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I have always longed to play an old-style D&D role playing game "live," as it were, ever since I was a kid and saw that TV movie starring Tom Hanks called Mazes and Monsters (any of you old enough to remember it?). In it, Tom played a troubled game nerd who, along with his game-nerd friends (including a chick, which was cool for those times), found these secret deep twisty caves and decided to role-play Dungeons and Dragons in them, like for real. They all got totally obsessed by the game but in the end, poor Tom went crazy and had to be institutionalized because he literally got lost in the game world, unable to tell what was real and what was pretend. Because I want to share the absolute and utter amazingness of this movie with y'all, I grace you with this clip:
So anyway, I came across Brody Condon's work a few weeks ago on the L.A.-based experimental media blog Blur + Sharpen (written by the incredibly gifted writer and super-smart maven of medias old and new, Holly Willis, a former classmate of mine at USC's School of Cinema Television from way back when) and I've been fascinated with it ever since, largely because it seems to tap into a lot of the crazy that Tom was suffering from in the movie, that desire to transcend dull reality and experience something visionary and heroic, but Condon projects this desire into the era of video games rather than the book, paper and pen way of playing RPG's.
Condon is an American artist born in 1974 in Mexico, and is currently based in New York. His 2008 DVD Without Sun is a 15 minute compilation of footage found on the Internet of various random people tripping HARD on psychedelic substances. Condon's website describes the piece's focus as on "the exterior surface of the 'projection of self' into visionary worlds," noting that it was named after Chris Marker's classic video work Sans Soleil. Click on the image below to be taken to Condon's website and a brief clip of the video. If you're in Los Angeles this weekend, you can check out a live performance on July 18th at Machine Project that features two actors recreating scenes from Condon's video.
Death Animations is a three hour performance that also took place at Machine Project. Inspired by Bruce Naumann's 1973 work "Tony Sinking into the Floor, Face Up and Face Downâ€, it featured nine dancers wearing video game type armor who recreate Naumann's performance in slo-mo as "high volume binaural beats" play in the background, apparently in an effort to induce some form of out-of-body experience among the audience and/or participants. (Click images below to be taken to a performance excerpt).
And Condon's Suicide Solution, 2004, is a compilation of suicide scenes from various first- and third-person video games. (Click image for video clip).
But what seems far coolest of all to me is this massive performance piece organized by Condon, titled TwentyFiveFoldManfestation and performed for three days straight at SonsbeekLive in the Netherlands. From the website:
"Combining the fantasy Live Action Role-Playing (LARP) subculture, public sculpture, and ritualistic performance art, Twentyfivefold was a series of physically and psychologically intense live games involving 80 players which evolved over the Summer of 2008. The events were organized by the artist Brody Condon for the Sonsbeek International public sculpture exhibition in the Netherlands.
Set in a distant future where civilization as we know it had almost been lost, players from different worlds met deep in the holy forest and inhabited a 40 feet high tower "in character" for 3 days at a time while worshiping invented deities embodied by the other artworks of the exhibition."
Here's a short clip documenting the performance:
Looks kind of amazing, right? If Condon ever wants to organize something like that in Chicago I am so there. Strangely, I see echoes of Mazes and Monsters in Condon's project. Going back to real life must feel pretty sucky after playing a fully immersive game like that. I wonder if any of the participants went crazy afterwards, unable to come down from the high of worshiping the broken mirror god. I'd be willing to take the risk.
Claudine Isé
Latest posts by Claudine Isé (see all)
- Michelle Grabner, Anthony Elms, Stuart Comer Named Curators of 2014 Whitney Biennial - November 29, 2012
- New Fielding Practice Podcast on the Art21 Blog! Episode 16: Summer Review-O-Rama! - July 19, 2012
- Tom Sanford is a Busy Man…Here's Why - June 12, 2012


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Use innovative machine embroidery designs to stitch and construct great gifts, entirely in the hoop!
Discover stabilizing, trimming and hooping tricks you wont find anywhere else! Join professional pattern designer Sue O'Very to create five fantastic projects completely in the hoop. Get started with a fast and fun key cover, then work with vinyl to complete a customizable luggage tag. Indulge your inner designer as you mix and match fabrics to create a chic pouch, then insert a zipper and let your machine stitch it in place -- no hand sewing necessary! Stitch up an adorable stuffed fox using appliqué techniques, and work with rehooping to create a charming, heat-resistant owl potholder. Expand the creative potential of your embroidery machine, and complete intricate projects with impressive results!
If you're not delighted with your Bluprint experience, we'll make it right or give you a full refund.

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text: Good Stuff for the Bathroom - At Simply Good Stuff we make it easier for you to find all natural and non-toxic cleaning and personal care items for your bathroom. Clean and pamper yourself with our collection of good stuff for your bathroom. Our microfiber mesh exfoliating products are the best way to deep clean your skin. Make the impossible task of washing your back easier than ever, or use our exfoliating mitt to deep clean your entire body. A microfiber bath mat is perhaps the best addition you could make to any bathroom. Add some luxury to your bathroom and get something practical at the same time. We have the best spa and bath products available at prices you can afford. With only the best stuff available, we take the guess work out of ordering online. At Simply Good Stuff your satisfaction is guaranteed.


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A study by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital indicated that women with HIV have more severe hot flashes than women without HIV, and the hot flashes have a larger disruption on their quality of life (QOL) and daily functioning.
The researchers administered questionnaires to 33 HIV-infected perimenopausal women ages 45-48 and to a matching group of women who did not have HIV infection. The questionnaires included information about hot flash frequency and severity, other menopausal symptoms, and the effect of these symptoms on daily activities and QOL. Researchers then compared the responses from both groups.
Women with HIV experienced moderate hot flashes compared to mild flashes in the uninfected women as well as more sleep disturbances, depressed moods, irritability, and anxiety. The hot flashes were severe enough to cause problems with work, social and leisure activities, concentration, relationships with others, sexuality, enjoyment of life and overall QOL than for women without HIV. The researchers noted that the QOL was worse than reported for breast cancer survivors.
The researchers were uncertain as to why hot flashes were worse in HIV-infected women and acknowledged that more research is needed. They also suggested that clinicians who treated middle-aged women should evaluate hot flashes and their impact and provide treatment to help, out of concern that the severity of the symptoms might create more instability in the women's already difficult lives and compromise their health and treatment program.
The full report, "Increased Hot Flash Severity and Related Interference in Perimenopausal Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Women," was published online ahead of print in the journal Menopause (2013; doi: 10.1097/GME.0b013e31829d4c4c).


