text:
I've always been drawn to stories. For as long as I can remember, I've wondered about people, speculated about their lives and their emotional states. I've always dramatized the personal realities of the people I meet. When I was younger, I suffered with wanderlust, constantly curious about the stories I imagined lay behind the closed doors of my neighbors' houses, backlit by the dim blue TV light flickering through their living room windows. I didn't have a name for what I felt then; call it an overactive imagination, perhaps, or a desire to learn if the people I knew and didn't know, were really that different from my family and me. When I was old enough to wander freely around my urban Chicago neighborhood, I would make up scenes involving the people I knew, family dinners in progress or kids my age doing or ignoring their homework.
I wondered about my friends' parents, those mysterious creatures called "grownups" who remained mostly unseen until breakfast or dinner time, when they would descend into my childhood universe like strange, unknowable gods possessed of unimaginable powers: They could drive, they could come and go according to their own desires. Sometimes they fought or argued or wept at awkward moments. Sometimes they died, only we never witnessed their deaths, hidden, as they usually were, behind the doors of some equally mysterious hospital in some alien part of the city from which we were barred. When such a death occurred, we typically learned about it around the dinner table, the news conveyed by an adult family member; "Mister Jensen (John's grandfather) passed away last night." Such an announcement was always met by a stunned gasp from the other adults, various expressions of sadness or surprise, and then we were told to be extra nice to the son, granddaughter or sister of the deceased person, who was usually a friend. But we were always kept in the dark as to why Mister Jensen died, about what it meant in the larger scheme of things, and about what his family would do without him.
In the vacuum of information in which kids of my generation lived, the only answers that made sense came from the stories we traded in worried whispers around the fire hydrant, stories about those mysterious gods, our parents, and their hidden lives. "Did you hear that Larry's mama went crazy? That's why she's been gone for so long…she's in the nuthouse!" Or… "Hey, did you see Tonya's mom walking down the street yesterday? She was drunk and only wearing her underwear!"
This kind of fascination led inevitably to the kinds of programming I gravitated to on television. I was entranced by public television in mid-seventies Chicago, shows like Monty Python's Flying Circus, Fawlty Towers and Doctor Who seemed to dramatize the absurdities and horrors of modern life. I sat up many nights watching shows like PBS's Great Performances and American Playhouse. Watching filmed theatrical productions provided me with an adult's perspective on life's bigger questions, and introduced me to actors like Tom Baker, the Pythons, Derek Jacobi, James Whitmore and James Earl Jones. At that time, I had no idea that I wanted to become an actor. Actors weren't working class kids like me. Actors were born and raised in Beverly Hills and Manhattan, right? It was simply about stories, violent, ridiculous or sexy tales well told and brilliantly acted. Little did I know then, that those stories, those actors would shape my tastes for decades to come.
When I auditioned for my first play, during my sophomore year of high-school, I did so with some vague intention of imitating those great artists. Strangely enough, it worked: I got a part in a play. And that small accomplishment would set the tone for my creative life for the next thirty years. Thirty-five years later, I spend most of my time working in Hollywood and New York. I've acted on Broadway, in many television shows and feature films. I love what I do, so much so that it carries me through the down times, times when as is the case for all actors, work opportunities might be slow in coming. For me, acting is a craft, each role to be approached with an artisan's sensibility, fuelled by attention to detail and practice, practice, practice. But years ago I suffered a freakish household accident which sidelined me for twelve agonizing weeks. I was unable to walk and thus unable to work. When a good friend advised me to find some creative way to stop me feeling sorry for myself, I decided to write a screenplay. Twelve weeks later, I had completed a terribly derivative science fiction story, one that borrowed liberally (and unconsciously) from a popular comicbook of the time.
Ultimately I trashed the screenplay (it really was awful) but I couldn't trash the feeling of accomplishment that settled over me when I typed, "The End." I had done something. I had created something without having to wait for permission from an agent, casting director or studio head. Instead of interpreting someone's story, I had created one of my own. I had written something. Since then I've published many short stories, two collections, several articles and four novels. When people ask me which I prefer: acting or writing, I usually reply that, in some ways… they're simply different facets of the same beautiful gem: two ways of engaging an audience, two ways to tell stories. Everything that made me a distracted, nervous loner as a child, contributes to the actor and author I've become. The story-making reflex that once led me along strange paths into my own mind, now help navigate the even stranger byways of Hollywood and the worlds of speculative fiction.
I'm constantly testing ideas for stories, staging scenes in the theater of my mind, practicing pithy comebacks I'd never be brave enough to deploy in real life. Sometimes those ideas make it through that internal screening process to become stories. Sometimes they retreat into that dark storage area where writers stash the really bothersome ideas, those nagging reminders that something needs to be explored, to be exposed and dragged into the light of consciousness. Although I enjoy helping other writers realize their visions, there's no greater satisfaction than looking at a scene or piece of dialogue, working and reworking it until your fingers ache and your eyes cross, and realizing that you've gotten it right. You've fleshed out the tiny nugget of your original idea and are now ready to present it, like a proud parent, for your readers. And so I feel particularly fortunate in that I get to address my creative urges from two different directions, as purveyor and pawn, as the player on the field and the coach watching from the sidelines. I love both sides of that creative process. As an actor, I've enjoyed telling many stories.
As an author, I look forward to creating even more.
Last God Standing and Who Wants to be the Prince of Darkness? are now both available from Angry Robot


text: Optical technologies company Thorlabs Inc. of Newton, N.J., has bought Melles Griot Ltd., a facility in Ely, UK, that specializes in systems for nanopositioning and vibration isolation, and in optical tables. The acquired company's parent, Melles Griot Corp. of Carlsbad, Calif., divested itself of this division to focus on its OEM lasers and optics business. Thorlabs plans to continue operations at the UK plant and to use the site as a base for increased service to UK customers.

subset: commoncrawl


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text:
They stretch from Totnes in the south-west, once named the capital of new age chic by Time magazine, to the Stockbridge area of Edinburgh, with its cobbled streets and bohemian vibe.
Others include Crouch End and Stoke Newington in north London, Hanover in Brighton – dubbed "Muesli Mountain" by locals – and the West Yorkshire towns of Hebden Bridge, Todmorden and Ilkley. The affluent Hallam area of Sheffield and the leafy Bristol district of Clifton also feature.
These are just a few of the locations on the first comprehensive map of the UK's "positive investment" hotspots – the areas with the greatest concentrations of people who are putting money into businesses, social enterprises and other ventures that are trying to do something positive for society or the environment as well as generate a financial return.
Researchers examined almost 50,000 such investments by postcode, ranging from shares in ethical coffee brand Cafedirect and green electricity supplier Good Energy to savings held with the likes of Ecology building society and Charity Bank, to reveal where these people live, what they invest in and why.
They concluded that about £1.6bn is invested or saved "positively" in the UK, made up of more than a million investments in about 700 businesses and schemes including credit unions, charity retail bonds and community share issues. Positive investments tend to be in sectors such as Fairtrade, renewable energy, poverty alleviation, organic farming, community shops and pubs, sustainable forestry, green transport, organic food and social property.
The map and research have been published by Ethex, an ethical investment trading platform, to coincide with the start of National Ethical Investment Week, which runs from tomorrow until next Saturday.
According to Ethex, positive investors are clustered in 10 hotspots, generally characterised by their strong sense of community, thriving cultural life and large numbers of independent shops (we'll leave others to make the inevitable wisecracks about the proliferation of Guardian-reading types, who we like to describe as "progressives", also present in many of these areas).
The largest hotspot is north London, specifically the postcodes close to the green spaces of Hampstead Heath, Highbury Fields and Alexandra Palace. "The highest concentration of positive investors is to the west of the Heath, in wards such as Hampstead, Belsize Park and Childs Hill," the report says. Highgate, Kentish Town, Gospel Oak, Stoke Newington, Crouch End and Stroud Green are also included. The researchers also found concentrations of positive investors in an arc of south-east London stretching from Herne Hill to Telegraph Hill, and two areas of west London: West Ealing, and the area south of Queen's Park station down to the Harrow Road.
Second place on the hotspots list is Bristol (north and west), including the wards of Clifton, Southville and Stoke Bishop, plus nearby Nailsea and Wraxall. Third place is taken by the area known as the gateway to the Yorkshire Dales, which includes Hebden Bridge, well known for its funky shops and cafes, lively music scene and for allegedly being the UK's lesbian capital. In fourth place is the area running from Sheffield to the Peak District, and fifth is Oxford (east and north), with suburbs such as Summertown, Jericho and Osney.
The report also identified five areas described as "rising stars": Bath, Lancaster, Chorlton in Manchester, Stroud in Gloucestershire, and the area of Moray in north-east Scotland that plays host to the Findhorn Foundation, a spiritual community and eco-village near the town of Forres.
According to Ethex, the hotspots tend to have strong arts scenes and a focus on education: of the 15 areas, 12 include, or are close to, a university. But what is perhaps most marked is their independent attitude to finance, with many having their own currency.
And what about the investors themselves? The researchers say they tend to be older – half are aged between 50 and 69 – though this may reflect the fact that some of the investments covered by the survey date back to the 1980s. Also, almost half of the investors have put money into more than one venture.
What about the positive investment "cold spots" – the places where people aren't bothered about using their money to make the world a better place? One of the report's most intriguing findings was that wealth wasn't a strong indicator of the tendency to invest in ventures that do good. Kensington and Chelsea in London is one of the wealthiest boroughs in Britain, but it only ranked 147 for positive investing. The towns of Beaconsfield and Windsor and, further north, the constituency of Tatton, which includes Knutsford and Wilmslow, all feature in the income and wealth tables, but ranked 294, 250 and 229 respectively.
At £1.6bn, the positive investment market is just a fraction of the £8.6bn ethical fund sector. But with the latter, what typically happens is that a limited number of activities such as arms and tobacco are excluded, and then the next-best performing investments are chosen, says Jamie Hartzell, founder and managing director of Ethex.
"The range of exclusions is often narrow and results in investments in standard FTSE stocks and shares that can be surprising, such as oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, high street banks and large food companies," he says. "Simple negative screening of investments is no longer enough – investors want it to be beyond question that their investment is having a positive impact."


