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[Illustration: "Nuke Moon" © 2006 by Tracy Dilorenzo.]
Maxwell was in the middle of the first steak he had seen in almost a year when the communicator holstered at his waist began to beep. Maxwell sighed and closed the lid of his magnetized plate so the medium-rare ribeye wouldn't float away, and answered the call. The mid-watch duty officer appeared on the device's tiny screen.
"What can I do for you, Commander?" Maxwell said, idly using a fork to pry a piece of gristle from between two molars.
"Haystack has picked up a sizable object headed our way," the officer said. Maxwell locked the fork into a slot on the table.
"How long?"
"We've got 372 minutes before it enters the exclusion zone. I'd say you should get a move on it."
Maxwell passed his steak to the surprised maintenance tech sitting across the table and headed for the door. Eleven months off-planet had taught him to use the handholds lining the station's walls with the agility of a hyper-adapted space monkey. The launch bay containing the only two Catfish class spacecraft in existence and their control apparatus was on the opposite end of the linked-globe structure that made up Platform Alpha.
Maxwell's haste was due to two facts. One was that his pay was directly linked to the number of drone launches he coordinated. The second was that even more of his pay was linked to the number of orbital hazards that entered the exclusion zone surrounding Alpha and, more important, surrounding the platform's leash. Alpha hung on the end of a sixty-thousand-mile carbon nanotube ribbon, stretching from space to a city-sized barge anchored off the coast of Ecuador. Robotic climbers moved along the ribbon constantly, ferrying materials and equipment from Earth to orbit. The space elevator had taken three years to build from a single, hair-thin string to a structure that could support a fourteen-ton payload. Three years and enough money to buy everyone on the planet a decent seafood dinner. Understandably, the consortium of governments that technically owned the entire enterprise, and the corporations that had made it a reality, took a dim view of anything punching a hole in that priceless lifeline. That was where Maxwell's employers came in.
The contractor reached the sealed command facility overlooking Bay Twelve in under three minutes, but Amal beat him there anyway. Maxwell's assistant was already strapped into the drone's pilot chair when the powered door hissed shut.
"Looks like you're riding shotgun again, boss," Amal grinned, bright teeth contrasting sharply with his dark-brown skin.
"I'll get you next time," Maxwell grumbled while settling into the chair next to Amal. "I was in the middle of dinner."
"Excuses, excuses. Last time you were sleeping. And the time before that you were in the bathroom," Amal said.
"Next tour, I'm going to make sure that Lockheed gives me the authority to blow insubordinate team members out the airlock," Maxwell shot back, as he scanned the pre-flight checklist running across one of his screens.
"Be careful what you wish for. From what I'm seen, there are a few people up here that wouldn't mind blowing you out of an airlock."
Maxwell shook his head in mock sorrow. "I'm afraid that the military mind just isn't capable of appreciating the unique genius of Team Maxwell."
"Pretty soon, they're going to be failing to appreciate the unique genius of Team Amal, short-timer. You've got what, another two weeks?" Amal said.
"Ten days, and I'm headed groundside to pick up my fat check and go looking for the largest piece of seared dead cow in the Western Hemisphere."
"And try out your 'Would you girls like to see my astronaut tattoo?' line in bars."
"Of course." Maxwell ended the banter by squinting at a blinking icon on his heads-up display. "We're ready to go. Which one is it going to be: Ladybug or Calico?" Amal checked a Post-It note stuck to his chair.
"Ladybug. Calico went out last time." Maxwell began powering up the drone's systems.
"Do we have telemetry from Haystack?" he asked. Amal tapped the touch pad by his left hand.
"We're linking up with their feed right now." The Haystack Observatory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology had a contract to track every piece of space junk in low-Earth orbit. What had originally been the quixotic project of a few professors and graduate assistants became big business with the construction of the first space elevator. The sensors on Platform Alpha and a network of ground tracking stations fed information to Haystack. The observatory sifted the torrent of raw data into useful trajectory plots for every hunk of dead satellite, lost NASA rocket booster, and Chinese soda can outside the atmosphere. The results were fed directly into the system sitting in front of Maxwell and Amal.
Amal tapped a series of commands into his touch pad. A robotic arm attached to the series of tracks running along the bay's ceiling came to life, and the external bay doors opened slowly. Whirring on nearly silent electric motors, the arm gently grasped the nearest drone at specially reinforced points and carried the craft towards the vacuum of space. With an unnecessary flourish, Amal entered a final command, and the arm stopped well short of its goal and hurled Ladybug out into the black. The drone spun end over end away from the platform until Amal expertly fired secondary pulsed-plasma thrusters to stabilize her flight path.
Maxwell chuckled. "Show-off."
"I've been stuck on a space station for six months with no one but you and a bunch of stick-up-the-ass military types for company. I have to get my entertainment somewhere."
"Speaking of which, I see that India managed to choke in the finals," Maxwell said. "It was close, though. For a minute, I thought your boys had finally learned how to play soccer."
Amal winced. "I was hoping you'd forgotten the game was last night."
"Not a chance. Why do I suspect that you don't have any cash on you?"
"How about an I.O.U.?" Amal smiled hopefully. Maxwell waved the offer off.
"You can just add it to the other ones, and that stack is getting pretty high. Never bet on the hometown boys. You should know that."
Amal shrugged. "What can I say? I'm sentimental."
