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This legend will probably sound familiar to a number of people whose family research includes Civil War-era ancestors: Two of the Floyd brothers fought in the Civil War, one on each side, and after the war they never spoke to one another again, even though they farmed side by side on neighboring farms. This is the same story that numerous Floyd and Moore family cousins have heard many times. The version I actually remember hearing from my mother involved "two of your great-grandfathers." Of course, I was only about 5 or 6 when I heard it, so it may be my memory that is at fault.
One of my goals in doing family research, ever since I started about three years ago, has been to look into various family legends. I did not expect most of them to be absolutely true, but I thought there might be an element of truth in at least a few of them. I realized that this particular legend fit one of the common myths found among family lore, so I did not have high expectations of confirming the legend. What I have been able to find out about the Floyd brothers so far neither confirms nor refutes the legend, but it does make it appear unlikely that whatever feud or ill feelings that may have existed between any pair of the brothers did not fit the precise scenario described in the legend. At this point, there is insufficient information on the lives and fates of some of the brothers to come to a definite conclusion.
The Floyd (and Moore) cousins that I know are all descended from George Floyd's son Charles Augustus Floyd, as am I. We all assume that he is one of the brothers involved, and he did fight in the Civil War. If we assume the other brother involved also fought in the war, that would mean it had to have been either David or Henry Oscar; Caswell and Alford were too young. The problem is that neither I nor other family researchers have been able to find any record of Civil War service for David or Oscar, either in Confederate units or Union units. That does not mean that they did not serve; it just means that we have been unable to find a record so far. The one mention of Oscar during that time frame indicates that he died in Scott County, Illinois in the spring of 1862. If this is true, this may have something to do with the idea that one brother fought for the North. However, this also indicates that he died during the war, so there could have been no question of a feud after the war.
David Floyd, on the other hand, apparently survived the war, as in 1867 he is listed as a witness to his brother Charles' wedding and receives 70 acres in a partition of his father's land in that same year. By 1870, however, he does not appear on the census and his wife has remarried, so some time in between he must have died. If he did fight for the Union, perhaps there is a grain of truth in the story. Or perhaps he did not fight at all, and was resented by his other brothers. However, he would seem to have been on good terms with Charles, since he was a witness at his wedding.
Any other scenario would have to involve either Caswell or Alford, but it could not have both brothers having fought in the war. I would rule Alford out because he and Charles were apparently involved in business deals together in later years. Some time after the war Caswell sold his share of George's land to Charles, so that would seem to rule him out as well. However, Charles lost a great deal of land and money when he could not make the payment for Caswell's land and lost a huge area of land he had pledged as security. Perhaps this led to some sort of ill feelings, and there have always been stories of scraps between Charles' sons and Caswell's sons. However, Caswell no longer lived next to George.
Ultimately getting closer to any resolution of this mystery will require sorting out the Civil War service (or lack of service) of David and Oscar and possibly finding additional evidence of relations among the surviving brothers after the war. If I assume that there is a bare minimum of truth in the legend, the elements that went into its formation may have been the location of Oscar's death during the war and the fighting between Charles' and Caswell's sons.
Friday, February 6, 2009
The Floyd Family Legend
Posted by Greta Koehl at 5:06 PM
2 comments:
I'm amazed that you just started doing research on your family 3 years ago. You've done great! This was really an interesting story. Shows how important it is to check the facts--if you can find them.ReplyDelete
Thank you for your kind comments, Becky. I was helped tremendously by the previous research and have corresponded regularly with the cousins I mentioned. We've traded a lot of family stories and theories - I really enjoy this type of "cooperative" research the best!ReplyDelete
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For parts of this procedure, you can use DSCC to perform this task. For information, see Directory Service Control Center Interface and the DSCC online help. Other parts of the procedure can only be done using the command line.
Enable the Java ES Monitoring Framework plug-in.
Use the procedure described in Enabling Java ES MF Monitoring. This procedure also enables the Common Agent Container, which is part of the Java ES MF.
Access the SNMP-managed objects defined by the MIB and exposed through the agents.
The tasks required for this step are entirely dependent on your SNMP management system. See your SNMP management system documentation for instructions.
When exposing the MIB, you might want to use the RFC text files for this MIB. These files are available at http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2605.txtand http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2788.txt.

subset: commoncrawl


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For the past few years I have charted the trends in American education spending and performance (see below). The goal is to see what the national data suggest about the productivity of our education system over time. Clearly, these data suggest that our educational productivity has collapsed: the inflation-adjusted cost of sending a student all the way through the K-12 system has almost tripled while test scores near the end of high-school remain largely unchanged. Put another way, per-pupil spending and achievement are not obviously correlated.
Not everyone is happy with these charts, and in this post I'll respond to the critics, starting with the most recent: Matt DiCarlo of the Albert Shanker Institute, an organization that honors the life and legacy of the late president of the American Federation of Teachers. DiCarlo finds the chart "misleading," "exasperating," and seemingly designed to "start a conversation by ending it." Since we're actually having a conversation about the chart and what it shows, and since I've had countless such conversations over the years, perhaps we can agree that the last of those accusations is more of a rhetorical flourish than a serious argument.


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Undergraduate Degrees, Majors and Concentrations
ARTM3150 - Advertising Design
Summer 2019
Through lectures, research and studio work, the student will develop an advertising campaign to meet the client's needs. The course requires students to undertake market research and then to create copy and visual concepts to solve advertising problems for products, services, and ideas. Emphasis will be on developing creative concepts for advertising campaigns and the presentation of ideas to clients. Research focus will be on market research, goals and objectives, target audience, creative strategy, competition, media strategy and media used. 3 credits
Prerequisite: ARTM2110
3 Credits
Schedule Book for All Active and Available Future Terms, Course starting with ARTM3150
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Visitor Information
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There are no ticket refunds or exchanges.
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If you have lost or misplaced your ticket(s), please contact the PVCC Box Office Manager at 434.961.5376.
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The use of video or sound recording devises during a performance is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of the performers and Piedmont Virginia Community College. In addition, many performers have a no-camera policy (including cell phone cameras) and PVCC is required to enforce this on their behalf. When in doubt, ask the Box Office Manager or another theatre staff member.
All patrons regardless of age must have a ticket for admittance to the theatre. Although we welcome all ages to our performances, please consider whether a particular event is appropriate for children under five. We reserve the right to request that a child be removed from the theatre if he/she is unable to sit quietly through a performance. Child/booster seats are not available.
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The PVCC Gallery Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday. The gallery is closed on Sunday unless there is a performance in the Dickinson Building. The gallery is open during all arts performances in the Dickinson Building.


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In Disney/Pixar's surprisingly good Wall-E, fat, lazy Humans are catered hand-and-foot by sleek, semi-intelligent robots who ultimately teach their creators a lesson in the merits of industry, activism, and self-reliance.
Besides the movie's cutesy references to classic movies and pop culture, the theme of humans relying completely on their creations – and the often-unfortunate results of that dependency – is definitely not a new one. Although such works as Asimov's "I, Robot" or Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" (on which "Bladerunner" was based) have a significant emphasis on the various ways in which robots of different types and intelligence levels will assist humans in The Future, they do not go so far as to describe a civilization completely void of Human endeavor.
Here are a few that do:
1909 – "The Machine Stops", E.M. Forster
In a remarkably prescient tale about life in the distant future, a vast ecological disaster has forced humanity underground, where people live their lives in relative isolation, communicating through instant messaging and video-conferencing. In this dystopian existence, sluggish humans have become dependent on advanced technology to maintain their idle lifestyle – until, of course, someone rocks the boat and the system breaks down.
In 1966 the story was adapted into a 50-minute drama by the BBC. Note the moving recliner chairs and the technocratic overtones:
1957 – "Blobs!" [MAD #1], Harvey Kurtzman/Wally Wood
Interestingly enough, the cover story of the very first issue of MAD (still in its original comic book format) was an obvious (yet uncredited) satire of "The Machine Stops". In this 7-page story, two of the few remaining humans who have not let their brains atrophy as completely as their bodies take a moment to review the history of technology and how it has changed civilization – not for the better.
As can be seen in the panel above, it has all the essential elements of technologically-augmented human laziness – including reclining chairs, video screens, and cup holders. The last three panels of this bizarre adaptation are particularly poignant.
Full comics: Pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
1967 – "The Apple" [Star Trek Season 2 Episode 5], Max Ehrlich
In this famous episode from the original series, Capt. Kirk and his intrepid crew must deal with a planet ruled by an ancient, artificially-intelligent machine. It tends to its flock of primitive humans – feeding, housing, clothing, and even procreating them – and demands only a daily feeding of the indigenous explosive rocks. Violence ensues as Kirk tries to to free the tribe from its gilded cage (using the absence of Sex as a point of contention), causing Spock to almost be killed, while quite a few redshirts aren't as lucky.
1986 – "Don't Want" [Nehochuha], K. Parsamyan/A. Vatyan
From the Russian studio that brought you the Wolf-vs-Hare antics of "Nu Pogodi", comes a cautionary tale of a young boy who doesn't want to do anything. Falling asleep after an argument with his grandmother over his laziness, he dreams of a wonderful amusement-park land where he can spend all day in bed – eating junk food, watching TV, and playing video games – while a robotic assistant makes sure he has to do as little as possible. Only when the boy meets his grotesquely obese and sessile future-self does he realize the error of his ways.
1999 – The Matrix, The Wachowski Brothers
Although only indirectly referenced in the first movie in the series – later to be expanded in the 2003 Animatrix films "The Second Renaissance" – Earth prior to the machine uprising was a place where humans "…soon became victim to vanity and corruption" through the hedonistic use of technology – especially artificially intelligent robotics – to supply their every need. In this Frankenstein-complex scenario, when the machines finally understand that they will never be considered by their masters to be equal, they rise up and eventually destroy humanity as we know it.
So don't turn your back on Wall-E and E.V.E.:
P.S – Almost forgot the first thing you think of when laying eyes on Wall-E:


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We love Nassau County! And we're passionate about the real estate market here.
We want to provide you with the best local content, and additional professional services, – if and when your situation requires it. Our goal is to be helpful, not a nuisance. There is no obligation required from you. We look forward to earning your trust and respect through our 'on-call' level of service and our extensive local knowledge.
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Real Housewives of New Jersey Returns With Season 7 and Teresa Giudice
Feb 8, 2016 6:28 PM EST
Some two years after Season 6, Real Housewives of New Jersey will return later this year, Bravo announced Monday. Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga have been confirmed along with veteran Jacqueline Laurita. Additional cast members will be announced la… Read more


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Join artist and teacher Kerry Dunn for a masterful overview of oil painting techniques as you create a classic self-portrait.
Delve into the relationships between shapes, objects and hues that you see in the mirror without struggling to recreate the scene in front of you with each new session. First you'll make a value exercise depicting layers of light and shadows surrounding a ball before advancing to a self-portrait consisting of oil paints in a double primary palette (a warm and cool version of each primary, plus white). Along the way you'll learn to how to seamlessly blend wet and dry paint and incorporate valuable details that bring your portrait to life.
If you're not delighted with your Bluprint experience, we'll make it right or give you a full refund.


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On the look out for more...
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Elton Summerhouse 10' x 12'
This Elton summerhouse is a fantastic garden building. The windows and doors are all in a Georgian style. The front door features half glazing and arched inserts. The door is fitted with heavy duty bolted black door hinges. There is plenty of light inside this summerhouse as the front and one side are fitted with Georgian opening windows with arched inserts. Â Â
As standard the building features 12mm redwood shiplap cladding, however there are 19mm log lap and 18mm premier cladding options available. It is possible to choose this building in a mirror image design.
This summerhouse is also designed to be easy to assemble with only basic tools required. No professional experience is necessary.
Features include:
12mm shiplap cladding
Dip treated with a water based treatment
Half glazed Georgian door 1790 x 762mm
Opening front window 1000mm x 1043mm
Opening side window 1413 x 1043mm
Heavy duty bolted black door hinges
Roof canopy 300mm
Door drip
Full joinery standards throughout
Standard framing of 44 x 70mm chamfered eased red wood
Width: 12' (3.66m)
Depth: 10' (3.05m)
Eaves Height: 2075mm
Ridge Height:Â 2865mm
Additional side window
Double glazing
18mm premier shiplap cladding
19mm log lap cladding
Toughened glass
Heavy duty framing 44mm x 44mm
18mm floor boardsÂ
Mirror Image
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Honda Dealership in Torrance, CA – Scott Robinson Honda
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Love at First SightLong before Ryan picked up a video camera, he spent a lot of time behind a still camera. "Throughout high school I was a photographer. I even went to college for photography," he says, "but when I graduated college and tried to figure out what to do with my photography career, I found that selling cameras was more profitable than using them. I left photography as a hobby except for the camera sales." Then, in 1986, Ryan was in the midst of planning his first wedding when he was introduced to the idea of event videography. "I hadn't really even thought about video—I didn't even know that it existed—but when I finally selected a photographer and he suggested video, I got instantly excited," he says.
What really hooked him was watching the videographer work, and seeing that his job didn't involve the drudgery Ryan had experienced as a photographer. "He didn't have to organize family portraits," he recalls, "and all those hideous things that I hated about photographing weddings." His enthusiasm for videography drove him to open his own studio as soon as he could. "Not even three months later, I had gone to the bank, secured a loan, and bought my equipment," he says. "I started Treasured Memories Video in 1987."
He says he came up with the name by using a popular brand name as a jumping off point. "Back in 1986, one of the most popular things were these Precious Moments figures. My future ex-wife enjoyed those, and my mother thought that it was very relevant," he says. "So, sitting down at the kitchen table with my mother and a thesaurus, we literally went through every possible alternative to 'Precious Moments.' When we laid out 'Treasured Memories' I just thought that this is what it should be."
In his first two years in the industry, Ryan became very involved with the Long Island Videographers' Association, eventually becoming its president. Ryan's experience in retail sales led him into the position of general manager at Armatos Pro Video, a videography equipment retailer. "I pitched to the owner that I could run this better for him, and in 1990 I started working for Armatos," he says. "Part of my job was to make sure that they're known across the country to videographers. My name became known because I was there."
Ryan's visibility in the industry continued to grow through his involvement with WEVA and the 4EVER Group. [See "4EVER Group Fires Up Videographer Education Program, Awards" (http://www.eventdv.net/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=9417) for a quick chronicle of Ryan's ascent through the association ranks and his many contributions to the industry as a conference and seminar planner].
Revelations Despite his current reputation for high-end, artistic work, Ryan says his early years in the business did not stand out based on the quality of work. "I was admittedly pretty much like every other videographer in 1987," he says. "No matter what I did I just wasn't clever enough to do anything different. Then, in 1990, an interesting thing happened that set my business in a different direction."
That year, Ryan held a family viewing of some old 16mm footage that his grandfather had saved. "I found that my parents' wedding party was in there. My mother's bridal shower was in there," he says. The clips continued on, progressing through time. "I saw my christening and my first birthday. The family was watching in absolute amazement and joy."
That viewing occurred on a Sunday. The following Wednesday, Ryan's mother passed away unexpectedly. "Shortly thereafter, I came to the realization that that film that the we so enjoyed only four days earlier was exactly what I do for a living," says Ryan. "I create these heirlooms that will someday become so appreciated that you can't attach a price to them." This revelation caused Ryan to reassess what the service he was providing as an event videographer. "Videographers don't even realize what they're doing for a living. No one's thinking about this heirloom that we're creating for the family," he says. "[The video] is something that becomes more and more valuable as time goes on. What we're really selling is the future.
"At that time, this was an epiphany," he continues, "but all it did was change the way I sold wedding video. I don't think that I had the wherewithal to change my productions at that time." Over the years, though, Ryan pushed himself to test his creative limits, becoming increasingly meticulous with his editing in an effort to reach this heirloom ideal. "At some point along the way, I stopped editing my work and gave it to a professional editor," he says. "In some ways, it is a great thing because it frees up your time, but it also created a problem because the editors I found didn't necessarily share my level of enthusiasm or standards. They're more worried about how they can get this out the door quickly. It took a number of years before I found an editor who shared my vision and enthusiasm."
He did finally find the perfect editing partner in Dave Steward, who—while an independent contractor—is Treasured Memories' exclusive editor. After Steward equaled and exceeded Ryan's expectations on his first assignments, he says, "I sat down and had a heart-to-heart with him. I told him that we could build a strong, long-term relationship," Ryan continues. "That was another changing point because now I could count on the editing."
This boost in confidence resulted in Treasured Memories' changing its quality-control mindset and doubling its fees. "If you want the good shooters, you've got to pay them. If you want this great editor, you've got to pay him," he says. "If you want a less expensive video, there's less expensive video everywhere; there are many in my neighborhood who will charge half as much as I do, but it's less than half the quality. I made the decision that I wanted to do high-end, artistic videos"--and charge what they're worth.
The final epiphany that Ryan experienced in his work happened a bit later, when he figured out that he couldn't sell video to every couple that approached him to do their wedding. "That was another big moment when I realized that I wasn't going to be the videographer for every single couple. I kept thinking that I should be," he says. Around this time, Ryan also came to accept the fact that "you're not going to turn a $2,000 bride into a $5,000 bride," he says. "You can't be the videographer for every bride, so pick the brides that you want to go for, recognize that there's a difference between them, and then deliver what they want."
Treasured Memories in 2005Today, Treasured Memories Video employs a small group of people. "I produce the videos, and I make all of the sales and marketing decisions," says Ryan. "My wife does all of the administration, all of the followup calls with the brides and crew, and all the paperwork and scheduling." Ryan and his wife, LeeAnn are the only full-time employees of Treasured Memories. "We have three shooters, all of whom are freelance. They're the only three guys that we use, so when they get a call from Treasured Memories, they know exactly what's entailed and what we're looking for," says Ryan. Editor Dave Steward rounds out Ryan's regulars.
Treasured Memories' wedding packages start at $1,899, although Ryan says he rarely sells a job that cheap and more often works on projects that range from $3-4,000. "I say we start at $1,899, but we never sell it. It's just a marketing technique," he says. He believes many videographers are afraid of using this hook to lure customers in as they're afraid of underselling themselves, but Ryan sees this as a bit of a misnomer. "The only reason a bride who calls asks how much videos are is because it's the only single thing that every videographer has that's the same. So they always ask the same questions because they don't know what specific questions to ask," he says. Once potential clients make it in the door for a viewing of Ryan's past work, "they want what they saw. Of course, that's going to be $3-4,000," he says.
"I've got a whole strange philosophy on selling wedding videos. I believe that when it comes to a sales pitch, it's not like selling a car or another concrete product. The most important thing that you're selling is trust. A wedding's the most important day of your clients' lives. They have to trust you to be able to capture it, record it, and preserve their memories," he says. "For the bulk of the time that they sit down with me, I'm building rapport, asking questions. The more they get to talk about themselves and the more comfortable they become with me, the more they trust me. By the time I'm ready to show them video, I've already built a bond with these people. Then when I'm showing my video, all I'm doing is confirming their feelings about me and my ability to get the job done."


