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Dialogue: 'John Dies at the End' Director Don Coscarelli Explains Why He Makes Every Movie Like It's His Last
It's been over 30 years since Don Coscarelli made Phantasm, but you'd never know it judging by the sheer energy on display in his latest film, John Dies at the End. The same wry sense of humor, the love for often immature but out-of-this-world ideas and characters, the same kinetic camera work and bold creature design-- it's all still there. And that's not to say that he's stagnated as a director. Quite the opposite, really: Unlike some of his peers, he's still taking risks and making the movies he wants to.
Unfortunately the movies Coscarelli wants to make aren't exactly mainstream. John Dies at the End is about a pair of friends who take a drug that allows them to trip across time and dimensions and do battle with abominations from beyond that are threatening life on Earth, like a flying mustache or a monster made of frozen meat. It is unapologetically strange, and even if that's not your bag, you've got to give the man credit for fighting tooth and nail to make movies no one else is.
And he really does have to fight to not only get each and every one of his movies made, but to even get them seen. You'd think that after a career that includes immensely loved films like Phantasm, Beastmaster and Bubba Ho-tep, Coscarelli would be taking the safe and easy route. But he isn't, though, and it's awareness of the position he's in that makes him a fascinating filmmaker. And it's precisely why you need to give John Dies at the End a shot on VOD now or in theaters on January 25.
Movies.com: Do you find the challenges of doing something like a Masters of Horror episode or John Dies at the End more interesting at this stage of your career?
Don Coscarelli: [Laughs] I guess interesting is one way to describe it. Frustrating is another. The movies I've made and have been attracted to... not everyone gets the kind of stuff that I like. Certainly the folks who run studios don't, and so it's always been a struggle to get any mainstream financing.
Movies.com: Was it a more frustrating experience to get John Dies made than it was to get Phantasm made?
Coscarelli: That's an interesting question. It's hard to comment on John Dies because the jury is still out on how it's going to ultimately perform and whether it with burnish my career in the eyes of the big shots or not. Early indication is it's doing okay.
Movies.com: Do you consider John Dies at the End a horror movie?
Coscarelli: Well, it's a genre mash-up. It's horror, sure. It's comedy, yeah. And it's just plain strange all over. It really defies description, and that's what I liked about it when I read the novel. It starts off like it's going to be Clerks or Bill & Ted even, just focusing on two guys before it takes some turns, meets some incredible characters and pretty soon is an insane Alice in Wonderland story of sorts. It's challenging, so thank God some folks seem to respond to it. Believe me, when I was making the movie, a lot of the time I was wondering if I'd not bit off more than I could possibly chew. But some people seem to like it.
The director, right, goes over the John Dies script with star Paul Giamatti
Movies.com: Knowing that you made changes to it after its Sundance premiere and after SXSW, when is a film finished to you? What's the line in the sand where you have to say, "I'm done. No more tinkering"?
Coscarelli: Well, there's a movie I made in 1989 that I'm just looking for the opportunity to get back in to and I've recut it twice in the last 20 years. So, on the one hand, there are movies like Star Wars where George Lucas receives a ton of criticism for monkeying with it. And I understand the criticism, but I also understand the pain that a filmmaker feels watching his film over and over and thinking, "Oh, I could have fixed that. That could have been better." I hope I'm never put into the position where I have the opportunity to go back and rework Phantasm. [Laughs]
I pretty much stopped as of Toronto. Only a filmmaker with balls will go to Sundance and use it as a test screening. So, yeah, I learned a lot from that and I acted on it, and I think it played a lot better at SXSW. But it brings up the question of working in digital. Wow, it's so much easier. If you can show at these festivals on an HD Cam, I could go in, make snips, and just output a new HD Cam tape. It may cost $300-400 dollars, but versus $20,000? What filmmaker can restrain themselves?
You get these big audiences and big theaters and if you're taking notes, you'll see there are moments you can tinker with a little bit. Plus, you have the added bonus that every time you're screening it, you can honestly tell the audience they're seeing a brand new cut. And genre fans enjoy that.
Movies.com: Do you think that may become a trend with indie filmmakers?
Coscarelli: It's a fantastic opportunity that's been presented, at least in terms of editing. Distribution is so much easier now. Magnolia's Magnet Releasing, our distributor, in anticipation of the John Dies at the End theatrical run, they're going to do a dozen or so midnights of Bubba Ho-Tep in theaters the week before as a bit of promotion. Now it's possible to screen in theaters on a high quality Blu-ray Disc and it looks pretty damned good.
Now that you've opened up the subject, it's a completely different question if digital is better aesthetically. I'm really looking forward to Keanu Reeves' documentary Side by Side. In the last couple weeks I've sat through a color correction session on Phantasm 2, which was made 100% analog on film, and that movie really looked good. It's all changed and we're not going back. The stalwarts, the Spielbergs and all those guys, even they won't have a choice.
Movies.com: Was that for a Phantasm 2 Blu-ray?
Coscarelli: Yeah, Shout Factory is putting it out in March. That's going to be pretty cool.
Movies.com: Getting back to John Dies, what was the one scene you read where you thought, "I'm sold. This is what I need to do next."?
Coscarelli: It's really the opening of the book, and I hope the movie, that grabs you. Movies can really be effective if they have cascading sequences where one cool scene builds onto another, and if you see that in a novel, you see the possibilities. We go from that opening sequence to this basement where pieces of meat articulating itself into a monster, and prior to that a girl turning into something we won't give away, and these boys trying to escape this basement and the door turning into something we won't talk about. You have these layers of great moments built into the story, and once I read that, I was reading the rest of the book thinking, "Don't fall apart! Hang together!" I was cheerleading the book, which does go into some strange places and takes some sharp left turns.
Movies.com: Is there more material from the book that had to be left out purely for logistical reasons?
Coscarelli: Yeah, there's a wealth of material left over.
Movies.com: And David Wong has already written a sequel, right?
Coscarelli: Yeah, it was published a couple months ago and is called This Book Is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don't Touch It. He's really tapped into something. David Wong is a very clever guy. I expect to be reading great stuff from him for years to come.
Movies.com: When you're not marketing a movie solo, what is a day in the life of Don Coscarelli like?
Coscarelli: Hey, I'm a normal family guy. I've got two kids, four dogs, and a lovely wife who all occupy a lot of my time. Unfortunately John Dies at the End was a massive project and I didn't realize how ambitious it was – I mean, I was feeling it all throughout, but a couple weeks ago I was flipping through the TV and Bubba Ho-Tep was on this MGM channel. I watched about a half hour of it and realized what a simple movie it was. Really, it was. Elvis is talking to the president. Then he's talking to the nurse. Then he sees the mummy. Then he goes back to his bedroom.
John Dies at the End is just so ambitious in terms of everything it required. It was just three years of constant work. Then we had to get distribution, and that took a while. And then continuing to promote, because I've realized that with independent distributors, the resources just aren't there to force feed it to the audience. You have to be very entrepreneurial and aware of any possible promotional opportunities to get it busted out into the mainstream.
Movies.com: Is there one thing you wish people knew about John Dies at the End?
Coscarelli: Other than just basic awareness, I want people to know it has a great sense of humor about it. At the same time, it's got some really interesting moments of philosophy. Some of the visual material focuses a little more on the action and special effects and monsters and all that, but there's a lot of subtle humor in there. I'd also like it to get out that I think it holds up well to repeated viewings.
Movies.com: At this stage in your career your films are still more unique and energetic than the similar films that some of your early career peers are making these days. What hasn't changed since you've first started making films?
Coscarelli: I think in some respects I'm a bit immature, so consequently I embrace the younger generation and can appreciate, I think, what they find funny and interesting. That's part of it. The other part of it is that I've been fortunate, especially for the last two movies, of coming across wonderful material and finding a way to make it. But the business is so... listen, I've watched films of fellow filmmakers that are god-awful, but there will never be a day when I say that to them, because the thing is it's such an impossible challenge to make a movie.
Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees. When you're out there making a movie, you have a very indistinct path through a very dark woods and you're stumbling through it and hopefully you'll come out into the light. But sometimes you don't. And it's not because some folks are inferior filmmakers. It has to do with financing issues, creative inferences, problems with actors-- all kinds of issues that can destroy a film. People who finish films, you have to give them some level of credit just for doing that. But, I also understand audiences who pay $10 and sit through things that only want to make them voice their displeasure.
Movies.com: Knowing how people have embraced Phantasm and Beastmaster and Bubba Ho-Tep, and now that that portion of your career is kind of locked up, how do you balance your established base with what you want to do in the future? Do you cling to that base or do you want to spin wildly away from it?
Coscarelli: It's something I'm grappling with right now because I really don't know what I'm doing next. You can never forget that we don't work in a vacuum. If you make a movie that doesn't make any money, good luck making another one. I've approached every movie in my career like it's my last, because the reality is there is an excellent chance I could never get funding again and this is my absolute last shot at it so I'm going to work my ass off to make it the best possible film I can.
I'll tell you I have a broad array of interest in non-genre. I'd love to do a WWII film. I'd love to do a drama or a romance, or even just a straight comedy. I think my comedy is good in Bubba. Even Phantasm has a good sense of humor. But if there's a Judd Apatow-like script out there, they're not going to let me direct that. I think I could do a great one, though.
I do learn a lot from my own work. I had an opportunity recently at the Sitges festival in Spain, which ran Phantasm a few months ago. I realized that I've been making movies with too much talking in them. So I want to go back and try to make a film that's very lean and spare and tells stories much in the same way Brian De Palma did in his heyday, with just moving cameras.
Movies.com: And do you have that yet?
Coscarelli: I don't have anything planned. As you get a little older you realize you're not going to make movies forever, so I want to try to make something that's unique and different if I can find whatever that would be. How's that for a vague answer?
John Dies at the End is now on video on demand and will be in limited theaters January 25. Please check it out.
Follow along on Twitter: @PeterSHall and @Moviesdotcom.
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In the previous blog, I took an overview of the upcoming Rose Bowl parade. Here's a peek at one of the key people.
By MIKE HUGHES
For Roy Rogers Jr., this veers close to
being too much of a good thing.
During the two-hour Tournament of Roses
parade Monday, he said, he plans to sing "the same song, over and
over and over." Fortunately, he's fond of:

