text:
Flash Mx
Elite Components, text effect plugins used directly in .fla files (Macromedia Flash MX / Flash MX Professional 2004 / Flash 8). Elite Components contain over over 75 predefined text effect variations.
• Elite Components can be used by users of any skill-level, offering use from basic drag&drop...
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Windows CE
|License: Commercial
|Cost: $49.00 USD
|Size: 293.63 KB
|Download (253): Elite Components, Flash Text Effects Download
Many people use the Macromedia Flash MX V.2 Components to create user interfaces for their flash applications. Since Open Source UI frameworks (like ActionStep) aren't released yet, Flash Developers have no worthy alternative in choosing the most comfortable and functional UI library with...
Platforms: Windows, Flash,
|License: Freeware
|Download (29): MX v.2 Components Patch Download
Snosh lets you convert your video, audio and images into Flash 8 (SWF/FLV), Flash MX (SWF/FLV), Flash Vector (SWF), HTML, MP3, WAV and Windows Projector Executables. With as simple as a few clicks, Snosh offers a simple and clean solution to convert video/audio/images files into Flash to play on...
Platforms: Windows, Windows 7, Windows Server, Other
|License: Shareware
|Cost: $54.95 USD
|Size: 22.74 MB
|Download (318): Snosh Download
Thunder is an application framework for Flash MX that offers a flexible model for large-scale application development. Classes are included for all key development aspects: asset management, layout management, data management and event management. The purpose of the framework is to standardize...
Platforms: Windows, Mac, *nix, Flash, BSD Solaris
|License: Freeware
|Download (27): Thunder Framework Download
LipSync MX, a ground-breaking and easy-to-use software for post synchronization gives a voice to Flash animation. From now on, every Flash MX designer can create realistic lip-sync in a snap. Simply with an audio file in most language, LipSync MX powerful algorithms will automatically produce...
Platforms: Windows
|License: Shareware
|Cost: $99.00 USD
|Size: 9.44 MB
|Download (173): LipSync MX Download
This useful gig is a Macromedia Flash MX 2004 UI Component developed and packed as Extension by someFrogs.com. You can build and publish your own sliding puzzles easy if you are a litle familiar to Macromedia Flash. SlidingPuzzle component can render any external image (jpeg, swf and formats...
Platforms: Windows, Mac
|License: Shareware
|Cost: $32.00 USD
|Size: 698 KB
|Download (138): Sliding Puzzle Component for Flash Download
Drag-and-drop text effect plugins for use directly in .fla files ( Flash MX/Pro 2004/8). Containing over 400 predefined effect variations from 70+ templates ... For users of any skill-level. PJ offers advanced customization, different start-directions, alignment, automatic positioning, dynamic...
Platforms: Windows
|License: Commercial
|Cost: $49.00 USD
|Size: 3.42 MB
|Download (122): PJ Components, Flash Text Effects Download
FlippingBook page flip flash component is intended for page flipping and supports Flash MX and Flash MX 2004 authoring tools. You may get the component ready to work in just a few seconds right from the development environment. The component supports pages containing Library Symbols, external...
Platforms: Windows, *nix
|License: Commercial
|Cost: $25.00 USD
|Size: 170 KB
|Download (366): Flash page flip component Download
Power Pack Components, text effect plugins used directly in .fla files (Macromedia Flash MX / Flash MX Professional 2004 / Flash 8). Power Pack Components contain over 700 predefined text effect variations. Power Pack Components can be used by users of any skill-level, offering use from basic...
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Windows CE
|License: Commercial
|Cost: $79.00 USD
|Size: 1.28 KB
|Download (90): Power Components, Flash Text Effects Download
PHPObject provides an alternative to Flash Remoting for PHP developers. PHPObject is an open source alternative to Flash Remoting for PHP developers. With PHPObject, users can call a method of a PHP class/library on a Web server as if the class/library was defined in Flash itself. It takes...
Platforms: *nix
|License: Freeware
|Size: 112.64 KB
|Download (71): PHPObject Download
Falling snow effect for Flash MX 2004 and Flash8 is a physical model of the winter falling snow. We used mathematical algorithms to program the model of real snowfall, cute snwoflakes, and put everything into a custom Macromedia extension/component. Falling Snow Flash Actionscript extension is...
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux
|License: Commercial
|Cost: $18.99 USD
|Size: 7.78 MB
|Download (47): Snow Effect in Flash Download
Easy Slide Show flash component is intended for simply designing slide show and supports flash mx and flash mx 2004 authoring tools. Easy Slide Show flash component allows you to add nice looking animated slide shows to your website in no time. www.flashslideshow.net
Platforms: Windows
|License: Commercial
|Cost: $17.00 USD
|Size: 362 KB
|Download (58): Easy Slide Show flash component Download
Power Pack, the "PJ" and "Supreme4" collections of Flash Text Effects. Until recently only as Wildform SWFX/WildFX plugins, they are now available as Macromedia Flash MX (MX / 2004 / 2004 professional) Component collections.
Great new features are customizability and unrestricted editing....
Platforms: Windows, Mac
|License: Commercial
|Cost: $74.00 USD
|Size: 4.43 MB
|Download (84): Power Pack, Flash MX Text Effects Download
- Very Easy to customize - XML driven all contents - Flash MX 2004 & Flash 8 FLA versions included. - mcTween is included - All content within the "site" movieclip is always centered on the stage - When resized the content slides to center with a nice eas
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Unix, Linux
|License: Shareware
|Cost: $6.00 USD
|Size: 488 KB
|Download (27): Mini Accordion Site Download
Ninja Playland is a RPG built using Flash MX, MySQL, PHP4. The basic concept of the game will put the player in the role of a Ninja of different classes.
Platforms: PHP
|License: Freeware
|Size: 92.16 KB
|Download (32): Ninja Playland Download
Pixel Menu XML if a flash menu made with Macromedia Flash MX, this menu is very easy to use and it can be configured with a simple text editor, all you have to do is edit few text lines in the XML file, by this you can change menu color, URL to open for each button, menu width and other options....
Platforms: Windows
|License: Freeware
|Size: 10 KB
|Download (111): Pixel Menu XML Download
Avral Tramigo is a friendly localization solution for Macromedia Flash MX professionals and translators. It allows you to translate Flash MX SWF into foreign languages in three simple steps:
Extraction: Using Tramigo, you extract translatable text from a Flash MX SWF file into a translation...
Platforms: Windows
|License: Shareware
|Cost: $95.00 USD
|Size: 1.45 MB
|Download (105): Avral Tramigo Download
Plume est un moteur 3D isomtrique programm en ActionScript sous Flash MX. Pathfinding, I/O, gestion des collisions, cartes externes et mappeur, tout est integr. Plume permet de crer un RPG en Flash de faon extrmement simple.
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux
|License: Freeware
|Size: 24.61 KB
|Download (27): Plume Engine Download
Allows designers and developers to integrate video, text, audio, and graphics into immersive, rich experiences that deliver superior results for interactive marketing and presentations, e-learning, and application user interfaces. Flash is the world's most pervasive software platform, used by...
Platforms: Mac
|License: Shareware
|Cost: $0.00 USD
|Size: 73.5 MB
|Download (29): Flash MX Download
The As2lib is an open source framework targeted to Macromedia Flash MX 2004 developers. It offers support for basic idioms like event handling, error handling, logging, overloading and reflections as well as different kinds of data holders and iterators. Also contained is a full-featured testing...
Platforms: Windows, Mac, *nix, Flash, BSD Solaris
|License: Freeware
|Download (30): as2lib Download


