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Most people think that the "ingredients" which make it possible for a House to reach the top – a fortiori in the world of excellence that is the high jewellery – are quality of material used, innovative and refined design and product originality.
However, if one goes through the history of the most prestigious houses, which today still maintain their position at the top of the luxury world, their common denominator remains the passion of their founders, as well as the vision that only they could have for their art, products and clients and obviously, the teams of talented people who continue to create today and have for decades, in accordance with the values –to some extent the DNA – of the house, which they resolutely propel towards the future.
Harry Winston was born in 1896 in New York to a family of jewellers, as his father Jacob was already a jeweller in Manhattan since 1888.
Jacob and Jeannette Winston, Ukrainian emigrants, were settled in New York, when misfortune suddenly struck the family. Harry lost his mother at the age of 7 and his father, anxious to improve the life of the family, decided to sell the shop in Manhattan and move to California, where he opened a jewellery shop in Los Angeles which, moreover, benefited from being located at the centre of Hollywood film production.
Harry very early became interested in precious stones, and it is said that at 12, in 1908, he discovered a two-carat emerald at a pawn shop which was sold to him for 25 cents. The following day Harry sold the stone for 800$ and thus made his first deal!
During this period Harry helped his father while continuing to attend school. Once he graduated, he devoted himself entirely to the family business and travelled to sell jewels.
In 1914, the Winstons went back to New York and Jacob opened a shop specialising in jewellery repair. Harry began his own business in 1916, at 19 years old. The name of the company was Premier Diamond Company, and its initial capital was 2,000$, an amount he saved by trading in diamonds.
He managed, in record time, to make his first profit – around 30,000$ in cash, jewels and precious stones – that he did not take long to lose when one of his employees ran away with all the company's assets!
In 1929, Harry's father died and he continued, alone now, his journey in the mythical world of fabulous precious stones, which he loved so much! …
The young jeweller was not discouraged. On the contrary, he realised very quickly that the times were open to audacious activities and he had his very first big success, thus beginning his spectacular rise to the top of Haute Joaillerie.
With his talent for entrepreneurship, he noticed that following the 1929 crisis, even the richest people were forced to sell their jewels at a price well below their actual value, as the fashion in settings had changed. He therefore began to buy jewels to recover the precious stones and to fit them on to more modern designs. The company grew and at the end of the 20's, he bought the famous collection of Arabella Huntington for 2,000,000$ and, in 1930 – in the middle of the deep economic Depression – the famous Baldwin collection, which included the remarkable 39-carat emerald!
Harry Winston's name appeared on the front page of newspapers, his fortune increased thanks to the very lucrative sale of jewels coming from all these historic collections and it was time for Harry to leave behind Premier Diamond Company, to found Harry Winston Inc, in 1932!
Consequently, the Harry Winston House developed, not only thanks to its creations of an exceptional beauty and priceless value, but also thanks to the masterly impressive size of precious stones (each historic stone weighing some hundreds of carats was brilliantly cut into several stones of huge value), its well-known clientele of royal families or artists (the first star who wore a jewel designed by Harry Winston at the Academy Awards Ceremony was Jennifer Jones in 1943, while even the famous Burton-Taylor diamond of 69 carats carried the HW signature), and the charity work of Harry and Edna, his wife, who donated historical stones of great value to the Smithsonian Institution several times.
Harry Winston died in 1978 and his wife Edna in 1986, after succeeding him at the head of the company. They left the House to their children, Ronald and Bruce who, unfortunately, were not able to continue the work of their parents together. Today, Harry Winston belongs to Aber Diamond Corp. while the company has been on the New York Stock Exchange since 2006, under the initials HWD.
The relationship between the House and Marilyn Monroe, through the songs of the legendary actress, remains a brand image which does not have any equivalent in the history of the star system or jewellery. One cannot forget the words dedicated to him in one of her songs: "Talk to me Harry Winston!"
Marilyn alone could thus personify the friends of beautiful watchmaking mechanics, as little more than a decade ago, the House of Harry Winston started to… talk to the heart of lovers of complicated watches with phenomenal creativity that could be regarded as a living example of what the traditional great names of the Haute Horlogerie offer to stay at the top of this highly competitive industry! The first watch presented by the Harry Winston House belonged to the collection "Ultimate Timepieces" dating back to 1989, while 6 years later, in 1995, Harry Winston tried to make his debut in the very closed industry that is Haute Horlogerie by presenting a remarkable watch, a technical piece one could say, the Perpetual Calendar Bi-retrograde, equipped with a movement which will remain one of the watch classics of Harry Winston.
But the true Harry Winston watchmaking revolution began in 2001, when the Head of Department of "Rare Timepieces", Maximilian Büsser, threw the Opus bomb (sorry, I meant collection) which revolutionized the watch collection of the House, and whose shockwaves travelled as far as the heart of Haute Horlogerie.
The idea was as simple as it was brilliant: the most qualified Master Watchmakers in the world, devoted themselves freely to a true watchmaking delirium… All sorts of ideas came out against this background of profitable competition, combining various complications and, each year, all the friends of Haute Horlogerie look forward with great impatience to the Opus innovation from Harry Winston.
Among the creators of the Opus watches were watchmakers who became the stars of the contemporary watchmaking industry, while among the Opus models, some world firsts were created, as well as watches which redefined the term "jewellery watch". Such is the case of Opus 9, a time-keeper that gives time by means of a diamond chain, while perfectly demonstrating what could be an ideal symbol of a jewellery watch!
At the same time as the Opus collection which has given us 12 models to date, (and their variations), one can also admire the Project Z collection of Harry Winston, which since 2004 introduced Zalium to the manufacturing of cases, the famous Tourbillons of the House and among them, the revolutionary "Tourbillon à Glissière", as well as the "History of Tourbillon" collection that presents true masterpieces of watchmaking art. Let's not forget the very beautiful diving models of the Ocean collection, which for a few years now has presented not only platinum models, but nowadays also models in Zalium of surprising beauty.
The Midnight collection, in a more romantic style, presents very elegant models, of which the most precious is undoubtedly Midnight Minute Repeater.
Let's not forget either the models which belong to the Premier collections (the first collection of watches of the House) and Avenue (with an oval shape case), as well as the great value watches, elegantly refined, typical of high jewellery for women, a continuation of the jewellery know-how of the House using noble metals and precious stones of irreproachable quality. In parallel, each year different techniques of watchmaking are put forward, from engraving and setting, to dial decoration using delicate feathers, the innovation of the year 2012. The Harry Winston watch collection offers a large variety and unique range of choice in the watchmaking world!…
In 2007, Harry Winston became a Manufacture and not just with an ordinary address but one in Plan-les-Ouates, the suburb of Geneva which is also the home of Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin. For five years now Plan-le-Ouates has been the site where the watchmaking heart of the American House also beats!
Since 2010 Frédéric de Narp has been the President of Harry Winston and the man who perfectly personifies the dream of jewellery perfection and passion for adventure, unceasingly renewed, and for innovation in watchmaking. Every year, in the BaselWorld, the annual meeting of the Swiss watchmaking industry, Harry Winston represents one of the rare poles of attraction in watchmaking with regard to complications, and this is without a doubt a major success.
Harry Winston managed to create watches as eternal as diamonds!…
If Marilyn was alive today, she would certainly add to the famous title "Diamonds are a girl's best friend", a new song that would go like this: "Watches are a boy's best friend"!…
Harry Winston personifies these two faces at the same time, with the same imagination and virtuosity!
Visit the YouTube Harry Winston page and watch the videos containing information regarding the company's products and activities.
Discover and enjoy high end technology applications for iPhone and iPad, simply by clicking, HERE.
Visit Harry Winston's official page on Facebook
Visit Harry Winston's official page on Google
Visit Harry Winston's official page on Weibo
Visit Harry Winston's official page on Pinterest
Visit Harry Winston's official page on Watchonista
The Harry Winston Ocean collection has always been very impressive consisting of sport, and particularly diving, models which were, however, made exclusively of platinum and 18K rose gold (Ocean Divers).
Even for a house with the reputation of Harry Winston's, presenting a diving watch made of platinum was a challenge!..
Over the last few years, the watch collection of the House of Harry Winston has developed into one of the most interesting in the field of Haute Horlogerie.
If one of the interesting parts of this high jewellery house is the presentation of innovative watches with an emphasis on original, and often revolutionary manufacture mechanisms, the other must surely be the use of new materials, but, one must also never forget the company's great designs.
Among the new materials, Zalium is in a class of its own. It is a metal with important features that the House of Harry Winston introduced to watchmaking, and which it has used exclusively since 2004, when the House presented the Project Z collection - containing watches that are made exclusively of Zalium - for the first time at BaselWorld.
Zalium was used to make the Ocean sport collection and offered the Harry Winston divers collection a new breath of success.
The design of the watch's dial could easily be considered one of the most three dimensional in the field, and offers a unique view into the mechanism, while a multitude of details complete the lovely whole: the use of the Clous de Paris motif creates a wonderful contrast with the imposing transparency of the dial; the sub-dial measuring the hours on the chronograph has the shape of a disc and seems to slide under the dial; the royal blue Shuriken symbol at 2 o'clock, particularly liked at the house of Harry Winston comes from the Japanese martial arts; the impressive minute and hour hands are also blue; the very special date indication at 12, and many other stylistic details make the Ocean Sport Chronograph a unique whole for 300 very elegant sports watch aficionados.
A strap made of rubber, as well as a rotating notched bezel, complete the picture of a diving watch that is waterproof at 200 metres below the surface of the sea.