text:
Tagged: Keith Couch
Tales from Exit 138: Last Day of Minor League Spirng Training
Regular spring training is definitely winding down. Rosters were set on Thursday, and the players who have been assigned to full-season affiliates will leave after practice tomorrow, though some have already left. The Pawtucket, Portland, and Salem rosters are essentially confirmed, and there are still some possible vagaries with the Greenville roster.
Before I get to the rosters, I did an interview with 11th round pick, Lucas LeBlanc for the SoxProspects website. To "Meet Your 2010 Draft Pick: Lucas LeBlanc," click here .
Kevin Thomas of the Portland Press Herald reports the Pawtucket and Portland rosters here.
The High-A Salem Red Sox roster is here.
Many expected 39th overall pick Anthony Ranaudo and second round pick Brandon Workman to start in Salem, and seventh round pick Chris Hernandez to start in Greenville. It's actually the opposite way around.
In a pleasant surprise, Chris Hernandez has made the Salem roster after having a dominant spring training. I was at his first game of the spring, where he piggy-backed Ryan Pressly with Salem. In his first inning, he retired the side in order, despite starting every count with a ball. The only hit he gave up in his two innings was a double in the second. He doesn't describe himself as an power pitcher, but his offspeed stuff is very advanced: he can throw them consistently for strikes, which is something that you need to be able to do to succeed at the High-A level. It is very impressive when a pitcher skips Greenville, Another note-able pitching prospect to have skipped Greenville is Kyle Weiland.
I wouldn't call Brandon Workman and Anthony Ranaudo not making the Salem roster a demotion. I was at both of their first starts of the spring, and I saw Workman pitch today. Workman struggled in his first start of the spring, but he has shown improvement–especially in his last two starts. In his first start of the spring, he struggled with his command, but displayed all of his pitches (two and four-seam fastball, cutter, changeup and curveball).
In his second-to-last start of the spring, he threw four innings of no-hit ball. Today, he threw at least 71 pitches over five innings of work. In his first inning, he threw ten pitches, eight for strikes, and struck out the first batter he faced on three pitches. In his second inning, he threw 13 pitches, nine for strikes. In his third, he struggled a bit, throwing 20 pitches, and only eight for strikes. In the fourth, he threw 15 pitches, 8 for strikes, and in the fifth (I might have missed a batter), he threw 13 pitches, nine for strikes. He struck out six batters.
What really impressed me about Workman today is that he was getting guys to look at a lot of strikes. His cutter and off-speed pitches both looked really nice, and were fooling hitters on the Salem squad. I think that he still has to develop in the sense that he has to consistently throw his off-speed pitches for strikes. He could be described more as a power pitcher, and I think the same applies to Ranaudo. It is also important to remember that Ranaudo was injured last year, and struggled a bit coming back, so it might be smart to take it a big slower with him.
Catcher Jayson Hernandez (41st round pick out of Rutgers) and pitcher Jason Garcia (17th round pick) will both start the season in extended spring training. They were both a bit disappointed because they had been working out with Greenville for the majority of the spring. Garcia only pitched in the Gulf Coast League last year, so that would be a tough jump to make after only being drafted last year. I think that Hernandez certainly has the potential to start in Greenville, and I wouldn't be surprised if he made it there by the end of the season, but I don't think extended spring training will hurt him.
Only intra-squad games were played today. Triple-A Pawtucket played Double-A Portland; High-A Salem played Low-A Greenville; and the extended spring training guys were split into two teams.
McKenry (the catcher acquired in the Daniel Turpen trade with the Rockies)
Pimentel P (followed by Okajima and Hill). I don't know why Pimentel started for Pawtucket–maybe so he would be facing Double-A hitters.
–I only got the first four in the lineup, but I do know that Dent, W. Vazquez, Hee, Chiang, and Kang also played.
Kehrt P
Pressly P
–Again, I only got the first four in the lineup, but I know that C. Vazquez, Renfroe, and Coyle played.
Lowell SS
De La Cruz
Boss Moanaroa
Moko Moanaroa
JT Garcia
Lowell SS
H. Ramos
R. Ramos
Stroup P
Kris Johnson has thrown three innings in the last week. He will start the season on the DL and will spend the next 2-3 weeks in extended spring training.
I was happy to see Kyle Weiland win the fifth spot in the Pawtucket rotation. He has been trying to add a cutter into his arsenal this spring (I should say re-add since he had it in college). It will be interesting to see if the Red Sox keep him as a starter, or convert him into a relieving roll. I think he would be effective in both.
It was also good to see Jose Iglesias make the Pawtucket roster. His defense is beyond major league ready, but some questions still remain with his approach at the plate–especially because he missed a lot of time last year in Portland due to injury. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts to the International League.
It's going to be fun to watch the young pitching talent in both Greenville and Salem's starting rotations. Ketih Couch made the Greenville roster, so I'm looking forward to watching him pitch–hopefully more as a starter, rather than a piggy-back starter.
It looks like 11th round pick Lucas LeBlanc and third round pick Sean Coyle will star the season in Greenville. Fourth round pick Garin Cecchini will likely start the season in Lowell. If he hadn't missed so much time last year due to injury, he would undoubtedly be starting in Greenville at least (in fact, he probably would have been drafted in a higher round). Cecchini is still working on getting his timing back, though. And as he said, "timing comes with time."
The end of minor league spring training is bittersweet for me. The end is especially sad for me this year because not only is it the last year of the Edison Avenue Complex, but it's also my last year. There is no way that I'm going to be able to come up even half as much as I did this year because I'll be in another state suffering through extended winter. Even when I do go, who knows what kind of access I'll have. I don't know if anything will ever be able to compare to this year's spring training.
I owe a lot of people a lot of "thank yous." First and foremost to my family for being so supportive of everything. I feel an equal amount of gratitude to my friend Melissa and her family for letting me spend my spring break at their house. There is no way that I would have been able to do half as much as I did had it not been for her hospital
ity. To my friend Helen for hooking me up with tickets to the last game ever at City of Palms Park. To Mike Antonellis, Chris Cameron, and the entire Portland Sea Dogs organization for letting me write some freelance articles. To my favorite security guards, Dave, Jim, John, and Larry for being nothing but helpful throughout the spring. To all the guys on the SoxProspects staff for not only hiring me, but also hanging out with me. And last, but certainly not least, to the players for being so genuinely nice throughout the spring–especially Keith Couch, Anthony Ranaudo, Alex Hassan, Lucas LeBlanc, Chris Hernandez, Will Middlebrooks, Derrik Gibson, Garin Cecchini, Mathew Price, Drake Britton, Brandon Workman, and Madison Younginer for taking some time to sit for an interview with me this spring. They taught me so much about the game, the minors, and themselves, and this blog would really be nothing without them.
I wish nothing but the best to the guys who have been assigned to full-season affiliates. They have all worked so hard; and they deserve it. I hope to see everyone again at some point during the season, and to do interviews with some of the guys I didn't get to talk to. The guys who are in extended spring training will be seeing some more of me before their time down here is done.
Meet Your 2010 Draft Picks: Keith Couch
Keith Couch was drafted out of Adelphi College in the 13th round of the 2010 draft. He spent the season in Lowell where he posted a 4.39 ERA with a 1.32 WHIP. Couch discusses how he has changed since high school, his biggest challenge in Lowell last year, and what he has been working on this spring.
How do you think pitching at Adelphi contributed to your development?
It helped me grow. I was a little kid out of high school, so it just helped me mature, [and] grow into my body, and get
on the same level as everyone else.
How has your arsenal changed since high school?
I'm throwing harder. It's the same as high school, I've just
grown up more.
What was your biggest challenge in Lowell last year?
Getting used to a full professional lineup, [and] having guys who
can all hit because it's not like that in college. That's the biggest thing I think
because one through nine you [have to] go all out instead of just easing up on the
seventh, eighth and ninth guys.
You might start the season in Greenville, which is obviously a much longer season than Lowell. How are you preparing?
I think its [going to] be better than it was in Lowell because in
Lowell, I had a month and a half after the draft, so I wasn't throwing against batters in game situations, so its [going to] be easier if I go straight
through the year.
Do you let the catcher call the pitches, or are you more prone to doing that yourself?
No I like to do it myself. I like to call my own game. I just
know what I want to do, and how I want to set people up.
What did you notice about the hitters transitions as you went from college to professionally at Lowell?
They were just more consistent. You just [have to] bear down on
the lower half.
How do you change your approach, if at all, depending on if the batter is a left-handed hitter or a right-handed hitter.
For righties I attack with my sliders, and
with lefties I use my curveball and changeup more.
Do you have an out pitch?
My slider.
What do you think fans overlook or take for granted when it comes to the game?
How much time we put into it. Everyone thinks, 'oh this guy
makes an error he sucks,' and alright, he messed up one time. It's a game where
you succeed when you do good 30% of the time… It's just the amount of hours we
put in we're here from 7. I'd like to see people hating on me come out
there and do this.
If you had to hit against yourself, what weaknesses would you take advantage of at this point?
The fact that I throw strikes; I'd swing early in the count. That's the thing people started to realize last year because I would throw
strikes early. So first pitch swings.
What's the biggest thing you're working on this spring?
Changeup. Just making it better because I never used to throw
it, so I'm trying to make it better so I can throw it a lot.
Tales from Exit 138: Day Four of Minor League Spring Training Games
On Friday, the Red Sox minor league affiliates played the Twins minor league affiliates again. During minor league spring training, the Red Sox only play the Twins, Rays, and Orioles affiliates because they are the closest proximity wise (in Fort Myers, Port Charlotte, and Sarasota, respectively).
I caught up with Brandon Jacobs on his way into workouts. He sliced his lip open in a collision at home plate on Thursday in the Low-A game against the Rays. He said he was going to take it easy, just do some cage work, and make sure that he doesn't have a concussion.
Jeremy Hazelbaker has been particularly impressive to watch during batting practice. He has been consistently hitting balls to the warning track. Pete Hissey also looks impressive. They were both taking batting practice for Double-A Portland.
Madison Younginer has been working out with the rehabbing players. Jonathan Singer reports that he strained a side muscle. You can check out Singer's injury report here.
Derrik Gibson says that he has been feeling good at the plate.
Here are how the lineups looked for the Single-A teams.
Ranaudo P
De La Cruz
Celestino P
Parthemore P
In his first inning, Ranaudo, the 39th overall pick, threw first pitch strikes to every batter he faced. His fastball was hitting 93 mph, his curveball 83 mph, and his changeup 84 mph (via Chris Mellen's radar gun). He threw this one changeup (for a second pitch strike, I believe) that was particularly impressive.
In his second inning, he struggled a bit with his command, and he kept missing high. Chris Hatfield speculated that the organization may have changed his mechanics because he was using his legs more.
David Renfroe and Jason Thompson both connected for doubles.
Renny Parthemore threw hard in his innings for Lowell. This was good to see because he missed the 2010 season with a frayed labrum (via Jonathan Singer).
I caught up with Kris Johnson during the games. He has been battling some weakness in his shoulder, so he has spent the last three weeks rehabbing it, and he is still throwing bullpens. He pitched in the Dominican Winter League, which he described as a completely different atmosphere because every time someone got a hit, it was like winning the world series.
I also did an interview with 13th round pick, Keith Couch, which I will post later today.
I'm sad that my week of "march madness" is over, but I'm not done with spring training yet. I plan on going back at least on next Saturday. If you have anything in particular that you would like me to keep an eye out for, drop me a comment, an e-mail, or a tweet.
I'm also very excited to announce that I'm going to start working for the Sox Prospects website. I will probably be doing some Q&As and feature stories along with Jon Meoli, and I'll definitely cover the Gulf Coast League.
Tales from Exit 138: Day Three of Minor League Spring Training
Workouts start later and end earlier, it seems. They hardly start doing PFPs and infield drills until 10 (the players stretch and throw forever). Players are mainly split up by level, but some players are bumped up to the next level. For example, Hassan has been working out in Pawtucket because guys like Juan Carlos Linares have been up with the big league club. Some guys bat or pitch in lower levels just to get at-bats or innings in.
I talked to Chris Hernandez in the morning. He had pitched for Salem on Thursday. He doesn't describe himself as a power pitcher. His off-speed stuff is phenomenal, though.
Brock Huntzinger threw for Double-A Portland on Thursday. He said he was topping out between 88-92 mph, and that he felt pretty good for his first outing.
Madison Younginer is now listed among the rehabbing players. Not much information on that yet.
Chris Mellen and I went up to Port Charlotte to watch the Single-A teams. Lowell wasn't playing today. Brandon Workman threw for Salem. He displayed all of his pitches: two and four seam fastball, cutter, change up, and curveball. He was topping out at least in the low 90's (via Mellen's radar gun).
Workman didn't seem too pleased with his outing. He did struggle with his control, but this is completely normal this early in games.
Chris Balcom-Miller piggy-backed him, but I was watching the Greenville game at this point. Apparently, he was topping out around 88 mph.
This was the Greenville lineup:
De La Cruz
Stroup started, followed by Couch, Gleason, Huijer, and Erasmus. Couch said he felt pretty good. Huijer's off speed stuff looked good today.
I was walking back-and-forth a lot, but apparently Coyle and Cecchini both got singles, and De La Cruz hit a double. Miles Head hit a long fly ball, and then hit a single down the right field line. Coyle has a lot of speed.
Brandon Jacobs left the game after splitting his lip open in a collision at home plate. He should be OK, but he might take it easy tomorrow.
Tomorrow, Anthony Ranaudo will pitch for High-A Salem. It is likely that Alex Wilson will pitch for Double-A Portland since he charted today.
Ryan Lavarnway hit an absolute bomb into left field off of James Shields (this comes from Chris Hatfield, Jon Singer, Jon Meoli, and Mike Andrews, who all watched the Triple and Double-A games at the complex today).
Finally, on a more personal note, I got into Syracuse's New House School of Communications. I'm pretty sure I will be going there next fall.


