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Supreme Court's Reporter of Decisions Retiring
Contact: Cathal Conneely, 415-865-7740
January 21, 2014
Supreme Court's Reporter of Decisions Retiring
SAN FRANCISCO - Mr. Edward Jessen, the longest serving Reporter of Decisions in the history of the California Supreme Court, will retire February 1 after 25 years of public service.
"Ed Jessen - who has been this court's Reporter of Decisions for a record-breaking 25 years - has followed in the footsteps of other notables, including Bernie Witkin," said Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye. "As Reporter of Decisions, he helps this court and the Courts of Appeal efficiently issue accurate, accessible, and clear opinions, written consistent with the conventions set out in his handbook, the California Style Manual. Although the work of the reporter's office has been accurately described as a quiet and backstage endeavor, it is indispensable to the appellate courts' process of producing 'documents of state' that belong to the people and contribute to the rule of law. I have been privileged to know Ed as a man of integrity, honor, humor, and intelligence - and I speak for the entire appellate court family in saying that all of us will miss him greatly, and wish him the very best in his well-deserved retirement."
As Reporter of Decisions, Mr. Jessen has been responsible for supervising the preparation and publication of California appellate court opinions in the Official Reports. These days, the work now includes the publication of more than 12,000 opinions a year on the judicial branch's website. Appointed by the court, the Reporter ensures the editorial integrity of all such opinions from filing through publication, and reviews the accuracy of the editorial information included in the advance sheets and bound volumes.
"Ed Jessen has served with great distinction for a quarter of a century as California's 24th Reporter of Decisions," said former Chief Justice Ronald M. George. "His knowledge, professionalism, and ability to handle an enormous workload under strict time limits have served the justices of the Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeal in an exemplary manner, to the additional benefit of the trial courts and the bar. We are all greatly indebted to Ed and his staff for enhancing the quality of the opinions rendered by California's appellate courts."
Before joining the Supreme Court, Mr. Jessen worked at Bancroft Whitney Company in San Francisco for over 16 years, including most recently as a Managing Editor. He received a J.D. degree from Golden Gate University Law School in 1972, and a B.A. degree from University of Santa Clara in 1969. No replacement has yet been named.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Analysis : Big Tech tests the waters of the music stream
Technology giants Apple, Google and Amazon are furiously maneuvering for position in the online music business and looking at ways to make streaming profitable, despite the fact that pioneer Pandora has never made a profit.
It has been more than a decade since the iPod heralded the revival of Apple and presaged the smartphone revolution, even as music-sharing site Napster was showing the disruptive power of the Internet in the music business.
Now Google, Amazon.com Inc and Apple are among the Silicon Valley powerhouses sounding out top recording industry executives, according to sources with knowledge of talks and media reports. Streaming service Pandora is spending freely and racking up losses to expand globally. Even social media stalwarts Facebook and Twitter are jumping on the bandwagon.
All of them see a viable music streaming and subscription service as crucial to growing their presence in an exploding mobile environment. For Google and Apple, it is critical in ensuring users remain loyal to their mobile products.
Music has been integral to the mobile experience since the early days of iTunes, which upended the old models with its 99-cent per song buying approach. Now, as smartphones and tablets supplant PCs and virtual storage replaces songs on devices, mobile players from handset makers to social networks realize they must stake out a place or risk ceding control of one of the largest components of mobile device usage.
About 48 percent of smartphone users listen to music on their device, making it the fourth most popular media-related activity after social networking, games and news, according to a ComScore survey of mobile behavior released in February. Users ranked a phone's music and video capability at 7.4 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being most important purchase consideration factor, according to the study.
"Music is very strategic for the various electronic devices Samsung manufactures," said Daren Tsui, CEO and co-founder of streaming music service mSpot, which Samsung bought last year to create the Music Hub service now available on Galaxy smartphones in the United States and Europe.
"By owning it, we can absolutely customize the music experience and leverage the fact that it's not just a service but there's also a hardware component."
In January, Beats Electronics, the startup co-founded by recording supremo Jimmy Iovine and hip-hop performer-producer Dr. Dre, and backed by Universal and Warner Music, announced a new streaming-subscription service dubbed "Daisy" to take on Pandora and Spotify starting this summer.
Now, industry insiders expect Apple, Google and other technology titans to jump into the fray. Apple is talking with music labels about tacking a subscription service option onto iTunes, sources have said, while Google is said to be planning a YouTube subscription music service, according to media reports.
"There are some content creators that think they would benefit from a subscription revenue stream in addition to ads, so we're looking at that," a YouTube spokesperson said, but declined to comment on any specific negotiations.
Apple declined to comment.
Microsoft is already promoting its Xbox Music service. Their entry promises to catalyze an industry shake-up and propel music streaming further into the mainstream.
"ITunes was great but it needs a step forward," Iovine, chairman of Universal Music's Interscope-Geffen-A&M Records, told the AllThingsD conference in February. "There is an ocean of music out there that people want."
Music streaming, or playing songs over the Internet, has in recent years begun to come into its own as listeners increasingly choose to stream songs from apps like Pandora via their smartphones, rather than buy and store individual tracks.
The ad-free subscription model, where consumers pay a flat fee for near-unlimited listening time, is relatively new and quickly gaining popularity.
Pandora, one of the pioneers, is now trying to convert users of its free ad-supported radio service into subscribers. It says mobile users account for more than two thirds of its music, up from just 5 percent of listener-hours three years earlier.
Subscription services are expected to have crossed the 10 per cent mark as a share of total digital music revenues in 2012 for the first time, according to a recent report from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which represents the recording industry worldwide.
Consumers spent $5.6 billion worldwide for digital music in 2012, an increase of 9 percent, offsetting the decline in CDs and other physical ways to provide music. That gave the industry its best growth since 1998, albeit a miniscule 0.3 percent, according to the IFPI.
Pure buyers "have to spend hundreds of dollars a month on music, which most people can't afford to do," Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek told Reuters in an interview last week at South-by-Southwest Interactive. "It's pretty obvious that the access model or the subscription model is a much better proposition for most people."
U.S. consumers will stream an estimated 100 billion tracks this year, says David Bakula, senior vice-president for client development and analytics for Nielsen Entertainment.
"The big question is who has the business model to make it work," said Bakula, a former executive at Universal Music, one of the four major music labels. "The first ones in the market may not be the winners."
Apple CEO Tim Cook recently met with Iovine and other Beats executives to find out more about that business. It is unclear if Apple will join Beats' Project Daisy.
Making money off music streaming is difficult. Leading players Pandora and Spotify, despite attracting hundreds of millions of dollars in financing and millions of subscribers, have never reported a cent of profit.
No less a personage than Steve Jobs himself was a skeptic.
"Never say never, but customers don't seem to be interested in it," the late Apple co-founder and online music visionary told Reuters in a 2007 interview. Apple's current executives have not publicly stated their views on streaming music.
Pandora, which went public in 2011, now has 67 million monthly listeners worldwide - a 41 percent jump from a year ago - together listening to more than 13 billion hours of music.
But its losses more than doubled to $38.1 million in the year to January 31, 2013, hurt by the high cost of standard streaming licenses that typically have a per-track royalty model. This has forced Pandora, which relies mainly on advertising for revenue, to cap free mobile listening at 40 hours per month.
It and other music services such as Clear Channel Communications' iHeartRadio are now urging lawmakers in the U.S. Congress to pass the "Internet Radio Fairness Act," which would set royalty rates for subscription music services using the same standard that has so far been applied to other forms of radio.
But a group of 125 musicians, including Billy Joel and Rihanna, are speaking up against it, arguing that the bill would cut by 85 percent the amount of money an artist receives when his or her songs are played over the Internet.
The issue of how recording labels and musicians will be paid is one of the biggest roadblocks to growth. Competition will almost certainly force a shakeout, with winners and losers.
That could accelerate once major technology companies like Amazon and Google flex their marketing muscles, not to mention Apple with its ability to leverage its enormous base of online music buyers. The California gadget giant is unlikely to cede its lead in selling music without a fight.
While streaming could undercut sales of music tracks, Apple has always maintained that if there is potential for cannibalization of its products, the gadget maker would rather be in charge than let others in on it.
Finally, Microsoft has a large audience of Windows and Xbox players to whom it can promote Xbox Music Pass, a $9.99 a month service it launched in October. The software giant has declined to talk about its future plans in this area.
Bring it on, says Ek from Spotify.
"It's rare that gigantic companies figure out a new way to do something peripheral," Ek said. "I don't believe the world will only be controlled by a Google or an Apple. It will be companies who are great at games like EA, at films like Netflix, or at music like Spotify."
(Additional reporting by Gerry Shih in San Francisco; Editing by Claudia Parsons)


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Reign Episode 1.04 "Hearts & Minds" Synopsis
"Hearts & Minds" — Airing Thursday, November 7, 2013 at 9/8p.m. CST (TV-14, SV) (HDTV)
MARY AND FRANCIS GROW CLOSER AMIDST THE CHAOS — Mary (Adelaide Kane) has to decide if she is willing to lie and sentence a man to death in order to have King Henry (Alan Van Sprang) let her out of her engagement to Prince Francis (Toby Regbo). Meanwhile, Francis and Bash (Torrance Coombs) are suspicious of Tomas' (guest star Manolo Cardona) true intentions which will ultimately lead to a confrontation with disastrous results. Megan Follows, Anna Popplewell, Celina Sinden, Caitlin Stasey and Jenessa Grant also star. Scott Peters directed the episode written by P.K. Simonds.