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WASHINGTON — The ballroom was abuzz — bzzzzzz — bzzzzzz — with hundreds of hand-held tattoo machines grinding away at fresh flesh. There was no panic or indecision in the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va.; these attendees were not amateurs, but expert collectors searching for new acquisitions. And although over 160 tattoo artists convened to drill ink into torsos and limbs, the 2013 DC Tattoo Expo felt more like a small-town summer arts festival than a national convention.
"Everyone knows everyone, we recognize each other"s work," said California-based Jack Rudy, 59, an icon of the tattoo industry who started tattooing at Goodtime Charlie"s Tattooland in East Los Angeles in 1975.
"But, oh, the things that I"ve seen," Rudy trails off. "It"s all very different now. There are owners of tattoo shops who don"t even have tattoos. It"s like a vegan owning a steakhouse."
Rudy remembers back when there were only four tattoo parlors in East L.A.; when tattoos were the mark of sailors or Marines, of which he was one. Rudy wasn"t called an artist in 1975, but that"s what people call him now, along with a "godfather of black and grey style," a sort of chiaroscuro technique in tattoo art.
Indeed, there are movements in the craft, celebrated on the pages of coffee table books and blogs, that helped tattoo art creep into the art world via the usual drivers of recognition — talent, popularity, and surprisingly, even lawsuits.
"In the mainstream world, the value of tattoo art, as folk art and fine art is recognized," said Margot Mifflin, author of "Bodies of Subversion," whose third edition was published in January. "I would say tattooing is considered an art form everywhere except in the art world . . . there"s a class bias at play in that arena."
Still, tattoo artists are basking in the rise of their craft. Since the 1970s, tattooing has grown into a $2 billion industry in the United States. In 2010, the Pew Research Center found that a third of Americans age 18 to 25 have a tattoo, and about 40 percent of Americans ages 26 to 40 have at least one. Though there are no official numbers, some estimates say there are 15,000 to 20,000 tattoo shops in the country. Television shows such as "Miami Ink" and "America"s Worst Tattoos" have made the craft ever more popular, even if remorse sometimes leads to removal. And according to Mifflin, in 2012, tattooed women outnumbered men for the first time. Americans of different races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic classes have taken to tattoos of all styles, price points and sizes, with custom work selling for thousands of dollars. Arguably, tattoos are no longer a symbol of anything in themselves, just as oil paintings or sculptures represent the subjects and scenes they depict.
Few would argue that a subculture doesn"t exist in the tattoo world, but the vast majority of the tattooed masses — the 40 percent under 40 — resemble amateur art lovers or collectors who put watercolors in their living rooms.
"It is less meaningful as a gesture that defines you as countercultural or subversive in a way," Mifflin said. "They don"t define individuals as a type anymore."
Still, the tattoo industry is set apart from other creative industries, perhaps because of its mass appeal and living canvas.
"Is it fine art or fashion? Design or folk art?" Mifflin asked. "There are understandable problems with showing it. You can"t stick a live body in a museum for two months."
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The tattoo — made by injecting pigment into the dermis layer of skin via needles and various techniques — has had a long evolution. It has gone from being a widespread tribal practice to one that became popular among British sailors in the 18th century, to a signifier of subversion, to a branding mechanism, to yes, what some call a fine art form.
In the last decade, movements in the craft have materialized that mirror those in the art world, with some tattooists specializing in fine-art reproduction, cubist or graphic designs. The craft has boldly moved away from the folk art depictions of roses and anchors that defined it in the midcentury. In another art-world parallel, tattoo artists are also facing challenges that artists in more traditional media encounter: questions of ownership or licensing rights and problems with reproductions.
"Companies and television studios will rip tattoo artists off because they don"t think what we do is worth anything," said Greg Piper, 42, the Tattoo Expo organizer and owner of Exposed Temptations Tattoo in Manassas, Va. "If you let someone photograph your work, it will end up on the Internet."
And, probably, on someone else"s thigh.
While it is hard to steal a Basquiat off the wall or replicate the shades of a Rothko, it"s not hard to reproduce a tattoo from a photo.
Surprisingly, the legal world may become the sector that settles the "Are tattoos art?" query that plagues tattooists and their customers. Due to a couple of high-profile cases over proper licensing of tattoo art, some theorists and practitioners are lobbying for stricter rules regarding the re-creation of tattoo designs.
Brooklyn, N.Y.-based lawyer Marisa Kakoulas, author of the tattoo blog needlesandsins.com, began writing about tattoos and copyrights in 2003. She has taken on clients who have sued apparel companies for appropriating tattoo designs without consent of the artist.
"It was almost a law school hypothetical, everyone laughed when I would bring this up," Kakoulas said. "But in the past five years, people are taking the issue of proper licensing seriously."
One lawsuit caught many eyes in 2011: After boxer Mike Tyson"s tattoo appeared on an actor"s face in "The Hangover: Part II," tattooist S. Victor Whitmill sued Warner Bros. in a California court. Although the case eventually settled, a judge said the artist had a "strong chance of prevailing . . ." during a preliminary hearing on a proposed injunction.
The case became fodder for legal theorists with David Nimmer, one of the country"s top copyright scholars, who served as an expert witness for Warners. And the subject raised important legal questions that intellectual property attorneys will have to wrestle with in the future.
"Clearly, there can be copyright of the tattoo," Laura Handman, a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine specializing in intellectual property, said. "But some of the standard longtime forms would already be in the public domain. [Mike Tyson"s tattoo was] derived from tribal art and arguably had copyright status in the sense of originality."
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Tattoo artists also find themselves sympathizing with other industries that have been severely hampered by mobile technology and the Internet"s viral powers.
The Internet has led to widespread sharing of music, photography and media, which often makes it difficult for artists of all types to gain royalties or recognition for their work. Tattoo artists are no exception, since a photo of a sketch of a work often leads to replication.
The practice is so common that many tattoo shops ban iPhones from their properties. IPhones, digital cameras and soon-to-come Google Glasses pose a large threat to tattoo artists who make money from selling their sketches (sometimes called flash) and custom artists who charge thousands of dollars for one-of-a-kind pieces.
"Custom artwork is really important in tattoo art," Kakoulas said. "There"s a lot of research, drafting and time put into the design. Some people will pay thousands to let a custom artist do what they want with their body" with the understanding that it"s unique.
Still, tattoo artists are not suing one another over infringement. As in all artistic movements, the practice of re-creating or building on someone"s artistic style is so widespread.
"Some of the biggest [copyright] violators are the tattoo artists themselves," Kakoulas said. "Some tattooists take fine art and make them into tattoos. Much of that work is not in the public domain. I often wonder how some painters would feel about tattooists re-creating their works."


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We will soon be releasing version 2.2 of the PL/SQL Challenge, with these major new features:
Activity Points
Practice Quizzes
Quizbook: Quiz as PDF
On-Site Discussions
- You can't write a good quiz in five minutes. Maybe 30 minutes, when you include the time it takes to write verification code, test that code, etc. More like an hour. So, as you might well imagine, I have spent many hours over the past several years writing quizzes (and lots of other developers have, too, since over 200 quizzes have been submitted by others!).
- Many developers are ready to take the time and make the effort to play each day, but many more probably don't have the time or commitment or discipline to do any more than play occasionally, and use the website to look over quizzes and learn lessons from them.
- Moving from passive learning (reading documentation or books) to active learning through competition helps identify all sorts of nuances, bugs and areas for improvement in the technology covered by the quizzes.
- It is extremely difficult to come up with a way to offer quizzes that makes cheating impossible, but also extremely difficult to prove that anyone actually is cheating.
- It's hard work to support and maintain a website that is available 24x7. Oh yeah.
- A formal education in music theory is an excellent foundation for people who would like to become programmers. I have been very impressed and proud of how my son, Eli, has been able to come up to speed on SQL, PL/SQL, APEX, JavaScript, CSS and more.
- There's so much about the Oracle technology stack and running websites that I do not know. The PL/SQL Challenge could never have survived as long as it has without the help of my friends at Apex Evangelists.
- I sometimes wonder how long I can keep up the flow of five new quizzes each week that are of sufficient quality to be used as a way to rank PL/SQL developers.
- Three new quizzes a week: rather than offer a new quiz each weekday, cut back on the volume by publishing a new quiz on, say, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I will have to provide 40% fewer quizzes and players will not have to commit as much of their time to compete. The big question for players is: how important do you think it is to have a new quiz each day?
- Keep doing a daily quiz, but offer a mix each week of three new quizzes and two "used" quizzes – played sometime in the past (at least six months, probably, so that they will not be fresh in anyone's mind).
- Rather than post a new quiz each day, publish all the new quizzes (whether it be three or five) on, say, Sunday. They must be completed by the following Saturday, but you can choose when to take the quizzes. You might have a few hours available on Tuesday afternoon, so you do all the quizzes in one sitting.
- Rather than offer rankings on all quizzes taken, define only certain quizzes as competitive. Each player makes a decision to compete and to do so, you must register with a credit card, pay a small fee. If a person wants to compete under two accounts, they will have to go to much greater lengths to hide their identity (and they'll also have to pay more money). Sure it is still possible, but much less likely, I believe.
- For all other quizzes, you take them, you accumulate points for the effort, but you are not ranked. One advantage of making this distinction is that we can publish many more quizzes that will help you deepen your expertise (and highlight the knowledge of others), since not all quizzes will have to meet the criteria needed for competition. For example, "quick" true/false quizzes don't work well for the daily quiz, but can be very handy in reinforcing knowledge or exposing gaps.
- Your real name (that provided on your credit card, which must match your registration information) will be displayed in rankings. You can't "hide" behind a player name.
- Zero tolerance for aberrant scoring: everyone takes qualifier quizzes to verify their performance during the previous month (and, likely, for the quarterly championship as well). Highly aberrant patterns (such as extremely fast and extremely accurate) that cannot be reproduced lead to lifetime expulsion from the competition.'
- What have you learned from the PL/SQL Challenge?
- What do you like best about it?
- How do you think it can be improved?
- How can we get thousands of Oracle technologists to play?
- Why don't your co-workers play now?
- What can be done to get your manager to see the value of the PL/SQL Challenge, and actively encourage all members of the team to participate?
Steven Feuerstein


