text:
In a way, it's too bad that McGonagall doesn't have the Sight. I wonder if she'd be shocked at what happened to the Mauraders.
Oh this was a gem. And I really feel bad for Sirius and Remus. And if Dawlish can be an auror, I'm sure Sirius can be one too.
Author's Response: Dawlish was an idiot, true, but I think that was because he kept getting Confunded. I have a feeling Sirius was too reckless, but also McG felt she had to give him a wake-up call. It's Remus I feel most for because there wasn't anything for him - especially after his friends had gone :( Thank you for the reviewwwww. ~Carole~
Great, I love McGonagall's attitude!
Author's Response: Thank you very much for the review. I loved writing McGonagall, she can be quite amusing. ~Carole~
Oh, poor Remus... :(
I must say, I really do like the way you characterise all of them; totally canon-compliant, but still fresh and interesting (and this goes for all of your fics that I've read so far). I particularly like Peter (so many fics make him rather amoeba-esque, but you've actually given him a personality - his lack of confidence is particularly interesting), and Mcgonagall (who, quite frankly, deserves that slug of Firewhiskey...). All in all, very nice :) (though it would have been nice to see Lily... can't have it all though ;) )
Author's Response: I think Lily would have been interesting, but I wanted to focus on the four Marauders, and she would have distracted form that dynamic. Thank you very much for the review. I always ache for poor Remus as well. ~Carole~
Carole, I really loved this, and I am wondering why on earth I haven't read and reviewed it before. As you're teh queen of Marauders, I'm not surprised in the slightest that your portrayal of them was absolutely stellar. The thing with your Marauder stories is that you're consistent with their characterisations, and little details, like Remus not liking chocolate (which I so LOL'd at :D) and Peter wanting to be an Auror, and McGonagall with her Ginger Newts, they really are reminiscient of JKR.
And while I am occasionally partial to a well-written MWPP cliche, I loved that you kicked the cliches out of the window with this story. By the way, I loved Sirius, James, Peter and Remus in this fic, but especially Remus, because I just felt so sorry for him. Of course, James, my dear husband, was more assured, and I liked the way you had him being jokey but then becoming serious. That's very James. Well done :)
Author's Response: Ha ha - this was a story for the MWPP class so kicking cliches was a must. I was fond of this story because it tied up a lot of my head canon, namely the fact that Sirius playing that 'trick' on Snape, probably impacted on him as much as it did Snape. I find it hard to believe Dumbledore would have just let it go, and by association McGonagall would have been ruthless towards him. Remus just makes me so sad so much of the time and this story didn;t so him any favours except he became closer to Sirius.
Between you and me, James made me LOL. I could picture him so vividly nicking the biscuits, taking the piss, and then suddenly snapping out of it. Thank you so much for the review ~Carole~
Hello Carole,
I decided to browse through your quite intimidating author's page when picking a fic to review for SPEW! Anyway, this one caught my eye (we do both love the Marauders, don't we?) so here I go.
I really enjoyed this one. Not a surprise, coming from an author such as yourself, but it's going to be hard finding flaws with this one.
First of all, I love that you chose to give us the Marauders' career advice sessions with McGonagall. I always appreciate "small" scenes such as this. They are often found in Harry Potter (for example, I absolutely loved Harry and McGonagall's career advice scene in the books) but don't get much attention in fan fiction. It's a tendency for writers to be attracted to the more dramatic moments, but I definitely recognize that successfully creating more simple scenes such as these can be equally rewarding.
As I said, even though on the surface these little encounters don't seem to be very important, I think they add so much to the Harry Potter canon in the way of characterization. And I have to say, your characterization really stood out.
I think I have to give you the biggest compliments on McGonagall, who really shines in this fic. In the first few books I barely noticed her, but in the later books I realized how much I undervalued her. You really captured her stern but honest manner, and injected some of her amazing wit. I love that you didn't give in the temptation of simply having her coddle, for example, Remus when he faces the idea that he is nearly unemployable. I for one was sending him telepathic hugs, but you kept with characterization perfectly. She's brutally honest, but understanding.
Now it's on to the Marauder's characterization. Before I tackle each one separately, I would like to compliment you on keeping them who they are without become cartoonish. I think a few of them could have easily drifted into caricatures of themselves (more on that later), but each of them were perfectly rendered. For example, if you had removed the names of each of them I would have easily been able to pick out which student was which. On the other hand, they weren't so bold that I was cringing from the amount of Marauder clichés being thrown at me.
First, young Sirius Black. When I first clicked on this fic, I immediately began wondering which career paths you would have the characters become interested in. I think your choice or Auror for Sirius fit perfectly. As we've seen in the books, Sirius is a man of action. I can see a clear connection between his interaction with McGonagall and his frustration at being locked indoors in Order of the Phoenix. You made him bold and quick to anger, but you made sure that he wasn't out of control. I think you ended it perfectly—"Thank you for your time, Professor."
I think Peter's characterization stood out the most to me. I think that this is because you avoided a big cliché in the Marauder era—Peter as a completely worthless human being. There is absolutely nothing in the books that makes us pity him, but logic tells us that there must be something in Peter that made the other Marauders loyal to him. I love that you stuck with his usually characterization as a copycat of James and Sirius (the Auror career) but injected a new dimension to his personality through McGonagall. I think McGonagall's comments about his potential as a Beater really made all the difference.
Alright, I'm trying desperately hard to come up with some kind of flaw. Curse you! I will say this about James: unfortunately, he was the Marauder who least stuck out to me in this one. The whole section felt a little strange to me, as the other interviews did much more for characterization. I thought that he was appropriately characterized (and I did love the line about him wanting to fight) but I don't think you added much beyond what we know from canon. Ordinarily I wouldn't consider this a flaw, but as I think that you really added to the characterization of the Marauders with the others, this one fell a little flat.
Remus's interaction was really very heartbreaking. I've always liked Lupin, but I've never wrapped my head around how much prejudice he had to deal with. Maybe this was because I was turning a blind eye to the pain of characters I liked, but the realization really hit me with this one. I also liked that you didn't succumb to melodrama here. I think that you could have easily turned this into a very Dark/Angsty piece focusing on the woes of Sirius and Remus (and really, it is unjust) but I'm glad you didn't. I think this also made it very Jo-like…she rarely succumbs to melodrama like that. I think it's good that you left their grief mostly unspoken, and ended it on a lighter note.
Finally, the last factor that made this fic so enjoyable was the writing style. It was perfectly JKR-ish. If Jo wrote a book about the Marauders in school, I would fully expect this scene to appear exactly how it is written now. It would not be out of place in the slightest. From other fics that I have read of yours, you have definitely mastered this style.
Bravo, Carole!
Author's Response: WOW! Thank you very much, Danielle. What a lovely review. This story was written for an MWPP class, so not using cliches was uppermost in my mind as I wrote it.
I do see what you're saying here about James. My feeling with James is that he's the least deep, most normal and generally the boy most on an even keel amongst his friends. I was aware as I was writing that James' section was really about light relief. It was meant as a polar opposite to Sirius because although they are both very alike in bravery and recklessness, Sirius is still a Dark character and James is the Light. (I go with this theory a bit in my Remus Tonks fic). So James' section is probably the least successful in the respect of adding to his character, but I think its presence in the fic as a bit of light relief was necessary. Plus I still laugh out loud that McGonagall shouts at him and he nicks all the biscuits.
I cried for Remus. I just think he had so much going for him, but everything else conspired against him. Very sad. McG couldn't protect him from that, no matter how much she wanted to. *sigh*
Thank you again. Lovely review ~Carole~
I loved it. It was so sad though, but great nevertheless.
Author's Response: Thank you very much. ~Carole~
The bits about Lupin made me cry a little. SO good.
Author's Response: Thank you. I cry for Lupin as well. ~Carole~
I do love how you picked careers people (at least I) could really them in, and showed how terribly wrong things could go based on uncontrollable circumstances.
Author's Response: Thank you for the review. I wanted to show how the consequences of the 'prank' that nearly killed Snape affected Sirius too, so I'm glad you agreed. ~Carole~
I loved all of this. I've loved everything of yours I've read. This was such a nice look on the Marauders.
My favorite part was the ending, of course. I always thought Sirius and Remus had a very unique connection due to the way society viewed them. Remus, a werewolf, therefore frowned upon by society. Sirius, shunned by his family and practically branded as if his last name were a warning sign. They both had to deal with people looking at them and treating them like they're different, simply for being the people they. For something they can't change.
I really love McGonagall. Her interactions with each of the characters were spot on, I think. Though she isn't afraid of being hard on her students, she isn't afraid to love and fight for them with just as much determination. You put that across very well. Really, all I want to do is offer her a biscuit. And, you. You should also have a biscuit.
Author's Response: Thank you very much. You got all the nuances that I was trying to portray in the story and yes,I think Sirius and Remus had a special connection. I like McG as well. She's a strong character and probably had to be hard on them. Thanks again ~Carole~
good. It makes me sad for Remus, and I liked both how James was tricking Mcgonagall and how he was bragging in front of Lily. :)
Author's Response: Glad you enjoyed the story. I liked James as well, especially when he kept takingthe biscuits. He makes me laugh so much.
You've left me speachless. I'm starting the whole college application process now and i do thinkit is hard, but this story put a lot of things in persepective. Although our world doesn't have to deal with lycanthropy there are other very real issues that make college and work a real dream for some people. And I feel a bit liek james and peter, where I don't seriously have to worry about not fitting in anywhere. And then when you think about teh remuses and siriuses of the word it's a bti shocking. For remus especially, because he has done nothing to merit his lack of possibiities. This story is very good. I like the way McGonagall trully cares abut her students and hwo she is honest with them while still trying to shield them from the pain.
Author's Response: Thank you very much for the review. Ever since the careers talk Harry had with McGonagall and Umbridge, I've always wondered how the Marauders talks went. I mean what on earth could she have suggested to Remus - poor love. I also wanted to show that Sirius' 'prank' on Severus Snape had consequences for him too. Glad this rang true for you ... but hope you have better luck than Remus with your college applications. ~Carole~
I really loved the idea for this fic, but unfortunately I wasn't as in love with the fic itself. There are some definite high points, but overall I was left a little disappointed in the final product.
The opening of this is great. I love the brief mention of Sonia Slattery, just as a moment of quick humor before we get into the fic. It also serves to establish the setting a bit; we've already been told that McGonagall is meeting with fifth years, but knowing who's come immediately before our Marauders is just a nice way to bring us into the fic.
The meeting with Sirius is probably my favorite bit of this fic, and not just because Sirius is my favorite character. This is the part where I think the two players are most in-character. Sirius's indignance and then passive acceptance of his career fate is a nice bit of characterization. I'm not sure I buy that he wouldn't be let into the Auror program because of his pranks, though. I understand the gravity of the prank on Snape, obviously, but would that really weigh so heavily in the decision to accept or reject Sirius? McGonagall says that's why Dumbledore wouldn't recommend Sirius, but I can't see something like that as being Dumbledore's reason. I feel like Dumbledore might not recommend Sirius because Sirius is reckless, amongst other things, and probably just not right for such a high-profile job. I suppose it's up for debate why Dumbledore might or might not recommend Sirius, but in my eyes it's more plausible that he would have more character-related reasons than just "Well, you almost killed Severus Snape so now your career hopes have been dashed" (as terrible as that prank was).
I feel like the scene with Peter and McGonagall is a little lacking. They don't really discuss what Peter's going to do with his life after Hogwarts. McGonagall sort of suggests Peter finding a place at the Ministry, but that's not really very helpful, is it? She spends more time just telling him not to be a follower. I like this from McGonagall, and the reference to Peter's Quidditch try-out was nice, but it seems like there should be more after that. As it is now, Peter's left with no real idea about what he wants to do after Hogwarts, and he probably at least had something in mind before he joined up with Voldemort (unless he was never deterred from the prospect of being an Auror).
James's meeting is cute. The shift from joking to seriousness is a nice look at James's character, as he does seem to be constantly moving between the two temperaments. I would have liked to see more of he scene after James declares his desire to help fight in the war, because I think that could have been a real gem of a conversation. It would have helped balance the joking and seriousness, too, because right now it's just a bunch of pulling McGonagall's leg and then, "But just kidding, I'm going to fight." I'm also not sure it would have taken McGonagall that long to realize James was joking, but I'm going to address McGonagall in a bit.
Moving on to Remus, I have to say this was my least favorite part of the fic. I think Remus would have been fully aware of the complications his lycanthropy would cause in pursuing a career, and I can't see him going into this meeting making any real suggestions. I don't think McGonagall would beat around the bush the way she does here, either. She tends to be a rather straightforward person, and I imagine her sitting down with Remus and stating flat out that finding a career for him would be difficult, if not almost impossible. But I'm going to get to McGonagall in a minute, so back to Remus, I just want to note that Remus in canon tends to be more hopeless than hopeful. I realize how depressing that sounds, but based on his character in canon, I would think he would be more likely to not present any hope of getting a real career after Hogwarts, rather than trying different options as he does here.
So, McGonagall. Her character felt a bit inconsistent. I didn't feel like I was reading the same McGonagall here as from canon. For example, she refers to the Marauders by their last names only (well, mostly, here), which felt wrong to me. I think she'd be more likely to call them Mr [insert last name here] in this situation, and probably use only their last names if she were angry. It also kind of feels like McGonagall is all over the place in her reactions. At one point she yells at Peter to speak up, but then later she calls Remus 'dear boy.' I'm not saying people can't say both those things, but McGonagall usually isn't quite so, well, mean or so, well, sweet. She's direct and can be rather severe, but she's got a soft side. I think you were trying to show both of those and just got a little lost in doing so. You went a bit too far in both directions.
Overall, I thought this was a very interesting idea for a fic and simply could have been better executed. There were some nice parts, and some nice insights into the characters, but the final product was a little lacking, for me.
Author's Response: I have to ask, why do you keep reviewing my stories when you so clearly disagree and dislike my portrayal of the Marauders? Obviously it's end of the month and so it's time to get your SPEW review in, but why is it my turn again?
Right, let's go through this. - Sirius as an Auror. No, it's not just the pranks - obviously not - but his 'prank' against Snape could have led to Snape's death or James' death or at the very least them being turned into werewolves. Do you really think Dumbledore would, at this moment in time, recommend him to the Auror department? Not in a million years. The 'prank' happens in their fifth year so just before the careers interview, so it's on their mind.
James - I have to disagree and refer you to P ussycat 123's review in which she said James was perfectly IC. He's a joker is my James Potter, supremely confident in that he can do no wrong, but he gets VERY serious, VERY quickly just at the moment it matters.
Remus -Actually this is my favourite part of the fic. The fact was, Remus did really know he had very little chance of a good interview and his career prospects are grim, which I think is obvious from the fact that Sirius is waiting for him. However he allows himself to dream, once in a while, that everything could work out because he is taken care of at Hogwarts and doers well there.
McGonagall - Okay, in the books, in the space of a few paragraphs, she calls Harry, Potter - and Ron, Mr. Weasley. I think she calls them by surname alone when she's angry, and 'Mr so and so' when she's impressed or trying to impose authority. Her use of 'Remus' and the 'dear boy' is because she is genuinely fond of him and he needs a bit of compassion in his life - don't you think? In the books, we see McGonagall stepping out of her teacher role to show that she cares (when Hermione is Petrified she's particularly kind, Ginny taken into the Chamber she's genuinely upset - Harry appearing in DH and his 'death' causes real, intense grief) She's also passionate about Quidditch and we often see her slip out of her stern Professor role when Gryffindor win or lose. As for her reaction to Peter. His interview has come just after the difficult one with Sirius - she's on edge because of that - and then Peter is irritating. In POA she admits to being 'sharp' with Peter on several occasions - this is one of them.
I appreciate that you put a lot of effort into writing this review, and I'm sure SPEW will think highly of it ... but I still wonder why it's been my last two stories you've reviewed. If you dislike my portrayal of the Marauders and my writing style so much, then why do you read my stories? If I dislike something, then I don't review - it's as simple as that, or I write something encouraging. ~Carole~
Hello Carole!
I'm still wondering why I overlooked this one-shot. After reading it, I'm even more convinced about the MWPP classes.
On to the serious part. So, I can't really say which one I liked best. Each of them was written superbly. You set different tones for them, seeing as they are such different individuals.
I think it is easy to mix up James and Sirius at times, but here, you showed the very distinct line which separates them. Sirius was reckless, James had a bit more self-control. Sirius did not really know himself, James was a little more aware of who he was.
Peter has always been a mystery to me. However, your portrayal of him has cleared things a little for me. I am thinking - would he have been better off if he hadn't been their friends? It is easy to see how inadequate he feels when he is with them. I don't think Sirius and James were always making fun of him, but Peter's need to impress them, to be like them, must have been hard on him - especially because he fell far short of achieving it.
As for Remus, it's just the way you write about him. Less melodrama, less angst - but the pain is so much more tangible. I think his section was the one which really made me love the fic, simply because you handled him so well.
I loved McGonagall here. Lol! I loved her scathing remark to Sirius: "Mr. Black, when you have the time..." lol! There is that soft side to her - which threatens to break into the surface at times. I loved how that came out here in your fic.
Lastly, I want to say - well, you did a great job! You picked a great moment to write about the Marauders. And, I must not forget to add, I like how Sirius and Remus end up being the ones who comfort each other.
Author's Response: Thank you so much, Natalie, for reviewing. I'm glad you enjoyed the story (and apologies for not responding sooner). I'm pleased you liked McGonagall in this, because I wanted to show different sides to her. I giggled when writing James - he is such a bad boy at times. Thanks again ~Carole~
Brilliant! Ingenious idea, to pick this moment for a one-shot.
I agree with some of the other reviewers - I read McGonagall's advice to Peter twice. It really touched me. I want to say fantastic job characterizing Peter, I so frequently tend to tune him out of my stories - I suppose I have the same hill to get over; the fact that he betrayed my favorite characters. I'm so sad this is the last one you'll do; you're incredible at it.
After Peter's interview, James', not Remus' was my favorite. Because I love him. But also because it WAS JAMES. Oh my goodness you captured him perfectly.
Definitely would have nominated this for Best Marauder Era in QSQ but I didn't read in time. :( It's very deserving of it!
Author's Response: Thank you very much for the review. I am so pleased you enjoyed the story - especially the Peter interview because I also have trouble seeing him as more than the traitor. I won't be adding to this story as it's a one shot, but I do have a Marauder chaptered fic on the site called The Lions of Gryffindor which this could be seen as a prequel too. (plug plug). Thank you for the best wishes for the QSQ - fingers crossed but there are some amazing fics already nominated. ~Carole~
Ah! I love you! You really captured each individual character with their conversations. I love the way you portray them, because it's not all superficial fluff, you really get down to the heart of each character and what makes them tick. Great, great job!
Author's Response: Thank you so much for your review, I wanted to do something a little bit different and we don't see enough of McGonagall in the fics - plus we tend to see Marauders together and not seperately. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Loved this! I think, in fact, I'll list the things I loved most. You know ... for fun.
1. That James kept taking more and more biscuits. I'd have made him do the exact same thing, I thought of it as soon as I read the first scene, and so was extremely pleased to see that you'd obviously done the same!
2. That James decided to use it as an opportunity to wind McGonagall up as much as possible, but then got very serious very fast, right at the end. That last little part captured his personality perfectly - joking 99% of the time, but fully appreciating, in all its seriousness, what needs to be done.
3. McGonagall's sympathetic attitude towards Remus, which made me love both characters even more than usual.
4. The SPOT ON interpretation of Peter trying to be James, and consequently selling himself short. Perfect.
5. The sweet scene between Sirius and Remus at the end (including the description of James's boasting, which I can also see just perfectly). It's nice to see that, even though they are a four, they work just as well in twos - and not even the traditional friendship pairings of James & Sirius, and Remus & Peter, but it can be completely interchangeable.
Basically, I thought the whole thing was amazingly perceptive, and captured the Marauders perfectly (and I say that as a Marauder-era writer myself, so I feel like I've really got to know them much better than any of the original trio ... or at least, I've got to know my own interpretations and ideas about what they should be like).
Congratulations on the QSQ nomination for this - I hope you get it, because it definitely deserves recognition! =D
Author's Response: Thank you so much for a wondeful review. I'm particularly pleased you liked James because I giggled all the way through writing it. I just think he's such a wind-up merchant ... Ahhh I love the guy. It means a lot that you, particularly, have liked my interpretation because I love The Cause so much. Thank you also for appreciating that McGonagall can be sympathetic at times. She's harsh on Sirius because he needs it but Remus doesn't have a great deal out of life.
Thank you again. Carole xxx
haha, great again, carole!
you've just got the marauders characterization down, nothing else to say. Peter, especially cought my eye, as I so rarely come across a fic that has a good characterization of him. All of tghe others were great to, and I noticed that normally Remus is all 'no one will take me...' and the teachers are 'you've got great grades, bla bla bla' but this time it was sorta the other way around. i think it's good. And likely, too, although we just don't really know, do we? The other theory is also very possible.....
Oh, and Chocolate Dragons??? Is this just something I missed, or did you invent them? An addition to chocolate Frogs????
Great job! And I love the Lions of Griffendor too.
Author's Response: Thank you for the review. Mmm, I made up Chocolate Dragons, just as something diffewrent and they sound quite yummy. Thanks for saying that about Peter, I struggle with him because it's hard to forget he's a traitor. Carole xxx
I LUUUUUUUUUUUUVED IT!!! T'was Awesome
Author's Response: Thank you very much. I had fun writing it. Carole xxx
Hello, Carole!
You know I always like a good Marauder story, and I really loved this one. I think you've got all their characterizations down to a tee—it looks like I really ought to take this class!
She perused the list in front of her and ticked off some names. I'll admit I was a bit disappointed when I read this sentence, but only Sonia Slattery's example followed before we jumped into the Marauders. Given the names, plural, I wondered where the rest of the amusing anecdotes had gone. So I wonder if that sentence might be tweaked a bit, to avoid let down expectations? :(
I really liked the way you portrayed Sirius with his arrogance and intentionally being difficult, but also his nervousness when he says he wants to be an Auror, and the dark shadow on his face when the Snape incident is mentioned, and his anger about his name. I thought you did a good job showing the conflict in his character as he grows up.
I also liked the story McGonagall told about Peter and Quidditch. It shows that he has real potential of his own, but all he does is follow his friends about all the time. It is my firm belief that Peter Pettigrew had potential.
I thought you showed the process of maturing, again, with James' character, by the way he fools around with McGonagall for a bit, but then becomes serious about wanting to fight.
Remus' scene was incredibly sad, and I liked the way you showed his optimistic, almost naïve nature, and his disappointment and anger when it lets him down. Also I found it really interesting that he originally wanted to be a Healer, and I think it makes sense because he's not really a fighter like James or Sirius; he's a peacemaker.
I thought it curious that it was Sirius who came to find Remus. It's unusual that Sirius is shown as the sensitive one, I suppose. I like it, though. Really good job on this, Carole! It really looks like you put a lot of thought into these characters.
Thanks for a beautiful read!
Author's Response: Thanks, Lilu. Hmmm, I take your point about the list of names. I hadn't thought of that. Because this is a kinda prequel to Lions of Gryffindor, I had only thought of Sonia and later Phyllida. DARN! I now want to add Mary and Lily too. LOL. Okay, with Sirius coming to find Remus, it was really because he'd had a dreadful interview and I think he knew Remus would have done asd well. I always see Sirius and Remus as being the ones who are 'darker' as it were.
Thank you, for the concrit. It really is appreciated. carole xxx


