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Srdja Trifkovic, foreign-affairs editor for Chronicles, is the author of several books, including The Sword of the Prophet: Islam—History, Theology, Impact on the World.
Afghan Disinformation
Purging the Bureaucrats
Geostrategic Challenges in 2020
What Remains After the Wall's Fall
Out of Afghanistan
Trump's China Strategy
Trump's Last Chance
The Price of Overstretch
Bibi's Reelection Nixes Peace Plan
Christchurch: The Sharia Enabling Act
The Wall: Moral and Good
The Pope and the Art of Self-Deception
Adieu to the "Adults in the Room"
A Century of Disorder
Brazil's Exceptional President
Trump's Doctrinal Problem
An American Non-Hero
After Helsinki: A Coup in the Making
Erdogan Unleashed
Trump's Iranian Gamble
Syria: A Deep State Victory
Worse Than a Neocon
Fiddling on the Brink
Hawks Win
Neocon Security Strategy
Trump's First Year
Whither Europe?
The Birth of National-Globalism
A Tale of Two Revolutions
Rumors of War
Travel Ban, and Beyond
Wahhabism First
Adieu, France
Confronting Russophobia
A Coup Most Foul
Dealing With China
Depoliticizing Intelligence
Dismantling the Empire
Global Challenges in 2017
Ashton Carter's Flawed Strategy
The Summer of Erdogan's Content
Confronting Jihad
England's Independence Day
Strategic Crossroads
Trump's Global Vision
A Myth Demolished
Avoiding Europe's Mistakes
Turkey's Recklessness
A Halting Dragon
Europe Under Siege
Erdogan's Ambush
Moscow Notebook
Syria: Time for Maturity
Europe's Ongoing Demise
The Iran Deal in Context
Bumpy BRICS Road
An Unhinged World
The Third Muslim Invasion
Israel's House Divided
A Towering Genius, Greatly Missed
A Jihadist Victory
Putin's Uneasy Balancing Act
Rudderless at the Pentagon
Putin's Valdai Speech
Another Unwinnable War
Staying Out of Another War
Strategic Blunders
A Joint Criminal Conspiracy
A Big Deal
The Folly of Overreach
Moscow Rules
Eastern Approaches
In Praise of Geopolitics
A Vanishing Nation
Global Security Challenges in 2014
An Uncertain Asian Pivot
The Middle East: Steady as She Goes
A Failure of Intelligence
A Tale of Two Islamists
Syria: Avoiding Another Quagmire
A Scandalous Presidency
Obama, Relationship Therapist
In Praise of Nuclear Proliferation
Second-Time Charms
Managing the Quagmire
One Crisis Averted
A Giant Maligned
Turkey's Gamble
The Blowback
Grand Strategy Revisited
Worst Secretary of State in History
The Myth of the "Arab Spring"
NATO's Pointless Summit
Rumors of War Receding
The Afghan Quagmire
An American Revolution
Inventing the European Union
An Unjustified War
Avoiding the Iranian Debacle
Scolding China
Russian Reset in Peril
Running On Empty
Arabian Fall
Time for Disengagment
A Speech of No Consequence
Our Interest in Turkey
Arabian Limbo
The Libyan War
Road to Damascus
Egypt's Non-Revolution
The Eurozone: Time for a Divorce
State of the Tepid
The Pathology of U.S. Diplomacy
Catching a Snake
Another New NATO
World of War
Neo—Ottomans Triumphant
Standing Straight
The Path to Modernity
New From Israel
The Soviet Intervention in Afghanistan
On the Quai at Smyrna
Jovan Trboyevic, R.I.P.
Swiss Minarets
A Tale of Two Subversives
Alex Dragnich, R.I.P.
The North Worth Saving
Patriarch Alesky, R.I.P
The Clintons Are Back
A New Grand Strategy
Olmert's Bombshell
Unstable Multipolarity
Caucasian Trap
Witness to the Truth: Through Every Human Heart
Chronicle of an Announced Arrest
The E.U.S.S.R. Marches On
The Dream Ticket
Olmert's Troubles
It's 2028, and All Is Well
Smokers in the Arsenal
Kosovo Crisis Becomes Global
Waiting for the Big One
Bobby Fischer, R.I.P.
So Goes Old Europe
The Empire: Not So Great in '08
A New Balance of Power
The Death of Genocide
Staying the Course
A Divided Subcontinent
The President's Painted Corner
Waiting for Greatness
Conservative Russia, Imperial America
Balkan Blowback
Wolfowitz in Love
"A Pure American Type of a Rather Rare Species"
A Mainstream Conservative
Sharia Comes to Germany
A Tale of Two Cabals
Kosovo Gets Interesting
Exiting Iraq: The Least Undesirable End
Domestic Distraction
The Grass Is Not Greener
The Shiite Gallows
Iraq: The Least Bad Scenario
Rummy Reduced
Eurabian Nights: A Horror Travelogue
Terror on the Underground
To Lose a War
Oriana Fallaci, R.I.P.
A Turbulent Layman
Sir Alfred Sherman, R.I.P.
An Undesirable Independence
The Destruction of Lebanon
Decline Without Fall
A Serious Third Party?
Israeli-Arab Conflict
One Hell for All
Violence in Iraq
Neglected New Martyrs
A Balkan Tragedy
Hell in Panonia
Muslim Rage and American Folly
Victim of Jiihadism
Profiling and Spying: A Necessary Evil
Peace in the Holy Land, Elusive as Ever
A Confusing Message
History Is Contemporary
Trouble With Iran
Sunni Arab Prisoners Freed
Jihad's Enablers
Afghanistan's Democratic Process
An Unsteady Empire
"Global Initiative"
Intrigue in the Balkans
European Disunion
Getting China Straight
Iraq: The Way Out
Aid and Comfort to the Enemy, Part II
The Real Issue With the Newsweek Koran Fib
Rejecting Proposals
Getting Europe Straight
Aid and Comfort to the Enemy
The Impact of Islam on the Arab-Israeli Dispute
A Morbid Quest
Global Anarcho-Tyranny
Territorial Compromise
A Glimmer of Hope in the Holy Land
Rumsfeld Stays
European Bushophobia
Obstacle to Fresh Vision
The Jihadist Fifth Column: The Cure
After Beslan: Change Course on Russia
Redeployment of U.S. Forces Overseas: Long Overdue, Too Slow
Former World Chess Champion
The Perils of "United Europe"
Consequences of E.U. Enlargement
"No Credible Evidence"
CAIR and the ADL: Partnership for Hate
Failing America
Violence in Iraq
The Assassination of Yassin
Europe and America
Elephant Amok
The Victory of Fear in Spain
Pakistan's Nuclear Proliferation
The Balkan Terror Threat
George Soros, Postmodern Villain
The Battle for Bush's Ear and Soul
Mr. Bush and Democracy in the Middle East
Lord Ashdown's Balkan Fiefdom
Out of Korea
The Iraq Quagmire
Reforming the Military
Out of Africa
Exiting Iraq
Where Are Our Principles?
Fragile Empire
A Surprising Unsureness of Touch
A Road Map to Nowhere?
Iraq's Collapse
Turkish Delights
Yugoslavia, R.I.P.
Privatization in Serbia
Same Old Song and Dance
Europe Skeptical About NATO Enlargement
The Justification for War
Pakistan, Our Untrustworthy Partner
Middle East Resources
Another World
Turkey Goes Islamic
Francophile Pursuits
The Hollow Empire
Baghdad or Pyongyang?
An Invalid Election
Serbia's Presidential Election
Winning Another Term
The Coming War in Iraq: Dangerous and Unnecessary
Another Bailout
A "Communist" Education Remembered
Corporate America in Crisis
Bush's Middle East Policy: Mendacity, Folly, or Both?
Foiling a Terrorist Plot
Transatlantic Rifts
In Memoriam: Gen. Alexander Lebed, 1950-2002
Tapping into Concerns
Milosevic on Trial
State of the Union: An Empire, Not a Republic
We Are the World
Time for Arafat to Go
Afghanistan and Oil
Osama bin Laden: The Balkan Connection
The Coming Ordeal
Memorandum to President George W. Bush
A State Visit
NATO Expansion: Harmful and Dangerous
National Missile Defense
Averting War With China
Robert Hanssen and the New Meaning of Treason
Roman Spies and Spies in Rome
Sharon's Victory and U.S. Policy in the Middle East
Talks in Belgrade
Will President Bush Resist the Global Interventionists?
Athenian Hegemony and Its Lessons for America
Marx, Albright, Blair & Gates
A Balkans Policy for the New Administration
Let the Counterrevolution Begin
Serbia Degraded
The Serbs and the West
Taking to the Streets
National Missile-Defense Deployment Postponed
Millennial Summit
Mexico Under New Management: Wish Them Well, and Build That Fence
A Genuine Centrist
The International Criminal Court: Clinton's Frankenstein's Monster
Political Parties in Serbia
FDR and Mussolini
Peking, the White House, and Wall Street Versus Main Street
A Consummate Politician
Gore's Foreign Policy: More of the Same, Only Worse
Zimbabwe in Turmoil
The Taiwanese Election: Implications for U.S. Security
Inheriting a Mess
Post-Human America
Looming Large
We Are Right on Foreign Affairs Because We Are Right on Everything
Defending the West . . . Against Itself
Clinton's Acquittal
Split-Run Issues
Multiculturalism and Islam
America's Eroding Influence in Europe
A Latter-Day Munich
Dayton Discord
Well Supplied
Albanian Separatists
A Democratic Politician
Christmas Visit to Bosnia
A Traditionalists' Alliance
Diana's Image
The Albright-Soros Attack on the Nation-State
Three New Members
Slobodan Miloševic, Our S.O.B.
Hobbesian State of Anarchy
A Lurid Melodrama
Why Milosevic Must Go
The Fixer
The Hague Tribunal: Bad Justice, Worse Politics
A Dirty Little Secret


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Puzzle Levels
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Sistine Chapel
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|Put together the jigsaw puzzle.
|1001 - 5000 Pieces
|Approx. 153 cm x 101 cm / 60 in x 40 in
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Since 1891 Ravensburger has been making the finest puzzles and it's the attention to detail which makes Ravensburger the world's greatest puzzle brand! It uses an exclusively developed, extra-thick cardboard and combine this with our fine, linen-structured paper to create a glare-free puzzle image. The cutting tools are designed and crafted by hand. This ensures that no two pieces are alike and guarantees a perfect interlocking fit. Experience the quality!
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How to Use the Images
Illustration 1: Frederick Douglass Running Away.
This is a drawing on a song sheet of Frederick Douglass running away. Jesse Hutchinson, who is mentioned on the song sheet, was an abolitionist songster who traveled widely to promote antislavery ideas. The term "peculiar institution" refers to slavery in the American South.The words on the song sheet may be difficult to make out, but try to read as much as you can before referring to the transcription.
Questions for Illustration 1
1) In what ways does this drawing reflect escape attempts made by Douglass and other enslaved African Americans?
2) If you were newly freed, how would you feel about being featured in a song? Would you be proud or scared?
3) What do you think about the phrase "A Graduate from the Peculiar Institution"? Do you think this is the best way to describe Douglass's and other freedom seekers' experiences? Why or why not?


