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Brand new data on super-PAC spending is out courtesy of the Wesleyan Media Project, and conservative groups are still considerably outspending liberal organizations, despite an overall ad-buy advantage from the Obama campaign over the Romney campaign as the Tsunami of Sleaze rolls through our airwaves on to Election Day 2012.
TV ads by nondisclosing dark-money 501(c)(4)s are keeping up with super-PAC spending in these final weeks, with the combined totals almost matching Team Mitt's overall ad spending.
And in several key swing-state Senate races, independent groups account for more than 50 percent of all the advertising money spent.
For example, in September the Karl Rove–backed super PAC American Crossroads and its 501(c)(4) arm Crossroads GPS spent almost $15 million in ads, compared with $19 million spent by the Romney campaign and dwarfing the $2 million spent by the Romney-affiliated super PAC Restore Our Future, which had previously raised more money than any other group this cycle.
Interestingly, Restore Our Future went from Aug. 23 to Sept. 21 without spending any money on ads, according to OpenSecrets.org. It could be argued that Karl Rove and his Crossroads Empire are basically propping up the Romney campaign at this point, where onetime Crossroads cofounder Ed Gillespie is a senior adviser.
"August was the first month in which liberal super PACs outraised conservative super PACs," said Robert Maguire from the Center for Responsive Politics. "Coincidentally, August also saw the beginning of a nearly monthlong dry spell in ad buys on the part of Restore Our Future. Whether the two are related, no one will know until mid-October, when September's donor totals are filed with the FEC."
In the general-election season overall, Crossroads GPS has outspent American Crossroads in ads by a more than 2–1 margin, $41.4 million to $17.8 million. Since GPS is nominally the "social purpose" and nonprofit arm of Rove's empire, it doesn't have to reveal its donors—meaning we won't ever know who gave the $41.4 million to produce and air those dark-money ads.
The impact of super PACs on swing-state Senate races is particularly pronounced. In Ohio and Virginia, independent groups account for 53 percent and 52 percent of total ad spending, respectively. In Nevada, Florida, Wisconsin, and Indiana, independent groups account for far more than 40 percent of all spending. And Crossroads GPS is outspending its affiliated super PAC, American Crossroads, by an almost 5–1 margin in Senate races.
Interestingly, the DNC has decided to sit out the ad wars this cycle, leading Wesleyan Media project to surmise that they are instead devoting their dollars to get-out-the-vote efforts. The once-robust Romney campaign and Restore Our Future super PAC is either choosing to hoard their cash for an intense October ad push or they have bled more money on the road to the Election Day than previously estimated, in a possible sign of postconvention fundraising troubles.
Not surprisingly, this unprecedented onslaught of super-PAC spending has led to the most negative election ad cycle in American history. "Just 14 percent of presidential ads so far this year have been positive, down from 54 percent in 2000, 35 percent in 2004, and 32 percent in 2008," states the Wesleyan Media Project. "Fully 62 percent of ads this year have been pure attacks."
Moreover, negativity has increased since the Tea Party midterm election of 2010. "Comparing only congressional races, ads by outside groups opposing candidates has increased from 69 percent in 2010 to 77 percent in 2012," says Maguire. "And it's worth noting that we're likely to see a majority of the outside spending for the entire cycle come in the next four weeks, so the 2012 total will probably increase."
So the super-PAC sludge swamps swing states and Senate races—while a select group of political consultants get super-rich off all the negativity, win or lose. Remember, it's not just democracy; it's big business. If you want to find out what's really going on beneath Campaign 2012, the old adage is still true: follow the money.


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Shazam the music recognition app has been updated to also recognize TV shows . I was trying it out today and it still needs some work. It didn't recognize many of the shows that I was watching. It either gave back no information or incorrect information. There were times when it took multiple tries before it came back with the correct information.
I wasn't surprise when it didn't recognize Bleach, my favorite anime show. However, I was surprised when it didn't recognize a Rock documentary on Rush. Not surprisingly it recognized most network programing, however it had trouble recognizing the show Major Crimes which is a new series on TNT this afternoon. This evening though it did recognize it, so the database appears to be improving all the time.
Once the show is recognized it will show the songs that are played on the show. You can play samples of the music. If you are a Spotify premium member you can play the whole song. You can also view the song on Youtube if it is available. You can also view the lyrics, get tour information and buy ringtones. You can also read the latest celebrity buzz, get the cast information, read the latest Tweets. If you are using it on an iOS device you can share to Facebook or Twitter. If you are on Android you can share thru any app that you have, including Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus
IntoNow, a Yahoo product recognized more shows than Shazam, however once a show was recognized, Shazam had more options available. Get Glue the other media sharing app, is just that a way to share what you are watching. It doesn't have the information that is available through either Shazam or IntoNow. Shazam needs to improve its recognition of non network shows. However it is on the right path and I do recommend downloading it if you like to share what you are watching to your favorite social network.

subset: commoncrawl


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Report on Icelandic bank fuels fury
From WikiLeaks
August 6 2009 22:26 GMT
By Andrew Ward (Financial Times)
Icelandic authorities are facing pressure to step up their investigation into possible wrongdoing before the country's banking system collapsed last year, as fresh revelations emerge about questionable lending practices that helped spawn the crisis.
Public anger has been simmering for months as Iceland conducts a postmortem on its failed banks and seeks to apportion blame for a crisis that turned one of the world's richest nations into an economic basket case.
But a fresh wave of fury has been released this week as Icelanders digest a risk report revealing the financial secrets of Kaupthing Bank shortly before it and two other lenders crumbled last October.
The document – first exposed by Wikileaks, the whistleblower website, last weekend – showed how the bank was dangerously exposed to a handful of large clients and lent heavily to its biggest shareholders, sometimes with little or no collateral.
One of the most striking examples involved Agust and Lydur Gudmundsson, the brothers behind the Bakkavor food empire, who controlled 23 per cent of Kaupthing through their investment group, Exista. The report claimed Exista and its subsidiaries owed Kaupthing about €1.4bn ($2bn, £1.2bn) in the weeks before the crisis erupted.
Kaupthing first sought to suppress the leak with a court order that blocked Icelandic media from reporting it but the bank was forced to withdraw the injunction on Tuesday amid public outrage over the censorship.
Kristinn Hrafnsson, an investigative reporter for RUV, the Icelandic state broadcaster, the primary target of the gagging order, says the revelations intensified public pressure for people to be held accountable.
While there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing in the leaked report, Mr Hrafnsson says Kaupthing's prolific lending, often on lax terms, has fuelled perceptions of impropriety.
Multiple investigations are already under way by Iceland's Financial Supervisory Authority into the meltdown, and isolated cases of alleged market manipulation and fraud have already been referred to a special prosecutor.
Kaupthing denies any wrongdoing and says its sole motivation for trying to block the leaked report was client confidentiality.
The revelations have increased scrutiny of the small band of wealthy Icelandic bankers and investors, whose aggressive international expansion left the country disastrously exposed to the global credit crunch.
Foreign hedge funds were initially blamed by many Icelanders for bringing the country to its knees, but Vilhjalmur Bjarnason, director of the Iceland Shareholders Association, says the evidence increasingly suggests home-grown culprits. "We did not need hedge funds to bring the system down. The insiders did at least as much damage," he says.
Mr Hrafnsson says ordinary Icelanders are furious they have to pay the price for the mistakes of the business and financial elite.
Thanks to Andrew Ward and the Financial Times for covering this issue. Copyright remains with the aforementioned.
Source documents:
- Financial collapse: Confidential exposure analysis of 205 companies each owing above EUR45M to Icelandic bank Kaupthing, 26 Sep 2008
- Icelandic bank Kaupthing threat to WikiLeaks over confidential large exposure report, 31 Jul 2009
See also:
- Serious Fraud Office urges Kaupthing whisteblowers to step forward
- Serious Fraud Office intensifies Icelandic banking inquiry after Kaupthing leak
- Iceland mulls bank secrecy reform
- Iceland court lifts gag order after public outrage
- Kaupthing leak exposes loans
- Iceland's Independent People: It's Time To Clean House
- Islands Finanzelite am Pranger - Eigner plünderten Kaupthing
- Kaupthing-Bank von Großaktionären geplündert
- Kaupthing Leaks Expose Unusual Lending Practices