Maxwell rechecked the calculations from Haystack as Amal maneuvered the drone away from the platform. Ladybug's designers had chosen a pair of hybrid rocket engines as her main propulsion, eschewing more sophisticated designs in favor of simplicity and high thrust. The downside was a cone of spent reaction mass behind the spacecraft that could cut apart Platform Alpha and her precious ribbon like cold steel through a Thanksgiving turkey.
Working quickly, Maxwell finished feeding Haystack's information into the panel's processors. "I've got the crossover point and burn times calculated. Ready when you are." At Maxwell's command, Amal switched on the powerful rockets and Ladybug started to move. The threatening piece of scrap was hurtling through space at what was, relative to Earth, an incredible speed. Ladybug needed to accelerate out to a pre-determined point, switch end-over-end, decelerate, and then fire her engines again to reach a relative velocity of zero with her target, all without accidentally burning up in the atmosphere or hurtling off on a road-trip out of the galaxy. The g-forces involved were far beyond what any human could withstand, which was why Maxwell and Amal were back on Platform Alpha, sitting in comfortable chairs and trying not to fall asleep while Ladybug boosted towards her appointed rendezvous.
Amal put on a compact headset and listened to music while keeping half an eye on the status readouts on his viewscreens. Maxwell resisted the urge to fire up solitaire on his communicator and began to review the data from Haystack instead. After a glance at the summary, he lightly punched Amal on the shoulder. The other man took off his earphones and raised an eyebrow.
"Check out the mass the groundpounders estimated for this one."
Amal squinted at the readout and whistled. "Are you sure this one isn't on the list? You'd think that someone would remember losing a satellite that big."
Maxwell shook his head. "I can run it through our systems, but if Haystack says it isn't on the list, then it isn't on the list." Prior to the advent of the Space Elevator, putting objects into orbit involved bolting expensive and delicate satellites on top of chemically powered boosters with designs dating to the 1950s, and hoping for the best. Even if the satellite made it out of the atmosphere, the slightest malfunction resulted in a tiny and very expensive moon in low-Earth orbit. When Lockheed had won the contract to protect the elevator, the company had discreetly inquired whether anyone had anything currently in orbit that they would like to get back. Every object that Haystack tracked was now compared against that list. The finder's fees that resulted from retrieving a satellite and loading it on an Earth-bound climber were considerable.
"Why don't you see what you can pick up using Ladybug's suite?" Maxwell said. Amal nodded in agreement. He sent a series of commands to the drone, and in the distance, Ladybug's advanced sensors came to life and focused on the approaching object. She quickly returned a detailed radar map of the target's surface, which Maxwell used to scan the list of known satellites.
"No match," Maxwell said.
"I guess we get to wait. Ladybug will be in camera range in another twenty minutes," Amal said.
"Try to keep the lens on it while you decelerate. I don't like not knowing what we're dealing with." Maxwell occupied his time by running through Calico's checklist, on the remote possibility that they would require the second drone's services. Amal nudged him a few minutes later.
"Check it out." Amal put the stream from the drone's camera on the largest screen. The dead satellite had an irregular, ovoid-shaped body and a matched pair of jutting, rectangular solar panels. Explaining both the satellite's malfunction and slow, wobbling rotation, half of one panel was missing, torn away in some long-ago accident. No markings were visible on the machine's smooth alloy skin, and it's only significant feature was a regular crease that bisected the entire main body. Maxwell pointed his index finger at the screen.
"Do those look like maneuvering jets to you?" Amal paused the recording and ran it back to get a closer look.
"I don't know what else they could be," he said. "I'm going to admit it. I have absolutely no idea what that thing is."
"I don't either." Maxwell said. "It's a little on the big side to run into the atmosphere, but I think we can get the angle right to make sure it burns completely."
Amal scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I don't know if that's such a good idea. It's going to take some time to make the calculations, and with our closing velocity, we're going to be cutting it close. I don't want Ladybug to run out of reaction mass in mid-capture."
Maxwell looked doubtful. "You want to bring it in here? That's a pretty dicey maneuver."
"I know. But do you really want to chance spreading debris that size over Chicago or Delhi?"
Maxwell shrugged. "Chicago? No. Delhi? Would anyone notice?"
Amal laughed. "There you go again, you colonizing white devil."
Maxwell bit his lip and ran a few numbers through the panel. Amal drummed fingertips against his armrest until Maxwell said, "Do you really think this is a good idea?"
"No. But you want to get a closer look as much as I do."
Maxwell rubbed at the corner of one eye. "We're going to have to get permission for this one. It's your idea. You get to make the call."
Amal shook his head again. "There you go again. Oppressing the brown man." Amal's sorrowful words were betrayed by the eager glint in his eye. The duty officer immediately elected to kick the decision upstairs, setting off a chain of com calls that ended with Platform Alpha's newly woken commander telling Amal that as long as no one dented his space station, he didn't give a damn what they did with the orphaned satellite. Maxwell chose to take this as explicit permission.
Three hours and one tricky recovery sequence later, Ladybug was back in her berth with the object of all the furor sitting next to her. Maxwell pressurized the launch bay and followed Amal down to get a better look. The satellite was about two-thirds as long as one of the drones, and in even worse condition than they had thought from the long-range video. Its surface was pocked from micrometeorite collisions, and scorch marks along the bottom told a mute tale of a botched launch. The contractors undertook a slow circumnavigation of their discovery, which only confirmed what they already knew. There were no markings of any kind on the outside of the satellite. Maxwell was familiar with the construction techniques of most modern space programs, and this particular item fit none of them.
