text:
Americans Honor Victims on the 11th Anniversary of the 9/11 Terror Attacks [VIDEO]
In what's become a grim and somber ritual for Americans, citizens will gather Tuesday to mark the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, in which Islamic extremists killed nearly 3,000 people.
Thousands are expected to come together in New York City, Washington, DC and Pennsylvania to pay their respects.
In New York, there were moments of silence at 8:46 a.m., 9:03 a.m., 9:37 a.m. and 10:03 a.m. to signal the impact of each hijacked plane. Additional silences were observed at 9:59 a.m. and 10:28 a.m. when the South and North Twin Towers fell. In addition, the families of the more than 2,750 killed at Ground Zero will read the names of their loved ones in memorial.
A ceremony will be held outside the Pentagon in Washinton, DC, where a hijacked plane crashed and killed more than 180 people. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle will observe a moment of silence on the White House lawn and later attend the Pentagon ceremony.
In Shanksville, PA, where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed, the names of 40 crew members and passengers were read starting at 10:03 a.m. by victims' families and volunteers who assisted with the crash. A bell will toll once for each name that's read.
[NBC News]


text:
But I realize this is not my finest food styling hour. I hope though - I really, really, really hope - that just this once you won't eat with your eyes first. Because this is seriously the very best turkey dish I have ever had, and Poppa Trix felt the same way. And we do not use superlatives lightly.
What could possibly not be good about this? We are talking about meat that has been cured, seasoned, and slowly poached in butter, after all! It's salty and juicy, redolent of sage and rosemary and thyme, and the meat is so tender it literally falls off of the bone and melts in your mouth.
For the gastrique, I used sugar, pomegranate vinegar, Pitaya Plus Dragon Fruit juice, and a hot chili, creating the perfect punch of tangy sweet heat to cut through all that fat. Things like "confit" and "gastrique" may sound terribly fancy, but they're very simple techniques, and if you're looking for a bridge between the traditional and something a little different this Thanksgiving, may I humbly suggest this?
Ah, but wait: I said something about a giveaway, didn't I? A while back, the folks at Pitaya Plus sent me a case of their dragon fruit juice to check out. (There was no obligation for a positive review, or any review at all.) I really like their company's philosophy. They get all their fruit from small family-owned farms in Nicaragua and work to help them get organically certified, they employ single mothers from the region and pay them above minimum wage, they operate one of the only solar powered facilities in Central America, and they're working on getting Fair Trade certification.
That's all great, but this is a food blog, right? Their pitaya - aka dragon fruit - juice has a touch of coconut water and lemon, with no added sugar. I really like that it's not too sweet, and it's packed with fiber, vitamin D, and antioxidants. I don't know about you, but around this time of year I can use all the antioxidants I can get! It's currently available in select Whole Foods and health food stores in the U.S., but one lucky Tasty Trix reader will get a entire case of this good stuff shipped right to their door. I'll share the details at the end of this post.
In the meantime, here's how to make this dish.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Error Error Your Browser Is No Longer Supported. Please use an alternative browser to improve your experience and security.
Semi-annual Sale: Save up to 75%
50% off Select Candles
Buy Online, Pick Up in Store now available!
Shop our New Under the Desert Sun Collection
THE PERFECT GIFT Make a Personalized Candle online or in a store in minutes.
BASIC CANDLE CARE Follow these tips to get the most enjoyment out of your candles.
FRAGRANCE FINDER QUIZ Discover your new spring scent with this fun 1-minute quiz.
BUILD YOUR OWN BOX A $39 value for just $25 — Sample the season or give a trio of fragrances as a gift.
FRAGRANCE FAMILY Belonging has its rewards — earn points for free Fragrance Cash and other perks!
BUY ONLINE, PICK UP IN STORE It's easy and convenient — your items will be ready when you arrive.
SAVE WITH AUTO-SHIP Save 20% and get free economy shipping on all orders. Never run out of your faves.


text:
Special Feature
"I just feel blessed and honored to be the champion. This is my second chance of reinventing myself. I'm a former amateur wrestler, a former professional wrestler, a wannabe NFL football player. And here I am a UFC heavyweight champion."
While much of the attention of the history-making sort has been centered on Cain Velasquez' quest to become the first fighter of Mexican descent to win a world heavyweight title in combat sports, the man he will be challenging for the UFC crown in Saturday's UFC 121 main event, champion Brock Lesnar, is quietly approaching some milestones as well should he defend his title successfully in Anaheim's Honda Center.
That alone is an amazing feat, considering that the big man from Minnesota's fighting career consists of just six pro fights. But with a win over Velasquez, Lesnar will tie Tim Sylvia for most successful heavyweight title defenses with three, and set the record for most successful consecutive defenses (again, with three), while a knockout or submission of his unbeaten challenger will put him atop those UFC heavyweight championship leader boards as well.
It's been an amazing run to say the least for one of only seven men to hold unbeaten records in UFC championship bouts, but for Lesnar, it's not about accolades or records anymore – if it ever was. Following a 2009 bout with diverticulitis that nearly ended his career, Lesnar is just happy to be here, to be able to fight and to have the belt around his waist.
"I just feel blessed and honored to be the champion," he said during a recent media teleconference. "This is my second chance of reinventing myself. I'm a former amateur wrestler, a former professional wrestler, a wannabe NFL football player. And here I am a UFC heavyweight champion. So do I look at it any differently? No. Do I go to bed holding on to my UFC title every night? No. I go to bed, I tuck my kids into bed every night. I don't have any added pressure on myself. I'm doing what I love to do."
And that's the scary part about the 6-3 ½, 265 pounder. Unlike some professional athletes who are content to simply pick up a check and show up on game night, Lesnar has developed a reputation as one of the hardest workers in the sport, with an all or nothing attitude to go with it. So when he got the call to compete against Velasquez just three months after his battle with Shane Carwin in July, he bit down on his mouthpiece and got back to work.
"This is what I do for a living," Lesnar told me in August. "I'm a fighter, and I can't wait to get back in the Octagon. I'm still in great condition from the last camp. I took a week off, and I was right back in the gym. You have to be smart and know your limits, but right now I feel great and I'm hungry. No reason to wait around."
If Lesnar's plan is to strike while the iron's hot, there's no better time for him to do it than now. Sidelined for a year following his UFC 100 win over Frank Mir, Lesnar had tons of question marks circling him before his return against Carwin, a Colorado KO king who was eager to make Lesnar another victim. In terms of easing a fighter back into competition, this wasn't the guy you wanted, and Carwin made that evident immediately, as he stuffed Lesnar's early takedown attempts and drilled him with shots to the head that stunned and dropped the champion. Shockingly, Lesnar, dazed and bleeding, survived the onslaught, got up, and after catching his breath between rounds, smiled at Carwin before the start of round two, as if to say, 'you got yours, now I'm gonna get mine.'
He did, taking Carwin down almost immediately and submitting him with an arm triangle. It was an improbable comeback, both in the fight, and in general, considering what Lesnar had gone through to get back in the Octagon, and if anyone doubted the validity of his claim to be the top heavyweight in the sport, they were drowned out by the cheers that almost lifted the roof off of the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Yet the beauty of this sport is that there is little time to bask in past glories. Unlike boxing, where tough challenges are followed by mandatory mismatches or 'keep busy' fights, Lesnar is back in the Octagon against an opponent who may be even more formidable than Carwin, Mir, or the man he beat for the title, Randy Couture. So while Lesnar does have the advantage of coming into this fight sharp and in shape after his July bout, he will need to be firing on all cylinders against Velasquez, and to amp things up even more, he's added fighters like Pat Barry to a camp that already includes standouts Cole Konrad, Chris Tuchscherer, and Jon Madsen.
"Everything's in line," he said. "I feel I'm right on and I'm as lean as I've ever been. Guys say they've had good camps and I can go back and say every camp has been my best camp, but I really think so. I've gotten better and better and better and I really don't think I'm still the best that I can be, but on October 23rd, on that night I'll be the best."
It's a champion's confidence, but part of what keeps a champion at the top is the idea that you never look past any opponent, while approaching every fight as if you are the challenger. Lesnar has that part down, admitting that Velasquez is unlike anyone he's faced thus far in his pro career.
"He poses some different challenges," he said. "He's a smaller, quicker fighter with good hands, and he was never a national champ, but he was a Division I All-American wrestler."
And to many, the talented and hungry Velasquez is the future of the heavyweight division. That's okay with Brock Lesnar, as long as he proves on Saturday night that he's still the present, and as he put it after the Carwin bout, "the toughest SOB around."
Power Slap


