of a person to secure that the Company's affairs are conducted in accordance with the wishes of that person).
5. Data, Privacy and Marketing
5.1 Any "Personal Data" (as defined in the Data Protection Act 1998) you disclose to us will be processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and our "Privacy Policy", available at http://www.argusmedia.com/Ft/Privacy-Policy. You hereby consent to collection by Argus of such Personal Data and you warrant that you have obtained all necessary consents from any data subjects to the use by Argus of Personal Data in accordance with this Agreement.
5.2 You acknowledge and agree that Argus may from time to time in accordance with its Privacy Policy: (i) use Personal Data to the extent necessary to enable Argus to perform its obligations, protect, exercise or enforce its rights, under this Agreement; (ii) use Personal Data to offer you, the Company and/or the Delegates additional products and services provided by any of the "Argus Affiliates" (being any company within the Argus group and any of Argus' third party partners, including any such companies that are located outside the European Economic Area); and (iii) disclose Personal Data to the Argus Affiliates, for any purpose connected with this Agreement including the maintenance of a central database of customers.
5.3 You agree that Personal Data (including names, address, job profile, email address, telephone numbers and/or company name): (a) may be transferred to select third parties to create/provide web-based applications for our Events ("Apps") and that Personal Data may appear on the App; and (b) may be used by us and carefully selected third parties to inform you and/or the Delegates about other products and services that may be of interest via telephone, post and/or email. If you do not wish for these details to be used in this way, please contact us at email@example.com.
5.4 Use of any Argus Apps is at your and the Delegates' own risk. You should ensure that you read any third-party App privacy policies and terms of use before downloading such App. Argus reserves the right in its sole discretion and at any time to withdraw use of or access to the Apps and reserves the right to edit and/or remove any part of the App and posted content.
5.5 You acknowledge and agree that: (a) we may use the Company name/Delegates' positions in marketing promotions in connection with this Event, and (b) we may use and distribute recordings (by audio and/or visual means) of all or part of the Event, which may include you or a Delegate's image, for the purposes of training and/or marketing.
6. Liability and Warranties
6.1 Argus shall not be liable to you, the Company, any of the Delegates, nor to any other party, for any inaccuracies, errors, omissions, defects, or delays in respect of the Event, the Event Materials, the Third Party Payment Service Providers or the Apps, or for any loss or damage, howsoever caused and whether or not for breach of contract, negligence or otherwise and whether or not Argus is advised of the possibility of such loss or damage, including loss of profit, data, business, reputation or anticipated savings, and all indirect, incidental, special, punitive or consequential loss and damage arising in connection with the Event, the Event Materials, the Third Party Payment Service Providers or the Apps, or otherwise in connection with this Agreement.
6.2 Subject to clause 6.310.9, the total aggregate liability of Argus, its employees, Argus Affiliates, sub-contractors and agents, to you, the Company and the Delegates or any other party arising out of or in connection with this Agreement whether the action is grounded in contract or tort (including negligence) or in any other law, and whether common law or statute, will in no event exceed the total amount actually paid by the Company to Argus in respect of the Event.
6.3 Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as limiting the liability of either party for fraud or for death or personal injury caused by that party's negligence.
6.4 You are fully responsible and liable for any loss or damage howsoever caused by you and/or the Delegates to property (including for the avoidance of doubt the Event venue) or individuals at an Event. You shall on written demand indemnify and keep Argus fully indemnified from and against any loss, damage (including statutory damages), claims, costs and expenses (including legal and other professional costs and expenses), and liabilities suffered or incurred by Argus and/or its Argus Affiliates arising out of or in connection with the attendance of you and/or the Delegates at the Event.
6.5 It is your responsibility to arrange appropriate insurance cover for travel to and attendance at the Event. You are responsible for safeguarding your own property at the Event.
7. General
7.1 Neither party shall be in breach of this Agreement nor liable for delay in performing, or failure to perform, any of its obligations under this Agreement if such delay or failure results (or is likely to result) from events, circumstances or causes beyond its reasonable control.
7.2 If any provision of this Agreement (in whole or in part) is found by any competent authority to be unenforceable or illegal, the remainder of the provisions shall remain in force.
7.3 This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of New York. Any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with this Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without regard to any conflict of laws principles thereof. The parties agree that the federal and state courts located in New York, New York shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any suit, action, proceedings or dispute arising out of or in connection with this Agreement.
7.4 The English language version of this Agreement prevails over all translations howsoever made available.


