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I made these Life By Chocolate Cupcakes from The Pioneer Woman. They were delicious and a huge hit!
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It's only February, so I can't give up on my resolution to get organized yet! So we continue with the craft closet makeover. I recently beefed up my button supply with a Papertrey Ink order. I LOVE their vintage button collections--the colors are amazing, and so are the prices! I love being able to see what I have in my stash, so I had to find something to show them all off.
I found these little jars for $1 each at Michael's. Seriously? $1? I know. I nearly cleaned out my Lynnwood store location. Don't they look pretty? You could easily dress up a jar like this for a cute and inexpensive gift for your crafty friends. I love these buttons for sewing and paper crafts. I am a button addict!
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Need a little more room in your closet? Try one of these hanger space savers. This ribbon space saver allows you to get a few more items in your closet without taking up more rack or bar space.
Ribbon Space-Saver Hanger Tutorial
*Ribbon or belting - You will need ribbon if you are making a closet space saver for baby, children, or lightweight clothing. Use strong belting/webbing if you are making this to hold heavier clothing items. I used a ribbon that was 25 inches long. My loops were pretty big, so I may use a shorter ribbon next time.
*D-Rings-we used 1 1/4"
*Sewing machine and thread
First, sew a loop in the top of your ribbon with a D-ring inside. I folded it over twice for clean edges. You will use the D-ring to hang on the first hanger.
Next, sew loops evenly down your ribbon. Make sure you stitch each loop down with a couple of lines or go back over your work. Only one sewn line will rip through. You will want to make sure it is fully reinforced.
For your final loop, make a circle and sew it down. This way you will not have any exposed ribbon edges.
This is what your hanger space saver should look like from the back.
And here's the hanger space saver from the front.
Hang the D-ring on your first hanger, then slip additional hangers through all the loops on your space saver. No more clothes on the floor--yea!
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Time to announce the winner of the *Shey*[B] giveaway. The winner of a $30 gift certificate from *Shey*[B] is...
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Aren't you just loving all these amazing giveaways we have been having? I sure wish I could have a chance at some of these! Today we have a giveaway from Love Stitched.They have handmade rosette accessories such as headbands, necklaces, clips and more. On Love Stitched you will find vintage couture accessories adorned with pearls, pewter, jewels, and beaded embellishments. As well as adorable little girl dresses, stylish earrings, and more! I love rosettes. Especially on headbands like this...
And don't you love these cherry dangling earrings?
I could go on and on, but I am sure you want to hear about what you can win! Love Stitched is offering one of our readers a chance to win this beautiful necklace below.
I want one!! All you have to do it head over to Love Stitched and check out all their items. Find your favorite one, and leave us a comment telling us what it is. Love Stitched is also offering our readers 20% off any order as long as the giveaway is going on. You just need to enter "littlebirdiesecrets" in the comment to seller box at check out and they will refund the 20% to you via paypal within 48 hours. The giveaway and discount offer will end on Sunday, February 28th at 11:59 pm PST. Good luck!
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Our sweet friend whipped up this cute bag for her teenage daughter. It is a great compact bag and super easy to make. We were able to create one just like it without a pattern and having seen it only once. As we were sewing this project we realized that you could really turn it into three projects--a cute carrier and two different style purses.
Place Mat Purse Tutorial
You will need:
*One place mat
*Coordinating ribbon
*Purse handles
*Sewing machine
First, cut your ribbon into two 8 1/2 inch pieces.
Thread the ribbon through the purse handles and pin it to one short end of your place mat. Use a measuring tape to center your handles.
Sew them on.
Next, cut two pieces of ribbon the width of your place mat and sew it across. This will cover up the raw edges of the first two pieces of ribbon. If you stop here, you will have a cute carrier. This is similar to the big leather carriers that is used to carry firewood into your house. This by no means will be sturdy enough to carry firewood, but would make a wonderful carrier for things like garden flowers. Just take it outside open it up and lay your flower clippings in it. When you are done gathering flowers or whatever you can pull it up by the handles and you have a carrier.
If you want to make it a purse, match your handles up with your fabric right sides together, or, if you have a double sided place mat, make sure the print you want on the outside of your bag is inside. Sew both sides of the bag.
This is a cute, flat purse.
If you want a boxier bottom then before turning your purse right side out, pinch up the corners and stitch across.
Like so:
Trim the corner off and turn right side out. Now you have a cute purse with a boxy bottom.
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My boys love pancakes. So do I. Stacy recently gave me a subscription to Cooking Light magazine and there was a yummy recipe for Carrot Cake Pancakes in it that I knew I had to try. We used carrots from our garden (we still had some in January!) and they were delicious.
I was worried my boys would freak out over the shredded carrots in them, but lucky for me they didn't even notice! They loved them. See...I have proof.
Nothing better than one of our favorite meals, with a little extra nutrition added in. Click here for the recipe so you can try them with your family.
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A few years ago I was browsing through a craft supply catalog and saw these gorgeous, primitive skeleton keys. One of the pictures had a sweet poem about Santa and keys. I had completely forgotten about this key and the poem--I still can't remember what the poem actually said--until cleaning out the craft room today. I came across this beautiful key and decided to make a little keepsake for my children. I saved this key from a floral arrangement I received a few years ago.
This Tooth Fairy key was what I came up with. As I was putting it together, I realized that you could make a little keepsake like this for any occasion. For example, instead of my little Tooth Fairy poem, you could have one for Santa. Maybe it would go something like this:
Dear Santa,
Please don't forget about me.
It's Christmas Eve, you see.
Leave a present under my tree.
Just in case you can't get in--
I'll leave you the key!
Or how about something for Easter.
Dear Easter Bunny,
I really hope you visit me
It's Easter you see
Just in case---
I'll leave you the key!
You all get the picture! I've seen little keys in the paper craft section at Joann and I bet a lot of other craft or scrapbooking stores have them. All you need is a key, paper and some ribbon and you have yourself one cute key for any occasion!
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A while ago I shrank some sweaters in the wash. Well, determined to make some lemonade out of these lemons, I put them aside for a future craft project. I finally finished up this cute little sweater refashion. Now it is a cute sweater vest for my daughter.
I simply took the sleeves off of one sweater (the pink one) and cut the bottom off another (the brown one). I then took the cut cuff and turned them into the vest sleeves.
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We would like to introduce yet another new sponsor of ours....meet *Shey*[B]! For this past Christmas I got a new Digital SLR camera and I am drooling over these amazing camera strap slipcovers from *Shey*[B]. Stacy just bought The Valentino and I am quite jealous. My camera strap is not attractive with the bright yellow Nikon stamp running down it. I think I might need to cover it up with one of these...
and there are so many more that I love too! I think I might need to have several different designs on hand, so I can switch my strap out according to my mood/style. Lucky for you readers, *Shey*[B] is generously offering one of you a $30 gift certificate! All you have to do is visit the site and find your favorite product, then come back and leave us a comment telling us what it is! Good luck. This giveaway will end Sunday, February 21st at 11:59 pm PST.
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Selfies are so fun. You've got your cool background—ideally, a sun-soaked beach or a compelling urban environment—and you've got your cool friends. Ideally lots of them. Just flip that phone around, put your heads together, smile, and watch those Instagram likes roll in for hours. But it's too good to be true, folks.
Selfies are dangerous. California lice expert Marcy McQuillan recently went on the record to tell the world what it doesn't want to hear. "I've seen a huge increase of lice in teens this year," she told the SFist. Typically it's younger children I treat, because they're at higher risk for head-to-head contact. But now, teens are sticking their heads together every day to take cell phone pics."
This is just one expert's observation, but it makes total sense! Look no further than the 2013 word of the year, "selfie," to know that the trend is extremely popular. And when you look at the group photos, those teens are indeed pressing their skulls together—which is a terrific way to get lice.
"Selfies are fun," McQuillan added, "but the consequences are real."
Perhaps now is your chance, industrial designers of the world, to produce the year's most absurd new product: selfie caps, or legally required, shower cap-like rubber skull covers that teenagers have to slip on before they snap head-to-head photos of themselves, preventing these nasty little scalp crabs from spreading. Like California's new bartender gloves, enacted in the name of public health and safety, it would someday be illegal not to wear one.
In any case, lice sucks and teens should be more careful. To be fair, though, there are even more dangerous ways to take selfies. Much more dangerous. [SFist]