text:
|Whatever the verdict, Muslims should keep restraint'
AIMPLB working committee member Syed Shahabuddin tells Sopan Joshi that the government should learn some lessons from 1992 to prevent another violent backlash
Is there any effort to negotiate an agreement on the Ayodhya land title case?
How does the Muslim leadership view the case?
Is there any unanimity on the course of action?
Did you ever consider giving the land on your own accord for the temple?
Why wasn't the court decision acceptable to Muslims in the Shah Bano case?
What is your feedback on the situation in Uttar Pradesh?
How do you see the various claimants to the land on the Hindu side?
How do you react to recent statements from the Sangh Parivar?
How do you see the VHP's mobilisation?
Why is the VHP failing to draw big crowds?
How do you see the Congress now?
What do you expect from the Prime Minister?
What would you like to tell the RSS?
What do you say to the Muslims?
From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 7, Issue 39, Dated October 02, 2010
Monthly Archives: October 2010
Operation Green Hunt is in disarray. Bihar's forces are in no mood to fight the Naxals
Operation Green Hunt is in disarray. Bihar's forces are in no mood to fight the Naxals
YOU DID nothing for me. The police and the government did nothing to rescue me. My family negotiated with the Naxals for my release. I am pleading with folded hands, please let me go home. I will not accompany you to the police station. I don't want to be in the police."
Sub-Inspector Abhay Yadav to Lakhisarai Superintendent of Police, Ranjit Kumar Mishra, after the Maoists released him on 6 September.
Eventually Lakhisarai's new SP forced Abhay, Rupesh Sinha and Mohammad Ehsan Khan, the three surviving policemen from the abductors, to take a detour to the police station for a debrief session. These policemen survived an eight-day ordeal as captives of the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) in Lakhisarai, Bihar. The PLGA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), popularly known as Naxals.
It is unlikely that Abhay will give up his job. Employment in the government service, especially the police, is coveted because it brings in unaccounted wealth. "I want to leave my job. But my family will decide," he says. "Dheeraj Rakhiye" (Please be patient). These words were used every time a police officer spoke to those in the lower ranks. But each expression brought despair and a sense of inadequacy to the policemen in Lakhisarai, Jamui, Munger and Banka.
In some areas of the dense hills connecting these districts, several teams of the Bihar Police and the CRPF staged short bursts of combing operations to trace the kidnapped policemen. Some, like Jawaharlal Singh, assistant sub-inspector, Jamui Police Station, berated curious villagers: "Your netas are responsible for Naxalism. They create the problem, they use Naxals for political one-upmanship and we have to face the brunt of it."
Several policemen, overwhelmed by the killing of Lucas Tete, admitted that the writ of the government runs dry across a large swath of Lakhisarai. Tete was killed when the state government refused to release eight imprisoned Naxal commanders.
|'What am I doing here? I ask this question to myself. I feel like leaving the force. But what will I do if I leave?' asks SI Prasad
"What am I doing here? I often ask this question to myself. I feel like leaving the force. But what will I do if I leave? How will I earn? My family wants me to quit police service. But when I am jobless and unable to provide for my family, will they treat me well?" asks SI Rajendra Prasad of Kajra Police Station. The post is barely 15 km from the spot where four policemen were kidnapped after a skirmish with the Naxals on 29 August. Seven policemen were killed and 10 injured.
With the state government failing to put a rescue plan in action, Abhay's father, Indu Prasad Yadav, contacted his caste brethren linked to PLGA commander and self-styled spokesperson for Naxal operations in eastern Bihar, Avinash alias Arjun Yadav.
"The appeal made by all political parties, including Rashtriya Janata Dal's Lalu Prasad and the pressure mounted by the Yadav community on caste leaders within the PLGA led to the release of Abhay, Rupesh and Ehsan. The government did nothing," says Sambhu Yadav, Abhay's uncle, who received the three captive policemen at 6 am in Simra Rari, a Naxalheld region of Lakhisarai.
POLICEMEN IN Bihar don't want to fight the Naxals. They have AK-47 and INSAS rifles but aren't trained for jungle warfare. They are not led by officers who lead from the front. They admit that the Naxal tactics are superior to theirs. "Why would a policeman want to die in the line of duty? I joined the police because it gives me power, influence and prestige. These villagers come to me because I am a bada babu. I joined for law and order duties, not engage Naxals in combat," confesses Atul Kumar Mishra, the SHO of Chanan Police Station. He was waiting for the Banu Bagicha village chowkidar to return from the Morve Dam area, a stronghold of the Naxals, after they announced they would free the hostages.
Every rural police circle in Bihar has 23 village chowkidars who are paid Rs. 1,200 and used as informers and spotters. Mishra, camping at Banu Bagicha's defunct Block Office, felt insecure in spite of 25 well-armed Special Auxiliary Police (SAP) accompanying him. "India can win the Kargil war but not this war, not this way," he says.
Policemen in Naxal-dominated areas have an informal standard operating procedure (SOP). First, stay out of areas that have Naxal presence. Second, after 6 pm, ensure that the station they are holed up in is well protected from a Naxal attack. The idea is not to fight back, but ensure that they don't lose their lives. "I have trained 30 stray dogs. They don't allow anyone inside the premises after dusk," a policeman says. After 6 pm, any crime within a police station's jurisdiction goes unattended till daybreak.
Meanwhile, Prasad can't shake off his gloomy, introspective mood ever since 29 August. "We have no comforts. We don't have a place to stay. Several police stations in Naxal-dominated areas are functioning from dilapidated, rented buildings. This police station used to be a Congress party office. We built our barrack by raising funds from local residents.
Our welfare must be taken care of for us to get mentally attuned to combat duty," says Prasad.
Besides, they are trained for regular policing duties, not for combat operations. "I went through police training 25 years ago. Since then I haven't had the chance to retrain and re-skill. I can aim and shoot, but don't know what to do in a combat situation. I am not trained for jungle warfare. How can I survive an encounter with the Naxals in the jungles?" asks Prasad.
BIHAR POLICEMEN are seething with anger. "We will lose our jobs because service rules prohibit us from telling the truth," says a policeman. There are a lot of uncertainties to be afraid of. "What if we are ordered into combat without planning? Death is certain." The sight of their dead colleagues provoked the BMP personnel to thrash former Lakhisarai SP Ashok Singh for pushing them into a Naxal ambush. Senior officials, including IG (Operation) KS Dwivedi and ADG (Headquarters) PK Thakur denied that Singh was assaulted. Denials notwithstanding, he was transferred out of Lakhisarai three days after the incident.
"For 10 days prior to the 29 August encounter, we were alerted almost every day by intelligence reports of a Jehanabad- type attack in Lakhisarai. There are several Naxals imprisoned in the Lakhisarai jail. We were told that Naxals would attempt a jailbreak, attack the District Magistrate's office and the CRPF camp at Kajra," says Rajendra Prasad, a distressed sub-inspector of Kajra Police Station. This was corroborated by the commandant of CRPF's 131 battalion, Bidhan Chandra Patra. "SP Ashok Singh told me that he received an intelligence input of 30 Naxals moving in the Lakhisarai forest. He said there was no specific input, just a generic alert and that he was putting together a team to conduct area domination exercise and get back. There was no intimation of the possibility of a gunbattle. So I passed instruction to assemble a team of 34 CRPF soldiers."
Singh put together a force of 43 policemen, 20 from the SAP and 23 from the Bihar Military Police to launch combat operations. "Our intelligence input said that there were at least 500 Naxals in the hills. But the SP, in an unusually strange decision, put together a small combat force," reveals Prasad. SI Bhulan Yadav, who was killed in the encounter, was inexperienced in counter-insurgency operations. Yet, he was deputed as the leader of the combat unit. Mishra, a close friend of Bhulan, was the last person to receive his call. "Bhulan called asking me to inform the SP to send reinforcements. Then his phone disconnected abruptly. I repeatedly called back but could not get through."
Mishra and Prasad revealed that Singh did not follow the SOP laid down after the Dantewada massacre. "A detailed strategy is formulated, GPS coordinates are set before the force begins its movement. But Ashok Singh did not make a plan," Mishra says. "He knew that we were operating in undulating, hilly forest terrain. He knew the topography. He should have been aware, going by the recent ambushes in Chhattisgarh that the Naxals will occupy higher ground and lure the policemen into a trap." CRPF commandant Patra concurs. "The SOP was not followed. Once force is assembled the commanders discuss the terrain, topography and intelligence. This is explained to the troops using sand models and Survey of India maps," he says.
Bhulan's inexperience in combat operations resulted in splitting in the team splitting in two different directions. He asked the CRPF contingent to move towards the right and patrol the Ghaghar Ghati area and Morve Dam, while he moved in with his men towards Kanimai and Sitala Kodasi villages.
As the police party moved into the villages, they came under heavy fire from both sides. Bihar Police officers claim that when their men were ambushed, the CRPF troops withdrew instead of retaliating and providing cover fire to rescue the trapped men. "Our men regained higher ground to provide cover fire, which enabled 36 men to escape," asserts Patra. That the Bihar Police surrendered is barely mentioned. "After we came under heavy fire, the Naxals kept announcing we should surrender or everyone would get killed. We surrendered because the CRPF withdrew," says Abhay.
|Bihar Police claim that when their men were ambushed, the CRPF troops withdrew instead of retaliating and providing cover
"They treated the injured personnel, bandaged those who were wounded, gave water to those who asked for it and asked them to leave. They collected all the weapons and asked four of us to accompany them into the jungle." Later, the Naxals informed local journalists that they had seized 35 INSAS and AK-47 rifles.
The Bihar Police is facing a severe crisis of confidence. According to protocol, a deputy commandant of CRPF is equivalent to the rank of an SP. Yet, it is rare for a SP to go out for combat. "Officers don't lead, they just pass orders. If senior officers can't lead us on combat duty why should we put our lives in danger?" asks Yadav.
Naresh Kumar, who teaches at the Janta Mahavidyalaya, Surajgarha, emphasises his primary identity is that of a farmer. Surrounded by friends and villagers of Alinagar, Naresh, loses himself in a tirade against Bihar's politicians. His list of complaints is long.
"Ration cards are not issued to people living below the poverty line in Alinagar; the widow pension scheme is on paper and not being implemented by the babus; those who can pay 60 percent commission to the gram sabha are availing subsidised housing loans through the Indira Awas Yojana; there are no free medicines either in public hospitals or primary health centres as promised by the government," he says.
"If the bank manager is paid a bribe of Rs.5,000, he will process the land owner-ship certificate and promptly issue the Kisan Credit Card worth Rs 50,000; the Asha scheme for pregnant women with the objective of decreasing the Infant Mortality Rate and Maternal Mortality Rate is not being implemented as well," he says.
|'Senior officers just pass orders. If seniors can't lead us during combat, why should we put our lives in danger?' asks Abhay
THE ALINAGAR locality in Lakhisarai is a microcosm of people's sentiment in rural Bihar. They are sympathetic to the Naxalites. They don't trust the State. The angry voices from the ground explain why the Maoist insurgency is expanding in Bihar. Nobody in Alinagar has benefited from the employment guarantee scheme, though it is officially under implementation. "All politicians work for those with money. The bureaucracy is always looking out to loot us. There is no equality. So why is everyone surprised by the growth of Naxals?" says Naresh.
Perhaps, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has sensed the mood of the people. "The pace of development has to be accelerated and corruption removed in execution of development schemes to uproot Naxalism," he said at the Patna Medical College Hospital after meeting policemen injured in the 29 August encounter.
Perhaps, he should visit Banu Bagicha village, which is barely 5 km from the spot where captive policemen were released by the Naxals. The villagers have been waiting for eight years for the fully constructed Block Office to begin functioning. The district administration built an office complex but locked it up for "security" reasons.
In fact, four days before the 29 August skirmish, Lakhisarai DM Manish Kumar visited Banu Bagicha and told the villagers: "Hand over five Naxals and I will ensure the Block Office is made functional." Banu Bagicha villagers walk 15 km to Mananpur Block Office for official documentation like land registration and securing caste certificates for jobs and educational purposes.
Phakira Yadav, a leading opinion maker of the village, quipped: "If the DM demands five Naxals to be handed over, isn't it better if we join the Naxals? How can we hand over Naxals to the police? We are caught between the two gunwielding groups."
Brutal murder of four Lodha persons and serios assault on three other Lodhas
The Chairman,
Orissa State Human Rights Commission,
Toshali Plaza Complex ( 2nd Floor ),
Satya Nagar,
Sub: Brutal murder of four Lodha persons and serios assault on three other Lodhas and
negligence on the part of police and administration in prevention of such Human Rights violation.
It is a matter of great concern of Human Rights violation that on 10th October, 2010, about seven numbers of members of Lodha tribe of Mayrbhanj district were brutally assaulted under the jurisdiction of Baripada Sadar Police Station by a mob of some villagers of Baripada out of which four persons were declared dead in the hospital and three others are under treatment in critical condition.
According to reports published in different media,some people of the locality caught the above innocent persons near the forest at Gunjasahi in the allegation of theft and mercilessly assaulted them.
In an interview with OTV News on 11th October , 2010, Mayurbhanj D.S.P.
Shri Premanjan Parida stated that as per the police investigation the local villagers "caught
the thieves and beat them when they were returning after committing robbery ."
Lodhas are in focus of Anthropologists and Social Activists as they belong
