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Ex-Pornstar Who Spoke Out About Pinky And The Porn Industry Is Back Speaking On Her Past Pain! (Getting Molested At 8 Years Old & How Violence And Death Woke Her Up)
"Danielle was a porn star and a high class call girl when the reality of her vulnerability to violence and death woke her up.." - CBN
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READ DESCRIPTION IMPORTANT! This is a steam fixed smod game that does work. I do not get credit for making the game the person who made the game internet page was lost. I wanted to make a tutorial of how to install it but I will have to upload it my self. It is in a winrar folder. Extract folder into steam/steamapps/sourcemods or watch the tutoiral.
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Gretchen Wilson
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Gretchen Wilson was born on June 26, 1973, and raised in rural Pocahontas, Ill., 36 miles due east of St. Louis, where numerous trailer parks are clustered among cornfields and pig farms. Her mother was 16 years old when she had Gretchen, and her father, unfortunately, had moved on with his life by the time she was 2. Whenever they couldn't make rent, which was every few months, they packed up what little belongings they owned and moved down the road only to find yet another trailer. With only an eighth-grade education, she was cooking and tending bar at Big O's, a rough-and-tumble bar five miles outside of town, alongside her mom at age 14. A year later and living on her own, she was managing the roughneck joint with a loaded 12-gauge double-barrel shotgun stashed behind the bar for protection. The father she never really knew provided her with the musical talent to sing. "My dad just picked around on the guitar and has a quiet voice," Gretchen says. She made it a point to meet him for the first time when she was 12. "His family, I'm told, had a little traveling band. I think it was a gospel band." In any case, from an early age she could sing. Long before karaoke machines, she got up on stage every night at Big O's with a microphone and sang along to various CDs for tips. She soon found herself fronting a cover band and for the first time she felt like maybe there was a life for her outside Bond County. She moved to Nashville in 1996. Wilson became somewhat discouraged after a brief encounter with a local musician, whom she happened to recognize at a Nashville music shop. She asked for advice, and he said she needed to create a buzz. It would take her four long years to figure out what he meant. In the meantime, she got a job slinging drinks at a bar in Printers Alley. A few years later, and now with a daughter, she still had no luck in terms of getting a record deal. One Friday night, singer-songwriters Big Kenny and John Rich (of Big & Rich) walked into the bar and heard her sing with the house band. She remembers, "John followed me up to my little cubby hole bar upstairs with his trench coat and cowboy hat and I think his exact words were, 'Hey, how come you ain't got a record deal yet?' I looked at him in disgust ... threw him a business card and a little homemade demo and said, 'I'm busy. I'm working right now.'" For months he tried getting in touch with her, and for months she ignored his calls until someone finally said, "Look, you should really return his call. He might be able to help you out." He not only introduced her to his circle of friends -- "they started to use me singing on some demos" -- but he also taught her how the Nashville songwriting community really works. She also became a member of the Muzik Mafia, a loose-knit group of singers, songwriters and musicians who get together to jam (and party) every Tuesday in a local Nashville nightspot. It was in front of her peers -- very honest peers -- that she honed her songwriting style. She later signed with Sony Music Nashville. Wilson's debut 2004 debut album, Here for the Party was certified quadruple platinum for shipments of more than 4 million copies. Her second album, All Jacked Up, is set for release in September 2005.
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Sozaboy: A Novel in Rotten English
Longman, 1994 - Fiction - 188 pages
First published in 1985 in Port Harcourt by Saros International Publishers.
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46 pages matching sleep in this book
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LibraryThing ReviewUser Review - whitewavedarling - LibraryThing
Difficult and poetic, this text reads more like poetry than fiction. It is, in the end, a very sad book when given thought, but I think the emotion is somewhat lightened by the difficulty of the ... Read full review
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The challenge on beginning this book for me was getting into the rhythm of Saro-Wiwa's prose . His use of a kind of invented bastardized Nigerian pidgin English mixed in with healthy dollops of satire ... Read full review
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African Upwine Bar already dead Awright beat belly big big boys Burma bush camp Chief Birabee Chief Commander chooking chop church cloth Diobu drink Duzia enter everything fear fight finish front girl give hand happening happy hear Hitla inside Iwoama join army juju kain Kaiza Kampala Ken Saro-Wiwa kill koboko land rover left right LOMBER look lorry mama Mamy water Manmuswak marry morning mother motor night Oh yes old soza palm wine Papa Pastor Barika pepper picken Pitakwa porson Praps prisoner proper quick quick reach Dukana return to Dukana salt san mazor shoot shouting singing sleep smiling soza captain Sozaboy sozaman stay stupid surprisised tall tell Terr Kole tief told town trouble true true uniform walk small walking wetin woman worry ye-ye young wife Agnes Zaza


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Brunch will raise money for cancer research
The Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6958 in Marion will have a breakfast and brunch of biscuits and sausage gravy, sausage links, bacon, juice, and coffee from 8 to 11 a.m. Saturday at the post home, 420 W. Santa Fe St., Marion.
Donations will be collected for cancer aid and research. Since 1947, the Ladies Auxiliary has raised more than $100 million nationwide.


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Laid-back and loosely swinging, Good Move captures organist Freddie Roach near the peak of his form. Roach never leans too heavily on his instrument, preferring a calmer, tasteful attack, yet he is never boring because he has a strong sense of groove. He keeps things moving on slower numbers like Erroll Garner's "Pastel" and Gershwin's "It Ain't Necessarily So," but the true highlights are on originals like "Wine, Wine, Wine" and "On Our Way Up," where the bluesy structures and fluid rhythms give Roach a chance to stretch out. Throughout the record, he is capably supported by guitarist Eddie Wright and drummer Clarence Johnston, as well as trumpeter Blue Mitchell and tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, who both contribute fine solos. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine


