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Camp Followers, Contractors, and Carpetbaggers in IraqNews Abroad
Boarding the C-130 for Baghdad at a U.S. base in Kuwait I was surprised to discover that despite the military flight, the majority of my fellow passengers were not soldiers but private contractors. I was thus reminded of one constant in military history that seems to transcend time and place—where armies go private enterprise will surely follow. Thucydides' The Peloponnesian War is replete with privately outfitted vessels, grain merchants supplying distant armies, and friendly city-states welcoming hungry combatants into their agorae. However, the relationship between private enterprise and armies has always been controversial, and it is useful to make some elementary classifications. On a recent embed to Iraq I had an opportunity to see how several of these categories were manifest as well as to make some connections between what some have called a "Contractors' War" and several larger aspects of the Bush administration's reconstruction strategy for Iraq.
Camp Followers
There have always been civilians who have quite literally followed armies. Establishing camps just outside the military perimeter, when the army moved, they moved, thus earning the name "camp followers." While this term usually conjures images of prostitutes and unscrupulous merchants plying contraband to soldiers, the vast majority were likely soldiers' wives and children, washer women, servants, slaves, photographers, religious ministries, journalists, military equipment contractors and sutlers purveying legitimate merchandise. By the time of the American Civil War, camp followers were sufficiently important to merit special mention in Dr. Francis Lieber's famed General Orders 100 (1863), an early attempt to codify wartime conduct for Federal troops. It declared that, "[C] itizens who accompany an army for whatever purpose, such as sutlers, editors, or reporters of journals, or contractors, if captured, may be made prisoners of war…."
Today, most of the legal merchandizing functions once served by this semi-regulated swarm of camp followers have been replaced by the PX or post-exchange. A visit to the usually crowded PX at Camp Fallujah stills any doubts about the importance of providing these items. The Fallujah PX fills approximately 4,000 square feet of retail space and somehow manages to blend Wal-Mart-type merchandise with a convenience store's snappy atmosphere. Located within the camp perimeter, it is strictly regulated as to personnel, hours and goods. Yet the PX does share one important feature with its sutler-predecessors, one that seems laced through the overall U.S. management of the Iraq War—it shifts the cost of many items from the government to private parties, in this case, the soldiery. And not just the cost of junk food—some of the most popular clothing items at the Fallujah PX include cold weather gear, socks, gloves, Under Armor shirts and long johns—items with important field applications. Still, the Iraq War has something like traditional camp followers. One of the unreported stories of the conflict are the large numbers of young people from places like India and Sri Lanka who have come to Iraq specifically to sell food (e.g., Subway franchises), merchandise, and establish custom tailoring shops for the benefit of Coalition forces. As with camp followers from every time and place, they take increased personal risks in exchange for likely profits.
Defense Contractors
Today few Americans raise objections over retail sales to soldiers. However, for a second type of business—the defense contractor—public attitudes have always been ambivalent. Referring to substandard goods produced by some war contractors, the term "shoddy" was already trite by Appomattox. In the aftermath of World War I, accusations of profiteering, especially against arms' merchants, had become a trope. During World War II, Sen. Harry S. Truman partly earned his 1944 nomination as Roosevelt's vice-president because he led important hearings that exposed serious wrongdoing by some defense contractors. More recently, the $100 toilet seat has become shorthand for waste, fraud and abuse in military contracting. Curiously, in the Iraq War (and perhaps for the first time in recent American history) few complaints are heard about defense contractors per se. Instead, the focus seems to have shifted to the civilian management of the war effort, especially in procurement—for example, questioning whether U.S. forces are properly armored both on their persons (quantity and quality of Kevlar vests) or in their vehicles (numbers of up-armored Humvees and transports). The questions raised by today's critics have less to do with providing poorly made or overpriced supplies rather than insufficient quantities of the right supplies, with the fault laid at the Defense Department's doorstep.
Carpetbaggers and Reconstructions
However, next to the Iraq invasion itself, one of the most controversial aspects of the war concerns another category of private contractor—the reconstruction entrepreneur, or, as some would call them, "carpetbaggers." The word carpetbagger is deeply rooted in the American experience. While the inexpensive carpetbag—two pieces of carpet sewn together and joined with a handle—was invented in the 1830s, the term "carpetbagger" acquired its connotation after the Civil War. In 1868 a Northerner reported on the "great deal of bitterness" that some Southerners displayed "in regard to the presence, and great prominence of members, of what Louisiana people call 'carpet-baggers'—men, that is, who are new comers in the country." A Southerner put the matter more succinctly: "I would sooner trust the Negro than the white scalawag or carpet-bagger." In Lost Cause historiography, which in the decades following Appomattox, dominated Southern, and eventually Northern memories of the war and reconstruction, carpetbaggers were seen as opportunistic Yankees, as portrayed in the film Gone With The Wind by the character of Northerner Jonas Wilkerson, the former overseer who after the war sought to buy Tara for unpaid taxes. In many respects, carpetbagger rhetoric was an extension of antebellum secessionist ideology, which caricatured Northern society as excessively mercenary, lacking the "higher" ideals.
While this rhetoric probably fit some entrepreneurs, the term was actually applied with the same (or greater) vehemence to Northerners serving the Freedmen's Bureau such as the likely thousands of Yankee "schoolmarms" educating the newly freed slaves. Moreover, even profit-driven business interests brought with them one commodity that the war-ravaged South desperately needed—capital. But many white natives hated the racial, social and economic changes these "new comers" represented. Reaction was swift, ranging from non-violent ostracism to the formation of the Ku Klux Klan. In its original usage then, "carpetbagger" was a reactionary's word, a term of opprobrium most useful to those on the losing side of the Civil War.
It is not surprising then, given the partisan divide over the Iraq invasion and its aftermath, that the word carpetbagger has again resurfaced—invariably used by those who opposed the war, or who see an economic motive in the Bush administration's management of Iraqi reconstruction. Speaking for these dissenting Americans, one website devoted to exposing what it says are abuses by corporations such as Bechtel and Halliburton flatly declares, " These companies are modern versions of carpetbaggers," and includes on its homepage a famous 19th century cartoon depicting the species. (Nor is the term applied exclusively to reported profiteers. A Muslim website created a stir by denouncing Christian evangelist Franklin Graham as a "spiritual carpetbagger" after he declared his interest in proselytizing Iraqis.)
Whatever truths eventually surface from these partisan arguments, during my time in Iraq I could not help but notice the ubiquity of one kind of reconstruction entrepreneur—the PSD or Personal Security Detail. President Bush's broad, international "coalition of the willing" does exist but in the form of mercenaries carrying Irish, French, British, South African, Russian, German, Ukrainian, American and Nepalese (Gurkhas) passports. These (mostly) men were guarding corporate and governmental facilities, training Iraqi police, firefighters and soldiers, as well providing personal protection for Western and Iraqi civilians. It is useful to reflect on the presence of the PSDs because of the light they shed on the Bush administration's closely entwined military, political and reconstruction policies.
Licensed to carry arms by the Coalition Provisional Authority, the PSDs' large-scale presence certainly illustrates the previously noted pattern of cost shifting prevalent in military installations. Any corporation whose CPA contracts require an onsite presence had better provide for its own private security. But cost shifting is a consequence of other factors, and in this respect, U.S. Iraq reconstruction policy is different from any other in American history.
Two points emphasized by the presence of PSDs need to be considered sequentially. The first, now obvious to most observers, is that the U.S. lacks sufficient troops to provide meaningful ground security in all but a few key places—and not always there. Less often discussed is a second reason that lurks behind the first. If the goal were to "defeat" the insurgency, the level of ground troops should have been doubled (or more) to provide a safer environment for reconstruction, especially in the Sunni Triangle. But the goal is not (and never was) to militarily defeat the insurgency. Rather, if one ignores political rhetoric and focuses on where boots are actually on what ground—call it a garrison and patrol strategy—a strong inference arises that the overall military and political goals of reconstruction is merely to contain the insurgency until a combination of the ISF and local constabulary can assume the security function.
This is important, because it weakens one of the administration's rationales used to sustain public support for the war—we fight the terrorists in Iraq so we don't have to fight them here. Indeed, as already acknowledged by the Bush administration, a majority of the Iraqi insurgents are a combination of former Ba'athists and assorted nationalists—not those likely to wage a jihad inside the United States. What this also suggests is that even given the most optimistic scenarios for reorganizing the ISF, the insurgency could continue for decades. This is not an insurmountable problem—many countries manage to function even with active, domestic terrorists (e.g., Russia, Israel, Spain, Algeria.)
But a garrison-and-patrol strategy cannot produce safety comparable to the security standards of occupied Germany, Japan or Italy. Whatever the public was led to expect, it is my opinion that even after confronting a larger-than-expected insurgency, U.S. forces in Iraq were never intended to produce post-WWII levels of security; rather, security is maintained at levels sufficient to keep the oil fields and MSRs [Main Routes of Supply] open and commerce flowing. (Perhaps it is an unintended consequence, but in one perverse sense, weaker security also provides the Iraqis with incentives to accelerate domestic security formation, i.e., the U.S. will not "do" it for them.) Nevertheless, because so much reconstruction—of power grids, water and sewer systems, and telecommunications, to name a few—takes place away from the protective wing of U.S./Iraqi forces, private entities are sometimes left to fend for themselves. Thus, in parts of Iraq, private contractors are kidnapped, sometimes for ransom, sometimes for murder; and sometimes, private security services battle insurgents and criminals directly.
Making connections between U.S. corporate and political interests involved Iraqi reconstruction, monitoring for price gouging, rigged and no-bid contracts, and scrutinizing the DoD's procurement policies is as American as apple pie. But in today's Iraq, carpetbags are more likely to be filled with Glock 9mm pistols or HK MP5 submachine guns rather than cheap cigars or crooked contracts. Until the security situation improves, reconstruction will continue to be erratic. In fact, given Iraq's vast oil wealth and its 30% (or higher) unemployment, reconstruction has barely begun.
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Patrick M. Ebbitt - 9/24/2006
Thanks Mr. Dresner...
Dear Mr. Miller,
I was living on the outskirts of Fort Bragg at the onset of the war. In a matter of a few weeks Fayetteville, NC was devoid of troops and the bars were filled with the wives of the deployed.
Fayetteville, while not the center of wholesome, family values in times of peace was basically girls gone wild. When the first rotation returned stateside we had a series of domestic violence incidents including a handful of familicide cases.
I then moved to Goldsboro, NC home of USAF Seymour Johnson AB. The Air Force service personnel though just as sexually active seemed more subdued.
The sexual pressures not only have adverse effects on the troops stationed abroad but, the impact on the homefront is equally taxing.
Patrick M. Ebbitt - 9/24/2006
Dear Mr. Miller,
I did not see Jarhead but, if it is the story as told to me by two different soldier friends... different locations, places and date for each gent's tale... the video was of a spurned wife having sex with her new man... I assumed this was Army lore or urban legend... It probably is very true but may have now taken on a life of its own...
Patrick M. Ebbitt - 9/24/2006
Dear Mr. Miller,