subset: commoncrawl


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RED DEER — Through his tenure as a coach in the National Hockey League and Western Hockey League, Brent Sutter has developed a strong reputation for defensively sound teams.
Of course, absolutely nothing has changed during the 2013 Western Hockey League playoffs where his Red Deer Rebels produced such an effort in Monday's Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinal against the Calgary Hitmen.
And as for his club's offensive side? Well, Chris Driedger has been standing in the way of that.
But with a booming slapshot 6:33 into overtime from Red Deer defender and native Calgarian Mathew Dumba (as Hitmen defenceman Spencer Humphries sat in the penalty box), the Rebels managed to avoid heading to the brink of elimination with a 2-1 overtime win at the Enmax Centrium.
"We're still up 2-1 in the series," reminded Driedger, who was Calgary's undisputed MVP facing 38 Rebels attempts in regulation and another six in overtime. "It's not the end of the world. Yeah, we lost one game, but we need four wins. We can still do that (Tuesday).
"It's obviously not a happy room. But we've just gotta work harder. That's all it is. We got out-worked for basically the last two periods and an overtime period. We're definitely not going to come to the rink (Tuesday) and do the same thing."
As Driedger pointed out, the latter half of the game was an energetic one for the hosts — especially the combination of Red Deer's top line of Rhyse Dieno, Turner Elson, and Brooks Maxwell — which threw everything they could at the Hitmen goalie.
But it was Humphries, unfortunately, who wore the goat's horns when he clipped Dieno in the face-area and was tagged for high-sticking.
Red Deer's power-play unit — riding a lowly 0-for-11 stretch this series heading into the overtime frame — picked the right time to connect and Dumba made no mistake.
The call in overtime brought back memories of controversy from Game 2 which had Sutter fuming over a hit from Red Deer's Matt Bellerive on Calgary's Pavlo Padakin in the second period. Padakin, who was replaced by rookie Chase Lang on Monday, suffered a knee injury on the play and is out for four-to-six weeks. The WHL came down on the Rebels on Monday morning and delivered Bellerive a two-game suspension following the incident.
And like any brother, Hitmen defenceman Jaynen Rissling quickly came to the defence of Humphries.
"Honestly, I don't think that was his fault," Rissling said. "The guy he high-sticked went down a couple times earlier in the game. Pretty soft. Especially just in overtime with a call like that.
"It's a hard call to make. But, again, we never should have been in that position if we were playing hard. Props to Chris for keeping us in it for that long."
Actually the Hitmen should be buying Driedger breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next few weeks after Monday's performance.
Perhaps his best work came in the third period after a Greg Chase high-sticking penalty when he spotted Dieno circling around his net, timing it perfectly to make an unreal pad-save.
Immediately after, the rebound flew out in the dangerous slot area to Brooks Maxwell who was winding up to unleash another attempt. Luckily, Rissling was right there to block the shot.
"I thought (Driedger) played fantastic for us," said Hitmen head coach Mike Williamson, whose club authored 4-2 and 2-1 wins last week to open the series at the Scotiabank Saddledome. "We were moving and skating and creating chances in the first. The second, we relied on him. They out-chanced us and I thought out-worked us. Driegs made save after save for us to stay in the game . . . unfortunately, we couldn't get one on the other end."
The guy at the opposite end of Driedger — WHL Eastern Conference goalie of the year Patrik Bartosak — deserved a pat on the back, too, with a 38-save effort.
The only goal he let by was a point-shot from Peter Kosterman when the game was just over seven minutes old.
Meanwhile, Driedger had been hung out to dry on a short-handed breakaway when Hitmen defenceman Alex Roach coughed up the puck at the blueline. Maxwell went glove-side on the freebie.
Rissling pointed out their performance in Game 3 of their first-round series against the Swift Current Broncos. That night, they lost 3-2 in OT and rebounded to win 1-0 in OT the following night.
"It's a lesson we've learned before," he said. "Having that experience is going to play a big role going into (Tuesday). With our effort from (Monday), we're all pretty anxious to get back on the ice and prove ourselves. There's going to be no easy nights. Especially in Swift, their crowd was really into it just like here in Red Deer.
"The home team always gets behind them and gives them a little boost. We have to find a way to counter-balance that."
ICE CHIPS . . . Other than their two injuries (Padakin and D Kenton Helgesen who is out with a hand injury), the Hitmen scratched rookies D Josh Thrower, D Ben Thomas, and LW Austin Calladine . . . Red Deer's scratches were G Taz Burman, D Kevin Pochuk, D Riley Boomgaarden, RW Christian Stockl, and RW Hunter Smith . . . C Adam Musil (Red Deer's sixth overall pick at last year's WHL bantam draft) drew in for LW Cody Millette (healthy scratch).
Follow on Twitter/KristenOdlandCH


text: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 CMS Issues Final Rule for 2012 Medicare HH Payment Payments to home health agencies (HHAs) are estimated to decrease by approximately 2.31% or $430 million in Calendar Year (CY) 2012, the net effect of a 1.4% payment update, the wage index update, and the case-mix coding adjustment, according to a final rule issued yesterday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that updates the home health prospective payment system (HH PPS) rates effective January 1, 2012. The Affordable Care Act applies a 1% point reduction to the CY 2012 home health market basket amount. As the CY 2012 market basket is equal to 2.4%, the payment update for HHAs in CY 2012 will be 1.4%. CMS also reduced HH PPS rates in CY 2012 to account for additional growth in aggregate case-mix that is unrelated to changes in patients' health status. CMS has finalized a 3.79% reduction to the home health PPS rates for CY 2012 and an additional 1.32% reduction for CY 2013. This rule also finalizes structural changes to the HH PPS by removing 2 hypertension codes from the case-mix system, lowering payments for high therapy episodes, and recalibrating the HH PPS case-mix weights to ensure that these changes result in the same amount of total aggregate payments. These changes are intended to increase payment accuracy and reduce the growth in aggregate case-mix that is unrelated to changes in patients' health status. Under current Medicare policy, a certifying physician or an allowed non-physician practitioner must see a patient prior to certifying a patient as eligible for the home health benefit. The rule also finalizes added flexibility to allow physicians who cared for the patient in an acute or post-acute facility to inform the certifying physician of their encounters with the patient in order to satisfy the requirement. Additionally, the rule describes planned improvements to the home health publicly reported quality measures. Look for APTA's highlights document on the rule tomorrow. This article was updated at 4:16 pm to reflect when APTA's highlights document will be available.


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A new documentary featuring Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams in The Holy Land and following the footsteps of Jesus has drawn angry reaction from bombing victims in Northern Ireland.
Adams states that the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount are the basis of what he says are "the Jesus message" of mercy and forgiveness.
"The one thing I have always liked about Jesus is his lack of condemnation and his lack of denunciation: the way he mixed with all the wrong people," Adams says. "And the way that, although he sets out rules for life, he knows we are imperfect and we are not going to do it. So he gives us another chance, and another chance and another chance."
The documentary, "The Bible; A History" being shown next week has been made by Channel 4 in Britain and was condemned by Victor Barker who lost his 12-year-old son to a dissident IRA bomb in 1988 at Omagh. "It's a big mistake and completely misguided," said Barker. "It is offering Adams a platform for doing what he does so well, of coming across on camera as a genuine, peaceful person who wants to promote peace and love."
Adams tells the program, "Sometimes I was in tune with the Jesus message and sometimes not, "in the documentary filmed in Jordan, Palestine and Israel.
"I am not a pacifist and I don't believe that non-violent protest would have got justice in Ireland, but I do know that after decades of war, we all have plenty to forgive and to be forgiven for," he says. "I don't for one second step back from my responsibility as a leader of a struggle that has caused both hurt and damage to other human beings."
Adams says he picks and chooses form the bible as best he can to find his own personal Jesus. "You might not be right to do it, but you do it. We are not perfect and we do our best. If there is no one out there, pushing for a peaceful and democratic resolution, then, as night follows day, you will get people who resort to arms" he says
In the program Adams comes face to face with Alan McBride, who lost both his wife and his father-in-law in the Shankill Road bombing of 1993. The two talk about forgiveness and the violence that killed more than 3,000 people. "I don't think it was worth one of those lives," McBride tells Adams. "I think we need to be more like Jesus and yet less religious, if that is not a contradiction."
Adams praises McBride for his conciliatory stance. "Those who can find it in themselves to do what you are, I think, are probably more true to what is the Jesus message.
Adams says he is perfectly at peace "My service to my country and to the peace process is to bring other people with me," he argues. "I believe I have made mistakes and done things wrong. Not for a second do I stand over everything I ever did, or said, and think every thing was always right."
He also says Barabas, the prisoner released by Pontius Pilate, was probably an insurrectionist or modern-day "terrorist". "From someone else's viewpoint he might well have been a freedom fighter."


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Changes related to "Preparing Collections on the S Drive for Online Delivery and Storage"
From UA Libraries Digital Services Planning and Documentation
This is a list of changes made recently to pages linked from a specified page (or to members of a specified category). Pages on your watchlist are bold.
No changes on linked pages during the given period.