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By ?CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER
AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level in nine months, that latest evidence that the job market is improving.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that weekly applications dropped by 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 381,000. That's the lowest number of applications since late February.
The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell for the ninth time in 11 weeks to 393,250. That's the lowest average since early April. Applications that drop below 375,000 — consistently — tend to correlate with a steady decline in the unemployment rate.
"There have been numerous indications that the labor market is healing and today's jobless claims report only reinforces that view," Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG, a trading firm.
The unemployment rate fell to 8.6 percent in November, the government said last week, down from 9 percent the previous month. That's the lowest rate in two and a half years.
Still, the unemployment rate dropped last month in part because more people gave up looking for work. Once the unemployed stop looking for jobs and drop out of the work force, they are no longer counted as unemployed.
Employers added a net total of 120,000 jobs last month. The economy has generated 100,000 or more jobs five months in a row — the first time that has happened since April 2006.
The report on hiring gains followed other positive signs. Manufacturing firms are boosting output and retailers reported a strong start to the holiday shopping season. Consumer confidence jumped in November to the highest level since July, and Americans' pay rose in October by the most in seven months.
Many economists expect growth to accelerate in the final three months of the year, to about a 3 percent annual rate. That would be an improvement from 2 percent growth in the July-September period.
But the U.S. economy is vulnerable to shocks from overseas. European leaders are struggling to contain a two-year old debt crisis and the 17 nations that use the euro may already be in recession, economists say.
That could slow U.S. exports and cut into overseas profits earned by U.S. multinationals. Even worse, the crisis could force European banks to cut back on lending and U.S. banks to follow suit, leading to a credit crunch. Most economists are penciling in slower U.S. growth next year, partly because of Europe's slowdown.
Fewer people are receiving unemployment benefits, and the number of people on extended benefits also fell. Some of that decline is because those out of work found jobs. But economists think most have likely used up all their benefits.
The number of people receiving benefits fell by 174,000 to 3.58 million. But that doesn't include several million people receiving aid under extended programs put in place during the recession. All told, 6.6 million people received unemployment aid in the week ending Nov. 19, the latest data available. That's about 400,000 fewer than the previous week.
Congress is debating whether to continue the extended benefit program, which expires at the end of this year. The program provides up to 99 weeks of benefits in states with high unemployment rates. If the program isn't continued, the Labor Department estimates that about 1.8 million people could lose benefits by early February.


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Entrepreneurial Spirit Alive in Memphis
August 26, 2013
By Dr. Mary C. McDonald
Steve Jobs once said, "Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the square pegs in the round holes … the ones who see things differently … they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."
Perhaps some people do call them crazy. Most folks refer to them as Entrepreneurs.
An Entrepreneur is comfortable with ambiguity, and motivated by challenge. Succeeding against all odds is a familiar journey of those who ride a roller coaster of emotional highs and lows. They meet both challenge and opportunity with enthusiasm and passion, and define what they do by hard work and dedication. They don't stop creating for either success or failure.
These risk-takers share a common thread of ensuring continuous improvement by discovering new ways of thinking and doing. And the hub of this entrepreneurial spirit is right here in Memphis; the Society of Entrepreneurs (SOE).
Founded in 1991, the Society of Entrepreneurs was the vision of Walker Uhlhorn, founder of Uhlhorn Security Group. A successful entrepreneur himself, he believed in that old adage, 'Fire, ready, aim,' so he gathered together a group of kindred spirits, like Art Seessel, Henry Turley, L.R. Jalanek, and a few more of those who sail against the wind. The creative energy flowed, and the Society of Entrepreneurs was born.
According to Uhlhorn, "The purpose of the SOE is to foster the development of the entrepreneurial spirit, and to recognize the contributions of entrepreneurs to business and the community."
The founding group believed that succeeding against all odds can be modeled, and that an entrepreneur has a responsibility to create more entrepreneurs. It is noteworthy that really great people believe that others can be really great too.
Since that time, the SOE has grown to include visionary leaders in many fields who have helped shape our community, and the world, including Fred Smith, Kemmons Wilson, Pitt Hyde, Abe Plough, Clarence Saunders and more than a hundred others, all here in Memphis.
What a track record Memphis has in launching new ideas, new ways of thinking and doing. It is the home of the entrepreneurial spirit. They are also social entrepreneurs, who seek new ways to lift our city, and find solutions to challenges that will help all citizens learn, work and prosper. They embody the best of business acumen and civic responsibility.
Pearson Crutcher, executive director of the SOE proclaims, "I have the best job in the world. I get to interact and work with some of the most creative and inspiring people in the world. They are committed to passing on their wisdom so that fledgling entrepreneurs can be supported and encouraged."
As member Jack Belz said, "Entrepreneurship is the very essence of America and Western free enterprise society."
And it's alive and well in Memphis. See for yourself at SOEMemphis.com.
Contact Dr. Mary C. McDonald, a national education consultant, at 574-2956 or visit mcd-partners.com