There was this Atlanta Journal story at the wars outset of two GI's marrying Iraqi women, in country, under the auspices of an Iraq judge but, I have not been able to find any follow-up to these marriages or similar happenings...
There has also been some limited articles recently, such as this, on US troop sex lives or lack thereof...
Richard Dees Funderburke - 1/11/2006
Fascinating. In many cases, the history of homosexuals is best seen or accounted for in the records of the reprisals against them [see Chauncey's "Gay New York"]. Good luck with your next visit to Iraq and I hope you will be writing something I get to read here or elsewhere.
Michael Barnes Thomin - 1/10/2006
Great article. The PX in Fallujah sounds exactly like any ordinary PX on any U.S. military base across the globe, during peace or wartime.
Richard F. Miller - 1/10/2006
Dear Mr. Funderburke: It's true of course, that the simple admission of heterosexualty will not result in discharge. But even here there are limits. If a heterosexual patient were to admit to a (sexual) relationship with a fellow soldier/sailor, or the spouse of same, this would also constitute a violation of the UCMJ, and the doctor would be required to report it. Based on the record of discharges (as far as I can tell) this stuff is enforced--several months before I arrived, the USS Kitty Hawk actually had its resident admiral dismissed for just this reason--an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate.
There is one side note to this--in the Navy (I haven't checked this for the other armed services) there is one person who does have absolute priest-penitent privilege against disclosure, and those are the chaplains. They are not automatcially required to disclose violations of the UCMJ, and for that reason, one of my "findings" aboard the Kitty Hawk was that sailors were more likely to take sensitive issues to the chaplains. These involve not just issues of sexuality (my guess is not even primarily issues of sexuality) but also questions of substance abuse, the observed behavior of others, criminal activity, as well as a range of problems that sailors might (perhaps erronously) not wish to discuss with the ship's psychologist for fear of being labeled "nuts."
Perhaps because of this confidentiality, the true "shrinks" aboard the boat are the chaplains. (I did spend quite a bit of time with Marine chaplains in Fallujah, but unfortunately for my answers here, delved into areas other than sexuality/confidentiality--however, I am tentatively scheduled to return with the Marines to Iraq in March, and will keep your particular queries in mind.) One Navy chaplain told me that his work was 10% theology, 60% marriage/significant other counseling, and the other 30% he didn't want to talk about!
Richard Dees Funderburke - 1/10/2006
What an intelligent and informed response. Can you imagine the reaction if a heterosexual "patient" was informed that any discussion of his/her personal sexuality was to be reported to superiors and would lead to discharge from the service? Who would be left to man the ship?
Richard F. Miller - 1/9/2006
Dear Mr. Ebbett: Ah, yes, the flip side, no doubt. If you've seen the movie "Jarhead" (if you haven't I won't give too much away) a scene unfolds that exemplifies the very thing you've just noted. After languishing "somewhere" in the Saudi desert for months, a Marine treats his buddies to a video of "Apocalypse Now" that he has just received from home. If you know what follows, you'll feel awfully smart about your last comment...if you don't then far be it from me to blow the entertainment!
Jonathan Dresner - 1/9/2006
ZMag link has been fixed.
Jonathan Dresner
HNN Assistant Editor
Richard F. Miller - 1/9/2006
Mr. Ebbitt: Thank you very much for these links. While I was unable to open the ZMag link, I think the AJC story is the exception that proves the rule--the secret nuptials, the disapproving commanders, the fear of terrorism. Because kidnapping remains a potent threat, most military, when they do venture out, always do so with buddies and usually heavily armed. (In fact, everyone is heavily armed, except journalists, who are technically forbidden from carrying arms--but not prevented from keeping company with heavily armed PSDs!) I suppose one (unintended?) side effect of this policy--which would literally require a conspiracy to seek "unauthorized" sex--is to vastly reduce the number of occasions for sexual tourism.
But there is a huge unknown here: the willingness of Iraqi women to engage in what Westerners might term casual sex. Excluding completely secularized Iraqis for a moment, the structure of society is vastly different there, with an emphasis on the social control of women. There are many more native eyes on the look-out for what they might consider socially inappropriate behavior. Although the facts are not yet known (or at least released) this may have been behind the assassination of journalist Steven Vincent in Basra last year. (Allegations flew that he had such a relationship with his female interpreter, although this was denied by members of his family.)
Richard F. Miller - 1/9/2006
Your question is a good one. In a recent book about my first embed aboard the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk during OIF-I, I raised the same question with the ship's psychologist. She explained that under "Don't Ask/Don't Tell," her only dealings with sexual orientation came about through voluntary disclosure by prospective patients. I use the word "prospective" because each patient was asked to sign a document (before meeting) acknowledging that the psychologist would have to share any information violative of the UCMJ with higher command. Thus, patients were on notice that if they "told" of issues relating to sexual orientation, it was one-way ticket off the ship and out of the Navy. It was her belief that such disclosures were prompted less by "psychological" anguish than by a desire to be discharged.
As for Iraq, it's a fair inference that the percentage of gay men and women in a 130,000 +/- military force would likely reflect broader averages, whatever those are. Of course, gays can be as celibate as straights. But only the naive would imagine no homosexual contacts among such a large body of people--or for that matter, no heterosexual contact. (Remember that there are many uniformed women serving in Iraq.) Of course, nobody--straight, gay, male, female, or pop-goes-the weasel--is going to be discussing this with a journalist, or anyone else--unless they want out.
Thus, as to your last question--"Does the monastic quality of the Iraq occupation inspire what I might call a "Brokeback Mountain" scenerio?--I can only say that while I couldn't testify of my own knowledge in a court of law, it's probably the way to bet.
Richard Dees Funderburke - 1/9/2006
Thanks for the comments but I think they would have been a good part of your article as well -- which was very good in all other aspects. Of course, the concentration of "young men" with no sexual outlets [contracted for or illicit] raises the next question: to what extent are homosexual contacts encountered? As someone interested in gay/Lesbian history, such sexual activities are far from unknown even under conditions in which a local female populace is "ready, willing, and available". Does the monastic quality of the Iraq occupation inspire what I might call a "Brokeback Mountain" scenerio?
Richard F. Miller - 1/9/2006
Mr. Funderburke: This was a question that I raised repeatedly during my various sojourns in-country--given the concentration of young men, what were the opportunities for, to use a Civil War euphemism, "consort"? While no one I spoke with--private contractors, PAOs, or rank and file, were prepared to rule out any such activity (the country is large and only a few areas are extremely hazardous to one's health), all advanced the same reasons for why they knew of few, if any such opportunities--risk. Since our military doesn't countenance "official brothels," men seeking these opportunities would have to venture outside (relatively) protected areas and into the Iraqi maw. Few men were prepared to take that risk. (Nothing would please a Zaraqawi more than to film a snuff video of an American soldier executed for "unlawful fornication.") Moreover, the military, in pre-deployment preparation, strongly emphasizes not only the security risks but also the cultural-political consequences of any American "taking up" with local women, willing or otherwise. It wouldn't be a pretty picture. picture.
Richard Dees Funderburke - 1/9/2006
As a historian more interested in social history than the strictly military, I thoroughly enjoyed this first-hand account of campfollowers in Iraq. Sadly, I missed any mention of the most famous [infamous?] of this group -- sex providers. Is this commercialized too by the Bush administration or are the soldiers too busy creating democracy in Iraq to think about it?
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By late afternoon Wednesday, Brandon Baker had reached the 14,259-foot summit of Longs Peak, highest in Rocky Mountain National Park, northwest of Boulder, Colo.
The sun was bright, the view exhilarating. But then clouds rolled in and enveloped the peak. Suddenly so much static was in the air that he could feel his hair standing on end. It began to pour.
"I saw a couple of lightning bolts," said Baker, 31, of Princeton, Minn. "I crawled up under a rock ledge."
He planned to ride out the storm, take in the dramatic natural fireworks and then hike back down. Those thoughts are the last thing he remembers.
"The next thing I knew, I woke up the next morning," Baker said.
Lightning had struck Baker, who talked about the experience Thursday by phone from his bed at a Denver hospital, where medical staffers told him he was lucky to be alive.
Mysterious head wound
Baker said that when he woke up on the mountaintop, he didn't know what had happened. His legs were sore, his toes and fingers were "kind of numb" and he wobbled as he walked, but he chalked up those things to hiking a long distance and sleeping outdoors in a light jacket. He started hobbling down the mountain.
Along the way, he met a camper who was climbing up to find him. Baker had earlier left his backpack with the man at a campground, to make his climb easier. When Baker did not return, the man had sent his son to find park rangers, while he ascended to find Baker.
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Baker reached up. He had a wound about the size of his fist on the back of his scalp. Surprised, he thought he must have hit his head on the ledge.
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Eager to return
His fingers and toes were still numb, his legs were still weak, and he still had trouble walking on his own. He was hooked up to an IV and a blood pressure monitor, he said.
Baker, a divorced father of two, is a self-employed contractor who repairs televisions and appliances. He drove to Colorado as part of an undergraduate course he's taking for a degree in earth science at St. Cloud State University. He was accompanied by an instructor and eight other students. He hopes to become a high school teacher.
Tuesday was to be the culmination of five days of field study, and while the rest of the group had chosen one place to hike, Baker decided to scale Longs Peak alone.
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As for more mountain climbing, Baker has no hesitation.
"I would go right back up there tomorrow if my legs didn't feel bad," he said. "It's amazing once you get up there. You just don't understand until you get to the top of a 14,000-foot peak."
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There's even a manual to help you get started, including full game tutorials and a list of free/open-source resources for your games, like sprites, sound effects and music.
But by far the Coolest Game Ever™ is the one *you* write, from that silly idea you had the other day to a playable game you and your friends can enjoy.
And this march, the SDL Perl team is going to help you take that project out of your dusty drawer of "TODO"s and turn it into a reality, with the SDL Perl Game Contest!
The rules are simple, and much like the Perl Ironman contest:
"One game per week. Every week of march."
This means by the end of march you'll have not one, but FOUR games to show for. How cool is that?!
In fact, you can even make your weekly game the subject of your Ironman posts this month, and take out two birds with one stone (hmm... more game ideas)!
This monday (feb. 28), start writing your game! You have until the following monday to make it playable ("complete") and start all over again with a brand new game for the next week.
But what if I miss a deadline? What if I can't start this monday?
It doesn't really matter - just join the party and have some fun! Even if you only get to do one game, it's still a great opportunity to improve your skills and learn a bit about game design and development.
If you need any assistance writing your game, from ideas to code, WE WILL HELP! Just send an email to the SDL Perl mailing list with your questions (subscribe by sending an empty email to firstname.lastname@example.com, then fire your questions to email@example.com) or, better yet, join us live in #sdl over at irc.perl.org and we'll be more than happy to assist you and try your game out. If you never used irc before, please keep in mind people might be busy or in different timezones than you, so you may get instant responses or have to wait a few of hours before you get a reply. Be patient!
It can be a game about anything. Just make sure it's doable in a week. Some games take years to be complete, but you might be surprised at how much you can accomplish in just a few hours with SDL Perl :)
Oh, there's one extra rule, actually, and that's mandatory - HAVE FUN!! :)