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Just got back from the A Perfect Circle show. Maynard spent the entire show on a platform set back further from the rest of the band. His face was difficult if not impossible to see due to his hair and position. The only way you could tell it was him was the voice or the tattoo on his back. The show was about an hour and fifteen minutes, not counting the opening act, Den of Fools or something. They sucked. APC rocked.
Shania Twain time!
She plays the same setlist every night? Wow, she is suddenly less Hot
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Three decades in the making, the multinational Airbus Military A400M Atlas is the first new military airlifter to be developed in Europe since the Transall C-160 twin-turboprop in the early 1960s. The completion of basic development and impending first delivery means Europe has its own heavy-lift transport and customers have an alternative to U.S. and Russian aircraft.
With more than $30 billion invested in development and production, the partner nations have high expectations for the aircraft. Aviation Week was given the opportunity to fly the A400M and assess whether it delivers on the promises made by Airbus Military or is the overpriced political compromise some of its critics allege.
The A400M is sized between the smaller Lockheed Martin C-130J and considerably larger Boeing C-17. It is the most advanced and powerful turboprop ever built in the West, with full, three-axis fly-by-wire (FBW) flight controls and the ability to operate from short, soft runways.
The international military airlifter has been a long time coming. The concept was first proposed in 1982, and European requirements were established in 1996. In 1999, Airbus Military was formed to manage the A400M program, signing a fixed-price contract for development and production. First delivery was planned for 2009, but development delays forced renegotiation of the contract and the first A400M will now be delivered to the French air force by July.
The A400M received European type certification in March and will enter service with an initial operational capability for logistic missions. Airbus Military is continuing development of military-specific capabilities. The first of these "standard operational capability" releases is planned for year-end, and by the close of 2014 the Atlas is planned to have full aerial-delivery and self-defense as well as aerial-refueling tanker capability.
Airbus Military says A400M can carry a 33-ton payload 2,450 nm and its maximum 40-ton payload 1,780 nm. Normal cruise speed is Mach 0.68, equivalent to 390-kt. true airspeed (KTAS) in ISA conditions at 37,000 ft., the maximum normal cruising altitude for military operations. At average mission weights, the aircraft also will cruise at its maximum operating Mach 0.72 at 31,000 ft., equivalent to 422 KTAS. A typical payload might be 116 paratroops or 66 medevac patients. The A400M also can carry up to nine 463L cargo pallets, two Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopters or three armored personnel carriers.
An optional inflight-refueling package allows the Atlas to refuel helicopters at 105 kt. indicated airspace (KIAS) and fighters at up to 300 kt. Two wing stations can be fitted with 2,650-lb./min. hose-and-drogue pods. A pallet-mounted 4,000-lb./min. hose-drum unit also can be attached to the rear cargo ramp to refuel a third aircraft. With two optional cargo-bay tanks increasing capacity by more than 25,000 lb., total fuel transfer capability is 99,000 lb. at 250 nm. and almost 51,000 lb at 1,250 nm.
The conventional metallic fuselage is pressurized to 7.8 psi and can maintain a sea level cabin to 19,400 ft., and an 8,000-ft. cabin altitude to 37,000 ft. The cargo-bay floor has a track-and-roller system to facilitate loading and unloading. The carbon-fiber wing has a supercritical airfoil with a 15-deg. sweep at quarter chord. The T-tail empennage, also primarily composite, was chosen to keep the horizontal stabilizer above the wing wake.
Most Airbus aircraft systems are loosely based on those of the A380, but modified for the military mission. The hydraulic system has to two 3,000-psi channels powering the primary and secondary flight-control actuators, landing gear, wheel brakes, cargo door and optional hose-and-drogue refueling system. As with the A380, there is no third hydraulic system. Instead, there are two electrical systems. One is a set of dual-channel electrically powered hydraulic actuators, the other an array of electrically/hydraulically powered hybrid actuators. The dissimilar redundancy provides more protection against battle damage.
The landing gear has 14 wheels for low surface loading on soft runways. There are three independent main-gear struts in tandem on each side and, when parked, these can be adjusted individually to level the aircraft on uneven ground or make it "kneel" to facilitate on- and off-loading.
Aviation Week visited Airbus's main plant in Toulouse to fly the A400M. When I belted into the left seat of MSN6 manufacturer's serial No. MSN6, the final preproduction aircraft used for flight test, Chief Test Pilot Ed Strongman strapped into the right seat as my instructor. He has been with the program since 2000 and flew the A400M on its first flight in December 2009. Experimental test pilot Malcolm Ridley rode along as safety pilot, accompanied by flight-test engineers Jean-Paul Lambert and Thierry Lewandowski.
MSN6 had a 177,250-lb. operating empty weight, about 850 lb. heavier than the baseline production aircraft. With an 882-lb. payload, the zero-fuel weight was 178,132 lb. Partially filled with 55,115 lb. of fuel, ramp weight was 233,247 lb. and computed takeoff weight was 232,365 lb. Maximum takeoff weight for military logistics missions can be as high as 310,851 lb.
We planned to use the TP400's full takeoff rating, 11,065 shp. from each engine (see sidebar, page 40). Based upon using flaps 1, roughly 10 deg., V speeds were 110 KIAS for the V1 takeoff decision speed, 122 KIAS for rotation and 129 KIAS for the V2 engine-inoperative takeoff safety speed. Flap retraction speed was 148 KIAS. V speeds and takeoff field length were computed using a laptop—on production aircraft, they will be calculated automatically by a flight management system (FMS) performance computation function. The FMS also will double-check aircraft weight and center-of-gravity to compute the horizontal stabilizer trim setting for takeoff.
Our flight plan called for departing from Runway 14R at Toulouse, then flying 9.3 nm. southeast to the Toulouse-Blagnac radio beacon. Next, we would descend to 500 ft. above ground level (AGL) and fly low level to Garonne intersection near Noe and then on to Cazeres in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Weather permitting, we then would fly low-level eastward along the foothills for about 20 mi., pull up to medium and high altitudes for handling and cruise performance checks, then return to Toulouse for pattern work.
The weather was almost ideal for a demonstration flight. There were plenty of cloud layers starting below 1,000 ft. and going all the way to 25,000 ft.-plus. This would enable us to evaluate the aircraft in the low-visibility conditions in which it is designed to operate.
Strongman used the checklist on the electronic centralized aircraft monitor display to complete the pre-start checks. Firing up the engines was easy. We turned on the fuel pumps, rotated the engine start knob and then toggled the engine master switch from off to feather. The full-authority digital engine controls handled all other starting functions, including malfunction protection.
During start, as each feathered prop began to accelerate to 180 rpm, vibration was palpable. But after the engines had stabilized and we moved the master switches from feather to run, vibration all but vanished as the props sped up to a 650 rpm ground idle.
Releasing the parking brake, idle thrust barely moved the aircraft. We had to advance the power levers to start taxiing, but once rolling the aircraft accelerated. Strongman suggested modulating the power levers for inboard Engines 2 and 3 from beta range or even partial reverse and back to ground idle to control taxi speed. The carbon brakes were smooth, as was the nosewheel steering.
We lined up on Runway 14R. When cleared for takeoff, we rapidly advanced the thrust levers from flight idle to the forward stops. The engines smoothly accelerated and the props stabilized at 860 rpm, producing moderate noise in the cockpit. I recommend active noise-attenuation headsets, but judge takeoff noise levels in the cockpit to be far below those encountered in a C-130 or most other turboprops.
With a 5.25:1 weight-to-power ratio, aircraft acceleration was brisk, but smooth. For rotation, we pulled back about halfway on the sidestick and released it when the nose came up to 20 deg. The fly-by-wire system's flightpath stability function maintained the commanded pitch and wings-level bank attitudes as the aircraft accelerated and we retracted landing gear and flaps.
As the altitude alert sounded, signaling our approach to the 3,000-ft. initial clearance altitude, we pulled the power levers back to the managed thrust detent, ceding control of the engines to the auto-throttle system, which slowed prop speed to 730 rpm and reduced power to about 9,460 shp for climb. The slower prop speed greatly reduced cockpit sound levels.