text:
William H. Clark Funeral Home1003 Main St.
Virginia E. Pirro, 78, of Middle Smithfield Township, died on Sunday, July 22, at home. She was the widow of Salvatore A. Pirro, who died on Dec. 31, 1988.
Born on June 21, 1929, in the Bronx, N.Y., she was the daughter of the late Ed and Viola (Phinney) McKibben and lived in Monroe County for the past two-and-a-half years, moving from New Jersey.
She worked for Warner-Lambert Laboratories in Morris Plains, N.J., for more than 15 years and retired four years ago from Wal-Mart in Mount Olive, N.J.
She was of the Catholic faith.
Surviving are six children, Elston Pirro of Hackettstown, N.J., Sal Pirro and his wife, Evelyn, of Mount Pocono, Joseph Pirro and his wife, Lucy, of Linden, N.J., Thomas Pirro of Mount Arlington, N.J., Candy Sue Hatosy and her husband, Donald, of Nazareth and Donna Ann Pirro of Mount Arlington, N.J.; a brother, Robert McKibben and his wife, Elizabeth, of Sonoma, Calif.; seven grandchildren, Theresa Pirro, Casey Pirro, Jennifer Potoniak, Nicholas Pirro, Andrea Guerra, Briania Pirro and Kali Ann Hatosy; six great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by two sons, Robert Pirro and Frank Pirro, and by a grandson, Pfc. Jason Pirro.
There will be viewing hours from 3 to 5 and 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 25, at the William H. Clark Funeral Home, 1003 Main St., Stroudsburg, PA 18360. There will be a prayer service at 4 p.m. on Wednesday at the funeral home, with Rev. Arul officiating. Cremation will take place at the H.G. Smith Crematory in Stroudsburg.


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text:
09 June 2010
Who's that girl; Tennessee Thomas
Talking fashion, Tennessee is already a star of the field. Not happens to every girl nowadays that has glasses frame named after her (Charles Anastase oversized Tennessee glasses). Talking modeling she was recently hired by FOREVER 21 for Boutique and with above-mentioned Alexa was star of Wren lookbook. The Lula Mag cosset, which is a frequent face on Lula's scrapbook, also appeared in a film Spell, collaboration between Topshop and Lula, directed by Maximilla Lukacs and Sarah Sophie Flicker. It's not strange she is Lula Darling since she has a glance of exact girl from the dreams that popped out from pages of vintage Polaroid editorial.
The rock'n'romantic blond wears loosen mane and bangs that go almost into the eyes in a manner of old school rock star. Her Peter Pan collar dresses look like she spent some time hanging with Marianne Faithfull. And all of the 60s sweetheart romantic dresses and lace items she wears makes you want to delve into her closet. Recently in the Band interview for Refinery29 she stated she has a style of a Beatles fan and that dresses with white collar are her secret style weapon. Sure they are -Just look how she wears them. Details like Saddle shoes, basket bag, heart tights, over knee stockings, tell Tennessee is a girl that knows how to have fun. And apparently it looks like she is dressing up for herself. That is why she is so irresistible-in style.
photos via Lula Mag, the cobrasnake
11 comments:
Lovely girl and amazing style! ^^
- Thursday, June 10, 2010
- maria carneri said...
wow! she has a unique sense of style!
- Thursday, June 10, 2010
- Cindy Whitehead said...
Love this girl - really great post. Loving your blog and am following you know on bloglovin (-: Thanks for stopping by and your nice comment!
- Sunday, June 13, 2010
- martha stockholm sweden said...
stunning pics
- Sunday, June 13, 2010
- sapphirewhisper said...
She has such beautiful style, very soft and dreamy, perfect for Lula!
- Monday, June 14, 2010
- LOA said...
how lucky you are ! in france it is rainning -_-.
xxLoi :D
( GREAT POST LIKE IT LIKE It )
- Monday, June 14, 2010
- Nata Amores said...
Aw. She is gorgeous, and has a lovely style! (:
- Nata
- Monday, June 14, 2010
Oh I got to love this girl cause she is into Beatles style ! She seems lovely. Could you maybe send me link for some of her band's song? Tnx
- Tuesday, June 15, 2010
- Rohini said...
She is so adorable! :)
- Tuesday, June 15, 2010
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- Monday, June 21, 2010
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- Wednesday, April 24, 2013


