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US - Wondrous Drifter is a new website that contains numerous articles on world travel that are accessible worldwide. The site contains resources on things to do around the world, countries to visit, travel ideas, travel tips, and tours. They have travel guides for almost every country in the world. The guides contain a detailed list of the places to visit in each county and a description of what to expect from each location. They have useful links in their articles on travel ideas around the world that allow readers to explore more information on their desired travel destination.
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Media Contact
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Wondrous Drifter
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Wondrous Drifter PR Team
167 Madison Avenue Suite 205
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subset: commoncrawl


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"The things I saw beggar description... I made the visit deliberately, in order to be in a position to give first hand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations to propaganda."
This ability to bear witness is vital in preventing and responding to genocide and crimes against humanity today.
Despite having far more information about the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan than previous conflicts - celebrity visits to refugee camps, CNN updates, blog posts from aid workers on the ground - it is difficult for the average American to grasp the true scope of systematic violence over an area roughly the size of Texas.
Now the Museum is providing, through its partnership with Google Earth, the most detailed picture to date of the scope and nature of the destruction that occurred during the genocide in Darfur. That thousands of villages were destroyed has been known for some time; these new data document the true enormity of the destruction.
The attacks against villages in Darfur resulted in the deaths of at least 200,000 civilians, the rape of tens of thousands of women, and a refugee crisis in which more than 2.5 million Sudanese remain displaced from their homes.
The updated Google Earth layer, created with data provided by the U.S. State Department's Humanitarian Information Unit, shows more than 3,300 villages throughout Darfur that have been damaged or completely destroyed. These data also confirm that most villages were destroyed between 2003 and 2005, during the height of the brutal Sudanese government-backed systematic campaign targeting civilians in Darfur.
For the first time the layer also includes the locations of nearly 200 sites throughout Darfur where users can view imagery from both before and after the destruction, using Google's own historical dataset. You can find the layer in the "Global Awareness" folder in Google Earth, as shown below, or by downloading the content directly. You can also visit the Museum's website to find out how you can take action.
The web is making it easier to take part in bearing witness to the worst crimes on the planet. Now, with millions throughout Sudan still at serious risk of violence, we must follow through on the more vital task- putting pressure on the international community to help create sustainable peace throughout Sudan. The perpetrators of mass violence in Sudan and elsewhere know that the world is watching.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.