subset: commoncrawl


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WASHINGTON – The nearly bankrupt U.S. Postal Service on Thursday reported losses of $57 million per day in the last quarter and warned it will miss another payment due to the U.S. Treasury, just one week after its first-ever default on a payment for future retiree health benefits.
From April to June, losses totaled $5.2 billion, up $2.1 billion from the same period last year.
The mail agency said it is being hurt significantly by mounting expenses for future retiree health benefits. Those expenses, mandated by Congress in 2006, made up $3.1 billion of the post office's quarterly loss, while workers compensation tacked on another $1.1 billion in expenses. The agency's operating loss was $1 billion, mostly due to declines in first-class mail.
"We have simply reached the point that we must conserve cash," Thurgood Marshall Jr., chairman of the Postal Service's board of governors, said in explaining the payment defaults. He cautioned that the mail agency may have to delay other payments if necessary.
The Postal Service for months has been urging Congress to pass legislation that would allow it to eliminate Saturday mail delivery and reduce the annual health payment of more than $5 billion. The post office defaulted on that payment last week when the House failed to take action before heading home for a five-week break.
The mail agency says it will miss the second $5.6 billion payment due on Sept. 30, also for future retiree benefits, as cash runs close to zero.
At a news briefing, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe made clear that day-to-day mail delivery will not be disrupted in any way despite the cash crunch. But Donahoe expressed frustration with the repeated delays by Congress, which he said is contributing to a lot of "negative talk on finances" that could undermine confidence in the mail agency and its long-term growth.
"Congress needs to act responsibly and move on this legislation," he said. "This is no way to run any kind of business."
The Senate passed a postal bill in April that would have provided financial relief in part by reducing the annual health payments and providing an $11 billion cash infusion, basically a refund of overpayments the Postal Service made to a federal pension fund. The House, however, remains stalled over a separate bill that would allow for aggressive cuts, including an immediate end to Saturday delivery. Rural lawmakers in particular worry about the impact of closures in their communities.
The Postal Service originally sought to close low-revenue post offices in rural areas to save money, but after public opposition, it is now moving forward with a new plan to keep 13,000 open with shorter operating hours.
The Postal Service, an independent agency of government, does not receive tax dollars for its day-to-day operations but is subject to congressional control.
Overall, the post office had operating revenue of $15.6 billion from April through June, the third quarter of its 2012 fiscal year. That was down a fraction from the same period last year. But quarterly expenses this year climbed to $20.8 billion, up 10 percent, largely driven by the health prepayments. The Postal Service is the only government agency required to make such payments.
The Postal Service also has been hurt by declining mail volume as people and businesses continue switching to the Internet in place of letters and paper bills. The number of items mailed during the last quarter was 38.5 billion pieces, a 4 percent decrease, much of it in first-class mail.
On the positive side, the mail agency reported that it continued to lower costs by reducing work hours and boosting employee productivity. The Postal Service's fast-growing shipping services, which include express and priority mail, had a 9 percent increase in operating revenue to $3.3 billion.
That strong growth in shipping services, which the mail agency is promoting as a cheaper alternative to FedEx and UPS, helped offset roughly three-fourths of the declines in first-class and advertising mail, said Stephen Masse, the Postal Service's acting chief financial officer.
The numbers bring the Postal Service's year-to-date net loss to $11.6 billion, compared to $5.7 billion for the same period last year.
Art Sackler, co-coordinator of the Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service, a group representing the private-sector mailing industry, cautioned that the worst of postal losses may be yet to come. He noted that the Postal Service's third-quarter numbers may reflect an unusually high volume of mail that typically occurs in an election year.
The Postal Service on Thursday said it believes it will stay afloat, despite perilously low cash levels anticipated in October, partly because of increased revenue from the higher amount of election mail.
"There are more than 8 million private sector workers whose jobs depend on the mail, and these jobs may be in jeopardy if Congress fails to reform the Postal Service," Sackler said. "As bad as things are getting for the Postal Service, it could be worse next year."
The agency has forecast a record $15 billion loss by the end of this fiscal year. Without legislative changes, it said, annual losses will exceed $21 billion by 2016.
Fredric Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said Congress is to blame for much of the postal red ink.
"The positive aspects to today's USPS report are the continuing sharp rises in revenue from package deliveries associated with Internet orders and also in productivity," he said. "If Congress would step up and fix the pre-funding mess it created, then the Postal Service could focus on developing a business plan for the future.... Degrading services and dismantling the universal network are not a business plan."
State-by-state graphic — http://apne.ws/QMOOzh


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Brazilian congress votes to impeach president Dilma Rousseff
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Government concedes after lower house overwhelmingly backs move to remove Rousseff, who now faces vote in senate
Rousseff impeachment: what happens next?
'Once the senate agrees to consider the motion, which is likely within weeks, Rousseff will have to step aside for 180 days and the Workers party government, which has ruled Brazil since 2002, will be at least temporarily replaced by a centre-right administration led by vice-president Michel Temer.'
Photo: Nacho Doce/Reuters
Demonstrators in São Paulo celebrate as congress voted for President Dilma Rousseff's impeachment.
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff suffered a crushing defeat on Sunday as a hostile and corruption-tainted congress voted to impeach her.
Dilma Rousseff impeachment: what happens next in Brazil
Read more
In a rowdy session of the lower house presided over by the president's nemesis, house speaker Eduardo Cunha, and with voting continuing late into Sunday evening, 344 of the 513 deputies backed impeachment – beyond the two-thirds majority (342) needed to advance the case to the upper house.
As the outcome became clear, Jose Guimarães, the leader of the Workers party in the lower house, conceded defeat with more than 80 votes still to be counted. "The fight is now in the courts, the street and the senate," he said.
As the crucial 342nd vote was cast for impeachment, the chamber erupted into cheers and Eu sou Brasileiro, the football chant that has become the anthem of the anti-government protest. Opposition cries of "coup, coup,coup" were drowned out. In the midst of the raucous scenes the most impassive figure in the chamber was the architect of the political demolition, Cunha.
Watched by tens of millions at home and in the streets, the vote – which was announced deputy by deputy – saw the conservative opposition comfortably secure its motion to remove the elected head of state less than halfway through her mandate. Just 127 deputies had voted against the move at the time the two-thirds majority was reached.
Deputies vote in favour of the move to impeach president Dilma Rousseff.
Photo: Iano Andrade/EPA
Deputies vote in favour of the move to impeach president Dilma Rousseff.
Once the senate agrees to consider the motion, which is likely within weeks, Rousseff will have to step aside for 180 days and the Workers party government, which has ruled Brazil since 2002, will be at least temporarily replaced by a centre-right administration led by vice-president Michel Temer.
On a dark night, arguably the lowest point was when Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right deputy from Rio de Janeiro, dedicated his yes vote to Carlos Brilhante Ustra, the colonel who headed the Doi-Codi torture unit during the dictatorship era. Rousseff, a former guerrilla, was among those tortured. Bolsonaro's move prompted left-wing deputy Jean Wyllys to spit towards him.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, his son and also a deputy, used his time at the microphone to honour the general responsible for the military coup in 1964.
Deputies were called one by one to the microphone by the instigator of the impeachment process, Cunha – an evangelical conservative who is himself accused of perjury and corruption – and one by one they condemned the president.
Yes, voted Paulo Maluf, who is on Interpol's red list for conspiracy. Yes, voted Nilton Capixiba, who is accused of money laundering. "For the love of God, yes!" declared Silas Camara, who is under investigation for forging documents and misappropriating public funds.
And yes, voted the vast majority of the more than 150 deputies who are implicated in crimes but protected by their status as parliamentarians.
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff faces impeachment – video explainer.
At times the session exposed the farcical side of Brazil's democracy, such as the Women's party that has only male deputies, or the Progressive Socialist party that is one of the most right-wing groups in congress.
Brazil's presidential chief of staff Jaques Wagner said the government was confident the senate would dismiss the impeachment, insisting the vote was a setback for democracy and was "orchestrated" by Rousseff's opponents who never accepted her re-election victory in 2014.
But Rousseff's chances of survival look slim. Brazil has turned dramatically against the country's first female president. Once one of the most popular leaders in the world, with approval ratings of 92%, Rousseff has since seen her support plunge as a result of economic recession, political turmoil and the Lava Jato investigation into corruption at Petrobras, which has implicated almost all of the major parties.
Polls suggest only 10% of the public think she is doing a good job and 60% support her removal.
But many are uneasy about the dubious grounds for impeachment. Rousseff is accused of window-dressing government accounts with a temporary transfer of money from state banks ahead of the last election. Supporters says this minor and common infraction is being used as a pretext for a "coup" to seize power by a political class that is notorious for far more serious crimes. About a third of the lower house deputies are either under investigation or charged with crimes.
On Sunday night, Brazilian television channels showed streets full of pro-impeachment protesters dancing in celebration. Many draped themselves in the national flag and at one point they burst into a chorus of the national anthem. With each declaration from congress, the crowds cheered and booed as if in a pantomime or a football match. One even released a confetti cannon, briefly filling the air above him in a glittering cloud of colour.
The kingmaker tipped to seize the throne – but will a Temer 'coup' divide or unite Brazil?
Read more
On the streets, the crowds that had rallied to show support for or against impeachment were more civil than their elected representatives. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets across more than a dozen cities, the vast majority of them opposed to the government. Outside the congress building in Brasilia, the two sides were divided by a steel barrier.
The anti-government side was jubilant at the prospect of change. "Dilma has robbed the people with corruption and inflation. We must get rid of her," said Raquel Rosas, a school teacher who sat on a Brazilian flag waiting for the result with her 17-month old daughter and other families members. "But getting rid of her should only be the start. Temer and Cunha must go too."
On the other side of the fence, the crowd was smaller and more muted. Some bore banners saying "Defend Democracy" and "Respect My Vote", in reference to tens of millions of ballots cast for Rousseff in the last election that impeachment threatens to negate.
Pro-government demonstrators watch the vote count on a screen.
Photograph: Felipe Dana/AP
Pro-government demonstrators watch the vote count on a screen.
Fabio Moura, a lawyer from São Paulo, said he was disgusted by the opposition because many of them have been implicated in the Lava Jato investigation into corruption at Petrobras. "They are just trying to impeach Dilma so they can stop the investigation," he said.
"It is not bad for us to lose today. It means the opposition will have to make unpopular spending cuts and that will help us in the next election," he said. "But this looks like being a bad day for democracy."
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Public Art in the Bronx, a project of Lehman College Art Gallery / City University of New York, examines the rich collection of public art found in our borough. This site provides an overview of works in public places from the earliest created in the 19th century, those produced under the WPA, as well as the more recent projects being produced under such agencies as Percent for Art, Arts for Transit, the Health and Hospital Corporation, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the New York State Dormitory Authority, and the Public Art Fund.
This collection includes work by major artists, among them are Vito Acconci, Alice Adams, John Ahearn and Rigoberto Torres, Charles Alston, Romare Bearden, Jackie Ferrara, Rafael Ferrer, Helen Frankenthaler, Daniel Chester French, Malvina Hoffman, Komar and Melamid, Paul Manship, Tom Otterness, Howardena Pindell, Ben Shahn and Bernarda Bryson Shahn, Faith Ringgold, and Tim Rollins + KOS.
Susan Hoeltzel
Project Director
How to use this guide:
This website includes entries for over one hundred major public art projects in the Bronx. These can be searched in the indexes by Artists as well as by Sites. Information about the artists can be found in Biographies. The gallery gathered the listings of many agencies and has posted every project we found in the Bronx Public Art Inventory section of this guide. In addition, there are links to art related agencies and organizations listed in the Resources section of the site.
Ideas for Teachers are intended to assist elementary educators in connecting site visits to meaningful in-class projects that link to the curriculum. Each lesson plan follows the National Standards for Visual Arts Education and the New York City Strands of Art Education.
The Neighborhoods section features historical backgrounds on thirty-six Bronx neighborhoods and is illustrated with archival photographs from the collection of the Bronx Institute. In addition Walking Tours and Maps to public art projects have been developed, divided by neighborhoods.


