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Are We A Police State?
Are We A Police State?
Justice H Suresh (India Uncut Blog, 30 August 2007)
King Friend forwarded me a letter written by Justice H Suresh regarding "illegal arrests, torture and public statements by the Anti-Terrorist Squad, Mumbai." Most of us would be inclined to ignore this case, because it involves alleged naxalites—but pay closer heed to that word 'alleged'. I'm reproducing the letter in full below the fold—do read it all—with one question: Is a society where due process of law is not followed a lawless society?
Sub: Illegal arrests, torture and public statements by ATS Mumbai with regard to Shridhar Shrinivasan, Vernon Gonsalves and Adv K D Rao
We are deeply concerned at reports from the lawyers, family members and friends of Shridhar Srinivasan, Vernon Gonsalves and advocate K. D. Rao, who were arrested on August 19 and 20, 2007, in Mumbai by Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) Police. The gist of their claims is as follows:
1. These persons have been arrested for their political convictions rather than any specific unlawful activity. Rao is a practicing lawyer and an office bearer of Indian Association of People's Lawyers (IAPL) who has been in Mumbai from 2003. The families of these detainees were not informed of their arrests by the ATS police. Shrinivasan was arrested outside his house in Govandi and Gonsalves was arrested from near his house at 1.30 p.m. on August 19 from a busy public road. Almost 12 hours later at 12.30 a.m. on August 20, Gonsalves was brought to his house where an illegal and unauthorized `raid' was carried out till 7 a.m. in front of Susan Abraham, his wife who is a practicing lawyer and activist and his 12-year old son. Rao was arrested at 9 p.m. on August 20 from outside YMCA where he had gone to visit Adv P A Sebastian.
2. Shridhar and Vernon were subjected to torture which was recorded by the magistrate. In court, the injuries on the accused, and their inability to stand up in court, have been ascribed to such improbable causes as their struggle at the time of arrest, to arthritis osteoporosis – conditions the detainees were suffering from which got aggravated due to the torture. They have had to undergo prolonged hours of interrogation for days together.
3. In the case of Srinivasan and Gonsalves, the ATS claimed to have found arms and ammunition from the former's house in Govandi. However, no panchanama was produced for these items, and the accused denied ATS claim in Court. On the first date of regular remand, court gave permission for the destruction of the arms and ammunition because of which the detainees have been denied the scope to challenge the central evidence on which the police case rests.
The above account carries credibility, as we have been following this case in the press. The police have informed the media that the accused were plotting terrorist activity, such as carrying out bomb blasts throughout Mumbai. The police have plans to implicate them in murders and other such acts. These unsubstantiated claims have been given wide publicity, amounting to trial by the media.
Even more disturbingly, the police have announced that they are preparing dossiers on 75 persons and "will take action soon" ("Naxals involved even in murder, claims ATS", Times of India, August 23, 2007). These 75 persons have committed no offence but are deemed to be sympathetic with the cause of the accused.
Moreover, the police say that "Over half a dozen lawyers are on our radar" in connection with this case, "but we cannot arrest them if there is no offence against them" (ref. the same Times article). Such a statement serves to intimidate lawyers, who are officers of the court, from performing their duties. The arrest of advocate K. D Rao is a chilling reminder of the seriousness of the police threats. We have not forgotten the statement by a senior police officer, at the time of the arrest of Arun Ferreira and others in Nagpur in May 2007, that he would take action against any persons who are taking up the case of those accused.
It is public knowledge that suspects are rounded up, taken to the police station and kept there unlawfully for days together, in order to extract confessions by torture, threats and other illegal means such as narco-analysis. It is a fundamental constitutional principle that confessions extracted by the police are not admissible in law. It is also a Constitutional mandate that no one can be compelled to be a witness against himself.
Another fundamental constitutional principle is the presumption of innocence of an accused until proven guilty. Very often, the police issue statements to the press and media that the person so arrested is a "terrorist" or "has planned to commit serious offences" etc. proclaiming to the world that he is guilty of the offence. While the police have the right to investigate, they have no right to make public statements about the guilt of the accused.
Often when the accused refuses to make statements according to the wishes of the police despite being subjected to torture, the police approach the court for permission to have narco-analysis test performed. This was done in the case of Arun Ferreira and Murali. We are of the opinion that a narco-analysis test is itself a form of torture, and we were shocked that one of the television channels displayed the entire procedure of extracting statements through narco-analysis. This was in fact, a public display of torture.
We condemn the methods and the means which is followed by the ATS and other special cells, as if they are not bound by the law and as if they had a separate law for themselves. We want to emphasize that there is no special law for the ATS or any special cell in the matter of arrest and search and in the matter of legal rights of the accused.
Against this background, we demand that the state government intervene to ensure that torture and all the illegal methods listed above are not employed on the arrested persons and that false cases are not foisted on them. It should ensure that the police do not harass and threaten persons who have not committed any offence simply on the ground that they are suspected of holding certain political beliefs or sympathies. It should stop the police from threatening lawyers who are representing the detainees.
In a word, the state government must intervene to uphold the rule of law and ensure that the law meets the needs of justice.
— Justice H Suresh
Justice Suresh and some others will speak at a press conference on the subject at 3pm tomorrow (August 31) at Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh Hall, near Azad Maidan, Mumbai. In case you're interested…


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Judging from her new ink, it seems Selena Gomez's latest split from Justin Bieber may be permanent. Singer/actress Gomez, 21, has been on and off with the Canadian pop star since 2010, and they were most recently seen hanging out together last month, which caused fans to speculate they were back together. But since last month, Bieber has been seen on outings with model Yovanna Ventura, and according to reports, the two are dating.
The chances of Gomez and Bieber getting back together seem pretty slim now, after Gomez got a tattoo on her upper back reminding her to "love herself first." She got the Arabic tattoo done by celebrity tattoo artist Keith "Bang Bang" McCurdy on Wednesday.
The famous young couple most recently split in January 2013, allegedly because Bieber cheated on the "Spring Breakers" star. Since then, Bieber has been seen with a bevy of beauties, such as Jordan Ozuna, a Hooters waitress in Las Vegas, and Chantel Jeffries, a model. Jeffries was with him when he got arrested in Miami earlier this year for drag racing and driving under the influence. And now, he is reportedly with Ventura.
Even still, it has been evident that Bieber missed Gomez. In March, popular social media site Instagram crashed for about an hour, causing extremely long upload and refresh times. Users complained and many suspected Justin Bieber was to blame. Why? The young pop star posted a photo of his ex-girlfriend to his nearly 15 million followers. The photo sparked rumors that the two were dating once again.
Showing Gomez at Vanity Fair's Oscar party in a floor-length gown, Bieber captioned the photo, "Most elegant princess in the world." More than 870,000 people liked the picture.