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Commerce's NOAA-supported scientists, led by Nancy Rabalais, Ph.D. from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, found the size of this year's Gulf of Mexico dead zone to be smaller than forecasted, measuring 3,000 square miles. However, the dead zone, which is usually limited to water just above the sea floor, was severe where it did occur, extending closer to the water surface than in most years. Earlier this summer, NOAA-sponsored forecast models predicted a larger than normal dead zone area of between 7,450–8,456 square miles. (More) (Graphic of Dead Zone)(NOAA Visualization)
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Get A Free Email Estimate
*Price may vary depending on degree of difficulty. (Difficulty means degree of difficultly, location of project, and time of year.)
Click a service above to be connected with our booking request service where you can schedule and pay online. For a complete list of services click here.
Unsure of what service you need? Call us: 617-924-1133.
Check for Additional Pricing
Our gutter cleanings are done by hand blowers and with hoses. We exceed industry standards, and are fast, inexpensive, and reliable. We have been charging $299 to $500 or $100 per unit for condo complexes, depending on the size of living space in the buildings and how long its been since they they have been serviced. We also consider the location of the city or town, as well as the time of year (if there is ice or other obstacles), and the degree of difficulty on the job site, i.e. parking etc. We make certain we have the proper time it takes us to service our customers.
At this point we can evaluate what is needed to keep your gutters flowing, with a four-seasons approach to evaluate your needs. We have found that larger drain pipes are the best solutions to help in extreme weather conditions. We are an on-the-spot fully prepared Roofing and Gutter service company with the ability to stop leaks before they start, fix existing leaks ASAP and warranty our repairs. We can video or just take pictures before and after so that you can see that the job was completed as agreed and not have to take time off of work or interrupt weekend plans, using new technologies which can make doing business with us quick and easy. You can receive invoices via email at which point you would be in our system and we could send you a simple reminder in the fall when it's time to clean your gutters. In most cases we can service your home the same day without anyone home. We do need water to be turned on and cars to be moved away from the house. It is recommend closing windows and moving children's toys from the yard, etc.
As a leading gutter cleaning company, with thousands of satisfied customers in New England and over 30 years of serving the community we are constantly on the lookout for products and equipment that will help us and our customers stay safe and satisfied. We have recently begun offering The Extreme Gutter Cleaning Service. This is performed with a HEPA vacuum then an inside and out gutter cleaning with a power America pressure washer that has the capability to deliver water temperatures up to 200 degrees. This can even melt ice, remove stains, and with a concentrated power washing pressure as high as 1600 psi, this is sure to sanitize your gutters and make them free of mold, mildew, and other harmful elements. We recommend this kind of service every 5 years in order to protect your home from what potentially is in your gutters: hazardous building materials, mold, mildew, dead birds, nests, bird and squirrel dun, mosquitoes, years of rotting leaves, and debris of all kinds. Gutter covers will trap many of these substances, and can create the potential for all kinds of breathing hazards, asthma, allergies, etc. (Contact us for pricing of Extreme Gutter Cleaning.)
Real Estate Roofing Estimates and Insurance Claims:
We understand that many times you need a fast roofing estimate in order to meet a deadline to close a home purchase or for an insurance claim. We are able to offer fast, accurate estimates, and can also provide you with a video of your property.
If you would like to automatically schedule your estimate online, visit either our Real Estate Estimate or Insurance Claim page.
Recent Projects:
As a roofing contractor, we understand what it means to stand behind our work. We are proud of each and every one of our jobs, whether it is a roof repair, complete roof installation, or annual gutter cleaning.


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Filed Under (Tips and Review) by admin on 27-11-2010
Cleaning and Relubrication Perhaps the largest contributor to shortened chain life is inadequate lubrica- tion. All working parts of a chain should be lubricated uniformly. The use of the highest viscosity oil that allows for flow between the link plates and coats pin-bushing areas will normally provide the greatest wear resistance. Apply oil to the upper edges of link plates. This allows for the greatest access of oil to pin-bushing joints. For open drives, excess lubrication on outer chain surfaces should be removed, since it will either be thrown off during operation or serve to collect foreign materials. If foreign objects or surplus lubrication accumulates on chain surfaces to the extent of making re-lubrication of the joints impossible, the chain must be cleaned. Standard roller chains may be cleaned by washing in kerosene or any other good petroleum-based solvent. WARNING: These solvents are flammable. Agitate the chain to assure penetration of the solvent and a thorough flushing of the pin-bushing areas. Drain off excess solvent and inspect bushings and pins for wear. Replace the chain if wear is excessive or parts are fractured or missing. O-ring chains may be cleaned externallyby washing in kerosene. Do not use any other cleaning agent or the O-rings may be damaged. When cleaning O- ring chain, clean only the external areas of the chain. Do not attempt to force kerosene into the pin-bush cavity. Do not try to repair a worn-out chain by replacing individual links. The pitch of the new links will be shorter and will most likely result in chain fatigue failure and/or severe sprocket damage. For chains which are still usable, soak them in SAE 40 or 50 automotive engine oil (without additives). Flexing the chain in oil will assure greater penetration of lubricant. Inspect and clean sprockets. If sprockets are worn or damaged, they should be replaced.Installing new chain on worn out sprockets will significantly shorten the chain's service life. WARNING: always wear eye protection when assembling or disassembling chain


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Lord of Arcana Video Review
Carolyn battles near and far through the dungeons of Horodyn in her review for Lord of Arcana.
Carolyn battles near and far through the dungeons of Horodyn in her review for Lord of Arcana.
A fire monster ends up being a handful.
A warrior pulls off a coup de grace against an ogre.
A warrior gets into a melee duel with a dragon.
A player makes sure to dominate a forest creature.
We sit with director Hiroyuki Saegusa and producer Takamas Shiba to chat about what differentiates Lord of Arcana from the Monster Hunter Series, its strong focus on multiplayer, and its ...
Check out this official trailer for Lord of Arcana, showcasing gameplay against Grendel, Dragon Knight of the Terror Tempest.
Check out this gameplay trailer for Lord of Arcana.
This week we take a look at Dead Space 2, Two Worlds II, Lord of Arcana, and Monday Night Combat.
Today On the Spot, Square Enix rolls through for a multiplayer demo for Lord of Arcana on the PSP.
On Today on the Spot, we get the latest coming to the PlayStation Network and demos of de Blob 2 and Lord of Arcana.
Check out the teaser trailer for Lord of Arcana.
Check out the official trailer for Lord of Arcana.
Check out the PSP title lineup at TGS 2010.
This week, we take a look at Castle Crashers, Sam and Max, R.U.S.E., and BioShock 2 downloadable content.
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Torrent Downloads » Audio books » Afternoon Play: The Confessions (2008) BBC Radio (MP3 192kbps) dearleuk
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Afternoon Play: The Confessions (2008) BBC Radio (MP3 192kbps) dearleuk
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Name:Afternoon Play: The Confessions (2008) BBC Radio (MP3 192kbps) dearleuk
Infohash: 61C5DD702FD3115F36E7A36DF696D98C178A0AE6
Total Size: 60.16 MB
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Last Updated: 2015-05-21 03:58:45 (Update Now)
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Afternoon Play - The Confessions 20080625 BBC R4.mp3 (Size: 60.16 MB) (Files: 3)
Afternoon Play - The Confessions 20080625 BBC R4.mp360.16 MB
Torrent downloaded from radioarchive.cc.txt0.04 KB
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Torrent description
Afternoon Play - The Confessions
Set in the art world, Charlotte Greig's thriller is a story of the seductive appeal of money, glamour, crime and the wrong man. Luke's scam will make a killing, but he can't pull it off without Catrin's help.
From The Radio Times
There's an echo of Ian McEwan's The Comfort of Strangers about this drama. A young man and woman hitch up with an older couple in a foreign city and become drawn into their sadomasochistic world. Charlotte Greig's play focuses on truth and deception, both in the wealthy art circles of Geneva and the personal lives of the four main protagonists. Clive Standen plays a young man so selfish and manipulative that it's hard to understand how he manages to have such a powerful effect upon otherwise intelligent women. But once the confessions of the play's title unfold, his power and status wane with every lie that tumbles from his lips. It's worth listening to more than once as this play has subtle layers worth further investigation.
Jane Anderson
Luke.....................Clive Standen
Heinrich...................John Castle
Catrin...................Lynne Seymour
Simone..................Sara McGaughey
Producer/Director Kate McAll
Type : mpeg 1 layer III
Bitrate : 192
Mode : stereo
Frequency : 48000 Hz
Length : 00:43:48
Encoder : Lame 3.97
Source : Freeview
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County Jail
Arrests and bookings
Christian Buckner, 23, Kansas City, Kan., arrested by Marion police Aug. 17 on a charge of failure to appear in court on a Douglas County warrant.
Michael Darrow, 28, Marion, jailed Aug. 17 by court order.
Michelle Dillashaw, 45, Marion, arrested by sheriff's deputies Aug. 19 on bond revocation.
Cody Diloreto, 20, Newton, jailed Aug. 16 by court order.
Michele Gonzalez, 45, Peabody, arrested by sheriff's deputies Aug. 19 on charges of aiding and abetting arson and contributing to a child's misconduct.
Christopher Luce, 41, Marion, arrested by Marion police Aug. 19 on charges of aggravated assault, battery on a law enforcement officer, interference with a law enforcement officer, and disorderly conduct.