text:
HOUSTON - New details were revealed Wednesday in the case of a 9-year-old girl found dead in her mother's apartment in southwest Houston.
The day after the victim's mother came forward to speak with homicide detectives, an emergency custody hearing was held for the girl's 5-year-old sister.
The body of Ayahna Comb was found wrapped in blankets in the kitchen of an apartment she shared with her mother and her younger sister in the 10100 block of Club Creek Drive.
The girls' mother, Amber Keyes, was questioned by police on Tuesday evening. Police have not yet said if any charges will be filed against Keyes.
A CPS case worker told the court during Wednesday's hearing that Keyes admitted putting her severely handicapped daughter's emaciated body in a drawer of her refrigerator after the 9-year-old stopped breathing on Jan. 29. The caseworker says Ayahna weighed only 14 pounds when she was found Monday.
According to an investigator's affidavit obtained by Local 2 News, Keyes hid the girl's death from her family. When asked why, the affidavit says, "Ms. Keyes said she panicked and does not know why she didn't call for help."
Instead Keyes told family that Ayahna, who had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, had been placed in a facility for children with special needs.
She even kept the death hidden from Ayahna's 5-year-old sister who lived in the apartment. But investigators say the little girl was soon telling playmates about seeing the body.
The affidavit says the girl told investigators, "...that one time she opened the drawer to the fridge looking for a cheese stick and there was a body in the drawer."
The investigators go on to say that Keyes, "continued to collect Social Security Disability Income and food stamps for Ayahna following her death."
And the affidavit says Keyes even renewed her application for food stamps last May.
In court Wednesday, the children's father, Armand Comb, insisted he'd seen the Ayahna just two months ago, even though by her mother's account she died long before.
Comb was seeking custody of the younger sister. After hearing a caseworker bring up concerns about Comb's alleged substance abuse, his emotional and mental health, and his failure to follow up on Ayahna's disappearance, the judge ruled Ayahna's 5-year-old sibling will remain in CPS custody for now.
The judge set a temporary custody hearing for next week. The girl's mother has been ordered to appear.
The judge also appointed a lawyer for Comb. He has also agreed to undergo a drug screening.
Police found Ayahna's body Monday after a concerned neighbor entered her mother's apartment through an unlocked door and found the child's body. He called the Houston Fire Department. Firefighters notified police.
An autopsy was performed Tuesday to determine the exact cause and time of the girl's death. Those autopsy results have not yet been released.
The caseworker also testified that the girl's mother said Ayahna had last seen a doctor more than two years ago. The caseworker told a judge that when Ayahna was found, she was emaciated, thin, and her body was decomposing.
Copyright 2014 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Charlie Sheen was reportedly on Colorado's naughty list this year.
The actor spent Christmas in an Aspen, Colo., correctional facility after an alleged scuffle with his wife, cops in the resort town said.
Aspen police spokeswoman Stephanie Dasaro said Sheen was arrested Friday on charges of second-degree assault and menacing, both felonies, along with criminal mischief, a misdemeanor.
A protective order was also issued as mandated by Colorado law in cases of domestic violence, according to CNN.
Sheen was released from the Pitkin County Jail in Aspen, about 200 miles west of Denver, late Friday afternoon, Dasaro said.
According to RadarOnline.com, Sheen was arrested after he fought with his wife, Brooke Mueller, at a house she has been renting for about three months. Cops said the victim, whom they did not name, did not have to be taken to the hospital.
The "Two and a Half Men" star was flew into Colorado to be with his wife, "but things got out of control almost right away," according to RadarOnline.com.
Officers responded to a 911 call at Sheen's home before they arrested the actor, Dasaro said.
Police initially said the 44-year-old actor would be held without bond in the Pitkin County Jail until his first court appearance.
Sheen is set to appear in court Feb. 8, officials said.