text: Don't worry, Facebook (FB) users: The company may take away your power to vote down proposed changes to its Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and Data Use Policy, but it will only be because you told them it was OK. The Next Web reports that Facebook has caved to user anger at proposed changes to its site governance documents that would, among other things, take away users' ability to vote on future document changes. Or as The Next Web puts it, "you're effectively voting on whether to keep voting." The voting process will be open for the next seven days. At the time of this writing, Facebook users are choosing to strike down the website's proposed changes by a count of around 3,600 to 600.


text:
Upbeat Country track with Hillbilly feel. Comical, quirky atmosphere.
SAVE MONEY! This track is also in a Music Pack: https://audiojungle.net/item/happy-quirky-country-pack/22550504
TRACKS IN SIMILAR STYLE – http://audiojungle.net/collections/4506443-country-blues
If you like this track, please rate it! WAV file available upon request.
YouTube users: to clear any copyright claims on your videos (including monetized videos), simply visit: http://adrev.net/contact-us , enter your details and video link and copy/paste the contents from your purchased License Certificate into the message box. Claims are removed within 24 – 96 hours.


text:
Weiss preaching toughness to Rockies
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Manager Walt Weiss played for the Rockies when they were known as the Blake Street Bombers. With Dante Bichette in camp as hitting coach, Vinny Castilla helping out as a special front-office assistant and Eric Young working as a special instructor, there are plenty of reminders of the old days.
But Weiss is offering his new squad a new identity.
"Just in the meetings that we've had, I like the terminology that he's using, and the attitude that he's bringing, him, Dante and the staff, will be extremely beneficial to us," veteran right fielder-first baseman Michael Cuddyer said. "We've got to have that mindset that we're going to go out and dominate.
"'Blake Street Bullies' is the terminology that he's using, going out and bullying people -- aggressive baserunning, that type of stuff. A lot of terminology they're using is geared toward being aggressive, not passive."
Weiss figures getting a team to think tough is a step toward playing that way. Coors Field can be a tough place for opponents, and Weiss wants a team that offers reminders of how difficult it is.
"Regardless of what sport you're playing, I don't care if it's golf or tennis, if you don't have an aggressive mindset it's very difficult to be successful at the elite level or professional level," Weiss said. "Take advantage of the home-field advantage that we have.
"For us to win a division, you've got to be around 50 wins at home. You look at our lineup and there are some pieces there. There's power up and down the lineup. It's tough for an opposing pitcher. There are no breaks in the lineup. Regardless who wins a job here or there, it's going to be a lineup that's tough to pitch to."


text: Release BlitzDefending Sophie by PJ Fiala May 14, 2019May 14, 2019 Book Review Virginia Lee Blog Title: Defending Sophie Series: GHOST #1Author: PJ FialaGenre: Military Romantic Suspense Release Date: May 14, 2019 Blurb Accused of murder and on the run, Sophie must turn to the one man she could never have. Investigating her friend's suspicious death, Sophie's only source of information turns up dead – and she's the prime suspect. Forced into hiding, she turns to her brother's best friend to help keep her alive, clear her name, and find the killer before she becomes the next victim. Gaige has longed for Sophie for years, and he'd do anything to keep her safe, but details of the investigation aren't adding up. Mounting doubts have him questioning her story, even as his heart insists she's telling the truth. The only thing he knows for sure is he'll do anything to prove her innocence, but will it cost him his career? ADD TO GOODREADS ENTER THE RELEASE GIVEAWAY Purchase Links AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU Free in Kindle Unlimited Excerpt Chapter 1 Looking over her shoulder, Sophie exited the little gas station just outside of Riverton, California through the back of the store and opened the package that held a burner phone. Pulling Gaige Vicker's phone number from her front jean pocket, written on a crumpled piece of a discarded newspaper she'd dug out of the dumpster at her apartment complex, she quickly tapped the numbers into the phone. She regretted having to dismantle and toss her brand new cell phone, but she knew they'd be able to track her with it and she just couldn't take the chance. Throwing Gaige's number into a nearby garbage can so no one would connect them should she be captured, she quickly made her way across the quiet street and ducked between a large boxwood hedge and a wooden fence. Pressing her back to the warm wood, her eyes ever vigilant to her surroundings, she remained wary. Her heart was still pounding hard from her run through the woods. That bastard who was chasing her told her not to talk to another person about what she knew, her time was up. Swallowing the bile that threatened to rise at the thought of how close she'd come to dying today, she inhaled slowly. By the third ring her heart began racing. "Come on, pick up," She mumbled into the phone. "Vickers." Her hand flew to cover her mouth as a sob almost escaped. Ducking down further behind the hedge, she whispered, "Gaige? Oh, Gaige, it's Sophie. I'm in trouble and you're the only one who can help me." Taking a deep breath to regain her composure, she held her breath as she waited for him to respond. "Sophie Turner?" "Yes." She hated that she sounded so desperate, but she was. Glancing around to make sure no one was nearby, she swallowed before continuing. "Gaige, I'm in trouble. I need help. I'm all alone." "What about your friend, Kate?" Closing her eyes to stay the tears that threatened to spill, she took another deep breath. "Kate's dead. I'm in trouble. Can you come?" "Okay, Sophie, tell me what's going on." "I can't, Gaige, I'm afraid they're following me and I have to make tracks. I'm scared to say too much on the phone. I'm just outside of Riverton. Call me on this burner phone number when you get here. 939-202-9786." "Sophie, you need to tell me something. What are you up against? What kind of backup do I need?" "I'm sorry." Fighting a sob, her voice cracked. "Can you come? Can you help me?" She heard him exhale and knew she was asking a lot of him, but she had nowhere to turn. Whispering, "please," she heard his voice change. "I'll be there as soon as I can." "Thank you." She broke down sobbing, but ended the call, nervous that she'd stayed put too long. Looking all around, she stepped from between the hedge and the fence heading south toward Canyon Creek. She could walk for hours, her Army training had conditioned her for that. Bonus that she wasn't carrying a ruck sack, so she was traveling light. She'd make better time that way. Attacked from behind, strong arms wrapped themselves around her, she felt herself falling to the ground, face first and tried to twist to land on her attacker. Not quite managing, her right shoulder took the brunt of the fall but not before her attacker managed to reach around and punch her in the jaw once, bringing stars to her eyes. She heard her phone clatter to the ground and her eyes fell on it just in time to see it slide under a nearby trashcan with wheels. Shit. Fighting passing out, she began kicking back at her attacker and heard him grunt when she managed a good solid kick to his shin. Taking the opportunity, she threw her head back and connected with his nose. Hearing the nasty crunch, she rolled away as he howled, scrambled to her feet, and took off running. The pain slicing through her shoulder hampered her pace, but she was determined to keep going. No way she'd allow them to kill her like they killed Kate. No way in hell. The bastards. Setting her mind to hear the music she played in her head during their long and arduous runs in the Army, she steadied her pace and refused to look back. Reaching the nearby woods, she ducked in, and carefully watched the terrain as she navigated the downed branches and stumps of trees long ago fallen. Listening for anything behind her, she finally ventured a glance and saw that she wasn't being followed. At least not closely. Slowing her pace to a fast walk, she looked up through the trees to see where the sun was in the sky. At 2:00 p.m., in California, the sun was just beginning its decent, toward the west, so she adjusted her direction and headed due south. The sun would still shine brightly for another five hours or so. She could realistically travel ten to twelve miles in that time. She'd done it more than once. But, she'd never been more determined than now to make time and distance. She'd find a place to rest tonight, then she'd find a way to go back in the morning and retrieve her phone. That was the only place she had Gaige's number and it was the only way Gaige had to reach her. Hopefully, her attacker didn't see the phone slide to its landing place. If the grunt she'd heard from him was any indicator, he was in a fair amount of pain right now. But she wasn't going back there to look in case he had help. That would be tomorrow's task. Author Bio USA Today Bestselling Author Writing has been a desire my whole life. Once I found the courage to write, life changed for me in the most profound way. Bringing stories to readers that I'd enjoy reading and creating characters that are flawed, but lovable is such a joy. When not writing, I'm with my family doing something fun. My husband, Gene, and I are bikers and enjoy riding to new locations, meeting new people and generally enjoying this fabulous country we live in. I come from a family of veterans. My grandfather, father, brother, two sons, and one daughter-in-law are all veterans. Needless to say, I am proud to be an American and proud of the service my amazing family has given. In trying to give back, I've started a foundation, Authors4Veterans, with my friend and fellow author, Stacey Joy Netzel. Our charities will rotate but will always support our military and their families. Author Links WEBSITE NEWSLETTER FACEBOOK FACEBOOK GROUP BOOKBUB AMAZON TWITTER PINTEREST INSTAGRAM GOODREADS Share this:TwitterFacebookTumblrLike this:Like Loading... Related Published by Book Review Virginia Lee Blog Mission Statement For nearly four years, Book Review Virginia Lee has been a significant part of the book community. Our goal is to help in sharing the love for all Indie Authors and their books. It's hard enough for authors to launch their dreams of writing that jewel in literature and it is our hope that we can help you achieve that objective. Are you looking for help with the launch of your new book? We can help you to promote your book through the provision of a variety of professional services including but not limited to, Author Spotlight, Sunday Shout out, Monthly Takeover events (Takeover Group) and Banner competitions. If you would like to receive more information about being showcase on our blog or for Sharing your book. Please contact by email email@example.com or send us a PM. View all posts by Book Review Virginia Lee Blog