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It's debatable which team has made the best start to the season in England, but Charlton Athletic certainly have a good case, as they have gained more points than anybody else (40 after 17 games), suffering only one defeat in the process, and currently sit proudly at the top of League One. Hopes are high that they will manage to achieve promotion, though they will nervously recall their elimination in the League One play-off semi-final a couple of seasons ago, when they narrowly lost on penalties to Swindon Town, thus consigning the Addicks to a longer stay in English football's third tier.
Under the guidance of former player, Chris Powell, a fans' favourite, but inexperienced in the managerial role, Charlton have come out of the starting blocks in fine form. The majority of the goals have been scored by the experienced duo of Bradley Wright-Phillips ("he's better than Shaun") and club captain Johnnie Jackson, but an influx of new players over the summer has given the club added impetus with notable contributions made by Danny Hollands, Rhoys Wiggins (both from Bournemouth) and Dale Stephens (formerly with Oldham).
However, Charlton fans would be forgiven if they felt that this was a bit of a come down compared to the recent highs of their time in the Premier League, which lasted seven uninterrupted seasons from 2000. Much of the credit for Charlton's success during this period has to go to Alan Curbishley, who managed the club for 15 years, before leaving the Valley in May 2006 to take a break from football.
"Alan Curbishley - Don't Dream It's Over"
"Curbs" is recognised as Charlton's second most successful manager, only behind the legendary Jimmy Seed, who led the South London club to two FA Cup finals in the 1940s, winning the trophy in 1947. Arguably, Curbishley's achievement in the modern era is even more impressive, as he managed to establish Charlton as a solid mid-table side in the highly competitive Premier League on an insignificant budget. Although his team never really challenged for a Champions League place (though they did finish as high as seventh in 2004), by the same token they also comfortably managed to avoid being drawn into relegation battles.
Since those heady days, it's been a miserable time with the club slumping to two relegations in three seasons, first from the Premier League to the Championship in 2007, then from the Championship to League One in 2009. After such a lengthy period of stability, the board then embarked on a series of ill-conceived managerial appointments, going through three coaches in the second half of 2006 alone.
The highlight of Ian Dowie's turbulent period in charge was probably the look of astonishment on his face as he was served a writ on behalf of Simon Jordan, his previous employer at Crystal Palace, during the press conference that unveiled him as Charlton's new head coach. After just two wins in 12 league matches, the board pressed the panic button and replaced the former Northern Ireland international with Les Reed, his assistant, who lasted only a few weeks before being unceremoniously dumped on Christmas Eve in favour of Alan Pardew.
"Bradley Wright-Phillips - Son of a Gun"
Although there was some improvement, Pardew was unable to avoid the drop. As Curbishley said, "No-one has a divine right to stay in the Premier League." Nor indeed to bounce straight back, as Pardew discovered to his cost the following season. After a poor start to Charlton's second campaign in the Championship, including eight successive games without a win, the club found itself in the relegation zone and Pardew left "by mutual consent" in November 2008. His replacement was Phil Parkinson, who was somewhat surprisingly appointed as permanent manager despite no discernible improvement in results during his stint as caretaker.
Little wonder that the former chairman, Richard Murray, admitted that the board had made "mistakes particularly in relation to the period following the departure of Alan Curbishley." He can say that again. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, "To choose one poor manager may be regarded as a misfortune; to choose four looks like carelessness."
Not only that, but the club also threw out the cautious strategy that had served them so well in the past, as their ambitions extended to European football. To achieve that aim, they decided to hand the charismatic Dowie an enormous transfer budget, which he proceeded to waste on a selection of incredibly average players, including the likes of Djimi Traoré, Souleymane Diawara, Ben Thatcher, Andy Reid, Madjid Bougherra and Amdy Faye.
In total, the net transfer spend for the 2006/07 season amounted to an incredible £19m, according to the respected Transfermarkt website, which was more than the previous five seasons combined. Further funds were splurged on expensive loan deals for an unfit Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and a very raw Alex Song. As Murray put it with commendable under-statement, "The simple truth is that vast sums of money were spent on players who have proved not to be successful."
"Johnnie Jackson - Put Your Hands Up For Charlton"
To a certain extent, the board's decision to take a few more risks was understandable, especially with a lucrative new Premier League television deal on the horizon, but it felt like a case of throwing the baby out with the bath water. To put it bluntly, Charlton got ahead of themselves, as outlined by the former Charlton midfielder Danny Murphy, "People were actually moaning at the time that we 'only' finished in mid-table. It's only now that people realise how much of an achievement that was."
To coin a phrase, be careful what you wish for. The ensuing relegation resulted in "financial turmoil" according to Murray, as there was a significant reduction in TV income, gate receipts and sponsorship deals. The problem was that Charlton had built up a Premier League infrastructure and wage bill that could not be supported on the revenue from lower leagues. As Murray explained, "In many respects, the longer a club remains in the Premier League, the more its cost base increases and relegation – even with the two-year parachute payments – still makes life difficult."
In Charlton's case, this meant severe financial difficulties with the club reporting a series of large losses and debts spiraling out of control. This was an all too familiar story to older fans, as the club had come very close to going out of business in 1984 after similar reckless spending, including the astonishing signing of former European Footballer of the Year Allan Simonsen from Barcelona.
"Dale Stephens - Smile Like You Mean It"
Returning to more modern times, it had become clear that Charlton required substantial funds to move forward, hence the board's frantic search for new investors. Many names have been in the frame, including two owners who subsequently opted for other London clubs, namely Tony Fernandes (QPR) and David Sullivan (West Ham). The former Leeds United and Cardiff City chairman Peter Ridsdale was also linked, but fortunately this did not come to pass, as Charlton had already suffered enough from trying to "live the dream."
More credibly, a bid from Swiss-based fund manager Sebastien Sainsbury was reportedly rejected, while the Dubai-based Zabeel Investments got as far as tabling an indicative cash offer of around £50 million before pulling out of negotiations in October 2008, largely due to the downturn in the global economy.
Matters came to a head in the summer of 2010, when the existing companies were wound up after an Extraordinary General Meeting, which left Richard Murray in control of a new holding company, Baton 2010 Limited. For those interested in corporate actions, this replaced CA 2010 plc (formerly Charlton Athletic plc), which was the owner of the football club, Charlton Athletic Football Company Limited.
Nevertheless, the directors still had to put £5 million into the club to avoid administration, which might sound overly dramatic, but Murray emphasised the importance of this money, "This has been a critical time for the club. Our future was uncertain and financially this was potentially one of our darkest hours."
"Why does it always rain on me?"
Murray had effectively bought enough time to find new investors, which he managed to do four months later, when a consortium represented by popular former chief executive Peter Varney bought a controlling interest (90%) in Baton 2010 Limited via its acquisition vehicle CAFC Holdings Limited (incorporated in the offshore tax haven of the British Virgin Islands), leaving Richard Murray with a 10% stake.
The key players in the new ownership are new chairman Michael Slater, described as "a lawyer and businessman" on the club's website, and Tony Jimenez, the ubiquitous "international property developer", who respectively own 23% and 28% of CAFC Holdings Limited. Some concerns have been expressed about the latter's involvement, partly based on his brief time as vice-president (player recruitment) at Newcastle United, when he clashed with then manager Kevin Keegan, and partly due to his checkered record as a director (16 of 17 companies dissolved, according to the Guardian).
However, the new men have been welcomed with open arms by the old hands at Charlton. Murray said, "I now believe I am passing the club to the right people who can secure its long-term future." Varney added, "Charlton's finances are not in a good state and the fans can rest assured that this is in the best interests of the club." In addition, some continuity is ensured by the presence of both Murray and Varney on the new board.
There remain some doubts among fans, especially after the new owners rapidly back-tracked on a promise to support manager Phil Parkinson. On their arrival, Slater said, "It's certainly not our intention to make any change. Phil's done a great job. We're third in the league and that speaks for itself, so we're going to have a sit down with Phil over the next few days and we'll give him every support."
"Michael Slater & Tony Jimenez - Welcome Interstate Managers"
Less than a week later, Parkinson was shown the door, with Slater explaining, "Clearly, improvement is needed on the field. The team has not won in the league since November and recent performances have simply not been good enough. Last night's defeat convinced us as a board that change is required now." Of course, this move could also be construed as decisive action, though it did not actually produce the desired end result of promotion to the Championship, even if a play-off place was secured.
So what will Charlton's strategy be going forward?
Slater has outlined a much-needed down-to-earth approach, "Our plan is to run the club on a sensible financial footing and develop a commercial plan to ensure we make progress on and off the pitch to meet the expectation of the fans. What we won't do is create unrealistic, pie-in-the-sky expectations." Having said that, it is clear that to achieve a sustainable model, Charlton need to gain promotion. Therefore, Slater has added, "Nobody can guarantee success, but we did not come to Charlton to run it as a League One club. It is not a viable business in this division."
This can be seen by the rising debt levels, which nearly pushed the club over the edge. Back in 2005, Charlton actually enjoyed net funds of £4 million before that calamitous 2006/07 season drove debt up to £23 million. The last published accounts for the holding company are from 2009, when the debt was £24 million, but we can make a pretty good estimate of what the debt levels were in 2010, based on the debt reported by the football club and the notes in their accounts, which suggest that debt reached £34 million – "significant" according to Slater.
This comprised £14.6 million of corporate convertible bonds, £7 million of director loans (of which £5.3 million was added in 2010), £6.8 million of bank loans, a £5.3 million overdraft and a £0.3 million loan from the Football League.
As part of the company restructuring in August 2010, a number of steps were taken to reduce this debt burden. The bonds were converted into shares in CA 2010 plc, while the directors' loans have been designated as interest-free unless the club is promoted and only repayable over a five-year period in the event of promotion to the Premier League. In addition, the bank loans have been renegotiated to delay the repayment dates (mainly from 2013 to 2015), though the quid pro quo is a higher interest rate: £2.5 million at 7.2%, £3.2 million at LIBOR + 2.5% and £1 million at LIBOR + 3%.
The growing debts are a natural result of the club's unsustainable business model, which has produced a series of hefty losses since 2006, adding up to around £44 million in the last five years. In fairness, the losses have been getting smaller since the £11.5m registered in the annus horribilis of 2008, with £8 million reported in 2009 and £6.6 million in 2010, the improvement partly due to a £3 million reduction in interest payable.
As the revenue has fallen due to Charlton's fall down the divisions, Charlton have made strenuous efforts to slash their costs in line with their new status and vastly reduced revenue. In 2007, their total expenses were £56 million, but they managed to cut this to £20 million in 2010, a reduction of 64%. This was essential as revenue fell by 74% in the same period from £36 million to just £9 million. Of course, the problem is that this reduced investment has been reflected in poor performances on the pitch.
The more astute among you will have noticed the other problem, which is that the revenue has always been insufficient to cover costs. Even if non-cash expenses such as depreciation and amortisation are excluded, the EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxation, Depreciation and Amortisation) is solidly negative, e.g. a £9 million loss in 2010.
"Meet Danny Hollands"
Losses have been compensated to some extent by profit on player sales, though the last substantial sale was Darren Bent to Tottenham in 2007. Without that £11 million profit, the 2007 loss would have been even larger than 2008 at £21 million, which is awful on a turnover of £36 million. In fact, the last time that Charlton made a big profit (£11 million) was in 2004, which was almost entirely due to the sale of Scott Parker to Chelsea.
Even the £1.4 million profit in 2005 would have been a loss without an exceptional £2.8 million insurance payment for injured players. The harsh reality is that Charlton have been living above their means for some time, so something had to give.
As a technical aside, it should be noted that the profit and loss account figures have been taken from the holding company, Charlton Athletic plc, for the years between 2005 and 2009, but this was not possible for 2010, as no accounts were issued. Instead, I have taken figures from the football club, Charlton Athletic Football Company Limited, for 2010. Looking at these two companies' financial results in previous years indicates that any differences are immaterial, so this should be a reasonably safe approach.
What is indisputable is the catastrophic effect that the two relegations have had on Charlton's revenue. In fact, it already started falling in the Premier League in 2007, as the club received a smaller merit reward for the lower final league position. Parachute payments over the next two seasons were not enough to prevent revenues falling by more than a third from £36 million to £24 million. However, the real damage was inflicted in 2010 by the double whammy of dropping into League One coinciding with the end of the parachute payments, so revenue plummeted to £9 million, which represents a fall of nearly 80% from the £42 million generated in 2006.
All three revenue streams have been adversely affected. Since 2006, match day income fell from £13 million to £6 million and commercial income from £7 million to £2 million, but it is television where the impact has been most significant, falling by an incredible 95% from £22 million to £1 million.
Television money in League One is mainly sourced from the Football League central distribution of £640,000 that is made to all clubs plus a solidarity payment of £108,000 from the Premier League. Both of these were scheduled to increase in 2010/11 to £656,000 and £335,000 respectively.
Obviously, there is never a good time for a football club to be relegated, but it is fair to say that Charlton's timing was particularly bad, as they missed out on the significant growth in TV deals. As an example, they received £18 million for coming 19th in their last season in the Premier League in 2007, but Blackpool got £39 million for finishing in the same position last season. Similarly, while Charlton's relegation was cushioned by £23 million of parachute payments, Blackpool will receive £48 million (£16 million in each of the first two years, and £8 million in each of years three and four).
This huge increase was criticised by Charlton's former chief executive, Steve Waggott, "This will create a worrying divide for clubs in the lower leagues. Some chairmen believe the proposal has shifted the inequality in the English game further down the divisions, while others feel this has created a Premier League 2 in all but name."
Although the real TV riches remain in the Premier League, it would still be very worthwhile for Charlton to win promotion to the Championship, as the new deal in that division is worth £4.7 million (£2.5 million central distribution plus £2.2 million solidarity payment), which is much higher than League One's £1 million.
However, there is a cloud on the horizon in the shape of the new Football League three-year TV deal from 2012/13, which has been reduced by 26% or £23 million a season, reflecting what Football League chairman Greg Clarke called, "a challenging climate in which to negotiate television rights." As there was no interest from BBC, ITV or even ESPN, the only serious contender was Sky, who could thus secure the package with a much lower bid.
Despite that change, television money is still the great divider between leagues. As a comparison in 2009/10, if we compare Charlton's revenue against typical clubs in the higher leagues, e.g. Nottingham Forest in the Championship and Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League, we can very clearly see that factor at play with substantial differences between the TV revenue: Charlton £1.2 million, Forest £4.3 million and Blackburn £42.6 million. The other revenue streams are not too dissimilar. In fact, Charlton's match day income of £5.8 million is only slightly lower than Blackburn's £6.2 million.
The lack of a level playing field was noted by Charlton's former chairman, Derek Chappell, after relegation to the Championship in 2008, "This demonstrates starkly the gulf between the Premier League and the Championship in financial terms due to the different levels of broadcast income." More prosaically, the last annual report observed that the "divisional status" was the club's principal risk, as this "has a significant impact on the level of revenue streams generated by the company and its ability to trade profitably."
This has also been felt in match day income, partly due to attendances falling from over 26,000 in the Premier League to an average of 15,600 in League One last season and partly due to reductions in ticket prices. Even so, according to a survey this summer by the BBC, Charlton are the fifth most expensive team to watch in League One, only surpassed by Leyton Orient, Brentford, Hartlepool and Huddersfield.
In order to attract fans to The Valley, the club has employed some innovative, imaginative marketing methods, most notably the Valley Express coach service, which offers fans around Kent return transport to the stadium. When it became clear that Charlton were going to be relegated from the Premier League, the club made an offer of a free season ticket for the 2008/09 season to all season ticket holders who renewed before the end of April 2007 if Charlton gained immediate promotion back to the Premier League. More recently, their offer of "football for a fiver", when tickets to the match against Exeter in February 2011 were priced at £5, attracted a bumper crowd of nearly 25,000.
Such initiatives have helped maintain Charlton's crowd as one of the highest in League One. In fact, their 2010/11 average was the third best in League One, only behind Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday, and actually above 10 clubs in the Championship, including promoted Swansea City – and local rivals Crystal Palace.
The Valley is one of Charlton's top assets, as the stadium has been extensively modernised at the cost of around £37 million and now boasts a capacity of just over 27,000. The club also has planning permission form Greenwich Council to extend the capacity to 31,000 and potentially even 40,000 if the club ever returned to the promised land of the Premier League.
Much of the work was done between 1985 and 1992, after the club was forced to leave The Valley, due to a combination of safety factors and a dispute with a former landlord over car parking. Charlton had to ground-share, first with Crystal Palace and then West Ham, before finally returning to The Valley in December 1992.
"Rolls Rhoys Wiggins"
However, although it's great to be back home, The Valley is somewhat of a double-edged sword these days, as the costs of running such a large stadium are much higher than those incurred at other League One clubs, who tend to have much smaller grounds. It's the same story for the splendid 37-acre training facilities in New Eltham.
As might be expected, due to the reduced exposure offered by the lower leagues, Charlton's commercial income has also fallen away from £7 million in the Premier League to £2 million in League One. This trend was exacerbated by their shirt sponsor Llanera, a Spanish property group, going bust halfway through a 4½-year deal worth £6.6 million. Charlton have had little luck with their shirt sponsors, as All:Sports also went into administration in 2005.
The current shirt sponsors are Kent Reliance Building Society (KRBS), who signed a three-year deal starting in the 2009/10 season. The figures were not divulged beyond a "significant six-figure" annual sum, but the deal is said to be one of the largest in League One, comparing very favourably with many teams in the Championship. After many years with Joma, the kit supplier was changed to Macron last season in a four-year deal described as "the biggest kit contract in the club's history."
Charlton's wage bill reflects what they have strived to do in the face of diminishing revenue, namely to implement a programme to cut costs. Since the peak in 2006, revenue has decreased by 78% (or £33 million) and the wages have more or less fallen in line by 70%, though the absolute reduction is "only" £24 million. This has produced a deeply concerning wages to turnover ratio of 112%, now that there are no more parachute payments. To place that into context, big spending Manchester City's ratio last season was 107%.
Actually, this has always been an issue for Charlton, and this important ratio even looked unimpressive in the last two seasons in the Premier League: 82% in 2005/06 and 95% in 2006/07. Recent years have also included what the club described as "significant" pay-offs to departing players and managers, e.g. Alan Pardew reportedly received a seven-figure sum. Hence, the need for the club to offload high-earning players and make many back office staff redundant.
The trend in player amortisation, namely the annual cost of writing down the cost of buying new players, also reflects the club's changing circumstances, as this has decreased from £6.5 million in 2007 (the last season in the Premier League) to a negligible £1.2 million in 2010.
Indeed, if we look at Charlton's transfer activity over the last 12 seasons, it is clear that Charlton has become a selling club, largely out of necessity. In the seven years up to 2007, the club had net spend of £54 million, while in the last five years the pendulum has swung and Charlton have generated net proceeds of £37 million from the transfer market. Admittedly, most of that came in the year immediately following relegation from the Premier League, when they sold Bent, Reid, Diawara and Luke Young.
However, it is likely that any young talents developed by the club will leave sooner rather than later, unless Charlton secure promotion to a higher tier, as was seen by the sale of youth internationals Jonjo Shelvey to Liverpool for an initial £1.7 million and Carl Jenkinson to Arsenal for £1 million. That said, since the takeover there have been signs that the new owners will be more willing to loosen the purse strings in a bid to get promoted, as explained by chairman Michael Slater, "The board knows what you know – that the only way out of League One is to invest in the playing squad."
"Jonjo Shelvey - Don't Look Back in Anger"
The players actually represent a "hidden" asset on the balance sheet, as their net book value in the accounts was only £339,000 as at June 2010, while the value in the real world is considerably higher – £9.5 million according to Transfermarkt. Overall, the club has net assets, which were reported as £2.6 million in the last available accounts for the holding company (June 2009). This included £35 million for land and buildings, primarily covering The Valley.
The 2010 accounts for the football club also note possible additional net transfer fees receivable of £4.1 million, though this is far from certain, as it depends on achievements made by some of the players sold by Charlton, including the number of appearances, trophies won and international caps.
Nevertheless, the cash flow statement demonstrates how important the directors' support and commitment has been to the club. Every year since 2006 the cash flow from operating activities has been negative and only improves if the club sells players. Incidentally, the relatively high cash inflow from player sales in 2008 is largely due to Darren Bent's transfer, even though that took place in 2007, as the cash was only received in the 2007/08 accounting year. Actually, payments for a transfer of that magnitude are normally made in installments, so cash from a major player sale is rarely available immediately.
The directors' support has been crucial in keeping Charlton going on several occasions, such as the £5.5 million share issue in 2005 to "support investment in the first team squad", the £5 million loans made in 2007 and the £14.6 million convertible corporate bond issue in 2008 that allowed the club to repay short-term bank loans and provided it with working capital. Since then, the directors have provided a further £7 million in loans. Interest payments on the loans and the bonds have been suspended, even though they have been booked in the profit and loss account. In addition, Richard Murray provided £3 million of funding for working capital in August 2010.
In short, it is unlikely that the club could have survived without these regular injections of cash from the directors.
So what does the future hold for Charlton Athletic?
Given the new owners' track record to date, the chances are that they will continue to follow a prudent strategy, though if Charlton are still among the League One leaders around Christmas, it would not be that great a surprise if the board splashed some cash in the January transfer window in order to improve their chances of getting over the finishing line. They would desperately want to avoid a repeat of their play-off heartache by securing an automatic promotion spot, as this club really needs to be in the Championship.
"Matt Taylor - Heads Held High"
That said, the club has to be conscious of the new scheme to be introduced in the Football League from the 2012/13 season that is designed to lower spending on wages. This is a version of UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations called the Salary Costs Management Protocol (SCMP) that already operates in League Two, where clubs are only allowed to spend 60% of their turnover on wages. This will be reduced to 55% and also apply to League One. Championship clubs will not be allowed to spend more than they earn.
Charlton are well aware of the future restrictions, as confirmed by chief executive Stephen Kavanagh, "In signing 16 players this summer, we've had to take wage capping into account." Even though they have savagely cut their payroll, Charlton would still have to halve their 2009/10 wage bill of £10.2 million to be in line with the proposed rules, which would be a major challenge. Promotion would be a far better alternative, though there are obviously a few other clubs that will have say in that particular discussion.
Equally important to Charlton's prospects will be their academy, which has been praised by a number of knowledgeable observers. Even though it is difficult to compete with the larger London clubs, Charlton can offer their youngsters a Premier League standard training ground and an opportunity to play with many of their academy graduates going on to feature in the first team, such as Chris Solly and Scott Wagstaff. On their heels, there are England U17 internationals Jordan Cousins and Diego Poyet, son of Gus, the former Spurs and Chelsea player.
"Big Ben Hamer"
Michael Slater confirmed the focus on youth, "I can't stress enough the importance of our investment in scouting and the academy – it's essential for the club's success in the medium to long term." His views were echoed by Stephen Kavanagh, "We cannot ignore the fact that investing in the academy provides a long-term financial benefit for the club."
Whether the revised compensation scheme under the new Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) will damage this strategy, only time will tell, but it does appear that the days of a young star moving for large sums might be coming to an end. However, Kavanagh is confident that Charlton "can make the most of the new system." Although it would have meant receiving less money from Sean McGinty's move to Manchester United two years ago, he pointed out that he Premier League had also agreed to increase its grant for Football League clubs' youth set-ups by around £300,000 per year.
He added, "With no guarantees that any club will produce a player talented enough to be wanted by the bigger clubs, this is a significant sum, because clubs are effectively being paid run to their academies, whether they produce players to be sold on or not." In other words, a bird in the hand might be worth two in the bush.
"Michael Morrison - Pressure Point"
In many ways, Charlton's decline is a cautionary tale to those in the Premier League. Even though they were considered to be a well-run club, one season of madness set them on a vicious downward spiral, as they struggled to cope with the effects of relegation.
However, this is club with considerable potential, otherwise it would not have attracted new investors at a time when so many other clubs are effectively in the shop window. Not only do they have a good stadium and training ground, but they also have a sizeable fan base and a large catchment area. Furthermore, the government is funding considerable regeneration in their neighbourhood, including building many new homes and improving travel infrastructure.
After a hideous few years, Charlton fans may once again allow themselves to look to the future with a degree of optimism. That's certainly Michael Slater's view, "It wasn't so many years ago that this club was a regular in the Premier League. There's no reason why that can't happen (again) in the near future."