to a premitive tribe . During the early British Rule the British Government in India oppressed the tribal people of Junggle Mahals who were traditionally dependant on the forest for living. They had revolted but were ruthlessly suppressed. During the British Rule, the Lodhas were declared as a Criminal Tribe in 1871. Subsequently after Independence, the Lodhas along with some other tribes were " de-notified " in 1956. Still the approach of the State did not change and they are branded as " criminal tribe " as a result of which they are not accepted in the society to live with diginity. They have no landed property and have no other alternative employment for their livelihood.
The Government has established a Lodha Development Agency for socio-economic development of Lodhas inhabiting in Suliapada and Morida Blocks of Mayurbhanj. But the present tragic incident gives a picture as a tip of the iceberg, that the Lodha Development Agency has played a very little role for the development of the Lodhas.
The incident on 10th October, 2010 in which loss of four precious human lives and serious injury of three others was caused in the allegtion of pretty theft, raises the following serious Human Rights issues:
(1). The brutal murder of four young and innocent tribals without any free, fair and public trial.
(3). The casual approach of Senior Police Officer in regard to this serious henious crime committed by the mob and failure of the police to apprehend
any of the assailtants.
(4). Utter failure of Lodha Development Agency for alround improvement of conditions of Lodhas.
(5). Utter failure of Employment Gurantee Programmes and other proverty allivation schemes foe improvement of condition of Lodhas.
(6). Improper inquiry of cases of theft and robberry in the jurisdiction of Baripada
Sadar Police Station and Kuliana Police Station.
(7).Lack of proper rehabilitation of Lodha premitive tribes to live with human diginity.
It is therefore prayed that this Honourable Commission, may take up this matter for inquiry in regard to the above issues along with others as deemed proper in the interest of broder human right prospective and to recommend the Government for exemplary action against the persons involved in the brutal assault and murder and the police officers for their approach towards the Lodha community and to implement time-bound rehabilitation scheme for the Lodha coimmunity to eneble them to live with human diginty and oblige.
19th October, 2010.
Prasanta Patnaik, Journalist.
Address for Correspondence:
5RF/5, Unit-3, M.G. Marg,
Bhubaneswar-751001, Dt. Khurda.
Mob: 9437005118. Biswapriya Kanungo, Advocate.
Complainants in person.
B.A. Samvartha ('Sahil')
Research Scholar
Theater and Performance Studies
School of Arts and Aesthetics
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi-67
Mobile: +919650163910 (Delhi)
+919844121911 (Karnataka)
Blog: www.crazymindseye.wordpress.com
"I Am Caught In Endless Strife, Endless Ferment, Endless Dream. I Cannot Confirm To Life, Will Not Travel With The Stream." (Karl Marx)
"I Will Never Die For My Beliefs, Because I May Be Wrong." (Bertrand Russell)
Suresh Bhat Bakrabail
"Eesha Vasyam" 2-10-776
Mangalore – 575 004
Tel: [0824]2225652
Thirteen months after the exposé, the CBI charges nine policemen in the Sanjit fake encounter case
CHUNGKHAM TARATOMBI Devi's fight for justice has yielded results. Fourteen months after her son Chungkham Sanjit Singh Meitei was killed in a fake encounter by Manipur Police, the CBI has filed a chargesheet against nine of the 14 accused policemen. Exposés in TEHELKA by Teresa Rehman (Murder in Plain Sight, 8 August 2009) and Shoma Chaudhury (Life in a Shadow Land, 15 August 2009) had detailed the coldblooded murder. Photographs published along with the story revealed the entire sequence of Sanjit's death.
The chargesheet filed by the CBI on 9 September this year in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Imphal, corroborates TEHELKA's findings. It reveals how, on 23 July 2009, commandos led by then Imphal City Police Station in-charge Munal Singh picked up Sanjit from BT Road, took him inside the storeroom of a pharmacy and shot him dead. The CBI also found out that the 9 mm Mauser gun found on Sanjit was planted by the police.
That day, Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh told the Manipur Assembly that Sanjit was a People's Liberation Army militant and was responsible for shooting six civilians. (The PLA is the armed wing of the Revolutionary People's Front). The CBI now reveals that it was the police that was involved in the random shooting on BT Road that killed a pregnant woman, Rabina Devi. Sanjit was just a bystander who was made the scapegoat.
On 25 August 2009, Sanjit's mother approached the Gauhati High Court seeking justice. The court handed over the case to the CBI. Two days later, the Manipur government instituted a one-man commission of inquiry led by Justice PG Agarwal, a retired judge of the Gauhati High Court. Both TEHELKA's Managing Editor Shoma and then Northeast Correspondent Teresa deposed before the commission and were interrogated by the CBI. Photographs in TEHELKA'S possession were shared with the probe team.
The commission asked TEHELKA reporters to name their sources and the name of the photographer who had captured the damning evidence. But they refused. After the exposé, journalists and activists in Imphal tried to deter TEHELKA journalists from visiting Manipur. "We cannot assure your safety," they warned. "The commandos are looking everywhere for the photographer who gave you the pictures."
TODAY, THE chief minister is not available for comment. "He is too busy with the Pradesh Congress Committee elections. He doesn't have time for the people. The people of Manipur are grateful to TEHELKA for this exposé," says a senior minister on condition of anonymity.
In the dark shadow land of Manipur, Sanjit was one among hundreds of young men and women who had disappeared, been raped or killed. Justice may be steps away for Sanjit's ema (mother in Manipuri) but it remains an illusion for many others.
human rights defender under arrest, illegal detention in a fabricated charge
20th October 2010
The Chairman
National Human Rights Commission
Faridkot House
Copernicus Marg
New Delhi-110001
Respected Sir,
In another incident of gross violation of Constitutional rights and legal mandates, on 18.9.2010 the police
personnel attached with Jhargram Police Station with the help of the members of Joint Force operating in the
police district- Jhargram, district – West Medinipur, West Bengal arbitrarily arrested and detained the victim, a
human rights defender and also a renowned folk artist (singer) without showing any reason. Starting from the
time of arrest the arresting police personnel violated legal mandates at every step as they did not disclose any
reason for the arrest, no Memo of Arrest was prepared at the time and place of arrest, the victim was detained in
a police camp for more than 24 hours without producing him before the nearest judicial magistrate. More
surprisingly the victim had no charge against him at the time of his arrest as he was only tagged with a criminal
case which was started by the police of Jhargram Police Station after several hours since his arrest. Our
attached fact finding report gives details of the incident.
The incident again shows that the police in West Bengal are more apt to violate the mandatory provisions of our
Constitution and of Criminal Procedure Code. We strongly condemn this heinous attack on the victim and high
handedness of police of West Bengal.
The victim, being a folk artist (singer), devoted his life for the promotion of rich cultural and social heritage of the
marginalized section of indigenous people living in the forest area and trying to protect the rights of those people
and their culture. As a human rights defender he also raised his voice on different times against the killings by
the State and also by the non-state actors (Maoists).
We express our sincere concern in respect to the safety of the human rights defender at the hands of the police
and administration and seek urgent intervention so as to see that the law of the land prevails in true spirit and
action. Such heinous attack upon a human rights activist amounts to a direct threat to safety and security of the
people working in the fields of protecting the rights of our countrymen. This being a crucial case and important
for the protection of human rights defender, we seek the urgent intervention of the commission in the following
• carry out an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the incident of illegal arrest and
detention of the victim with a view to bring those responsible to justice in accordance with international
• The charges brought against the victim are politically motivated; hence, the victim must be freed from all
charges immediately.
• Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological security and integrity of the
victim and all other human rights defenders.
• Guarantee in all circumstances that human rights defenders in India are able to carry out their legitimate
human rights activities without fear of reprisals, and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.
• The authorities should also create an enabling environment and ensure respect for the rights of
individuals in West Bengal engaged in the peaceful promotion of respect for human rights.
Thanking You,
Yours truly,
Kirity Roy
Secretary, MASUM & National Convener of PACTI
Name of the victim:- Mr. Ajit Mahato, son of Mukunda Mahato, aged about-30 years, by faith-Hindu, by
caste-Schedule caste(Kurmi), residing at village-Golbandi, Police Station-Jhargram, District-West Medinipur,
West Bengal, India.
Name of the perpetrators:- (i) The police personnel of Manikpara Police Camp under Jhargram Police
Station and the members of the Joint Force who were involved in the arrest of the victim; (ii) Mr. Md. Julfikar
Molla, Inspector-in-Charge of Jhargram Police Station and also being the Investigating Officer of Jhargram
Police Station Case no. 280/2010 dated 18.9.2010.
Place of incident: – At the residence of the victim at village-Golbandi, Police Station-Jhargram, District-
West Medinipur, West Bengal.
Date & time of incident: – On 18.9.2010 at about 6.30 am.
Case Details: –
The following facts came out during our fact finding that the victim is a folk artist (singer) and for several
years he has been presenting songs of an ancient music theme named "Jhumur" which mainly represents the
cultural and social background of the people living in jungles particularly in West Bengal. He is a very
popular singer and people know him a devoted folk artist.
On 18.9.2010 at about 6.30 am suddenly the police personnel of Manikpara Police Camp under Jhargram
Police Station and the members of the Joint Force (it is combined of Para-military forces such as Central
Reserve Police (CRP), Border Security Force (BSF), etc and it is operating in the area to curb down the
Maoist's activities) encircled the residence of the victim. At that time the victim was taking bath in the
bathroom. The police personnel and the members of the Joint Force entered into his house and ransacked the
household articles. The victim was dragged out from the bathroom and arrested. The arresting police
personnel neither disclosed any reason for the apprehension of the victim not prepared any "Memo of Arrest"
at the time and place of arrest.
The victim immediately after the arrest was taken to Manikpara Police Camp and he was detained there. On
that day (18.9.2010) he was not produced before any nearest judicial magistrate. During his detention neither
he was told about the reason for his apprehension instead of his repeated requests in this regard nor did he get
any chance to meet with his family members.
On the next day i.e. 19.9.2010 at about 10 am he was taken to the court of Additional Chief Judicial
Magistrate, Jhargram and detained in the court lock-up. The family members of the victim engaged one
advocate for the victim in order to take appropriate step and move in the court for release of the victim from
custody. It was then revealed that the victim was implicated in a criminal case vide Jhargram Police Station
Case no. 280/2010 dated 18.9.2010 under sections 147(punishment for rioting)/148(Rioting, armed with
deadly weapons)/149(every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of
common object)/120B(punishment for criminal conspiracy)/121(waging, or attempt to wage war or abetting
waging of war against the Government of India)/121A(conspiracy to commit offences punishable by Section
121 /122(collecting arms, etc., with intention of waging war against the Government of India/124(Assaulting
President Governor, etc., with intent to compel or restrain the exercise the of any lawful
power)/124A(Sedition) of Indian Penal Code and Section 3 & 4 of Explosive Substances Act.
The aforesaid criminal case was slapped on the victim upon a written complaint (First Information Report)
received by Jhargram Police Station on 18.9.2010 at 18.40 hours in the letter pad of "Democratic Youth
Federation of India", Lodhasuli Local Committee, Lodhasuli, West Medinipur. The said "Democratic Youth
Federation of India", is a sister organization of the ruling political party i.e. Communist Party of India
(Marxist) in West Bengal. In gist it was alleged in the said complaint that the victim and several other men
being members of Maoist group exploded a land mine at the party office of CPI (M) at Lodhasuli and
demolished the same on 12.9.2010 at around 1.00/1.30 hrs.
On 19.9.2010 the victim was later released from custody on bail by strength of the order passed by the court
of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Jhargram. The said Judicial Magistrate while passing of the order for
release of the victim on bail considered the following facts inter alia into his judicial notice that- (i)the alleged
incident as written in the FIR had taken place on 12.9.2010 but the same (FIR) has been lodged in the police
station on 18.9.2010; (ii) prima facie the allegation of demolition of the local party office of a political party
does not seem to have attracted the offence of waging war; (iii) no seizure was effected from the possession of
the accused (victim) which can prima facie loose out him out in the offence under section 3 & 4 of Explosive
Substance Act.
The victim in writing confirmed before our fact finding team that he was arrested on 18.9.2010 in the
morning at about 6.30 am. The time of arrest was also corroborated by the other eye witnesses of that locality.
But the complaint (FIR) as stated above against the victim and other men was received by the police of
Jhargram Police Station on 18.9.2010 at 18.40 hours upon which the police started Jhargram Police Station
Case no. 280/2010 dated 18.9.2010. It is therefore clear that the police arrested the victim without having any
definite charge against him at the time of his arrest and later implicated him in a criminal case upon a
complaint which is politically motivated and manufactured to relate the victim with Maoist activities. Mr. Ajit
Mahato is very well known figure in the area for his concrete opinion against annihilation policy carried out
by the Maoists.
This incident clearly points at the unholy nexus between the police and criminal elements of the ruling
political party to give effect to their immoral gain and harass the innocent people for the sake of their vested
Police received the
complaint at 18.40 hrs
Kirity Roy
Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha
National Convenor (PACTI)
Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity
26 Guitendal Lane
Howrah 711101
West Bengal INDIA
Mobile: 09903099699
Tele Fax : +91-33-2640 4118
Phone: +91-33-2640 4520
e. mail : email@example.com
Web: www.masum.org.in