As with Airbus jetliners, the A400M's power levers are not back-driven. They remain frozen in position at the managed power detent. In my opinion, moving power levels provide flight crews with useful visual and tactile cues to the auto-throttle functioning.
We leveled off at 3,000 ft. and 250 KIAS and selected the engines' low noise-contour operating mode, reducing prop speed to 650 rpm to minimize aircraft sound profile over hostile territory. It also minimized the noise footprint over civilians in Toulouse.
Using the flightpath vector symbol on the head-up display (HUD) and taking advantage of the FBW flightpath stability function, it was easy to hand-fly the aircraft and maintain heading and altitude. Minor inputs to the side stick were all that was needed to make small corrections to the flightpath.
Nearing Toulouse-Blagnac, we found a hole in the clouds, banked sharply to the right, dived to 500 ft. AGL and accelerated to 280 KIAS as we headed for Garonne. There was plenty of low-altitude turbulence from a large storm in the vicinity, but the flightpath stability function made the aircraft easy to control.
Modifications to the civil Airbus FBW system make the A400M agile for such a large aircraft. Control response to vigorous sidestick inputs was crisp, but also well damped so there was no tendency to overshoot when the sidestick was released. Virtually no rudder inputs were needed to maintain balanced flight. The radio altimeter provided synthesized-voice call-outs of our height above ground, reducing the task of maintaining the desired 500 ft. AGL low-altitude cruise.
We switched on the forward-looking infrared enhanced vision system (EVS) camera to enhance our view of the terrain in the low-visibility conditions. Strongman held up a card in front of the left HUD to obscure my view of the outside world through the combiner glass. It was easy to use the EVS imagery on the HUD to fly at low altitude, demonstrating its value for flying tactical missions at night or in clouds.
Approaching Cazeres, the weather closed in, so we executed a maximum-performance climb by pushing the thrust levers forward to the stops and pitching up to 40 deg. Initial climb rate was in excess of 7,000 fpm and we quickly topped the low-level cloud layers.
We continued the climb at 230 KIAS to flight level (FL) 310 for cruise performance checks. At a weight of about 227,000 lb., the aircraft cruised easily at Mach 0.68 while burning 7,700 lb./hr. of fuel. In ISA-5C conditions, cruise was 394 KTAS. Accelerating to the aircraft's Mach 0.72 redline, fuel flow increased to 9,100 lb./hr. Cruise speed was 417 KTAS in ISA-5C.
Descending to 12,000-16,000 ft., we flew a series of standard maneuvers that yielded impressive results. At 280 KIAS, we could roll into a steep bank, pull all the way aft on the sidestick and the aircraft would smartly snap into a 3g turn with no threat of overstress, thanks to the FBW flight-envelope protection.
High angle-of-attack (AOA) behavior was similarly impressive. The fly-by-wire system is programmed to recognize the difference in wing performance due to the lift generated by prop wash. This could be seen during power-off and power-on maneuvers to "alpha max," the maximum AOA allowed by the FBW system's normal control law. Alpha max is programmed to be just slightly below the stalling AOA. It provides high lift-coefficient wing performance at full aft stick and also full controllability.
Strongman demonstrated an additional layer of stall protection. With the auto-throttle armed, the system intervenes with "speed floor" protection by increasing thrust long before the aircraft approaches alpha max.
We then disabled the speed floor and explored aircraft handling at alpha max. At a weight of about 225,000 lb. and with flaps 4 selected, we pulled the thrust levers back to idle and maintained altitude, causing the aircraft to decelerate. With full aft stick, we reached alpha max at 98 KIAS. At that point, the FBW low-speed protection function eased the nose down. There was no wing roll-off or loss of control. Recovery was almost immediate when we lowered the nose and added thrust.
We then repeated the alpha max maneuver, this time after setting maximum climb power. We continued to increase nose attitude to slow the aircraft at about 1 kt./sec. with each engine producing about 7,900 shp. With the stick all the way aft, the aircraft decelerated to 78 KIAS before the FBW system eased the nose down at alpha max, again with no loss of control or composure.
The power-on approach to stall proved that the aircraft can be flown at 105-120 KIAS with flaps 4 for helicopter aerial refueling. We comfortably flew the aircraft at 110 KIAS at flaps 4 during the demo flight.
The fly-by-wire system also takes away most of the pilot workload associated with handling engine failures. At 13,000 ft., we set 100% power at 121 KIAS, pulled the outboard Engine 4 power lever to idle and watched as the FBW system compensated with aileron and rudder inputs to keep the aircraft in balanced flight. When both right Engines 3 and 4 were pulled back to idle and both left engines were at 100%, the FBW system maintained balanced flight. We needed only a slight left bank and nose-up attitude to climb the aircraft on heading at 121 KIAS and flaps 4.
After the air work, we returned to Toulouse for a normal, 3-deg. glidepath instrument landing system (ILS) approach to Runway 14R. Computed VREF landing speed for flaps 4 was 120 KIAS at a weight of about 222,000 lb. We added 5 kt. and bugged 125 kt. for the final approach speed.
Unlike a conventional Airbus, the A400M uses a decelerating speed schedule on final approach. The auto-throttle system does not completely slow the aircraft to VREF until it nears the threshold. The speed changes are not easy to notice because of the FBW's flightpath stability function.
We completed the first approach with a touch-and-go landing and turned onto a visual-flight-rules downwind pattern to the south. Just past abeam with the runway approach end, we turned a close-in base leg at 3,000 ft. AGL, 2,500 ft. above the airport. We extended the landing gear and flaps 4, maintaining altitude and 148 KIAS until we were 3 mi. from the threshold.
At that point, we reduced power, fully extended the speed brakes and began a 12-deg. plunge, simulating an assault landing. The aircraft was easy to control and the 3,000-ft./min. descent rate felt comfortable. At 500 ft. above the runway, we retracted the speedbrakes, increased thrust and transitioned to a normal 3-deg. ILS glidepath while slowing to 125 KIAS. We crossed the threshold at 60 ft. and began to pull back the thrust levers. Touching down just beyond the stripes, we flew the nose down to the runway, pulled back fully on the thrust levers and braked heavily. The aircraft stopped in about 1,600 ft. With practice, the landing roll could be shortened considerably.'Ä©
For launch customers Belgium, France, Germany, Luxemburg, Spain, Turkey and the U.K., plus Malaysia, the A400M fills a niche below the C-17. As a strategic airlifter, it has more speed, range and payload than the C-130J, but less than the C-17. As a tactical airlifter, it has a steep-approach assault landing capability that no other Western heavy-lift transport can match. It can operate autonomously at austere airstrips with unimproved runways and unleveled ramps.
First delivery to the French air force is set for next month, to be used for military qualification. Two more are planned to be delivered to the French and one to Turkey by year-end. Production rates should increase in 2014 and beyond, depending upon European defense budget allocations. Longer term, because it is a European product with a European Aviation Safety Agency type certificate, the A400M could attract customers that do not want to buy U.S. or Russian products for political reasons.
The Atlas has some of the most capable avionics and flight controls ever fitted to a military transport. Its turboprop engines are unprecedented for their blend of power and fuel efficiency. This agile performer feels more nimble than older heavy-lift transports. But it is pricey. Divide the number of orders by the total investment and the unit price is a staggering $170 million-plus—almost twice the cost of a C-130J.
But even if the eight announced customers remain the sole users, the aircraft may yet prove its worth. With near-jetliner cruise speed, the A400M may be the fastest way to transport troops, arms, fuel and supplies to unimproved landing strips close to the front lines, and to rush casualties back to top-tier emergency medical facilities.
Fly along with Fred George in the A400M to see the transport's performance and features at ow.ly/lJfeV
|Dimensions (ft./meters)
|Overall Length
|Wings pan
|Overall Height
|Cargo Compartment
|Width (maximum)
|Width (floor)
|3 crew + 116 troops
|4 x EPI TP400-D6
|Output (ISA)
|11,065 shp each
|Wing Loading
|130.4 lb./sq. ft.
|Power Loading
|7.02 lb./shp.
|Noise (EPNdB)
|Weights (lb./kg.)
|Max Ramp
|Zero Fuel
|Operating Weight Empty
|Max Payload
|Useful Load
|Troop Payload — 116 @ 300 lb.
|Max Fuel without cargo hold tanks
|Payload with Max Fuel
|Fuel with Max Payload
|Fuel with Troop Payload
|Mach 0.720
|Vmo/Flight Level
|300 kt./FL 245
|Ceilings (ft./meters)
|Military Mission
|All-Engine Service
|Sea Level Cabin
|Sources: Airbus Military, EASA and AW&ST