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21st Century Wire asks…
In how many royal households is this sort of thing happening then?
A Saudi princess charged with human trafficking was freed after posting $5 million bail, but authorities imposed strict travel requirements and GPS tracking to keep her in Southern California.
Meshael Alayban, 42, who prosecutors said is one of the six wives of Saudi Prince Abdulrahman bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz al Saud, was released Thursday after posting the hefty bail amount a day after her arrest.
Earlier in the day she had appeared in court wearing a dark blue jail jumpsuit to answer to one felony charge of human trafficking. She did not enter a plea. Her arraignment was postponed to July 29.
Alayban was arrested after a Kenyan woman who worked for her as a maid alleged she was held against her will and forced to work. The maid led police to a condominium where Alayban's family was staying, authorities said.
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said after court Thursday that the woman was subjected to "forced labor," and likened Alayban to a slave owner.
"It's been 150 years since the Emancipation Proclamation, and slavery has been unlawful in the United States, and certainly in California, all this time, and it's disappointing to see it in use here," said Rackauckas, who had requested that Alayban's bail be set at $20 million.
Defense attorney Paul Meyer declined comment on the case but previously said it was just a dispute over domestic work hours.
Alayban is forbidden to have contact with the alleged victim, cannot leave Orange County without permission from the court, and had to turn over her passport.
The Kenyan woman said her passport was taken from her when she left her country to work for Alayban, hoping to make enough money to cover her ailing 7-year-old daughter's medical bills.
The 30-year-old woman, whose name has not been released, alleges she was forced to work long hours and was paid only a fraction of what she was promised.
Authorities said it wasn't until she traveled with the Saudi family on their vacation to the United States that she was able to escape, flag down a bus, and call police, authorities said.
When police searched the condo, they found four other workers, from the Philippines. The women left voluntarily with officers and told them they were interested in being free, police said. No charges have been filed related to those women and police said there were no signs any of the workers had been physically abused.
The women's passports had been held with the victim's documents in a safe deposit box, Rackauckas said.
The case is the first labor trafficking case prosecuted in Orange County since voters approved a law last year to stiffen the penalties for the crime. If convicted, Alayban faces a maximum sentence of 12 years, which is double the sentence she could have received a year ago, Rackauckas said.
The Saudi royal family is extensive, with thousands of princes and princesses, including some who have run into trouble with the law.
In 2002, Saudi princess Buniah al-Saud, who was accused of pushing her maid down a flight of stairs, entered a no-contest plea in Florida and was fined $1,000. In 1995, another Saudi princess, Maha Al-Sudairi, allegedly beat a servant in front of sheriff's deputies providing off-duty security. No charges were ever filed.
"These people have lots of money; they think they're above the law," said Ali AlAhmed, director of the Washington-based Institute for Gulf Affairs.