subset: commoncrawl


text: (Bloomberg) -- Steven Cohen's Point72 Asset Management has been on its biggest ever hiring spree in Asia, seeking higher returns amid turmoil in the global hedge fund industry..The Stamford, Connecticut-based family office, which manages $11 billion, recruited 31 people for its Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo offices in the first eight months of 2016, including 21 on the investment side, said Molly Binenfeld, a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman. The new hires brought its employees in the region to about 120, she said..Point72 is hiring in the region as the $2.9 trillion global industry is grappling with investor discontent over lackluster performance and high fees. It joins peers such as Caxton Associates, Balyasny Asset Management and Folger Hill Asset Management in adding employees or offices in Asia to seek new avenues of growth and better returns.."The region is very important to Point72," said Marc Desmidt, Hong Kong-based chief executive officer of its international business, who joined from BlackRock Inc. in January. "We want to take advantage of some uncertainties and tougher times in the industry to get more of that really good talent.".Global Redemptions.Investors pulled $25.2 billion out of the global industry in July, the highest monthly redemption since February 2009, according to an eVestment report. Some of the biggest global names, including Bridgewater Associates and Tudor Investment Corp., are trimming staff. Tudor, the manager of $11 billion of assets, reduced fees for a share class that contains most of its biggest hedge fund's money and is cutting 15 percent of its workforce globally after being hit by investor withdrawals and losses..Asian hedge funds have benefited from less crowded and less efficient markets in recent years, outperforming global peers for each of the last four calendar years since 2012. The Eurekahedge Asian Hedge Fund Index returned an annualized 9.5 percent in the four years ended 2015, compared with the 5.7 percent global average..Still, Asian managers haven't been immune to challenges. This year, they've trailed rivals in other parts of the world amid heightened market volatility in China and Japan, advancing 0.5 percent against 2.8 percent for global peers..Former SAC manager Andrew Bazarian decided to shut an Asia hedge fund he started after losses this year dimmed fundraising prospects. Pine River Capital Management shuttered its Asia multistrategy hedge fund after it failed to attract enough assets. And Dinakar Singh's TPG-Axon Capital Management closed its Hong Kong office and is withdrawing from Tokyo as assets plummeted, Reuters reported earlier this month..Potential Opportunities.Asia's growth can potentially create opportunities and deepen capital markets, said Desmidt, explaining the firm's decision to add more people in the region.."Asia is an extremely good diversifier for us," he said. "A large part of the firm's portfolio is invested in the U.S.".Point72 was created after SAC pleaded guilty in 2013 to securities fraud, agreed to pay a record $1.8 billion fine and converted into a family office. SAC opened an office in Hong Kong, its oldest in the region, in 2006. Binenfeld declined to say how much the firm invests in the region or give performance numbers..Its hiring spree has come after Cohen struck a deal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in January that would allow him to return to managing client money as early as January 2018. The billionaire investor, whose former hedge fund had racked up average annual returns of 30 percent before the 2013 plea, said at a conference in May that he was "blown away by the lack of talent" in the industry..Liquid Markets.Point72 has hired managers in deep and liquid regional markets such as South Korea and Australia, where the firm didn't previously have specialists, said Desmidt, without mentioning any new hires by name..Won Joon Son joined in March from Horizon Asset International (HK) as a South Korea-focused manager located in Point72's Hong Kong office, according to license information posted on the website of the city's Securities and Futures Commission. Jonathan Lin, a former analyst at Och-Ziff, started as a Hong Kong-based fund manager focused on Australia in the third quarter, according to the regulatory website and his LinkedIn profile..Japan Opportunities.In Japan, regulatory reforms such as those that will ensure fair disclosure of information to all market participants at roughly the same time could translate into higher returns for fundamental stock-pickers, Desmidt said.."Japan remains today the deepest and most liquid market in the region, with the added attraction of some of the regulatory influences," he said. "We absolutely have a view that Japan, over the next three, five years, is going to throw up some very interesting alpha opportunities.".Point72, which has eight Japan-focused investment teams in Asia, this year created Blue Swell Asset Management in Singapore, led by Tomofumi Oda, to bet on rising and falling Japanese stocks. It is the first such unit it set up to give an Asia-based manager more investment autonomy..Having served as a training ground for Asia-based hedge-fund managers over the years, Point72 is not immune to staff defections. Former Asia chief Angus Wai quit last year and is now heading the Asia business of Folger Hill, the $750 million hedge-fund firm led by ex-SAC Chief Operating Officer Sol Kumin. William Leung, a long-time fund manager, left this year to set up his own firm Kadensa Capital, according to SFC records..Point72 saw 12.5 percent of its global employees leave in the first eight months of this year, of which 5 percent was voluntary, Binenfeld said. That 's half of the industry average of about 25 percent, she added. On average, its fund managers stay for 7.5 years, versus 3.9 years for the industry, according to a Barclays Plc report last year..To contact the reporter on this story: Bei Hu in Hong Kong at email@example.com. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam at email@example.com, Peter Vercoe


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On the Fourth Day of Christmas, Della Terra Teas sent me this tea!
Backlogging on this one a bit, because like the other 12 Days of Christmas teas from DTerra Teas – thanks Azzrian! :) – I wanted to write up the review in time to have it publish this morning. (or afternoon if you're on the east coast).
I really like this tea. Delicious chocolate-y, raspberry-ish flavor. Sweet, tangy, and really yummy. Here is my full-length review of it: http://sororiteasisters.com/2012/12/17/on-the-fourth-day-of-christmas-della-terra-teas-sent-to-me/


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Experienced Tire Services In Orlando, FL
Tropical Tire And Auto Service provides a wide range of new and used tires, wheels, services and repairs to drivers in Orlando and the surrounding areas, including Casselberry, Ocoee, Winter Park and Plymouth. We provide services for all the top brands like Pirelli , Goodyear, Michelin, BF Goodrich, Multi-Mile, Yokohama, Kelly, Dunlop, Hercules and many more.
Our Services Include The Following:
- New Tires And Wheels
- Used Tires And Wheels
- Tire Service And Repair
- State And County Waste Tire Collection
- Nitrogen Available


text: New sites in Port Phillip Bay and Western Port scheduled for dredging 10/08/2017 A recent review of the maintenance dredging program recommended changes to the dredging schedule in Port Phillip and Western Port, as well as some additional sites to be dredged over the next ten years. Sites that have traditionally been dredged infrequently have been included in the program as most of these sites will need some level of maintenance within the next ten years. In most cases, the sites will require further detailed investigation and funding prior to dredging. The new sites include: Queenscliff Moorings Brighton Harbour Hampton Harbour and Jetty Patterson River Estuary Hastings Jetty Williamstown Precinct To provide greater safety, efficiency, and environmental protection, some sites have had changes to their dredging design. These include: Patterson River depth increased to -5.0m Mordialloc, length of dredge area Queenscliff, increase of dredge area to include mooring area for ferry and dredge Portarlington new entry channel and depth within the harbour Werribee, depth increased to -2.5m New methodology at Tankerton for in water disposal Parks Victoria is the waterway manager for the local ports of Port Phillip and Western Port. Since 1998, Parks Victoria has managed an ongoing maintenance dredging program to facilitate safe boating access to local port facilities and harbours within its jurisdiction and control. You can download fact sheets on the management plans for individual sites on the Parks Victoria website here.


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Scripture: Isaiah 14:12-21
In Isaiah 14, we have a revelation of the origin of satan and God's response to his rebellion. As we continue to read, we find that God makes a commitment, and that commitment is to stop the destruction that comes when one generation completely gives itself to do evil. This is necessary because God covenanted to not flood the earth a second time. God said before their children would build cities and fill the earth again, He would wipe them out. Verse 21 is one of the strongest statements in Scripture about arresting the spread of evil before it defiles the earth. It says, "Prepare slaughter for his children Because of the iniquity of their fathers, Lest they rise up and possess the land, And fill the face of the world with cities." God is absolutely committed to stopping the spread of evil and whenever we find it in Scripture, we find the releasing of His Sword to address it. Are we prepared to intercede for the Sword of the Lord to stop the spread of evil in order to gain a harvest? When iniquity is full judgment comes. The enemy's strategy is to fill the land with iniquity, destroying any potential harvest! The "Sword of the Lord" aborts that plan.


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We all love our dogs and consider them an important member of the family. They are endearing, very loyal pets and they deserve the right diet to keep them fit and healthy. Many believe that the domesticated dog originates from the wolf. Research into the wolves' natural eating habits shows that their diet consists of mostly meat and some berries, wild herbs and roots. This diet has remained unchanged throughout the course of evolution. Wolf of Wilderness grain-free dog food is based on these eating habits and will appeal to your dog's natural instincts.
The wholesome wet food is similar to the wolf's natural diet. It is well accepted, easy to digest and provides your pet with a balanced nutrient uptake. Wolf of Wilderness wet dog food contains at least 66% pure meat. This is the sole source of animal protein and also provides your pet with essential fatty acids as well. The only other ingredients are fruits of the forest (mixed berries), wild herbs and roots. Cranberries, blackberries, and raspberries, together with dandelion roots and wild herbs such as nettle leaves, common yarrow and dandelion root, provide important minerals as well as secondary plant matter. The premium quality ingredients provide your trusty pet with a tasty, natural meal and you can be sure that you are feeding your dog with a species appropriate diet. This delicious wet food is well accepted and suitable for dogs with nutritional sensitivities.
Wolf of Wilderness – Wild and Free!
Wolf of Wilderness Adult 24 x 800g is available in the following varieties:
- Green Fields - Lamb with fruits of the forest, roots and wild herbs:
Dogs love the hearty taste of lamb and it's a great source of healthy animal protein
- Wild Hills - Duck with fruits of the forest, roots and wild herbs:
Great tasting duck meat provides lots of easy to digest protein and fats
- Oak Woods - Wild Boar with fruits of the forest, roots and wild herbs:
Hearty tasting wild boar is very digestible. Blueberries and blackberries add an extra dimension
- Arctic Spirit - Reindeer with fruits of the forest, roots and wild herbs:
Juicy reindeer meat is a source of premium protein. Cranberries and blackberries provide healthy vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately due to a shortage of raw ingredients, this variety will invariably be out of stock. We apologise for any inconvenience!
- Mixed pack - 8 x Green Fields, 8 x Wild Hills, 8 x Oak Woods:
For plenty of variety with this species-appropriate, original food
- The Taste of Canada:
Fresh beef with tasty cod and turkey, enriched with Canadian cranberries
- The Taste of Scandinavia:
Delicious salmon and reindeer from Scandinavia, with regional typical chicken and blueberries
- The Taste of the Mediterranean:
Great-tasting lamb, chicken and trout with olive and rosemary extract and regional typical elderberries
More information about the Wolf of Wilderness brand philosophy and entire food range, including ingredients and feeding recommendations, can be found here: Wolf of Wilderness Dog Food
Wolf of Wilderness wet dog food at a glance:
- 100% grain-free recipes
- Mono protein
- High meat content, min. 66%
- Enriched with fruits of the forest (mixed berries), wild herbs and roots
- Suitable for dogs with grain allergies
- Made in Germany
- No artificial preservatives, colours or aromas
- Wolf of Wilderness dog food reflects the feeding patterns of the wild wolf and ensures that your dog has a balanced intake of nutrients.
Wolf of Wilderness – Wild and Free!