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A Trinidadian athlete is now a hero in Amsterdam after he rescued a dog from icy water.
|Trinidad and Tobago Taekwondo Association
|Anthony Ferguson
|Mark Byam
|(868) 777-2119
|1 Church Street, St James
A Trinidadian athlete is now a hero in Amsterdam after he rescued a dog from icy water.
Aruba earned an Olympic taewkondo berth for the first time as the Pan-American qualifying tournament for Rio 2016 began in Aguascalientes in Mexico today.
The inaugural World Beach Taekwondo Championships have been pushed back to avoid a clash with the Muslim holy month Ramadan.
Bali was confirmed as the location for the new event earlier this month by the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF), with competition initially scheduled to be held on June 4 and 5.
Melissa Joseph is honored after official notification yesterday that she was selected on the T&T National Taekwondo Team to represent the country at the Olympic Qualifiers, in Aguascalientes, Mexico this March. This was after her progressive and brave performance this past week at the US Open 2016 International Taekwondo Tournament, held in Reno, Nevada, USA.
Bali in Indonesia has been officially confirmed as the location for the first ever World Beach Taekwondo Championships in June, an innovative new event in which men will wear sleeveless shirts and women will compete in tank tops.
Trinidad and Tobago's Anthony Ferguson has been elected President of the Commonwealth Taekwondo Union (CTU) to succeed Britain' Adrian Tranter, who has stepped down.


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Talk:MonadPlus reform proposal
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This is a good proposal, I think. The standard libraries use MonadZero only in two places: functions guard and msum. msum should probably be accompanied by a reduction with morelse, which should then be called mchoice.
Parsec already has operators (<|>) and choice with fitting semantics. Simply calling morelse (<|>) and mchoice choice might be even more convenient.
--Udo Stenzel 11:42, 20 January 2006 (UTC)


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Apr 12, 2012, 10:20 PM
Associated Press
SYCAMORE, Ill. (AP) – A judge on Thursday found a Seattle man not guilty of raping an Illinois teenager 50 years ago, setting the stage for what could be an even tougher challenge for prosecutors: proving the man abducted and murdered a 7-year-old girl five years earlier in the same small community.
Judge Robbin Stuckert delivered a blistering rebuke to prosecutors for failing to ask basic questions of the accuser, a 64-year-old woman who came forward to testify against her half-brother, Jack McCullough, more than four decades later. Stuckert talked about fading memories and the doubt created by the woman's description of a car driven by McCullough that nobody else who testified recalled ever seeing.
"The state has failed to meet their burden," she said.
A visibly angry DeKalb State's Attorney Clay Campbell would not discuss what problems McCullough's acquittal of might create when the 72-year-old stands trial in the 1957 kidnapping and slaying of Maria Ridulph, a case that stirred the nation half a century ago.
McCullough's public defender, Regina Harris, said the slaying case against her client might have been that much stronger had he been convicted of rape.
"It takes a factor away from them they would have had," she said.
McCullough's acquittal in the rape case after a two-day bench trial before the judge also raises questions about whether prosecutors will push to have another judge for the murder trial, or whether Harris would again insist that a judge and not a jury decide her client's fate.
Both attorneys declined to discuss strategy for the next trial.
McCullough showed no emotion in court when Thursday's verdict was announced, but Harris said he cried afterward.
"He's relieved to tears," she said.
McCullough had been charged with rape and indecent liberties with a child in Sycamore in 1962.
The accuser, McCullough's half-sister Jeanne Tessier, testified she was 14 when McCullough picked her up in a convertible and drove her to an unfamiliar house, where he assaulted her in a dark room before two other men also raped her.
The Associated Press generally does not name victims in rape cases, but Tessier gave reporters permission to use her name and talked openly about the alleged incident in an article published online in 2010.
Prosecutors argued McCullough took advantage of the teen while he held a position of authority and trust. Defense attorneys said no one could corroborate Tessier's story and that there was no physical evidence.
Another woman testified that she was sexually assaulted by McCullough in 1982 when he was a police officer in Milton, Wash., and she was a 15-year-old runaway. McCullough originally was charged with statutory rape, eventually pleaded guilty to unlawful communication with a minor and was fired from his job.
Stuckert criticized prosecutors for their failure to ask Tessier during trial why she did not come forward until a few years ago. The judge said they also failed to present evidence that might have supported her allegations, such as a change in her behavior, grades or appearance that one might expect after such a traumatic experience.
"The state simply did not ask," she said.
Campbell was livid at the suggestion, saying the judge had prohibited him from presenting certain evidence, including allegations of other sexual incidents.
"The judge barred us from going into that information," he said.
Tessier, of Kentucky, was not in court when the verdicts were read, but other family members were. Even a half hour after the verdict was announced, they remained visibly upset, squeezing each other's hands, with Tessier's brother, Bob, hugging a sheriff's deputy on the way out the door, saying, "We'll get the bastard the next time."
Maria Ridulph's older brother, Chuck, also was emotional.
"He will have to answer one day to God," he said.
McCullough is being held on more than $3 million bond in the DeKalb County Jail, about 65 miles west of Chicago.
A grand jury indicted McCullough on the rape charges last September, a month after he was arrested in Seattle and indicted on kidnapping and murder charges in Maria Ridulph's death. He has pleaded not guilty, and a trial has not yet been scheduled in that case.
Tessier came forward after McCullough was arrested in Maria's death, one of the oldest slaying cases in the nation to be reopened.
Maria was abducted as she played outside her home in December 1957. Her body was found the following spring in a wooded area about 120 miles away.
McCullough, who was 18 and went by the name John Tessier at the time, lived less than two blocks from her home. He was an initial suspect but had an alibi: He said he had traveled to Chicago that day for military medical exams before enlisting in the Air Force.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


text: The Chart and PieChart components support different modes of series hovering. This demo shows the «includePoints» mode, when all the points of a hovered series change their display style. In addition, you can specify a custom hover mode for legend items. Here, the «excludePoints» mode is used, when only the series line changes its display style leaving the points as they were.