text:
History of Shaolin Long Fist Kung Fu
December 30, 2009
The first Shaolin Buddhist Temple was built in 377 AD on Shaoshi Mountain (少室山) in Deng Feng (登封) county of Henan (河南) province, by order of Emperor Wei (魏). Bodhidharma (菩提達摩), or Da Mo, came to Shaolin from India to teach Buddhism around 527 AD.
Five Qigong Categories
November 18, 2009
It is very important to keep the Qi (internal energy) circulating smoothly in your body. Many different kinds of Qigong exercises have been created to achieve this, but they can generally be categorized into five groups according to the main purpose of the training.
Beyond Your Barehand Taiji Form (太極拳套)
November 4, 2009
Once you have learned a basic Taiji form, whether you study Yang, Chen, or another style, there is still a great deal that traditional Taijiquan training can offer.
Shaolin: the Root of Taijiquan
June 23, 2009
After Bodhidharma (Da Mo) passed down his qigong (chi kung) theory at Shaolin Temple around 550 A.D., the Shaolin monks trained the cultivation of Qi, and realized that muscular power could be enhanced to a tremendous level, which could make martial techniques more powerful and effective.
Benefits of Tai Chi Qi Gong for Arthritis
May 11, 2009
May is National Arthritis Month: One of the challenges we have in this country as well as in the rest of the world, is how to approach the health care goals of the growing wave of our aging population. We are living through special times. We can see a shift towards greater acceptance of new methods and treatments for various debilitating diseases such as arthritis.
Taiji Chin Na - Martial Application
May 4, 2009
Taijiquan was originally developed for combat in ancient times. Its fighting theory is to use the soft against the hard, and to use the round to neutralize the straight or square.
Basic Concepts of Qi and Qigong - Part 2
March 30, 2009
In modern times, we mainly use only the narrow definition of Qi, which refers to the energy circulating in the human body.
Basic Concepts of Qi and Qigong - Part 1
March 23, 2009
The Chinese word "Qi" translates in English to "energy". Qi is the energy or natural force which fills the universe. The Chinese believe in Three Powers (San Cai) of the universe: Heaven, Earth and Human.
Insights into Modern Day Martial Arts Training
February 17, 2009
Training does have to be adjusted and changed for modern day, but the principles and essence should remain the same. We are constantly striving to preserve the teachings of our masters, and we should be very cautious when to modify them.
The Profound Art of Chinese Sword (Jian)
February 9, 2009
The Jian (Cantonese: gim), a narrow-blade, double-edged sword, has been respected as the "King of Short Weapons" in China for millennia. Wielding the Jian requires the highest of skill, and the sword user must strive to the heights of spirit and morality.
Martial Arts in the 21st Century - Part 3 of 3
January 22, 2009
There has been a clear and obvious downward shift in the average skill level of students, and even masters, of today compared to the masters and students of old.
Martial Arts in the 21st Century - Part 2 of 3
January 15, 2009
In ancient times, many students would unconditionally sacrifice their lives to their training and beg masters to take them, often striving to prove themselves worthy for many weeks, months or years before they were accepted.
Martial Arts in the 21st Century - Part 1 of 3
January 8, 2009
My Long Fist grandmaster, Grandmaster Li, Mao-Ching, spent 23 years and 1 month in the Chinese military during harsh wartime conditions while he trained everyday, under Great Grandmaster Han, Chin-Tang, one of the foremost traditional martial artists and graduates of the Nanjing Central Guoshu Institute


text:
Census Project since 1997 . . .
A Gift of the Past for the Future! Started in February, 1997, The USGenWeb Census Project is an all-volunteer project to transcribe census records in a standard format in order to make them available to genealogical researchers on the Internet.
Free CSS Template by CSSHeaven.org


text:
"If I have ever seen a dead giveaway set-up for a miracle, this is it." – Bill James, in the Chicago Cubs essay, in the 1984 Baseball Abstract.
In the history of sabermetrics, there has probably never been a more gutsy, anti-conventional-wisdom, and bullseye-accurate prediction than that one. Or at least, there wasn't until Nate Silver wrote this last spring. It's appropriate that James and Silver, the man who literally coined the term "sabermetrics" and the man who applied the process to another field of study with equally seismic impact, also share a history of transmuting their analytical iron into prognosticative gold.
(My own best effort in this category came back in the 1997 Baseball Prospectus, when I wrote at the conclusion of my essay on the Marlins – for whom the consensus opinion was that they'd finish under .500 once again – "Last year in these pages, I wrote the Marlins 'have everything in place to battle the Braves for dominance of the NL East for the rest of the decade.' I believe that even more strongly this year. The Marlins went through growing pains last year, but they have too much talent to lie dormant any longer. This is the year the Marlins should reap the benefits of their patience, and prove that they had the right blueprint for success from the beginning". The problem was that BP had not registered even a blip on the publishing radar at that point, which limited my ability to gloat. That, and the fact that Wayne Huizenga then turned the franchise from World Champions to a laughingstock in one off-season.)
But back to James' original statement. In his essay, James went on to give a number of reasons why he felt like the Cubs had a much better chance to win the division than almost anyone realized. One of those reasons has a lot of relevance for the 2009 Royals.
"3) Miracles usually happen in compressed leagues, in leagues where the difference between the best teams and the worst teams is not too wide…there have been many moments in the history of baseball when there was no great team, no dominant team. It is in those times that miracle teams come forward. The National League in 1968, the year before the Miracle of
I don't think this revelation is going to astound anyone – compressed divisions, divisions which lack any obvious doormats but also lack any clearly dominant teams – are divisions that are open for anyone to win. And I don't think anyone would argue with the notion that the AL Central is a compressed division. But what I think is being missed by the national media is that for the first time in a while, when we say "anyone in the AL Central", we don't mean "anyone but the Royals." Tim Kurkjian didn't get the memo. "Four teams, none of them great, have a legitimate chance to win the division in 2009. And a fifth team, the Royals, who didn't even finish fifth in 2008, "could have our best club since 1994 [their last season as a contender],"
We can rebut this pretty easily by pointing out that last year it was the Tigers, not the Royals, who brought up the rear of the division. Better still, we can point to the (preliminary) PECOTA projections for 2009, which predict the Royals to finish with their exact same record, 75-87, and to once again finish in fourth place, two games out of the cellar – only this time, PECOTA projects the White Sox to finish last with 89 losses.
(It's beyond the scope of this article to address the long-simmering feud between Kenny Williams and a computer algorithm. Even Silver will tell you not to hold too much water to the fact that PECOTA holds no love for the Pale Hose; while sometimes PECOTA is dead on about the Sox (see 2007), sometimes it's dead wrong (2005, and to a lesser extent 2008). Williams is an unconventional GM, but I have a lot of respect for his fearlessness, and wouldn't want to bet against him making a Commodore 64 out of PECOTA once again.)
What really stands out about the PECOTA projections is that PECOTA has confirmed my two main suspicions about the division: 1) the Indians are the best team in the division on paper; and 2) that says less about the Indians than it does about the rest of the division. PECOTA has Cleveland at 83-79, and the other four teams with between 73 and 79 wins. From top to bottom, that's a ten-game swing. Now a computer projection is, by its nature, going to regress teams towards .500 and possibly make a division look more compressed than it is. But still, no other division in baseball has a ten-game swing from first to worst. The AL West is 14 wins top to bottom (but there are only four teams in the division), while every other division has a spread of 19 wins or more.
So don't look at this projection and say to yourself, "man, the Royals are projected for fourth place again?" or "75 wins again?" Look at the standings and say to yourself, "wow, the Royals are projected to finish just eight games out of first!" Eight games is nothing. Eight games is almost statistically insignificant.
If you flipped a perfectly fair coin 162 times, you'd expect to flip heads 81 times, obviously. But you won't get exactly 81 heads each time – you might get 77, or 83, or occasionally even 69 or 92. If I remember my binomial theory correctly, the standard deviation on 162 coin flips is the square root of (162 * 50% * 50%) – about 6.36.
By definition, the odds that an outcome will fall within one standard deviation of its mean is 68%. So while a perfectly fair coin – or a .500 team – would be expected to win 81 games on average, the odds that such a team would win more than 87 games – one standard deviation above the mean – simply by chance is about 16%.
Using the binomial calculator I found here, we can say that if the Royals are truly a 75-win team, the chances that they'll win 83 or more games is about 12%. The odds that they'll win the division are less than that, because while PECOTA predicts that no team will more than 83 games, odds are that at least one of the five AL Central teams will outperform their projections by a significant margin. Once Clay Davenport has his Postseason Odds updated for 2009, we'll have a more accurate answer to this question. But for now, let's say that 87 wins takes the division.
If that's what it takes, there's about a 3.5% chance that a 75-win team will in fact win 87 games based purely on the way the coin – or ball – bounces. Those aren't very good odds, but keep in mind, those are the odds that the Royals would win the division even though the team is fundamentally no better than last year. Those are the odds that a team that by all rights should be well under .500 – a team that is outscored by its opponents by 60 runs – still goes to the playoffs.
We saw this story play out with the 2003 Royals, who were outscored by 31 runs – and were lucky to have a run differential even that close – yet won 83 games. That year the Royals were in the hunt all season because they were lucky – but the underlying talent was poor enough that they needed to be really lucky to win the division.
But here's the thing – what if the 2009 Royals aren't really a 75 win team? What if Alex Gordon goes all .300/.400/.500 on the league? Or what if Billy Butler does the same? Or what if Zack Greinke is a Cy Young contender? By being just eight games out of first place on paper, the Royals are in a tipping point of sorts, where even a marginal improvement can lead to a dramatically higher probability of a playoff spot. If we knew for certain that Gordon was going to have a breakout season – and I still stubbornly believe he will – we could probably tack on two or three wins to the Royals' projection.
The odds that a 75-win team will win 87 games or more is 3.5%. Add an additional three wins, and you've got a 78-win team – and the odds a 78-win team will actually win 87+ games is 9.1%. Three more wins on paper nearly triples the Royals' odds of winning the division.
I've said all winter that the Royals need two of those three guys to have All-Star caliber seasons to have a realistic shot at a playoff spot. So let's say we get two breakout seasons, each worth three wins, vaulting the Royals into a .500 team on paper. Now their odds of winning 87+ games is 19.4%. (This number is a little different from the number above because of fractional wins – the standard deviation is 6.36, but you can't win 87.36 games.)
A 19.4% chance of winning the division basically means the Royals have the same shot as every other team in the division. That's a crapshoot, and any Royals fan would be happy to have the season come down to a crapshoot.
So there's reason for Royals fans to be, if not excited, at least guardedly optimistic about this season. It's not likely that the Royals will win the division, but it's a legitimate possibility – something that we could not have said about the team ever since the hangover that was the 2004 season.
This is what makes this off-season so frustrating. The Royals were not a good team last season, but they were approaching mediocrity – and playing in a division in which mediocrity is no impediment to being competitive. It would have only taken one significant addition to the roster to elevate the team to legitimate .500 status, just a breakout season away from true contender status in the division. Instead, Dayton Moore treaded water this winter, adding a whole lot of Kyle Farnsworths and Horacio Ramirezes but no Adam Dunns or Bobby Abreus.
And this is what makes the recent flirtations with Orlando Hudson so intriguing. There are some real downsides to signing O-Dog – if I have time I hope to write a column about him in the next few days – but on the whole,
But the best case for
I guess if