Almost an hour later, Amal gently pushed away and came to a rest against a nearby wall. "I'd say we're back where we started."
Maxwell nodded, holding onto a handhold welded to Ladybug's hull. "I can't even guess what it was supposed to do. It's got no external camera, so it's not a photoreconnaissance bird. It did have fairly major antenna at one point," Maxwell pointed to a broken spar stabbing out from the satellite, an evident casualty of the same impact that had destroyed the solar panel. "But even so, there isn't nearly enough gear on it for any serious communications purpose."
Amal gestured at a poorly aligned body panel. "I will say one thing. That piece was never installed by an American or Japanese technician. Quality control would have had a fit."
Maxwell gave a disgusted grunt. "I'm stumped, so here's what's going to happen next. I'm going to go back to my room, take a shower, and eat the last can of gumbo from my care package. Then I'm going to go to sleep. If the answer doesn't come to me in a dream, I'm going to run this thing a few thousand miles down the ribbon and slingshot it into the sun."
Amal smiled thinly. "You're the boss, but I'm going to borrow some equipment and open her up."
Maxwell waved dismissively. "You're off the clock. Do whatever you want, but come next shift, this bay needs to be clear." Maxwell started for the nearest hatch. Behind him, Amal was already on his communicator, trading favors with the head maintenance tech for the loan of some power tools. Once outside the launch bay, Maxwell hesitated. Heaving a sigh, he leaned back inside and snapped a quick picture with the camera built into his communicator. This simple task complete, he headed towards the quarters he shared with Amal, trying to crowd curiosity out of his mind with the bribe of a sponge bath followed by spicy food.
The gumbo was excellent, even if Maxwell did have to suck it through a straw so that he didn't have pieces of shrimp floating in his room for the next week and a half. After dinner, he strapped into his bunk and tried to sleep. He gave up after five minutes and crawled hand-over-hand to the terminal set into a small desk next to the bed. One of Maxwell's friends from college, a quirky little man by the name of Rick Jamison, occupied the newly endowed chair of Orbital Technology at the University of Michigan. Rick owed Maxwell an immense number of favors, dating back to an undergraduate prank gone bad that ended with Maxwell dragging his near-comatose friend from a burning sorority house. With this incident firmly in mind, Maxwell banged out a short email to Rick and attached the image of the satellite stored on his communicator. Confident that he had demonstrated due diligence to the satisfaction of his contract, Maxwell went back to bed and dreamed of chasing a gigantic, glowing beach ball up and down the reddish sands of Mars.
Seven hours later, the lights in Maxwell's quarters began to blink on and off to signal that his shift would begin in two hours. He groaned and would have rolled over if the restraints he used to keep his sleeping body from wandering all over the cabin would have allowed it. Maxwell soon surrendered to the inevitable and got out of bed. As he dressed, he noticed that Amal's neatly made-up bunk had not been disturbed. Maxwell was unsurprised at the depth of the other man's inquisitiveness. Amal's slightly obsessive nature was part of the reason Lockheed had selected him for the elevator assignment. It made him an excellent drone pilot, if also somewhat prone to lay double or nothing on the L.A. Lakers covering the spread.
Maxwell swung by the cafeteria for some processed eggs before heading down to the gym. Despite a regular workout regimen, Maxwell had lost a great deal of muscle mass during his tour off-planet and he wanted to keep the pain of relearning to walk in gravity to a minimum. Still, his trip to the exercise facilities had an ulterior motive. There were few places on the crowded platform where a man could sit and think without being disturbed. One of those places was a stationary bicycle, provided that the man in question wore headphones and studiously avoided eye contact. Maxwell worked different shifts from most of the station's crew, so the gym was largely empty. He settled on his favorite bike and started pedaling. The hulking mass of steel and plastic in his launch bay weighed on Maxwell's mind. Despite his earlier announcement to Amal, Maxwell had little desire to destroy such an unusual object without study. On the other hand, the launch bay did need to be clear in case of emergencies, and there was no other place on the station to store the satellite.
Maxwell had only just broken a sweat when his communicator's message indicator beeped. He opened the device without breaking his pedaling rhythm, and his interest rose considerably when he saw that the email was from Jamison. The message itself was terse.
"I'm going to send you another email in about ten minutes. Read it somewhere private." Maxwell's heart jumped. He hurriedly dismounted, and paused only to towel off the bike seat before navigating Platform Alpha's cramped passageways back to his quarters. Exactly ten minutes after he received the first email, the communicator beeped again. Maxwell shed his workout clothes, got into his bunk and opened the new message. Generally, Jamison started his communications to Maxwell with an obscene Internet joke or amusing picture. This time he got straight to the heart of the matter.