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Every Monday in the Front Bar.
It's free to enter, and there are bar tabs and bragging rights to be won.
It's our new entertainment quiz! Think pop culture, showbiz, movies, fashion, video games, glam, YouTube, apps, music, Twitter, TV and celebrity no-nos. There's even a "fastest fingers" round - so you can put your social networking expertise into action - we will encourage you to use your phones in that round - how's that for turning everything you know about quiz nights on its head?
Get a team together and bring your mad skills to the quiz!


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Gah!!! Little Ms. Nickelodeon soon to be A-list celebrity, Victoria Justice was wearing the Rockstar jeans that I am desperate for on her Freak the Freak Out episode of VicTORIous. Has anyone seen these jeans around? I want these blue tie dye ones sooooooo bad!!!
My kids and I watched this episode when it aired for the first time on Nick. My kids adore the show and I have to admit it's one of those kid shows that I really don't mind watching myself. There is usually plenty of premium denim on the show too, I've seen Victoria wear Current/Elliott studded skinnies and spotted a pair of acid washed William Rast on the actress that plays Jade.


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After weeks of negotiation, defender Jeff Parke has decided to test the soccer waters overseas.
"We have been in touch with Jeff Parke's representatives," general manager Adrian Hanauer said through a news release today. "We are aware that Jeff is planning a trip to Belgium and has tryouts with two clubs. We think Jeff is a tremendous player, and that's why we were willing to risk selecting him in the expansion draft. We will continue to keep in close contact. We continue to hold his MLS right and we're hopeful that he will some day play for Seattle Sounders FC."
Parke played last season with the New York Red Bulls. The Sounders selected him in the MLS expansion draft. However, because his contract had expired, all they actually secured were his MLS rights while he was free to negotiate elsewhere.
With Parke apparently out of the picture, the center back position is being contested among Patrick Ianni, recently acquired from Houston; Nathan Sturgis, formerly of Real Salt Lake, Tyson Wahl, fomerly of Kansas City, and Taylor Graham and Zach Scott, formerly of the USL Sounders.