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American Pipit from January 2010. Typically i have observed these birds at some distance in farmer's fields or foraging on mudflats during migration. This close view of a wintering bird trying to keep warm was a special treat.
Northern Saw-whet Owl. I have been fortunate to see many of these beautiful birds....but this open sunlit view was a rare opportunity. Please note, no branches were removed, damaged or brushed aside to create this opportunity. Every effort was made to avoid disturbing the bird. Unbelievably....birders and photographers can co-exist peacefully (even within the same individual). Unethical, Immoral or Selfish people are the only problem with either pursuit.
Northern Cardinal
Adult Glaucous Gull in flight
One of my dogs in the snow. It's a Pekingese.
Red-tailed Hawk
Male Cardinal on an overcast winter day. I was pleased with the artistic result of this shot, and the unobstructed view.
Dunlin may be a relatively common bird....especially for those on the coast, but getting close views of dunlin approaching breeding plumage in spring migration in landlocked south-central ontario was a treat.
Upland Sandpiper
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Adult Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak. I was very happy with the environment and the background in this shot. They seemed to help add interest and depth to the subject bird with contrasting colour schemes and textures.
More commonly observed in the fall migrating overhead....summer sightings of Broadwinged Hawks are a rare treat in southern Ontario. Having the opportunity to photograph a brief flight relatively low overhead was a special treat.
Sunshine in the deep woods - looks pretty without the mosquitos doesn't it! One of my few landscape shots of the year; i find myself coming back to review it regularly. I really enjoyed the contrast and vibrant green reflections framed by the trees. If birds didn't keep me so busy...i think i could have fun with landscapes.
Among my early attempts to include butterflies within the scope of my lens, i was especially pleased with the angle of this shot and the commanding view of the Red Admiral.
I was able to observe this rare endangered bird in Ontario at the end of the breeding season. I lay in the sand perhaps 150ft away from the bird, and to my surprise....it walked right past me as it meandered down the beach. Thanks to Brendan Toews for first spotting the bird, and the many volunteers who worked to protect and preserve their habitat.
My friends delight in the lengths i will go to to capture a shot ethically. This shot was an especially popular story as i was basically at ground level in a sewage lagoon waiting for a baird's sandpiper to walk past. I especially enjoyed when others remarked how pretty a sewage lagoon can be!
Cape May Warbler - added to life list in September 2010 - Magee Marsh Boardwalk. This was one of my "nemesis" warblers - proving to be much more difficult to capture in a photo than expected based on their commonality. So i was quite pleased with the opportunity to observe some at close range in the fall.
Le Conte's Sparrow - Ammodramus leconteii - Waterdown, ON
I really enjoyed the overall colour scheme in this shot with the Fox Sparrow complemented by the dried reeds in the background and cracked wood perch.
Newsstand by NYSE. I spend most of my time on birds; so the opportunity to pick some unnatural subjects and just have some fun was rewarding. I liked this shot...and specifically the subtle "no standing" sign....as nobody here stood still.
Merlin Falcon with lunch (suspect Tree Sparrow)


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A Dia de los Muertos workshop will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Buddy Holly Center, 1801 Crickets Ave.
The event is for all ages and is $7.
Pre-registration is needed by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 29.
Decorate a sugar skull, make a skeleton pet and create macaroni skeletons.
For more information, call 775-3562.


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The topic of this blog post
the poem: "Community Creatures"
is best presented with a rhyme
a rhyme, that is, which features
An invitation to peruse
by clicking on this LINK
the observations of a poet
that both entertain and make you think
My introduction, above, is presented with apologies to "real" poets everywhere, including the creator of the very clever verse titled: Community Creatures.
If you take just a very few minutes to read Community Creatures you will easily find yourself and/or your favorite group within at least one of its five stanzas. Solo bloggers, social bloggers, and those of you dedicated to or entranced by forums or wikis are all represented in a way that will surely make you smile and nod. We "creatures" have been captured!
Even if you normally ignore poetry, rhyme or free verse I really think you'll enjoy Community Creatures.
. And while you're there, click on the "Trails" link at the top of the page to find other cleverly rendered poems on your favorite topics.
This post is sponsored by Community Creatures


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For nearly a month, the Nashville Predators showed they haven't been fazed by a condensed schedule or a rash of injuries.
After a hot start on the road, the Predators look to snap a four-game skid away from home when they meet the woeful Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.
Nashville (19-8-1) closed November with back-to-back losses, but goes for its third straight win after beating the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 on Monday. The Predators completed a stretch of 13 games in 24 days by going 7-5-1 and sit atop the Central Division.
That success is more impressive considering the offensive firepower that's been sidelined. Currently on injured reserve are Viktor Arvidsson (broken thumb), P.K. Subban, Kyle Turris and Filip Forsberg -- all dealing with upper-body injuries.
The four injured players account for 29 of the club's 90 goals scored.
"We're trying to play the same way," Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said following the win over the Sabres. "I still think you need to be on the attack, you can't just sit back and defend."
The Predators tallied 11 goals while winning each of their last two games in Vancouver. Laviolette remarked that his team must remain at the top of its game regardless of who is in the lineup.
"For the last eight to 10 games, with a lot of key pieces out of the lineup, I just think it's important that we stay with our identity, but we also understand there's less room for error and we need to stay sharp," he said.
Since Arvidsson went down on Nov. 10, Austin Watson has five goals in only 10 games. Nick Bonino and Kevin Fiala each have four in 12 and 13 games, respectively.
Nashville began the 2018-19 campaign by reeling off eight straight regulation wins on the road. The club has gone 0-3-1 away from home since then and Pekka Rinne could get the call to help end the skid.
The Vezina Trophy winner leads the league with a 1.81 goals-against average, and has surrendered no more than one goal in four of his last five starts at Rogers Arena.
Vancouver (11-16-3) has failed to make the playoffs in each of the last three seasons and is sinking in the Pacific Division. The Canucks, who fell 3-2 to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, are looking for their second win in 14 games.
"Our team hasn't got the results, and it's hard when you don't win, but I'll give our team credit, they're going out and competing. They're not letting themselves not show up. And that's hard when you haven't won in a while," coach Travis Green told the team's official website.
Over the last 13 games, no one has stood out on offense. Nioklay Goldobin, a healthy scratch against the Wild, Bo Horvat, Tyler Motte and rookie star Elias Petterson each have three goals. Vancouver is in the bottom third of the league with 2.77 goals scored per game
The Canucks' defense isn't much better, yielding a total of 103 goals through 30 games.
Jacob Markstrom is 0-2-1 with a. 3.70 GAA and an .895 save percentage in his career against Nashville. Anders Nilsson surrendered a career-worst seven goals in a home loss to the Predators on Dec. 13, 2017. Also, Nilsson has lost six straight starts while logging an .884 save percentage.


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Cultural Resources Survey of a Proposed Well Pad Location (IPB Placid, Et AL Fee 6-1) in Kisatchie National Forest, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana
Author(s): Malcolm K. Shuman
Year: 1990
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded.
If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Cite this Record
Cultural Resources Survey of a Proposed Well Pad Location (IPB Placid, Et AL Fee 6-1) in Kisatchie National Forest, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. Malcolm K. Shuman. 1990 ( tDAR id: 139260)
This Resource is Part of the Following Collections
Investigation Types
Archaeological Overview
Cultural Resource • Pedestrian Survey • Well Pad
Geographic Keywords
22069 (Fips Code) • Louisiana (State / Territory) • Natchitoches (County) • North America (Continent) • Red River • United States of America (Country)
Spatial Coverage
min long: -93.442; min lat: 31.347 ; max long: -92.716; max lat: 32.148 ;
Individual & Institutional Roles
Sponsor(s): Placid Oil Company
Prepared By(s): Surveys Unlimited Research Associates, Inc.
Record Identifiers
NADB document id number(s): 4101448
NADB citation id number(s): 000000078442
General Note: Sent from: Surveys Unlimited Research Associates, Inc.
General Note: Submitted to: Placid Oil Company


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Gateway Church, Zach Neese
Gateway Church, Sion Alford
LaMar Boschman, Gateway Worship


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Arkansas (McSweeney's Rectangulars)
McSweeney's, March 2008. First Edition. Hardcover. Arkansas is a biting first novel full of wet T-shirt contests, illicit drugs, and cross-country road trips. There are the days: the dappled grounds, the aimless yardwork, the hours in the booth giving directions to families in SUVs. And then there are the nights..... More