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2013 FSSA Wife Husband-Championship
Lodging Suggestions
Lake Pointe Inn - 3 stars -
Lake Pointe Inn of McHenry, Maryland offers all the comforts of a fine Bed and Breakfast at Deep Creek Lake with award winning appointments in the Arts and Crafts tradition. Lake Pointe is a luxury Inn perched on the water's edge of Deep Creek Lake's pristine 65-mile shoreline in the Lake Pointe Community of lake front homes in Garrett County Maryland. With an outdoor fire pit and wrap-around porch you are sure to relax and enjoy the Lake views of this Western Maryland Weekend Getaway Retreat. The Deep Creek Lake area is a most natural setting with four distinct seasons providing unique activities throughout the year. 301-387-6779, 301-387-0111
Carmel Cove Inn - 3 stars -
In an increasingly hectic resort area, Carmel Cove Inn at Deep Creek Lake is an oasis in the woods. Our mountain lodge hotel at Deep Creek Lake is a former monastery nestled in old-growth woods rambling down to the lakeside, while central to the resort area's restaurants, nightlife and activities. On a stroll around our wooded two acres, you will encounter deer, wild turkey, and our many resident ducks, not parking lots, traffic, and crowded rental homes. Recapture that rustic lakeside feeling, at Deep Creek Lake's Premier Country Inn. Simply the best location and accommodations on Deep Creek Lake. Phone 301-387-0067
Garrett Inn - 3 stars -
Centrally located between Deep Creek Lake, the State Parks, the Wisp Mountain Resort, and the town of Oakland. Many, many, fun activities close by! Beautifully Renovated Rooms - Cable TV - Air Conditioning. All Rooms are Non-Smoking - Credit Cards Accepted. Free Wireless Internet! 301-387-6696 (closest to Turkey Neck)