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Branch Basics – Starter Kit
- 33 oz. Concentrate
- 3 empty refillable 24 oz. spray bottles (All-Purpose, Bathroom, and Streak-Free)
- 10 oz. Foaming Wash bottle (Great for washing hands, face and dishes too!)
- 32 oz. Laundry bottle (fights stains & odors)
With this Starter Kit, you can make three of each cleaner and still have enough Concentrate left to do 64 loads of laundry.
The kit is packaged in a reusable cloth bag, perfect to repurpose for toting produce, packing shoes, or for stashing dirty delicates! If you're new to Branch Basics, this is a great way to experience the versatility of our concentrate.
Purified Water, Coco Glucoside (Sugar-Based Cleanser), Organic Chamomilla Recutita (Chamomile) Flower Extract, Decyl Glucoside (Sugar-Based Cleanser), Sodium Citrate (Food-Grade Emulsifier), Lauryl Glucoside (Sugar-Based Cleanser), Sodium Bicarbonate (Food-Grade Baking Soda), Sodium Phytate (Plant-Based Antioxidant)
- All-Purpose: Appliances, Dishes, Fruits & Vegetables, Granite, Grills, Highchairs, Jewelry, Marble, Natural Stone, Pacifiers, Pots & Pans, Stains, Stovetops, Sticky Spills, Yoga Mats
- Bathroom: Tile, Grout, Countertops, Sinks, Showers, Tubs, Toilets, Fixtures, Shower Liners, Soap Scum
- Streak-Free: Windows, Mirrors, Glass Surfaces, Computer Screens, Phones and Tablets, Fixtures, Aquariums, Shower Doors, Picture Frames
- Foaming Wash:Hands, Face, Body, Baby, Hair, Pets, Removing Make-Up, Shaving, Dishes, Fruits & Vegetables
- Laundry: Whites, Colors, Sheets and more!
- Misc: Stainless Steel, Wood and Vinyl Floors, Carpet
- Concentrated formula can be diluted for virtually any cleaning use
- Removes heavy dirt, grease, grime, and stains
- Fragrance-Free
- No harmful VOCs so no need for ventilation
- Dilutes to make cleaners that leave no residue behind
- Gluten-Free
- Hypoallergenic, no nuts or tree nuts
- No parabens, phthalates, synthetic preservatives, synthetic fragrances, alcohols, ethoxylates, or SLS
- Kind to Life: not harmful to people or pets when used as directed
- Custom foaming bottle with thick, clear plastic
- BPA-Free recyclable plastic bottles
- The bottles are created to last: refill, reuse, repeat (replaces dozens of plastic bottles)
- Concentrate easily dispenses from a spout and squeezable bottle for simple pouring
- All-Purpose, Bathroom, and Streak-Free bottles are 24 fl oz.
- Clearly marked label for simple mixing
- Narrow bottles are easy to grip and take up less counter space
- On/Off trigger sprayers with wide mist for easy cleaning
- Packaged in a reusable cloth bag
- 3 All-Purpose bottles (24 oz.) at $2.90 each
- 3 Bathroom bottles (24 oz.) at $5.80 each
- 3 Streak-Free bottles (24 oz.) at $0.20 each
- 3 Foamer bottles (10 oz.) at $2.90 each
- 64 laundry loads at $0.24 per load
The Concentrate is a plant- and mineral-based, multi-purpose formula designed to replace virtually every cleaner in your home. When diluted with water, our Concentrate is a multitasking powerhouse, tough enough to dissolve car engine grease, yet safe and gentle enough to wash a baby. And the best part? It works! Use it to tackle dirt, dust, grease, grime, and even the toxic residues left behind by other cleaners. We use ingredients you can trust, down to the last drop.
Safety: The Concentrate is human safe, not irritating to the eyes, skin, or lungs. All ingredients are rated 1 on EWG, and there are no harmful preservatives such as methylisothiazolinone, phenoxyethanol, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, or any type of alcohol. Even the extremely chemically sensitive and immune compromised are able to use Branch Basics with complete confidence. Our fragrance-free, hypoallergenic concentrate is also biodegradable and is safe for the environment.
Versatility + Convenience: The Concentrate was intentionally formulated to replace all cleaning products in your home. It cleans countertops, dirty laundry, showers, floors, wine stains, puppy accidents…even spaghetti-splattered ovens. Cleaning has never been so simple!
Economics: Buying Branch Basics for your home may save you as much as half of your yearly cleaning budget. The average cost of 24 oz. "green" cleaners – many of which still contain harmful chemicals – is $6.18, and their uses are very limited. A 33 oz. bottle of The Concentrate makes 16 All-Purpose spray bottles (24 oz.), costing only $2.90 each!
Effectiveness: Our formula removes stains, breaks down grease and oil, and cleans surfaces leaving no residues outperforming many of the toxic solvents, detergents, and cleaning products it replaces.
Sustainability: The biodegradable formula is just as safe for fish and plant life as it is for humans. Instead of selling one-time-use bottles, each reusable Branch Basics bottle replaces dozens of conventional spray bottles over its lifetime of use. And you conserve energy and save on shipping costs.


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You are going home with a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC). This small, soft tube has been placed in a vein in your arm. It's often used when treatment needs medicines, fluids, or nutrition for weeks or months. At home, you need to take care of your PICC to keep it working. Because a PICC line has a high infection risk, you must take extra care washing your hands and preventing the spread of germs. This sheet will help you remember what to do to care for your PICC at home.
A nurse or other healthcare provider will teach you and your caregivers how to care for the PICC. Before leaving the hospital, make sure you understand what to do at home, how long you may need the PICC, and when to have a follow-up visit.
Write down important details about caring for your PICC, including the following:
Follow-up visit scheduled:
PICC dressing change due date:
Healthcare provider in charge of PICC care and their phone number:
Who to call with concerns about your PICC line and their phone number:
Any other important information:
If the PICC gets damaged, it won't work right and could raise your chance of infection. Call your healthcare team right away if any damage occurs. To protect the PICC at home:
Prevent infection. Use good hand hygiene by following the guidelines on this sheet. Don't touch the catheter or dressing unless you need to. And always clean your hands before and after you come in contact with any part of the PICC. Your caregivers, family members, and any visitors should use good hand hygiene, too.
Keep the PICC dry. The catheter and dressing must stay dry. Don't take baths, go swimming, use a hot tub, or do other things that could get the PICC wet. Take a sponge bath to prevent getting your catheter wet, unless your healthcare provider tells you otherwise. Ask your provider about the best way to keep your catheter dry when bathing or showering. If the dressing does get wet, change it only if you have been shown how. Otherwise, call your healthcare team right away for help.
Don't damage the catheter. Don't use any sharp or pointy objects around the catheter. This includes scissors, pins, knives, razors, or anything else that could cut it or put a hole in it (puncture it). Also, don't let anything pull or rub on the catheter, such as clothing.
Watch for signs of problems. Pay attention to how much of the catheter sticks out from your skin. If this changes at all, let your healthcare provider know. Also watch for cracks, leaks, or other damage. If the dressing becomes dirty, loose, or wet, change it (if you have been directed to). Or call your healthcare team right away.
Tell your healthcare team if you vomit or have severe coughing. This can also make the catheter slip out of place.
The arm with the PICC is at risk for developing blood clots (thrombosis). This is a serious problem. To help prevent it:
As much as possible, use the arm with the PICC in it for normal daily activities. Lack of movement can lead to blood clots. It's important to move your arm as you normally would. Your healthcare team may suggest light arm exercises.
Don't do activities or exercises that need major use of your arm, such as sports, unless your healthcare provider says it's OK.
Don't do any activities that cause mild pain in your arm. Talk to your healthcare team if you have concerns about pain or range of motion.
Don't lift anything heavier than 10 pounds with the affected arm.
Drink plenty of water. Staying hydrated helps keep clots from forming.
A PICC can let germs into your body. This can lead to serious and sometimes deadly infections. To prevent infection, it's very important that you, your caregivers, and others around you use good hand hygiene. This means washing your hands well with soap and water and cleaning them with an alcohol-based hand gel as directed. Never touch the PICC or dressing without first using one of these methods.
To wash your hands with soap and water:
Wet your hands with clean water. (Don't use hot water, which can cause skin irritation when you wash your hands often.)
Apply enough soap to cover the whole surface of your hands, including your fingers.
Rub your hands together vigorously (using a lot of energy) for at least 20 seconds. Make sure to rub the front and back of each hand up to the wrist, your fingers and fingernails, between the fingers, and each thumb.
Rinse your hands with clean water.
Dry your hands completely with a new, unused paper towel. Don't use a cloth towel or other reusable towel. These can harbor germs.
Use the paper towel to turn off the faucet, then throw it away. If you're in a bathroom, also use a paper towel to open the door instead of touching the handle.
When you don't have access to soap and water: Use an alcohol-based hand gel to clean your hands. The gel should have at least 60% alcohol. Let the alcohol fully dry. Follow the directions on the package. Your healthcare team can answer any questions you have about when to use hand gel, or when it's better to wash with soap and water.
Call your healthcare provider right away if any of the following occur:
Pain or burning in your shoulder, chest, back, arm, or leg
Fever of 100.4° F ( 38°C ) or higher, or as directed by your provider
Signs of infection at the catheter site (pain, redness, drainage, burning, or stinging)
Coughing, wheezing, or shortness of breath
A racing or irregular heartbeat
Muscle stiffness or trouble moving
Tightness in your arm, above the catheter site
Gurgling noises coming from the catheter
The catheter falls out, breaks, cracks, leaks, or has other damage