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Children with provider in day care
Welcome to your online resource for Community Care Licensing regulations and requirements
This website includes videos that explain licensing topics relevant to families and licensed child care providers. Learn more about how family child care homes and child care centers can protect and promote children's health and safety.
An Overview of Community Care Licensing
Learn about the work of the Community Care Licensing Division of the California Department of Social Services in protecting the health and safety of children in licensed child care facilities.
This video provides helpful answers to the following questions:
- How does Licensing ensure the health and safety of children in child care?
- What types of licensed child care facilities does Licensing oversee?
- How does Licensing work together with licensed child care providers?


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As a follow up to our successful Nov 21 rally against Sharia law, we are organising a fundraiser dinner on Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 7:00pm at one of London's finest gastro-pubs. We hope you will be able to join us to enjoy an excellent three-course dinner whilst supporting the One Law for All Campaign and Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain.
The dinner's keynote speaker will be AC Grayling, the renowned philosopher, author, writer, reviewer, and broadcaster.
If you can't come to the event but would like to and can support us, please send in a donation of £45 to cover the cost of a volunteer(s) to attend. We would also appreciate other donations however small.
If you have any questions about the dinner or would like to reserve tickets, please contact firstname.lastname@example.com. Given that space is limited, we would appreciate receiving payment as soon as possible and no later than January 1, 2010.
We look forward to seeing you at the event and hope this fundraiser and others like it will help us to raise much needed funds for the important work that lies ahead.
Thank you for your continued support.
Best wishes,
Maryam Namazie
One Law for All and CEMB
To purchase a ticket(s) at £45.00 per person, you can either post a cheque made payable to One Law for All or CEMB to BM Box 2387, London WC1N 3XX or pay via Paypal or Worldpay.
Please note that it is possible to reserve a table for a group.
Once payment has been received, we will send you your ticket(s), along with details of the venue and a menu to choose from.


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Turquoise Abstract Miniature Painting Original Acrylic On A Mini Canvas
This miniature, abstract painting, is created on a tiny canvas. It is an original and is painted in acrylics..It has been coated with several coats of glossy varnish so a beautiful sheen brings out the textures and layers of colors.
This original measures 3"x3" and is painted on all four sides. The painting comes with the easel shown in the photo.
This is a great spot piece. It can sit on a desktop or combined with other pieces to make a wonderful and unique grouping as shown in the thumbnails.
The perfect gesture for someone you love!
Made in Foster City, CA
By Brooke Howie Paintings
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by expert makers.
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Every maker has a story. Be a part of Brooke Howie Paintings's story by placing an order, leaving a review, and seeing your review appear here.


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- The Unseen Therapist
- Prelim
- Meet The Unseen Therapist
- NewThink: #1 through #3
- A Peek at the Possibilities
- Intro: A Peek at the Possibilities
- Isabel Vagos
- Sheri Baker 1
- Sheri Baker 2
- Gabriëlle Rutten, MD
- Dr. Isabel Reis
- Claudia Logan, RN
- Gabriele Rother
- Taye Bela Corby
- Diane von der Weid
- Armelle Moneger
- Patricia Huyn Van Phuong
- Robert Rother
- Alain von der Weid
- Helen Blom
- Joanna Czaijkowska
- Jacqui Halstead
- Bianca von Heiroth
- Linda Carr
- Kay Christopher
- Diane Roy
- NewThink: #4 through #7
- NewThink #4: We Must Finally Listen to What Science Has Been Telling Us For Decades
- Basic Science: Our Senses Deceive us. The World is NOT how it Appears!
- Quantum Physics: The Advanced Science That Destroys Every Belief We Have!
- All Of Our Beliefs Are Open To Question
- NewThink #5: We Must Also Listen to the Volumes of Spiritual Evidence
- My Visit With the Divine!
- Oneness and Other Features of this Unspeakable Grandeur
- The Spiritual Experiences of Others
- NewThink #6: The Unseen Therapist is Ultimately the Only True Healer
- Message From The Unseen Therapist to You
- NewThink #7: We have Only One Challenge
- The Personal Peace Procedure
- Closing
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The Unseen Therapist
NewThink: #4 through #7
NewThink #4: We Must Finally Listen to What Science Has Been Telling Us For Decades
Our premiere scientists have been telling us for decades that the world is quite different from how it appears. It involves a magical kind of deception. It is an illusion.
This is a critical contribution to our NewThink because, if the world we see isn't real...
Then We Must Question
Every Belief We
Have About It!
This includes, of course, our current beliefs about healing. If they are based on an illusion, which they are, then those beliefs are not to be trusted.
Our examination of this illusory world will start below with the well-known scientific fact that our senses deceive us. With this in mind, we must question the reality of what they are telling us.
From there we will move into quantum physics, our most advanced science, where we will find even more solid evidence that the world, as we know it, is an illusion. Despite what our erroneous senses so convincingly tell us, nothing is separate from anything else. There is only a grand Oneness of which we are unaware. This is critically important for us to understand because this Oneness is the home of The Unseen Therapist. In essence…
Quantum Physics Has
Located The Divine!
It has thrown open the door to our NewThink and showered question marks all over our current beliefs.