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Find and fix problems with a single view and control of your entire environment.
MainView allows you to see and control data collected from multiple sources on one console. Rapid guided navigation takes you quickly and directly to the source of a problem, which speeds problem resolution. With security top of mind, remote secure access to Hardware Management Console (HMC) minimizes risk, improves response and provides full visibility into commands issued for audit and training.
- All resources and business-related metrics are visible and accessible regardless of source
- Guided navigation for fast root cause identification
- Mainframe-based customizable graphic interface
- Remote secure console access


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"Dazzling . . . brilliantly written . . . [Hamilton] is as evocative writing about people and places as she is at writing about cooking."—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
"Rhapsodic, profane, wonderful . . . A fabulously talented writer-cook, Gabrielle Hamilton is also a contrarian one, and you never know quite what will come next."
—The Wall Street Journal
"Hamilton's writing about food is so vivid it could make you half-crazed with hunger, leaving you in front of the open fridge with a cold chicken leg in one hand and the book in the other."—The Boston Globe
"Luminous . . . [Readers will] marvel at Hamilton's masterly facility with language."—The Washington Post
"The author/chef is an original—tough, tender, gritty, dreamy. . . . She has written Blood, Bones & Butter with her whole, generous heart."—The Miami Herald
"Magnificent. Simply the best memoir by a chef ever. Ever."—Anthony Bourdain


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Ronin (film)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Ronin is a 1998 film Action-Thriller film directed by John Frankenheimer.
- (last lines of the film) No questions. No answers. That's the business we're in. You accept it and move on. Maybe that's lesson number three...
- Everyone is your Brother, until the rent is due.
- All good things come to those who wait.
- Either you're part of the problem or you're part of the solution or you're just part of the landscape.
- Spence: You ever kill anybody?
- Sam: Hurt somebody's feelings once.
- Sam: Whenever there is any doubt, there is no doubt. That's the first thing they teach you.
- Vincent: Who taught you?
- Sam: I don't remember. That's the second thing they teach you.
- Deirdre: What exactly were you doing back here?
- Sam: Lady, I never walk into a place I don't know how to walk out of.
- Deirdre: Then why are you getting into that van?
- Sam: You know the reason.
- Vincent: [as Sam is preparing to perform surgery on himself] Sure you can do this?
- Sam: Yeah, I once removed a guy's appendix with a grapefruit spoon.
- Jean-Pierre: The forty seven Ronin. Do you know it?
- Jean-Pierre: Forty seven samurai, whose master was betrayed and killed by another lord. They became ronin, masterless samurai, disgraced by another man's treachery. For three years they plotted, pretending to be thieves, mercenaries, even madmen. That I didn't have time to do, and then one night they struck, slipping into the castle of their lord's betrayer and killing him.
- Sam: Nice. I like that. My kind of job.
- Jean-Pierre: There's something more. All forty seven of them committed seppuku, ritual suicide, in the courtyard of the castle.
- Sam: Well, that I don't like so much.
- Robert De Niro as Sam
- Jean Reno as Vincent
- Natascha McElhone as Deirdre
- Stellan Skarsgård as Gregor
- Sean Bean as Spence
- Skipp Sudduth as Larry
- Michael Lonsdale as Jean-Pierre