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TBS Barcelona
Toulouse Business School is currently one of the few business schools (only 1% worldwide) to have obtained the industry's three international accreditations: EQUIS, AMBA, and AACSB. It has over 100 years of history, a network of over 35,000 alumni, 4,500 students who study in its classes every year, three campuses— Toulouse (France), Barcelona (Spain), and Casablanca (Morocco)— and a training center in Paris.
- TBS Barcelona, formerly ESEC, was created in 1995 by the ESC Toulouse Group and the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Barcelona with the pioneering goal of opening a highly international business school with the quality of the Grandes Écoles that would allow its students to easily move within the linguistic, cultural and business spheres.
- Toulouse Business School took control of ESEC in 2004 and converted it into the Group's Iberian campus: the Barcelona Campus.
- Due to the school's continued growth, in 2008 the Barcelona Campus opened new facilities in the heart of Barcelona (See map).
- In 2013, it officially became known as Toulouse Business School and its Barcelona Campus (ESEC) became TBS Barcelona.
As a result of this international presence, we are able to offer our students the possibility of studying in three countries and in various languages, we can select the best Spanish and international upper secondary school students, and we offer our partner universities the chance to host their students in the heart of a world-renowned city.
In Barcelona, we propose the university studies program Bachelor in Management which enables students to earn an official French undergraduate degree certified by the "Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche".
We also offer two masters: MSc Marketing Management and MSc Finance, both double degree with local institution UPC (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya).
Students at the Barcelona Campus have a very international origin: 24% are Spanish students, 24% are French students, and 52% are international students from more than 25 countries. Teaching is personalized, focused on preparing students for their professional future, and with a large degree of international openness. Classes are taught in English and/or Spanish.
Information about your Library loans
The overdue date of your loans is 01/09/20. If by then we can not come back to the library it will be longer.
You can either bring them to the Barcelona library when the school will reopen. In case you are back in France you can bring them at the library of Toulouse and they will send them back to us.


text: Since the summer, arts companies have had to fill out a form stating that they agree to perform in the settlements [Reuters] Haifa - Israel's far-right culture minister, Miri Regev, scored a significant victory last week in her self-declared war on the country's cultural establishment. Israel's national theatre company Habima, it was revealed, had agreed to perform for the first time in Kiryat Arba, a notoriously violent settlement next to the Palestinian city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank. Israel's national theatre company has agreed to perform in settlement for first time [Getty Images] The move was a blow to Israeli artists who oppose efforts by Benjamin Netanyahu's government to force them to treat the settlements as a "normal" part of Israel, said Ala Hlehel, a writer and cultural critic from Israel's large Palestinian minority. The settlements are illegal under international law and widely viewed as an insurmountable obstacle to a two-state solution. Regev welcomed the decision, saying Habima had become a "central pioneer in treating all citizens of the state as equal in their right to experience culture". But, according to Hlehel, the decision will intensify pressure for a cultural boycott of Israeli companies when they try to tour overseas. "Israeli artists have long argued that they only deal with knowledge and culture and have nothing to do with politics," he told Al Jazeera. "But that no longer sounds credible when Habima and others decide to perform in a notorious settlement like Kiryat Arba." READ MORE: The bookseller saving Jerusalem's Palestinian identity Regev is like a politician from the dark regimes of Europe's past. She especially wants to silence the Palestinian narrative, and especially the Nakba and what really happened in 1948. Tamer Nafar, a well-known Israeli-Palestinian rapper The Israeli Haaretz daily recently described Kiryat Arba, home to 7,000 religious extremists, as "a symbol of the injustices of the occupation". It has erected a commemorative park to the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, whose virulently anti-Arab Kach movement was outlawed in the 1990s. Many inhabitants continue to openly support Kahane's views. The park includes the grave of Baruch Goldstein, a settler who shot dead 29 Palestinians worshipping at the nearby Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron in 1994. The grave has been a site of pilgrimage for extremist settlers ever since. Ahmed Tibi, a parliament member from the Joint List party, accused Regev of using financial pressure to arm-twist cultural institutions into performing in the settlements. He told Al Jazeera: "Regev is blackmailing Israeli artists and theatres to break with their consciences and perform in the occupied territories or lose their public funding." The Israeli Dervish - Al Jazeera World Since the summer, arts companies have had to fill out a form stating that they agree to perform in the settlements. Those refusing to do so face a budget cut of 30 percent, as well as becoming ineligible for a 10 percent bonus funding. The Israeli media noted that the cash-strapped Habima has been dependent on special handouts from the culture ministry for many years. Regev, a former spokeswoman for the Israeli military and a member of Netanyahu's ruling Likud party, was determined to silence those opposed to the government's far-right agenda, said Tibi. In addition to the demand that artists perform in the settlements, Regev has also begun drafting a "cultural loyalty law". It would strip companies of public funds if they: question Israel as a "Jewish and democratic state"; denigrate state symbols such as the flag; or commemorate the Nakba, the catastrophe that befell Palestinians in 1948 when they were dispossessed of their homeland. That has left artists from Israel's Palestinian minority, a fifth of the population, especially exposed, said Hlehel. "The government always starts by targeting the Palestinian community [in Israel] because they are the most vulnerable and no one in the rest of the society is willing to stand up for them," he said. "But it won't end there. The real goal is to use the fight against Palestinian artists to intimidate major cultural institutions like Habima." In recent weeks, Regev has twice publicly clashed with a well-known Israeli-Palestinian rapper, Tamer Nafar, whose lyrics are notable for tackling both the occupation and issues of racism towards Israel's 1.7 million Palestinian citizens. In September, during the Ophir film awards, she stormed out while Nafar recited lines from a poem by Mahmoud Darwish, the Palestinian national poet. She said the performance was "a disgrace in which red lines were crossed". And last month Regev continued her campaign against Nafar by demanding that the mayor of Haifa deny him a platform at the city's annual Haifa Film Festival. Although Nafar's performance went ahead, he faced sustained heckling from right-wing groups in the audience. Notably during her speech at the film awards, Regev made a veiled threat to Israel's film funds that she was still considering who to support in the future. Nafar told Al Jazeera that Regev was seeking "revenge" for his recent film Junction 48, which was highly critical of Israel but received financial help from one of the funds. "Regev is like a politician from the dark regimes of Europe's past," he said. "She especially wants to silence the Palestinian narrative, and especially the Nakba and what really happened in 1948." READ MORE: The dolls that defend Palestinian culture Earlier this year, Regev insisted that all cultural and sports venues, including those located in Palestinian communities in Israel, should be required to raise the Israeli flag on national holidays such as Independence Day. That is when Palestinian citizens mark the Nakba. Then in July she asked the attorney general how she could end funding for the Tel Aviv Cinematheque, a prominent arthouse cinema that has hosted controversial events, including a film festival on the Nakba and a conference for those refusing to serve in the army. The same month she lashed out at Israel's Army Radio for broadcasting a programme on Darwish, whose poetry often relates to the Nakba and Palestinian identity. She accused the station of "going off the rails" and urged the defence ministry to cut funds to the station. Almost as soon as Regev took over the culture ministry 18 months ago, she clashed with Israel's arts establishment, which is seen by the right as an outpost of liberalism. She called them "tight-assed, hypocritical and ungrateful" people who "think they know everything". In protest, dozens of artists greeted her at a theatre awards ceremony in Tel Aviv last year with their mouths taped shut. The Wanted 18 - Featured Documentary But Sinai Peter, a professor of theatre studies at the Western Galilee College, near Acre, said Habima's decision to appear in Kiryat Arba suggested Regev was turning a corner in her battle. "She has been making an example of Palestinian artists to intimidate Jewish artists into submission, and in part it is working," he told Al Jazeera. Last year Regev targeted two prominent Palestinian theatres in Israel. Al Midan in the northern city of Haifa lost its funding for 10 months after it staged a play based on the lives of Palestinian political prisoners. Regev also threatened the funding of Elmina children's theatre in Jaffa, near Tel Aviv, after its actor-director, Norman Issa, vowed he would not perform in the settlements. Issa backtracked after a hastily convened meeting with Regev. Peter said Jewish artists were increasingly reluctant to speak out. It was normal, he noted, to find a replacement for actors who objected to performing during the Sabbath on religious grounds. But he was unaware of any of Habima's actors requesting to be replaced for the Kiryat Arba production next week on political grounds. "It takes courage for artists to take a stand against the settlements when they see they have so little support from the wider Israeli public," he said. "And they have to think where they will find work next if they adopt unpopular political positions." Nafar agreed: "Initially, there was a lot of opposition to Regev from artists but slowly she is winning. People are starting to self-censor, which is the worst kind of censorship." Al Jazeera World - Lost cities of Palestine But Nadim Nashif, director of Baladna, an organisation helping Palestinian youth in Israel, said there might be a positive side to Regev's insistence on "patriotism" from artists. "For decades most preferred to claim politics and culture don't mix," he told Al Jazeera. "They avoided taking a clear position on fundamental issues, including on the settlements. Now that's no longer tenable. They have to clarify where they stand." Nashif pointed out that Habima had been previously targeted by boycott protests. In 2012, there were large demonstrations both inside and outside London's Globe Theatre as Habima staged a production of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. "After it performs in Kiryat Arba, the protests are going to grow much larger. No one can any longer claim that Habima is engaged purely in cultural rather than political activity." SOURCE: Al Jazeera Middle East Palestine Israel Arts & Culture