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View status categories by academic level and hours enrolled. From the Student Records section of your myWings Student Self Service you can access an official Enrollment Verification report after the Add/Drop period of each term.
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Almost five months after comments were made here about Ontario's old Ritz Theater, previously known as the California Theater, a new comment came in. Except at this late date, reader Dave Linck was unable to append the comment to the entry, and neither was I.
So, here it is:
"When the California became the Ritz in 1961, my Dad, Ontario Postmaster Charles Linck Jr., became a minority investor. He was a huge movie fan and it was a dream come true for him.
"I was in heaven with my 6-year-old twin, Dan…we immediately got free popcorn privileges, not to mention that we got to work behind the candy counter! We got in free with our friends! We knew the guy who played the birthday clown personally! Every kid's dream, right?
"Anyway, the Ritz had trouble booking A films, as the Granada got all of them due to its affiliation as a Fox West Coast Theatre chain member. The Ritz got a few moneymakers, like 'Pocketful of Miracles' with Glenn Ford and Bette Davis, but most of them were along the lines of '13 Ghosts' and 'Six for Texas.'
"Eventually, the majority owners went bankrupt and my dad was stiffed. Someone else bought it, they went belly up, and then the X-rated guys came in. By that time, I was way too old (14) to care about seeing '13 Ghosts' and the Ritz became a memory.
"But I can still see the theatre's interior…walls covered in faux lava rock with sparkly ceilings…new seats unfilled. And there's my brother and I, racing up and down the empty auditorium aisles, 6-year-old 'owners' of our own theatre!!!"
Oh, to be 6 and have the run of a movie theater.


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Merit Badges requiring prior approval
From MeritBadgeDotOrgMerit Badges require prior counselor approval for certain requirements. The rest do not: " Any Boy Scout may earn any merit badge at any time...You are expected to meet the requirements as they are stated—no more and no less." - Boy Scout Requirements p. 22 - 23.
|— Merit Badge Policies pp.22-23


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Mea Culpa
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Puzzles Dept.
The Weekday Crossword: Monday, August 19, 2019
Homer described it as "wine-dark": nine letters.
The Failure to See What Jeffrey Epstein Was Doing
Money offers one explanation for why people seemed to ignore the obvious. But money, here, is really shorthand for a range of ways to exert influence.
Cultural Comment


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Quick Search: Choose Model and Year, then enter search topic.
Page: 147
Moving the map
You can move the map section shown on the display as required. You have two options for doing this:
Setting the intersection zoom
If you have activated this function, the upcoming
driving maneuver (e.g. leaving the freeway) is
displayed greatly enlarged during route guidance.
The map is aligned during intersection zooming so that the current driving maneuver is "in front of the vehicle", i.e. shown in the center of the top half of the display.
Setting the display of the total route
If you have activated this function, the total route
from the vehicle position to the destination flag is
displayed during route guidance.
The map scale is automatically adapted.
Setting autozoom
If you have activated this function, the entire
current route section is displayed.
As soon as you leave the current route section, the next route section is displayed in the map. The map scale is calculated and adapted according to the length of the new route section.
These functions can also be activated or
deactivated in the map display menu.
To find out more, please also refer to the section "Setting zoom functions" on page 149.
Setting the map to a northerly orientation
If you have activated the "North orientation" function, the map will be oriented to the north.
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A closer look at the Bush record -- from
the war in Iraq to the war on the environment
2004 Campaign
Will Americans
take the exit ramp off the Bush presidency in November?
Colin Powell's Legend
Colin Powell's sterling reputation in Washington hides his life-long role
as water-carrier for conservative ideologues.
2000 Campaign
Recounting the controversial presidential campaign
Is the national media a danger to democracy?
The Clinton Scandals
The story behind President Clinton's impeachment
Nazi Echo
Pinochet & Other Characters
The Dark Side of Rev. Moon
Rev. Sun Myung Moon and American politics
Contra Crack
Contra drug stories uncovered
Lost History
How the American historical record has been tainted by lies and cover-ups
The October Surprise
The 1980 October Surprise scandal exposed
From free trade to the Kosovo crisis
Other Investigative Stories
September 6, 2006
Editor's Note: Here are some
readers' comments that followed our publication of "Smearing Joe
Wilson, Again" and "How Obtuse Is the U.S. Press?"
Robert Parry's article on the facts surrounding the Plame-
Wilson attacks was much appreciated.
The next article should investigate why the largest
national newspapers in our country are deliberately
participating in a cover-up of the treasonous disclosure of
Valerie Plame's undercover CIA position.
Why are the NY Times, the Washington Post and Los
Angles Time so actively obstructing a criminal
Bonnie McFadden
Attorney at Law
Makawao, Maui, HI
Obtuse is hardly descriptive! Cravenly sycophantic so contemptible as
border on criminal press-whoredom. And that may be more than just a
The Skeptical Cynic So Spaketh
I beg to differ with Mr. Parry, who states that "the motives of the
Washington news media [in providing cover for the Bush administration in
the Plame leak scandal] may be ...a mystery." No mystery about it: due
to decades of consolidation under relaxed FCC rules, ownership of the
mainstream media - news and otherwise - is concentrated in the hands of
a half-dozen conservative corporate giants. More bluntly, they're simply
an arm of the Republican party.
Any efforts to maintain credibility and objectivity are token, and when
the mainstream media do allow truths inconvenient to the current power
structure to see the light of day, it's usually because they've been
shamed into it by the internet (Plame is a case in point). And make no
mistake, those same corporate giants are currently working to gain
control of that last fragment of a "free press."
The Washington news media, indeed the American news media, are not
"obtuse." Nor are they compliant, timid or cowed. They are, in a word,
Steven A. Wells
Glendale, CA
I think one plausible answer to Robert Parry's closing statement in the
artice," The motives of the Washington news media may be more of a
", has to do with the clever way that Bush bought them off early in his
occupation of the Dark House and that is with the tax cut. If the
annual salary of most of these folkss is close to a million the tax
that they have enjoyed over the last six years is enough to want you to
scream "obtuse"!
Dick Nogaj
as to the wilson/plame matter, there's one
point no one seems to have mentioned namely the
absurdity of "a junket to Niger". "a junket to Niger"
is a phrase as devoid of meaning as "a honeymoon at
Gitmo". whenever an american travels to sub-saharan
africa, s/he must have a battery of injections called
a 'yellow book'. one has to start taking these
injections about 2 weeks prior to departure. along
with the injections comes a prophylactic round of an
anti-malarial drug called chloroquin which has nasty
side-effects. one takes the chloroquin during the time
one is 'in-country' and continues to take the drug for
a couple of weeks once one has returned to the states.
i understand that most of our congressional
solons don't have a passport (and that many of the few
who do conflate their luxury golfing in the UK with
European travel). but having lived in dc for 15 years
i would come into contact with former peace corps
volunteers and current and former foreign service
officers. those serving in africa receive 'hardship
pay' for a good reason. (in Guinea, for example, all
laundry has to be ironed since a tiny insect (fatal to
humans) will reside in the miniscule places between
stitches in the fabric of one's clothing.)
isn't it the role of the press to point out such
realities of actually going to Niger?
thank you once again for reporting the news.
jeff orchard
san francisco, california
Thanks for staying on top
of the Plame Wilson stuff--we've got a link to your latest on Media
Views. The most recent View is our own take on the Post
edit--attempting to deflate the bizarre idea that because it was
Richard Armitage, that must mean nothing untoward was going on. Take
a look:
Despite the collapse of the Soviet Union, the
Washington Post continues the proud
traditions of Pravda. "It was not
the Party that sabotaged the dissident's career, comrades--the
dissident sabotaged his own career!"
For those looking for a less party-line understanding of Armitage's
role in Plamegate, it's worth taking a look at
Where's My Subpoena? (2/7/06) by John Dickerson--the former
Time reporter's account of being
not-so-subtly pointed in Valerie Plame Wilson's direction by "two
senior administration officials" on a trip to Africa; Dickerson
doesn't quite name his sources, but he does helpfully point out that
the two senior administration officials along on the trip were
Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell.
Powell, of course, was Armitage's boss. If he was going around
telling reporters to "go ask the CIA who sent Wilson" (the message
Dickerson got from both "senior administration officials"), what are
the chances that Armitage just happened to mention the answer to that
question "in an offhand manner, virtually as gossip," as the
Washington Post reported (8/29/06)?
About the same odds you would have gotten the straight dope on the
Kremlin from Pravda.
Jim Naureckas, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
Dear Sir:
In his August 31st piece "Missing the Point on CIA Leak Case,"
Brent Budowsky is right to say that the revelation that Richard
Armitage was a source for Robert Novak's column outing Valerie
Plame should not distract us from going after all the other Bush
Administration members who were telling reporters about Plame's
job with the CIA. But he does not give the Armitage story
sufficient weight.
Budowsky assumes that Armitage was "anti-Iraq war." Armitage was
the Deputy Secretary of State in the months before we invaded Iraq
in March 2003, and he did not leave that post until early 2005. If
Armitage were truly "anti-Iraq war," would he not have spoken out
publicly against the war and/or resigned in protest of the war? He
did neither.
This should come as no surprise to readers of the articles at The
Consortium. After all, Armitage's boss and bosom buddy Colin
Powell laid out the administration case for attacking Iraq on
worldwide TV at the United Nations. And as The Consortium has
pointed out in more than one article, Powell has never let
morality get in the way of his career's advancement. Armitage is
cut from the same cloth.
Budowsky mentions Armitage only in passing in "Missing the Point."
But Armitage is well worth writing about. He has been a major
shaper of the conservative movement's national security policy for
decades. He has held important posts in both the Reagan and George
W. Bush administrations. He has been particularly influential on
Asia policy, including Middle East policy. To ignore him when
discussing the Bush Administration is like writing about Truman's
"Wise Men" and ignoring John McCloy or even George Kennan.
I strongly recommend James Mann's 2004 book *Rise of the Vulcans:
The History of Bush's War Cabinet*. Mann lays out the lives and
thought of Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Condi Rice,
Colin Powell, and Rich Armitage in painstaking detail. (Budowsky
calls him "Dick Armitage," but the man's friends call him "Rich":
for instance, in Powell's autobiography he is always called
To give some highlights of Armitage's career:
1) While serving in Vietnam, Armitage was almost certainly
associated with the Phoenix program of mass assassination. He
denies it, but friends and associates of his told Mann that he was
2) For most of the Reagan Administration, he was Assistant
Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs.
Basically, Caspar Weinberger made only the biggest decisions.
Day-to-day, the Pentagon was run by Armitage, Powell, and Richard
Perle. By the way, Armitage worked extremely well with Wolfowitz,
who was at State.
3) Armitage was heavily involved in implementing the Reagan
Doctrine of providing aid to anti-communist guerrillas. He worked
particularly closely with Pakistan's notorious Interservices
Intelligence Directorate (ISI) on the Afghan mujahideen's struggle
against Soviet forces.
4) He remained skeptical about Mikhail Gorbachev long after
Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan had vouched for him. In
October 1988, he wrote in *The New York Times* that Gorbachev's
proposals to freeze seapower, airpower, and nuclear weapon levels
in Northeast Asia were "a transparent attempt to get something for
nothing while driving a wedge between the free nations of the
5) He was a signer of the notorious 1998 letter to Bill Clinton
calling for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. That letter, from the
neoconservative Project for a New American Century, was also
signed by Don Rumsfeld and such worthies as Wolfowitz, Perle,
Zalmay Khalilzad, John Bolton, William Kristol, and Elliott
6) Armitage (and Powell) signed off on George W. Bush's
"axis-of-evil" State of the Union address. Calling the
governments of Iraq, Iran and North Korea "evil" struck them as
unexceptionable, just as Reagan's calling the Soviet Union an
"evil empire" had.
I believe, for what it's worth, that Armitage deliberately let
slip Valerie Plame's identity to Robert Novak (and to Bob
Woodward). I also believe in Mann's thesis that no one in George
W. Bush's war cabinet is truly moderate. Powell and Armitage were
the most moderate. But Powell made the case for war at the UN and
Armitage treated Plame's identity just as cavalierly as Karl Rove
or Scooter Libby, so they are not moderates when compared to the
average American.
I could say a great deal more about Armitage, but this e-mail has
already gone on quite long enough. I hope you will do a piece on
him at some point. He deserves it, just as his friend Powell did.
Todd Plofker
to Home Page
is a product of The Consortium for Independent Journalism, Inc., a non-profit organization
that relies on donations from its readers to produce these stories and keep alive this Web
publication. To contribute,
click here. To contact CIJ, click here.