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The Doncaster branch of the Leeds Building Society is holding a coffee morning tomorrow to raise funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care.
The branch will be serving coffee and pastries, at 8 Frenchgate, Doncaster between 9am. and noon on July 1.
Melissa Foulis, Doncaster Branch Manager said, "We are really looking forward to taking part in the Marie Curie coffee morning. "All the money raised will help more Marie Curie Nurses to provide free care to patients with terminal cancer and other illnesses in the comfort of their own homes or one of the charity's hospices."


text:
CARY, N.C. – The LA Galaxy were knocked out of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open at the first hurdle for the second straight year, losing 2-0 on Wednesday night to the Carolina RailHawks in front of a record crowd at WakeMed Soccer Park. Austin da Luz and Brian Shriver scored goals two minutes apart early in the second half to pull off the upset for Carolina, who had beaten the Galaxy 2-1 in the Third Round of the 2012 Open Cup exactly one year ago.
The Galaxy controlled possession in the opening 45 minutes but chances were hard to come by for both sides. Michael Stephens fired over the bar early on while Jose Villarreal sent a shot wide from the center of the box, sending the teams into the halftime break tied 0-0.
The game remained scoreless until just before the hour mark when Austin da Luz collected a cross from Zack Schilawski and fired a right-footed shot on goal from the edge of the box. Galaxy goalkeeper Brian Rowe, who was making his U.S. Open Cup debut, appeared to make the save, only for the ball to squeeze underneath him and just over the line to give Carolina a 1-0 lead.
Not content to sit back, the RailHawks doubled their lead two minutes later when Schilawski was once again the provider, playing fellow forward Brian Shriver, whose late winner beat the Galaxy last season, in behind the LA defense and allowing him to beat Rowe just inside the far post, making the score 2-0 in the 61st minute.
Having already sent on Gyasi Zardes, Galaxy coach Curt Onalfo sent on Robbie Rogers in an effort to kick start his team's attack and get back into the game. However, it was not to be. While LA outshot Carolina 10-7 on the night, it took until the 71st minute for the visitors to record their first and only shot on goal of the game, only to see RailHawks goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald save a tame effort from Zardes.
With the win, Carolina advances to Fourth Round of the Open Cup where they will take on Chivas USA on Wednesday, June 12.
The Galaxy will be back in action on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. (PT) when they take on the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium in a game that will be shown live nationally on NBC Sports Network. Additional broadcast information is available at www.lagalaxy.com/live.