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This Strata Online Conference has ended.
Agenda/Schedule | Program Chair
Everyone buys in to the mantra of the data-driven enterprise. Companies that put data to work make smarter decisions than their competitors. They can engage customers, employees, and partners more effectively. And they can adapt faster to changing market conditions. It's not just internal data, either: a social, connected web has given us new firehoses to drink from, and combining public and private data yields valuable new insights.
Unfortunately for many businesses, the information they need is languishing in data warehouses. It's accessible only to Business Intelligence experts and database experts. It's encased in legacy databases with arcane interfaces.
Big Data promises to unlock this data for the entire company. But getting there will be hard: replacing decades-old platforms and entire skill sets doesn't happen overnight. In this online event, we'll look at how Big Data stacks and analytical approaches are gradually finding their way into organizations, as well as the roadblocks that can thwart efforts to become more data-driven.
Program subject to change. The entire conference will be recorded and made available to attendees free of charge afterwards.
A limited number of sponsorship opportunities are available for Strata Online Conference. To sponsor Strata Online Conference and for general sponsorship information, contact Susan Young at email@example.com.
Alistair Croll
is an entrepreneur with a background in web performance, analytics, cloud computing, and business strategy. In 2001, he co-founded Coradiant (acquired by BMC in 2011) and has since helped launch Rednod, CloudOps, Bitcurrent, Year One Labs, and several other early-stage companies. He works with startups on business acceleration, and advises a number of larger companies on innovation and technology.
A sought-after public speaker on data-driven innovation and the impact of technology on society, Alistair has founded and run a variety of conferences, including Cloud Connect, Bitnorth, and the International Startup Festival. He's the chair for Strata Data conference. He has written several books on technology and business, including the best-selling Lean Analytics.
Alistair tries to mitigate chronic ADD by writing about far too many things at Solve For Interesting.
Questions? Please send an email to firstname.lastname@example.com


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MARINA DEL REY - After waiting and hoping that his wife would make the first move and file for divorce, Ashton Kutcher, 34, has gone ahead and filed for divorce from Demi Moore, 50, after waiting patiently for one whole year.
The star of Two and A Half Men told Pico de Gallo with Tittle Tattle Tonight that if he continued waiting for Demi to make the first move he and his girlfriend Mila (Kunis), 29, would have kids in high school.
Kutcher told de Gallo that the reason why he wanted for Demi to file for divorce first was so that he would not feel guilty if she decided to go and do something drastic like sell her house and move to Afghanistan, or put her minor daughters up for adoption, or possibly even become a card-carrying member of Sarah "Snowflake" Palin's Tea Bag Party.
Ashton said that he had heard from his hair stylist FuFi Fondue, who is known as the Hair Stylist to the Stars, that Moore had told him that she would give Ashy his divorce when Brad Pitt has a sex change operation.
SIDENOTE: De Gallo stated that Kutcher hired the California law firm of Gorgonzola, Gomez, & Granolawitz, and filed for divorce on grounds of Irreconcilable Ipso Infideliticious.


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|"I'm Travelin' Jack... and I have endorsed this message!"
Welcome to the New Mexico's Canine Campaign Headquarters: PETSIDENTIAL ELECTION 2014! Hosted by Pet Travel Guru himself, Travelin' Jack, Pet Travel Writer, Award winning Author and TV Pet Travel Reporter...this dog is on the Campaign Trail to help his furry friends in New Mexico!
Watch Travelin' Jack's video to learn about his Campaign Mission.


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DETROIT – Prosecutors in the Kwame Kilpatrick federal corruption trial introduced into evidence Wednesday a series of damaging text exchanges between defendants Kilpatrick and friend Bobby Ferguson about a contract with the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD).
The cross-examination of government witness Kathleen McCann, former employee of local billionaire Tony Soave, was deferred until Ferguson's defense lawyer Susan Van Dusen recovers from a nasty fall on her face in the courthouse Monday.
McCann had testified earlier to former Detroit mayor Kilpatrick holding up DWSD contract 1368 with her company Inland Waters until they agreed to employ Ferguson as a sub-contractor. The defense had argued that was an inaccurate portrayal of the former mayor's powers with the DWSD and that contracts were approved by City Council and not Kilpatrick.
The text exchanges introduced today seemed to indicate rather differently.
EPA agent Carol Paszkiewicz took the witness stand. US Attorney Mark Chutkow led her methodically through a series of texts mostly between Ferguson and Kilpatrick about contract 1368.
The first exchange between Kilpatrick and Ferguson is dated October 30th 2002, some months after Inland Waters started work on 1368. Ferguson texts Kilpatrick to ask when he is meeting with Soave. Kilpatrick texts back: "Don't know will holla back later."
Ferguson further references Soave in a November 4th 2002 exchange with Kilpatrick where they are discussing the Graimark housing development and the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. Ferguson tells Kilpatrick that he met with the Graimark people and that he "don't cry for sh$% that don't help both of us" but what "we need to talk about is fu@^ing Soave. Again Kilpatrick responds, "Yeah. i'll holla later about that."
On August 9th 2004, Ferguson texted Kilpatrick "Tonys very smart he didn't call me back Kathleen did asking what was the meeting I requesting pertaining to." Ten days later, on August 19th 2004, Inland Waters received a stop work order on 1368 which stipulated that Ferguson restoration issues had to be addressed.
Nearly a month later, in a September 2nd 2004 exchange with Kilpatrick, Ferguson slams McCann texting the former mayor "I had a meeting with Kathleen the bitch had the nerve to punk me out." This was a few weeks after the August 2004 sinkhole collapse at 15 mile in Sterling Heights. McCann testified last week that Ferguson took credit for getting Inland Waters the project to reinforce the earth and replace the collapsed sewer line.
A day earlier, on September 1st, Kilpatrick had texted Ferguson about the sinkhole saying "You got to get with Victor on this Sterling Hts job. He said you were meeting him out here." To which Ferguson replied "Yes sir boss, we need to talk today about that if you have time sir..."
A little later, Ferguson texts Kilpatrick more about his participation in the project: "we need to meet on how i move in. i got a great idea sir holla in the am..."
Ferguson Enterprises ultimately made $3.1 million on the sinkhole repair.
The government also dented the defense's argument that Kilpatrick had no authority as mayor over the approval of water contracts by introducing documents which proved that he used his powers as special administrator to authorize amendment #4 to contract 1368.
Jim Thomas, lawyer for Kilpatrick, argued that the texts were out of context and were being misinterpreted by the witness. He also argued that it was not unusual for contractors to leverage their connections within the DWSD to get water contracts. Thomas cited contractor DLZ as an example of a company using "ethnic relationships" to get work.
"I don't know about ethnic relationships," replied the witness.
Cross-examination will resume Thursday at 9AM.
SPECIAL COVERAGE: Kwame Kilpatrick's federal trial
About the author
Alexandra Harland is a Princeton undergrad and has a masters degree in International affairs with Columbia. A Montreal native, she worked with the Daily Telegraph newspaper for a few years before transitioning to TV, when she worked at ABC News with Peter Jennings. Alexandra has also worked in newsrooms in both Detroit and Boston.


text:
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Manic Panic Classic high voltage semi-permanent hair dye is world famous for its unique vibrant colours, long lasting effect and vegan friendly PPD free materials that have been lighting up the hairstyles of alternative individuals for decades ever since the punk era.
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text:
Those thinking the next season of Game of Thrones would be starting around March have a bit longer to wait; HBO just announced that the fourth series will be kicking off on Sunday April 6 at 9pm.
Things will be picking up after Robb Stark's wedding. For those who aren't up to speed with either the books or the show, it'll be nice seeing what the happy bride and groom get up to on their honeymoon.