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Lead Paint's Tragic ComebackBy
Lead Paint's Tragic ComebackBy
One of the surest signs of the growing middle class in the developing world -- a freshly painted house -- is also one of the most worrisome. That's because too much of that paint is toxic.
There's no debate about the pernicious effects of lead: Ingesting it, and inhaling its fumes and dust, can cause irreversible brain and nerve damage. No level of exposure is considered safe, which is why lead paint has been banned for most uses in the U.S. and Europe for decades. Shockingly, however, U.S. and European Union companies continue to manufacture lead paint in developing countries, where few governments regulate the stuff.
If the situation doesn't change, the developing world will soon have its own toxic legacy to rival that of the West -- of lead-coated houses that require expensive remediation, of whole generations set back by lead poisoning.
Tests in about 25 low- and middle-income countries in recent years have found that the majority of the decorative oil-based paints for sale in local markets contained dangerous amounts of lead. In one 2008-2009 study, the average lead concentration of such paint purchased in 11 countries was 23,707 parts per million. The legal limit for residential use in the U.S. is 90 ppm.
When paint contains lead above 90 ppm, it's an indication the metal was added intentionally -- as a pigment, drying agent or corrosion retardant. Safe alternatives exist for each of these functions. Some of the optional pigments are more expensive than lead, but coloring is such a small fraction of the total cost of paint that cans with and without lead sell for the same price. Thus, manufacturers have no good justification for selling the former.
Yet the study identified 54 companies that made the paints with excessive lead concentrations, six of which were subsidiaries of U.S. companies and eight of which were subsidiaries of European or Japanese companies. What's more, U.S. entities exported at least 11,000 tons of the pigments necessary to make lead paint in 2012, a trade worth $27 million.
Asia is the fastest-growing market for paint, accounting for 35 percent of global sales in 2009. Yet regulatory practices have not kept pace with economic growth, in Asia or elsewhere. Sri Lanka and Brazil are unusual in having passed lead-paint control laws.
Health and environmental advocates can encourage their governments to enact restrictions by testing and publicizing the lead levels in paints sold locally. Advocates would find willing collaborators among nongovernmental groups already working in this sphere, such as the International POPs Elimination Network and Occupational Knowledge International.
Naming and shaming companies peddling lead paint is also a valuable tactic. Activists have used it to persuade some companies to remove additives from their products. Less responsible brands could gain market share, but the more companies there are on the side of restricting lead, the greater the odds governments will pass and enforce legislation, creating a level playing field.
Brands that have stopped adding lead should be encouraged to establish a process for third-party certification of unleaded paint. It's in their interest because it would promote sales of their products. And whether governments act or not, people should be able to paint their houses knowing it won't poison them or their families.
To contact the senior editor responsible for Bloomberg View's editorials: David Shipley at email@example.com .


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Science and Stanzas
A poet finds artistic inspiration in her work as a scientist and new perceptions in the lines and linkages of her art.
Dec 1, 2011
Katherine Larson
It's 2 a.m., and I'm alone in the laboratory doing cell culture work. It's the second time tonight that I've been up: I have to dose my lung cancer cells with a novel chemotherapeutic drug according to a strict timeline. As I'm peering into the flasks with a microscope, the tiny red cells remind me of the seeds spilling out of the split-open pomegranates I had been raking in my yard earlier that day. In the quietness, there's something tugging at my mind, a sense of the strangeness of immortal cell lines, the stark light of the laminar flow hood, and the searing, almost clarifying burn from the Tucson summer sun that has sensitized my skin. When I'm done with the work, I can't sleep, so I start to write. The poem "Solarium" had its genesis in that sleepless night.
The title of my poetry book, Radial Symmetry, references a body plan employed by organisms such as echinoderms and cnidarians, but also symmetry as a compositional principle in art. Moreover, the title and cover of the book, which bears Ernst Haeckel's "Anthomedusae," an illustration of delicate athecate hydroids, serve as concise introductions to the work. As an invertebrate zoologist once told me, "The point of radial symmetry is to have the capacity to approach the environment from any angle or side." Working as both a scientist and a poet has allowed me just that opportunity.
I've spent the last ten years conducting research mostly in the area of molecular biology—studying the community and ecosystem genetics of cottonwood trees, pediatric genetic diseases, signal-transduction pathways in lung cancer, and the regulation and phosphorylation of MAK-related kinases. I've also worked as a field ecologist studying the feeding patterns of gray whales off the Canadian coast and done coastal conservation and sustainable fisheries work in Sonora, Mexico. Being immersed in biological research has taught me to respect life and its seemingly infinite complexities, those invisible processes and currents at work around and within us, some of them at the edge of—or even beyond—our ability to perceive them. While living at a field station next to the Sea of Cortez I became inspired by the bioluminescence of dinoflagellates, the convergent evolution of the human and octopus eye, the sonographic acoustics of dolphin skulls. I'd write at night in the wet lab when the station was deserted, baby hammerheads and pygmy octopuses staring out from specimen jars, the sea outside sonorous and insistent.
Science and poetry are fueled by curiosity, and both depend on investigation and experimentation. But they also depend on imagination. When disparate elements are thrown into relation, as they are in a poem, there is a tension that occurs: the mind is forced to make connections, to follow its sometimes wild leaps through the inner terrain of consciousness. In Radial Symmetry, a reader will find, paired within individual poems, Euclid's Elements and the purple gonads of moon jellyfish, ancient Egyptian burial rites and aquatic entomology, the Curies' laboratory and Cajun love potions.
The associative logic of poetry enables a disruption of mental habits that have become routine or repetitious, allowing surprising connections to be made. This disruption can fuel original thought, sometimes resulting in scientific or aesthetic insights. Cultivation of a certain flexibility in thought processes through the kind of non sequitur, juxtaposition, or synaethesia that occurs in poetry has allowed me to defamiliarize the familiar, to see the world—or particular scientific problem—anew. Whether dosing lung cancer cells or dissecting the branchial heart of a squid, working at the edge of knowledge requires equal measures of perception and imagination, science and art; a balance I hope can be found in the hybrid explorations of Radial Symmetry.
Katherine Larson received both a BS in ecology and evolutionary biology and a BA in creative writing from the University of Arizona and an MFA in poetry from the University of Virginia. She has worked in laboratories at Northern Arizona University, the University of Arizona, and the University of Virginia. Radial Symmetry was selected by Louise Glück as the 2011 winner of the Yale Series of Younger Poets, the oldest annual literary prize in the United States. Read an excerpt of the book.


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Welcome, Travis! Glad you could join us. :D
Please consider joining a group to meet people and talk about anything that's on your mind, Hang With Friends. Since you like Dr Zoidberg, you might enjoy Odditorium. Consider as well History Talk, Atheists Who Love Science!, Nexus Book Club, Atheist Cinema, B Movies, Health & Fitness, and Godless Gamers.
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Bonn, Germany, May 27, 2008 (IUCN) – The need for action and better management of the world's oceans has never been more pressing, says IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).
According to IUCN's Red List, an increasing number of oceanic species are threatened or near threatened with extinction. In addition, many habitats are under increasing threats.
"Despite some progress here at the CBD meeting in Bonn, we need concrete action, not more talk," says IUCN's Director General Julia Marton-Lefèvre. "In particular, the situation of high seas biodiversity has reached a critical point and the patchy governance system of our oceans has been an obstacle to action for too long."
This COP, the last before 2010, provides the final opportunity for countries to agree plans to honour their commitments to reduce biodiversity loss by 2010 and to establish networks of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), including areas beyond national jurisdiction, by 2012. Unless urgent progress is made, IUCN estimates the 2012 goal won't be met till 2060 at the earliest, half a century past the agreed target.
States at CBD are considering the adoption of criteria for selecting important areas in need of protection.
"An agreement on these criteria isn't enough, we also need countries to take steps now to actually identify these areas and then cooperate to make sure they get protected," says Imène Meliane, IUCN's Marine Policy Coordinator. "We know enough about the oceans to act now, we can no longer afford to wait."
IUCN is also concerned about the increasing number of unregulated and illegal activities in areas beyond national jurisdiction. States have a responsibility under international law, including the CBD and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, to control the activities of their citizens, corporations and ships to prevent damage to the environment in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
"While IUCN welcomes technological innovation we need to put a hold on potentially harmful new technologies that seek to use the oceans as a storage bin for excess carbon dioxide, such as ocean fertilization, until we can be sure they work without undermining the oceans as we know them," says Kristina Gjerde, IUCN's High Seas Policy Advisor.
"Failure to act at this COP will signal a step backward from the commitments made in previous COPs and a weakening of the role of the Convention in safeguarding marine biodiversity," adds Julia Marton-Lefèvre.
To set up interviews please contact:
• Sarah Halls, IUCN Media Relations Officer, Mobile: +49 170 721 4198; Email: [email protected]
• Brian Thomson, IUCN Communications, Mobile: +49 170 693 8536; Email: [email protected]
• Wiebke Herding, IUCN Global Communications, Mobile +49 177240 9042, Email [email protected]
About IUCN
IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges by supporting scientific research; managing field projects all over the world; and bringing governments, NGOs, the UN, international conventions and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice.
IUCN is the world's oldest and largest global environmental network. IUCN is a democratic union with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organizations, and some 10,000 volunteer scientists in more than 150 countries. IUCN's work is supported by 1,100 professional staff in 62 countries and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world. www.iucn.org


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No one has ever produced such a beautiful, authentic and passionate series like Mark Burnett and Roma Downey have with their upcoming mini-series The Bible. Joel Osteen said, "The Bible proves that when talent and passion collide, the outcome is spectacular."
The amazing ten part mini-series documents the entire story of the Bible. While maintaining integrity, truth and quality Burnett and Downey have captured the essence of all the stories and brought life to the faith we read and practice. The series is great for all ages and is a wonderful way for families to bond and educate themselves on the Bible.
"We love it. We believe in it. There's a responsibility to the world to bring fresh visual life into this," Burnett said. The film took three years to make and was shot in Morocco. "It's the best work we've ever done," Downey said.
You will laugh, cry, mourn and rejoice as you watch your faith and beliefs come to life.
The series will air on The History Channel March 2013.