"Max, my boy, part of me really wants to know where you found that thing, but the other part knows better than to ask. I did some quiet checking with the information you sent me, and it didn't take me long to end up in the classified section of the university database. What you have is a Russian satellite, all right, but not just any Russian space toaster. That thing is a genuine Soviet Union-era relic. Most of what we know about the program that produced it came from a defector in the late Eighties. This guy claimed that his boss, a real mad-scientist type named Stepankov, had actually managed to create a workable X-Ray laser. Now, Teller and his boys tried and failed to do exactly that for Reagan's SDI program, so the scientist types on the payroll told the CIA that the defector was blowing smoke up their skirts. I don't know what happened to him, but a few months later a Kazakh janitor hightailed it out of one of the Russian launch facilities in his country, and brought a whole bunch of pictures with him. One of the shots is of a brand-new satellite that's a dead ringer for the one you just dumped onto my hard drive. Some CIA bureaucrat put two and two together and wrote up a report, but right around then the wall came down, and suddenly the USA and Russia were the best of friends. So, my educated guess is that you've got the prototype of a Soviet orbital ICBM defense satellite on your hands."
Maxwell sighed heavily and wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead before continuing with the email. "I know you probably just felt a great swell of relief. I haven't told you the bad news yet. Remember when I said about X-Ray lasers? Well, let me tell you how one of those bad boys works. The executive summary is the X-Ray photons in a collection of glass rods are bombarded with a shit-load of gamma-ray photons, causing the rods to spontaneously emit a really freaking powerful laser. Clever idea, huh? The next pertinent point is that in this particular application, those gamma-ray photons come from a nuclear explosion. That's right. This is a single-use weapon, with the shot propelled along by a twenty-kiloton blast." Maxwell's hands started to shake. "That last bit of data is why I'm currently deleting all references to this conversation off my network. I suggest you do the same if you can. From that picture, it looks like that satellite is sitting in a bay on Platform Alpha. If you're not in custody right now, I'm also going to guess that no one else knows that you've got it. From a certain point of view, that satellite is the property of the Russian government. From another point of view, you are personally responsible for bringing a Soviet nuclear bomb onto the space elevator that is making our government's beloved Mission to Mars possible. You can do the math. Call me when you get back to Earth, and we'll swap stories."
Maxwell deleted the email and threw on his company-issued jumpsuit. Visions of Amal's clumsy autopsy detonating the bomb warred with even more graphic visions of federal prison time for endangering government property. He elected to risk a call to his assistant, if only to tell him to stop cutting. Amal had a block on all incoming transmissions, so Maxwell cursed at his assistant's voicemail and started towards the launch bay. As the legacy of a misspent youth, Amal had an advanced degree in nuclear engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology. That made it unlikely the man was going to do anything to endanger the station. With a bit of luck, the two of them could have one of the drones haul the satellite out into space and mail it fourth-class to the Horsehead Nebula with no one in a position of authority the wiser.
Maxwell made it to the bay in near-record time. The light above the hatch glowed green, signaling that there was air pressure inside. Maxwell tapped at the keypad set to one side and cursed again. Amal had placed an administrative lock on the bay, generally only used when they were in the middle of expelling or retrieving a drone. Maxwell only hesitated for an instant before tapping in his override code. The hatch hissed open and Maxwell floated inside. The black satellite was where Maxwell had left it, strapped down in the middle of the bay. Amal was nowhere in sight. Maxwell pushed off the wall and glided over to the spacecraft, grasping onto the mangled solar panel. He clambered over the top and looked down.
A great gash had been sliced into the side of the satellite with the heavy-duty acetylene torch bound to an attachment point in the floor. An equipment chest sat next to the torch, and various hand tools hovered about in blatant violation of zero-gee protocol. Unrecognizable pieces of scrap and long-dead bits of technology floated around the bay, torn from the bowels of the derelict. The contractor climbed down and tethered his safety harness to a convenient hook. Maxwell had expected to find Amal somewhere in the room, but the compartment was empty. His first instinct was to find his assistant, but Maxwell instead gave in to curiosity. Amal had cut a wide circle into the machine's skin large enough to admit a man. Paused for a moment, Maxwell stuck his head inside. The cavity was dark, so Maxwell fumbled for the flashlight in one of his hip pockets and clicked it on.
The center of the satellite was hollow. Along the rim of the open space were dozens of long, transparent rods. The broken glass scattered around the bottom testified to Amal's less than surgical technique. An oblong block of steel and plastic was cradled in the very center of the satellite by long, gray cylinders. Wires ran into and out of the complicated device, and bright red messages in Cyrillic were stenciled on the outside, as was the universal yellow and black sign for radiation.
"Holy shit," Maxwell muttered. What had elicited this vulgarity was the condition of the bomb. It had been cut open as well, although the much cleaner scorch lines bespoke a level of care not shown to the outside hull. Inside the bomb was a tangle of wires, all of which had been neatly cut and moved aside. The wires had once embraced an object about the size of an overlarge basketball. There was no sign of the missing orb that had once been the missile-killer's heart. Maxwell pulled his head back into the open air and breathed deeply, trying to slow his pounding heart. He remembered enough from a long-ago briefing to know that there was now around eight kilograms of plutonium loose on Platform Alpha. He was also afraid that he knew where it was. Maxwell unclipped his communicator and called the command center.
"This is Maxwell. I need Amal, and he's not answering his com. Can you page him for me?" The youngish petty officer manning the communications console took a second to check the schedules before replying.
"I'm sorry, sir, but Mr. Pradesh contacted me about an hour ago and said that he had a family emergency back on Earth. I believe he's going to catch the next passenger crawler back down the ribbon. He didn't tell you about it?"
