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MIAMI, FLORIDA -- EMPLOYEE INJURED AND BROKE AFTER NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINES (NCL) ACCIDENT. My opinion is as follows. This information is provided for informational purposes only, and is based on my personal experience and knowledge. I feel the following: I was recently an employee on a Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) ship, and was badly injured due to their clear negligence. They knew about, and management commented on the dangerous conditions multiple times, but did nothing to fix them. Their ship's two doctors subsequently misdiagnosed me, as did the shore side doctor referred by NCL, when I insisted upon another opinion.
They all treated me poorly and I feel without care for my well-being. The ship's doctors told me to "stop bothering them" and "stop returning (to the medical center)--there's nothing we can do for you!" Thus, my injuries were greatly worsened because of their incompetence. I now have serious injuries, because of the accident and their subsequent misdiagnosis and lack of care and support. I may end up with lifelong medical problems.
The ship's "security" staff immediately attempted to manipulate and intimidate me. No concern was shown regarding my care, improving conditions, or taking this episode to heart. They pressured me, and immediately started circulating lies and attempting to protect themselves legally, rather than concerning themselves with my well-being.
Because of their misdiagnosis of my injuries as insignificant, rather than the serious conditions that actually existed, I returned to the country I had been visiting, where the level of care I needed is hard to find. If I had known the truth about my injuries, I would have returned to the USA, where I have a known doctor, medical insurance, trusted friends, and family. Upon my realizing the true extent of my injuries, NCL refused in writing to send me to the USA for treatment, leaving me essentially stranded in another country, where good care is harder to find, where I do not have medical insurance, and where I have no close support nor family.
NCL had not reimbursed a cent, so that I was practically without funds to pursue care in that country either. I have received nothing but excuses and runarounds. The disrespect exhibited by this company in their effort to avoid payment has been disgraceful. I am now injured, have been unable to work for over half a year, and am broke. I can't afford medical care at this point, nor rent or food, if not for the kindness of my family. I have been forced to borrow to get by, putting further pressure on my family. NCL has destroyed me financially.
To date, NCL has not reimbursed a cent of my medical and associated bills, now $20,000, despite initial promises to the contrary (which I knew were lies, but the claims representative acted so indignant when I questioned her, I gave them a shot to prove themselves, and this is what I have received--just as I anticipated). I have precisely documented and submitted all expenditures, and have jumped through every hoop practical, and still they have failed to do as initially promised. I am broke, and NCL's disposition has caused additional undue stress on myself and my family. I resent it completely.
Here's an example of NCL's disposition: I could not get out of bed for over a month, let alone leave the house for over two months, and still NCL refused to let me hire an assistant for $5/hour (a good local wage) to help me to the restroom and shower, to prepare or bring food, tend to laundry or cleaning, or even look in on me, or keep me company a bit. Basic human needs that I was unable to provide for myself! I was completely alone in a foreign country, prone in bed, and I later developed a life threatening condition because of this injury, and they would not approve some reasonable assistance!
"Well, we don't usually do that." the claims representative told me on the phone. "Maybe if you get a doctor's note." So, I did get a doctor's note saying it was necessary, and then NCL never responded. And even though these bills amounted to less than 1/10th of what they would have been in the USA (talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth!), nearly a year later, NCL has failed reimburse anything at all!
Another of the many examples of NCL's lowly attempts to avoid payment is as follows: the claims representative told me she wanted all receipts (probably over 400 at this point), including doctor's receipts and reports, assistants receipts, miscellaneous items, etc., translated from Spanish to English. That is, they wanted me to fish around in this foreign country, when I'm not even mobile, where such things are not listed on the internet, trying to find a certified translator (who they will probably later say was not qualified), and pay for that too.
I even emailed NCL's claims representatives, including their agent in the country I'm in, asking for a referral for a translator and they failed to respond. Remember, NCL is a multi-million (billion?) dollar company headquartered in Miami! And yet they assert the onus is on me to try to secure these translations. Incredible. Does that seem fair and equitable? Do they really have no one in their Miami headquarters that speaks Spanish?! What?!
The lack of dignity exhibited by NCL in this case has been, in my opinion, disgraceful. Workers should know that NCL has arbitration clauses in their contracts, which you are forced to sign upon arrival on ship so that you really have little choice at that point, other than going home again (and I doubt they would pay for that, either). Thus, you are signing away most of your rights if you are employed by them, which puts you in a unenviable position should something happen (case in point).
These clauses protect NCL from being truly accountable in case of injury onboard, so if you have an accident, they will most likely never be held fully accountable, and you most likely will never receive care or compensation as you deserve. These clauses all but force arbitration, and all but prevent jury trials, where the public would see the abuses of this company and compensate people accordingly, and provide much needed publicity to keep the actions of NCL and the industry in the public eye.
As most NCL ships sail under a Bahamian flag, they are not bound by US law-- a clever way to get away with the disgraces I am here citing. The effects of this are considerable, not only in this instance of course, but with the majority of workers, including Filipino and other minority workers who sleep 8-to-a-cabin and work long hours.
Consider this greatly before sailing with them for recreation or employment! If something happens, it is possible you may find yourself in the position I am now in. I was a completely committed worker, and NCL has treated me terribly, exhibiting negligence, reckless disregard for my care and well-being, and utter disregard for their responsibility. They should be ashamed, but they do not seem to be-- it seems this is just how they do business.
I ask that you draw your own conclusions about this company and their care, and book your vacation or work accordingly. You must decide if this is a company you wish to support. My experience with them has been awful. I doubt my condition is unique, and I encourage those with similar experiences to post here and contact me. I also encourage members of the media to post here and contact me so that I may further publicly share my experience.
Please know that the cruise industry and NCL quell media for their purpose. Do not be mislead by questionable comments that may here follow. I believe NCL has employees who scan these sites and remove true commentary which is not in their favor, lest the truth be known. As well, I believe their employees make comments that make these types of terrible incidents seem the fault of the victim. I read comments in the vein of, "Well, many big corporations are unfair and unjust," or, "your mistake was..." If those are real posts, for gosh sake, what kind of standard is being set?
What are you willing to accept and excuse? Reasonable and sincere people know differently, so not be fooled-- see through this subterfuge. Place the responsibility where it belongs: squarely in the hands of NCL. If you see postings following this that make no sense to you, know by whom such outrageous comments are generally made. Seek the truth and make your decisions accordingly-- that is all I ask. The cruise industry badly needs greater oversight and enforcement.
Ask yourself if this is the type of company you wish to support. Thank you for considering this opinion when making your decisions of whom to travel or work with. It is my feeling that, because of what I have experienced with NCL before, during, and after this incident, those who are in agreement should boycott Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL). A denial of financial support is all that may affect them, it's only fair... It is what they have done to me. Thank you for your support.
MIAMI, FLORIDA -- I feel the following-- this is my opinion, only: Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) is an unfair company to work for or to sail with. Do not give your money or self to this unjust corporation. If you step foot on one of their ships, know that you are supporting a company that in my experience has little regard for its employees or passengers. They care about one thing, and one thing only: their profit margin. They will not concern themselves with your safety or care. The entire cruise industry badly needs better oversight, and NCL painfully demonstrates this.
Many of NCL's employees relay that they are taken advantage of. The vast majority are from the Philippines, are horribly underpaid and overworked, and are forced to live approximately 8 to a cabin, meaning they get very little sleep. These bottom floors flood with toilet water containing feces, as there are frequently severe plumbing problems on these bottom levels.
They work demanding jobs in the bowels of the ship lacking sleep, for long shifts, accidents waiting to happen, without representation. And rest assured, when an accident occurs, NCL will do anything to avoid paying a claim-- it is all about the money, not concern for their passengers or crew. They make money hand-over-fist, but will not devote the proceeds to protecting their crew or passengers.
Allow me to relay an incident, and I believe it is not unique. A worker, let's call them "worker x", was on one of the NCL ships. They were performing their duties and were injured due to negligent conditions. NCL's management knew about these conditions long beforehand, but did nothing to repair them. They badly injured themselves, but were misdiagnosed by the ship's doctors as having minimal injuries! So, they kept them on the ship, insisted they work, and all the while they had serious injuries that were worsening.
NCL's response was immediately to deny responsibility, and to disrespect and intimidate them. They had no concern for their well-being or care; they only wanted to cover themselves legally, and did all they could to cover-up and minimize the situation. The security staff immediately manipulated and intimidated them. It was a disgusting and shameful response.
A week later, worker x's pain was so excruciating, they insisted they be sent home for care. Upon their return, they went to their own doctor, who found serious injuries that were not diagnosed by the ship's doctors, who had basically told worker x to stop bothering them. These injuries were all made worse by the delay in proper care. NCL delayed months to reimburse their medical bills, so they were broke, and without medical care.