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- The Down-Low on Dairy
- BURN and SCULPT
- Soy: Magic Bean or Tragic Bean?
- Elena's INSANE Results!
- Recipe: Soba Salad with Asian Vegetables and Golden Tofu
I asked the waiter, 'Is this milk fresh?' He said, 'Lady, three hours ago it was grass.'
The Down-Low on DairyBy Steve Edwards
Milk: Does it really do a body good? Most of us are familiar with this advertising catchphrase. It's also one of the most parodied slogans in history. A quick headline search reveals a slew of send-ups, ranging from sarcastically simple "Milk: It does a body bad" to the even more straightforward "MilkSucks.com." Whether or not we should consume dairy products is one of the most common dietary issues in the news, yet there still doesn't seem to be a definitive answer. Let's take a look at the pros and cons of dairy and hopefully help you shed a little light on whether or not you want it as a part of your diet.
I didn't accidentally paste the end of the article into the second paragraph; I just thought it would be best to get this out of the way right up front. Whether or not humans should consume dairy—specifically cow's milk and all its byproducts—is, as you might surmise from the intro, a volatile issue. Opinions tend to be black or white and served up with heaping scoops of passion. But passion tends to come from emotion, not science, and a lot of dairy lore seems to be based on anecdotal conjecture rather than investigation and analysis.
This doesn't mean that there's no science involved in the debate—far from it. A search of the National Library of Medicine shows that more than 25,000 studies have been done on dairy, apparently none of which can give us any sort of consensus on its health effects in humans. What all these studies do show is that dairy products are neither going to kill us or help us live forever. We can consume them and be healthy, but we also don't need to consume them to be healthy.
Dairy can be a fine addition to one's diet, but that doesn't mean it's right for your diet. You certainly don't need as much as the National Dairy Council recommends, but dairy also needn't be vilified more than any other type of food. As with most foods these days, there are issues, particularly when it comes to the way humankind seems compelled to continually "improve" them. But there are also individual considerations that should be assessed, and this article will address them.
The Bottom Line
In keeping with our reordered approach to the dairy story, let's look at the most simple aspect of dairy: its nutrient profile. Of course, this varies according to product, but most dairy-based foods are a good source of protein. Some, like yogurt and milk, have carbohydrates. And in their natural states, all dairy products contain fat and are great sources of enzymes. Most dairy products, especially those with the fat removed, would appear to be a fine source of nutrition.
There is little reputable science to dispute that the dairy proteins casein and whey have excellent biological value profiles. Dairy fats are generally unhealthy, have high percentages of saturated fats, and should be limited in a healthy diet. But some dairy fats, mainly from certain cheeses, contain enzymes that make them a potentially beneficial part of a healthy diet, if consumed in moderation. Dairy's carbohydrate source, lactose, has been the subject of a lot of scrutiny, but appears to be fine for most people, especially in its natural form. As we go on, we'll examine the potential benefits and pitfalls of dairy consumption.
The Issues
Too much fat. As stated above, dairy products contain a lot of fat. Your diet should consist of around 20 to 35 percent fat, but very little of this should come from animal sources. The anti-dairy movement claims an association between consuming dairy and heart disease as a reason to steer clear, but it makes little sense to single out dairy as opposed to, say, meat—or pretty much anything you can buy at your corner 7-Eleven®. Most dairy products are available in low- or no-fat options where the fat is reduced or removed. Anyone for whom dairy products provide a major percentage of their daily calorie intake should definitely switch from full-fat to reduced-fat or nonfat dairy products. There are some concerns regarding protein-to-fat ratio and calcium utilization, though—read on.
Aren't most of us lactose intolerant? Some people have problems digesting dairy products, which can lead to an unpleasant gastric condition usually referred to as lactose intolerance. The exact definition of lactose intolerance, as well as its specific details, remain under debate, but the condition appears to result from the pasteurization of dairy products, which kills the enzymes that aid the body's digestion process. Milk and yogurt in raw form don't seem to cause lactose intolerance. Regardless, the numbers here are skewed; anti-dairy pundits will often claim that the percentage of people who suffer from lactose intolerance is actually a majority of the population. Other studies seem to peg the number at closer to 20 percent. One constant is that those from cultures who have historically consumed a lot of dairy are not affected as much as those who aren't.
Lactose intolerance isn't a dangerous condition, but it can cause considerable discomfort. If you do suffer from the condition, you might be interested to know that millions (if not billions) of people worldwide are perfectly healthy without consuming any dairy at all. Just be wary of replacing all the dairy in your diet with any other single food source, especially soy. Many dairy substitutes are soy based, and too much soy in your diet can be problematic. (Refer to Denis Faye's article "Soy: Magic Bean or Tragic Bean?" elsewhere in this newsletter.)
Does dairy cause a loss or gain of calcium? This is one of the more interesting controversies. The dairy industry champions itself as a leading provider of calcium. The anti-dairy folks say that exactly the opposite is true. Which (if either) is right?
The pro side is simple: They say dairy products contain a lot of calcium, and numerous studies show the importance of calcium in our diets. The con side is more complex. Some science suggests that the high protein-to-fat ratio of nonfat dairy sources, along with an abundance of vitamin A, somehow reduces the body's ability to utilize calcium. This isn't exactly confirmed by the said studies, which actually showed "no decrease in instances of osteoporosis."
Does dairy cause osteoporosis? This is a fairly common claim cited by a wide variety of Internet sources. Most of these sources cite rather dated research, including a Harvard study published in the American Journal of Public Health 'way back in 1997, which claimed a correlation between female milk drinkers and hip fractures. However, newer research, such a study in the April 2011 issue of the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, found no connection at all between dairy consumption and hip fractures.
While neither study bodes well for the dairy lobby, it seems a bit odd to make any assumptions based on one dietary staple, considering that the largest piece of this puzzle is being left out altogether: exercise. In the last couple of decades, caloric increase across the U.S. has risen only around 3 percent, whereas the amount of exercise we get has dropped a whopping 20 to 25 percent. When you consider that the primary reason elderly people break their hips in routine falls is due to loss of muscle that protects the bones, it doesn't take a MENSA member to suspect that lack of exercise might be a culprit.
Dairy helps you burn body fat. From the flip side of weird science came a 2003 study out of the University of Tennessee that got a lot of publicity; it showed that those who consumed dairy products lost more body fat than those who supplemented with other types of calcium. But before you decide that yogurt should suffice for all of your calcium needs, consider that the study didn't involve an even playing field. The subjects were on a reduced-calorie diet and the dairy group was given twice the amount of calcium the supplement group received. The study was funded by Yoplait®; feel free to draw your own conclusions.
Regardless, two conclusions you could draw are that calcium is beneficial to your diet, and that you can use the type of calcium you get from dairy products to satisfy your body's need for calcium.
Dairy causes cancer. Much of the concern over dairy and its potential to cause cancer comes from the book The China Study by T. Collin Campbell. In it, Campbell cites studies in which casein protein caused tumors in rats. While this is valid research, it needs to be taken with a grain of salt, given that humans and rodents have very different physiologies and these studies administered massive, concentrated amounts of the substance—far more than a human would ever consume in a day.
Dairy is filled with hormones. This is a major, well-documented issue involving how our nation's dairy cows are raised. The FDA assures us that dairy farmers are only allowed to "dope" cows with safe drugs. Many people and organizations disagree with this statement. This is a subject that is too broad to cover adequately in one short article. It's a debate that colors nearly every food-related decision most people make. It's important to know that on the subject of dairy, we do have choices. We can choose organic options, or buy our dairy products from a local farm or farmer.
Which is better: raw or pasteurized? Nearly all pro-pasteurization literature comes from the National Dairy Council or U.S. regulatory agencies. On the other side, there's a passel of independent information that cites the virtues of raw dairy products.
Dairy, in its raw form, is healthier (provided it comes from healthy cows). In fact, most raw-dairy advocates claim that lactose intolerance is a nonissue for consumers of raw dairy products because the lactose in these items is broken down by the enzyme lactase, which is killed during pasteurization process—a process raw dairy products don't go through. Another issue is that cows aren't always healthy. When cows are unhealthy, it's common for deadly bacteria, including E. coli, to show up in the dairy products produced from their milk. Since pasteurization kills both bad and good bacteria while preserving much of the nutrient value, it's championed as the better alternative by government agencies charged with safeguarding public health—and promoting dairy consumption.
Is organic better? Again, nearly all of the anti-organic literature comes from the National Dairy Council or U.S. regulatory agencies. This is, of course, because it's their job to ensure us that all dairy is healthy and safe to begin with. And again, there are plenty of studies supporting organic as being preferable.
The verdict can again come down to some common sense. Organic standards require that cows live in better conditions and eat better food. We know that when we live better and eat healthier food, we are healthier. We can suppose that this is also true about cows. The next assumption would be that eating food produced by a healthier organism would be healthier. If this makes sense, it's logical to conclude that organic is better.
There are many healthy societies and cultures that don't use dairy. This isn't exactly true. Yes, there are many healthy people who don't consume dairy, but dairy (when you include all animals, not just cows) has been consumed by most cultures since ancient times. The most commonly cited cultures that don't consume dairy are in the East, mainly China, but historically, much of China was heavily dependent upon dairy. In fact, the northern regions and Mongolia have used yogurt as a nutritional mainstay for centuries.
An analysis of the cultures that currently use little or no dairy yields mainly a list of poorer and less well-nourished cultures. And due to the socioeconomic climate of these regions, it seems unfair to cite lack of dairy as a reason for these cultures being malnourished. There are many examples of healthy, well-educated individuals who are perfectly healthy without dairy, and many decidedly healthy cultures, such as the Japanese, use much less dairy than those in Western Europe and the United States.
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Check out our Fitness Advisor's responses to your comments in Steve Edwards' Mailbag on the Message Boards. If you'd like to receive Steve Edwards' Mailbag by email, click here to subscribe to Steve's Health and Fitness Newsletter. And if you'd like to know more about Steve's views on fitness, nutrition, and outdoor sports, read his blog, The Straight Dope, recently named one of the Top 50 blogs covering the sports industry by the Masters in Sports Administration.
Soy: Magic Bean or Tragic Bean?By Denis Faye
This just in: Soy prevents cancer. Soy lowers "bad" cholesterol. Soy prevents osteoporosis. Hooray! Bring on the tofu!
Wait! More breaking news: Soy suppresses thyroid function. Soy hinders testosterone. Soy causes cancer. Oh, no! Looks like it's back to beef burgers for me.
Welcome to the food wars. On one side, Big Business tells us what to eat. On the other side, watchdog groups tell us we're being poisoned. From the wings, the media screams about the battle at the top of its lungs. In the middle stands our poor diet, constantly scrutinized. Sooner or later, everything we eat is either branded the next superfood fad or the devil incarnate. Every now and then, a food comes along that gets to be both. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you soy.
Then and now
The soybean, which comes from East Asia, made its way to the United States in 1804. Through the 1930s, its primary use was as livestock feed. But in the last 70 years, things have changed. America is now the world's foremost soybean producer, and from an economical standpoint, soybeans are one of the world's most important legumes.
In much the same way one of America's other big crops, corn, has found its way into just about every packaged food in the country in the form of high fructose corn syrup, the food industry has come up with all kinds of inventive uses for soy. It's used to make paints, glues, bug sprays, and food. And we're not just talking tofu here. From soy milk to cereals to protein bars to meat substitutes, the stuff is everywhere.
The good news and the bad news
Because the soybean is such an economic powerhouse, it's often in the spotlight. The FDA states that soy is a "complete protein," meaning that it's just as good as meat, eggs, and dairy in fulfilling your amino acid needs. Is this true, or has the soybean lobby just leaned on the FDA to say that? And what of the "miracle food" claims—are they true?
Of course, these positive claims are followed by crusaders who are attempting to bring down the soy monolith. How can these opposing claims also be true? After all, scientific studies are infallible, right?
Not so much. It's an incredibly difficult topic to get the straight dope on, and an incredibly easy topic to manipulate. So trying as best as possible not to buy into any hype, let's take a look at soy.
The Asian argument
The first argument out from the pro-soy lobby is, "Look at Asia! They've been eating soy for centuries and they're super-healthy!"
Generalizations aside, this is true, except Asian cultures don't go all Coneheads on the stuff, consuming vast quantities. A 1990 study from Cornell University concluded that the average Chinese diet consisted of between 0 and 58 grams of soy a day, with the average being 13 grams—or about half an ounce.
In much the same way that the French can pull off eating creamy cheeses and chocolate and remain thin, the secret to eating anything, healthy or decadent, is moderation.
Above and beyond any claims that soy is a miracle cure for anything, it's important to remember that its primary function in most people's diets is to provide a lean, meat-free protein. How well does it do this? According to the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization (FAO/WHO), it does just fine.
In 1989, the FAO/WHO developed the Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score, a method of measuring protein values in human nutrition. Eggs, milk, and soy all score a 1.0, the best possible. Beef scores .92 and peanuts score .52.
So purely from a macronutrient standpoint, soy looks to be good stuff. Yet for some reason we seem determined to ruin it. Sure, the protein is still there in soy sausage or fake bacon or faux chicken, but now there's also sodium, plus the huge laundry list of chemicals it took to morph the soy into resembling the food it's trying to imitate or replace. A tolerable soy burger has 230 milligrams of sodium—10 percent of the recommended daily allowance. An even saltier option, like the 2.5-ounce Boca Burger® All American Classic, has 500 milligrams. By way of comparison, a 2.5-ounce beef patty only has about 55 milligrams of sodium.
So if you're looking for protein, stick to soybeans, tofu, and soy milk and leave the meat substitutes alone.
Soybeans are also one of the very few nonanimal sources (along with flax and canola) of omega-3 fatty acids, which help the body with brain function, as well as growth and development. So especially for vegetarians, consuming soy to get your omega-3s is worth considering.
Fermentation celebration
There's also a school of thought that believes fermented soy, such as that found in miso, natto, tempeh, and pickled tofu, is nutritionally superior to unfermented soy. Notable research includes a 2010 study out of the Korean Food Research Institute showing that fermented soy has positive effects in combating type 2 diabetes. However, the notion that fermented soy is more easily digestible than regular soy is unfounded. If you want to include fermented soy—much of which can be an acquired taste—in your diet, that's great, but choosing to choke down a bowl of natto instead of a bowl of edamame isn't going to be that much more healthful, so don't do it if you don't want to.
Miracles and scares
Most of soy's miracle claims and scares are based on rather flimsy studies. For example, a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed that among 24,403 postmenopausal Chinese women, those who ate soy-heavy diets had a 37 percent lower risk of broken bones. That's good news until you look at the findings in a cultural context, as the watchdog group the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) pointed out in their newsletter, Nutrition Action. American women consume considerably more dairy than Chinese women, which has a huge influence on their relative bone strength. Furthermore, according to the University of Washington Medical Center, Caucasian women are historically more prone to hip fractures than Asian women, so the CSPI study is pretty much moot.
As for studies indicating that soy can lower LDL or "bad" cholesterol levels, a 2005 review sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research Quality showed that to see a measly 3 percent reduction in LDL, one had to eat a pound of tofu a day.
As for the scares, the much-ballyhooed 1985 USDA Trypsin Inhibitor Study showed that rats on a primarily soy diet had an increased risk of pancreatic cancer. It's all really scary until you learn that a rat's pancreas has a sensitivity to dietary protease inhibitors, a substance in soy that inhibits digestion of proteins. Humans have no such sensitivity. In other words, rat pancreases and human pancreases are different enough to call the study into question.
As you can see, for every source that seems to support one side of the pro-soy/anti-soy debate, there seems to be an equal and opposite source that refutes its claims.
Isoflavone of the month
One thing everyone agrees on is that soy is loaded with isoflavones, an organic compound that is thought by some experts to be an important element in helping to fight cancer. There have been studies that suggest the isoflavones in soy may help prevent prostate cancer, hot flashes, osteoporosis, and brain aging. So why not consume as many isoflavones as you can? Well, there's also a downside.
Isoflavones are a type of phytoestrogen, a plant-produced chemical that acts like estrogen when introduced into animals' bodies. Although studies in 2001 and 2006 suggest that women with a high risk of breast cancer should be mindful about the amount of soy they consume, a study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research in Orlando, Florida, in April 2011, which compiled data from 18,000 women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, found no difference in terms of recurrence and death between women who consumed a lot of soy and women who consumed very little. If anything, those who consumed greater amounts of soy had, statistically, an insignificantly lower risk either of recurrence or of succumbing to their disease.
There are also several studies that suggest it's a bad idea to give infants soy formula because of the isoflavones—but before anyone freaks out, there are also several studies that say soy formula isn't a problem at all.
How much is too much?
Before giving up on soy completely because you just can't be bothered with the data, consider this alternative: moderation. The Center for Science in the Public Interest suggests limiting soy consumption so you ingest about 50 to 70 milligrams of isoflavones a day. That's one or two cups of soy milk or 6 to 9 ounces of tofu. That should be enough to tap the benefits without overdoing it.
But also keep in mind that because the soy industry has become so huge in the United States, food manufacturers can acquire it cheaply, so they're looking to find ways of using it in as many different products as possible. Whenever you're buying some kind of processed food, make sure to read the ingredients. You're probably eating more soy than you realize.
Even if there weren't concerns about soy, the amounts I just specified—1 to 2 cups of soy milk or 6 to 9 ounces of tofu per day—would still be good numbers to shoot for. Regardless of whether or not a food is the miracle nutrient of the moment, eating excessive amounts of anything is pretty much never a good idea. If you focus on one thing too much, you're neglecting myriad of other important nutrients—the balance of which will make for great health.
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If you'd like to ask a question or comment on this newsletter article, click here to add a comment in the newsletter review section or you can email us at email@example.com.
Check out our Fitness Advisor's responses to your comments in Steve Edwards' Mailbag on the Message Boards. If you'd like to receive Steve Edwards' Mailbag by email, click here to subscribe to Steve's Health and Fitness Newsletter. And if you'd like to know more about Steve's views on fitness, nutrition, and outdoor sports, read his blog, The Straight Dope, recently named one of the Top 50 blogs covering the sports industry by the Masters in Sports Administration.
Elena's INSANE Results!
Elena was so depressed about her weight she would cry herself to sleep at night. But her life was about to change in an INSANE way. Check out her inspirational story and see what she looks like now—55 pounds later!
If you'd like to ask a question or comment on this newsletter article, click here to add a comment in the newsletter review section or you can email us at email@example.com.
Recipe: Soba Salad with Asian Vegetables and Golden Tofu
Here's an Eastern-inspired salad you can make a meal of. Lots of yummy veggies, protein-rich tofu, and a delicious ginger-sesame-soy dressing. It requires a little extra prep, but it's totally worth it.
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp. brown sugar, packed
- 2 Tbsp. water
- 2 Tbsp. orange juice
- 1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger root, peeled
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
- 4 oz. soba or whole wheat spaghetti, uncooked
- 4 cups broccoli florets
- 1 10-oz. package frozen baby peas
- 2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
- 1 lb. firm tofu, cut into bite-size cubes
- 2 cups diced fresh cucumber (with peel)
- 1 15-oz. can baby corn, drained
- 1 8-oz. can sliced water chestnuts, drained
- 4 cups shredded purple cabbage
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then add noodles and cook 4 minutes. Add broccoli and cook 4 more minutes. Add peas, stir, take pan off heat, and drain immediately. Spread noodle mixture in a large flat serving dish or roasting pan (to help speed cooling process) and place in refrigerator to cool. While it's cooling, whisk together all dressing ingredients in a small bowl; cover and refrigerate.
Heat 2 teaspoons of sesame oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add tofu and sauté 3 to 5 minutes per side or until golden, using chopsticks or tongs to turn tofu.
When noodle mixture has cooled, place in a large bowl, then add cucumber, corn, and water chestnuts. Add 2/3 of dressing and toss gently to mix.
Place 1/4 of cabbage on each of 4 large plates to form a bed. Top each with 1/4 of soba salad and 1/4 of tofu. Drizzle each salad with remaining dressing. Makes 4 servings.
Total Preparation Time: 1 hour
|Nutritional Information (per serving)
|Fat Total
|Saturated Fat
|24 grams
|11 grams
|73 grams
|15 grams
|2 grams
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text: One of the first great athletes at Idaho, Edmundson competed on the track for the Vandals, launching the team onto the national stage when he and two other athletes traveled to the Lewis and Clark Exposition Games against the top schools in the Northwest. Newspapers wrote that Edmundson "impressed with his graceful form and unfaltering determination." He is responsible for organizing the Idaho cross country team in 1908, laying the foundation for a team that would win nine Pacific Coast Conference titles. Also in 1908, Edmundson traveled down to Stanford for the U.S. Olympic trials, where he won the 800m and finished second in the 400m. Edmundson held the title of top half-miler in the country through 1912. He represented the United States at the Olympic Games in London in 1908 and in Stockholm in 1912, becoming the first Idahoan to compete in the Olympic competition. After his athletic success, Edmundson came back to Idaho as a coach for both track and basketball, compiling a 20-9 record in two seasons with the basketball team. He is perhaps most famous for his time as a basketball coach at the University of Washington, where he is credited with the creation of the fast-break offense style, which he attributed to his track background.