text:
A few weeks ago I was talking with a client about her dating life.
"Another bad one, Rob," she said as soon as she sat down.
This woman, I'll call her Kim, is bright, attractive, well-educated and what I would consider to be a good catch in many ways. She's not into Asian threesomes, nor does she own a liquor store, but I think most men would want to date her. The problem is that she's a bit rough around the edges and doesn't always play well with others. She's strongly opinionated and has low tolerance for alternative points of view. Sometimes both she and I find her quirks humorous, but at times she really needs a little guidance and tutelage when dealing with other people. Shrinks need a fancy name for everything they do, so this type of therapy is known as "Social Skills Training."
"He really pissed me off by coming late," she said.
"How late was he?"
"I don't know. Five minutes, maybe. He's all 'so sorry, I got stuck in traffic.' I told that asshole," she said, lifting one index finger in front of her face, "Asshole, I don't care what your reason is for being late. Tardiness is a form of disrespect. My time is just as Goddamn important as yours."
"Okay, let's take a closer look at…"
"So I start talking to him about the election and he's all like, 'I'm voting for Obama.' I said," and again she lifted the index finger, 'let me explain something to you. Obama is anti-America and Anti-Christian. McCain is what you want.'"
"Let's analyze that more…"
"Then I told him that, as a Christian woman, I don't date Heretics and he's like, 'well I'm Agnostic.'"
"Is that really fair to label him…"
"I told him Agnostics were people who couldn't make decisions and he better decide how he likes his steak right now, and if it's not medium-rare then we should just go our separate ways right now. I hate indecisiveness and overcooked meat."
"And then what?"
"He was very polite actually. He said that I would make a great wife for a very headstrong man but that clearly wasn't him. He's damn right about that. So we decided to part ways before dinner because we clearly were wasting each other's time."
"Kim, do you remember when we talked about how aggressive you can be toward men? And how that aggression can prevent you from getting to know someone?"
"Yes, you said it was a way to protect myself from getting close to people who could hurt me."
"Not exactly. I offered that as a possibility and asked you to consider it. You later said that you agreed."
"Is this another example of that?"
"I don't know. I guess so. But that doesn't mean I know what to say on these dates. Men like strong women."
"That may be true, but you're confusing strong and attacking. Why don't we look at what you said that might be construed as aggressive?"
"Such as?"
"Well I can understand your take on tardiness, but it was barely five minutes, and you didn't give yourself a real opportunity to consider why he was late. You also called him an asshole, before you probably even said his real name."
"You also immediately went into two topics that are generally frowned upon for date conversation: religion and politics. That in and of itself isn't catastrophic, but you insulted his position in both of those areas."
"But he…," she protested, lifting that finger again.
At that moment Kim's behavior reminded me of a personal experience, years ago, when I had a date with a woman who kept lifting an admonishing finger at me whenever I said something that she didn't agree with. It took three glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon to not strangle her. I could feel myself reliving those memories and getting a bit angry.
Therapist Rule # 1: Use your personal reactions (sometimes known as Countertransference) as a therapeutic tool.
"And finally," I said, my voice getting louder and more manly. Or possibly just higher and more girly. "You kept lifting up your finger and putting it in his face! Do you realize how disrespectful that is?"
Therapist Rule # 2: Try not to yell when applying Therapist Rule # 1.
"It…it is?"
"Yes! It's completely invalidating. You're telling someone, with your finger, to shut up and listen, that what he is saying isn't as important as what you have to say. You're also giving the message that screams 'I'm about to talk at you as opposed to talk with you.'"
She paused. "That's pretty interesting. We do that in our family all the time."
Was I just yelling at her?
"If that's what you and your family choose to do with each other that's fine, but I think most people, myself included, would be put-off by that."
"That is worth a thought. Are you an expert on first dates?"
"I wouldn't say that, but I was interviewed for a book," I said, feeling a brief moment of pride.
"Did anyone buy it?"
Probably not. The brief pride fleeted even more quickly than usual.
"I don't keep track of book sales."
"Regardless, that's actually some pretty good advice. I'll try that next time…if he's not an Obama backer."
At this point Kim isn't the world's greatest conversationalist but she's made some improvements. For a short while she was sitting on her hands during dates to make sure she didn't put her finger in anyone's face, but that problem is pretty much solved now, so we're making progress.
The lesson learned:
Keep your fucking finger down when you are talking to someone.
It took me only six years of post-graduate education and one horrible date to learn that.


text:
AP PHOTOS: Scenes from the past 24 hours in Boston
Photo: AP
Most of Boston is shut down as law enforcement continues its massive manhunt for the remaining suspect in the marathon bombings. Police say one suspect is now dead and the other is on the run after a violent night of gunfire and explosions near Boston, which left one MIT police officer dead.
Here is a gallery of photos looking back at the past 24 hours in the search.


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To commemorate Zambia's independence this year, I'm highlighting the work of several freedom fighters whose names remain as footnotes in our history books. They are the unsung heroes who played very important roles in the fight against colonial rule – the courage and bravery of these women is inspiring and sets an example of what can be accomplished when you stand up for what you believe is right. Today, I highlight Mama Chikamoneka.
Courtesy of The National Archives UK
Mama Chikamoneka was honoured for her role in the nationalist struggle by former president Kaunda, and when she died at age 76 in 1986 was given a state funeral.


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The American higher education system is a dysfunctional money-sucking machine, according to John Katzman, Noodle Education CEO.
"If you look at the increase in tuition in higher ed in the last thirty years, it makes the housing bubble look like a pimple," Katzman said. "In a sense, [universities] are working to create the iron lung machine. They're looking to build something that can't possibly be the right answer. The right answer is that we have to dramatically lower tuition, while improving quality."
Katzman is best known as the founder of test prep and admissions consulting company The Princeton Review. He founded Noodle in 2011 with the aim of helping to navigate the complex web of educational resources.
"I've come to realize that as frustrating as it is for education providers, universities, schools, tutoring companies, fitness instructors, anybody to find students, it is equally frustrating for parents and kids to find the right education," Katzman said. "It just struck me that that was fixable."
Noodle offers a comprehensive gateway for educators and students, helping users find the right schools, tutors, and tutorials for them. For example, a prospective graduate student can look up different schools in their area or abroad based on price, field, and type of program. The goal of the Noodle search is to help students find the tools that are the right fit for them, instead of the tools that are the most well-known. A key to the business are the alliances that Katzman built nationally to pool resources into one, sleek portal.
Katzman argues that better information is the first step to reform.
"The technologists can't figure out how to work with the educators," Katzman told us. "The educators can't reach the right students and parents ... if you can clarify it, find a way for everybody to find everybody, you're going to get better learning, better innovation, and you're going to get lower costs."
Katzman expects that online education will be a big part of the solution.
"[In online classes] the professor's time is spent teaching a small number of students, and every moment you're together is a dialogue," he said.
Noodle represents one of many ways that online education tools are disrupting the university system, as forecasted by Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen. Change is coming and this company could help students find their way forward.


text:
All news
BBC will show the first documentary about the shooting in Colorado
2013 March 13
TV channel BBC 3, which is oriented on the youth audience, has ordered the British producing studio Mentorn Media with the first documentary on the tragedy that took place on the 20th of July at the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado. Film that has duration of 60 minutes will be presented on August 23.
According to BBC, journalist Amal Fashanu within the framework of the project visited Aurora, spoke with survivors of the massacre at the house showing, as well as with other young Americans, and discussed a number of critical questions. In particular, it was the law on the possession of weapons and the issue of the death penalty.
We recall that on the 20th of July, James Holmes (24 years old), a former student of the University of Colorado, brought down fire on the audience who came to the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises to the Century 16 cinema. As a result, 12 people were killed and 58 were wounded. The murderer was arrested near the cinema. On the 30th of July he was formally charged. Now James Holmes is on remand and very soon he could be condemned to death.
The monstrous act of James Holmes caused a wave of imitations. During the first days after the tragedy police has arrested three people in different states of America. Two of them were without weapons and just tried to threaten the audience of the The Dark Knight. The third one, inspired with the example of James Holmes, armed himself with weapons and tried to kill his employer. The Hollywood Reporter announced that last Saturday 37-year resident of Ohio, Scott A. Smith tried to enter the house showing of movie by Christopher Nolan in a suburb of Cleveland with a loaded gun, reserve ammunition and four knives. When the guards of the cinema found all this stuff in his bag, he peacefully said that will carry a weapon back to his car. Now Smith's lawyer insists that his client just wanted to watch a movie. Gun and knives were brought for self protection, because Smith was terrified with events in Colorado.
Other news
Other celebrityes
Shawna Sutherland