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If there's anything that Israeli soldiers and Palestinian civilians could agree on, the joys of "Gangnam Style" might have been on that list.
But alas, a group of Israeli soldiers are in hot water after video surfaced of the troops dancing with Palestinian locals to Psy's K-Pop hit at a Hebron nightcub, while they were ostensibly on patrol.
It's the latest of many impromptu Psy tribute dances that have gotten its subjects in trouble with authorities. And it's not the first time Israeli Defense Forces troops have been warned about pop music dance-offs -- a 2010 video of soldiers dancing to Kesha's "Tik Tok" in Hebron also earned them rebuke from their superiors after it went viral.
Amateur cellphone footage of the dance party looks like a really great time, and a rare moment of levity between the two long-opposed groups. An Israeli solider is repeatedly shown hoisted on a partygoer's shoulders and dancing with guests while still holding his gun.
But the soldier's bosses didn't see it that way. They suspended the troops -- part of the high-ranking Givati Brigade -- while they investigate if the dance-off put anyone at unnecessary risk.
While Pop & Hiss never endorses risky armed behavior, we were definitely smiling while watching the clip. If the world's great geopolitical problems are ever to be solved, it will probably happen during K-Pop dance parties. Psy, an effective 21st century diplomat -- who knew?


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'Could be greater fraud amount' in probe of alleged traffic ticket-fixing scam
Toronto Police are continuing their investigation into an alleged traffic ticket-fixing conspiracy involving four paralegals and a court clerk.
Officers received an anonymous tip six months ago, said Det. Pedro Vidinha, of 12 division.
According to police allegations, convictions for traffic offences were being changed to withdrawals on the court computer system.
"The fraud involved the loss of fines, $30,000, which would (have to) be paid if these convictions weren't removed from the system," said Vidinha. "There could be a greater fraud amount as we continue our investigation.
"It's alleged that the drivers would receive clean driving records and lower insurance premiums after the convictions were illegally removed," said Vidinha.
The first person charged was Toronto court clerk Frank Rizzello in February.
Rizzello, 43, who had spent 15 years working as a computer intake clerk at the 2700 Eglinton Ave. W. courthouse that handles traffic and provincial offences act cases, was fired.
He's barred from applying for any court support job in Ontario and prohibited from communicating with paralegals or any known employee at his former workplace, except through his lawyer for the purpose of preparing a defence.
Rizzello is charged with breach of trust, attempting to obstruct justice and fraud-related offences. He faces the same allegations as four paralegals — Ben Zappia, Ben Bennardo, Payam Javadi and Philip Alexiu — who were arrested this week.
The four are charged with breach of trust, fraud over $5,000, uttering forged documents and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. They were all released on their own recognizance from Ontario Court of Justice on Tuesday.
Zappia, 44, Bennardo, 30, Javadi, 37, Alexiu, 38, and Rizzello will be back in court on May 27.
The four paralegals were released under conditions barring them from attending the 2700 Eglinton Ave. W. traffic courthouse and from contacting the more than 130 people whose convictions were allegedly erased.


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(CMT Offstage keeps a 24/7 watch on everything that's happening with country music artists behind the scenes and out of the spotlight.)
The CMT Music Awards are always a party. But, aren't you just a little curious about the party that goes on after the show? This year's official Fan After Party is happening Wednesday (June 6) right on Third Avenue South in Nashville immediately following the awards show at Bridgestone Arena. The party, presented by Warner Music Nashville, kicks off the label's three nights of live music at the super-cool aVenue. All you have to do is order tickets now , walk about two and a-half blocks, and they'll have them waiting for you. So after watching all the country stars you know and love pick up their big CMT belt buckles, you can keep the party going with Gloriana and Charlie Worsham. Gloriana's latest single, "(Kissed You) Good Night," is the one the trio just performed on The Bachelorette when Emily Maynard and Ryan Bowers ended their one-on-one date with a slow dance. And Charlie Worsham, who I know from following him on Twitter has a green belt in karate and plays a new guitar from the '60s, will be there to open the show. I also know this about Worsham. He's toured with Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift, so even though he's still a bit of a rookie, he learned from the best.


text:
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Posted: Jul 30 2013, 05:11 PM
Group: Advanced Members
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Joined: Oct 2nd 2005
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Not sure whether to put this thread in the ID1&2 thread or not. But because most people don't read those threads, I'll just post it here
ID1 and Demul 0.5.7
Download, unzip, then go into Roms and unzip all zip files into their respective folders.
Setup can be tricky, but if you follow everything in the video, you should have no problems. This is how I got ID1 running (slowly) on my work computer. Yes, you can run any Arcade Stage roms from versions 1-3 Japanese or Export. The settings should all be similar.
If the fps is low or the graphics don't display properly, it's either your computer spec is too low or that the emulation is not running 100% correctly (not your fault)
Update 8/22:
Button config:
STEERING JOY1 ANALOG1 left - right
ACCEL JOY1 ANALOG1 up
BRAKE JOY1 ANALOG1 down
VIEW JOY1 DIGITAL down
GEAR JOY2 DIGITAL up - down
This post has been edited by RIT_ninja on Aug 22 2013, 06:43 AM
Posted: Aug 23 2013, 06:06 PM
IDW Full Member
Group: Members
Posts: 47
Member No.: 39,955
Joined: Jan 3rd 2013
Location: Update Profile
Texture problems in version 3 seem to have disappeared, only thing that remains in races now is the corruption on the skid marks.
Posted: Dec 21 2014, 06:29 PM
IDW Full Member
Group: Members
Posts: 47
Member No.: 39,955
Joined: Jan 3rd 2013
Location: Update Profile
Sorry for reviving an old thread - couldn't find the answer on google. Is there any way to to back through the menus in test mode? the brake button (joy1 analog1 down) just isn't working here. Also, I don't suppose there's a way to upgrade parts in test mode either?
Posted: Feb 25 2016, 09:23 AM
IDW Jr. Member
Group: Members
Posts: 54
Member No.: 44,695
Joined: Aug 27th 2014
Location: Update Profile
Make sure you also map two additional buttons in Demul. Test and Service. These two buttons are used to navigate within the Test menu.
Posted: Oct 21 2016, 12:31 AM
Reigning and Defending
Group: Advanced Members
Posts: 1,722
Member No.: 625
Joined: Aug 12th 2003
Location: West Los Angeles, CA
I just got Demul for my PC. I need help setting up Ver. 3. Can anyone help me please??
Posted: Oct 21 2016, 01:33 AM
Request Title - PM Mods
Group: Members
Posts: 418
Member No.: 34,416
Joined: Nov 29th 2009
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
When starting up DEMUL for the first time, it will auto-create folders in the main folder
All ROMS and BIOS have to be placed in the "roms" folder
For control settings:
Main button configure screen
TEST : Button to enter Test Mode
Service : Button to enter Service Credits
(IMPORTANT) (Please configure these two buttons as you need them to navigate around the TEST Menu)
In Arcade Joy 1 sub-menu, these button configurations correspond to what does what
Analog 1 UP : Accelerator
Analog 1 DOWN : Brake
Analog 1 LEFT : Wheel left
Analog 1 RIGHT : Wheel right
COIN: Credits
START: Start
In the PUSH button:
PUSH1 : Gear Up
PUSH2 : Gear Down
PUSH3 : View Change Button
PUSH6 : Retrieve/Insert Card
After you have created a card in game, the card data will be stored in the "NVRAM" folder under whatever name you gave the game Rom, which will have a file type of .card
If you wish to have multiple cards, just move your existing .card file to another folder and create a new card in-game, which will then creates a new .card file. If you want to use back your previous card, just move your new card data into another folder and move your old card data file back into the NVRAM folder.
I hope this answers your questions. You can ask more if you don't understand
This post has been edited by Akii on Oct 21 2016, 01:38 AM
Posted: Oct 25 2016, 08:43 PM
Reigning and Defending
Group: Advanced Members
Posts: 1,722
Member No.: 625
Joined: Aug 12th 2003
Location: West Los Angeles, CA
Ok I got it all setup. What I need now is a site or a link to download the necessary game files. Do you have any links I can try?
Posted: Oct 25 2016, 09:50 PM
Professional Amateur
Group: ADMINISTRATOR
Posts: 10,537
Member No.: 30,882
Joined: Oct 16th 2008
Location: Laniakea
Guidelines prevent me from publishing links here, but suffice to say you may find what you're looking for on Emuparadise.
Proud Contributor of the Music Section Revival Project