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Patrick Bouchitey doesn't have any movies playing in theaters.
If you feel like heading out, check out other movies in theaters.
Beaumarchais L'Insolent
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2013 Forest River WildWood Grand Lodge 408FLFB 40' Travel Trailer
2013 Forest River Wildwood Grand Lodge 408FLFB 40' Travel Trailer. 2 Slide Outs, Patio Awning, Sleeps 4, Dual Roof A/C Units, Leveling Jacks.
Step into this Wildwood Grand Lodge travel trailer by Forest River featuring dual for more interior space. It's a virtual "home-away from-home" on wheels, fully loaded and equipped for short trips or lengthy vacations.
As you move into the main living area of this unit you will see a spacious retreat filled with everything you need while traveling away from home. The slide outs feature plenty of additional space for dining and just hanging out.
The kitchen features a refrigerator, four burner range with overhead cabinetry, microwave, a double sink for easy cleanup, and table with chairs.
Additional Features Include:
Electric Fireplace
Washer & Dryer
Surround Sound
Cable & Satellite Ready
Full Size Stand-up Shower
Electric Water Heater
King Size Bed
(2) 30 Gallon Propane Tanks
Know What You Are Buying! Protect Yourself With A Pre-Purchase Inspection. Please keep in mind that the goal of an RV inspection is not just to inspect the equipment, but also to educate the potential buyer about its condition. This takes place through a hands on inspection accomplished by one of our NRVIA Certified RV Inspectors. Inspectors trained and certified by the National RV Inspectors Association RV Inspectors are located all across the USA and can travel to the location of the RV.
Recreational Vehicle Financing Request Get a quote on standard finance, lease & balloon programs Any – Make – Model – Miles 2000 & Newer Terms up to 180 months Rates as low as 6.25% fixed 24 hour turnaround Any State We handle all DMV work Certified Check for Title or Wiring Instructions First time buyer welcome i.e. Home Owner Self Employed OK 680 or better score required Funding within 48 hours .
Recreational vehicles require specialized RV insurance. Do not make the mistake of adding your RV to an existing auto policy! Our RV insurance offers the specific coverage you need with additional options to personalize your policy, whether you want to make cross-country road trips or live in your RV on a long-term basis.


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Nieves thriving in part-time role
PHOENIX -- Wil Nieves knew when he signed with the D-backs that he would not get a lot of playing time as a backup to catcher Miguel Montero.
That might have been difficult for Nieves to accept a couple of years ago, but now with some experience, he's learned to embrace the role and have success in it.
"The older I get, I've learned not to put pressure on myself," Nieves said. "When I was younger, I was trying to prove to everybody that I could be an everyday catcher. So when I would get a chance to play, I would try to make stuff happen and try and go 4-for-4 and by the end of the day I would be 0-for-4. I was just hurting myself."
Nieves has played well in a part-time role this year. Coming into Mondays' first game of a doubleheader against the Rangers, he was hitting .333 in 30 at-bats.
"Now I know what my role is," Nieves said. "I know I'm a backup. I know I can play every day if something happens, but I know right now my job is just to be ready whenever they need me. I'm just having fun out there. I've always been a good hitter when I played every day, so now I've learned how to be a good hitter playing once a week or once every two weeks."


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sponsored by
CHRIS COYNE, agent - State Farm Insurance
Public meeting
Jan. 29 to discuss downtown revitalization and redevelopment
Send a link to a friend
[January 14, 2013]
There will be a public
informational meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 29, from 5 to 6:30 p.m., in the
Pegram Room of the Lincoln Public Library. The meeting will be an open house
format, with a short presentation to be given at 5:30 p.m.
All residents are encouraged to attend
this public informational meeting.
The planning team is also in the
process of developing a Downtown Revitalization Plan which makes
recommendations on specific physical improvements to downtown
Lincoln, including streetscape improvements, a conceptual plan for
the public parks and courthouse square, parking and traffic plans,
historical façade improvements, and a historical preservation plan.
Information about the Downtown
Revitalization Plan will presented at a second public informational
meeting at a later date. An announcement regarding the second
informational meeting will be provided in the local news media and
on the project website:
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BANGKOK (AP) — Oil prices were nearly flat Wednesday as a recent rally cooled off ahead of the release of more U.S. economic indicators and the conclusion of a meeting of Federal Reserve policymakers.
Benchmark oil for March delivery was down 1 cent to $97.56 a barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.13, or 1.2 percent, to close at $97.57 on Tuesday after being pushed higher by a report about rising U.S. home prices. Energy prices can rise when investors feel good about the economy, since it's needed to power manufacturing and other economic activity.
But traders became slightly more cautious ahead of the release of other U.S. economic indicators, including economic growth on Wednesday and weekly jobless claims Thursday. In addition, the Federal Reserve will conclude a two-day meeting later Wednesday with the release of a statement that investors will study for clues about the outlook for the economy and interest rates.
Recent rises in oil prices have been the result of an improving global economy, and positive manufacturing reports from the U.S. and China. But significant gains could be capped by demand constraints and ample supply, analysts said. "The fundamentals are also likely to deteriorate again later in the year," said analysts at Capital Economics in a report. "Over the longer term, booming energy supply from both conventional and new sources will also add to the downward pressure on prices." Brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, rose 1 cents to $114.37 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
In other energy futures trading on Nymex:
- Wholesale gasoline fell 1 cent to $2.966 per gallon.
- Natural gas rose 3.4 cents to $3.292 per 1,000 cubic feet.
- Heating oil rose 0.6 cent to $3.104 a gallon.


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Austin Water's Dowser Dan School Assembly Program has been bringing the message of water conservation to elementary school students in the community for more than 20 years.
With bright costumes, engaging music, and amusing characters, this free 45-minute educational assembly engages K-4th graders on the importance of conserving and protecting our water resources.
Over half a million students have learned valuable lessons about water from Dowser Dan since 1991.
Austin Water is owned and operated by the City of Austin.


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Copyright © 2020 Prattville Kindergarten School


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Wed, 27 Mar 2019
from 7:00pm to 8:00pm
by Michael Watson
Posted: about 1 year ago
Updated: 11 months ago by Michael Watson
Visible to: public
Time zone: Melbourne
Reminder: None
Ends: 08:00pm (duration is about 1 hour)
Calwell high school gym, Australia


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The Good Lord announced last call for prohibitionist Neal Dow well over a century ago, but as the following two stories show, the spirit of the tireless teetotaler lives on in the city that once made him its mayor.
In 2007, the Portland City Council imposed zoning restrictions in the Old Port and downtown that significantly limit the number of places where people can drink while enjoying live entertainment. A venue cannot have a liquor license and an entertainment license if another place located within 100 feet already has those licenses. The Old Port nightclubs that cater to the boneheads who've caused most of the problems were exempted from the ordinance (until, in some cases, their ownership changed), but scores of other prime restaurant and bar spaces effectively became fun-free zones due to the so-called "dispersal" ordinance.
The absurdity of this law made news in 2010, when the proprietors of the Café at Wharf Street & Wine Bar were informed they could no longer host monthly performances by Naked Shakespeare — a group of actors who gave dramatic readings of Shakespearean sonnets and plays (sans costumes, but otherwise fully clothed) — because the dance club next door had liquor and entertainment licenses. In response to the controversy, councilors amended the ordinance to allow acoustic and other non-amplified entertainment, but narrowly voted to keep the dispersal law on the books.
Enter Buck's Naked BBQ (which also requires a shirt for service). Buck's opened its third restaurant last year at the corner of Wharf and Union streets. When the dispersal law was passed seven years ago, this location was occupied by The Iguana (a bar that specialized in Jello shots and knuckle sandwiches) and Cake, a purportedly "upscale" restaurant and dance club that was basically a dance club with dessert. Both establishments (and a few others nearby on Fore Street) were owned by Tom Manning, a notorious figure whose mini nightlife empire crumbled not long after he was arrested for drunkenly throwing punches at police on the cobblestones outside his clubs.
Michael Boland and Deirdre Swords, the couple who own the Bar Harbor restaurant Havana, spent over half a million dollars to refurbish the Iguana/Cake space and open Havana South — a genuinely classy, Latin-flavored restaurant — in this location in 2010. The high cost of operating a restaurant with that much square footage, not to mention the high level of competition for diners in Portland, led to the closure of Havana South at the end of 2011.
Facing similar challenges, the couple that owns Buck's, Wendy and Alex Caisse, want to lure more customers through the door with live music, like the blues played at their Juke Joint in Freeport on weekend nights. But though Buck's is nothing like The Iguana — real food, responsible management, no test-tube shots — the dispersal ordinance prohibits musicians from even plugging into an amp on the premises.
The Old Port seems much safer than it did last decade, and crime statistics compiled by the Portland Police Department indicate that it is. But the more things change, the more the local authorities' Prohibitionist attitude remains the same.
Last fall, Portland Police Chief Mike Sauschuck sent a letter to the state Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages urging it to reject the applications of five stores in the city that were seeking licenses to sell hard alcohol. The department included an analysis of crime data within a one-mile radius of the Hannaford supermarket by Back Cove, a state-licensed agency liquor store — an area that includes most of the Old Port and downtown.
The chief's position is simple: more booze equals more crime. But his analyst's attempt to link an assault on Congress or Commercial Street to the availability of liquor on the shelves of a supermarket many blocks away failed to impress the state bureaucrats. Although the bureau only granted one applicant a license (Maine Beer & Beverage Co., in the Public Market House in Monument Square), they wrote in their Dec. 27 decision that the cops' logic was "not entirely clear." For one thing, their report made no distinction between on-premise sellers of alcohol (restaurants and bars) and off-premise (retail) sellers. For another, the same report "clearly showed a 5% to 6% decrease in [criminal activity] reports from 2010 to 2012" — a trend that continued last year.
In a phone interview this week, Chief Sauschuck defended his department's analysis and its conclusion. "Substance abuse causes crime — period," he said. The chief also reiterated his support of the dispersal law, contending that the limits it places on the performing arts have actually helped revitalize the Arts District.
Mayor Dow would be proud.