So, worker x was injured because of NCL's negligence and was unable to work for months, broke from the medical costs and could no longer afford proper medical care, and NCL only denied responsibility and delayed support. Their claims office did nothing but toy with them and give them the runaround despite their promises to the contrary.
I would be highly skeptical of anything NCL claims! I understand the captain himself mocked worker x when they brought the dangerous conditions to his attention. So, think about that: the captain himself expresses apathy and lack of concern for safety and conditions. I wonder what that translates into as a whole for the safety of passengers and employees. Workers should know that NCL has arbitration clauses in their contracts, which you are forced to sign upon arrival on ship so that you really have little choice at that point.
These clauses protect NCL from being truly accountable in case of injury onboard, so if you have an accident, they will most likely never be held fully accountable, and you most likely will never receive care or compensation as you deserve. These clauses all but prevent jury trials, where the public would see the abuses of this company and compensate people accordingly, and provide much needed publicity to keep the actions of this company in the public eye.
I personally would not trust being on a NCL vessel. I feel their medical staff is ill-trained, their security staff is primarily there to manipulate, intimidate, and protect the interests of the company, and the management seemingly has no decency. From my experience, I feel you are in the worst of hands with NCL. In my opinion, NCL is an example of an American company subjugating and manipulating passengers and crew for their financial gain. They should be ashamed, but are not.
And yes, they are an American company-- they have nothing to do with Norway and they fly a flag of the bahamas in order to circumvent American law which would provide better working conditions and protection for employees. Employees are made to sign a contract with an arbitration clause once they are aboard (so they have no choice at that point), so that legally NCL is protected from the multitude of enormous lawsuits they may otherwise face.
As a side note, it is my understanding (though I am not entirely clear on the matter) that NCL had to be legally forced to comply with the Americans with disabilities act-- they would not do so voluntarily. They would not of their own accord make travel for their disabled passengers more comfortable because it would have cost them money. Kindly consider that fact as an example of their apathy and lack of respect. I feel you should choose any other line on the seas if you choose to cruise, and you will be in better hands.
The entire cruise industry badly needs better oversight, and NCL painfully exemplifies this. Affect this company legally and fairly and in the only spot they may care: in their pocketbooks! Do not support this company. Stand up for the little person. In this case, everyone: passengers, crew, the individual. Stand up and say enough! I feel you should not sail with NCL as a passenger or crew, and that you should boycott Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL)!
I´m sure NCL will have this post removed quickly, lest the truth be known. The cruise industry quells the media to their purpose. Those disagreeing with this post certainly have that right, but kindly don´t base such on your love of cruising, or lack of knowledge of the deep-seated conditions inherent in this company. Seek the truth, and make your decisions accordingly- that is all I ask.
MIAMI, FLORIDA -- My wife, adult son and I recently sailed on a 7 day Western Mediterranean Cruise. We reserved a suite so that the three of us could share the same cabin. Turns out it was a "penthouse suite" and was fabulous. We may never travel in a "mini suite" again! We loved the service and the option of eating where ever we liked. On "dress up night" our concierge seated us in the main dining room at a table with a wonderful view.
Everything was fabulous (other than the food, which was good). All of our excursions were also wonderful and provided us with a panoramic view without showing too much or too little. We visited Malta, Sorrento, Pompeii, Pizza, Florence, Rome, the Vatican, and Cannes. A fabulous introduction to Europe! The Italian people were wonderful and seemed happy to meet us. We loved learning to communicate. One guide told us that since the Euro has risen, relative to the dollar, Americans have stopped traveling to Italy and they want us to come back! Tourism is 40% of the Italian economy, she informed us.
However, it cost me $993 for 615.00 Euros and a Euro buys in Italy what a dollar buys in the US. Also, it seemed like cab rides all cost 150 Euros. So, the scary part: Our excursion to Pisa and Florence was cancelled so we went ashore in Livorno and made a deal with a local cab driver ** to pay 150 Euros for a trip to Pisa and Florence, along with a Spanish family. We visited Pisa in the morning and Florence in the afternoon. We were told to watch for "pickpockets" on our excursions, especially in Rome and Florence, so we traveled only with Euros and our passports... no credit cards (never do this).
That day, three days from the end of our cruise, I was coming down with whatever illness it seemed everyone on the plane and ship had, and was not feeling well. When we arrived in Florence, we made arrangements to meet the cab driver at 4:30 PM so we would have plenty of time to get back to the ship (about 55 miles away) before it sailed at 7 PM. Of course, I felt sick and was not paying attention. I figured my wife and son (age 28) were, so I just tagged along.
About 4 PM my wife suggested that we head back to the cab, after a joyful day of sightseeing (no pickpockets attacked us but my son and I enjoyed bumping into each other saying loudly, "Scuzi!" and going for the pocket). But something happened. No one got directions to the cab, or even got his phone number (we had no cell phones... another mistake... take one, so we thought we had no use for his number) but we all memorized the landmarks and stores. Turns out there were several of those stores and all the landmarks looked the same.
After taking turns leading the way, one of us had the idea to hail a cab to take us to our cab. We did not have the address but did have a picture of a nearby pizza place and remembered the landmarks. Unfortunately, he did not speak English, spent 15 minutes driving around, charged us 5 Euros and kicked us out of his cab. Now we were desperate and knew we had to get back to the port. We hailed another cab and she agreed to take us to the port for 150 Euros. So, off we went.
I was thinking at that point that we could not possibly make it... but maybe we could. I couldn't conceive of the notion that we might not make it. Florence was very busy that day. It took a half-hour just to get out of town. Then the highway to Livorno was crowded with travelers and we had to slow down twice for roadwork. To top it off, our cab driver would not go over the speed limit.
Long story short, we arrived at the port 10 minutes after our ship sailed. Fortunately, I was sick and could not muster the emotions to express. However, my wife and son could, and did. Fortunately, again, our first cab driver met us at the port, upset that we had missed him and might be blaming him for leaving. We assured him we did not and explained what happened. I paid the other driver her 150 Euros and she left.
** explained that he had waited and that the Spanish family became very upset and paid him an extra 50 Euros to get them to the ship. He told us that he did 120 kilometers an hour just to get back to the ship on time. ** then suggested that we take the train to Ventimiglia and then get a cab from there to Cannes. He told us that the train ended at Ventimiglia, probably to insure that I had the money to pay him some of the 150 Euros I had agreed to pay him.
** basically "saved" us, at that point. He drove us to the train station, bought us 3 tickets to Ventimiglia, with 2 connections. I paid him 75 Euros and told him I would mail the rest when I returned home. The first leg of our trip was on an "express" train and we all enjoyed the trip.. Oh to have this kind of train in the US. The train was filled with Italians, all dressed for the cooler weather, and their baggage, and us, in our shorts and no luggage. Did we look like stranded tourists?
We arrived at our first connection station and soon learned that our next (6 minute) train ride would be a half-hour late. Then we knew we were in trouble. We arrived at the next station, in Genoa, Italy, at 10:15 PM. The station had closed at 10:00 and all the employees were gone and the bathrooms were locked. There were no doors on the station, which was a large station, and there were 5 metal chairs bolted to the floor. We sat down and pondered what to do. We had 3.65 Euros.
My son and I tried to work the pay phone. We did not know Italian, however, so that was futile. We noticed a "Police" window over in a corner of the station. It turned out to be a 3 man station, there to protect the train station and, I assume, passengers. I thought, "Why do they need a police station here?" By now, my wife and son were panicked and I was sick. We decided we needed to try to get help from the police so went to the window.
Fortunately, one of them spoke English well. When we explained our plight, he invited us in and helped us problem-solve. We decided to call our ship! The number was on our stateroom cards. We called but there was no operator and we could not get through. The automatic answerer told us to call the 800 number in Miami. Hope! It was only 4:30 in Miami. Surely, they would know what to do! We called the number and my wife got someone right away. She told them our plight and asked what to do. The woman she was talking to told her there was nothing they could do!
"Send one of their contracted cabs to pick us up and drive us to Cannes?" "No." "Take us to a hotel and on our way in the morning?" "No." "At our expense?" We were "penthouse suite" passengers, after all. "No." After "checking with her supervisor" whom she did not let us speak with, she told us, "Sorry" and wished us good luck. My wife then told her, "Sorry to you too, since we will never use your cruise line again."
There was little satisfaction in that. Now, what to do. The policeman suggested that we wait for the next train, which would arrive at 5:23 AM. It was now 11:00 PM. He told us, "Don't wander far from the (police) station. We don't know what could happen out there." Great! We asked them if we could wait for morning in the police station. They told us no, there are only 3 of them and they had to go out on "patrol" during the night.