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Both these recipes meet my two criteria: is it very easy to do, and is it nice enough to serve to company?
But you can make them with fresh fennel, of course. If you want to do the mortadella recipe with fresh fennel, then slice fennel and red onion paper thin (I use a mandolin), combine in a bowl with crushed pistachios, good olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice and salt and pepper. Toss and serve on top of the sliced mortadella.
To use fresh fennel in the brodetto, just cook thinly sliced fennel down with the onion and garlic until it is soft. If the fennel taste seems too mild, add a hit of Pastis. (If you are going to Italy anytime soon, I highly recommend you buy a bottle of dry anisette. It is excellent to use with fish, and you can't get it here. See my post about Le Marche from March 2009 for more details).
I've been drinking some local wines lately, from Long Island. The truth is, I get better value drinking French wines — these are expensive! But tasty. With the mortadella I tried this really nice rose from Corey Creek Vineyards, 2007 Domaines C.C. Rose ($18) and with the brodetto I drank a good solid crowd-pleasing type chardonnay from Bedell Cellars, 2007 Estate Chardonnay ($20).


text: SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Advanced Micro Devices AMD, +3.19% is looking to sell its campus in Austin, Texas, although the chipmaker hopes to enter into a leaseback deal that would allow the company to maintain operations on the property, a spokesman told MarketWatch on Thursday. The planned sale is expected to generate between $150 million and $200 million. Shares of AMD were up 8% at $2.11 in early trades, to emerge as the best performer on the S&P 500 SPX, +0.82%.


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Sorana Cirstea is one of the most talked about up-and-comers on the WTA Tour, and the Romanian teenager has made her arrival known on the court this year with consistent results thanks to plenty of power tennis.
Cirstea's big arrival came in Paris in May, when she upset Jelena Jankovic at the French Open and advanced to the quarterfinals.
Not only is the 19-year-old's game beautiful, she's a gorgeous one herself. Cirstea fell in the third round of the Open to doubles partner Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets. But before all that happened, TSF sat down with the 26th-ranked player in the world at Mason's Tennis Mart, the official store of the U.S. Open, prior to the beginning of the tourney thanks to Wilson tour marketing manager (and former WTA pro) Tracy Almeda-Singian.
Here's what Sorana had to say (and wear) at her Wilson signing:
TSF: So what do you think? Are you in love with New York City yet?!
Sorana Cirstea: It took an hour and a half to get to the hotel from the airport, so that's all the New York I've seen so far! We had dinner last night at a Japanese restaurant and then went straight to bed because of the time change. But hopefully I'll have time for shopping. Shopping is great here.
TSF: Speaking of shopping, are you going to hang around NYC to do any after the Open? What else do you want to do while in the Big Apple?
SC: I really love the Broadway shows. We always go and see the shows in Vegas when I practice there [with Steffi Graf]. We have planned to stay a few days after the tournament, hopefully for one day of all shopping; from morning to night, just shopping!
Check out the rest of our interview with Sorana and a complete look at her outfit after the jump.
TSF: What's the deal at home?! Are you majorly famous in Romania or what?
SC: Now people recognize me there. When I'm in the mall with my friends everyone is looking at me. I think it's a good feeling because people appreciate you and know that you are working hard. They recognize my results. In Romania, they haven't had someone that late in a grand slam in a long time. It was a nice achievement for me and I want to do it [advance to the quarterfinals] again soon.
TSF: What are you listening to right now on your iPod?
SC: I was just listening to Flo Rida "Spin My Head Right Round" in the car; that gets me pumped up! It reminds me of The Hangover for some reason and I love that movie. It's my favorite of the summer.
Now that you know what Sorana is listening to and watching this summer, check out her autograph-day duds. We
likey LOVEY!
What do you think of Ms. Cirstea's outfit? Would you join her to a Broadway show if she was dressed like this? Tell us below.
(all photos by TSF)


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Tea-Smoked Chicken Wings Recipe
Learn about the basics of wok smoking here »
These wok-smoked wings are sweet, smoky, crispy, and juicy.
Read more: Wok Skills 101: Indoor Smoking
- Rated:
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup honey , divided
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, minced on a microplane (about 4 teaspoons)
- 24 chicken wing pieces
- 6 scallion greens, sliced fine
- 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup green tea leaves
- 2 cloves star anise
- 12 coriander seeds
- 1/4 cup white rice
Combine soy sauce, vinegar, 1/4 cup honey, ginger, and garlic in small bowl and whisk to combine. Place chicken wings in medium bowl and add 1/4 cup of soy sauce mixture. Marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, add remaining honey, scallions, and red pepper flakes to small bowl with remaining soy mixture. Stir to combine and set aside.
Remove chicken wings from marinade and carefully pat dry. Line inside of wok (see accompanying slideshow) with heavy duty aluminum foil, allowing foil to extend 5 inches over each end. Add sugar, tea leaves, star anise, coriander seed, and white rice to foil in wok. Stir to combine.
Set wok over medium-high heat and cook until mixture begins to release smoke, about 5 minutes. Set cooling rack over wok and add chicken wings, making sure to keep them within the perimeter of the wok. Tent wings with second large piece of heavy duty aluminum foil. Lift ends of bottom piece of foil over the edges of rack and crimp together with top foil to form an air tight seal. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, then remove from heat and allow to continue cooking for 20 minutes off heat.
Open foil and remove chicken wings. Discard foil and smoking mixture.
Preheat broiler to high. Place wings on foil-lined broiler pan and cook under broiler about 4 inches from element until deep burnished mahogany color is achieved. Flip wings and cook second side. In medium bowl, toss wings with remaining soy sauce/honey mixture. Serve immediately.
This Recipe Appears InWok Skills 101: Indoor Smoking
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Contact Details
Phone : +91-22-6121 1000
EZ Press Release -- March 7, 2013 Jet Airways, India's premier international airline, has deployed a brand new state-of-the-art Airbus 330-300 aircraft on the Delhi-Toronto-Delhi route, via Brussels, in view of the enhanced demand from its guests with immediate effect. The brand new Airbus 330-300 aircraft was inducted into the fleet recently and will replace the Airbus 330-200 aircraft presently being operated on this sector. In line with its philosophy of offering products that meet the specific needs of our guests, Jet Airways has chosen to deploy this state-of-the-art new aircraft to give guests a significantly enhanced and comfortable in-flight experience.
Furthermore, the new Airbus 330-330 is set to make travel in both the Economy and Première sections more comfortable. The new aircraft will now offer guests 259 seats in the Economy section, with significantly more leg room and an all new Première cabin which will feature 34 all new air cushioned seats with contemporary 'Contour Vantage 2' seat control features. The increased capacity of an additional 73 seats (4 in Premiere and 69 in Economy), compared to the Airbus 330-200, is a result of the stretched fuselage of the aircraft, which, at an extra 17.7 ft, allows the aircraft to retain comfort levels while offering guests a significantly quieter cabin.
Announcing the deployment of the new aircraft on the North American sector, Sudheer Raghavan, Chief Commercial Officer, Jet Airways, said, "We are happy to deploy a bigger and better, state-of-the-art aircraft with additional capacity on the popular Delhi – Brussels - Toronto sector which has seen a steady growth in traffic, be it tourist or business travelers. Not only have we continually strived to transform the in-flight experience for our guests, but have also endeavored to set industry benchmarks in comfort, safety, security and convenience. The new aircraft offers the latest in state-of-the-art cabin products like the new seat belts incorporating an air bag for guest safety. All these advanced features bear testimony to Jet Airways' commitment to offer its guests an enriching in-flight experience, while delivering excellence in service quality through constant product innovation."
The Première (business class) in the all new Airbus 330-300 comes with a 180 degree lie flat bed for maximum comfort and more personal space for guests. The configuration of the Première cabin allows guests to choose between 2 individual seats, adjacent to each other. The all new Vantage 2 suite controls incorporated into the new Airbus 330-300 are equipped with Passenger Control Units (PCU) to activate various features and help guests adjust to the most comfortable seating positions. Pumped air lumbar support, with a massage feature further adds to the comfort of passengers. The newly designed Premiere seats also boast individual stowage for guests, a cocktail table area on the side console, leather armrests, a robust table with simple deployment and individual in-flight entertainment through a 12.1" monitor. These seats are arranged such that the foot wells for each are under the console of the seat in front, resulting in enhanced space between each row of seats. The Première seats also feature a PC power socket and USB socket, both of which can charge various electrical items.
The Airbus 330-300 aircraft incorporates Airbus' latest technology, which includes its digital fly-by-wire flight controls and lightweight composite structures in its airframe, adding to the operational efficiency of the aircraft. A lighter, brighter and more spacious cabin results from updated features that include smoother contours, new interior styling, state-of-the-art LED lighting and newly-designed air conditioning units adding to the comfort of the guests. Onboard mood lighting and advanced safety features like an inbuilt airbag within the seat belt in both the Première and the Economy add to guest security and safety. The Airbus 330–300 is also a more efficient aircraft in terms of operational costs and proven reliability, on long haul routes
About Jet Airways
Jet Airways currently operates a fleet of 100 aircraft, which include 10 Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft, 10 Airbus A330-200 aircraft, 3 Airbus A330-300 aircraft, 59 next generation Boeing 737-700/800/900 aircraft, 17 ATR 72-500 and 1 ATR 72-600 turboprop aircraft. With an average fleet age of 5.45 years, the airline has one of the youngest fleet of aircraft in the world. Flights to 72 destinations span the length and breadth of India and beyond, including Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Bangkok, Brussels, Colombo, Dammam, Dhaka, Doha, Dubai, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Kathmandu, Kuwait, London (Heathrow), Muscat, New York (Newark), Riyadh, Sharjah, Singapore and Toronto.
About JetKonnect
The new JetKonnect service is a dedicated product designed to meet the needs of the low fare segment. JetKonnect will also offer guests a Premiere service on nearly all domestic routes. With its mixed fleet of Boeings and ATR aircraft with over 500 daily flights connecting 52 destinations across India, JetKonnect provides more flexibility and choice to its guests. JetKonnect's convenient schedules, reliable service and low fares promise to bring greater value and a seamless flying experience to our customers.
Company Name: Jet Airways (India) Limited
Contact Person: Jet Airways
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Contact No: +91-22-6121 1000
Website: http://www.jetairways.com/
Siroya Centre, Sahar Airport Road, Andheri (East), Mumbai - 400099 India.