text:
Looking at the Reinforced Natural Grass in Acle NR13 3 is a must for all professional sports clubs to have this installation in their stadiums and even training grounds. The advanced hybrid solution of the part synthetic turf with natural grass has so many advantages and inside the UK this has become all the rage.
For more information on this system please completed the contact box on this page to receive quotes, specifications and details of installations you might be after. Please when filling in these tabs send in the playing field address, dimensions and budgets you might have as this will affect the specification in which manufacturer could meet your goals.
Introducing the next generation of the grassed field sports pitches in your surrounding area, offer an advanced hybrid system which integrates artificial yarns like bonar yarn to support and reinforce the real grass. This offers the surfacing to have more resistance in the hard wear areas and gives a more consistent green looking surface all throughout the year.
With regards to specifications within the UK the most common systems are the SISGrass Pitches, XtraGrass Hybrid Turf and the Desso Grassmaster. All three of these specifications transform and improve the existing natural turf flooring system which can become worn and tired looking in heavy use.
The bespoke designs and specifications of the advanced hybrid turf is different from supplier and installer given that some use different yarns, various machinery and bespoke tailor made designs but all essentially offer a part synthetic / part natural grass playing field. The prices and costs of these reinforced natural turf pitches will certainly vary from project and facility depending on site access, existing playing conditions, the amount of yarns needed into the design specification and dimensions / sizes of the stadium pitch floor.
So fundamentally what may be different from supplier to manufacturer is the grade of artificial yarns which could vary in thickness, shape and material as there is both polyethylene and polypropylene materials which can be used. The unique designs is what football clubs and rugby stadiums within the United Kingdom love because they can either decide to duplicate an existing case study completed or have a unique bespoke design so their installation is one of a kind.
The advanced hybrid sports pitch in Acle NR13 3 is developing every year and the machinery is improving so that installations may be faster and laser control tor accurate measures integrated so if you want to know more about lead in times, installation duration onsite and machinery used please fill in our contact form for this information. Whether you are looking for MUGA construction http://artificialgrass-syntheticturf.co.uk/muga-pitch/muga-pitch-construction/norfolk/acle/ or any other surfacing option, contact us today to learn more.
Aftercare and maintenance of sport pitches are very important to make sure the integral strength and playign characteristics are met all year round so this is easily incorporated as part of a package or training can be provided to groundsmen in the upkeep of these advanced hybrid reinforced part natural and part artificial surfaces.
Only professional SAPCA approved contractors closest to you will be installing these newest, exciting innovated specifications so quality provided will always be to the highest standard and these are loved by many governing bodies including FIFA, IATS, Football Association, IRB, RFU and Rugby Football League governing body. This winning formula next level grade sporting surfacing is perfect for stadium facilites, sport training grounds and spoting areas. When looking into the re-turf of your grassed field then make sure you at least enquire here for the costings and pricings to compare the two with the ROI which can be achieved with this grade of surfacing. If you would like to find out more about installation or all weather surfacing http://artificialgrass-syntheticturf.co.uk/all-weather/all-weather-pitch-surfaces/norfolk/acle/ speak to us today!
The benefits of reinforced grass in Acle are huge because this installation can provide upto three times more playing time and usage on the field, recovers faster which opens up the facility to more revenue making ideas, it has no extra maintenance needed to what a natural turf playing surface would require and facilitates optimum playing conditions with ball performance, durability and resilience. The soft polyethylene yarn used maximises players comfort and when installed with the specialist machinery it anchors the grass roots creating a uniform solution.
With regards to the investment into this type of flooring then the ROI is there for many local clubs to see with the area being able to be used more often and if you look towards community use then funding might be available through funding-grants.co.uk or finance packages because the investment of this surface is a good business move for all football, soccer and rugby organisations.
The next generation sports surfacing is what the whole of sport has been waiting for and whether you decide on the Desso Grassmaster, ExtraGrass Pitches or SISGrass specification you will sure be receiving the ultimate hybrid pitch solution. This technology laughs at the UK shocking weather we receive, it acts as a big brother to natural turf and is the development of over a decade of studies, research and development. Get in touch today and unlock the potential your nearby sporting facility can love all year round as this all weather pitch surface is the future to improving the game. Or click here - http://artificialgrass-syntheticturf.co.uk/garden-grass/fake-garden-lawn-installers/norfolk/acle/ to find out more regarding lawn installtions.
We can provide you with more information on any surface we provide whether it is for a sports club, leisure centre, school or garden. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any worries or concerns or if you'd simply like to find out about the costs of installing are synthetic turf. The contact form on this page will allow you to get in touch with our professionals, so please send us a message today and we will get back to you with more details on reinforced natural grass in Acle NR13 3 along with a quote if required.


text:
GOP hopefuls agree prison fixes are elusive
SPRINGFIELD - The four Republican candidates for governor are in agreement when it comes to Illinois prisons: There are too many inmates, not enough cells and quick action is needed to address what they say is a public safety threat.
"The population in our correctional facilities is dramatically overcrowded," state Treasurer Dan Rutherford, who's in the running for Illinois' top office, said in responding to a questionnaire from The Associated Press. "There are 49,000 inmates in a system designed for 32,000. This is not safe for the employees or those incarcerated."
But none of the candidates - Rutherford, Sens. Bill Brady and Kirk Dillard and venture capitalist Bruce Rauner - offers a clear-cut, short-term plan for fixing the overcrowding situation, short of reopening recently shuttered facilities.
They are all at least skeptical of building new prisons, with most suggesting long-term strategic planning to determine the best way to house a population the Illinois Department of Corrections predicts will top 49,700 by September.
In a departure from Republicans' traditional lock-'em-up philosophy, the GOP candidates are open to the idea of alternative sentencing for low-level offenders. They would use programs such as Adult Redeploy Illinois, which diverts nonviolent offenders in several counties from prison by offering drug treatment, therapy or other services.
And all but Rauner would at least consider reopening Tamms, a super-maximum security lockup in far southern Illinois that was closed in 2012.
The questionnaire answers left little to distinguish between the candidates, right down to criticizing Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn.
"I disagree with the governor's decision to close Tamms; our worst criminals are now in other prisons and endangering the lives of guards," said Dillard, of Hinsdale, who wants to reopen the facility. "The governor is now trying to control the population with excessive 'early release' which also threatens public safety."
The Corrections Department has said it continually assesses short- and long-term facility needs based on the number of prisoners coming into the system. But it has faced blistering criticism over its handling of prisons since Quinn took office in 2009.
His razor-thin election victory in 2010 was partly blamed on a scandal involving the early release of hundreds of violent prisoners, a program he shut down for three years. During those years, the population soared by as much as 4,000 inmates. The program resumed last year under stricter rules.
Then, in 2012 Quinn announced the closure of Tamms and the Dwight women's maximum-security lockup in Livingston County. Illinois also sold to the federal government a maximum-security penitentiary in Thomson that was completed in 2001 but never fully opened because of budget constraints.
As for Dillard's criticism, Quinn's Corrections Department disagrees that the closure of Tamms makes general prisons more dangerous or that use of the new good-conduct release policy is excessive.
Inmates formerly housed at Tamms were held there because they were gang leaders or caused trouble elsewhere, and are housed in traditional maximum-security prisons now. But the Corrections Department says they are held securely and officials contend inmate assaults on staff members are down in the past year.
Figures on early release - now known as "Supplemental Sentence Credit" - gathered and analyzed by the AP show that since the program began in March 2013, the agency has released about 2,900 inmates up to six months early for good conduct behind bars.
Just over 4 percent have returned to prison because of violating the terms of their release.
And regarding overcrowding, the Corrections Department says there's enough space to house inmates safely at no risk to the public. They say the 32,000-inmate design capacity is based on outdated housing practices.
The candidates say there's no money to build new prisons - and if it becomes necessary, it must only come after careful consideration of long-term needs.
"Any new prison construction would have to be justified by the long-term facility needs assessment plan I will institute as governor and be included in the state's long-term capital planning process," Brady said.
Rutherford would consider "how closed correctional facilities could be utilized to alleviate current pressures."
Each is open to the idea of alternative sentencing.
"For certain types of crimes and offenders, there can be a place for alternative sentencing," Rauner said.
Tio Hardiman of Hillside, former director of a nonprofit organization that combats violence in the Chicago region, is taking on Quinn in the Democratic primary. In response to the questionnaire, Hardiman said he too believes in alternative sentencing and would support building new prisons to replace the state's oldest lockups.
Quinn declined to participate in the AP questionnaire, saying his views on important state issues are well-known.


text:
Categories: Blowjob, Casting, Cumshot, Hardcore, POV, Teen
Tags: cumshot, casting, blowjob, casting couch x, hardcore, teen, avery moon, pov, shy, cute, girlfriend, spreading
Download full HD movie at Casting Couch X →
Stream or download the entire HD movie in multiple formats for desktop, tablet or phone
Full HD movie at Casting Couch X →
Grab entire photoset & zip at Casting Couch X →
These are only low resolution samples, full-res images in members area are 4000+ pixels
Full photoset at Casting Couch X →
Treat yourself today, membership to Casting Couch X cost as little as $0.27/day. As a member you get unrestricted access to their full collection of HD videos, high resolution photo sets with zip files and frequent updates. The signup process is quick, secure and super easy, start downloading within minutes.
Copyright © 2024 blog.pinkworld.com All rights reserved.
18 U.S.C. 2257 Record-Keeping Requirements Compliance Statement
Contact Us | Advertising


text:
Red Sox - 010 131 030 - 9 13 0Recap: Things were very shitty.
Yankees - 510 010 004 - 11 13 0
Then they got better.
Then they got really good and there was much merriment.
Then they got very shitty again, very quickly.
The End.Daisuke Matsuzaka / Phil Hughes
Dear Red Sox: The season is almost one-quarter over. It's time to get your ass in gear.Scutaro, SS
Pedroia, 2B
Drew, RF
Youkilis, 1B
Martinez, C
Ortiz, DH
Beltre, 3B
Hermida, LF
McDonald, CF
Dice had one of his best starts in a Red Sox uniform against the Blue Jays on May 11 (7-3-1-0-9, 106). More like that, please.
Hughes (5-0, 1.38 ERA) is the first Yankees pitcher with five wins and a sub 1.50 ERA through his first six starts since "Bullet" Bob Turley in 1958. Hughes faced Boston back on May 7 (7-7-2-1-7, 101). His BABIP is an unsustainably-low .223.
Jacoby Ellsbury played for the PawSox today: 1-for-3 (single, walk, run). He will play the outfield for Portland tomorrow.Today in Baseball History:
1939 - The first baseball game ever televised: Princeton's 2-1 victory over Columbia at the Baker Bowl is broadcast over W2XBS in New York City. The Times: "It is difficult to see how this sort of thing can catch the public fancy."
1945 - Every American League game is rained out for the fourth consecutive day.
1971 - Tommy McCraw of the Senators circles the bases for an inside-the-park home run when three Cleveland fielders (shortstop Jack Heidemann and outfielders Vada Pinson and John Lowenstein) collide while trying to catch his 140-foot pop-up.
1979 - On a windy day at Wrigley Field, the Phillies beat the Cubs 23-22 in 10 innings. Each starting pitcher lasts only 0.1 of an inning.