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We had a great 4th of July yesterday. Mark started the day off with one of his favorite activities: putting something together. We bought a trampoline and Mark and his dad mulled over the instructions to make sure they got it right.
And I think this shot accurately captures India's patriotism:
Jafta had a wee bit of a meltdown because he didn't have an ATV hummer to ride in the parade like several of his friends. I tried to explain to Jafta the impact of driving such a large vehicle on the environment and his personal carbon footprint, and the benefits of bike-riding in combating childhood obesity, but he did not seem to care.
Then I told Jafta that I thought his bike was bigger than most of the other boys' bikes on the block. He was then convinced to join the parade. Never underestimate the negotiating power of machismo.
Tanner was the most contented of the bunch, and demonstrated his mad scooter skills. The girls finally came around and moved from screaming to merely scowling:
The parade is a highlight every year, and some families are overachievers. This family wins for best homemade float, and also for homeschooling, musical talent (see below), parenting five perfectly mannered children, general adorable-ness, and being way too nice to actually mock even though it would make me feel better about myself:
The dads conspire about the fireworks show. Cool guys don't look at explosions. They blow things up and they walk away. After the parade, Mark hosted the annual waterballoon toss. Jafta illustrated his knightly chivalry with the ladies by trying to over-hand pummel several girl's faces with water. Smooth.
The balloon toss was followed by the WORST TALENT SHOW EVER. The show featured completely obvious magic tricks, knock-knock jokes written by seven-year-olds, father-son light saber duels, and a drum solo by Jafta:
India did not have a scheduled act in the talent shoe but did decide to do an impromptu cheerleading routine between acts:
And then some other girls got up to do a dance routine, and, oh wait, there is India on stage again . . .


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Chevrolet confirms prices for Capitva
* Revised range will start at 21,995 * New styling, more kit, and new engines * All models have stability control and Bluetooth...
Chevrolet has confirmed details of its revised Captiva 4x4.
The changes follow similar revisions to the closely related Vauxhall Antara, and include a face-lift for both the interior and exterior. The most obvious change is a revised front end with the grille, bumpers and door mirrors all new and there are further upgrades inside.
Powering the car are the same two new 2.2-litre diesel engines that feature in the revised Antara. The 161bhp unit comes only with a six-speed manual gearbox, while the stronger 181bhp unit is available with both manual and automatic transmissions.
The basic model averages 44.1mpg and emits 170g/km, while the corresponding figures for models with the stronger engine and a manual gearbox are 42.8 and 174. Pair the more powerful engine with an automatic gearbox and the economy drops to 36.6mpg, while CO2 emissions jump to 203g/km.
The revised range starts with the LS model, which comes only with the less powerful engine, costs 21,995 (2000 more than the cheapest Antara) and is the only model in the range with just two-wheel drive and five seats. However, as on every other model, the standard equipment has been upgraded and now includes stability control, Bluetooth, air-conditioning, rain-sensing wipers and four electric windows.
The rest of the range comes with the more powerful engine, seven seats and on-demand four-wheel drive. LT models also have climate control, half-leather trim, rear parking sensors, automatic headlights and cruise control, while the flagship LTZ cars have leather trim, sat-nav, a rear-view camera, heated front seats and tinted windows.
The full range, which costs from 21,995 to 31,845, will go on sale in May.