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WARNING: Wall o' Text!
Alexander, Crown Prince of the Empire, sat on his warhorse, looking out from his vantage point high in a mountain pass over the kingdom he had once seen as an immovable rock of stability. His army streamed past, totaling some 50,000 militia spears and 6,000 heavy cavalry, returning from campaign in the far North; a campaign that had ended prematurely due to the breathless report of a haggard courier.
The king, his father, was dead: murdered, so it seemed, by his younger brother John.
"I never thought you wanted the throne so much, brother," he thought. "I never thought you would do this."
Alexander took up the reigns of his horse and galloped down the slope, his personal cavalry guard following, purple banner emblazoned with the royal Lion Rampant snapping in the wind.
The room resounded with three knocks. Prince John looked up as the guards opened the massive doors and Duke Ferdinand stepped through. As John started to rise, the duke began without preamble:
"My lord, I bring terrible news."
"Surely it—"
"Your father has been assassinated." John simply collapsed back into his chair. "The killer was caught, and…interrogated. He confessed. Alexander sent him."
"WHAT?!?" Normally John was the most soft-spoken of the Royal Family, but when his ire was raised, he could be truly fearsome.
"It seems he thought he could use the army to crush any challengers and claim the throne."
"I refuse to believe that."
The duke approached. "My lord, you must take action. Tell the people before your brother can sway them. Raise the levies to meet his army. Declare him a traitor and take the crown yourself."
John opened and closed his mouth several times, but no words would come forth. Finally, he said, "Very well. Do it."
Ferdinand bowed and left swiftly. As soon as he was sure the doors were firmly shut, John let his head fall to the desk and wept openly.
"I just don't understand it! It's not like my brother!" Alexander stalked his command tent, and his generals shrank back from his rage. Holding the edict and staring at his own portrait, his anger built until he crumpled the parchment and hurled it across the tent. "John would never declare me a traitor, much less kill our father. It's not like him!" Alexander repeated.
"Your highness, please, calm down." It was his trusted second, Baron Edward. "Whether or not it was your brother, clearly someone has an eye on the throne. They've accused you of attempting to use the army to seize the crown; perhaps you should. I know for a fact it was not you, but whoever it is, they mean this Empire ill, and they may use Prince John as a puppet ruler."
"I will not fight my brother."
"You may have to."
The army had advanced through a remarkably normal countryside until their movement had met that of the Royal couriers. The people grew skittish; after all, the man who had their monarch murdered was marching by with an army at his back.
A scout stumbled into the command tent. His boots were caked with mud kicked up by his horse's flailing hooves. The poor beast must have been ridden to the edge of its life. He saluted. "Your highness, I have seen troops marshalling, both spearmen and knights. It seems Duke Ferdinand leads it."
A puzzled look crossed Alexander's face. "Who called them?"
"Prince John, sir. Only, he's calling himself king now."
Alexander waved the man out, and then closed his eyes. Without opening them, he spoke to his generals. "Ready your men to march. It seems we will have to fight after all."
John and Ferdinand sat side-by-side on stunning warhorses. Thousands of troops stood deployed before them.
"How many?" John asked.
"About 30,000 spearmen. Almost 10,000 knights, though. Apparently they turn out better for an internal, political threat than an external one."
"40,000. It will have to be enough." John turned his horse and rode away.
The armies met just west of the crossroads of Swynwall. John had chosen this ground to maximize the advantages he held. The Greenspring River, slow and meandering, turned the ground soft. His left rested here, trusting to the muck to negate Alexander's greater heavy infantry line. Farther east, where the ground became firmer, John's massive cavalry force waited for battle. The road swung by the river and through the battleline, and fog would conceal the army until it was too late. Here John would fight his enemy—his brother.
Alexander swore as the nervous-looking courier waited. "Are you certain?" he asked.
"Yes, my lord. Some of the vanguard have already engaged John's army."
The Crown Prince shook his head. "Tell my generals. Deploy for battle, my knights on the left." Both rode away in opposite directions.
As the fog lifted, two armies were revealed, facing off against one another. Alexander sat at the head of 6,000 heavy horse, looking out over a much greater enemy cavalry force. He prayed, "May God forgive me for what I am about to do," then turned to the trumpeter who followed him like a puppy. "Sound the advance."
John sat on a horse opposite his opponent. "Please brother," he thought. "Don't do this." A trumpet sounded from the enemy line, and the mass of men and metal began to grind forward. King John, ruler of the Empire, rode forward at the head of the largest cavalry force his kingdom had ever seen. There were tears in his eyes.
The mud did what it was supposed to. Alexander's spearmen were worn out and disrupted, and therefore did not shatter John's outnumbered infantry as they would have on better ground. Still, these men were veterans who had ground through the crucible of combat before, facing untried militia. The cavalry advanced simultaneously. John's line vastly overlapped Alexander's, but Alexander's seasoned warriors pushed their way through in compact masses, wheeling back into confused enemy formations.
The slaughter soon began in earnest.
A great roar rose from the infantry battle as men physically shoved one another back, spears lashing out, seeking and finding flesh to tear. The eastern end of the battlefield was a mill of horses and men, some living, some dead, and some in between. John began to wheel the units furthest to the right back inward, seeking to envelop his enemy, but a squadron of Alexander's cavalry smashed into their flank, throwing the entire line into disarray. John blindly hacked with his saber, swinging his shield more in reflex than any effective attempt at self-preservation. Soon he had lost track of everything; the battle became a whirl of color and shouts and faces and screams of men and horses. One thing was clear, however: his horsemen, despite their superior numbers, were losing, succumbing to the greater experience of the enemy horse.
He located his standard-bearer, who had somehow managed to stay near his king. "Sound the withdrawal, my own squadron only," John shouted over the din of battle.
As the notes rang out, John extricated himself from the fighting. His standard followed, waving as a rallying point for his own knights. From this point behind the lines, he could clearly see the bulges being forced into his infantry line, the sheer chaos of his cavalry. The army was wavering; soon it would dissolve entirely.
More answered the call than he expected. Those of John's squadron who were dead, unable to hear the order, or unable to withdraw from battle accounted for only about forty of his original hundred. John watched as the men quickly reformed their ranks, slotting into line without having to be ordered to do so. John scanned the waving swords and spears and banners, searching for…
He found it: the unmistakable silver-on-purple lion of the Crown Prince. His brother was there. Pointing at it, he commanded his trumpeter to sound the charge, and rode directly toward that standard, sixty of the best horsemen in the Empire at his back.
The charge gained impetus as it advanced, more of John's cavalry joining it as they realized that here a concentrated effort was being mounted, not a small, isolated, desperate melee. Alexander's knights reeled from its ferocity. Once again, John plunged into that surreal whirlwind. He barely registered the distance covered by his mount's long strides. Once again, his sword licked out almost of its own accord, rending flesh.
They were amongst Alexander's personal cavalry. John stabbed one man in the face, seeking his brother. Soon, he sighted the richly decorated but functional armor the Crown Prince wore. Even as he watched, a knight struck Alexander through the shoulder with a lance. John's brother slid from his saddle.
John dismounted and walked to the man he had grown up with. As Alexander struggled to his feet, John whispered "I'm sorry" and buried his sword into his brother, up to the hilt.
As blood bubbled from Alexander's lips, he gasped out, "Why? Why did you kill our father?"
"I—I thought you did," was John's stunned reply.
He never heard, over the clash of weapons and thunder of hooves, the man approaching from behind. He never felt the spear that contemptuously brushed through his armor and pierced his heart. He never saw Duke Ferdinand turn over his body with a toe, making sure both princes were dead.
As Ferdinand lifted the crown from John's bloodied brow, the word of Alexander's death was already spreading like wildfire, his army melting away, leaving a trail of cast-off weapons and shields. John's army, too exhausted to pursue, simply collapsed on the spot. Everything had gone according to plan.
Walking away from the carnage and twirling the crown in his hand, the Duke was already planning how he would spin John's glorious, yet tragic, death in bitter combat with his traitorous brother. He spoke to himself. "King Ferdinand. Has a nice ring, doesn't it?"
The King is Dead (Short Story)
BrikWars fiction in long-prose form. Trigger warning: Walls of text
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- IX_Legion
- Minifig
- Posts: 216
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- Location: Conquering some random country
The King is Dead (Short Story)
This should be in the Rulebook somewhere:
"Any problem on earth can be solved with the careful application of high explosives"
-Valkyrie (the movie)
"Any problem on earth can be solved with the careful application of high explosives"
-Valkyrie (the movie)
Re: The King is Dead (Short Story)
This is good!
Tzan wrote:That's what Hitler said,Semaj Nagirrac wrote:Well, I took some land without checking if it was owned by a faction or not. I'm not going to be banned, am I? I can destroy everything if need be.
in 1938.
- Silverdream
- Nice use of noise
- Posts: 6084
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- Location: Sweating like a guy in a basketball manga
Re: The King is Dead (Short Story)
Very good writing.
- IX_Legion
- Minifig
- Posts: 216
- Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2011 4:30 pm
- Location: Conquering some random country
Re: The King is Dead (Short Story)
This should be in the Rulebook somewhere:
"Any problem on earth can be solved with the careful application of high explosives"
-Valkyrie (the movie)
"Any problem on earth can be solved with the careful application of high explosives"
-Valkyrie (the movie)
Re: The King is Dead (Short Story)
Yep, it is good. You sound like you know what you're talking about in the military tacticy parts. Sounding like one knows what one is talking about is a very important writer skill.
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text: I don't know what the heck is going on. Les claypool is hanging out with beck, phish is now with nine inch nails, and nin has lost albums! Obviously all the files still remain. But... What the heck is going on here! Media player isn't sorting right or something I dunno .. Tried rebooting, batt pulls lalala. Things still come out screwey I don't believe its a v8 problem as I've noticed it before..