text:
FOR SALE: One heavily used 90-year-old Oregon bridge, self move required
PORTLAND, Ore (KPTV) -- The Sellwood Bridge in Oregon is for sale - if you can move it.
As Multnomah county prepares for the 2015 opening of the new Sellwood Bridge, it must find a way to get rid of the current span.
Because the bridge has been designated a historic resource, it must be made available for historic reuse before it's removed by Multnomah County. The county is hoping a contractor steps up to remove the bridge, but there's a few important requirements before a deal can be made. The buyer must:
- Move it safely with their own resources
- Cover the steel structure to contain lead paint
- Re-use it in a way that preserves the historic resource
- Have a place to put it
- Prove it can be moved safely
The portion of the bridge that is available is the continuous steel truss span that is nearly 1,100 feet long.
Multnomah County will accept proposals to buy the bridge until Sept. 12. If no one buys the bridge, the county will get rid of it itself and recycle most of the materials.
The new Sellwood Bridge is expected to open in 2015 and the entire project should be finished by early 2016.


text:
AppliedMaterials is the leader in materials engineering solutions used to produce virtually every new chip and advanced display in the world. Our expertise in modifying materials at atomic levels and on an industrial scale enables customers to transform possibilities into reality. Our innovations make possible™ the technology shaping the future.
8th Annual Women are FIRST in Texas


text:
Amidst growing reports that the Ancestry.com index has large numbers of errors, Ancestry's release of 12 additional states on Thursday vaulted their position in the horse race to twice that of FamilySearch (as of 11:00 AM, Thursday). Ancestry has published indexes for about 70% of the 1940 U.S. Census compared to FamilySearch's 35%.
Since my last update, Ancestry has published indexes for these states: Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Utah. During the same time period, FamilySearch did not publish any, but did finish indexing Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
In terms of number of states, Ancestry has only published six more states than FamilySearch (38 to 32, respectively). The size of their lead is a result of publishing bigger states than FamilySearch. Of the ten biggest states, Ancestry has published seven. FamilySearch has finished indexing six of the top ten states but has only published one.
How quickly it can clear its backlog will decide the winner of this horse race.
Meanwhile, the question of quality looms large in users' minds. Many users are reporting problems in the Ancestry index. I contacted Ancestry for comment and got answers to some of your questions.
"We are confident that our index, delivered in record time and optimized as it is to work with our proprietary system, provides the best and most powerful 1940 experience on the market," said Todd Jensen. Jensen is senior director of document preservation services at Ancestry.com.
Several of you asked where Ancestry's keying vendors are located. "We used four vendors to key the 1940 Census," said Jensen. "Two were located in China and have been involved in Family History record transcription for many years. Another was located in Bangladesh and the fourth in the Philippines."
While Ancestry doesn't share details about their quality and audit methods, Jensen calls them "rigorous" and explained the process generally. If the quality tolerance is not met for a batch, it is sent back to the vendor for rework followed by another, separately sampled audit. "We can say that throughout this process we have taken every effort to ensure accuracy by holding our keying partners to high quality thresholds and implementing new and advanced quality assurance processes."
Ancestry's search system takes indexing errors into account. "Once batches are passed," said Jensen, "there is extensive post production work which occurs. Index data is further augmented to maximize its chances of being 'found' in a search or through hints. Even names which have difficult handwriting have a chance of being found with our proprietary systems."
Jensen acknowledged the comparisons being made between Ancestry's and FamilySearch's indexes. As reader AnnieB has pointed out, Randy Seaver has done one such comparison. I plan to do my own as soon as time permits. "Whilst we don't discount such reviews," said Jensen, "evaluation of indexes of this size is problematic with even large samples being statistically unrepresentative of overall quality."
Jensen remembers statistics a little differently than I do. Large samples can be quite representative of overall quality. The problem with most reviews—including the one I will do—is that the samples are not random. That, not the size of the 1940 Census, makes it unwise to generalize results to the entire index.
Still, such reviews, as well as your individual experiences, have meaning and value in their own sphere. Leave a comment and tell us what you've found. Is anyone having positive experiences with Ancestry's index? Or dare I ask, negative ones with FamilySearch?


text:
Product Description
This is a DOWNLOAD product.
Hard as nails and every bit as sharp, that's Jeff Regan, Investigator!
Listen in as the top operative of the International Detective Bureau, and his boss Anthony J. Lyon, scratch the underbelly of postwar urban crime in twelve digitally restored and remastered episodes. Frank Graham and Paul Dubov star as Regan, alongside Frank Nelson, William Conrad, Arthur Q. Bryan, Lurene Tuttle, and more.
Includes a Program Guide by Stewart Wright.
Episodes Include: A Streetcar Named Schultz 01-18-50; The Barefoot Boy with Shoes Gone 01-25-50; The Gorilla That Always Said Yeh-ah 02-22-50; Loe the Gentle Earth Worm 03-15-50; The Hollywood Story 03-22-50; A Tree Grows In Encino 04-05-50; The Smell of Magnolias 04-19-50; It All Comes Back to Me Now 04-26-50; A Cure For Insomnia 05-03-50; Oil for the Lamps of Burbank 05-12-50; A Claw, A Corkscrew, A Coffin, A Crab 05-19-50; This May Hurt Just a Little 05-26-50.
Download Collection: 12 Episodes
Running Time: Approx. 6 Hours
Item: D46082


text:
Has Fulltext
- yes (1)
Is part of the Bibliography
- yes (1) (remove)
Year of publication
- 2009 (1) (remove)
Document Type
- Doctoral Thesis (1) (remove)
- English (1) (remove)
- Kooperierende mobile Roboter (1) (remove)
- Institut für Informatik (1) (remove)
This work focuses on coordination methods and the control of motion in groups of nonholonomic wheeled mobile robots, in particular of the car-like type. These kind of vehicles are particularly restricted in their mobility. In the main part of this work the two problems of formation motion coordination and of rendezvous in distributed multi-vehicle systems are considered. We introduce several enhancements to an existing motion planning approach for formations of nonholonomic mobile robots. Compared to the original method, the extended approach is able to handle time-varying reference speeds as well as adjustments of the formation's shape during reference trajectory segments with continuously differentiable curvature. Additionally, undesired discontinuities in the speed and steering profiles of the vehicles are avoided. Further, the scenario of snow shoveling on an airfield by utilizing multiple formations of autonomous snowplows is discussed. We propose solutions to the subproblems of motion planning for the formations and tracking control for the individual vehicles. While all situations that might occur have been tested in a simulation environment, we also verified the developed tracking controller in real robot hardware experiments. The task of the rendezvous problem in groups of car-like robots is to drive all vehicles to a common position by means of decentralized control laws. Typically there exists no direct interaction link between all of the vehicles. In this work we present decentralized rendezvous control laws for vehicles with free and with bounded steering. The convergence properties of the approaches are analyzed by utilizing Lyapunov based techniques. Furthermore, they are evaluated within various simulation experiments, while the bounded steering case is also verified within laboratory hardware experiments. Finally we introduce a modification to the bounded steering system that increases the convergence speed at the expense of a higher traveled distance of the vehicles.


text:
Page: safeandsoundprotocol could not be found.
We couldn't find the booking page with that name. Please check the spelling, or perhaps an extra character or symbol snuck onto the end?
If you can't work it out then please get in touch with the organisers of the event to see if they can provide you with a correct link.


text:
Royals - 100 020 230 - 8 13 1Dice again walked a small army of batters (5.2-6-2-6-7, 118), but wriggled out of several jams and stranded eight Royals over five innings.
Red Sox - 041 006 00x - 11 14 0
J.D. Drew hit a grand slam to left in the second (after three straight singles to start the inning) and Mike Lowell did the same in the sixth (after Manny Ramirez was walked intentionally).
It was the first time two Red Sox hitters hit salami dongs since May 2, 1995 (John Valentin and Mo Vaughn, in consecutive innings, at New York).
Craig Hansen and David Aardsma pitched poorly in the seventh and eighth and Kansas City -- down 11-3 after six innings -- actually brought the tying run to the plate against Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth.
But Boston held on and finished up a perfect 7-0 homestand. The Red Sox are now a major-league best 31-19 - no other team has more than 28 victories.
On to Oakland ...
Brian Bannister (4.29, 99 ERA+) / Daisuke Matsuzaka (2.15, 199 ERA+)
The Red Sox -- with the best record in baseball -- will try to finish up a 7-0 homestand. They are 20-5 at Fenway so far this season.
Rob Neyer and Jonah Keri look at five teams -- the Tigers, Rockies, Padres, Mariners and Yankees -- and discuss their chances of contending. ... Michael Salfino, SNY.tv: "[I]t's alarmingly easy to envision a scenario where this 2008 Yankees team is analogous to the 1964 club that ended a 15-year dynasty."
Manny's mouthguard ... Mel Parnell recalls his 1956 no-hitter ...
Three new Red Sox wines: Captain's Cabernet, Vintage Papi and Sauvignyoouuk Blanc. ... The Mindy McCready documentary (due out in July) will include "her side of the Roger Clemens story".