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How To Know An Area Is Worth Investing In
You've just pumped $350,000 into buying and renovating a home in a sleepy, yet relatively affluent suburb. But when you put the house on the market for $450,000, there's little to no interest from buyers. The reason? One of the region's largest companies is about to relocate its nearby offices and production plant—taking workers, jobs, business, and money with it. As a result, people are leaving the area… and they're not interested in buying homes, no matter how much work you put into them.
If this sounds like a nightmare scenario, then it's good to know you can relegate it to the realm of bad dreams by properly researching a neighborhood before investing in it. Here's how:
- Create a customer profile. A wealthy family looking to buy a home in a suburban area has different expectations and needs compared a working-class couple who want to rent an affordable, safe property close to shopping, recreational facilities, and main access roads. Make sure you always understand the needs of your target market before deciding where to invest.
- Get neighborhood data. You can use tools like Trulia's Maps to find information about demographics, schools, crime, commutes, amenities, living well, and hazards. Click on each individual tab to see overlays on the map of the area you're researching. Compare this data to the needs of your target market to see if it's a match.
- Research local real estate data. While some of the larger real estate websites offer data about local real estate markets and trends, it's often better to ask the local county assessor's office and the local chapter of the National Association of Realtors® for detailed information. Note, however, that property values may be outdated, depending on the date of the most recent valuations, neighborhood sales, etc.
- Collect information about regional developments. New commercial and residential construction, revitalization initiatives, business developments, transportation routes, etc. can all make neighborhood more attractive to buyers and renters. Conversely, property demolition, urban blight, and the closure of companies, schools, healthcare facilities, and major transportation routes can render neighborhoods unattractive and cause property values to plummet. And of course, there are also instances where the closure of certain companies (for example, a factory or waste plant) renders a neighborhood more attractive while at the same time, new construction can also compromise the value of an area, for example if a highway is being built through a wealthy rural area. To accurately estimate a projected value for a property, it's clearly vital to have dependable insights into the long-term developments planned for the neighborhood. You can find information about developments by checking with the municipal building and planning office, where you should also inquire whether local zoning laws are likely to be changed any time over the next five to 10 years. Additionally, contact the local Chamber of Commerce and/or regional economic council for information about business developments in the area, and research regional economic news for the past 12 to 18 months.
The success of your real estate investments is not something you should leave up to chance. Gather as much relevant data as possible about a neighborhood before deciding to invest in it, and you can maximize your chances of getting the ROI your hard work merits.


text:
Nandrolona D 200 mg/ml
Brand: Balkan Pharmaceuticals
Product Code: 2202
Availability: In Stock
Product Code: 2202
Availability: In Stock
$44.00 $56.00
Product: Nandrolone Decanoate
Product Code: 2202
Active Ingredient: Nandrolone Decanoate
Manufacturer: Balkan Pharmaceuticals
Quantity: 5 ampoules
Strenght: 200 mg/ml
Another popular drug to build muscle mass and strength - nandrolone decanoate.
Nandrolone decanoate is a long-acting substance, so one injection effectively on for two weeks.
"Deca" is effective together with other anabolic or androgenic steroids. Very popular combinations is the "deca" with testosterone or Danabol.
These ligaments show excellent resultsbecause Each of the drugs enhances the effect of of another drug. Nandrolone decanoate popular among advanced athletes to use steroids, and among beginners.
Beginners in terms of steroids athletes enough drug 200mg a week, advanced dosage reach the 600-800mg substance.
Possible side effects: inhibition of natural testosterone, swelling, blood pressure, acne.


text:
Ashley Parker Angel's Soundtrack to Your Life debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 chart. A press release issued by his record company says this "[proves] he can stand alone" and "is all grown-up."
It also proves that a non-competition reality TV show vehicle can sell records; basically, There and Back was an extended infomercial for the album. Earlier, the record's first single, "Let U Go," debuted at #17 on Billboard's Hot 100.
The press release also says that, in addition to touring malls starting early next month, he'll tour with Ashlee Simpson and her new nose soon.
Ashley Parker Angel Enters at #5 on the Billboard Top 200 [Universal press release]


text:
The Cell C Playing for Pink Ladies Invitational Polo raises awareness and funds for breast cancer
The first annual Cell C Playing for Pink Ladies Invitational Polo, in association with Samsung, raised funds in aid of breast cancer. The proceeds will go to Reach for Recovery, a non-profit organisation that helps women with healing and in attaining reconstructive surgery.
The fabulous event, held on October 4 2015 at the Inanda Club in Johannesburg, raised a total of R50 000 for the organisation.
The Cell C team and opposing players from Zimbabwe battled it out, concluding the friendly match with a 3-2 victory for Cell C.
African Fashion International identified young, emerging designers to showcase their work on the day as part of a fashion theatre which featured celebrity guests and a performance by award-winning artist, Lira.
The theatre also had performances from two female contortionists of the Ria Nagel Acrobatic Studio and four ballerinas from the Jo'burg Ballet. Radio DJ and TV presenter Tumi Vorster, musician and designer Nhlanhla Nciza and Miss Mamelodi Sundowns Matlala Mokoko stunned guests as they walked the ramp.
Rich Mnisi, Khothatso Tsotetsi and Tuelo Nguyuza delighted their audience with exciting and edgy designs while Lira, who has supported breast cancer campaigns over the years brought a beautiful soul to the show.
Clarins treated guests at the Pink Polo to neck, back, shoulder and hot stone massages throughout the day while SOHO offered them express manicures and pedicures. Franco International and GHD gave the ladies quick, fabulous makeovers as well.
Reach for Recovery is a non-profit organisation that helps women regain some of the self-esteem they've been deprived of by breast cancer. To raise funds for this worthy cause Cell C, Edith Unlimited and Samsung have joined forces to host the Cell C Playing for Pink Ladies Invitational.
Follow the Cell C Playing for Pink Ladies Invitational Polo on social media:
Facebook – Playing for Pink SA
Twitter – @Playing4PinkSA
Remember to use our official hashtags #Playing4PinkSA and #CellCPolo


text:
Served S.21 Notice now need to serve S.8 is this possible?
I served a S21 before 1st Oct for the tenant to leave by 1st December. Tenant has not paid rent since, can I now serve a S.8 as I am not able to prove he received the prescribed information. I purchased the property with tenant in resident his deposit is protected and has been transferred to my account and with the same deposit agency. They have notified him of this via email, but tenant has already being lying about me threatening him; when I have not in any way. He has said he will not leave and not pay rent. I purchased the property in May this year. The vendor has not replied to my text or picked up my phone calls. So have no proof the prescribed information was provided to him. As a result of this I would like to serve a S.8.
The building has other flats within it that the tenant is intimating, and trying to get them to also not pay rent. Due to his behaviour towards be I have been keeping away from the property. The other two flats are tenanted by female tenants who he tried to intimate in the communal area. He has also tried to intimate me also I am a female landlady. The other tenants are paying their rent. He has sent me text saying he is telling the others not to pay their rent.
Generally, he is upsetting the other tenant's within the building and may cause them to leave. He has changed the front communal door lock and given the others keys. I have had the lock changed and given all flats the new key and had anti tamper screws fitted to the new lock. As he said he would change the lock again. I have written to him about changed the lock, and asked him not to do so again. I told him I will charge him for any damage or costs incurred by me as a result of his behaviour.
What are my options to evict him?
Sorry to post is so long.
Want to read more?
This is a members only forum, if you want to read more you need to login to your membership, if you are not a member, click here to join.


text:
Why Swedish Lapland is the best place to view the Northern Lights
UTracks, Australia's leading active Europe specialist, has launched a seven day 'Sweden Northern Lights and Ice Hotel' multi activity itinerary enabling travellers to immerse themselves in the winter wonderland of the Swedish Arctic Circle and hopefully be mesmerised by the dazzling Northern Lights.And whilst the lights are a compelling draw card for visiting Sweden in winter, there is so much more to do and explore.
According to UTracks General Manager, Kate Baker, seeing the Arctic during winter is a must-do experience.
"Seeing for myself the dazzling green and pink swirling light in the night sky is truly an incredible experience," Ms Baker said. "For me, it was a humbling experience that I'll never forget.
"I was amazed how the limited daylight hours do not restrict the Swedish from living a very active life with their culture laced through every experience from sipping warm lingonberry drink or Arctic-style Fika (Swedish coffee) to tasting Reindeer meat and devouring mouth-watering cinnamon buns at every opportunity," Ms Baker said.
Departing daily between 15 December and 31 March, the ideal time to view the Northern Lights, the highlights of this incredible adventure include a visit to the Abisko National Park where the Aurora Sky Station offers the optimal conditions for viewing the Aurora Borealis, time in a Sámi Camp to witness the traditional lifestyle of the indigenous Sámi people and experience the exhilaration of dog sledding through alpine woods and across frozen lakes. The journey concludes with a two night stay at the original Ice Hotel, where you have the option to stay in an Ice Room, created by artists each winter.
"Winter is a glorious time to travel to Europe, with fewer tourists allowing easy navigating of Europe's must-sees and low season rates," Ms Baker said. "Our Sweden Northern Lights itinerary is a sneak preview to the over 30 tantalising winter journeys UTracks is excited to be launching next month."
The Sweden Northern Lights and Ice Hotel journey departs daily from December to March and is priced from $3,590 per person (twin share)*. The tour includes three nights hotel accommodation; two nights at the Ice Hotel; overnight train travel from Stockholm to the Arctic in a private sleeper compartment ; snowmobile excursion, four hour dog sled excursion and Northern Lights Station excursion; self-guided snowshoe excursion; five breakfasts and one dinner and transfers.
More information at www.utracks.com or 1300 303 368.
*prices valid to 31 March 2019. See website for 2019/20 prices, available by 31 March 2019.