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Submersible Completes 1,000th Dive Off Hawaii
Marine scientists recently celebrated the 1,000th dive of one of their twin manned submarines off the coast of Hawaii.
Scientists from the University of Hawaii and the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL) have now spent nearly 9,000 hours underwater around the Hawaiian Islands and U.S. Pacific territories since 1981, studying marine creatures.
This dive was a tad more crowded than normal. Nearly 500 students from more than 35 classrooms "virtually" accompanied the researchers.
During the dive, HURL researchers used their three-person submersible, named Pisces, to study coral reefs that occur in the deeper half of sunlit waters, called mesophotic reefs. Near Hawaii, these elusive corals live about 230 to 500 feet (70 to 150 meters) underwater. [Infographic: Tallest Mountain to Deepest Ocean Trench]
The submersible dove in the 'Au'au channel, off the island of Maui, during the mission. HURL operates Pisces IV and V, deep-diving submersibles capable of descending nearly 6,600 feet (2,000 m) below the water's surface.
The students were part of the Creep into the Deep program. They sent emails and shared photos and video with the scientists aboard Pisces V. This is HURL's third Creep into the Deep mission.
"My second-grade class is so excited to be part of this amazing virtual tour. We are grooming future scientists and with this experience I can see that your team has sparked the interest in my students," said Yvonne McCarty, a teacher at Felicita Elementary School in Escondido, Calif., whose students dove virtually. "Thank you for letting us set sail aboard with you. And congratulations on the 1,000 dives. Way to go!"
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By Michael Mann


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The Accursed Share
Making art is different from other forms of work. Some would question whether it is even working at all. Georges Bataille speaks of art as squandered energy, offered without instrumental purpose, counter to that productivity contributing to survival and to social life.
According to Elizabeth Grosz, an aesthetic expressive exuberance originates with animals, in the many evolutionary strategies undertaken by sexual selection. The extraordinary biodiversity arising on our planet expresses itself according to which bodies succeed in passing on their genetic information in new combinations in any given environment. Certain traits will be deemed more advantageous while others more attractive, these qualities getting passed on through the sexual reproduction. Some traits are more behavioural and therefore passed on by imitation (e.g. culture). These expressions of life were made possible by the conditions on our planet, situated in a Goldilocks zone—perhaps nothing more than a glitch in the history of the universe. The sun gives freely of its energy, throwing into being an inordinate range of life forms, and an abundance of consumables. This excess is experienced as aesthetic sensuous pleasure thanks to an infinite number of material combinations for display, manipulation, or expenditure.
While expressive extravagance in nature might be largely limited to chemical affinity, and flora and fauna biology, it extends itself prosthetically for humans in the production of culture. Bataille speaks of culture negating nature:
"I submit as a principle of incontestable fact that man is an animal who does not simply accept the natural given, [but] who negates it. In this way, he changes the natural external world; he derives from it tools and manufactures objects that form a new world, the human world. Concurrently, man negates himself; he trains himself; he refuses, for example, to give to the satisfaction of his animal needs, that free course on which the animal places no restraint. It still must be granted that the two negations by man—of the given world and of his own animality—are linked."1
Human negation of nature and of their innate animality arises no doubt from an acute sense of mortality—a reaction that might explain Bataille's use of the word "accursed" in the title of his three-volume work The Accursed Share (La part maudite, 1949). The "accursed share" points to the un-recuperable expenditure of material energy at the foundation of art (as well as non-reproductive erotic sexuality), but also points to a common desire to surpass one's natural limits. It is what humans come to share based on social implication—involvement in any number of cultural rituals. In former times, this share would have expressed itself in the form of sacrificial offerings of precious foodstuffs, objects, animals, and even human life, to please or appease the gods. Art likely arose as activity/legacy co-extensive to such cult rituals. Cultural production of prosthetic, simulated, and artificial life-forms also belie an accursedness—the desire to surpass and/or substitute what is naturally given through manipulation and consumption of life's surplus.
While the abstract notion of negation central to human culture (of the European variety at least) is rarely recognized outright as humans go about their day-to-day existence, philosophers with a surplus of contemplative time on their hands have claimed negation as foundational to the 'progress' of human thought. No longer limited to a life of labour or mere survival, culture binds social being under a common accursedness, in a common desire to overcome nature through making "changes to the natural external world." At present, we find ourselves accursed with the fruits and dregs of these excesses under the domination of capital—no longer simply negation so much as ensuring the future death sentence of myriad species.
Sacrifice was the first line of defense against all-out conflict and disaster. The sun was seen to regain its balance during carefully executed rituals and transgressions, to ensure smooth transition between seasonal cycles. A little spilled blood kept forces in balance, any cataclysm at bay. Once the animistic dreams had faded, any deeply felt relation to the sacred was largely obfuscated by an even more elaborate system of substitution and exchange based on accumulation. Earthly treasures were extracted, utilized, and wasted in the name of human interests. There evolved a faith in human communality, enhanced by human works and labour, without any need for divine intervention or any recognition for the surrounding biosphere's intricate web as foundational to life. Sacrifice remained a hidden reality decipherable in such rituals as consuming the daily news.
Art's squandering of energy and materials to unproductive ends plays a large part in our shared accursedness. What position do humans occupy when they exit the realm of the animal? One might deduce quite generally: the realm of the law. It is how we came to negotiate a shared human condition, for better and for worse. Transgression breaks the tension of repressed desire and the tedium of abstract labour. Largely this is the labour one might not necessarily care about but which one understands as one's social duty, one's contribution to the economy—fulfilling the required hours in exchange for a paycheque. But then there's the type of work that takes the form of a project to construct/project a vision of 'the possible' that breaks the cycle of social apathy and injustice. When capital gets its hands on it, the ethical nature of this activity largely disappears.
Art shares its accursedness with the law, in the defining of rules and limits, but art also takes on the role of pushing up against the law, pointing to transgression as a way forward, toward new freedoms. Art is useless to practical or instrumental concerns, and yet it is an essential sign of what it means to be human; when executed thoughtfully it expresses something inherently singular and historically contingent. It finds its most basic expression in material play—complexity accreting through technical innovation and historical consciousness. One might sense that the 'play' aspect has largely been 'rehearsed' and 'iterated,' as technologies are designed and come to be used by people in predictable ways. This is revealed when an artist asks, "How are social forces embedded in the body, and how do they find material form?"2 How to address this in an artwork?
After centuries of calcified social convention and an increasing alignment with exhibition value, art came to claim an avant-garde status, making it its mission to counter high culture through propagating revolutionary ideals materially, with the ultimate goal of social upheaval, change, and even utopia. Not just desiring what the other desires (social mimesis) but breaking that cycle toward taking greater responsibility in enacting difference, even shifting the course of history.
Art's ontology is rooted in humanity's common lot and common origins. It has continued to be one of those sanctioned spaces of excess and contemplation, allowing the People to partake in shared experiences that delve, quite often, into bigger questions. While art continues to bring people together around a shared language of materials, images, and affect, any notion of the sacred might now be translated as some "fleshy remainder"3 once central to sacrifice. At best, art's responsibility is to this fleshy remainder.
I offer this essay as a framework for thinking about what these artworks might share despite their respective differences: a heightened sense of material aesthetic sensuousness and accursedness as point of departure. Works by Aleesa Cohene, Deborah Edmeades, and Derek Dunlop share a common desire to tap into the expressive vitality found within inanimate matter—how, through processes of artistic transformation, new affective material forms come to resonate in us. Brought together, these works shed light on the foundations of human representation in surplus, combined with attempts at redemption through intellectual engagement with this material surplus. In a world where virtually all life has been subsumed to capitalist ends, these artworks offer resistance to instrumental modes of thinking, making, and acting through highly idiosyncratic, materially sensitive modes of feeling and understanding.