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Voter Fraud doesn't exist, stop being a paranoid racist please.
Democrat withdraws from 1st District congressional race after allegations she voted in two states - AG Holder maintains that voter ID laws are racist and voter fraud is non-existent.
Rosen says she registered in Fla. to support friend there
Wendy Rosen, the Democratic nominee running against Republican Rep. Andy Harris in the 1st Congressional District, withdrew from the race Monday. (Handout photo)
By Matthew Hay Brown, The Baltimore Sun
9:50 a.m. EDT, September 11, 2012
Wendy Rosen, the Democratic challenger to Republican Rep. Andy Harris in the 1st Congressional District, withdrew from the race Monday amid allegations that she voted in elections in both Maryland and Florida in 2006 and 2008.
It was unclear, however, whether she could remove her name from the ballot with the election less than two months away. Under state law, a candidate has until 70 days before an election to remove his or her name from the ballot. The deadline for the Nov. 6 election passed on Aug. 28.
Democratic leaders who raised the allegations, urged Rosen to step aside and notified prosecutors said they would gather Central Committee members this month to identify a write-in candidate for the district, which includes the Eastern Shore and parts of Harford, Carroll, Cecil and Baltimore counties.
Republicans, meanwhile, said the allegations prove that voter fraud is real and called on Democrats to join the GOP in calling for reforms.
Rosen, 57, a Cockeysville businesswoman and Maryland voter, told The Baltimore Sun that she registered to vote in Florida several years ago in order to support a "very close friend" running for the St. Petersburg City Council and to vote on local issues there.
Rosen said she was able to register in Florida because she owned property there.
Under Maryland law, a voter here may not maintain registration in a second state if it allows the voter to participate in state or federal elections there, according to Jared DeMarinis, director of candidacy and campaign finance at the State Board of Elections.
State Democratic Chairwoman Yvette Lewis said an examination of voting records in Maryland and Florida showed that Rosen participated in the 2006 general election and the 2008 primaries in both states.
Maryland and Florida both held gubernatorial and congressional contests in 2006 and presidential primaries in 2008, when Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton competed for the Democratic nomination.
Asked by The Sun on Monday if she had voted in both states in the same elections, Rosen said she did not remember how she voted. Asked if she had voted twice in the 2008 presidential primaries, she declined to comment "due to possible litigation."
Lewis referred the allegations Monday to Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler and State Prosecutor Emmitt C. Davitt.
"We believe that this is a clear violation of Maryland law and urge the appropriate office to conduct a full investigation," she wrote. "The Maryland Democratic Party strongly believes in upholding and expanding the right to vote but, at the same time, believes there should be zero tolerance for voter fraud of any kind."
DeMarinis, the state elections official, said there are narrow circumstances under which a Maryland voter may register legally in two places.
Some municipalities maintain separate voting rolls for local elections. These allow property owners even those that live and vote elsewhere to register and participate in elections for local offices and ballot questions.
Thus, DeMarinis said, a resident of Baltimore who owned a vacation home in Ocean City could legally vote in local elections there, too.
DeMarinis said he knows of no law against a Maryland voter participating in local elections in another state. But an out-of-state registration that permitted participation in state and federal elections would be illegal, he said.
A spokesman for Maryland Democrats said party leaders were told of Rosen's dual registration by someone within the party on Friday. After verifying the details over the weekend, spokesman Matthew Verghese said, the leaders confronted Rosen on Monday.
Rosen was seen as the underdog to Harris, a 55-year-old physician from Baltimore County who is serving his first term in Congress. The district that has grown more solidly Republican since Harris ousted Democratic Rep. Frank Kratovil in 2010.
Still, she mounted a highly visible effort to promote her candidacy in July at the annual J. Millard Tawes crab feast in Crisfield.
At the time, she told a reporter she believed Harris was vulnerable to a challenge because of unpopularity among voters.
Voter Fraud doesn't exist, stop being a paranoid racist please.
Having a national ID card would, but I'm sure that racist AND Nazi-like.
So what do we want here then? A federal ID? A state ID? What is the expiration? Could I get more than one if I move let's say from Florida to Maryland and then have two IDs? Would you have to renew it when you move? Where would you go to get it renewed? How would it stop voter registration fraud? If I own property in two states (say Fla and NY) could I get ID for both states?
I have no problem with photo ID. I think when some dope from Penn yells to a crowd how Voter ID law will give Romney a victory in Penn, he isn't helping matters. I don't like moving the goalposts this late in the game. I could support a federal ID. I think the cost would outweigh the benefit, but this isn't exactly a hot button issue for me.
Wait, so now even though IDs won't eliminate voter fraud like this example from the article, now if voter IDs a small percentage is okay as long as we take measures to discourage it? So what percentage of voter fraud is acceptable? What type of reduction would make Voter ID a success?
Also, is this one case of voter fraud over the last 6 years now the poster child for "voter fraud is real" Shouldn't we figure out a voting system that eliminates absentee voting fraud, double-registration when you own property in more than one state, and in person fraud?
Or should we just rush through IDs for the swing states now before this election and all that other stuff is okay because, hey, now we are discouraging voter fraud.
I will give you another example of the sillyness of your position. Lets say I own a pharmacy and I'm trying to reduce theft. So I hire a security guard and install cameras in the store. Does that mean that no one will ever successfully shoplift? No. A savvy criminal will likely find a way. The fact is that the camera and guard may catch most of the theft but not all. So by your logic I shouldn't bother hiring the guard and installing the cameras because someone might still get away with theft?
If I own a pharmacy and suffer say a .009 percent of losses due to theft I should take on extra expenses of say 15% by hiring security and installing a video monitoring system in order to stop that .009 loss?
Federal Voter/ID Card.
With many aspects of administration handled by the States, and collated by the Feds.
Done and done.
Want to vote, you need to be a registered voter, with a federal voter ID card.
I'd even make um' free. It's worth it.
Do we need anymore excuses not to have Voter ID Cards. You need to have an ID to buy booze, to buy a car. But not to vote. This ***** needs to be put in prison NOW!


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Over the course of the past week I have been working on an Easter Egg project with my kids. Something simple enough for my little one and creative enough for my older ones to enjoy. Every year I try and come up with a unique way to decorate blown out Easter eggs and save them to use from year to year. Last year we made Personalized Easter Eggs and this year we simplified things so my little one who is almost 4 could join in the fun.
This year I was inspired by all the Elmer's Glue Canvas projects that I have seen on Pinterest and in blog land. Why not decorate with glue? Even better, why not decorate with glitter glue? If you have little ones I am sure you are familiar with Crayola Washable Glitter Glue. So, when I saw this package of Pip Squeaks Washable Glitter Glue at my local Target, I just knew what my next project was going to be.
But first I had to prepare the eggs. Which is why it has been a week long project. If you don't want to blow out the eggs you don't have to, Pip Squeaks glitter glue is non-toxic so it would be safe to use on hard boiled eggs, but like I said before I will be saving and using these eggs year to year. That also means I had to strengthen them so they would last.
Last year I had coated my eggs with Mod Podge and and sealed them with acrylic paint, but his year I knew that I didn't want to coat the eggs. I knew I wanted the glitter glue to give the eggs some dimension and texture. So after blowing out my eggs, I washed and sanitized them. There are many tutorials online if you never done this before, just Google blowing out eggs, and you should fine one that meets your needs.
Once they were clean and had a day or two to dry out I made a mixture of Mod Podge and water and soaked the eggs. That way there the Mod Podge mixture would coat the eggs inside and out and absorbed into the shell. This gives them a little more strength to survive from year to year. Then I let them dry out again for a day or two.
I placed the eggs on a bamboo skewer so the kids could decorate the whole egg and not have to wait for each side to dry before doing the other. Except for my little one. I had him doing one side of the egg at a time. He didn't have the dexterity to decorate the egg on the bamboo skewer.
Basically all we did was make polka dots. Some were more rounded and looked like jewels sitting on the egg and others were larger and more spread out. It was all in how they applied the glue. On some they just squirted out rounded dots and on others they squirted out the dots spreading out the glitter with the tip of the nozzle.
Don't forget to cover the pinholes at the top of each egg.
Leaving them on the bamboo skewers I placed them into a cut to let them dry overnight.
I hope you liked our Easter Eggs and are inspired to make some of your own.
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great week!
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Calhoun County releases $125,000 settlement agreement
Dec. 5, 2013 at 6:05 a.m.
Updated Dec. 6, 2013 at 6:06 a.m.
A former Calhoun County employee who claimed her boss filmed her undressing in their shared office received $125,000 as part of an out-of-court settlement.
The Victoria Advocate requested a copy of the settlement agreement months ago.
Although the attorney general's office ruled it was a public document Nov. 8, Calhoun County officials did not release it until commissioners approved the release at their Nov. 26 meeting. Texas law allows officials 30 days in which to sue the attorney general if they disagreed with the ruling.
The Calhoun County District Attorney's Office sent the agreement to the Victoria Advocate after receiving it from its attorney, Neil Giles, and insurance carrier, Hiscox, on Thursday afternoon.
"There is no way it should have taken this long for the document to be released, but the right result was achieved in the end," said Joe Larsen, a Houston attorney who serves on the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas' board of directors.
Larsen wrote a letter to the attorney general's office on the Victoria Advocate's behalf.
Amanda Guillen sued the county and Precinct 2 Commissioner Vern Lyssy after she was fired in 2010.
She said she was fired for complaining about the camera to County Judge Michael Pfeifer, but Lyssy has said there were problems with her performance documented by the human resources department before.
A recording of her undressing was not found.
Neither Guillen nor Lyssy could be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.
Lyssy and the county also stipulated in the agreement that they are not admitting liability. Guillen, in turn, agreed not to sue them about the matter again.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Neil Fritsch seconded the motion to release the agreement.
When contacted Thursday afternoon, Fritsch was disappointed that he, too, was not sent a copy of the agreement.
"Well, not knowing the particulars other than what was published in the newspaper, I think it (the settlement amount) is way too much," Fritsch said after the Victoria Advocate sent him a copy of the settlement agreement.
Lyssy said in a previous interview that he consulted with several departments before setting up the camera, which was hidden inside a computer speaker.
Lyssy set the camera up because he "sensed" employees were being disloyal and not informing him of missed calls. He had to prove or disprove that, he said.
Fritsch did not remember approving of the camera. He also did not understand why Guillen was changing her clothing in a public office.
Before a judge declared a mistrial in April, Guillen's attorneys explained to jurors that Lyssy's office was undergoing construction. The bathroom was too small and dirty, and Guillen received permission from Lyssy to change clothes in the office, they said.
"You know, sometimes there's a public perception that because we are commissioners that we get into each other's business and know everything that's going on, but I do not," Fritsch said. "If you're having problems with theft or vandalism, put your cameras up and say it's being videotaped. A lot of times, just putting up a sign would deter things."
From Jan. 1, 2011, to Jan. 1, 2012, the county paid Hiscox a $14,276 premium for its public officials' liability insurance policy, County Auditor Cynthia Mueller.
The county paid the Texas Association of Counties Risk Management Pool a $32,786 premium for its public officials' liability policy beginning Jan. 1, she said.
Guillen filed the lawsuit in September 2011, according to an earlier report.
Mueller did not know whether this policy's premiums more than doubled in cost because of an increase in claims.
"The only thing I know about changing carriers is that our insurance consultant told us that by changing carriers for not just this particular policy but for all of our policies, we were getting coverage more suited to the county's needs," Mueller said.
Fritsch also remembers the consultant's recommendations. They found that some areas of the county were overinsured while others were underinsured, he said.
"From that, we put out a request for proposals for that insurance, and GSM (Insurors of Port Lavaca) and the Texas Association of Counties bid on it," he said.
There were "significant savings" with the Texas Association of Counties, Fritsch said.
It was not known Thursday afternoon whether claims to the county's public officials' policy have increased.
Fritsch said the employee policy manual has also been revised, but he did not know whether changes were made in reaction to this lawsuit.
Fritsch has been in office since 2005, and Lyssy is on his second term. Their precincts abut on Virginia Street, and Fritsch said they've worked well together in the past, purchasing road tilling and lawn equipment to share throughout the year.
Both men are Democrats.
"A lot of general thought is that Democrats are not conservative, but because we go to church and visit with people and see them in H-E-B and in Wal-Mart, they (the constituents) know who we are, and we want to work for those people and do the best we can," Fritsch said. "We always have them in mind."