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Peter Diamandis has a perspective that's too expansive for a single planet. He built his first companies—12 of them—as social and technological thrusters designed to clear the way for human space colonies. Later, as founder of the X Prize Foundation and cofounder of Singularity University, he splashed down to focus on the most pressing problems here on Earth.
A child of the Apollo era, Diamandis grew up expecting the US government to colonize outer space. But decades of NASA timidity eventually convinced him that the only way to get off the planet was to build a private space industry. His breakthrough idea was to resurrect a brilliant notion from the early 20th century: Offer substantial cash prizes for achieving milestones of flight. Civilian aerospace would grow contest by contest, innovation by innovation.
It worked. The $10 million Ansari X Prize resulted in the first repeatable private flight to the edge of space and became the first in a slew of aerospace competitions. Diamandis then applied the same method to other issues like fuel efficiency, oil spill remediation, and health care costs. The upshot was a series of breakthroughs and a mini-boom in innovation-spurring competitions.
He soon realized that the same forces that enabled a small team of amateurs to make a lunar lander could empower cadres of bright, idealistic people to solve earthly problems. To that end, he founded Singularity University. Now in its fourth year, the 10-week summer school trains next-generation leaders in using fast-evolving technologies to address what he calls "humanity's grand challenges."
Oh, and then there's his most recent undertaking: A company unveiled in April that's devoted to mining platinum, water, and other extractables from asteroids that careen past Earth. The startup, Planetary Resources, has serious financing from Google's Larry Page and Eric Schmidt as well as Ross Perot and former Microsoft software chief Charles Simonyi.
The technologies that power such ambitious dreams, as Diamandis writes in his book (coauthored with Steven Kotler) Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think, are propelling us not only to the stars but, he fervently insists, toward an era of unprecedented prosperity.
Ted Greenwald: Have you always wanted to change the world?
Peter Diamandis: No. My first ambition was to get off the world. My childhood dreams were focused on being part of the effort to make humanity a multiplanetary species. I believe we have a moral obligation to back up the biosphere, take it off-planet, and give ourselves the safety of ubiquity. Ultimately it's what we do. We have the exploration gene.
Greenwald: What sparked your interest in space travel?
Diamandis: As a child, it was the Apollo program and the original Star Trek series on TV. A key memory: When I was 8 years old, I sat my parents down and gave them a lecture on the Apollo program. My dad gave me $5—the first money I ever earned in aerospace.
Greenwald: How did you end up studying medicine?
Diamandis: My father, who grew up picking olives on the Greek island of Lesbos, was a doctor. So my family expected me to become a physician. But I divided my life between premed and space cadet. In 1980, during my sophomore year at MIT, I realized that the school didn't have a student space organization. I made posters for a group I called Students for the Exploration and Development of Space and put them up all over campus. Thirty-five people showed up. It was the first thing I ever organized, and it took off! We had chapters at Princeton and Yale. Thirty years later, there are dozens of chapters around the world.
Greenwald: You didn't just want to be a student of space, or even a teacher—you wanted to run the school.
Diamandis: I wanted to find like-minded people, and one way to do that was to create a university dedicated to the study of space. So while I was on leave from Harvard Medical School to do graduate work at MIT, I founded International Space University with two colleagues. In 1988 we held our first summer program at MIT for 104 graduate students from 21 countries. Today ISU is 25 years old, and we have 3,300 graduates and a beautiful $30 million campus in Strasbourg, France.
Greenwald: When did you shift to for-profit ventures?
Diamandis: I founded a launch company called International Microspace when I graduated medical school in 1989. We were trying to build a microsatellite launcher. We won a $100 million contract from the Defense Department, but we couldn't finance the contract sufficiently. We ended up selling the company.
Greenwald: When did you give up on the government's ability to open the space frontier?
Diamandis: I can pinpoint the moment. The 500th anniversary of Columbus was in 1992. The first Bush administration was supposed to start a massive effort to go back to the Moon and on to Mars. It fizzled. That's when I got it: This was never going to happen. Any time a new Congress came in, it would cut NASA's budget. Commercial industry was the only way to generate long-term funding for bold, risky projects. I thought, how can I create the economic engine that will open space regardless of the government's ups and downs? That's when I cofounded Zero Gravity, which let customers experience weightlessness on parabolic airplane flights.
Greenwald: How does experiencing weightlessness drive space exploration?
Diamandis: Two forces have opened most frontiers: tourism and resources. People go for the experience or for the gold, spices, and tobacco. I had tried to get on NASA's zero-g plane and couldn't. I thought there must be a market for this, so in May 1993 I partnered with NASA engineer Ray Cronise and Byron Lichtenberg, a friend who had flown two Space Shuttle missions, and we raised $500,000. We walked into Federal Aviation Administration's office and pitched the idea. They said the regulations wouldn't allow an airplane to do parabolic flight and with passengers whose seat belts were unstrapped. I said that's bullshit. I proceeded on an 11-year effort to get permission from the Federal Aviation Administration. We finally became operational in October 2004, and today we've flown 300 flights for 12,000 customers, most famously Stephen Hawking.
Countdown to Blastoff
Peter Diamandis has been pushing for the exploration of space since he was a college kid. Here's a timeline of his achievements.—Bess Kalb
As a sophomore at MIT, forms Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, which now has dozens of chapters.
While working toward a graduate degree at MIT, founds International Space University, a summer program held on MIT's campus for space-exploration-minded grad students. Today ISU has its own $30 million campus and more than 3,300 graduates.
Envisions a for-profit company, later named Zero Gravity, that would let customers experience moments of weightlessness on parabolic flights. Because of objections by the FAA, the first flight doesn't occur until 2004.
Announces the X Prize, a $10 million challenge to build a craft that can carry three people to an altitude of 100 kilometers twice within two weeks.
Space Adventures, a company he cofounded in 1998, arranges for millionaire Dennis Tito's flight to the International Space Station. "Space tourism" is born.
Awards the first X Prize to Scaled Composites for SpaceShipOne, which beat out 25 other projects.
With Google cofounder Larry Page, expands the X Prize Foundation beyond spaceflight competition to spur work on other global issues like clean energy, education, and health care.
Takes the X Prize ethos to academia and cofounds Singularity University, an intensive 10-week program in which students and faculty study emerging technologies to address "humanity's grand challenges."
Backed by an eccentric squadron of visionaries—Larry Page, James Cameron, and Ross Perot among them—founds Planetary Resources, an asteroid mining company that aims to build low- cost spacecraft to harvest fuel and
Click the arrows to move through the timeline.
Greenwald: You unstrapped Stephen Hawking's seat belt in zero gravity?
Diamandis: He told me, "One of my dreams is to fly into space." I said I couldn't fly him into space, but I could fly him into zero gravity. On the spot he said yes. The next day I put out a press release announcing our intention to fly Stephen Hawking. I got two calls that day. One was from our aircraft partner, who said, "Are you crazy? We're going to kill the guy!" The other was from the FAA saying, "You're only licensed to fly able-bodied people." I was like, fuck that. We're going to give this world-famous expert in gravity the opportunity to experience zero gravity! It took six months to line up the approvals.
Greenwald: How did you do that?
Diamandis: I got four physicians to write a letter to the FAA saying they considered Stephen Hawking able-bodied. I purchased a large medical malpractice insurance policy. We set up a fully staffed emergency room on the airplane, and we ran a comprehensive test the day before the flight. I also sold 30 seats in the back for people to watch; that raised nearly $150,000 for the X Prize Foundation and several disability-related charities.
"Stephen Hawking got to experience zero gravity. he had this shit-eating grin on his face."
We took off. All the doctors and nurses were there, and all the people were watching from the back. Stephen did fantastic! We did a second, a third parabola—the doctors said he was doing great—we did a fourth, fifth, sixth. After that, one of his attendants said, "He wants you to flip him around." So on the seventh and eighth parabolas, we spun him around! The photos from that flight are amazing. Hawking is only able to control a few muscles in his body, and he's got this shit-eating grin on his face.
Greenwald: Where did the idea of incentive prizes come from?
Diamandis: It came from Charles Lindbergh's memoir, The Spirit of St. Louis. In 1919 a hotel owner named Raymond Orteig put up a $25,000 prize for the first nonstop flight between New York and Paris. Nine teams spent $400,000 to try to win. Lindbergh had the least experience. He was called the flying fool. But he won, and within three years there was a 30-fold increase in passenger air traffic. Aviation didn't get easier, but his flight changed people's belief in what was possible. I thought, this is how I'm going to get my butt into space! How many things don't happen because people don't believe they can? Getting the public to change its beliefs is the underpinning of an X Prize: demonstration leading to paradigm change.
Greenwald: How did you settle on suborbital flight as the benchmark for the first X Prize?
Diamandis: When I read Lindbergh's book in December 1994, the cost of going into space had not changed in 30 years. There was no commercial incentive to reduce it. By the time I finished the book, I had written in the margins "X prize"—X was the person who would give the money—and "suborbital flight." I pitched the idea to a few people who thought I was crazy, which was great encouragement. It took five more years to find the Ansari family, who funded the purse. We named it the Ansari X Prize in their honor, and the X stuck around. Scaled Composites won it with SpaceShipOne in October 2004.
Greenwald: It sounds like being told no only energizes you.
Diamandis: I have the general philosophy of creating the future you want to see. Years ago I first saw a poster of Murphy's law: If anything can go wrong, it will. That's ridiculous. So I wrote a set of alternatives. I call them Peter's laws: If anything can go wrong, fix it. "No" means begin again one level higher. Do it by the book, but be the author.
Greenwald: When did you realize that the X Prize could be a series of challenges that address a variety of other problems?
Diamandis: I saw that it was an incredibly powerful engine for innovation. The $10 million Ansari X Prize drove $100 million in investment by the competitors. It resulted in 26 designs from seven companies. SpaceShipOne was inducted into the Smithsonian, and it's hanging in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, right above Apollo 11, right next to Spirit of St. Louis.
At that point, we had to decide: Do we declare success and shut down because we're out of money, or do we turn what we've learned into a platform for creating more breakthroughs? I was invited to speak at Google, and afterward a guy in a backpack and T-shirt walked up and said, "I'm Larry Page. Let's have lunch." He funded the foundation to look at other areas, and the scope of the X Prize was broadened to address more of humanity's grand challenges in exploration, including space and oceans, life sciences, education, global development, energy, and the environment.
Greenwald: What contests do you now have in development?
Diamandis: Perhaps the most audacious and important one is the Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize. It's a $10 million challenge aimed at developing version 0.9 of the Star Trek tricorder, the medical device that allowed Dr. McCoy to assess someone's health status. By 2020 the US will be short 91,000 doctors. There's no way we can educate enough doctors to make up that shortfall, and other countries are far worse off. You'll talk to this device, cough on it or do a skin prick, and it'll diagnose 15 disease states more accurately than a board-certified doctor.
Greenwald: What is the X Prize doing in energy and the environment?
Diamandis: The Tri-State Carbon Capture X Prize is 50 percent funded. Sequestering carbon from a coal plant's smokestack currently takes up to 30 percent of the plant's energy. An energy company called Tri-State has put up not only half of the money but one of its plants as a test bed. Teams will tap the facility's effluent at full pressure, temperature, and CO2 concentration. The team that captures the most CO2 and turns it into the most valuable product takes the prize.
Greenwald: Do you ever know ahead of time who's going to win?
Diamandis: No idea. When the BP oil spill was going on and on, James Cameron, who's on our board of trustees, said, "We need to do something about the spill." We looked at the opportunities and saw that the cleanup technology hadn't changed since the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. So we established the $1.4 million Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X Challenge with a minimum goal of doubling the rate of cleanup. Out of more than 350 entrants, seven teams doubled the cleanup rate. The winner quadrupled it. The fascinating thing is that one team that doubled the rate was a bunch of guys who met in a Las Vegas tattoo parlor. They were upset about the spill and wanted to do something about it. They came in with a fresh point of view and were able to change the game.
Greenwald: What's the key to creating a contest that works?
Diamandis: It's critical to have a clear goal and measurements along the way. In Lindbergh's case, the goal was getting from New York to Paris, and the metrics were the number of stops in between. And constraints are critical. If you give people unlimited time and money, they'll do things the same old way. But if they have to achieve the goal in a brief time, they'll either give up or try something new. And the requirements must be audacious but achievable. If they're too audacious, you won't get a benefit because no one will do anything. If they're too achievable, you won't get a breakthrough. Finding that balance is the art of designing a prize.
Greenwald: You cofounded Singularity University to train people to think about the exponential pace of technological change. But it has become a magnet for entrepreneurs.
Diamandis: I tell people it's two sides of the same coin. X Prize sets the targets and gives the inspiration, and Singularity University students are the activators, the instigators. We're training people to think globally and exponentially. This year, 2,700 graduate-level students from around the world applied for 80 spots in our 10-week summer program. They spend the first five weeks learning about artificial intelligence, robotics, sensors, networks, synthetic biology, and nanomaterials. In the next five weeks, their job is to conceive of a product, service, or company capable of positively affecting a billion people within a decade. We've spun off 24 companies. About half of them have received funding or won awards.
Greenwald: What persuaded you that the world is headed toward an era of unprecedented abundance?
Diamandis: As I watched what small teams could accomplish with powerful, change-the-world technology, it struck me that the world's biggest challenges are also its biggest market opportunities. Multi-hundred-billion-dollar industries will form at the leading edge of exponentially developing technologies. Think about AI and robotics. Each one of these fields will displace and reinvent existing billion-dollar industries. We're on the verge of reinventing life. In the next five years, people will program living systems the way we program computers today. I became utterly convinced that abundance is where we're going to end up. That's the direction we've been heading for 100 or 200 years. A Maasai tribesman in Kenya today has better mobile communications than President Reagan had 25 years ago. If they're on a smartphone, they have access to more information than President Clinton did 15 years ago. Their Google is as good as Larry Page's.
Greenwald: Could anything derail us from this path?
Diamandis: Yes: the risk aversion we've developed as a society. Lawyers have ubiquitous power. If someone is always to blame, if every time something goes wrong someone has to be punished, people quickly stop taking risks. Without risks, there can't be breakthroughs. I got this from Internet law expert Jonathan Zittrain: We've gone from a society where if something wasn't prohibited then it was legal to a society where if something isn't explicitly permitted it's illegal. In the early days of aviation, you could do anything you wanted as long as it wasn't illegal. Now the laws are so extensive that they say, "Show me where it's allowed."
Greenwald: Your most recent enterprise, Planetary Resources, aims to mine asteroids. That's bound to test legal limits on the space frontier.
Diamandis: We're working with the US government to define regulations that allow commercial exploitation of asteroids. Unlike oil reserves or even the oceans, which are limited, resources in space are infinite. Anyone who wants will have access to them, so everyone benefits when a company like this succeeds.
Greenwald: What resources are you after?
Diamandis: Asteroids called carbonaceous chondrites, also known as dirty ice balls, are up to 20 percent water. You can use solar energy to break up water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, which is rocket fuel, so you can create filling stations for deep space operations or oxygen and water for human consumption. Launching water beyond Earth orbit costs $20,000 per kilogram using the lowest-cost launch vehicle, so you save a lot by mining it in space. We'll also be looking for what I call strategic metals. Another category of asteroid is rich in platinum-group metals such as palladium and osmium, which are used in medical devices, computer hard disks, LCD screens, and other electronics. They're rare on Earth, but not in space.
Greenwald: NASA talks about spending $1 billion on a single asteroid mission. How can you mine asteroids cost-effectively?
Diamandis: Our goal is to bring down the cost of deep-space satellites for doing the imaging, remote sensing, and reconnaissance by a factor of 100. We can do it by reinventing how we design, build, test, and operate these systems. That's where exponential technologies come in: Robotics, artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, and new materials will make it possible.
Greenwald: What's your timeline?
Diamandis: Our priority for two to five years is finding targets. Within 24 months, we'll be putting up a series of imaging systems that can identify near-Earth-approaching asteroids. The next-generation system will include propulsion, so it can go out to the asteroids and start the first stage of remote sensing. The generation after that, which should be ready in a decade, will land and begin the early stages of what will ultimately be processing. This is a decade to multidecade proposition—but then, so were X Prize and Zero Gravity.
Greenwald: How do you maintain your optimism amid the deadening barrage of bad news from around the globe?
Diamandis: Our brains are wired to look for negative information. The amygdala is the danger center. Our senses are routed through it before they get to the cortex. When we heard a rustle in the branches, we thought tiger, not wind. That's why, in the news, if it bleeds it leads. But the facts are absolutely clear. The world is getting better at an extraordinary rate. The technologies available for solving problems are becoming more powerful and empowering more people. Will there be problems? Disasters? Pandemics? Terrorist attacks? Of course. But humanity picks up and keeps moving. In this country, lifespans nearly doubled in the last century. Per capita income more than tripled, and the cost of food, energy, transportation, and communications have dropped exponentially. That's my source of optimism. That and a realization I made early on that if there's a problem, I'm going to solve it. Once you see the world that way, it's a different place.
Ted Greenwald (@tedgreenwald) wrote about startup guru Eric Ries in issue 20.06.Go Back to Top. Skip To: Start of Article.