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OCEAN CITY- The Ocean City Recreation and Parks Department's Fall Flag Football League playoffs got underway this week with four of the top seeds earning.
Three of the perennial league leaders- Buxy's Salty Dog, Kirby's Pub and Tequila Duffybird- along with a relative newcomer in Gemcraft Homes advanced in the first round of playoffs and move on in the winners bracket while the four teams that lost on Monday head to the loser's bracket where they will have to fight their way back for a shot at a championship. The following is a quick look at some of the opening round action:
(bullet) Kirby's Pub 27- Crab Cake Factory 6: Kirby's Bart Talbert ran for a 58-yard touchdown to get his team on the board early. Talbert also threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Trey Stokely, an eight-yard TD pass to Steve Lewis, and a 17-yard scoring strike to Mike Tyler. CCF's Steve Fawler threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Blair Gallion for his team's only score.
(bullet) Tequila Duffybird 27- Greene Turtle 20: Chase George completed three touchdown passes all day including a four-yarder and an eight-yarder to J.R. Emmanuel, a 36-yard TD pass to Kevin Hooker and a 62-yard bomb to Denny Ferry. Allen Hawk was involved in every one of the Greene Turtle's scores, rushing for an eight-yard TD and throwing to touchdown passes to Tommy Jesson.
(bullet) Buxy's Salty Dog 32- Three Brothers Pizza 12: This contest was dominated by players named Purnell on both teams. Three Brother's quarterback Chip Purnell got the scoring started with a 22-yard TD pass to Kyle Seitz. Buxy's Kurt Purnell through a touchdown pass to Pat Spicer and then ran for a 10-yard touchdown. Kurt Purnell threw two more long touchdown passes before completing his big night with a five-yard touchdown run. If that wasn't enough Purnell's in a box score, Three Brother's Antwine Purnell ended the scoring with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Seitz.
(bullet) Gemcraft Homes 32- Blue Ox 20: Blue Ox got on the board first with a one-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Gartland to Todd Barshinger. Gemcraft answered with a two-yard touchdown pass from Ray Taranto to Eric Givens. Taranto followed that score with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Adam Rones. Blue Ox answered again with a four-yard scoring strike from Gartland to Jamie Lewis to make tie the game at 13-13. Gemcraft went ahead for good on a six-yard TD pass from Taranto the Ron Strickler to make it 20-13. Blue Ox has a chance to get back in the game before an interception by Taranto, who then added to the lead with a 12-yard touchdown pass to J.D. Hitchens. Blue Ox got back in the game with a 36-yard touchdown pass from Gartland to Josh Ray. Gemcraft sealed the win with a 44-yard touchdown run by Givens.


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Meet the Editor | Open Access
Urgent Endoscopy: What Is the Rush?
Received04 Jun 2009
Accepted04 Jun 2009
This article has no abstract.
Copyright © 2009 Canadian Association of Gastroenterology. This open-access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (CC BY-NC) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits reuse, distribution, and reproduction of the article, provided that the original work is properly cited and the reuse is restricted to noncommercial purposes.


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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed Wednesday that it will not tell Apple how the agency hacked an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino terrorists.
In a statement, Amy Hess, assistant director for science and technology, said the FBI will not submit technical details to the Vulnerabilities Equities Process (VEP), a policy that permits government agencies to disclose acquired software vulnerabilities to vendors.
Hess said that the FBI does not have enough information about the vulnerability to put it through the VEP.
"The FBI purchased the method from an outside party so that we could unlock the San Bernardino device," Hess said. "We did not, however, purchase the rights to technical details about how the method functions, or the nature and extent of any vulnerability upon which the method may rely in order to operate. As a result, currently we do not have enough technical information about any vulnerability that would permit any meaningful review under the VEP process."
Last month, after weeks of wrangling with Apple -- which balked at a court order compelling it to assist the FBI in unlocking the iPhone 5C used by Syed Rizwan Farook -- the agency announced it had found a way to access the device without Apple's help. Farook, along with his wife, Tafsheen Malik, killed 14 in San Bernardino, Calif., on Dec. 2, 2015. The two died in a shootout with police later that day. Authorities quickly called it a terrorist attack.
The FBI has said very little about the method, which it said came from outside the government. Although many security experts had argued that the agency could unlock the iPhone by using numerous copies of the iPhone's storage contents to input possible passcodes until the correct one was found, some subsequently said an undisclosed iOS vulnerability was what the FBI acquired.
Hess acknowledged that the FBI leans toward secrecy about what security vulnerabilities it acquires and how they work. "We generally do not comment on whether a particular vulnerability was brought before the interagency and the results of any such deliberation," Hess said. "We recognize, however, the extraordinary nature of this particular case, the intense public interest in it, and the fact that the FBI already has disclosed publicly the existence of the method."
Under VEP, federal agencies like the FBI and the National Security Agency (NDA) submit vulnerabilities to a review panel, which then decides whether the flaws should be passed along to the vendor for patching. While VEP's existence had been suspected for some time, it was only last November that the government released a redacted version of the written policy.
There is a thriving market for undocumented vulnerabilities, which are found or purchased by brokers, who then sell them to government agencies around the world, including U.S. authorities, for use against targeted individuals' computers and smartphones.
Hess's explanation of why the FBI would not submit the iPhone vulnerability to VEP signaled that the seller retained rights to the bug, almost certainly so it could sell the flaw again elsewhere. If the FBI had put the vulnerability through VEP, and Apple eventually was told, the company would then have patched the bug, preventing the broker from reselling it to others, or at a minimum greatly reducing its value.
One security expert called the FBI's decision to use the tool "reckless" because the agency had no idea how it worked.
"This should be taken as an act of recklessness by the FBI with regards to the Syed Farook case," said Jonathan Zdziarski, a noted iPhone forensics and security expert, in a Tuesday post to his personal blog. "The FBI apparently allowed an undocumented tool to run on a piece of high profile, terrorism-related evidence without having adequate knowledge of the specific function or the forensic soundness of the tool."
Zdziarski, one of the many security professionals who criticized the FBI's attempt to coerce Apple into unlocking Farook's phone, said the agency's ignorance about the tool threatened any legal case that might stem from the tool's use.
"The FBI has offered this tool to other law enforcement agencies that need it, Zdziarski wrote. "So the FBI is endorsing the use of an untested tool that they have no idea how it works, for every kind of case that could go through our court system. A tool that was also only tested, if at all, for one very specific case now [is] being used on a very broad set of types of data and evidence, which it could easily damage, alter, or -- more likely -- see thrown out of cases as soon as it's challenged."


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EBC Brakes Launches Ground Breaking Mobile Marketing Campaign
Los Angeles, California - Friday, April 15, 2011 – EBC Brakes, known for their cutting edge technology in brake systems, is breaking new ground in the automotive aftermarket industry this month. EBC worked with AV Web Designs to develop a cutting edge mobile campaign which incorporates Mobile QR Codes integrated with a custom Smartphone Web App for iPhone, Droid, HTC and other handheld devices.
The QR codes will be featured on packaging, print advertising and other remarkable locations. When customers scan the codes with a mobile device they will be taken directly to a Free EBC Mobile Web App. The EBC web app allows users to easily add an icon to their homescreen, watch EBC videos, locate nearby dealers, request a catalog, order by phone with 1-touch dialing, as well as view tech specs and installation instructions for EBC's awesome products.
Using the EBC Dealer Locator on your smart phone is a breeze. You simply choose the type of dealer; Automotive or Motorcycle and enter your zip code. You are next presented with a list of authorized EBC dealers in your area. Complete contact information is shown for each dealer with easy to use links for 1-touch dialing, Website links and 1-touch GPS enabled driving directions integrated with your smart phone's GPS. You can sit back and enjoy videos powered by EBC's YouTube channel. The EBC app is also integrated with Facebook and Twitter to allow further interaction on your favorite social websites.
James Hallett, VP of EBC Brakes, says "EBC are always way ahead of the competition on cataloging, first to market parts and new innovations in technology, this app is just another industry first by EBC Brakes"
The EBC web app was first conceived at a chance meeting with AV Web Designs at last year's SEMA show in Las Vegas. AV Web Designs specializes in helping members of the automotive aftermarket extend promotion efforts to gain market share online.
"We knew a large number of users were currently viewing automotive websites from smart phones. Studies show the number of mobile internet users growing tremendously every quarter for the last 8 quarters. Our new web app system ensures content is provided to them in a mobile friendly format that is easy to use and takes advantage of the latest mobile technologies and trends such as QR Mobile Tagging. Our team is excited about the EBC partnership. We can't wait to see the remarkable results of this campaign." said Lee Egstrom, Founder of AV Web Designs.
Apple describes Web applications — or web apps — as follows "web apps combine the power of the Internet with the simplicity of Multi-Touch technology."
The EBC web app can be downloaded simply by visiting www.ebcbrakes.com from your smart phone or by scanning the included QR code. To add the app to your iPhone or iPod touch, tap the plus sign or arrow on the bottom of the mobile browser. Next tap "Add to Home screen." The EBC App Icon will be added to your Home screen automatically for easy, one-tap access.
For more infomation, please visit www.ebcbrakesusa.com or scan the QR code above!