text:
A wall, usually in a professional's office, covered with an inordinate number of framed diplomas, certificates, and other tokens of academic achievement. The sheer number of items implicitly speaks to the superior skill or intelligence of the professional who earned them. This outward display mirrors and reinforces the professional's perception of self, or ego.
by Mr. Mule October 23, 2006


text:
Run even more with the free Temple Run for Windows Phone 8
We told you this morning it would be a big day for Windows Phone 8 and indeed, it was bigger than we thought (we didn't see the Nokia firmware thing happening). One of the big runner games today was Gravity Guy 2, which is now out, but a more "classic" game with a totally different perspective is Temple Run.
At the time of our writing, the app was not yet live in the Store but that has now changed. You can pick up Temple Run for $0.00 right now on Windows Phone 8. The game, like on iOS and Android, relies on in-app purchasing (optional) for revenue, hence why it can be free.
Temple Run is a somewhat typical "runner" game where your character evidently subscribes to the Lance Armstrong school of endurance. But Temple Run, which came out in late 2011 on iOS, shook up the mobile world with its 3D perspective (as opposed to the traditional side scrolling view). You can control your character by tilting your phone left/right, swiping up to jump, down to slide and swiping left/right to quickly turn corners.
Oh and you're being chased by man-eating apes (or are they giant monkeys?).
We have to admit it's a hell of a fun game albeit a tiny bit pointless. For some quick distractions and challenging jumps/slides, you can't go wrong especially with the price. Oh and regarding a Temple Run 2, which just came out in January for iOS, that game is built on the Unity game engine and Unity loves Windows Phone 8, so hopefully there's a chance.
We did notice at least one glitch, the Tile for the game when pinned is blank with a white square. Being an indie title, we can presumably expect a bug fix sooner than later.
Pick up Temple Run for free here in the Windows Phone Store. Windows Phone 8 only and 1GB of RAM required.
Get the Windows Central Newsletter
All the latest news, reviews, and guides for Windows and Xbox diehards.
Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007, when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and watches. He has been reviewing laptops since 2015 and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, ARM processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.


text:
Working on the theory that it is better to be weeks too early than a day too late, I wanted to alert all of you who follow One Perfect Bite to changes that are in the wind. Come the 1st of March, Google will no longer support Google Friends Connect on any platform other than Blogger. This has major implications for those of you who have blogs on the WordPress, TypePad, Tumblr or Movable Type platforms. If you have been following One Perfect Bite through Google Friend Connect you will no longer receive automatic updates. That can be remedied by subscribing to my blog using RSS, Facebook, Twitter or email. You can do that by selecting from the buttons that you will find at the top of the column on the right side of the screen. You will also be able to add it to your Google homepage or reader of your choice. I have started to post each day's entry on Pinterest and I'd love to have you take a look at what we are doing there. Obviously, for those of you with blogs on the Blogger platform, nothing will change, at least for the time being. I want to thank all of you for your support and I think I've done everything I can to make this transition as seamless and trouble free as it can be for you. I hope that come the 1st of March, it will be business as usual. I'm just a click away.
Everyone knows that the signature drink of the Kentucky Derby is the Mint Julep. How about Mardi Gras? The beverage of choice in New Orleans this coming week will be the Hurricane Cocktail. I should be embarrassed to admit this, but I first sampled the Hurricane last year at a Fat Tuesday party, where it was the (only) beverage of choice. Were it not for that, I'd probably still be in the woods sipping cider through a straw. I'm not a cocktail person and, while I love wine, I don't seek out drinks that come with parasols. They are just too sweet to my taste and I usually take a pass. Actually, as sweet drinks go, this one is not too bad and lots of folks really love it. For the next few days, I'm going to be featuring foods associated with Mardi Gras and I thought this drink would be a fun place to start. I'm also including a recipe for grenadine. The Hurricane numbs you for what is to come. Here we go.
Hurricane Cocktail Photo Courtesy of PRZman
4 ounces light rum
4 ounces dark rum
2 ounces grenadine, or passion fruit syrup
2 ounces fresh orange juice
2 ounces sour mix, or fresh lime juice
2 teaspoon superfine sugar
Orange wedges, for garnish
Mix all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker, and shake to dissolve the sugar. I used a mason jar. Add ice cubes to come halfway up the sides of 4 tall glasses. Divide the mixture between the glasses. Garnish each with an orange wedge and serve with a long straw. Yield: 4 servings
1 quart pomegranate juice
2 cups sugar
2 dashes orange flower water
Bring pomegranate juice and sugar to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat and cover, allowing it to simmer for 10-15 minutes and stirring occasionally. Allow mixture to cool, then pour into a small decanter or bottle with a tight-sealing lid. Add a dash or two of orange flower water (don't overdo it). Seal the bottle and give it a few good shakes.
Cook's Note: This grenadine should be good for up to 3 weeks and makes about 1-1/2 cups. You can also add a small amount of overproof vodka as a preservative to give it a little longer shelf life.
One Year Ago Today: Luscious Lemon Sauce
Two Years Ago Today: Truffled Mac n' Cheese


text:
By GERALD IMRAY and JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) _ Oscar Pistorius is "numb with shock as well as grief" after the shooting death of his model girlfriend at his home in South Africa, the runner's uncle said Saturday, as his family strongly denied prosecutors' claims that he murdered her.
Arnold Pistorius spoke with The Associated Press and two other South African journalists about his nephew's arrest in the killing of Reeva Steenkamp, who was shot four times on the morning of Valentine's Day. Arnold Pistorius spoke to reporters from the garden of his three-story home in the eastern suburbs of South Africa's capital, Pretoria.
The statement, the first on camera and directly made in person by Pistorius' family, also came out strongly against prosecutors seeking to upgrade the charge against Pistorius to one of premeditated murder, which carries a sentence of life in prison.
"After consulting with legal representatives, we deeply regret the allegation of premeditated murder," Arnold Pistorius said. "We have no doubt there is no substance to the allegation and that the state's own case, including its own forensic evidence, strongly refutes any possibility of a premeditated murder or murder as such."
He said the family was "battling to come to terms with Oscar being charged with murder."
The track star's arrest in the killing of 29-year-old Steenkamp shocked South Africa, where Pistorius was a national hero and icon dubbed the Blade Runner for his high-tech carbon fiber running blades and revered for overcoming his disability to compete at the London Olympics. She was discovered in a pool of blood before dawn Thursday by police called to Pistorius' upscale home in a gated community. Authorities said she had been shot four times, and a 9 mm pistol was recovered at the home.
Pistorius remains held at a police station pending a bail hearing Tuesday. Police have already said they'll oppose Pistorius being released before trial. A premeditated murder charge also makes it more difficult for his defense team to get bail.
On Saturday afternoon, Pistorius' lawyers visited the Brooklyn police station in Pretoria, where the athlete is being held. His younger sister Aimee, who stood alongside Arnold Pistorius when he made his statement, also was at the police station later.
There will be a variety of hearings before Pistorius, 26, could go on trial. In South Africa, there are no juries, so a judge ultimately would decide Pistorius' guilt or innocence, sometimes with the help of two advisers. At an initial hearing Friday, Pistorius sobbed and held his head in his hands at times. He has yet to enter a plea in the case.
The family denial that Pistorius committed murder doesn't necessarily mean that they say he didn't shoot her, as murder is a legal term. Initial speculation immediately after the shooting Thursday suggested that it could have been accidental, though police say they are not currently considering that.
Arnold Pistorius did not discuss the circumstances of the shooting, but said that his nephew and Steenkamp had become very close since they started dating in November.
"They had plans together and Oscar was happier in his private life than he had been for a long time," the uncle said.
As Arnold Pistorius read his statement, Pistorius' sister Aimee stood nearby and broke down in tears at one point. Her uncle stopped reading for a moment to put his right arm around her. Pistorius remains very close with his uncle, a man he once lived with as a teenager.
"Words cannot adequately describe our feelings," his uncle said. "The lives of our entire family have been turned upside down forever by this unimaginable human tragedy and Reeva's family have suffered a terrible loss. As a family we are trying to be strong and supportive to Oscar as any close family would be in these dreadful circumstances."
The entire family was "devastated," Pistorius' uncle said, and was "grieving for Reeva, her family and her friends."
Since news of the killing, shock waves have rippled across South Africa, a nation of 50 million where nearly 50 people are killed each day, one of the world's highest murder rates. U.N. statistics say the nation has the second highest rate of shooting deaths in the world, behind only Colombia. Others have focused their attention on Pistorius and his fascination with fast cars, cage fighting and firearms.
Steenkamp, who graduated from law school, is known in South Africa for appearing in commercials and as a bikini-clad model in men's magazines. On Saturday, South Africa's state broadcaster SABC planned to air a reality TV show featuring the model. Another portion of the show released earlier Saturday included a clip of her swimming with two dolphins, which tap her on the cheek with their snouts.
"I think the way that you go out, not just your journey in life, but the way that you go out and the way you make your exit is so important," the blonde-haired Steenkamp says in the video. "You either made an impact in a positive or a negative way, but just maintain integrity and maintain class and just remain true to yourself.
"I'm going to miss you all so much and I love you very, very much."