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Her silhouette seemed a bit distant as she stood against the divine light that followed her everywhere. Her eyes, like two static balls fixed in their slots, trying hard to take in things she didnt want to see, and yet hiding the emotion, or the absence of it. The effort lay almost exposed through her drooping lids, as she slowly closed and half-opened them, trying to find comfort in her dreamland, which only a few minutes ago, had seemed so promising. Words, she tried to find but failed, as she realised the futility of putting life into alphabets and punctuation, that could never stand up to the emotions that are beyond one's very existence.
As he stood an inch away, he could feel the space between them involved in its own valiant effort to expand, and even though he knew how easily he could supress his enemy, he could see how it had began to dictate its own terms. He looked at her with a heavy sigh, at her reluctancly open eyes. It amazed him how blank they were, when only a few hours ago, they were brimming with such an eclectic mix of emotions. It amazed him how they'd lost their power of expression, when only a few hours ago the smile on her face had seemed such a lame effort compared to the brightly lit up eyes. Her visage, now, was a grim and ineffectual prison to the beauty that lay within, and one that had ceased to be coy - one that had been shot at innumerable times and at innumerable angles by an almost professional photographer that he'd recently found in himself. Looking at her beatific pics had become an obsession that had been his very own panacea in times of distress.
As she looked up for one last time before the lift popped open, the irrepressible urge to feel her lips on his came back like a spasm which refuses to die, even when it has been balmed over a hundred times. Self-restraint had never been her ball game, and this was one of those weak moments when "self" leaves one for its own selfish pursuits. He reached out with just a hand to shake, and as it touched hers the weakness of the moment dropped to an all-time low, and yet the lift door smugly opened its jaws, exposing the intimacy of a sweet act that the society has made out to be a shameful one.
She had never hated farewells upfront, but this time if only she could conjure up some energy, she'd surely be game for a one-on-one, even if team farewell was tagged with team fate. She felt the old laziness returning, and as her hand slipped away from his grip, the daredevilry found itself on the wane. It had not taken a lot of effort to learn the ways of fate, and when it comes to her life, fate had been quite unforgiving. She'd taken the stones hurled at her, along with an occasional flower, without any complains. What she was not used to was something being snatched away from her so cruely. Indeed, fate had changed its ways to magnify the pain, and reduce the moments of happiness to tiny specks on an empty canvas.
As she lost herself in the mirage at the horizon where her past and future met, he caught one last glimpse of her, and for once, he felt contented. The kind of contention that he'd felt when they'd both lost themselves to the pleasant toxicity of vodka. He had still not understood how she'd managed to do the most mundane of tasks- ordering pizza, when the 2 of them were so high that they'd brought the life around them to wonder if there's any worthiness in being sober. Every kiss, then, had seemed like the first time- the pleasure magnified a hundred times and then twisted by lips made wet by alcohol to give the feeling of pure ecstasy, and he'd instantly known how every emotion was as real under the influence as without it. She'd become a small kid, and yet had exuded so much sensuality that he'd found it awfully tough to restrict the free flow of emotions, and even sexual desires. Those eyes circling round the eyeballs, as if trying to hold themselves steady to let the world revolve in lazy circles, only to wake up the next day and find, instead, the fan above her heavy head, doing what her eyes had been doing the last night. TV cameras couldnt have afforded feeling bereft of such magnificience, as they managed to capture those big eyes and the cute sideways grin, that was mostly a result of a small doze of Pinacaolada at Cafe Leopold. That was her 60 second of fame moment, one that he wanted to be part of forever. He had been treated to those seductive eyes, with a viagra-effect again at Bandra bandstand, as he had to expend only a minimal effort to get her swooning over him, with every sound of the sea lashing against the rocks. He had loved to hold her swaying then, her whole body pulsating with happiness, craziness and loveliness, augmented by a few dozes of beer, topped with a blue lagoon. He was missing her, and her childishness, already...
She,meanwhile, had wasted no time in returning her faithfulness and attention to his substitute- a stuffed doggy that had been her birthday gift and whose neck she'd so cruely twisted in some fit of anger, when she'd mistaken it for her real object of affection, and had got so involved that it had taken her some time before she finally figured out her craziness. She lay there now, cuddled up with the doggy, in an effort to make her lover return out of jealousy, knowing pretty well that it won't need a photo-op for him to kno what she's upto behind his back. But then, it started to seem like an empty gesture, and as if the stuffed dog had feelings, she started to feel she's not being faithful to it, cuddling up and yet thinking of someone else, in whose arms she'd found her nights' comfort, and with whose kisses she'd began her mornings pepped. She let go of the dog and lay in emptiness, trying to conjure up the feeling of lying in his lap, with complete contentment and carelessness about the piercing gaze of the dog that lay neglected. Suddenly, the thought of the neglected sweetheart- the doggy made her embrace it all over again, as she caught sight of the christmukkah tree that they'd so lovingly bought and decorated with small silly shiny things. Sigh, how many neglected things will she take care of, without leaving herself in a state of neglect! In this life, she remembered, one must stop one's thoughts if one wishes to remain intact, or guilt, pity and loneliness would take everything, even one from oneself. Her eyes became blank again, but her struggle with her senses went on...
If you weren't real I would make you up
I wish that I could follow through
I know that your love is true
And deep
As the sea
Looking for someone to trust
A fight
I think that you came too soon
You're the honey and the moon
That lights
Up my night