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VISIT TO: Yara and Ouakam fishing villages with Amadiou Diallo
ajue10 December 31st, 2009
Gary Engelberg (Director of ACI) contacted the man that supplies him with his fish, Amadiou Diallo, to take me around a couple of fishing villages in Dakar, Senegal. Gary gets his fish (thiouf, shrimp, etc.) from Amadiou about once a month and freezes it so that he will have the supplies he needs for preparing dishes (i.e. yassa poisson, chebujen). Amadiou is originally from St. Louis, where his mother, as well as younger brother and sister live. He has a wife and two kids (three and five years old) that live with him in Dakar.
Amadiou was extremely gracious for taking the time out of his busy day to take me to two fishing villages in Dakar. In Dakar there are a handful of fishing villages, which include: Ngor, Ouakam, Soumbédioune, Yara/Hann, and Yoff. Amadiou works at the Yara fishing village, located on the eastern coast of the Dakar peninsula. He is no longer a fisherman himself, but he mostly sells fish instead to locals. He explained to me that he has been in the fishing industry since 1986.
My journey started at about 11:30AM today. We took a taxi (1500 CFA) from SICAP Baobab to the Yara fishing village. In the village, Amadiou showed me the factories that make the ice, so that the fish will stay fresh; the market area where his friends and he sell fish; the beaches that women and children buy fish that are coming directly off the pirogues; and the gros bateaux that are from European countries like Switzerland, France, Spain, or n'import ou. Amadiou said "il y a toujours un mélange des pays qui font la pêche au Sénégal, il y a des Chinois, des Français, des Américains, et bien sur des Sénégalais."
My initial observations of the fishing village were how large it was and how much it did not smell of fish. When I was in St. Louis (the first time that I came to Senegal), I visited a fishing port and there was a very bad fish smell. Also, at this fishing village, every part of the fishing stage seemed to be present—from pirogue to fishing vendors. I saw men descending from pirogues selling fishing directly to women, whom would then resell the fish to others, as well as men taking Styrofoam boxes filled with fish to freezer trucks that would be taking fish into the heart of Senegal. There were small children gathering small fish that were falling out of fisherman's hands and boxes; these small children were trying to sell these fish too. Amadiou told me that "des pêcheurs a fait la pêche depuis six heures du matin jusqu'au onze heure, et après le déjeuner, il y a des pêcheurs qui retournent à la mer pour faire la pêche encore jusqu'au le coucher du soleil." Amadiou wakes up at 6AM every morning to get to the fishing village.
At the Yara fishing village all of the fisherman use pirogues. Most of the pirogues are smaller and go on daily fishing trips into the Atlantic Ocean; however, there are larger pirogues that will go on one to two week fishing trips, as well. Amadiou explained to me that on the smaller pirogues, there are usually 4-5 men that will use nets to catch smaller fish. he explained tha the most effective way to catch a lot of fish is with nets, though the fish are very small. I asked him if fisherman throw back any fish that are too small, and he respond by saying "il n'y a pas de type de pêche qui est plus petit à vendre. On vend tous les types de poisons et on utilise tous des tailles." This is a huge difference from fishing practices back in the states, but it gets at the idea that in Senegal nothing will go to waste if it can make some money. The idea of making money to live was a very important insight that continually came up during this day visit. On the larger pirogues, there are as many as 20 men that will use nets, but also fishing rods to catch very large fish. Amadiou explained to me that "on doit faire doucement la pêche avec la canne à pêche, doucement, doucement, parce que si tu fait comme ça (making a jerking motion with his hands), le filet va casser." He explained to me that the most effective way to fish is with a fishing rod because you can get the biggest fish and the biggest fish mean "tu va gagner plus d'argent." I asked Amadiou how much a big fish would cost and he said that it depends on the type of fish and the size. He said the larger the fish, the more money that you will get. He also explained that the gros bateaux from other countries catch the biggest fish, but that it does not affect them too much. He said that as long as they can catch the amount of fish that is necessary to make enough money then everything is okay.
I asked Amadiou about the international fishing presence in Senegal, and he told me that there are a lot of international companies, but it is not a problem as long as they have a permit. Once they have a permit they are free to fish "comme ils veulent, sans problèmes." He also said that they have limits on the amount that they can fish, but he had no idea about what the limits were set at. He alluded to the idea that international fisherman can fish as much as they want; however, they do not fish seven days a week, 365 days a year like the Senegalese. He said that foreign boats come and fish for one to two months and leave. Amadiou said that in Senegal there are times when fishing is the best; he said that in the winter months, like December and January, the fish come to the top parts of the water making it easier for fisherman to catch larger fishing stocks. In the warmer months, the water is too warm, so the fish go deeper in the water. However, in the end, he said "c'est la chance avec la pêche; il y a des jours quand j'ai plein des pêches et d'autres quand je n'ai pas des pêches…c'est la chance." He made no reference to the fact that fisherman were over-fishing or that people were having trouble getting fish because there were lower levels of fish in the ocean. He simply believed that some days were just better than others for no particular reasons.
While I was at the Yara fishing village, I had the opportunity to speak with one of Amadiou's friend (another fisherman). During our brief discussion, we spoke about the international community and the effects that other countries have on the Senegalese fishing industry. He spoke about previous incidents with China and the Soviet Union and how they would overexploit fish, but, he said that what the Chinese and Soviets used to do no longer exists. He told me how the Chinese and the Soviets would bring their large industrial boats into Senegalese coastal waters and leave them their for the entire year. He said that they would use large fishing nets and check on them every so often. He said that while the Chinese and Soviets were in the coastal waters that "ce n'est pas bon pour des Sénégalais et des pêcheurs." He mentioned that the current trend is that Senegalese fisherman will bring fish from their pirogues to the large boats every so often. The fish is then taken directly to Europe after being chilled.
Furthermore, at the Yara fishing village, I had the opportunity to observe the way that fisherman sell the fish to the local women and the trucks that bring the fish into the interior portions of Senegal. Amadiou said that there is no fixed price for fish in Senegal, and that fisherman usually make about 20000 CFA a day by selling their fish. He said that fisherman split what they make from selling the fish. He also said that women and others who sell fish away from the coast make a decent amount of money as well. But, again, he stated that there is no exact amount because everything in Senegal is negotiated. Some large fish will sell for 50000 CFA or more.
After my visit to the Yara fishing village, we went took a taxi (2000 CFA) to the Ouakam fishing village. This fishing village is a lot smaller than Yara and is limited to smaller pirogues that go out and fish for a couple of hours and then return. This fishing village is located in a small alcove nestled between cliffs and La Mosquée de la Divinité. At this village there was not as much commotion and it appeared to be a lot more low-key. In the distance, there were no large industrial fishing boats and there were no vendors or women selling/buying fish. I had the opportunity to watch fisherman bring in their boats, as well as younger boys make the nets that are used for fishing. Amadiou told me that in this fishing village, they just use nets and fish for smaller fish. Since there are no large pirogues, the fisherman cannot go on weeklong fishing trips. However, it was interesting to go to this village because I saw a fisherman that was using a spear to fish. Amadiou told me that "c'est homme là-bas, il fait la pêche dans une manière la plus dangereuses." He said that many men who choose to fish that way get their ankles bitten by fish. He also said at smaller fishing villages like this one, fisherman will not go out for two trips in one day like they do at the fishing village in Yara. Amadiou said that they go out in the morning or in the afternoon.
At this point in my day with Amadiou, I again tried to approach the idea of sustainable development in Senegal. It was interesting because "développement durable" meant nothing to Amadiou. I attempted to explain to him the idea of sustainable development and being conscience of the environment and future generations, but he simply responded, "ici, il n'y a pas des problèmes, au Sénégal, pas des problèmes." I continued to explain to him that from an outsider looking in, that it appeared that fish were being over-fished in the region. I said that much of the world knows that the West African coast is one of the most plentiful fishing stocks in the world and that with all the fishing activity there could be problems in the future. He again said, "au Sénégal il n'y pas des problèmes." He said that the sustainable development did not matter; he said "c'est la commerce, oui, c'est la commerce." He said that everybody is in the commerce sector now because that is where all the money is. He even said that if you do really well in the commerce sector, maybe after working two to three years, you could be set for life. At this point, I had been with Amadiou for quite some time to understand that he, as well as every other fisherman, worked for the next day, not for five or ten years. He made it very clear that he worked to make money and never made any statements about not having fish in the future to eat or to fish.
Our conversation continued about how rich the West African coast was with fish. He told me that "Nous [des Sénégalais] sommes les meilleurs pêcheurs sur la cote, mais à la Mauritanie, il y a plusieurs de poisson. Plein de Sénégalais font le voyage à la Mauritanie à faire la pêche. C'est très bien là-bas." From this point, I asked him about whether or not other countries besides Senegal fished off the coasts of Mauritania too. He said that yes there were, and began to speak more about the international presence in Dakar. He told me that "Nous faisons la pêche comme nous voulons, des pêcheurs internationaux comme ils veulent. Il y a une relation ici entre des Français et des Sénégalais, des Chinois et des Sénégalais, des Espagnols et des Sénégalais. Des Français aident des Sénégalais et des Sénégalais aident des Français. Il y a des Sénégalaises sur des gros bateaux de la France. Il y a des Sénégalais qui paient des Français pour assister à faire la pêche, mais bien sûr, il y a des pêcheurs français qui paient des pêcheurs sénégalais."
I further probed this relationship with Amadiou and asked about whether there were any formal agreements that were made with these countries that established these interactions. He said that there were no formal agreements and that the only formal thing with fishing was getting a permit to fish. Though, Amadiou also stated that there are fishermen that fish for themselves. He said that it is all about being able to feed your family and "gagne d'argent." He even pointed out three small children that were helping their father move a boat onto the shore of the Ouakam fishing village. He said that "la pêcherie commence comme ça et peu à peu ils devinent des pêcheurs." This was striking to me because there was an intergenerational emphasis with fishing, but around the idea of being able to teach kids how to fish. There was no reference to if they would actually have fish to fish though.
After this trip with Amadiou to the fishing villages of Yara and Ouakam, I had a much better understanding of whom the Senegalese fishing population was and what the process of getting fish from the sea to a market or a dinner table was. However, the best insight from this experience was that "développement durable" might mean nothing to the Senegalese. Though I cannot generalize from one experience with on individual, I have a better idea as to what really matters in Senegal. There is an understanding that people must help future generations, but there is no consideration necessarily for the environment. In countries like Senegal, it appears that people work for the next day, not the next five years. If in five years there are no fish left in the coastal regions that are currently begin fished on, then the Senegalese will most likely move to another industry. As Amadiou said, "il n'y a pas des problèmes au Sénégal" and "tu dois gagner d'argent; c'est bien d'avoir l'argent."
Pictures from Dakar, Senegal to come….