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What are my reasonable options?
What are my reasonable options?
Started by czipeter, January 29, 2012, 03:25:53 PM
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Posts: 13
What are my reasonable options?
January 29, 2012, 03:25:53 PM
My experience is as bad as it is vivid. I hope I can recall much of the table ephemera without too much judgment.
Social setup:
The game itself was preceded by a rather longish (2 and a half hours table talk which is rather joking, kidding, teasing each other. True that I don't really like this. (It's one of the main reasons of leaving them in the first place.) During this we had to decide what to play, and how to form the two groups (some can't imagine a game that can get the attention of 9 people, I think).
There were 4 players and a GM. Me and the GM haven't gamed together and haven't met each other more than once. Me and one of the other players were new to this campaign but the others had only one session before. All the other contacts are more alive. The GM guy was a bit morose, he complained about other things from his daily life.
The game lasted for about 5 hours with one pizza break.
The book(s) were Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition. I don't think that game has a clearish or logical text (like some standard options making sense only if some optional rules are used, and so on), but I was sure, we would use only half of it and that I would get some savage glances if I corrected someone referencing the aforementioned book. Ok, sometimes I did state my view of a rule--I can't live with not being understood the least. Another mistake was probably that I was expecting the so much feared trad game, so I got it. I didn't know what to do and I did fear the social consequences of asking. (Well, this last sentence looks like this is my current definition of a bad / trad session.) You know, "real roleplayers" don't ask such silly questions. This phenomenon and the inability of expressing ourselves about playing an RPG dominates the group.
Transcript or the like:
This will be my first attempt at describing an actual play experience in English (not being a native speaker), so please don't judge too harshly. I hope, this will be at least decipherable for most of you. And if not, please ask!
The group formed and everybody had characters as this outcome was fairly expected. The game started, as I asked the GM if I can tell him about my character. "OK," he said but at the same time, he asked for my char sheet. I said my PC, an elf Seaman (seawoman, rather) is about to prove herself to her family in this land far from the sea which is otherwise her workplace. I thought about her mission as searching for some ancient secret of this city of the GMs creation. I thought of this as something catchy for the GM (a character hook) as I remembered some mysterious rising of the city's economy from some previous description of the GM.
The same happened to the other new player--he introduced his Marine. (A not too vicious ne'er-do-well largely, dealing mostly in gambling and gossip and evading work.)
I have thought of it before and here I offered the other new player and the GM that our PCs could be acquaintances, traveling partners as they could came from the same city. The GM and the fellow player came to the decision of "they were serving on the same ship as well." I didn't want to waste more words on why it is or why it isn't appropriate if we know each other, but at the same time, I felt not too much convinced about how the human never-do-well could get on a strict and delicate elf trading ship.
I wanted to give a reason why my character is with the other boat folk: she wanted a talker for herself among humans, as she left the elf district of her hometown and thus the protection of its laws.
In realty I wanted to place them together to help playing with each other and to give more sense to further scenes featuring both of us.
The PCs then arrived in town and heard about a tavern from criers, and we followed the line there like good participationists, just to see one other pc there. I decided to take him as a guide to my pc as well. Before we went further to follow my characters mission, the new guy -- let's call him the shepherd, as he was one-- told malicious lies and half-truths about halflings of the city, then threw a mug at one of them dancing merrily on a table. I am not sure whether he wanted to merely show his character to us or wanted us and the environment (the GM) to really respond to him. Not much happened. (I thanked God for the GM not grabbing the oh-so-obligatory bar brawl scene, but now I think it could've been a relief if done well (meaning not knowing the ending before the start--asking rather then merely stating).)
The shepherd PC told us about some men-with-horns as well. For me it wasn't clear that the player is inventing this as well as the former cannibal halfling conspiracy or this is true. If I did know that interesting story (PC shepherd and his family and the city outskirts are threatened by beastmen) awaits there, I would've reasoned that the two foreigner PCs pay for their city guide by scaring off some deers or bandits with horned helmets.
Then despite the evening we went to the old district outside the current plank wall, and my PC could see the ruins of some old houses. I wasn't without prejudice but I am pretty sure the GM responded to my elf being on a mission, searching for an age old secret pretty uninterested. Like I was asking questions which were already answered. Like I was interested in the static picture what he has drawn while I felt like "Nice. What else?" or in other words "Nice. What could this become?" These questions were unconscious and buried deep, but looking back now, I am pretty sure they were there.
Then the GM switched nicely to the PC who wasn't with the others, and they played through some situations. Sad, that I wasn't feeling empowered to ask about the meaning of those doings, but even retrospectively, I can't see too much of an advancement in the story of that PC either. Anyways, he bought rope and have spoken to a man about a crystal piece with an interesting story (for some people, not really that PC, perhaps to the player, yes) and these scenes were really vivid as were the others (cool funny voices, atmospheric scenery).
The next day my seawoman and her marine travel companion were led to the mine of the city by the shepherd. The area of the mine was closed from the masses but the guard told us names of people who can grant us access to the place.
Back in the city we met the other (elven) PC. I decided to react positively with my character to the elf in the all-but-elves bustling city. The shepherd went back shepherding and the other three in the same tavern as the day before. I tried further to show my character being elfy by conversing with the other in their own language and I wanted to get chances for advancing my story by asking him about old places in the city.
In the same time the shepherd found his child missing. His dog quickly led the shepherd in the forest. The scene's foundation was nice: the dog lying motionless, the boy hiding deep in a small hole between rocks, two beastmen attacking him while he was defending himself with a shephard's staff. The PC came to the scene and found this. One beastman turned to him and they fought. I feel the fight was rigged, but facts are facts: the sheperd and his dog from the edge of its grave defeated the first beastman. The second had a similar fate. Dog and boy were sent to the veterinary and the sheperd himself cut one beast head and took it to the city where everyone could see (even the other PCs), that he was true. And an effin hero, by the way.
One group of the militia and city watch went out with him to see the beasts with their own eyes. The PCs joined to help. (I haven't really thought about it before, that monster watching was their thing.)
In the forest, we only found their cave but only one little shape (let's call it ratman, but we called it "halfling-sized" at the table) entered that then some ritual from the inside closed the entrance. Also, there was a uniquely ugly smell from the cavern.
(Side note: Perception checks were permeating everything during the session--I felt they kinda said that the GM wants to tell you something, or that something is effin' hidden from you, and I don't think the roll (I mean the numbers) really mattered and I was frustrated because in my opinion I with my character experienced only the latter ("un-opportunity", which my mind sadly translates to "You see a big bad you can't really do anything about this. What do you do about it?" (Now I see, I could've asked: "Hmm, well, what can I do about it? Please offer me some example ways, at least for inspiration." Next time, I will do this more. If I go again at all.)))
The little expedition returned to the city and everybody went home. The shepherd to his cottage, the elves to the males hosts (my PC wanted to meet them and ask them as well about the past of this city) and the marine to a tavern where he could gamble.
The marine diced, 5 Gamble checks ensued. Rather bad rolls on both sides, and as the rules of the resolution were not voiced (or written anywhere), I don't know if the GM cheated or not when that player won a medium amount of money. He became the star of the night and became drunk freely because spotting a cheater. He got a cheap room here for the night.
The elves have given rather the same advice to my PC as the former folks regarding finding the oldest things in the city.
At night, the GM moved rather harshly. The shepherd had a spooky scene, when his dog was growling at the door, where as they found out nobody stood. Instead he found the gate of his barn open. There he finally found a pair of eyes glittering. The ratman cut him somehow -- not a nasty wound but the blade was poisoned. Failed check and he become unconscious. (Later patched up by a doctor.)
The elven PCs woke up at night because of some thud from the level above them. They run up the stairs while shouting the others names but nobody answered. When entered a room with a slightly open door, they found the bedroom with an open window through which a cloaked ratman was climbing out. The PCs tried to shoot it with no success as it disappeared in the night streets only leaving two dead bodies with cut throats (in the follow-up the doctor found that the wounds were poisoned as well) and its unique stench.
Finally both the Marine with the hangover and the shepherd found a straight, horizontal cut over their brows on their foreheads.
Game ended. I caught a small talk after it: the shepherd's player asked the GM if this is the main storyline--the GM answered something along the line of "Well, It's mostly about you (meaning the PCs), and where your characters are going." To be honest, I am a bit proud of that young guy who asked is playing in some of my games as well.
Any hipotheses, ideas, suggestions, questions are welcome. I am glad I finally took these things to the Forge, as I think my feelings about this session are relevant to my gaming in general.
My real name is Peter.
Posts: 280
Re: What are my reasonable options?
January 30, 2012, 02:03:13 PM
I'm guessing by "reasonable options" you're asking what would make this game more fun?
It sounds like the GM is running what I'm starting to call "Meandering Illusionism" - where people imagine that if they reduce the rate at which the GM pushes come, that it's no longer railroad-y behavior. Unfortunately, because nothing else interesting is happening in play, what happens is that no one knows what play is supposed to be about. ("Look, there's a bar fight, which produces a goal to strive towards! YAY!")
This kind of play often devolves into Zilchplay because without clear goals of what play is about, and no indication by play itself, people just are kinda... there.
The reasonable option is to bow out or suggest playing a different game. Given that it sounds like the social situation is not great for open discussion, bowing out is probably the better choice.
(on a side note, the Shepard character's antics might be best explained by Ron's post here, listed under A and D:
- which goes hand in hand with this kind of play).
Posts: 13
Re: What are my reasonable options?
January 30, 2012, 05:01:53 PM
Hi Chris,
Thank you very much for the reading and the analysis. I think your suggested option is really one of the best and I am good at using it, too. Even so, I am really interested if I can get my fun out of this. What could be the other peoples payoff for such a game? Are they more generally accepting or they like something in this one?
My real name is Peter.
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Modern Physics/The Uneven Dumbbell
The kinetic energy and angular momentum of the dumbbell may be split into two parts, one having to do with the motion of the center of mass of the dumbbell, the other having to do with the motion of the dumbbell relative to its center of mass.
To do this we first split the position vectors into two parts. The centre of mass is at.
so we can define new position vectors, giving the position of the masses relative to the centre of mass, as shown.
The total kinetic energy is
which is the sum of the kinetic energy the dumbbell would have if both masses were concentrated at the center of mass, the translational kinetic energy and the kinetic energy it would have if it were observed from a reference frame in which the center of mass is stationary, the rotational kinetic energy.
The total angular momentum can be similarly split up
into the sum of the angular momentum the system would have if all the mass were concentrated at the center of mass, the orbital angular momentum, and the angular momentum of motion about the center of mass, the spin angular momentum.
We can therefore assume the centre of mass to be fixed.
Since ω is enough to describe the dumbbells motion, it should be enough to determine the angular momentum and internal kinetic energy. We will try writing both of these in terms of ω
First we use two results from earlier
to write the angular momentum in terms of the angular velocity
The first term in the angular momentum is proportional to the angular velocity, as might be expected, but the second term is not.
What this means becomes clearer if we look at the components of L For notational convenience we'll write
These six numbers are constants, reflecting the geometry of the dumbbell.
This, we recognise as being a matrix multiplication.
The nine coefficients of the matrix I are called moments of inertia.
By choosing our axis carefully we can make this matrix diagonal. E.g if
Because the dumbbell is aligned along the x-axis, rotating it around that axis has no effect.
The relationship between the kinetic energy, T, and ω quickly follows.
On the right hand side we immediately recognise the definition of angular momentum.
Substituting for L gives
Using the definition
this reduces to
where the momement of inertia around the axis n is
a constant.
If the dumbbell is aligned along the x-axis as before we get
These equations of rotational dynamics are similar to those for linear dynamics, except that I is a matrix rather than a scalar.