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posted by Thom Holwerda on Tue 20th Oct 2009 22:10 UTC, submitted by Michael
"In late August we started asking our readers for any questions they had for NVIDIA about Linux and this graphics company's support of open-source operating systems. Twelve pages worth of questions were accumulated and we finally have the answers to a majority of them. NVIDIA's Andy Ritger, who leads the user-space side of the NVIDIA UNIX Graphics Driver team for workstation, desktop, and notebook GPUs, answered these questions. With that said, there are some great, in-depth technical answers and not the usual marketing speak found in many interviews."


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Country Folk is a simple light hearted acoustic tune evoking images of good times. It starts with acoustic guitar and later introduces happy ukulele and good time claps. It's a happy song with some wistful vocals on the chorus. It's a perfect background for any commercial or corporate / business presentation that needs an upbeat and uplifting happy feel. I've also included a version without the vocals, and two loops, one with voice and one without voice.
Files in download
- Country Folk – 1:28
- Country Folk No Vocal – 1:28 (starts at 1:28)
- Country Folk Loop – :27 (starts at 2:54)
- Country Folk Loop No Vocal – :27 (starts at 3:23)


text: Hello, I have an HP ProCurve Switch 1810-24G that crashes every Friday since 30 December. Our Switch is hosted in a Datacenter in which it has air conditioning and regulated power. Currently we use it for 3 virtualization servers running OpenVZ with about 100 virtual machines (VPS) over Internet. Events: Friday 30 Dec. 18H *CRASHED* - Firmware updated to V.2.2 Friday 6 Dec. 14H *CRASHED* - Enabled options: flow control, Storm control, Auto DoS. Friday 13 Dec. 18H *CRASHED* - ? Problem Description: All Switch ports begin to make flashing lights. To solve the problem we just have to disconnect and reconnect it. (I attach a screenshot of the network traffic until time of the crash.) Anyone have an idea of the cause of these chrash? May you recommend a reference of an good Switch that fits my needs? (to replace this one) Thanks in advance!


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Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 – 25 October 1400 / London, England)
» Click to list general statistics » OR, select a date :
Rondeau Iii
Syn I fro love escaped am so fat,
I nere thinke to ben in his prison lene;
Syn I am fre, I count hym not a bene.
read more >>
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text: Launched in 2005, Siwy offers jeans that merge traditional denim ideas with the styling of modern shapes. Each carefully sculpted silhouette highlights a woman's curves without denying what's underneath, concentrating on tailoring and incorporating details to enhance the sexy look. Signature quilted pockets lift and shape the behind and an ingenious, shortened back hem avoids dragging on the floor while maintaining a long, lean look. It's no wonder Siwy has become a fast favorite in the denim world.


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Rainfall to finally give way to sunshine
Remember that dry stretch of weather back in April and May, when you said we needed rain?
Yeah, we can't either.
More than 4 inches of rain has fallen in Buffalo so far this June. That's more than what the area usually gets in the entire month.
The Buffalo area has piled up 12.49 inches of rain in April, May and through Thursday afternoon, compared with the average of 10.29 inches for the three months.
"June by far has been the wettest," National Weather Service Meteorologist Jon Hitchcock said.
The rain caused the weather service to issue flood warnings Thursday afternoon for low-lying areas near Buffalo, Cayuga and Cazenovia creeks in and around Buffalo.
But, to quote Little Orphan Annie, the sun will come out tomorrow.
There's still a chance for a few showers this morning, then the clearing will begin in earnest this afternoon. Saturday will see sunshine with temperatures in the low to mid-70s.
That should help Western New Yorkers return to their lawns, strawberry patches and golf courses.
You know it's really raining when the golfers stay away from the course, and that was the case earlier this week.
Last Saturday, the Audubon Golf Course in Amherst was pretty busy despite the steady rain, but it has been so wet and slow this week that the course has closed early several days, including Thursday.
"It's certainly put a damper, pardon the pun, on golfing," Mary-Diana Pouli, executive director of Amherst Youth and Recreation Department, said of the persistent rain.
Golf courses are having the same problems as homeowners in trying to cut the grass.
"We are having such a hard time keeping up with the cutting," she said. "The grass is growing like wildfire."
That's what it's like in every yard in the area, and there's nothing you can do but wait for the lawn to dry out a bit, according to landscapers.
"I have never seen yards this wet on June 13. Never," said Harold Jauch, maintenance/sales manager for Greenview of Clarence. "With this much moisture, the water literally sucks the nutrients out of the soil, and the grass becomes hungry."
Still, his customers are getting anxious and want their grass mowed.
"What am I going use, an air board? You can't even get back to get it with a weed-whacker," he said, adding his crews are "dead in the water" until the grass dries out.
At Awald Farms on Gurney Avenue in North Collins, the owners of the U-Pick berry farm opened earlier than planned this week, because of an abundance of strawberries.
"Now we're hoping a lot of people come and pick them off before they get over-ripe," Millie Awald said.
She said the Awald farm planted a later blooming variety, which has not been affected by the rain, and won't be, as long as the rain doesn't continue. If it's wet too long, the berries could lose some flavor – and not as many people would come out in the wet weather to pick them.
But she said things are looking up for blueberries because of the rain.
"It's good for them right now because they're putting on size," she said.
In the Buffalo area, there's a chance of a passing shower Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, with temperatures gradually moving into the 80s early next week, Hitchcock said.
email: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Honors Student Takes on Skateboarding's Biggest Challenge
a mechanical engineering junior at Clarkson. Now, it's also the basis for her Honors thesis.
With her project, "The Physics and Engineering of Skateboarding's MegaRamp," Emily Stefano hopes to advance skateboarding by redesigning one of its biggest and most challenging competitive structures: the MegaRamp.
The MegaRamp is the world's largest skateboarding structure, used by skateboarders and BMX bikers in competitions such as the X Games. It consists of a 50- or 70-foot long "roll-in" leading to a 50- or 70-foot gap, followed by a 30-foot-tall quarter-pipe. Athletes ride down the steep roll-in platform to gain speed in order to perform tricks over the gap and on the quarter-pipe to complete a "run."
"My dad sent me a video of the MegaRamp one day when I was at school and asked if anyone had ever looked into the physics of it," explains Emily. "Unlike most other structures of this scale the MegaRamp didn't start out grounded in scientific knowledge or from a set of fully engineered plans. Instead it was designed by professional skateboarder Danny Way based on his experience and knowledge".
In its current design, performing on the MegaRamp can be risky due to the speeds the athletes must reach and forces they must endure in order to perform well. In the last few years, concerns have been raised about the ramp's safety based on the number of injuries associated with it.
Emily decided to study the physics of the ramp and to develop calculations that would result in a better engineered — and safer — design. She contacted the builder of the ramp, John Tyson of California Ramp Works, who immediately saw the potential benefit in her research. Tyson then helped Emily get in touch with MegaRamp so she could make her proposal. After working out the legalities of the situation, the MegaRamp team gave Emily the raw data she needed, including the dimensions of the ramp, which called for the signing of a nondisclosure agreement.
Emily needed a way to see and record real skateboarders' movements on the MegaRamp to accurately make her measurements in the laboratory. She was invited by MegaRamp to videotape pro skateboarders while they practiced for the X Games in California. Over a two-week period, Emily was able to get all the footage she needed.
Now back on campus, Emily is putting it all together. "I'm trying to put an equation to the ramp to figure out how it could be built differently to make it easier for the athletes to use," says Emily. First, she will build a scale model of the MegaRamp and experiment with weights in different locations to learn the effects of center of gravity on the ability of a skateboarder to land tricks on the ramp. This will help to isolate the effects of friction and air resistance in the equations.
Next, Emily will use the video footage to find the effects of other body movements of the skateboarders that cannot be mimicked with a scale model, leading to an equation that accurately models the path of a skateboarder on a ramp. Using the equation will help Emily learn the effects of changing certain dimensions of the ramp and allow her to find the best ones.
Finding these dimensions will also allow Emily to scale the ramp, which may just give pro skateboarders like MegaRamp inventor Danny Waywhat they really want: bigger ramps and a bigger challenge.
But for now, it's one step at a time for Emily, who is eager to resume her research in the lab. "I'm excited to see what I can accomplish now that I have all the pieces to the puzzle," says Emily. "I'd love to continue with similar work in the future so my job can be just as much fun!"


text:
A Philadelphia jury has acquitted a man of assault in a bar parking lot fight that cost another man his left eye.
The Philadelphia Inquirer says the Common Pleas panel on Wednesday acquitted Matthew Brunelli of aggravated assault. Prosecutors alleged Brunelli punched John Huttick in the eye with an object that may have been a key in the August 2011 fight in the parking lot of the New Princeton Tavern.
Defense attorney Eileen Hurley says her client used only his fist to punch Huttick, who was trying to intervene in a fight between Brunelli and another bar patron.
Earlier proceedings ended in a mistrial after Huttick's $3,000 prosthetic blue eye popped out as he was testifying, startling jurors.
The judge called that an "unfortunate" incident and granted the defense's mistrial motion.
Source: Legit.ng


text: Whether or not you need a protein rest depends on your malt. I've seen some very well-modified, low protein wheat malt in the same range as "typical" NA pale malts. I personally own some very undermodified, high protein wheat malt. My efficiency when using that malt is easily 10-15% lower if I don't do any low-temp (protein) rests. Running that malt through my mill at my "standard" barley setting wouldn't even crush the kernels.