"No, he didn't." Maxwell tried to keep panic out of his voice. "It must have slipped his mind. When is that crawler leaving?"
"At 0715." Maxwell ended the call and checked the time. He had a little over fifteen minutes before the crawler started the journey Earthward. Every person that that boarded a crawler had a personal effects allocation of fifty kilograms. Even with the inevitable radiation shielding, that allocation meant that Amal's burden wouldn't trip any red flags in the automation that ran the robots.
The last round of cost-cutting had done away with security checks on the platform for Earth-bound travelers. The assumption was that anything worth stealing on Platform Alpha would be reported stolen long before the crawler reached Earth. It would be easy enough to call groundside and have Amal picked up when he arrived, but that would require telling the station authorities how the man came into possession of several million dollars worth of fissionable material. Maxwell vacillated briefly and stopped only to stick a heavy wrench into one cargo pocket before leaving the bay. The crawlers were completely automated, so there was no one at the door to check boarding passes. Maxwell suspected that he wouldn't have any trouble getting on board. What would happen after that was a matter for speculation.
He reached the designated cargo loading bay with plenty of time to spare. After cautiously glancing inside to make sure that Amal was already inside the robot, Maxwell waited until seconds before the crawler was due to leave. At 0715 exactly the depressurization warning alarm erupted. Maxwell swung around the open hatch and launched his body at the rapidly disappearing space between the crawler's sliding doors. Reflexes honed by months in freefall served him well, and he neatly slid into the passenger compartment just as airlock sealed behind him. Maxwell felt a swell of pride at this display of skill, until he realized that he had failed to account for both Newton's Third Law and the lack of padding on the interior of the climber. He slammed into the far wall and felt something crack in his left shoulder. The impact spun Maxwell backwards in a sickening spin and, winded from the crash, he was unable to right his body until someone took a hold of his foot and gently guided him to a bench. Amal strapped a restraint harness around Maxwell and leaned forward to say,
"Look down." Still dazed, Maxwell did as he was bid and drew a sharp breath at the sight of a pocket plasma welder pressed against his sternum. "That was a nice piece of flying there, but I don't know what you're trying to accomplish." Amal's tone was light and conversational. Maxwell had recovered enough to scan the small, circular compartment. There were no other passengers occupying the simple steel benches that lined the walls, and the small viewscreen opposite of Maxwell showed Platform Alpha receding in the distance. An insistent, stabbing pain spread out from Maxwell's left clavicle and the arm on that side of his body didn't seem to be taking instructions at the moment. With considerable effort, Maxwell gathered his thoughts and nodded towards the large, hazardous materials container secured by cargo webbing below the opposite bench.
"I think you may have inadvertently removed something from the station."
The corner of Amal's mouth twitched. "I see. And what is it that you think that I inadvertently removed?"
"It's hard to say for sure, but if I had to guess, I would say that if you discarded the packaging, it would weigh about eight kilograms."
Amal sat back, but kept the welder pressed against Maxwell's side. "I would say closer to ten than to eight, but you're probably on the right track. Let's say for argument's sake that I did in fact, take something off the station that I shouldn't have. Why are you here to retrieve it yourself? Couldn't you have called Oceanic One and had them pick it up for you?"
Maxwell forgot about his collarbone and tried to shrug. Amal waited patiently until Maxwell stopped writhing in pain. "I suppose I could have done that, but then I would have to explain to everyone involved exactly what that object is."
"And you would really prefer to deal with the issue in-house. I see."
"I don't think either our employers or our military hosts need to become involved in this minor administrative matter."
"I can see your point. You have a problem, and I have a problem." Amal removed the welder's muzzle from Maxwell's side, but didn't put the device away. "I doubt you'd be here if you didn't have a solution in mind."
"I do have a few ideas," Maxwell said. "If I understand your problem correctly, even if you do get off of Oceanic One with your rather valuable package intact, you still have to find a buyer. And even if you do find a buyer, you'll have to avoid having the aforementioned buyer slit your throat and dump you in a gutter."
"And your problem is that if you have to retrieve the package by involving anyone not in this room, then your freedom of movement is likely to be severely curtailed for, say, the next eighteen to twenty-four months," Amal finished the thought.
Maxwell smiled coldly and said, "Exactly. Here's my proposal. You need a buyer. I happen to have access to both a small discretionary fund and a not-so-small tour-completion bonus."
Amal scratched behind his ear with the welder's handle. "That is an interesting idea. Throw me a ballpark figure."
"I could do five-hundred thousand."
Amal snorted.
"I could get five-hundred K without leaving Oceanic One. I need at least two million to make it worth my while."
"I may be able to do seven-fifty."
"I've seen the company's bonus scale. You've probably got that much in your spare-change drawer."
"Fine. A million and a quarter, but I'll have make a few calls."
"Done. You'd better hope your broker answers the phone." Maxwell's broker was at lunch, but did answer his phone. The man's irritation at the interruption evaporated when he realized the scale of the commissions involved. Once everything was set into motion, Maxwell put his communicator away. Amal had settled into the seat next to Maxwell. Gravity was slowly reasserting its heavy grasp, so the entire compartment rotated so that they were facing away from Earth. The unaccustomed gravity made talking difficult, but Maxwell tried anyway.
"The money will be in your account by the time we land. I'm going to take this entire incident as your resignation letter."
