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from Rubatos Contiguous to a Mitochondrial Eve: a Memoir in Musical Fictions
As a Mormon person I was not allowed to date until the age of sixteen. There were many "appropriate" suitors, all of them (of course) male, and each of them had particular ways of making themselves known to me as something special: that bunch of flowers, that piece of lingerie (which was totally "inappropriate" for him to be giving me by Mormon standards), sitting with our backs to a waterfall and talking about childhood molestation, wading with me in the dirty river. There were also many women who sought me erotically, sliding into my psyche (but not yet into my body).
In my family there was an intense interactive socialization called SPOF (Secret Power of Femininity). In regard to SPOF there were clear-boundaried do's and don'ts based on birth sex. There was also an orthodoxy in regard to gender matching with birth sex. "There are ways to interact with men so that you get a husband." It was talked about like a science experiment. "If you do this or this a man will respond like this." This was the secondary dogma to fill in what gaps the Mormon dogma left.
Let's just say I was experimental; I used SPOF on both girls and guys. My early intuitions about the intimations of real touch and real desire outdid (as feelings in me) the agency that the Mormon Church took away from its members in regard to eros. My own sense about sensuousness with others is also what exceeded the socialized strictures regarding SPOF.
In high school many people (male and female) wanted to fuck me. It is not narcissistic to say this because it pained me so that I could not let that happen: the many or the fucking. High school was a time of unresolved arousals, a time of self-induced solitude and a sense of identity-disparateness. I would often sit in my traditionally femme clothes in the middle of the field alone, perimeter to everything else that was going on. I would get grass stains on my clothes as I ate pickles and mustard (which I had stolen from the cafeteria) with my fingers.
Marie Osmond Dolls
"Make the dream a part of your reality by collecting a keepsake doll from her signature line."
Isn't it fitting that Marie Osmond created her own doll line? In my family and my childhood home SPOF was always directly linked (as a logic) with traditional notions of femininity. Whole resource centers dedicate their doll collections to Marie Osmond's dolls: long hair, pink dresses, thin, Nutri-system approved waists. Traditional femininity is not an unconditional resource to count on! It does not always apply. Take the little feminine doll's porcelain hand in your hand. Feel how the porcelain remains cold even when you hold it. See how the porcelain hand shatters in your hand as you squeeze it. What is there to do with all of the shards?
Early on in my life I imagined a figurine that would stay with me for as long as I was growing. It would hold me for as long as I needed as the changes in me took place. When you grip this part of me with all of your might, I guarantee you that I will not shatter. I am not founded entirely off of traditional femininity.
I imagined that the only unconditionally applicable figurine would have to be a monstrous one with ganglions emerging, meant to strengthen the fellaheen of variances: conglomerate nerves to enable the alteration of molecules in the neural cavities and caves. Monstrous parts can be dependent on other monstrous parts. The Venus of Willendorf is rusting; her belly curves are interminably demanding as she deems me an endearing aspect of her powerful folds. In place of a Marie Osmond doll's synthetic hair I stroke the hollow square that my figurine has for a head, the non-Nutri-system belly for good luck.
Americorps or Is It Possible to Make American Moments Miraculous One Male Body at a Time?
We had technically created the program ourselves, built it from scratch. Tired of there being no cushion for male teens whom the judge had ruled to serve jail time, our program was accepted by Americorps as a place where recreational rehabilitation (pre jail time) was possible. We built many aspects of rehabilitation into the program: study and essay writing at the library (in regard to the teens' preferred subjects, what they could not write about at school), relaxation and processing about their fears as well as their identities and senses of self, calling local businesses that might be in need of some volunteers (e.g.: The Humane Society), offering things (from what they perceived to be their talents) to the group.
When we were picking up trash around the city on that hot summer day, one of the teens saw it flopping and tipping over at the base of a dignified and gallant palm tree: small bird having fallen from its nest. As we neared, the sounds of its tiny chirps could be detected. This little bird was so frantic. We stopped near the bird as one of the kids suggested that we try to nurse it back to health as part of our program; we would all commit to rehabilitation of this baby bird!
At the library, we had all just recently been reading about how some mother species kick the young out of the den or nest, how some mothers will no longer interact with their offspring if it has fallen (or been pushed) from the nest. Some of them (whose mothers were addicts) really identified with the pushed-out birds.
One of the most rebellious guys in the group sprinted back to the facility and got a small coffee can that he had filled with toilet paper. He had the idea that if there was enough padding, the bird might not have to feel like it had fallen so far from home.
Later that afternoon when the bird died in the warm light of the facility room, I wondered on whether or not I should move the sweet bird's body from view before these teens saw it. Would seeing that their small bird had died help them see in a more clear-headed way that they could work hard to not let themselves die in the jail system, or would it break them?
In the void there is no sneezing, no pain, no angst, no consideration, no writhing and squawking as your little body breaks down at the base of the tree or in the hallucination-inducing light of an Americorps facility room. But, there are also no elations, no knowing the way your body softened just a bit as the presence of those big teen-guy eyes slid over your sweet, still-developing feathers. Do you think the fallen bird was nourished by their tough fussing (so gently over it)? Do you think the little bird saw a different, possibly more real mother in the stronghold of their gaze?
As I buried the bird out back, I wished I could reach into the stars like my mother often reached into the ground meat that she used for making meatloaf. I wanted to turn this moment of their loss of the bird into something else, something that could stay with them as a way to keep them tender. I wanted to provide nurture in the crumbling house.
In a prison somewhere, a man who was once a teenager clutches a framed portrait of a young man who is desperately clutching an unframed photograph of a tiny wriggling baby bird. He is doing this as a way to save himself, realizing so many years later that that is actually what he wants.
My Body Becoming My Own Cave
I began to go to the hydrothermal caves obsessively. I recall being in those caves, their steaming mineral-rich waters and the dark above them, and feeling a relationship with my chest as breasts only when I was in the caves. I was testing the body as a way to taste it in fire, as fire. I was being erotically met by caves: visited by figures that had me as the centrality of their vision.
As soon as I emerged from the underground caves I instantly needed to bind, wrapping the ace bandages tight around my chest: as tight as someone gripping my wrists as a way of keeping me there, in that moment. My breasts were becoming private subjects to me, no longer up for or inviting public arousal or public scrutiny.
My new embodiment put me very close to the vivaciousness of Rocky Mountain winters, snow falling on the bare skin of my shaved head. I always salted my fruit during these winters; I would often walk around outside at night singing somber songs, holding burning candles and letting the wax of the candles drip down over my hands. I hoped I would somehow be incised from the encasement (a space of such full grief and lacking with my lover at that time) by my future Beloved.
Phantom Blizzard
As a child I fought to go to boy scouts. Though she socialized me intensely (in my teenage years) in regard to how to be the ideal woman, my mother did not seem to mind my going with my father (who was scout master) and the other boys and men out into the woods. I am sure she was relieved to have me "out of her hair."
While in the woods I was a distracted little nymph, hiding, eating bark, plunging my hands in the icy winter mountain water, dry-humping trees. Due to the fact that I was always seemingly running off, I missed the skill-set of igloo building. This meant that much later in my life, if I were ever to get caught in a blizzard in Colorado (even though I had been a pseudo-scout) I would be shit-outta-luck and would probably freeze to death while expanding and elongating the duration of my swagger as I meandered, singing, from unknown location to unknowable location.
During the first Colorado blizzard (which I came to learn was very different than "simply snowing"), it was as if an inverse-agoraphobia ensued. I was slurped out into the pounding coarseness, watched as the trees and interiorly-lit houses were swallowed up in a matter of minutes. If you live by beauty, you don't have to do much work to be able to tell that beauty, because beauty has already done the work for you.
When making my way along the streets at night (very slowly because I could not really see with my eyes), the only color appeared as clumps or wrapped dreadlocks of hair. Is this what happened to all forms when the power of this kind of natural whiteness came in? I remembered all the caucus work I had done regarding white privilege during college. I knew that there were some forms of dominating whiteness that were inborn to the planet and some that were just not.
Would the roots and gnarls of trees continue to flood my view, catch me and suspend me during every blizzard to ever follow? Would the relationship of natural whiteness to the knobby pelts (which were rising up from it) make me see wild dreadlocked beards with fobs flouncing ever so slightly within them? Sometimes the only cure for something such as mystical eros in action is to admit it is your curse. Sometimes there are crowds in a clout.
As I engaged this wandering rite with no eyes, I was learning to never overlook any increment within a passage, within crossing. Are hours spent another form of weather? Even the smallest increment has aspects within it that are worth aggrandizing. Keep the target feral, exaggerate the feeling of the grate, and then exaggerate the gate. We are meant to find ways to exacerbate our own heartbeat. Our commitments can give us a new and then a newer center.
Priest/ess of Hermaphroditus
It is possible to practice as a Priest/ess of Hermaphroditus. There is the double-sexed-ness, the intense and indelible swelling of effeminacy (which calls strong female nymphs to you as their next pool). Blessing bridges and blessing brides, the body is a blaze, an entangling range, a flood of filial in the filigree; the body is the fertile field which will bloom all needed shields. It is always vulnerable to choose transition over tradition. I turn the gramophone toward me and the intensity of the music increases because my position has changed; this happens without anything about the music having actually changed.
It was dangerous (not to mention illegal) for me to sneak onto the non-denominational temple property and wiggle my way below the temple. To do so required that I find the artificial rock amid earthen stones (the rock in which the key was hidden), then unlock the lock on the small door in the dark. I had heard rumor that there was a cave below the temple (what the temple members call "the kiva") and I desperately needed a blessed location in which to attempt to birth myself alone, through Hermaphroditus' image.
Crouching within the cave/kiva, I left the hair that I had pulled out; I left my menstrual clots which were running out of my bare squat. Imbued elements covered the sandy base, joined with the rhythm that was coming up in smooth thuds from below the kiva floor. I hoped that later when they squatted on it, the footprints of unknowing priestesses would be marked from below by my blood and hair.
This moment was the divine feminine entering me as bodily force. I was becoming shapely again: a sandy hour, an hourglass with no sand in it, an hourglass with only hair as its inner contents. Hair is journey: a way to travel and what is traveled. Make yourself aware of all of the lost strands that when you flip the hourglass flip with it, move with you, and remain vigilant that they never pressure you by traditional time. Lost hairs stay with you as you transform.
By being here privately in this way I was not violating my future coven. I was not a man violating women's space. I was an era-based derivative of the Greek God of effeminates, a fractal-fragment shared between many Erotes. This was indelible evolution from divine masculine into something capable of being a powerful, human woman. It is important to note that as I remained there, below, I quoted quat (on all fours) until squares were made round, until I noticed that the smell of my own sweat had become a differential.
j/j hastain is the author of several cross-genre books including long past the presence of common (Say it with Stones Press), trans-genre book libertine monk (Scrambler Press) and The Non-Novels (forthcoming, Spuyten Duyvil). j/j has poetry, prose, reviews, articles, mini-essays and mixed genre work published in many places on line and in print. j/j has been a guest lecturer at Naropa University and University of Colorado.