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How can we help you?
Ingersoll Rand products that meet the DNV GL classification are used for the marine industry, as well as for offshore applications, particularly for oil and gas field development, production and transportation. DNV GL (Det Norske Veritas Germanischer Lloyd) is an independent foundation with the purpose of safeguarding life, property and the environment.
Learn more about DNV GL at https://www.dnvgl.com/


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Harold Camping died last month. In case you don't remember, Camping, the president of evangelical Family Radio, predicted that the world would end in 2011. Twice.
He made these prognostications on the basis of numerology, which sounds like it might be a sophomore-level math subject, but isn't. The data for the calculations Camping used to forecast rapture and Armageddon were numbers he found sprinkled throughout the Bible.
His procedures wouldn't impress a referee for a peer-reviewed, academic journal. And unsurprisingly, many scientists waved off Camping's doomsday dates as both silly and wrong. Well, it's true that havoc and destruction were a no-show. But silly? Didn't Camping follow the rules of science?
Let's first acknowledge that he at least made a quantitative forecast, an uncommon step for a theologian. Sure, many religions predict what happens after you die, which seems to be somehow dependent on how you've lived. But while such prognoses ("you're going to Hell, Bob") have been made for millennia, observations that could check them are AWOL.
So Camping really broke precedent: He not only put forward a strong hypothesis, but one that could be falsified. In other words, he offered up a calculated prediction that could be discredited if it didn't pan out. And falsification is the classic, middle-school acid test of science.
Being fair about this, could you say that, by definition, Camping was doing a science experiment? After all, he had pored over some data and reckoned that they forecast a major event. If scientists scoffed at his work, maybe it was only because they were simply defining science as whatever they do.
Well, the middle-school definition of science is too simple. Falsification isn't everything. Heck, Newton's laws, a classic bit of science, have been falsified (celebrated case for cognoscenti: the precession of Mercury's orbital perihelion, which required the refinements of Special Relativity theory to get right). Still, who would say that Isaac Newton wasn't doing great science?
Not only is falsification a poor litmus test for science, sometimes it's not even a possibility. Consider SETI's hunt for signals that would prove the existence of clever inhabitants far beyond the realm of our solar system. The hypothesis seems well-grounded, given the discovery of planets and moons where life could exist. But what's the bottom line? We haven't yet found any confirmed signals, and there's no way to ever, ever prove that the aliens aren't out there. In other words, SETI operates on an hypothesis that can't be falsified.
So maybe SETI isn't science? That possibility certainly appealed to novelist Michael Crichton, who once reversed our argument here by characterizing SETI as religion.
Well, deep in my innards, I sense that the difference between science and religion is hardly so muddled. It's not simply that scientists use fancy instruments, sport credentials, and wear tweed jackets (although all of that is usually true). To me, the main difference is context. The ideas of science germinate in a matrix of established knowledge gained by experiment; they are not lonesome thoughts, born in a rarified realm where no researcher has ever gone before.
Even Einstein, whose ideas are often characterized as radical and sprung from his brilliant brain in a flash of insight, were prompted by data from the lab. Experimentalists had shown that the speed of light didn't depend on how fast the light source was moving (contrary to expectation and everyday horse sense). He had experimental motivation for his relativity theories.
Similarly, modern SETI is an idea planted in a vast garden of planetary science, astronomy, and biology that give it plausibility. You may not recall, but the ancient Greeks also figured there was plenty of life in the cosmos. Their claim didn't rise to the level of science hypothesis because the knowledge that would underpin their idea with a foundation of facts didn't yet exist.
Context is certainly important in evaluating Camping's computations, which were predicated on a largely unverifiable narrative known as the Bible. Newton said he stood on the shoulders of giants. Camping was standing on a single, very old source of mostly unrelated and unproven data, an entirely different kettle of kippers.
So, while both daring and interesting, Camping's forecasts were not scientific predictions. But here's one that is: The dying Sun will write finis to Earth's history of life in about 5 billion years. And my guess is that this doomsday forecast won't disappoint.


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Be sure to check out the giveaway on my YA blog HERE
Open only to those who can legally enter
Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary.
You must be 18 or older to enter .
The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.
Giveaway was organized by BookHounds and sponsored by me.