text:
February 17th, 2017
In recent years, the student property investment market has been absolutely booming. As universities' own stocks of accommodation have been dwindling and falling into a state of disrepair, many have been willing to take up the challenge and provide students with boutique, high quality housing. That willingness has paid off too, with profits for many increasing year-on-year as student numbers continue to grow and universities look at ways to increase their intake.
It has largely been a mutually beneficial partnership for many universities and developers, as the ability to provide students with quality accommodation undoubtedly improves the student experience on offer.
Until now there have been a large number of smaller developers who have taken town and city centre developments and refurbished them in order to house a fairly small number of students. The arrangement has worked well as investors are able to snap up an apartment at a relatively low price for a high return. Furthermore, student tenancy rates tend to be high and stable when located in desirable areas.
On this basis, it was only a matter of time before the big players began to take notice as performances in the sector continue to overshadow more traditional residential property investments.
For instance, there has been news recently of an acquisition by Unite Students in Birmingham that will be the biggest of its kind ever to hit the market. As reported in the Telegraph, the block, called Aston Student Village, will serve Aston University with more than 3,000 bedrooms and is the first on-campus accommodation Unite Students will own. The developer has traditionally concentrated on building its own blocks near the UK's top universities, rather than on campuses themselves.
It was also reported in the Telegraph that Unite partnered with Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC to make the purchase, which was sold by Aston University and Lloyds bank. Aston Student Village is currently the only student halls on offer to students at Aston University, which has a student population of 11,000 and is in the centre of Birmingham. The acquisition of the property takes the number of beds Unite has in Birmingham to more than 5,000. In total, the company provides a home for more than 50,000 students in 140 properties across England and Scotland.
It is a move which signals large scale investment and interest from the bigger players in the property development market, and points towards a strong and stable future for student property. Smaller investors and 'student pod' owners have already been making a tidy profit in the market for nearly a decade and it was a matter of time before larger developers began to recognise the opportunities on offer.
Those already invested in student property should see this as positive and a sign that the market is set to continue its upwards trajectory over the short and medium term. Larger developers rarely make mistakes in these areas, and now could be the time for student property investors to start adding to their portfolios.
Student numbers are expected to hold steady, and with many universities now investing money into facilities across their campuses rather than into accommodation, such as the University of Salford, there will be real and tangible opportunities for those with their finger on the pulse.
If you are looking to invest in student property, we have a wide range of fantastic apartments in rental hotspots across the country which are available now and will provide immediate income to the investor!
Find Studentpodshop on Facebook and Twitter (@studentpodshop).


text:
Question: How many people are born with extra teeth?
Answer: Extra teeth (referred to as supernumerary teeth), occur approximately 2% of the time in the adult set of teeth, and less than 1% in the child's first set of teeth. Most of these extra teeth (about 90%) will occur in the upper arch of teeth (maxilla). Supernumerary teeth may also be referred to as polydontia or hyperdontia, with the most common type being the mesiodens (an extra tooth that tends to form between and just inside of the upper two front teeth. Most of the time, these extra teeth don't even come through the gums, and they are discovered when taking an x-ray in that area. Other types of supernumerary teeth include the rare fourth molar (also referred to as paramolar or distomolar). Multiple supernumerary teeth are very rare in people that don't have any syndrome or disease associated with it. It is more common to be missing certain teeth, than to develop extra teeth.
If you have a question that you would like answered, download the Dental Expert Appto your iPhone, iTouch, or iPad and look for it updated here!


text: The Palia monument was unveiled on September 28, 1974, to 750 years of historical record of the township. Sculptor Nicolae Adam, who carved the monument, wants to symbolically represent the three-sided idea of printing a book. On the first side are the scribes who meditate on the need to develop the Romanian language through printing. On the second are those responsible for the winepressing of the book: Serban Coresi and Marian. There's also a figure of a man of the people, proud of the value of the book. The third side of the monument symbolizes the usage of the book as a way of promotig the Romanian language among the people, with the purpose of teaching. The presence of a child among the scholars and the common people foreshadows the next generations who developed the Romanian language on these lands. The monument is carved in white Ruschita marble, and is 6 meters tall, the figurative part being 3 meters tall.


text:
Due to the current situation there may be delays in shipping.
An undemanding ants species from the mountains of Southeast Asia which is good for keeping cooler. Because colonies of this species becomes large is is suited for keeping in large basin complxes connected with pipes. Also this Myrmicaria defend oneself with it's defense secretion.
Note: Shipping abbroad in winter (November-March) at your own risk.
|Small colony
- 109.00 €
With 5-10 workers
| Colony
- Currently not available
With about 60-80 workers
RENDERING: 249 ms, LOADING: ? ms