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There Will Be a Diabetes Cure
Will there be a cure for diabetes? Is an artificial pancreas a cure? Was insulin a cure? Let's begin on the correct platform. You may have an opinion on what a cure is that completely differs from mine, and that's okay.
My definition of a cure for diabetes is that my children will be free of all the possible complications and day-to-day worries and management that they have endured since the day they were diagnosed. I want to get back to where our lives were before they were diagnosed. I don't care what accomplishes that, and I also don't know how we'll get there. If anyone tells you that they know, honestly, I believe that they are misinformed.
I have done exhaustive work to find out where we are, and I have to be completely honest with you: If someone says that a biomechanical cure is any closer than a biological one, I don't believe it. There is no, zero, zilch proof that either will be here in three years, five years, or even ever. The key word here is "proof." And the word "here" means that people with diabetes, kids included, are using the cure on an everyday basis. It doesn't mean that the cure is in phase I, II, or III clinical trials, or even awaiting FDA approval. It means that it's in everyday use. Period.
Technology can be good, but better technology to achieve better management of diabetes is not a cure. Both—I said both —are important, but they are different. It is important for the work to continue to aid advancements in both better management and a cure. Anyone out there with diabetes deserves both, and nothing short of success in both is acceptable. The one defining difference in my definition of a cure is that we are done. Nothing more is needed.
Now the question at hand is: Will there be a cure? I believe with all my heart and soul that there will be a cure for diabetes. Let me tell you why. This is not some pie-in-the-sky, dreamy-eyed approach. Having two kids with type 1 diabetes, I have been, unfortunately, at this for over 19 years. I, and many others, have heard the word "cure" so many times that it sticks in my throat. Too many have thrown it around too much over the years and at times have outright lied. Now listen to me very carefully. Please forget anything you have heard for the next few minutes and continue reading with an open mind.
There are people out there, a good handful in fact, who have type 1 and had an islet cell transplant and actually lived for a time without taking insulin shots because the islet cells were functioning.
Many, and I mean many, people have been told that islet cell transplantation failed. It didn't. It showed that a biological means could work. Were the patients on immunosuppressants? Yes, they were. Was it a cure? No, it was not. If the islet cells had functioned without the use of immunosuppressant drugs, you bet it would have been a cure. Yes, that is a big "if," but they functioned.
Transplantation showed that there are hurdles that need to be overcome: A plentiful supply of islet cells or another insulin-producing mechanism; a method greatly curtailing the need for immunosuppression; and the need to make sure that the body does not attack all over again—-big hurdles. But failed? No, it did not fail. In some, it worked for two years or more.
Did people think it would work forever? My answer to that is a conversation I had with Ken Bernstein, a conversation that will stay burned in my mind forever. I was speaking to Ken a few months after he received an islet transplant. I said to him that he must feel great. "Tom, I do feel great," he said, and a huge smile came across his face. "But I didn't do this for me. I did this for Kaitlyn (my daughter) and those like her. Do you know how much we will learn through this? This is but a step."
In my car that night, my body shook as I cried. Ken and everyone who received an islet cell transplant are incredible heroes. "This is but a step."
With so much happening in various cell replacement strategies and genetic manipulation, engineering, and all around examination, I do believe a breakthrough will occur. I have also toured the Diabetes Research Institute (DRI). Now it's no secret that I work for the DRI, but let's be very clear about this; I work there because I believe in it. If someone showed me some place better, I would be gone in a New York minute. Those who know me know that I have done it before. This is not just my job. This is my life.
I am familiar to many because of my involvement in the diabetes online community (DOC). (Much of this article, in fair disclosure, I wrote for my column at dLife.) I have, since my early days with Children With Diabetes, been known as the Diabetes Dad. Because of my DOC involvement, I read many people's writings, and I am often amazed at their insistence not to hear anyone else's opinion. Sharing begins with discussions. Education begins with questioning.
Let me tell you what you will find at the DRI and why I encourage you to see it firsthand. When you tour the DRI, you'll see the dedication and the passion of the scientists. You can feel the drive and the single focus on curing diabetes. The collaboration is second to none. All three stages of research–basic, preclinical, and clinical–are happening in one building. The research moves up the ladder, or it moves out.
Finding a cure is as much about philosophy as it is about breakthrough. It's about collaboration. Why would anyone support a project in which the researchers are not willing to share their findings? It makes no sense. If you do not sign, literally, that you are willing to share your findings with your DRI colleagues and with others in the scientific community, then you do not work at the DRI.
Why is it that the JDRF, the ADA, the NIH, and so many other organizations and private donors fund the work of the DRI? I'll tell you why. It's because the research is that good, that strong, that collaborative, and surely worthy of a closer look. The researchers are awarded grants based on the merit of their work. The DRI is the main reason I believe that there will be a cure in my children's lifetime. It is what happens within those walls that gives me the hope at which my heart clutches.
I assure you of this: Anyone who is hoping for a cure should come and tour the DRI. Not because you should give a donation, not because you should run an event, and not even because you should be active. But in this day and age, when it is suggested by so many that the flame of a cure is diminishing, you should tour the DRI because you will touch hope. You owe it to yourself and whomever is the reason that you are in this battle.
Those involved with supporting the DRI, staff and volunteer alike, are not frowned upon should they challenge and question our scientists. Instead, it is encouraged. For it is only through questioning that one can open up to learn. Dr. Camillo Ricordi and Foundation President Bob Pearlman (yes, he is my boss) are constantly thinking and inquiring about how to move all of the processes for a cure forward, and they entertain contributions from anyone who has an idea. Nothing is off the table.
I'm furious that so many have given up hope for a cure. I do not care the reason. No one should be told anything other than that this fight will not stop until one hundred percent effort is given to a cure. No one should be told so many broken promises that it breaks their spirit. No one should have their spirit broken so many times that they just do not believe it anymore. If anything, more needs to be done, not less. And it should be done now, not tomorrow when the economy gets better. Diabetes does not care about the economy, remember that always. It is the dollars of philanthropy that will fund fabulous ideas.
The DRI opened its doors for one reason, and that focus has not changed one iota, ever. And that is the way it will be until they are closed for good because the job is done. Diabetes is a war. I do not care how many battles it takes, and I have no time to hear rhetoric. I have heard it all before. I, and so many others who are part of the DRI, are in it to end it.
So if your spirit has been broken or you have become jaded because of the years you have been battling diabetes as a parent or a person with diabetes, stop by the DRI and touch the reality of hope. No matter the odds or what people say, I will continue working, searching, and learning, because this war will be fought until the job is done. There will be a cure. I owe that belief to my kids, and I believe it now more than ever. I am a diabetes dad.


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The genius of bacteria: Scientists develop IQ test to assess and outsmart bacteria's 'social intelligence'
IQ scores are used to assess the intelligence of human beings. Now Tel Aviv University has developed a "Social-IQ score" for bacteria ― and it may lead to new antibiotics and powerful bacteria-based "green" pesticides for the agricultural industry.
An international team led by Prof. Eshel Ben-Jacob of Tel Aviv University's Department of Physics and Astronomy and his research student Alexandra Sirota-Madi says that their results deepen science's knowledge of the social capabilities of bacteria, one of the most prolific and important organisms on earth. "Bacteria are our worst enemies but they can also be our best friends. To better exploit their capabilities and to outsmart pathogenic bacteria, we must realize their social intelligence," says Prof. Ben-Jacob.
The international team was first to sequence the genome of pattern-forming bacteria, the Paenibacillus vortex (Vortex) discovered two decades ago by Prof. Ben-Jacob and his collaborators. While sequencing the genome, the team developed the first "Bacteria Social-IQ Score" and found that Vortex and two other Paenibacillus strains have the world's highest Social-IQ scores among all 500 sequenced bacteria. The research was recently published in the journal BMC Genomics.
Highly evolved communities
The impact of the team's research is three-fold. First, it shows just how "smart" bacteria can really be a new paradigm that has just begun to be recognised by the science community today. Second, it demonstrates bacteria's high level of social intelligence how bacteria work together to communicate and grow. And finally, the work points out some potentially significant applications in medicine and agriculture.
The researchers looked at genes which allow the bacteria to communicate and process information about their environment, making decisions and synthesizing agents for defensive and offensive purposes. This research shows that bacteria are not simple solitary organisms, or "low level" entities, as earlier believed ― they are highly social and evolved creatures. They consistently foil the medical community as they constantly develop strategies against the latest antibiotics. In the West, bacteria are one of the top three killers in hospitals today.
The recent study shows that everyday pathogenic bacteria are not so smart: their S-IQ score is just at the average level. But the social intelligence of the Vortex bacteria is at the "genius range": if compared to human IQ scores it is about 60 points higher than the average IQ at 100. Armed with this kind of information on the social intelligence of bacteria, researchers will be better able to outsmart them, says Prof. Ben-Jacob.
This information can also be directly applied in "green" agriculture or biological control, where bacteria's advanced offense strategies and toxic agents can be used to fight harmful bacteria, fungi and even higher organisms.
Tiny biotechnology factories
Bacteria are often found in soil, and live in symbiotic harmony with a plant's roots. They help the roots access nutrients, and in exchange the bacteria eat sugar from the roots.
For that reason, bacteria are now applied in agriculture to increase the productivity of plants and make them stronger against pests and disease. They can be used instead of fertilizer, and also against insects and fungi themselves. Knowing the Social-IQ score could help developers determine which bacteria are the most efficient.
"Thanks to the special capabilities of our bacteria strain, it can be used by researchers globally to further investigate the social intelligence of bacteria," says co-author Sirota-Madi. "When we can determine how smart they really are, we can use them as biotechnology factories and apply them optimally in agriculture."
Provided by Tel Aviv University