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Democrats — sacrificing American lives for political expediency
The last seven years of the Bush presidency had as their soundtrack "Bush lied, people died" or "No wars for oil." Democrats loved their troops so much that they couldn't bear to see them die because a president had ulterior motives. Bush left the White House and, magically, Democrats stopped caring about the troops.
Obama, however, did still care about the troops: He cared that they functioned as political props to give him cover in his half-assed efforts to "be tough on terrorism." We know this because former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has written a book. Sure, Gates could be lying in Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War, but one suspects he's not — at least as to this point. If Bob Woodward (who reviewed the book) is correct, what Gates reports is entirely consistent with Obama's actions; his speeches about troops, terrorism, and Afghanistan; and his political record before becoming president:
In a new memoir, former defense secretary Robert Gates unleashes harsh judgments about President Obama's leadership and his commitment to the Afghanistan war, writing that by early 2010 he had concluded the president "doesn't believe in his own strategy, and doesn't consider the war to be his. For him, it's all about getting out." (Emphasis added.)
Assuming the above statement to be true (as I do), what Obama did was unconscionable. Bush, who stood on Ground Zero right after 9/11, believed in the fight, even though he knew troops would die protecting America's interests. (And that statement is true whether one believes that Bush headed into war to keep America safe or headed into war to keep Big Oil safe. I, of course, incline to the former view.) Obama, however, believed only in himself and was willing to let people die to advance his political standing. Ace spells it out:
Which is what is so galling. Men are being killed at three times the rate as they died under Bush's leadership, and Obama is not even trying to win.
Those men remain there out of political cowardice. Men are dying for Obama's political cowardice.
If he does not wish to fight the war– then he should save those men's lives and bring them home.
It is one thing to sacrifice men's lives for an important objective. The only objective sought by Obama is avoiding the "Weak on Terrorism" attack that would be lodged by the Right. And the attack that Obama claimed, in knocking the Iraq War constantly, that he would be tough as the Devil on Afghanistan.
So men are dying, to save Obama some short-term minor political pain.
Obama wasn't the only Leftist politician who viewed America's overseas wars against Islamic terrorism, not as matters of America's existential survival, but as mere political props. When Hillary found herself facing Obama in the 2008 election, she declared herself against the Iraq war, not for any principled reason, but simply because that was Obama's position. When Hillary saw which way the wind was blowing, that's the direction she headed:
He [Gates] writes: "Hillary told the president that her opposition to the [2007] surge in Iraq had been political because she was facing him in the Iowa primary. . . . The president conceded vaguely that opposition to the Iraq surge had been political. To hear the two of them making these admissions, and in front of me, was as surprising as it was dismaying."
One wonders how long it will take the MSM to bury that inconvenient truth. Both of these people are the execrable Francis Underwood, from House of Cards. Their primary motivation, always, is the aggrandizement of self, and they do not care who suffers or dies during their brutal slog to the top.
The revelations in Gates' book might cost Obama a point or two in his already sagging polls, but I doubt most people will care very much. Those of us who had already figured out what was going on will feel vindicated, his acolytes won't mind (they felt the same way, no doubt), and the troops will have been screwed, as usual. This is just one more in a series of Obama insults to the men who shed blood for a war that Obama never saw as more than a campaign prop. (Here's a satiric take on Obama's loss of Fallujah, where so many Marines fought and died; and here's a serious look at the sacrifices Obama threw away.)
There's something a little more interesting going on when it comes to Hillary. The quotation above reveals that Hillary didn't arrive at her position on Iraq by looking at the situation on ground and making a calculation about the benefits or burdens to America in continuing to stay there, either to fight or to police that nation. Instead, she mapped out a campaign strategy. Pretty foul, right? But in the paragraph immediately after the one I quoted above, Woodward makes this observation:
Earlier in the book, he [Gates] describes Hillary Clinton in the sort of glowing terms that might be used in a political endorsement. "I found her smart, idealistic but pragmatic, tough-minded, indefatigable, funny, a very valuable colleague, and a superb representative of the United States all over the world," he wrote.
Woodward is saying that Gates praises Hillary extravagantly in the beginning of the book and then reams her in the end. What's with that? My current guess is that Gates wanted to make his attack on Hillary credible. If he'd spent the entire book lambasting her, readers might have doubted the veracity of his attack on her integrity. By praising her to the skies, though, Gates positioned himself as a man without a bone to pick who was making a straightforward factual observation about the woman who would be president.
Any other theory about Gates's extravagant praise and brutal revelation makes Gates' praise for Hillary impossible to understand. She didn't do squat as Secretary of State except for amassing frequent flier miles. The one time something happened (Benghazi), she failed in her responsibilities before and during the attack, and lied afterwards. If Gates thinks she was wonderful, than he's a fool, and everything else he's written should be questioned. If, however, he's giving himself cover for his attack on Hillary, maybe he's crazy like a fox.
The book is also garnering attention because of Gates' sweeping Biden indictment ("wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.") and his description of Obama's efforts to make decisions about war without bothering to speak with the Pentagon first (or at all).
Overall, Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War sounds like a worthwhile read, if only to try to figure out whether Gates is a fool who thinks Hillary was wonderful, barring her amoral approach to Iraq or if he's a wily fox who seeks to discredit her but realizes that he can't sound too hostile when he does so. We'll probably see a flurry of books now, most of them painting a picture of a White House with a self-involved, narcissistic, dishonest leader listening only to his core cadre of ideologues, none of whom care about America as she is (as opposed to the Leftist utopia they hope she will be), while assiduously avoiding any contrary voices.


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hey everyone. i'm just after finishing my first semester in college (studying Computer Science) and we got an assignment for our programming module. I was just hoping somebody could help me with it because I'm struggling with it a lot. so all help is welcome . I need hints on what classes to make especially. thank you.
Write a program that reads descriptions of the requirements for the Trinity Computer
Science, Computer Science, Linguistics and a Language, Management Science and
Information Systems Studies, and Business and Computing courses and of a small
number of Irish school leavers and reports for which courses each potential student would
have qualified based on their leaving certificate have qualified based on their leaving certificate results Qualification is based on CAO results. Qualification is based on CAO
points and on satisfying any applicable requirements for individual courses.
Your solution must include a class whose instances represent school leavers including the
results of their second-level education. Include whatever attributes are appropriate and
introduce any additional classes required to describe the values of the attributes. Your class
will likely include attributes that are not required by this particular program.
Your solution must also include a class whose instances represent courses, which should
include a method to determine the eligibility of a single student for a course, eg,
public boolean isQualified(Student lcStudent)
Where classes would normally contain a variable number of attributes of the same type (eg,
to record the subjects taken or the schools attended by a student), you may fix the number
of attributes at a value of your own choosing (eg, by assuming that all students take six
© Vinny Cahill 2
y g( g, yg
leaving certificate subjects).