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Research on the French audit market
As little academic research has been carried out on this question, the authors aimed to explore the impact of joint audits requirements on audit market dynamics. The researchers used data from the French audit market as almost all French listed companies are required to implement joint audits. At the same time, these French companies are free to choose any combination of co-auditors, which enabled the researchers to explore the balance between systemic and nonsystemic audit fi rm pairing.
They explored the attractiveness of each type of joint audit pairing over the short and long term. They considered two periods: first, 1997-2003, during which there was significant market concentration as the Big 6 merged into the Big 4; and second, a period of stability from 2003-2009, characterized by the Big 4. Using a Markovian analysis, the researchers explored how audit clients chose between combinations of Big 4 and smaller auditors. At equilibrium, this method produces long term market shares for the various joint audit combinations.
Joint audits favor market openness
Overall, conclusions drawn from the study support the European Commission's position on the potential benefits of joint audits. In terms of stability, the researchers found that a combination of two Big 4 firms was less attractive over the long term than two nonsystemic firms. They noted that a mixed combination of one Big 4 and one smaller firm remained the most attractive solution (54% of audit clients over the long term). Finally, they highlighted that in the case of joint audits involving only nonsystemic firms, long term performance was better for a combination involving one mid-tier fi rm instead of two local firms.
These findings confirm that the French joint audit system can be an effective solution to foster market openness and mitigate Big 4 dominance.
Key points
- The high concentration of auditing activity by the Big 4 creates risks in terms of choice, pricing and quality
- Market openness could be improved by joint audits that encourage audit clients to include mid-tier European or local firms.
- Over the long term, joint audits using a Big 4 firm and a smaller firm are preferred by the majority (54%) of audit clients.


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Carpenter, John. Extremism U.S.A.Phoenix: Associated Professional Services 1964.
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Crane, Philip. The Democrats Dilemma. Chicago: Henry Regnery 1964.
Fortas, Abe. Concerning Dissent and Civil Disobedience. New York: New American Library. Another copy, varient.1968.
Frommer, Arthur. Goldwater From A to Z. A Critical Handbook. New York: Pocket Books 1964.
Green, G.F. The International Jew The World's Foremost Problem.Herts (England): Green 1949.
Guevara, Che. Che Guevara on Vietnam and World Revolution. New York: Merit 1967.
Haley, J. Evetts. A Texan Looks at Lyndon. A Study in Illegimate Power. Canyon (Texas): Palo Duro Press 1964.
Huberman, Leo. The Labor Spy Racket. New York: Modern Age Books 1937.
Johnson, Frank Woodruff. The Octopus. Omaha: Author 1940.
Johnson, John J. The United States and the Latin American Left Wings. Stanford (California): Center for Research in International Studies 1967.
Lasell, Helen P. Power Behind Government Today. New York: Liberty Publications 1963.
Lippman, Walter. The Stakes of Diplomacy. New York: Henry Holt & Company 1915.
Luce, Phillip Abbott. Road to Revolution: Communist Guerilla Warfare in the U.S.A.San Diego: Viewpoint Books 1967.
Manking United. A Challenge to Mad Ambition and The Money Changers.n.p.: The International Registration Bureau 1938.
Moravec, Charles. Logos. Arlington (Texas): Moasic Press, (vol.1: But Man Proud Man)1965.
Morris, Robert. No Wonder We Are Losing. New York: The Bookmailer 1958.
Nock, Albert Jay. The Myth of a Guilty Nation. New York: Huebsch Incorporated 1922.
Peck, James. Underdogs vs Upperdogs. Canterbury (New Hampshire): Greenleaf 1969.
Pritt, D.N. Star Spangled Shadow. London (England): Frederick Muller 1947.
Storm, Wayne. International Money Power Behind World Revolution. Shreveport (Louisiana): Storm Publishing 1966.
Stormer, John A. None Dare Call It Treason. Florissant (Missouri): Liberty Bell Press 1964.
Thompson, Dorothy. The Truth About Communism. Washington, D.C.: Public Affairs Press 1948.
Allen, Charles R., Jr. Concentration Camps U.S.A.New York: Marzani & Munsell 1966.
Allen, Marilyn R. Alien Minorities and Mongrelization. Boston: Meador 1949.
Artune, Frederick. The Grapes of Madness. The Racial Crisis in Perspective. n.p. 1969.
Byfield, Robert S. The Fifth Weapon. New York: The Bookmailer 1954.
Beaty, John. The Iron Curtain Over America. Dallas: Wildenson, 1952. Another copy, Varient.1962.
Chodorov, Frank. The Income Tax: Root of all Evil. Portland (Indiana): Independence Foundation 1957.
Macdonald, Andrew. The Turner Diaries. Arlington (Virginia): National Vanguard Books 1980.
Dilling, Elizabeth. The Red Network; A Who's Who and Handbook of Rdaicalism for Patriots. Chicago: Author 1934.
Dilling, Elizabeth. The Roosevelt Red Record and Its Background. Chicago: Author 1936.
McBirnie, W.S. How to Predict What Our Enemies Will Do. Glendale (California): Author n.d.
Meeker, C.A. Shysterism U.S.A. Albuquerque, Fox 1967.
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Shafer, Paul W. The Turning of the Tides. New Canaan (Connecticut): The Long House 1965.
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We Accuse. A Powerful Statement of the New Political Anger in America. Berkeley (California): Diablo Press 1965.
Wynn, Milton J. Why I Hate the Nazis. New York: ACA Gallery 1945.
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Marx, Karl. Wage-Labor and Capital. New York: International Publishers 1932.
Molotov, V. The Soviet Union in 1942. The Third Five-Year Plan. New York: Workers Library Publishers 1939.
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Lane, Lieutenant-Colonel A.H. The Alien Menace. London: H.A. Kings and Sons, Limited 1928.
Schafly, Phyllis. A Choice not an Echo. Alton(Illinois): Pere Marquette Press 1964.
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Miscellaneous ephemera: includes bookdealer catalogs.