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Staff writer
Centre Jr./Sr. High School will have cross-country teams for the second consecutive year after a seven-year absence.
Six sixth-grade boys have joined the junior high running squad this fall.
According to Coach Cindy Riedel, key contributors this season will be senior Nellie Kassebaum and freshman C.J. Thompson at the high school level and Jordan Smith, an eighth grader. She expects Kassebaum and Thompson to regularly place in the top 10 of their races. Smith should be a consistent first-place medal winner throughout the season, Riedel said.
All three are returning runners and medal winners from last season. Riedel said they trained during the summer and are prepared to take it to the next level of competition when the season begins.


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Sarasota Area Travel Guide
Sarasota: Where culture, nature share the stage
SARASOTA, Fla. - It is a still, hot day on Sarasota Bay as we slide our kayaks into the water. Too lazy to use our oars, we drift a little and watch the mullet jump while we wait for the last members of our tour to arrive. Suddenly a pelican swoops down and grabs a silvery fish, startling us. We...
Sarasota festival features music, dance, theater, film
When it debuted in 2009, the Ringling International Arts Festival was announced as a biennial event. But the collaboration between Sarasota's Ringling Museum of Art and Manhattan's Baryshnikov Arts Center proved so popular that the gathering has become an annual one, a getaway for arts lovers on...
Photos: Ringling Museum
Photos of Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Fla.
Pictures: Travel to Sarasota, Florida
Orlando's Church Street steam engine arrives at new home
The iconic 100-year-old steam engine that rested alongside Church Street Station for decades has made its way to its new home – the Florida Gulf Coast Railroad Museum. The switch engine was built around 1911 by Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia for the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad...
Sarasota's Ringling Museum manipulates light with 'skyscape' installation
Art is in the eye of the beholder, and a new feature at Sarasota's John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art looks to shift viewer's perspectives of light with what is known as a Skyspace. The Skyspace is an installation by artist Jame Turrell, known around the world for his work manipulating light....
Art fests headed to Sarasota, Bradenton, Anna Maria Island
Floridians don't get the luxury of falling leaves and naked trees during autumn, but those living in the Sarasota area can take advantage of the fall festival season. The fall festival season is one of the most anticipated times of the year, and the Sarasota-Bradenton area has a trio of events...
Pictures: Sarasota Golf Courses
Highlights from Sarasota, Fla.
Serenity is just an easy drive to Charlotte Harbor and the Gulf Islands
There are 28 miles of beaches along the inviting patch of coast that encompasses Charlotte Harbor and the Gulf Islands, an area of more than 900 square miles on Florida's southwest coast. It's more than enough room to claim a secluded section for one's own, equipped with such essentials as a lounge...


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Upcoming conference addresses human trafficking at the Super Bowl
Loyola press release - October 22, 2012
While major sporting events like the Super Bowl mean big business for the host city, the event also brings a darker side of business. It presents a major opportunity for sex trafficking. During high profile sporting events, demand for commercial sex acts spikes. Traffickers move people into the area—including children who have been induced or forced into the sex trade—to meet the increased demand.
To help prevent the problem during the New Orleans Super Bowl and to shed light on an issue that thrives in the shadows, Loyola University New Orleans is hosting a conference about human trafficking Oct. 24 and 27. The talks are free and open to the public, but attendees must register online for the full conference day on Oct. 27.
Deena Graves, conference speaker and founder of advocacy organization Traffick911 and the "I'm Not Buying It" campaign, said the issue of human trafficking isn't just a problem when the Super Bowl comes to town. "This is a year-round problem," Graves said. "This is an epidemic-proportion crime that happens every day. When the Super Bowl leaves, that problem is still going to be there."
She added that the problem often involves children who are victims of human trafficking. A 14-year-old girl was recently rescued in the Dallas area, but in 30 days, she had been bought and sold in six states, Graves said.
The "Preventing Human Trafficking at the Super Bowl and Beyond" conference starts Wednesday, Oct. 24 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. in room 114 of Miller Hall located on Loyola's main campus. The keynote speaker is Holly Burkhalter of the International Justice Mission, a longtime human rights and government relations expert. The evening will also feature the documentary "Not My Life," detailing the moving stories of human trafficking victims. Loyola assistant professor and noted human trafficking expert Laura Murphy, Ph.D., will introduce the film.
The full conference day, Oct. 27 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., will be held in the St. Charles Room in Loyola's Danna Student Center. Speakers include U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana Jim Letten and Louisiana Rep. Neil Abramson, among other local and national human trafficking experts. Loyola College of Law professor Hiroko Kusuda will also speak on the immigration law aspect of assisting non-citizen victims of trafficking.
"Trafficking affects this city each and every day, through sex trafficking of minors, but also in the construction industry and in the entertainment, food and hotel industries as well," said Murphy from Loyola.
"People aren't aware of the issue because it's so hidden," said conference organizer Sue Weishar, Ph.D., of Loyola's Jesuit Social Research Institute. "Whether sex trafficking or labor trafficking, it is a despicable, horrific crime that cannot thrive in the light of day."
For more on preventing trafficking in the New Orleans region, visit the New Orleans Human Trafficking Working Group website at www.nolahumantrafficking.org.
For more information, please contact Loyola's Associate Director of Public Affairs Mikel Pak at 504-861-5448.


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Technology >> Browse Articles >> Business Systems >> Data Management
Google's Data Center Illustrates How Going Green Can Save Big Bucks
Here, Google offers a peek inside its Belgium data center, which uses waste water for its cooling purposes.
Jason Mick | Daily Tech
July 22, 2009
Google is all about environmental protection and encouraging people to go green. From plans for tidal powered floating data centers, to massive investment in creative alternative energy startups, Google is leading the way when it comes to environmental efforts in corporate America.
The search engine firm says that going green wasn't just a moral decision; it was a wise financial one as well. While Google remains tight-lipped on details of where its servers are and how many it has, it's not afraid to spill the beans about its green server initiatives, which it says are saving it a great deal of money yearly. In fact, Google just launched a new site which does exactly this, proclaiming Google's green merits on high.
On the new site, Google brags, "in the time it takes to do a Google search, your own personal computer will use more energy than we will use to answer your query."
Google provides no hard numbers to back up its claims. However, it does provide an easy to follow common-sense five-step plan to transform your data center to be more efficient. It's believable that by implementing these steps, the kind of results Google is claiming could indeed be achieved.
Among the upgrades Google is using is a water cooling system which implements an evaporative cooling process to cool the hot wastewater. Google also tries to be green by using partly dirty sewage water. It claims that by the end of this year, two of its data centers will be cooled entirely by waste water. It says that by 2010, 80 percent of its water needs will be met by waste water.
Google also claims to recycle all of its servers when it retires them, rather than contribute to tech trash. It says that 68 percent of the servers end up being repurposed, providing cost savings over new manufacturing.
Among the other steps Google takes is the use of better voltage regulators, wise placement of cooling fans, and avoiding the use of graphics chips. Google measures its total gains with the PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) metric. This measure compares the total power used by the data center to the power used by the servers and other computer parts inside of it.
A typical PUE might be 2.0, meaning for every watt used by the servers another watt goes to cooling and other purposes. In an ideal fantasy world, a PUE of 1.0 would be perfect, but in the real world this is unlikely to ever be attained. However, Google claims to have a PUE of 1.2, which seems almost too good to be true. Some, such as Tech Hermit, have called Google out claiming it is duping people with its PUE figures.
In the end, Google claims to save $30 per server/per year versus its competitors by adopting green technology. It also claims to save 500 kWh of electricity, 300 kg of CO2, and 1000 gallons of water per server over the course of the year.
While Google's big claims may leave some skeptical, it's still interesting to see Google starting to reveal how its data centers operate. For the extremely secretive company, even these minor disclosures are a big deal for those curious.
A service of YellowBrix, Inc.