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A teenager finds himself transported to an island where he must help protect a group of orphans with special powers from creatures intent on destroying them.
Credits: TheMovieDb.
Film Cast:
- Miss Peregrine: Eva Green
- Jacob Portman: Asa Butterfield
- Barron: Samuel L. Jackson
- Miss Avocet: Judi Dench
- Ornithologist: Rupert Everett
- Franklin Portman: Chris O'Dowd
- Dr. Golan: Allison Janney
- Emma Bloom: Ella Purnell
- Abraham Portman: Terence Stamp
- Hugh: Milo Parker
- Millard Nullings (voice): Cameron King
- Enoch O'Connor: Finlay MacMillan
- Young Abraham Portman: Callum Wilson
- Jake's Mom: Kim Dickens
- Olive: Lauren McCrostie
- Bronwyn: Pixie Davies
- Fiona: Georgia Pemberton
- Claire: Raffiella Chapman
- Horace Somusson: Hayden Keller-Stone
- Masked Twin: Joseph Odwelll
- Masked Twin: Thomas Odwell
- Victor Buntley: Louis Davison
- Mr. Clark: Jack Brady
- Mr. Archer: Philip Philmar
- Mr. Gleeson: Scott Handy
- Miss Edwards: Helen Day
- 10-Year-Old Jacob: Aiden Flowers
- 6 Year Old Jacob: Nicholas Oteri
- Shelley: O-Lan Jones
- Prettiest Girl: Ella Wahlestedt
- Prettiest Teen Boy: Cameron Greco
- Pier Worker / Running Dad and Child: Dino Fazzani
- Worm: Justin Davies
- Aunt Judy: Brooke Jaye Taylor
- Aunt Susie: Jennifer Jarackas
- Uncle Bobby: George Vricos
- Dylan: Shaun Thomas
- Isle – Farmer: Dafydd Hywel
- Kev: Ioan Hefin
- Oggie: Nicholas Amer
- Cousin Twin #1: Andrew Fibkins
- Cousin Twin #2: Jack Fibkins
- Police Woman: Badria Timimi
- 1940s Villager: Stuart Davidson
- 2016 Policeman #1: Dan Mersh
- 2016 Policeman #2: James Kermack
- Uneasy Woman: Christine Dalby
- Party Guest: Erik Lunseth
- Holidaymaker (uncredited): Neil Broome
- Fun Fair Attendee (uncredited): Jill Buchanan
- Passenger on an Attraction (uncredited): Tim Burton
- Pier Visitor (uncredited): Joanne Manchester
- Passerby (uncredited): Jason Redshaw
- Party Guest (uncredited): Jackson Tessmer
- Pier Cleaner (uncredited): Vic Waghorn
Film Crew:
- Director: Tim Burton
- Editor: Chris Lebenzon
- Costume Design: Colleen Atwood
- Casting: Susie Figgis
- Director of Photography: Bruno Delbonnel
- Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Tom Johnson
- Special Effects Supervisor: Neil Corbould
- Art Direction: Mark Scruton
- Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Juan Peralta
- Executive Producer: Katterli Frauenfelder
- Hair Designer: Paul Gooch
- Executive Producer: Nigel Gostelow
- Original Music Composer: Michael Higham
- Foley: Peter Burgis
- Music Editor: Peter Clarke
- Set Decoration: Chris August
- Set Decoration: Elli Griff
- Production Design: Gavin Bocquet
- Art Direction: Phil Harvey
- Screenplay: Jane Goldman
- Art Direction: Rod McLean
- Producer: Jenno Topping
- Art Direction: Jeff Mossa
- Sound Designer: Samir Foco
- Visual Effects Producer: Hal Couzens
- Producer: Peter Chernin
- Executive Producer: Derek Frey
- Original Music Composer: Matthew Margeson
- Foley: Sue Harding
- Costume Supervisor: Cheryl Beasley Blackwell
- Special Effects Supervisor: Hayley J Williams
- Supervising Sound Editor: Bjorn Ole Schroeder
- Visual Effects Supervisor: Frazer Churchill
- Assistant Art Director: Gary Jopling
- Visual Effects Supervisor: Dominic Parker
- Special Effects Supervisor: James L. Roberts
- Visual Effects Producer: Oliver Money
- Gaffer: Michael Chambers
- Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Michael Semanick
- Script Supervisor: Lizzie Pritchard
- Still Photographer: Jay Maidment
- Sound Designer: Tim Nielsen
- Gaffer: John Higgins
- Casting: Deborah Maxwell Dion
- Helicopter Camera: Jeremy Braben
- Camera Operator: Vince McGahon
- Camera Operator: Des Whelan
- ADR Editor: Rob Killick
- Hairstylist: Debbi Salmon
- First Assistant Editor: Keith Mason
- Visual Effects Producer: Janet Yale
- Visual Effects Supervisor: Andrew Lockley
- Set Costumer: David Butler
- Underwater Camera: Topher Jones
- Visual Effects Supervisor: Ollie Rankin
- Hairstylist: Zoe Clare Brown
- VFX Editor: Ryan Valade
- Animation Supervisor: Stephen Enticott
- Novel: Ransom Riggs
- Art Department Coordinator: Sophie Worley
- Hair Department Head: Marie Larkin
- Makeup Artist: Nicky Knowles
- Second Unit Cinematographer: Carlos De Carvalho
- Still Photographer: Leah Gallo
- VFX Editor: Michel Raad
- VFX Editor: Guillaume Poulin
- Visual Effects Supervisor: Dinesh K. Bishnoi
- CG Supervisor: Fabrice Vienne
- Visual Effects Supervisor: Arnaud Brisebois
- Co-Producer: Ivana Lombardi
- Art Department Coordinator: Molly O'Donnell
- Casting Associate: Kirsty Kinnear
- Steadicam Operator: Mike McGowan
- Art Direction: Kat Kane
- Casting Associate: Amanda Tudesco
- Set Costumer: Carrie Dacre
- Animation Supervisor: David Paté
- Special Effects Coordinator: Adam Heinis
- Visual Effects Producer: Melanie La Rue
- Visual Effects Supervisor: Christian Irles
- Hairstylist: Sally Rose Davidson
- Hairstylist: Julie Kendrick
- Makeup Department Head: Maha
- Makeup Artist: Michelle Audrina Kim
- Makeup Artist: Kelsey Boutte
- Digital Intermediate: Matt Adams
- Draughtsman: Kevin Timon Hill
- Stand In: Caridad Angus
Movie Reviews:
- Gimly: _Miss Peregrine's_ could have done with a little more peculiarity. I understand that the lead is our door into this fantastical world, but a character can be relatable without being downright boring. Not an outright bad movie, but certainly not the one to put Tim Burton back on track.
Eva Green is golden but under-utilised, Sam Jackson can barely talk through his fake teeth, the creature designs are fantastic but pulled off with some very poor CGI. There is a little stop-motion to counter this, but again, it's not used to the degree it should have been. Which is really an apt description for the whole thing. Over an over, _Miss Peregrine's_ hints at a great movie buried somewhere within it, but what we end up with is an ill-paced mess. The only truly engaging character momets of the whole story are dropped as soon as they crop up in favour of the "Good VS Evil" rhetoric you've seen a million times before.
_Final rating:★★½ – Had a lot that appealed to me, didn't quite work as a whole._
- Frank Ochieng: Well one certainly cannot accuse filmmaker Tim Burton from straying away from his trademark bizarre movie-making playbook. Perhaps Burton's best asset when it comes to his brand of distinctive cinema is to faithfully maintain that solid sense of oddness in the manner for which he presents his randomly spry, off-kilter narratives? There was always this consistent understanding that Burton enthusiastically embraces the whimsical peculiarities of his colorful, cockeyed characterizations. Naturally, the eccentric Burton would be drawn to yet another off-balance project that is right up his weirdly imaginative alley. Hence, in **Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children** the notoriously quirky director is true to form as he presents another delightfully macabre and freakish showcase that will definitely appeal to the darkened nature of the kiddie crowd.
**Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children** is the big screen adaptation of Ranson Rigg's popular young adults trilogy. The film is an instant magnet for Burton's off-the-cuff style and standard of warped whimsy. The Sci-Fi enhanced children's fantasy is highlighted effectively by visually arousing set decorations, breath-taking CGI special effects, eye-popping costumes and an overall wonderment of interestingly deformed yet capable super-powered youngsters with unusual gifts that define their unique identities. Screenwriter Jane Goldman ("Stardust") dutifully captures the misguided magic of Rigg's best-selling novel brought to life that is very reminiscent of an atmospheric _Harry Potter-esque_ universe where one can easily detect that stimulating Hogswarts vibe bursting at the seams. The only viable knock on **Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children** is that Burton has explored this twisted territory before thus giving the familiar illusion that he is making the same movie over again but with some updated dressing. Still, the surreal stamp of Burton's animated movie mindset is enough to recommend the erratically conceived **Miss Peregrine's** as a frolicking fun-filled fable riddled with perky-minded naughtiness.
The construction of **Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children** is a strange brew that brings together the assembled working parts of a previous Burton Gothic-looking spectacle with similar elements meshed in the movie-related mechanics of such ditties including Mary Poppins, the aforementioned _Harry Potter_ film franchise, _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_ with a touch of a junior-sized _X-Men_ sentiment attached to the proceedings. Basically, Burton encourages his kooky kind of whirlwind escapism where he wants to transport the audience into a hazy maze of unstable, creepy hedonism embedded in indescribable gaudy chaos. It is no secret that Burton looks to incorporate his known ingredients of strangeness, endearment, gentle terror and slight wackiness. The majestic concoction, for the most part, works on the welcomed senses.