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ANTIGUA, WEST INDIES — The other day as Louie the Boat Driver and I eased out of English Harbor on this island we rigged two stout lines off the stern and pointed the bow into the Trade Winds.
The trades blow from the northeast unrelentingly and our 27 foot open boat climbed atop cascading rollers before falling off their backsides precipitously.
To port we trolled a squid-type bait and to starboard a hard bait. Each ran at or near the surface and trailed our boat one or two large waves back.
We were the only fishing boat in sight. But not the only fishermen.
Up the coast, Thieu Henry, 26, and Bernard Lewis were just then shuffling slowly backward into the Atlantic Ocean. The men wore giant swim fins and after they had walked backward far enough and when the water was deep enough they dissolved into it.
Then they turned and began swimming.
The men wore face masks and each carried a spear gun.
At age 47, Bernard Lewis has spear fished for 30 years and hopes to make it another five or six years. He needs the money spear fishing brings him — maybe $60 U.S. on good days — but spear fishing is very demanding physically and he is unsure how long he can last.
He is reminded of this now as he and Thieu Henry swim in the aquamarine water that rings Antigua, over the estuaries where many smaller fish reproduce, toward York Island.
When they reach York Island they swim to its windward side and spend the next five or six hours diving there.
No boats. No life jackets. No wet suits.
"We fish in 30 feet of water, mostly,'' Bernard Lewis says. "The fish are all near the bottom. We dive to the bottom, swim until we find fish, and shoot.''
Each man swims with a wire attached to him, and when a fish is killed, it is strung through the wire toward its end. A cork float on the surface marks the end of the wire, and the wire, the fish and the float follow each man throughout the day.
"The problem,'' said Louie the Boat Driver, explaining the difficulties of spear fishing, "is that the more fish a spear fisherman kills and puts on the wire, the bigger an attraction he is to sharks.''
Hour after hour, the men dive, looking for fish. The spear guns are spring loaded and the spears themselves are tethered to the guns so they can be used repeatedly.
Some spear fishermen on Antigua dive as deep as 70 feet for fish, and can stay under water for more than two minutes.
"The more you practice, the longer you can stay under water,'' Bernard Lewis said.
Usually the fish the men shoot are not big. Some are only the size of large crappies. Others are twice that big and more.
"We can only shoot six or seven feet, so we have to be pretty close to the fish,'' Thieu Henry said.
"Some fish get scared away as we approach, others don't,'' Bernard Lewis said.
Many fish the men kill are remindful of aquarium fish. Wildly colored, they are poked one by one onto the men's wires and trail behind them on the surface.
Louie the Boat Driver and I missed the first fish that hit.
That fish smacked the squid bait and somehow jumped the hook.
Our next fish hit on the other side and when it did Louie the Boat Driver killed the outboards. Without the engines our open boat lacked purchase and we were cast about in the rough seas. We braced our feet and knees along the boat's gunnels as the boat tumbled. Louie the Boat Driver reeled in the other line and as he did I struggled with the bending rod while line tore from its reel.
Then the rod went slack.
Whatever the fish was broke a 5-inch hook completely off the hard bait.
We headed in.
So did Thieu Henry and Bernard Lewis, swimming through waves, 35 pounds of colorful fish trailing behind.
"We saw only one shark today, a lemon shark,'' Bernard Lewis said. "The bad part is it's jelly fish season, and we get stung all over our bodies, all day.''


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As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, we recently stumbled across a bound volume of Godey's Lady's Book from 1853. Once a month now, I'll post the collection of fashion-related plates and articles that appeared in each monthly issue. I'll begin with January, in hope and anticipation that you costuming ladies out there might find inspiration for a new winter project. This will give plenty of time for plotting and planning and sewing in advance of the season!
I apologize in advance for the quality of the images. Although I have a scanner, I've discovered that there's no way I can preserve the integrity of the already fragile binding of the book and lay it flat. That means photos are the only options, and even those are difficult to achieve because of the tightly bound pages. I've done my best to ensure that everything is as clear and visible and undistorted as possible, but if there's something you really can't read or see and would like to have clarified, just let me know and I'll see what more I can do. I've set the images up so that if you click on them, they'll link you to their flickr page, where you'll be able to enlarge them all considerably and thus more easily read each one. Enjoy!
Description is below.
If you'd like to use or re-post or share these images, you're certainly welcome to do so. The only thing we ask is that credit is given where due: please provide a link back to this blog with the re-posted picture. Thanks!


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We were in Colorado this past weekend, where it actually felt like fall...and then winter. A huge winter storm rolled in on Sunday and we made it out of town just in time. Vail Pass was closed overnight because of the poor driving conditions and the next morning our neighbors reported that we had gotten over a foot of snow! Hopefully this is a good omen for ski season. And then we returned to the land of eternal summer, but I can still pretend it is fall and make all sorts of soups for the 90 degree weather. This recipe is adapted from The Neelys on Food Network.
4 pieces thick-sliced bacon, chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 small jalapeno, chopped seeds and ribs removed
2 cloves garlic minced
¼ cup all-purpose flour
4 cups chicken stock
2 large red potatoes, well scrubbed and small diced
1 cup half and half
16 ounces frozen corn
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
In a Dutch oven over medium heat, cook the bacon until, remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate. Add the onions and red pepper, sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the jalapeno and garlic, saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the flour until thoroughly combined. Cook the flour until it reaches a slight blonde color, about 1 minute. Stir in the chicken stock and the potatoes and simmer for 10 minutes; potatoes will become soft. Add the half and half, corn, cayenne and bay leaf. Simmer for 15 more minutes. Pour into a serving bowl and garnish with the reserved bacon.
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Culture Vulture
For decades, skin-bleaching creams like Fair & Lovely and Fair & Handsome have been marketed to South Asian men and women telling them lighter skin would make them more beautiful, more successful and even help them get married. Unfair and Ugly, a new show centered around a South Asian Muslim family in California is trying to challenge this notion, as well as other problematic norms in desi communities.
Created by two women from California, Nida Chowdhry, 30, a first-generation Pakistani American and Yumna Khan, 24, a first generation Indian American – the six-episode "dramedy" tackles all things taboo in Muslim South Asian culture including the stigma of mental illness, racism, and the pressure to get married (to a South Asian). The show explores how immigrant families must often reckon dueling identities as well as how cultural and generational gaps between parents and children can impact family dynamics.
In the United States, 22.5 per cent of children were born to immigrant parents in 2014. This means almost a quarter of children born in America are growing up in a different country to their parents', presumably dealing with the same cultural gap that Nida and Yumna try to highlight in their series. But the show is not just for the South Asian communities. Nida and Yumna believe that the themes and storylines in the show are universal and relatable to everyone.
Nida, who writes the show and Yumna, who produces it are encouraged by the mainstream success of other South Asians in Hollywood, people like Mindy Kaling, Hasan Minhaj, Aziz Ansari and Kumail Nanjiani who have been able to tell their own stories, many times on their own terms. Artists who have established that South Asian characters can play roles other than terrorist, silent cab driver, nerdy IT guy and/or a doctor making a cameo. But perhaps, more importantly for networks and production companies, these actors who have demonstrated that diverse voices can be commercially viable, even profitable.
"I grew up in Orange County and have always been impacted by media representation. By the time I was in college, I knew I wanted to create entertainment with more black and brown families with multi-dimensional characters, especially female characters," Nida said in a phone interview.
Wanting to take control of their own narrative, Nida and Yumna quit their jobs and started a production company, Stranger Magic Productions. The pair raised almost $39,000 USD for the show through a vigorous social media and crowd funding campaign. The show's concept trailer has been viewed 1.2 million times across all social media platforms and the show will launch mid 2018.
"The digital landscape has really made things more accessible. Mental health and racism are such taboo topics in our immigrant communities. We wanted to address these issues so we can start to build conversations around them," Yumna told Instep.
For Yumna and Nida, creating authentic characters meant highlighting their flaws. The storylines are often nuanced and messy, reflective of real people and actual situations that often take place in South Asian and other immigrant communities. The pair hopes the show will reach Pakistani audiences.
"I totally watched Indian and Pakistani dramas while growing up and I can see those audiences relating to our diasporic characters," Nida concluded.