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Box Office: 'Madagascar 3' beats Cruise, Sandler films [Video]
Two of Hollywood's biggest stars couldn't pull in as many ticket sales as "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" did at the box office this weekend, because the cartoon was the No. 1 pick yet again.
For the second consecutive weekend, the 3-D animated flick featuring a band of zoo animals topped the box office. The DreamWorks Animation movie raked in an additional $35.5 million, bringing its domestic total to $120.5 million.
Meanwhile, a new musical featuring Tom Cruise and a raunchy comedy starring Adam Sandler flopped. "Rock of Ages," which stars a high-profile cast including Cruise, Russell Brand and Alec Baldwin, only debuted with a lackluster $15.1 million. Sandler's R-rated "That's My Boy" fared even worse, starting with a weak $13 million.
So why didn't audiences turn up to see two of the country's biggest movie stars? Check out this week's box office video report for more details.
--Amy Kaufman
Photo: A scene from 'Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted." Credit: DreamWorks Animation.


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Italian hardrock metallers THE ROCKER have just completed the recording of the second album (the follow up for "The Rocker – Italian Bastards", released on 27.02.2010).
The work sessions were held – from the end of August to September 10th – at Command Studio in Los Angeles (CA), the mixing was carried out by Fabrizio Grossi (known both as bassist, having worked with Steve Vai, Steve Lukather, Neal Schoen, Slash and others, as well as sound engineer and producer of artists such as Glenn Hughes, Dave Navarro, Steve Lukather, House of Lords, just to name a few).
The mastering was handled by the famous master engineer Pete Doell (Universal Mastering), who has worked on materials of several world-famous stars (e.g. Frank Sinatra, Céline Dion, James Brown, Marilyn Manson, Miles Davis, Ben Harper, Little, Beach Boys, Elton John and many others).
At the moment it has been revealed that the album title will be "Blood Strength And Soul" and will contain eleven tracks of pure hard rock, with some southern veins.
In addition to vocalist Edo Arlenghi (better known as the leader of Riff-Raff, the famous AC-DC tribute band), author of the lyrics and music, the following musicians have participated to the recordings; guitarist Sergio Aschieris, bassist Fabrizio Grossi and drummer Simon Wright (AC-DC, UFO, Rhino Bucket, DIO, Dio Disciples), who, moreover, has already played with the THE ROCKER at the end of 2011.
THE ROCKER filmed also a video in the Californian desert, for the title track "Blood strength and soul". The release date will be announced later on.
Photos and article by Marcello Catozzi
For more information, please visit:


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Votre titre Audible gratuit
The Sugar Queen
Twenty-seven-year-old Josey Cirrini is sure of three things: winter in her North Carolina hometown is her favorite season, she's a sorry excuse for a Southern belle, and sweets are best eaten in the privacy of her hidden closet. For while Josey has settled into an uneventful life in her mother's house, her one consolation is the stockpile of sugary treats and paperback romances she escapes to each night - until she finds it harboring none other than local waitress Della Lee Baker, a tough-talking, tenderhearted woman who is one part nemesis and two parts fairy godmother.
Fleeing a life of bad luck and big mistakes, Della Lee has decided Josey's clandestine closet is the safest place to crash. In return she's going to change Josey's life - because, clearly, it is not the closet of a happy woman. With Della Lee's tough love, Josey is soon forgoing pecan rolls and caramels, tapping into her startlingly keen feminine instincts, and finding her narrow existence quickly expanding.
Before long, Josey bonds with Chloe Finley, a young woman who makes the best sandwiches in town, is hounded by books that inexplicably appear whenever she needs them, and - most amazing of all - has a close connection to Josey's longtime crush.
As little by little Josey dares to step outside herself, she discovers a world where the color red has astonishing power, passion can make eggs fry in their cartons, and romance can blossom at any time - even for her. It seems that Della Lee's work is done, and it's time for her to move on. But the truth about where she's going, why she showed up in the first place - and what Chloe has to do with it all - is about to add one more unexpected chapter to Josey's fast-changing life.
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- Sonia D'ALMEIDA
- 25/02/2018
L'intrigue est un peu longue à se mettre en place mais c'est une belle histoire à la fois triste et pleine d'espoir.
- Stephanie Berget
- 25/11/2009
Must Read
I bought this author's first book on a whim and as soon as I was finished listening to it immediately downloaded the Sugar Queen. It was just as wonderful as the first. I can't wait for her next book. The characters are quirky and the story really draws you in. She is now a must buy author for me
14 personnes ont trouvé cela utile
- Julie
- 11/12/2012
True relationships mixed with Fantasy: loved it!
Books appearing out of no where and a woman living in someone closet sound far fetched but I really liked this book. The story was well developed, as were the characters.
I'm sure many of us "not so thin" gals could relate to Josey's insecurity about her body image as well as interaction with men. Add in the mother she had;(although it was interesting to find out her issues as well) and it's no wonder Josey took her comfort in food.
While listening to the story I thought Josey's new found relationships with Della Lee and Chloe would make a great TV Christmas movie. (And I love all those movies)!
Adam's character was sweet and the perfect "prince charming" to come to her rescue.
Very enjoyable.
4 personnes ont trouvé cela utile
- Kathy
- 29/11/2011
Sweet Book
I found "Sugar Queen" to be easy listening if that makes any sense. a sweet story about a shy woman who has been living in her mothers shadow and feels it is her responsibility to care for her mother . Of coarse she is addicted to sweets that she hides in her closet. All of this changes when she finds the towns bad girl living in her closet. I like Sarah Addison Allens books they are easy to read or listen to. They all seem to have a little magic in them and her writing reminds me a little bit of early Alice Hoffmen books
3 personnes ont trouvé cela utile
- Laura C. Brooks
- 10/03/2011
Love this Author
I have read or listened to the 3 books by this author and think they are delightful. I loved them so much I bought them in paperback for a friend who doesn't have audible book access and I know she will love them, too. Spellbinding, etherial, enchanting.
3 personnes ont trouvé cela utile
- Gaele
- 06/06/2014
a story that was full of southern charm
AudioBook Review:
Stars: Overall: 4 Narration: 5 Story: 4
What I wanted was a sweet and unique story that would allow me to escape for the length of time the narration took. Sarah Addison Allen managed to present a story that was full of southern charm and sweetness, with a unique edge of unexpected fairy godmothers to enhance a life that was stale and uninspiring. Josey is stuck in a life that doesn't quite fit: a little too 'ethnic' looking when compared to her mother, a famed belle, a little too large, too loud, perhaps even too outspoken for her own good. She stuffs her feelings of inadequacy from her hidden sanctuary: an unused closet full to the brim with unsuitable paperback romances, pop, candy and other sweets. Josey is stuck in neutral, and too worried about what others may think to dare changing or acting on her own thoughts. And Josey wants to leave the 'nowhere' small town in the North Carolina mountains – away from the responsibility of caring for her unloving mother, prying eyes and expectations that she is certain she will never meet.
When Josey finds the notorious 'bad girl" Della Lee hiding in her closet, Josey is determined to get Della Lee to leave. One problem: Della is comfortable where she is at the moment, and she knows that Josey doesn't want her secret stash revealed. Polar opposites, Josey and Della Lee begin a series of bargains as Della pushes Josey out of her self-imposed rut. Della Lee is a wonderful counterpoint, to Josey: forthright and impulsive, she does what every 'good girl' doesn't dare attempt and has had a wonderful time, mostly, of doing it.
A series of bargains lead Josey through a wonderful path of self-discovery as she learns to take responsibility for her own choices, and stand up to her mother, perhaps earning her the first modicum of grudging respect from that quarter. Della Lee isn't above snooping (she did hide out in her closet) so when she finds that Josey harbors a closely held crush on the mailman, she prods, pushes and challenges her to make a move in that direction.
Josey's transformation is cleverly plotted and easy to relate to, even though readers may not feel a kinship with her exact issues, they will find a connection to her struggle: the fear, the worry, the struggle between selfish wants and obligations that conflict. Using several sweet references that instantly draw taste and scent memories from readers adds to the feel and sense of the story.
Narration in this version is from Karen White, who is fast becoming a 'must listen' narrator for me. Her subtle changes for character voice and accents serve to enhance their history and backstories, from subtle hint of the south to the full on twang, the voices and delivery introduce characters with distinct elements that do not waver from introduction to end. There were a few moments where the recording had some problems: whether recorded later and cut in, or the external sound dampening was briefly deactivated, a few sections carried an echo that was brief, but noticeable, and other volume changes were present occasionally as well. Not enough to completely disrupt the listen, but of a frequency to be noted.
I wasn't looking for nor expecting a story grounded in realism and clearly tied to the here and now, and the elements of magic and potential of some unknown hand subtly pushing events in one direction or another to serve a wish or a whim were perfectly played and add a sense of the possible to the story. Sweet and light, with plenty of humor and flavor to please many, I enjoyed this story and will keep it on my "when you want to escape" listen pile.
I received an AudioBook copy of the title via AudioBook Jukebox for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.
1 personne a trouvé cela utile
- Lizzie Askew
- 07/05/2014
Okay book, mostly a drama
Any additional comments?
I'm not sure what I expected, but this story did bore me just a bit. It was mostly one of those "a woman finds meaning in life" affairs, only with just a little dab of the paranormal. Really, it seems as though this author cannot stop trying to rewrite "Practical Magic" with every new book she releases, which is annoying. I found this book to be somewhat formulaic for that reason. I think the writing was well executed and the characters well drawn, which is why I listened to the end, but the plot, though interesting and deeply involved, just wasn't quite my cup of tea.
1 personne a trouvé cela utile
- Donna
- 09/08/2012
What did you love best about The Sugar Queen?
The was the last of Sarah Addison Allen's books that I have listened to and I highly recommend each one. They hold my attention fully. There is just a touch of fantasy that adds so much to the stories. If you love a good, easy novel - you'll love these.
1 personne a trouvé cela utile
- kjill
- 24/10/2011
The Sugar Queen
I have enjoyed all of Sarah Addiaon Allen's books, the characters are interesting and the story is full of magic.
1 personne a trouvé cela utile
- Kim McM
- 22/11/2019
Book Club Choice
I read this book for book club. There is a lot of human relationship struggles. The book has a supernatural flare from the beginning. When the twist hit, it was not a huge surprise. This book was engaging and will spark some interesting discussion at book club.
- Carolyn Howland
- 12/08/2019
Enjoyable book with a touch of magic
I loved this book. it offers an escape from daily life. Author ia a favorite.