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|Llewellyn's 2019 Daily Planetary Guide
|Yoga for the Creative Soul
|The Pure Heart of Yoga
The following description is adapted from my personal magical diary. The event took place about twenty years ago. At the time I was living in San Diego, sharing a two-bedroom apartment with Scott Cunningham. Scott was making a living at the time by writing articles for private newsletters and writing novels under pseudonyms. His first occult book, Magical Herbalism, had just been published and he was starting to become famous.
I was making a living selling magazines on the phone and occasionally working at occult shops (including Ye Olde Enchantment Shoppe and The Bead Bag, where they also sold strings of beads and individual beads for craft projects), a magic store for sleight-of-hand magicians, and by giving individual classes and lecture series on a wide variety of magical and spiritual topics.
One day, an eager, energetic young woman came bounding into The Bead Bag. "Lauren" was slender and had long hair. In years to come, her dynamism would attract a wide number of people to her circle. She announced to me, "Hello! I'm trying to learn about the occult. Can you help me?"
I replied I'd be glad to give her any help that I could. "But there are many different directions in the occult. What area are you looking to learn about?" She replied that she was just starting and had gotten a book. It was a pocket book, written by a popular author, about how to become a Satanist. "Well, the first thing you could do is get rid of that book," I said.
We spent several hours that afternoon discussing where she might start her studies. I gave her some introductory information based on classes I had been teaching for some time. (It was this type of information, and my experiences teaching, that became the source for my book, Modern Magick.)
Over the next several months, we met several times to discuss occultism and her practices. As I said above, she was very eager and worked diligently. At least, that's the way it seemed to me. I was impressed with Lauren's progress.
Before going on, it's important for readers to understand the situation at the time. Even though it had been around for a quarter of a century, Wicca was just beginning to become popular. At the time, you could have counted the number of Wiccan traditions on the fingers of both hands. Most of the books on magick were from twenty years earlier, based on work done fifty years or more before that. (This, of course, excludes the absurd "complete" books on magick and Witchcraft that explained everything in two hundred pages of a pocket book!)
One of the areas most seriously missing information was that of psychic attack and psychic self-defense. At that time there was really only one book on the subject. It was by Dion Fortune, and was originally published fifty years earlier. I had read it several times and didn't really like it. It seemed filled with paranoia, and the final solution to her problem—initiation into an occult group—was something many people could not obtain then. And due to the secrecy surrounding many occult groups today, even now, more than seventy years later, many seekers cannot obtain local initiation.
It was into this environment that Denning and Phillips released their Practical Guide to Psychic Self-Defense: Strengthen Your Aura. What an amazing book this was—and is! It gives practical, usable techniques for psychic self-defense. More importantly, rather than being based on paranoia, it is based on logic and reason. It presents the clear idea that psychic attack was actually quite rare. However, as I wrote in Modern Magick, "Be that as it may, the feeling of being under psychic attack can be a very real feeling. Also our psyches are constantly under attack from society: salesmen order us to buy; TV ads order us to buy; friends, family, and even strangers, knowingly or not, try to psychologically maneuver and influence us."
"A real psychic attack is not usually caused by a person doing a spell to harm you. Rather, it is caused by a person or persons who for some reason are angry with you. Their rage causes them to unknowingly send a stream of energy filled with their anger toward you. What is more likely, however, is that you simply believe that some negativity is coming toward you. In either case, you will still feel as if you are under attack, and both cases can be dealt with in the same way." (p. 45-46)
But there was one method that I didn't describe, and it helped me and the woman I was advising. It is a simple method to use, especially in a strong situation.
Scott was out and I was alone in the apartment. I was listening to the radio and reading. I heard a knock at the door and looked at the clock. It was well after 10 p.m.
I looked through the window next to the door and saw that it was Lauren. I opened the door and invited her in. Her eyes looked wild and she grabbed onto me. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"
"You've got to help me," she begged.
"What's wrong?" I asked again.
"I broke up with my boyfriend last week. He said he was going to get even with me and I think he has psychically attacked me."
I had her sit down. "Does he know magick?" I asked.
"No," she responded.
"Well, chances are that he doesn't know enough to psychically attack you," I said, trying to calm her. "You know, most of the time people think they are under psychic attack they are creating the impression themselves. Most of the time it's nothing real."
"But it's been following me. Everywhere I go it shows up. You're my last hope."
"This apartment is pretty well protected. I don't think anything magical could..."
She jumped up and stood behind me, holding on as if her life depended upon it. "Then what do you call that?" she said, pointing next to the green chair in which she had been sitting.
The air had grown colder. I sort of half closed my eyes to allow my psychic senses to come out. I held my right palm forward, trying to sense where the coldness I now felt was coming from. Its source, indeed, was next to the chair in which Lauren had been sitting.
Finally, my vision opened to a level where I could see the "creature." To me it appeared to be a shadowy, semi-transparent thing, perhaps as much as two-thirds of a meter in height, and one of the nastiest looking things I had ever seen.
It was spherical, covered with sharp quills like a porcupine. On either side it had a bent leg like a bulldog. Its mouth was vicious with dangerously sharp teeth. Its eyes were so filled with hate and rage that I could feel it.
It was those hate-filled eyes that gave the thing's creation away. "Do you see its eyes?" I asked.
Lauren was holding onto me from behind. My arms were spread out so if the thing attacked, I could protect her. She half-whispered, half-hissed, "Yes."
"That hate, anger, and rage are the source of its creation. Your ex doesn't know magick, but his emotions have created it."
"Can you do anything?"
I walked to the door, keeping myself between her and the creature of hate. I opened the door. Then we moved back to the position we had been in before, leaving a clear path between it and the door. I stood up tall, and in a commanding voice I said, "Leave! I order you to depart."
The result was that the thing snarled horribly. I could feel Lauren cringing behind me, her body tense.
I increased the "psychic pressure" (for lack of a better phrase) on it.
"In the name of Yud-Heh-Vahv-Heh I command you to leave. It is not I who commands you but Adonai!"
The thing didn't move, but the appearance of its eyes changed and its snarl seemed a bit less vicious. I knew I was on the right track.
I gave the same command several times. Finally, it started to move. It slowly inched toward the door. At the door, it was facing outward. It turned its face toward us and snarled again. Then it turned to us and I thought it was going to jump and attack. I repeated the command and it seemed to relax. Then it started to fade. It took about five minutes before all trace of it was gone.
When I was sure it was gone, I used the pentagram projecting method to keep the thing away. This involves visualizing on the forehead a "bright, electric-blue pentagram with one point uppermost." I surrounded this with my hands forming a triangle and then projected this toward where the thing had vanished. I did this several times. I separated myself from Lauren, went over and shut the door. The sound of it closing seemed very final to me, but I knew there was more to do.
I turned back to Lauren who was shaking. "Is it gone?" she asked.
"Yes, for now. But it will come back unless we do something about it."
"Why will it come back?"
"You still have several magical links with your ex. They're caused by the time you spent with him, that you were psychologically attached to him, and that you had sex with him. That thing follows the links right to you."
"What can I do?"
We needed to cut those links. An ideal method for this was something that I called the "I.O.B. Technique" when I revealed the system in Modern Magick.
The "I" stands for "identify." The first thing to do is identify the true source of the problem. The "O" stands for "objectify." This is done by giving a shape to the source, if it does not already have a shape. Since we knew the source, the technique requires that we make a visualized mock-up of it—or in this case, of him.
"Do you have a picture of your ex?"
"In my car. Is that a problem?"
"No, it can just be used as a basis for visualization. But we don't need it. What I would like you to do is visualize him standing on the other side of the door. Visualize him as strongly as possible. I'll be back in a moment."
As she visualized her ex-boyfriend, I went into my room (Scott's room was on the other side of the apartment). In my room I went to my altar and took out the black-handled knife I used in many rituals. By the time I came back to the living room where Lauren was sitting, I could see she had a somewhat fearful look in her eyes. She looked quickly at me and then back to where her visualization was. "I don't want to see him anymore. How long do I have to keep this up?"
I walked forward and with my extended vision saw numerous strands of energy, like white sinews, stretching through the door and into various parts of Lauren. "Not long," I replied. I stepped forward and started cutting the cords that linked her to her ex. Some were like a hot knife going through a container of ice cream. Others were tough and I had to saw back and forth to sever them. With each cut, I could hear her slightly gasp.
Once they were severed, I stepped between her and where her visualization of her ex had been. As before, I projected pentagrams in the direction of her visualization.
Finally, I did the "B," or banishing of the technique. I pulled Lauren out of her chair and had her sit in the center of the room. I performed the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram around her. (The instructions for the I.O.B. Technique and the Banishing Ritual are included in Modern Magick.)
The "creature" never came back, and she never heard from her ex-boyfriend again. I consider this operation a success.
In most cases, if you think you are under psychic attack, chances are you are not. However, on rare occasions it does occur. When it does occur, it is most common that the attack is a manifestation of the attackers anger and rage and not a calculated magical act.
If you feel like there is something attacking you, one of the easiest and quickest things you can do is simply this: tell it to leave! If that sounds simple, it is. It is so simple that it works and can work quite powerfully. For added strength, you may wish to add the I.O.B. Technique and a banishing ritual.
Donald Michael Kraig graduated from UCLA with a degree in philosophy. He also studied public speaking and music (traditional and experimental) on the university level. After a decade of personal study and practice, he began ...