text:
Skip to comments.Iranian Alert -- July 22, 2004 [EST]-- IRAN LIVE THREAD -- "Americans for Regime Change in Iran"
Posted on 07/21/2004 9:00:51 PM PDT by DoctorZIn
The US media still largley ignores news regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran. As Tony Snow of the Fox News Network has put it, this is probably the most under-reported news story of the year. Most Americans are unaware that the Islamic Republic of Iran is NOT supported by the masses of Iranians today. Modern Iranians are among the most pro-American in the Middle East.
There is a popular revolt against the Iranian regime brewing in Iran today. I began these daily threads June 10th 2003. On that date Iranians once again began taking to the streets to express their desire for a regime change. Today in Iran, most want to replace the regime with a secular democracy.
The regime is working hard to keep the news about the protest movement in Iran from being reported. Unfortunately, the regime has successfully prohibited western news reporters from covering the demonstrations. The voices of discontent within Iran are sometime murdered, more often imprisoned. Still the people continue to take to the streets to demonstrate against the regime.
In support of this revolt, Iranians in America have been broadcasting news stories by satellite into Iran. This 21st century news link has greatly encouraged these protests. The regime has been attempting to jam the signals, and locate the satellite dishes. Still the people violate the law and listen to these broadcasts. Iranians also use the Internet and the regime attempts to block their access to news against the regime. In spite of this, many Iranians inside of Iran read these posts daily to keep informed of the events in their own country.
This daily thread contains nearly all of the English news reports on Iran. It is thorough. If you follow this thread you will witness, I believe, the transformation of a nation. This daily thread provides a central place where those interested in the events in Iran can find the best news and commentary. The news stories and commentary will from time to time include material from the regime itself. But if you read the post you will discover for yourself, the real story of what is occurring in Iran and its effects on the war on terror.
I am not of Iranian heritage. I am an American committed to supporting the efforts of those in Iran seeking to replace their government with a secular democracy. I am in contact with leaders of the Iranian community here in the United States and in Iran itself.
If you read the daily posts you will gain a better understanding of the US war on terrorism, the Middle East and why we need to support a change of regime in Iran. Feel free to ask your questions and post news stories you discover in the weeks to come.
If all goes well Iran will be free soon and I am convinced become a major ally in the war on terrorism. The regime will fall. Iran will be free. It is just a matter of time.
Iran Nukes Loom
July 21, 2004
JTA Daily Briefing
Israeli intelligence believes Iran will have nuclear weapons by 2007. The projection was made by intelligence chiefs in a report Wednesday to Cabinet ministers, Israel Radio said. Recent U.S. assessments have predicted Irans atomic program will produce nuclear arms by the end of the decade.
The intelligence chiefs also warned that missiles held by Syria and Hezbollah posed a serious threat to Israel.
Iraqi Defense and Interior Ministers Accuse Iran of Terrorism against Iraq
July 21, 2004
The Middle East Media Research Institute
In an interview published in the London Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Al-Sha'lan warned Iran that Iraq is capable of responding to Iranian-supported terrorism in Iraq, within Iran itself. To read previous MEMRI dispatches on Iran's subversive actions within post-war Iraq, see MEMRI's Inquiry & Analysis, "Iran's Stirrings in Iraq," released on May 5, 2004.(1)
Al-Sharq Al-Awsat also reported about statements made by Iraq's Interior Minister Falah Hassan Al-Naqib, following his meeting with Jordanian Interior Minister Samir Al-Habashnah.
The following are excerpts from both reports:
Iraqi Defense Minister: 'The Country that Penetrates the Borders and Encroaches the Most on Iraq is Iran'
Question: "Contrary to statements by [Iraq's] prime minister and interior minister regarding quickly putting an end to the terrorist operations, these operations have recently become more serious. How do you explain this problem?"
Sha'lan: "On the contrary. Such operations have not increased. We had actually expected a stronger reaction by the terrorists to what we did to them prior to July 17, which is the anniversary of the 1968 Ba'thist coup. Seventy bombings had been planned [by the terrorists] for Baghdad alone. However, the operations by the National Guard, in cooperation with Iraqi Police, led to the capture of [two important] terrorist groups..."
Question: "What is your strategy for putting an end to terrorist operations?"
Sha'lan: "Our strategy is based on our abundant data [on terrorist threats] and we actually act according to priorities and to the gravity of each item of information, without overlooking any information that reaches us either from the intelligence apparatus or from the citizenry... There is information that came to us from citizens that led us to positive results in our hunt for terrorist cells."
Question: "What is the number of those terrorist cells in the whole of Iraq?"
Sha'lan: "It is in the hundreds, if not the thousands."
Question: "Do you receive information on these cells from the multinational force or from the intelligence services of some [foreign] countries?"
Sha'lan: "Never. We have received absolutely no information from any foreign party, or from the multinational force. We get our information, as I have stated, from our [own intelligence] apparatus, and from Iraqis with a sense of honor."
Question: "How strong is the Iraqi army today?"
Sha'lan: "At present, we have 40,000 fighting troops in the National Guard. They are not the regular army. We shall start building the regular Iraqi army as of the beginning of next month. The command echelons are already well prepared. We are also getting ready to build the other branches of the military, such as the air force, navy, and armored corps. We have prepared many of the officers of the dissolved Iraqi army for service so as to benefit from their experience. We cannot return [to service] all the officers [from Saddam's army] because the army we are building now will comprise six divisions, whereas Saddam drafted half the Iraqi people."
Question: "What about the other branches [of the military]?"
Sha'lan: "Iraq is going to have a strong, modern air force, navy, and armored corps, and they will all function according to highly advanced technology to defend Iraq. Presently, as a national guard, we have reconnaissance aircraft flying over our borders."
Question: "What problem is there with the borders of the neighboring countries?"
Sha'lan: "It is a big problem. We have set up advanced defensive border posts equipped with modern high-speed communications equipment."
Question: "Which neighboring country, in your view, presents a direct threat?"
Sha'lan: "The country that penetrates the borders the most and encroaches the most on Iraq is Iran."
'Iranian Penetration is Extensive and Unprecedented Since the Establishment of the Iraqi State'
Question: "How serious is Iranian penetration into Iraq?"
Sha'lan: "Iranian penetration is extensive and unprecedented since the establishment of the Iraqi state. The Iranians have entered the crucial junction points of the country as a whole and established many intelligence and military positions in Iraq. We have begun dealing with this matter in a way both subtle and exacting. The prime minister, the foreign minister, and I all make our voices clear against Iran's blatant intervention in Iraqi affairs, which is a dangerous precedent. They admit to having spies in Iraq, whose task is to undermine the social and political situation. The Iraqi people, however, are immune to this."
Question: "What is your view on proposals by the president of the [pro-Iranian] Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, Abd Al-'Aziz Al-Hakim, that Iraq bear the blame for the Iran-Iraq war, with the implication that Iraq pay compensation to Iran?"
Sha'lan: "I believe that the demand that Iran be compensated for the war losses is an unpatriotic proposal, because everyone knows that the Iraqis were [at that time] the prisoners of Saddam's regime... No Iraqi should propose such a thing..."
Question: "How competent is the multinational force in maintaining security operations?"
Sha'lan: "The final decision [for each operation] belongs to the Iraqi side, and comes from the prime minister. This has been agreed upon. There is one command center under the leadership of the prime minister, and its members include the multinational force and the Ministries of Defense and Interior Minister. This is the headquarters that issues orders to carry out operations and respond to emergencies."
Question: "Have you obtained important intelligence from interrogating some of the terrorists you have apprehended?"
Sha'lan: "Yes. In their confessions they pointed to important leaders inside Iraq, who were [subsequently] captured. They also confessed to funding from countries that are steeped in terrorism."
'Whatever Comes from the Neighboring Countries has First Passed through the Security Services of Those Countries'
Question: "Do they get funding from governments, or from organizations within those countries?"
Sha'lan: "They are called organizations, but they come from this given country or that given country, and we know that whatever comes from the neighboring countries has first passed through the security services of those countries."
Question: "Haven't you spoken with these countries on this matter?"
Sha'lan: "Yes, we have spoken with them, and we confronted them with the facts and the evidence, but they have not taken any measures to stop their support of the terrorists and their operations on Iraqi soil. When we reached a dead end, we started to issue statements and we said, and I reiterate it here, that we have the capability to move [the response] to assaults on Iraqi dignity and rights into those countries. We have the capability to move the assault into their countries."
Question: "Do the [Iraqi] Ba'thists play a significant part in the terrorist operations?"
Sha'lan: "Absolutely not. They started contacting us and cooperating with us particularly in the area erroneously called 'the Sunni triangle.' We have neither a Sunni nor a Shiite triangle."(2)
Iraqi Interior Minister: 'Iran Plays an Important Part, Whether Official or Popular, in the Terrorist and Sabotage Operations being Carried Out in Iraq'
"The Iraqi Interior Minister Falah Hassan Al-Naqib attacked Iran and accused it of being behind the terrorist actions to which Iraq is subjected. Following discussions yesterday with his Jordanian counterpart Samir Al-Habashna, Al-Naqib told reporters, 'It must be acknowledged that Iran plays an important part, whether official or popular, in the terrorist and sabotage operations being carried out in Iraq.' He emphasized that Iraq is now being targeted.
"Al-Naqib added, 'The sabotage and criminal operations now going on in Iraq, regardless of their political or religious garb - it is the same element that plans it, the same mind that organizes it, and it is using one and the same strategy for targeting Iraq and Iraqi unity.'
"The Iraqi minister wondered aloud who these elements could be, who aim to kill innocent children, women, and the elderly, as well as the Iraqi justice minister ... and members of the police force who enforce the law to protect public order.' He emphasized that Iraq 'understands well these conspiracies woven against it and against the Arab countries.'
"As for the fate of the former Ba'thists who are now in other Arab countries including Jordan, Al-Naqib said: 'There are former Ba'thists living in Iraq normally like other citizens, provided they were not involved in security, criminal, or other legal matters during the previous regime.' He focused on the Ba'thists' strong-arm style, as opposed to the style of the new regime, based as it is on rule of law.
"Jordanian Interior Minister Samir Al-Habashna told reporters, in the presence of his Iraqi counterpart, 'Jordan is willing to meet any Iraqi request for support and assistance in all security matters.' He added, 'Jordan has played an important role in supporting Iraq in all difficult and trying times.'
"The two ministers refused to reveal the topics they had discussed, emphasizing that these included matters of security, borders, police training, and problems Iraqi nationals face in Jordan.
"[Iraqi Prime Minister] Allawi concluded his visit to Jordan yesterday, following his meeting with Arab ambassadors in Amman, and left for Syria and then Egypt."(3)
(1) MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis No. 173, 'Iran's Stirrings in Iraq,' May 5, 2004. http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=ia&ID=IA17304
(2) Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), July 20, 2004.
(3) Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), July 20, 2004.
Iran Uses Hamas, Hizbullah in Iraq
July 21, 2004
Middle East Newsline
WASHINGTON -- Iran has been using Hamas and Hizbullah as part of plans to impose Teheran's authority in Iraq. A report by the New York-based Hudson Institute said Iran has been sponsoring and cooperating with a range of Shi'ite insurgency groups in an effort to develop a power base in Iraq.
The Shi'ites have been employed to work against U.S. interests and intimidate independent figures within the majority Shi'ite community in Iraq.
"Following the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, the Iranian clerical dictatorship has mounted a covert effort to establish an allied Shi'a Islamist extremist regime in Iraq," the report, by senior fellow Constantine Menges, said. "Iran has been preparing to do this for many years and has recruited political, military, and covert agent assets among the hundreds of thousands of Shi'a Iraqis who fled Iraq and have lived in Iran for years."
The report said Iran has tried to dominate Iraq in several ways. Menges cited Iran's use of Iraqi Shi'ite clerics, the establishment of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the cooperation with Shi'ite cleric Moqtada Sadr and the use of Hizbullah and Hamas for insurgency attacks on Iraq.
Influential US Senator renews support
SMCCDI (Information Service)
Jul 21, 2004
The following is the official reply of US Senator "John Cornyn" (R-TX) to a letter sent by Aryo B. Pirouznia, the SMCCDI Coordinator, in reference to Iran-US policies and the struggle of Iranians to reach freedom, secularity and democracy.
Close to President George W. Bush, the influential Honorable John Cornyn was the former Texas Attorney General (1999-2002). An ardent and principled supporter of freedom, he's one of the main co-sponsors of the "Iran Democracy Act" introduced by Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS). This text promotes the official US support of Iranian secularist forces against the Islamic republic regime.
It's to note that Mr. Cornyn was also the guest speaker of the commemorative ceremony of the 4th anniversary of July 9th Student Uprising, organized by SMCCDI, on July 13, 2003, in Dallas - Texas. He has since intervened at several occasion for the defense of Iranians and their repressed students and activists.
The text of his new reply and renewal of support is as follow:
"Dear Mr. Pirouznia,
Thank you for contacting me about the United States policy toward Iran. I appreciate having the benefit of your views on this matter.
After 24 years of theocratic rule and nearly 7 years of so-called reform government, it is clear that the repressive government of Iran has not changed. Last year's pro-democracy demonstrations crushed by the government saw several demonstrators killed, hundreds badly beaten, and over 4,000 arrested. These are actions of a vicious regime that fears for its survival.
A State Department report released in 2003, cites Iran as "the most active state sponsor of terrorism in 2002". It has provided funding, training, weapons, and safe haven to anti-Israeli terrorist groups, including Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command. According to the State Department, Iran is also in the process of developing a full-scale nuclear program.
On May 19, 2003, Senator Sam Brownback introduced the Iran Democracy Act (S. 1082), of which I am a co-sponsor. This legislation, which supports the right of the Iranian people to choose their own government, is just the beginning. The United States must send a clear message to Iran that we will not stand idly by while the regime abuses Iranian families and children, and we will not tolerate support for terrorism or illegal weapons programs that threaten the cause of peace and security in the Middle East.
For the sake of freedom and security in the Middle East, we must adopt a comprehensive policy toward the current regime in Iran. This policy should provide strong and unequivocal support for groups in Iran that are dedicated to freedom and human rights. It should also include increased pro-democracy broadcasting into Iran. We must undertake serious diplomatic efforts to end the flow of nuclear components to Iran and continue multilateral efforts to press Iran to allow international inspectors to have unfettered access to all locations.
