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Compassion in Dying
Special Edition
Washington Recruits New Executive DirectorCompassion in Dying of Washington is pleased to welcome Michael Bonacci as Executive Director.
In addition to skills in organizational development and administration, Michael's professional experience includes over twenty years in the health and human services industry, including positions as Supervisor of Admitting, Business Office Manager, and, most recently, Program Director of an assisted living residence/hospice for people with HIV/AIDS.
Michael also brings spiritual sensitivity to this position as an ordained priest in the emerging Anglican denomination of the Evangelical Anglican Church in America. He studied theology at United Theological Seminary in New Brighton, MN, and is currently part of the teaching faculty at the Anglican Institute for Affirmative Christian Studies located in Redondo Beach, CA. He has also practiced Zen Buddhism for over six years, including a summer internship at the Zen Center and Zen Center Hospice in San Francisco, CA. In addition to theological studies, Father Michael holds a Master's Degree in Fine Arts in Creative Writing, from Vermont College, Montpelier, VT. Three of his plays have been produced (two off-Broadway), and his poems have appeared in several journals.
Fr. Michael is looking forward to his new responsibilities and the opportunity to combine his experience with death and dying, grief and bereavement, and patient case management with his personal and spiritual commitment to death with dignity and self-determination. With Michael on board, Barbara Coombs Lee (who has served for over a year as interim executive director) will turn her full attention to developing the Compassion in Dying Federation of America.
Compassion in Dying Goes NationalWith the transition to a national Federation complete, Barbara Coombs Lee will turn her full attention to leading the growth and development of that organization as its director.
Since 1993 Compassion in Dying has offered information, consultation, and emotional support to terminally ill, mentally competent adults who are facing prolonged suffering at the end of life. We offer help in accessing all end of life options, including intensive management of pain, hospice, and comfort care, as well as consultation about obtaining the means for a hastened death should all other options fail.
It is now time to extend our mission throughout the country. The Compassion in Dying Federation of America will provide leadership in education and advocacy and offer patient consultation through its local affiliated organizations. Compassion in Dying of Washington will remain our flagship operation. Another affiliated group, Compassion in Dying of Northern California, has already formed, and a third is in the formative stages in Oregon. In addition to housing the executive director's office, the national headquarters also includes the Compassion in Dying Center for End of Life Law and Policy.
We currently provide information and consultation, as we are able, to distant patients over the telephone. But the core of our consultation program is personal, face-to-face discussion, home visits, and support. Therefore we stand ready to help people in other locales to set up a Compassion organization in their own state. In each location, health care professionals and volunteers will follow the Compassion model -- an interdisciplinary team functioning as case managers to respond to individual needs and provide information in a responsible, ethical manner. We follow strict guidelines and safeguards and make those publicly available.
An important part of our service component is the offer to be personally present at the time of death for those patients and families with whom an in-depth consulting relationship has developed. We do this because we believe that no person should die alone for fear of subjecting their loved ones to criminal investigation, and that no family should go through this experience unsupported unless they so choose.
The greatest tragedy of the current legal situation is that families often cannot share these final, most intimate moments. But another tragedy is that doctors cannot now openly acknowledge and respond to a request for such assistance; they cannot obtain a second opinion or confer with colleagues about whether the request is rational and enduring; they cannot enlist the help of a mental health professional in assessing whether depression is clouding judgment. Compassion can do these things, and does so routinely.
We do nothing illegal in our work with dying patients and their families. We do not provide medication or prescriptions, and we do not administer them. We do provide material to read, people to talk to, the careful exploration of options, and help in getting any care that can improve the quality of life. Most of all, we offer the careful evaluation and support that is necessary to make aid-in-dying available in a responsible, ethical, and safe manner.
There is much to be done as the country enters into the "profound and earnest debate" cited by Chief Justice Rehnquist. Barbara hopes that with her full attention, and the resources of Kathryn Tucker, Director of Legal Affairs, and other Federation supporters, Compassion will continue to participate vigorously in the national debate concerning a terminally ill individual's right to make a dignified and autonomous choice about the time and manner of their death.We invite interested readers to help us in this mission nationwide.
Compassion Moves to New OfficesWe always called our offices "modest" but, in fact, reporters and others who visited often made less kind assessments of our dilapidated quarters. We have considered moving for some time, but the search gained new urgency with the evolution of Compassion into two organizations, and formation of the Center for End of Life Law and Policy.
So on August 1 we said "good-bye" to what has been our home for the past three years, and moved to a larger, lighter, more cheerful suite of offices in downtown Seattle, close to the famous Monorail. We would still describe these offices as "modest," but they are also welcoming, and will accommodate guests, researchers, journalists, and our volunteers in much greater comfort. If you would like to visit, please call in advance so that we may give you directions.
Our new telephone number is 206-256-1636, and the mailing address is 410 E. Denny Way, Suite 108, Seattle, WA 98122.
Compassion Opens Center for End of Life Law & PolicyIn July 1997, the Compassion in Dying Federation created its Center for End of Life Law and Policy. The mission of the Center is to serve as a catalyst and a resource for legal efforts nationwide to improve care of the dying and make aid in dying for terminally ill, mentally competent adults legal and available. With establishment of the Center, Compassion makes a long-term commitment to the legal work that will be necessary to bring the laws on assisted dying into accord with current needs and the public's desire.
Kathryn L. Tucker, lead counsel in both of Compassion's federal court cases, has been named Director of Legal Affairs at the Center. Ms. Tucker also served as principal outside counsel to Washington Citizens for Death with Dignity during the 1990-91 initiative campaign. This was the first measure permitting physician assistance in dying to be placed on the ballot in any state, and it was only narrowly defeated. Prior to assuming the position with Compassion, Ms. Tucker practiced law in Seattle with the nationally prominent firm Perkins Coie. Ms. Tucker is an Affiliate Professor of Law at the University of Washington School of Law teaching in the field of constitutional law, with specific attention to individual liberties.
The Center will provide national leadership and strategic planning on various legal reform efforts. Among other strategies, the Center will identify the states most likely to recognize a liberty interest under their state constitutions and assist in the development of state court challenges that bar patients from requesting aid in dying from their physicians.
"No One Trusts the Dying"Editor's note: Compassion is extremely fortunate to have an advocate for our position in Dr. Marcia Angell, Executive Editor of the New England Journal of Medicine. Her opinion piece entitled "No One Trusts the Dying" appeared in The Washington Post on Monday, July 7, shortly after the Supreme Court's decision. With Dr. Angell's permission, we'd like to share a few selections from her reaction to the Supreme Court's action.
No one trusts the dying to know what they want. The U.S. Supreme Court found dying patients have no right to decide for themselves to cut short their suffering by asking their doctors to prescribe an overdose of sleeping pills or painkillers. According to the court, it is not a decision for patients and doctors, but for state legislatures, most of which have laws on the books prohibiting doctor-assisted suicide.
I see no reason for the state to require patients to die slowly, regardless of their wishes. After all, we are not talking about life vs. death, but about the manner of dying. Nor are we talking about "killing," despite some of the overheated rhetoric. We are talking about choice -- the same sort of choice the Supreme Court honors in a host of other personal decisions, such as abortion, marriage, and sexual behavior. Dying patients suffering intractably should have the option of taking an overdose, just as they now have the option of turning off life supports.
Doctors, for their part, would also have a choice. They would not have to comply with requests for an overdose, any more than they are required to perform abortions, but they would have the option of doing so without becoming criminals. compassionate doctors always have helped dying patients to end their lives. They do so not only by turning off life supports, but by giving large doses of morphine or by prescribing more sleeping pills than necessary. The problem is that the practice is secret and unpredictable, depending more on doctors' courage and Compassion than on patients' needs and wishes.
I wish the Supreme Court had recognized a constitutional right to doctor-assisted suicide for dying patients. It is the most personal and private matter, and it should be decided that way, not as a political matter in state legislatures. But sooner or later, one way or another, the practice will become legal, because dying patients need that choice, and their doctors need to be able to help them. For the state to require dying patients to endure unrelievable suffering is callous and unseemly. Death is hard enough without being bullied.
Supreme Court Overturns Lower Courts
A Subtly Nuanced RulingA great deal of press surrounded the Supreme Court rulings on Compassion's cases, Washington v. Glucksberg and Vacco v. Quill. We assume our supporters know the Court declined to find the laws against assisted suicide unconstitutional either on liberty or equal protection grounds. The vote was 9-0, but those facts do not begin to describe the subtleties of the ruling, which left us far from discouraged. Unfortunately, the Court granted little immediate relief for dying patients who would like the option of aid in dying to be legal if suffering were to become intolerable. But neither did the Court turn a deaf ear to their plight. On the contrary, rather than rule solidly against the patients on whose behalf Compassion brought these suits, the Court RESERVED the question of their rights for another day.
O'Connor's Opinion Key in Deferring to StatesThree Justices, Thomas, Kennedy, and Scalia, joined Chief Justice Rehnquist's majority opinion, which addressed a broad question of whether there is a general right to "commit suicide" with a physician's assistance. Sandra Day O'Connor's crucial 5th vote rests on the premise that there is no need to reach the real question, being "whether a mentally competent person who is experiencing great suffering has a constitutionally cognizable interest in controlling the circumstances of his or her imminent death."
Apparently hoping to avoid the polarization that still surrounds its ruling in Roe v. Wade, this Court fervently hopes that further debate and discussion at the state level will relieve it of the duty to secure end of life liberty by judicial action.