Another policeman suggested we wait until the station opened at 8:00 AM to have our tickets updated. However, we had no money and they might want more money to update the tickets so the first policeman suggested we get on the train and "take your chances." Wonderful. My wife asked him to write his suggestion on paper and provide his identifying information, which he graciously, if not reluctantly, did. He was truly empathizing with us and provided the information, even though he did not want to.
We returned to the metal chairs and began waiting. My son was frustrated and angry, pacing. My wife was scared. I was numb. I wondered what would have happened if we were like many who take cruises, sick and frail? As it was, I am a post bypass patient and did not have access to my medication. However, aside from the flu, I was healthy. So, we waited.
Soon, the station began to fill with homeless people. There were only a few stranded train passengers. A homeless woman arrived, looked angrily at us (telling us by her body language that we were sitting in her bed). She soon threw her newspaper padding down on a seat next to my son and crashed into the chair, shaking the foundation. Shortly, my son got up to pace. I warned him that he might not get his seat back. He didn't care.
Sometime later, my wife got up to pace. I warned her not to leave her seat. She didn't care, either. Soon thereafter, a homeless woman took her seat. When my wife returned, she began yelling at the homeless woman that she was in her seat, and yelling at me, why did I let this woman take her seat! I interceded and asked her to calm down.
What would yelling at this homeless person get her, I thought? A knife in the stomach? My wife stormed out into more danger, out by the tracks, filled with homeless men resting and sleeping. I followed her out and asked her to come back in. She did, and we spent the rest of the night sitting on the steps in front of the police station, while my son angrily paced (and maybe kept any threats at a distance). The night turned out uneventful, except for the cold.
The bathrooms were opened at 5:00 AM and we caught the train (a "local") at 5:20. The train had hard, plastic seats, but they were an upgrade, compared to the police steps. Also, we had the hope that we might be heading to the ship. Soon, the train operator arrived for our tickets. He did a double take when he saw them and told us they were no good. They were for yesterday.
We told him we knew that and explained our plight. He told us it would cost 50 Euros to update our tickets. We whined that we had no money and no other way back to the ship, that the cruise line abandoned us and left us on our own. My wife showed him the note from the policeman. He stood there looking at the 2 documents for a few moments more, returned the tickets to us, kept the note, and walked away. We did not know if he was allowing us to stay on the train, going for help to kick us off, or what.
However, he never returned and we slept fitfully as the train started and stopped for the next 2 1/2 hours until we arrived in Ventimiglia. When we arrived in Ventimiglia we learned that the train did not stop there but went all the way to Cannes. Huh? We figured at that point that ** must have wanted to assure that we would pay him, at least partially. We left the station and hailed a cab. The driver did not speak English but agreed to take us to the Cannes Port.
2 1/2 hours and 162 Euros later we were relieved to see one, lone ship in the bay - Ours! We had not told the driver we did not have any money so told him that we would have to go to the ship to get our money. There was no dock so we had to be tendered. We left our son with the driver, as a hostage. When we arrived at the ship, it was as if we never left. There was no big deal made. We went to the "penthouse", got the debit card and went to the concierge to get 615 more Euros.
We learned that the ship cancelled our excursion to Cannes that day (nice of them) and also our shipboard credit, which we had to reinstate. The woman at the concierge desk told us that the people in Miami should have connected us with, or directed us to the Port Agent in Livorno, who would have helped us. Nice to know! An hour later, we arrived back at the cab and unhappy driver who suddenly became happy when I paid him 170 Euros. He shook our hands, wished us well and left.
The moral? If you are not on a ship excursion, make sure you are back to the port on time. The cruise line, at least Norwegian, is not there to help you, even if you are in the "penthouse suite."
My husband and I just returned from a week's cruise on the Norwegian Dawn. We had a $100 on board credit issued with our reservation. Since the drink prices are so high we decided not to drink while on board and just have the water, coffee and iced tea that are provided for free. On our last night at sea my husband decided to have a glass of beer. The charge was $5.95 + 89₵ for the 15% gratuity. I passed on having a $9.50 drink plus the $1.43 gratuity.
I work too hard for our money to blow it on a drink. Anyhow, when we got our closing statement on the last morning we owed the $12 Each person every day service charge for the cabin stewards and the waiters. This money is gladly paid as they work very hard. We even gave our cabin steward an extra $30 just because we liked him and his personality so much. The statement showed that we owed $168.00 service charges and that we forfeited $93.16 of our on board credit because we didn't by drinks or use it in their shops.
I have never had this happen before. We have always used the balance of the credit to offset some of the charges for the stewards and waiters. I called and asked why I wasn't allowed to do this and that I wanted an internet URL so that I could read it for myself. I was told by the Guest Services person that there was no written page for this policy and that my travel agent should have told me about having to use my credit to buy drinks. I thanked her for finding this out and hung up.
I just called my travel agent to ask him about this "rule" that Norwegian has. He said he has never heard of this but will be sure to tell his clients that if they sail on Norwegian they will forfeit the credit if they don't drink it up. He also said that Norwegian always blames problems on the travel agents. At this point I will never book a Norwegian cruise again just out of principle.
Many other cruise ships have the same itinerary. Other cruise lines allow you to apply this credit to the service charges. I just did this on a cruise in December. I feel this is totally wrong, but I guess they won't care because they are a big company. I just had to vent. Thank you.
MIAMI, FLORIDA -- I purchased my cruise tickets with no problems. The agent was very nice, treated me with respect. Today I received a message from a reservation agent named **. In his message he stated that there was a free upgrade to my purchase. I was a little confused because when I booked the room I was informed that I had the best room available at the time. I called him and left a message to please return my call.
Later on in the day, I checked my messages on my cell phone. There was one from **, so I returned his call. This is where it gets weird. I introduced myself and asked what his call was all about. He then stated that he did not call me but that he was returning my call. He started getting out of hand about it and I asked him if he did not first call me, how did I know his name and his extension. Then he started getting rude and was basically calling me a liar. At that time I requested to speak to his supervisor and was on hold till I had to hang up.
This is what I have learned during my adventure today with NCL. First, if you haven't actually taken the cruise yet nobody will talk to you outside of reservations. That if you leave your phone number to have a supervisor return your call you are told to hold on to wait for a supervisor to see if they will return your call. I know that does not make sense, but that seems to be SOP for NCL.
Of course I was very persistent and about three hours after I started this adventure I was able to talk to ** lead/supervisor ** who informed me she will talk to **. She felt no compulsion to do anything else other than she would talk to **. As a customer who was treated in such a fashion and has paid a small fortune for this trip, well you can imagine how I took it. So before you actually think about utilizing NCL for your next vacation just keep this experience in mind. It might be yours.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- Tiny rooms, tiny showers, (I knocked the shampoo dispenser off the wall having it crash down on my foot cutting it open, which might explain all the dried blood on our carpet) crap food, all foreign help with no understanding of English. Due to the ships negligence a woman fell (almost to her death) off her balcony so instead of a leisurely cruise to Bermuda we raced there as fast as we could. This caused a lot of trips and falls and sea sickness.
They also set up their guests apparently by having customs come on the boat with dogs while everyone's sleeping. Poor guy was dragged off for a tiny amount of pot, ruined his and his girl's vacation. Looked like a setup. Sure enough when I asked one of the security guys they say they do it to generate revenue for the island in fines, and profits for the cruise line. Pathetic. I should've used the 3000 for toilet paper...
MIAMI, FLORIDA -- Where should I begin... Two days before our trip on the NCL M/S Dawn (3/22/2007-4/1/2007), we received notification that the itinerary was changed due to engine trouble. They changed our stop at a private island in the Bahamas to stop at Samana/Dominican Republic instead. If we would like a refund for the cruise we may contact them. We proceed with the cruise even though this was a disappointment. Next, when we arrived on St Maarten we were advised that our shore excursion was canceled. We got off the ship to go shopping instead. We saw the same excursion that was being provided for another cruise line.
We spoke with the representative from the catamaran who said that the excursions were running that NCL canceled the excursion with them. Next when we went arrived in St Thomas due to immigration and customs in order to get off the ship all passengers needed to go through customs. We followed procedure and when we got off the ship our shore excursion had left without us.
When we spoke with cruise ship personnel, she advised that we were supposed to get off the ship with the first group. No announcements were made letting us know and we (all 8 of us in 4 rooms) did not receive the notice that was sent out advising of this procedure. It was like pulling teeth to get our money back for this excursion due to NCL's mistake.