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In 1998, I had surgery and was home all of August. The Food Network was just then launching in Buffalo and my dear neighbor Michelle told me about it. I remember thinking, "Really? What's the big deal? Who is going to watch that all day long?"
I am here to tell you I had no clue how that network was going to change my life. No longer was I bound by cookbooks and magazines but could see the technique right in front of my eyes. Would a cookbook be able to explain how to chiffonade basil? Maybe not but I could see those two fat ladies riding around in their cycles along the English countryside buying pears and making bread pudding.
It's a whole new world and St. Peter's RC School principal Denis Coakley readily admits he is a foodie. Apparently, while watching a riveting episode of "Cupcake Wars" he started to cook up an idea and by the time he watched an episode of "Chopped" the final garnish was in place. The middle school was going to participate in their own version of "Cupcake Wars."
He wanted to have a hybrid competition in the middle school (6 through 8th grade) where they would bake and decorate cupcakes using secret ingredients and assigned themes representing faith, academics and service. (The wars had to have a cease fire yesterday while they went off campus to volunteer in the community.)
The faith cupcake was to depict Jesus, a pretty straight forward assignment. The academics confection was to represent an historical event or figure. For service they were to bake and decorate a cake which represented the disabled or injured. While they could plan at home, research online and consult their family the baking and decorating happened in the cafeteria at school. This way teamwork could be observed and the students could have the joy of doing it themselves.
Yours truly was invited to judge one round of the competition. I must say, I was thrilled. I vowed not to be as "underwhelmed" as Candace, or like Florian, mumbling in his sweet French accent. There were four three-person teams competing, each completing three cupcakes so there were twelve cakes in all. It is a lot of sugar, even for me but I took one for the team. I joined Colleen Larkin and Sister Malou in our team adjudication.
First up were Spencer, Christopher and Michael representing the 7th grade boys.
We learned the secret ingredients were butterscotch chips, mandarin oranges and bacon bits. They had a delicious buttercream on several cakes that was a perfect accent.
Hannah, Gabrielle and all treated us to a coconut covered cupcake representing Jesus as the good shepherd.
They put the butterscotch in the cake for a nice twist.
They made a heart shaped cake using the heavy foil cake liner;
I am going to use that idea great job!
The 8th grade girls, Leah, Christina and Matteson (Andrea was unable to make the judging) made a beautiful fondant cross on their faith cupcake which was sprinkled with edible glitter.
Their academics cakes had the words "The Civil War" piped across four cupcakes representing the four years of bloody battle.
They sprinkled bacon bits on the plates reminding us of the battlefield.
The 6th grade girls prevailed in our installment of Cupcake Wars with three clever cakes.
Jaclyn and Teresa made a lemon cupcake filled with a lemon cream that was so good I would have finished every crumb if I did not have to taste 12 cakes.
It was not only delicious, it was spot on task. This faith cupcake had a cross made of white chocolate covered pretzel sticks with an edible wafer head of Jesus. The cross was on the green frosting and at the base were butterscotch chips looking like rugged rocks.
The historical cake depicted Betsy Ross complete with a crafted fondant head and a fruit rollout skirt. These are great kids guided by a great administrator.
Congratulations St. Peter's RC School and thanks again for inviting me to your Catholic Schools Week celebration. Have a yummy week!


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-- Amanda Thompson knows a thing or two about pain--she suffers from complex regional pain syndrome- a progressive neurological condition that impacts skin, muscles, joints and bones.
It started after a second foot surgery and the pain was off the charts--worse than childbirth.
"At that time, I would say higher than ten," Thompson said. "It was very, very unmanageable."
And according to a study at Stanford University she feels the pain more than a man would.
Researchers looked at the medical records of 11,000 patients who had their pain scored an in 21 of 22 ailments women rated their pain level higher than men.
For back pain women rated their pain level at 6.03. Men at 5.53.
Women rated joint and inflammatory pain at 6.00. Men 4.93.
In all--women's pain levels were nearly 20 percent higher.
Baylor-Garland Dr. Justin Badiyan is fellowship trained in anesthesiology and pain medicine--he called the study surprising because pain scores are so subjective.
"There are several theories behind that whether it's genetic, hormonal or psychological," Dr. Badiyan said. "It still remains to be seen as to why that is."
Dr. Badiyan said he has more female patients than male patients but that may be because there are more women than men in the general public.
He treats both sexes the same but feels that women may be more open about pain than men.
"Men may feel like they, and this is just my opinion, men may feel they need to under report their pain so that they don't come across as being a wimp to their physicians," Dr. Badiyan said.
Amanda doesn't agree with the study and said that women listen to their bodies more than men.
"I don't know," Amanda said. "Maybe we're more in-tune with it or maybe we know how to deal with it better.
Whatever the reason Amanda likes what her body is telling her now--she's getting better and feeling less pain.
©2012 KDAF-TV (Dallas)


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Homeland? 2013 | 2012/2013
Bobbi Smith
Bobbi Jene Smith, dancer.
Born in USA. For the past seven years she has been creating and dancing in Israel. From 2005-2012 she was a member of the Batsheva Dance Company under the Artistic Direction of Ohad Naharin. She has worked with many choreographers including Sharon Eyal & Guy Bachar, Martha Clarke, and Austin McCorimick. Bobbi is an alumnus of The Juilliard School, North Carolina School of the Arts, and The Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. She is a certified teacher of the movement language GAGA created by Ohad Naharin and teaches regularly at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance. Currently she is working on a project titled Arrowed which she has written and directed. Arrowed will be performed every year of her life.


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GREELEY, Colo. (AP) Scott Bamforth had 20 points to lead five Weber State players scoring in double figures in an 85-64 victory against Northern Colorado on Saturday night.
Otis Frank added 15 points, Kyle Tresnak and Davion Berry 12 each and Gelaun Wheelwright 10 for the Wildcats (15-5, 10-2 Big Sky), who shot 60.8 percent (31 of 51) from the floor.
Emmanuel Addo and Paul Garnica scored 11 points each for the Bears (6-14, 4-8), who couldn't repeat the hot shooting they had in their previous game. After shooting 71.4 percent from 3-point range (making 15 shots) against Idaho State, Northern Colorado shot 38.6 percent (22 of 57) from the floor overall and was outrebounded 35-27.
Weber State never trailed Frank's jumper tied the game at 2-all. The Wildcats led 45-25 at the break.