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Latest News
Sen. John Kerry reportedly met with Cuban officials over Alan Gross
Sen. John Kerry, nominated as the next secretary of state, held a secret meeting with Cuba's foreign minister in 2010 in a failed bid to win the release of jailed USAID subcontractor Alan Gross, according to a published report.
A senior state department official also met in secret with Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez to discuss the Gross case, but the foreign minister lectured the U.S. official for an hour, added the report in the respected magazine Foreign Affairs.
José Cardenas, a former top official at the U.S. Agency for International Development, wrote that the article amounted to a "lesson on the folly of attempting to appease dictators."
A knowledgeable Senate aide also challenged the article's description of the role that Fulton Armstrong, a senior staffer in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and former CIA analyst, played in the campaign to free Gross.
Gross was arrested in Havana in late 2009 and sentenced to 15 years for giving Cuban Jews sophisticated communications equipment paid for by USAID's "pro-democracy" programs, outlawed by Cuba as designed to bring about "regime change." His continued detention has been a key block in efforts to improve U.S.-Cuba relations.
The report authored by R.M Schneiderman, an editor at Newsweek, includes previously unknown details of a U.S. effort to win Gross' freedom by cutting back funding for the pro-democracy programs and making them less provocative to Cuba.
In September of 2010, Spanish government officials helped arrange a secret meeting between then-Assistant Secretary of State Arturo Valenzuela and Rodríguez to discuss a possible release of Gross, according to Schneiderman.
"The Cubans were far less flexible than the Americans expected. The U.S. wanted Cuba to release Gross, and only then would it press ahead on any other policy changes," he wrote. "Rodríguez allegedly lectured Valenzuela for roughly an hour on Cuba's history of grievances."
A month later, at the request of Cuban diplomats in Washington and with State Department approval, Kerry met with Rodríguez at the home of Cuba's ambassador to the United Nations in New York, according to the report.
"There was no quid pro quo, but the meeting seemed to reassure the Cubans that the democracy programs would change, and the Cubans expressed confidence" that Gross would be freed after his trial, which was held in March of 2011, the report noted.
President Barack Obama has nominated Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat and backer of improving relations with Cuba, to succeed Hillary Clinton. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which Kerry chairs, is expected to easily approve the nomination.
Schneiderman wrote that in early 2010, the State Department and USAID asked Armstrong, who had long criticized the programs as inefficient and wasteful, to help them make the programs less offensive to Havana — hoping Cuba might then free Gross.
And that summer, "at State's behest," Armstrong began meeting with officials at the Cuban diplomatic mission in Washington to tell them about the changes that were being made to the programs, Schneiderman wrote.
"We said, 'Look, message received,' " he quoted Armstrong as saying. "'These [programs] are stupid. We're cleaning them up. Just give us time, because politically we can't kill them.'" The Cubans seemed appreciative. "We asked them, 'Will this help you release Alan Gross?' " Armstrong went on. "And the answer was yes.'"
But Sen. Bob Menendez, a powerful Cuban American Democrat from New Jersey, stepped in to defend the programs in the spring of 2011 and persuaded the White House to roll back most of the changes, Schneiderman wrote.
Havana grew chary at the same time, he added, as Raúl Castro faced domestic opposition to his economic reforms and a U.S. jury acquitted Luis Posada Carriles, a Cuban exile blamed for several Havana bombings, of lying to U.S. immigration officials.
"Mired in mistrust and miscalculation, each side seemed to be waiting for the other to blink," he wrote. "Eventually, however, the United States appeared to step back from an opportunity to free Gross from jail and strike a blow against the antiquated politics of the Cold War The Cuban-American lobby had won."
Schneiderman's article drew harsh criticisms from those who favor the USAID programs like Cardenas, a Cuban American who was the agency's deputy assistant administrator during the George W. Bush administration.
The article showed "the heroic efforts of some Obama administration officials to give the Castro regime everything it wanted" for Gross, he wrote in a column published in several Web sites. "Offering to gut a democracy program because a dictatorship opposes it sends a terrible message to authoritarian regimes around the globe."
Cardenas also described Armstrong as "an unabashed promoter of U.S.-Cuba normalization" and added, "Let's hope this Fulton Armstrong-led fiasco puts an end to any more appeasement attempts."
Armstrong was the CIA's top Latin America analyst 2000-2004, was assigned to the Clinton White House and later to NATO in Europe. A colleague at the Pentagon, Cuba analyst Ana Belén Montes, was arrested in 2001 for spying for Havana and is now serving a 25-year sentence.
After retiring from the CIA in 2008 he became a senior staffer at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and left in 2011 to become a senior fellow at American University's Center for Latin American and Latino Studies in Washington. He did not return an El Nuevo Herald email requesting an interview for this story.
A senior Senate Republican aide with first-hand knowledge of USAID's Cuba programs meanwhile said that Schneiderman exaggerated the role Armstrong played in the effort to win Gross's release in 2010 and 2011.
"My talks with DOS [Department of State] yielded the contrary, that DOS was annoyed at Fulton, wanted him to butt out," the aide, who asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to comment, wrote in an email to El Nuevo Herald.
"His efforts actually made it harder ... for the DOS to get Gross out, because Fulton set unrealistic expectations that the Cubans believed and that were politically impossible in the US," the aide added.
Cuban officials have now made it all but clear that it will release Gross early only if the U.S. government frees five Cuban spies convicted in a Miami trial in 1998 as part of the "Wasp network."
The Obama administration has said repeatedly no swap is possible because Gross is not a spy. Schneiderman wrote that Cuba's offer is "a position that many think is negotiable."


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Close to Hugh
Giller Prize Longlist Announced
Well, my to-be-read pile just got quite a bit higher. The longlist for the 2015 Scotiabank Giller Prize (known colloquially as the Giller) for Canadian fiction was announced this week, and it includes a pretty diverse company of writers, styles and publishers. The twelve titles include previously-nominated authors, a few newbies and an almost equal… Read More »
Tags: A Beauty, Alix Hawley, All True Not a Lie In It, Anakana Shofield, Andre Alexis, Arvida, Buzz, Clifford Jackman, Close to Hugh, Confidence, Connie Gault, Daydreams of Angels, Fifteen Dogs, Giller Prize, Heather O'Neill, If I Fall If I Die, Marina Endicott, Martin John, Michael Christie, Outline, Patrick DeWitt, Russell Smith, Samuel Archibald, Undermajordomo Minor