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In the two years that have passed since he was banished to the desert of New Mexico, and the year-and-change since he helped defend Manhattan from space invaders, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) has grown from a cocky, impulsive warrior prince to a man worthy of the trusty hammer he carries into battle. That's great news for Asgard, the magical space kingdom from which he hails, but less-than-great news for Thor: The Dark World, the second solo outing for this blond-locked, muscle-ripped deity. Pigheaded arrogance, on full display in the first Thor film and last summer's crossover bonanza The Avengers, is one of the qualities that gave Hemsworth's hero a spark of real personality. Without it, he seems faintly duller—more square-jawed and noble, a superman as pious as he is formidable. There's nothing like maturity to ruin a good rogue.
Like its predecessor, The Dark World leaps back and forth between Earth and Asgard, though the fish-out-of-water comedy that enlivened the original has gone missing. Actually, that's not entirely true: This time, it's love interest Jane (Natalie Portman) who's humorously out of her element, but seeing her nervously meet the parents (Anthony Hopkins and Rene Russo) is less amusing than watching the Thunder God try to buy a horse at a pet store. How does a human end up walking the golden halls of Asgard? The answer involves vengeful elves, gravitational anomalies, inter-dimensional portals, and a vague, gaseous MacGuffin called the Aether. Most of these elements are introduced during another Hopkins-narrated prologue, this one skewing even closer to Lord Of The Rings territory. When not barking mythological exposition at one another, the characters are breathlessly exchanging pseudo-science that would make the late Gene Roddenberry proud.
But every step the series takes isn't a backward one. In fact, as is the case with most good superhero sequels, The Dark World escapes the oppressive duty of franchise building, finally getting to play in the world its origin-story predecessor established. Replacing Kenneth Branagh in the director's chair, TV-trained Alan Taylor (Game Of Thrones) adapts more gracefully to the Marvel house style; for once, the action is cleanly and coherently staged, and Taylor brings some of the gravity and grandeur of Westeros to this universe. (Without instituting a redesign, he's somehow made Asgard seem less Emerald City-chintzy.) Filling in the cracks of the perfunctory narrative is a wealth of Whedonesque comedy, delivered by Thor's returning, Earthbound cavalry: not just Jane, still flustered by her beefcake suitor, but also a quip-firing Darcy (Kat Dennings) and a ranting, pantsless Dr. Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård). This being a Marvel movie, there's also a surprise cameo, this time by a character who doesn't actually appear in the film. Confused? Just wait for it.
But would it kill the makers of these splash-panel blockbusters to dream up a bad guy with a little menace, a little flavor? As if to match Thor's increasingly flawless virtue, the heavy here is a bland force of ancient evil, determined to destroy the universe because… well, that's what forces of ancient evil try to do. Consequently, the movie's most valuable asset may be Tom Hiddleston, reprising the role of Thor's jealous, treacherous brother, Loki. He's the only person onscreen with truly complicated motives, and Hiddleston reveals new depths to the character once The Dark World, in its most fruitful development, forces this black sheep into an uneasy alliance with the favorite son. Forget the fairy-tale romance between Jane and her hammer-wielding hunk. The real emotional center of the Thor series is this sibling rivalry, more compelling than any climactic battle royale or winking teaser for the next chapter.


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The bulls are not ready to retreat just yet, thanks to Japan.
U.S. stock futures were clearly pointing to early gains Friday after a modest pullback during the previous session.
Japan's Nikkei ended the session with a near 3% gain as the Japanese yen fell to a four-year low against the U.S. dollar. Investors continue to welcome moves by the Bank of Japan to boost the nation's economy.
Related: Nikkei at 5-year high
"The Bank of Japan is moving the markets, not only in the Far East, but here as well, extending to U.S. futures," said David Madden, market analyst at IG Markets in London, referring to the BOJ'S aggressive campaign against deflation. "This is another example of central bank intervention, which is propping things up."
Madden said that investors will be watching Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke closely Friday for talk about stimulus as he delivers a speech in Chicago at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Aside from that, there are few major corporate or economic reports scheduled for release to drive stocks. Madden described investor sentiment as "cautiously optimistic."
"Nobody wants to buy at the top, but given how anxiously central banks will push things, nobody's willing to take money off the table at the same time," he said. "Nobody's willing to get off the gravy train too soon."
U.S. stocks closed mostly lower Thursday, but are still trading around all-time highs. All three major indexes are up between 13% and 15% since the start of the year.
Related: Fear & Greed Index gets greedy
Meanwhile, Dell (DELL) edged up in premarket trading after investor Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management sent an alternative buyout offer to the PC maker. Icahn also disclosed a 4.52% stake in Dell.
Priceline (PCLN) shares fell after the online travel booker issued a worse-than-expected forecast for second-quarter earnings.
Gap (GPS) shares rose nearly 5% after the apparel retailer issued strong quarterly guidance.
European markets are firmly in positive territory in midday trading, following strong gains in Asian markets.
In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index pushed ahead by 0.5% and Shanghai's composite index added 0.6%.


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Here I report some technical info to understand basic Wireless environment.
At first layer ISO/OSI we can have 3 kind of spec:
2 types of configurations:
Adhoc is the simpler method (and the also the less scalable) and let many hosts communicate each other directly. The restrictive requirement is that all one are to be visible directly to reach a complete coverage of the network. (at least Ideally, because this problem could be solved at IP level! For more see Par 5.4).
Adhoc mode A - - - - - C \ / | \ / | /\ | / \ | / \ B - - - - - D
In a Infrastructure environment you use the Access Point to which ALL other hosts must connect to share the network.
Infrastructure mode ESS A - - - | - Access Point - - Access Point - | - - - D B - - - | BSS1 BSS2 | - - - E C - - - | | - - - F
B and C could not see D,E and F, but they can communicate as well cause all one are using the same ESS. Important: A,B and C could also not see each other.
In addition there are terms like indoor and outdoor to distinguish short area coverage from long area coverage.
Keep on mind that there are a number of Wireless cards in the world, but not every card can communicate with every other one. For talking together the cards have to use to:
Access Point are very useful and killing problem but they are expansive. Ideally, for a more concentrated network you could use Infrastructure mode, while for few hosts you can choose Adhoc: why to spend much money for few hosts?
Anyway be aware that if you spend much money probably all works well while spending less you could have some trouble.
Good asking!
Recently there is a kind of hardware that allows this feature: Prism2
You can find something at http://people.ssh.com/jkm/Prism2/
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The Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States, provides the nation with a safe, flexible, and stable monetary and financial system.
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Beginning 1986:Q2, market value level from FR Board FR Y-9LP report, schedule PC, total assets (BHCP2170), less items reported by tiered holding companies only: sum of schedule PC-A, Equity investments in subsidiary holding companies and associated holding companies (BHCP0201, BHCP0202, and BHCP0203), Nonequity investments in and receivables due from subsidiary holding companies and associated holding companies (BHCP0204 and BHCP0205), and from schedule PC, balances (other than investments) due from related holding companies (BHCP3604 begins 1990:Q3); plus, starting in 1986:Q2, from FR Board FR Y-9SP report, schedule SC, total assets (BHSP2170) less investment in subsidiary holding companies (BHSP0201, BHSP0202, and BHSP3523); plus, beginning 2012:Q1, from FR Board FR 2320 report (Column A), Parent Only, Total Assets (SLHP2170). Capital gains are set equal to the sum of FR733061103, FR733061703, and FR733063003. Transactions are calculated as the change in the market value level less capital gains less any other volume changes. Data for the most recent ten years show no significant seasonality.