Amal laughed. "Don't be like that, boss. You should know I'm not going to be using that cash to buy gold-plated toilets or anything. I've got debts."
"How much are you in for?" Maxwell said.
"Enough that this little payday may just save my neck," Amal said.
"Sounds like you've been laying bets with the wrong people."
"That's the problem with the globalized economy. You can get in hock to Albanian gangsters without getting anywhere near Albania. What can I say? I just can't stay away from the ponies. And cricket. And college basketball. And those rocket races they run out in New Mexico."
With a disgusted grunt, Maxwell ended the exchange by taking a nap. He was awakened a few minutes before they arrived by a confirmation message from his broker. He gave Amal a thumbs-up. Amal placed a short call to his bank, and smiled broadly when his account manager read back his current balance. Shortly thereafter, the crawler came to a halt on the giant floating dock that made up Oceanic One. Maxwell's limbs felt as though they were lined with lead. Amal had spent fewer months in orbit than Maxwell, and it showed by how quickly he was up and out of his seat. Maxwell retrieved the wrench from his pocket and struggled up to stand between Amal and the container holding the plutonium. Amal chucked and shook his head.
"You'll forgive me if I don't take any chances," Maxwell said, gripping the wrench tightly.
"Ciao, boss. I don't think I'm going to see you around."
"You'd better hope not," Maxwell said, praying that the other man didn't notice the gravity-induced tremor in his legs.
A company tech opened the airlock and said, "Everyone off. This guy's headed back up in ten minutes." Amal scooted out the open door so quickly that the tech had to leap aside. When Maxwell showed no signs of following, the tech gave Maxwell's wrench a questioning glance and said, "Are you coming?"
Maxwell shook his head. "No, I was just along for the ride. I'm going back up."
"Suit yourself." The tech began to walk away, but said over his shoulder, "You do have a few minutes. Why don't you come out and take a look around? I'll bet you haven't seen the ocean in a while." The sea-salt laced air was a shock to Maxwell's system after long months of sterile, scrubbed oxygen. Platform Alpha was kept at a steady sixty-two degrees Fahrenheit, so the sunlight beaming from a cloudless sky was pleasantly warm. Maxwell staggered to the nearest railing and leaned on it. He stared out across the blue-green waters and made a final phone call. His agent answered on the fourth ring.
"It's Maxwell. I'm going to need you to renegotiate another tour for me."
"What? I thought you were chomping at the bit to get Earth-side."
Maxwell rubbed his aching shoulder. "Let's just say that I had a bad run of luck at the track." *
About the Author: Andrew Hellard is a freelance writer living and working in Central Ohio. His short fiction has appeared in Combat Magazine and is scheduled to run this summer in Nth Degree and Nth-Zine.
(c) 2006 Andrew Hellard email@example.com
Web site: http://www.assaultmonkey.com
About the Artist: Tracy Dilorenzo went to Shelley Park College of Art and Design in England and has lived in Europe and the United States. She specialises in oil painting, chalk pastel, and the encaustic art. She had her own business in England doing mural painting. Most of her work is commissioned, with a focus on portraits of people and animals in chalk and on landscapes in oils.
Tracy taught herself the encaustic art three years ago. Space scenes are very popular in England, and she hopes to have some on display at the DragonCon show in Atlanta this year. She also teaches the technique as an evening class.
(c) 2006 Tracy Dilorenzo firstname.lastname@example.com


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If you're taking a trip to the shops or museums on the Upper East Side, it's nice to know there's a 100% vegan restaurant nearby. The incredibly loyal clientele keeps Candle Cafe hopping at all times. Enjoy a tonic from the "farmacy," such as the immune-boosting, flu- and cold-fighting smoothie with ginger, orange, carrot, grapefruit and lemon. The menu is a kaleidoscope of ethnic favorites, from Southwestern chili to a Middle Eastern meze plate to an Asian-style ginger-miso stir-fry. The staff is friendly, making accommodations for special diets.
1307 Third AveManhattan, NY 10021
(212) 472-0970

subset: commoncrawl


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On Saturday, June 26th the California – Nevada Annual Conference passed the following:
Living into a Season of Grace
Background: The California-Nevada Annual Conference established itself as a Reconciling Conference in 1987 and has been continuously committed to being a fully inclusive church. The following are the aspirations of our Annual Conference during the interim of grace before the next General Conference receives and acts on the report from the Special Commission that will be named by the Council of Bishops.
Therefore, be it resolved that The California-Nevada Annual Conference believes the following are unfair and unjust, do not portray the inclusive nature of our tradition nor the hoped for unity of our church, and should not be followed:
(a) Provisions of the Discipline which discriminate against LGBTQIA persons, including marriage (161.B), the incompatibility clause (161.F), ordination and appointments (304.3), homosexual unions (341.6), AC funding ban (613.19), GCFA funding ban (806.9), chargeable offenses pertaining to being "a self-avowed practicing homosexual" or to officiating at weddings for couples regardless of the sex of the partners (2702.1b,d);and
(b) Participating in or conducting judicial procedures related to the Discipline's prohibitions against LGBTQIA persons.