In the title role of **Miss Peregrine** is the fetching Penny Dreadful star Eva Green (one of Burton's featured actresses from his 2012 film "Dark Shadows"). The nostalgic backstory of Miss P. and her mixture of rejected orphans is recalled in detail by a Florida-based retiree named Abe Portman (Terrance Stamp) who revels in enlightening his teenage grandson Jake (Asa Butterfield) about the remarkable wonder woman and her special orphanage stationed on a Welsh island. Clearly, Jake thinks highly of his grandfather's fascinating vintage storytelling but feels like an outsider especially when his own parents think that he is in need of serious counseling. When Jake is not engaged in Abe's recollections of his old pals from Miss Penegrine's orphanage (complete with handy black-and-white photographs for proof of his proclamations) he works at the local supermarket in uneventful fashion.
As legend has it poor Miss Penegrine's Victorian orphanage located on the island of Cairnholm was demolished by Nazi bombs that rendered her and the kids vulnerable during World War II. However, we are also informed of the supernatural tendencies of the resilient lady and her "peculiar children". For one, Miss Penegrine can turn herself into a…wait for it…penegrine falcon at a moment's notice. As for the bird beauty's charges they too possess noteworthy specialties in appearances and spellbinding prowess as well although not as accepting as Miss P's accentuated tricks.
Jake had always viewed his grandfather's accounts of Miss Penegrine and her peculiar children in question as a compelling revelation especially when he was younger. Jake, courtesy of his indifferent folks, saddle him as the caretaker for the ailing Abe. However, when he uncovers his dementia-ridden, dying grandpa Abe babbling endlessly about monsters and everything connected to the Miss Peregrine universe this sparks an immense curiosity about Jake wanting to further explore Abe's whispered claims of seemingly exaggerations. Jake is convinced that Abe was murdered–no doubt by the so-called monsters–and wants to further the cause by visiting the mysterious European island that planted so many adventurous memories in his grandfather's childhood back in the early wartime forties. Additionally, the concept of time bubbles known as "loops" figure into the suspense. The loops are a designed invention by Miss Penegrine to keep her endangered wards safe from the period's on-going harm.
Since Jake is already in therapy and everyone thinks that the troubled kid has a screw loose in the aftermath of the trauma regarding his deceased beloved grandpa Abe it is suggested that maybe a visit to the Welsh island would put to rest the inner conflict within the young man. So Jake's father Franklin (Chris O'Dowd) accompanies his son to Cairnholm where he can sort out his lingering angst. Can Jake successfully locate his grandfather's old-time orphanage and come to his own elusive conclusions? Soon, the modern-day Jake will experience his own time-traveling warp where he will at firsthand encounter the captivating kids that were included in youthful Abe's existence including the lovely Emma (Ella Punell) that strikes his fancy–the same gal that his grandfather crushed on back in his heyday.
**Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children** is a jumbled gem that does not quite separate its eerie realm from other Burton-oriented fare that shares the same branding of visual makeup found in entries such as _Beetlejuice_, _Edward Scissorhands_ or _Dark Shadows_. Nevertheless, **Miss Pelegrine's** is stunning although the half-baked plot bounces aimlessly at will. When Jake is transported back to 1943 and witnesses the peculiar-looking children we are truly in awe of Burton's tangy taste for the cartoonish craziness. Children that are cursed (or blessed) with head-scratching anomalies not to mention the haunting images of Hollowgast monsters and Green's fetching but crafty spellbound diva in Miss P all establishes an intriguing off-balance children's Sci-Fi fantasy that hits more than it misses its nightmarish target.
Burton assembles some notable names that fill the circus ring surroundings in **Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children**. The explosive Samuel L. Jackson is on board as the villainous Barron looking to feast upon the peculiar kiddies' eyeballs. Veteran performer Stamp is convincing as the aging Abe whose descriptions of his 40's-era childhood inspires Butterfield's Jake to make this disjointed journey into Burton's devilish and daring vision of eccentricity. Other supporting players include the magnificent Judi Dench's Miss Avocet, Emmy-winning actress Allison Janney (from TV's "Mom") as Dr. Golan and Rupert Everett as the resident ornithologist.
Surely, **Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children** won't entirely disappoint avid Burton fans as he delivers what amounts to be a safe serving of sideshow cinema ready to please the entertaining palates of gentle grotesque-loving moviegoers everywhere.
**Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children** (2016)
20th Century Fox
2 hrs. 7 mins.
Starring: Eva Green, Samuel L. Jackson, Terrence Stamp, Asa Butterfield, Judi Dench, Ella Purnell, Chris O'Dowd, Rupert Everett, Allison Janney, Milo Parker, Pixie Davies
Directed by: Tim Burton
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Genre: Children's Fantasy/Sci-Fi & Family/Action & Adventure
Critic's Rating: ** 1/2 stars (out of 4 stars)
(c) **Frank Ochieng** 2016
- Reno: **The innocent peculiar children versus the monstrous peculiar adults.**
I thought it should have been a Steven Spielberg film, but he would have compromised on the visually frightening negative characters. Particularly from the little children's angle who are the regular target audience for a theme like this. Even in his recent 'The BFG', you know how the giants were portrayed. So Tim Burton was the right choice and he did his best. But not everybody agrees on that, even I was slightly disappointed. I mean technically it sounded so awesome, but the story was not that impressive. Because of too familiarity, except the peculiar characters.
It was based on the young adult book of the same name. The story of a boy named Jake. After his grandfather's murder, he goes to Wales to find the children from an island home about the stories he had heard when he was a little. He discovers they are intentionally stuck in a time loop to avoid their enemies from striking them. But what they feared is about the come true, so now how they plan to defeat after half a century hiding from them is to be told in the rest of the segment.
As a children's film fan, I wanted to like it, but not fully satisfied. It was a two hour long film, the first half was an introduction that we saw everything from its trailers and teasers. So I lost interest in those parts, but once the clash between the good and bad had began, the film started to give something new. Again the final battle at the fair should have been designed better. I thought Samuel L. Jackson was not untilised well.
The major issue with the film was the narration not trying to take a big step in the story development. Felt like they are aiming for a sequel, so they are avoiding to give out everything in here itself. Similar to the first 'Twilight' film, which was too boring drama. It is almost out of the big screen now and the rating further going to drop. The film critics bashed it, but seems most of the people and film fanatics enjoyed it. I hope they will make 'Hallow City' and I'll be waiting for that.
- Per Gunnar Jonsson: Before I start I should perhaps mention that, although I consider this a family movie, it is perhaps a bit on the scary side for the youngest member of the family. Anyway, personally I liked the movie and so did my kids.
It did have time travel in it which I, in general, utterly dislike but it is a Tim Burton movie so it was already a foregone conclusion that it would be a wee bit bizarre anyway and it had Eva Green, which is one of my favorites, in it so that kind of made up for the time travel crap.
The movie starts of by Jacob watching his grandfather being murdered by some mysterious being that only he can see. Of course everyone believes that he was hallucinating and so off we go with hospitals and shrinks and so on. Finally his parents allow him to travel to the island of Cairnholm in search of the mysterious Miss Peregrine.
From their on we wander into the wonderful world of "Burtonesque" bizarreness, fantasy and general weirdness. Naturally Jacob meets Miss Peregrine and her kids. Kids who each have some peculiar talent each more weird than the other.
Naturally there are a some bad guys lurking in the shadows as well. Bad guys intent on destroying Miss Peregrine's shelter and … well, let us just say that they are not exactly concerned for the children's wellbeing. I liked the bad guys. Both in their half human form and their more scary monster form. I especially liked Samuel L. Jackson as Barron, the boss bad guy. He really made an excellent performance.
The one person I did not like was Jacob's father. Apart from being a jerk he looked like he was on drugs or sleeping pills throughout the entire movie.
On the whole this was perhaps not the best of Tim Burtons movies but it was still a good and enjoyable one. Decent special effects. The story worked despite the enormous paradoxes introduced by the time travel stuff. The characters did a fair performance. I did not regret the 2+ hours I spent on watching it.


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