text:
Quick EXIT
Contact Us
Hide menu
Who We Are
About us
About us
Eastern Community Legal Centre (ECLC) provides free legal assistance to people who live, work and study in Melbourne's east. ECLC actively engages in law reform, and undertakes community development to educate and empower the community.
Our history
Our history
Since 1974, ECLC has assisted thousands of people to understand and access the legal system.
ECLC has a highly professional and passionate team of employed staff and over 100 dedicated volunteers.
ECLC's Board oversees the development, growth and financial responsibilities of the Centre.
Annual Reports
Annual Reports
ECLC Annual Reports highlight what ECLC has achieved in the financial reporting year.
Strategic plan 2020-25
Strategic plan 2020-25
ECLC's strategic plans set the priorities and the focus for the years ahead to help employees and other stakeholders work toward common goals that will ensure ECLC continues to deliver essential free legal and other services to communities in Melbourne's east.
Code of conduct
Code of conduct
ECLC's Code of Conduct ensures and encourages the highest qualities of integrity and behaviour across the organisation. It applies to all members, volunteers, board members and staff of ECLC.
Public policies
Public policies
ECLC staff and volunteers must comply with the law and ECLC policies and procedures that protect the rights of ECLC clients.
Our commitment to child safety
Our commitment to child safety
ECLC is committed to providing services and working environments that protect all children from harm and that promote their wellbeing.
What We Do
Legal services
Legal services
ECLC provides free legal advice and assistance for a broad range of issues, including family violence, neighbourhood disputes, debt and civil matters.
Community legal education
Community legal education
ECLC provides compassionate, culturally sensitive and non-judgmental legal education for organisations and community groups.
Integrated Practice
Integrated Practice
Law reform & policy
Law reform & policy
ECLC's policy and law reform work advocates for improvements to the legal system and challenges unfair laws and practices.
Partnerships and projects
Partnerships and projects
ECLC partners with volunteers, law firms, community agencies and government bodies to deliver a dynamic range of projects.
Professional development
Professional development
ECLC provides Professional Development for paid and volunteer staff on a range of topics.
Get Help
How ECLC can help
How ECLC can help
Legal issues we can assist with – Interpreters – Cancelling an Appointment – Our Client Charter
Appointment Request Form
Appointment Request Form
Free legal help – complete Online Intake Form
Legal advice & casework
Legal advice & casework
ECLC offers free legal advice and some ongoing assistance (casework) for a range of legal matters.
Legal programs
Legal programs
ECLC's legal programs provide advice, advocacy and support to people on specific legal matters, such as elder abuse, family violence and issues experienced by students and graduates.
Intervention order support services
Intervention order support services
Deakin Student Legal Service
Deakin Student Legal Service
Elder Abuse
Elder Abuse
Outreach locations
Outreach locations
ECLC provides legal advice at outreach locations across Melbourne's east, by appointment only.
Where else to get help
Where else to get help
Generalist, specialist and other legal and community services.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
Answers to frequently asked questions.
Our Community
Our catchment
Our catchment
ECLC works with communities and community members living in Boroondara, Knox, Manningham, Maroondah, Whitehorse and Yarra Ranges and provides free legal and other services to people living in this region from three office locations and other outreach locations.
Priority communities
Priority communities
ECLC prioritises its services to certain community groups and aims to address the causes of the disadvantage they experience.
Our partners
Our partners
ECLC partners with a broad range of organisations to fund, support and deliver services for the community.
Local government
Local government
ECLC mostly provides legal services to people living in the local government areas of Boroondara, Knox, Manningham, Maroondah, Whitehorse and the Yarra Ranges.
Get Involved
Work for a dynamic and growing not-for-profit organisation that values and empowers its people and strives for Human Rights, Fairness, and Justice.
Become a volunteer and join the ECLC team. The very generous assistance and time given by all of ECLC's volunteers enable it to provide the range of free essential legal and other services needed by communities in the eastern region of Melbourne.
Become a member of ECLC which is a community-based organisation, with a strong and active membership base. People who live, work or study in ECLC's catchment area are eligible to apply for membership.
Make a tax-deductible donation using a secure online portal to help ECLC continue to provide essential free legal and other services to communities in the eastern region of Melbourne.
Client satisfaction survey
Client satisfaction survey
Tell ECLC how satisfied you are with its services by completing its client satisfaction survey. The survey has 15 questions which will take you about 10 minutes to complete. Your response is confidential and will not affect your right to use ECLC services.
News & media
Join our mailing list
Join our mailing list
Subscribe to ECLC's regular (generally monthly) e-News which provides updates on ECLC's latest initiatives and news from the community.
News & media
News & media
Read the latest news and announcements from ECLC.
Media Coverage
Media Coverage
ECLC's resources provide information on a range of legal issues.
Client stories
Client stories
Client stories are real stories that show others how ECLC helps its clients. All client stories are anonymous and have no identifying information. Names and details have been changed to protect client confidentiality.
ECLC Coronavirus (COVID-19) updates
CaLD free legal and other services brochures
November 6, 2020
COVID19 Information and Support – General information and a directory of free services that can help with health, counselling, financial, workers' rights, and tenancy issues. ...
ECLC shares remote-legal service delivery knowledge
June 4, 2020
ECLC in collaboration with Victoria Law Foundation and the Victorian Federation of Community Legal Centres has published a webinar and supporting materials to share its ...
How ECLC is helping flatten the Coronavirus curve
March 26, 2020
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is evolving very rapidly and Eastern Community Legal Centre (ECLC) is adapting quickly to help stop the spread of the highly infectious ...
Go To Top


text:
Iron Red Heart Dish | Handmade Stoneware Pottery
Shipping calculated at checkout.
This product is unavailable
This beautiful, long-lasting stoneware heart dish makes a lovely keepsake and holder for jewellery and other treasures.
The Iron Red collection is about the joy of simplicity; the bringing together of rich colour and clean, curving lines and smooth surfaces.
The Details
- This dish is hand-built and fired in an electric kiln using food-safe glazes
- Each dish is glazed by hand by one of our skilled artisans
- Our products are intended for everyday use – everything we make is oven, dishwasher and microwave safe
- Slight variations in size and colour are a feature of the handmade process – each piece you buy is one-of-kind!
Product Specifications
- Weight: 150 g
- Size: 12.5 x 12.5 x 2.5 cm
- Materials: stoneware clay
Shipping, Returns, and Refunds
- All orders are processed within 2-3 days and shipped directly to you from our studio in Summerside, PE, Canada.
- We send your tracking information once your order is processed so you can stalk it online.
- We pack each piece with great care. If your pottery arrives broken, just send us a picture of your broken piece and we will ship you a replacement at no charge.
- If you are unhappy with your product for any reason, we are happy to refund your returned purchase. You pay the return shipping and we will refund you once the returned, unbroken pottery has been received.
- Please email us at firstname.lastname@example.com if you have any questions about your order. We're here to help!


text:
Specifies the color name string (for example, red) whose color definition structure you want returned.
Specifies the colormap.
Specifies a Boolean value that indicates whether the planes must be contiguous.
Specifies the connection to the X server.
Returns the exact RGB values.
Specifies the number of pixel values that are to be returned in the pixels_return array.
Specifies the number of pixels.
Specifies the number of plane masks that are to be returned in the plane masks array.
Specify the number of red, green, and blue planes. The value you pass must
be nonnegative.
Specifies an array of pixel values.
Returns an array of pixel values.
Returns an array of plane masks.
Specifies the planes you want to free.
Return bit masks for the red, green, and blue planes.
Returns the closest RGB values provided by the hardware.
Specifies and returns the values actually used in the colormap.
XAllocColor can generate a BadColor error.
The XAllocNamedColor function looks up the named color with respect to the screen that is associated with the specified colormap. It returns both the exact database definition and the closest color supported by the screen. The allocated color cell is read-only. The pixel value is returned in screen_def_return. If the color name is not in the Host Portable Character Encoding, the result is implementation-dependent. Use of uppercase or lowercase does not matter. If screen_def_return and exact_def_return point to the same structure, the pixel field will be set correctly, but the color values are undefined. XAllocNamedColor returns nonzero if a cell is allocated; otherwise, it returns zero.
XAllocNamedColor can generate a BadColor error.
eqn not supported The XAllocColorCells function allocates read/write color cells. The number of colors must be positive and the number of planes nonnegative, or a BadValue error results. If ncolors and nplanes are requested, then ncolors pixels and nplane plane masks are returned. No mask will have any bits set to 1 in common with any other mask or with any of the pixels. By ORing together each pixel with zero or more masks, ncolors * %2 sup nplanes% distinct pixels can be produced. All of these are allocated writable by the request. For GrayScale or PseudoColor, each mask has exactly one bit set to 1. For DirectColor, each has exactly three bits set to 1. If contig is True and if all masks are ORed together, a single contiguous set of bits set to 1 will be formed for GrayScale or PseudoColor and three contiguous sets of bits set to 1 (one within each pixel subfield) for DirectColor. The RGB values of the allocated entries are undefined. XAllocColorCells returns nonzero if it succeeded or zero if it failed.
XAllocColorCells can generate BadColor and BadValue errors.
eqn not supported The specified ncolors must be positive; and nreds, ngreens, and nblues must be nonnegative, or a BadValue error results. If ncolors colors, nreds reds, ngreens greens, and nblues blues are requested, ncolors pixels are returned; and the masks have nreds, ngreens, and nblues bits set to 1, respectively. If contig is True, each mask will have a contiguous set of bits set to 1. No mask will have any bits set to 1 in common with any other mask or with any of the pixels. For DirectColor, each mask will lie within the corresponding pixel subfield. By ORing together subsets of masks with each pixel value, ncolors * %2 sup (nreds+ngreens+nblues)% distinct pixel values can be produced. All of these are allocated by the request. However, in the colormap, there are only ncolors * %2 sup nreds% independent red entries, ncolors * %2 sup ngreens% independent green entries, and ncolors * %2 sup nblues% independent blue entries. This is true even for PseudoColor. When the colormap entry of a pixel value is changed (using XStoreColors, XStoreColor, or XStoreNamedColor), the pixel is decomposed according to the masks, and the corresponding independent entries are updated. XAllocColorPlanes returns nonzero if it succeeded or zero if it failed.
XAllocColorPlanes can generate BadColor and BadValue errors.
The XFreeColors function frees the cells represented by pixels whose values are in the pixels array. The planes argument should not have any bits set to 1 in common with any of the pixels. The set of all pixels is produced by ORing together subsets of the planes argument with the pixels. The request frees all of these pixels that were allocated by the client (using XAllocColor, XAllocNamedColor, XAllocColorCells, and XAllocColorPlanes). Note that freeing an individual pixel obtained from XAllocColorPlanes may not actually allow it to be reused until all of its related pixels are also freed. Similarly, a read-only entry is not actually freed until it has been freed by all clients, and if a client allocates the same read-only entry multiple times, it must free the entry that many times before the entry is actually freed.
All specified pixels that are allocated by the client in the colormap are freed, even if one or more pixels produce an error. If a specified pixel is not a valid index into the colormap, a BadValue error results. If a specified pixel is not allocated by the client (that is, is unallocated or is only allocated by another client) or if the colormap was created with all entries writable (by passing AllocAll to XCreateColormap), a BadAccess error results. If more than one pixel is in error, the one that gets reported is arbitrary.
XFreeColors can generate BadAccess, BadColor, and BadValue errors.