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Quite honestly, I can never get enough orcs. They are the near perfect mass mob of foes for nearly any fantasy setting. We all love monsters, but a race premised on constant war and contempt for all other races–those are some baddies. So I approached Ben Holsclaw's The Orc Raiders expecting a meat grind (and was satisfied) but also discovered some strong roleplay elements that would fit well into any campaign making this module perfect as a one-shot, side quest, or adventure plot point in your own campaign.
Holsclaw has written a solid background for the encounter giving DMs and PCs plenty motivation A band of orcs have created a semi-permanent camp in a series of caves near a trade route. From their camp, the orcs have been harrying travels and usually avoiding guarded caravans but something has changed,
"You see it just as the breeze brings the scent of smoke to your nose. Ahead on the road is an overturned wagon, smouldering and blackened as the fire that consumed it has now died down to embers. Bodies are scattered about, several of which wear armor. Whatever hit this caravan hit it hard and fast."
As a scenario meant to be encountered as a party is traveling, this can be dropped into almost any campaign if it isn't used as just a one shot. Designed for up to five players level 5-7, the adventured is well balanced guiding players through winding caverns with progressively stronger monsters and foes to deal with. Holsclaw also updates a contextually appropriate 2e monster, the Mobat (a sort of dire bat), for 5e as a bit of flavor. For the most part, the task before players is quite straight-forward yet the end goal can be reached by more than a few paths dependent upon the degree of roleplay and player temperament.
While Holsclaw provides some text, he wisely prefers to set parameters within which DMs can add their own unique flavor. The maps Holsclaw provides are easy to follow, the monster stats fitting, and the reward/treasure decent enough (although, it can certainly be altered to provide a hook for ongoing campaigns). The Orc Raiders is a well crafted adventure evenly balanced between action and roleplay opportunity while never being overbearing or difficult to make one's own.
Rating: ♦♦♦♦◊
Recommended Party: I can't imagine players of any class not wanting to test their mettle against a rogue orc clan. However, given most of this adventure takes place in rather tight, underground tunnels, it may not be the best for druids. This seems like the kind of adventure where paladins and rangers would excel.


text: BUSINESS EMI digital chief out after short stint 10:31 AM PDT 3/24/2009 by Reuters , AP FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Cory Ondrejka promoted EMI Music said on Monday its president of digital music, Douglas Merrill, the ex-Google Inc. executive who joined less than a year ago, is leaving the company as his unit is being integrated into its main operations.Merrill's arrival at the struggling EMI was heralded as a big catch for the company in its move to become a more digital savvy business as traditional CD sales continue to plunge for all music companies.EMI, home to artists like Coldplay, Kylie Minogue and Beatles catalog, said it has promoted Cory Ondrejka to a newly created role of executive vice president of digital marketing. Ondrejka, a co-founder of virtual world Second Life, joined EMI as senior vice president of digital strategy in June 2008, just two months after Merrill.London-based EMI said digital music sales now make up more than a fifth of all its revenues and the company is completing the integration of all digital functions into its business operations and will no longer run a stand-alone digital unit. Merrill had previously overseen the digital unit.Most traditional music companies have struggled to transform their businesses as fewer people buy CDs and many retail outlets have closed down. Many music fans now download or stream songs on their computers, mobile phones and digital media players.EMI, which was taken private in a 2.4 billion pound ($3.5 billion) deal in 2007, has lost market share especially in the United States, with Warner Music Group replacing it as the third largest music company. FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Reuters email@example.com @thr AP email@example.com @thr