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|90 m²
|Property type
|Minimum Stay
|2 nights
Pretty charming house fully equipped in a beautiful flowered residence with a tennis court (rackets are provided), but above the most beautiful beach on the island facing the motus. The house is located in the gardens, the beach is a few dozen meters. Free wifi internet. Kayaks are provided for free and will allow you access to the motus for yourself or sites rays and sharks. The house has two bedrooms one with a king size bed (linens are provided) and another very large with a 1m60 bed and 1 single bed, a living room, a kitchen corner and there is a solar water heater. 1 bathroom, 1 large covered deck and private garden, ping pong. Large TV in the living room. Washer. There is also garden furniture and a gas grill. You can park your car right outside the house. Electricity is increasingly for more than 4 days stays. Ideally located, you can access on foot to restaurants, various locations (bicycle, scooter, cars ...), shopping center and all tourist activities. Otherwise providers will direct you up at your home, transfer / taxi available on request. Departure for water sports directly from the beach to the residence. For those who love the mountains we are 10 min drive to the volcano crater to the center where all the plantations are located, walks and historical sites. The house is adjacent to the owners.
We are at your disposal to advise you in all the activities like, we offer negotiated rates for car rentals and tourist activities. Experience of over 25 years in tourism.
(You may see one or two kitties crossing your garden occasionally).
We had a fabulous time at the best beach in Moorea! We had everything we needed including some ping pong entertainment, kayaks, ac, outdoor hang out area...I could go on and on. The beach is a short walk away and has nice shaded areas, would be great for kids. Most importantly, we had Caroline and Tom. From making reservations for a special dinner, making recommendations on hiking, snorkeling, arranging a car rental, and just giving us general information - Caroline did it all. She helped us make the most of our 5 days at this cute bungalow. Caroline's recommendations were all spot on. To say we enjoyed our stay is an understatement. We felt very comfortable telling Caroline what we were hoping to do or see and we followed every piece of advice. This was our first time in Moorea and we feel like we really lucked out in finding this place with such an amazing hostess. You will not be disappointed with the beach and close access to restaurants and stores. We only wish we could have stayed longer. We will be back.
We can't say enough good things about our stay here. We were here for a month and Caroline and Joseph were so great to work with. We had an issue with our bag when we first got there and they bent over backwards to coordinate with the airlines and they got it back to us the very next morning first thing. They both have many years in the travel industry and were able to get us a rental car (though we didn't need one for the whole time) at a great discount as well as excursions on the island. They told us the best restaurants which are very close by. The home was very comfortable, close to a beautiful beach and they included kayaks that we used almost everyday to snorkel at the motus across the lagoon. We highly recommend their home, you won't be disappointed...we wouldn't hesitate to stay here again! Thank you Caroline and Jo for a wonderful stay and all your help!
Wow! The house is beautiful and as shown in the photos – and very comfortable. The patio is a perfect extension of the house. We did not eat one meal inside.
The beach is beautiful. The sunset views from the dock are better than you get at the REALLY EXPENSIVE resort just down the road. Caroline went out of her way to make us feel comfortable, and had good suggestions to keep us busy with the many things that the island has to offer.
You will need a car to enjoy everything.
carolina and jo took care of all our vacation needs from kayaks ,bicycles, taxi not only in Mooreau but also when we arrived at tahiti. We played ping pong every day on front porch. They brought hospitality to new level.
For us, it was not just about the house, but our host Caroline, who was so gracious and friendly, and helped us plan our stay with quality tours and made us fee at home.
The house is a short walk from an amazing beach with white sand and lots of wildlife. We thoroughly enjoyed swimming and snorkeling there, specially with the sharks and rays, which I said I would never do before arriving there! We used a kayak from the property to get to the reefs.
We also went to a couple of delicious restaurants by bike, just a few km away. The grocery store is small but have baguettes, salads and drinks.
As for the house, the bed is comfortable, the air conditioner helped us get a great night of sleep, the kitchen had all we needed to prepare meals and we spent tons of time out on the great patio.
Highly recommend Caroline's place and the tour from her husband's (Jo) company. Nice people who cherish where they live and respect the environment.
We stayed in Caroline's villa for about two weeks in July 2016. Caroline booked a car for us with a very nice discount and answered all our questions we had before arrival. Villa is about 30 min drive from the airport at Sunset beach on the best part of the island. Villa is on gated property so it is very safe. It is less populated part of the island with one of the best beaches. After our early morning arrival Caroline let us in as soon as previous occupants moved away (around 10 am) so we had a breakfast at the patio and hit the beach. There is a very nice sandy beach with very shallow water which is perfect for kids and has some shade from coconut palm trees. Villa has 3 sit-on kayaks which is priceless: we kayaked to the spot (about 10 min trip) where you can swim with black tip sharks (safe-they totally ignore you) and sting rays (they come to you so you can pet them). You can also go across the channel to "private motu" where you can see perfect corals from kayak (too shallow for safe snorkeling) or two motus on the left (10-15 min trip). Don't swim to the channel because there is some boat traffic and very strong current. Caroline will explain you everything.
Villa has everything you need for your stay and is close to grocery shop (about 1 min drive by car) so you can always get fresh baguettes for breakfast. There is a scuba diving center on the beach but I dove more with Christian from Fun Dive.
Word of advice: we stayed 4 more days on Tahiti after Moorea and it was too long. Tahiti is so different from Moorea – there is heavy traffic in Papeete and in general it is a busy island. I would prefer to stay 2 more days on Moorea and only 2 days on Tahiti.
I think we will come back one day and maybe stay forever…
Thank you Caroline for the great time we had!
Greg and Family
House located in the gardens of a beautiful secure residence, enjoying the most beautiful beach of the island facing the islets. These are easily accessible with kayaks provided free of charge. Residence with tennis court (rackets available). Located close to shops, numerous restaurants and major hotels including the Intercontinental.
On the beach of the residence: diving club, pedalo rental, jetski, departure tours (exit whale, picnic motu).
Rental car and activities to negotiated rates.
|Rate Period
|Weekend Night
My Standard Rate
2 night minimum stay
|No additional mandatory fees
|Refundable Damage Deposit
semaine à 1080 euros au lieu de 1260 euros.
2ème semaine complète -10%
Paiements acceptés : espèces, virement bancaire, chèque en francs pacifiques (voir euros)
30 % d'arrhes sont demandés pour valider la réservation.
Paiement intégral à l'entrée dans la maison.
caution pour long séjour de 500 euros par chèque qui sera rendu au moment du départ. Pour court séjour, ce qui est cassé ou perdu est à payer (rame, kayak...)
Charges incluses sauf électricité (à partir de 4 jours de location).
La maison doit être rendue propre.


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sunbeams and the Jane Goodall Institute
If you have a look at our goals and mission you can see why we want to support the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) in every way we can. The JGI has been very active to observe, protect and preserve the chimpanzees and their habitat in different places in Africa. Seeing the rainforest being more and more threatened by e.g. deforestation and poachers, they supported the neighboring villages with a range of sustainable development cooperation in order to reinstall the harmony between nature, animals and humans: starting up micro credit schemes, encouraging sustainable forest management, cultivating shade-grown organic coffee are but few extraordinary examples of the major achievements. In addition, Dr. Jane Goodall has always had a profound hope in the new younger generations. Today her global Roots and Shoots program has spread in more than 100 countries with about 600 different groups of young people doing something with environment, animals and people. You or your children can also start a group and the JGI-Belgium can help you with it.
Sunbeams will help to promote the JGI in general by selling their merchandise (see Presents) at our events (they can be ordered beforehand). We will help to promote the Roots and Shoots Program, by spreading the word through our website, our info packages and our future e-newsletter, by inviting speakers of the JGI-Belgium, and by connecting people. We will also let you know when Jane Goodall herself has a presentation in Belgium, and everyone who has seen and heard her speak � young and old � will never forget this special moment!! We will also support the JGI-Belgium in the sales of tickets for such occasions. In 2010, the JGI will have its 50 years anniversary and Sunbeams will be supporting JGI-Belgium with the celebrations. The JGI-Belgium will also spread the word on Sunbeams at their events and on their website! For more information please visit: www.janegoodall.org and www.rootsandshoots.org as well as www.janegoodall.be.
For more information, read the October 2009 issue of the Sunbeams newsletter


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Dbriefs Webcasts – April 18-24
Upcoming Webcasts for Financial Executives
Trade-based Money Laundering Revisited: International Trade Risks and Vulnerabilities
April 23, 2:00 PM ET | 1 Intermediate CPE Credit: Specialized Knowledge & Applications
Among the inherent risks of conducting business globally is the growing threat of sophisticated money laundering schemes, which negatively impact legitimate commerce. Is your company at risk? We'll discuss:
- Forms of illicit money movements that can undermine legitimate business and commerce, including bulk cash smuggling, narcotics trafficking, and commercial trade fraud.
- Lessons from the Trade Transparency Unit of the Department of Homeland Security.
- Red flag indicators of trade-based money laundering and other schemes, including vendor payments by unrelated third parties, false reporting of commodities, and unusual shipping routes or shipping methods.
Gain insights on how to identify and combat potential threats as you conduct business in world markets.
Read More | Register | View all Dbriefs
M&A in Alternative Energy: What's Driving Recent Activities?
April 24, 2:00 PM ET | 1 Intermediate CPE Credit: Specialized Knowledge & Applications
The alternative energy sector continues to innovate and progress toward cost parity with conventional energy sources, driving many companies to consider new growth and M&A transaction opportunities. What is happening in 2014 and beyond? We'll discuss:
- Key M&A trends and developments underlying alternative energy markets.
- Which types of companies have been acquiring, what has been driving their activity, and how they are acquiring.
- Potential issues and risks that buyers focus on when considering transactions.
- Insights into what recent deals reveal about future M&A activity in the alternative energy sector.
Learn what types of M&A activities and opportunities are shaping the alternative energy sector in 2014 and beyond.
Read More | Register | View all Dbriefs
DFA Case Decision: Potential Impacts for U.S. and Canadian Investment Funds
April 24, 2:00 PM ET | 1 Intermediate CPE Credit: Taxes
On April 10, 2014, the European Court of Justice ruled on the Emerging Markets Series of DFA Investment Trust Company case (C-190/12). What are the consequences for U.S. and Canadian investment funds when they have invested in European equities and incurred withholding tax on European Union (EU) sourced dividend income? We'll discuss:
- The principle of free movement of capital with respect to outbound dividends paid to non-EU funds.
- Differences in treatment between Polish and U.S. funds regarding Polish dividend withholding taxes.
- Effectiveness of fiscal supervision justification by European tax authorities addressing administrative cooperation between EU and non-EU countries.
Explore next steps U.S. and Canadian investment funds may consider regarding EU market tax claims as a result of the court decision.
Read More | Register | View all Dbriefs
For a listing of recently archived Dbriefs webcasts, visit the
About Deloitte Insights
Deloitte's Insights for CFOs provides financial executives a customized resource to help them address the strategic, operational and regulatory issues they face in managing their finance organizations and careers, with top-line digests, research, perspectives and technical analyses.