I appreciate having the opportunity to represent the interests of Texans in the United States Senate, and you may be certain that I will keep your views in mind as relevant legislation is considered.
Thank you for taking the time to contact me.
John Cornyn
United States Senator
Anti-Iran sentiment hardening fast
Critics in Congress finger Iranian ties to Al Qaeda and influence in Iraq as cause for a tougher approach.
By Howard LaFranchi | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
WASHINGTON Iran's governing mullahs may feel uneasy at the prominent attention they are attracting in the US as the 9/11 investigations conclude.
But a bigger worry for them may well be the growing signs that the US Congress - even without the 9/11 reports of Iran's ties to Al Qaeda - is pressing for a tougher approach toward Tehran.
With US interests in a reformed Middle East as strong as ever - even with Saddam Hussein out of the picture - Iran is emerging as the new Satan for some forces in Washington. That is particularly true on Capitol Hill, where pro-Israel and anti-Iran hard-liners are calling for an Iran policy advocating regime change - much like what happened with Iraq in the late 1990s.
On the other side of the freshly roiling debate are promoters of engagement, including prominent figures who advocate dialogue to address the top two US concerns: state sponsorship of terrorism and nuclear-weapons proliferation. For them, the US must proceed from the reality that, especially with its hands still full in Iraq, forceful options (in particular, military intervention) are virtually nonexistent.
Even with the 9/11 reports and the prospect of various Iran-focused initiatives in Congress this fall, most experts foresee little actual movement until after the November elections. The angry rhetoric may ratchet up, they say, but even after the elections, a conflict-weary America is likely to probe the chances of dialogue.
"The question remains whether the Iranian state, given its very nature and the increasing influence of the conservatives, is able to respond to a call for dialogue," says Daniel Brumberg, an Iran expert at Georgetown University and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. "But that's still the direction things will take no matter who wins [the US presidency] in November.
"Opponents on both sides will employ their capacities to undermine it," he adds, "but our military situation, conditions in the region, and the situation in Iraq will make it necessary."
One of three members of President Bush's "axis of evil" - North Korea remains in the club while Iraq has fallen out - Iran had inched away from its evil status for two reasons. Leaders deemed "reformers" had gained prominence in Tehran, and potential for cooperation seemed to bloom in the wake of the US removal of Iran's archenemy next door in Baghdad.
But hopes for improvement withered as Iran made clear its intentions to pursue a nuclear-power program with proliferation implications. Contacts between Tehran and Washington, which had picked up as the US sought Iran's cooperation on Iraq's post-Hussein evolution, were cut off last spring when the US decided Tehran was supporting radicalized and anti-American Shiite factions in Iraq.
Now the bipartisan 9/11 commission reports that Iran allowed at least eight of the Sept. 11 hijackers to transit through its territory on their way to their assignments. While commission members say they uncovered no signs of Iranian participation in the attacks, the findings prompted Bush this week to dust off a tough rhetorical stance towards Tehran, calling it a "totalitarian society ... I have long expressed my concerns about."
Yet supporters of dialogue argue that Iran is not a totalitarian regime - and that in recent elections, the country's hard- liners garnered more support as a budding youth-led reform movement faded. With prospects for political change weakened, the logic of dialogue with those in power grows, some say.
Tehran may even be signaling a desire to talk with Washington on issues of mutual interest, some analysts say. They point to Iran's extradition last week of Saudi Al Qaeda member Khaled al-Harbi as a possible feeler.
In a report this week, a Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) task force co-chaired by former CIA director Robert Gates and former Carter national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski recommended a Nixon-to-China ap-proach to Iran.
Mr. Brzezinski notes that much of the American public and diplomatic community were skeptical of prospects for relations with China when President Nixon made his diplomatic move - yet Nixon set the stage for engagement with a global giant. "Recall that the statement of principles [the US and China initially signed on to] didn't solve any issues, but it pointed the way," he says.
And Mr. Gates notes that the presence of 140,000 US troops on Iran's western border has no doubt influenced Tehran's calculations for relations with the US.
Still, supporters of dialogue are running into growing resistance from others who say Iran's clear interference in Iraq - and its historic support of Islamic (and primarily anti-Israel) extremists - demand a tougher US policy. They point out, for example, that the US believes the Iran-backed Hezbollah supports the Jordanian Islamic extremist Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, who has been carrying out deadly acts against US forces and interests in Iraq.
"There are too many carrots here, but where are the sticks?" says Raymond Tanter, a national security official under Reagan. The US should threaten support for Iranian resistance groups including the Iraq-based Mujahideen-e-Kalq, he says.
The State Department only closed down the Mujahideen's Washington offices last year, but already it appears the issue of US support for the Iranian resistance will resurface later this summer.
The Senate is expected to take up a resolution calling for sanctions against Iran when it returns in September. But beyond that, some Senate Republicans plan to push for legislation on Iran modeled after the Iraq Liberation Act that would similarly call for regime change and financial support for resistance forces.
But the CFR task force concludes that the Tehran regime is "firmly entrenched," and joins other pro-engagement forces in recommending the very opposite - that the US should offer to press for the Mujahideen's full disbanding as a "carrot" to draw Tehran into dialogue.
Saying there are few signs of support among Iranians for the Mujahideen, Gates says, "It would be a tad awkward for us to support a group the State Department includes on the list of terrorist organizations."
Iran MPs mull controls on satellite TV, Internet
3:54 a.m. July 21, 2004
TEHRAN Iran's conservative-dominated parliament plans to draft new legislation controlling access to satellite television and the Internet, the official IRNA news agency reported late on Tuesday.
The Islamic state has been seeking ways to control Iranians' access to external influences via satellite TV and the World Wide Web for years.
Satellite dishes and receivers are officially prohibited, although enforcement is sporadic and an estimated 3 million homes receive satellite TV.
Fatemeh Rahbar, head of the media section of parliament's Cultural Committee, told IRNA: "Iranian society is using the Internet and satellite dishes. Therefore, the only solution now is organising (their use)."
Rahbar gave no details on how parliament planned to do this.
Iranian authorities are particularly concerned about the "corrupting" influence of Western music and film channels and about a number of California-based channels run by Iranian exiles, which they accuse of stirring up unrest against the country's clerical leaders.
The government has promoted Internet use and some 5 million Iranians now log on regularly, officials say. But Internet service providers are required to block access to sites containing pornographic material or anti-regime content.
Iran's hardline Guardian Council legislative watchdog last year rejected a bill that would have eased the widely flouted ban on satellite TV by allowing certain channels to be viewed using officially approved receivers.
Italy calls for expansion of ties with mullahs of Iran
Jul 21, 2004, 09:26
The Italian Deputy Foreign Minister said that Italy is willing to expand Tehran-Rome cooperation.
Mantika spoke of the difficult situation in Iraq and hoped that with the transitional government taking office in Iraq, the problems would gradually be removed.
He appreciated Iran's stance on Iraq and said that Iranian position is based on wisdom and logic.
Mantika drew Kharrazi's attention to the resolution of the European Union on Iran-EU interaction and called for mutual understanding.
Halliburton-Mullahs of Iran ties under scrutiny
Jul 21, 2004, 09:13
Halliburton, the oilfield services company formerly headed by US Vice-President Dick Cheney, has disclosed that a Treasury Department probe into its business dealings with Iran had been elevated to a criminal investigation.
The company acknowledged that it had been subpoenaed by a grand jury in the southern district of Texas to present documents related to a Cayman Islands subsidiary that serves the Iranian National Oil Company.
Halliburton said it would co-operate with the investigation, and that it believed it had complied with US trade restrictions against Iran. The subpoena has emerged at a time when Iran has come under fresh scrutiny in Washington for its possible links to al-Qaeda.
Marines detained in Iran faced mock execution
Thu 22 July, 2004 03:01
LONDON (Reuters) - Iranian soldiers who detained eight British naval troops last month on the Iran-Iraq border subjected them to a mock execution, The Sun reports.
The six Royal Marines and two sailors were seized on the Shatt al-Arab waterway by Iran's Revolutionary Guard on June 21, sparking tense discussions between the two governments.
Royal Marine Dave Reid, 24, told The Sun that Iranian guards had forced their blindfolded captives into a ditch during a transfer between prisons.
"We had been taken into a small ditch which we thought was our shallow grave," he said.
"There was just ten seconds of silence, ten seconds of hell, as we waited for the bullet," he added. "And there is no doubt at all that that is what the Iranians wanted us to think."
The troops were released after three days when British officials had convinced Iran the troops had strayed into Iranian waters accidentally and without ill intent.
The following is an editorial reflecting the views of the United States Government:
In Iran, no demonstrations marked the fifth anniversary of the historic Tehran University pro-democracy protests. Why? The government sent a message to students and anybody else advocating free speech in Iran: anyone who tried to commemorate the anniversary this year would be detained, punished -- or worse.
On July 9th, 1999, more than twenty-five thousand people throughout Iran participated in a student-led protest sparked by a police and vigilante raid on a small, peaceful campus demonstration the previous day. The nationwide protest was the largest political demonstration in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The Iranian government responded with a major crackdown on dissent. And all of the protesters demands were ignored, says exiled Iranian human rights activist Ladan Boroumand:
The demands are freedom of all political prisoners, the abolition of special courts, the right to due process, the freedom of the press, the abolition of discrimination against women, adherence to the international convention against torture. Basically, none of these reforms have been implemented, and thats why the pro-democracy movement reached the conclusion that this regime is unable to reform from within."
President George W. Bush says that if Irans clerical rulers do not heed the democratic demands of the Iranian people, the regime will lose its claim to legitimacy:
Iranians, like all people, have a right to choose their own government and determine their own destiny, and the United States supports their aspirations to live in freedom.
Across the Middle East, people are demanding that authoritarian rule give way to democracy and respect for human rights. We continue to stand with the people of Iran, said President Bush, and we call on the government of Iran to respect the will of its people and be accountable to them.
David Warren: Iran
The Ottawa Citizen ^ | July 21, 2004 | David Warren
Posted on 07/21/2004 8:46:49 AM PDT by quidnunc
Iran Exposed
July 22, 2004
EURSOC Two
The truth about Iran's capture and mistreatment of British servicemen is only beginning to emerge. British officials have hushed up reports that the men were forced into Iran's waters, rather than straying into its territory.
Despite disturbing images of the men paraded blindfold on Arab/Iranian propaganda channels - which would have caused outrage in Britain's media, had they been captured terrorists displayed by allied forces - the UK press has been fairly timid about the incident.
Now The Sun reveals that the eight men were subject to treatment that would normally have Britain's human rights industry in hysterics. According to one of the marines, they were forced ashore by heavily armed Revolutionary Guards who confronted them in unmarked boats. During their interrogation, they were humiliated, threatened with trial for espionage - or whatever passes for a trial in Iran - and subject to a horrifying mock execution.
These reports come as more evidence emerges regarding Iran's continuing support of terror: Newsweek reports that at least ten of the 9/11 mass murderers had used Iran as a "safe stop-off" on their way to Afghanistan. The leading conspirator behind the terror attacks, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, paid a particularly suspicious visit to Iran just eight months before September 11th.
Most sensible commentators agree that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon - one of its leading clerics hopes to use such a device against Israel, despite the millions of deaths this would cause in his own country, should Israel retaliate.
The European strategy for dealing with Iran is based on consultation, gentle persuasion and downright bribery - confrontation is thought to be the worst possible solution. Analysts agree that Iran's citizens are not bloodthirsty fanatics, unlike their religious leaders - an invasion or attack on Iran would surely risk harming many potential allies.
Nevertheless Iran is becoming a terrorist state - much more dangerous, and much more urgent a threat than Iraq appears to have been. Dealing with this nation and the aims of some of its leadership promises to be the crucial test of western policy in the next decade.
Iran Warns EU Against Double Standards Over Nuclear Issue
July 22, 2004
Yahoo News
TEHRAN -- Iran warned the European Union to refrain from using "double standards" in its dealings with the Islamic republic over its nuclear activities, the official news agency IRNA reported.
Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi accused the EU of failing to live up to undertakings in a landmark deal with Iran in October which saw Tehran agree to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency.
But Iran has accused the Europeans of damaging the deal by sponsoring a critical resolution adopted last month by the IAEA, which deplored a lack of cooperation by Tehran.
"If the EU is interested in extensive relations with the Islamic republic of Iran as a key player in the establishment of peace and security in the region, it should refrain from double standards and stand firmly committed to its undertakings," Kharazi said after holding talks in Cairo with EU foreign policy envoy Javier Solana.
"We made it clear that the EU did not respect its undertakings consistent with the Tehran Declaration signed on October 21, 2003 or it has adopted double standard toward its commitment," he said without elaborating.
However, Kharazi added: "Despite the ups and downs in Iran-EU relations, the two sides are keen on developing mutual ties."
The clerical regime in Tehran is accused by the United States of using an atomic energy programme as a cover for top secret weapons development, a charge Iran denies.
Under the October deal with Europe's "Big Three" of Britain, France and Germany, Iran agreed to suspend sensitive uranium enrichment, allow tougher inspections and file a comprehensive declaration of its nuclear activities.
But since then, IAEA experts have discovering omissions in Iran's reporting, inspection visits have been delayed and the regime has backing away from a pledge to suspend all enrichment-related activities.
Iran's top national security body has said that the next round of talks with Britain, France and Germany on the nuclear issue would resume later this month.
Appeasement: Now, More Than Ever
July 22, 2004
Reza Bayegan
Just as news was breaking that Iran had sheltered more than half of the hijackers in the 9/11 plot, a group of liberal foreign policy hacks were calling for the liberalization of relations between Iran and the United States. Iran has stayed in the spotlight because of the revelations that Iran sponsors terror within Iraq. How could American scholars have misread the situation so badly?
According to a news item released by Time and Newsweek, the anticipated report of the 9/11 Commission contains strong new evidence on the ties between al-Qaeda and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The findings of this Commission indicate that the regime in Tehran had more to do with helping Osama bin Laden than Saddam Hussein did. In its July 16 issue, Time reports:
These findings follow a commission staff report, released in June, which suggested that al-Qaeda may have collaborated with Hezbollah and its Iranian sponsors in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers, a key American military barracks in Saudi Arabia. Previously, the attack had been attributed only to Hezbollah, with Iranian support. A U.S. indictment of Bin Laden filed in 1998 for the bombing of U.S. embassies in Africa said Al-Qaeda forged alliances...with the government of Iran and its associated terrorist group Hezbollah for the purpose of working together against their perceived common enemies in the West, particularly the United States.
The Commission also concluded that 8-10 of the 14 hijackers involved in attacking the Twin Towers in New York passed through Iran in a period from October 2000 to February 2001. Anti-terrorism experts assert that dating back to October 2000, the Islamic Republic has "had a history of allowing al-Qaeda members to enter and exit across the Afghan border with Iranian authorities issuing specific instructions to their border guards to facilitate their travel and offer them cooperation. This comes as no surprise: For the past quarter of a century, Iranian territory has been a welcome destination for political assassins and a colloquium for international masterminds of violence and terror. (Naturally, he officials of the Islamic Republic of course deny any connection with al-Qaeda, as they also deny helping the insurgency in Iraq and any plan to acquire nuclear weapons.)
All this activity rests against a long history of anti-American terrorist advocacy. From the massacre of the U.S. Marines in their barracks in Beirut in 1983, to the attack against the USS Cole in 2000, the Islamic Republic of Iran stands unrivaled in its claim to the worlds premier sponsor of terrorism. The embassies of the Islamic Republic around the globe are cells for financing and training Islamic fanatics. Those pupils who display promising talents for brutality and blind obedience are awarded with educational opportunities, in camps operated by the Revolutionary Guards.
Members of the so-called reformist cabinet of the lame-duck President Khatami hold news conferences pontificating on what policies the government of the Islamic Republic should pursue underlining the fact that they have nothing to do with the running of the country. Vice president Mohammad Abtahi told Gareth Smyth of The Financial Times (on July 19, 2004) that Iran should continue a policy of detente and keep away from things that can become a big political crisis. Mr. Abtahi's favorite expression is, I cannot explain the action of the Iranian government. He uses this line most recently when asked about last month's detention of British sailors by the Revolutionary Guards.
Despite this well-known history, the Council on Foreign Relations Taskforce, chaired by President Carter's failed National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski submitted its report on July 19, exploring the possibility of warmed relations between Iran and the United States. The report released by this Taskforce on July 19 advocates establishing commercial ties and engaging in a dialogue with the regime in Tehran. Disinterring the disastrous policies of appeasement practiced by Jimmy Carter's administration toward the Islamic Republic, Zbigniew Brzezinski, and his Council on Foreign Relations Taskforce are reinforcing the powerful mullahs within the United States itself.
History appears to have thrown cold water on their appeasenik plans. However, if it comes to pass that the recommendation of this Taskforce is put into practice, Americans should prepare themselves for a variation on the same theme of horror and humiliation that kept them breathless during the final 444 days of the Carter presidency. Since that crisis, the terrorists have developed far ghastlier methods than they once employed in Tehran. Unfortunately, officials of the Carter administration (including President Carter himself) still seem to have learned nothing from the course of national shame and defeat they steered for the United States of America.
To succumb to the fear of terrorist reprisal or temptation of striking lucrative financial deals with the dictators in Tehran is to rob our world of a free and secure future. Should there be a dialogue with Iranians-at-large? Definitely. But not with the authorities of the Islamic Republic. The mullahs are incapable of understanding the basic values of democracy and civilization. Sitting with them at a negotiating table can only provide them with the recognition they covet a recognition they certainly do not deserve.
Bush Tries Diplomacy To Tackle Iran Nukes
Forward Magazine - By Marc Perelman
Jul 23, 2004
The Bush administration is working with European governments on a plan to kick the question of Iran's nuclear ambitions to the United Nations Security Council as a part of a broader examination of nuclear proliferation.
The strategy combining gradualism, multilateralism and a reliance on the United Nations contrasts sharply with the approach the administration took a year ago toward Iran's neighbor, Iraq. Facing what it then described as a regime that had links to the September 11 terrorist attacks and was committed to developing non-conventional weapons, the administration overrode European appeals for patience and bypassed the United Nations.
The decision to rely heavily now on the United Nations and European nations including France and Germany comes as Iran's alleged terror links are under increasing scrutiny, and is sure to fuel the anger of White House allies upset over what they see as the administration's failure to confront Tehran. Many foreign policy hawks are criticizing the White House for failing to push aggressively for regime change and are accusing the administration of lacking a coherent Iran policy.
It is a "major problem," said Danielle Pletka, the vice president of the American Enterprise Institute, a hawkish think tank associated with many of the neoconservative analysts who pushed for the Iraq war.
Further complicating the administration's task, several hawkish measures are working their way through the GOP-controlled Congress that would require more direct confrontation with Iran, up to and including regime change.
At the other end of the spectrum, key allies are pressing the administration for greater engagement with the existing regime. A report released Monday by a bipartisan task force of the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations recommended that since the "solidly entrenched" government in Iran provides the only "authoritative" interlocutors, Washington should "deal with the current regime rather than wait for it to fall."
The new information surfacing on links between Iran and Al Qaeda has sharpened doubts about the administration's emphasis on ties between the terror network and Iraq.
As first reported by Time magazine in its online edition last weekend, the report due this week from the September 11 commission was expected to state that Iran allowed as many as 10 of the 19 hijackers involved in the September 11 attacks to pass through its territory between October 2000 and February 2001. Iranian officials reportedly ordered border guards not to stamp the terrorists' passports, thus facilitating their entry into the United States.
Iranian officials have acknowledged the possibility but blamed it on sloppy border controls. Both the American and the Iranian government say that no evidence exists to suggest that Tehran was involved in the Al Qaeda plot.
Nonetheless, President Bush told reporters Monday that the administration would continue to look into the issue.
The September 11 Commission report was expected to outline other Iranian connections to terrorism as well, including a claim that Iranian officials approached Al Qaeda after the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in Yemen in 2000 to collaborate on future attacks against the United States. The overture was reportedly rejected by Osama bin Laden.
Such disclosures are expected to increase the calls in some corners for a more hawkish White House policy on Iran.
In a sign of potential trouble for the administration, a Cold War-era coalition, The Committee on the Present Danger, reformulated itself this week and launched a new campaign to press for a more aggressive fight against "terror inspired by radical Islamists." The committee, a coalition of prominent hawks such as Norman Podhoretz, Jeane Kirkpatrick and Jack Kemp, has two senators serving as its honorary co-chairmen, Democrat Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Republican Jon Kyl of Arizona.
So far, the committee is steering clear of direct attacks against the Bush administration, but its full-page advertisement Wednesday in the New York Times offered several arguments that have been employed by hawks to suggest that the White House is not doing enough to fight against radical Islam and Arab terrorism.
Pletka told the Forward that she advocates a proactive policy that would have the American government employ a mix of public diplomacy and moral and financial support to encourage Iranian citizens to change their government, in the same way that the United States aided Eastern Europeans in their fight against Soviet rule.
The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a resolution in May calling for punitive action against Iran if it does not fully reveal details of its nuclear arms program and authorizing the use of "all appropriate means" to deter, dissuade and prevent Iran from acquiring such weaponry. The Senate is expected to adopt a similar resolution when Congress reconvenes in September.
In addition, Senator Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican, plans to introduce a bill in the fall that will call for the administration to adopt a policy of regime change in Iran. The stated goal would be to help the "transition into democracy" by funding human rights and advocacy groups, according to a source familiar with the bill. The bill is expected to request between $20 and $50 million for helping nongovernmental organizations, think tanks and Web sites instead of opposition parties, the source said. Calls to Brownback's office were not returned.
For now, the Bush administration appears to be staking out a dramatically more patient approach than its allies advocate, opting to explore with European countries the possibility of bringing the issue of Iran's nuclear program to the United Nations in the coming months. The idea would be to address the issue through a more general discussion of the fight against nuclear proliferation, sources said.
The administration's goal would be to have the Security Council call for a tighter enforcement of the rules governing the Non-Proliferation Treaty, without specifically referring to Tehran's ambitions. A U.S. official said the administration was considering this option, adding that discussions were still at an early stage.
During the past year, the International Atomic Energy Agency has issued several critical reports on Iran's nuclear activities, but has refrained from referring the issue to the Security Council. While Iran has repeatedly said it was pursuing a nuclear program exclusively for civilian use, the United States and influential European countries have expressed serious doubts about Tehran's intentions.
In October 2003, France, Great Britain and Germany reached an agreement with Tehran under which Iran would suspend its uranium enrichment activities and allow unfettered inspections of the atomic energy agency in exchange for technological aid.
Both President Bush and the atomic energy agency's director general, Mohamed ElBaradei, have proposed a crackdown on international trade in nuclear materials. France began pushing in late June for a sharper focus on Iran and other immediate threats, floating an informal proposal just before the G8 summit of industrial nations that advocated a tighter enforcement of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, according to a source close to the issue.
Meanwhile, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has issued a report endorsing the idea of granting more robust powers to the Security Council for enforcing the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Patrick Clawson, vice president of the Washington Institute on Near East Policy and a hawk on Iran, said he could envision the Security Council passing a resolution that would send a clear message to Tehran by holding out the implied threat of sanctions. Clawson said it made perfect sense for the administration to play a supporting role to the Europeans rather than take the lead on the issue, given American-Iranian tensions and the limited prospects for quick changes in Iran.
"The Europeans are very involved, and we are in broad agreement with them on the main issues," he said. "So the U.S. has a policy, and it is a wise one."
This just in from a student inside of Iran...
Tonight, streets of Tehran are full of Anti riot police forces. Lots of Police on patrol, and I dont have any idea why it is like that.
I will let u know if any thing happens."
Now that's interesting. Something must be going down.....but what?
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Sound can be an effective method to communicate with users. For example, users are more likely to notice a notification if you add a sound effect to it, especially if they are not looking at their BlackBerry device when they receive the notification.
Users can use sound profiles to specify whether their BlackBerry device uses sound to notify them of events such as calendar reminders or incoming calls. Users can change the sound profiles that are preloaded on their BlackBerry device, or they can create new ones. Users can also use sound profiles to change their ring tone or adjust the volume for notification.
In your application, you can use sound for
- notification (for example, using sound to notify users when new messages arrive)
- feedback (for example, as users adjust the volume of a ring tone, the BlackBerry device plays the ring tone at the selected volume to demonstrate the volume level)
- branding (for example, playing a branded sound as your application starts)
- entertainment (for example, using sound in a game to entertain users and enhance their experience)
Best practice: Implementing sound
- Use sound judiciously. Sound demands attention and is hard to ignore. When in doubt, do not use sound.
- Consider your users before adding sound to your application. If you add sound, choose a volume, duration, and frequency that is appropriate for your users.
- Allow users to control sound using their sound profiles.
- Use sounds that are the same volume as other sounds on the BlackBerry device.
- Create notification tones that are audible from a distance. Notification tones should attract users' attention, even when they are not using their BlackBerry device.
- Use low frequency sounds and avoid piercing sounds.
- Avoid using distracting sounds such as frequent, loud, or jarring sounds. Distracting sound should only be used to inform users of useful notifications and feedback.
- Avoid using sound as the only form of communication. Users might not hear a sound because of a hearing impairment, loss of hearing, or a noisy environment. Use sound with other notification methods such as vibration or a flashing LED indicator.
- Avoid using sound that requires localization. Sounds can have different meanings in different cultures. If possible, avoid sounds that are culturally specific.
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The crash in gold prices has "frozen" the market for the commodity and investors should beware of certain companies, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Tuesday.
"Agnico Eagle, Goldcorp, Barrick Gold are all victims of higher finding costs, less gold coming out, and the end market not being that good," Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street."
"I also want to warn people that you've got to be careful even of these gold royalty trusts because if you're a gold miner, you're not going to start a new mine right now. So, the gold market is being frozen."
(Related: Here's Why Gold Got Crushed Monday)
"Caterpillar is uniquely involved in mining and that's moving up, I don't trust that. I don't trust it ahead of the quarter," he said. He also pointed to Freeport McMoRan, which is largely exposed to gold, oil and copper.
"The ETFs were driving gold, and that's the tail. I didn't like that," he said, pointing to margin calls driving forced selling on Monday. Usually, he said, this type of movement would be more typical in small cap stocks. "It's that frantic, and that was GLD, that traded like a small cap."
(Related: In a Few Weeks, Gold Will Be at $1,260: Chartist)
Cramer also pointed to a note from Goldman Sachs on Monday that suggested base metals were closer to a bottom than oil. Some in the market have looked to natural gas as a temporary haven, which Cramer said is a poor idea: "If it gets warm for a couple of days, that won't be much of a safe haven."
"Gold is owned and bought by different kinds of investors. They like to buy high, they like the momentum. When the momentum reverses, they don't like to be in it," he said. Echoing what he said on Monday night's "Mad Money," Cramer said that gold coins are "a good place to be."
(Read More: Cramer: Does Gold Still Belong in Your Portfolio?)
"What's amazing are the rumors," he said.
(Related story: CNBC Explains: Bitcoin)