Next a day or two later while waiting for service in one of the ships "free" restaurants we were told to wait for service because the waitress decided to serve customers who arrived in the restaurant at least 15-20 minutes after us. These customers came in with empty beer buckets to be filled (which is an additional charge and auto gratuity to the waitress).
Lastly, once we got off the ship to go home our bank account was charged $167 for on board purchases and the cruise line held an additional $164 after they received payment and charged us $192 for unavailable funds because we did not keep double the charge amount in our account for 5 days after the charge processed. When I contacted consumer affairs at Norwegian cruise line they do not refund the fees for the hold even though they double charged my account.
MIAMI, FLORIDA -- My wife and I were on the Cruise ship "pearl" two weeks ago. Upon exited, we left three full draws of personal items including two new $500 IPODS. Immediately we filed a report with the Lost and Found Department. The items were in our room and when we left the Steward was starting to clean our room. The cruise line not only told us they never found our stuff, but refused to give me any of their operational or business license numbers. They refused to allow me to speak to a supervisor, and told me "I can find their business number on the internet, somewhere".
I recently took my family on a cruise to Nassau, and some Florida ports of call. The ship had engine problems and the company chose NOT to go to the main port of call. They gave $100 ship credit for this. I feel that it was inadequate considering that it was the major port of call. Upon contacting the company, their response was too bad. The contract allows them to do what they want without a fair compensation.


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Bicyclists angry over harassment from SUV driver
September 19, 2012
BOULDER – The Colorado State Patrol is looking for the driver of an SUV who followed several bicyclists down a highway honking and nearly forcing one of them off the road.
Dirk Friel posted a video on a website on Sunday showing the driver slowly trailing the cyclists as the driver repeatedly honks the horn at them throughout the two-minute clip.
Friel tells the Longmont Times-Call he was worried the driver would cause an accident. He says his biking companion had to use his hand to push off as the vehicle finally passed them.
The state patrol says it has received other complaints about the SUV and they are investigating.

subset: commoncrawl


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Picking an Online Stock Broker
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|This article is a part of Wikinvest's Personal Finance section and Guide to Investing. Please contribute or edit to improve it.
If you want to invest your money in the stock market and other instruments, you need to get a stock broker. A Stock broker is the middle man between you and the market. He buys and sells stocks and other instruments on your behalf, and in consideration charges you with a small commission.
Today stock brokers provide you with a number of services besides trading. There are a large number of brokerage firms which provide different services and features. So it becomes an important task to find a broker which suits your need well.
Exchanges have purchased many of the independent ECNs (electronic communications networks, the basis for electronic trading), expanding their presence in the budding electronic trading market. For example, NYSE Euronext bought the Archipelago ECN, and Nasdaq bought Instinet, its own ECN. CME and CBOT offer Globex and e-cbot, respectively, etc. ICE and ISE are almost exclusively electronic.
Investment products and services
Online Stock Broker Commission Chart http://bullishness.com/online-stock-brokers


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Dr. Mehran Fakheri
9722 Laurel Canyon BlvdPacoima, CA 91331818-897-1234
Everyone knows smoking is harmful to the body and a person's health. Despite all the known health risks, it is a notoriously hard habit to break. Many smokers struggle for years to quit, and deal with the side effects and declining health while continuing to smoke. Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer, and can also cause cancer anywhere in the body. It is bad for your health in numerous ways, but there are things about this habit that are particularly detrimental to your mouth and teeth. You can quit now to improve your health and save your teeth!
Smoking And The Mouth
Most noticeably, smoking affects the appearance of your smile. The nicotine in cigarette smoke stains teeth a yellow color and will dull any smile. A typical smoker's mouth is full of stained teeth and emits bad, stale breath. Smoking will slow saliva flow and cause dry mouth, dulling the senses of taste and smell due to damage to the taste buds. This can lead to other issues when smokers add more salt and sugar to food, or use sugary gum and lozenges to encourage saliva production. The more frequently you have a cigarette and the longer you smoke, the more likely you are to develop oral cancer or gum disease. Advanced gum disease in smokers means bone deterioration in the jaw, which leads to tooth loss and makes replacing teeth with implants difficult.
Smoking And Oral Surgery
Another way smoking is particularly harmful to the mouth is when a patient needs an extraction or procedure. Smoking after a tooth extraction or gum procedure is dangerous, because the sucking action used to inhale a cigarette can dislodge a blood clot at the surgery site. This creates what is called a dry socket, which is at serious risk for infection and can cause intense pain. Smoking also causes blood vessels to shrink, so they deliver less oxygen and fewer nutrients to the wound area and it slows the healing process. After any extraction or gum procedure you should avoid smoking for as long as you can. Even if you aren't able to quit yet, you should wait at least five days to significantly decrease these risks.
You Can Stop Now!
Some long-term smokers, even when dealing with the unfortunate effects, develop the opinion that the damage smoking is doing to their body has been done and these changes are permanent. The truth is that whenever a person quits smoking the body starts recovering. Even cutting down on smoking can significantly reduce health risks. Once a person has 11 years of not smoking behind them, they can bring their mouth and gums back to a point where they are no more likely to develop gum disease than someone who has never smoked!
This newsletter/website is not intended to replace the services of a doctor. It does not constitute a doctor-patient relationship. Information in this newsletter/website is for informational purposes only & is not a substitute for professional advice. Please do not use the information contained herein for diagnosing or treating any condition.


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|MLB Career Stats
|March 30, 2014
|3B Ray Olmedo assigned to Durham Bulls.
|January 6, 2014
|Tampa Bay Rays signed free agent SS Ray Olmedo to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
|November 4, 2013
|3B Ray Olmedo elected free agency.
|December 9, 2012
|Minnesota Twins signed free agent 3B Ray Olmedo to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
|October 10, 2012
|Chicago White Sox sent Ray Olmedo outright to Charlotte Knights.
|July 29, 2012
|Chicago White Sox selected the contract of Ray Olmedo from Charlotte Knights.
|November 21, 2011
|Charlotte Knights signed free agent Ray Olmedo.
|November 21, 2011
|Chicago White Sox invited non-roster SS Ray Olmedo to spring training.
|November 2, 2011
|SS Ray Olmedo elected free agency.
|January 21, 2011
|Tampa Bay Rays invited non-roster SS Ray Olmedo to spring training.
|January 7, 2011
|Durham Bulls signed free agent SS Ray Olmedo.
|November 6, 2010
|2B Ray Olmedo elected free agency.
|June 12, 2010
|Nashville Sounds activated 2B Ray Olmedo from the 7-day disabled list.
|June 5, 2010
|Nashville Sounds placed SS Ray Olmedo on the 7-day disabled list.
|March 28, 2010
|SS Ray Olmedo assigned to Milwaukee Brewers.
|March 22, 2010
|Milwaukee Brewers Traded C Matt Treanor to Oklahoma City RedHawks and Texas Rangers Traded SS Ray Olmedo to Nashville Sounds.
|December 16, 2009
|Texas Rangers signed free agent Ray Olmedo.
|November 9, 2009
|3B Ray Olmedo elected free agency.