text:
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text:
MIA > Archive > Glass (Li Fu-jen)
From Fourth International, Vol.7 No.8, August 1946, pp.245-249.
Marked up by Einde O'Callaghan for the Marxists' Internet Archive.
I Chose Freedom
By Victor Kravchenko
New York. Charles Scribner's Sons. 1946.
One Who Survived
By Alexander Barmine
New York. G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1943.
During the last fifteen years the Soviet Union has been the subject of a tremendous literature. Books have rolled in a veritable flood from the presses of the principal publishing houses. Almost every journalist assigned to the Soviet Union wrote a book on his findings. Literary luminaries would make a six weeks' tour of the Soviet Union under GPU guidance, then return home to write "authoritatively" on the "great Russian experiment." Even the Dean of Canterbury added his quota to this literary output. The books were numerous and they fell almost unfailingly into one of two categories: either they were the work of the army of "fellow-travelers" and hired apologists of the Stalin regime, or they were the outpourings of persons with an anti-Soviet ax to grind.
Notably absent from the ever-growing collection were books by Soviet Russian citizens able to write critically and comprehensively about the Stalin regime. Nor is this surprising when one considers that critics were systematically "liquidated." Victor Serge and Anton Ciliga contrived to escape from Stalin's clutches and committed to writing some of their experiences and observations. From them the world gained some of the first true eye-witness revelations of life under Stalin. Now, in the books of Kravchenko and Barmine, we get the first rounded pictures of the more recent totalitarian rule of the Stalinist bureaucracy and what it means for the 180 million inhabitants of the Soviet Union.
No one can question the credentials of the authors. Both spent the major part of their lives under the Stalin regime. Kravchenko is an industrial engineer who held key posts in Soviet industry. He broke with the Stalin regime in this country, where he was on the staff of the Soviet Purchasing Commission during the war. At the time of the Bolshevik Revolution he was a young man, fired with enthusiasm for the socialist ideal. He fought in the Red Army through the civil war and intervention, became an ardent party member, and was called to military service again when the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. Barmine's record is similar but more varied – Soviet industrialist, businessman, soldier, diplomat and journalist. He broke with the Stalin regime in 1937, while occupying the post of Soviet charge d'affaires in Athens, but his book was not published until last year.
Both Barmine and Kravchenko, unlike less fortunate Soviet officials who broke with Stalin (Ignace Reiss, Walter Krivitsky), have thus far managed to evade the murderous attentions of Stalin's hired assassins. Kravchenko explains that inwardly he broke with the regime many years ago. But one cannot break with Stalin, and continue to live, if one remains in the Soviet Union. Only those sent on official missions abroad can leave the Soviet Union. Kravchenko had to wait a long time before the opportunity came. Barmine, as a Soviet diplomat, had the opportunity long before Kravchenko. But his determination to break came only after the monstrous purge of the Red Army in which many of his personal friends were sent to their deaths as "traitors" when he knew them to be loyal defenders of the Soviet Union.
In their flight from Stalinism, both authors have landed in the lap of capitalist "democracy." This requires that we approach critically all the political conclusions which they draw from the arsenals of facts at their disposal. Both belong to the Souvarinist tendency which identifies Stalinism with Bolshevism. Kravchenko, however – without doubt unwittingly – destroys this false identification when he describes Soviet life and politics during the first years of the Revolution, when Lenin and Trotsky were at the helm of the Soviet state. The living, dynamic democracy and creativeness of those years contrasts all too sharply with the harsh suppression and dull conformity which the Stalinist bureaucracy introduced.
But of the facts which the authors set down, the experiences they relate, the observations they record – of these there can be no question. Both books ring true. They contain a wealth of circumstantial detail which is in harmony, and which fully tallies with all the information previously established. Even Stalin's literary hatchet-men in this country have attempted no refutation. Stalinist reviews of the two books have consisted of sneering insinuations against the authors and a studious refusal to take issue with their presentation of facts.
Within the literary framework of personal narratives, Barmine and Kravchenko unfold the repellent story of the Stalin regime. For nightmarish horror no work of fiction can even begin to compete with these books. First, we are given glimpses of the Bolshevik Revolution and civil war – the glorious and heroic years of the first workers' state. Then comes the rise to power of the usurping bureaucracy in the period of revolutionary ebb and defeat, with Stalin as the quintessential expression of the attitude and needs of the new ruling caste. We are taken through the period of the five-year plans, the forced collectivization of agriculture ("liquidation of the kulaks as a class"), the fantastic Moscow frame-up trials, the monstrous purges, Stalin's man-made famine in which millions perished, and, finally, the war against Nazi Germany with all its terrible consequences for the Russian people.
Outstanding in a book woven of drama and horror is Kravchenko's description of the great famine in south Russia and central Asia which followed as the inevitable consequence of Stalin's adventuristic program of forced collectivization. Harvest in Hell is the lurid title of this chapter, and it reeks of death and ruin.
On a battlefield men die quickly, they fight back, they are sustained by fellowship and a sense of duty. Here I saw people dying in solitude by slow degrees, dying hideously, without the excuse of sacrifice for a cause. They had been trapped and left to starve, each in his home, by a political decision made in a far-off capital around conference and banquet tables. There was not even the consolation of inevitability to relieve the horror. [Butter, for instance, was exported abroad from the very regions where people were dying of hunger, in order to get foreign currency with which to import machinery.]
The most terrifying sights were the little children with skeleton limbs dangling from balloon-like abdomens. Starvation had wiped every trace of youth from their faces, turning them into tortured gargoyles; only in their eyes still lingered the reminder of childhood. Everywhere we found men and women lying prone, their faces and bellies bloated, their eyes utterly expressionless.
Kravchenko was one of many thousands of Party men sent into the famine-bound areas to see that the new crops were harvested, to prevent the starving from eating the green shoots, to save the collectives from breaking down, etc., etc. So he knows whereof he writes. How many of the peasants died? No one knows. The regime of the Stalinist bureaucracy not only revealed no statistics of the famine victims, if, indeed, such statistics were gathered. It has never acknowledged to this day that there was any famine at all! Foreign press correspondents in Moscow were forbidden entry into the famine regions and prevented from sending abroad any of the facts that came to their attention. Some, who were transferred to other countries, and took the opportunity to write what they had heard while in the Soviet Union, gave estimates of three to five million dead.
The man-contrived famine followed upon the "triumphant completion" of the first five-year plan. Allowing for all the bureaucratic boasting and exaggeration, and the statistical fakery which was soon to be uncovered, the execution of this plan did provide the Soviet Union with some of the basic elements of a heavy industry. But at what cost in human life and welfare! The workers and the technical staffs were slave-driven at a murderous pace for several years without a let-up. Impossible norms of production and tempos of construction were set. The industrial population was worked to exhaustion. Meanwhile, with all the emphasis placed on the development of heavy industry, there was no corresponding growth of industries producing consumer's goods. There were growing insufficiencies of food, clothing and housing. The workers' standard of life dipped below that of Czarist times. A fearful poverty was superimposed on nervous exhaustion due to killing labor. Barmine gives a most graphic description of the Soviet capital at the end of the first five-year plan:
After the improvements of 1922-28, Moscow showed appalling changes. Every face and every house front was eloquent of misery, exhaustion and apathy. There were scarcely any stores, and the rare display windows still existing had an air of desolation. Nothing was to be seen in them but cardboard boxes and food tins, upon which the shopkeepers, in a mood of despair rather than rashness, had pasted stickers reading "empty." Everyone's clothes were worn out and the quality of the stuff was unspeakable. My Paris suit made me feel embarrassed in the streets. There was a shortage of everything – especially of soap, boots, vegetables, meat, butter, and all fatty foodstuffs.
I was much astonished to see crowds waiting in front of the candy stores. Fellow-travelers after a hasty trip through Russia would return home and tell glowing tales of the socialist paradise where crowds waited in long lines, not for bread, but for candy. The truth was quite different. Famished people sought anything to fill their empty stomachs. Even the revolting sweets made of saccharine and soya beans were gladly consumed, because they were almost the only edible things that could be bought – even then one pound of them cost an average day's wages.
Manufactured goods were much scarcer than money, and money was scarcer than jobs. It was true, as propaganda abroad said, that there was no unemployment; but living on a workman's pay was the hardest thing in the world. The housing crisis had reached a point never before known. In front of the empty co-operatives, long queues stood day and night in the hope of being allotted ridiculously small quantities of foodstuffs ...
I was struck by these material evidences of crisis, and still more by the nervous tension among Communists, intellectuals, technical specialists, and workmen; in short, among all those who had been most involved in the Five-Year Plan. Faces were marked with anxiety and fatigue, and minds were so exhausted that no one seemed capable any longer of controlling his reactions or of seeing things calmly. Everyone was caught up in a tangle of imperative instructions, resistant facts, constantly recurring difficulties, official lies, nerve-wracking needs, fears, and doubts.
To Stalin's limited mind, it appeared that the whole economic process could be commanded and directed by Kremlin decree. Industrialization and collectivization could be carried through without any regard for the needs and desires of the workers and peasants. Having proclaimed the possibility of "building socialism in one country," the job had to be carried through even if it meant wiping out half the population. When bureaucratic arbitrariness ran into objective difficulties and popular resistance, with the result that the whole economic fabric was torn and broken, Stalin's answer was – the purge. Firing squads, secret murders in GPU cellars, show "trials" of alleged saboteurs and foreign agents, and mass deportations were his "remedy" for economic dislocation and breakdown. Since there could be no admission of fault or miscalculation at the top, scapegoats had to be found – and punished. Critics of the regime, real or suspected, had to be "liquidated." Needless to say, these methods, while leaving the basic causes of the crisis untouched, served to deepen the economic chaos. The technical staffs of entire industries were wiped out in the purges. Such staffs cannot be created in a day.
Stalin's purges naturally occupy a prominent place in the two books. We will give the floor to Kravchenko, who describes this grim business in its enormous scope, with special reference to Nikopol, where he was employed as an industrial engineer in a large plant. Kravchenko himself felt the brutish hand of the Stalinist inquisition and narrowly escaped "liquidation," so that his testimony is not just that of an observer, but of a victim or near-victim. This is what he writes:
The outside world watched the several blood-purge trials staged in the former Hall of Nobles in Moscow. It failed to understand, it does not understand to this day, that the Moscow trials were just a formal facade, a show window, behind which the real horrors were being piled mountain high. The public trials involved a few dozen carefully selected and rehearsed victims. The purge involved hundreds of thousands, ultimately around ten millions who were sorted and disposed of rapidly; these to prison, these into exile, these for the forced labor battalions, these to die.
Crowds of women and children swarmed around the NKVD building in Nikopol at all hours despite bitter cold. The NKVD men would disperse them, but soon they were back again, weeping, screaming, calling the names of fathers, husbands, brothers. Many of these unfortunates were local inhabitants, but a lot of others had come from nearby villages, where the pogrom was striking down village Soviet chairmen, Party secretaries, Comsomol leaders, presidents of collective farms. This scene outside the NKVD I shall never be able to expunge from my memory. A great theatrical genius, hoping to convey mass despair, macabre and boundless sorrow, could not have invented anything more terrifying.
And in the midst of the storm, through the howling of the stricken and the grimacing of the suffering, press and radio announced the formal adoption of "the world's most democratic Constitution" in November, 1936.
There was not one purge but several, a series. Each marked a new stage of crisis. The more unsure the regime felt, the greater and more cruel the repressions. Stalin carried through a ruthless war against the whole Soviet people. Victims were grabbed off from every department of government, every branch of the economy and social life, every layer of the population. Nor were the bureaucratic tops of the regime exempt. When the super-purge of 1936-38 tapered off, says Kravchenko:
there was not an office or enterprise, an economic or cultural body, a government or a Party or military bureau, which was not largely in new hands. Had a foreign conqueror taken over the machinery of Soviet life and put new people in control, the change could hardly have been more thorough or more cruel.
In addition to the thousands who died before firing squads, or who met more cruel death at the hands of sadistic torturers in the cellars of the secret police, millions were condemned to forced labor in camps in the most inhospitable and unhealthy regions of the country. Here under appalling conditions which Kravchenko is also able to describe as an eye-witness, unnumbered multitudes died, Kravchenko avers that in 1938