Chief Justice Rehnquist's opinion ended with the pronouncement that: "Thoughout the Nation, Americans are engaged in an earnest and profound debate about the morality, legality, and practicality of physician-assisted suicide. Our holding permits this debate to continue, as it should in a democratic society."
Justice Souter cited legislatures' "superior opportunities to obtain facts necessary for a judgment about the present controversy." Aware that legislative "foot dragging" might occur in ascertaining whether the States' fears of abuse are justified, Justice Souter nonetheless chose to rely on legislative mechanisms for fact- finding and the "power to experiment, moving forward and pulling back as facts emerge within their own jurisdictions."
And Justice O'Connor asserted that "There is no reason to think the democratic process will not strike the proper balance between the interests of terminally ill, mentally competent individuals who would seek to end their suffering and the State's interests in protecting those who might seek to end life mistakenly or under pressure."
In the meantime the Court made some sweeping and important statements about end of life care upon which we can build to increase dying patients' options and eventually achieve legalization of aid in dying.
Court Approves Treatment That Causes DeathThe Court ruled for government power over individual liberty. The harshness of such a judgment was possible only because both Washington and New York asserted that they currently allow aggressive treatment of terminal symptoms even when such treatment hastens death. Thus, dual purpose treatments such as high dose morphine to the point of respiratory depression, barbiturate sedation (also called terminal sedation and slow euthanasia in the medical literature), and death by dehydration have gained official legitimacy.
Patients and family members should know about these options so they can request them if shortness of breath, nausea, pain, or other symptoms become intolerable. The Court relies on the legality of these treatments as the standard of care. It would appear from this ruling that local law enforcement activities that deter aggressive treatment and require suffering would probably not survive constitutional challenge. Physicians and others who use such treatments have a strong defense if ever accused of overdosing a patient in pain, or causing death by sedation. As Justice O'Connor concluded, "There is no dispute that dying patients in Washington and New York can obtain palliative care, even when doing so would hasten their deaths."
Future Suits Not ForeclosedThe entire Court, including Justice Rehnquist, expressed a willingness to revisit the question in future litigation if states do not adequately meet the needs of the dying. Justice Stevens specified that the Court's holding does not "foreclose the possibility that an individual plaintiff seeking to hasten her death, or a doctor whose assistance was sought, could prevail in a more particularized challenge. Future cases will determine whether such a challenge may succeed." The Chief Justice agreed in a footnote that, "Our opinion does not absolutely foreclose such a claim."
Justice Souter provided some guidance for such claims as he explored the reasoning in a line of cases that eventually granted constitutional protection for the use of contraception. The implication seems to be that the Compassion cases are much like the early contraception cases, which began to seek relief in 1943 but failed until Griswold v. Connecticut established in 1965 that states could not bar married couples from obtaining contraceptives.
In essence, the Court used a slight of hand to rule as though these cases were a broad facial challenge to the laws against assisting a suicide. The Justices pretended they did not have before them an individual suffering patient. In fact, our cases were carefully crafted to present exactly the facts the Court said it did not have before it and thus needn't address at this time. The only explanation for such a position is that the five Justices who, like Justice O'Connor, joined Rehnquist's holding but not his reasoning, believe that society is simply not ready to grant full autonomy to dying patients. As Dr. Marcia Angell says, "No one trusts the dying," and specifically not our current Supreme Court.
University of Washington Research Team Seeks Volunteers to Tell Their StoriesThe Greenwall Foundation and the Walter and Elise Haas Foundation have co-funded a study called "Having a Choice: Insights into Hastened Deaths."
A group of researchers at the University of Washington, led by Dr. Robert Pearlman, will interview individuals and their family members to learn more about the reasons why individuals consider a hastened death, and the effects of these decisions on family members.
Dr. Pearlman and his colleagues are currently recruiting present and former Compassion in Dying clients from the Greater Seattle area. They will meet with interested people to hear their stories and learn from them. All interviews will be strictly confidential -- no names will be shared with anyone outside the research team.
Information from this study should have a substantially positive impact on the Death with Dignity movement by educating health care providers, policy makers, and the public about what really happens when people explore the option of a hastened death.
If you are interested in talking with members of the research team, you may call them at (206) 788-5383.
True NorthEditor's note: Sally Abbott, Vice President of Compassion's Board of Directors, died in an automobile accident on the evening of July 21 on Lopez Island. The following is excerpted from Susan Dunshee's memorial address.
I want to tell you about Sally's contributions to Compassion in Dying's Case Management Program -- the heart of our work, the patient work. This was Sally's life work, even if she didn't have a lifetime to do it. She was passionate about our cause, devoted to her patients, and unequaled in the extent to which she gave of herself in this work. Her patients loved her; they trusted her, relied on her, and had full confidence in her. She was knowledgeable, caring, and compassionate. She connected totally with her patients and brought an absolute concentration and focus to her interactions with them.
Sally had a true gift for this work. Many people care for the dying in hospice and nursing home work, and of course physicians, nurses, and members of religious communities, but not many have the gift to make a loving connection the way Sally did.
In our new office there will be a space dedicated to Sally, a picture of her, smiling, because I want her spirit to remain with us. Her focus was always on the patient work, and she looked at policy decisions from the point of view of the people we serve. She was always true north in that focus, and I want her memory to keep us on course.
In closing, I'd like to share a fantasy I've had of Sally and I as old ladies together. We would get together at a time when it was legal all over this country and the world for terminally ill people to receive aid in dying. And I wanted us to remember having been pioneers together -- and what fun it had been, and how scary and meaningful, and the good, good people we had known and worked with. And she and I would brag about the difference we had helped to make.
I will continue in this work -- Sally would haunt me if I didn't, but it will never be the same without her. From now on part of my personal motivation will be to do this work in memory of Sally. And when we get there some day -- when we win -- Sally's spirit will be celebrating with us.
Contributions in Sally's memory may be mailed to Compassion in Dying of Washington, 410 E. Denny Way, Suite 108, Seattle, WA 98122, or San Juan Preservation Trust, PO Box 327, Lopez, WA 98261.
My Grandfather Is Gardening
By Sally AbbottMy grandfather is gardening in the rain
he says it is his work
I stand in the window
elbows on sill, chin in cupped hands
and watch water drip
from his shiny head.
My grandfather is gardening in the snow
he says it is his job now.
Behind me in the kitchen my Nana is
angry. She paces, and wrings her hands.
His work, she spits,
what, a farmer now, what work?
My grandfather is gardening in the wind.
I watch
leaves run before his rake.
A painter in college, a dreamer before
before Nana, before children,
before Real Life.
An Advertising Man, she says, always
lived here,
What does he know of gardens?
My grandfather is gardening in the sun.
shivers in waves from his bent frame.
At the banquet they watched him and
his famous commercial, you know the
They shook his hand and Nana wept.
That night I saw him stand
Still and silent in his garden.
My grandfather is gardening in his life. He
examines each clod, each blade, each
He's sick, Nana says, he's not well,
his mind
is going. There's talk of homes.
It's my most important work, he says,
as I bring him,
Naked, in from the garden.
My grandfather is gardening in the rain.
I stand in silence
And watch the water run
from the stone that bears his name.
Time runs before my rake; my nights
are filled with dreams
Of gardens.
What You Can Do to Help the Death with Dignity MovementWe receive many calls from people wondering what they can do to become involved in the efforts to achieve the right to a peaceful and humane death for all dying individuals. Some of the ways you can contribute to the Death with Dignity movement include:
Contribute FinanciallySupport the work of Compassion in Dying.
Educate Yourself About The IssuesOur offices can make recommendations for your reading list, and the Internet has several sites devoted to such topics as Death With Dignity, Right to Die, and Physician Assisted Suicide.
Share Your StoryIf you have a story to tell about a hastened death, or a difficult death, please write it down and mail it to us. We educate ourselves this way. You may remain anonymous if you like, or you may allow us to share your story with others considering a hastened death.
RespondSend letters to the editor, or write opinion pieces in response to stories in the press or talk radio. Express your views.
Talk With Your PhysicianAsk about his or her approach to a terminally ill, mentally competent adult's decision to hasten death. Compassion has a sample "Letter to My Physician" to initiate the conversation.
Get PoliticalWrite letters to your governor, mayor, congress person, and senator. Contact your representative in the state legislative assembly and begin a conversation about your point of view.
OrganizeForm a reading or discussion group in your community or at your place of worship. Become effective proponents of death with dignity.
Arrange Speaking EngagementsMembers of Compassion or other advocacy groups are available as speakers. We especially need to open a dialogue with organizations representing seniors, people with disabilities, and people of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
Plan Continuing Medical Education ProgramsIf you work in health care, arrange discussions within your profession. Begin the process of drafting resolutions or policy statements for adoption.
Form A Compassion in Dying AffiliateOur Federation offices can provide information and consultation about forming a Compassion affiliate in your state.
Raise FundsBecome a fundraiser for organizations working on aid in dying. Individuals and private foundations are the most likely sources of substantial grants. If you know a potential donor who has been touched by this issue, our Board Members and staff are available to evaluate a donor's level of interest and create a plan to meet their philanthropic goals.
Both the Washington and Federation offices of Compassion in Dying depend on interested and dedicated community members to educate themselves and others about death with dignity, so that terminally ill, mentally competent adults can ask their physician for a prescription for drugs that would be effective in hastening death in the event that suffering were to become intolerable. We appreciate your support, and welcome your involvement in this continuing civil rights struggle.
This article was provided by Compassion in Dying.