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Watch The ::God Is Imaginary Videos On YouTube ::
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Seriously, you guys are the meanest people I have ever met. I hope you are happy and feel really good about yourself.
...................earlier today I had two friends over. A regular one, and an Indian one.
I vote that she is acting, though I suspect that Indian girl was the unsuspecting brunt of a joke.
Quote from: jynnan tonnix on August 07, 2009, 09:20:45 PMI vote that she is acting, though I suspect that Indian girl was the unsuspecting brunt of a joke.This was my suspicion too. Poe-haps'Trouble is that it's not completely OTT - no pythonesque surrealism to give it away and it's no dumber than some of the straight (I'm assuming a lot) chatter seen on this board so the jury's still out.If it IS genuine, then it's terrifying.If it's a spoof, it's quite well observed and the acting is remarkable, even by teenage girl standards.Either way it's scary as hell.
Then she is so ignorant that she doesn't even know about india. She says it's an african country in asia.
India is "like an African country in Asia." I never knew.
At least two thirds of our miseries spring from human stupidity, human malice and those great motivators and justifiers of malice and stupidity, idealism, dogmatism and proselytizing zeal on behalf of religious or political idols.
If she is intended to be a "funny person" I'd suggest she find a different way to convey her messages about religion or else people will continue to think she is serious...I've sent her a message on youtube in hopes of receiving a response so we can put this to bed.
I sucked it up after all of the people calling parody on it, and watched the rest.