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Revista de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales (Santa Cruz de la Sierra)
versão impressa ISSN 1819-0545
Rev. humanid. cienc. soc. (St. Cruz Sierra) v.4 n.se 2008
Santa Cruz de la Sierra and its Jewish colonial legacy
Francisco RoigI; David ReichsfeldII
This paper will be published in Spanish in the Revista de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales, Vol. 15, Nº 1-2 (June December 2009). ISSN 1819-0545.
IFrancisco Roig holds a BA in International Affairs from The George Washington University and a MBA from American University (e-mail: email@example.com).
IIDavid Reichsfeld holds a BA in Economics from the University of Maryland and a MA in International Economics and Finance from Brandeis University (e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com). Translated by Dr. Inés Azar.
Translated by Dr. Inés Azar
Translation from Revista de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales, vol.15, n. 1-2, pp. 103-114, (June December 2009)
Santa Cruz de la Sierra is Bolivia's economic hub and its most populated city; it is also one of Latin America's fastest growing urban areas, with more than 70 per cent of its population living above poverty level. Its modern architecture and broad avenues make home to approximately two million people, from very diverse backgrounds, who have built a very unique society in the heart of South America. This vibrant and ethnically diverse city was, only fifty years ago, an impoverished, isolated frontier town of approximately 40,000 inhabitants who carried, often unknowingly, the legacy of many of the city's founders, who were of Jewish origin. This article intends to unveil some facts of this interesting legacy, and encourage further research on the subject.
Spain, the Homeland of the Sephardic Jews
Spain was home to the World's largest Jewish population during the Middle Ages (Bell, p. 36). It was during the Roman Empire that Jews started to settle in the Iberian Peninsula. As centuries passed, the number of Jews grew throughout Spain, giving birth not only to large Jewish quarters (juderías) in major cities like Barcelona, Toledo, Gerona, Sevilla, Segovia, Cádiz, Valencia, Trujillo, Córdova and Granada, but also to Jewish communities in small cities like Béjar, Hervás, Talavera de la Reina and Castrojeriz, and even in rural areas.1 Spanish Jews and their descendants are also known as Sephardim, word derived from "Sepharad," which in Hebrew means "Spain."
During the periods of Muslim domination and of wars between Christian and Moorish kingdoms, Jews lived in both Christian and Muslim cities. Many of them stood out as writers, physicians, philosophers, merchants, architects, engineers, artisans, musicians, etc. They became increasingly integrated into Spanish society, to the point of adopting its language and customs. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, Spain's Christian kingdoms pressured Jews, with increasing force and violence, to convert to Catholicism. This was a sad period in the history of Spain that ended in 1492 with the expulsion of all Jews who had not converted to Catholicism (Sachar, p. 73).
Throughout the 15th Century, the Sephardim were persecuted, and most of them converted to Catholicism voluntarily or by force, which allowed them to remain in Spain. Nevertheless, for these New Christians, persecution did not stop after conversion. As many of them and their families started accumulating wealth and gaining influence in Spain's Catholic society, the Inquisition began to question the truthfulness of their conversion and subjected them to unfair investigations, cruel torture and in many cases sentenced them to life in prison or even to death. The New Christians were called conversos (Spanish for "convert") or, as an insult, Marranos (Spanish for "swine"), as they were often suspected of having converted only to avoid persecution and thus of secretly maintaining their Jewish faith.
The Converso Diaspora
During those difficult times, thousands of conversos found themselves forced to leave their native Spain to settle in Portugal, Flanders (today Belgium), the Netherlands, North Africa, and some French, British and Italian ports. Others were able to bypass a number of discriminatory requirements, such as those of "Limpieza de Sangre," ("Purity of Blood"), and embarked into the ships going to the Spanish and Portuguese new colonies in the Americas.2 The most common way to bypass detection was to get on the boats as sailors, or to go to the New World as servants of an Old Christian, because lower posts such as these did not require proof of Purity of Blood. A few influential conversos were able to bypass this requirement through their connections with the nobility. Such was the case of Pedro Arias Dávila, governor of Castilla del Oro and Nicaragua (today Panamá, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and part of Colombia) and founder of the City of Panamá. Arias Dávila belonged to one of Spain's most influential converso families, and was married to the granddaughter of the Marquise of Moya and Peñalosa, an intimate friend of the queen Isabella the Catholic.3
These conversos ended up settling in the bourgeoning, most promising towns of the New World, in a quest for freedom and a better life. In Farewell España, Howard Sachar provides two illustrated maps showing the main destinations of Sephardic Jews during the 15th, 16th and 17th Centuries. Starting on the second half of the 16th Century, one of these destinations was Santa Cruz de la Sierra in what is today Bolivia (Sachar, p. 387).
The Founders
Santa Cruz de la Sierra was founded in 1561 by the Spanish conquistador Ñuflo de Chaves, who had left Asunción del Paraguay and crossed the Chaco plains to establish the northernmost settlement in the Spanish conquest of the Río de la Plata region. Chaves named the city in honor of his Spanish native town near Trujillo in Extremadura. Many conversos were among the pioneers who, together with Ñuflo de Chaves, crossed the dry pampas and shrub lands of El Chaco and moved 1,000 kilometers north of Asunción del Paraguay to Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Mangan, p. 99).
The small city of Santa Cruz was the most isolated outpost of the Spanish colonial frontier in South America. In its nearest surroundings there were no mines to exploit silver or gold, nor highly developed indigenous civilizations as in Peru or Mexico. Moreover, the fierce indigenous Guarani tribes and the neighboring Bandeirantes from São Paulo constantly attacked the small settlement. Nevertheless, the village strived, moving to three different locations further west until settling in its current location on the pampas, east of the Piraí River.
Many of the converso founders of Santa Cruz de la Sierra came from Spanish cities such as Toledo, Ávila, Béjar, Trujillo and Cádiz. These cities were known for having sizable Jewish communities and for hosting numerous mass conversions both before and after the establishment of the Inquisition.4 Most, if not all, of these converso settlers were well-educated, or at least literate, and used last names different from those of their ancestral families. Their new last names were, in many cases, the names of cities and towns in Spain and Portugal, regardless of whether they were or not their places of birth (Terceros Banzer, pp. 14-107).
Strikingly interesting is also the fact that several of the first settlers and explorers of Santa Cruz de la Sierra and its vicinities were actually born in Portugal and Flanders (mainly Antwerp), and a few others came from Italian, French and English ports (Terceros Banzer, pp. 14-107). Evidence of their converso origin comes from the fact that most of them had Spanish last names, as opposed to Flemish, Italian, French or English. This was a typical feature of Jews of Spanish origin who converted to Catholicism and escaped Spain to settle in the areas mentioned above, which during some periods were more tolerant to their religion and customs (Cecil Roth, pp. 236-251).
Exiles and Fugitives from the Inquisition
In January of 1570, the Court of the Spanish Inquisition was established in Lima, and began the persecution of conversos suspected of being Judaizers (Gitlitz, p. 59). This was a severe, devastating attack on the families of conversos who had gained wealth and social standing as businessmen in mining, trade, and manufacturing in the booming cities of the Viceroyalty of Peru, mainly Lima and Potosí. One of the most notable conversos to become a victim of the newly established Inquisition Tribunal was Manuel Bautista Pérez, also known as El Gran Capitán, who during the early 17th Century was considered to be the wealthiest man in Lima. In 1639, the tribunal found him guilty of secretly practicing Judaism, seized all his possessions, and burnt him at the stake (Cohen, pp. XLVI-XLVII).
By the late 16th century, conversos suffered continued discrimination in Lima, Potosi, and other cities of importance such as Charcas (today Sucre) and La Paz. As a result, they flocked to Santa Cruz de la Sierra because it was the city farthest away from the reach of the overzealous authorities (Mangan, p. 99). This was the second wave of conversos who settled in Santa Cruz de la Sierra and its growing frontier.
During this period, several settlements were established in the jurisdiction of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, most of them with this flow of families coming from the rich mining cities to the poorest and most isolated frontier. In 1590, San Lorenzo de la Frontera was founded on the right shore of the Guapay River; in 1595 it was moved to the Punta de San Bartolomé on the eastern shore of the Piraí River. Finally, in 1621, both Santa Cruz and San Lorenzo merged together into one city (Peña Hasbún, pp. 21-22), now known as Santa Cruz de la Sierra. In 1612, the city of Vallegrande was founded on the route from Potosí to Santa Cruz, and was immediately settled by several families coming from Lima, La Paz, Potosí and Charcas. Many families of Jewish origin settled in Vallegrande, and many others continued their way to Santa Cruz and its surrounding villages (Hubsch Neumann, p. 13). From these three towns, several families moved further into the valleys and open plains of what today is the department of Santa Cruz, establishing towns such as Samaipata, Chilón, Pampa Grande, Postrervalle, Pucará, Cotoca, Portachuelo, Paurito, Comarapa, Terebinto, and others, which date from colonial times. And as these towns grew larger, many families went on to populate most of the departments of Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando and parts of Tarija, where they founded new settlements or established themselves in former Catholic missionary settlements.
There are written testimonies and evidence, dating from the colonial period, which demonstrate that Santa Cruz was not only the destination of conversos, who out of prudence abandoned the rich mining cities of Alto Perú, but also of fugitives from the Inquisition and convicts that the Inquisition had condemned to exile. Many who were persecuted in the Andean cities looked for refuge in the places that were farthest away from the Spanish authorities, which according to the Viceroy Francisco de Toledo were Santa Cruz and Tucumán (García Recio, p. 422).
But it is even more striking the fact that the Inquisition, so strict with those conversos who maintained in secret their Jewish faith, would sentence convicted Judaizers to serve as soldiers in Santa Cruz. This was the case of a man from Seville, who lived in Cuzco and was condemned to serve in the frontier of Santa Cruz in 1599, a few years after the foundation of San Lorenzo (Medina, pp. 288-291). The euphoria caused by the legendary wealth of the mines of Potosí made it undesirable to migrate to a place as poor, isolated and dangerous as Santa Cruz. The Spanish authorities had to resort even to Inquisition convicts to populate the new settlements, commuting on occasion their forced labor in the galleys or death sentence (typical punishment for Judaizing conversos) in exchange for serving as soldiers in the frontier of Santa Cruz (García Recio, p. 422). Whether they came alone, with their families, by their own will, as fugitives, or to lessen their sentences, these conversos of the second migration found a new home in Santa Cruz.
The Pioneer Woman and Marriage in the Frontier of Santa Cruz
It is worth noting that, although there were Spanish women (some of them probably conversas) among the first inhabitants of Santa Cruz, they were few. The colonizers were mainly men. This must have also been the case of converso men, who probably built their families, for the most part, with Mestizo (mixed European and Native) and Native women. The Mestizo population of Santa Cruz grew rapidly in the first years of the colony. The Cruceño woman ("woman from Santa Cruz), who combined together the knowledge of both Native and Spanish women, was the source of ethnic and cultural mixing. The survival of the incipient towns depended on women, for they were in charge of everything during the long periods when men were engaged in warring and discovering activities (Peña Hasbún, pp. 41-42).
The leading role of the Cruceño woman has been apparent since the birth of Santa Cruz: Elvira de Mendoza, a famous Cruceño woman from colonial times, is considered as equal in bravery as the Conquistadores. From the very beginning, women took charge of the family finances, children's education, religious practices, and the transfer of knowledge within the family (Peña Hasbún, pp. 41-42).
From the first generations, when Cruceños married, they paid no attention to the rules of the Catholic Church prohibiting marriage between relatives within four or less degrees of consanguinity. Moreover, marriages among relatives were so generalized that in 1684 the Bishop of Santa Cruz wrote a letter to the Spanish King alerting him to the gravity of the situation. But all of Santa Cruz inhabitants were, in one way or another, related, and if they were not allowed to marry each other, concubinage would have probably been rampant. Therefore, the solution was to use a privilege given to the Jesuits who had arrived in 1587 to allow "neophytes"5 to marry among themselves up the second degree of consanguinity and first degree of affinity. Thus, marriage among relatives continued to be common until the middle of the 20th Century6. Interestingly, marriage between close relatives was characteristic of converso communities of Sephardic origin who secretly practiced Judaism (Caro Baroja, p. 64)
Jenecherú, the Fire that Never Dies
It is interesting to note that some traditions that were maintained in Santa Cruz throughout the centuries are typical of the conversos who, during colonial times, secretly practiced the Jewish religion.7 For example, many traditional families (especially in the rural areas) still light candles on Friday evenings. In the first half of the 20th Century, travelers report about Santa Cruz homes where seven branched candlesticks were kept as family heirlooms and where some vestiges of kosher food practices were preserved simply as family traditions (Mangan, p. 99).
In Santa Cruz, the traditional way to kill an animal and prepare it for cooking is to slit his throat and jugular vein and to bleed him out. Once the blood has been drained on the soil and the remaining blood has been coagulated, the butchering begins. This way of slaughtering is still practiced in the countryside among some old families of the region who have maintained the tradition for centuries, probably unaware that the Jewish religion requires slaughtering animals in a similar way before preparing them for cooking. Most meat products are salted, completely drained of blood, and stored as "charque" (dry salted meat). The traditional cuisine of Santa Cruz is notorious for the absence of pork dishes,8 so abundant in the rest of Bolivia and Latin America. We must remember that the consumption of pork is prohibited in the Jewish religion.
In addition, most Cruceño cuisine dishes combine vegetables and grains with either milk or meat products, but never with both of them together. Thus, if rice is to be prepared with milk products, as the traditional "arroz con queso", it will include milk, butter and cheese, but not meat. In turn, if the rice is meat based, as the traditional "majau", it should include no milk products.
Historically, it has been assumed that many of the old families of Santa Cruz are of Jewish descent (Montero Hoyos, pp. 77-78), and even today several traditional Catholic families of Santa Cruz and Vallegrande acknowledge with pride their Jewish heritage (Hubsch Neumann, p. 13). Some archeological evidence of this heritage can be found in isolated towns with a historic association to converso families, such as Pucará, where we can still admire a number of house street doors, dating from colonial times, with stars of David carved on them (Naturalia, Winter 2008, 4-5). Or, as in the case of Postrervalle, where the villagers walk every Saturday to a nearby cave to light candles to the Virgin Mary in a perfectly syncretic practice that blends the Jewish tradition of some of their ancestors and the rituals of their long-standing Catholic faith (Rueda Peña). It is also worth noting that Our Lady of Mercy (September 24th) and Easter, two major religious festivities profusely celebrated in Santa Cruz and its towns since colonial times, often coincide, respectively, with Yom Kippur and Passover.
It would be erroneous to say that all early inhabitants of Santa Cruz de la Sierra and its surrounding towns were of Jewish origin. In colonial times, this region, known as Bolivia's melting pot, had also Spaniards descended from old Christian families, Guarani, Chiquitano and Chane natives, as well as others, for whom being sent to these remote lands was a form of punishment or a way of keeping them away from major Spanish colonial cities.9 Nevertheless, the Jewish heritage brought by the converso pioneers of Santa Cruz is an essential component of the city's founding that has set deep roots in the local society.
Santa Cruz de la Sierra has a history of inclusion and admixture of peoples from different cultures, religions and ethnic backgrounds. Its birth as a land of outcasts, adventurers and warring natives, too far away to be under the close scrutiny of the Spanish authorities, produced a society of rather independent and entrepreneurial individuals who adapted to their environment and built a distinct society. The conversos and their descendants are an important component of the multiethnic mosaic that constitutes Santa Cruz, and their legacy is still vivid today.
Bach, Moritz, Letter written from Santa Cruz de la Sierra on January 15, 1842, in Zeitschrift für vergleichende Erdkunde, Vol. 2, N 12, 1842, pp. 542-546.
Bell, Dean Phillip. Jews in the Early Modern World. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2008.
Cantera Burgos, Francisco. Pedrarias Dávila y Cota, capitán general y gobernador de Castilla del Oro y Nicaragua: sus antecedentes judíos. Madrid: Universidad de Madrid, Cátedra de Lengua Hebrea e Historia de los judíos, 1971.
Caro Baroja, Julio. La sociedad criptojudía en la corte de Felipe IV. Madrid: Imprenta y Editorial Maestre, 1963.
Cohen, Martin, ed. The Jewish Experience in Latin America. Waltham, MA: American Jewish Historical Society, 1972.
De Los Ríos, José Amador. Historia social, política y religiosa de los judíos de España y Portugal. Tomo III. Madrid: Imprenta de T. Fortanet, 1876.
Finkelstein, Norman F. American Jewish History. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2007.
García Recio, José María. Análisis de una sociedad de frontera. Santa Cruz de la Sierra en los siglos XVI y XVII. Sevilla, 1988.
Gitlitz, David M. Secrecy and Deceit: The Religion of the Crypto-Jews. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1996.
Hervás, Marciano de. Judíos y cristianos nuevos en la historia de Trujillo. Badajoz: Marciano Martín Manuel, 2008.
Hordes, Stanley M. To the End of the Earth: A History of the Crypto-Jews of New Mexico. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005.
Hubsch Neumann, Francisco. "Judíos en Bolivia," El Deber, Santa Cruz, September 23, 2001.
Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE): http://www.ine.gov.bo/default.aspx.
Mangan, Sherry. "Storm Clouds Over the Bolivian Refuge:South America's New Pattern of Anti-Semitism," Commentary, Boston, August, 1952,
Medina, José Toribio. Historia del Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición de Lima. 1569-1820. Tomo I. Santiago: Imprenta Gutenberg, 1887.
Montero Hoyos, Sixto. La familia ñufleña. Episodios de la vida de Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Santa Cruz, 1943.
Naturalia, Journal of the Natura Bolivia Society, Santa Cruz, 2008.
Peña Hasbún, Paula. La permanente construcción de lo cruceño. Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 2009.
Pérez, Joseph. Los judíos en España. Madrid: Marcial Pons, 2005
Roth, Cecil. A History of the Marranos. New York: Sepher-Hermon Press, 1932.
Roth, Norman. Conversos, Inquisition, and the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1995.
Rueda Peña, Mario. "Los judíos de Vallegrande," El Deber, Santa Cruz, November 23, 1995.
Sachar, Howard Morley. Farewell España, The World of the Sephardim Remembered. New York: Random House, 1994.
Sicroff, Albert, Los estatutos de limpieza de sangre. Madrid: Taurus, 1985.
Terceros Banzer, Marcelo. Al margen de mis lecturas. Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia: El País, 1998.
1 Sachar, p. 59; Pérez, pp. 56-59, 139, 182; Hervás, pp. 277-291; De Los Ríos, pp. 596-602.
2 Limpieza de Sangre were statutes, established in Spain in the 15th Century, which banned conversos and their descendants from occupying any post in the most powerful institutions in the realm: the Church, the military, and government (Sicroff's book is dedicated to this subject). Furthermore, a number of orders were periodically issued forbidding descendants of Jews to live in the New World (Finkelstein, p.19).
3 Cf. Norman Roth, pp 120-124; Cantera Burgos (the book is fully dedicated to the subject).
4 Cf. Norman Roth, pp 174-175; Hervás, pp. 277-291; Pérez, p. 182.
5 Term used to refer to individual who had recently converted to the Catholic religion.
6 With respect to the incidence of endogamy in Santa Cruz and the Catholic Church response to it during the 16th and 17th Centuries, see García Recio, pp. 429, 458 and 462.
7 For these traditions we researched a number of sources but our main ones are Gitlitz (1996) and Hordes (2005).
8 The only exception to this is the cuisine of Vallegrande, which given its easy access to Charcas, was influenced by the Andean cuisine.
9 In a letter dated in 1842, Moritz Bach reports that during the reign of Charles V of Spain several Spanish families had been expelled to Santa Cruz for "political reasons"; moreover, Santa Cruz has a history of been a common destiny for expelled individuals.