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Genuine Apple. Retail Box. Product Information
This USB 2.0 cable connects your iPhone, iPad, or iPod with Lightning connector to your computer's USB port for syncing and charging or to the Apple USB Power Adapter for convenient charging from a wall outlet.
** Reversible design
What's in the Box?
** Apple Lightning to USB Cable

subset: commoncrawl


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After More Than a Decade, Congress Finally Sends Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act to President Obama for Signature
Statement of Angela Canterbury, Director of Public Policy, Project On Government Oversight:
Finally—after more than a decade of advocacy—Congress has enacted better protections for the brave truth-tellers who safeguard taxpayer dollars. Today, the Senate unanimously passed the long-beleaguered Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA, S. 743, as amended by the House). The WPEA closes many loopholes and upgrades protections for federal workers who blow the whistle on waste, fraud, abuse, and illegality. This opening salvo to the lame duck shows that Congress can put aside partisan posturing and deliver more government accountability to the American public. These hard-fought reforms will substantially improve the status quo for federal whistleblowers and taxpayers.
Finally, the WPEA is on its way to the President's desk for signature.
Passage in the Senate was made possible by the committed cosponsors of this legislation, their staff, and our allies. We cannot thank longtime whistleblower and federal worker champion Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) enough for his tireless efforts. He is retiring after many years of service and the WPEA certainly will be remembered as one of his most admirable legacies. We also thank the strong support of Sen. Akaka's cosponsors, especially the help provided in finding bipartisan agreement by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), and their dedicated staff. These Senate offices worked closely with their House colleagues to pass the bill in this usually contentious Congress. Reps. Issa (R-Calif.), Cummings (D-Md.), Platts (R-Pa.), and Van Hollen (D-Md.) were the primary cosponsors the House version of the bill. The House took up the Senate-passed bill S. 743, amended it, and then passed it unanimously on September 28 during a pro forma session.
While this compromise includes many significant reforms, it certainly does not include everything we have sought—or all that is needed. Because some new protections were stripped in the House, we urged President Obama to take executive action. On October 10, the President did what Congress did not and issued a landmark directive, extending whistleblower protections to many in the intelligence and national security community for the first time. We will continue to press the next Congress to put these and other much-needed reforms into statute.
However, every provision in the bill on its way to the President for signature is a common-sense reform that reflects a true bipartisan agreement to enhance protections for federal whistleblowers and increase government accountability to taxpayers. POGO has worked closely with our partners in the Make It Safe Coalition, and together we built a movement for this reform that included hundreds of organizational supporters as diverse as the federal employee unions and Americans for Tax Reform. Finally, together, we won the political support needed from the White House and Congress to restore and modernize the Whistleblower Protection Act.
It has been a long time coming, but the federal workers will have a better chance at real justice when they suffer from retaliation for exposing waste, corruption, and abuse. These courageous workers deserve no less for their service to us and our country.
Follow the link to read a summary of the reforms in S. 743.
Oversight in your inbox
Sent Saturdays


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Dec 31, 2010
In this end of year special the guys talk about the cancellation of Stargate Universe and the take some listener questions.
Week That Was
The End League, All Star Batman, The Return of Bruce Wayne, Batman Inc, Scott Pilgrim vs the World and Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The second part of our interview with...
Dec 31, 2010
After two episodes in October and none in November, the North East accents, squabbles and over-the-top jingles return with North East Geek Feast episode 7!
STARTER - Daniel and Lily welcome geeksyndicate.co.uk writer, Matt Pease (and a bit of microphone hiss), to the Feast to review The Amazing Spiderman 648 and...
Dec 25, 2010
Welcome to Episode 5 of The Naked Geek hosted by David Monteith
For the 2nd year running, The Naked Geek delivers an alternative Christmas speech.
Today's inspiration comes from The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks and Dr Fate from DC Comics by J M DeMatteis & Shawn McManus
For those who have bought the Geek Syndicate...
Dec 23, 2010
Episode 3. Simply Having A Wonderful Christmas Time! Here it is, the long awaited (by some) episode 3. See what Rich and Ben have in their festive sack for all you lucky people! Any feedback/recommendations can be sent email@example.com or to
Dec 23, 2010
Join the guys in their final show of 2010. This episode, we discuss some of the big news - including a look at Drake's Deception and Amaechi previews Dead Space 2.
Our main this week is a look back at the games of 2010, we pick our favourite games from a variety of categories before settling on The Next Level Game of...


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Grandstream GXP2160 Features and Functions:
- 6 Line appearances
- Support for G.722 HD Voice
- 4.3″ (480×272) TFT Color LCD Display
- Dual Gigabit RJ45 Ports
- Built-in auto sensing IEEE 802.3 af Power over Ethernet
- Supports PoE and a Universal Power Supply is Included
- RJ9 headset port
- 24 programmable BLF extension keys
- Support for Electronic Hook Switch (EHS) with Plantronics Headsets
Grandstream GXP2160 6-Line VoIP Phone
The Grandstream GXP2160 is a 6-line enterprise VoIP phone with advanced functionalities and performance. The GXP2160 features HD voice, dual Gigabit RJ45 ports and a 480×272 TFT color display which also for easy use of its integrated web applications.
Grandstream GXP2160 6-Line VoIP Phone Overview
The next generations Grandstream GXP2160 is an enterprise grade VoIP Phone that in addition to standard and advanced telephony functionality also features customizable applications. For telephony functionality the GXP2160 includes context-sensitive soft keys, HD audio quality, broad interoperability with SIP devices and more.
Some of the more advanced features that the GXP2160 includes are a TFT color LCD display, Dual Gigabit RJ45 ports with integrated PoE, Bluetooth and real-time web applications for checking RSS news, weather stocks and other features.


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What is the Best Option to Host your WordPress
May 21, 2019What is the Best Option to Host your WordPress
After years of experience managing WordPress websites, I found the best combination to have them secured hosted and 100% up online, this is: VULTR – SERVERPILOT
What is Vultr?
Vultr, founded in 2014, is on a mission to empower developers and businesses by simplifying the deployment of infrastructure via its advanced cloud platform. Vultr is strategically located in 16 datacenters around the globe and provides frictionless provisioning of public cloud, storage and single-tenant bare metal. Get your account Here: VULTR
What is ServerPilot?
ServerPilot is a cloud service for hosting WordPress and other PHP websites on servers at Vultr, DigitalOcean, Linode, Rackspace, or anywhere else. You can think of ServerPilot as a modern, centralized hosting control panel. Get your account Here: ServerPilot


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As seen on
Cancellation Policy
Cancellations are required at least 48 hours in advance in order to be eligible for a refund.
COVID-19 Policy & Procedures
CDR takes your safety very seriously. Our standard dungeon cleaning practices have always included cleaning products and techniques commonly used at medical facilities.
Since 2014 our daily and rental cleaning practices fall within how communicable disease experts are now suggesting communally used spaces should be cleaned in light of COVID-19.


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I've been taking a short blogging break this week. Frankly I'm just flat out with other work lately. Yesterday was meetings and preparation for a talk I gave today at Nashua Community College. I had a great time there because both before and after the talk I had a chance to talk to students in a casual environment. And well yes there was pizza too. One of the questions that often comes up when I talk to students, and a lot of adults as well, is what is it like to work at Microsoft? My work situation is a little less common than most but not as unusual as you might expect. Microsoft has a lot of people who work remotely where remote means from their own homes.
But most Microsoft people work in more traditional offices. These offices are literally all over the world and Microsoft has offices in a lot more places in the US than most people think. But the largest share of Microsoft employees work in the Seattle Washington area. Calling some of those buildings traditional may actually be a bit of a stretch though. Recently the Amazing Max (Agent 008) filmed a video tour of various buildings and campuses that Microsoft has in the Seattle area. Sure it is a recruiting sort of video but it really gives a view into what the Microsoft campus is like. I've been to most of the buildings Max tours and what he shows is how it is.
Check it out. I found it interesting, entertaining and informative. If you want to know what office conditions are like at Microsoft look here.