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Cryotherapy is the use of extreme cold, in the form of
liquid nitrogen, to remove skin growths such as
seborrheic keratoses.
This simple procedure usually takes less than a
minute and can be done in your doctor's office. Your doctor applies the liquid
nitrogen using a probe or a cotton swab, or he or she sprays the liquid
nitrogen directly onto the skin growth.
Cryotherapy can cause
moderate pain that can last up to 3 days. Healing is generally quick (7 to 14
days). Expect a blister to develop within hours after treatment. The blister
will dry up over the next few days, and the keratosis should fall off.
Cryotherapy causes little or no scarring, though some people,
particularly those with darker skin, experience permanent skin-color
lightening. Talk to your doctor to see if cryotherapy is right for
ByHealthwise StaffPrimary Medical ReviewerKathleen Romito, MD - Family MedicineSpecialist Medical ReviewerAmy McMichael, MD - Dermatology
Current as ofOctober 13, 2016
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Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine & Amy McMichael, MD - Dermatology
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Last modified on: 8 September 2017


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To come up on Tom Asta's Pay Day with gear from Mystery, Fallen, LRG, Piiq Headphones, Reign, Spitfire, and Thunder, we asked you to design your very own Reign logos. We've finally narrowed all the entries down to the top 10… actually 11 (which was pretty damn hard considering how many good ones came through). Vote for your favorite in the poll below to determine who wins. Whoever has the most votes by November 7 is gonna be one happy mofo. Good luck, and may the best logo win!
[poll id="24″]
*Thanks again to everyone who entered!


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Make sure your vehicle is decked out with Virginia Tech Hokies pride by adding this two-piece deluxe car mat set to your floorboards!
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'Highest resolution Canon APS-C camera yet.'
'versatile camera'
'For more serious photographers, the 760D is comfortably the best Canon DSLR to date – until you step up to the next level of Canon camera featuring models such as the EOS 7D MK III and, jumping another level, the EOS 5D MKIII. '
'Canon's EOS 760D / Rebel T6s is a solid DSLR that represents a good step-up over entry-level models.'
'Overall, the Sony RX100 IV is an amazing feat of engineering and design.'
'Great stills, outstanding video, and loads of features make this an amazing compact cam. '
'Customizable controls'
'The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 IV's 3x zoom lens offers a fairly versatile focal range, as illustrated by these examples:.'
'If you need better autofocus in a Micro Four Thirds camera, the Olympus OM-D E-M1 is a better choice thanks to its hybrid phase/contrast system.'
'very capable camera'
'highly capable camera'
'The improved image stabilisation system works excellently for both stills and video, even when hand-holding the camera at very slow shutter speeds. '
'Even without scrutinising, images from the Canon EOS 750D are impressive. '
'the touch-screen is detail-rich (in all but very bright light) and is very responsive.'
'Fast AF. Accessible hardware.'
'The Nikon D5500 is a minor update to an excellent camera, the D5300. '
'excellent and affordable DSLR camera'
'The overall feature set of the D5500 is great.'
'It's a good option for new DSLR buyers.'
'The Canon PowerShot G3 X is a very competent fixed-lens compact, which will get you much better results than your average superzoom bridge camera. '
'impressive camera'
'The built-in flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and good overall exposure, although there's noticeable vignetting at 24mm. '
'High-quality 24-600mm lens'
'There's no mistaking it; this is definitely a Panasonic hybrid.'
'a broad feature set'
'The pop-up flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and good overall exposure. '
'excellent compact system camera'
'But just because it's affordable doesn't mean it feels cheap per se; the GF7 isn't the very best built Lumix camera in the range, as price dictates, but this small-scale model is well crafted all things considered. '
'180° tiltable touchscreen'
Panasonic's entry-level mirrorless compact system camera gets an upgrade
Panasonic's tiny CSC has the imaging power of a full-size compact system camera
A small camera that can take different lenses using a standard Micro Four Thirds mount
Panasonic's newest miniature CSC adds viewfinder plus accessory shoe
'The RX100 is plenty capable, but its greatest strength is its size.'
'The built-in flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and good overall exposure. '
ReviewGist helps you find the best products to buy by making sense of online reviews.
We are currently aggregating 376,500 reviews
covering over 29,477 products.
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Creative Critters
$350.00Our Goal: $240.00
Creative CrittersCastle Cove Public School
Primary School
2nd August 2018
Sponsor Now
Team InformationThank you for supporting our team's effort in the 2018 Write a Book in a Day competition! We need to raise at least $240 to ensure our book is eligible to be judged and be in the running for a state or national award.
Your donation will not only help us; it will also help kids with cancer.
The Write a Book in a Day competition has contributed $431,000 towards childhood cancer research since 2009 through The Kids' Cancer Project who also distribute the books to children undergoing treatment in hospitals all over Australia.
Dig deep! The more you can give the better our chances are for winning a special sponsorship fundraising award.
The Kids' Cancer Project was founded in 1993 by Col Reynolds who decided to step up and do something to help children with cancer. Twenty years later more than $30 million has been given to research projects across Australia, thanks to community support.
Science is making an impact, providing new treatment options and giving hope to the children and young adolescents diagnosed each year. Every donation is one step closer to ending childhood cancer.
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As much as I enjoyed this unusual technical info from GeekDad contributor Roy Wood, I was disappointed to learn that not all 18,650 things you can do with an old laptop battery are specifically listed in the article. Moreover, by a truly amazing coincidence, "18650" turns out to be the part number for the most common size lithium-ion cell used in assembling laptop batteries.
Three 18650s are pictured above, and as you can see, they are slightly larger than AA batteries. Importantly, they are also much, much more dangerous, and Roy goes to great and appropriate lengths to emphasize that opening a laptop battery and extracting the cells for your own projects is very hazardous.
If you are competent to negotiate those hazards, however, and are interested in recovering 18650s from old batteries and putting them to use, Roy's article is a pretty good starting place. The individual cells are very powerful, and since a single bad cell can kill the entire battery, there is potentially a lot of value to be recovered. [via Boing Boing]