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THE BOOK: Coda, A Tale of Tchaikovsky's Secret Love
PUBLISHED IN: October 1, 2016
THE AUTHOR: Arthur J. Levy
THE EDITOR: Ken Harrington
THE PUBLISHER: Köehler Books, www.KoehlerBooks.com
SUMMARY: At the peak of his career and popularity, Russian icon Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky died mysteriously. Rumors were that he died of cholera – unlikely, as Tchaikovsky's house staff was well aware that water should be boiled. There are other possible scenarios of the untimely death of this healthy man in his early fifties.
In 19th century Russia, being gay was perilous. The punishment was severe; knowing someone was gay and not reporting it warranted torture, if not death. Tchaikovsky was gay.
This account of foreboding doom reveals a secret between Tchaikovsky and his lover, Ivan, encoded in sheet music. Tchaikovsky's plan is to stealthily evade death. That encoded blueprint survived to this day. Coda is fiction, but is anchored on carefully researched historical literature and Tchaikovsky's letters.
In a parallel, current-day story line, Fred is given this mystical music in a Russian antiques shop in NYC and finds that there are modern-day zealots that will stop at nothing to destroy all evidence that Tchaikovsky had a lover. These zealots have crosshairs on those who know too much. The adventure takes Fred and friends from Brooklyn to Moscow to save a life.
THE BACK STORY: Coda is a story stirred by personal experience, anchored to historical events. Some time ago, I inherited a stack of piano music from an old man. I turned the yellowing pages, looking for interesting pieces to play, and became fascinated by one sonata that was curiously annotated with scrawling notes. The depth of the comments gave a haunting feeling that these were not ordinary teacher's comments. This was a love letter encrypted in a scattering of loosely connected impassioned phrases. Except for the crumbling pages, I had no perspective of the period of these writings nor the motivations of the author. The enigmatic warmth of the annotations projected images in my mind of a covert relationship and a possible drama, perhaps a secret gay connection that mustn't have been discovered?
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky was in just that predicament. He was idolized and cherished by his Russia. Nineteenth century Russia competed with France and Germany as the center of culture. They desperately needed to parade world-known and loved Tchaikovsky as their awless, signature icon to promote commerce as well as their culture. Tchaikovsky was aunted as unblemished; if otherwise, it would have threatened the beloved Russia and the Tsar.
But Tchaikovsky was gay in a country that tortured, exiled and executed homosexuals. I looked at the cryptic notes in my music and pictured Tchaikovsky communicating to his lover—a plan, some cryptic plan, to elude the Tsar's spies and the powerful Russian Orthodox Church.
I assumed the writings that did survive were sought after by zealots of the Fatherland and were a deadly danger to those who possessed them.
The last year of Tchaikovsky's life, culminating in his enigmatically constructed final symphony, the Pathétique, is shrouded in mystery. The accounts of his death are steeped in secrecy and rumors as if published in a 19th century tabloid. This story is one interpretation of those final years. Some of the characters are purely fictional.
WHY THIS TITLE? The coda, in music, is a pathway to the end, an escape. The symbol is a crosshairs.
WHY SOMEONE WOULD WANT TO READ IT: The underlying philosophy of Coda reflects the dangerous alliances that power must make to sustain control. It happened in 1890's Russia and is happening the identical way with Putin. Because of the timeliness of the novel's view of LGBT oppression in today's Russia, I believe that a wide audience will be very interested.
"This is an 'I can't put it down' thriller. Its plot is intricate, its characters fully developed, and its descriptive passages rich in detail. is is a highly recommended work." —Dan Clancy, Playwright
"Coda is a thriller that forever changed my view of Tchaikovsky's life and times. As it reminds us of the corrupting price of power, it is especially meaningful today." —George R. Zuber, Filmmaker/Director
"Arthur Levy scripts a compelling narrative that kept me glued to the page. Tchaikovsky's doom in the extreme prejudice of Czarist Russia parallels the status of today's Russian gay community. Levy proves a plausible and unique conclusion for the Pathetique Symphony in place of the traditional music history legend." —Dr. R. Paul Urbanick, Professor Humanities/Music
"Coda is fascinating reading that makes history and the story of Tchaikovsky come alive. What makes Coda an exceptional novel is the quality research behind this book, which animates the action in the reader's imagination. Arthur Levy gives life and insights to life by writing about one of the most interesting musicians in history, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. I listened to his sixth symphony as I read this intriguing book. Don't miss the opportunity to be drawn into a mystery that you won't want to put down." —Dr. Tim White, Author, Ulysses Dream, Adjunct Professor, Northwest University.
AUTHOR PROFILE: Arthur J. Levy is a musician, physicist and writer. He has appeared in Carnegie hall, played with the NYC All City Orchestra and other settings in New York. His writing includes: the book, Trouble in Flatbush, A Year in the Life of a Boy in Brooklyn, two plays and many short stories published in a local magazine. His heritage is Russian and has a kinship to Russian history and music.
AUTHOR COMMENTS: This is a fast-reading mystery/thriller/LGBT/historical novel.
SAMPLE CHAPTER: (Provide link). http://www.CodaTheNovel.com
LOCAL OUTLETS: Any bookstore
WHERE ELSE TO BUY IT: Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com (search "CODA LEVY")
CONTACT THE AUTHOR: firstname.lastname@example.com

subset: commoncrawl


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Just days after Gus Malzahn was hired by Auburn, the new Tigers head coach has seen a player recruited by the previous regime leave the program.
AuburnSports.com reported late Wednesday night that offensive lineman Christian Westerman has decided to take his leave of the AU football program. The lineman will reportedly transfer to Arizona State.
Neither school has confirmed the development.
The move to the Sun Devils is a natural fit for a transfer destination as Westerman played his high school football in the state of Arizona.
A four-star member of Gene Chizik's second-to-last recruiting class, Westerman was rated as the No. 2 offensive tackle in the country by Rivals.com and the No. 1 guard by Scout.com. After redshirting as a true freshman in 2011, Westerman played in two games this past season.


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Achieve, Connect, Engage
This program is designed to help promising veterans become successful undergraduate students at Edgewood College.
If you are a prospective student and veteran whose high school grades may not reflect your academic capacity or whose standardized test scores have expired since the tests were completed, then the Achieve, Connect, and Engage program may be an option for you.
This program provides comprehensive resources designed to maximize academic success. By providing personal advising and special support in the areas of mathematics and writing, Achieve, Connect, Engage strives to give you the tools you need to be academically successful.
Please contact us for more information.
Veterans- Achieve, Connect, Engage
"I'm used to dealing with people one-on-one, and there's a lot of that at Edgewood College."
Chuck Monzon, '18, Master of Arts in Secondary Education
"One of the nice things about the Veterans Office at Edgewood College is, if you're having a stressful, bad day, you can go in there, and they will help you get through the situation or problem."
Savage Clark, '17, currently studying for Master of Science in Organizational Leadership & Change degree.


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Jessica Setter
|Ballston Lake, New York
|High School:
|Shenendehoa High School
|Environmental Science
Jessica Setter
Nickname: Jess
Collegiate Athletics: Women's Cross Country (2014 & 2015); Snowshoe Racing (2014 - 2015); Marathon Canoe Team (2015).
High School: Shenendehowa High School (2014).
Hometown: Ballston Lake, New York
Academic Major: Environmental Science (B.S.)
Collegiate Athletic Honors:
Cross Country: Yankee Small College Conference All Conference XC Team (2014; 2015).
Snowshoe Racing: Placed second in the 2015 Snowshoe World Championships (Quebec City).
Collegiate Academic Honors: Paul Smith's College Dean's List (Fall 2014).