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We have an easy flow of energy within the body and spirit. The energy that springs upward from the lower chakras can continue its path enabling free expression and natural release. Darker shades of blue encourage the power of truth, while lighter shades carry the power of flexibility, relaxation, and balance. Labradorite, with its iridescent flashes of color, can be very beneficial in uniting all of the chakras.
Wearing or carrying Labradorite allows one's innate magical powers to surface. It enhances the mental and intuitive abilities of clairvoyance, telepathy, prophecy and coincidence control, and assists in communication with higher guides and spirits in accessing Akashic records, psychic readings and past-life recall. It provides an ease in moving between the worlds, and permits a safe and grounded return to the present.
Labradorite is a powerful protector of the aura, preventing energy leakage, and others from tapping into and draining your personal energy. It ensures all elemental forces are empowered and proportional within one's system. Referred to as the "temple of the stars," Labradorite is thought to bring the light of other planetary beings to the soul of the user.
Its labradorescence is believed to be of extra-terrestrial origins, and enclosed in the mineral to bring the evolved energies from other worlds to the Earth plane. [Crystalvaults]
This bracelet is imprinted with unconditional Divine LOVE and undergoes a rigorous process of creation. Each stone is carefully examined to assure highest quality of the cut, a cut designed to allow the light to pass through the stone. Because Labradorite stone's metaphysical properties activate with the amount of light that passes through it, it is of the essence to find the clearest and most perfect cut that allows maximum light to pass through the stone.Once the stones are selected they are then set into a Gold Plated Brass Bezel to hold them in place and to attach each stone to the other forming a bracelet. Once the bracelet is made it is then set onto the altar consisting of various items that purify the gemstones and prepare the bracelet for imprinting of Universal Love Energies. The imprinting of Love and Protective energies can take anywhere from 2 - 3 days depending on how the stars are aligned, and whether the ascended masters I work with are available to assist me.Once the infusion process is done with, the bracelet is then placed into a beautiful box which is once again, blessed by the masters for the journey to the recipient, the box is placed into the envelope which is sealed and yet again infused with an energetic layer of protection to arrive in pristine state to the recipient. Why Gold Plated Brass you might ask? The reason is that in spiritual and metaphysical traditions Brass is the metal that brings out natural good and inner truth while Gold increases the healing powers of each stone.Brass is Composed of Copper and Zinc: Copper is a wonderful physical conductor of electricity and heat, it is also considered the conductor of the spiritualist's belief system. Copper has the ability to conduct spiritual energy back and forth between individuals, crystals, auras, the mind and the spirit world. It is also believed that copper has the power to amplify thoughts when sending and receiving psychic communications. New Age followers carry copper with their stones and crystals to 'straighten' the properties of them, as well they are used when crating crystal wands to be certain of their clear and straight powers. Copper is also quite instrumental in the physical and mental healing rites of many peoples of this world.
Zink is good for the enhancement of overall life-forces as well as building confidence, strength, and courage; provides for the synthesis of personal power, physical energy, and creativity, producing a stimulation of the electric currents within the body, and facilitating a removal of energy blockages; it is said to be beneficial to furthering relationships on the physical plane; enhances passion and Gold, to increase the healing powers of stones depend on cycles to fulfill their manifestation.
This bracelet has 9 genuine gemstones of different shapes and sizes approximately 18mm x 14mm in size. The number of gemstones in each bracelet is VERY significant as each number carries specific energies behind it. According to Universeofsymbolism.com : 9 is a number of cosmic consciousness It is a spiritual doorway to awaking of higher self to alignment of all that is, was and ever will be The spiritual blessing of number 9 opens one to higher awareness of self and Divine purpose.
To Learn more about this Bracelet please click here.
Start Shopping
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Cajun Phrases
Andouille and Boudin (ahn-doo-ee and boo dan)
Two types of Cajun sausage. Andouille is made with pork, boudin with pork and rice. Sociologists recognize two major categories of Cajuns; "River" (for andouille); and the "Bayou" (for boudin) ***
Beignet (bin-yay)
A fritter or strangely shaped doughnut without a hole, sprinkled with powdered sugar. A New Orleans favorite***
Bouquet Garni (boo-kay gar-nee)
An herb bouquet. A small cheesecloth bag containing 1 large bay leaf, teaspoon thyme, teaspoon dried basil, about 8 sprigs fresh parsley, teaspoon dried tarragon, 3 chopped green celery tops, 6 whole peppercorns and a slashed clove of garlic used in Cajun cooking**
Bouree' (boo-ray)
Popular Cajun card game, sometimes called "Cajun Bridge" ***
C'est la vie (say la vee)
"That's life" ***
Café Noir (caf ay nwah) & Café-au-lait (caf-ay-o-lay)
Black coffee or coffee and milk or cream ***
Cajun Cooking Robust,
inventive cooking evolved by the Acadian settlers rooted in resourcefulness, use of available ingredients and "made do" in artful ways **
Cajuns Bayou (by-you or by-yo)
A sluggish stream bigger than a creek and smaller than a river ***
Cher (sha)
Term of endearment or "my sweet" ***
Cochon de lait (coo-shon duh lay)
An event where a suckling pig is roasted over a blistering hickory fire until the inside is tender and juicy and the outside brittle as well-cooked bacon **
Comme ci, Comme ca (come-se, come sah)
So-so ***
Crawfish-crayfish (craw-fish)
A small fresh water crustacean related to the lobster**
Several definitions exist: in Louisiana, a Creole is a white person descended from French and Spanish settlers or a person of mixed European and African blood. It's also a style of cooking and architecture Etouffée (ay too fay) Method of cooking something (usually shrimp or crawfish) smothered in chopped vegetables over low flame, tightly covered until tender **
Fais-do-do (fay-doh-doh)
A type of street dance derived from European religious festivals. Originally called Festival of God.*
Grillades (gree yahds)
Beef or veal round steak, browned, then simmered until tender in browned tomato sauce served over rice or grits**
Gumbo (gum bo)
Thick, savory soup with chicken, seafood, sausage or wild game ***
Hush puppies
A cornbread-type of mixture, formed into balls and fried until crispy on the outside**
Jambalaya (jum buh lie uh)
Highly-seasoned mixture of any of several combinations of seafood, meat, poultry, sausage and vegetables, simmered with raw rice until liquid is absorbed**
Joie de vivre (zhwah duh viv-re)
"The joy of living" the attitude of our citizens that permeates our lifestyle***
Lagniappe (lan yap)
An old Creole word for "something extra." Soup meat is the lagniappe from vegetable soup preparation.**
Laissez les bons temps rouler (lay-say lay bawn tawn roo-lay)
"Let the good times roll" the motto of many Louisianans***
Pirogue (pee-rogue)
Cajun canoe, originally made from a dug-out cypress log***
Roux (roo)
Basic ingredient of many Louisiana recipes. Essentially seasoned flour browned in a skillet***
Zydeco (zy-duc-coh)
Lively variant of Cajun music derived from the word haricot, French for string bean
* * From the Louisiana Experience by Mary Alice Fontenot & Julie Landry
** From the Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cuisine by John D. Folse
*** From the Louisiana Office of Tourism


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This website presents 100 audio interviews with people with diabetes, members of their families and healthcare professionals. New interviews, with family members and healthcare professionals, have been added to the original interviews with people with diabetes. The original interviews can still be found easily by clicking on the menu above or button below. They talk with passion and humour about their experiences from the late 1920s until the first decade of the 21st century and provide a unique oral history of life with diabetes and changes in treatment over eight decades.
Their stories are offered as a resource for historians, healthcare professionals, people with diabetes and their families, and all those interested in the ways people remember and make sense of their lives. This resource is available free, but by using this site you are agreeing to our terms of use.
We provide full unedited recordings, short audio samples, written summaries, full transcripts, an inter-active database, and facilities to search for words, phrases and subjects. The menu also includes a glossary and a page of items provided by the interviewees (Extras). The transcripts contain notes of slips of the tongue and other mistakes and omissions, but we recommend listening to the voices too, because accents, intonations and emphases convey more than writing.
The website is based at the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (OCDEM) and was funded by the Wellcome Trust. It has won Oxford University's 'IT in Teaching and Learning Award' and been chosen by the Wellcome Trust as a 'Research Highlight'
Getting Started The interviews are divided into three categories. If you want to search one of these and read an introduction to it, then click on your chosen category below.
Oral History of Diabetes © 2005 - 2016 | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Built by Within