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The Chiefs defense has looked great all year, but it has not been tested much. Peyton Manning may be dealing with an ankle sprain, but Manning in a wheelchair is more dangerous than backups the Chiefs have faced in the last month. If the Chiefs plan to slow the Broncos offense, remain undefeated and silence doubters, Andy Reid and coordinator Bob Sutton need more than a game plan. They need a blueprint.
Luckily, we drew one up for them. The following article shows just how the Chiefs defense can shut down the Broncos passing game. It uses examples taken from Chiefs game film, with a special emphasis on the best offenses the Chiefs have faced this year. It's a blueprint based on Sutton's own schemes, but it is customized to tackle the unique problems created by Peyton Manning and his receivers.
It turns out Sutton does not have to do anything too complicated or technical. The Chiefs just need to keep doing what they have been doing. But they must do it better than ever.
Chiefs Defense: The Basics
Before we gorge on diagrams and GIFs, we should take a broad view of what the Chiefs try to do defensively. Here is Sutton's philosophy, condensed into bullet points.
Outside linebackers James Houston and Tamba Hali line up in an extremely wide formation, further outside than even most "Wide-9" pass-rushers, on many plays. Houston and Hali are the driving force behind the pass rush, and the pass rush is the driving force behind the defense.
Cornerbacks Sean Smith and Brandon Flowers are often assigned man coverage with minimal safety help. While we will see some examples of bracket coverage, Sutton prefers to use "Man-1" coverage, with a single deep safety. The Chiefs sometimes line up showing Man-1, though they frequently roll into the coverage after the snap by bringing a safety down to cover a receiver man-to-man.
Linebacker Derrick Johnson, safety Eric Berry, and other midfield defenders are expected to be adaptive and react quickly. Berry plays close to the line of scrimmage constantly. Linebackers and safeties are asked to cover a lot of ground and handle frequent man-to-man coverage responsibilities.
Chiefs defensive backs blitz incredibly often. Sutton calls many overload blitzes, with three or four defenders (including cornerbacks) blitzing from one side of the formation, while only a lineman rushes from the other side.
Sutton uses 2-4-5, 2-3-6, and 1-3-7 personnel groupings on passing downs, and 2nd-and-10 qualifies as a "passing down" for him. It is not unusual to see only one or two defensive linemen filling gaps between the tackles on third down. Linebackers like Johnson are expected to be able to plug run gaps so the Chiefs do not get gouged by draw plays.
When everything is working in harmony, the Chiefs defense is nasty. The rush linebackers make it easier for the cornerbacks to play man-to-man. The cornerbacks are good enough in man coverage to free a nickel defender as a blitzer, which makes life easier for the rush linebackers. Johnson, Berry, and others take away anything easy in the middle of the field. Weak offenses have been completely stymied, and better offenses have gotten stuck in a boom-and-bust situation, trading productive plays for too many sacks and turnovers.
Let's take another moment to broadly outline how the Broncos match up against the Chiefs defense.
Tackles Chris Clark and Orlando Franklin are likely to have trouble with the speed of Hali and Houston. This will lead Manning to seek quick passes in the middle of the field and use audibles to call running plays or max-protect blocking schemes.
Smith and Flowers are good enough to cover Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker effectively in man coverage. The Broncos have had trouble with tight man coverage in recent weeks, in part because Manning's deep accuracy is no longer great, in part because press coverage upsets the Broncos timing. Manning will still challenge the K.C. cornerbacks (he had plenty of success throwing deep along the sidelines against the Chargers), but the Chiefs showed against the Cowboys and other opponents that they will trade one or two deep completions for sacks, turnovers, and general disruption. In long down-and-distance situations, Manning is again more likely to look to his inside receivers.
Wes Welker and tight end Julius Thomas provide a big edge for the Broncos against the Chiefs, as they do against most defenses. We will look at some ways the Chiefs dealt with an outstanding slot receiver like Welker early in the season.
Manning's ability to audible can provide a huge edge against defenses that show lots of overload blitzes and leave interior gaps empty. Manning has had trouble with complicated 3-4 defenses in the past, however, from Bill Belichick's vintage Patriots schemes to the fronts the Chargers threw at him a few years ago. So stating that "Manning can pick these blitzes apart" is a dangerous oversimplification. Manning will check down and audible to runs when he does not trust what he sees from a shifting front. This plays into the Chiefs gameplan: Sutton wants Manning creeping down the field and receivers paying for every yard.
The Chiefs have the right combination of personnel and scheme to do battle with Peyton Manning: multiple fronts, a great secondary, the ability to generate extreme pressure with just four or five rushers. As a basic illustration, Figure 1 shows the Chiefs lined up in simple man-1 coverage with Kendrick Lewis (23) at deep safety. The formation and coverage are taken from a third-quarter play by the Browns against the Chiefs, with Broncos personnel subbed in for the diagram.
Note how wide Hali (91) and Houston (50) line up: Houston is actually outside of the flexed tight end. This is typical, and we will see it in later diagrams. Brandon Flowers (24), a small cornerback, moved into the slot to cover small-savvy Davone Bess in the actual play, so he handles Wes Welker (83) in this example. The matchups include Sean Smith (27) versus Demaryius Thomas (88), Marcus Cooper (31) versus Eric Decker (87), Eric Berry versus Julius Thomas (80), Derrick Johnson (56) versus a back, Akeem Jordan (55) in underneath zone coverage. There is no glaring mismatch here, especially with Houston likely to get into Manning's face before Decker has time to beat Cooper, the least experienced of Kansas City's defenders.
Man-1 Behind the Blitz
Let's add some higher algebra, and some blitzing, to the Chiefs' man-to-man mathematics.
The next diagram comes from a 3rd-and-long play in the third quarter against the Texans that resulted in a sack. Flowers (24), again lined up inside so Cooper can cover a bigger receiver, blitzes inside of the wide lane taken by Hali (91). Johnson (56) also blitzes on the offensive right side, though his main job is to occupy a guard and create space for Flowers. Factor in Dontari Poe (92), and the Chiefs have four defenders attacking one side of the formation.
The Chiefs may be blitzing a cornerback and inside linebacker, but this is no jailbreak: the Chiefs still have five defensive backs and a linebacker in coverage, enough to play man with a deep safety. That's the versatility of this 1-4-6 personnel grouping and Sutton's personnel. Berry is trusted in man coverage on a slot receiver. Cooper and Smith have tight man on the outside receivers, and Lewis (23) replaces Flowers in man coverage on the tight end. Jordan (55) is not in good position to cover the back, but he and Lewis may be playing an inside-out concept on the back and tight end (it is impossible to tell from film), and the blitz reaches the quarterback before the back can release on anything but a flat route. Granted, the Chiefs were able to open up their playbook against the Texans; Peyton Manning would probably find the running back for a six-yard completion on a play where Case Keenum took a sack.
Let's look at a similar offensive concept from the Cowboys game. On third-and-10 in Chiefs territory late in the fourth quarter, Sutton sends both Berry and Cooper on a blitz from the offensive left, even though they appear to me lined up in man coverage against two receivers you don't want to mess around with: Jason Witten (82) and Miles Austin (18). Despite the double-blitz look, the Chiefs are only really rushing four defenders, with both Hali and Houston dropping into coverage.
The Cowboys blitz again illustrates the versatility of the Chiefs' man coverage, single high safety, outside-rush principle. As usual, we see the outside cornerbacks (Flowers and Smith this time) locked in one-on-one coverage. Lewis again creeps up and replaces the blitzing defensive back, although he is not playing exact man coverage on Austin. The Chiefs play a man-zone concept, with Lewis and Johnson switching assignments when Witten and Austin cross. Tony Romo (9) has been throwing to Witten in the face of blitzes for years, but Berry's quick rush and Lewis' arrival in coverage leaves Romo with no safe passing window, so his throw is wide.
Opponents have had most success against the Chiefs' Man-1 concept by challenging Smith and Flowers. Dez Bryant had a strong game against the Chiefs, as did Browns speedster Josh Gordon. Manning will certainly take his shots, though as stated earlier, his sideline passes sometimes sail, and Sutton will gladly trade a long gain for an interception or some sacks.
The Broncos are more likely to exploit the nickel and safety matchups in the middle of the field and attack the holes created by the Chiefs blitzes. Manning is the best quarterback in NFL history at using these tactics, but the Chiefs do have some countermeasures.
Brackets, Deuces, Rolling Zones
All of the outside man coverage and overload blitzing in the world will not help the Chiefs if Wes Welker picks them apart with 10-yard passes from the slot. Covering Welker with a deep safety while the nickel defender blitzes on play after play is a recipe for hot reads and easy catches. But Sutton can mix up his coverages. The Chiefs faced a quarterback named Manning with a great slot receiver early in the season -- Eli Manning and Victor Cruz -- and Sutton used a type of bracket double coverage called "Deuce" to confuse Eli's reads and limit Cruz's effectiveness in critical situations.
Figure 4 shows the Giants in catch-up mode in the fourth quarter. Cruz is the Giants' #1 receiver, but he is so much more effective in the slot that he usually moves inside when the Giants deploy three or more receivers. Brandon Flowers was injured in the Giants game, but we re-inserted him in the diagram as the slot defender: as other diagrams show, Flowers often takes the slot receiver. Pre-snap, the Chiefs look like they are either in Cover-2 zone or some variation of their man-1 look, with a defensive back likely to blitz.
In fact, the Chiefs are double-covering Cruz (80) and flexed-out tight end Brandon Myers (83), with Sean Smith and Cooper man-to-man on the outside receivers. The coverage concept here is usually called "Deuce;" it is hard to pinpoint on film, but Chiefs defenders do lots of pointing and gesturing before and during this play, so the coverage is easy to deduce. Flowers, lined up over Cruz, is responsible for short routes and crosses over the middle. Quentin Demps (35), playing deep, takes over if Cruz cuts toward the sideline; if Cruz runs a straight vertical route, Demps takes him, while Flowers peels off to cover an underneath zone. Berry and Lewis use a similar technique on the other side. As usual, the Chiefs get outside pressure, and Manning's pass to Cruz is tipped by Houston; even without the deflection, Eli was aiming for a tight window near the sideline.
Have a look at the GIF. You can see Dunta Robinson (portrayed in our diagram by Flowers), point to Demps as Cruz breaks outside.
The deuce concept should work well against Welker, Julius Thomas, and the other receivers the Broncos use to work the middle of the field. It also works well in concert with the Chiefs' other concepts: examine Figure 4, and it is not hard to envision a blitz from the Myers side of the formation.
The next diagram shows just how aggressive the Chiefs can be when blitzing from the slot side of the formation. Facing 3rd-and-11, the Giants line up with three receivers (including Cruz) and one back on the right side of their formation. The Chiefs respond with what appears to be man coverage at the line, with three deep defensive backs. It looks like some kind of three-deep zone before the snap, but in fact it is yet another blitz. The Chiefs blitz both "Flowers" (Robinson in the actual game) and dime defender Hassim Abdullah (39). They then roll the three deep defenders. Lewis takes an underneath zone to the Cruz-Myers side, Demps provides deep support, and Johnson slides across the field to take away any passes in the middle of the field. Cruz is essentially double-teamed on the seam route, even though his initial defender flushes Eli from the pocket. Hali strip-sacks Eli after a brief scramble: exactly the kind of big play Sutton gambles for.
Figure 5 shows many of the elements we have seen again and again in the other diagrams. The outside cornerbacks are once again locked in man coverage. Defensive backs blitz to create a heavy outside rush, but because linebackers (Johnson and Houston) drop, the Chiefs are only rushing four defenders and have adequate manpower in coverage. The athleticism, versatility, and experience of the Chiefs defenders allow Sutton to take risks most defensive coordinators cannot take.
Peyton will find Welker for some short completions no matter what the Chiefs do. Sutton's goals will be to limit Welker's completion rate and limit yards after the catch. Pressure and tight windows will keep Peyton-to-Welker from being automatic. Anticipation and tackling can keep seven-yard passes from becoming 14-yard gains. Bracket concepts and rolled coverage will allow multiple Chiefs defenders to flow toward Welker when Manning targets him, and Chiefs interior defenders have been excellent tacklers all season. If Welker catches eight passes on 12 targets for 70 yards, that's a win for the Chiefs defense. If he is 10-of-12 for 120 yards, it's a loss.
Adjustments to Adjustments
One way Peyton Manning attacks pressure defenses is by exploiting miscommunications. Blitzing defensive backs is a risky, tricky affair. By motioning a receiver pre-snap, the offense can force the defense to make major changes to a blitz concept: man coverage assignments change, potential blitzers may suddenly have to drop, and so on. One quick offensive change can form a half-dozen defensive changes, and Manning is exceptional at using this to his advantage.
Sutton's defense, however, has been excellent at on-field communication this season. We already saw an example of defenders clarifying a subtle coverage concept before and after the snap against Victor Cruz. The following GIF shows the Chiefs quickly adjusting to a wrinkle by the Browns. When Davone Bess goes in motion to the left to create a bunch formation on that side, several K.C. defenders must change assignments. All the pointing provides a clear picture of what is going on. Flowers (24) declares that he is locked onto Greg Little (15). Demps (35) declares himself the high safety. Smith (27) and Lewis (23) appear to indicate that Smith will take the receiver who breaks outside and Lewis the one who breaks inside, a standard man-to-man tactic against bunched receivers.
The Browns run a clever route combination here. Bess starts outside, then angles behind Little. Smith is in terrible position to cover him. But the Chiefs still had an aggressive blitz on, with Berry and Johnson criss-crossing en route to Jason Campbell. The quarterback does not have time to step up and throw to a briefly open receiver.
All defenders point, communicate, and adjust coverages pre-snap. But not all defenses excel at it. Experienced defenders like Flowers, Berry, Smith, Demps, and Lewis make these adjustments smoothly, allowing Sutton to keep blitzing, even when opponents specifically scheme to attack those blitzes.
Peyton Manning can still win this chess match, but he cannot anticipate any easy checkmates.
Compromise Solutions
No one expects the Chiefs to do to Peyton Manning what they did to Campbell or Jeff Tuel. But it is reasonable to expect them to do something close to what they did to Eli Manning and Tony Romo. Victor Cruz caught 10 passes for 164 yards and a touchdown against the Chiefs. Dez Bryant was 9-144-1. Top receivers will generate big plays against the Chiefs because they will face a lot of single coverage outside or favorable matchups in the middle.
For Sutton, those big plays are a compromise. They come in exchange for sacks, turnovers, rushed throws and third down stops. The Giants and Cowboys were a combined 4-of-25 on third down conversions. When Sutton opens up his playbook on obvious passing downs, he leaves even veteran quarterbacks with some unappealing choices.
No defense in the league have an answer for every puzzle Peyton Manning can throw at them, but the Chiefs come close. Few teams have two cornerbacks good enough to risk man coverage against Thomas and Decker all game. Few teams have the depth in the secondary to blitz defensive backs and still have plenty of manpower in coverage. The Chiefs can get heavy pressure with four pass rushers. They send several outstanding tacklers flowing toward the ball on every short pass. Sutton provides almost as few easy answers as Manning does. Success will come down to who benefits the most from compromise solutions: whether a sideline bomb under pressure results in 40 yards or an incompletion, whether Manning finds Welker on a 3rd-and-8 pass, or Derrick Johnson rolling into a zone.
The Chiefs have the capability to hold the Broncos offense in the 21-24 point range. That's quite an accomplishment. Whether that will be enough for a victory is up to the Chiefs offense.