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Q&A: Cory Doctorow / Science-fiction novelist on Disney, Whuffie, Napster and what's wrong with San Francisco
2003-01-23 04:00:00 PDT San Francisco, California, USA -- Cory Doctorow is a true believer in the power of technology.
His first novel, "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom," is one of the first works to be published under the Creative Commons license -- an agreement that lets people copy and redistribute the book freely so long as they credit the author -- and is available for download on his Web site. That move puts Doctorow at the forefront of a growing digital rights movement.
Doctorow's novel is like a love letter to Napster, Google and Walt Disney World. It's a rollicking, fast-paced story and is entertainingly inventive without bogging down in the impressive array of future technologies it imagines. "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" (also published in hardcover this month by Tor Books) is set in a future where death has been eliminated, energy and raw materials are freely available in limitless quantities (much like MP3 files on KaZaA today) and people's nervous systems are wired directly into the Internet. The protagonist, Julius, works at Disney World, and the novel chronicles his struggles to protect the theme park's Haunted Mansion from being shut down by an ad hoc group of designers who have developed a technology for "flash baking" theme-park experiences directly into parkgoers' brains.
In his day job, Doctorow is outreach coordinator for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). He's also one of the primary contributors to the popular techie weblog BoingBoing, he co-founded a dot-com, OpenCola, and he has another science-fiction novel and a short-story collection due out later this year.
Like his character Julius, Doctorow is an archetypal geek, from his nerdy Drew Carey-style glasses to the bright yellow cell phone dangling from his cargo pants. I caught up with the prolific (and apparently highly caffeinated) Toronto native in his office at the EFF, where a blueprint of the Haunted Mansion hangs over his desk.
This will make me sound like I'm behind the times, but this is actually the first time I've read an entire novel on screen.
It would make me pretty happy if this book contributed in some way to the idea that reading books on the screen is good. I know that there's a meme that floats around that says, oh, reading off a screen is hard, and no one wants to do it and so on -- despite all the evidence to the contrary. Most of the people I know read off a screen for 12 hours a day.
I won't deny that there's a sentimental frisson of good feeling you get when you pick up a physical, paper book, especially one with your name on it. Books are nice, but they're not as nice as we make out.
I think that, ultimately, the role of books in the world of electronic publishing will be much like the role of live music in the world of recorded-music publishing. We'll still have plenty of paper books, but that will be dwarfed by the enormous size of the electronic-book universe.
You've written several novels, you're at work on two more, you work for the EFF and you've got a popular blog where you post 10 or more items a day. Where do you find the time?
Well, sleep is for the weak. I'll sleep when I'm dead.
The thing about it is that there is synergy. The stuff that I do for BoingBoing is basically research in support of EFF and the writing, and the blog is how I keep track of it. By doing it in public, I get lots of suggestions, and I also get a lot of feedback. BoingBoing is a net time saver because I get more research done with less effort, and I keep track of it better than I would if I were doing it privately.
The research that I do on EFF issues is also feeding the fiction. I published a story last August on Salon called "0wnz0red," about digital rights management and trusted computing. That came straight out of a briefing I got here.
In your book, you have a sort of alternate currency called Whuffie. The characters are constantly checking one another's Whuffie scores and looking for ways to earn more Whuffie. Can you explain the idea?
Well, currency is a way of keeping score today. Whuffie is how much esteem people hold you in. Currency is a really rough approximation of Whuffie. You can't really get a job without esteem. You generally can't get a mortgage with no esteem.
In the book, I have this sort of magical McGuffin technology, which is something that can automatically find out how you feel about everything that you have an opinion on. Then, someone who has a high opinion about me can ask me -- without any kind of conscious intervention -- how I feel about you. They can just ask the network, "How is it that Cory feels about you?" And that gives them some idea of how much time of day they should give you.
It sounds a little like walking around with your bank balance displayed in a box above your head at all times.
Well, it's true. Except, you know, we already do this, in some way. As currency is a rough approximation of your Whuffie, the things that currency affords, like your style of dress, your haircut, all the semiotics of your presentation, are descended from Whuffie. It's just that Whuffie's harder to [fake].
The Internet has made us very socially deviant, in the sense that social norms are enforced by groups. If you have some incredibly strange idea of, for instance, wearing underwear on your head, generally speaking, there is social disapprobation that keeps that factor in check. But on the Internet, you can basically exist in the communication spheres of people who have the same value system as yours, no matter how weird it may be. On the Internet, you don't get that pressure to return to a norm. In some ways, Whuffie is a way to make you more socially normative. It's not necessarily a good thing.
Why did you call it "Whuffie"?
The word is what we used in high school instead of "brownie points." A friend of mine pointed out, given the era that I went to high school in, that it almost certainly came from "The Arsenio Hall Show": "Woof, woof, woof."
Most of the book takes place at Disney World, and the plot centers around various factions' attempts to control the Haunted Mansion there. You seem a little fascinated -- almost obsessed -- with Disney.
(points out a large collection of Disney paraphernalia in his office) Yeah, I'm a little obsessed. There's so much to love and so much to hate about Disney World and about the Disney corporation that it's the perfect obsessive material for someone who wants to mine the cultural space.
I was raised by schoolteachers, and my grandparents were snowbirds. Every winter they would fly south to Fort Lauderdale to a gate-guarded, seniors-only community called Century Village that my dad likes to call "Cemetery Village." We took Christmas breaks in Lauderdale, and it was just about as dull as you can imagine for an eight- or nine-year-old. So we would get in the big, gas-guzzling land yacht that my grandfather drove, and we would go to Disney World for a couple of days. Christmas weekends every year, during my whole adolescence, were spent at Disney World, and I just became completely obsessed with it.
Walt's genius was that he would come up with incredibly novel, innovative things that could only be imitated after a couple of years. Meanwhile, he would have this very healthy margin until his competition figured out what he was doing and drove the price down to a competitive level. Then he would do the next thing. But when Walt died [in 1966], they just stopped doing that. They just started doing the same thing. They basically built a twin of Disneyland in Disney World, but bigger.
There's lots you can say about [Disney chairman and CEO Michael] Eisner that isn't very flattering, but the one thing you can say is that under Eisner's leadership, there has been a definite focus on innovation, at least in Florida. At Disneyland, unfortunately, they brought in these idiot McKinsey consultants, they stopped spending any money on R&D and they bought all these off-the-shelf midway rides, with Ferris wheels, for the California Adventure. They built this incredibly dreary, boring, banal theme park that is like an extremely clean but less fun version of the Santa Monica pier, and, unsurprisingly, it's a ghost town. You could fire a cannon down the main drag without hitting a tourist.
In the world of "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom," there's no death, there are unlimited resources, nanotechnology can create any object you desire (including a clone of yourself) and energy is free. What were you trying to accomplish by setting the story in that kind of world?
I wanted to clarify my own thinking about what a non-scarce economics looks like. Keynes and Marx and the great economic thinkers are all concerned with the management of resources that are scarce. If it's valuable, it needs to be managed, because the supply of it will dwindle. You need to avert the tragedy of the commons [the notion that self-interested individuals, such as sheepherders, will always use as much of a common resource as possible, such as a grassy pasture, until that resource is totally depleted].
Today, with things that can be represented digitally, we have the opposite. In the Napster universe, everyone who downloads a file makes a copy of it available. This isn't a tragedy of the commons, this is a commons where the sheep s*** grass -- where the more you graze, the more commons you get. So I took the idea of nanotechnology as the means whereby any good can be reproduced infinitely, at zero marginal cost, and tried to use that as a metaphor for the online world we actually live in.
The other side of it is this notion that you never really run out of scarcity. There are always limits on your time and attention, there are only so many people who can fit in a restaurant, only so many people who can converse at once. When you are beset on all sides by entertainment, figuring out which bits are worthwhile requires a level of attention that quickly burns all your idle cycles. When everyone watched Jackie Gleason on Thursdays at 9:30, it was a lot easier -- television watching required a lot less effort than whipping out your TiVo and figuring out which shows you want to prerecord.
What's your approach to writing?
It's really quotidian. I write a page a day, basically. With novels, once I get the first 20 or 25 percent on paper and an outline done, I usually make that semipublic. I have a list of about 200 or 300 first readers, and I e-mail them my page, every day, even before I spell-check it, hot off the word processor. They keep me really honest. When I miss a day, they e-mail me and nudge me.
I had a really successful experience doing that with my second book, "Eastern Standard Tribe" [due out in November 2003]. I wrote that between Aug. 1 and Dec. 12 of 2001, 60,000 words in five months, and actually managed to sell it within a week of my finishing it.
You've lived in San Francisco a while now. How do you like it here?
I've lived here since September of 2000. Right at the height of the boom.
I really miss Toronto. San Francisco's a really dysfunctional place. It has a lot of the downsides of living in a small town and a lot of the downsides of living in a big city, and it misses a lot of the upsides of both of those places. It's very hard to get from one place to another. The mass transit is so-so. Going from the Mission to downtown on foot feels about 10 times as long as it actually is. It's a Jane Jacobs nightmare of freeway overpasses and single-use neighborhoods.
The weather's OK, although it would be nice if the buildings were insulated, because when it's 40 degrees at night and you don't have insulation or central heating, damn, it's cold.
The thing about San Francisco that keeps me here is the people, the technology. This is ground zero for technologists. This is geek mecca, it's nirvana. But I heartily miss the Northeast. You can see the bones of a great city in San Francisco, and there are pockets of it that are like nothing else on Earth, but taken as a whole, it's really dysfunctional.
Also, I can't get my head around the private-medicine thing. I think this explains a lot about the various geek cultures of the U.K., Canada and the U.S. In the U.S., there is tons of venture capital, so everyone went out and started a company. In Canada, there are tons of socialized medicine, so everyone became a freelancer. If you're a freelancer [in the U.S.], and you're in poor health, and you can't get insured, you are embarking on a kind of slow suicide. And then, in the U.K., they had tons of arts grants, so all the geeks became Net artists, and that's why there's all this kind of strange, situationist, British Net art.
I'm told that Canada spends less money per capita giving away health care than the U.S. spends regulating it. So you're spending more money keeping the HMOs honest than it would cost you to give it away. That's a big difference between the American and Canadian mind-sets.
How many downloads of your book have there been so far?
There have been 47,334 from my site. Ninety downloads since we started talking. I hope to break 50,000 today.
That's just moving right along.
Hell, yeah!


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Our third segment started with an overnight stop at Manila in the Philippines. From there we went to Hong Kong for another overnight stay and then proceeded to Singapore where we were also overnight. it was the on to Phuket, Thailand and Colombo, Sri Lanka. We then crossed the Indian Ocean to visit the 3 small islands of Seychelles, Mauritius and Reunion which lie off the coast of Africa.
The pictures below represent the stops on our trip. Click on any of them to see the other pictures of that stop.


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Content Count19
Last visited
Days Won2
Everything posted by coasterfanatic
What did you think of the ride?
Any guesses as to why?
Return of DIAMONDSTACK
coasterfanatic replied to Genesis's topic in Kings IslandDid you get a chance to ride Banshee? I'm interested to hear your opinion.
kentucky kingdom new ride for 2014
coasterfanatic replied to Genesis's topic in Amusement IndustryThunder Run it is! This looks like a Chance Morgan Hyper GT-X Coaster (http://www.chancerides.com/coasters/hyper_gtx.html) There are also several other additions visible on the www.kentuckykingdom.com.
Flight Deck name change!
coasterfanatic replied to CP&LERR Fan's topic in Kings IslandOfficial Press release: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 29, 2013 The Bat flies again at Kings Island KINGS ISLAND, Ohio – Thirty-three years to the day it was first introduced in 1980, The Bat will fly again at Kings Island. The 364-acre amusement and waterpark is changing the name and colors of the Flight Deck roller coaster to The Bat. The change will take effect for the 2014 season. "There was a lot of passion and enthusiasm around this name change by our guests," Kings Island's vice-president and general manager Greg Scheid said. "They told us this is a name they wanted us to bring back. We listened and we're excited our guests will again be able to fly The Bat at Kings Island in 2014. "The name also fits the characteristics of the ride. Similar to a bat in flight, riders soar through the air, swooping, circling and diving unexpectedly as they enjoy this ride." The newly named Bat is similar to its predecessor as a suspended roller coaster with the tracks above the trains. When the coaster train turns a corner, the cars are designed to swing out to the side, sometimes swinging the riders parallel to the ground. The new color scheme for The Bat will feature orange track with two shades of charcoal for the columns and structure. Black will be the featured color of the trains. Designed by the Arrow Dynamics Company, The Bat was custom designed for Kings Island when it debuted as Top Gun in 1993. Riders soar over the tree tops and through a hilly wooden terrain and a series of sharp turns on this seventh generation steel roller coaster. The attraction celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2013, giving its 20-millionth ride in June. The Bat is one of 15 roller coasters at Kings Island, including the new world record-breaking Banshee set to debut in 2014. The original Bat operated for parts of three seasons from 1981 to 1983, giving 1.8 million rides.Kings Island is owned and operated by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, a publicly traded partnership that is listed for trading on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "FUN." In addition to Kings Island, Cedar Fair owns and operates ten other amusement parks, three outdoor water parks, an indoor water park, and five hotels. Cedar Fair also operates the Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park in Gilroy, Calif. under a management contract.
Kings island without an intamin coaster day....
coasterfanatic replied to Genesis's topic in Kings Island HistoryUnfortunately, I don't see it happening unless it is a mega-lite, zacspin, "family-launch" coaster, or impulse coaster like Wicked Twister.
I wouldn't mind going with Rick Ross. It would be interesting to hear if he grunts when startled.
coasterfanatic replied to Genesis's topic in Trip Reports & PlanningHe was a troll to the extreme with you, YoungStud.
What rides will be removed in the next 20 years At KI?
coasterfanatic replied to CP&LERR Fan's topic in The Rumor MillRacer is too iconic for that. I say BLSC because it is the definition of an eyesore, it isn't that great of a ride, and that spot has so much potential. It was beautiful before Paramount ruined it.
Banshee Construction Progress
coasterfanatic replied to CP&LERR Fan's topic in Kings IslandWell, at least that'll keep the train clean ;)
new to site
coasterfanatic replied to Genesis's topic in Kings IslandI'm new now too! I miss laughing at what my "bro" has to say, so here I am!
YoungStud I miss having you around for stuff like this! I would probably have to bring Mike Tyson, because, ya know, who wouldn't want to hang out with Mike Tyson?