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Bad Cheer
I can't do it for you, but I can show you how. It's easy. Just stop treating your employees like employees -- or, for that matter, like human beings with dignity -- and start treating them like pro cheerleaders.
Consider Sarah, a former professional cheerleader I spoke to last week. She's a pretty young woman. Pretty smart, too. College grad, self-starter, hard worker. Bit of a fitness buff. A few years ago, she joined a professional cheer squad. At first, she was ecstatic. The job seemed glamorous. Almost like a privilege. She felt admired by fans. Looked up to by little girls. Closer to family members who had played college football. Sometimes, she felt beautiful, she says, like she was "the epitome of the All-American girl."
Then reality set in.
The gig required Sarah to take fitness classes, maintain a winter tan, get her hair and makeup done by professionals. She had to pay those costs out of her own pocket. She spent six to eight hours a week practicing dance routines with her teammates. As far as she knows, no one was paid for that time. Over a seven-month period, she made more than a dozen public appearances with the cheer squad, promoting ... the cheer squad. She wasn't paid for those, either. She appeared in a swimsuit calendar and sold at least 100 copies herself -- didn't see a dime. Received a single complimentary copy.
At the end of the NFL season, Sarah claims, she finally received a paycheck, for a whopping $375. Her expenses for the year totaled more than $2,500.
One night, during an unpaid promotional appearance, Sarah says she found herself standing on a downtown street corner, T-shirt rolled up to her bra line, holding a sign that featured the name of a nearby bar -- a human billboard in tiny boy shorts. "That's when it hit me I was being used," she says, "and how little everything I was doing had to do with bringing positive energy to a football game."
Within pro football, Sarah's story is hardly unique. This year, current and former cheerleaders from five different NFL teams have filed lawsuits against their employers, alleging (among other things) that the teams failed to pay minimum wages, instead paying as little as $2.85 an hour; that they forced cheerleaders to cover their own business expenses; that they imposed illegal fines for workplace infractions such as gaining five pounds; that they auctioned off cheerleaders as golf tournament prizes, which meant sitting in men's laps; that they required cheerleaders to sell at least 30 copies of a swimsuit calendar but shared none of the profits; and in the case of the Buffalo Bills, that cheerleaders were subjected to a weekly "jiggle test," in which cheer coaches "scrutinized the women's stomach, arms, legs, hips and butt while she does jumping jacks." That last lawsuit, against the Bills, also references a cheer squad handbook that explains in detail how to wash one's vagina.
You might find all of this alleged employer behavior creepy, maybe even illegal and immoral. You wouldn't be wrong, and you wouldn't be alone.
But that's not why you're here. You're here to exploit someone, probably because you're a terrible person -- possibly even a sociopath! And it turns out there's good news for you. The world of NFL cheerleading is a terrific case study in how to get over on people. Here's how it's done.
Screw 'em with semantics
Sure, cheerleaders wear your corporate logo, perform at your primary place of business, represent your organization in the larger community, help drive clicks at your company website, but whatever you do, don't call your workers employees. Or professional dancers. Call them volunteers. Or independent contractors. Or even atmosphere producers. Refer to all those mandatory appearances at hospitals as voluntary. Working hours spent rearranging furniture in the team office or selling preseason game tickets? Those are called charity appearances.
It's verbal alchemy in reverse, spinning gold into straw. If you can define work as anything but, then you might not have to pay for it. "When we made the team, we were supposed to be paid $50 per appearance and do at least three charity appearances," Sarah says. "But every time we would show up at an appearance, we would be told it was for charity. It turned into a lot of promotional modeling -- we would go into bars in our uniforms and then put on clothes with logos of Miller Lite or other companies, and then walk around and hand things out and not get paid for it. Which was really demeaning."
Manipulate their emotions
Those weigh-ins and jiggle tests are top-notch tools of emotional manipulation. Just like the football coach who withholds love, praise and respect -- like a distant father figure -- in order to milk extra effort out of his players, a cheerleading coach can foster unquestioning compliance by hitting the body-image button early and often.
During her first cheer squad meeting, Sarah says, each member of the team was given a handout ranking the entire team from highest to lowest, in categories like "best hair," "overall facial beauty" and "swimsuit physique."
"There were a lot of tears," she says. "It was like 10 pages long, with charts and diagrams. That was kind of extreme. To a girl in her early 20s, that will kill you."
Sarah and her teammates also were given the result of a body-composition exam. Sarah's BMI score was "underweight." Her body fat percentage was at the low end of the range typically associated with Olympic athletes. "Those numbers are really low," she says. "If I went into a doctor's office, they would have said, 'You need to gain some weight.' It's possible that I couldn't have had children at that point." And? "The coaches told me I was perfect where I was at."
Remind 'em that they're fungible
After a few months of -- ahem -- charity work, Sarah says, her teammates would roll their eyes whenever the team's coaches mentioned an upcoming paid appearance. "We knew we would not get paid," she says. Still, no one spoke up. The reason? "We were afraid," she says. "We didn't want to lose a spot on the team."
Cheerleading, like many industries, is a numbers game rigged against the talent. The number of attractive young women who would like to cheer is far greater than the number of available roster spots. So don't be afraid to share the math with your atmosphere producers. Constantly remind them that their hard work, dedication, dancing skill, positive attitude, PR savvy, good looks and self-financed tans are essentially commodities, replaceable at any time and for any reason. Instill a sense of perpetual insecurity, and don't ever let them know that you'd be in trouble if they decided to walk out en masse.
Consider the example of Mimi Kilpatrick, a former Tampa Bay Bucs cheerleader. In an interview with Lane DeGregory of the Tampa Bay Times, Kilpatrick recalled avoiding "corporate Christmas parties and golf carts" -- not because the team received $200 per cheerleader for public appearances but only paid out $75 to said cheerleaders, but because of lecherous men and "a lot of inappropriate touching."
Did the Bucs organization encourage its cheerleaders to protect themselves from sexual harassment? Not the way it should have, Kilpatrick says. Did the cheerleaders demand change? Nope.
"We didn't want to make waves," Kilpatrick told the Times. "... I knew if I left -- or complained -- there were 100 other women out there who wanted to take my spot."
Control as much as you can
Make some rules. Then make more. Tell cheerleaders to "shake hands for about three seconds, be firm, and be web to web," keep nail polish pads in their cars "for emergencies," and "strategically move" meals they dislike around their dinner plates. Don't attend parties at players' homes, don't bring dates to the office Christmas party, don't drink at the office Christmas party, don't wear "clips or tie-backs" in their hair. Use the phrase oh my goodness instead of oh my God, don't use slang, never "complain" or be "overly opinionated" about anything. Never discuss "politics or religion" while dining, never "overeat bread at a formal setting," never "ask for cash gifts as wedding gifts." Avoid "excessive sniffling" and "too many arm movements."
"I know that some teams even require their cheerleaders to have full-time jobs," Sarah says. "Which is probably so they can pay for things."
Exercising near-total control will benefit you in two ways. First, the more rules you have, the more fines you can levy when your volunteer football enthusiasts inevitably break them.
The Raiders, for example, allegedly fined their cheerleaders $10 to $125 for forgetting to bring their pom-poms to practice or showing up late. If a woman weighed too much or was "photographing heavy" -- a wonderful phrase that can mean whatever you want it to mean -- she would be informed right before kickoff that she was benched for the day. Without pay, of course. Raiders cheerleaders reportedly were promised a lump sum of $1,250 at the end of the season. They also were given a handbook that warned them it was possible to "find yourself with no salary at all at the end of the season."
As for the second benefit, just remember this: When your workers are expending copious amounts of cognitive bandwidth on the amount of bread they're eating -- plus the decidedly non-Zen riddle of how many arm movements are too many, really? -- while simultaneously worrying about getting dinged for misplaced pom-poms -- they won't have much time left to wonder why they're getting fined for a bunch of bulls--- in the first place, or why their pay amounts to peanuts.
Instead, they'll simply grow accustomed to following orders. That makes telling them to hand out stuff at bars for no compensation a whole lot easier.
Use their peers against them
Within the context of hostage-taking, psychologists use the term Stockholm syndrome to describe the phenomenon of hostages having positive feelings for -- and even identifying with -- their captors. Obviously, cheerleaders aren't literal hostages. And lousy pay and work conditions aren't the same thing as a gun to one's head. Still, you cultivate a similar emotional response. In ESPN the Magazine, Amanda Hess explains how:
… the strong camaraderie among professional cheerleaders was a selling point for recruiting dancers, but it was also a strategy for keeping the women in line … a cheerleader who failed to pull her weight risked more than her spot on the team -- the Raiderettes were told that any personal failure could endanger the future of the entire squad, bringing down the sisterhood for good. "Fans would come to see the games whether or not we had cheerleaders," the handbook reminded them. Fail to follow the squad's instructions to a T and the team might decide that the whole cheerleading enterprise is "too much trouble to deal with …"
… since news of the lawsuit went public on Jan. 22, neither the Raiders nor the NFL has made a peep to the media. [They wouldn't comment for this story either.] But a group of former Raiderettes took to social media and local and national news to publicize their own perspectives on the team. "We are horrified that this Bitter Betty is suing the organization where we created lasting friendships and a Sisterhood, a *family bond*, that only another Raiderette can fully understand," alumna Teri McCollum wrote. Anjelah Johnson, another former Raiderette and a comedian, put it more pointedly to a local radio station: "In the barrio, when you turn your back on the gang, you get stitches" …
"In college, I took a class on cults," Sarah says. "There are some parallels with cheerleading. Especially with the money -- like, where is it going? But also the sense of identity, of being part of a team. That's cult-like. Be exploited and not realize it."
Dangle a winning lottery ticket
Actors Teri Hatcher and Charisma Carpenter got their starts as NFL cheerleaders. So did Bachelorette contestant Melissa Rycroft and former ESPN fitness show host Kiana Tom. You don't have to offer them a fair deal, because you're offering them a platform. A chance to get noticed and make it big, even if the odds of that actually happening are as puny as your season-ending paychecks. People will work for tangible compensation, but they'll work harder for unfulfilled promises, suffer longer for intangible benefits.
"Why did I even do it?" Sarah says. "It's that intangible thing. I got caught up in the idea of feeling sexy, athletic and wholesome, all at the same time. Plus, that feeling of when you want something, and you work really hard for it and you get there. Still, there shouldn't have to be lawsuits to pay minimum wage."
At this point, maybe you're having second thoughts. Maybe you feel like taking advantage of young women like Sarah just because you can is … you know … wrong. Banish those thoughts from your mind. The truth is, everyone's doing it, in ways big and small, to greater and lesser degrees. Exploitation is all the rage. It's All-American, really.
It's the NCAA and its member schools, collecting billions in television revenue and handing out multimillion-dollar coaching and athletic director contracts while colluding to restrain the pay of amateur student-athletes. It's Bleacher Report and the Huffington Post building valuable online properties on the backs of unpaid writers; media giants, Hollywood studios and others milking unpaid "interns" who do employee-level work. It's companies reclassifying de facto employees as "independent contractors" to dodge Social Security and worker's compensation costs; it's retailers and fast food restaurants screwing employees out of overtime pay; and even the San Francisco Giants shorting dozens of clubhouse and administrative workers out of more than $500,000 in wages.
Don't worry about a backlash, either. Plenty of people will defend you, including the very people you're exploiting. It can't be exploitation, they'll insist, not when people are lining up for your non-job jobs. Not when you aren't literally putting a gun to someone's head. Just ask Sarah.
Actually, don't bother. "Sarah" isn't her real name, of course. At the end of our conversation, she told me that she wanted to remain anonymous. Why? "I might want to try out for another team again," she says. "I have to think about it." And therein lies the real trick. If you want to take advantage of someone, use your power. And if you want to exploit them completely, use theirs.