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Workers Back Anti-Wage Theft Bill
By Jacqueline Garcia, EGP Staff Writer
Janitors, housekeepers, airline and restaurant workers were among participants supporting legislation to end wage theft at a town hall meeting Friday in Highland Park at Franklin High School.
Senate leader Kevin de Leon spoke about his legislation, SB 588, the Fair Day's Pay Act, which he said would strengthen the State Labor Commissioner's ability to collect wages owed to employees.
Lea este artículo en Español: Trabajadores Apoyan Legislación Contra el Robo de Salarios
Hard working employees shouldn't have to go hungry or live in crowded places because they don't earn enough, said De Leon, who represents Highland Park, Vernon and Boyle Heights.
"It is criminal that [business owners] have stolen those wages from you," he told the gathering. "Why? Because you have to pay your bills, your children's education. You need your money to survive!"
In California, one in three workers is paid less than the minimum wage and every week in Los Angeles about $26.5 million in wage theft violations occur, according to the California Fair Paycheck Coalition.
Long lines, language barriers and the potential loss of paid work days prevent many employees from filing claims to regain lost wages, according to De Leon. The government's existing system for collecting unpaid wages is also complex and ineffective, making it harder for workers and easier for bad employers to get away with not paying their employees what's owed.
Those who do file a claim and win, according to the coalition, are rarely compensated.
"Five out of six workers who win their theft cases never see a dime" due to the complexity of the process, says the coalition.
"This is a situation happening every day in California and employers have been getting away with it," SEIU President David Huerta told EGP.
Examples of wage theft include employers who pay less than minimum wage or who pay workers for fewer hours than worked, as well as employers who misclassify workers as independent contractors or who do not pay over-time as required by law.
"This issue gets worse with undocumented workers because they become silent victims," Huerta said.
A 2010 University of California, Los Angeles Labor Center study found that local low-wage workers are robbed of about $1 billion in wages each year.
The harm caused by wage theft is not just financial, but also poses a health and wellbeing risk to workers in low-wage jobs and their families with poor living conditions, said Fabiola Santiago, a researcher with the Human Impact Partners.
"When workers experience wage theft they don't have money to put healthy food on their table," that leads to anxiety, stress and depression, she said. "Income is the strongest determination of health," she added.
It's time to put legal protections in place so workers' wages are not stolen and "they can live a better life, for themselves and for their children," De Leon told EGP.
"Life is hard enough, but having your wages stolen by big corporations is criminal," the senator said.
SB 588 targets businesses that owe money to employees. Supporters say it will reduce abuse of corporate laws by not allowing businesses to hide behind sub-contractors or by changing their name. If passed, SB 588 would give the labor commissioner the power to collect wages owed to workers.
De Leon's goal is to get the bill passes in the Assembly and on the governor's desk by September.
Following the meeting, workers marched to the El Super store on York Boulevard in Highland Park, which was recently fined by the State Labor Commission violations of worker safety and wage laws.
Twitter @jackieguzman
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Information Standards Quarterly (ISQ)
Volume 23, 2011
Information Standards Quarterly (ISQ) was moved to open access beginning in 2011. The archives are in the process of being transferred to open access.
You can download the complete PDF of the current issue ISQ by clicking on the cover image or the Download Issue link below.
Click on the Contents link to see the table of contents and to get access to the individual articles, which are also available as separate PDF downloads.
For past issues, click on the links to the left.
Winter 2011
Special Issue: Year in Review and State of the Standards
Buy Print Copy ($36 plus shipping)
Spring 2011
Special Issue: Views of the E-book Renaissance
Buy Print Copy ($36 plus shipping)
Summer 2011
Special Topic: Organization and People Identifiers
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Fall 2011
Special Topic: Standards Implementation Benefits
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Direct-to-investor assets have nearly doubled since 2008, outpacing the growth of traditional advisory models used by large wirehouses, according to research from Boston-based Cerulli Associates.
The largest growth in the direct-to-investor model has been through trading platforms, like Charles Schwab and E*Trade, which have growth to about $4.3 trillion out of $26.6 trillion of total investable retail assets.
Traditional wirehouses, in contrast, hold about $5.2 trillion of investable assets.
Within direct channels, the firm is responsible for the majority of investor-level marketing, prospect generation and advice generation. In traditional advisory firms, individual advisors bear these responsibilities, Cerulli found. Even though a client of a direct firm may have a relationship with an individual advisor, the investment and financial planning advice delivered by the representative is typically generated by a centralized team rather than by a single advisor.
Cerulli anticipates an ongoing migration of investor assets away from wirehouses toward more independent advisory channels and direct distribution models, in part because investors are still wary of the financial markets following the economic crisis that occurred in 2008. The growth of consumer technology has eliminated many of the hurdles that had previously limited growth of smaller practices, which is also fueling the growth in this market, Cerulli found.


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Key West Fishermen: 1938
Submitted by Jiggsy on Thu, 2011-01-27 12:14
Tags: Jiggsy Gallery | Watercraft | At the Shore | Guys
Fishermen and their boats, Key West, Florida. Photo taken in 1938 by photographer Arthur Rothstein. FSA / OWI Photograph Collection. Old photos provided by LOC. Original Medium: nitrate negative.
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Primary Port Of Departure:
Haa Alifu Atoll, Maldives
Secondary Port Of Departure:
Haa Dhaal
Listing Unclaimed. Claim Listing.
Atoll Explorer has been especially designed for live aboard cruises since 1996, when she became the first ship to offer first class cruising in the Maldives. The atmosphere on board is that of an exclusive, well-run, floating family hotel. Expect no pretension - only dedication - to seeing that guests are comfortable and enjoying themselves. The ship's ambience is "laid back"; there is no dressing up for dinners, or entertainment. Dress code is shorts and swimwear during the day and casual dress in the evening, both on board and in the Maldives islands. With a maximum of 40 passengers, guests soon get to know each other and every week-long live aboard cruise becomes a jolly party with friends. With its scuba diving activities and different dive sites and visits to luxury Maldivian resorts, village and uninhabited islands, Atoll Explorer provides a unique and fun-filled way of getting to know the best that Maldives has to offer living aboard.


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We are offering great opportunities for:
Website Content Writer
If you're a talented writer and are interested in writing content for websites, we're looking to hire you.
- Highly skilled writer
- Ability to work with clients to achieve the results they're looking for
College degree and "copywriting" experience is a huge plus.Apply
SEO Specialist
If you're very experienced in SEO, we may be looking to hire you.
- Very knowledgeable in SEO
- Understanding of all the various SEO tools and platforms
- Ability to create and perform SEO campaigns for clients
If you have past success ranking websites for competitive terms, you have a much better shot at getting hired.Apply
PPC Manager
This position is only open to people already very knowledgeable about running efficient and effective PPC campaigns. You must not only know your way around things, but be able to create eye-catching ads and detect all the longtail keywords options. If you don't already know what you're doing, you're not cut out for the job.Apply
Web Designer
We're always looking for more web designers! If you have the talent, we have the spot. Just drop us a line and send us some of your past work.Apply
Social Media Strategist
If you know your way around social media in terms of business, this is the spot for you. We're looking for an experienced, talented, social media manager and strategist. If you think you have what it takes, go ahead and apply.Apply


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Towards a Future Vision for Complex Patients
Integrated care in a dynamic continuum
With the aims of advocating increasing roles for pharmacists in the management of complex patients, and providing an extensive platform for learning and growth to do just that, FIP has made "Complex Patients" a priority for 2013. As such, the 2013 FIP Congress has adopted the theme of Complex Patients and will examine the issue from all standpoints: biological (emphasising the current development of systems biology), medical (demographics, genetics, smoking, alcohol, diet and multiple diseases), socio-economic (availability of resources, literacy) and cultural (beliefs, traditions, religion). Pharmacists have the ability and opportunity to support patients in every aspect of complexity.
The entire 2013 FIP Congress Programme can be viewed online in various forms. Click the links below to be directed to what interests you most.
Click here for Programme by Day
Click here to view the Programme by Interest (Community Pharmacy, Hospital Pharmacy, etc)
Click here to view the Programme by Topic (i.e. Congress Track)
Click here for more information on accreditation, as the FIP Congress has been accredited by many national associations.


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IntelCenter Terrorism Incident Reference (TIR): Russia: 2000-2007
Publication Date: 30 June 2008
Pages: 375
The book provides a chronological breakout of all terrorist and rebel type activity between 2000-2007 in Russia. Material is drawn from the IntelCenter Database (ICD). Reporting is heavily focused on incident type activity, such as bombings, shootings, kidnappings, etc., with some coverage of arrests, threats and other developments. The data contained in each item represents an analyst's best assessment of the most accurate information based upon available source reporting at that point in time and their knowledge of the area and groups involved. These items are not simply abstracts. All source information for each item is listed below in brackets.
The book is designed to provide a professional-level reference resource to intelligence analysts, operators, security professionals, researchers and others working in the counterterrorism field.


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Well the layoffs continue here in Hawaii.
The largest general contractor in Hawaii, Hawaiian Dredging is now laying off 70 people.
…Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. told PBN that the company had to let go of the workers because of the slowdown in construction projects.
The majority of the 70 employees laid off were union workers. Others, such as professional, managerial and engineering people, were laid off as well…
More Here


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Wednesday, March 17, 2010
3 comments:
Gorgeous. Crocus, especially the purple, is one of my faves that I can no longer grow since my move to Florida. Thanks so much for sharing!ReplyDelete
Thank you. Florida sounds great this time of yr.ReplyDelete
Crocuses have been particularly welcome this year with everything else so slow to startReplyDelete
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The three panels are just visible from the road.
Certificates were presented to artscape participants in a ceremony at the school in December.
*** Please note this is the final page of our blog. If you are interested in following the creative journey undertaken by this group of Delhi children from very different backgrounds read from the first post (7th October 2012) or go to the movie tab for a 100 second video that gives a really good idea of all we did.