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A Friend to Aliens: Are Invasive Species Really a Big Threat? (Scientific American) →
Plant ecologist Mark A. Davis will not participate in this year's "Buckthorn Roundups" around his St. Paul, Minn., neighborhood. Davis will not tag along as these intrepid crusaders set out to eradicate the common and glossy buckthorn, two ornamental shrubs imported in the 19th century from Europe. The nonnatives have now taken over some Midwestern forests, prairies and wetlands. That is why eco-minded volunteers eagerly wrench young weeds from the soil, hack away at thick stems and douse remaining stumps with herbicides. Their hope: a return of Minnesota to its primeval state.
At one time, Davis, too, could see the logic in eradicating these "invaders." He even advocated planting only Minnesota nativeplants on the Macalester College campus where he teaches. That changed in 1994, when he read an essay by journalist Michael Pollan in the New York Times Magazinethat made his blood boil. He bristled at Pollan's statement that turning the "ecological clock to 1492 is a fool's errand, futile and pointless to boot."


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"Venus Dimples" with VASER Lipo – A New Plastic Surgery Trend
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Alida, Granddad, and Baby Robins
Early in June 2010, the 3rd, specifically, the day after Alida became three years old, a very spring-like day was occurring at our home near East Greenville, PA. Alida and I, around 10 am, were headed toward our vegetable garden to take tour of the popular strawberry patch. The berries were plentiful that year, needing picking every day or so.
Our little saltbox-shaped barn was an allurement to Alida, so as I crossed the lawn heading toward the garden gate, Alida detoured and took the path less traveled, through the barn and down another path which also led to the garden. The garden was gated, as a certain Peter Rabbit all too often frequented "Mr. McGregor's" Garden.
(Mr. McGregor is the Beatrix Potter gardener who put up with a naughty bunny named Peter. Alida loved to play "Mr. McGregor" in our home: She and I would take turns being the rabbit; we'd 'find' each other in the garden—the family room—and get chased out of the 'garden' with a make-believe rake made of simple Styrofoam. Great fun, it was. Mimi would get involved once in a while too, playing the part of Peter's mommy, to whom the shooed rabbit would be sent at the end of Mr. McGregor's rake. 'Home', and safety, for Peter Rabbit would be the plaid, reclining lounger in the living room.)
This day, however, wasn't to be about rabbits. All of a sudden, I heard coming from the inside of the barn, "Grandad! Grandad! There's a bird in here!" Quickly, I hurried to see what was the matter. Sure enough, Alida had come upon a baby robin, frantically flapping its wings in futile attempt to exit the barn through a paned window glass. Suddenly, from another direction, a second baby flew by our feet, past us both, at an altitude of only about two feet off the floor of the barn. Out the open doorway facing the garden went baby bird #2— experiencing flight and taking in its first view of the world outside the barn's wooden walls.
What Alida had stumbled upon and witnessed was the very first flight of two of three baby robins that had just launched from their childhood nest, carefully fabricated by Mother Robin, just above that same door of the barn.
For weeks prior, Mother Robin would tend that nest, whether I entered the barn or not. Several times I can remember inadvertently surprising Mom by my unannounced sudden appearance (to get a rake, hoe, or something for use in the garden). Alarmed, she'd fly from the nest, but quickly to return when she got her motherly bearings! She'd at once perch just outside the door, making a squawking fuss in reprimand of me invading her family's home. I got the message and would leave in short order.
Meanwhile, as baby-bird #2 flew the coop, baby-bird #1 was still frantic at the window. Not a good situation! Alida stepped back as I approached the flurry of wings and feathers in attempt to hand-catch the youngin' to help solve the exit dilemma. Just as I made my reach, the youngster got his bearings and, as well as his kin, made low altitude exit out the doorway of the barn.
We'd both witnessed what most people never see. The babies couldn't have been out of the nest (about eight feet above the floor) for more than a minute or two, if that.
The thought then dawned on me— what had become of the third-bird, that other little fellow of three I'd seen clamoring for food in the nest, incessantly, for the last several weeks?
Alida and I, both standing quietly for a moment, heard a faint "peep-peep-peep, peep-peep" sounding from the floor area in a far corner of the barn. I quickly motioned to Alida to come with me, and we both, slowly, approached baby-bird #3. This little peeper, as its siblings, had "flown the nest" as well, but somehow wound up in a dark corner, not at a window or the daylight visible at the barn's doorway. With haste and two hands, I snatched up the now squawking, shrill-sounding, little one! Realizing the poor thing's sense of peril and wanting to liberate it as quickly as possible, yet wanting Alida to experience a close-up touch, I quickly got her to touch this little one of God's creation before it took flight, ne're to return. She did! And smiled.
But at the same time, there was an unhappy, highly exasperated "Mother Robin", looking me in the eye, from her vantage point about five feet away, on the floor, in the barn door opening. One unhappy, hair-standing-up, cackling, blusterous exhibition of anger was coming forth! I can remember wondering who was more noisy and upset; baby or mother! Turning to Alida, I quickly said, "We must let baby go!" As she watched, I gently tossed baby into the morning air, a foot or so above the floor. And
as the rest of kin, off baby flew, on first flight, about fifty feet or so in total distance, finally landing in the nearby garden area.
All three would be off to experience that 'first time' thrill of newness of life, if birds can sense such things. . . Food would be their-own-for-the-getting now; Mother Robin's nurture had passed into yesterday. So with their freedom came much responsibility.
Alida and I went on to the garden and picked strawberries. Mimi had been in town and, sadly, missed the whole event. Upon arriving home, we relayed the exciting story, all wondering if we'd see the three young-ones again.
Maybe we did; there were so many robins in the yard that year, at a distance they seemed to all blend together. The babies, even as early on as their day of first flight were, close up, distinguishable from Mother Robin— somewhat smaller. But possessing, even then, the same robin-red-breast as adults, at a distance differentiating between the two generations proved difficult. Instead of darker adult feathered wings, the youngsters yet possessed a muted black & white speckle; that, too, would quickly fade from youthful to adult plumage.
I wished them all well; frolic in freedom, little ones, in our square of God's green earth here in Pennsylvania.
And so happened a special time; a time when the simplest things of life display the grandeur found in all of Creation, to the hearts of God's children, big and small. In the life of the smaller child, as she matures, may a remembrance of Granddad and granddaughter, and baby birds, be precious and enduring.
A loving grandfather,
June 8, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
To Alida...From Granddad
Alida, Granddad, and Baby Robins


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Puzzling World's other challenge to the senses
Puzzling World founder, Stuart Landsborough has had psychics in his sight for over nearly 20 years. Read on to see the challenge placed before them..
Most visitors to the ever-popular Wanaka attraction, Puzzling World are well aware of the visual and mental treats and challenges on offer but less is known about the quest to unearth a sixth sense amongst its guests.
In 1994, Stuart Landsborough, creator of Puzzling World and longtime member of the NZ Skeptics Society offered a reward for any Psychics or mind readers to sit with him, read his thoughts and find a cheque for $50,000 hidden on the business property.
With seven failed attempts over this period and in the face of growing media interest in this field, Stuart increased the reward in 2006 to $100,000 and decreased the search site from 200 metres to just 100 metres.
"I'm sick and tired of seeing the biased nature of programmes on mediums and psychics that give no firm proof of success, I do not believe psychics are genuine so I'm upping the ante for anyone to prove me wrong" Stuart said
In order to rule out any random guesses, the challenger must find 2 promissory notes hidden in separate locations. They must also pay a $1,000 challenge fee that, if unsuccessful, is given to a local charity.
"The theme of the business is eccentricity so this challenge, along with it's own display within the Puzzle Centre works well within the environment that is geared around getting people to think a little deeper", says marketing manager Duncan Spear.
The website, www.psychicchallenge.co.nz was also launched that aims to question psychic ability, offers reviews of live psychic performances (including local shows from Sensing Murder's Kelvin Cruickshank and Sue Nicholson) and a full run down of the rules, past challengers and discussions with TV producers on the merits of the above show.
Stuart is also advocating for regulation of the psychic industry, "Why is it that there are strict laws concerning the gambling industry in an effort to protect the quite considerable minority from themselves, yet in the paranormal industry, as far as I am aware, there is not a single regulation?…..any true 'psychic' or 'medium' should theoretically approve of, in fact, must totally support such regulation.
I can only assume that they must be just as sick and tired of the pseudo, money-making con artists as I am, after all, the shysters in their business are ruining the good name of their vocation!" he writes.
"Set up guidelines and create a series of tests that every member of the paranormal who ply their professions for money, must undertake and pass. If they don't pass, they cannot provide their service for a fee.
It should be very easy for a series of double-blind tests to be created and used during the testing process. Surely this will get the full support of all the "true" psychics and mediums out there! If not, why not?"
We'll have to wait and see how this campaign goes!
Artikel oleh
Puzzling World
Offering The Great Maze, Illusion Rooms, Roman Toilets, Leaning Tower, Puzzle Centre & Gift Shop/Café, Puzzling World has 'weirdness' covered and is a must-see option for all ages!


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Fake Nails
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The gel nails are very slim and overall look like natural fingernails. You can use the actual gels to make virtually any type of look associated with your normal nails. In addition, applying gel nails is actually the equivalent to the application of nail polish. A gel nail can be generally a pre-mixed polymer and also monomer gel which can be first applied to the nails and then cured under ultra-violet lights. Some individuals think that airbrushing looks a lot better on gel nails due to the fact these are shinier, but when it comes to appearance individuals vary with their tastes. When removing gel use a nail file, file off any gel or topcoat on your acrylic nails so that they are more vulnerable for the acidic characteristics of acetone. You can in fact buy distinctive kinds of gel (Bio Sculpture is one referred to as "S Gel" that is considered to be as hard as acrylic), as well as colored Gel which is fantastic for toes. Another advantage of choosing gel acrylic nails above acrylic nails will be that the actual process is odourless.


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All the Right Amenities
Enjoy free breakfast and free WiFi
Start your morning with our free Bear Bites continental breakfast before heading out to the day's adventure. When it's time to rest weary legs after a full day of activity, relax in guest rooms featuring free WiFi, flat-screen TV, and coffee maker. Our hotel is pet friendly and has plenty of parking for trucks and buses.
While You're Here
Experience local history or culture or ride a rollercoaster
Take advantage of nearby historic sites and museums. Visit the George Washington birthplace and pay tribute to the father of our country, or take a stroll through Old Town Fredericksburg to celebrate American culture. If you are traveling with the family, bring everyone to Kings Dominion, a theme park with thrill rides, water slides, and entertainment for kids of all ages.
Plan Your Group Travel With Us
Book your wedding party, sports team, or other group travel at our hotel. Submit your request for information about special rates on blocks of rooms.