Rainer Gustavo Olmedo (pronounced ol-MAY-doe)...wife Marbella...daughter Annalise.2013
Appeared at 3B (46 games), 2B (31) and SS (31) for Triple-A Rochester (Twins).2012 Signed by Chicago-AL as a free agent November 21, 2011 and started the season with Triple-A Charlotte. ... Recorded a season-high 13-game hitting streak May 13-June 4, batting .413 (19-for-46) during that stretch. ... Batted .326 (28-for-86) with five RBI in 23 July games. ... Had contract purchased by Chicago-AL July 29. ... Made White Sox debut as a pinch runner and scored a run August 5 vs. Los Angeles-AL. ... Played 20 games for the White Sox, batting .244 (10-for-41). 2011 Played in 124 games with Class AAA Durham in the Tampa Bay organization, hitting .260 (119-457) with 22 doubles and 60 runs scored...made 95 appearances at shortstop and 29 at second base...batted .283 (68-240) at home (.235 on the road)...batted .318 (27-85) in May...hit .298 (50-168) from the No. 9 spot in the order...was 5-13 (.385) with the bases loaded...compiled an eight-game hitting streak from 5/7-17 (.483, 14-29)...collected a season-high four hits on 5/24 at Columbus...hit .271 (19-70) in 40 games with La Guaira in the Venezuelan Winter League. 2010 Traded from Texas to Milwaukee on March 22 and outrighted to Triple-A Nashville...appeared in games 2B, SS, 3B, LF and RF...played for Estrellas de Oriente of the Caribbean Winter League after the season. 2009 Spent the entire campaign with the International League champion Durham Bulls...batted .250 (103-412) with 6 home runs and 47 RBI in 115 games...appeared in 20 games at second base, 64 at third, 25 at short, 3 in left, and made one appearance on the mound...hit .248 (27-109) against lefties and .251 (76-303) vs. right-handers...batted .318 (41-129) with RISP and .338 (23-68) with RISP and 2 out...began the season with 2 hits (including a home run) in each of his first 2 games...collected a season-high 3 hits on both June 18 vs. Lehigh Valley and June 21 vs. Pawtucket...hit .243 (60-247) with 5 home runs and 27 RBI prior to the All-Star break...made first career appearance on the mound in Durham's 13-inning, 10-9 victory Aug. 29 vs. Gwinnett...earned the victory, allowing 2 runs (one earned) over 2.0 innings of work after starting the game as the third baseman, going 2-for-7...recorded a season-high 12-game hit streak from Aug. 18-31, batting .313 (15-48)...tallied at least one hit in 16 of last 17 games, raising season average from .240 to .250...hit .240 (6-25) over 7 games during the International League playoffs...was 2-for-3 with 2 walks and a RBI on Sept. 22 vs. Memphis, as the Bulls captured the Triple-A Championship at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City. 2008 Spent the entire campaign with Columbus...was claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh from Toronto on Feb.1...claimed off waivers by Philadelphia from Pittsburgh on Feb. 26...spent spring training with Philadephia before refusing outright assignment and electing free agency on March 28...signed with Washington as a free agent on April 2...was on the disabled list from July 10-August 1 with wrist fracture...hit .271 (68-251) against right-handers, while batting .206 (21-102) vs. lefties)...recorded a season-high 3 hits on 7 different occasions...recorded back-to-back 3 hit efforts on May 30-31 at Buffalo. 2007 Spent majority of season with Syracuse (Blue Jays' AAA)...Led club in batting and ranked second in stolen bases...Made all 93 of his starts at shortstop...Also made one appearance at second base (7/5 at Richmond) and went 2-for-9 in two games as the designated hitter...Had a pair of season-high, nine-game hitting streaks; from 5/6-18 and 6/22 thru 7/1...Hit .321 (27-for-84) with nine RBI in 25 games during the month of May...Produced .333 average in July, going 26-for-78 with one home run and seven RBI...Hit lone home run on 7/14 vs. Pawtucket...Had contract purchased by Toronto on 8/3...Made season debut with Blue Jays as a starter at shortstop on 8/5 vs. Texas and went 1-for-2 with a double...Tallied lone RBI with Toronto on 9/27 at Baltimore. ...Made total of 24 appearances (12 starts) at shortstop and two appearances at third base while playing with the Blue Jays...Batted .250 (11-for-44) with four doubles, six runs and one RBI in his 12 starts...Participated in the Venezuelan Winter League and hit .267 (43-for-161) with 11 RBI in 46 games with Bravos de Margarita. 2006 Spent most of season with Louisville (Reds' AAA), where he made 95 appearances at shortstop and five at second base. ...Was on disabled list from 4/6-13 with a right elbow strain...Was recalled by Cincinnati on 5/4 when Rich Aurilia went on D.L...Went 3-for-10 with two RBI in 10 games with Reds before being optioned to Triple-A on 5/18...Was recalled a second time on 6/9 when Edwin Encarnacion was disabled...Went 2-for-7 in five games and was optioned back to Louisville on 6/16...Tied Louisville club record by hitting three doubles in game on 8/11 at Charlotte...Was recalled by Cincinnati a third and final time on 9/4...Connected off Roy Oswalt for first career pinch-hit home run on 9/18 at Houston; his second career homer and first since 9/23/05...Had two hits on 9/20 at Houston and also made his only professional appearance in the outfield (RF) that night...Made total of five appearances (four starts) at second base, four appearances (two starts) at shortstop, three appearances at third base and one in right field. 2005 Began season on Cincinnati's 60-day disabled list while recovering from November 9, 2004 "Tommy John" surgery to repair the torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow...Did not play until 6/10, when he was sent to Louisville on a rehabilitation assignment...Returned from rehab assignment, was reinstated from the 15-day D.L. and was optioned to Louisville on 6/17. ...Made 14 appearances with the Bats before being recalled by Reds on 6/28...Hit .381 (8-for-21) in 16 games during the month of July...Went hitless in career-high 28 straight at bats from 8/10 to 9/16...Hit first major league home run on 9/23 off Philadelphia's Aquilino Lopez...Played for La Guaira in the Venezuelan Winter League and hit .358 with nine homers and 33 RBI in 51 games. 2004 Began season on Cincinnati's Opening Day roster, but was optioned to Louisville on 4/22 when the Reds claimed outfielder John Romano off waivers...Made all seven defensive appearances with Cincinnati at shortstop...Became 14th player in Louisville club history to hit two triples in a game on 4/29 at Indianapolis, tying the club record accomplished most recently by Deion Sanders on 4/9/01...Spent time on Louisville's disabled list with a strained right elbow (5/25 to 6/13) and a sprained right ankle (7/19 to 8/4)...Made 58 appearances at second base and 25 at shortstop while playing with Louisville...Appeared in eight games for La Guaira in the Venezuelan Winter League before suffering a right elbow injury...Had "Tommy John" surgery to repair a complete tear in the ulnar collateral ligament of that elbow (Dr. Timothy Kremchek performed the surgery on 11/9); stabilized that elbow by grafting a tendon from his left leg. 2003 Was 1 of 13 Reds players to make his Major League debut and 1 of 9 Reds players in the last 3 seasons to make his ML debut while skipping Class AAA...in 58g at Class AAA Louisville and Class AA Chattanooga combined to hit .286 (3hr, 19rbi, 3sb)...appeared in 79g, including 52 starts, during 3 stints with the Reds (5/23-5/26, 5/30-7/13, 7/27-end of season)...started at SS in each of the last 15g of the season (.190)...made 40 starts at SS overall and 12 starts at 2B...in the batting order hit first (14gs), second (15gs), seventh (2gs), eighth (19gs) and ninth (2gs)...hit .273 with RISP...had seven 2-hit games and four 3-hit games...on 5/25 vs Fla made his Major League debut, pinch hit and struck out vs Dontrelle Willis...on 6/1 at Fla doubled off Carl Pavano for his first career hit, then added a pair of singles...on 6/28 at Cle had 3 hits and produced a career-high 4rbi...while playing SS on 7/29 vs Col committed 3 errors, the most by a Reds player since SS Pokey Reese had 4 errors on Opening Day 1998 vs SD...on 8/17 vs Hou recorded his only stolen base...tied Felipe Lopez for the team lead with 5 bunt singles...played for La Guaira in the Venezuelan Winter League (33g, .324, 14rbi).
Career highlights: Following the 2001 season was rated the organization's 10th-best prospect and best defensive infielder by Baseball America...also was named the best defensive shortstop and best infield arm in the California League...in 2001 was selected to play in the California/Carolina League All-Star Game (1-2, 1r, 1sb)...in 2000 was selected to play in the Midwest League All-Star Game (0-1).2002 In his first season at Class AA hit .247 with 15sb in a career-high 132g at Chattanooga...ranked fifth in the Southern League in games played...appeared in 107g at SS and 21g at 2B. 2001 At Class A Mudville hit .244 with 38 stolen bases in 129g...established career highs in games played, at bats, runs, hits, doubles, triples and stolen bases...his 38 steals led the organization and ranked third in the California League...from 4/8-4/18 put together a season-high 10-game hitting streak (.415, 3rbi)...recorded a season-high 4 hits in a 16-5 win on 5/15 at High Desert...smacked 3 doubles in a 1-0 win on 7/24 vs Rancho Cucamonga...following the season played for La Guaira in the Venezuelan Winter League. 2000 At Class A Dayton hit .255 with 17 stolen bases in 111g...twice recorded a season-high 4 hits (6/8 vs Lansing, 8/27 at Cedar Rapids)...from 7/6-7/16 had a season-high 9-game hitting streak (.455, 2hr, 4rbi). 1999 Spent his first professional season with the rookie Gulf Coast League Reds and hit .236 with 13 stolen bases in 54g...from 8/16-8/24 had a season-high 9-game hitting streak (.471, 6rbi).


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In the last few months, I have had a strange and interesting experience. In early April, I found myself the main character in Michael Lewis's book "Flash Boys." It told the story of a quest I've been on, with my colleagues, to expose and to prevent a lot of outrageous behavior in the U.S. stock market.