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Welcome to our website
To take full advantage of all features you need to login or register. Registration is completely free and takes only a few seconds.
Apple Job Posting Hints at Siri for Macs in OS X 10.9
Posted by Philipp Esselbach on: 02/06/2013 09:50 AM [ Print | 0 comment(s) ]
MacRumors has been seeing builds of OS X 10.9 in site logs since November, which is also when hints of Siri integration for Macs began appearing.
A recent Apple job posting (via TechCrunch / AppleInsider) reinforces the rumor that Siri might be bundled with the next version of OS X. In its listing for a Siri UI Engineer, Apple specifies that candidates should possess "Familiarity with Unix, especially Mac OS X" and a "Passion for the Macintosh platform and writing simple, elegant software that is easy and fun to use." The listing, which does not include a specification for experience with iOS aside from knowledge of Apple's development APIs, states that the engineer will be in charge of implementing the content that appears within Siri's conversational view. The position will also require collaboration with other Siri teams.
Apple Job Posting Hints at Siri for Macs in OS X 10.9


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Latest bonsai blog posts
Bonsai artist portrait
Recently I had a visit of a good friend and photographer colleague. Now we are at it, my background is …
Rainy bonsai exhibition
For some reason unknown, and maybe needed to be searched deep in our souls, it nearly always rains and is …
"I learned so much from this video. Really thank you. This has changed my life on bonsai treatment." JM Bonsai.
"You are a great teacher. Most videos don't explain the what and why behind decisions. THANK YOU!" Bomb Lacrosse.
"Hello, this is an excellent work, as bonsai and as video as well, thank you very much, it's an amazing job." Essain.
"Just wow! A very fine and sensitive work. Excellent screenplay and video." Jeremie Coillard.
The Bonsai Video Studio
The best way to experience bonsai learning online.
Sign up for the newsletter and get updates direct in your inbox when new content is added.
We send out the newsletter about twice a month when new videos are launched.
Monthly theme
Every month a new theme is added to the video section. The monthly theme is concentrated on a given subject.
Wiring – repotting – aesthetics and much more.
Watch whenever it suits you. You are not bound to watch it live, but have access to view any content at any time.
Excerpts or special editions will be available for precise tutorials with how to videos. Showing detailed instructions about wiring, repotting and much more. The archive will expand continuously.
Follow the seasons
A monthly VLOG from the bonsai garden of Morten Albek, will be online. Follow the fours seasons of bonsai and get valuable informations of handling bonsai throughout the year.
Do you have a question? How to often to water your Japanese Maple? Why pots are preferred unglazed for Conifers? How to take care of your bonsai during winter? Morten Albek gives his expert advices in video answers regularly as questions are collected.
About us
The Video Bonsai Studio is the online teaching part of Shohin Bonsai Europe by Morten Albek.


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A shocking comment made by the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) has angered the animal lover community. The UK branch says that some animals must die in order the other animals can live. is this rather ridiculous?
Do you believe that corporate money is needed to support conservation and research efforts? Many have argued that most money from trophy barely made it to the local communities that provide rangers and conservation scientists.
Word from our Sponsors
Some animal lovers are spotted cutting up their WWF credit cards in response to WWF's comments.


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Leslie Jackson Chihuly
Chair, Seattle Symphony Board of Directors
President and CEO, Chihuly Studio and Chihuly Workshop
Currently in her fourteenth year on the Seattle Symphony Board and in her ninth year as Chair, Leslie Jackson Chihuly has led the organization through a period of significant change, including the hiring of Music Director Ludovic Morlot, and President & CEO, Simon Woods. During this leadership transition, Leslie worked to re-position a treasured civic organization, while establishing integrity, transparency, collaboration and excellence at all levels. She revitalized the Board of Directors, created innovative fundraising events, raised the public profile and has positioned the organization to embark on a major five-year fundraising campaign to sustain the Seattle Symphony for future generations.
As President and CEO of Chihuly Studio and Chihuly Workshop, Leslie's primary role is to ensure ongoing organizational strength to assist Dale Chihuly in realizing his vision, encompassing all aspects of his art, from unique large-scale commissions to museum exhibitions, individual artworks and editions.
She is currently on the Board of the Pilchuck Glass School and has chaired fundraising campaigns for the University of Washington Masters of Fine Arts program in glass, The Hope Heart Institute, and the Viola Chihuly Fund. In 2011 she was awarded the "Women of Influence" Award by the Puget Sound Business Journal.
Leslie graduated from Vassar College with a BA in English. She holds a Masters in International Studies from the Henry M. Jackson School at the University of Washington. Leslie and her husband, Dale Chihuly, have one son.


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Baby care tips for the new mothers
Getting motherhood is a unique experience and every mother can take pride of such moments after delivering a new born baby. It is important that you are aware of the tips for newborn baby care. In order to maintain their short-term health, as well as looking after the long-term health issues, keep in mind some factors which should help you after delivering your baby. You should be particularly careful of your newborn baby's body temperature, breathing pattern, amount of food needed by him, and other important health factors. Newborn mothers can follow some of the baby information tips that are shared here to prevent their babies from infection. Immediately after childbirth, it is very important that you keep the baby warm. It can be done by drying him with a cloth and ensure that he is covered from head to toe. The baby can be placed on the mother's chest and even the abdomen as this would give the necessary warmth needed. Use of blanket to cover the child along with the mother is also a good way of keeping the child warm.
Special baby care
The newborn should be able to breathe properly. This can be done by removing the mucous and amniotic fluid from his nose and mouth. This is usually done after childbirth but need to done later too. You need to ensure that the baby's airways are clear. Breastfeed only when the baby is found to be breathing comfortably. If any complications are faced by the baby after his or her airways are cleared, do not force him to breastfeed. Never force feed a baby who has respiratory complications as it can be unsafe. Be particularly careful in cleaning the navel of the newborn as it is a very sensitive area. There can be a lot of health benefits of healthy treatment of the navel. In the first few days of a newborn's life, the stool that is passed is a dark green or black substance known as me conium. The regular bowel movements begin by the third day. If the baby passes me conium even on the third day, it is a sign that he is not getting adequate nutrition from breastfeed or formula feed. So, you may need to increase his or her intake.
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That's How Crumbs Crumbles
We're closing out a week that had little new economic data, and even though it marked the official start of earnings season, the real deluge will begin next week.
In stocks such as Amazon (AMZN) and ConAgra (CAG), volume is 20% to 40% lower than the three-month average, and one could argue that we have seen exaggerated price swings that don't reflect the underlying fundamentals....579 more words left in this article. To read them, just click below and try Real Money FREE for 14 days.
There's no substitute for a trading floor to get great ideas, so Jim Cramer created a better one at Real Money and blogs there exclusively. We then added legendary hedge fund manager, Doug Kass, with his exclusive Daily Diary and best investing ideas. Staffed with more than 4 dozen investing pros, money managers, journalists and analysts, Real Money Pro gives you a flood of opinions, analysis and actionable trading advice found nowhere else, and allows you to interact directly with each expert.
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Taiwan is famous/ infamous in Asia for its no-holds barred, winner-take-all political scene. Go to Youtube and I'm sure you can see some of the fights that had taken place in the Taiwan parliament. However the case I read yesterday took the cake.
A man was sentenced to 5 months jail for snatching the toupee off the head of ruling Nationalist Party lawmaker Chiu Yi. When Chiu went to file a complaint against former president Chen Shui-bian in December last year, he was met by a group of people who were in support of Chen. Huang Yung-tien, 50, who was the leader of the said-group, snatched the toupee off Chiu revealing to the whole Taiwan his bald head.
That in itself is funny, but what's hilarious is the 5 months jail term. A 5 months jail term who tearing off a wig? Some people don't get that much time for stealing money! What kind of wig is it? Maybe it's made of gold