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Ghost Brigade re-signs with Season Of Mist
After releasing three albums with the label, culminating with 2011's "Until Fear No Longer Defines Us", Finnish metallers Ghost Brigade have re-signed with France's Season Of Mist.Comments Ghost Brigade guitarist Wille Naukkarinen: "I remember when we first signed to Season Of Mist some six years go, it felt a bit like stepping into the unknown. We knew the label, we had a good feeling about it but then again, we had no background in working with them so you never know how things will go. Luckily, everything went fine and three albums later, it's safe to say we made the right decision. So when it was time to start thinking about the future of Ghost Brigade, re-signing with Season Of Mist not only felt natural but was also our number one choice. We were fortunate to be in a situation where we could've chosen the label we want to work with, but why fix something that isn't broken? We wanted to continue working with people who believe in this band and with people who we today consider as friends. It's hard to top that.
"Right now we are working on new material for the next album and I don't know, somehow all this feels like a new beginning. Everyone's super motivated and we are rehearsing more actively than ever before. And the fact that new songs are sounding great doesn't make things any worse.
"Oh, and while I'm writing this, I would also like to take this opportunity to introduce two new ghosts. We figured two Jonis would be better than one so first off, we have Joni Saalamo on bass. Secondly, we Finally have a permanent keyboard player in the band, Joni Vanhanen.
"2013 will be a good year."
Added Season Of Mist Ceo Michael Berberian: "Of all the bands we signed, Ghost Brigade holds a special place. We had our share of successes the last few years with the label, sure. Bands with underground credibility, already with a Cd out or two, and we took them to the next level. That's what we do — or at least we try!
"We took Ghost Brigade out of the demo pile. That's the equivalent of Mordor — a dark place where we don't usually go unless we really have to. After listening to a punishing amount of 'first guitar lesson' bands and a few hundred copycats of whoever is popular at the moment in the U.S., you sometimes stumble upon a jewel. Of course, this is as rare as finding a $100 bill on the street. You heard it is possible, but it never happened to you.
"When I heard Ghost Brigade, my jaw dropped. This was exceptional. The artwork, the originality and the sensibility all blew me away. We had to sign them, but then came the challenging part: making people agree with us! The band has worked tremendously hard and we have worked hard and Ghost Brigade has achieved critical and public acclaim and is on the edge of moving to the big circles. I am even prouder that we were able to do it with Ghost Brigade insofar as they are hardworking and decent human beings. We are extremely happy to keep them trapped at Season Of Mist a while longer!"
Ghost Brigade is tentatively scheduled to enter the studio later this year to record its next full-length album.
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And thus is launched the 4th of the UWA Grand Art Challenges with a L$600,000 prize pool. A quick summary. One artwork per artist. 150 prims max to the theme REFLECTIONS. Submit entries here at the UWA main gallery. The earlier the work is submitted, the greater the chance for the artwork to feature in one of the Machinima for MachinimUWA VI, which will launch on the 1st of March with the same theme. Entries will go on display immediately! The sooner the works are in, the longer they are on display.
This is a single round only lasting 4 months, 1st Feb 2013 - 30th May 2013. The biggest difference between this and previous major art challenges is that unlike the first 3, this one has a theme.
The theme is "REFLECTIONS"
This art challenge in OPEN TO EVERYONE. The theme is REFLECTIONS with a 150 prim limit per artwork, and limited to ONE ENTRY PER ARTIST.
The UWA Centenary 3D Art Challenge is run in tribute to the 2013 Centenary of the University of Western Australia, as UWA reflects on its 100 years of existence and ponders the question of what the next 100 years will bring. The 2012 Art Challenge was also run in tribute to the Centenary. 2012 is 100 years since the first staff were hired at UWA and 2013 is 100 years since the first students started studying at UWA.
In recognition of this milestone a Special Centenary Prize of L$50,000 will be awarded to the artwork that best reflects the spirit of the UWA Centenary, as determined by the UWA members of the judging panel.
This Challenge is sponsored by OPEN THIS END, with thanks to Christina García-Lasuén (RL) / Aino Baar (SL), PEACE IS A CHOICE Gallery, with thanks to TheDove Rhode, Virtlantis, with thanks to Kip Yellowjacket, Best of Second Life (BOSL) Group with thanks to Frolic Mills, Secret Rage, The Guided Tour Company, with thanks to JonyBlade Codesmith, Japanese Arts Journalist, Temi Sirbu and UWA, with special thanks to Professor Ted Snell, Director of the Cultural Precinct & Jon Stubbs, Director of Student Services.
All pieces entered across the year may be filmed for various Machinima, and are likely to be filmed as part of MachinimUWA VI (launching 1st March 2013), which will also carry a theme of REFLECTIONS
There is an even stronger partnership this time with OPEN THIS END (OTE), led by Cristina García-Lasuén (RL) / Aino Baar (SL). A number of entries will be selected by a panel commissioned by OTE to be on display in a Physical (RL) Museum in Europe (more details to come later). This panel will operate independently of the main challenge panel.
* Artwork entered should be able to be interpreted by the casual viewer as being representative of the Theme. Where the link to the theme is difficult to ascertain, this should be referenced in a NC accompanying the work.
* There is a 150 prim limit. (Up to 200 land impact PE for mesh, but actual prims must remain under 150.)
* 1 entry only per artist
* DEADLINE: 30th May2013
Place the artwork in the art entry receiver at the UWA Art Challenge platform (no perms required, but copy is appreciated if possible) . If you have problems with the receiver give artwork to Jayjay Zane or Jayjay Zifanwe along with Artist NC:
Receiver is located HERE
1st Prize L$100,000
2nd Prize L$75,000
3rd Prize L$55,000
4th Prize L$45,000
5th Prize L$40,000
6th - 10th Prize L$25,000
UWA Centenary Special Prize L$50,000
UWA Centenary Honourable Mention Prize L$30,000
* All winners will also receive a guided tour system of winner's choice (priced at $L2199) by 'THE GUIDED TOUR COMPANY, led by JonyBlade Codesmith
(Awarded to viewers/ visitors whose top 10 lists most closesly aligns to the actual juried top 10)
1st Prize L$ 7,000
2nd Prize L$ 5,000
3rd Prize L$ 4,000
4th Prize L$ 2,500
5th Prize L$1,500
To submit entries for REFLECTIONS: The UWA Centenary 3D Art Challenge, visit the UWA 3D gallery platform, and drop your entry in the receiver. You do this by selecting the entry in your inventory (left mouse button) and then press CTRL + drag the entry while holding down that key to the prim of the receiver. When the cursor is over the poster (red outlines should appear around the receiver box), release your left mouse button and the item is received. Do this for BOTH your entry and your Artist Notecard.
If you have difficulties doing this, give the entry to Jayjay Zane or Jayjay Zifanwe.
Contest Entry Rules:
1) Any artwork/ object can be submitted. They can be inanimate or have animation. They may contain scripts if you so choose - maximum script time of 0.5ms, and anything that runs at over 0.05ms is to have an on/off on touch with time out of 10 minutes max (if you are unsure of your piece's script load please contact one of the Challenge hosts to have it evaluated). 150 prim maximum (or 200 land impact PE for mesh). A 1% tolerance is given to these limits
2) Note that by submitting an entry, you are giving permission to the University of Western Australia to place the objects anywhere on UWA owned land, and to have information and images of the entries placed on UWA websites and on websites promoting the UWA SIMS or events held on the UWA SIMS or to be filmed for Machinima purposes.
5) A valid entry, is any object dropped onto the contest entry receiver that fits the theme. Select your item from inventory while holding down the CTRL key, and drop it onto the contest entry billboard prim (release the left mouse button when your entry is in position to be dropped in).
6) Alternate method of entry is to drop the object into the inventory of Jayjay Zane, who is executive officer for the UWA Art Challenges, or Jayjay Zifanwe.
7) All entrants should join the group 'UWA 3D ART AND DESIGN CHALLENGE' Group
8) To join, copy and paste the following into local chat, then click as appropriate to join the group: secondlife:///app/group/cad9c421-8b96-f9c1-fb40-dade48c43fe4/about
9) All work must be original. Renderings of works by others, in part or in whole, whether or not they are under copyright, should be acknowleded and permissions secured when appropriate.
Judging Panel for the UWA Centenary 3D Art Challenge:
Professor Ted Snell - Director, Cultural Precinct, The University of Western Australia
Dr Sally Quin - Curator, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, UWA Museums, UWA
Virginia Rowland - Senior Policy Officer, Centenary Planning, UWA
Lyn DiCiero - Editor, WA Artist's Chronicle
Madeleine King - Director UWA Centenary Celebrations
Merle Hearns (RL) / Briarmelle Quintessa (SL) - Senior Lecturer, Foundation Studies Department, Manukau Institute of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
FreeWee Ling - Curator, UWA 3D Open Art Challenge
Quan Lavender - Journalist & Blogger
Kip Yellowjacket - Co-Creator of VIRTLANTIS
Sasun Steinbeck - Creator of the Art Galleries of SL list
Len Zuks - Award Winning West Australian Sculpturist
Debora Kaz - Director of Kaz Filmes e Produções / Producer of I Festival Machinima Art Connections Brasil
Chestnut Rau - Journalist
Taralyn Gravois - CEO of VE Concepts
Apollo Manga - examiner.com Writer & Novelist
Frolic Mills - BOSL CEO
Dr Carmen Fies - Second Life Lead: University of Texas San Antonio
Lyn Hay (RL) / LenaLotus Latte (SL) - Lecturer, School of information Studies, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW
Thinkerer Melville (SL) / Selby Evans (RL) - Blogger on Virtual Worlds
Apmel Goosson - Journalist, Blogger, Author & Publisher
Dr. Phylis Johnson - Media Professor, Southern Illinois University, Author - Machinima: Aesthetics and Practice (a.k.a, Sonicity Fitzroy, SL Virtual Journalist)
Mal Burns - Metaverse News Aggregator and Broadcaster
Dousa Dragonash - COO Metaverse Television
TheDoveRhode - Owner of PEACE IS A CHOICE GALLERY
Jay Jay Jegathesan (RL) / Jayjay Zifanwe (SL) - Manager School of Physics/ Lead of UWA Virtual Worlds
Curator for REFLECTIONS: The UWA Centenary 3D Art Challenge is FreeWee Ling
Host for REFLECTIONS: The UWA Centenary 3D Art Challenge is Jayjay Zifanwe