text:
The Boulder County Coroner's Office has ruled that the death of 85-year-old Lafayette resident Linda Marie Duran in June was caused by blunt trauma to the head.
But how Duran sustained the fatal injury remains unclear.
Coroner Emma Hall ruled the manner of Duran's death to be neither a homicide nor accidental, classifying it instead as "undetermined," according to a statement issued Friday, Sept. 14.
Lafayette police responded to a house in the 500 block of East Geneseo Street in Old Town Lafayette on June 13 on reports of a woman who was refusing to leave. When officers arrived, they were told the woman had fallen and hit her head.
The woman, later identified as Duran, was taken by ambulance to Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center, where she died June 15, according to Lafayette police.
Police deemed the incident suspicious after receiving conflicting statements from witnesses, and they opened an investigation into Duran's death, according to Lafayette police Cmdr. Gene McCausey.
"We are trying to determine if it was a fall or if something else happened," McCausey said in June.
McCausey said Friday he was aware of the coroner's findings in the case. He said the police investigation remains active.
No arrests have been made, he said, but he would not provide further details.
Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett said officials from his office have been following the Duran case closely and are considering referring it to the county's elder fatality review team.
The team, formed in 2011, is made up of representatives of social service agencies, medical professionals and law enforcement officers. It is charged with reviewing specific cases — such as elder abuse, or nursing home deaths that officials feel may have been preventable — and examining systemic problems.
The team is focused on looking at ways a death may have been prevented, and it operates independent of the criminal justice system.
"We're considering presenting (this case) to that team, but of course, any decisions about charges will be made by my office," Garnett said.


text:
LWN has an interesting article on a new startup: The Ada Initiative ("Supporting women in open technology and culture"), and about how it is taking a different approach to similar initiatives.
The link above is to an article on the LWN that is subscriber-only for the next week. Being a subscriber, I can provide a link that you can use – if you are interested in what's happening in Linux, and FOSS in general, I highly recommend subscribing.
There is also other press coverage.
Also, I would suggest that the founders do Ada Lovelace a disservice in calling her "the world's first woman open source programmer" – she is arguably the world's first programmer, full stop.


text:
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) Recently retired Andy Roddick beat third-ranked Andy Murray 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday in the Miami Tennis Cup exhibition event.
Roddick will play 11th-ranked Nicolas Almagro of Spain in the final Sunday. Almagro advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over 14th-ranked John Isner.
Murray, trailing 2-5 in the first set, surrendered his serve in the eighth game when he sailed a backhand crosscourt wide. In the second set, Murray saved two break points from down 0-40, but couldn't convert the third to give Roddick a 5-3 lead. At 15-0, Roddick double-faulted twice in a row, but went on to win the final three points of the match with a service winner and two forehand winners.
``If we had gone three sets I would've had a full body cramp and it would've been awkward for all of you,'' said Roddick, who kept a running dialogue with the crowd. ``There's no comeback (to tennis for me).
``Andy was nice to me tonight.''
Roddick has put on four pounds since retiring following the U.S. Open. He says he's content in retirement and is playing a lot of golf.
``I don't miss the travel at all,'' Roddick said. ``It's nice coming here and seeing familiar faces. I still enjoy hitting tennis balls, but I haven't lost that part of it. I haven't lost any of the innocent parts of tennis. I just do it in front of less people.''
Murray, the Olympic gold medalist and U.S. Open champion, wasn't surprised that Roddick won.
``Andy hasn't hit that many balls the last few months,'' Murray said. ``Maybe his timing was a little bit off, but he still hits the ball very well. It was only a few months ago he was making a decent run at the U.S. Open.''
Roddick has beaten Almagro both times they met in straight sets and both meetings were on hard courts. They met here at Crandon Park in the 2010 Miami Masters quarterfinals and the 2011 Shanghai Masters in the round of 16.