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Play a trick with your friend to unlock your phone with FINGERPRINT!...Read more
Rimmel Mirror
Get the London Look wherever you are with our new Rimmel London mirror application...Read more
Fortune Cookie
A Hand motion controlled app! Break the virtual Fortune cookie without touching the phone!...Read more
Pregnancy Ultrasound™ - Is it a boy or a girl? Trick your female friends with an OB-Gyn Ultrasound...Read more
Funny pictures to make us laugh for a while with our friends...Read more
Party Whistle Beta
Party Whistle Beta app is a fun carnival tune...Read more
Quick Sand
Quick Sand Quick Sand is a mobile application for Noka smartphones which allow the user to manipulate the sand on a touch screen phone. The program supports a variety of tools to manage the sand: Add / Delete, Finger, Shovel, hurricanes, which can create new and interesting effects on the sand image. The picture of the sand on the screen splits, if you shake the smartphone...Read more
Fake Police Radio
It's time to have fun with the Fake Police Radio...Read more
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Talking Cat 3 Nov 11
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TEL AVIV, Israel, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Israeli and Indian companies have signed a memorandum of understanding for joint development of naval air defense systems.
Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. and Bharat Electronics Ltd. India signed the agreement for cooperation on Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile systems this month, a result of previous cooperation on manufacturing various subsystems for Indian military forces.
Under the MOU, BEL will be lead integrator and producer of major LRSAM subsystems. IAI will act as the design authority and produce subsystems as a main subcontractor of BEL.
"This MOU is a significant step forward in our joint work with India," IAI President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Weiss said. "Partnership with BEL will further enhance IAI's ability to provide high-quality solutions and service to Indian defense services, best supporting the needs of India.
"BEL is a strategic partner for IAI and we hope this cooperation will expand to other areas of mutual interest."


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Britney Spears on The X Factor USA | Pictures
Britney Spears Critiques Contestants During X Factor's Diva Night
The X Factor put their 12 remaining contestants through the wringer last night when they had to perform songs from music's greatest divas like Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, and Tina Turner. Judges Britney Spears, Simon Cowell, Demi Lovato, and L.A. Reid sat front and center while the hopefuls pulled out all the stops to save themselves from elimination. First up was Jennel Garcia, who set a high bar with her performance of "Proud Mary." Next, fan favorite Tate Stevens took on Shania Twain's "From This Moment On." Britney's team of young adults, made up of Diamond White, Beatrice Miller, Arin Ray, and Carly Rose Sonenclar, made her proud with four impressive ballads.
The night was full of highlights, though there was a tense moment when L.A. gave harsh criticism to Cece Frey's rendition of Celine Dion's "All by Myself." Demi, who mentors Cece, fired back at L.A. and challenged his opinion. We'll have to wait and see if Demi's support was enough to save Cece from elimination when the show returns tonight with a results episode that also includes a performance from Taylor Swift.


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At Autorama, you have to make the cut to be in the running
The 61st Detroit Autorama is well known for the magnitude of its car show but it is also the home of the Don Ridler Memorial Award; the ultimate prize in the world of indoor car shows.
This year celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Ridler award and over 20 cars vied for this award. However, in order to even be in the running you must make the cut. The Pirelli Great 8 represents the cream of the crop; the final eight entries who will compete for the Ridler.
In celebration of 50 years of this most prestigious of awards, the Autorama staff thought it fitting to gold plate this year's trophy. Impressive to look at and it will make a great conversation piece for years to come.
So without further ado, here are the Pirelli Great 8 finalists:
Christian Harker of New York with his '34 Ford fenderless coupe
Alan Beers of Owasso, Oklahoma with his '57 Chevy pickup
Ron Cizek of Bennington, Nebraska with his '40 Ford coupe
Ken Seresun of Sedona, Arizona with his '34 Ford sedan
John Mayer of Berwyn, Illinois with his '35 Ford phaeton
Alan Woodall of Cary North Carolina with his '65 Corvette coupe
Mark Willman of Blue Grass, Iowa with his '56 Buick coupe
Buddy Schulz of Washington, Texas with his '72 Chevy pickup


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Future Spyker models will be built on Lotus platforms and share many of their parts thanks to a deal made earlier today. The Parts and Platform Commonality agreement should be good news for the troubled Dutch sportscar maker, meaning much of their development cost will be carried by troubled English sportscar maker, Lotus. The timing is especially good for Spyker, as it means they'll be able to take advantage of the forthcoming Eagle and Esprit models.
The two companies have also signed a Design and Engineering agreement, meaning Lotus will have a hand in how Spyker designs vehicles based on Lotus's platforms.
The two firms were already collaborating on the Aileron supercar and D8 super SUV. [via Autocar]


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J. Rome Named Winner of Season 1 of 'Duets'
J. Rome was named the winner of the debut season of 'Duets.' It was John Glosson who placed second. Poor Jennifer Nettles! Both of amateurs were in the Top 2, to which she said, "I am dying … They have worked so hard and it is the best and the worst." Either way, she "won" since both of her boys made it to the top.
Nettles ran up to the stage to hug Rome, who looked dapper in his black suit and white shirt without a tie and who was met with a "J. Rome!" chant from the crowd, once his name was announced. He was left snakebitten and speechless, and couldn't even make a statement about what winning 'Duets' meant to him. He blew an air kiss to Nettles, who mentored and supported him throughout the whole competition. It was a sweet and intimate moment!
Jason Farol placed third, but as his mentor Kelly Clarkson said, it didn't matter if he won or not. The fact that he made it to the finale was good enough.
Even though Glosson came in second, we don't think we've seen the last of him either, since there is a market for what he does.
Congrats to J. Rome, who ended the season singing Stevie Wonder's 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered,' as he has won a recording contract with Hollywood Records, deservedly so.
What's in question, though, is how 'Duets' will fare next season. It was not a ratings juggernaut like competing shows. However, it did respectably.
Even so, we wish J. Rome all the best in his career! We enjoyed watching him croon each week.


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Renovating pastures and hay fields to renew grass productivity is one of the most important things LaRue County farmers can do to improve the grassland grazing and hay land in the county. Pasture and other forage lands in LaRue County feed the county's 28,000 head of cattle and calves in addition to the other ruminant livestock and horses. Believe it or not, pasture renovation time will soon be here.
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Dynamic Air DJ's is back with their 2017 KARAOKE CONTEST!
Qualifying arounds are held July 9th - August 26th!
In House Finals are August 27th - Sept 2nd!
Finals are held at Forte Music Hall on September 10th!
See the schedule on where to qualify!
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text: 28 Nov 2013 07:00 Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, will add more seats between Abu Dhabi and Melbourne by introducing a Boeing 777-300ER to the route. The larger aircraft, to start operating from December 1, will offer 328 seats in a three-class configuration - 36 more than the Airbus A340-600 which is currently flying the Abu Dhabi-Melbourne sector.Etihad Airways' President and Chief Executive Officer, James Hogan, said the introduction of the larger aircraft reflected the importance to Etihad Airways of the Australian market and Melbourne in particular."Etihad Airways' Melbourne–Abu Dhabi flights are some of the strongest performers in our network – this year load factors between the two cities have averaged more than 80 per cent."Switching to the Boeing 777 gives us 12 per cent more seats overall and 25 per cent more in business class. This will enable us to increase our share of the corporate and leisure travel market between Australia and Abu Dhabi and beyond to our worldwide network."Mr Hogan said the introduction of a larger aircraft also presented a growth opportunity for the airline's highly successful cargo division, Etihad Cargo."The Boeing 777 offers a bellyhold cargo capacity of around 14-16 tonnes which allows us to capitalise on Australia's strong trading relationship with the United Arab Emirates."The United Arab Emirates is Australia's largest trading partner in the Middle East and, last year, two-way merchandise trade between Australia and the UAE was worth around $5.13 billion."The three-class Boeing 777-300ER has eight seats in Diamond First Class, 40 in Pearl Business Class, and 280 in Coral Economy Class.Etihad Airways commenced flights between Abu Dhabi and Melbourne in 2009. Get in touch with us. Contact us Let us know what you think Send feedback Join our community Etihad Facebook Watch our latest videos Etihad YouTube Follow us Etihad Airways