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Hubble Infrared View of Extrasolar Planet Candidate
This is an artificial-color Hubble Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) infrared-light view of the brown dwarf star 2MASSWJ 1207334-393254 (aka 2M1207) and giant planet companion candidate. The possible companion, estimated to be about five times the mass of Jupiter, is the magenta colored spot at lower right. The brown dwarf's location is within the circle at image center. The glare of the dwarf, which is 700 times brighter than the planet candidate (as seen at Hubble's near-infrared sensitivity) has been greatly reduced through image processing of NICMOS pictures taken at different Hubble orientations. In this picture the dwarf and candidate planet are at a minimum distance of 5 billion miles apart. Further observations will be needed to confirm that the two objects are gravitationally bound. The red, green, and blue colors correspond to infrared wavelengths of (1.6, 1.1, and 0.9 microns respectively). At a temperature of only 1800 degrees Fahrenheit, the candidate companion object appears very red in the NICMOS images.


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Travelgoat is an interactive travel community dedicated to making urban exploration easy, fun and within your budget. With the help of our core group of experienced guides, customize your own personal tour or explore Travelgoat's free library of easy-to-download multimedia tours and stories - and share your own! Travelgoat will help you find the path best traveled.
Top Stories:
Just Landed: The latest stories and videos
In this BBC film, John Malkovich discusses the Chrysler Building. It doesn't get much better than this...watch >
The video story gives an in depth look at the restoration of the Eldridge Street Synagogue.watch >
The Russian and Turkish Baths are a New York City institution. Experiencing both the baths and the massage services offered is often called a religious experience.watch >


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[artist id="1000"]Nas[/artist] is living the good life. After the Queensbridge MC revealed the title of his 10th studio album over the weekend, he caught up with DJ Envy of MTV's Sucker Free and dropped more details about Life Is Good.
"Life is also good; the moment you think it ain't good, it's over," Nas said.
With his 1994 debut album, titled Illmatic, Nas introduced new slang; he sparked debate with his 2006 album title, Hip Hop Is Dead; and then he started a whirlwind of controversy when he first proposed to name his 2008 LP N-----. And for this upcoming project, Nas said the title has meaning too, a reflection of his positive outlook on life.
"Look at the life we're in, look at the world we're in — I just think people need to realize the blessings. Let's stop worrying about the dark side," he said. "The end result is life is good, and it's crazy how a phrase like that can change somebody's mentality."
Nas even revealed the name of the album's first single, "Nasty," which is a play on his original moniker, Nasty Nas. Still, even though he's giving a nod to his lyrical beginnings, the rapper promises that the track will fit the times. "We ain't going backwards, we're staying forward though," he said.
Life Is Good isn't finished (Nas said it's "almost there"), but it will be a very personal work. Nas insisted he won't shy away from addressing what he's been through in the past few years, including his divorce from singer Kelis.
"This album is just a piece of my blood, flesh and bones. This album right here is like — this is the one. They all are the ones, I love all my joints, but this one right here is, 'Life is good.' I'm letting a lot go on this. I'm happy that I'm here, man. I'm just a survivor and I look at a lot of us as survivors," he said. "Everything is addressed; it's all life. No matter what, at the end of the day, everything is a blessing. I'm a learner, I learn from my experiences."
And it's all good.
Are you excited to hear new music from Nas? Tell us in the comments!


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Hello friends! I have finally had some time to sit down and "power blog" so I'll be catching up on sharing a number of projects that I created over the past few months but haven't shared with you all yet.
This is a card I created around Earth Day earlier this year. I used the "World Love" stamp set from Your Next Stamp. To keep my card "earthy" I embossed some kraft cardstock with a woodgrain embossing folder and inked around the edges with some Distress Ink. I finished off the card with some twine and a wood button.
Thanks for stopping by!!
Stamps: World Love set from Your Next Stamp
Papers: The Paper Company kraft cardstock, Neenah white cardstock
Ink: Memento Tuxedo black, brown distress ink
Accessories: Copic markers, white gel pen, The Twinery Twine, wood button


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Shares of Apple Inc. rose about 2 percent on Tuesday on news that billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn had dinner with Apple chief executive Tim Cook on Monday and "pushed hard" for a buyback.
"Had a cordial dinner with Tim last night. We pushed hard for a 150 billion buyback. We decided to continue dialogue in about three weeks," Icahn tweeted on Tuesday.
Continue Reading Below
In August, Icahn told Reuters that "Apple has the ability to do a $150 billion buyback now by borrowing funds at 3 percent.
He also said at the time, "If Apple does this now and earnings increase at only 10 percent, the stock - even keeping the same multiple currently - should trade at $700 a share."
Tuesday, shares of Apple rose 1.85 percent to trade over $485 a share.
A source familiar with the matter, who declined to be named because Icahn hasn't disclosed his holdings in Apple, said the investor's stake was worth around $1 billion, a fraction of the company's market value of more than $400 billion.
Cook did not mention the dinner in any tweets on Tuesday.
(Reporting By Jennifer Ablan; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)


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Sandusky conviction to receive appeals court review
HARRISBURG, Pa. – Jerry Sandusky's lawyer and members of the state attorney general's office will be inside a northeastern Pennsylvania courtroom as the former Penn State assistant football coach seeks to have his child molestation conviction overturned.
The state Superior Court proceeding on Tuesday is being held in Wilkes-Barre as part of the court's effort to give more people a chance to see how it operates.
In court filings, the former defensive coordinator has argued his lawyers did not have enough time to prepare and that a prosecutor made an improper reference during the trial to the fact that Sandusky didn't testify on his own behalf.
Sandusky also believes the judge should have issued an instruction to jurors that addressed the length of time it took his victims to report their abuse, which for four of them was more than 11 years.
Prosecutors have said jurors were aware that the defense argued the abuse never occurred, and a key component of the defense was an argument that the victims were inventing stories. They said Sandusky's legal team had plenty of time to prepare, and that the prosecutor referred to a TV interview but not to Sandusky's failure to take the stand.
Sandusky, 69, is serving a 30- to 60-year state prison sentence after being convicted last year of 45 counts of child sexual abuse. He is not expected to attend the oral argument session.