text: I need to pull the ABS module controller to have the motor brushes fixed. Any tips on how to remove this would be helpful. I'm sure if I get the tank off it will be apparent but BMW ceases to surprise me these days. I'm not sure what the best way to deal with the brake fluid lines would be as I don't want to strip any paint along the way. If there is an existing post on this I apologize.


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international mail art project against penalty death
From the annual report on penalty death follows that during 2001 at least 4700 people have been executed in 34 countries.
Cina: at least 3.500, of which 13 women
Iran: at least 198, of which at least 6 women and 1 boy
Iraq: at least 179, of which at least 1 woman
Kenya: about 100
Tagikistan: about 100
Vietnam: about 100
Saudi Arabia: 82, of which 2 women
Yemen: at least 80
Afghanistan: at least 68, of which at least 2 women
United States of America: 66, of which 3 women and 1 boy
Pakistan: 45, of which 1 boy (untill november 2001)
Kazakistan: 35 (in first six mounths of 2001)
Zaire: al least 35 (for extraodinary crimes)
Cecenia: 21
Tailandia: 18
Oman: al least 14
Giordania: al least 9
Guinea: 8
Sudan: al least 7
Singapore: 6, of which 1 woman
Malesia: 5, of which 1 woman
Egypt: al least 4
Taiwan: 3
Zimbabwe: 3
Palestine: 2
Bangladesh: 2
Japan: 2
Indonesia: 2
Kuwait: 2, of which 1 woman
Uganda: 2 (ordered by a traditional court)
Botswana: 1 woman
Somalia: 1
North Corea: unprecise number
Uzbekistan: data not available
In bold, the liberal democracy* (5) that have done executions (90)
* the definition on "Liberal Democracy" is based on strict and analitical criteria used by "Freedom House" whether in his study of 1999 on political systems of the world or in the 2001-2002 report about the state of freedom in the world.
Freedom House is a USA organization, above the parts that overlooks the situation of right of people and civil freedom country by country. (more info: www.freedomhouse.org)
[Fonte: Nessuno tocchi Caino - http://www.nessunotocchicaino.it]
How to partecipate:
supprot –> free
media –> free
format –> postcard [ 15 x 10,5 cm]
no dead line
Artworks will be not given back, but they will be on display on the web site http://www.casaditolleranza.com
Artworks must be sent to:
international mail art project against penalty death
Casa di Tolleranza - Surico - Del Basso
Via ingegnoli 17
20131 - Milano
Please write the details of the artist and country origin
Artwork can also be sent to this e-mail adress with subject "4700 project": email@example.com
The artworks sent within the 4th october 2002 will be on display at Casa di Tolleranza from the 5th october to 20th october 2002. Afterwords the show will go to Buenos Aires at the Cutural Center Vortice Argentina.


text:
Papua New Guinea
major macro economic indicators
|2016 (e)
|2017 (f)
|GDP growth (%)
|Inflation (yearly average) (%)
|Budget balance (% GDP)
|Current account balance (% GDP)
|Public debt (% GDP)
(e) Estimate (f) Forecast
- Abundant natural resources: minerals (copper, gold, nickel, cobalt), oil and gas, and raw materials (wood, coffee, cocoa, palm oil)
- Construction of liquefied natural gas production facilities
- Foreign investment in raw materials sector
- Financial support from multilateral institutions
- Vulnerability to natural catastrophes
- Poor infrastructure network
- High illiteracy rate
- Shortages of skilled labour
- Major failings in terms of governance
- Rapid growth of private sector external indebtedness
Activity expected to stabilise in 2017
After the sharp slowing in 2016 as a result of the fall in raw material prices, with copper, cobalt and liquefied natural gas (LNG) in pole position, activity should stabilise in 2017. Growth will however remain limited because of low mineral and oil and gas prices. As the Exxon Mobil LNG project has reached its production potential, it will no longer be adding further to growth. In addition, the poor performances being recorded by the mining sector will act to discourage further foreign investment in the sector.
On top of this, activity in the non-mining sectors, specifically construction, transport and logistics, are expected to remain depressed. These will suffer as a result of the completion of the LNG project. Finally, the decline in tax receipts because of reduced sales of mining products is expected to slow the implementation of infrastructure projects.
The agricultural sector however should benefit as it recovers from the poor harvests of 2016 and activity should benefit from increased public spending ahead of the elections to be held in June 2017.
Household consumption is however expected to continue to struggle with increased unemployment following the completion of the LNG project developed by Exxon, and rising inflation. The persistence of bottlenecks, such as the lack of skilled labour and poor infrastructure, will continue to push up inflation. The depreciation of the kina is also likely to result in further rises in import prices.
Weak raw material prices undermining the macroeconomic fundamentals of the country
The completion of the LNG project and the start of production have helped boost exports and cut imports. The current account balance thus moved into surplus as of 2015. The decline in mining sector export earnings because of falling prices however led to a deterioration in the current account balance in 2016. This situation is likely to continue in 2017. The depreciation of the kina will not benefit exports of manufactured goods which continue to be hindered by the weakness of the country's infrastructure network. At the same time, imports will remain high with the country dependent on imports for many goods.
In 2016, there was a great deal of downward pressure on the Papua currency as a result of the decline in foreign investments and exports but the depreciation was limited to just 5%. The authorities used the country's currency reserves to defend the kina in the currency market. This resulted in a 7.5% reduction in these in 2016.
In terms of the public accounts, in 2016 the country experienced a reduction in budget revenues from the oil and gas and mining sectors, and this trend is expected to continue in 2017. The budget deficit should be unchanged, with the government having implemented measures to restrict public expenditure. As the country is unable to issue bonds, it applied in 2016 for financial support from the World Bank (USD 300M) and the Asian Development Bank (USD 300M). The public debt is thus going to increase rapidly in 2017 but will keep within the moderate debt range.
Political stability will remain fragile in run up to parliamentary elections in June 2017
The 2012 elections confirmed Peter O'Neill (People's National Congress) as the Prime Minister. He now has the support of his predecessor, Sir Michael Somare. However, legal proceedings have been started against the Prime Minister, relating to alleged corruption. An arrest warrant has been issued but the validity of this is being contested in the country's various jurisdictions. In October 2015, the Parliament rejected a procedure for a motion of censure against the Prime Minister and he will now remain in power until the elections in 2017. There are likely to be many more anti-government demonstrations and political stability remains fragile.
In addition, there is serious social discontent, stoked by the levels of inequality and poverty: the majority of the population lives in rural areas and exists on subsistence agriculture. The completion of the LNG project could see increased tensions if the workers from the construction site cannot find jobs. Finally, the country continues to suffer significant deficiencies in terms of governance.
Last update: January 2017