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Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
"Advocate for those who can't, support those who can, and ensure all long-term care consumers live with dignity and respect."
What is an Ombudsman? The word "Ombudsman" is a Swedish word meaning "citizen representative". The Ombudsman is actively involved in assuring that consumers of long term care receive the level of care and quality of life that they deserve. The Ombudsman is concerned with the individuals' health, safety, welfare and rights.
Wayne County contracts with Serving Seniors, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life and care of nursing home, personal care home and isolated older adults. The agency serves as a mediator and investigates and resolves complaints made by or on behalf of persons over the age of 60 who are receiving long-term care services. The Ombudsman provides a mechanism for people to voice their concerns, to have their complaints addressed, and to work with all parties in an effort to solve a problem.
The Ombudsman will assist residents of Nursing and Personal Care Homes (or their relatives and friends), or aid individuals who are receiving long-term care services in their own homes and community. Typical complaints which are handled by the Ombudsman include:
Contact Serving Seniors at 570-344-7190 or visit the website


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Book of Ages
The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin
Author: Jill Lepore
Narrator: Robin Miles
Unabridged: 11 hr 37 min
Format: Digital Audiobook Download
Publisher: Recorded Books
Published: 11/22/2013
From one of our most accomplished and widely admired historians, a revelatory portrait of Benjamin Franklin' s youngest sister and a history of history itself. Like her brother, Jane Franklin was a passionate reader, a gifted writer, and an astonishingly shrewd political commentator. Unlike him, she was a mother of twelve Benjamin Franklin, who wrote more letters to his sister than he wrote to anyone else, was the original American self-made man; his sister spent her life caring for her children. They left very different traces behind. Making use of an amazing cache of little-studied material, including documents, objects, and portraits only just discovered, Jill Lepore brings Jane Franklin to life in a way that illuminates not only this one woman but an entire world-- a world usually lost to history. Lepore' s life of Jane Franklin, with its strikingly original vantage on her remarkable brother, is at once a wholly different account of the founding of the United States and one of the great untold stories of American history and letters: a life unknown.


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Genesis II.5 loudspeaker system
Whenever anyone marvels at the enormous Genesis II.5 loudspeakers in my house, I'm quick to tell them that the II.5 is the smallest, least expensive loudspeaker made by Genesis Technologies. In fact, the company makes two larger speaker systems, the $33,000 Genesis II and the $70,000 Genesis I (footnote 1).
Footnote 1: At the time of this writing, Genesis is just starting to ship the much smaller $12,950 Genesis V. See my interview in this issue with Genesis founders Arnie Nudell and Paul McGowan.
Building such ambitious loudspeakers as the Genesis products is a risky proposition. Big loudspeakers often fail miserablyany flaw seems to be magnified by the loudspeaker's lofty aspirationsthe bigger they are, the harder they fall. Moreover, the criteria for what constitutes good performance rises proportionally with the loudspeaker's price. For several tens of thousands of dollars, the loudspeaker had better deliver the musical goods.
I thus took delivery of the $22,000, half-ton Genesis II.5 system with a combination of excitement and trepidation. The excitement was over the prospect of having a world-class loudspeaker in my home; the trepidation was the very real possibility that the II.5 would have some unacceptable shortcoming. Because a loudspeaker of this ambition requires several months to fully evaluate (and because they're so hard to move), I knew the Genesis II.5s would dominate my system for some time.
The question was whether the II.5 would become a monstrosity I wanted out of my room as soon as possible, or a product that would become an essential part of my musical life. There would likely be no middle ground.
For your 22 grand you get two 6'-tall, 28"-wide panels with integral twin dynamic bass drivers and a woofer power amplifier. The II.5 is a tall, thin panel in which three 1" round planar tweeters are mounted to the inside edge of a 4' ribbon midrange unit. This panel is flanked on either side by curved rosewood-finished "wings" that define the II.5's shape and size. A sealed box attached to the bottom rear of this assembly holds two 12" woofersone front-firing, one rear-firing. The entire system rests on a flat, triangular-shaped platform. A narrow black grille covers the drivers, with a separate grille covering the rear-firing woofer.
The system has two controls on the rear of the woofer enclosure: one adjusts the midrange crossover frequency to the tweeters, the other controls the level of the single rear-firing tweeter. Input is via a pair of high-quality binding posts.
The II.5's woofer enclosure also has a Neutrik input jack for connecting the woofers to the Genesis servo amplifier, which is included with the system. (Servo-driven woofers are explained below.) Note that the Genesis woofer amplifier doesn't include the crossover for the midrange and tweeters. Instead, you connect the woofer amplifier to the II.5 via the dedicated cable, and drive the midrange and tweeters directly with an amplifier of your choosing. Your preamp, however, must have two stereo outputs: one pair to drive the woofer amplifier, one pair to drive the midrange/tweeter amplifier.
The Genesis is a true dipolar design, radiating energy to the front and rear of the loudspeaker. There is a single rear-firing tweeter to complement the ribbon midrange's inherent dipolar nature. Dipoles radiate sound in a cardioid (heart-shaped) pattern both to the front and rear of the panel, producing a null at the sides.
Because the ribbon midrange is a line source, it has a very narrow vertical dispersion; ie, it radiates very little energy above and below it. The result is less reflected energy from the floor and ceiling. Dipoles are also different in that they require space behind them to work their bestthe II.5s need to be placed well out into the room for optimum performance. Moreover, compared with a point-source box loudspeaker, the rear wall's acoustic properties have a greater influence on how a dipole will sound in the room.
As with Arnie Nudell's first loudspeaker designthe Servo Statik I of 25 years agothe II.5 uses servo-driven woofers. A woofer servo operates by comparing the drive signal sent to the woofer with the woofer's actual motion. An accelerometer attached to the woofer's voice-coil sends a signal back to the servo amplifier via a custom cable supplied with the II.5. Differences between the drive signal and woofer motion are a form of distortion, and can be corrected electrically by modifying the drive signal. In essence, the servo system forces the woofer to behave in a predetermined way. In the II.5, only one woofer carries an accelerometer, with the amplifier assuming both woofers are behaving identically (footnote 2).
A servo system can also extend a woofer's low-frequency cutoff point, regardless of the enclosure size. Indeed, the II.5's woofer enclosure seems far too small for a pair of 12" drivers. In fact, the Genesis woofer in its enclosure has a resonance frequency of 70Hz. Without a servo system, the low-frequency extension would be severely compromised (a sealed enclosure produces a rolloff of 12dB/octave below resonance). As the woofer begins to roll off naturally, however, the servo system simply drives the woofer harder and harder to increase the system's extension. This is how the II.5 can achieve a 3dB point of 16Hz from such a small box.
This technique places extraordinary demands on the woofer and the power amplifier driving it, particularly at very low frequenciesthe lower the frequency, the more current the servo amplifier must force through the woofer's voice-coil to produce an equivalent sound-pressure level. The II.5's woofers, designed by Arnie Nudell specifically for these rigorous conditions, are made of two aluminum cones bonded together with a damping compound. This "tri-laminate" design is reportedly so stiff that the cone is virtually impervious to flexing (footnote 3). With a whopping 2"-diameter voice-coil and a 30-lb magnet, the driver can produce excursions of a full inch. To further increase bass output, the II.5 system uses a total of four of these servo-driven woofers.
The midrange is a 4'-tall ribbon driver made from a 0.001"-thick layer of Kapton. The term "ribbon" as applied to the Genesis midrange is actually a misnomer; in a true ribbon, current flows through the diaphragm itself. The more correct term for the Genesis midrange is "planar magnetic," a design in which a conductor is bonded to the diaphragm. Despite the semantic distinction, the Genesis ribbon has all the advantages conferred by such low moving massprimarily excellent transient ability.
Footnote 1: At the time of this writing, Genesis is just starting to ship the much smaller $12,950 Genesis V. See my interview in this issue with Genesis founders Arnie Nudell and Paul McGowan.
Footnote 2: The $70,000 Genesis I uses six 12" servo-driven woofers per channel, each with its own accelerometer. Yeow!
Footnote 3: A woofer cone tends to flex as a voice-coil pushes it forward, because it's being driven from a small point at the cone center where the voice-coil is attached. This tendency is exacerbated in a servo-driven woofer because of the high excursion required. Moreover, an accelerometer placed on the voice-coil doesn't know what the rest of the cone is doing. This is why the II.5's woofers were specially designed for this application.