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|Current Price
|$185.00 ( ) Successful
|Buy Now Price
|No Reserve Available for immediate purchase.
|End Date
|Bid History
|8 Bids
|High Bidder
|Start Date
|Listed By admin
0 Vernon, B.C. CA
|0 View More Listings
Fans have the oportunity to bid on a one of a kind Vernon Vipers Jersey!
Jerseys will be customized to each player with their number and name bar.
These dark blue jerseys will be worn for the second half of the season.
Winning bidders will be presented their jerseys by the players themselves at the "Shirts Off Their Back" Game on February 24th at Kal Tire Place.
Winning bidders will be contacted by the Vernon Vipers Staff shortly after bidding has closed to arrange payment.
Questions & Answers
There are no questions for this listing.


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Career Guides >> Browse Articles >> Government Job Search
5 Federal Careers Hiring at Record Pace
Kyle Stone | Editor
Program Managers and Administrators
Administrators and Program Managers coordinate and direct the many support services that allow organizations to operate efficiently. Specifical examples of management duties include: payroll, administration, conference planning, data processing, printing and production, records management, telecommunications, security, and energy consumption.
Jobs: Program Manager, Analyst, Operations Manager, Public Administrator
Median Annual Salary
In 2006, the median annual earnings for program managers and administrators were $67,690. Median earnings for employees of State and Local departments were $68,410.
Educational Requirements
Some agencies require occupational health and safety specialists to have a bachelor's degree in occupational health, safety, or a related field, such as engineering, biology, or chemistry. For some positions, a master's degree in industrial hygiene or a related subject is required. There also are associate degree and 1-year certificate programs, which primarily are intended for technicians.
Career Tips
• Applicants will face keen competition for the limited number of top-level management jobs; competition should be less severe for lower-level management jobs.
• Employment of program managers and administrators is expected to increase 12 percent by 2016.
Related Information
Career Profile: Local government administrator


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WAITT HOUSE needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 199 designs submitted by 63 freelance designers.
WITWOT or WitWot
Need a company logo and a website header for WITWOT, a new website where users can post text and photos of items they hope will prove to be valuable and in return figure out "what it is worth" based on a price determined by social networking. While users may end up making contacts through the website and actually sell their items, the MAIN focus of the website is finding out what the item is really worth first, based on advice from both amateurs and experts.
We are targeting two groups:
1) Any person who has an item they want to sell but has no idea what the true value of that item is, whether it's an antique vase passed down from their great-great-grandmother or a somewhat new electronics toy.
2) Any person who has some expertise or knowledge of the possible worth of any and every item that ends up at one point with a For Sale sign on it.
We own the URL for WITWOT.com as well as for WhatIsThisWorth.com, but we want to brand the name WITWOT.
We are open to suggestions on the style and design. It could be WITWOT in all caps, or it could be WitWot.
Somewhere in the header, and possibly even incorporated into the WITWOT logo itself, should be the text WhatIsThisWorth, either as one long word or with spaces between the words.
Like every other website developer in the world we are looking for that Google type logo for WITWOT (or WitWot) that stands out and is easy to remember and easy to identify based on its design, color (or colors), etc. when it pops up in our marketing and promotion.
What we're aiming for is getting to a point where one guy says to his buddy, "Hey, I found this thing in my attic. I'd like to sell it. I wonder what it's worth?" To which his buddy replies, "Heck if I know. Why don't you just WITWOT it?"
That's the logo we want!
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Good morning, readers. Today is Friday, December 21. Elijah Wood, George Lopez and other celebrities came to Studio City this week to support Henry's Tacos, but it may not be enough.
The famous small taco stand is slated to close at the end of the month, reports L.A. Times.
A former adviser in Toluca Lake is accused of scamming investors of over $3 million and using the money on his house, childrens' tuition and family vacations, reports the SFV Business Journal.
The Burbank City Council approved new cell towers in public areas this week, reports the Burbank Leader.
If you have a Christmas tree in your home, be extra cautious this weekend. An 'electrical malfunction' set a tree on fire that was in a Sun Valley home, reports Patch.
-- Tiffany Kelly, Times Community News
Follow me on Google+ or on Twitter: @LATiffanyKelly.


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As the Guardian reveals that the richest 1,000 people in Britain have seen their wealth increase by £155bn since the crisis began … I have again tried to move from unemployment to part-time work – that is, from unemployment to underemployment.
I told my Job Centre Plus adviser before I even secured the contract and he has been helpful and supportive – but unable to stop the inevitable.
All my benefits have been stopped.
This stopping of benefits happens before you have any chance to give details, to fully explain your reasoning or prove your income.
It is profitable for the government to plunge you into poverty first and ask questions later.
I've explained to Job Centre Plus and to the council that my income works out at just £30 more than I would get per week from Jobseekers' Allowance. I've shown contracts, visited almost weekly with updates and emailed any relevant information.
Nevertheless, my Housing Benefit has been calculated to now be £1.19 per week, my Council Tax Benefit is nil and today I find my Jobseekers' Allowance has not been paid.
Of course I immediately switched off my heating, rationed the food in my cupboards and freezer and will stay home unable to afford to go anywhere. I wonder if this is the "war mentality" of which Heseltine spoke today – workers clamouring to survive while the wealthy remain untouched by the failures of the banks and the global economic crisis of their making.
I recognise this Tory-led coalition, supported by lickspittle lackey Lib Dems, will claim that Universal Credit will end this problem but this is clearly not the case. It will simply be worse for us.
The Tory work ethic – the promise that work will pay – is a lie.
This is the second time I've experienced this as I try to find work, to remain active and employable. I wonder now if it will be worth doing it again in the future. I might choose to stay on benefits.
Regular readers will know that, after 20 years as a journalist, I found it impossible to secure work in the industry so I retrained as an academic and now find it impossible to secure work in higher education.
Ironically, I found out this week that I passed a post-graduate certificate in education – what a waste of time and hard-work attaining a new qualification has proven to be.
This work is only until March 2013 so all this confusion and stress will start again as soon as it ends…


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WASHINGTON (AP) — A large number of District of Columbia firefighters called out sick on New Year's Eve, leaving the city short-staffed on a busy night.
The city's deputy mayor overseeing public safety, Paul Quander, confirmed that some vehicles sat idle because of low staffing. Quander says the unusually high number of firefighters calling in sick is being investigated.
Quander said that the city is typically staffed with about 340 firefighters and that 20 to 30 generally call in sick each day. He said 97 firefighters were sick Monday. On Tuesday, a day where firefighters get holiday pay, 20 were sick. Firefighters also staff ambulances in the city.
The president of the union that represents firefighters, Ed Smith, said fewer than 90 firefighters out of 440 scheduled to work that day were absent.
(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)


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Hi Lollar fans! We sometimes get requests to verify the authenticity of Lollar pickups, whether its a set that pops up on eBay, or a used guitar that is said to be stocked with our stuff. Sometime in 2003 or 2004 we standardized how our pickups were marked, and it is still done the same today. The only way to know for sure that you have a genuine Lollar pickup is to check the bottom and look for the proper markings. We label them in a few different ways, from humbuckers to Strats… there are certain things to look for to insure authenticity.
HUMBUCKERS: All our humbuckers have tags screwed to the bottom and are stamped with "LOLLAR IMPERIAL" followed by the year, and if it is a neck or a bridge. Color is important as well… a black label is standard wind, grey is a Low Wind, and red is a High Wind. The name of the builder will be initialed in the right bottom corner.
STRATS AND TELES: All of our Strat and Tele style pickups have this info hand written on the bottom: Lollar, the type of pickup (position if it's a Strat), initials of the builder, and the year it was produced. LOLLAR is also stamped on the top middle on Strats. We use either white or black paint pens to handwrite on our pickups. A few models like Thunderbird and Johnny Smith pickups have black baked on enamel that we apply with a laser.
P90s: On our P90 pickups, all the info is stamped like a humbucker, except for our Special winds which are indicated by a hand written label, such as 50's, -5% or +5%. Same for soapbar or dog ear.
Besides the markings, our overall construction is top notch. If the pickup seems a bit off- not as solid as it should be, it might not be a Lollar. For instance, wax is usually completely wiped off after potting leaving little to no trace, instead of drippy gooey globs all over. We also buff any exposed forbon (like on Tele bridge pickups) so it has a satin sheen instead of dull, matte type finish. Our lead wires on single-coil pickups lay flat, and there are no frays in the cloth wiring. We also tape all of our coils to protect them from damage. We even buff our plastic pickup covers! Our humbuckers come with clear plastic tape over the top to protect the finish on the pickup cover. We only use high quality lead wires.
If it says Custom on the bottom (along with Lollar and the date) it could be anything- it may not be in phase with anything else we make and it may not match any specs. If you know the name of who originally purchased the custom item we can usually look the job up and see what the specifications were.
Occasionally we get asked questions about pickups for sale on eBay that are supposedly Lollar made. It is rare for people to try to pass off fake, uninstalled pickups for Lollars, but here are a couple photos of horribly made pickups that have Lollar written on the bottom.
More often, a guitar was sold claiming to have Lollars installed and was purchased by someone and resold. The purchaser had been told Lollars were installed and they never verified it. Even this is not common (but it happens) , so here's how you can tell…
Going as far back as I can remember (before '96 or '97) the bobbins could have been made out of anything other than vulcanized fiberboard – maybe wood, or often I would make them out of the thin plastic that cassette tape cases were made of- these would be fairly roughly made and would have no markings.
After '96 or '97 I would have made my bobbins out of vulcanized fiberboard- this is the same material Fender makes their pickups out of. The quality of construction would be quite high, as all of my parts were cut by hand using jigs – everything would be uniform, but nothing would be signed yet unless someone asked me to. You can tell if a P-90 is mine because I have always made the bobbins by hand and after '96 or '97 they would be made of vulcanized fiberboard.
After my book came out I started to see a few other manufacturers making P-90s using the plan I drew up- vulcanized fiber assembled bobbins. The only time I might use the standard cast plastic bobbin on P-90s would be to restore and old Gibson P-90 that had bobbin rot beyond repair.
Sometime around '98 or '99 I would have started to write model names on the bottom of pickups and dating them- still no signature unless asked for it. If the pickup in question has a model name that corresponds to something I still make then the specs are the same- same magnets and turn count. If you bought a pickup in 1996 and you buy another one today to match with the old pickup, the new pickup will be in phase with the old one- I never changed that.
Also, if you have an old single coil neck pickup (like a P-90) and you buy a new bridge pickup, not only will it be in phase but the set will be hum cancelling. Around 2001 or 2002 most of my pickups had established model names, and you'll see the model name either abbreviated or written out on the bottom- usually in paint pen along with the date and my initials or last name.
If all else fails and you are still not sure, take a picture of the bottom and send it to firstname.lastname@example.com and we'll take a look for you.