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NBC's Ian Williams observations on the drama and intrigue sparked by blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng.
BEIJING – Although blind human rights activist Chen Guangcheng has been cast into the international spotlight since his April 22 escape from house arrest and subsequent journey to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, he still remains an unfamiliar name — even to the majority of Chinese citizens, thanks to the country's tight control of the press and social media.
On Friday, the U.S. and China seemed to have forged the outlines of a tentative deal to end the diplomatic standoff that would let Chen travel to the U.S. with his family for a university fellowship. In the meantime, Chen's fate still hangs in the balance.
So what exactly did he do to anger Chinese authorities so much in the first place? It all began with Chen's foray into social activism nearly 16 years ago, when he began fighting against the Linyi government.
Challenging authority
Born on Nov. 12, 1971, Chen grew up in a small village called Dongshigu, near Linyi City in eastern province of Shandong, approximately 400 miles from Beijing. He lost his sight after a severe fever when he was only a few months old.
He enrolled in Qingdao High School for the Blind in 1994 and graduated in 1998. It was during this time that he had his first experience questioning authority.
Deal nears on China activist Chen as US offers college fellowship
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said "progress had been made" on a deal over the future of Chen Guangcheng, the blind Chinese dissident at the center of an international firestorm. NBC's Ian Williams reports.
In 1996 Chen traveled to Beijing to challenge the Linyi government's taxing of disabled people even though a 1991 law exempted them from taxation. He won the appeal.
He kept fighting and in 1997 he irritated the local government again by appealing on behalf of his fellow villagers in a Beijing court to stop Linyi from breaking land laws.
Chen pursued these cases all without a formal law degree; he was a self-taught lawyer who had studied acupuncture and massage at Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine from 1998 to 2001. His mother originally wanted him to become a masseur, the most common job for blind men in China, but he insisted on taking law classes on the side.
In September 2003, Chen sued the company that runs the Beijing subway system for making him buy subway tickets, despite the fact that the law said the subway should be free for disabled people. Chen again won the lawsuit.
Chinese crackdown on dissident's family and friends
Fighting abusive enforcement of the one-child policy
But what really brought Chen into the crosshairs of the Chinese government were his efforts to expose harsh illegal measures by local authorities in his hometown, Linyi, as they enforced China's strict population control policy known as the "one-child policy."
Chen married Yuan Weijing in 2003 and their first son was born that year; in August 2005, they had a daughter. Some say the fact that they had two children, in defiance of China's one-child policy, explains why Chen became interested in protesting family planning.
In 2005, the Linyi government started a campaign to "strictly enforce" the one-child policy by arresting and beating up women who broke the family planning law, forcing them to have abortions or sterilizations, heavily fining them and even arresting the relatives of those who had escaped to other cities. Chinese national laws prohibit such harsh acts.
Chen and Yuan investigated the cases and filed a class action lawsuit, while also revealing the brutality to the media. The lawsuit was rejected, but through Chen's work the brutality of Linyi officials was exposed and drew attention from both domestic and international press.
(In particular, a Washington Post story in 2005, "Who Controls the Family?" first drew international attention to Chen's crusade. And apparently, in thanks for that story, one of Chen's first calls to the international media after leaving the U.S. embassy this week went to the Washington Post).
China censors 'Shawshank' as Clinton heads to Beijing amid dissident drama
Jail, then oppressive house arrest
After Chen refused negotiations with local officials to cease his activism, Chen was taken away by the police in March 2006. He was then officially arrested in June, and sentenced to four years and three months in prison for "destruction of property and disturbing public order." His trial was a controversial one because his lawyers were detained by Yinan police on the eve of the trial, leaving him defenseless in court.
During his jail sentence, in July 2008, his wife Yuan issued a public letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao, in which she said: "I hope the country's leader can feel the insult and helplessness I have in my everyday life. I hope the leader will listen to a jailed blind man's concern about the country's future."
Chen was released from prison in 2010, but then he and his wife were subjected to house arrest which included constant 24-hour video surveillance. In February 2011 he smuggled out a video showing his life under house arrest.
"I was in a small prison, and now I am in a larger prison," Chen says to the camera in the hour-long video, which shows security agents peering over walls into the family's home.
According to another video Chen released after his recent escape from house arrest, he estimated that authorities spent as much as 60 million yuan ($9.5 million) to keep him locked up.
True belief in the rule of law
During his one-and-half year long house detention, hundreds of people, including both Chinese and foreign journalists, lawyers, friends and human rights advocates, attempted to visit Chen but were all driven away, often violently by the thugs watching him day and night.
In December 2011, Hollywood actor Christian Bale made an effort to see him along with a CNN crew and he was shoved away.
Chen's supporters say that ultimately his goal is to see that China lives up to the rule of law that already exists there.
Blind dissident's case a 'hot potato' for US-China relations
"Chen Guangcheng is someone who really believes in rule of law, and he wants to put what's written in the law into practice," said Zeng Jinyan, a long-time friend of Chen family and also a human rights activist. "While so many people who can see are still talking about securing personal safety, Chen, a blind man, is already in action."
"People who know Chen say he is a Gandhi-esque figure and has a deep optimism that China will inevitably become a country ruled by law," professor Susan L. Shirk, an expert on Chinese politics at the University of California in San Diego, told NBC News. "He is not a dissident, agitating for a change in government — he just wants China to enforce its own laws."
Many people attribute Chen's ordeal to local government enforcement, arguing what they do is out of the ordinary, while many other believe it's an order from the very top.
"Evidently, local officials in Linyi concluded that Chen would somehow threaten local stability if he were free to move about and speak up. Beijing did not intervene even when it realized that the actions of the Linyi officials were creating a national and international embarrassment," Kenneth Lieberthal, leading China expert at Brookings Institution, told NBC News. "The enormous reluctance by Beijing to intervene in these types of local decisions is the rule, not the exception."


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Report: Benghazi memo nixed 'terror'
Talking points on the attack on the U.S. diplomats in Benghazi given to U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice had been extensively revised before she received them by the State Department to remove references to terrorism, according to a report on Friday.
ABC News, which acquired 12 different drafts of the talking points, disclosed that the State Department requested that the CIA scrub references to an Al Qaeda-linked group, Ansar Al-Sharia.
Story Continued Below
A State Department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, specifically asked the CIA to delete a paragraph citing prior attacks that could've been warning signs because that "could be abused by members [of Congress] to beat up the State Department for not paying attention to warnings, so why would we want to feed that either?" according to email reviewed by ABC. The paragraph was struck entirely.
( Also on POLITICO: Crossroads hits Clinton on Benghazi)
The report comes at the end of the week when Republicans' months-long effort to turn the Sept. 11 attack on Benghazi into a major scandal has been revitalized by a dramatic and emotional four-hour congressional hearing in which a career State Department officer lamented more wasn't done to save four of his colleagues, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.
Democrats have suggested both the ABC report and the congressional hearing reveal little new about the attack and its aftermath and are mere excuses for Republicans to continue attacking President Barack Obama and try to damage Hillary Clinton should she considering running for president.
( PHOTOS: 10 slams on Obama and Benghazi)
The report also appears to contradict repeated assertions from White House Press Secretary Jay Carney and others that the talking points were a product of the nation's intelligence agencies and were crafted without political interference.
"Those talking points originated from the intelligence community," Carney told reporters at a White House press briefing in November. "They reflect the IC's best assessments of what they thought had happened." Carney said the only outside edits were "stylistic."
At a combative press briefing Friday, Carney reiterated that position and blamed House Republicans for turning a molehill into a mountain by leaking the talking points e-mail chain to reporters.
"I think it's important to examine the information, that again, that we provided to Congress months ago, which they have chosen for political reasons to leak today, which is their prerogative, I suppose," Carney said. "But the fact is, the White House's involvement to the talking points generated by the CIA that Saturday was to make a single change, suggest a single change."
While the first version of the CIA talking points, sent out Friday, Sept. 14, suggested the attack was inspired by protests at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo earlier that day, it also added: "We do know that Islamic extremists with ties to al-Qa'ida participated in the attack."
Then-CIA Director David Petraeus testified last year that he also requested references to Al Qaeda and Ansar Al-Sharia be deleted because he didn't want to tip off members of the group.
After an initial edit addressed some of Nuland's concerns, she said the changes "don't resolve all of my issues or those of my buildings leadership," according to the email exchange obtained by ABC. A source familiar with the e-mail exchange told ABC that Nuland was worried because the statements went beyond what she was saying in her press briefings at the State Department and because she thought the CIA was attempting to throw the State Department under the bus by suggesting its security warnings were ignored.