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The inevitable brushfires that threaten to bring down any professional sports franchise barely touched the Red Sox this season.
The inevitable brushfires that threaten to bring down any professional sports franchise barely touched the Red Sox this season.
"This has been easy to deal with," said manager Terry Francona on the eve of Game 4 of the World Series. "They (his players) are very responsible. The majority of things that happen are with guys that aren't playing or pitching to the amount they think they should be, but our bench guys have been off the charts. I appreciate it. (Alex) Cora has been here. (Eric) Hinske stepped right in.
"Guys who don't play, you hope they don't bring people down. Our guys bring them up. It's refreshing because that's not always the case."
There's no doubt that winning helps bring about a comfortable atmosphere, but it doesn't always happen without strong personalities such as the Sox have had.
"If they go out to dinner with each other, I don't care. On the field, you have to have immense loyalty to each other. What matters is how they played on the field. When you win, everything is fine."
Foggy memories
Francona was asked to describe the feeling he had when the team won its World Series title three years ago in St. Louis. He couldn't.
"I don't know if I remember," he said. "I actually don't even remember getting on the field. You wait your whole life for that minute, and you don't know where it went."
Cancer conquered
Francona had no problems with Game 4 starter Jon Lester coming through and showing the world he had conquered his cancer.
"I understand, I think, because when it happened I tried to deal with it. I think Jon got a handle on it. It's a great story. I think he understands his role as a pitcher. I think he has all along. We already thought the world of him, but our respect for him has only grown."
Rockies pitcher Jeff Francis, asked if the Sox seemed to have a good hitting plan: "Yeah, I think they have a plan as a team. I don't know if they all have the same approach, but I think as a team when you've got so many good hitters with so many different types of approaches, and aggressive, patience, they put all that together, along with being as hot as they are, it's a dangerous combination.
"Y'know, it shows on the field the last three games what they've done to us as starters, especially. They really haven't let us get into any kind of rhythm or get ahead in a lot of counts. Even when we are ahead, it just feels like they're just as aggressive and just waiting for you to make a mistake, and they haven't missed them when we have."
On the layoff
Rockies manager Clint Hurdle, on the eight-day pre-Series layoff his team was forced to endure: "I don't know how you recreate a World Series environment. I don't know how you recreate a playoff environment in practice. There might be some things we talk about.
"We didn't talk a lot about time off, historically what happened with time off or what went right or what went wrong. We just stayed focused on the job at hand. We were in uncharted territory. We handled it, I think, professionally. I'm not sure right now -- I'll give it some thought in the offseason, how many things we could have done differently to create a more different environment, a more challenging environment."
Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia, 7-for-10 with four doubles in the 10-5 Game 3 win, became the first rookies ever to bat 1-2 in the World Series. … Ellsbury became the eighth player to have three doubles in a WS game. … J.D. Drew came into Game 4 with a nine-game postseason hitting streak, batting .412. ... Jonathan Papelbon's 1 1/3-inning Game 4 performance boosted him to nine straight shutout innings in the post-season, 13 overall. … Francona came into Game 4 with a record seven-game winning World Series streak. … Daisuke Matsuzaka's third-inning two-RBI single was the first postseason hit by a Sox pitcher since Bill Lee in 1975 and the first RBI by a pitcher since Jose Santiago homered in Game 1 of the 1967 Series. … Oct. 28 was the latest the Sox have ever played.


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PETALS APLENTY: In much of the world the month of May and the concept of flowers are a longtime twosome. After all, those fabled April showers need to do their work before roses and daisies and lilacs can start showing up in profusion. There are exceptions to this rule, a major one being Death Valley National Park. There's no childhood rhyme for how and when and if flowers appear in one of the hottest, driest places on the planet -- "infrequent winter showers may or may not bring February wildflowers" isn't on the tip of most tongues -- but we like to believe that a lack of popular rhyme just goes to show how special a Death Valley flower is. They do appear, but their annual debut, and how many will turn up, are the mysteries. Let's call them delightful mysteries; wildflower watchers, those people who dutifully keep tabs on our California deserts starting about late January, are very into where petals are showing first. And reporting on that, too.
WHERE TO KEEP A WATCH: If you can't be out in the national park, binocs in hand, on a daily basis, watching, you can turn to sites like Desert USA, which posts regularly on where flowers are popping up. It's also worth swinging by the National Park Service page for Death Valley, too. "Lower elevations" can see wildflowers starting in mid-February, says the page, which gets fairly specific on where to look and when. Oh, and why are we making all this ballyhoo about flowers, something that can be seen outside of our deserts in higher numbers? Because wildflowers and deserts are quite striking together, and should be experienced at least once. Thank you, planet, for wowing us again.


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Xylocaine 10% Pump Spray 50ml
BRAND NAME(S): Xylocaine
Medication Uses | How To Use | Side Effects | Precautions | Drug Interactions | Overdose | Notes | Missed Dose | Storage
USES: Lidocaine spray is used to numb the lining of the mouth and throat before certain medical procedures (e.g., intubation). It is a local anesthetic that starts to numb the lining of the mouth and throat 1-2 minutes after application. It also helps prevent the urge to close the throat (gag reflex), which might make the procedure more difficult.
HOW TO USE: This medication is usually sprayed within the mouth by a health care professional immediately before your procedure. This medication numbs the nose and throat. This will make swallowing difficult and increase your risk of choking or swallowing the wrong way. Do not eat or chew gum for 1 hour after this product is used or until your mouth/throat is no longer numb. It is especially important to make sure children do not eat or chew gum for at least 1 hour after their procedures. Be careful not to accidentally bite your tongue or mouth.
SIDE EFFECTS: Mild nausea, stinging, swelling, and burning may occur. Dizziness and drowsiness may also occur. If these effects persist or worsen, notify your doctor. Remember that your doctor has prescribed this medication because he or she has judged that the benefit to you is greater than the risk of side effects. Many people using this medication do not have serious side effects. Seek immediate medical attention if any of these rare but serious side effects occur: slow/shallow breathing, slow/irregular heartbeat, mental/mood changes (e.g., severe drowsiness, confusion, nervousness), seizures, fainting, vision changes (e.g., double or blurred vision). A very serious allergic reaction to this drug is rare. However, seek immediate medical attention if you notice any of the following symptoms of a serious allergic reaction: rash, itching/swelling (especially of the face/tongue/throat), severe dizziness, trouble breathing. This is not a complete list of possible side effects. If you notice other effects not listed above, contact your doctor or pharmacist. In the US -Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.In Canada – Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to Health Canada at 1-866-234-2345.
PRECAUTIONS: Before using lidocaine, tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are allergic to it; or to other amide-type anesthetics (e.g., bupivacaine, prilocaine); or if you have any other allergies. This product may contain inactive ingredients, which can cause allergic reactions or other problems. Talk to your pharmacist for more details. Before using this medication, tell your doctor or pharmacist your medical history, especially of: bites/cuts/scrapes/sores in your mouth or throat, heart problems (e.g., irregular heartbeat), severe infection with high fever (e.g., sepsis), liver disease. To minimize dizziness and lightheadedness, get up slowly when rising from a sitting or lying position. This drug may make you dizzy or drowsy. Do not drive, use machinery, or do any activity that requires alertness until you are sure you can perform such activities safely. Limit alcoholic beverages. Caution is advised when using this drug in children because they may be more sensitive to the effects of the drug, especially drowsiness. During pregnancy, this medication should be used only when clearly needed. Discuss the risks and benefits with your doctor. It is not known if this medication passes into breast milk. Consult your doctor before breastfeeding.
DRUG INTERACTIONS: Drug interactions may change how your medications work or increase your risk for serious side effects. This document does not contain all possible drug interactions. Keep a list of all the products you use (including prescription/nonprescription drugs and herbal products) and share it with your doctor and pharmacist. Do not start, stop, or change the dosage of any medicines without your doctor's approval.
OVERDOSE: This medicine may be harmful if swallowed. If swallowing or overdose is suspected, contact a poison control center or emergency room immediately. US residents can call their local poison control center at 1-800-222-1222. Canada residents can call a provincial poison control center. Symptoms of overdose may include severe dizziness/drowsiness, seizures, slow/irregular heartbeat.
NOTES: It takes only 1-2 minutes for the numbing effect of this medication to occur, and it usually lasts for 10-15 minutes.
MISSED DOSE: Not applicable.
STORAGE: Store spray at room temperature between 59-86 degrees F (15-30 degrees C) away from heat and open flames. Because the contents of the canister are under pressure, do not puncture or burn the container. Keep all medicines out of reach of children and pets. Do not flush medications down the toilet or pour them into a drain unless instructed to do so. Properly discard this product when it is expired or no longer needed. Consult your pharmacist or local waste disposal company for more details about how to safely discard your product.
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Travel safely: Make sure that you follow any government safety guidelines for travel. Learn more
Learn about the unique charm of Kingswear with a stay in a holiday home rental. This city has something for everyone. Whether you're planning a family holiday, a trip with friends or a romantic retreat, HomeAway has a great selection of holiday homes. Many rentals come with a full kitchen and separate dining area, perfect if you need a space for entertaining.
Do you want to discover things to do while you're in town? Venture out of your holiday home and experience everything that makes Kingswear a fun place to get away to. Here are some of the most popular attractions to put on your list, all within 30 miles (48.2 km) of the city centre:
Whether you're looking for exciting outdoor activities or just want to take in the scenery, you'll be sure to find the perfect setting for your holiday in Kingswear. Here are a few of the area's most enchanting features, all within 30 miles (48.2 km) of the city centre:
The nearest airport is in Exeter (EXT-Exeter Intl.), located 27.2 mi (43.7 km) from the city centre.
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Coming very soon.
Sabong.net.PH new feature. The Library.
I decided to scan books and magazine from collections of myself and some friends to share with all of you.
We are encoding this now and will release it soon.
If you would like to share stuff from your collections and put it in our Library, contact me at firstname.lastname@example.com