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Ladies and Gentlemen , it's the HUNTRESS EPISODE! Hooray!
All I wanted from this episode was for Helena and Laurel to be on the screen at the same time. All L wanted was for them to make out. Denied that, she said she would settle for a bare midriff.
Whups, I should start from the beginning, shouldn't I?
BTW, the title is from a speech in Henry V. I'm not a particularly diligent Shakespearean scholar, so I don't know the significance. Anyone wanna fill me in?
The beginning is getting boring now: the initial voiceover is now the same as previous episodes and I no longer care. Stranded on an island, blah blah, VENGEANCE, blah.
Ollie is on a motorbike, driving around, bein' Ollie Queen, when Thea calls him to remind him he has a lunch date with his Mom. (Thea is in her school uniform and at Queen Manor, which makes me wonder what time it is that she's calling him to remind him about lunch. Maybe she came all the way home for her own lunch? Maybe she had a half day today? I think about these things! L believes that the school uniform is specifically there to make her, L, happy, and who am I to disagree?) Ollie resents being harangued by these women for quality time. Do they think he's their long-lost son/brother miraculously returned from the dead or something? GAWSH.
He bikes over to Queen Consolidated, where Moira is coming out of the building being pressed by a man in a natty suit over a 'proposal' she has rejected, for reasons she thinks should be obvious. Natty suit man's name is Mr. Capone. I WONDER WHAT BUSINESS HE COULD BE IN?
Just as Ollie waves 'hello,' another motorcycle turns up, this one being ridden by a person in all black leathers and a face concealing helmet. The biker pulls a gun, Ollie yells a warning, but it's too late. Mr Capone is shot dead and Moira falls with him.
The Rule of Motorcycles:( which I'm sure has been codified on TV Tropes, but which I first heard pre-TV Tropes from my dad) When a person is seen riding a motorcycle, wearing figure-hiding black leathers and a face-covering helmet, that person is always later revealed to be a woman. This is true for Midsomer Murders, for Capital Scandal, and for every single other occurrence of a mysterious motorcyclist I've ever seen. Could it be true of Arrow? Only time will tell!
Ollie checks on Moira long enough for her to struggle to sit up and give some maternal "I'm fine!" platitudes. then he yells CALL 911 to the building Security and runs off after the biker-assassin. Runs. On foot. He even manages to keep pace with the bike for a good few minutes, throwing a metal rod at the wheel before a truck cuts him off. Curse that truck! If it hadn't got in the way, Ollie's magic running feet would easily have chased down a motorbike!
Ollie gets to the hospital after Thea has already arrived from home, been filled in, and tried and failed to reach Walter in Melbourne. Moira has a grade 2 concussion, and is ready to be discharged as long as someone stays with her to monitor her well being. She's certainly not too injured to tell Ollie he was an idiot for running after the motorcycle. And Thea is even more annoyed with him for leaving his mother alone in the street while he tries to be a hero. Ollie says he went to get a licence plate, and Thea is having none of his lies.
In the hospital corridor, Ollie runs into Quentin and Quentin's partner (at this point I feel that looking on IMDB for this guy's name would be cheating). Ollie informs them that Diggle (his 'head of security,' although I still think that someone ought to let Diggle hire some security to be head of) is on his way, but can he have some policemen to guard his mother?
Um, no, says Diggle. Capone was 'mobbed-up-to-the-eyeballs connected,' he explains. Moira wasn't teh target. Ollie flounces off without saying anything else.
I just want it on record that Katie Cassidy clearly dressed for the lesbians today in her tiny little short shorts and her silhouette perfecting bra. Laurel's working late, and Tommy shows up carrying take out sushi, at exactly the same time as her pizza delivery. They discuss the contents of both orders and sushi wins, the bag being torn open hungrily by Laurel.
Note for Non-Comics Readers: Dinah Lance loves good food. Oh boy, does she love good food. I don't usually comic scans into my Arrow posts but this deserves it:
Birds of Prey vol 1 #55
Tommy is here to ask Laurel out. Because having Laurel actually involved in plot these days is so episodes 1 through 5. Now she has to be an object for Tommy to pursue! I have spent the last few episodes narrow-eying Tommy and demanding to know what his game is. It turns out, it might just be to date Laurel. It's just that his lines are so freaking corny.
Oliver deals with the frustration of having his mother shot at by hiding out in the Arrow cave, being shirtless and beating up a dummy. Diggle, who is also in the Arrow Cave, and not watching over Moira, suggests a day off with his family might be in order, but this is how Oliver Queen deals with things, dammit! Well, beating stuff up and Googling. He explains to Diggle that Capone works for Bertinelli construction, run by the mob boss Frank Bertinelli. Apparently Capone wasn't the first of the crew to be hit, so Ollie has the great idea of going undercover in the mob to find out what's going on.
Um, says Diggle, ever the voice of reason and why the hell aren't I getting a Diggle show?
"Your mother is shot at, nearly killed, and the way you process this emotionally is to go undercover with the mob."
"I'm not trying to process this emotionally."
"Maybe that's your problem, man."
Diggle suggests being their for his family might be a good idea. Ollie dismisses this thought as ridiculous, because he's no good at being there for anyone. I suggest to the screen that maybe if you're not good at being there for the people who need you, then you might want to get some practice. But no! Running off after the 'mob assassinations' tangent is a much better idea, says Ollie!
"When I find out who this guy is," he says, "he's a dead man."
GOSH. What a subtle way of highlighting gender assumptions, writers! Because now we're back with the biker, who may or may not have been biking around evening, and has now arrived at a garage. Where the biker has a pinboard of photographs, some of which have big Xs drawn through them in Sharpie! Out comes the Sharpie, and a big X is drawn on Capone's face!
L and I agree this is amateur work, because it doesn't have red string arbitrarily making lines between the photos.
Anyway, off comes the helmet and SURPRISE.
It's a woman!
NNCR: Alright, it might as well go here. This is Helena Bertinelli, who was the Huntress in DC comics during the 90s and 2000′s. The daughter of mafia boss Franco Bertinelli, Helena was a child when her entire family was killed in front of her. She grew up to become Huntress, starting her heroism career by killing the heads of the families that had her killed. She starred in a few Batman minis, and really came into her own in Gail Simone's run on Birds of Prey, alongside Dinah Lance.
As Arrow only likes putting its men in ridiculous costumes, we're going to have to improvise a little.
Thea is off out clubbing, but she is ambushed in the hall by Ollie, who tells her he has a Very Important Thing and she has to stay home and watch their concussed mother, sorry. They are interrupted by Tommy, who lets himself in the front door to talk to Ollie. Hey bro – firstly, your Mom okay? Good. Secondly, is it cool if I date your ex? Because I kind of already asked her out? Yes? Great, see ya!
"If you hurt her I'll snap your neck," says Ollie, which seems fair.
Thea and Moira hang out in Moira's bedroom, watching TV and discussing Ollie's douchebaggery. Moira asks Thea not to be too harsh on him. They both know he's lying to them, but Moira takes the opinion that everyone has their secrets, and besides, he has Post Island Stress Disorder, and maybe the ladies in his life just have to be patient with him.
Moira is shaping up to be a great Mom, really.
Ollie's Very Important Thing is going over to the Bertinellis' mansion to discuss business, the business in question being the Applied Sciences contract from a few epsiodes ago.
Frank – who (shock! Intrigue!) is recognizable as the biggest face on Huntress' pinboard – introduces Ollie to "Nick Salvati, my associate," and I wonder if 'associate' ever means anything that isn't 'he kills people for me.' Salvati is being played by Tahmoh Penikett, prompting L to squeal "It's Helo, it's Helo!" And from then on in our heads such is he named.
As Ollie stands in the entrance hall, Helena walks across the upper level, and their eyes meet briefly. With music.
Later, Frank introduces her to Ollie, and we see that she is wearing an absolutely stunning dress in purple with a large silver crucifix.
NNCR: This is an obvious homage to Huntress' costume. Helena is Catholic and her faith plays a huge part of her character. This is just one of the reasons I ship her with Renee Montoya, the Question.
There's an awkward "I'm heading out," "Take a goon," "I can take care of myself," moment between father and daughter, made all the more awkward by the creepily intense stare Ollie is giving her. (Seriously creepy you guys. I can't even.) But it's interrupted by Helo telling Frank that 'that meeting he requested' is happening right now this instant. So he's got to skedaddle.
But on his way out, he tells Helena to take Oliver out for dinner, because um, that's how rich people do business? I don't know, and both Ollie and Helena thinks it's weird too. But to dinner they go! But not before Ollie pulls his very best -_- face. Which I failed to cap, sorry.
The meeting it turns out, is with China White, who is reduced to acting as a translator for another Triad member, who simply say they're not to blame for all of his people who have died recently thank you very much goodbye.
It's interesting how the show feels perfectly comfortable with having the Triad and Bratva appear and be specifically named, but Franco Bertinelli becomes Frank, and the 'mob' in this episode never gets called the mafia, despite the comics being very explicit on that front, and TV!Helena speaking Italian.
If it's not the Triad, then Bertinelli wants to find out who, and make them pay. This is being recorded by a bug and feeding right back to Quentin and partner, who are distinctly worried this might end in a gang war in Starling City. We never saw the bug being placed, and I don't think it's ever mentioned again in this episode. It's just there.
They mention that Bertinelli is about to start extorting more money out of the people who pay them protection money, but I'm not sure how they got to that conclusion. Sssssh, don't question exposition scenes. Quentin doubts that the killings are mob related, as the shootings have been haphazard with plenty of misses. Amateur, basically. Still, if they don't stop it, they're looking at a mob war.
Ollie and Helena have gone to dinner at an Italian restaurant, where Helena gets special attention from the proprietor because of her father. Helena joins the long long line of people this episode to ask after Moira, in what's actually quite a subtle writerly dig at how Ollie is here and not there with his concussed mother. They are awkward and stiff and Helena dives straight into asking about the Island because why not?
She wants to know if he ever felt relief to be away from the ties and responsibilities of the World. It's obvious that Helena feels restricted by her place in life and disapproves of her father's way of doing things. Ollie says that yes, some days he felt free and those were the best times of the five years. they start bonding over feeling restricted by familial expectations.
But Ollie and Helena aren't the only couple having dinner! Laurel has dragged Tommy out to curry, and he turns out to be a wuss when it comes to spices. Tommy breaks out the smarm again and says that he wishes he could date Laurel from the beginning. Colin Donnell is playing this pretty well: I'm buying this as sincere. Even though as a plotline this 'set up Tommy and Laurel' arc to be pointless, I am beginning to think they're cute together. But Katie Cassidy is always cute.
But then the waiter returns with Tommy's credit card, saying it has been declined. Oh no!
The Italian place has closed, but Ollie and Helena are still sitting and talking. Ollie is saying that he gives people the answers they expect when they talk about the island, because he doesn't know how truthful he can be. Helena is listening intently to him, and calls what he's been through a 'crucible' that changed him.
He finally asked about the crucifix and she explains it was a gift from her fiance, whose death was her own crucible. Basically, they're bonding over traumatic experiences.
"It's nice to be with someone I can be myself with," says Ollie.
Talking of which, Diggle then calls him up., telling him that he has to get moving because 'something's come up.' Ollie makes his excuses and leaves, but not before Helena tells him to be careful with her father.
Moira is still in bed, reading when there is a knock on her bedroom door. It's John Barrowman, at this time of night, come to intimidate and threaten her, because apparently he's got experience with people having near death experiences and bailing on his sinister plans straight after. So he wanted to check Moira was still on board. We also find out that John Barrowman, Moira and Robert were friends for a long time before the accident.
On the phone to Ollie, Diggle explains that the something that came up was Bertinelli's enforcers going after everyone who owes them money. Ollie would like to know what that has to do with getting revenge for his mother, and Diggle implies that maybe saving lives could be on the agenda tonight? You know, justice, not revenge? He drops the name "Russo's" as the next target. Which coincidentally is the restaurant Oliver is standing outside of right now.
Diggle is less than impressed when he hears Ollie ditched both the mission and his bedridden mother to go on a date.
Anyway, Helo and associates walk into Russo's and demand more money from the owners, and L is particularly unimpressed at Helo's villain chops. "He needs to play good guys and cops," she complains.
They're about to break some fingers when they're interrupted by Maninnahood, who presumably had his gear in the car he drove here with Helena in? He fights a bunch of people, and Womaninnahelmet marches in, shooting her gun at people. Ollie drops what he was doing and fights her instead, in a pretty evenly matched combat until he breaks the visor of her helmet and reveals her face. She stares in his eyes for a second (remember Ollie doesn't wear a mask, just green eye make up) and runs off.
Back in the Arrow Cave, Ollie wants to know why Helena would be going after her own family, and Diggle notices that the man's clearly showing signs of the feelings towards her, which as he points out, is crazy even for Ollie, because of the shooting at Moira and the murdering people in cold blood.
Apparently Diggle has forgotten that this is also Ollie's hobby.
That's not the only thing he's forgotten, because when Ollie says "I know what I'm doing," Diggle says that now "I know what your family feels like when you lie to them."
Diggle, Oliver lies to you every damn episode. Where's your head at, today?
Quentin is looking at the security footage from the fight, from the single camera that precludes getting a shot of Helena's reveal. He does, however, spy Oliver and Helena having dinner earlier that evening, so he goes over to Queen Manor to warn him away from Helena and then leave.
I'm not sure what's going on there, really.
That same day, at Tommy's house, that worthy would like to have a few words with his dad about the fact that all his accounts have been frozen and he can't get at any of his money. I'm not exactly sure what's going on here, either. Do rich people in their twenties have all their personal credit cards and bank accounts managed by their parents?
His dad is fencing at the start of the scene, but he takes his mask off at a key moment and dun dun dun!
JOHN BARROWMAN IS TOMMY'S DAD. And he cut Tommy off for no better reason than he got sick of Tommy's playboy ways and felt like being spiteful. So huh.
I guess this means that they are doing a Harry Osborn thing with Tommy being the son of the villain and a point in the love triangle without doing any real villainy himself. I expect Barrowman will not make it past the first season, setting Tommy up for archvillainitude in later seasons. Anyway, the fencing is interesting and suggests BarrowMerlyn has fighty skills and will be using them against Ollie in the future.
That evening, Helena is hanging out in her leathers behind a church, at the grave of her fiance. There she is joined by Ollie, who followed her from her house, and admits so boldly like it's not creepy!
NNCR: The name on the tombstone is Michael Staton. I don't know about the first name, but Staton is a reference to Joe Staton, the penciller on the 1989 series that introduced Helena Bertinelli to the DCU.
Ollie says that he'd like to know how her 'crucible' changed her. Helena says… no wait, I'm going to quote this wholesale.
When you love someone, as much as I loved him, with all of your heart, you can't just turn that emotion off when they're taken from you. You still feel things as deeply, and if it can't be love that you feel, then it becomes hate.
Yes, she says that.
"Sometimes I think," I say to L at this point, "that TV writers just don't understand how human beings work."
Because whut?
Anyway, it doesn't matter what, because Helo and goons show up and kidnap them both.
Cut to an empty warehouse, where Ollie and Helena are sat in chairs with their hands ziptied behind them. Helo knows it was her who hit Russo's, because he found her crucifix – and maybe because she was unmasked? Apparently only Ollie saw that. Ollie offers money to get them out of the situation, but it's not about him for once. Now it's time for Helena and Helo to yell at each other.
Frank had Michael murdered because, Helo explains, Michael was talking to the FBI. They found a laptop in his bag containing evidence needed to convict Frank and Helo. But it wasn't Michael's, Helena says, but hers. She was the one talking to the FBI.
Helo admits that he killed Michael, on Frank's orders, and is about to shoot Helena When Ollie, who had broken his bonds, barrels into him. As Ollie fights the two henchmen (including using one as a human shield to take the bullets from the other) Helena beats the everloving crap out of Helo. Ollie kills his guys just in time to look over and watch Helena snap Helo's neck with her bare hands.
"…Helena," says Ollie, despairing like a guy who hasn't been murdering people will nilly for the last seven episodes. Like a guy, in fact, who hasn't just killed two NPCs with his own bare hands.
"I didn't have a choice," she says, "no one can know my secret."
Quentin and partner are looking at the evidence from this fight – one GSW to the chest, two broken necks. Partner says it's been a while since the Hood broke necks, and no arrows were found, but Quentin hopes Bertinelli blames the Hood over other mobs, else GANG WAR.
I wonder if the 'it's been a while' comment means that Ollie has been killing less. Becaue it plays into the arc that I've been expecting since Deadshot – a man starting out as a ruthless killer, and mellowing out into a more non-lethal Justice League-y vigilante. The deaths of killers-for-hire Deathstroke and Deadshot, and the appearances of Kate Spencer and Helena Bertinelli, who have similar themes in their own comics, would be perfect in that case.
Quick Tommy/Laurel scene: he's sad (and homeless!) now that his daddy cut him off, so she invited him in and they eat the delicious pizza from two nights ago. Losing access to your fortune is a chick magnet!
And in Moira's bedroom, who can this dark shadow be approaching her bed?
Oh, it's her incredibly sexy husband, who spent three days (as documented by Laurel and Tommy's dinners) flying in from Melbourne. Hey Walter, next time why don't you go over the Pacific?
While they're having hot person-of-a-certain-age reunion sex, Ollie and Thea chat in the hallway. Thea apologizes for being a bitch about the whole lying-to-her abandoning-his-mother thing, and he accepts the apology. But, uh, doesn't apologize for lying to her or being a terrible son and brother. One thing at a time, Ollie.
Thea repeats her suggestion that he find someone to talk to, if he doesn't want to talk to her, or Moira, or Laurel, or Tommy, or Diggle. I suggest Diggle, because the man's sensible and has been through some stuff and understands the difference between justice and revenge and also already knows all Ollie's secrets.
Ollie, however, is not thinking with that head, and where does he go? Yep, that'd be Helena's city apartment.
And I don't mean, he shows up at her door and knocks, because that would be normal. Instead, Helena comes out of the shower in just her robe and wet hair, and finds him standing in her living room. She takes it in stride, because she knows who he is, having seen him fight and also, he doesn't actually wear a mask.
He tries to give her a lecture on the difference between justice and vengeance, but it doesn't work so well because this is Oliver bloody Queen and he's been blurring the line between justice and vengeance for seven episodes. Maybe if Diggle were here, it'd make sense, but this episode has been thin with the Diggle and his words fit poorly in Ollie's mouth.
Helena doesn't buy it, of course, because she's out getting justice for her fiance while Ollie's out getting Justice for his own Daddy issues and they're pretty much doing the same thing, fighting the same fight.
"I've been alone in my head for so long," says Helena
"It feels good to tell the truth," Ollie finishes.
And I lift up my hands and make the NOW KISS gesture at the screen.
What can I say? I ship it. And not because I don't ship Laurel and Ollie, cause I love her, but Ollie and Helena are broken in the same ways, and it's so intense and needy. And I love superhero romances between heroes, where there's no secrets and they understand each other. Actually, romance that comes from understanding is one of my big romance kinks. This is why I like Green Arrow/Black Canary in comics, because they both know each other. Ollie/Laurel while he's lying to her? Not my thing.
Besides, while I love Helena, at this point in her story she's broken and rebounding, and can only relate to someone broken and hurting. While Laurel is sweet and good and strong and needs someone who's at least a little bit better adjusted than Tommy. So let Ollie and Helena work their things out and have hot, passionate sexytimes. Laurel will be there when he deserves her.
And maybe I can start a letter writing campaign to introduce a lesbian latina cop in future seasons.
This post can also be found at Thagomizer.net. Feel free to join in the conversation wherever you feel most comfortable.
Advancing the Sum Total of Human Knowledge and Endeavour by Debi Linton is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- Non-Commercial - Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.