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The light of the sun, the moon, and the stars shines bright:
The melody of love swells forth, and the rhythm of love's detachment beats the time.
Day and night, the chorus of music fills the heavens; and Kabîr says
"My Beloved One gleams like the lightning flash in the sky."
Do you know how the moments perform their adoration?
Waving its row of lamps, the universe sings in worship day and night,
There are the hidden banner and the secret canopy:
There the sound of the unseen bells is heard.
Kabîr says: "There adoration never ceases; there the Lord of the Universe sitteth on His throne."
– Kabir, The Light of the Sun
- Kabir at Poetseers.org


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(Baku) – The government of Azerbaijan has forcibly evicted homeowners and demolished their homes for urban development projects in Baku, the capital, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Dozens of families have been evicted from the neighborhood where the arena for the May 2012 Eurovision Song Contest is being built.
The report, "'They Took Everything from Me': Forced Evictions, Unlawful Expropriations, and House Demolitions in Azerbaijan's Capital," documents the authorities' illegal expropriation of properties and forcible evictions of dozens of families in four Baku neighborhoods, at times without warning or in the middle of the night. The authorities subsequently demolished homes, sometimes with residents' possessions inside. The government has refused to provide homeowners fair compensation for the properties, many of which are in highly desirable locations. Azerbaijani law stipulates that market value should be paid in compensation for a forced sale.
"The Azerbaijani government is not just demolishing homes, it's destroying peoples' lives," said Jane Buchanan, senior Europe and Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch and author of the report. "It should immediately stop illegal expropriations, evictions, and demolitions and compensate the people who have been evicted for both the loss of their homes and emotional suffering."
The evictions have been carried out for a variety of projects, including construction of parks, roads, luxury housing, a parking garage, and a shopping center.
The authorities forcibly evicted Arzu Adigezalova, 41, a math teacher and a single mother of two young children, without warning from her apartment next to the National Flag Square in the pre-dawn hours of October 29, 2011.
"I woke up because the building was shaking and I could hear something like thunder," Adigezalova told Human Rights Watch. "I took the kids and went outside. [I went up to] the official in charge and asked him to give us time to take our belongings out. He looked at me and said, 'OK,' but then in the next moment said to the bulldozer driver, 'Break it down!'"
Adigezalova frantically tried to collect her belongings and take them out of the building, but lost many of her family possessions.
The eviction campaign accelerated in recent months in the seaside National Flag Square area, one of the four neighborhoods covered in the report. It is adjacent to the construction site for the Baku Crystal Hall, the modern, glass-encased arena for the May 2012 Eurovision Song Contest. The annual televised competition features music acts from 56 countries in and around Europe.
The government's actions to clear residents from the National Flag Square area intensified after May 2011, when Azerbaijan won the contest and as a result became host to the 2012 event.
"Eurovision gives the government an opportunity to showcase Baku to thousands of visitors and millions of television viewers," Buchanan said. "But instead, Azerbaijan's government is showcasing its disregard for human rights by forcing people from their homes steps away from the contest site. With heightened visibility there will be more scrutiny, so it's in the government's interest to change its course."
When a Baku property is slated for expropriation and demolition, the government typically offers residents monetary compensation or resettlement. However, in cases documented by Human Rights Watch, some homeowners did not receive compensation or resettlement offers. Others stayed in their homes after they received meager offers from the government that they were unwilling to accept.
In some cases, the authorities have forcibly evicted remaining residents with little or no notice and then immediately demolished their houses or apartment buildings. Large numbers of police and other government officials surrounded the buildings and filled the stairwells in some instances, then forcibly entered apartments and removed residents. In at least three cases police detained residents in police stations while workers demolished the buildings. The homeowners returned to find their possessions buried in a pile of rubble.
In other cases government officials have arrived without warning with a bulldozer and other machinery at night or in pre-dawn hours, ordered home owners to vacate immediately, and then began demolishing their homes.
In several cases documented by Human Rights Watch, the authorities have demolished homes in violation of court injunctions or while court cases challenging the intended demolitions were pending.
In many cases, including in the National Flag Square area, the government has cut services or begun dismantling apartment buildings in which some residents remained. These measures make the buildings uninhabitable and compel residents to leave.
Homeowners in several buildings told Human Rights Watch that workers removed roofs and windows, exposing them to rain, snow, and cold. When the authorities cut electricity and water in one building in the National Flag Square area in January 2012, residents resorted to melting snow for water.
"In the course of its expropriation and evictions program, the government has shown an astonishing disregard for the dignity, health, and safety of homeowners and their families," Buchanan said.
The permanent or temporary removal of individuals, families, or communities against their will from the homes or land they occupy without providing access to appropriate legal or other protection is considered a forced eviction under international law. Forced evictions should be carried out only in exceptional circumstances and undertaken solely to promote the general welfare and only in accordance with national law and international standards.
"Governments have the right, in some very limited instances, to expropriate property for compelling state needs," Buchanan said. "But what the authorities are doing in Baku violates national and international law: they are evicting homeowners on a dramatic scale, in some cases for completely non-essential purposes."
In the course of its research, Human Rights Watch contacted the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which oversees the Eurovision Song Contest, regarding the expropriations, forced evictions, and demolitions in the National Flag Square area to build a road and park that are expected to serve as entry points for fans to access the Baku Crystal Hall. The EBU sought to distance itself, citing the "apolitical" nature of the contest and the government's argument that the construction is not tied to the event.
Human Rights Watch said that EBU affiliate members should urge the EBU, including the Eurovision Reference Group, to press authorities to resolve, fairly and transparently, all complaints related to expropriations, evictions, and demolitions near the Baku Crystal Hall.
Azerbaijan's international partners, including key governments and multilateral development banks, should urge the government to stop its campaign of expropriation and evictions and ensure that any future actions respect national and international law.
Azerbaijan's international partners also should call on the government to urgently establish a fair and transparent mechanism to resolve the complaints of evicted homeowners and residents, and to reassess the compensation offered to those who lost their homes and possessions.
"Eurovision and the Azerbaijani government can claim the evictions are not connected to preparations for the song contest, but if the government hopes to see a successful event, they need to end the human rights abuses going on in plain view of the contest site," Buchanan said. "Throwing families out of their homes so close by risks casting a shadow over the contest."