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Like My Own Personal Angel
"Exhausted and out of breath while visiting my daughter in New Jersey, I barely made it home to New Hampshire to see my doctor in Keene. After a blood test showed that I was dangerously anemic, I was sent to the emergency room for a blood transfusion. There I learned the culprit: leukemia. I was referred to Norris Cotton Cancer Center in Lebanon for bone marrow biopsies and chemotherapy. It was there that I met Dr. Mary Chamberlin.
Treated by:
Norris Cotton Cancer Center's Lymphoma/Leukemia Program in Lebanon and the Kingsbury Pavilion in Keene, and through outreach at Springfield Hospital


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MINNEAPOLIS - Samuel Deduno pitched seven sharp innings and one of Justin Morneau's two doubles drove in Minnesota's first run, sending the Twins to a 3-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night.
Deduno (4-2) gave up only five hits and, more importantly, one walk. He struck out three and let only eight fair balls leave the infield. Jared Burton pitched a scoreless eighth and Glen Perkins notched his 20th save in 22 tries with a scoreless ninth inning despite allowing a walk and a double.
The Twins even managed to beat Jeremy Guthrie (7-6). The right-hander topped them twice earlier this season and brought a 6-2 record over nine previous career matchups into the game.
Guthrie gave up an RBI single to Oswaldo Arcia right after Morneau's big hit in the fourth, but the other run he allowed was unearned.
Salvador Perez's soaring home run, to the second deck in left field, was the only evidence of success by the Royals against the improving Deduno, who last year couldn't find the plate despite showing some potential with his lively right arm.
After shining for the Dominican Republic during the World Baseball Classic in March, Deduno has finally found the control of his fastball that escaped him before. His career walks-per-nine-innings ratio was 5.2 entering this game, buoyed by the 53 he issued last season in 79 innings.
In seven starts this year since being called up from Triple-A Rochester, Deduno has completed six innings with three runs or fewer allowed four times.
Following consecutive singles to start the seventh, Deduno had runners at the corners with one out. But he struck out David Lough, celebrating the whiff with a slight hop off the mound at the end of his follow through. Then he got Elliot Johnson to ground out.
For a couple of below-average teams, this was a crisply played game befitting of the clear-and-dry picturesque summer evening. The fielding error by Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas in the seventh that loaded the bags prior to Pedro Florimon's sacrifice fly, which came against reliever Will Smith, was about the only blemish.
Lough, the right fielder, did his best to keep Guthrie in it by tracking down Morneau's two-out double in the corner and start a textbook 9-4-2 relay to keep Josh Willingham from scoring in the sixth.
Guthrie lost his third straight start, but he could hardly be faulted for this one. He retired the first nine batters he faced and allowed six hits over 6 2-3 innings while striking out four and walking two.
The Royals, who have won five of six against the Twins in Kansas City this season, fell to 14-10 in June. That was their April record, too, but that ugly 8-20 mark in May is what has kept them from seriously challenging first-place Detroit in the AL Central.
The Twins improved to 11-4 in their last 15 home games.
These are the two least-powerful hitting teams in the league. The Royals have 43 home runs, the fewest in the majors. The Twins, who haven't homered in their last four games, have gone deep 68 times this year.
NOTES: The Royals will send RHP James Shields (2-6, 2.92 ERA) to the mound today to face Twins RHP P.J. Walters (2-3, 4.88), who didn't finish the first inning in his last start, a loss at Cleveland. Shields has taken 10 straight turns without a win, despite a 2.87 ERA during that span. The Royals have won the last five of his starts, though. ... Twins DH-RF Ryan Doumit, who's also the backup catcher, handled rookie Kyle Gibson's pregame bullpen session and reported no problems with his sore right ankle. This was his third straight game on the bench. ... Twins CF Aaron Hicks, who began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Rochester this week for his strained left hamstring, was scheduled to increase his playing time to nine innings by Friday. GM Terry Ryan declined to put a timetable on Hicks' return to Minnesota. ... The Twins signed second-rounder Ryan Eades, a RHP from Louisiana State, giving them 23 of their first 25 draft picks under contract. ... Perez has six hits over his last three games. ... This was Guthrie's first loss in four starts at Minnesota. ... Lorenzo Cain doubled against Perkins to snap an 0-for-18 skid.


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I am writing this blog entry to remind people that data collection should occur in all phases of an application's life cycle in production. This includes collecting data like javacores and heapdumps in production when the application is running in a nominal, steady state condition. This provides valuable data for when problems do occur to be able to compare the data when negative behaviour is occurring to when things were not bad. The data also helps to feed trend analysis in conjunction with application monitoring tools in terms of understanding what users are doing under both conditions.
Collect data often and be prepared for that day when all of the sudden the production environment is exhibiting distress.