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Oh, Michael Moore. You still don't get it, do you?
@Astazha- The problem is that you said that "being not-feminine" was part of male identity. That's not the case, as you yourself demonstrate. Being "not-feminie" is a HUGE part of normative masculinity, which is actually troubling in a lot of ways, because it leads to hurtful shaming and gender policing of feminine men, who often still have strong identities as men. "Masculinity" and "male identity" are not the same thing, and conflating them is problematic. Make sense?


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Turtles are famous for their longevity, many living for more than a hundred years.
One giant tortoise named Adwaita is said to have lived 255 years in the Calcutta Zoo. He finally died of liver failure in 2006.
How do turtles manage to be so long-lived?
This is fascinating: Researchers have recently discovered a turtle's organs do not gradually break down or become less efficient over time, unlike most other animals. Instead, the liver, lungs, and kidneys of a centenarian (100-year-old) turtle are virtually indistinguishable from those of its younger counterparts.
But the survival skills of turtles may be even more astounding.
A turtle in Brazil managed to survive, after being trapped in a wooden box in a shed for THIRTY years.
A red-footed tortoise, like Manuela (photo by Fabio Maffei)
Flash forward 30 years.
Recently, Leandro Almeida was cleaning out a storage shed and was about to throw away an old wooden box he'd found in the shed: "I put the box on the pavement for the rubbish men to collect, and a neighbor said, 'You're not throwing out the turtle as well are you?' I looked and saw her. At that moment, I turned white, I just couldn't believe what I was seeing."
Inside the box was an old record player and Manuela, their long-lost tortoise, still alive after more than three decades.
Leandro's sister, Lenita, who was given the tortoise as a childhood pet, said, "We're all thrilled to have Manuela back. But no one can understand how she managed to survive for 30 years in there—it's just unbelievable."
Even the experts are stumped. Jeferson Peres, a Rio-based veterinarian, said that red-footed tortoises have been known to go without eating for two to three years in the wild—but 30 years is off the known charts. He speculated that Manuela had survived by eating termites and other small insects and licking condensation.
Turtles also have reserve fat pads that they can draw on when food is scarce, Anthony Pilny, a veterinary surgeon and specialist in birds and reptiles at the Center for Avian and Exotic Medicine in New York City, said by email.
Like snakes, turtles are able to go for long periods without eating. Wild turtles can also lower their body temperatures and other physiological processes and enter into temporary states of suspended animation from which they're able to recover. But Pilny does not recommend that pet owners try this with their own turtles.
As for Manuela, Pilny has some advice for the family. "They should go very slowly—start by warming her up and rehydrating Manuela before feeding … Give her warm water soaks and offer a small meal after she seems stable. Then take her to a veterinarian who specializes in reptiles for a checkup and some bloodwork."


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Courtauld Book(mark) Library : Keep track of your research
There are a range of social bookmarking sites available online which can help you manage references to electronic resources.
Delicious allows you to keep a log of bookmarked pages which can be accessed from any computer, rather than book- marking pages on individual machines.
To set up, all that is needed is a yahoo account- if you already have this, creating a delicious account takes seconds.
While there is no substitute for old fashioned library research, the recommendations function can be helpful to locate articles and references that you otherwise may have missed. By setting up networks of users, sharing bookmarks could be a useful for preparing for group work or presentations.
Notes can be added to references and more crucially, the bookmarks can be tagged. Such folksonomies are common to anyone already using flickr or youtube, but to gain the best use of this in an organisational context, it may be necessary to control the vocabulary used: bookmarks which may be useful to be shared with others might not be found by other users if idiosyncratic tags are used. There are also options to add a message to the bookmark, which then can be sent via email or twitter to other users; useful if you are feeling generous and find a page that would be useful for a friend's essay.
Once you have created a list of resources it if possible to find articles and web pages which may be of interest that otherwise might have been missed. Given the size of the network, this can be a little hit or miss- 'also tagged by….' Would refer to the whole network and so could be a little nebulous, and while it can be useful to find other references, a more worthwhile approach would be to add specific users to your network (under the 'People' tab)- this way different work groups could access each others bookmarks.
Superficially, Delicious would appear to be more useful in a social rather than academic setting. However, by creating a distinct network of users relating to a particular area of work it could be a useful tool to share references. This would be enhanced if used for particular projects or set areas of work, and possibly agreeing on a brief list of tags to be used.
What is citeulike?
CiteULike is a free service to help you to store, organize and share the scholarly papers you are reading. When you see a paper on the web that interests you, you can click one button and have it added to your personal library. CiteULike automatically extracts the citation details, so there's no need to type them in yourself. It all works from within your web browser so there's no need to install any software. Because your library is stored on the server, you can access it from any computer with an Internet connection. [from CiteULike.com]
The advantage of CiteULike over delicious is citation management and could be a useful tool in preparing resources for an essay, or as a means for organizing a list of references into a consistent and clear format. For citation help, Zotero is also worth exploring.
To get the best out of the service, you have to be quite aware of some information retrieval techniques which go beyond a simple search-engine search. For example to quickly search for articles which contain a given tag within your library of articles, the tag can be added to the end of the URL of your logged in page, with Boolean operators. While this produces quick results for those familiar with these techniques, it may present a fairly steep learning curve to those who are not.
For help in honing your internet searching skills, Intute has a range of online tutorials offering advice of critically evaluating resources and improving search techniques.
Lloyd Roderick
Graduate Trainee Library Assistant