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|By Simeon Simeonov
Article Rating:
|May 9, 2007 09:15 PM EDT
I've been around software for 20 years now. Looking back, I have mixed feelings about the progress we've made. The end results have been amazing but the process of building software hasn't fundamentally changed since the 80s. In fact, I see us make some of the same mistakes over and over again. One of the common anti-patterns is over-relying on tools and frameworks instead of inventing new programming models.
Layers of abstraction are fundamental to software. Some layers are defined through programming models, e.g., machine language, assembly language, 3GLs, JSP. Others are defined through a combination of tools and frameworks, e.g., MFC and Visual Studio on top of C++. There is a limit to how high we can raise a level of abstraction through tools and frameworks alone. At some point, a new programming model is the best way forward.
Here are some examples: CASE tools on top of 3GLs never achieved the success of 4GLs; tools and frameworks for Web application development, from CGI + your favorite language to WebObjects to HAHT, were demolished in the market by page-based Web application development models such as ColdFusion, PHP, JSP and ASP.
What we have seen time and time again is that it is often better to come up with a new programming model than to keep pushing an existing model forward by throwing ever more advanced tools and sophisticated frameworks on top. Think of a building. Programming models are the floors. Tools and frameworks are the walls. To build a tall building you need to strike a balance between the number of floors and the height of walls. Beyond a certain point, an extra foot of room height adds very little to the quality of a room but increases the cost of the building substantially.
When should one create a new programming model as opposed to go with a framework and/or tool leverage? What is a programming model anyway? Tough questions, both of them… The first is impossible to answer perfectly or quickly. The second question is a little easier because you can often recognize a new programming model when you see it. One key observation is that you don't necessarily need a new programming language, as JSP and ASP demonstrate. Sometimes, it is sufficient to create a domain-specific template or wrapper into which existing programming models fit. Also, new programming models may come with their own set of frameworks and tools.
I have some first-hand experience creating new programming models. At Allaire we defined the page-based Web application development model with ColdFusion and later helped the Java community get its act together with JSP and tag libraries. Later at Macromedia, we defined the model for building rich Internet applications (RIAs) with Flash and Flex, something Microsoft will try to catch up to with Avalon in Longhorn (now Windows Vista). In between, we did a lot of work on SOA programming models, though with the burst of the tech bubble we decided not to ship this as an independent product but instead contributed the ideas to Apache and to existing products internally.
Here are some thoughts on two programming models that I hope we can significantly improve in the next few years.
Rich Internet Applications (RIAs)
You have to admit, we did take a step back in usability with the Web. We can build easily accessible applications quickly, but wouldn't it be nice if we didn't have to go through 10 screens to make an airline reservation?
What we need are applications that have the deployment characteristics of browser-based applications but have equivalent power and more interactivity than desktop applications. That's what RIAs are all about. They bring complexity on two levels. First, computing happens on both the client and the server over a potentially unreliable WAN. Second, they aim to deliver highly interactive user experiences (UEs). Don't blow that second requirement off. Research clearly shows that users respond better to these types of interfaces. Who wants to use old-style Web maps when you can go with Google maps or the Flash-based AbMap?
A good RIA programming model will protect developers from the details of location, i.e., the tasks associated with synchronizing data shared between the front- and back-end, invoking back-end services, dealing with online/offline operation, etc. It will also have an advanced rendering engine, preferably one that is cross-platform and device independent, and a presentation model that hides much of the hassle of resolution, screen orientation and internationalization. I'm very biased in making this claim but the only commercially sound approach to RIAs nowadays is with Macromedia Flash and, better, with Flash and Flex together. Microsoft Avalon is the closest competing technology. It has yet to ship. AJAX, contrary to what many believe, has been around since at least 1998 but didn't have a cool acronym. AJAX + DHTML offer an alternative but there has been little success moving from specific cool apps to a generalized programming model. Java doesn't cut it, primarily for UE reasons. There is plenty of room for improvement.
Don't forget mobile applications. More than PC-based applications, they really need a makeover and there are a lot of dollars at stake. Microbrowsers are trying to find ways to bring AJAX + DHTM ± WAP to devices. Java has deep market penetration but poor UE. Brew has the best device integration but is similar to Java on the UE front. Flash Lite is gaining traction here because of the great UE it enables.
Composite Applications
There is no question about it - you can build composite applications using Java, .NET or any other programming language for that matter, just as you can build Web apps using C++ and write admin scripts in Cobol. Why would you, though?
One of the cornerstones of SOA is that services can be implemented using anything. That's great but traditional approaches for writing the glue code between services leave a lot to be desired. What we need are deeper and more declarative mechanisms for putting services together. BPEL and the WS-* standards are both too much and not enough. Do this: print all the specs and stack them together. Now, think about how much ad hoc work you had to do to build, deploy and operate your last composite app. Do you feel comfortable with where the industry is going?
Building, deploying and operating composite applications requires dealing with issues such as policy definition and enforcement, service evolution/versioning, system/deployment architectures and post-deployment management and monitoring. This goes into what traditionally has been considered to be the IT sphere of influence, often a taboo area for development. However, I deeply believe that a winning programming model has to begin to address these issues. Just consider some of the complexities. How do you maintain applications over time as services evolve? How do you debug them? When something doesn't work right in a production application, how do you track down the root cause? If you don't address these issues during the architecture and design phases you're in for pain down the road.
Talk like this takes us into the realm of utility computing, whatever that means (definitions still vary). Perhaps this is what's necessary to make building, testing, deploying and operating composite applications easy. There is plenty of innovation in this space. Unfortunately, much of it is in the form of add-on products as opposed to a comprehensive programming model-driven approach to the problem. This is bad news for customers who run the risk of experiencing the dubious pleasures of vendor lock-in.
My personal wish list for innovative programming models is longer, for example, covering ultra-scalable applications that run on large clusters (>= 32 nodes). I even think that we can do a lot better with the decade-old Web application model. Just look at some of the work going on with Ruby on Rails. As both a technologist and an investor I'm excited about the future.
|David Ryan 08/12/05 07:48:08 PM EDT
Nice article. I've linked to some articles which you might find interesting. It includes a paper I prepared on creating evolvable programming languages encoded in a binary format called Argot. The language is still in early development, but I strongly believe that solutions similar to it is where future languages need to move.
|grumpynerd 08/11/05 02:10:24 PM EDT
I won't discount the importance of Ajax and "RIAs" as a deployment model -- even as a kind of domain within in which system architectures could be grouped. But these aren't new programming models. We use the same old programming models to build new kinds of apps.
Examples of Programming Models:
|Mark Kroehler 08/11/05 02:08:19 PM EDT
RIA (Rich Internet Applications) is a marketing term Macromedia (Flash, Cold Fusion) conjured up as a way to get people looking at their development products. Even googling on the term only points you back to one vendor. Not exactly what I would call a model...
|boatboy 08/11/05 08:59:41 AM EDT
Avalon != Ajax. Avalon will be a system for declaratively defining a rich ui. The design will presumably allow for what is called a RIA here, but isn't limited to that. More analogous is Microsoft's 'Atlas' - which will probably be released much sooner, and be more cross-platform.
|swamii 08/11/05 08:22:11 AM EDT
>>> Microsoft will try to catch up to with
Late != unsuccessful. It matters little when Microsoft controls the browser and the operating system. They could start deploying RIAs (Avalon web apps) tomorrow and have broad support for it in the browser and OS if they wanted.
One thing's for sure: I have yet to see a web UI framework look as good as Avalon web apps. Aeroglass over the web looks great. I wonder how well it will be accepted by the public.
|owlstead 08/11/05 08:19:02 AM EDT
Better runtime environments and IDE's will be more important than any programming language. The way Java or .NET handle components should be an eye opener. What you want is code you can control, what does what you expect it to do.
On the runtime part:
On the IDE part:
I see a mayor shift towards runtime technologies coming up ahead. I can see more flexibility coming up in how programs are run and objects are used. Compilers are already running in the background to use Java both as script and as compile time language, for instance. Java may be to strict on some issues however.
For programs, components, OO and the imperative model will probably be here to stay. Other languages will be used for their respective domains, but the language wars seem to be over for now (as each programming language looks more and more like its siblings). Lets focus on the runtime and supportive technologies. And getting the things running reliably, for crying out loud.
I don't think using multiple languages that try to accomplish the same thing is such a good idea (see .NET C++, C#, VB7 and J#). You end up learning all of them (see MSDN). Mixing with languages that use other programming paradigms could be usefull though.
|gravyface 08/11/05 08:17:43 AM EDT
ColdFusion got it right a long time ago. Sure, its a commercial platform, but being able to leverage C/C++, Java, and .NET and of course AJAX and Flash through simple, tag-based markup, really speeds things up. It can run on any major platform too.
|Jean-Luc Fontaine 08/11/05 03:08:50 AM EDT
I am amazed at the complexity level that you are writing about, when there has been thin clients (X Windows, ...) for a long time, and now NX which has the greatest of potentials. Investing in the network instead of redeveloping your applications is so much more efficient and cost effective!
|Jeremy Pereira 08/10/05 05:39:37 PM EDT
Your web site truly sucks. I'm sure the story is great, but the audio multimedia which is on by default just makes me want to hit the back button straight away. All the animated adverts distract from the content too.
PS the e-mail address is a real one in spite of the gratuitously insulting user name :)
|Colonel Panic 08/10/05 05:18:08 PM EDT
I guess when I think of 'models of programming' I think about things like Object Oriented or Functional programming categories. This article seems to confuse the idea of 'models of programming' with actual types of applications: desktop vs. Web apps or perhaps a fusion of the two. Now one could program either a desktop or web app (or an RIA) using either an Object-Oriented approach, declarative, functional or even a combination of them. Let's not confuse the application with the programming model (or perhaps programming metaphor would work here?)
If the question is what will the next model of programming be (beyond the current reigning Object Oriented model) then the answer could probably lie in the direction of Aspect Oriented Programming. RIA's may be implemented usian an AOP approach, but I don't think it's right to say that RIA's will be the new programming model. RIA's may be the new application model.
|Sv-Manowar 08/10/05 05:14:16 PM EDT
The trend towards RIA's/webapps has traditionally been restricted to those in a database centric role, but with the increasing use of AJAX and the like, the webapp is pushing further into the desktop application space. Obviously the centralization and server-side nature of the applications helps deployment and maintainance, but developers are basically trading the platform of an operating system for the platform of a web browser, with all the intricacies and compatibility issues that follow both.
Webapps are a good direction to take for data access apps, but where the line becomes less clear cut and extreme amounts of javascript/dhtml are needed to achieve behaviours, the apps can become somewhat clunky and difficult to use. To me, it's essential that the designers of today's webapps realise the limitations of what they're working with and when to use traditional desktop apps.
|ThinkTiM 08/10/05 04:48:50 PM EDT
RIA is not a programming model. RIA is more of a type of architectural pattern...it is definately not a programming model like modular programming, object oriented programming, etc... Although I guess "programming model" could mean just about anything.
The author of the article should not have mixed something very specific ("framework") with something very general ("programming model").