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Watch Hill , Rhode Island is an amazing place to visit! The image on this pillow was taken from a vintage postcard in our collection.
The image is available in 3 different styles and 2 different sizes.
PLEASE NOTE; THE LAST 3 PHOTOS SHOW STYLES AND SIZES ONLY! You will receive the image on the first photo!
The 3rd photo shows the pleated version in 2 different sizes. The 4th photo shows the 2 tone version in the 2 different sizes and the 5th photo shows the striped version. The buttons on the pleated pillows are hand tied by a retired Merchant Marine Sailor.
The larger lumbar pillow measures 24 inches long by 16 inches high. The smaller pillow is 16 inches long by 12 inches high. All pillows are closed at the bottom with a zipper and include the feather and down insert.
All of our destination collection pillows are made to order from 100% Belgian linen, please allow 1-2 weeks for delivery depending on your location in the US. Please allow for a longer delivery time on international orders.
1-3 business days
I'll do my best to meet these shipping estimates, but can't guarantee them. Actual delivery time will depend on the shipping method you choose.
Buyers are responsible for any customs and import taxes that may apply. I'm not responsible for delays due to customs.
Just contact me within: 7 days of delivery
Ship items back to me within: 14 days of delivery
But please contact me if you have any problems with your order.
Because of the nature of these items, unless they arrive damaged or defective, I can't accept returns for:
Buyers are responsible for return shipping costs. If the item is not returned in its original condition, the buyer is responsible for any loss in value.
If you are a designer or retail shop please contact me directly and I will work with you to create a custom listing at wholesale pricing. You may also click on the "request custom order" button to initiate a conversation. Please note- sale items are not available at wholesale prices. Also- we must charge shipping on wholesale orders- free shipping on orders over $35.00 does not apply to wholesale orders.
All throw pillows are dry clean only. A care instruction label is sewn inside the pillow cover. The sachets are NOT washable nor dry cleanable. Please DO NOT heat them in the microwave- they are not meant to be heated or cooled in a refrigerator.


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The long-term survival of coral reefs will depend on how well they can deal with rising ocean temperatures. Corals, the animals that famously build reefs, get most of their energy and color from microscopic algae that live inside their tissue. This unique arrangement is very sensitive to the surroundings, however. When the water gets too warm, the corals expel or consume the algae, and turn white. If the warm water persists, this "bleaching" process can starve corals to death.
In May I traveled from my lab at the University of British Columbia to the Gilbert Islands, part of the island nation of Kiribati, in the central equatorial Pacific. They offer a unique natural laboratory for studying how coral reefs respond to frequent ocean heat waves. When an El Niño climate event sets up in the Pacific, the ocean around Kiribati—in the heart of the El Niño zone—warms up. By studying changes in the coral community after El Niño events, we can evaluate what types of corals and reef habitats are most likely to survive in a warmer future.
View a slide show of the Kiribati corals
During this trip, my colleagues at Kiribati's Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resource Development and I measured coral cover and the fish population at sites around four different atolls. We began alongside Tarawa Atoll, the densely populated capital of Kiribati, and proceeded northward for 160 kilometers, ending up in the remote Butaritari Atoll. Because Kiribati is a remote country with limited access to Western goods, few outside visitors and no fancy research vessels, field work there requires patience, flexibility and a strong stomach.
We are now analyzing the data to test our suspicion that certain "tough" coral species are spreading at sites with a history of frequent, strong El Niño–based heat waves. These sites could be the rare exception to the scientific prediction that the world's coral reefs will succumb to climate change before the end of this century.


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1 (888) 787-4110
For instance:
- What are the features of product X?.
- How to use product X.
- Tell me about product X vs product Y.
- Tell me about Procedure X.
Product Guru
Flexible Spending Account
A Flexible Spending Account, also known as flexible spending arrangement
is a pre-tax savings account used to pay for medical and health expenses.
It is money you ask to be deducted at the beginning of every Plan Year (you decide how much) from your paycheck and deposited into your FSA for the next 12 months to cover medical costs.
That money you decide to put in a FSA is taken from your pay before your social security, state or federal taxes are deducted.
Decrease your taxable income and
- Increase your take home money after every payday.
- It is a great option when paying for healthcare and other medical expenses
- Healthcare FSA
This will help you pay for the following expenses:
- Prescribed medications
- Doctors' office visits
- Dental and ocular care
- Laboratory tests and more
Read and check your FSA provider benefits and rules to know what expenses will be covered.
- Dependent-Care FSA
Will help you pay the costs of others while you work:
- Day school or after school care for children under 13 and
- Home care for seniors
You can pay for medical supplies and medications
Doctor's visits
Children's orthodontics (braces)
Chiropractic care
And others specified by your FSA provider
On the first month of every year, you decide how much money you want to have deducted
from your paycheck and deposited in your FSA for the next 12 months.
Check your prior years' medical costs in order to have an idea of how much you will need to pay during the course of the year.
The amount you choose to put in your medical FSA account is taken from your monthly paycheck in equal parts and put into your FSA.
For example:
You choose to have a year's deduction total of: $2,400
Divide $2400 by 12, this will give you your monthly payments. So, $2,400 / 12 months = $200 per month
That total amount per year you choose to pay will be available on the first day your benefits become ACTIVE (on the first month you started paying for the plan).
You can immediately begin using the entire $2,400 (in this example) for medical
You can only use the amount of money you have been deducted up until that point.
SSL Certificate Authority
You will be able to access a website assigned for you from your plan provider and check everything regarding your FSA details.
Before December 31st, you need to ask your FSA provider for a grace
period so that you can be given until March 15 to spend that FSA money.
That is why you need to be extra careful with your estimates before you start any FSA plan.
Remember that if you do not notify your provider about your leftover FSA money when the 12 months are over, you will not get that money back. Either you use it or you lose it if so make sure to ask for the extension.
- You can pay online, or with a Debit or Credit Card. That will depend on each
provider's rules and benefits.
You will only be able to pay for FSA eligible expenses.
You will pay out of your pocket
Then send a copy of your receipt to your FSA provider
And your provider will issue a check to pay you back.


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CNN Analyst Jeffrey Toobin Graciously Offered to Pay for Mistress' Abortion
We have given CNN's Jeffrey Toobin a hard time for getting his mistress pregnant and then being a deadbeat about it. But turns out he was a gentleman from the start. Hell, he even offered to pay for the abortion.
Toobin and Casey Greenfield, a 36 year-old Yale-educated lawyer—daughter CBS analyst Jeff Greenfield—had an on-and-off affair for many years. In 2008, he got her pregnant. And Toobin went above and beyond his duty as her lover: He offered to pay for an abortion. But that's not all: He would also pay for her to have another baby with a sperm donor, according to the Daily News. And they say chivalry's dead.
But Greenfield told him that she was keeping the kid, so Toobin told her "she was going to regret it, that she shouldn't expect any help from him." And after she gave birth to Rory, he didn't respond to Greenfield's emails asking if he wanted to meet him. In February, when Family Court ordered Toobin to pay child support he refused to pay the full amount until Greenfield's lawyer threatened to garnish his wages. Now, Toobin hangs out with his kid sometimes—bringing his wife, Amy along. But a source tells the Daily News "Casey isn't convinced he really wants to serve as a dad... it may be legal maneuvering."
Indeed, this fight between two lawyers appropriately raises some important legal issues: So much has been made about a woman's right to choose. But what about Jeffery Toobin's?