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The Shelby County Schools board approved a specific framework Monday, Oct. 28, for negotiations with each of the future six suburban school systems on school buildings within their boundaries.
The specifics are 40-year leases for a specific list of schools for a "negotiated sum" that would "assist in offsetting the health and life insurances costs of currently retired school system employees."
But the negotiations could and probably will stray beyond that framework for a number of reasons.
Bartlett Mayor Keith McDonald said negotiations with Bartlett leaders, including the Bartlett school board to be elected Nov. 21, would likely involve the Shelby County Commission dropping its part of the federal lawsuit challenging the existence of the suburban school districts.
The commission claims the school districts violate the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause because they would racially "resegregate" public schools in Shelby County.
"From Bartlett's perspective we are ready to begin talking," McDonald said, adding that the linking of the dollar amount to an estimated $28 million in insurance and retirement costs Shelby County Schools would retain after the suburban split is a part of the negotiations.
"They can call it whatever they want to. It's consideration. It's whatever they want to call it," McDonald said. "For me the only way I'm gong to consider it is if it's tied to the judge in some kind of settlement getting the 14th Amendment claim settled as part of the overall piece. Get this lawsuit settled and behind us."
If an end to the lawsuit is not an indirect outcome of the school building talks, McDonald said the suburban leaders are prepared to pursue state legislation that would set the terms for the transfer of the school buildings.
"If that's not a part of it, we've got Nashville. They start back in January," McDonald said of the legislature. "And we're already talking to those legislators. There's more than one place to solve this issue."
Schools superintendent Dorsey Hopson has said Shelby County Schools will negotiate with the suburban school boards, and he and school system legal counsel Valerie Speakman will negotiate for the school system.
Hopson also said the framework for the negotiations could change and could include discussion about leasing the three schools in Germantown that bear the name of the city.
"I know that their school board wants to continue to negotiate," Hopson said, referring to the future Germantown schools board. "And I don't have a problem with talking to them. … I'm not changing the recommendation."
Hopson said he plans to retain the current principals, faculty and staff at the three Germantown schools and make them optional schools. He added the school system also intends to seek $9 million in capital funding from the County Commission for renovations at Germantown High School.
Hopson proposed keeping the four schools, including Lucy Elementary in Millington, within Shelby County Schools system because large numbers of students from the Memphis annexation reserve area attend them. He also said the school system has an obligation to plan for students in the unincorporated areas of Shelby County who currently attend schools within the suburban towns and cities but who might get pushed out of the suburban school districts if the number of students who live in those towns and cities grows.
And a majority on the seven-member board, including school board member Billy Orgel, appear to be in support of the reasoning.
"What concerns me is … when you take responsibility for an area, the students that are not in your city – you have no zoning control over those students. … It's not your reserve area and you can have unfettered growth," Orgel said. "With unfettered growth at some point you can have a municipal system … where the non-residents make up a larger proportion of the (school) system than the residents do. … This could be a big issue if there's growth in the unincorporated areas. … At some point you've got to make a break."
Germantown Mayor Sharon Goldsworthy asked the board to reconsider a decision that would leave a Germantown school system with five schools instead of eight "for a resolution that works for all of us."
But school board member David Reaves, whose district covers the northern part of Shelby County, said he is hearing a different message from his suburban constituents.
"In the north, most of the folks and most of the municipalities like the deal," he said. "And I represent a group of people in the north who want this. … But it hurts. I wish it could be different."
Among the other suburban mayors in the audience was Terry Jones, the mayor of Millington, where Lucy Elementary School would remain with Shelby County Schools.
Jones was circumspect.
"We've got ongoing negotiations," he said. "That's what we are still working on."
Copyright 1995 -
by The Daily News Publishing Co. Inc. - All Rights Reserved


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Just got back from Sleuthfest, and attended a session where a panelist said this to folks in attendance:
"You aren't the audience for this book."
Now, in deference to the guy, maybe he was right. But if he was, why was he speaking on a panel to those people? And why was he at Sleuthfest to begin with, since he seemed intent on making sure he didn't sell a single book?
We all have lapses in confidence. It's human. But if you want to have a writing career, DON'T SHOW WEAKNESS IN PUBLIC.
Charlie Brown isn't a good marketer. Sure, we can all identify with being the loser. Especially if we're at a signing and only one person shows up, or if we get dropped by our publisher, or if we don't win that big award we were nominated for, et cetera ad nauseum. Writers are magnets for bad luck. And publicly denigrating ourselves may get us a measure of sympathy.
Unfortunately, sympathy doesn't sell books. Stephen King is not a bestseller because people feel sorry for him. King is a winner. Winners tend to keep winning. He knows it, and the world agrees.
The secret to being a winner is confidence. Since most of us lack in this department, being sensitive artist types, we have to learn to fake confidence.
How do you fake it? Here's how:
1. Smile. A smile shows you're happy to be there, secure in your place, and receptive to your audience, whether it's a room full of fans or a guy standing next to you in an elevator.
2. Be positive. Optimism is sexy, and it's contagious. No one likes to be around a downer. Don't let anything negative escape your lips.
3. Like your books. Think about the enthusiasm you have when you see a great movie and you're telling a friend about it. Tone that down just a touch, and talk about your books in the same way. If you aren't excited about what you write, why the hell are you a writer?
4. Dress for success. The more comfortable you are about your appearance, the better you feel about yourself. This translates into better verbal and non-verbal communication.
5. Laugh. Laugh early, laugh often. It puts people at ease, and attracts them to you.
6. Listen. The best conversations you'll ever have are the ones where you talk the least.
7. Focus on success. You'll fail sometimes. We all do. But if you focus on the good things that happen, and push down the bad, you'll be perceived as a winner. Perception equals reality.
Don't be cocky. Don't be pushy. Don't be overbearing. Just be confident. If you aren't 100% sure that people will like your books, don't speak in public about them--you're only doing yourself a disservice.
Monday, April 23, 2007
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United States Securities and Exchange Commission
Litigation Release No. 17783 / October 10, 2002
Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Release No. 1650 / October 10, 2002
SEC Charges Two Former WorldCom Accountants, Betty Vinson and Troy Normand, with Participating in Multi-Billion Dollar Financial Fraud
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Betty L. Vinson and Troy M. Normand, Civil Action No. 02 CV 8083 (JSR)
The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed a civil enforcement action against Betty L. Vinson and Troy M. Normand, former accountants in the General Accounting Department of WorldCom, Inc. The Commission charges that Vinson and Normand participated in a massive fraud that inflated the company's earnings at the direction and with the knowledge of WorldCom's senior management. WorldCom has admitted that from at least as early as 1999 through the first quarter of 2002, as a result of undisclosed and improper accounting, it materially overstated the income it reported in its financial statements by approximately $7.2 billion.
Also today, in connection with the same conduct, Vinson and Normand pleaded guilty to criminal charges filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
Vinson and Normand are charged by the Commission with violating the antifraud, books and records, and internal controls provisions of the federal securities laws (Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act") and Sections 10(b) and 13(b)(5) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") and Rules 10b-5 and 13b2-1 thereunder). They are also charged with aiding and abetting WorldCom's violations of the periodic reporting, books and records, and internal controls provisions (Exchange Act Sections 13(a) and 13(b)(2)(A) & (B) and Rules 12b-20, 13a-1 and 13a-13 thereunder). The Commission seeks against Vinson and Normand permanent injunctions, disgorgement of all ill-gotten gains, and civil money penalties.
The Commission's action against Vinson and Normand is its fourth civil enforcement action related to the WorldCom fraud. The first was filed against WorldCom, Inc. on June 27 of this year. (Litigation Release No. 17588.) The Commission sought, among other things, the appointment of a corporate monitor, and on July 3, U.S. District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff appointed former Commission Chairman Richard Breeden to that position. The Commission's second enforcement action was filed against former WorldCom Controller David F. Myers on September 26. (Litigation Release No. 17753.) The Commission's third enforcement action was filed against Vinson and Normand's supervisor, former WorldCom Director of General Accounting Buford "Buddy" Yates, Jr., on October 7. (Litigation Release No. 17771.)
The Commission acknowledges the assistance and cooperation of the U.S. Attorneys' Offices for the Southern District of New York and Southern District of Mississippi, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Commission's investigation into matters related to WorldCom's financial fraud is continuing.


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U.S. government stands by plan to allow knives on jets
WASHINGTON The head of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration told lawmakers Thursday he stands by his plan to allow passengers to carry small knives onto planes despite a growing backlash against the proposal.
It's unlikely in these days of hardened cockpit doors and other preventative measures that the small folding knives could be used by terrorists to take over a plane, TSA Administrator John Pistole told a hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee.
- Airlines' on-time performance slips
- Delta CEO opposes TSA plan to allow knives on jets
- Family's "Made in USA" knives thrive in a global economy
On the other hand, searching for the knives on passengers or in their carry-on bags is time consuming, Pistole said. TSA screeners confiscate about 2,000 such knives every day, with each incident chewing up about two to three minutes, he said.
"I think the decision is solid and it stands and we plan to move forward," Pistole said.
The policy, which goes into effect April 25, has sparked strong opposition from flight attendants, federal air marshals, some pilot unions, aviation insurers and some airline chief executives. In the hands of the wrong passengers, the knives present an unnecessary safety risk to flight attendants and other passengers, critics say.
Several members of the House committee said they share those concerns and urged Pistole to reconsider his position.
Besides knives, the policy will also allow passengers to include in their carry-on luggage novelty-size baseball bats less than 24 inches (610 millimeters) long, toy plastic bats, billiard cues, ski poles, hockey sticks, lacrosse sticks and two golf clubs. Items like box cutters and razor blades are still prohibited.
Knives permitted under the policy must be able to fold up and have blades that are 2.36 inches (60 millimeters) or less in length and are less than a half-inch (127 millimeters) wide. The policy is aimed at allowing passengers to carry pen knives, corkscrews with small blades and other small knives
There has been a gradual easing of some of the security measures applied to airline passengers after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the U.S. The new policy mostly conforms U.S. security standards to international standards and allows the TSA to concentrate its energies on more serious safety threats, Pistole said.
The policy change was based on a recommendation from an internal TSA working group, which decided the items represented no real danger, the agency has said.