text:
Elder President Bush In Intensive Care
Though he is reportedly alert and enjoying a "running banter" with his nurses, former President George H.W. Bush is in the intensive care unit at Houston's Methodist Hospital.
The Houston Chronicle writes that "Jim McGrath, Bush's spokesman in Houston, said the 88-year-old's fever rose on Wednesday, but doctors at Methodist Hospital report he is doing better than the day before. He was admitted to the ICU on Sunday."
The nation's 41st president has been in the hospital since the day after Thanksgiving. He went there for treatment of a persistent cough. A fever has kept him there.
Bush is the oldest — by about four months — of the four living former presidents. He turned 88 in June. Jimmy Carter turned 88 in October. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush (son of the ailing former president) are both 66.
The Chronicle says Bush has been "surrounded by family" during his hospital stay.


text:
The Leipzig School of Human Origins
The Leipzig School of Human Origins - An International Max Planck Research School - by the University of Leipzig and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. The Leipzig School of Human Origins offers a unique graduate program that combines different disciplines to study the evolutionary history of humans and the great apes.
Wolfgang Köhler Primate Research Center (WKPRC)
The WKPRC is a project of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. It is operated in collaboration with the Leipzig Zoo. Research focuses on the behavior and cognition of the four species of great ape.
WKPRC (Pongoland): https://www.eva.mpg.de/comparative-cultural-psychology/studying-non-human-primates/wolfgang-koehler-primate-research-center/
Partner: Leipzig Zoo: http://www.zoo-leipzig.de
The Choir of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig is open to all interested singers.
Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF)
The WCF is working to save between 20,000 and 25, 000 of the remaining wild chimpanzees. Current estimates suggest that there may be fewer than 100,000 chimpanzees living in seventeen different countries in Africa.
http://www.wcf-germany.com (WCF-Germany)
UCLA - Cultural Phylogeny
The Lomas Barbudal Monkey Project was founded in 1990 by Susan Perry, with the help of Joseph Manson and Julie Gros-Louis, for the purpose of studying social intelligence in the white-faced capuchin, Cebus capucinus.
--> Former Junior Scientist Group on Cultural Phylogeny at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Science (MPI CBS)
Research at the MPI CBS revolves around human cognitive abilities and cerebral processes, with the accent on language, music and action.
Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences (MPI MIS)
The MPI MIS, founded in 1995, is concerned with mathematical challenges which arise through theoretical questions in the natural sciences. The common denominator of all teams in the institute is the field of partial differential equations and the calculus of variations.
Bio City Leipzig
Biotechnology and biomedicine have a high priority in Leipzig. The BIO CITY LEIPZIG is a strong symbol of this, alongside the support and financial engagement of the city. This has created an exemplary biotechnology-biomedical center in which business, science and research live and work with one another. A place where science is not only shared, but increased. A place where young companies set new standards in biotechnology, biomedicine and health care together with professors from the University of Leipzig.
Leipzig University
Founded at the beginning of the 15th century, the alma mater Lipsiensis originally comprised four faculties: the Faculty of Arts and the three 'higher' faculties, i.e. Theology, Medicine and Law. That structure based on four large faculties remained unchanged for some 500 years. Today there are 14 faculties within the University.
City of Leipzig
Here is some information on Leipzig including a summary of events, sports highlights and much more.