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The main reason I disliked the Academy Award-winning documentary Inside Job was that it sought to explain America's subprime financial crisis in terms of good guys vs. bad guys. If only there were more good guys than bad guys, and more people listened to the good guys, then bad things wouldn't have happened.
I don't think you have to whitewash the misconduct that did take place to find this — intellectually, if not emotionally — a deeply unsatisfying explanation. To me, the more interesting and important question is why so many people — good, bad, and in-between — behaved in ways that seemed rational at the time but ended up producing such a disastrous outcome. And this, despite the fact there were at least some people who saw it coming.
Other the past few days, I've received numerous calls and emails from people wondering what I think about Premier Wen Jiabao's public criticism of Chinese banks (as quoted below from Reuters):
"Frankly, our banks make profits far too easily. Why? Because a small number of major banks occupy a monopoly position, meaning one can only go to them for loans and capital," China National Radio quoted Wen as telling local businesses at a roundtable discussion.
"That's why right now, as we're dealing with the issue of getting private capital into the finance sector, essentially, that means we have to break up their monopoly," the radio news service reported Wen as saying on its website.
Now, I don't think anyone would mistake me as an apologist for Chinese banks. As I've written before on this blog and elsewhere, I think China's state-run banks have made what will prove to be a barge-full of bad loans over the past several years, financing a property bubble and a whole host of officially-sponsored boondoggles in order to meet inflated GDP targets.
Their reported NPL ratios (approximately 1%) are a joke, which means their supposed profits (which Wen worries are too large) are a lie. When confronted with PBOC efforts to rein in their lending, and hence their make-believe profits, the banks repackaged risky loans as investment products, which they then sold to the Chinese public with the implied suggestion that they were risk-free.
They have financed guarantee companies which, in turn — much like AIG — purport to insure those very same banks from loan losses, while investing their funds those very same bank-sponsored investment products. In short, whether anyone realizes or admits it or not, China's banking system is an absolute mess.
In fact, it's the dawning realization of the extent of this mess, at China's highest leadership levels, that likely prompted Premier Wen's remarks. Last October, Wen was dispatched to Wenzhou, not to deal with a high-speed train crash (as in June) but with an implosion in the city's shadow banking system. This emergency visit, along with the high-profile trial of Wu Ying, an otherwise typical Chinese businesswoman facing the death penalty for engaging in "illegal lending," have cast a spotlight on the inadequacies of China's formal banking system.
Reformers have begun arguing that "illegal" lending to small and medium entrepreneurs meets a critical economic need that China's state-run banks are unwilling or incapable of meeting, and that bringing the sector out from the "shadows" can play a vital role in reforming the broader financial system. That won't be easy, but in the long-run, it's probably correct.
But to be fair to China's banks, they're not really the villains here. They are creatures of the State; they do what they are told, and incentivized, to do. And what they have been told, and incentivized, to do is to lend generously, without counting the cost, to companies and projects that carry the imprimatur (and implicit guarantee) of the Mother State. They know that any losses incurred in this pursuit will be forgiven, one way or the other. They know that, given fixed deposit and minimum lending rates, the more money they lend towards this end, the greater profits they can record, regardless of the eventual outcome.
China's state banks are not run by "bad" people, nor are they (necessarily) entrenched and greedy interests, staving off reform. Some of them fully recognize the problems they are contributing to, and wish they could do things differently, although most find ways to rationalize their doubts, figuring that somebody higher-up must know what they are doing and will make everything alright — deus ex machina as a business plan.
The "monopoly" or protected position that Chinese banks occupy was given to them intentionally, so that they could serve as a slush fund to promote "growth" (in the form of limitless investment) regardless of whether market conditions told them it was profitable or not. Premier Wen is as much to blame for framing this task as anyone. At the 2009 National People's Congress (NPC), he outlined the following vision of how China's economy should be managed (italics mine):
We must continue to make use of both market mechanisms and macro-control, that is, at the same time as we keep our reforms oriented toward a market economy, let market forces play their basic role in allocating resources, and stimulate the market's vitality, we must make best use of the socialist system's advantages, which enable us to make decisions efficiently, organize effectively, and concentrate resources to accomplish large undertakings.
In order words, the secret to China's success, Wen maintained, is that it can command (among other things) a captive and insulated banking system to drive growth forward, overcoming the obstacle of market forces.
I think Premier Wen was wrong then, and is right now. I suspect the cost of playing "the socialist system's advantages," in the form of mounting bad debt, persistent inflation, and stagnating growth, are becoming more and more evident to him by the day. But the solution isn't to blame the bankers, who are mere functionaries in this equation. It's the system, and the system's priorities, that need fixing. And that's going to be a whole lot harder than pointing out villains.
Read more posts on An American Perspective From China »


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(The Root) — There is nothing like basking in the glow of the Sundance Film Festival, especially if you are a first-time filmmaker. Ryan Coogler found this out when he got a standing ovation after the premiere of his film Fruitvale, which he wrote and directed. Coogler's experience at Sundance only got better, when the Weinstein Company bought Fruitvale soon after it screened for a reported $2.5 million.
[Updated Sun., Jan. 27 9:00 p.m.: Fruitvale won the grand jury prize and the audience award in the dramatic film categories at a Sundance awards ceremony on Saturday.]
The feature is based on the real-life story of Oscar Grant, an unarmed 22-year-old African-American man who was shot and killed by a white transit officer at the Fruitvale BART station in California on New Year's Day, 2009. It stars Michael B. Jordan (Wallace from HBO's The Wire), who calls Coogler "talented and thorough," and Oscar winner Octavia Spencer, who joined the film's cast and explained, "When we get these opportunities we have to take them." Then she added jokingly, "and especially being a black chubby woman in this industry."
Spencer makes a valid point — when a good indie film comes along, it's often important that top black Hollywood talent supports it. Of the 12,146 submissions at Sundance this year, only 119 feature-length films made the cut. Even fewer of those final participating films get a distribution deal with a major film studio that's going to get the film in front of mainstream audiences. And a fraction of those lucky projects, if any, are about black subjects or helmed by black directors. Coogler's success this year is proof that the festival can work, even for a relative newcomer. "Sundance gives you an audience, and that audience has a potential to grow," Coogler told The Root.
That sentiment was shared by another first-time Sundancer. "To be considered one of those new voices that they think is worthy of being heard is obviously a tremendous honor, and I hope it leads to me doing more," Shaka King told The Root. King also wrote and directed a feature, Newlyweeds, a slightly dark romantic comedy about a Brooklyn, N.Y., couple who love each other as much as they love weed. Phase 4 Films acquired the North American rights and is planning a theatrical and video-on-demand release this summer. King is not resting on his laurels, though. "I have plenty of work when I get home," said King, who lives in Brooklyn and is working on two movie scripts and a TV series.
The reality of Sundance, however, is that not everyone gets a deal, and not every deal translates to instant fame and fortune. The buzz around last year's hot Sundance film, Beasts of the Southern Wild, has just gotten bigger, with its charismatic child star, Quvenzhané Wallis, in prime position to win a best actress Oscar. Five years ago, Sundance grand jury prizes went to the documentary Trouble the Water and the feature film Frozen River. Both films received huge amounts of critical acclaim. Even if they didn't put up record numbers at the box office, they earned Academy Award nominations.
Then there's the case of first-time filmmaker Dennis Dortch. He screened his effort, A Good Day to Be Black & Sexy, at Sundance the same year. It was eventually distributed by Magnolia Pictures, opening in one theater where it grossed a little more than $6,000, according to IMDB.com. Far from being the blockbuster hit that many directors hope to score, the film was seen by a relative handful of people. But Dortch doesn't sound bitter.
"I had great opportunities that came out of Sundance that lasted for a two-year stretch," Dortch told The Root from his home in Los Angeles. He claimed he's not beholden to chasing opportunities in the Hollywood studio system. "I'm about ownership, even if it's a small piece. I'm not a work for hire."
This year Dortch said he plans to shoot his second feature film, The Couple, based on a popular Web series he created for his Internet channel Black&Sexy.tv.
There is no doubt that Sundance opens the door; what filmmakers do once they walk through it is really up to them. Shari Frilot, a senior programmer at Sundance, explained that every year she ponders the same question, "What's to become of these filmmakers?" Sundance recently started an artists' services division to help with distribution. Of the Weinstein-Coogler deal, she said that it indicates a company's investment in the director. "They actually believe in the vision of this director, so I expect to see more of him coming down the pike," Frilot told The Root.
Even before the Weinstein Company came along, Coogler already had one very big investor. Forest Whitaker, whom Coogler affectionately called "Uncle Forest" during the Sundance screening, is Fruitvale's executive producer. Whitaker told The Root that he took on the project after meeting with Coogler "because of his passion, because of his vision." The Oscar winner was doing double duty in Park City; he also premiered his own film, Vipaka, at the Slamdance film festival, which runs concurrently with Sundance.
For Whitaker, Vipaka was a chance to take a short film with a white cast and turn it into a feature with an all-black cast that his company, JuntoBox Films, will distribute. "I really thought this film could be better served with an all-black cast and review something unique and different," Whitaker explained. The thriller, about a disturbed man receiving therapy from a life coach, stars Whitaker, Anthony Mackie, Mike Epps, Sanaa Lathan and Nicole Ari Parker.
Ultimately, Sundance means different things to different people, and no two experiences are alike. Coogler says no matter what comes his way down the road, he's fulfilled at least part of his dream. "At the end of the day, it's all fantastic and great because people are watching your movie," he said.
Julie Walker is a New York-based freelance journalist. Follow her on Twitter.