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Workforce Development
ORNL has partnered with Tech 20/20, Pellissippi State Community College and the University of Tennessee – Center for Industrial Service to establish the Advanced Manufacturing Prototype Center of East Tennessee (AMP!). These programs support the robust supply of talented individuals available to companies interested in investing in advanced manufacturing activities, providing a synergy between building a regional labor market and sustaining innovation capacity. AMP! will help ensure that the region has an adequate supply of talent to support the manufacturing industry as it grows in the region.
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South Park shocked as football star is charged in cabbie's killing
Maurice R. Howie was the star quarterback last fall for South Park High School.
Now he is a murder suspect in the brutal killing last month of a popular cab driver.
Police say he was one of two young men who shot and killed Mazen Abdallah while robbing him.
The 55-year-old cabbie had just begun his day at about 5:40 a.m. March 6 picking up the suspects at the Commodore Perry housing projects.
Coaches, friends and teachers at South Park were devastated by the accusation Wednesday after the arrest was announced.
It seemed impossible to believe the 11th grader, who studied to keep his grades up so that he could play football, could be responsible for taking part in the killing.
"It's like this is happening to your own kid. The school is stunned and there are many tears. Everyone is walking around in a daze," said Al Thomas, a former football coach at Grover Cleveland High School who now works part-time for South Park, recalled how his team years ago competed against South Park when they were quarterbacked by Howie's father, also a formidable athlete.
The 17-year-old Howie has been the Sparks' starting quarterback for the past three years and is the school record holder in every quarterback category.
Shock at the school was also accompanied by condolences to Abdallah's family. School officials say that while they are saddened one of their students is charged, they want it known that they do not condone violence and have nothing but compassion for the dead cab driver's loved ones.
Howie is the second star athlete to be charged in a Buffalo robbery that ended in homicide this year. Justice Feegans, an 18-year-old Riverside High School basketball player, was arrested in January for the home invasion and beating of 96-year-old Levi Clayton, who died April 10 from the blunt force trauma he suffered last November when four young men broke into his home.
In charging Howie with second-degree murder Wednesday, homicide detectives say he and his accomplice called for a cab and intended from the start to rob whoever arrived to give them a ride.
Abdallah picked them up and on the way to a Bailey-Kensington address, the robbers shot the West Side resident in the head and took his cash, detectives said. They then placed him in the back seat of the cab and drove it to Norfolk Avenue, where they parked the 2006 Lincoln Town Car and fled.
When Abdallah failed to answer the two-way radio in his vehicle, his fellow cab drivers at Airport Taxi raced to Bailey Kensington to search for him and found the cab, not far from the intersection of Kensington Avenue.
On Wednesday at South Park High School, tears shed for Howie were tempered by concern for Abdallah's family.
South Park football coach Tim Delaney took a special interest in working with Howie, seeing him practically every day since the later part of eighth grade.
"The South Park football program would like to send its condolences to the victim's family. We are shocked and devastated that one of our players is involved in this tragic incident," said Delaney, an English teacher at South Park for the past 11 years and head football coach the past five seasons.
Thomas said he frequently offers a warning of how one bad decision can ruin a young person's life.
"I always say, you make one bad decision in your young life and you're done."
That's similar to what Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda said as described the killing.
"These kids take a life and they don't realize it but their life is over too. They go to prison for life," Derenda said.
In what must have seemed like a million miles from the glory of the football field, Maurice Howie Sr. accompanied his son to the Homicide Bureau at Buffalo Police Headquarters Monday after being informed that the teenager was wanted for questioning in the killing.
By that time, a case had already been built by Detective Sgt. James P. Lonergan and Detectives Michael A. Mordino, Richard R. Wagstaff and Salvatore A. Valvo.
Mayor Byron W. Brown, at a news conference Wednesday morning in Bailey Kensington, said the detectives had collected surveillance video from several cameras and received a number of tips from the public that assisted in the investigation of the March 6 slaying.
"It was a chilling crime. Mr. Abdallah was just doing his job," Brown said.
A second arrest is "imminent," according to Detective Chief Dennis J. Richards.
But for now, police are not saying who pulled the trigger or releasing additional details about the crime, though they say more will be revealed once the second suspect is charged.
Relatives of Abdallah say they are glad police have solved the homicide, but indicated it is bittersweet since it will not bring back their loved one.
"Thank God they got him...maybe this will spare another family," said a relative, who explained that the family does not wish to comment further.
Abdallah's coworkers recalled Wednesday that he was so popular people would often request him by name to drive them.
"He was just a dear soul who we worked with for a number of years, just a kind guy," said cab dispatcher Mike Foremiak. "We were very happy today to hear there was some resolution."
But the news left members of Howie's family devastated, according to a friend who stood watch outside the teenager's South Buffalo home Wednesday afternoon.
"I can tell you Maurice is a great kid and everyone is devastated. Today is his mother's birthday," the friend said.
A felony hearing for Howie is set for 2 p.m. Friday in front of Buffalo City Court Judge Joseph A. Fiorella. The teen is being represented by defense attorney Michael L. D'Amico.
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