text: BioConvergence 2004 - Last Chance to Register! Wednesday 19 May - Thursday 20 May, The Barbican, London Only #195 for one day, #295 for two days Register online: http://www.biotechconvergence.com/registration.html BIOCONVERGENCE 2004 will bring together delegates from many disciplines within biotechnology, bioinformatics and informatics, from industry and academia. It will provide an international venue for partnering and showcasing products and technologies, as well as for learning from experts within industry and the financial community Conference sessions listed below. Session I: The Biotechnology Challenge Chaired by Dr Malcolm Simms, Director of Innovation and Enterprise at Queen Mary University of London. Bioscience challenges - the need for communication Dr Julie Logan, Director, Simfonec, London Enterprise Centre. Capturing Value in Life Science Innovation Dr Roger Harrison, VP, Head of Oncology Strategic Business Unit, BTG Plc. Alternative strategy to establish a drug delivery company Dr Andrew Muddle, CEO, MedPharm Ltd. GeneICE - new therapeutic approach Dr Jake Micallef, Director, Cronos Therapeutics. Session II: The Convergence Challenge Chaired by Sue Harris, Managing Director, Andersen Piquet. Bioinformatics and Computational Systems Biology Workshops and Projects Dr Frederic Marcus, Principal Scientific Officer, European Commission. Research Directorate. Oracle'e Strategy in Life Sciences. Susie Stephens, Principal Product Manager, Oracle Life Sciences (USA). Bringing together biosciences, microelectronics and informatics to detect and manage chronic diseases James Jackson, CEO, Smart Sensor Telemed. How much are your databases worth? Dr. Lewis Jardine, Engineering Director, Intellidos Ltd Session III: Ahead of the game Part 1 Chaired by Prof. Igor Goryanin, Head, Cell Simulations and Pathway Modelling, GlaxoSmithKline Visiting Professor, University College London Maximising the value of experimental and in silico screening. Dr Jin Li, Director, Chemical Computing Enabling Science and Technology (EST) AstraZeneca R&D Mvlndal, Sweden. Session IV: The Business Challenge Part 1: Chaired by John Pool, founder of Proteus International Plc and Biotechnology business advisor to Scottish Enterprise Bridging the Equity Gap Dr Louis Nisbet, Partner, Sitka Partners Venture Capital - the Nordic Model Seppo Mdkinen, Senior Partner, Bio Fund Management Ltd The Business Challenge Part 2: Route to the IPO Dr Jonathan Kwok, Life Science Analyst Institutional Investor: A friend or a foe? Dr George Morris, Augusta Finance. Session V: Cracking the code Chaired by Prof. Nick Lemoine, Director of The Cancer Research UK Clinical Centre. Bioinformatics and Data Resources Prof. Janet Thornton, Director of The European Bioinformatics Institute and founder of Inpharmatica. Breaking the surface: genetics, genomics and epithelial disease. Prof. William O.C.M. Cookson, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford and founder of Surface Therapeutics. Open Discovery Workflows: a pragmatic approach to integrating bioinformatics and cheminformatics. Dr. Jonathan Sheldon, Chief Scientific Officer (LifeSciences), InforSense, UK. Machine Learnt Biomarkers Prof. Vijay Chandru, CEO, Strand Genomics, India. Session VI: Collaboration model Chaired by Prof. Charles Barden-Fuller, Professor of Strategy and International Business, Cass Business School. Maximising value from integrated PK-PD Prediction Jvrg Lippert, Bayer Technology Services, Computational Solutions. Applying integrated PK-PD Modeling along the value chain John Savin, CEO, Physiomics. Session VII: Ahead of the game Part 1: Chaired by Prof. Colin Howard, Director, London BioScience Innovation Centre and Vice Pricipal of Royal Veterinary College. Turning ideas into sustainable business. Anne Marie Dalgaard, Partner Promotion Group Manager, ISTC, Russia. Developing the in silico cell: a tool for drug therapy design. Prof. David Fell, Professor of Biochemistry and Assistant Dean of the School of Biological & Molecular Sciences, Oxford Brookes University. Ahead of the game Part 2: "Mind the Gap" - ITI as an innovative model for economic development Dr John Chiplin, CEO, ITI Life Sciences Biology, Bioconvergence - Information and Life - Putting it all Together Prof. Alan Barrell, Chairman, Cambridge Worldwide Associates and Transitions Ltd, Entrepreneur in residence, Cambridge University. -- Dr Jonathan D Rees Oxford Bioinformatics Forum Oxford, United Kingdom Mob. (UK) +44 (0)7970893371 Tel. (UK) +44 (0)1865484224