Many of us had worked at big Wall Street firms or inside stock exchanges, and many of us believed something was amiss in the market. But it took the better part of five years to discover exactly how the market had been organized to benefit financial intermediaries, rather than the investors, the companies or the economy it was meant to serve. Only after looking at a flurry of market innovations -- 40-gigabit cross-connects, esoteric order types, microwave towers -- did we understand that the market's focus was less about capital formation and more about giving certain market participants an advantage over others. In the end, we felt that the best way to solve these problems was to build a stock market of our own, which we did.
After the book, our stock market, IEX Group Inc., became a topic of discussion -- some positive, some negative, some true and some false. Fair enough. If you're in the spotlight and doing something different, you should take the heat along with the light.
It's for this reason that we have done our best to resist responding publicly to misinformation about our company -- even when we read memos circulated inside banks that "Michael Lewis has an undisclosed stake in IEX" (he does not); that "brokers own stakes in IEX" (they don't); or articles in the Wall Street Journal that said we let "broker-dealers jump to the front of the trading queue," putting retail investors and mutual funds at a disadvantage (in reality, all orders arrive at IEX via brokers, including those from traditional investors). Our hope in staying quiet was that the truth would win out in the end. But in recent weeks, the misinformation campaign has hit a new high (or low), and on one particularly critical matter, we feel compelled to set the record straight.
On July 7, Bart Chilton, a former commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, wrote an article about us for the New York Times's DealBook. He argued, in effect, that because high-frequency trading has become so central to the stock market, it must be serving some necessary purpose. "At any one time, it is likely that 50 percent of all trades are made by high-frequency traders in United States equity markets," he wrote. "Even trading volume on the IEX exchange, which is trumpeted as creating 'institutional fairness' in the Michael Lewis book 'Flash Boys' about the topic, is now made up of roughly 50 percent high-frequency traders."
This is false: While high-frequency trading firms are estimated to generate 50 percent or more of the volume on other stock markets, on IEX, high-frequency trading firms currently make up less than 20 percent of our volume. (Note: It's difficult to predict the optimal proportion of HFT activity in any market, but it should definitely not be half the volume.)
Copyright 2014 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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Tuesday September 25, 2018; 06:40 pm EDT
The Eta Aquarid meteor shower returns
The moon wanes through morning skies this week, reaching last quarter Thursday, May 2, when it shines between the faint constellations Capricornus and Aquarius and is high in the south by dawn.
The sun sets this week around 8pm, revealing Jupiter high in the west, brighter than any star. However, if you have a clear view of the west-northwest horizon just after sunset, you may find the only brighter star-like object to the lower right of Jupiter: Venus, which is slowly pulling away from the glare of the setting sun. You may need to scour the horizon line with binoculars in the 20 minutes following sunset to spot Venus this week. But each night it appears a little higher at sunset and sets a little later. Jupiter sets before 11pm, by which time Saturn should be well positioned in the southeast. Less than a week past opposition, the ringed planet is visible throughout the night.
While we won't have another visit from Halley's Comet until 2061, we are reminded of it each year at this time as the earth passes through a trail of debris left in its wake, resulting in the Eta Aquarid meteor shower. This year's shower peaks in the wee hours before sunrise Sunday, May 5, with perhaps 10 meteors an hour.
As the bits of comet flotsam collide with Earth's atmosphere, they burst aflame and streak across our sky at upward of 150,000 miles an hour, often leaving persistent trains of light visible for several seconds. These trains are a testament of the massive energy released at impact, which strips electrons from the meteors' atoms, converting them into a trail of ionized gas or plasma, the fourth state of matter.
You can spot an Eta Aquarid meteor anywhere overhead — and for several days before and after peak. But they all appear to originate from the constellation Aquarius, which rises after midnight, and its star Eta Aquarii.


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Welcome to the Virus Encyclopedia of Panda Security.
Windows 2003/XP/2000/NT/ME/98/95
P2Pworm.AY is a worm that spreads by copying itself, without infecting other files.
P2Pworm.AY is designed to affect one or more specific companies.
It uses stealth techniques to avoid being detected by the user:
P2Pworm.AY uses the following propagation or distribution methods:
P2Pworm.AY is easy to recognize, as it shows the following symptoms:


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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — LinkedIn CEO Jeffrey Weiner's compensation rose about 42-fold in 2013 amid big gains in the professional networking service's stock price.
Weiner received a compensation package valued at $49.1 million last year, according to a regulatory filing. That's up from $1.2 million in 2012 and from $7.6 million in 2011, the year the company went public.
Weiner's salary totaled $583,750 for the year, up from $535,000 in 2012. The bulk of his 2013 compensation package came from stock and option awards totaling $47.4 million. He did not get stock or option awards in 2012.
He also received a cash bonus totaling $1.1 million and $4,664 in other compensation that included 401(k) matching contributions and an iPad that was given to every employee.
In addition to his compensation, Weiner exercised stock options in 2013, reaping a windfall of $169.8 million.
LinkedIn's stock gained 89 percent in 2013. The company finished last year with a strong showing. Its earnings grew 24 percent to $26.8 million, or 23 cents per share, from $21.6 million, or 19 cents per share, in 2012.
Revenue climbed 57 percent to $1.53 billion from $972.3 million. But the company indicated that its performance will weaken this year as management ramps up spending while revenue growth slows. Weiner said in February that the LinkedIn will be spending "significantly" on data centers and long-term projects that may take several years to pay off.
The Associated Press formula calculates an executive's total compensation during the last fiscal year by adding salary, bonuses, perks, above-market interest the company pays on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock and stock options awarded during the year.


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Villager file photo
Jane Jacobs speaking at the West Village Houses in May 2004. She was on a tour for her new book, Dark Age Ahead, and stopped by to help raise funds for the tenants effort to buy the complex. Jacobs led the push to build the West Village Houses, which recently became a co-op.
Jane Jacobs, activist who saved Village, is dead at 89
By Albert Amateau
Jane Jacobs, a writer whose ideas transformed the principles of urban planning 45 years ago and a Village resident who led the fight to save an imperiled neighborhood until she moved with her family to Canada in 1968, died Tues. April 25.
In poor health for the past year, she died in her sleep in a Toronto hospital eight days before her 90th birthday.
Internationally known for groundbreaking books, beginning with The Death and Life of Great American Cities, which has not gone out of print since it appeared in 1961, she was revered in the Village as a warm and friendly neighbor and a fierce opponent of the juggernaut urban renewal and road projects that threatened her beloved neighborhood.
Village residents who had fought by her side in the preservation battles of 40 and 50 years ago recalled her as a forthright and fearless activist and a dear friend.
A self-taught scholar, her activism was not always decorous. John Simon, a retired Random House editor, who lived for a time in the Jacobs family home on Hudson St., recalled when Jacobs was arrested and spent a night in jail in the summer of 1962 after she pulled a stenotype tape out of a machine and destroyed it when she finished testifying at a hearing.
Id hate to see her image cleaned up, said Simon. She was a real radical, totally dedicated to her community.
Abe Greiss, a sculptor who was the first president of Save the West Village, a group of neighbors that Jacobs helped organize to oppose a 14-square-block urban renewal area project, was a longtime neighbor.
We shared a back fence. I was on Greenwich St. and she was Hudson, he recalled. The renewal project would have demolished low-rise historic houses in the West Village and replaced them with blocks of 16-story apartment buildings.
We wanted to build housing on the ample vacant land at the time and she said it could be done without disturbing even a sparrow. Not a sparrow shall fall, became our rallying cry, Greiss recalled. The committee was victorious and several years later, the middle-income rental West Village Houses were built just west of the area that was proposed for urban renewal
Arthur Stoliar, another neighbor and preservation advocate who fought the urban renewal plan, said, Jane could always see the basic issue of a problem and see it clearly and simply. Ive always tried to be like that we used to sit at her feet. Stoliar said he was honored to be among the people listed in Jacobss dedication of her book The Economy of Cities.
Eric Wensberg was active with Jacobs in opposing the Lower Manhattan Expressway, proposed by the late Robert Moses, that would have cut through Lower Manhattan at Broome St. to make way for an elevated road. That too ended in a victory for Jacobs and her friends when then Mayor Robert Wagner Jr. decided to oppose the condemnation of the right of way in 1963.
But we didnt win them all, Wensberg said. We opposed the Bobst Library saying it was a waste of space and would cast an evening shadow on Washington Square Park. It does. And we were opposed to the World Trade Center, he added.
Except for her intelligence and great spirit, she was a wonderfully ordinary and natural person, said Wensberg. That, and her directness, was what drew people to her, he said. Its astonishing that there isnt so much as a brass plate honoring her, Wensberg added. It wont stay that way for long. Death is a refresher of memory.