|TeknoHog 08/10/05 04:46:34 PM EDT
>>> What we need is a parallel programming
These have been around for ages, but mainly for scientific computing. For example Fortran 90 and later versions, but there are also variants of C++ and others. Usually they take advantage of obvious parallelity in the data, for example matrix multiplication, and make the processors handle the separate bits without bothering the programmer with threads etc. It's also the kind of computation that takes place in graphics cards with their multiple pipelines.
I don't see any easy way to do the same for general programming. For example, separate threads for user interface and the actual processing is a good idea, but a very high-level one, not the kind of thing that would be done automatically by a compiler.
I hope that the existing parallel programming languages would be more widely used for the computationally intensive parts. It seems so silly that home computers have focused on pushing single processor performance for all this time, while 'real computer science' has been reaping the benefits of parallel processing for years.
|lheal 08/10/05 04:44:56 PM EDT
I'm pretty sure it will never be the rage, but I like Programming Language Oriented Programming for difficult problems that don't seem doable in C/++ or something similar.
Most programs can be written practally in most languages, since all you really need is "if", "decrement" and "goto". Some problems aren't a good fit for a given language. That's why there's more than one.
Any program that breaks its problem into chunks is in effect creating its own mini-language. Whether you call it Abstact Data Typing or Object Orientation or Functional Programming or even Top Down Design, what it comes down to is dividing the problem into manageable chunks and working with those chunks until done.
I wish all CS students were taught from day one, or maybe day fifteen, how to create their own programming language. Usually you have to take a compilers course to get that.
Creating a new language is not that hard. It gets a bad rap because people think they have to write a backend for a given architecture, but writing the backend to generate C++ or some other HLL is just as good, since they've already done the heavy lifting and you can automate the compile train with your favorite maker.
|an0n 08/10/05 04:41:30 PM EDT
The best programming models are the ones from the past, as usual. Lisp, Forth, these languages created a community of best-practices that we are all reinventing all over again.
Ruby on Rails is great, not because it's something NEW, but because it wraps up all these best practices with a friendly face.
Creating simple domain-specific languages is how talented programmers do things already, with powerful languages like Lisp. However languages like PHP, Python, Java, TOOK AWAY this ability because language designers thought it was "unnecessary" or "too complicated" for the average programmer.
Along comes Ruby, which gives you back some of that power. And a talented programmer took it and "did the right thing" by creating a tight domain-specific language. Now everybody is so excited. Great, whatever makes programs simpler and more expressive is fine by me.
But can we please stop talking about the "next" great thing, when hardly anybody remembers the great things from the past?
If there's any problem in this industry, it's that programmers have ZERO knowledge of fundamentals. Instead of standing on the shoulders of giants, they constantly re-invent wheels.
|moultano 08/10/05 04:21:50 PM EDT
Functional programming is awesome, and I'm thoroughly convinced that it will take over just about everything its feasible for it to take over. There is nothing like the feeling of writing a program, having it type check, and not having to test it because you can look at the code and tell that it proves its own correctness.
|charlie 08/10/05 03:05:48 PM EDT
The current generation of SOAs, based on W3C web standards, are client-server centric with a reliance on domain name based URLs. This fails for many obvious reasons.
The next gen solves this by working outside of the box and introducing a disruptive technology based on a new model that gives location independence, transport independence, and even application independence (ie., reuse existing GUI-based applications without need to retool).
|UE-boy 08/06/05 04:41:33 AM EDT
>>>>rich Internet applications (RIAs) ... something Microsoft will try to catch up to with Avalon in Longhorn (now Windows Vista).
But they are 2 years behind surely? Vista can't become the de facto standard for desktop apps, it's too late. Flash 8 has stolen its thunder - Avalon as the new UI for Windows...I just don't believe it any more.
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text:
Published: 2004/12/01
Bockman's Euphio
Bockman's Euphio doesn't rest easy…
What else can be said of a group that describes itself as follows…
_'Bockman's Euphio is a four piece band inspired to recreate the effects
of Dr. Bockman's invention in the short story 'The Euphio Question'
by Kurt Vonnegut. In the story, Dr. Bockman's invention utilized what
is known as Bockman's Euphoria, a mysterious void in space that gave
off powerful radio signals. When amplified and retransmitted , those
signals gave off incomparable, continuous happiness.'_
Indeed, along with its recently-released concept album about finding its own musical direction, a stint as the Hedwig and the Angry Inch band and the group's alter ego as Joe Stickley's Blue Print, the Missouri-based group also recently decided to re-orient itself a bit towards what guitarist Sean Canan describes as 'progressive pop. ' *Let's start off by talking about your latest disc. _ gorjus: fighting bockman's euphio_ is a concept album, it relates a narrative. *
SC- As with everything we do, the overall name of the record is a bit confusing and requires a long description. fighting Bockman's Euphio basically is us struggling with our old self, our old sound. In the story Dr. Bockman produces the hypnotic sound that puts people into a trance and no matter what they give into it. Well, we're fighting against our old sound but at the same time it overwhelms us in the end. *In terms of that struggle to what extent is that second disc representative of what you're doing now? *
SC- We've written almost an album's worth since gorjus came out and we're looking to enter the studio again in the early part of January. We looked at gorjus as the attention-getting album. That was a very transitional album which has hints of the old sound and hints of the new direction we're going in. There are songs on gorjus we're not playing in our live set anymore either. We have 10-12 new songs and we're trying to incorporate them into our show.
The vision that we've come to accept is we've become more melodic and song-oriented. In the past a lot of the songs we were writing were based around the solo. The keyboard solo or guitar solo became the centerpiece of the song. But in the past two years we've gotten away from that where we're lucky to have a piano or guitar solo in a set. We've come to feel that when you focus on solos all you prove is you can play and it's nothing that somebody's going to leave with, they're not going to wake up with a melody that they're going to sing the next day. *So how have you struck that balance between your older material and the newer songs? *
SC- We still do play a couple of the older songs because we've had people who supported us for a long time and some of those songs were staples of our live show and we like to include them so as not to alienate those people. It's been a natural thing for us in that with each additional song we write another is dropped off the setlist.
We're still at a stage where we're turning on new listeners which is more important than satisfying those people who have seen us fifteen times. We're really just trying to play our A material and win over new ears. I guess to sum it up, the approach we're going for to describe our music in as short a way as possible is progressive pop. Not that we want to break any of our ties with the jamband scene and the live audience which is very important to us. That audience is open and they're good listeners. *How would you characterize the advantages and challenges of being based in the Midwest? *
SC- There are pros and cons. It has a pretty laid-back mentality and people for the most part aren't motivated to seek out new things whether it be any kind of art or music so it's a little hard to motivate them to get out to see shows or buy records. The avenues for people to discover new things outside the internet are limited in the Midwest. People in Chicago or St. Louis are a bit more motivated but I think in the East you have all those big cities right there crammed in together and I think people are more aware of what's going on, there's more to choose from, more thrown in your face all the time.
Geographically we're right in the middle of the country on I-70. So we're in a good spot as far as traveling the county goes. Also as far as financially, it's pretty inexpensive to live in the Midwest. Plus we love going out for a week or two and then coming back to our small town environment. It's nice coming back on a Sunday or Monday and going into a copy shop and your guy knows just what you want. *Earlier this year Bockman's Euphio was the featured band in a local production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. How did that come about? *
SC- It was basically a community theater project and the music director was an old friend of ours. He came to us six months before they were planning to do this and he said they were auditioning bands and we would fit the bill perfectly. It turns out we had just watched Hedwig a few weeks before and we were big fans.
We did it in February and we rehearsed about 4 months, it was pretty hard core. We were on stage in full costume. They did it in an old theater in town, the Missouri Theater. *Did that experience impact on your own music at all? *
SC- The director made us bring out our stage presence a lot and I think its had a positive impact on our stage show. I think now we're more aware of the audience. It was a highlight of what the band has accomplished over the past few years for sure.
We still play Hedwig material during out set because it can't let go of it, we spent so much time with these songs they became part of who we are as a band. We're still play them, every other show we're playing something from Hedwig. *What sort of reaction do you get? *
SC- It depends. When we play in an urban setting when people are more aware of what Hedwig is and we get a positive response. Sometimes we get odd feedback- we'll play in a small town in Missouri singing this song about a transvestite and we'll say to ourselves that probably nobody in that bar has ever played a song about a transvestite. *Switching topics, the four of you in Bockman's Euphio also have a second project in Joe Stickley's Blue Print, can you talk a bit about that? *
SC- That's something we're a passionate about. Joe Stickley is a songwriter from St. Louis, a childhood friend of our bass player, Will. I lived across the street from him and he cut this demo and handed to me and I said, "Who's that singing?" because he's pretty shy. The music is very Midwestern. It's kind of progressive folk but he grew up playing in punk bands so there's an edge to it. It's a chance to step back and out of the spotlight but at the same time play music we're passionate about. It's been a positive thing for us. We think of it as an alter ego rather than our side project. *In closing, you mention you've been at this a few years, talk a bit about your development as a band. With an eye towards helping other groups, can you relate some of the significant decisions you've made and the lessons you've taken from them. *
SC- Probably the most significant decision we made was to move in together and I encourage up-and-coming bands to do the same thing. You can stay on top of each other and have a collective vision rather than one of two guys running the show and getting everyone together. It really has made an enormous impact on our lives and our band.
We've been an independent project from the get go and we've been doing it on our own for many years. It's been a blessing and a curse. The blessing is we've had complete control of our direction and every decision we've made good or bad is right back to us, we're directly responsible for our mistakes which I think is important for bands to go through, the more you learn on your own I think the better off you are since you understand everything that goes into making a band work.
It's kind of hurt us though because if I'm calling venue to book a show, it's like, "Who is this guy booking his own band?" I try not to let them know that since they kind of write you off as an amateur band and that has hurt us. I also can't get us the guarantees or the hospitality that a booking agent with longstanding relationship with a venue can.
We're definitely still in the beginning phases of this band and we talk about that all the time. Sometimes we have a string of bad shows and we get down and somebody has to remind us that we're just getting started with this thing. We just signed with a booking agent and things are just starting to get professional.


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King Fong Chinese is an ok place! The serive is ok. If it was upto me I will not make any effort to go there for chinese food.
there pretty good
King Fong Chinese Restaurant is located at 785 Somerset St, Somerset, NJ. This business specializes in Chinese Restaurants.


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339 E 57th Avenue, Vancouver MLS®: R2261343
Beautiful and well kept family home in South Vancouver area. Fully renovated kitchen, new front entrance and basement doors, new tiles, brand new hot water tank, newer gas furnace, newer wiring in basement, newer roof (2013). Updated upper bathroom. 2 bedrooms upstairs and 2 bedroom suite downstairs with separate entrance. Professional landscaping front and back. Move in ready and centrally located with all kinds of shops, transit and schools.
Taxes (2017): $4,716.42
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