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Gone are the days of one-eyed pirates being chased by the dilapidated schooners of ancient naval fleets. The modern-day fight against piracy is more like a 21st century James Bond movie, and it's a lucrative multi-billion-dollar business.
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Efforts to protect the seas and the shippers responsible for transporting billions of dollars worth of goods each year have ramped up over the last few years amid the re-emergence a half a decade ago of piracy.
Oceans Beyond Piracy estimated in a new report released Tuesday that the cost of piracy in 2012 ranged between $5.7 billion and $6 billion. While that's down 12.6% from a high of $7 billion in 2011, the cost was reduced as attacks fell sharply and the speed of boats through high-risk areas fell, both a reflection of wide adoption of armed guards on seafaring vessels – the cost of which rose a staggering 80% last year to a high of $1.53 billion.
"The overall cost to the international community remains considerable," Oceans Beyond Piracy said in a new report, adding that while attacks have fallen to the lowest level since 2007, "the cost to prevent each attack has gone up significantly."
From the pirates and organized crime rings fueling their sophistication to the private maritime security providers, insurers offering ransom and war coverage at sea and the attorneys who are paid handsome fees to negotiate hefty ransoms, piracy has grown into a thriving business.
A Necessary Evil
The growing number and improving quality of private maritime security providers was at the heart of a 33% decline in pirate attacks in 2012, to 297 from a high of 445 in 2010, according to the International Chamber of Commerce. The ICC predicts an even greater decline to just 47 in 2013.
Also contributing to the near evaporation in hijackings -- ransoms paid fell 80% in 2012 -- are the industry-wide adoption of best practices and a task force of the world's biggest naval legions that scout the dangerous waters of the Straight of Aden, Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
Of course, the sweeping reduction has come at a cost, with countries footing the bill for savvy naval ships patrolling dangerous waters and ship owners forking over massive sums of money for anything from security and ramped up ship speeds that eat fuel but help evade pirates to high insurance premiums.
"The problem of piracy -- for us as an employer of thousands of seafarers -- is totally unacceptable," said Aslak Ross, head of the Copenhagen-based Marine Standards group of Maersk, the world's largest container shipping company by revenue. "We strongly object to the fact that seafarers in this day and age cannot carry out their jobs without the risk of being held hostage for months on end."
Shippers are on the hook for more than 80% of the sector's total costs, responsible for paying the tens of thousands of additional dollars a day rerouting ships, increasing speeds and hiring private security firms to evade attacks, according to Oceans Beyond Piracy, a three-year old think tank focused on improving the response to maritime piracy.
It is, however, a necessary evil for these companies responsible for moving billions of dollars worth of goods through dangerous waters each year, especially as the International Chamber of Shipping predicts the volume of trade moved by sea will increase 50% over the next 20 years.
"When $12 billion worth of cargo is attacked constantly, there is an economic impact globally for everyone from shipping down," said Alex Popovic, CEO of Virginia-based private maritime security firm Greyside Group.
"Piracy is a global problem," Ross notes, "as we all depend on the vital trade lanes going through the area, which are used daily to transport goods to and from Asia, Europe and Africa."
Efficient, and Making A Lot of Money
Before securities ramped up and contributed directly to the thwarting of attacks, pirating was a lucrative occupation, with Somali pirates raking in about $160 million in 2011 on 31 ransoms, averaging about $5 million a pop, according to Oceans Beyond Piracy.
That number shrank to just $31.75 million in 2012, a startling decline of 80.1% as fewer vessels were captured and pirates' leverage declined.
The steady increase prior to 2012 infused millions of dollars into the underground market thriving in and around Somalia. Given the dissolution of Somalia's formal banking system, the money was believed to be spent in casinos in Mombasa on the coast of Kenya to be watered down before ultimately ending up in the hands of the Russian Mafia, terrorists groups or being laundered to surrounding nations and regions around the world like the United Arab Emirates.
"In many ways, the private maritime security companies have been victim of their own success."
Money is also spent to enrich Somali pirates, with the Puntland region of Somalia benefiting in particular, evidenced by the construction of large homes, increases in marriage dowries, high-tech equipment like flat-screen televisions and more expensive vehicles, according to a report of maritime experts commission by the United Nations in 2008.
"The more money these [pirates] garnered from this business – which became a very lucrative business – the more sophisticated they became," Popovic said. "These guys are efficient, and they're making a lot of money."
The increased tech-savvy among pirates -- they now use satellite phones and global positioning systems as well as higher-caliber weapons -- also allows them to target specific ships, with those carrying oil, known by pirates as "black gold," a bulls eye because of the commodity's importance to Western society. Pirates also make money by stripping ships of electronic equipment and cargo to be sold on the black market, though statistics on that burgeoning underground market are virtually nonexistent.
Negotiations between pirates and ship owners and the associated underwriters can last for months, but once a deal is reached -- and deals are almost always reached in pirate hostage situations -- helicopters drop wads of cash -- millions of dollars worth -- using parachutes onto skiffs.
The process is a heavy expense to ship owners and underwriters responsible for paying negotiators and organizing drop offs. At the same time, crew deaths were at a high in 2010 and 2011 as pirates sought higher pay outs and demanded urgency, which weighed on premium rates.
The "industry is paying dearly to suppress the cost of piracy," said entrepreneur Marcel Arsenault, a part of the nonprofit One Earth Future.
The 'Greatest' Factor to Evading Pirate Attacks
Vessel operators spent between $1.15 billion and $1.53 billion on armed guards in 2012, nearly triple the $530 million they spent in 2011, as an estimated 50% of vessels employed guards compared with just 30% the year prior, according to the Oceans Beyond Piracy report.
There has been significant growth in the use of private armed security onboard ships as well as citadels, or safe rooms, where crews can seeks shelters in the event of an attack.
The private security industry began to take off as governments – already cash strapped and spending money on naval ships – began handing over the responsibility to the private sector, sort of like how Blackwater, a private company now known as Academi, makes defense systems for global militaries.
The U.S. has long been onboard with private companies taking the reins, while the Sri Lankan government last year handed over control of two of its floating weapons armories to private company Avant Garde, the country's largest security firm with a workforce of more than 6,500.
"Without a shadow of a doubt it is the utilization of those armed guards that has been the greatest factor at reducing piracy attacks," said Peter Cook, security director of the Security Association for the Maritime Industry (SAMI), a membership organization representing 176 private maritime security companies.
However, regulatory hurdles remain for this young industry. Not every nation allows the use of armed guards, and Egyptian officials last week seized a Togolese-flagged ship in its territorial waters for carrying too many weapons, releasing it days later after deeming it owned by a maritime security company.
The Cost of Piracy
That heightened security has weighed on an industry already strung out financially.
As security firms emerge to meet the growing demand, though, competition is being spurred, easing costs. While the going rate for a four-man armed security team was about $5,000 per day a few years ago, today it ranges from just $3000 to $3,500.
Maersk told Fox Business that it uses armed guards on a "case-by-case basis and after a thorough risk assessment," though it wouldn't give further details on the number of vessels or guards employed onboard.
The Denmark-based shipping giant, which operates several of the world's largest ships, says it has strict vetting procedures in place as well as "clear rules of engagement" in terms of the private maritime security firms it uses to protect its fleet.
On the security firm Greyside's website, testimonials tout armed guard's ability to thwart attacks, with one, LPG Tankers, in the summer of 2011 saying the Greyside guards helped the company evade pirate attacks, enabling the crew to concentrate fully on its actual seafaring duties.
Popovic, who has taken six voyages through the dangerous North Indian Ocean waters and witnessed pirate attacks during three of them, said Greyside also trains crews and audits ships to help block unwanted entry at sea.
Indian Ocean's Worst Enemy: Complacency
While Maersk says armed guards have proven to be effective in the fight against piracy, Ross says the company must stress that guards alone will "not make the problem go away."
"The problem of piracy can only be solved by a coordinated effort by the international community to fight the organized crime behind piracy," Ross said in an email. Equally important, he notes, is tackling the root causes of piracy, such as why young men are driven into it.
There is fear among all parties involved, though, that complacency – given the sharp decline in attacks – could lead to a re-emergence of piracy down the road. The money spent by military operations to thwart piracy fell 14% in 2012 to $1.09 billion, according to Oceans Beyond Piracy, a reflection of a decrease in naval assets deployed.
"I think our worst enemy at the moment in the northwest Indian Ocean is complacency," Cook said. "If shipping companies don't maintain their guard, if nations providing [naval] ships don't continue to provide funding," there's a strong chance piracy will return, he said.
At the same time, shipping companies with already painfully thin margins may look to lower costs by reducing layers of security. They already have, with the average size of security guards on boats in recent years declining to three from four or more previously.
"In many ways," Cook said, "the private maritime security companies have been victim of their own success."