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Choo Choo Retreat House
Currently all Reservations are made thru our VRBO listing
This 3 bedroom / 2 bathroom home is now complete and ready for rental for the purpose of hosting retreat gatherings.
Church groups, visiting families, executives checking out the area, scrap bookers, quilters, and any other function that desires a "get-away" environment will benefit at a very affordable price per person. The house has a very open floor plan and the 2 car garage has been converted into a conditioned air activity space, to meet practically any function for groups.
Built with full handicapped access, and extra wide doors. Even the master bathroom shower enables wheelchair access. All steps have been replaced with ramps for easy move in and out. The driveway is very long and can easily handle all of your parking needs.
The living room includes a big screen LCD HDTV with DVD and VHS, to enable groups to show movies or study material. Minimal amount of furniture placed inside, so that users can slide the furniture where it is needed for their group.
Wireless Fiber Optic 50 Mbps internet transmitted throughout the house to enable everyone to keep up with email from home, or streaming your favorite content provider (Netflix, Hulu, etc..). Extra Large dining room table available so that everyone can gather at the table at the same time.
The house is built on the side of a ridge and the deck about 30 feet above ground level which allows for an amazing view of the sunrise every morning and the valley between the ridge peaks. Listen to the Chattanooga choo choo pass by throughout the day in the background.
Current Rates: All listed rates do not include applicable taxes and $85 cleaning fee per stay. 2 night minimum stay required.
Nov 1st thru May 31st - $165/night - $990/week - $2,200/month
June 1st thru October 31st - $190/night - $1,140/week - $2,500/month
Cleaning Fees: $125 - stays longer than 14 days will incur additional fees


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Democrats make sure Rep. Mike Coffman won't forget 1st debate brain freeze
During Thursday's kickoff debate between U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman and Democratic challenger Andrew Romanoff, Coffman experienced a moment he'd probably rather forget. But helpful Democrats are doing their best to make sure that doesn't happen. During the debate, when asked about women's reproductive rights and health care, Coffman struggled find the right words:
"I'm pro-life," Coffman said, to applause. "I'm proud of that, and I do not support personhood. But I do support women's access to, uh…" He struggled to find the phrase, until someone in the crowd shouted "birth control." Coffman smiled and laughed, repeating that phrase and then laying the microphone on the table.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Emily Bittner sent a press blast: "When it came to explaining his 20-year record of opposing a woman's ability to make her own health care decisions and restricting her access to birth control, Congressman Mike Coffman had to play 'phone a friend' and it looks like Rick Perry was on the other end of the line. Today, Colorado women saw how disconnected from reality Congressman Coffman is, because even though he has a long history of interfering with women's most private health care decisions, he can't even utter the words 'birth control' correctly."
Coffman's campaign manager, Tyler Sandberg, said in an e-mail that Coffman deserved to be cut a little slack for his verbal tripping: "Mike is a Marine. He's never claimed to be slick, but his position on the issue is clear — he fully supports access. What's more important to voters — the fact that Mike couldn't find a word on the tip of his tongue, or the fact that Andrew Romanoff couldn't find the nerve to take a position on the major policy choice affecting American energy independence?"


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- (adj) outdated or obsolete through age or new developments; "superannuated computing equipment"
- (adj) (of a post or employee) belonging to a superannuation scheme; "she is not superannuated and has no paid holiday"
- (verb) retire (someone) with a pension; "his pilot's licence was withdrawn and he was superannuated"
Superannuated (सूपरैन्यूएट) meaning in Hindi (English to Hindi meaning)
- पुराना हो जाना, सेवा निवृत्त हो जाना
Superannuated Origin
- mid 17th century: back-formation from superannuated, from medieval Latin superannuatus, from Latin super- 'over' + annus 'year'.
Superannuated in a sentence (word usage in recent Hindu newspaper editorial)
- Life's too short to read superannuated Marxists.
- The Indian fleet has less than 30 superannuated medium-size anti-sub helicopters, the first of which was bought in 1971.
- Joshi, who will superannuate in June, is one of the five high profile.
- When I retired, I went from SVP to superannuated in the space of an hour.
- Both the MDs have a tenure of nearly two years and will be superannuated in 2019.
Mnemonic trick to remember the meaning of superannuated
- super + annum = super purana… saalo saal purana
Superannuated pronunciation


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Next Gallery
HYPE Tons of ToysThe Hartford Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs hosted its annual Tons of Toys fundraiser Dec. 5 at the Gershon Fox building in downtown Hartford. The toy drive collected thousands of toys for the YMCA of Greater Hartford.
Featured Photos
- KNOX 75° Urban Greenhouse PartyKNOX Greenhouse in Hartford hosted its annual 75° An Urban Greenhouse Party, Friday night, Feb. 21, at its Laurel Street location. The event raises funds for the nonprofit's commitment to sustaining community gardens and urban beautification throughout Hartford.
- PHOTOS: UConn Huskies vs. UCF KnightsThe UConn Huskies defeated the UCF Knights at Gampel Pavilion Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020, in Storrs.
- A Look at Hartford's Cinestudio: Then & NowFifty years ago, on Feb. 22, 1970, seven Trinity College students sneaked into the auditorium of the chemistry building in the dead of night, pulled the hinges off the door of the projection booth and found two rusty, old 35mm projectors. That's how Cinestudio got its start. Today, the cinema at Trinity College has become the state's premier destination for classic, foreign and cutting-edge films, open to the general public. On Feb. 22, Cinestudio will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a free double bill of the first movies ever shown there: "Alice's Restaurant" and "Yellow Submarine." Read more on the Cinestudio's full history here.
- Camp Courant Arch Street FundraiserHartford's Camp Courant hosted a fundraising cocktail hour at Arch Street Tavern in Hartford Wednesday evening, Feb. 19. The non-profit which is celebrating its 126th year, serves over 1,000 children each year with meals and activities at its free summer camp in Farmington.
- Make-A-Wish grants Hartford boy a trip to WrestlemaniaThanks to the Connecticut Make-A-Wish Foundation, 12-year-old Israel Rodriguez's dream came true Wednesday, Feb. 19. Israel, a Hartford resident, spent the morning at WWE Headquarters in Stamford where WWE wrestler Roman Reigns told Israel, via satellite, he will be attending Wrestle Mania in Tampa, Florida in early April. Israel appeared on a live WWE show called "The Bump" and met two WWE wrestlers, Evan Mack and Sheamus.
- Thousands for and against state vaccination legislation rally at the CapitolA public hearing on the state's proposed vaccination legislation draws thousands of supporters and opponents Wednesday, Feb. 19. The state's plan is to eliminate the current religious exemption for schoolchildren. Read more here.
- Royal Rosé @ FoxwoodsFoxwoods Resort & Casino held their annual Royal Rosé event on Sunday. The event had a variety of rosé options from various vendors and a series of photo stations and backgrounds for people to be seen in throughout the Premiere Ballroom. A live DJ and a massive dance floor also added to the event's success.


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Puzzle Levels
Puzzle Categories
Download a FREE Solution for your puzzles!
Catan Scenarios: Oil Springs
Product Information
|Z-man Games
|Strategy Games, Family Games
Product Description
A Scenario by Erik Assadourian & Ty Hansen for Klaus Teuber's "The Settlers of Catan".
3-4 players. Average game length: 45-60 minutes.
Eureka! Oil has been discovered on the island of Catan. The great engineers of Catan have learned ways to improve production using this valuable new resource, both by converting it into other materials and enabling the upgrade of cities into metropolises. But oil is scarce and its use does not come without cost. Using oil produces pollution, as well as climate changing emissions, which bring with them the threat of coastal flooding—and absolute disaster. With the discovery of oil on Catan, the Settlers face a new challenge: deciding whether the common good is worth limiting oil usage or whether the pursuit of victory is worth the risk of ruin.
- • 1 tile sheet
- • 1 rules set
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A truly novel gift, this personalised spoof newspaper cover is presented in either a tube roll or a contemporary black frame. The colourful cover comes in A3 size. You can read how the story will go underneath. To order, simply complete the personalised details and click add to cart.
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Headline: WIFEFIRSTNAME AND HUSBANDFIRSTNAME CELEBRATE THEIR ANNIVERSARY IN STYLE!
The red carpet is rolled out and waiting, and the champagne on ice in TOWNCITY tonight to celebrate COUPLESFULLNAMES anniversary bash of the year.
Ryan Tubridy will host the party as the happy couple spend the evening with their many friends and families. RTÉ will broadcast the event live, but Miriam O'Callaghan interviewed the dashing duo earlier.
'So, we're all dying to know the secret to your continuing success and obvious bliss together,' Miriam asked. 'We never go to bed on an argument,' WIFEFIRSTNAME was quick to reply. 'We always stay up and fight it out.'
HUSBANDFIRSTNAME added his own tip for a long and happy relationship. 'We decided earlier on to always go out twice a week; a meal, a few drinks and maybe even a movie,' he said. 'I go on Tuesdays and she goes on Thursdays.'
All private helicopter companies have been fully booked up for weeks in order to jet in the elite of the world to TOWN. Bono is believed to have cancelled U2's American leg of his tour to attend tonight. Other special guests will include Johnny Depp, Kylie, William and Kate and all the members of The Rolling Stones.
'They are truly my inspiration and hope for the future,' the Dalai Lama is reported to have commented. An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar admitted yesterday that 'it's nice to take a break from all this recessionary doom and gloom, and to celebrate WIFEFIRSTNAME and HUSBANDFIRSTNAME's success as a couple.'
We at the Irish Gazette would also like to congratulate WIFEFIRSTNAME and HUSBANDFIRSTNAME and to wish them all the happiness in the world.