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Aviva Premiership
Gloucester confirm Twelvetrees move
ESPNscrum Staff
January 28, 2012
Billy Twelvetrees is on his way to Gloucester © Getty Images
Gloucester have confirmed the signing of England Saxons centre Billy Twelvetrees from Leicester Tigers.
The Kingshlm club released a statement to say the 23-year-old, whose move south has been one of the worst-kept secrets in the game for the last week, has penned a two-year deal effective from June.
The centre, who is currently with the England Saxons squad ahead of their meeting with Ireland on Saturday afternoon, has spoken of his desire to play at number 12 - something he is expecting to be able to do with Gloucester.
Pre-empting the move, Leicester director of rugby Richard Cockerill called Twelvetrees decision to switch clubs "disappointing" earlier in the week, but the player himself insists he remains indebted to the Tigers,
Twelvetrees said: "I'm incredibly grateful to everyone at the Tigers for the role they've played in helping me to get to this point in my career and, of course, all the support from the fans I've had over the last three years.
"It's not been an easy decision to make but I am looking forward to joining Gloucester in the summer and being part of what is shaping up to be an incredibly talented young English back line.
"In the meantime, though, I'll be fully committed to helping make the rest of the season as successful as possible for Leicester."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Communication error please reload the page.


text:
5 Things You Missed On Instagram Last Night: North West Gets Designer Baby Swag
You can only scroll through Instagram with one eye open like CBS for so long. Eventually you've gotta stop thumbing. Here's what you missed while you were catching Zzzs last night
Kim Kardashian showing off North West's designer gifts
Photo Credit: Instagram/kimkardashian


text: Hey guys, this isn't a pirat'n post its a serious question. My school bought Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architect, which has (i think its 7) 7 cds in its suite. One of these cds has Visual C++ .NET on it but we have tried EVERY cd and none seem to install VC++ .NET, does anyone know which cd its on? If its in this suite at all???


text: "From Mennonite country to New York City, using a rusted Toyota pickup, he transported his first auspicious crop of Hill Billies, Tiger Toms and Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifters to the Union Square Greenmarket, becoming the unlikely purveyor ... to heirloom aficionados and Michelin-starred chefs. An amateur farmer with finite experience in organic farming and a rotating cast of weed-pulling hands, Stark takes on hornworms, groundhogs, cantankerous neighbors and Route I-78, producing cover-worthy tomatoes for Gourmet, Brooklyn-bound sugar snaps and chocolate habaneros for discriminating farmers' market cognoscenti. With his produce and dogged perseverance, Stark bridges the gap between New York's posh kitchens and the sun-drenched fields of the rural countryside, commenting along the way on buzzwords like organic, the effects of urban sprawl, and farming's changing landscape."Publishers Weekly


text:
CANASTOTA >> The Canastota Loaves and Fishes is celebrating 25 years of service to the community this week.
For the past 25 years, during the last full week of the month, those who need a meal con come together at the kitchen located in the rear of the United Church of Canastota located at 144 Center St. in Canastota.
In 1988, Jessica Moore-Collins, founder of the organization, said that she wanted to do something for the community after the closing of many large factories like General Electric and Carrier in the late 1980s left many in Canastota without jobs.
"We've been here ever since," she said this week as the lunch hour came to a close with a food thermometer in her pocket.
The last week of every month, free meals are given Monday through Friday� from 11:30 to 1 p.m. and a bagged dinner is sent home with those who eat.
Moore-Collins said that on a normal weekday, Loaves and Fishes will feed about 80, but with the bagged dinners added in,the volunteers find themselves making food for at least 160 people. Moore-Collins also adds that during the summer, when children get out of school, the number of people being served rises. During the summer, its nothing to prepare over 200 meals each day.
One hard truth Moore-Collins notices is that since the kitchen began serving the community over 25 years ago, she doesn't think the economy hasn't gotten any better, and the number of people needing a meal has not dwindled.
"I am continually seeing new faces," she said, "It's too hard for them. These people are having a hard time."
The economy has also wreaked havoc on the grant money she is able to secure every year to fund the kitchen.
Local foundations once gave her $3,000 per year are now giving $1,000. So, she finds herself trying to do more with less. She even accepts fresh produce from local gardens and passes it on to those in need. The United Church of Canastota also has a vegetable garden in the summer, and the harvest is shared with whoever wants fresh vegetables.Donations of food have also come from local grocery stores over the years.
"This has helped a lot of people," she said of what she and her fellow volunteers have accomplished.
"We're trying to do as much as we can," she said.
She also noted that it is often hard for people to donate to soup kitchens and food cupboards because then they might go without something, and she is grateful for whatever donations come in.
"We have a lot to be thankful for," she said.
While she said she is proud of the fact that for 25 years, the kitchen has been able to provide meals for those in need, she hopes there is no need for it 25 years from now.
She adds that people come from all over to get a meal. The church is situated in downtown Canastota so that makes it easier to get to. Grant money received goes on credit to Food Bank of Central New York.
Items on the menu for this week included meatloaf, turkey and gravy as well as vegetables and beverages.
"A very nutritious meal," said Moore-Collins.
She said she has always had a motto, and that is, "If you are hungry, you can come and eat no matter who you are."
Moore-Collins, of Canastota, is joined by volunteers: Archie Anderson, of Canastota; Beverly Eddy, of Oneida; Evelyn Downs, of Whitelaw; Fran and Dan Mowers, of Clockville; and even church pastor Sally Buyea pitches in when she can.
If anyone would like to volunteer or make a donation, contact Moore-Collins at 315-363-3876.


text:
I'm trying to rip a CD to MP3 using Rhythmbox on LM14. When I click Extract in Rhythmbox, I get this message:
Additional software is required to encode media in your preferred format:
MPEG-1 Layer 3 (MP3) encoder
There's an Install button, so I click it. It then searches for plugins and displays a new dialog box showing the plugin I need (GStreamer extra plugins i386). It has a Cancel button and an Install button, but the Install button is disabled.
What should I do?


text:
I'm happy, you guys. After four days of uneasy anticipation, I can finally say that I own a copy of The Last Story. Yes! That means you can probably find a copy near you, too! Yes!
Despite the fact that its launch date was listed as August 14, a lot of retailers didn't get the game that day. Apparently, The Last Story was shipped on August 14, which means different vidya game shops were getting the game on different days.
After being told to go home because there was no copy of The Last Story for me on Tuesday, I became bitter and unimpressed. I went the next day and was told to wait until Friday, which was when the game was expected to arrive. So I did, and I played the waiting game. Ugh … I hate that game.
But now the day has arrived, and I've got my shiny new copy of The Last Story! So if you haven't been able to get the game, you may want to start checking at your local games retailer, because chances are it's arrived. Let us celebrate in unison: Yes! Yes! Yes!
For a bunch of indie game and burrito talk, follow @thesanchezdavid on Twitter.


text:
MotorcycleGear.com (formerly NewEnough.com) is clearing out their stock of the HJC Sy-Max II helmets for $129.99 !
These are excellent modular helmets with interior flip-down sun shield as well. All colors and sizes in stock at this time.
Have had one for two years now - great helmet.
And the CARDO Q2 Scala Rider Communication units - also installed on my Sy-Max. Works great as a wireless intercom with passenger or can communicate with another Q2 or Q4 equiped rider nearby. Accepts cord from an MP3 / IPOD as well, and BlueTooth compatible with a BlueTooth phone.
Dual set (comm units for 2 helmets) for $169.99 !
Ask for Nate - he's been a big help in the past.


text:
Central Japan Railway, better known as
JR Tokai, recently announced it will fund a major $45 billion
magnetic levitation (Maglev) railway system between Tokyo and
Chukyo. Even though the announcement is further commitment to
the developing technology by JR Tokai, it caused a 9 percent drop in
the company's stock on the Japanese financial market on
Maglev trains will slowly phase out the famous
Shinkansen "bullet" trains, while also keeping people from
flying a lot of the same distances Maglev routes will cover.
The trains operate above the ground using an electromagnetic pull
that accelerates the train's speed by reducing friction between the
train and track.
Japan remains
dedicated towards a fully functional Maglev rail service in the
country by 2025. Japan, China and Germany are at the forefront
of Maglev technology, with Shanghai being the only city that has a
fully operational line. It is likely a second route will be
constructed between Nagoya and Osaka, though Tokyo and Nagoya remains
the most important goal.
JR Tokai currently owns the the
speed record for a Maglev train after a three-car test run in 2003
reached 581 KPH (361 MPH).
As current generations of trains
expire, and countries look towards future railway technologies for
transportation, some people believe Maglevs will begin to expand to
other nations.