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In celebration of the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, Lucasfilm is releasing a comprehensive history of the making of the groundbreaking film, aptly titled The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. The book is packed with hundreds of rarely seen behind the scene photographs which you can preview here. Over the next few days, VF Daily will be running a series of interviews coinciding with the release. Tune in next week for an interview with legendary director Irvin Kershner.
Despite extremely limited screen time and only a few lines of dialogue, Boba Fett remains, to this day, one of the most popular characters from the Star Wars trilogy. VF Daily sat down with the actor behind the mask of the most revered bounty hunter in the galaxy: Jeremy Bulloch, who is mostly known for his theater work before Empire. And he doesn't shy away from how he got the role—the suit fit. Bulloch talked with us about the challenges behind portraying a bounty hunter in an outfit not really conducive to bounty hunting, dealing with Boba Fett's rabid fan base, the differences in directing styles between Empire and Return of the Jedi, and how he feels about Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison) in Attack of the Clones. Mike Ryan: There was a lot of buildup and hype with the Boba Fett character leading into Empire. Say what you will about The Star Wars Holiday Special, which I'm not sure Lucasfilm will even admit exists (the Lucasfilm rep in the room audibly laughs), but there was the Boba Fett cartoon during that special which piqued a lot of interest.
Jeremy Bulloch: The only thing that I thought was a bit strange was when I was shown a small figure of Boba Fett and I hadn't even started filming, and they said, "Well, this will be given away if they send in [proofs of purchase]."And I didn't understand what they were saying at all. Obviously the figures became very important much later on.
And action figures weren't quite as popular then.
Then, there was just the off figure. And I thought it was amazing, "look, I'm in plastic, already." This was before the first day, and I thought they might not like what I do and get rid of me. But now, of course, there's so many things that are being made and in incredible detail—and Boba Fett is an ideal character to have because he has so many gadgets on his armor and his weaponry.
And how many of those do you own?
Well, I have (Laughs)—this is quite sad, now, really. I do have the big Boba Fett by Don Post, which I went to America to model for. I have that and I have lots of little trinkets and things like that. Only of Boba Fett, because I'm biased.
It's interesting, considering your theater background, that you played a character in which we don't even see your face, let alone hear your voice.
It's the very first part that I've ever played with a mask. But, luckily, I was working in the theater at nights for two weeks of The Empire Strikes Back. So I had to leave by 5:30 to get to the theater. And in the theater, I was non-stop talking for two and a half hours for this fast comedy. So I could go in the next day, look at people who spent four or five-hour in makeup, and I just put a helmet on. I could rest a little bit because I was really tired.
The voice of Boba Fett was dubbed over by another actor. Were you saying the lines on set?
Oh, yes, you do. The lovely thing is that you're saying something, even with Darth Vader, I was talking. And you can't hear what you're saying because it's a muffled sound, obviously, under the helmet. But it's quite fun because, at the time, you think, I wonder what kind of voice this will be? Whether it will be electronic or will it be just an ordinary voice? Looking at the outfit, I thought it would be some croaky type of person.
So you knew, unlike David Prowse (who played Darth Vader) in the first film, that the voice would be redubbed by another actor?
No, I didn't know from the beginning. But I assumed that when everything goes back to America, they'll get someone to do the voice. Now, had I been speaking throughout the whole film, and they wanted to dub my voice, I'd actually have been surprised. Why would they need to do it? But for this, Boba Fett, a few lines, I thought, this came out really well. I was quite happy.
I'm assuming that the outfit isn't conducive to actual bounty hunting.
(Laughs.) No, no. It is possibly the most uncomfortable costume I've ever worn. As they clicked the jet-pack into position, you'd lean back. It was top-heavy and you were almost falling over. And the backs of your legs and your feet—at the end of it you'd just long for a hot bath.
You were in three Star Wars films. If I'm not mistaken, you were in Revenge of the Sith.
Yes, I had a little cameo role as Captain Colton.
Your largest roles were in Empire and Jedi. What was the biggest difference between Empire director Irvin Kershner and Jedi director Richard Marquand?
Irvin was wonderful because you knew, as an actor, exactly what he wanted. He'd occasionally say, "come on, come on," and you could see he was saying we had to get this shot in. Richard Marquand I'd met before and he was a lovely man. He said, "Jeremy, you know, you were in the last one, you know what to do. Don't you?" I said, "well, yes I do, but it's always lovely to have the director say, 'no, no, no, that's wrong,'" I quite like that. Because if you're an actor who says, "well, what I do is obviously what is best," it's sometimes not right. I think it's wonderful having a director leading you through.
It says in the book that Mark Hamill would get frustrated with kershner's direction. At the way kershner would even act out a scene while saying, "do it like this."
Well, I don't know. As I said, I do like someone to direct you. And, as you say, Irvin kershner would say, "do it like this." And you go, "O.K., fine." But when they say "action," you put a little of yourself in it. The director thinks that is exactly what he said, but, in fact, it's quite a bit of what you want.
There's a transcript in the book from the set of the Carbon Freezing Chamber where Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher were having a huge, real-life argument. Could you tell there was tension between the two?
No. For us in masks, we were just dripping and waiting for one section of the piece to go—just pouring with sweat. There was something happening, but I could never know what it was because there was so much noise and I was standing at the back next to Darth Vader while the carbon freezer thing was going. I could hardly see through the mask because it used to mist up with all of the steam. So if someone said, "did you see anything, Jeremy?" I'd say, "No, I didn't."
The funniest part of that transcript is when David Prowse interrupts kershner during the fight to offer him a signed copy of his new book, Fitness is Fun. Did you get a copy of Fitness is Fun?
Um, no. Well, I have seen it, actually, but I haven't read it. I prefer to read my book because, as I said to David (Prowse), because it's in English.
When Empire was released on DVD in 2004, Boba Fett's voice was redubbed again, only this time by Temuera Morrison who played Jango Fett in Attack of the Clones. Do you feel he's co-opted your role, playing Jango Fett or Boba Fett throughout the six films? Someone watching all six today for the first time would probably just assume that he's the guy in the suit by the time we get to Empire.
I can see why because now it's the Clone Wars and they're all exactly the same. It's Temuera and Daniel Logan who plays the young Boba Fett. We all know the voice and what's going to happen. Although, the original voice by Jason Wingreen is far more menacing. (Mimes Wingreen) "Put Captain Solo in the cargo hold." That sounded a bit funny.
No, that was a good impression.
I think the original voice—I'm caught halfway here. I can see why, although, I don't think they needed to change the voice. Especially with the little dialogue Boba Fett has, it's very strong what comes out. But that's what is so lovely about the Star Wars films, there's so much to talk about and argue about. If I'm at a convention, someone will say, "Mr. Bulloch, what do you think about the death of Boba Fett when he goes into the Sarlacc Pit? Could you tell us a little bit more about that?" I'll say, "No, I'm deeply depressed that Boba Fett went into the Sarlacc Pit. But I will get out. I promise you." And they say, "thank you very much, Mr. Bulloch, thank you." I just made someone happy because now I'm going to get out of the pit. You say to someone, "I stay down in the pit as long as I want. There are bounty hunters falling down there every day of the week and I've now opened a bar. I've opened a Hooters."
I hope that's true, because even as a kid I remember thinking, "wait, Boba Fett was killed by Han with a stick by accident?"
George Lucas is terribly funny because I said—this was years and years ago—"Did you mean Boba Fett to die?" And he said, "Oh, yeah." So all I could say was, "Thanks, George." The great thing is, by getting rid of Boba Fett, it keeps the popularity up. So the reaction afterwards is actually really good.
How did your other role in Empire, as the Imperial Officer, come about?
I was sitting down waiting to do a Boba Fett scene—the one where I was firing in Cloud City at Luke Skywalker—and they said, "Jeremy, Jeremy, quick, get changed." I went to wardrobe and they took the Boba Fett outfit off and put me in this Imperial Officer's outfit. There was no one available to play the part, so that's what it was.
Did you have to audition for Boba Fett?
No, I've said before, if I hadn't fit in the outfit, I wouldn't have played the part. There was only one costume. My half-brother, Robert Watts, was an associate producer and he said, "Look, get your agent on to this. It's not very much, but you never know." So I went back and put the outfit on. And that was the interview with producer Gary Kurtz, putting bits of the outfit on and it fit like a glove. I always say to people, "It was meant to be."
I also learned from the book that you were credited as Yoda in Arthur Knight's 1980Hollywood Reporter review of Empire.
(Laughs.) I didn't even know that. Well, that's good. I'll have to start practicing a Yoda voice. That's brilliant.
And you received a lot of fan mail asking if you were the "other" that Yoda mentions.
Yes, I had a lot of that. I went on straight to another theater job after Empire, and I would get people writing letters asking if I was "the other." I'd say, "other what?" And then pretend I knew. People will come up and ask, "Did you use the BlasTech .E33 rifle in the first film or the second film?" I just turn around and say, "I'm terribly sorry, it's classified information. I'm not allowed to tell you." It's the best answer because they are far brighter than I am. I'm tempted to try and learn Mandalorian, so I can come back with a really classic answer, when needed. It's not going very well at the moment.
It sounds like you've gotten more meaning with what's happened in the 30 years after the movie was released than you did actually filming.
You're absolutely spot on there, Mike. I do. You film something and sometimes you watch it for the first time and go, I wish I had done that. How stupid, I should have turned! I think I've been terribly fortunate as an actor. I had 20 years experience before Star Wars, but I was extremely lucky to land the role of Boba Fett. It is a journey, like the term, "if the shoe fit." If the costume fit—and there it was, as if it was made for me.
I feel there's a lot of people in your position who may resent talking about Boba Fett because, as you said, you just happened to fit a costume.
I think I'm very fortunate and very proud to be part of Star Wars, very proud. I've done a lot of work over the course of 52 years now. A lot of different work, some I've really enjoyed and thought, that was just right, and another one where I thought, oh, no, that wasn't so good. People always ask, "Aren't you upset because they're not talking about other things that you've done? I say, "No, because they're interviewing me about Star Wars and what my experience was like and what it means." That's terribly important to know that I was involved with Star Wars. There's no point to say, "Oh, I've moved on, I'm playing King Lear now. I don't want to talk about Star Wars." I do want to talk about it because it was a very fun time for me. It was a terrific time.
Mike Ryan is a frequent contributor to vanityfair.com. You can contact him directly on Twitter.