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« ABC letter expresses concern over quality of New York regulation | Home | Is this the kind of acting career Rampage wants to give UFC up for to pursue? »
"We're the most tested sport in the world" ain't cutting it no more
By Zach Arnold | April 4, 2012
- UFC's current stance on the testosterone issue – not much of a plan
- Testosterone MMA HOF grows as backers ramp up the rhetoric
- Keith Kizer: Rampage's testosterone cheerleading has led to more TUE requests
- Mike Kogan has had enough of Rampage's complaining w/ UFC
- Did Rampage name-drop his UFC-friendly doctor?
- Rampage suddenly says the magic of T isn't helping his knees
- How UFC can play the testosterone card against Rampage
- Testosterone capitulation: The UFC, Rampage, & Fighters Only
- Rampage's exquisite timing in making his 'final stand' against UFC
- One enemy too many: UFC testosterone narrative backfiring
- Mood swings: Rampage rages against UFC
- Rampage Jackson admits TRT usage, claims his doctor works for UFC
- Five questions the media should ask about UFC testosterone story
- Victor Conte: Ongoing testosterone fiasco will haunt UFC; Dave Meltzer says Bristol Marunde fought on Strikeforce show w/ TUE for testosterone
What's that, you say? MMA doesn't have a major drug problem? MMA doesn't have a major scandal brewing over testosterone usage?
Alistair Overeem reportedly tested over a 10/1 T/E ratio for high testosterone levels on a Nevada drug test today. He's out of his upcoming fight against Junior dos Santos in late May. Since Overeem hadn't been licensed yet by Nevada, he can't be suspended — he just can't get licensed. As Victor Conte recently noted, 6:1 T/E levels is practically rolling out a red carpet. To fail that standard is utterly confounding.
You can look at this development in one of two ways: a) the current drug testing protocols being used are working or b) if this many fighters are failing a standard IQ test, imagine what the hell would be revealed using a combination of blood testing & Carbon Isotope Ratio urine testing.
I choose door B. Keith Kizer will go around parading that his 'out of competition' drug testing works when basically he did the minimum by waiting for a bunch of fighters to show up in Nevada for a presser and then bringing out the urine collectors there. That's not exactly 'out of competition' testing by traditional standards.
No wonder guys are crying foul about hypogonadism and trying to get a proverbial hall pass from athletic commissions to use testosterone as opposed to taking their chances just using a standard Vitamin S diet. The S means… Strikeforce… yeah, that's the ticket.
Rich Hansen (MMA Torch): Let's level the playing field in MMA by having mandatory testosterone usage
A person I respect very much tried to make the argument to me the other day in defense of TRT passes from AC's and it can be paraphrased like this: "We know guys are using and aren't getting caught, so we might as well encourage guys coming forward for some sort of regulation." I view this as the 'let's legalize prostitution, let's legalize marijuana use' viewpoint. The problem with this is that those activities are about your personal activity. If you want to do those activities at your own risk, then so be it. But using testosterone and getting into a cage to beat the hell out of another fighter? That's an issue of public safety and not simply individual responsibility.
There's a very simply solution for fighters, promoters, and athletic commissions who want to clean up the sport – work with associations like USADA & the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association, two organizations that do have the tools to test for the proper drugs that should be scrutinized. Trying to mete out punishment for a guy over marijuana metabolites on the same level as a steroid user is preposterous.
The biggest change in terms of drug testing for combat sports needs to be a tactical change. There should be a heavy emphasis on drug testing before a fight happens as opposed to simply waiting until after the fight actually occurs. If this is a health & safety issue (which it is), then out-of-competition drug testing combined with CIR/blooding testing protocols is the responsible method of drug testing. The current pre-fight/post-fight urine drug testing standards being used now simply is more about routine than it is about really attacking the problem of drug usage itself. The whole point of drug testing should be to keep the drug users out of the ring/cage and from brutalizing opponents while using PEDs.
As for what the media can do to help shine a light on drug use in the sport? Simple — start naming names of mark doctors who are hooking the fighters up with drugs. Put the spotlight on the drug fixers. If they want to be mark doctors, then call their bluff and out them. Give them the spotlight and let's see if the old adage 'be careful what you wish for' applies for these doctors who like the fame of being associated with their favorite fighters.
However, will that happen? I have my doubts. The most common headline for today's developments? "UFC boss irate with Alistair Overeem over failed drug test."
There was an interesting quote from Dana White in this Kevin Iole article at Yahoo that just went online:
"We have to have a rapport with these guys," White told Yahoo! Sports Wednesday. "We're not the police, we're not the commission, we're not their mothers or their fathers. If you do something stupid, at least be honest with us so we can help you deal with it and fix it.
"He lied straight to our faces. That has me so [expletive] angry, I can't even tell you. He said to us, 'The last thing you have to worry about is me popping. I'm the most-tested athlete in the world.' Yeah, [expletive] right."
Interesting that Dana says he's not the commission because, guess what, for many shows UFC is the commission. One of the major poster boys of testosterone usage, Chael Sonnen, is fighting in Brazil this Summer against Anderson Silva. Notice Chael's not fighting in California, Nevada, or New Jersey? Rampage admitted that he fought at UFC Japan while using testosterone. Other guys who are using TRT also fought on overseas UFC events.
Bottom line — it's getting harder by the day for people in the sport to MMA to defend the drug culture that currently exists. As Beau Dure adroitly noted, the MMA media's stance of legalizing PED usage is in stark contrast to how writers in major sports feel about the issue. There's great irony in seeing boosters of baseball get worked up over someone using testosterone in order to hit a homerun while boosters of MMA shrug at PED usage in a sport where one punch or kick could permanently disable an opponent.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 50 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
50 Responses to ""We're the most tested sport in the world" ain't cutting it no more"
The UFC always puts the brand before the fighter. It's obvious the UFC brass doesn't care what you use as long as you don't get busted and embarrass them.
But now these failed test are reaching a level that will hurt the UFC brand. Before they could say, "it's a lone wreck less fighter". Now it's too many. Dana and Lorenzo will have to act to protect their precious brand.
To me that's the key to get them to actually do something about it.
Do they care about the sport? I think they do.
Do they care more about the brand and what that means for their bottom line long term? Much more.
The must realize by now that this is a threat to their brand. If not, They're in big trouble.
These fighters who keep on getting caught lately are because of the Strikeforce purchase.
Steroids don\'t make you the Hulk. You\'re not going to punch through a guys skull on TRT. the \"public safety/somebody will get hurt\" line is kind of silly.
There is no proof that a guy will get hurt vs a juiced fighter anymore than a non-juiced one.
Typically when these guys get caught they lose. And I\'m willing to bet the \'Reem would have lost too.
wow.. are you serious??
they dont call them PERFORMANCE ENHANCING drugs for no reason.. for every 1 guy that gets caught there's like 5+ that job the system you dont think there's a champ that uses and cycles perfectly…. obviously reem was using something to help him train harder longer and recover faster making him wayyyy more dangerous than the average fighter….
So instead of going after a guy whose been suspected for years of taking steroids and hiding out in Japan to not get tested. You decide to turn this into yet another UFC bashing article, seriously Zach you've lost it and need to get a grip. The only thing not cutting it anymore is you right now and this is the latest example of that very fact.
Look, here's the deal. This isn't one of those issues where one party is wearing a black hat, one party is wearing a white hat, and everyone knows who is who. There are multiple parties here with multiple varying interests, and every single one of them is in the wrong to one degree or another.
Overeem is (allegedly) wrong for (allegedly) pissing (allegedly) hotter than Death Valley in summer (allegedly).
The commissions are wrong for setting their standards so low that they aren't issuing drug tests, they're IQ tests.
The UFC is in the wrong because if they truly cared about stomping out PED usage and testosterone abuse, they'd spend 1% of their profits in an effort to eradicate it. Instead, they choose to look the other way and pass the buck in as passive of a manner as possible.
And of course, the UFC is nothing if not passive in all of their dealings that have an impact on their bottom line. They don't aggressively compete, they tolerate all dissent, and they never draw a line in the sane on anything.
Zach isn't writing a UFC-bashing column here. all he's doing is highlighting the fact that there's more than one bad guy here.
The general party line is like this: Something bad happens. People gang up and attack one party. Then that issue disappears and is forgotten. Then the next bad thing happens, rinse and repeat.
But an issue like this needs to have all the individual incidents tied together, and to then be treated as one big scandal. And that's what I see here. And Zach, feel free to correct me if I'm off base there.
Personally, I don't give a damn if it's all legal, or all illegal, or if there are minimal punishments, or lifetime bans for the slightest of infractions or whatever. I just want transparency and consistency, and not to see punishment handed out on a case by case basis, based on how a certain fighter gets along with management/commissioners/etc.
If he was actually doing that then i'd have no problem, but he's not. All he's done is have a 1 man crusade against the UFC and bashing them at every turn because of his own obssession with the subject. The fact that he's reaching now to use something that is Overeems fault not the UFC to continue that attack exposes him even more.
Everyone knows that the AC's are testing and while I have alot of problem with them it is what it is. Like Dana says is you fail a test you are an idiot and Overeem whose on the NSAC crosshairs should have known better. This is on him nobody else, to try and blame the UFC whose actually caught guys who are names like Leben is a bunch of crap.
The best part about the internet is that if you don't like what is being written, you can go somewhere else.
I find the UFC testosterone situation to be something that is bound to find a much bigger audience sooner rather than later. ESPN got UFC all hot and bothered with the issue of fighter's pay but imagine if they covered this hard. Imagine if Congress got involved like they did with MLB.