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From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Audie Cornish.
And I'm Melissa Block.
The Florida peninsula has been spared the worst of tropical storm Isaac. The large system is now in the Gulf of Mexico, taking aim at a wide swath of the northern Gulf coast. Forecasters predict Isaac will pick up strength as it travels over the warm Gulf waters and will become a hurricane. They expect the storm to make landfall by Wednesday morning.
NPR's Debbie Elliott says four states are potentially in Isaac's path.
DEBBIE ELLIOTT, BYLINE: The latest track has Isaac coming ashore in southeast Louisiana, but hurricane warnings are up all the way east to the Florida Panhandle and coastal residents are scrambling to prepare.
DAVID JONES: Have you got any cut flowers in your box?
ELLIOTT: David Jones is trying to secure his house, just a block off the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
JONES: Nobody knows where it's going to, so you just, you know, I just do what I got to do. It doesn't take that long to board up.
ELLIOTT: He and two friends are climbing ladders to cover the second story windows with plywood. Todd Tingle has already boarded up his house. If it strengthens, as forecasters predict, Isaac would be his first hurricane.
TODD TINGLE: A little anxious, not really sure what to expect. But I guess I'm going to ride it out, though.
ELLIOTT: People choosing to ride out the storm is not what state officials want to hear. Alabama Governor Robert Bentley has ordered a mandatory evacuation of Gulf Shores and other island and coastal towns. Bentley says now is the time to get out.
GOVERNOR ROBERT BENTLEY: You may not be able to get back on the island, if it's an island, or you may not be able to get off at some point. So you need to make your decision about leaving. Now, there, you know, we cannot force people to leave. However, we strongly recommend that that take place.
ELLIOTT: Bentley, and the governors of Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana have declared states of emergency anticipating strong winds, heavy rains and storm surges as Isaac nears the northern Gulf Coast. Today was sunny and breezy, but conditions are expected to deteriorate tonight and tomorrow. Jeff Garmon with the National Weather Service in Mobile says the sheer size of the storm puts a wide area at risk.
JEFF GARMON: The tropical storm force winds, the winds between 39 and 73 miles an hour extend 1 to 200 miles from the center of the storm. And I know folks tend to really want to focus on where the black dot is on the hurricane tracking map, but you really can't do that with this system.
ELLIOTT: That black dot is over New Orleans at the moment, expected to come ashore exactly seven years after Hurricane Katrina and smack a region still recovering from that historic storm and the 2010 BP oil spill. Oil and gas companies have evacuated offshore rigs and closed down refineries as Isaac moves into the energy producing central Gulf of Mexico. The Coast Guard is closing navigation on the lower Mississippi River, in part to make sure stray barges and ships don't jeopardize the levee system that protects New Orleans and south Louisiana.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu says the city is as ready as it's ever been.
MAYOR MITCH LANDRIEU: It's going to be all right. If everybody does what they're supposed to do, we're going to get through this storm and do what we all the time, which is to stand back up, brush ourselves off, and continue to do great things, in my opinion, in the greatest city in the world.
ELLIOTT: At the ACE Hardware store on Magazine Street, residents are stocking up on supplies. The store has already sold out of flashlights, D batteries and sandbags. But there's not really a sense of dread. New Orleanian, Gary Hilliard.
GARY HILLIARD: Baby, 61 years old. This happens all the time here. I mean, just like people living in tornado alley, they know it's coming. They don't move, you know. They might run, but they'll run back. Home is home.
ELLIOTT: Hilliard and other New Orleans residents are counting on their homes withstanding whatever Isaac brings ashore. Debbie Elliott, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Tax season is in full swing, and with it comes a surge in scams targeting tax professionals. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Security Summit partners have issued a warning about a new email scam that impersonates various software companies, aiming to steal Electronic Filing Identification Numbers (EFINs). These scams pose a serious threat to both tax professionals and their clients, potentially leading to identity theft and fraudulent tax filings.
What is the EFIN documentation scam?
This recently growing scam involves fraudulent emails masquerading as communications from tax software providers. The emails request EFIN documents from tax professionals under the guise of a required verification process to transmit tax returns.
Unsuspecting victims who fall for this scam risk exposing sensitive client data and their own identities to malicious actors.
What is the IRS doing to mitigate the threat?
In response, the IRS is taking proactive measures to educate and protect tax professionals. Special educational webinars begin on February 12th, aimed at providing crucial information and strategies to combat this scam.
IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel emphasized the importance of remaining vigilant during this busy period, urging tax professionals to prioritize security measures within their practices.
How active is the EFIN documentation scam?
The IRS has already received numerous reports of this scam targeting tax professionals. Signs of a potential scam email include requests for EFIN documents via fax, instructions to obtain EFIN documentation from the IRS e-Services site, and inconsistencies in the email wording. Tax professionals who receive such emails are advised not to respond or take any action outlined in the message.
One example of the fraudulent email includes instructions to fax EFIN documents to a specified number, along with warnings that failure to comply will result in an inability to transmit tax returns:
Dear [recipient_email_address],
Help us protect you.
Because many Electronic Filing Identification Numbers (EFINs) are stolen each year and used to file fraudulent tax returns, the IRS has asked software vendors, such as Software A, to verify who the EFIN owner is by getting a copy of the IRS issued EFIN document(s). Our records show that we do not have a document for one or more of the EFINs that you transmit with.
What this means for you: Until your EFIN is verified, you will be unable to transmit returns. Please provide a copy of your EFIN Account Summary from IRS e-Services, with a status of 'Completed', to Software B for verification.
To send us your EFIN Summary document:
- Fax to Software B at 631-995-5984
If you do not have the above documentation you can get a copy of your IRS Application Summary from IRS e-Services by following the below steps or call the IRS e-Services helpline at 866-255-0654.
- Sign in to your IRS e-Services account
- Choose your organization from the list provided and click Submit
- Click the Application link to access your existing application
- Click the e-File Application link
- Select the existing application link that applies to your organization
- Click the Application Summary link for the area of the application you wish to enter
- Click the Print Summary link at the bottom of the summary presented on the screen
If you have any questions please contact the Compliance Department at xxx-xx-xxxx for assistance.
Thank you for your business. We look forward to serving you this coming season. Software B (edited)
What will the IRS webinars on the EFIN scam cover?
Tax professionals are encouraged to attend the upcoming webinars hosted by the IRS, where cybersecurity experts will provide valuable insights and guidance. These sessions will equip professionals with the knowledge needed to identify and prevent potential scams, ensuring the security of their clients' data and their own identities.
What else can tax professionals do to avoid becoming victims?
In addition to attending webinars, tax professionals are advised to remain vigilant against other phishing scams targeting EFINs, PTINs, and e-Services credentials. The IRS stresses the importance of promptly reporting any suspicious activity to the appropriate authorities, including the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) and local IRS Stakeholder Liaisons.
As tax-related identity theft scams continue to evolve and proliferate, tax professionals must stay informed and proactive in safeguarding sensitive information. By remaining vigilant and taking proactive measures, tax professionals can help protect themselves and their clients from falling victim to these fraudulent schemes.
For more information and resources on identity theft prevention, tax professionals can visit the IRS's Identity Theft Central and refer to Publication 4557, Safeguarding Taxpayer Data. Stay informed, stay vigilant, and stay protected during this tax season and beyond.
Source: IR-2024-36


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"What You're Saying Is Racist"
THIS IS ANOTHER installment in our series, Answers to Objections. I've already written several posts to help in answering this objection, since it is one of the most common.
The main problem with this one is that usually people will not say it outright. It is too offensive. To openly call someone a racist, at least in America, is a repugnant insult.
But you can usually read between the lines and realize the person you're talking to can only hear what you're saying in terms of racism — because they know so little about Islamic supremacism, they don't know how else to interpret what you're saying.
If you suspect this to be the case, you should bring it up first. It is best to handle this particular objection sooner rather than later. Here are some ideas to help you out:
1. Here's how to handle the racism objection before is even mentioned.
2. If it is a misnomer to call this kind of conversation "racist," what is it then? It is "criticizing a religious doctrine" and it is also "political criticism" — two perfectly legitimate activities in a free country.
3. Here is specifically why it is not racist to criticize Islam.
4. Here's how to make it perfectly clear you are not a racist.
5. Here is a great demonstration of why the racism charge is ridiculous.


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Onward Engaging the Culture without Losing the Gospel
$ 24.99
Only 2 left in stock (can be backordered)
Keep Christianity Strange.
As the culture changes all around us, it is no longer possible to pretend that we are a Moral Majority. That may be bad news for America, but it can be good news for the church. What's needed now, in shifting times, is neither a doubling-down on the status quo nor a pullback into isolation. Instead, we need a church that speaks to social and political issues with a bigger vision in mind: that of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As Christianity seems increasingly strange, and even subversive, to our culture, we have the opportunity to reclaim the freakishness of the gospel, which is what gives it its power in the first place.
We seek the kingdom of God, before everything else. We connect that kingdom agenda to the culture around us, both by speaking it to the world and by showing it in our churches. As we do so, we remember our mission to oppose demons, not to demonize opponents. As we advocate for human dignity, for religious liberty, for family stability, let's do so as those with a prophetic word that turns everything upside down.
The signs of the times tell us we are in for days our parents and grandparents never knew. But that's no call for panic or surrender or outrage. Jesus is alive. Let's act like it. Let's follow him, onward to the future.
Additional Info
Additional information
Weight | 12 oz |


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Hi! This plugin doesn't seem to work correctly on your browser/platform.
The Rocket At Subway Condos is a new condo development by Metropia Urban Landscapes currently in preconstruction at Wilson Avenue in Toronto.
Metropia creates buildings and communities that transform neighborhoods and add vitality to Canada's urban landscape. With numerous landmark developments in both Calgary and The Greater Toronto Area, Metropia is constantly pushing the boundaries of urban design and innovation to offer a wide range of housing options with an emphasis on affordability and an abiding responsibility to the environment. Metropia is a product of Howard Sokolowski's vision to create one of Canada's leading real estate development companies.
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Rebecca LeFebvre's successful dissertation defense clears way for Kennesaw State to award first Ph.D. in May
KENNESAW, Ga. (Apr 26, 2013) — Former technology executive Rebecca LeFebvre will become the first recipient of a doctor of philosophy degree from Kennesaw State University, after successfully defending her dissertation to complete the requirements of the Ph.D. program in International Conflict Management.
LeFebvre, who will receive her degree at graduation ceremonies in May, presented her defense before her faculty committee, professors, colleagues and program administrators and staff. After presenting a final draft and making an oral presentation based on her dissertation, titled "Deciding to Fight: A Cross-Cultural Comparative Study of Decision-Making in Conflict Situations," her committee recommended a "pass with distinction."
"I am extremely honored to be the first Ph.D. from KSU," said LeFebvre, who completed the program in three years. "I have had such talented people to work with in my department, many of whom have interesting research of their own and also took the time to advise me on my own research. I feel strongly that I will be only the first of many Ph.D. recipients to come from KSU, and that the university has a phenomenal future ahead of it in compelling and innovative research."
International Conflict Management became the Kennesaw State's first Ph.D. program in 2010 and has grown to enroll 34 doctoral students from 19 different countries. The University also offers professional doctorates in education, nursing and business.
As a member of the Ph.D. program's first cohort, LeFebvre passed her comprehensive exams "with distinction" in summer 2012 and defended her dissertation proposal last August. She conducted survey-based research during a two-week field trip to Ghana. Her dissertation research compares the effects of cultural variables on decision-making in conflict contexts among three samples of respondents in Ghana and the U.S.
"First and foremost, this is a fabulous achievement by Becky, one of our truly outstanding students," said Robin Dorff, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. "But this also is an historic moment for our new Ph.D. program in International Conflict Management, our College and Kennesaw State University. Becky's dissertation and her defense were nothing short of outstanding. She sets a gold standard for all who follow."
LeFebvre's success in navigating the rigors of doctoral study can be attributed to the success she has experienced in her professional life and the many attributes she brought to the program, said Volker Franke, founding director of the Ph.D. program and chair of LeFebvre's dissertation committee.
Prior to joining the program, LeFebvre was vice president of product development for News Distribution Network in Atlanta, She also has served as vice president of program management for Digital Media Technology at Turner Broadcasting Systems and as a senior director of product operations for Energy Systems Group at Motorola Inc. in Atlanta. She earned a master's degree in computer science at National Technology Institute and a bachelor's in electrical engineering from Rice University.
"Athough Becky's academic training in computer science and senior management experience within the technology side of the private sector seemingly show little relation to conflict management, her high level of leadership and achievement in her career has enriched the program and the classroom learning experience for students and teaching faculty alike," Franke said.
LeFebvre, who says she has a real passion and enthusiasm for the subject of international conflict management, plans to continue her research and hopes to take a full-time faculty position at an Atlanta-area university. She taught her first undergraduate course in international relations at Kennesaw State during her tenure in the Ph.D. program and currently teaches a course on African politics in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech.
"I enjoy teaching as much as I do research, and I want to continue to contribute to the growth and, hopefully, the inspiration of students [of] international affairs and issues," she said.
-- Sabbaye McGriff