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If you're looking for a classic title that showcases Blu-ray quality, Fox Home Video's presentation of Franklin J. Schaffner's Patton is the best-looking BD I've yet seen. Filmed in 65mm Dimension 150, Patton's overall look is unusually sharp and bright; the picture 'pops', even when seen in lesser formats. The opening shot of George C. Scott in front of the American flag is practically a signal test image. The level-straight red & white stripes are pure in color and free of fringing, 'ringing' or other NTSC artifacts. We can count the threads on Patton's uniform, read the inscriptions on his medals and see the highlights reflecting from his fancy pistol.
Clearly, a picture like Patton is a special case. My earlier BD's of A Passage to India and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen also look great, and benefit from more dazzling art direction. But I've seen Patton at least twenty times, and this Blu-ray is the closest I've gotten to that first 70mm experience.
The Review:
Patton accomplished what no other combat film made during the Vietnam War did: it depicted the inconsistencies of American military glory without alienating either end of the polarized political spectrum. General George S. Patton Jr. was a controversial figure even within the armed forces, a martinet and self-acknowledged prima donna who won battles but infuriated the Allied High Command. His glory-hound tactics generated high casualties and his provocative behavior drew the hostility of the press. Yet the German command feared General Patton more than any other Allied general.
The key factor in the film's success is a screenplay that goes beyond the usual adulation and nostalgia of "how we won the war" movie fare. Francis Coppola presented Patton as a bundle of inconsistencies that adds up to a portrait of a universal soldier, the eternal human warrior. Some of the speeches Francis Coppola puts in General Patton's mouth sound suspiciously like Colonel Kurtz's dialogue from Apocalypse Now. Patton was in love with war and imbued with a mystical sense of the past; he identified with the ancients that fought the Punic and Greek wars. He was an unyielding hard-ass, a demanding officer who drove his men beyond endurance. Once Patton put his divisions in attack mode, he wouldn't stop, even when his actions disturbed Eisenhower's uneasy alliance with the British. Faced with shortfalls of gasoline, he'd run his tanks dry rather than fall back and regroup.
Patton came out in February of 1970, about a month before the Army decided to bring the My Lai Massacre to trial. Nixon's war policy was polarizing the country as never before. As if fearful that America would reject a movie honoring a war hawk, Fox originally released it under the title Patton: A Salute To A Rebel, perhaps to spin him as some kind of dissenter in the military machine. That subtitle was soon dropped but the more critical original UK title stuck: Patton: Lust for Glory. Coppola's screenplay broke with tradition to present the British generals in direct competition with Americans like Patton. England's Field Marshall Montgomery comes off as a chipper little jerk, playing courtly games to curry favor with the High Command.
George C. Scott found his defining role as the French-spouting, history-loving Patton. The general senses historical presences in ancient battlefields and believes that God has imbued him with a shining destiny. We see Patton in ecstasy over his first non-theoretical tank victory: "Rommel you magnificent bastard - I read your book!"
The movie lays out Patton's contradictions without judgment. He breaks with the approved battle plan in Sicily, taking terrible losses but conquering the island in record time. He goes berserk when he finds a physically unharmed victim of "battle fatigue" in the same field hospital tent with gravely wounded soldiers. In an incident as simple as an Aesop's fable, Patton discovers that a Sicilian farmer's mules are holding up a long line of trucks and troops. With the column under fire, he dispenses a lesson in military expediency by personally shooting the animals. To Patton the issue is clear: the mules are jeopardizing his convoy, and must be removed immediately. The obvious question is, at what point does warfare obliterate all other concerns?
Director Schaffner wisely depicts one major battle up front and utilizes impressionistic montages for the rest of the film. He prefers to concentrate on the politics of the matter. The Germans are easily fooled when Eisenhower uses the disgraced Patton to decoy them away from the Normandy invasion site. Patton suffers in exile after making inflammatory remarks to the press, and then gets a post- D-Day command to head a giant tank offensive in France. He restores his military reputation by mounting a spectacular rescue-race to relieve the airborne troops trapped in the Battle of the Bulge. Instead of mounting "exciting" combat scenes, Schaffner shows the aftermath of a bloody nighttime clash between American and German spearheads. In a later montage, one shot of a soldier dropping to the snow, felled by a clean bullet hit, expresses the simple horror of combat without reaching for "entertaining" effects.
The disturbing ending shows General Patton to be a scary militarist when thinking in global terms. With the Nazis defeated, he doesn't mind telling the press that he's ready to take on the Russians. After all his brilliant victories, he's canned and literally put out to pasture. Patton's type would be heard from again, when MacArthur wanted to commence a nuclear war against Red China. Today the showboat general wouldn't be tolerated for a minute by a military run as a PR- conscious corporation. But his aggressive political stance is certainly alive and well.
Giving excellent support and providing a sane alternative to Patton's excesses is Karl Malden as Omar Bradley, "the soldier's general". Standing out in the cast are Paul Stevens and James Edwards as Patton's aides, and John Doucette as the put-upon General Truscott, the "amphibious specialist." Michael Bates is a very proper prig as the red-cheeked General Montgomery, who so far hasn't been given his own biopic to rebut the negative image presented here.
Praise for the beautiful transfer of Patton has already been expressed above. We also notice that the "Master Lossless Audio" DD 5.1 track has not been flattened out for home video. Blu-ray audio is so far aimed at a true home theater experience, retaining a full dynamic contrast between quiet dialogue, Jerry Goldsmith's perfect score and the thundering sound effects.
The disc extras combine docus and other items included on earlier Fox DVD special editions. The feature begins with an introduction from Francis Ford Coppola and bears his lively commentary. The other extras are on a second, standard DVD. History Through The Lens: Patton - A Rebel Revisited is a 2000 Kevin Burns TV production. Zachary Weintraub's Patton's Ghost Corps is an account of Patton's campaigns covered in stills, war footage and interviews with veterans gathering at a 2004 reunion. Michael Arick's 1997 The Making of Patton concentrates on film artists and includes interviews with the director, producer Frank McCarthy, cameraman Koenekamp and composer Jerry Goldsmith. It contains Oliver Stone's assertion that Richard Nixon invaded Cambodia because he was impressed by repeated showings of Patton in his White House screening room. Stone stretches the issue to assert that the movie and everyone involved in its making are guilty of inspiring genocide!
The set contains two production still galleries. One accompanies the entire Jerry Goldsmith score, and another is laid over an audio essay on the historical Patton. A trailer rounds out the program -- almost 5.5 hours of Patton-related programming.
On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor,
Patton Blu-ray rates:
Movie: Excellent
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: See above
Packaging: Blu-ray thin Keep case
Reviewed: May 31, 2008
Republished in conjuction with Film.com .
Footnote from Avie Hern, 6.17.08:
1. Glenn: I just read your review of the Blu-Ray Patton, and have to dispute your concentrating the screenplay credit on Francis Coppola, with nary a mention of Edmund H. North.
Twenty-four years ago at AFI, I decided to prepare for an upcoming seminar with Franklin Schaffner by reading the Patton script. I discovered that AFI's library had several drafts, and read them all.
What struck me was how far wide of the mark Coppola's were. They truly were how-we-won-the-war chronologies, with far less of the detail and character study that are the finished film's great strength (there was one scene in a Coppola script with Ernest Hemingway in the lobby of a Paris hotel. It mystified me then, and mystifies me now).
The North drafts, by contrast, were a revelation. He apparently grasped what Coppola failed to: that the key to telling Patton's story was that he was convinced of -- some might fairly describe it as obsessed with -- the certainty that he had a destiny to fulfill, and that nothing would, or could, stand in its way (with the upshot being that Patton, deep down, knew that fulfilling that destiny would help create a world in which a "pure warrior" like him -- Captain Steiger's words -- would serve no purpose, an irreconcilable conflict that would ultimately destroy him). North's scripts hammer that home again and again, and it reached the screen largely in that form.
So many years after The Godfather, we forget that in the mid and late 1960s Francis Coppola was still a rather undisciplined talent and his Patton scripts reflect that (remember, too, that his drafts were written largely during the period when many aspects of the film were in flux, including who would play Patton, and William Wyler was still scheduled to direct). North, on the other hand, was the old pro that Schaffner, Richard Zanuck and Frank McCarthy called in to pull Coppola's creative, but rather helter-skelter ideas together. I think he deserves at least equal credit with Coppola, if not more. -- Avie
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text: Melissa Joulwan, the author of Well-Fed, blogs at The Clothes Make The Girl about her triumphs and failures in the kitchen, the gym, and in life. In her own words she's "on a mission to be a superfit, well-fed, dressed-to-kill, glossy-haired, rock-n-roll, tart-tongued detective." That's pretty sweet. Melissa lives in Austin, TX (holla) and is […]Learn More