text:
Cookie Usage
Colour Key
Sudden Death
Monthly Poll
Caption Comp
eMail Author
Photo Galleries
Design Lineage
Size Charts
Science / Tech
Maps / Politics
Site Guide
What's New
Federation constitution
Diplomatic grades
Your View
Title :
Rating :
Number :
Stardate :
First Aired :
Year :
Director :
Stuart Baird
Writers :
John Logan
Main Cast :
LeVar Burton
Geordi La Forge
Michael Dorn
Worf Rozhenko
Gates McFadden
Beverly Crusher
Marina Sirtis
Deanna Troi
Brent Spiner
Patrick Stewart
Jean-Luc Picard
Wil Wheaton
Wesley Crusher
Guest Cast :
Jude Ciccolella
Commander Suran
Shannon Cochran
Senator Tal'aura
Alan Dale
Praetor Hiren
Tom Hardy
J. Patrick McCormack
Dina Meyer
Commander Donatra
Kate Mulgrew
Admiral Kathryn Janeway
Michael Owen
Helm Officer Branson
Ron Perlman
Viceroy Vkruk
David Ralphe
Brent Spiner
Okay, let's talk about Picard's appearence. In "Tapestry" Q showed Picard an image of himself as a young man. He looked very different from the way he does now because he was played by a different actor, and he had lots of hair. In one episode we saw a flashback to when Crusher viewed her husband's dead body. Picard was there, played by Patrick Stewart, and he had some hair but not much. Yet Shinzon, the near-perfect genetic copy of Picard, is bald in his (apparent) twenties, and Picard is bald in his academy photograph. So did Picard go bald early, and then go through a wig phase? Using progressively thinner wigs? Was there some hair treatment that worked for a while, then failed? And why doesn't Shinzon look anything like the guy from "Tapestry", who would have been four years older at the very most? Actually the appearence thing doesn't bother me, because there's no way they could avoid it. Even hiring the same actor wouldn't do much good, as the guy is a good five or ten years older now than he was then. But while there's little to be done about the face, it's silly that after years of being sensible about Picard's baldness being a sign of his advancing years, suddenly we're told that he has been bald practically since he was a kid. And why? So that Tom Hardy would look more like Patrick Stewart, of course.
What exactly did B-4 access on the Enterprise computer? Geordi claims that it was openly available stuff, yet Shinzon said it gave him the location of every ship in Starfleet. So did B-4 steal something that Geordi didn't spot, or is the information which lets you access Starfleet ship locations openly available? And if it is, why didn't Shinzon just look it up rather than stealing it?
Geordi says that the Kolarans are a pre-warp civilisation. If so, it wouldn't it be against the Prime Directive to go around using phasers and shuttles in front of them?
When Worf comments that Romulan Ale should be illegal, Geordi says "it is." But in DS9's "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges", Admiral Ross states that the trading embargo has been lifted and Romulan Ale is legal again. Why lift the embargo only to slam it down again a few years later?
Great Moment :
It's hard to pick from one of the many great moments in this movie. But although the battle scenes were all very impressive, I think I will go with the wedding scene. After all this time I feel like these characters are friends of mine, and seeing them all so laid back and at ease, just having fun with one another, was a pleasure.
Body Count :
Quite a few! The Romulan senate, which looked to be a couple of dozen people. Several Remans were killed by Picard and Data aboard the Scimitar, and both Remans and Starfleet types were killed in the boarding action on the Enterprise-E. Casualties amongst the E-E and the Romulan crews from the ship-to-ship combat could have ranged from none to hundreds, even thousands. The destruction of the Scimitar would have killed its entire crew, several hundred at least you would think.
And most notably of course, Riker killed Shinzon's Viceroy, Picard killed Shinzon and Data sacrificed himself.
Factoid :
Okay, I managed to sneak a peek at the Nemesis script. I have no idea what draft it is, but here are just a few of the changes between it and the finished movie :
Originally Crusher was to have left the ship at the end of the movie, back to Starfleet Medical.
We met Picard's new first officer, one Commander Madden. We also saw a new Captain's chair being installed for Picard on the Enterprise-E, complete with futuristic seat belts!
Originally, B-4 was to be called B-9. Benign, geddit?
Geordi's girlfriend Leah was at the wedding! No, it doesn't say if it was
A line from Beverly indicates that Worf has given up life as a diplomat and returned to the Enterprise-E as a regular crewmember, back in his old job!
The Romulan Senate is in session, with some military types advising that the Romulans should welcome a group of Remans who are led by a man called Shinzon. The Senate disagrees, ordering the military to force Shinzon and the Remans back to the planet Remus. After the military leave one of the senators follows. A small device she leaves behind activates, emitting a cloud of peculiar green radiation which turns the senators into ashes.
Meanwhile, back on Earth Picard is giving his best man's speech at Riker and Troi's wedding. Worf is present, as is Wesley, and the whole group head off to Betazed for a repeat ceremony in full Betazoid tradition - i.e. with all attending nude. After this Riker will head off to his first command - the USS Titan - with Troi as his counselor. On the way to Betazed the ship detects a Positronic signature from a planet near the Romulan Neutral Zone. Since only Soong androids are known to use positronic technology, the ship heads off to explore. Picard takes a new shuttle type down, using its ground vehicle to track down the source of the signature - an android externally identical to Data. Despite some hostile locals they make it back to the ship and assemble the android, who is called B-4. B-4 is a prototype of Data, somewhat simplistic mentally but physically just as capable. Data downloads his memories into B-4, hoping to give him the experience he needs to become more than he currently is.
A message from Admiral Janeway sends Picard and crew to Romulus. There has been a recent change of Praetor - Shinzon is now in charge, and wants to talk. Little is known of the Remans, except that they live on the permanently dark side of their planet and are used as slave labour to mine dilithium and produce armaments by the Romulans, and occasionally as cannon fodder in battles. Even less is known of Shinzon - just that he is young and a brilliant commander.
The ship arrives and is met by a large, very heavily armed ship called the Scimitar. Beaming aboard Picard and his officers meet Shinzon, and are surprised to find that he is not only a Human, but a near-identical copy of a younger Picard. A blood sample proves that Shinzon is a clone of the Starfleet captain. In further meetings he explains that the Romulans had planned to replace Picard with him, giving them a spy at the heart of Starfleet. When the plan was abandoned Shinzon was sent to Remus to die, but managed to survive and even prosper. Now he is in charge, he wants peace and fellowship with the Federation.
Back on the Enterprise, B-4 accesses on of the ship's computers and gains access to some of its information. Geordi finds it hard to track the source of the unauthorised access, and this is not the only bad news - the Enterprise sensors have detected a trace of Thalaron radiation on board Shinzon's ship. The stuff is only useful as a terrible biogenic weapon, which could obliterate a ship's crew or even a whole planet - we saw the effects on the Romulan senate earlier on. Picard worries that Shinzon is up to no good, despite his claims.
Night falls on the ship, and Troi entices Riker away from his work and into bed (as you might imagine, it doesn't take a whole lot of persuading). But as the two get amorous, Troi sees an image of first Shinzon and then his Reman viceroy above her. Devastated by the experience, she reports that the Reman has managed to make some kind of telepathic link with her.
Shinzon, meanwhile, has had enough of the games. He beams Picard and B-4 aboard and cloaks his ship, leaving the Enterprise helpless. Shinzon reveals that he had planted B-4 in the first place as bait, so that he could access the Enterprise computers and get information that would reveal the location of every ship in Starfleet. He also plans to carry out a medical procedure of some sort on Picard.
When Shinzon leaves, B-4 stuns the Reman guard and frees Picard - it is actually Data, who has fooled Shinzon by imitating his brother. Picard and Data fight their way to a hangar bay and board a small attack craft, flying down several corridors before blasting through a window. The ship is beamed aboard the Enterprise, which makes a hasty retreat.
Crusher has been analysing Shinzon's blood, and has made a discovery - he was engineered to age by about thirty years rapidly, to facilitate his replacement of Picard. Since this was not actually done, his cellular structure is breaking down. He has a matter of hours left to live, unless he can get a massive transfusion of new material from Picard.
Analysis of Shinzon's ship shows that it is designed as a huge emitter for the Thalaron radiation - large enough to blast an entire planetary population. Picard reasons that Shinzon probably wants to use his weapon on Earth, but that he may well try to capture Picard first to ensure that he lives. Starfleet is gathering some forces at the border, ready in case Shinzon tries something. The Enterprise is ordered to rendezvous with a group of ships for support in case of an attack by Shinzon.
Unfortunately, to reach them the ship must cross a "rift" - a region where long range communications are impossible. Naturally, Shinzon chooses this exact moment to attack. The Enterprise struggles to even score a hit on the massively powerful ship, which can fire whilst cloaked. A holographic transmission of Shinzon tries to convince Picard to surrender, but the captain refuses. A pair of Romulan warships arrive to help out the Enterprise - the Romulans are beginning to realise just how unhinged Shinzon is, and are reluctant to allow Earth's whole population to be wiped out in an act of spite. The Enterprise and the Romulans launch into the Scimitar, but fare little better - both Romulan ships are rendered inoperable in short order, and although some hits are being scored on the Scimitar it just isn't enough against the big ship.
Troi comes up with an idea - she uses the telepathic link the Reman has with her to locate him, allowing the Enterprise to blast away and do some damage. But it just isn't enough - the Enterprise is out of torpedoes and low on phasers, but they have barely scratched the Scimitar. Shinzon gloats, expecting Picard to surrender. Picard, though, is made of sterner stuff than his nemesis realises. Instead he orders the Enterprise to ram the Scimitar, which it does. The collision does considerable damage to both ships, but the Scimitar manages to break free and remains partially operational. Shinzon orders his super-weapon activated to wipe out the Enterprise crew, a process which will take seven minutes.
Picard beams aboard the Scimitar, making it across just as the transporters give up the ghost. Determined to help his captain, Data hurls himself bodily into space to get to the Reman ship and makes his way inside. On board Picard gives a good account of himself against the bridge crew, killing several Remans before breaking his rifle over the head of one of them. Disarmed, he fights hand to hand with Shinzon as the seconds tick away. Picard manages to impale the clone on a wall fixture, killing him just as Data arrives. With only seconds to go, Data places a prototype emergency transporter onto Picard and beams him back the the Enterprise. Looking into the radiation inferno about to blast away at his comrades, Data says a simple "goodbye" to the air before firing into the gathering storm. The Scimitar explodes, ending the threat once and for all.
Back on the Enterprise a somber crew mourn their fallen comrade before heading back to Earth, where the ship is repaired. Riker says a final goodbye to Picard and heads off to the Titan. Picard has a long talk with B-4, and is disappointed when the android continues with his usual simplistic outlook. But as he begins to leave, B-4 begins to sing the song Data performed at Troi's wedding - clearly at least some trace of Data remains in B-4 after the memory transfer. Picard takes heart that perhaps something of Data has survived after all, and the movie closes on that note.
As usual, first the bad :
Nemesis is not a perfect movie, but in my mind it's a pretty damned good one. There are plot holes and weaknesses, as there are with all of the movies (yes, even your favourite one), but none of these really came close to pulling me out of the the story. Interestingly, most of the things I didn't like were aspects that were there, but which were not really explored as fully as I would have wanted. For instance, it's hard to believe that a bunch of Remans could take over the Romulan Empire just because they wiped out the Senate. The movie does address this, showing Romulan collaborators, stating that Shinzon must have support in the Romulan military, and hinting at some of the plots and political manoeuvring behind the scenes. But it's all a bit brief and rushed; I would have liked to see a few scenes of Shinzon working the strings in the Romulan government, setting up a power structure around himself, and then have that structure cave in on him as it became clear just how much of a loony the guy was.
Then there is the relationship between Shinzon and his Viceroy. The Viceroy is telepathic, and uses his powers to send Shinzon's mind off to violate women to get his jollies? Is this something all Remans can do, is it just the Viceroy, is it a combination of the Viceroy and Shinzon? How come Troi can now locate the Viceroy and track his location in the battle - are her abilities increasing, or was there some residual link from him to her that she was able to turn upon him? I wanted to see this explained and explored.
Also, the fight between Riker and the Viceroy was too brief. They hinted at a grudge-match element to this, which is something Riker at least certainly had cause for. But the fight itself was a disappointment.
Similarly, the scene mourning Data - good stuff, especially Riker's remembering of his first meeting with Data in "Encounter at Farpoint".
is what continuity is all about - not holding things up to quote lines from old episodes, but using the enormous legacy Trek has built up to support and deepen the present. But while this scene is great, it's far too short. Barely a minute or two, then we're off Earth and chatting with B-4.
My greatest hope for this movie is that more of this stuff was shot, then ended up on the cutting room floor. Because if that's true, just maybe the gods of Trek will one day throw it all into a special edition DVD. Because then a pretty damned good Trek movie could well end up being my favourite Trek movie of all time.
Anyway, so much for the "bad". The good...
The wedding. I just love seeing the TNG crew joking around with each other like this, and the character humour in this movie is perfection itself. Even Data's singing scene didn't feel at all forced, which it did a little in Insurrection. Worf's reaction to the song and to having to go naked at Troi's second wedding ceremony, Picard's "I'm going to hit the gym" and his delight at playing with his boy-toy shuttle, all great stuff.
The Argo itself was pretty cool - I'm more and more convinced that Starship crews on newer ships are now routinely producing new shuttle designs and hardware whenever it takes their fancy. The Argo land vehicle is not a terribly sensible military design - too little armour for one thing - but it's the kind of thing you might use on an away mission where you need to cover a lot of ground and transporters are not available or useable. I can easily imagine Geordi and Picard cobbling such a thing together just for the fun of doing it.
B-4 was reasonably done. I was worried that he was going to go down the Lore "evil android" route, and at the end I was terrified that he would sit up straight, blink, and say "Captain! The download has just come on line - It's me, Data! I'm back!" Fortunately they made B-4 different and interesting, and the ending gave us just enough to show that Data has left a legacy behind without lessening the sense of loss.
Shinzon. What a villain! You almost like him, then you hate him, then you feel sorry for him. He lived a sad, horrible life and it's not at all surprising that he ended up the way he did. The scene in Picard's ready room hinted that he was close to breaking free, to taking at least a step along the way to becoming the man that he could have been... but it was not to be. The childhood dreams beckoned, but twenty years of brutality was just too much for him to reach through and make that connection. For that he is a pitiable man.
But pity only goes so far. I expect that his hatred of Picard was just the beginning - Shinzon used the word "Romulan" the way one uses an insult, and those decades under Romulan guards were clearly not forgotten. Romulus would surely have been next on the Scimitar's list of places to visit and after that... who knows? This guy would have just kept on going until enough ships got together to pin him down and nail him once and for all, I think.
Ultimately he was a sick little bastard who was so self obsessed that he was willing to waste planets and see whole civilisations fall so that he could feel good about himself. Whatever justification he may have felt he had, he badly needed killing and Picard was the perfect man for the job.
The battle. Oooooo... for three movies now I've waited to see the Enterprise-E strut her stuff like this. She was awesome! There were more than a couple of technical nits and oddities in the battle sequence, but I didn't care - I was so wrapped up in the movie that I simply didn't care. This was quite simply the best battle we've seen in any incarnation of Trek. Yes, better than Kirk versus Chang. Yes, better than Kirk versus Khan. It ebbed and flowed as fortunes rose and fell... and for all the firing phasers and launching torpedoes, it was every bit as much about the people behind the weapons as it was about the weapons themselves. Lovely, just lovely.
And the ramming. Oh wow. As I sit here now, thoughts of kinetic energy and hull strength and structural integrity flit through my mind. But as I watched it, all I could think of was "oh no, Picard can't do that... that's just too gutsy... that's a Kirkian move...
oh wow, he's actually doing it...
" and then I ran out of words and just stared in wonder at the sheer insane genius of what Picard had just done.
And the climax. I'd heard rumours that Data died, but it honestly went right out of my mind during the movie. The mad leap across space - let's just say that Picard wasn't the only one being gutsy today! And his death was... it was subtle. It was moving. It was noble. It was heroic. He saved Picard's life then he saved it again, along with the rest of his comrades and who the hell knows how many more for good measure. His last words... no big emotional farewell from Data. He had the emotions, but not the time. But when it's time to say goodbye, what more need you say than goodbye? That word can speak volumes, and in Spiner's hands it does just that. We shall not see his like again... or shall we?
Overall, a fantastic movie. For the most part I avoided reviews before watching the movie, but I knew enough to know that fan reaction has been mixed. So I walked in expecting to see an average movie. I walked out floating, if not quite on cloud nine, then certainly on cloud eight, maybe cloud eight point five. Then I turned around and walked right back in again and watched it over, and the second time was just as good as the first. I can't wait to see it again. And again.
Those people who dissed this movie are sadly, badly mistaken. This was not a perfect movie, but it was bloody good one. If it does turn out to be the last, then its a worthy farewell from the best Star Trek crew in history. If there does turn out to be room for another, then it would do well to approach the level set by Nemesis.
© Graham & Ian Kennedy
Page views : 120,120
Last updated : 25 Oct 2017