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This is the third in a series of posts about my new book, Designing Media
Paul Saffo, July 2008
I put the interview with Paul Saffo at the beginning of the book because he gives such an erudite overview of the changes in media and the challenges faced by the people involved its creation and design.
Paul is a forecaster and essayist with more than twenty years of experience exploring long-term technological change and its practical impact on business and society. I know him well as a friend and because I helped him teach a class at Stanford about the future of engineering design. I enjoy and admire his intellectual prowess and curiosity, his deep knowledge of history, and his ability to tell stories that fascinate his audiences.
Paul Saffo's Journal
Along with his deep understanding of new technology, I love the traditional quality of his leather-bound journal, filled with neat handwriting and elegant sketches.
Paul helps us understand the differences between traditional mass media and new personal media, contrasting characteristic differences. First is the nature of the experience. With mass media, we watch, but with personal media answering back is required, so we need to design the interactions for the participants, implying a tight feedback loop. Then there is the location. Mass media came into our living rooms, but we carry personal media with us everywhere we go, so we design for portability and mobile access. The nature of the dominant players has also changed. Mass media was the world of the few and the large, but the personal media world is dominated by the many and the small.
The secret design principle—what I'll call Saffo's law—that encourages participation in a personal media world is this: the smaller the quantum of creative act you ask of participants, the more they participate. Ask for a message of not over 140 characters, a search string, or just a click, and you are on the way towards creating successful personal media.
A message of 19 characters.


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Northanger Abbey
by Jane Austen
Chapter V
Additional Information
- Year Published: 1817
- Language: English
- Country of Origin: England
- Source: Austen, J. (1817). Northanger Abbey.London, England: J. Murray.
- Flesch–Kincaid Level: 12.0
- Word Count: 1,310
- Genre: Satire
- Keywords: 19th century literature, british literature, jane austen, northanger abbey
- ✎ Cite This
Catherine was not so much engaged at the theatre that evening, in returning the nods and smiles of Miss Thorpe, though they certainly claimed much of her leisure, as to forget to look with an inquiring eye for Mr. Tilney in every box which her eye could reach; but she looked in vain. Mr. Tilney was no fonder of the play than the pump–room. She hoped to be more fortunate the next day; and when her wishes for fine weather were answered by seeing a beautiful morning, she hardly felt a doubt of it; for a fine Sunday in Bath empties every house of its inhabitants, and all the world appears on such an occasion to walk about and tell their acquaintance what a charming day it is.
As soon as divine service was over, the Thorpes and Allens eagerly joined each other; and after staying long enough in the pump–room to discover that the crowd was insupportable, and that there was not a genteel face to be seen, which everybody discovers every Sunday throughout the season, they hastened away to the Crescent, to breathe the fresh air of better company. Here Catherine and Isabella, arm in arm, again tasted the sweets of friendship in an unreserved conversation; they talked much, and with much enjoyment; but again was Catherine disappointed in her hope of reseeing her partner. He was nowhere to be met with; every search for him was equally unsuccessful, in morning lounges or evening assemblies; neither at the Upper nor Lower Rooms, at dressed or undressed balls, was he perceivable; nor among the walkers, the horsemen, or the curricle–drivers of the morning. His name was not in the pump–room book, and curiosity could do no more. He must be gone from Bath. Yet he had not mentioned that his stay would be so short! This sort of mysteriousness, which is always so becoming in a hero, threw a fresh grace in Catherine's imagination around his person and manners, and increased her anxiety to know more of him. From the Thorpes she could learn nothing, for they had been only two days in Bath before they met with Mrs. Allen. It was a subject, however, in which she often indulged with her fair friend, from whom she received every possible encouragement to continue to think of him; and his impression on her fancy was not suffered therefore to weaken. Isabella was very sure that he must be a charming young man, and was equally sure that he must have been delighted with her dear Catherine, and would therefore shortly return. She liked him the better for being a clergyman, "for she must confess herself very partial to the profession"; and something like a sigh escaped her as she said it. Perhaps Catherine was wrong in not demanding the cause of that gentle emotion — but she was not experienced enough in the finesse of love, or the duties of friendship, to know when delicate raillery was properly called for, or when a confidence should be forced.
Mrs. Allen was now quite happy — quite satisfied with Bath. She had found some acquaintance, had been so lucky too as to find in them the family of a most worthy old friend; and, as the completion of good fortune, had found these friends by no means so expensively dressed as herself. Her daily expressions were no longer, "I wish we had some acquaintance in Bath!" They were changed into, "How glad I am we have met with Mrs. Thorpe!" and she was as eager in promoting the intercourse of the two families, as her young charge and Isabella themselves could be; never satisfied with the day unless she spent the chief of it by the side of Mrs. Thorpe, in what they called conversation, but in which there was scarcely ever any exchange of opinion, and not often any resemblance of subject, for Mrs. Thorpe talked chiefly of her children, and Mrs. Allen of her gowns.
The progress of the friendship between Catherine and Isabella was quick as its beginning had been warm, and they passed so rapidly through every gradation of increasing tenderness that there was shortly no fresh proof of it to be given to their friends or themselves. They called each other by their Christian name, were always arm in arm when they walked, pinned up each other's train for the dance, and were not to be divided in the set; and if a rainy morning deprived them of other enjoyments, they were still resolute in meeting in defiance of wet and dirt, and shut themselves up, to read novels together. Yes, novels; for I will not adopt that ungenerous and impolitic custom so common with novel–writers, of degrading by their contemptuous censure the very performances, to the number of which they are themselves adding — joining with their greatest enemies in bestowing the harshest epithets on such works, and scarcely ever permitting them to be read by their own heroine, who, if she accidentally take up a novel, is sure to turn over its insipid pages with disgust. Alas! If the heroine of one novel be not patronized by the heroine of another, from whom can she expect protection and regard? I cannot approve of it. Let us leave it to the reviewers to abuse such effusions of fancy at their leisure, and over every new novel to talk in threadbare strains of the trash with which the press now groans. Let us not desert one another; we are an injured body. Although our productions have afforded more extensive and unaffected pleasure than those of any other literary corporation in the world, no species of composition has been so much decried. From pride, ignorance, or fashion, our foes are almost as many as our readers. And while the abilities of the nine–hundredth abridger of the History of England, or of the man who collects and publishes in a volume some dozen lines of Milton, Pope, and Prior, with a paper from the Spectator, and a chapter from Sterne, are eulogized by a thousand pens — there seems almost a general wish of decrying the capacity and undervaluing the labour of the novelist, and of slighting the performances which have only genius, wit, and taste to recommend them. "I am no novel–reader — I seldom look into novels — Do not imagine that I often read novels — It is really very well for a novel." Such is the common cant. "And what are you reading, Miss — ?" "Oh! It is only a novel!" replies the young lady, while she lays down her book with affected indifference, or momentary shame. "It is only Cecilia, or Camilla, or Belinda"; or, in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour, are conveyed to the world in the best–chosen language. Now, had the same young lady been engaged with a volume of the Spectator, instead of such a work, how proudly would she have produced the book, and told its name; though the chances must be against her being occupied by any part of that voluminous publication, of which either the matter or manner would not disgust a young person of taste: the substance of its papers so often consisting in the statement of improbable circumstances, unnatural characters, and topics of conversation which no longer concern anyone living; and their language, too, frequently so coarse as to give no very favourable idea of the age that could endure it.


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Latest firmware
The latest firmware version is 1761 (released on November 27th, 2014). When an update is available, you will receive a notification in the Nokia Withings App the next time that you sync your Withings Pulse.
Click here to learn how to update your Withings Pulse.
Click here to learn how to find the firmware version of your Withings Pulse.
Change log
Version 1763 - August 19th, 2015 (new installations only):
- Easier installation for Android devices
Version 1761 - November 27th, 2014:
- Fixed the "Error 7" message
- Performance improvement and bug fixes
Version 1681 - August 11th, 2014:
- Customize the order of your Withings Pulse's screens!
- In addition to the vertical clock screen, you can now reorder the screens on the Withings Pulse, and customize which screens you see.
- New screen option for total calories burned for the day
- Performance improvement and bug fixes
Version 1521 - June 3rd, 2014:
- Improve automatic wake-up mechanism: in the morning, if you don't exit the sleep mode manually, the Pulse will within 15 to 30 mins
- Enhance pocket vs wrist steps count algorithm
- Smoother Blood ygen Level assessment
- Performance improvement and bug fixes
Version 1361 - April 15th, 2014:
- Blood ygen level (SpO2) measurement (along HR measurement)
- Automatic exit of sleep mode - you no longer need to manually exit sleep mode when waking up
- The display language of your Withings Pulse can now be changed from the "My Devices" menu
- Enhancements for wearing the Withings Pulse at your wrist:
• Improved wrist-worn steps counting algorithm
• A vertical clock screen can be enabled from the app ("My Devices" menu)
Version 1051 - March 10th, 2014:
- Fix for heart rate/sleep screen freeze
- Battery life improvement
Version 971 - January 7th, 2014:
- Smart Sync - Enjoy constant activity updates to your Smartphone without even worrying about syncing
- More accurate calories counting
- Smoother heart rate assessment
- Elevation tracking improved
- Sleep monitoring enhanced
- Performance improvement and bug fixes
Version 861 - November 8th, 2013:
- Elevation tracking improved
- Sleep monitoring enhanced
- Track your run: more accurate distance calculation
- Smoother heart rate assessement
- Performance improvement and bug fixes
Version 811 - September 30th, 2013:
- Fix a bug that could prevent Withings Pulse's data from being synced.
- Enhance Bluetooth capabilities in case of large data synchronizations.
- Performance improvements.
Version 761 - August 28th, 2013:
- Improved battery life: fix several bugs that may reduce significantly your Withings Pulse's battery life
- New sleep UI that prevents you from leaving the Sleep Mode involuntarily.
- Enhanced sleep algorithm
- Performance improvement
Version 731
- Track your run:
Analyze your running in real time with the Withings Pulse.
When you are jogging, press the button once and discover the data you need: the duration and distance travelled while exercising.
- 10 days history browsing:
Did you beat your previous record?
Slide your finger across the touch screen and go back in time! The Withings Pulse features history browsing which allows you to display 10 days worth of data on its screen, giving you instant insight on your progress.
And other minor enhancements:
- Improved sleep algorithm
- Powersave
- Improved synchronization