text:
Vendee Globe : Fleet passes the island of Tristan da Cunha
Friday, 30 November 2012
As expected the front of the fleet has compressed and the distances between the competitors has shrunk. Just 70 miles separates Armel Le Cléac'h (Banque Populaire), François Gabart (MACIF) and Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac Paprec 3) François Gabart (MACIF) has closed the gap to a very tight 20 miles. The chase continues between the eight leading boats but for the pack at the back, they are up against it and speed is the on the menu to ensure they don't get caught in the forecast high pressure over the next few days.
At around 7am GMT the fleet will pass by the island of Tristan da Cunha, a small piece of land, in the middle of the South Atlantic. The goldenboy, François Gabart (MACIF), who is loving his Vendée Globe, sent this message: "Dear inhabitants of the island of Tristan da Cunha, I hope to come on a cruise stop one day so we can become better acquainted. I believe that if you live on an island like this you will have lots of stories to tell!"
On a port tack, with a steady wind, between 17-20 knots the IMOCA fleet are sailing with good speed towards the Gate of Aiguilles, around 1200 miles away, and are expected to arrive in less than four days.
Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac Paprec 3) had his foot to the floor last night, making 20 knots and banking him 456.8 miles. The magic of the Vendée Globe is in full swing as the skippers steal miles from the leader, Armel Le Cléac'h (Banque Populaire). The roads are converging as they align back onto the great circle and shortest route: there is a 400 miles lateral gap between Virbac Paprec 3 and Banque Populaire but the distance this morning is more than 200 miles. Behind the top three (Armel Le Cléac'h, Jean-Pierre Dick and François Gabart), five hungry hunters are also bearing down on the front trio. Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat) takes fourth place Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss), while Jean Le Cam (SynerCiel), Mike Golding (Gamesa) and Dominique Wavre (Mirabaud) are maintaining the speed on the dashboard at a steady 17 knots.
Pedal to the metal
The pack at the back can't dance to the beat of the same drum. Tail end Charlie, the salad growing, sea gardener, Alessandro Di Benedetto (Team Plastique) is the boat likely to be most effected by the predicted light airs as the wind eases off, while Bertrand De Broc (Votre Nom Autour du Monde avec EDM), Tanguy de Lamotte (Initiatives Cœur) and Arnaud Bossières (Akena Verandas) are being held back by a lighter wind that doesn't enable them to catch the leader, who is advancing away from them. Javier Sanso (Acciona 100% EcoPowered) is the one that got away, and he is making good speeds of 17.3 knots. Last night, he sent this message to the race office, "Being the fastest boat in the fleet for almost 2 days, catching up the leader by more than 200 miles and getting close to the guys in front of me. There is still good pressure and good wind, let's see how long it lasts. In three days time we will have a pretty complicated situation; right now it's difficult to predict which way to go through……there is still a lot of racing left and there will be more opportunities."
The top 5 ranking 5 hours (4h UTC)
1 - Armel Le Cléac'h (Banque Populaire) to 19 226 miles from the finish
2 - Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac Paprec 3) to 68.9 miles (DTL)
3 - François Gabart (MACIF) to 88.3 miles (DTL)
4 - Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat) to 140.3 miles (DTL)
5 - Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) at 146.9 miles (DTL)
See Vendée Globe images
Last Updated ( Friday, 30 November 2012 )


text: so yah, i know that the final is over, but this question is really bugging me. It was an equation and i can normally do these. So the equation was: square root of (x^2 + 5) = x - 5 Now, what i did was square both sides, and then i added like terms and such to get down to: 10x = 20, so naturally i thought x was 2, and that was one of the choices (multiple choice test) so i put down that it was 2. I had some time left at the end of the test, so i was checking over, and i plugged 2 back into the equation, and i got: 3 = -3, not 3 = 3 like i should have if it was the solution. So then what i did was, i put: y = square root of (x^2 + 5) and y = x - 5 into my calculator as two separate equations and graphed them to see where they intersected, (their intersection is a solution) and when i used the function on the calculator that finds the intersection, i got an error. So, another one of the solutions was no solution, so i changed it to that. I was just wondering if anyone knew why the answer i got algebraiclly doesn't work? i mean all my algebra and arithmetic are correct, so it doesn't make much sense. Any help would be great!! Chris.


text:
The Fausto Factor
Remember the good old days? Or, April 1 of this year to be exact.
It was Opening Day in Cleveland and the White Sox seemed to meet all of the high expectations set during the offseason by throttling the Tribe 15-10 on 18 hits. More specifically, they got to Indians' starter Fausto Carmona (above) for 10 of the runs and 11 of the hits in just three innings.
We all know what happened to the Sox shortly after that. The offense went cold, mental mistakes were commonplace, the bullpen imploded and the disheartening losses began to pile up.
There's some symmetry to the fact that as the Sox begin to escape their early season woes, having won nine of their last 12 to pull within five games of the .500 mark and eight games behind the division-leading Indians, that Fausto is again a factor in their success.
Carmona was on the mound again last night as the Sox won their third straight in the convincing 8-2 triumph. On this night in Chicago, the Pale Hose touched up the righthander for eight runs, seven hits and two walks in five innings. Carmona's two-game total against the Sox amounts to 18 runs in eight innings. In 56 1/3 innings against the rest of the American League he has allowed just 16 runs. Go figure.
Sox Note of Note: It'll be a homecoming this weekend for two of the stalwarts of the 2005 World Champs as Juan Uribe and Jon Garland (below) come to Chicago with the Dodgers for a three-game interleague series. Garland, in fact, will be the Sox pitching opponent on Saturday afternoon as he'll be facing friend and former teammate, Mark Buehrle.


text:
Santiago feeling good, ready to build on 2013
By Scott Merkin / MLB.com
CHICAGO -- If Hector Santiago was given the choice to pitch winter baseball, he would be throwing off the mound right now in Puerto Rico.
Instead, Santiago is fixing up his new place in Goodyear, Ariz., and taking a little down time after throwing a career-high 149 innings during the 2013 season.
"I kind of felt scared to stop throwing," said a smiling Santiago, who was at U.S. Cellular Field on Tuesday as 12 players from the White Sox Amateur City Elite program signed collegiate letters of intent. "I wanted to go play winter ball but [White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper], with a month left in the season, said, 'No chance.'
"It's the first time I actually stopped moving my arm in 5 1/2 years. I talked to [Addison] Reed and Donnie Veal at [Matt] Lindstrom's wedding and they said, 'You're throwing already?' I'm like, 'Yeah, I don't know what to do.'"
Santiago, who turns 26 next month, finished his first season as primarily a starter with a 4-7 record, 3.51 ERA and 122 strikeouts over 130 2/3 innings and 23 starts. He also made 11 relief appearances. He took off about 3 1/2 weeks after the 2013 season closed out, but then returned to throwing.
The elevated innings total didn't cause Santiago any offseason pain or issues. The first couple of offseason workouts were a different story.
"There was a lot more soreness, a lot more aches, waking up in the morning like, 'Ah, I should take a day off here,'" Santiago said. "But you just have to get through it. That was the first two weeks, so now I wake up ready to go and wanting to work out."
Although he looks to be a firm part of the 2014 rotation, Santiago checks out the trade rumors that occasionally include his name, but he doesn't put too much credence in any of them. He is one of four left-handers currently in the rotation, a talented hurler that has worked in pretty much every aspect of pitching.
Those varied roles make him an attractive trade target. But general manager Rick Hahn said Tuesday that if the White Sox four best starters are left-handers, then they will go with four lefties. It's a mix that Santiago has considered and has approved in his mind.
"I thought about that a bunch. I was like, 'Are they actually going to go with four left-handed pitchers?' And I think they can," Santiago said. "I think they can sit back and say there are four left-handed pitchers, but they are strong enough that they can get out right-handers, because for the most part, I think everybody gets out right-handers pretty well and we do a good job against lefties, as well.
"They can sit back and say, 'Maybe we can try this out and see where it goes.' If they need to make a change they can always do it. I guess there's too much that goes into it and we can't think about that. We can just prepare ourselves to be a starter."
Hahn hopeful Konerko decides by Winter Meetings
CHICAGO -- There has been no official decision reached by Paul Konerko regarding his return for a 16th year as part of the White Sox.
But general manager Rick Hahn reiterated Tuesday that he expects a decision from the White Sox captain before the Dec. 9 start of baseball's annual Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fla.
"It's good to have it resolved for his own preparation and in terms of [Konerko] getting ready for Spring Training to have it set by December," said Hahn, speaking after 12 members of the White Sox Amateur City Elite program signed their collegiate letters of intent Tuesday at the U.S. Cellular Field Conference and Learning Center. "I think we'll be able to do that.
"It could be tomorrow. It could be two weeks. More likely than not, it's going to be resolved prior to the Winter Meetings, before we leave here. I don't have a firm time frame, but I think it will be done before then."
Hahn and manager Robin Ventura met with Konerko after the White Sox agreed to a six-year, $68-million deal with Cuban free agent Jose Abreu, who figures to be regularly stationed at first base. Hahn spoke again with Konerko after that meeting, and then Ventura saw him at Gordon Beckham's wedding two weekends ago. The spirit of the meetings was to lay out the situation for Konerko and the team moving forward, with the decision left up to Konerko.
White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf told WSCR 670 AM, the team's flagship station, that Konerko "has earned the right to come back if he wants to come back" during a Saturday interview. Konerko not only has been one of the most accomplished hitters in franchise history but also has been a valued leader in and out of the clubhouse.
That sentiment was espoused by Hahn on Tuesday, who also agreed with his boss that Konerko wouldn't come back unless he saw a way to contribute.
"I don't think Paulie wants to play just to be on the bench or a farewell tour. That's not him," Hahn said. "He's not looking to go to every ballpark and receive a gift or a special sendoff from White Sox fans. He would want to play only if he felt he had something left in the tank and something to add to a club.
"We are dealing with the face of the franchise for the past 15 years, and one, whether he plays in 2014 or not, who will always be associated with a very successful era of White Sox baseball. Jerry publicly made it very clear that because of who Paul is and what he's done for this organization, he's earned the right to make this decision on his terms, and that's what we are providing him the opportunity to do."
Konerko's role almost assuredly would be somewhat more limited compared to his everyday play over the past 15 years. But Hahn stressed that waiting for Konerko's decision has not cramped the team's reshaping process.
"Obviously we have a plan if he's back and we have a plan if he's not back," Hahn said. "We haven't missed on any opportunities to fill that role if he doesn't fill it himself."
Hahn says trade talks gathering steam
CHICAGO -- White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said that the intensity of trade talks definitely has picked up in recent days.
"There's been a lot of names exchanged. A lot of ideas thrown across the board," Hahn said. "Not perhaps real good ideas, which is why nothing has taken place on the trade front just yet.
"Activity is picking up. The GM Meetings are a nice opportunity, as it is every year for teams to start getting a little more serious about fits and having more substantive talks with clubs and free agents. We well could have something in the next day, or it could take through [the Winter Meetings in] Orlando, [Fla.], when the logjam sort of breaks."
Scott Merkin is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Merk's Works, and follow him on Twitter @scottmerkin. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text:
Matt Barkley will head to the NFL in 2013, and after four years with Barkley at the helm, USC is going to need a starting quarterback next year.
That opportunity to start enticed Max Browne—who will be the No. 1-ranked quarterback in the Sporting News Top 125 next month—to choose the Trojans on Wednesday night during an announcement at his school.
Browne, a 6-foot-5, 210-pound QB from Skyline High School (Sammamish, Wash.), was coming off an unofficial visit to USC last weekend and was officially offered a scholarship by the Trojans last week. He also seriously considered Oklahoma—a school he visited in early March—and he canceled an unofficial visit to Alabama scheduled for this month. Nearby Washington was also considered an outside threat to land him in the beginning of the recruiting process.
MORE: Browne's commitment shows USC not going away | Where they've committed: QBs
"We have the start to a great class and possibly will make history with a No. 1 recruiting class with only 18 scholarships available, including early enrollees," said USC commitment Chris Hawkins, a defensive back from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. "Also, we have our signal caller in place for the next three to four years of our careers."
Auburn, Cal, Clemson, UCLA and Wisconsin were among the other programs pursuing Browne, a consensus five-star prospect according to recruiting services.
Browne has put up video-game like numbers in his two years as the starter at Skyline, a national powerhouse. Since taking over for current Kansas quarterback Jake Heaps prior to the 2010 season, Browne has thrown for 8,216 yards and 95 touchdowns. With two straight 4,000 yards passing seasons behind him, he's primed for a huge senior campaign, and he is 23-5 as a starter and led his team to a 4A state title in Washington as a junior.
His coach, Skyline's Mat Taylor, told Sporting News that Browne is a special player who will make a college coach very happy. The high school coach said his rising senior quarterback can make all of the throws, makes the right decisions and is incredibly humble.
Browne told Sporting News a few weeks ago that he's most proud of how he reduced his interceptions by nearly 50 percent (13 down to 7) from his sophomore to junior seasons. He said he feels that his size and fundamentals—thanks to good coaching—will make him successful at the next level.
With severe scholarship limitations, USC only has three class of 2013 commitments. Along with Browne and Hawkins, the Trojans also have a verbal pledge from highly touted DE Kenny Bigelow.