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What was once thought of as an innocent and efficient way to store information has been getting a completely new look and is a buzzword these days. The 'Cloud' has struggled through some turbulent times in recent past: its name was slandered when Nirvanix closed its doors and Snowden's 'escape' to Russia did little to ease concerns over information security.
The customer demand for security in the cloud has become a top priority. First and foremost, customers are increasingly changing on how they choose what to store and where to store it.
Security, flexibility and trust have become ever more important, giving rise to a new market of tools and services that protect information. Additionally, smaller service providers emphasize their proximity and personal service to woo customers and differentiate themselves from larger, more dominant cloud service providers.
There are a number of innovations that will have a positive impact on the cloud storage world for years to come. Highlighted below are some of them.
Rising Emphasis on Security
After living through a year of PRISM and other Snowden-like disclosures, consumers and businesses are much more aware of what data and information they are willing to upload to off-premise, potentially non-secure servers. Keeping that in mind, many companies are taking steps to increase their security measures and better protect sensitive information.
Despite Dropbox's high prospects and valuation, there are more companies blocking access to services like Dropbox and shift from public clouds toward private, more secure clouds hosted on their premises, allowing data to remain under their own control. This has also given rise to the hybrid cloud which brings a mix of public cloud and on premise storage into picture.
New Tools and Services to Protect Data in the Cloud
As more and more people choose to store their business-critical workload in the cloud, issues of business continuity become front and centre. With larger volumes of data being stored, the likelihood of a significant disaster or failure increases. Due to increased risks, there is a demand in the market for new, innovative solutions to combat downtime and data loss in the cloud. Companies are utilizing different ways to back up cloud-based data, and migrate machines to other clouds quickly and seamlessly.
Increased Focus on Physical Location of Cloud Servers
Customers opt to use cloud providers who store data in a geographically proximate location-most importantly within their own country. This has become very evident throughout the globe. This 'data nationalism' provides perceived protection from foreign governments. At the same time, it gives smaller, local cloud service providers an edge over giants like Amazon. These smaller providers are now able to devote significant time and energy to offering personalized, local services that better fit to an individual customer's needs.
Jan-Jaap Jager is the Executive Vice President of APJ & Emerging Markets at Acronis