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Though many hope that the Occupy Movement is now part of history —Time magazine naming 'The Protester' person of 2011 seems to reflect a desire that she won't be in 2012 — those of us organizing and protesting on the ground know that we are still somewhere in the movement's beginning. It's not because tents are still on the ground in many cities and college campuses, or because the Internet infrastructure and dialogue continues apace, nor is it some problem of navel-gazing movement mentality that confuses continuous meetings between committed organizers with continual progress.
Occupy Everything is buoyed by the global revolutionary nature of the historical moment. Every week there's a major development in a different nation's mass movement. Moscow's anti-government protests of the last week are the largest street protests since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The horrific, violent crackdown of massive Cairo protests reflect that the Egyptian Revolution is moving into a second stage, in which the people attempt to overthrow the military. In the village of Wukan, China, the entire population of 20,000 has unified and chased out the local government, forming a commune which, from news reports, resembles that of Paris, 1871.
Occupy Everything also has significant negative drivers. The economic outlook for 2012 remains bleak. In 1968, when reactionaries yelled "Get a Job!" at hippies, there was some logic behind their vitriolic stupidity. Now, protesters have three jobs, or none, but either way, can't find the stability that would keep them out of the streets. There isn't going to be a student-debt jubilee, there wont be significant foreclosure reform in the coming months, and the nation's police aren't going to end Stop-and-Frisk. Meanwhile, this round of Congress deadlock threatens unemployment insurance and payroll tax reductions, the Euro Zone crisis continues to intensify, and world leaders seem unable to do anything but shoot their economies in the foot with new rounds of austerity. We're looking at not only a continuation but an intensification of the crises that made Occupy Everything spread across the US like wildfire.
By now, most people know that 'Occupation' as a tactic was not invented by 2000 of us at Zuccotti park on September 17. There is, at last, more widespread knowledge of the Indignado movement which began this summer in Spain, and its concurrent, and much more powerful anti-government movement in Greece. In fact, as histories of OWS proliferate, people recognize that much of our structure, including much of General Assembly procedure, was based on the Indignado model, for better and for worse. The February take-over of the Madison state capitol, and the surrounding occupation, dubbed Walkerville by residents, was another example from earlier this year. And the centrality of the occupation tactic to the Arab Spring has not gone unnoticed. Those of you who have been paying attention know that this movement in the US traces back to the student occupations of NYU, the New School and UC Santa Cruz that took place in 2009.
There have been many resistance movements throughout history which have made use of the occupation tactic. In the United States, the unemployed Coxey's Army, which marched across the country decrying injustice and unemployment in 1894, camped out throughout the summer as they converged upon Washington. In the summer of 1932, tens of thousands of WWI veterans and their families occupied parks, military bases and a number of public buildings in Washington D.C., demanding the immediate cash payment of their service certificates, referred to as a 'bonus'. These 'Bonus Marchers' shut down much of the city, and faced the police in camp evictions similar to those we saw this year. In the Depression, many Hoovervilles—the shanty towns of tents and temporary structures built by the homeless–had serious political content, as portrayed in Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, that is often washed out of the history books. Though a less-favored tactic in the 60s, many university buildings–most famously at Berkeley, Columbia and University of Wisconsin, but occurring all over the country–were occupied at the height of the anti-war movement. At the time of his assassination, Martin Luther King, Jr. was planning a tent-city occupation of Washington D.C as the first step of his Poor People's Campaign. Fellow organizers went ahead with the plan, and 'Resurrection City' took over the Mall for more then a month in May-June of 1968.
Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra
In the last thirty years, occupation has been a key tactic in many of the anti-globalization struggles throughout the world. Started in the eighties, but truly gaining momentum and size throughout the nineties, the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra (The Landless Workers Movement) in Brazil redistributes farmlands through occupation. Sem Terra gives strategic and material support to landless tenant farmers. From dozens to thousands of itinerant farmers and their families will occupy fallow or abandoned land and build a farming community there. Often facing eviction by police, political repression or violence from (negligent) land owners, these occupations have been largely successful at redistributing land, and 1.5 million Brazilians are associated with the movement, which is still a vibrant political force in Brazil today. Sem Terra, which is organized on a non-hierarchical consensus model, is the largest social movement in the world, giving lie to the claim made by many liberals that consensus and horizontal organization cannot scale.
In 2001 in Argentina, facing the results of major economic crisis, a number of businesses, predominantly factories but also a hotel and several retail businesses, were occupied by their workers, who restarted their machines and brought them back into productivity without management. These businesses were worker-owned and -managed, with total profit and decision sharing, and usually proved to be more efficient and productive per capita, while paying out a much higher wage. Many of these 'recovered' businesses continue to this day. And though not part of the anti-globalization movement, the massacre in Tiananmen square in 1989 came after seven weeks of continuous occupation by students and intellectuals demanding liberalization and modernization of the Communist Party.
The occupation is a powerful tactic for a number of reasons: it foregrounds the political issues of everyday life and public space, it produces a positive communitarian solution to the problems it critiques, it is highly visible and struggle is continuous in a way that radicalizes its participants. It has been used throughout history in fights for social justice, peace, and revolution, but now its moment has truly arrived, and there are many more occupations to come.


text: Just a letter off from 'tablet' makes a big difference – but will the new SMART Table 442i from SMART Technologies excite young learners and help them grow together both socially and academically? Pull up a chair and have a seat at the future of collaborative learning. Students using this smart new table can develop problem-solving skills by interacting with activities and collaborating with each other to achieve learning goals. Inclusive and accessible, it can engage preK–3 learners and students with special needs in active discussions and small group collaboration activities. With a durable design and stable pedestal, it's sturdy enough to be kid proof and with plenty of room for wheelchairs. Comes with a toolkit enabling teachers to customize over a thousand ready-made activity packs; they can create their own themed lessons to meet specific classroom needs or access the SMART Exchange website to find interactive activities, or even import lessons, including in 3D, created in SMART Notebook collaborative learning software which comes with the table. The SMART Table 442i collaborative learning center will be available by mid-year at a suggested education price of $7,749 in the U.S. — and although it won't reach the market penetration of the tablet, comparing it with the interactive whiteboard could be interesting.


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Vibrant colours and retro design equals stylish appliances
Smeg's 50s retro range features unmistakably vintage designs whose classic, sinuous lines and vibrant colours combine perfectly with cutting-edge technology. It's safe to say that this product line, developed by Smeg's internal design studio, has definitively changed our way of thinking when it comes to appliances. Bland, mass-produced free-standing items have been given the elbow in favour of real icons of style.
Like other famous designs, the original and best FAB28 coloured refrigerator is more than just a mere fridge. It dominates its surroundings, just like the sofa or lamp in your living room. Smeg has also developed a range of other appliances with exactly the same vintage theme: refrigerators in various sizes and with various capacities, freezers, washing machines and dishwashers. Always evocative and eclectic, they are the standard bearers of the "Made in Italy" design quality that is famous all over the globe for its blend of art and functionality.
View all 50's Retro Style products >
Visit the website dedicated to 50's retro sytle aesthetic >


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What's New
Englebert Pro Font by Stiggy & Sands
Our Englebert Pro draws inspiration from the title screen of the 1930's film entitled, "Der Blaue Engel", starring Marlene Dietrich. Playful but subdued, yet striking enough to catch the eye, this casual sans has a distinct signature look to it. The offbeat letterforms engage the reader, while the SmallCaps and extensive figure sets lend a wider versatility to the typeface.
Opentype features include:
- SmallCaps. - Full set of Inferiors and Superiors for limitless fractions. - Tabular, Proportional, and Oldstyle figure sets (along with SmallCaps versions of the figures). - Stylistic Alternates for Caps to SmallCaps conversion.
Tags: 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, Font, Retro, Sans Serif


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On Campus
Legally Blind MPA Student Supports Disabled Workers
Duilio Correa, SPA/MPA '13, came to American University by chance, but stayed by design – for two degrees and counting.
The Peruvian-born student first came to AU in 2005 for a certificate in Spanish translation, but his advisor, the late Jack Child, encouraged him to stay on and pursue a master's degree in Spanish and Latin American studies.
"At first I was doubtful. I was already working as an information specialist for a government clearinghouse, and legally blind from birth – I didn't really know if I could pull it off," said Correa.
After finishing his MA in 2008, Correa landed a job developing Spanish-language materials at the National Institutes of Health. Yet, he felt he needed a better foundation in management, and found himself again perusing AU's course offerings. SPA's MPA program seemed like a good fit, but Correa had to think twice about saddling himself with a full load of night classes given his demanding job.
He took the bet, and it's paid off. Graduation is in sight, and Correa has landed a plum position as a management and program analyst at Health and Human Services, a job he says he wouldn't have gotten without his AU education. In his new position, Correa will be working with the human resources team at HHS to recruit people with disabilities and develop programs catering to disabled employees.
"Struggle is necessary for success," says Correa, who came to the U.S. as a teen with his mother – his driving force and inspiration. "If the opportunity you're looking for doesn't arise, sometimes you have to create it."
While Correa doesn't feel his disability – a congenital eye condition that limits his central vision – has impeded him personally or professionally, it has required him to be resourceful. The student relies on dictation programs to type documents, an iPad to zoom in on text and software to read passages aloud to him
The classroom has been fertile ground to learn and grow, according to Correa. "The AU community is very supportive. Professors encourage independent thought, and give you a lot of room to explore academically and express yourself freely." He feels more poised in the workplace and better equipped to handle difficult situations as a result of his coursework in management.
Ever ambitious, Correa is already thinking about returning for his PhD someday, and eventually becoming a professional coach for disabled individuals. It's hard to imagine a better career for someone so passionate about helping others thrive in the face of adversity.
"You can't focus on your physical challenges or concentrate on your flaws; you have to look at what you do well and how you can improve," says Correa. "If you fail, there is always another day. The key is never to give up."


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