among Communists close to the Kremlin throne, whispered estimates placed the slave labor forces at more than fifteen millions; in the next few years the estimate would be closer to twenty millions.
Yet even this does not exhaust the estimate of victims. For everyone who was purged had relatives, friends and dependents who were made to suffer. Says Kravchenko:
millions who escaped the purge were maimed in their minds and wounded in their spirits by the fears and brutalities amidst which they lived. For sheer scale, I know of nothing in all human history to compare with this purposeful and merciless persecution in which tens of millions of Russians suffered directly or indirectly. Genghis Khan was an amateur, a muddler, compared to Stalin.
The purge of the Red Army was as sweeping and comprehensive as it was in other spheres. Barmine gives a "rough tally" of those who disappeared: three out of five marshals, eleven vice-commissars of war. Six of the eight generals who formed the court-martial alleged to have condemned to death Tukhachevsky and seven others of the High Command. Seventy-five of the eighty members (all generals and admirals) of the Supreme Military Council of the Red Army, including all the commanders of military districts, the commander-in-chief of the air force, the commander-in-chief of the fleet, and all but one of the commanders of the different sea fleets. Ninety per cent of all generals. Eighty per cent of all colonels. Approximately thirty thousand lesser officers.
It was this beheaded Red Army which had to go into battle against the Nazis. Barmine asserts that if Stalin had not shot the entire commanding staff of the army in 1937, "the battles which saved Russia would have been fought on the Vistula and the Nieman instead of the Volga and the Neva. Three peacetime years is not long enough for a beheaded army to grow a new brain." The places occupied by such brilliant military strategists as Tukhachevsky, Bluecher, Yakir, Feldman, Kork, Uborevich – all "liquidated" in the purge – were filled by such utterly talentless marshals as Voroshilov, Budyenny and Timoshenko, whose only "qualification" was their servility to Stalin. Barmine testifies, and the whole world knows, that these military mediocrities neither attempted a strategy nor put into operation any plan. "All they used their gigantic manpower and equipment for was to stop successive holes in the dike through which the Germans were pouring." Stalin soon had to remove these generals from the command and replace them with abler men. Meanwhile, the Red Army and the Soviet people paid, and continued to pay, a fearful price for Stalin's purge of the armed forces. Hitler's troops were able to overrun a large segment of European Russia, bringing death and ruin to the most populous regions. The Red Army suffered calamitous casualties without being able to stem the tide of invasion until much later.
But this is only a part of the picture. The Soviet economy, which was required to serve the needs of war, had developed in lopsided fashion under the five-year plans due to the fantastic disproportions inherent in the very plans themselves. Stalin imagined he could steamroller his way through the very toughest of obstacles by a prodigious sacrifice of human life and welfare. By the Soviet Union's own unaided efforts, the country would not only be industrialized at terrific speed, but it would "catch up with and outstrip" the most advanced capitalist country, the United States. We know where Stalin's adventurism in the economic domain led – to breakdown and chaos. Soviet economy had not recovered from the awful consequences of Stalinist "planning" when the Nazis invaded the country and the debilitated industry was called upon to furnish the mechanical sinews of war and the needs of an army of many millions.
How blighting were the effects of Stalin's policies in the economic sphere is well illustrated by Kravchenko when he relates that Soviet soldiers died by the thousands at barbed wire barricades set up by the Nazis – because industry was unable to supply such a simple contrivance as steel wire cutters. As for battery flashlights – there just were no such luxurious aids for the Soviet soldiers. But industry could not even give them such a simple substitute as kerosene lanterns. Iron shoes for the horses were unobtainable, with the result that the cavalry and animal transport suffered. The soldiers marched and fought in canvas shoes.
These deficiencies were put down as the work of "internal enemies." And so the repressions and purges went on in time of war as they had in time of peace – a "war within a war," says Kravchenko, who attests that this was "the only part of the war effort that worked quickly and efficiently in the first terrible stage of the struggle" against the Nazis ... "It took precedence over measures of military defense."
Amid the terrible sufferings of the Soviet masses, in peace as in war, one stratum of the population, the Soviet elite, not merely has its fundamental wants satisfied but lives in plush comfort. The degree of good or luxurious living depends upon the position of the individual in the hierarchy of the privileged, with the best naturally reserved for the ultra-privileged bureaucrats at the top of the social scale. While the masses go hungry and are clad in rags, the elite enjoy the best of food and clothing and plenty of it. While the workers live in the same squalid slums that existed under Czarism, Soviet officials occupy the newest and best apartment houses. The much-publicized rest homes and vacation spots are reserved for the ruling caste and the most privileged section of the workers. Bacchanalian feasts at which the bureaucrats gorge themselves on the finest of domestic and imported foods and wines are commonplace. They and they alone ride in the automobiles. Stalin himself lives like an Oriental potentate. His every whim is gratified at the expense of the Soviet budget and his whims are many and costly. He affects, for political purposes, a simplicity of living which is belied by too many contrary facts. Barmine's book contains some matchless writing which shows the abysmal gulf separating the standard of living of the bureaucracy and its "chief" from that of the Soviet masses.
Kravchenko explains why the Soviet masses, while inwardly rebellious, nevertheless have endured thus far the parasitism and the repressions of the parvenu usurpers in the Kremlin:
They were impotent in their suffering; weakened by twenty years of war, revolution, undernourishment and systematic persecutions; dizzied by slogans and bewildered by lies; cut off completely from the outside world. Yet they never approved the brutality of their rulers. The bitterness was deepest in the Party itself, because it was mixed with a feeling of guilt and churned by galling helplessness as against the rulers and their might.
Disbelief in the framed-up charges against the Old Bolsheviks murdered by Stalin was universal, Kravchenko testifies: "They're not fooled, they're not fooled one bit." And – "they are waiting for their chance to seize the rights which are theirs."
During the war, when the abyss between the bureaucracy and the people assumed uglier forms than ever before, Kravchenko avers that he heard for the first time "open cursing of the officialdom" in Moscow. This was when the German army was at the very gates of the Soviet capital and the city was being evacuated. The bureaucracy monopolized the trains to remove themselves and their families from the danger zone, together with their furniture, their wardrobes and their mistresses, while thousands of wretched families camped amidst their bundles and suitcases at the railroad stations in the vague hope of a place or even a foothold on some train going anywhere eastward. At the same time – "as if to taunt the miserable mobs, comfortable caravans of official motorcars streamed out of Moscow, loaded with the families and household goods of the elite."
If to the social chasm which separates the rulers from the masses one adds the immense cruelties of the Stalin regime, its totalitarian brutishness and disregard of human life, its glaring deceitfulness, fraud and hypocrisy, it is easy enough to understand that the rule of the Kremlin oligarchy, despite all its appearance of strength, rests on a seething foundation of enormous discontent. The latent mood of rebellion has penetrated even the hierarchy of the privileged. This is perhaps the most important of the political revelations in Kravchenko's book.
The Red Army officers, the Stakhanovist workers, the factory managers, the industrial engineers and technicians, the state and collective farm managers, the party functionaries and government officials detest and fear the regime of which they are the social beneficiaries. To be sure, they enjoy the "good life" in matters of material comfort. But in the vast ocean of misery and oppression which surrounds them on all sides, many feel uncomfortable and embarrassed. The animosity of the humble worker and peasant assails them in a thousand tangible and intangible ways. And this is the least of their woes. Much more direct and palpable is the perpetual feeling of uncertainty and insecurity which pervades their lives and taints their material enjoyments. None feels safe. Everyone feels that if things go wrong – and things are always going wrong – he may end up in an NKVD cellar or a forced labor camp. The unease and apprehension of the Soviet elite are delineated by Kravchenko:
Let it be remembered that to thousands of the men and women around me I was a person of consequence, one of the Party elect. I had favors to dispense. Under my roof they found abundance and comfort – things and conditions for which all but a handful of people were tragically starved. My standards of life were modest, even bleak, when compared to those of men in my position in America. But in Nikopol, Taganrog, Pervouralsk or even Moscow they were so far above the average, so remote from the working-class level, that I seemed to live in a world apart. Few of those who envied their well-paid novi barii, their new masters, or caught a glimpse of the sorry splendors of our life, realized the weight of fear, lack of personal freedom and professional independence, the torment of uncertain tenure under which we enjoyed our advantages ... Our days seemed hurried and transitory – way stations to another assignment or to sudden extinction.
Kravchenko's revelation of the "inner condition," so to speak, of the privileged social caste upon which Stalin's rule rests, is the first direct evidence from a competent source of the extreme instability of the regime. To begin with, the bureaucracy and the top stratum of the working class provided only a very narrow foundation for the rule of the totalitarian Kremlin clique. Now we discover that even this narrow foundation is weak and shaky, composed of elements which cannot but hate the dominant tops because of the fear and uncertainty which pervades and poisons their lives. In the course of eighteen years Stalin has been unable to establish, and harden, a homogeneous social formation which could serve as a reliable basis for his rule. Instead, we have a picture of a social formation, which, while enjoying all the material amenities of a privileged caste, is driven by the conditions of its political existence to hate and fear the regime of which it is the social beneficiary. This leaves the Kremlin clique in a position of such isolation that it can maintain its rule only by police methods – the methods of intimidation and violence not only in relation to the masses but towards the bureaucracy itself. What a glaring commentary on the views of those innovators in the realm of political theory who contend that the Soviet bureaucracy is – of all things! – a new ruling class! The innovators must explain the unique phenomenon of a "ruling class" which cowers in fear and terror before the political instrument of its own rule.
Some one may ask: If all the horrors depicted by the two ex-Soviet officials are true, why did the Soviet masses – also that rebellious section of the Soviet elite to which the authors belonged! – rise so magnificently to defend the Soviet Union in the war against Hitler? Why did they not seize upon the war crisis to settle scores with the hated tyrants who were the authors of all their misery? Neither Kravchenko nor Barmine refers to the fact that as yet there is no revolutionary party to lead the masses in struggle against the Stalin regime. But Kravchenko gives the following general answer to these questions – an answer which is eloquent testimony to the strong persistence of socialist ideas in the Soviet Union and a guarantee that Stalinism will ultimately meet its doom:
Like all of them (the Soviet people) I loved my country. I knew that it was something distinct from the gang who ruled and terrorized us ... The fact that I could muster a sincere enthusiasm for victory, a passionate hatred of the invader, though I detested the Soviet regime, is the key to the mystery why the Russians fought and in the end conquered. They did not fight for Stalin but despite Stalin. No one knows this better than the Kremlin clique itself ... In its propaganda to the armed forces and the population at large the Kremlin insisted that the invaders were intent on restoring landlords and capitalists. This was an effective morale builder and, indeed, offered the most solid common ground on which the regime and the people could meet. Except for a negligible minority, it should be understood, the Russians categorically did not desire such a restoration, under any disguise, no matter how sincerely they might detest the political and economic despotism of the Soviet system.
Kravchenko's unexpected allusion to the "Soviet system" in this quotation is an example of the verbal trickery by which both he and Barmine, after their break with Stalin, facilitated their passage to the camp of capitalist "democracy." After offering repeated proofs that what the Soviet masses detest is not the Soviet system but the Stalin Regime and that they sacrificed themselves in war to defend what still remains of the Soviet system (namely, the socialized economy), we are suddenly confronted with the assertion that it is the "despotism" of the Soviet system that is the object of popular hatred. This assertion blandly ignores the fact that Stalin had to destroy all of the Soviet system except its economic base, and all its living representatives, in order to clamp his usurpatory rule on the country. By identifying the Soviet system with its Stalinist destroyers, Barmine and Kravchenko reveal themselves as renegades from Socialism and demonstrate their willingness to serve its class enemies.
Significantly, the United States government readily gave refuge in this country to both these ex-Soviet officials and even afforded them protection against the NKVD assassins who were at their heels. Contrast this with the resolute and persistent refusal of the State Department to grant asylum to Leon Trotsky, who broke with Stalin but remained faithful to Socialism until his death!
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Last updated on 10.2.2009