text:
Compiling Player 3 clients and plugins
From The Player Project
While clients and plugins (both drivers and interfaces) in Player 3 can still be compiled using plain old Makefiles (or any other build system, for that matter), it is now particularly easy to compile them using CMake. This is because Player installs CMake modules for compiling clients, plugin drivers and plugin interfaces. The CMake modules take care of all the work of finding Player and linking to it for you.
The modules are installed in ${prefix}/share/cmake/Modules/. They are UsePlayerC.cmake, UsePlayerC++.cmake and UsePlayerPlugin.cmake. The Player examples installed in ${prefix}/share/player/examples/ all include CMakeLists.txt files that use these modules to compile the examples. See the README file in each directory for how to do so.
For a tutorial on how to integrate these functions into your project, please see Player and CMake
Compiling C clients
The UsePlayerC.cmake module enables compiling of C clients using the libplayerc client library. A minimal example is shown below.
SET (CMAKE_MODULE_PATH /home/geoff/share/cmake/Modules) INCLUDE (UsePlayerC) PLAYER_ADD_PLAYERC_CLIENT (simple SOURCES simple.c)
This is all that is necessary for a simple client. If your client requires extra options, such as include search paths, libraries to link to, and so on, specify these to PLAYER_ADD_PLAYERC_CLIENT() as well. Use the standard CMake commands to perform such functions as searching for libraries, using pkg-config, etc.
Compiling C++ clients
The UsePlayerC++.cmake module enables compiling of C++ clients using the libplayerc++ client library. A minimal example is shown below.
SET (CMAKE_MODULE_PATH /home/geoff/share/cmake/Modules) INCLUDE (UsePlayerC++) PLAYER_ADD_PLAYERCPP_CLIENT (camera SOURCES camera.cc)
As with C clients, if your client requires extra options, specify these to PLAYER_ADD_PLAYERCPP_CLIENT(), and use the standard CMake commands for other build script functionality.
Compiling plugin drivers
The UsePlayerPlugin.cmake module provides functionality for compiling plugin drivers. A minimal example is shown below.
SET (CMAKE_MODULE_PATH /home/geoff/share/cmake/Modules) INCLUDE (UsePlayerPlugin) PLAYER_ADD_PLUGIN_DRIVER (exampledriver SOURCES exampledriver.cc)
The macro works in the same way as the client macros.
Compiling plugin interfaces
The UsePlayerPlugin.cmake module allows compiling plugin interfaces. A minimal example is shown below.
SET (CMAKE_MODULE_PATH /home/geoff/share/cmake/Modules) INCLUDE (UsePlayerPlugin) INCLUDE (UsePlayerC) INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES (${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}) PLAYER_ADD_PLUGIN_INTERFACE (example 128_example.def SOURCES eginterf_client.c) # Note the use of files generated during the PLAYER_ADD_PLUGIN_INTERFACE step PLAYER_ADD_PLUGIN_DRIVER (example_driver SOURCES eginterf_driver.cc example_interface.h example_xdr.h) PLAYER_ADD_PLAYERC_CLIENT (example_client SOURCES example_client.c example_interface.h) TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES (example_client example)
This CMakeLists.txt is also compiling a C client and a plugin driver that uses the plugin interface, hence the length. It adds the ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR} (i.e. where generated and compiled files are placed by CMake) to the include path, because the interface plugin creation involves generating some header files. The plugin interface is created first, followed by creating the driver and the client using the files generated during the interface plugin creation. The client must also be linked to the interface plugin library so that it can find the interface's XDR functions at runtime.
PLAYER_ADD_PLAYERC_CLIENT (_clientName <variable args>)
Include: UsePlayerC
Macro to build a simple client. Pass source files, flags, etc. as extra args preceded by keywords as follows:SOURCES
Invalid language.
You need to specify a language like this: <source lang="html4strict">...</source>
Supported languages for syntax highlighting:
4cs, 6502acme, 6502kickass, 6502tasm, 68000devpac, abap, actionscript, actionscript3, ada, algol68, apache, applescript, apt_sources, asm, asp, autoconf, autohotkey, autoit, avisynth, awk, bash, basic4gl, bf, bibtex, blitzbasic, bnf, boo, c, c_mac, caddcl, cadlisp, cfdg, cfm, chaiscript, cil, clojure, cmake, cobol, cpp, cpp-qt, csharp, css, cuesheet, d, dcs, delphi, diff, div, dos, dot, e, ecmascript, eiffel, email, erlang, f1, fo, fortran, freebasic, fsharp, gambas, gdb, genero, genie, gettext, glsl, gml, gnuplot, go, groovy, gwbasic, haskell, hicest, hq9plus, html4strict, icon, idl, ini, inno, intercal, io, j, java, java5, javascript, jquery, kixtart, klonec, klonecpp, latex, lb, lisp, locobasic, logtalk, lolcode, lotusformulas, lotusscript, lscript, lsl2, lua, m68k, magiksf, make, mapbasic, matlab, mirc, mmix, modula2, modula3, mpasm, mxml, mysql, newlisp, nsis, oberon2, objc, objeck, ocaml, ocaml-brief, oobas, oracle11, oracle8, oxygene, oz, pascal, pcre, per, perl, perl6, pf, php, php-brief, pic16, pike, pixelbender, plsql, postgresql, povray, powerbuilder, powershell, progress, prolog, properties, providex, purebasic, python, q, qbasic, rails, rebol, reg, robots, rpmspec, rsplus, ruby, sas, scala, scheme, scilab, sdlbasic, smalltalk, smarty, sql, systemverilog, tcl, teraterm, text, thinbasic, tsql, typoscript, unicon, vala, vb, vbnet, verilog, vhdl, vim, visualfoxpro, visualprolog, whitespace, whois, winbatch, xbasic, xml, xorg_conf, xpp, z80, zxbasic


text:
Animal Health Trust Named Olympia's Charity of the Year
- Sep 19, 2013
- Topics:
Charlotte Dujardin on Valegro, winners of the Grand Prix Freestyle at Olympia in 2012.
Photo: Kit Houghton
The Animal Health Trust (AHT) has been announced as the Olympia Horse Show's 2013 charity of the year. The show takes place annually in London, England.
Throughout the week of Dec. 16, the Olympia Exhibition Halls, located in Hammersmith, West London play host to a packed timetable of all things equestrian. The event includes top class international competition for show jumping, dressage, and driving.
Each year the show supports a charity, which is relevant to the United Kingdom's equestrian community. This year organizers chose to support the AHT and the exceptional work that it carries out. The AHT works behind the scenes constantly monitoring equine disease around the world, identifying threats to the British equine population, and putting in place robust plans to head off infectious disease wherever possible. In addition to its disease surveillance work, the AHT undertakes extensive research into minimizing the risk of injury to sports horses.
Jo Peck, marketing director for the Olympia Horse Show, said, "We are delighted to be supporting the Animal Health Trust this year. The Show Committee selected the AHT from a number of charities as they felt that its work deserved recognition amongst the equestrian community. The afternoon performance on Wednesday, Dec., 18 will be dedicated to the Animal Health Trust, and 50 (pence) from every seat sold will go to the AHT."
One of the AHT's key roles will be to host the "Shopping Drop Off Point." With an entire hall dedicated to shopping at the event, visitors are invited to 'check in' purchased items at the bag drop to avoid taking them into the performance area. The drop off will be manned by AHT representatives, allowing visitors to find out how research undertaken by the AHT has directly affected sports horses, as well as how its work also benefits dogs and cats.
Mark Vaudin, PhD, incoming chief executive at the AHT, is thrilled about the selection, and said: "The AHT does so much to improve equine health, from performance- and injury-related clinical treatment to research into disease. It's wonderful for the AHT to be recognized for these contributions and to have the opportunity to share the importance of our work with so many horse enthusiasts."
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