Zach's ahead of this story and you just don't like it because you don't mind dudes doping to get stronger and faster and then attempting to do physical harm to someone else. That's your cold, heartless issue to deal with not Zach's editorial issue.
What we are seeing is very simple…. And while Zuffa might get the brunt of the abuse in the media… It is hardly their fault.
Since Zuffa purchased Strikeforce, 4 of their current or past champions have failed drug tests. Those 4 fighters are Alistair Overeem, Cyborg Santos, Muhammad Lawal, & Nick Diaz. If Zuffa never purchased Strikefoce, this really wouldn't be an issue….
Notice how the fighters who came up in the UFC system are barely getting caught for banned substances. They professionally grew up in the testing states and have learned not to piss hot.
Strikeforce put on many shows in either non testing or weak commission states. Because of this, the fighters never had to learn how to curb their drug uses. In a year, this influx of positive tests will be over. The Strikeforce fighters will have had to change their behavior and we won't be seeing half as many positive tests.
The real debate is not about the UFC here. WE KNOW THEY CATCH CHEATERS. They do so in foreign countries. They do so by putting on fights in strong commission states.
Go look at what Bellator is doing right now. Putting on shows in either weak commission states or on Indian Reservations. When is the last time we have even heard about a Bellator fighter being tested for a banned substance?
You want to talk about a steroid issue. Start with the company that is on TV and literally has no barriers to stop drug use.
Look at the other 5 fighters tested. Mir, Velasquez, Nelson, JDS, & Silva.
4 of those guys are UFC fighters with 6 or more fights. The only guy coming from Strikeforce besides Overeem was Antonio Silva. And he has already pissed hot before. So the commission has already curbed his drug issues.
Not a shock that the former Strikeforce Champion…. Who already avoided a drug test for his UFC debut for over a week…. Was the one who pissed hot.
This is a Strikeforce fighters being cheaters issue. Nothing more nothing less. That is quickly correcting itself as they are put under the scrutiny of more drug testing.
And for the people who think everybody is on PED's…. If you understand anything about cycling, then EVERY ONE of those 6 fighters should have pissed hot if they were cycling properly for their fights.
But they didn't piss hot….
Not as much of a problem when you think of it this way.
Once again… A short term Strikeforce problem….
UFC Huddle always shows up ready to serve up some damage control.
Ironically it's Bas Boon's birthday today
So are you saying this is not a Strikeforce acquisition problem?
The established UFC fighters have no problems passing drug tests on the whole. It's the new Strikeforce guys who face more drug testing as the UFC takes them into tougher AC states.
That is the only problem here.
The UFC Is the sport, and the UFC owns Strikeforce. It is the same company. It all comes back on them, the good and the bad.
"We're not the police, we're not the commission, we're not their mothers or their fathers. If you do something stupid, at least be honest with us so we can help you deal with it and fix it."
I still can't get over the fact that after reading this, people think Dana White should have anything to do with testing fighters.
I mean, is everyone missing that?
Ed. — No one is asking him to test fighters. They're asking for outside help from USADA, VADA. And with good reason – UFC does their own administration for foreign shows where there are no athletic commissions.
Yea, not the best of quotes.
And when someone tests positive, what do you think the UFC is going to do about that? Are they going to suspend guys and/or cancel big fights?
Because from the sounds of the Dana White quote I mentioned, it seems like he'd do his damnedest to cover up something like that and/or make sure the guys levels were low enough to pass the commission test.
"We're not the commission, don't lie to us so we can help you" sounds awful. Sounds like the UFC should be nowhere near testing.
To be fair, Dana White said they were "the most tested" sport, not the cleanest.
Anyway, just as a starting point, they really, really need to issue blood tests for all championship matches, main-events, title eliminators, and tournament matches (in the rare cases where they have them).
Yep. That's what this incident proves. Not everyone is clean (like in every sport) but guys getting popped proves the tests are taking place.
Bummer. JDS vs Overeem was the fight I was looking most forward to this year.
I find it funny reading on the net how people seem to think 6:1 is normal so if reem was 10:1 it wouldnt be even double of a normal level.
Why do Nevada even allow a 6:1 ratio? That to me is still to high!!
The funny part is that if he's over 10:1 T/E ratio, he would flunk a WWE test.
Sonnen had a high ratio when he got busted, too.
16.9:1 – which I always found funny, because even IF he did have the TUE he claimed to be given he would have been so far over the moon it wouldn't have made an iota of difference.
It alsways surprises me how when ever a fighter fails a drug test this is used as an example of how the current testing isnt good enough.
If people are getting caught then doesnt this say that it is working? Will we only be happy when everyone is caught as we automatically seem to assume that everyone is cheating?
If they institute VADA and nobody gets caught is that because the athletes are now clean or because the testing is still not good enough?
Guess what excuse Ubereem will bring to us?
Here is the answer:Consumption of horse-meat is known to cause T/E ratios of over 9000.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EpitestosteroneEd. — Wasn't that excused used by Mexican soccer national team players recently?
That was for clenbuterol, wasn't it? In that case, it's a fairly plausible defense.
Ah yeah, here we go:
http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/7115036/clenbuterol-found-most-players-17-world-cupLooks like only the vegetarians avoided clenbuterol!
I find it SO odd that Zach's appaled about a TRT/steroid user bashing in another fighters head, but has zero problem covering an inherehtly dangerous sport.
Ironically enough of all the dozens of fights that fighters have pissed hot, I don't recall one serious injury, and as a matter of fact the user typically loses.
If you are so concerned about fighter pull a Trembow and start covering video games, or whatever it is he does now.
Not sure if the author came up with the idea on his own or read what I wrote and went with it. Either way, it is good to see BE putting out a good article showcasing the real drug problem in the sport.
This is a Strikeforce aquisition problem. Nothing more, nothing less. It is almost completely resolved as those fighters are learning that they ain't in the minor leagues anymore. They compete in more demanding drug testing states in the UFC, which means they need to change their abuses.
After the issues they've had buying PRIDE and now Strikeforce, maybe they need to fire the guys that do their due diligence!
They should have done their due dillegence by having those guys compete more then once in the UFC before getting put into a title fight.
Stop trolling and covering up here 45 Huddle. There is a long list of fighters that came from the UFC that have tested hot. You're claiming, time and again, that it is JUST Strikeforce (A Zuffa Company BTW) fighters that are pissing hot, and that is just not the case. Your defense of everything that is the UFC and the persecution of everything that is NOT the UFC is in full effect here, and everyone can see it. It is so plainly obvious. I don't know what to tell you outside of that, except that you are the consummate UFC shill. More power to you, but you've gone off the deep end with this one, and that is saying something.
From now on, I will look at you as the UFC Press Secretary, because in effect, that is what you are on this site. The UFC can do no wrong, and when the UFC and/or its fighters mess up, it is REALLY not the UFC's fault and is instead the fighters that aren't really UFC fighters fault.
Dude – one of their more "popular" or "controversial" fighters got nailed badly for doping (16.9:1!) in a fight that he almost won and would have gotten egg ALL over the company's face. The fallout after losing was bad enough, imagine if he'd won.
Since then they've gone out of their way to book him in these same states with terrible commissions or states with no commission/where they are the de facto commission.
Nate Marquardt made them look really bad in PA as well and got pulled off the card 24 hours before. This is hardly a case where you can point the finger at your whipping boy in Strikeforce and say everything is on them and there's nothing to see here as far as UFC is concerned.
Did I mention Sonnen is fighting in a title fight in Brazil?? Look at the UFC running to the tough commissions showing they're all about working with the big boys.
Sonnen is fighting in Brazil because of Anderson Silva and a potential record setting crowd. If that wasn't possible, it would have been in Las Vegas.
And don't act like the UFC isn't capable of drug testing policy. They have caught Chris Leben twice while the AC's have never done so.
And if at the end of the day the UFC ends up implementing their own drug policy…. Then good. I have a feeling Dana White has been burned too many times lately that they are likely going to do it….
But there is a reason why 4 UFC Heavyweight Mainstays had no problem passing a piss test that the former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion failed so miserably….
Chael hasn't competed in LV, California, or NJ (all the highest profile commission states since his test failure.
Deflect all you want but Sonnen hasn't fought in any state with an even half assed commission since his suspension ended. FACT.
I've never said UFC guys don't get busted for illegal substances. But if you look at the UFC fighters over the last year, illegal substances hasn't been an issue. It is only when you include all of the recent Strikeforce acquistions that it all of a sudden becomes apparant there is a problem.
45 – What about Sonnen, Marquardt and others? Come on now.
Sonnen was now a few years ago.
If you look at since the beginning of 2011, most of Zuffa's headaches are with Strikeforce fighters.
I would say it was a pretty big problem with Rampage. How about Thiago Silva who is fighting again finally after his one year suspension? There's a lot of UFC guys that have been busted. Trying to pass this off as Strikeforce is pretty ridiculous, IMO.
I'm really bummed about this news *as a fan*. I really wanted to see that fight.
Actually Sonnen did come over from Strikeforce, but he can't fight in Nevada. He's run from regulation since his suspension.
[…] 'We're the most tested sport in the world' ain't cutting it no more […]
[…] We're the most tested sport in the world" ain't cutting it no more (April 4th, 2012) […]
[…] testing Nevada does is mostly performed at press conferences held by promoters. As Fight Opinion's Zach Arnold stated "That's not exactly 'out of competition' testing by traditional standards." If […]
[…] testing Nevada does is mostly performed at press conferences held by promoters. As Fight Opinion's Zach Arnold stated "That's not exactly 'out of competition' testing by traditional standards." If […]