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The creators of the World War One ceramic poppy display at the Tower of London will be honoured today with MBEs by the Duke of Cambridge at Buckingham Palace in recognition of the immersive 'Blood Swept Lands And Seas Of Red'. Sculptor Paul Cummins, 37, is awarded for his services to art and First World War commemorations and theatre designer Tom Piper, 50, receives his for services to theatre and First World War commemorations.
The artists were introduced to the Prince and the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry in August when the royals toured the installation which was made up of 888,246 ceramic poppies that were planted in the moat at the Tower. They represented each British or Colonial military death during the First World War.
A total of 1,164 people are honoured by the Queen on the New Year list, three-quarters of whom have been recognised for work in their communities. The awards are split equally between men and women. And a further 87 recipients are named on the Foreign Office list which recognises service overseas.
Photo: Courtesy Paul Cummins via Twitter all rights reserved


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Blue and All the Best bring Bollywood Box office Cheer
It was a highly awaited Diwali weekend for Indian Boxoffice. As with previous years, all eyes were on the movies releasing during Diwali as it's the best time of the year to get people to the theaters. This Diwali, three Bollywood movies released at the Box office, Blue, All the Best and Main Aurr Mrs Khanna.
The Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt starrer Blue was probably the one which created the maximum buzz. The movie had the right publicity going for it, had some of the best actors, good songs and thus, most of the shows nationwide were booked in advance. Eventually, Blue started well and is said to have done a net business of Rs 195 million (Rs 19.50 crore) in the first three days itself.
Ajay Devgn starrer All The Best was second in line and similar to past two years when Ajay Devgan's Golmal and Golmal Returns did well at the box office, everyone expected All the Best to do well as well. The movie did not disappoint by postng a net business of Rs 100 million (Rs 10 crore) in its opening weekend in India.
The only movie losing out in the Diwali euphoria was the Salman Khan starrer Main Aurr Mrs Khanna. The movie was a grim portrayal of the lives of a married couple and probably the movie did not justify a Diwali time release because Diwali is the time of happiness and fun, not of being sad. The Box Office Collections showed it's poor performance as the movie made just Rs 15 million (Rs 1.50 crore).


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Father's Day isn't just for DAD's it's also for those Fathers who are also Grandfathers! Grandfather's sometimes get lost in the shuffle. But truth be known, they shouldn't be! Father's Day is that one day in the year where we celebrate all the men who have had an impact on our lives. The men who […]
Summer Hats for Style and much more!
****UPDATE***** May 18, 2016 Today on the news it was reported that most Sunscreens that claim 30 SPF( sun protection factor) OR MORE do NOT offer the protection claimed. Making Hats an essential addition to your sun protection regiment. Be safe not sorry! Summer Hats a Necessary Item or Not? Summer Hats are […]
Fantastic Kinetic Garden Sculptures
Gardens like everything in life, come alive with movement and art. Kinetic Garden Sculptures give that extra bit of "Awe" into your gardening space. Even if you garden on a balcony, these sculptures will lend an air of excitement and give you time to enjoy the movement of the wind or breezes that blow through. […]
The Best Gardening Stool for Mom
The Best Rain Barrel
Garden Gifts for Mother's Day
10 Things to Do for Earth Day 2016
How to Attract Orioles to Your Garden
Orioles are another migratory bird that can be found in the northern US as well as southern Canada, in the summer months. They travel from South America to us in the summer months. Many people who enjoy attracting hummingbirds will also enjoy attracting Orioles as well. Baltimore Orioles are so pretty to see with their […]
Rainy Days and Mondays….
Spring Plants for Every Garden
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Shane Warne retires
That pretty much summed up our feelings for the first seven or eight years of Warne's international career. Stupid hair, thoughtless idiot always getting himself into trouble, irritating habit of making England batsmen look stupid. What's to like?
Turns out there's actually a lot to like about Shane Warne. He clearly loves cricket; he's massively professional, in the weirdest sort of way; he's a competitor in the most literal sense; he's wildly entertaining with the bat and utterly absorbing with the ball.
If you're reading this, you doubtless watch quite a bit of cricket. In any game there are passages of play which are less than engrossing. Have you ever been distracted while Shane Warne's got the ball in his hand? It's not just waiting for him to demonstrate each of his deliveries. It's not just that he might suddenly decide to spin one at right-angles. It's not just the ham-acting after each near miss.
When Shane Warne bowls, you can spend a good long while working out what he's trying to do. Every delivery has a reason. What's he trying to find out? What's he trying to do? Is he building up to something? Has he seen a weakness? He's moving the field. Why?
Basically, when Shane Warne's bowling, you don't know what's going to happen. That's why we like sport. If it were totally predictable, why would you need to watch? Think back only a couple of weeks to when he paralysed England during the second Test, taking 4-49 as England were all out for 129. That was the sequel to his 4-31 when England won the fourth Test at Trent Bridge in 2005. England got 129 to win, on that occasion, but it was nowhere near as easy as it should have been. That would be Shane's fault.
We'll finish with the first words we wrote about Warne here at King Cricket: "England require 12 runs to win and have all ten wickets in hand. Shane Warne's bowling and it genuinely feels like Australia are favourites."
Labels: retirement, Shane Warne


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GIGABYTE readying up GTX 470 SuperOverclock
Mmmm, *big* overclocks on tap right here
GIGABYTE had a large VGA display at Computex this year, the majority of which are made to stand out in the market using non-reference cooling solutions, factory overclocks and more attractive bundles.
One of the real standouts on display, though, would have been a new member of its highly impressive SuperOverclock series video cards that's based on the GTX 470. This is one GTX 470 well worth having and leaves the reference design for dead.
The GTX 470 SuperOverclock (GV-N470SO-13I) has been built using GIGABYTE's proprietory Ultra Durable VGA Plus (UDV+) technology on a modified (longer) PCB with superior VRM (12+2 phase). Further to this, GIGABYTE says it has hand-picked the GPU and memory chips for these particular cards to ensure optimum stability and the highest overclocking potential.
And we can't forget the icing on the cake, a mega beefy cooler with three large fans that have been inclined slightly to reduce turbulance. When you consider what a reference GTX 470 is already capable of when overclocking, it's exciting to imagine just how much farther this beast can go. Unfortunately clock speeds of the model have not yet been mentioned.
Last updated: Apr 7, 2020 at 11:17 am CDT
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Yesterday, after almost two months, the time has come and I have "harvested " my corn. This July I have decided to take a bear position on spread ZCN18-ZCH18. It was therefore spread within one harvest, which means fairly low-risk. Just exactly for my psyche and my account.
COT analysis
Why I have chosen bearish spread on corn? As many people already know, an important pier of my trading system is the COT analysis. This simply means looking at the backstage of the market, to the mood of important groups of market participants. And the hedgers and speculators this July suggested that the market is starting to be overbought, and there is a chance of growth stopping, or even price fall. The COT index has not been extremely high, but even lower numbers are usually sufficient for a profitable trade when it comes to corn bearish spreads.
COT index of large speculators
COT analysis of hedgers
Technical analysis
Corn daily chart
In addition, corn hit a double resistance – 400 cents and the falling trendline. Together with COT analysis, an interesting opportunity was created here.
Corn weekly chart
Full Carry Analysis
But that is not all. Very important information was given to me by Full Carry Analysis, as you can see in the following chart. The blue curve represents the current spread. Note the period our arrow is pointing at. In July, the spread was clearly underestimated compared to previous years. Spread was simply cheap and was interesting to think about it.
Full Carry Analysis
I am teaching my students that with this type of bearish spread, it is important to build you position gradually. I personally did not succeed this time. Immediately after my entry, the spread went straight up and didn't come back again into the lower areas (where I had other orders). In the following chart you can see my entry and exit from the position.
Stepping out of position
I decided to step out yesterday because COT is no longer so good. Also, Full Carry Analysis suggests that the spread is far from being that cheap. It has reached a normal band where there is no longer such an interesting potential for further growth. Seasonality also suggests stagnation.
You can see the result of the trade in the screenshot from the portfolio window of the TWS platform. Pleasant profit on one contract for this type of spread. The resulting RRR is roughly 1: 1, which is common for corn and lazy conservative bearish spreads.