Be it further resolved that the California-Nevada Annual Conference
will reflect these aspirations, and the commitment to God's grace and unconditional love, by calling our conference, districts, circuits, and local churches into a season of Holy Conferencing to increase open communication. Also, we request that the Core Team and Conference Council on Finance and Administration develop and fund programs of cultural competency, anti-racism, anti-ageism, anti-sexism, anti-oppression and anti-homophobia training at the conference and district levels, as well as training for advocacy and implementation efforts related to the same. Furthermore, we request that conducting judicial processes be avoided in matters related to prohibitions against LGBTQIA persons.


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Thinking about Tim's diceless Vamp game got me thinking about Karma, Drama, and Fortune.
These are terms from Everway, appropriated for use in pretentious theory discussions. Essentially, Karma means resolution by comparing numbers and stats, Drama means resolution by what makes the most sense (either by explanations of plans and strategies, or story needs), and Fortune means resolution by random chance.
In the three sessions of Everway I ran, I suspect I leaned heavily on Fortune in the first one, the middle was practically resolutionless (and extremely Narrativist), and the last was very much Drama driven.
Why? I had a fairly straightforward situation thought out, and was willing to say yes to pretty much anything the PCs did. I wasn't just letting them be awesome; I was letting them be too awesome. There wasn't any challenge.
Whereas the first situation was great. There was a situation, and the cards came out, and stuff happened. No one knew what to expect next!
The lesson here is: don't run anything with a goal already in mind. Let the situation speak for itself, and the events of play take their own direction.
And in addition to "say yes or roll the dice", sometimes it's important to remember the following: "say no and then roll the dice."


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Arts, Humanities, & Communications
Learning a world language can help prepare students to communicate more effectively in today's global society. At Schoolcraft College, we offer courses in elementary and intermediate:
Being multi-lingual opens up many career opportunities abroad as well as qualify students for a variety of language-related jobs, including educators, interpreters, international relations or linguistics.
Answer Center
McDowell Center
Livonia (map)
Learn more about Credit Hours, Course Load, Study Expectations and more in the student handbook.


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Even though Bungie's Destiny might look like a Halo doppelganger, one of the game's designers has now revealed that the project began as a "third-person only" shooter.
"We actually were at one point third-person only," technical art director, Ryan Ellis, told Game Informer. "We wanted to make a kick-ass action game, and we decided first-person was the right place to do that."
The game is now a first person shooter, and unlike titles like the Elder Scrolls, players will not have the freedom to shift back and forth at will, according to vg247.
However, the game still contain traces of its original, since it will provide players the opportunity to see characters in third person.
"There are some third-person elements in the game still. That's important for gameplay, and to show off your cool moves and the cool armour you get," Ellis said.
Ellis also revealed that the project started with a team as small as four people, and that he has been working on the game for the last five years.
According to GameInformer, the project now uses about 500 developers, thereby making it one of the largest projects in game development history.
Instead of following the recent trend of providing photo-realistic graphics, Bungie has taken a different route with the game's art, and is trying to deliver a more surreal feel instead.
Ellis added that all of the game's destination's have a full day-night cycle. Also, the moon in the game will actually be the Earth, since the main light source at night is the reflection of the sun off the Earth.
The game is being geared to be played on consoles and it will be coming to the PlayStation 3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One sometime in 2014. It is worth noting that this happens to be the studio's( Bungie's) first project since it left the Microsoft family and more importantly,the Halo franchise, which it know for.


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|Poor Skael didn't even get that option.
Thursday, 12 September 2013
Happy Gaming
The OSRIC campaign on google+ has been going for a couple of months now, and I wish I could tell you all more about it. However, as it's a play-test for some new material Stuart Marshall (editor of OSRIC) is looking to release I'm afraid I'll be doing the honorable thing and keeping my mouth shut about the details.
What I can tell you is that Staurt's new mega-dungeon is a very well put together and dynamic place, with plenty happening in the setting that is triggered by the action of NPC's. Rather than being a "typical" static dungeon setting, where nothing really changes except as a result of player actions, we're constantly being surprised by changes to the world around us. Changes resulting from very plausible causes-and-effects that are helping to immerse us all in the setting.
We've had one character death so far (mine) and I have to tell you it was a great experience to be losing characters for a change rather than killing off someone else's. It seem's like forever since I've had the chance to actually play in an old school setting, rather than DM it. And I couldn't be playing with a better DM than Stuart. Most of us have been holding on to our magical items (rather than selling them for quick xp gain) and that's something which, because of the pressures built into the session forcing us to explore deeper and take greater risks, is probably going to hurt us all in the long run.
In the mean-time, we've been testing out new character races and character classes. Many are actually new takes on old favorites, but all have worked extremely well and added new elements to the game. One class in particular has especially captured my attention: a support/healer class that actually complements, rather than replaces, clerics and which free's up some of the cleric's spell slots for more than just healing.
I can't begin to hype this setting enough. In several months of gaming, we've encountered just four creature types that us old hand's in the party are familiar with. The sheer number of new races has added an unexpected element to the game: a certain degree of uncertainty over who we should be attacking outright, and who we might want to ally with first. That's gone a very long way to keeping the veteran grognards in the group on their toes just as much as the relative newcomers to dungeon-delving.
I've been keeping a campaign journal, but it won't be seeing the light of day until after publication of the mega-dungeon. Not unless Stuart want's to use it as a teaser. Can't wait to share out experiences with you all.
Posted by Lead Legion at 16:23
Labels: OSRIC
5 comments:
- Ian Coakley said...