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(The 2013 edition can be found here.)
I bought a Williams-Sonoma cheese grater for my mom for Christmas once because I had no idea what to get her and I was in a mall and there the grater was, just large enough to take up space under the tree and just cheap enough to let her know that I put NO thought or care into buying a gift for her. Anyway, I paid for this grater with a credit card. And when a place like Williams-Sonoma gets your credit card and thus your address, you are on the mailing list for life. Every holiday season, my mail slot gets bukkake'd with monstrous catalogs packed with shit I would never, ever buy, and the W-S catalog stands out among them.
While certain retailers like Hammacher Schlemmer are almost intentionally ludicrous ("Buy this personal hovercraft for $80,000!"), there's no wink to be found in a Williams-Sonoma catalog. The people at W-S aren't the least bit self-conscious about getting you to pay $35 for mailed gravy. So I thought I would go through this holiday season's catalog, which has spent a solid week atop my shitter, and point out some of the more ridiculous items. Because there are people out there who buy this shit. The question is ... who? And why? Let's try to figure that out now.
Item #02-8592198 Harvest Pumpkin Collection
Williams-Sonoma says: "Ceramicist Barbara Eigen has been designing unique pieces, often inspired by nature, since 1997. Our Harvest Pumpkin Collection is a perfect example of her lifelike work. The tureen and accessories add organic whimsy to your Thanksgiving table."
Price: $40 for a set of four individual tureens
Notes from Drew: This is actually one of the more reasonably priced items in the W-S catalog, as long as you don't consider it a waste to spend $40 on four pumpkin bowls that you will use three times per decade. I used to buy terrible gifts like this for people all the time. HERE ARE YOUR PUMPKIN BOWLS! NOT BAD, EH? Because, honestly, what can you do with a pumpkin soup bowl besides put pumpkin soup in it? If you put tomato soup in it, God will murder you.
Item #02-496059 Bourbon Cranberry Relish
Williams-Sonoma says: "Sauteed cranberries, bourbon, shallots and herb with a hint of orange. 16oz."
Price: $40
Notes from Drew: That's 40 bucks for a bowl of cranberry sauce that everyone will pass up because we all prefer the shit that costs two bucks and comes plopping out of the can in the shape of the can. The second ingredient is LEAD. For 40 bucks, you should get the bourbon on its own.
Item #02-4381232 Acorn Twine Holder
Williams-Sonoma says: "Polished alderwood with 76 yards of linen twine. Made in Italy."
Price: $26
Notes from Drew: Oh, thank God! Thanksgiving was mere weeks away and I was like OH FUCK, WE'RE OUT OF TWINE. AND WE HAVE NO PLACE TO DISPENSE SAID TWINE. Sure, any asshole can go to the store and buy a roll of cooking string for half a penny and keep that twine in a drawer for the one time per year someone in the house has to tie up a raw turkey only to fail miserably and get salmonella deep inside his palms for years and years. But I want CLASSY twine, you know? I want my twine to say something about ME.
Item #02-1496058 Potato Scrubbing Gloves
Williams-Sonoma says: "Scrub potatoes clean while preserving skin that's nutrient rich. Set of two."
Price: $11.95
Notes from Drew: I desperately wanted it to say "Set of one" at the end. But anyway, who WOULDN'T like to have special gloves for whenever you have to handle potatoes? Potatoes are dirty and smelly, so it behooves you to wear a pair of gloves that will absorb all that dirt and grime and then get soaked through. Be sure to let them dry on your radiator! I also like that these gloves come with the word POTATO labeled across each one. Late at night, I often go digging through my basement screaming, "WHERE ARE THE GODDAMN POTATO GLOVES?" Because I usually end up grabbing the carrot gloves first, you know?
Item #02-2719136 Chef'n Panini Spatula
Williams-Sonoma says: "Wide platform with a slot simplifies slicing then lifting even the largest sandwiches."
Price: $19.95
Notes from Drew: ZOMG THIS SANDWICH IS SO LARGE! I can't possibly lift it using only my hands or a common spatula. If only someone out there would invent a unique tool that would allow me to lift my panini and then transfer it to a plate. I'm not just gonna pick it up myself, like a DOG. There's hot gruyere in that sandwich! It could burn.
By the way, you should know that any kitchen utensil designed specifically for one kind of food or meal is essentially useless: a panini spatula, a fondue pot, a steak tartare fork. Unless you plan on eating raclette four days a week, you don't need any of that shit.
Item #02-787713 Williams-Sonoma Cocktail Rimming Sugar
Williams-Sonoma says: "Spiced, Citrus, or Vanilla."
Price: $8.95
Notes from Drew: Why have an ordinary rimjob when you can add just a touch of Madagascar vanilla? That's how classy folk do their rimming.
Item #02-9663154 Twelve Days of Christmas Crackers
Williams-Sonoma says: "Sets of 12."
Price: $19.95 (small), $29.95 (large)
Notes from Drew: This is not a cracker you eat, but rather a small cardboard tube with two pull tabs on each end. When you pull the tabs, a delightful POP! rings out around the house, and thus much mirth is to be had in the Easterbrook household. These are the perfect fireworks for rich white people. Also, you get a free paper crown inside.
Item #02-4381182 Balustrade Rectangular Dining Table
Williams-Sonoma says: "Seats six, expands with a leaf to seat eight."
Notes from Drew: This is one of the harsh truths you learn when you get married: Basic shit like a table costs a fucking fortune. Two grand for a wooden table. And it's not like the surface of it is a giant iPad screen either. It just sits there and does nothing. This isn't even a big table, and it certainly isn't the most expensive table of its kind. The chairs that go along with this table are $395 each. JEEEEEEESUS. If it were up to me, my family would eat dinner off a milk crate.
Item #02-741009 Callie's Charleston Biscuits
Williams-Sonoma says: "Flaky, buttery, and made by hand by celebrated caterer Callie White."
Price:$72 (set of 24)
Notes from Drew: That's $72 dollars for biscuits. At Popeye's, the biscuit comes free with your order. At Williams-Sonoma, it costs you the rough equivalent of your phone bill. How good could these biscuits possibly be? There's a threshold past which biscuits cannot improve. Even the best goddamn biscuit in the world isn't $72 better than a Popeye's biscuit. Unless that biscuit can make you teleport.
And what kills me is that there are clearly people out there who have shitloads of money and NO cooking skills who order this shit. Who are these people? How are there so many of them that Williams-Sonoma can sustain its business model? Are we all just racking up massive biscuit debts that will soon break the economy? I imagine that 60 percent of Williams-Sonoma's business come from a group of six Persian oil barons, who buy everything in every catalog five times over every year for no good reason at all. Seventy-two-dollar biscuits. WHAT THE FUCK.
Item #02-4229100 European Cheese Hamper
Notes from Drew: Where else am I supposed to put my dirty cheese?
Item #02-410423 Assumption Abbey Fruitcake
Williams-Sonoma says: "Baked by trappist monks at a monastery in the Missouri Ozarks. Order early. Supply is limited."
Notes from Drew: Everything about that sales copy just blew my skull. There are trappist monks in the Ozarks? Do they brew artisanal meth? I don't trust fruitcake to begin with. I sure as shit am not trusting fruitcake that comes from a redneck friar. They'll swap out uppers for candied fruit. And yet, supply is limited. Apparently, the market for $40 Ozark fruitcake is ENORMOUS. White women from Bridgehampton ALL THE WAY to Westhampton rely on the monks to deliver their holiday fruitcake every year. Ina Garten's ADORABLE HUSBAND JEFFREY WHO MAKES A LOT OF MONEY loves the sight of a fine white-trash-monk fruitcake any time he comes home. TIE IT UP WITH THE TWINE!
Item #02-9691155 Found Grain Sack Stocking
Williams-Sonoma says: "NEW & EXCLUSIVE. Crafted from 70-year-old Hungarian grain sacks made of burlap and linen. Made in Hungary."
Notes from Drew: You want me to pay 40 bucks for an old sack? OH BUT IT'S HUNGARIAN. They're known for their sacks!
Item #02-1514454 Breville programmable espresso maker with integrated burr grinder
Williams-Sonoma says: "Built-in conical burr grinder produces 15 precise grinds."
Notes from Drew: I guarantee you that whoever buys this won't be using it personally. The programmable-espresso-maker-with-integrated burr-grinder duties will inevitably fall to Guadalupe, the live-in maid, who will then be lashed thoroughly when she does not grind the burrs properly. I SAID I WANTED IT FINE BUT NOT TOO FINE, YOU FUCKING WHORE. I'M CALLING I.N.S. ON YOU.
Item #02-4276309 Chocolate-chocolate croissants
Williams-Sonoma says: "Delivered January 1-11"
Price: $39.95, set of 15
Notes from Drew: Wait, the croissant itself is made of chocolate? I've wasted my entire croissant-eating career not knowing this. By the way, any chocolate croissant that doesn't have enough chocolate filling is grounds for suicide bombing.
Item #02-6818686 Waffle batter dispenser
Williams-Sonoma says: "Measures out uniform circles in three sizes."
Notes from Drew: How about a spoon? How about you use a fucking spoon to dole out your waffle batter? The waffle iron itself tells you when it's had enough batter. If you overload it because you're a fat greedy pig, the batter spills off the side. You don't need a dispenser. OH BUT HOW WILL I KNOW I'VE USED THE EXACT RIGHT AMOUNT OF BATTER?! Now this waffle will never fit in my grain sack!
Item #02-1478627 Williams-Sonoma Pumpkin Parmesan Sauce
Price: $16.95, set of two $30
Notes from Drew: Perfect for my miniature pumpkin tureens! IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW.
Item #02-6126122 Ebelskiver miniature pancake pan
Williams-Sonoma says: "Makes seven mini pancakes."
Price: $39.95
Notes from Drew: My wife bought one of these pans for $3 at Home Goods once. They're useless. The fuck am I gonna do with seven very small pancakes? I feel like I'm on the set of a puppet show. But I'm glad we have an extra pan to wash. This really grinds my burrs.
Item #02-759472 Reclaimed rustic chicken coop
Williams-Sonoma says: "Built exclusively for us in their urban garden workshop, Laughing Chickens Coops have a classic, old-world design, constructed from the highest quality reclaimed redwood. $65 delivery."
Price: $759.95 (with painted chicken), $599.95 (plain)
Notes from Drew: This is a real item in the catalog. And honestly, if you're buying a goddamn chicken coop from a catalog, why NOT spring for the painted chicken? It was hand painted in an urban garden workshop, people. You CANNOT say you are a true farm-to-table household unless you have a coop to call your own. Muffy Wilshire and her fam bought a coop last year and now they can't live without it. Could you imagine having a frittata made from STORE-BOUGHT eggs now? I shudder at the thought. You can also get a beehive box for $500 if you're a fucking crazy person. Seriously, a chicken coop. People with money are so good at throwing it away.
Item #02-375097 Holiday Chocolate Sampler
Williams-Sonoma says: "Peanut butter caramel cup (1), coconut caramel bars (2), s'more (1), mini mud pie (1), chocolate peanut butter crunch (4), sticky paws (2), and whammies (2)."
Notes from Drew: OH HOLY FUCK THAT SOUNDS GOOD. Look at the picture of all those items stacked on top of each other. I bet it took the food stylist four hours to get the caramel to drip just so. And there are little bits of toffee crumbles on the bottom and GOD I WANT THIS. Now I get how Williams-Sonoma lures you in. Just one taste of peppermint bark and suddenly your budget is screwed for life. This is the kind of thing I would buy for a co-worker only to eat myself and then give my co-worker nothing. Listen to the description of whammies: "Pretzel topped with peanut nougat and salted caramel, wrapped in milk chocola—" (rips out own tongue). I want that in my body. This catalog does nothing but give me pantry envy. All I have in my pantry is flour and gum. I don't even HAVE a pantry. I have a cabinet. Rich people have pantries. Rich people have entire food closets lined with whammies and biscuits and emergency rimming sugar GOD I HATE RICH PEOPLE SO MUCH.