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My mom is seriously obsessed with donuts. So I ordered a new pan from Country Home Goods, and got to work on new fun recipes for her to try! Here was one of the winners, a Brown Butter Donut with Pomegranates.
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup almond milk
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium sized bowl mix all dry ingredients. Set aside to prepare the wet ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together egg, milk, and extract. Set aside and make the butter brown.
To brown the butter, add it to a sauce pan, and melt over medium heat. Once melted, continue to cook over a low heat until it crackles and then browns. This will happen pretty quickly, so keep a close watch on it. When it's finished, whisk in the butter mixture. When fully combined, add the wet and dry ingredients together. Mix well. Use a piping bag to fill the donut pan with dough, making sure not to over fill as they will rise. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown and set aside to let cool.


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Foreshore Beach at Port Botany is Sydney's most polluted, according to a report ranking the cleanliness of NSW beaches and swimming sites, but swimming spots around the state are generally becoming cleaner.
The report by the Department of Environment's Beachwatch water quality monitoring service examined 94 of Sydney's beaches and estuarine swimming sites. About 90 per cent were ranked "good" or "very good".
Eight were found to be "poor". And only Foreshore Beach, which is next to Sydney Airport's third runway, received a "very poor" rating - for the second year running.
Foreshore was closed earlier this year after concerns were raised after the ocean took on a mysterious orange tint.
Those ranked "very poor" are often unsuitable for swimming and susceptible to contamination from sewage overflows.
Sydney's best-ranked beaches included Clovelly, Watsons Bay and Mona Vale.
The northern beaches were ranked the city's best: 97 per cent received top rankings, compared with 89 per cent for southern Sydney and 83 per cent for central Sydney.
Southern Sydney's beaches were the most improved; the number of its beaches ranked good or very good rose 12 percentage points on the previous year.
The report does not make a distinction between beaches and ocean pools.
The NSW Environment Minister Rob Stokes said the report showed NSW beaches were among the cleanest in the world and becoming cleaner.
Of the 144 NSW ocean beaches examined, 97 per cent were ranked "good" or "very good" - a marginal increase on last year. Ratings across another 100 additional swimming spots, including estuarine and river swimming spots, also increased slightly.
"Water quality improved at 29 sites this year, moving from good to very good," Mr Stokes said.
But the state's opposition has seized on the report's finding that 40 NSW swimming spots are unsafe to argue the government should not have cut jobs from Sydney Water.
"The Baird government has cut over 450 staff from Sydney Water, or about 15 per cent of its staff. Most of these jobs have been cut from frontline maintenance," opposition water spokesman Peter Primrose said.
"There's been a marginal improvement, yes," Mr Primrose said. "But the report found one of the main issues to be concerned about is the effect of run-off from rain.
"[Much of the improvement in beach cleanliness is because] last year was also the driest summer in almost 30 years."
Sydney's worst swimming spots
Bayview Baths - Poor
Rose Bay Beach - Poor
Tambourine Bay - Poor
Northbridge Baths - Poor
Davidson Reserve - Poor
Boat Harbour - Poor
Gymea Bay Baths - Poor
Foreshore Beach - Very poor
Sydney's best swimming spots (ranked very good)
Watsons Bay
Mona Vale
Nielsen Park
Palm Beach
Sourth Curl Curl
North Cronulla


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Scope of Work
Website design
Website development
Logo design
Newsletter design
The brief
Nick Forbes, Labour Leader of Newcastle commissioned Sail to do a bespoke website redesign. It is imperative for Nick to connect to the Community of Newcastle clearly and impactfully. It's important a representative of a political party clearly communicates to an audience what they stand for, both online and offline.
The Solution
It was important to create an impactful site, with Labour's vision and values at it's core. We had to distill complex political messages to the varied audience or the public, media and other party members. We wanted the site to be human focussed through compelling imagery, design and messages. To support these objectives, initial research was undertaken in preparation for the design, including user experience, imagery and key messages. Wireframes were created to ensure a smooth user journey and clear hierarchy of content and structure. With the wireframes in place we started developing the visuals. The result is an engaging, user experience based friendly website that is mobile responsive, you can view the site here. It was imperative the website tone was friendly yet professional, progressive yet inclusive. We also worked with Nick on his logo to bring it up to a professional and contemporary level, and his newsletter, to ensure he reaches a wider audience.