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Literary Term: FORESHADOWING
Activity Sheets
Teacher Guide
Complete Answer Key
Grades 9-12
FORESHADOWING: an indication of events to come.
This is a complete lesson about FORESHADOWING. The definition of the term is followed by a discussion using excellent examples in prose. Activity sheets provide questions that promote and ensure understanding, and a writing exercise that provides an opportunity for application..
Includes a teacher guide that discusses literary terms, suggests a lesson cycle, provides NCTE/IRA standards, and includes an answer key.
FORESHADOWING is excerpted from THE LITERARY TERMS HANDBOOK.
Meets National Council of Teachers of English/International Reading Association Standards for the English Language Arts.
Literary Terms: FORESHADOWING
- Grades 9-12
- 7 Pages
- Activity Sheets
- Teacher Guide
- Complete Answer Key
- Meets NCTE/IRA Standards
- eBook/PDF Download
ALLEGORY A story in which characters, actions, or settings represent abstract ideas
Symbolism comes to life in an allegory. Allegories are fictional tales, where characters, their actions, and the story's setting symbolize an abstract idea. These characters breathe life into the ideas they represent. Dante's Divine Comedy is a lengthy, complex allegory story in which characters, actions, or settings represent abstract ideas.
ALLITERATION When two or more words begin with the same sounds, usually consonants
Dylan Thomas recounts what it was like each time he heard a word for the first time as a young child. These words were "as the notes of bells, the sounds of musical instruments, the noises of wind, sea, and rain, the rattle of milk-carts…the fingering of branches on a window pane…might be to someone, deaf from birth, who has miraculously found his hearing." Thomas recognized early on the importance of sounds in literature.
ALLUSION A reference to a well-known person, place, or thing in history or in fiction
One thing often reminds us of another. A random object or event can trigger the memory of something that happened years ago; when this happens, your present situation feels connected to your past experience. Writers try to recreate this feeling when they use allusions. An allusion in a novel can remind us of a song we've heard, which in turn brings a newspaper article to mind. Allusions come in many shapes and sizes, like direct and indirect allusions.
ANALOGY An analogy compares two things closely.
You've probably heard the objection, "That's like comparing apples to oranges," when someone compares two different kinds of things. The truth is, though, that apples and oranges are just as similar as they are different. Analogies in literature often compare things that seem to differ in kind, but which turn out to have many things in common, like apples and oranges. By pointing out both these differences and similarities, analogies offer a new perspective on each object.
ASSONANCE The repetition of vowel sounds in two or more words that appear close to each other, while not repeating the surrounding consonants.
Do not only mind our p's and q's, but also your a's, e's, i's, o's, u's, and sometimes y's. Assonance, like alliteration, uses a repetition of similar sounds to create a certain effect. Alliteration is a repetition of similar consonant sounds, but assonance is a repetition of similar vowel sounds. These two elements show just how important sound is in literature.
ATMOSPHERE The mood or feelings brought forth by a poem or a piece of prose
When you write, it's important to "set the scene." The mood of a passage should jump off the page. Writers provide lots of sensory details so that you can imagine being in the book, and they describe characters, events, and settings so that, all together, they give off a certain feeling. The atmosphere of a piece of writing can be eerie, cheerful, or contemplative, etc. The possibilities are endless.
BALLAD A ballad is a short song or poem that tells a story.
Herodotus, the great Greek historian, wrote so that "time may not draw the color from what man has brought into being." Ballads, which are usually dramatic tales, have been composed and sung for centuries. People who sang ballads were often illiterate, but this did not keep them from accessing an extensive tradition of storytelling. A folk ballad is passed down orally, and often has an unknown author. An art ballad is a modern poem that emulates a folk ballad.
CHARACTERIZATION All of the elements that come together to create an imaginary person or character.
People are complex in real life, and so is a well-written fictional character. As we become acquainted with characters in literature, we observe how they act, and what they look like. We hear what they say, listen in to their thoughts, and eavesdrop as other characters think or talk about them.
COUPLET A couplet is two lines, generally written in the same style.
A lot can be said in two lines of poetry. A couplet made of two lines which, in some way, belong to each other. Usually, they rhyme with each other and are written with the same meter. Couplets also usually make up one complete thought.
John Denham's poem "The Thames," consists entirely of couplets.
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE Figurative language, or a figure of speech, is any use of language, like similes, metaphors, and personification, not meant to be taken literally.
Life, for all of its twists and turns, would be pretty boring without figurative language. Many situations do call for speaking literally, and often there is a need for literal language in the most creative of poems. Yet if we were limited to "just the facts" of life, the world around us would end with what we could see and touch. There wouldn't be much room for the imagination, which helps us see beyond our daily experiences.
FORESHADOWING An indication of events to come
In literature, it is sometimes possible to tell the future. You don't need a crystal ball, though, to determine what will happen next; instead, many authors leave clues as to how their story or poem will end, and as to what will happen in the meantime. These hints make a story feel cohesive. Foreshadowing also intrigues readers and keeps them reading, anxious to find out what happens at the end.
IMAGERY When a vivid mental image is developed with words.
The Persian poet Rumi once wrote, "Close both eyes/to see with the other eye." We see with our "other eye" when we encounter imagery. Imagery usually refers to the use of words to create a mental image, but it can also refer to words that appeal to the other senses, like smell, touch, and hearing. Although we won't find real sights and sounds, tastes and smells, in books, imagery makes us feel as if we do.
INVERSION Writing a sentence out of its normal order, particularly when the subject and predicate, or verb clause, are switched.
Sometimes a sentence can be turned on its head and still be readable. A sentence is inverted when the subject and the predicate — the verb and the whole phrase associated with the verb — are thrown into a surprisingly orderly state of disorder.
IRONY A contrast or incongruity between what is stated and what it meant, or between what is expected and what actually happens
With irony, one should expect the unexpected. Writers play off of the difference between what you think will happen and what actually happens, or the difference between what someone says and what they mean. These differences can either turn into something funny or into something serious. Verbal irony is used when a character or narrator means something other than he or she says. Situational irony refers to surprising or unexpected occurrences.
METAPHOR A metaphor is a direct comparison of two dissimilar things.
According to novelist John Gardner, "every metaphor…ties the imagined to the fully experienced." Metaphors, like similes and analogies, compare things that technically shouldn't be compared. They squish mismatched things together.
Unlike similes, metaphors don't use words of comparison such as like or as. Instead, one thing actually starts to become another thing in our imagination.
METER The patterned repeating of stressed and unstressed syllables.
There's no need to feel stressed out about meter. Usually, the metrical forms used in poetry imitate our speech and our songs. The metrical form used most commonly in English is iambic pentameter. A foot is the most basic unit of meter. It consists of one or two unstressed syllables and one stressed syllable. When there are five feet in a line of verse, or ten syllables usually, the meter of that line is called "pentameter."
Scansion is a metrical analysis of a poem, which identifies the stressed syllables (/) and unstressed syllables (˘).
ONOMATOPOEIA Using words to imitate sounds associated with a thing or an action.
You may think that you only read with your eyes, but you also read with your ears. Good writers keep the sounds of words in mind as they write, and some use onomatopoeias, which sound like the things they name or represent. Some examples of onomatopoeias are splash, plop, and ring.
PERSONIFICATION When an animal, object, or an abstract concept is given human qualities
Who hasn't cursed at a computer as if it had a conscience, or spoken to a dog as if it understood English? When we do this, we personify the objects, animals, and ideas that surround us. This tendency of ours shows up in all kinds of literature as well as in all walks of life.
PLOT The sequence of events or actions that make up a short story, novel, narrative poem, or a play
When reading any piece of literature, there is a lot to think about. A short story, for example, could raise many interesting moral questions. Before we understand such elements of the story, though, we have to understand its most basic element of all, the plot.
The plot of a story, novel, play, or poem itself consists of many different elements, including exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, and resolution.
POINT OF VIEW Point of view, speaker, or persona refers to the imagined person who tells a story or poem.
A story can be told from several perspectives. A first-person point of view actively participates and uses first-person pronouns like "I" and "me." A third-person, omniscient point of view does not actively participate, presents tfrom an all-knowing perspective, and uses third-person pronouns like "she" and "him." A third-person, limited point of view does not actively participate, presents from one or a few characters' perspectives, and uses third-person pronouns like "she" and "him."
REFRAIN A refrain or chorus is a phrase or verse that appears at regular intervals throughout a poem.
Ezra Pound once said that "poetry begins to atrophy," or decay, "when it gets too far from music." Many poets seem agree with Pound, and they write poems that could almost be set to music. One of the ways poems are made more songlike is through the use of a refrain, a phrase that is repeated throughout the poem.
RHYME The repetition of sounds in two or more words that appear close to each other.
According to Samuel Butler, rhyme is "the rudder" of verses, "with which like ships they steer their course." When a poet faces the challenge of the blank page, a rhyme scheme is a helpful framework.This is one of the many reasons that poets, songwriters, and children turn to rhyme. An exact rhyme repeats the sounds exactly. In an approximate rhyme or slant rhyme, the repeated sounds are similar but not the same. A rhyme that occurs at the ends of lines is called an end rhyme.
RHYTHM The natural, non-repeating pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem.
If you've ever read something that set your toes to tapping, you were probably noticing the natural rhythm of the words. For most words, we emphasize some of the syllables, causing them to seem a bit longer, or a little bit louder, than unstressed syllables. Stressed syllables and unstressed syllables alternate, together forming a kind of dance, a sound pattern, which is similar to the pattern we hear in music. When rhythm and rhyme come together in a poem, the effect is even more musical.
SIMILE A simile is a direct comparison of two things using either the word "like" or "as."
Like metaphors and analogies, similes compare two different things which, at first glance, seem to have little in common. Similes can be distinguished from metaphors and analogies, though, because they contain the words "like" or "as."
SONNET A poem of 14 lines, usually written in iambic pentameter
Sonnets allow poets to sing. From the Italian word for "little song," (sonneto), sonnets have been written through the ages. From Shakespeare, who wrote 154 sonnets, to Borges and Neruda, this poetic, songlike form has never lost popularity.
The Shakespearean sonnet, or the English sonnet, consists of three quatrains and one couplet.
STYLE Style refers to the unique qualities that make a single writer, a literary group, or period distinct.
Good writers have style. From their diction, or choice of words, to their sentence construction and use of figurative language, these writers are not afraid to show their individuality.
SYMBOLISM The use of images or symbols to represent something more, such as a flag symbolizing an entire country.
With symbolism, there is more than meets the eye. A black cat is hardly ever just a black cat, and a rose is hardly ever a rose. These things have ceased to be just things; they stand for different ideas and emotions.
THEME The theme, or topic, is what a poem, story, or novel is about.
When someone asks, "Well, what's the book about?" he or she is asking about the theme. A theme gets at the essential meaning of a story, a novel, or a poem. Each of these can have just one theme, or perhaps a few themes. X.J. Kennedy says that "great short stories, like great symphonies, frequently have more than one theme." This phrase applies to other kinds of writing as well, and just as we often have many important ideas circulating in our minds at once, a poem or a piece of prose can discuss several ideas of equal weight.
TONE one is how the writer or speaker feels about the subject.
When people tell stories, their feelings on the subject usually show through. In writing, that subjectivity isn't always a bad thing; in fact, a writer's attitude, or tone, about the features of a story or poem helps us to understand that writer's purpose, and the message he or she wishes to convey.
- Teacher Guide
- Answer Key
- Definition of the Literary Term: FORESHADOWING
- Activity Sheet: Understanding FORESHADOWING
- Activity Sheet: Writing About FORESHADOWING