Henry Stern, former Parks Commissioner and longtime officeholder who was an aide to Manhattan Borough President Edward R. Dudley in the 1960s, was a friend of Jacobs for more than 40 years.
She legitimized opposition to overdevelopment and the destruction of neighborhoods, Stern said. She was a redoubtable figure who strode into the Board of Estimate chambers with authority and knowledge. She was able to face down her nemesis Robert Moses. She was his nemesis too. Stern said. He recalled that Jacobs became involved in the early 1950s in the fight led by the late Shirley Hayes against Moses plan to build a road through the middle of Washington Square Park.
There never was anyone like her nor will there ever be another individual with such extraordinary commitment to the community every community, said former Mayor Edward I. Koch in a written statement. The Village was fortunate to have her until she moved to Canada and then they were lucky, Koch said.
Jane, her husband, Robert Hyde Jacobs, and their two sons and their daughter moved to Toronto in 1968 to prevent the two boys from being drafted for service in Vietnam. A couple of years after the family settled there, Jacobs organized an opposition to Torontos proposed Spadina Expressway. The expressway was never built.
I was up visiting her for a weekend and she had me on a picket line, said Simon recalling the expressway protest. She had serious politics and she cooked an extraordinary meatloaf a big round thing that you cut like a pie, he added.
Andrew Berman, director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, came to the Village after Jacobs had moved to Canada, but he said his ideas about how cities work and what makes them great came from Jane Jacobs.
At a hearing in October before the Landmarks Preservation Commission on the proposed Far West Village Historic District, G.V.S.H.P. submitted a transcript of a 1963 Jane Jacobs memorandum to the then newly created commission calling for the waterfront blocks of the Village to be included in the citys first historic district.
After more than 40 years, the memorandum was still valid, and we expect a West Village District to be designated soon, said Berman.
Jacobs was a frequent visitor to New York City and the Village. In 2004, she came to speak at a benefit for the West Village Houses and recalled her first days in New York in 1934. Just out of high school in Scranton, Pa., Jacobs then Jane Butzner was living with her sister in Brooklyn when she found the Village, the neighborhood that inspired her observations about city life.
After a morning of answering employment ads in Depression Era Midtown, she would get on a subway and get off at various stations where I had no idea where I was, she said, and walk around exploring.
One day I came out at a place called Christopher St., Jacobs recalled. I went home and told my sister that we ought to live around Christopher St. what appealed to me was the scale of things, the craftsmens shops, places that interested me.
That method of exploration also launched her career as a freelance writer. She noticed that businesses tended to cluster, and found herself one day in the Fur District.
A man came out of a store and told me his name was Edgar Lehman and gave me the history of the Fur District. I wrote an article about it it wasnt very hard practically word for word from Mr. Lehman. I took it to Vogue and they paid me $40. It was a lot of money when I did get a regular job, they paid me $12 a week.
She subsequently wrote articles about the Leather District (long gone from Manhattan), the Flower District and the Diamond District, which was then around Canal St. on the Lower East Side.
Many urban planners and architects of the day rejected her conclusions about the necessity for a threshold of urban density and the importance of mixing uses.
They had everything invested in what they believed and I had nothing to loose, Jacobs said in her 2004 reception. But it was clear that urban renewal was official vandalism based on anti-urban assumptions.
Her husband, whom she married in 1944, died in 1998. Her two sons, Edward, of Vancouver, and James, of Toronto, and her daughter, Bergen, a resident of British Columbia, survive.
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Edward Marston
Jonathon Bale is a constable in the city of London and Christopher Redmayne is an architect hired to build a house in the recently destroyed city. The first couple of chapters describe the terrible fire that swept through London in 1666. Bale and Redmayne meet accidentally and Christopher is aware that Jonathon dislikes him intensely but does not know why. Bale does not know why either, except that he was a strong supporter or the former Protector, ...


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Directed by Delbert Mann
Produced by Delbert Mann and Douglas Lawrence
Screenplay by Dale Wasserman
Based on the novel "Buddwing" by Evan Hunter
James Garner was one of the most liked, best respected and just plain real people working in Hollywood in his day. I feel like he's a friend since I remember watching him in the TV western "Maverick" with my father when I was a kid. And through the years I've watched and enjoyed James Garner in both movies and TV shows. I could be wrong but I'd be willing to bet that James Garner was the first TV star to parlay that small screen stardom to movies successfully both financially and critically.
Most certainly he clicks with audiences. Even when I was a kid my father would say that anything James Garner was in, he'd watch. And even today my father will drop anything he's doing to watch "The Great Escape". And Mr. Garner has most certainly secured his spot in Television History as the star of what many consider to be the best Private Eye series ever: "The Rockford Files". Me, I'd give that honor to Tom Selleck and "Magnum, P.I." but we'll save that argument for another time.
I've always liked James Garner more in movies. Such as "Skin Game" where he and Lou Gossett, Jr. played pre-Civil War era conmen. Or "The Great Escape" or "Grand Prix" or "Marlowe" or "They Only Kill Their Masters" or "Support Your Local Sheriff" with the delightful Joan Hackett who had Demi Moore's voice long before Demi Moore was born. And knew how to use it better. And then there's the great western "Duel at Diablo" he made with Sidney Poitier and Dennis Weaver. Here you have three of the nicest, most gentlemanly men in Hollywood playing total bastards and having a great time doing it. In later years James Garner delighted me in movies such as "Victor/Victoria" and a movie that I am making your homework assignment for the week: "Sunset" a pulp action adventure from 1988 with Mr. Garner playing an aged but still badass Wyatt Earp acting as consultant to movie cowboy Tom Mix (Bruce Willis). The two of them get involved in a whole lotta hijinks I wouldn't dare spoil for those of you who haven't seen "Sunset" But take it from me: it's a helluva fun movie. And most of it is due to the performance of James Garner.
MISTER BUDDWING begins with a man (James Garner) waking up on a Central Park bench. He has no memory of who he is or how he got there. A search of his pockets turns up a train schedule, a folded up piece of paper with a phone number written on it and two white pills. He has no identification but he is wearing a silver opal ring. The opal is cracked and there is an inscription inside the ring. All of these are the only clues to his identity.
He calls the number and finds it belongs to a prostitute (Angela Lansbury) who says she doesn't know him but gives him coffee, money and sends him off on a day long quest to find out who he is. That quest will introduce him to three very different women. All of these women he calls 'Grace'. They tell him that they aren't Grace. But he follows them into some very disturbing scenarios. Some that appears to play out his past life.
Who is Grace? Is she real? Are these real women or just psychotic fantasies of Mister Buddwing? Are they aspects of the real Grace his disturbed mind has fragmented into separate personalities? Who are they and who is he? MISTER BUDDWING isn't the type of movie you plan for a Saturday night when you and your lady or you and your boys just want to kick back with a fun movie. It's one of those movies that likes to play with your head. Halfway through the movie Mister Buddwing is presented with the possibility that he's an escaped mental patient with homicidal tendencies. Certainly his behavior might seem to suggest that. But as the day goes on and he has his encounters with the three Graces (Katherine Ross, Suzanne Pleshette and Jean Simmons) He gradually comes to realize that there's a more horrifying reason behind his amnesia.
MISTER BUDDWING is a movie I place in the same category with "Angel Heart" It's a movie where the main character is trying to solve a mystery and the solution turns out to be worse than the mystery itself. Oh, MISTER BUDDWING is nowhere near as graphic as "Angel Heart" but the spirit is similar.
The performances are all out of the box. Angela Lansbury is terrific as the over-the-hill whore who puts Mister Buddwing on the path to find out who he is. And as the three aspects of Grace: Katherine Ross is just okay. Suzanne Pleshette has always been one of my favorite actresses and one who I felt never got the career she deserved. She also looks totally hot in a scene where she's wearing a white trenchcoat and go-go boots. Some of the hotness is taken out of what happens later on in that scene.
Jean Simmons is totally amazing with her platinum blond hair and whorish attitude. It's a performance unlike any you might have seen her in before and it's amazing to watch. And if you needed any other inducement to watch this movie, there's a scene with Nichelle Nichols and Jean Simmons down on their knees in dresses up to here shootin' dice and exhorting; "Give it to me the hard way BABY!"
It's also a movie worth watching for the beautiful black-and-white photography and the view of a New York that doesn't exist anymore. Movies like MISTER BUDDWING I recommend not only as a good movie but as a history lesson. The New York in MISTER BUDDWING I barely remember but it's one that is worth you visiting.