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Vidalia Federal offers a full array of Mortgage, Auto or Personal Loans to meet your needs. Please contact our office at 912-537-8805 for details.
Vidalia Federal offers you the security you require for your valuables. Come by our main office or our Lyons Branch and discuss your needs with one of our representatives.
Access your account 24 hours a day using your touchtone phone. Check your balance, transfer funds between accounts, or verify funds with just the a quick phone call. Safe, convenient and free!
24 hour Telephone Banking: 912-537-4540
To report lost or stolen ATM/Debit cards, please call 800-500-1044.
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The numbers game
What's in Earth orbit and how do we know?
<< page 1: observations, tracks, and catalogs
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who has the fairest catalog of them all?
While there is no doubt that the US military has the most data on objects in orbit, it is not the only entity keeping track and collecting data. Perhaps the second best network of sensors and independent catalog of orbital positions is kept by the Russian military. In similar fashion to the US, Russia maintains a network of both dedicated space surveillance and additional duty missile warning radars, as well as optical telescopes. Unlike the US, all of the Russian assets are located on the Asian continent. This means that while Russia has excellent coverage over its own territory, particularly for low Earth orbit, it does not have adequate deep space coverage on the other side of the world and very limited coverage of most of the GEO belt.
Recently, the European Council of Ministers approved a plan to study how best to develop a European SSA capability. Initially starting by combining the data from existing European radars and telescopes, the plan might eventually entail building new sensors. China is looking into this problem as well, with their existing optical telescopes and research at the Purple Mountain Observatory located near Nanjing in Jiangsu Province. They have stated that they currently have a catalog of about 100 objects, but have plans to develop a Chinese Space Surveillance System, including building a network of optical sensors. Although unknown exactly to what extent, it is also believed that certain phased array radars managed by the Chinese military are also used for space surveillance. Many other countries have singular telescopes and radar dishes which could be used to track satellites.
But space surveillance and SSA is not limited to governments and militaries. The largest optical space surveillance telescope network in the world is the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON) and consists of 25 scientific and academic instruments at 18 different sites managed by the Russian Academy of Sciences. Additionally, there are hundreds of amateur observers around the world that do an excellent job of tracking the larger, and often classified, objects that governments don't like to talk about. Armed with binoculars, stopwatches, and backyard telescopes, they can be surprisingly accurate and well informed.
When it comes to judging the "best" catalog, there are two main criteria to consider:
With regard to the first criterion, the US military undoubtedly has the best catalog in the world, mainly because of the size of the sensor network they can pull data from, the accuracy and quality standards for that data, and the care that is put into maintaining the catalog. There are three caveats to this assessment. First, the satellite catalog released publicly by the US military is not the best it has. The TLEs on Space Track are of a relatively poor accuracy compared to what the US military uses for its own internal analyses and there are at least 6,000 objects being tracked by the US military that do not appear on Space Track because a launching State cannot be identified, as explained earlier in this article.
Second, the US military does not have a monopoly on highly accurate positional data. The mathematical theories and algorithms behind this process are not classified and have been actively discussed in international forums by experts from the US and other countries for decades. The optical telescopes in the ISON network can generate highly accurate element sets that are on par with the very accurate SP vectors the US military does not release publicly (see "Billiards in space", The Space Review, February 23, 2009). In a few cases, the US military is actually behind the curve and still using decades-old astrodynamic techniques to create these element sets, mainly because it costs too much to redesign the hardware and software and recertify the system.
There is also the issue of the satellite owner-operator positional data. Anyone who operates a satellite can get very accurate information on its location, either as reported from the satellite itself by the onboard guidance system or through the process of communicating with the satellite. Almost always this positional data collected by the satellite operator is more accurate than anything collected by any third-party sensor and for the most part not being utilized as part of the US satellite catalog.
While there are some technical issues relating to data formats and models that would need to be worked out for this to happen, the main sticking points have traditionally been policy-related. Some commercial operators are uncomfortable dealing with the US military; many would like the data exchange to flow both ways. However, in the past the US military has generally decided not to share data with commercial operators and only provide information about potential issues on the "trust us" model. Ironically, many of these same commercial providers are now cooperating with the SOCRATES-GEO program run by the Center for Space Standards and Innovation because CSSI has found ways to deal with these issues. There are indications the US military may be changing these policies in the near future.
Third, just because the US military has the best current catalog does not mean that it doesn't have significant room for improvement. In particular, the lack of any sensors on the Eurasian and African continents, in the Southern Hemisphere, and deep space tracking capacity in general are significant handicaps for the US military catalog. For example, the annual European Space Agency report The Classification of Geosynchronous Objects lists many objects in or near GEO that are not included in the public US military catalog.3 This list includes 103 dead payloads or rocket bodies listed in the US military catalog without orbital elements and another 67 pieces of debris not listed at all but which can be clearly identified with a particular launch. And as mentioned earlier in this article, the US military catalog currently has hardly any of the estimated hundreds of thousands of objects smaller than ten centimeters in size. The US military is attempting to address both of these issues, mainly through unilateral measures, but is running into financial and bureaucratic difficulties.
When it comes to the second criterion, the quality of the descriptive information, the US catalog is also notably lacking. The main issue stems from trying to assess the correct name or mission for an object based on public information, which may be inaccurate, hard to track down, or in a foreign language. Having worked this job in the past and trained these analysts myself, I can tell you that it is extremely challenging. In addition to the high turnover and training issues identified in a previous article, there is the additional issue of naming conventions. The US military has a whole set of naming conventions for various Russian, Chinese, and other foreign boosters and satellites that stem from military intelligence practices. Unfortunately, these names are often quite different from the official public names used by the launching State and sometimes classified.
There are also special cases that are particularly challenging, with perhaps the most serious being new launches. Just because a radar or optical telescope is tracking an object doesn't mean they know which object they are tracking, especially if it is newly launched and in a very similar orbit to other pieces from that same launch. Additional information such as size and shape is needed to distinguish between two similar objects and sometimes that information isn't always available when it comes time to catalog objects. The absolute worst-case scenario is when a booster releases multiple microsatellites. Telling one ten-centimeter cube apart from a dozen others nearby and getting the naming right is very difficult indeed. This can lead to issues where an object gets cataloged as the satellite from a launch when it is actually the rocket body and vice versa. Sometimes these mistakes are not discovered until the piece of debris suddenly maneuvers. The Russian Dnepr-1 booster in particular has had past launch attempts with as many as 18 payloads.
For deep space, often a satellite being launched into the geostationary belt needs to make multiple maneuvers over days or weeks to get to its final orbit. Keeping tabs on all these maneuvers can be difficult, especially if the owner-operator has not made public the sequence of events. Other times satellites in GEO will move to new locations in the belt. Most often this is because they are new commercial satellites that are put into one orbital slot for technical checkout and then weeks or months later moved into an operational slot while the old satellite is maneuvered into the graveyard region.
These are not theoretical problems—they happen every day and the end result is an inaccurate catalog. The operators of Celestrak, who have maintained a list of operational satellites for decades, send a weekly list of discrepancies found in the official Space Track catalog to the JSpOC, a list that is very long indeed.
Perhaps the most controversial issue is the number of currently active satellites. This has come up a few times recently in news articles, briefings, and Congressional testimony. Lieutenant General Larry James, Commander of 14th Air Force and the JSpOC, said in testimony before the House Subcommittee on Science and Aeronautics:
Currently, the best open source analysis of the number of active satellites comes from a database maintained by the Union of Concerned Scientists. This database is pulled from the public US military satellite catalog, Celestrak, satellite catalog information from other nations including Europe, and amateur observers. As of April 1, 2009, it lists just under 900 active satellites in orbit, including many not officially acknowledged by the US military, giving a disparity of 400 compared to the numbers cited by the US military.
It is unclear where the US military's number of active satellites comes from. Perhaps there is a difference in naming convention and definition of what an active satellite is. General James cited 19,000 total objects being tracked, of which 1,300 are active payloads but only 7,500 pieces of debris and doesn't elaborate on what category the other 10,200 objects fall under if they are not active satellites or debris. It could also be that the 1,300 number cited by the US military was derived from unclassified sources so as to not compromise the true number gleaned by military intelligence. One basis for this derivation could be that oft-cited historical "fact" that payloads have made up between five percent and ten percent of the catalog; 1,300 is about seven percent of 19,000.
It takes a village to build a (good) catalog
Clearly, the issue of maintaining a comprehensive and accurate catalog of objects in Earth orbit is extremely important. Safe and secure operations of satellites and human activities in Earth orbit depend on such information. A good satellite catalog (as measured by the two main criteria outlined earlier) is also essential for monitoring the long-term health of the space environment and devising strategies to protect the long-term sustainability of the space environment.
Despite the issues raised earlier, the JSpOC should be commended for tackling such an extraordinarily difficult mission and doing as well as they have given their existing personnel and resource limitations. The important lesson is that maintaining an orbital catalog is difficult, and asking any organization to do so without also giving them the proper tools and resources is setting that organization up for failure.
One immediate area of concern is that the US military, and government in general, needs to improve how they take constructive criticism on this issue. The flaws and shortcomings of the SATCAT are well known to the analysts that work with it on a daily basis, yet in the past the immediate reaction anytime an outsider pointed out these some issues was one of defensive aggression that immediately shuts down any further cooperation. In the broader context, many of those in the US government who are not working day to day with the catalog unfortunately believe the mission boilerplate—that the JSpOC really does track everything in Earth orbit from cradle to grave. Thus they tend to see any criticism of the catalog or the SSA efforts of the military as unfair, untrue, biased, or based on ulterior motives.
These reactions are unfortunate, and they are compounded by the usual swarm of contractors and private companies that have been drawn to the problem like vultures scenting a fresh kill. Some of these entities actually do have the best interests of the United States and the US military in mind and are honestly looking to help. But others just see SSA as another potentially lucrative funding stream to add to their defense portfolio. Sorting between these two groups is extraordinarily difficult but necessary.
With the recent high profile events of the 2007 Chinese ASAT test, the 2008 destruction of USA 193, and the 2009 Iridium-Cosmos collision, the US is joining other governments around the world in finally realizing the importance of SSA and maintaining an accurate catalog. However, they have yet to find a way of providing the resources to do so without breaking the bank, mainly because they have been primarily focusing on unilateral solutions – each building and operating their own sensor networks.
The United States needs to realize that it is not alone in this effort and there are resources available to help succeed in this mission. In many cases, these resources already exist and bringing them into the process does not necessarily mean huge economic costs. However, it does mean a rethinking of the philosophy behind the approach of SSA as well as policy towards cooperation. Part of this re-thinking is to realize that SSA is not solely a military mission: while it does indeed have a strong military component, it also plays a big role in commercial and civil space affairs. Just as the military does not have a monopoly on space remote sensing imagery, weather data, navigation, or communications, commercial, civil and international players need to be brought into the discussion on SSA and mixed with unilateral military solutions.
One of the great lessons of the Internet Age is that more eyeballs on a problem almost always leads to more accurate information and more timely updates.4 Gone are the days when the prevailing assumption is that a small group of "experts" maintaining a set of data is the best way to go. By opening it up to more people, you greatly increase the chances of finding mistakes and reduce the mind share needed to keep a handle on the data.
Additionally, having large numbers of people looking a data set almost always results in some surprising new ways of analyzing, sorting and creating value from that data. Of course, there are some elements of a satellite catalog that should not be publicly crowd-sourced - in particular intelligence on capabilities and limitations of foreign military satellites. But aside from that small section, the other pieces of data that are already made public and shared (element sets, object names, object type) would benefit.
This means that methods of bringing commercial, civil, and international sources of data into the SSA process to improve the existing satellite catalog need to be explored while simultaneously increasing access to that catalog for international civil and commercial use. At the same time, efforts must be made to separate out and protect information that is truly of a critical, national security nature for the United States and its allies.
Part of this international cooperation and dialog should be on better defining the terms used in SSA, including what information should be in the satellite catalog and what an "active payload" is. Commercial operations and governments should be encouraged to share more data on initial orbits for newly launched objects and especially in-orbit maneuvers of existing objects. Doing so would reduce the workload on SSA systems, improve the accuracy of the satellite catalog, and contribute to trust and transparency.
As is the case with many regimes and problems, knowledge is the key to safe and secure operations in space. A comprehensive and accurate satellite catalog is the essential foundation of this knowledge and enables many other services and functions. While the US military does a yeoman's job with this mission currently, there are many initiatives that the US government can undertake to improve the situation. The incentive is assured access to and continued use of space for the US, part of which depends on the actions of all the other actors in space. Only when everyone is on the same page of music and understands the space environment can we truly make progress towards space sustainability.