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Elizabeth Wall Hinds reviews Andrew Miller's first novel, Ingenious Pain, winner of the James Black Memorial Fiction Prize and the 1999 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
An "eighteenth-century" novel, Ingenious Pain seamlessly combines various cultures of eighteenth-century England: it features the medical world, with its progress in surgical and other techniques (not to mention some entertaining in-fighting among schools of both physicians and "psychologists"), but it also offers a background and foreground peopled with less "officially" recognized members of the cultural terrain - a mermaid, a cabinet of wonders, table-top-sized automata, and a hermaphrodite doctor who collects human oddities for medical experiment. With its combination of high and low culture, the novel presents a full and rounded eighteenth century, but does so with a wit and lightness of touch that together weave a gripping yarn. And yet, resounding through the whole is a profound note of melancholy and loss. This is a book that addresses concerns of maturity: love so long unreciprocated that the longing is habit; the ends as well as the beginnings of great careers; the thumping reality of pain. Ingenious Pain, most importantly and most beautifully, asks what it means to be human.
James Dyer, born without the capacity to experience pain, is an oddity of a protagonist: unsympathetic by nature, this character doesn't elicit sympathy in the usual sense and is, in fact, quite a monster. Conceived mysteriously on an ice-cold night, Dyer grows up cold and inhuman, without ties of human affection and without speech until roughly the age of twelve. He leaves home to follow, peacefully and interestedly, one Marley Gummer, a snake-oil salesman who uses James, immune to pain, as a sort of side-show freak to sell his cure-all "medication." Taken later by a Dr. Canning to become one of Canning's collection of freaks of nature, Dyer eventually pursues medicine as a career and becomes a fabulous surgeon. Feeling no pain himself, Dyer never hesitates to cut, sew, or experiment; in fact, so mechanistically inhuman is he that he usually has someone time his surgical procedures so he can measure his improvement.
To balance the good doctor's absence of feeling, Ingenious Pain offers a second protagonist, a Reverend Julius Lestrade, whose connection to Dyer only becomes clear in the last third of the book. Lestrade, an ordinary man who has devoted his life to church, sister, and community, has nevertheless desires and suffering enough to be rounded out into an extraordinary portrait of humanity. The novel associates Lestrade with a very rich, natural world of intense good pleasure: his garden, his patron's hunting dogs, the aching thrill of food well-prepared. Not a Polyanna, Lestrade, in the course of the novel, loses his faith and makes, with friends, a trek by sled to St. Petersburg following the path of famous doctors, Dyer among them, who have entered a contest to reach the capital first so as to innoculate the empress of Russia for smallpox. Along the way, Lestrade encounters a fairy-tale forest complete with a witch and a miraculous survival. He also encounters Dyer and begins their strange and enduring friendship.
A blurb on the book's back cover aligns it with a "gothic sensibility," but in spite of the witch, the mermaid, and the premise of a literally insensitive main character, Ingenious Pain is not so much a gothic novel as a novel of wonders. The landscape is all but enchanted; nature is present with such intensity that a warm and human connection among all attentive occupants of existence endures throughout - even in spite of - a sequence of events that stands to ruin even the best health and the strongest faith. Wonders abound in this landscape, but they are not of the supernatural sort: the siamese twins, the mysterious stranger who impregnates Dyer's mother, are (like Dyer himself) merely extraordinary beings in the world, and there are so many of them that they make up the warp and woof of the ordinary. It is a wonder, for instance, that characters live through surgical procedures involving rusty saws and doctors in powdered wigs sipping brandy. The boy Dyer, after breaking a leg (painlessly), is fitted with a splint made of boards from a chicken coop: the "chickens have excreted on the boards as they excrete on everything, and the young Dyer, to amuse himself, picks at the black-and-white matter, flicking it at targets on the opposite wall."
Nature in Ingenious Pain is gross throughout. Beginning with an autopsy, the book is unrelenting in describing realities of surgery, blood, shit, and vomit. Not only does human excrement appear in an amazing number of scenes,the act of evacuation is presented with as straight and clear an eye as the most gorgeous of set tables - is, in fact, one of the very aspects of existence, like pain, and like pleasure, that make the human human. This world is one of ordinary nature which, unsentimentalized, participates in every aspect of human life, even of human civilization. Animals are as present as people in this nature, and they remind us, after all, that it is the animal qualities - pain, pleasure, pure physicality - that provide the human with humanity. Miller pays exceptional attention to dogs, their physicality, their sheer joy at being alive and their tactile brilliance. The extraordinary night on which Dyer is conceived, for instance, features not only shooting stars but dogs, a "velvety mass" who, "suspicious of the sudden quiet, fall silent" at the stars' appearance. In an early scene in which Lestrade, on a crisp and clear fall morning, prepares to go hunting, "dogs are dancing in their sleek coats, gently biting one another's throats." In response, the Reverend "rejoices, feels himself to be twenty."
It is this joy of the tactile that Dyer lacks; it is his soul. One does have a kind of pity for Dyer, because of his disability and because he is the object of display and experiment himself, merely one among many scientifically "progressive" experiments the eighteenth century could boast of, like Boyle's air pump, featured in this novel in an experiment conducted by Dr. Canning on a bird, with Royal Society types looking on, coldly, and cheering the bird's apparent death. Dyer is pitiable because he can no more experience pleasure than pain. He is accused of having no soul, for indeed, in this book, suffering - pure and physical but also of course metaphorical - makes life worth living. Dyer, as you might guess, is transformed late in the novel. He gains the capacity for feeling, either because of a vast disappointment or because of the ministrations of the tattooed and tooth-sharpened witch, Mary; in either case, such a weight of reality, coming to him at the advanced age of thirty, is quite too much for Dyer, who runs mad and is confined to Bedlam for some years. There he learns, without design, the secret of life: that pain and pleasure are so close in experience as to be sometimes indistinguishable, and that the absence of either is intolerable even if the presence of both may also be. Glimpsing a woman he loves undress, for instance, brings such intense pleasure that tears start to Dyer's eyes: it is almost unbearable. Dyer has had many women, fashionable, smart and beautiful ones. Having them has done nothing for him, though, and it is only after his transformation - perhaps effected by a woman after all - that the least touch by or connection with a woman reduces him to humanity. The new ability to know the difference is what saves his soul, if not his life.
Dyer loses many things when he gains sense: he loses his confidence, much of his surgical ability, his social poise and his intellectual grace. If the reader has pitied him for his lack of humanity, Dyer is likewise pitiable for these losses, for they are considerable. They are, however, necessary in the equations of Ingenious Pain, in which the "higher faculties" - which distinguish us from the "lower creation," according to eighteenth-century taxonomers - come under severe questioning. The animal virtues, all the senses, under the direct gaze of attention given to them by both the narrator and characters in this novel, endow the mere body with a value worth attending. The gross autopsy at the start of the novel, with blood and gobbets of flesh, is presented without the mercy of a narrator who will shift our gaze somewhere else. Because the book amounts to an autopsy of the human spirit, it is necessary to view, without blinking, the equally unsavory matter that goes into the making of a human being. We do well not to look away.


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I was very pleased this week to make contact with Roy Cruwys in Australia. Roy is a descendant of the Witheridge Cruwys tree. He is the grandson of Thomas Edwin Cruwys and Edith Baker, whose Golden Anniversary celebrations were the subject of an earlier post.
Roy has a letter dating from 1988 from his Uncle Ernie which provides a list of all the Cruwys birthdays. Ernie copied out the birthdays from a book belonging to his mother Edith Cruwys née Baker. By combining these birthdays with my extractions from the GRO indexes between the two of us we have now managed to come up with a comprehensive list of names and dates for the Witheridge family. Roy has also kindly sent me a few family photographs, three of which I am reproducing below. The first photograph shows Thomas Edwin James Cruwys and Edith Baker on the occasion of their Golden Wedding Anniversary. This photograph was use by the Tiverton Gazette to accompany their article.The second photograph is of Roy's father, Victor William Cruwys, in his RAF uniform. Flight Sergeant 530492 V W Cruwys served out in the Middle East and Egypt in World War II, and was awarded the Africa Star campaign medal.Victor was one of seven boys. One of the boys, James, died as a baby, but the other six brothers all served their country in World War II. We already knew from the Tiverton Gazette article that two of Victor's brothers, Thomas and Sydney, were prisoners of war. Now it transpires that a third brother, John Edwin Cruwys, was also a prisoner of war. Sadly John contracted some sort of infectious disease in prison and died shortly after coming home in 1947. The final picture is of the wedding of Victor William Cruwys and his bride Edith Moorhouse. They married in 1943 in Manchester while Victor was still in the RAF.