So should you see MISTER BUDDWING? Well, unless you have Turner Classic Movies, you won't. It's not available on DVD or Netflix. But if you are a fan of James Garner and you have TCM on your satellite/cable provider then by all means, please give it a viewing.
110 minutes


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Tonight in the O'Connell Center, the Florida Gators begin play in the NCAA Tournament for the 22nd consecutive year under head coach Mary Wise.
Tonight in the O'Connell Center, the Florida Gators begin play in the NCAA Tournament for the 22nd consecutive year under head coach Mary Wise.
For Wise, the nation's winningest coach since taking over the UF program in 1991, the postseason mantra never changes.
It's all about focus.
"As soon as you start looking at the second-round match or beyond that, you lose sight of your task at hand," Wise said. "Teams are way too talented for that. It's a different intensity level.
"The O'Connell Center will look different. It now becomes a neutral site. It's about taking care of business. You can't even look one match ahead. It's all about the match at hand, that scouting report, playing as well as you can and hoping that your best is better than the other team's. That has been the formula over the years."
It is a formula that has worked well for UF, one of 16 teams hosting NCAA Sub-Regional action this weekend. The Gators, the No. 14 national seed, are 43-6 all-time in the O'Dome in NCAA Tournament play and have advanced to regional play in 20 of their previous 21 attempts.
The 15th-ranked Gators (25-4, 19-1 SEC) won their 20th SEC title — all under Wise — and are making their 23rd overall NCAA appearance. They take on Conference USA champion Tulsa at 7:30 p.m.
This is the third straight NCAA appearance for the Golden Hurricane (26-9, 14-2 C-USA), who are led by three-time C-USA Player of the Year Tyler Henderson. She is the nation's all-time scoring leader who comes into tonight's match with 651 kills on the season and averages 5.21 kills and 5.77 points per set, both NCAA-best marks.
"That's a pretty tough matchup to have for a first-round match," said Wise, who garnered her 13th SEC Coach of the Year honor this season.
"I think our fans are going to be in for a treat to see one of the country's best."
UF will counter with 2012 SEC Player of the Year and former Eastside standout Chloe Mann, who led the conference in hitting percentage (.437) while leading the Gators in blocks (107), and SEC Freshman of the Year Ziva Recek, who led UF in kills (409) while racking up nine double-doubles.
Both teams also are hot. The Gators have won six in a row and 22 of their last 24, while Tulsa has won seven straight and 19 of the last 21.
"We're excited to play Tulsa," UF senior and team captain Betsy Smith said. "They're a great team and they've got an awesome outside hitter. We're excited to be home in front of our fans and run out the tunnel at least a few more times, hopefully."
The Florida-Tulsa match follows the opener of the Gainesville Sub-Regional between ACC runner-up Miami and Southern Conference champion College of Charleston at 5 p.m.
The 23rd-ranked Hurricanes (25-5, 17-3 ACC), who are making their fourth straight tournament appearance, recorded their most ACC wins since 2004, while the Cougars (26-7, 14-2 SoCon) are in the field for the seventh time, but first since 2009.
The two winners will advance to second-round action Saturday at 7:30 p.m. with a regional berth in Austin, Texas, Dec. 7-8 on the line.
"We're very excited for the opportunity to host at home," UF senior Tangerine Wiggs said. "It's a privilege, and we're really proud of our team and how hard we've worked all season to play in front of our fans for another game. We're making sure we understand the opportunity we've been given."


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Behind the Walls
Living With HIV in Prison Comes With Its Own Set of Challenges, and Some Aren't the Ones You'd Expect
Winter 2011
Douglas Foreman knows firsthand what it is like to live with HIV in prison. At 52, he is a veteran of the Canadian correctional system, incarcerated in 11 different institutions since his first sentence in 1978. A gay man who contracted HIV through sex in the 1980s, Foreman was also diagnosed with hepatitis C virus (HCV) in 1991, although he isn't sure how or when he became infected with it.
That may have happened 32 years ago, during his first year in detention. He was in Quebec's Archambault Institution, at the time a maximum-security penitentiary, when he one day found himself being shot up by a fellow prisoner. "He was sitting beside me and I watched him prepare his hit, then he prepared one for me," recalls Foreman in a telephone interview from his current residence, a medium-security institution in Quebec. "I didn't even know I would shoot up ... I would never have known how to."
After more than three decades in the system, Foreman is well aware that being HIV positive in prison comes with its own challenges -- ones never faced by people with HIV outside prison or by prisoners who are HIV negative. Access to proper medical care is an obvious concern. As well, the HIV stigma and discrimination common in society can be worse inside prison walls. But Foreman's story points to another issue: Because rates of hepatitis C in Canada's prisons are high and access to prevention tools is limited, many prisoners with HIV face the heavy health burden of being co-infected with HCV.
According to published data, between two and eight percent of prisoners in Canada are living with HIV, which is at least 10 times higher than the prevalence of the virus in the general population. Even so, Foreman says, "Rates of HIV in prison are much higher than people say. I was in a minimum security prison three years ago where there were 250 prisoners. At a seminar on HIV, I declared who I was and afterwards 25 men came up and told me they were also HIV positive."
HCV infection is even more prevalent, according to official reports, affecting 19 to 40 percent of prisoners, which is at least 20 times the prevalence in the general population. Most prisoners say they became infected with HIV or HCV through sharing needles and equipment to inject drugs. Perhaps Foreman became infected with HCV through that single time he shared a needle. Or perhaps it was through sex -- there is mounting evidence that HCV may pass sexually, especially among HIV-positive men who have sex with other men.
Mavis Daniels, 33, is a Cree woman living in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. She was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 1996 and with HIV in 2003. Daniels injected drugs for many years before stopping three years ago. She says she contracted HIV through sex with a former partner. The man, a hemophiliac who contracted HIV in the 1980s during a blood transfusion, never told her of his status. She says that after hearing rumours, she asked him, "'Are you sick? You need to tell me this.' He said, 'No, I'm not. I don't know who's telling you this bullshit.'" The relationship continued and the couple even decided to try to become pregnant. Eventually, a mutual friend told the truth to Daniels. "My heart jumped because I was already having unprotected sex with him for a year." An HIV test came back positive.
Daniels has also spent time in prison, twice -- once in the late 1990s and again from 2007 to 2009 -- in Saskatchewan's Pine Grove Correctional Centre. She is a very real face of some startling statistics, including the fact that the Prairies has nearly half of all HIV-positive federal female prisoners in the country. Aboriginal women in prison are particularly affected -- in a 2007 anonymous survey conducted in federal prisons, about one in 10 (or 11.7 percent) Aboriginal female prisoners was HIV positive and a shocking one in two (49.1 percent) was HCV positive.
One of the most important aspects of living with any chronic medical condition, including HIV, is getting good medical care. In Canada, people have the right to "essential health care" while in prison, which includes treatment for HIV.
Generally, HIV-positive prisoners have at least occasional access to specialist care. Barb Bowditch, HIV case manager and consultant with the Prince Albert Hepatitis C Program in northern Saskatchewan since 2006, says that HIV-positive prisoners in the region's three institutions see an HIV doctor regularly -- about every one to three months depending on the institution -- either at clinics held in the prison or by being escorted to the Prince Albert clinic. Support and clinical services are offered on an ongoing basis. (Between appointments with the HIV specialist, prisoners can request to see a prison doctor. All requests are evaluated by the prison nursing unit and then forwarded or not.)
National data show that about six out of every 10 HIV-positive prisoners is on anti-HIV therapy. In the federal system, people get two weeks' worth of HIV meds at a time, in blister packs that they keep in their cells. People can start HIV therapy while inside if it's necessary and if they are ready. At the Prince Albert clinic, Bowditch says, "it's a decision that's made by the doctor, the patient and one of the nurses. Some may not want to start HIV meds right away and that's OK. But, say their CD4 counts are dropping, we'll at least start them on Septra and azithromycin" to give them some protection from other infections.
Unfortunately, security can trump health in prison. "For three months," Daniels recalls, "I complained to nursing staff that something's wrong with me. I could not eat. Every time I woke up in the morning, I threw up. I told the nurses and they did nothing. I think they assumed that I wanted to make a trip out to the hospital so that someone could come meet me there with drugs." The situation deteriorated and one morning Daniels had a seizure. "When I woke up in the ambulance they said the sleeping meds collided with my HIV meds, Kaletra and Combivir, and it caused a reaction to the brain."
Dissolution of Primary Intimate Relationships During Incarceration and Associations With Post-Release STI/HIV Risk Behavior in a Southeastern City
This article was provided by Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange. It is a part of the publication The Positive Side. Visit CATIE's Web site to find out more about their activities, publications and services.
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