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2 Way Glue Squeeze & Roll Zig [MSB10MIP]
2 Way Glue Squeeze & Roll Zig [MSB10MIP]$3.99
The glue is blue when wet and clear when dry. For a permanent hold, apply glue to 1 paper surface and adhere it to another paper surface. For a repositionale hold, apply it to a paper surface and allow it to dry clear before adhering it to the ot... Read More
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TAMPA Fla. (Reuters) - Family and friends of a Florida teenager who says he was beaten by Israeli police while in detention describe him as a typical U.S. high school student.
Tariq Khdeir, 15, recently finished his freshman year at the Universal Academy of Florida, a private Islamic school where he played on the soccer team. He earned the summer trip to visit relatives by receiving good grades in all of his classes, said his aunt, Sanah Abu Khdeir.
His cousin, Mohammed Abu Khudair, 16, was abducted and killed in Jerusalem last week, sparking violent protests and calls from Palestinians for a new uprising against Israel.
Khdeir and his family met on Monday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who promised support. His father also filed a formal criminal complaint against the police officers, saying they denied his son the medical treatment he needed after they beat him, said Hassan Shibly, executive director of the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
"It was supposed to be a joyous summer vacation," his aunt Sanah Abu Khdeir, 22, who lives near his family in central Florida, told Reuters. "He's just a very spunky, fun kid," who enjoys hot fries and funny movies, she added.
The Maryland-born teenager, whose family moved to Florida several years ago, is currently under house arrest in Jerusalem, following his release on Sunday by Israeli authorities.
U.S. officials say he should be able to return home later this month. In Florida, friends and relatives are worried about his medical condition and that his return not be delayed.
"I'm hurt for him," said Sanah Abu Khdeir, whose nephew was in tears when they spoke after his release. "He is completely lost and confused about what is going on."
Photos show Khdeir's face badly bruised and swollen. After his release, he told reporters that he had not taken part in clashes with police prior to his detention on Thursday along with five other protesters. Reports of his beating drew criticism from the U.S. State Department, and Israeli officials have opened an investigation into the allegations.
It was Khdeir's first trip to Israel to visit his extended family in over a decade, his aunt said. He was traveling with his parents and two younger sisters, ages 10 and 5.
In Tampa, the middle-class family works in the restaurant business and lives in a townhouse near the local mosque, said Shibly, also a neighbor.
Tariq Khdeir had been looking forward to learning to drive and was hoping to earn a college scholarship to study business or electrical engineering, his aunt said.
"He is just your average, regular American teenager," said Shibly. "It is just so sad to see him go through such a traumatic experience so early in his life."
(Editing by David Adams and Eric Walsh)


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It's been five years since the last Ghost Recon game, but on May 22 the future soldiers will return. You don't have to wait that long, though -- get a good, long, early look at Ghost Recon: Future Soldier's single-player campaign on Wednesday, May 2 right here at IGN.
Exit Theatre Mode
What: Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Live Stream
When: Wednesday, May 2, 10:00AM-Noon Pacific
Where: Right here -- bookmark this page.
We'll be answering all your Ghost Recon questions live during the broadcast. Asking a question automatically enters you to win Microsoft Point cards. Just tweet your questions @IGN with #GRFS.
See you Wednesday!


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The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has adopted changes to its Chronic Wasting Disease regulations prohibiting people from importing into New York state certain parts of white-tailed deer or elk taken in the state of Pennsylvania. This revision finalizes the emergency rule implemented last October.
The first case of CWD in the state of Pennsylvania was confirmed by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture last fall. In response, DEC implemented an emergency rule to protect New York's valuable wild white-tail deer population by prohibiting the importation of the following parts of hunter-killed deer or elk taken in Pennsylvania - brain, eyes, spinal cord, tonsils, intestinal tract, spleen or retropharyngeal lymph nodes.
"As is the case with many other states where CWD has been identified, hunters who take a deer or elk in Pennsylvania must remove the prohibited parts before entering New York state," DEC Commissioner Joe Martens said. "Most successful hunters will opt to butcher a deer or elk and put the meat in a cooler before traveling back to New York."
DEC has conducted an extensive surveillance program since CWD was first confirmed in New York in 2005 and has not discovered any additional cases of CWD since then. CWD is a contagious neurological disease affecting deer, elk and moose. It causes a characteristic spongy degeneration of the brains of infected animals resulting in emaciation, abnormal behavior, loss of bodily functions and death.
It is not known exactly how CWD is transmitted. The infectious agent may be passed from animal to animal through feces, urine or saliva. The minimal incubation period between infection and development of the clinical disease appears to be about 16 months. The maximum incubation period is unknown, as is the point at which shedding of the CWD agent begins during the prolonged course of infection.
The movement of infectious material may be one route of transmission. This amendment to the CWD regulations will prohibit the importation of those parts of a deer or elk where the disease is most likely to be found. While the exact health risks of consuming meat from an animal infected with CWD are unknown, DEC advises hunters not to consume the meat of any animal that acts abnormal and to exercise precautions when butchering animals, such as using rubber or latex gloves.
Additional information about CWD and New York's CWD Regulation can be found at www.dec.ny.gov/regs/3926.html.


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Based on the best selling autobiography by Irish expat Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes follows the experiences of young Frankie and his family as they try against all odds to escape the poverty endemic in the slums of pre-war Limerick. The film opens with the family in Brooklyn, but following the death of one of Frankie's siblings, they return home, only to find the situation there even worse. Prejudice against Frankie's Northern Irish father makes his […]
The 1st time we discovered the delights of the Little River Inn, friends introduced us to its charm as we moved to Northern CA as a newly married couple. In those days there were no phones or T.V.'s in our rooms. On a couples' weekend we all stayed in rooms with fireplaces and views of the ocean, and found it so relaxing. We agreed that we slept great because of the sound of the waves. The guys would golf, the gals would shop, and we'd all hook up for a drink in the Whale Watcher's... Read More
The 1st time we discovered the delights of the Little River Inn, friends introduced us to its charm as we moved to Northern CA as a newly married couple. In those days there were no phones or T.V.'s in our rooms. On a couples' weekend we all stayed in rooms with fireplaces and views of the ocean, and found it so relaxing. We agreed that we slept great because of the sound of the waves. The guys would golf, the gals would shop, and we'd all hook up for a drink in the Whale Watcher's bar before dinner.
In 1990 along came son Eddie, and at 5 mos. we brought him to the Little River Inn along with Grandma and Grandpa. The big guys golfed, the women shopped, and we all relaxed and had a marvelous time.
Our New Year's tradition at Little River started in 1994, when we received a call in the summer that someone had cancelled and we'd cleared a waiting list. Hutch and I both worked for Sears at the time, and with the holiday rush and after Christmas sales, we really looked forward to New Year's as a mini vacation-- a time to recuperate, recharge our batteries and reconnect. We learned to reserve our room for the next New Year's at the end of each annual stay.
When Eddie was young we booked an early dinner seating in the dining room so we'd be out before the real revelers. The food and service is always wonderful, the room's beautiful, and everyone's in such good spirits, complete with party hats. Our pictures from New Year's Eve provided many of the family pictures for the following year's holiday wishes.
Once back in our room we get comfortable and watch the ball drop in Times Square. At midnight the three of us kiss and toast the New Year with champagne and Martinelli's. New Year's Day we always order room service so we can watch the Rose Parade. Later we make sure we're back in the room for the Rose Bowl game. In the 90's, there was a cat that visited the guest rooms, which thrilled Eddie, or sometimes the cat could be found napping in the piano room. The cat would look so cozy, just as we always felt at the inn. We always asked for the room on the end; at sunset we could watch deer grazing right outside our room.
As Eddie grew, we entertained ourselves with longer walks on the beach in the day time and played board games at night. The Inn "grew up" along with us, as they installed T.V. and a video lending library, which became a plus for us with a child. One of our favorite trips, the power was out for part of the time. Since the Inn has its own generator, we enjoyed a candle lit dinner, delicious as always. We played board games by flashlight, and we cherish those memories.
There is much to do nearby. We always go into Mendocino one or two days, and every other year we go north to Fort Bragg. We walk in Van Damme State Park unless it's raining, and we've visited the Rhododendron Botanical Garden. Of course the guys usually try to golf and Eddie and I sometimes lob and chase tennis balls back and forth just for laughs on the LRI's courts, when no one else wants to play seriously.
Eddie's 18 now, and two years ago we changed rooms so that he could have his own bed, an upgrade from a cot. This year we watched DVD's rather than VHS tapes, but not too much has really changed.
The friendly staff always welcomes us back and we feel like it's our home away from home after all these years. This year in conversation with one of the staff we realized we're coming full circle; we joked about some day Eddie having a room with his own family, and we would be there as the grandparents.
The Inn has "love" in its phone number and at its core, it's always been about family. For us, our love is complete because of family, and we look forward to many more celebrations and sharing our New Year's traditions at the Little River Inn.
— Bernadette and Hutch Gibb