Good to hear you are enjoying being on the other side of the screen... I was worrying you'd become a fellow sufferer of GM-Megalomania, like me...
- 13 September 2013 at 09:41:00 GMT
- Ray Rousell said...
Sounds like fun!
- 13 September 2013 at 12:34:00 GMT
- Chris C. said...
Sounds fascinating. You intrigue me.
- 13 September 2013 at 14:00:00 GMT
- Lead Legion said...
It's really cracking stuff. As much as I love being the GM, it's a lot of work. I'd forgotten the simple pleasure of being a player in a well-run campaign.
- 13 September 2013 at 20:33:00 GMT
- Unknown said...
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Cardsharing Server | Cccam Server | Best Cardsharing Server
- 27 September 2013 at 17:48:00 GMT
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Of all XIX century great ideas there was no other idea more loved and more hated, more followed and more abandoned, more studied and more misunderstood, more used and more abused than an idea of Karl Marx Materialistic Historiosophy that disrupted feudal political system in Europe and profoundly impacted history of entire XX century and beyond. Without Marx today's political processes and their consequences as well as those a century ago, cannot be understood at all. Truism, state-infused corporate propaganda is desperately seeking to deny.
Category Archives: ideology
JAPAN: Miracle that wasn't.
Everybody remembers Japanese economic miracle but no one remembers what was before that and it wasn't pretty. Let's look at Japan circa 1948, a complete collapse of economy and material supplies, huge heavy industry totally destroyed, all major cities in ruins, burned by incendiary weapons, fields polluted by chemical agents, massive deaths from starvation, freezing and decease, including radiation sickness, rampant black market, a wave of suicides and murders, massive executions of Japanese soldiers or those accused of belonging to political/military elites, often on a whim of by after 15 minute mock military trials not unlike the Japanese or German military courts.
INVISIBLE HAND and Other Paranoid Delusions
Economic propaganda tubes spend hundreds of millions of dollars daily to make sure that Americans are deeply confused about domestic and world economy. Financial gurus, brain damaged former football players, brilliant retards who distinguished themselves by losing half of their inherited fortunes, not to mention professionally lying media types, all working hard to mess with our heads. Unfortunately, they are succeeding all to often. Below I will attempt to rectify that situation and clarify basic economic terms, victims of daily rape by erectilely dysfunctional celebrities of greed.
Economy, jobs, wages, unemployment, food inflation, cost of living, housing, education, career, savings, retirement we all worry about almost constantly, especially in recent decades of violent economic and financial instability that already cost hundreds of thousands lives and millions their livelihood. How this happened that honest, hard work, basic morality, humanity and personal responsibility means nothing in the world ruled by financial oligarchs destroying fabric of our society.
It's been sometime since Ukraine was in and out of world headline and what's more ominous, it is all in the context of global confrontation between two largest nuclear powers in the world. Some may say: what do we care we have our problems here in the USA. May be, but glancing at historic precedence, it does not look good. Soon some young jobless US enlisted grunts may start dying there while not having slightest idea what this desperate land is all about. We heard this before in so many ways. But this time, as Commander-in-Chief would put it some folks (millions) may be dying in the US too. And meanwhile WWIII preparations are ongoing and MSM does what it does best, producing silence and pointless chatter.
There is a problem of violence in US society period. But there is a bigger problem of propagandizing fear of violence, through fake or biased academic or media reports which brainwash us daily. All the effort's purposefully directed toward inducing mistrust and destroying American social fabric by playing class or race cards. All that whereas power elites, insidiously cover up and misdirect any attempts to find true instigators and promoters of violence that devastates our lives all to often. Instead, they spew over us lame "good guy, bad guy" kindergartner level narratives, we suppose to believe in.
DADDY COME HOME: A Fairy Tale
We all like to hear romantic stories about victories of the simple people in the struggle for equality and civil rights against tyranny. Such stories are widely used for the noble indoctrination of our youth. Sadly, adults forget to tell young trusting minds that most of these stories are step down from the fantastic fairy tales into a fraud and pure fabrications.
This is how one of these stories begins: In amazing Neverland far, far away (Brooklyn) and long, long ago (1920) there was a tale about adult beverage, feminism and the universal suffrage. And it all began over wide and mysterious big pond.
REGIME CHANGE: We Can Believe In
All the people who rightly criticize US and world politics, calling even for regime changes, have something in common. They all put forward sensible diagnosis of ills of current situation, call for profound change but all fail to point out ways how things should be different, succumbing to cognitive dissonance pandemic. Often proposing meaningless cosmetic changes or ideas more disastrous to themselves than those currently are being implemented, and by that fact, revealing true ignorance or propaganda induced confusion about fundamental causes of this melee.


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Share on -
I think fear is what keeps us from going over the edge. I mean, as a race car driver, I don't think what makes a good race car driver is a fearless person. I think it's somebody that is comfortable being behind the wheel of something that's somewhat out of control.


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Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories
Niagara Tourism & Convention Corp. recently appointed Andrea Czopp to the communications manager position. In her new role with NTCC, Czopp will maintain overall responsibility for local media relations and messaging, as well as constituent and stakeholder communications. In addition, she will play a key role in developing and executing the organization's community relations plan.
Czopp has spent the past 10 years working on tourism and hospitality-related issues in both the public and private sectors. She spent five years with the New York State Assembly and most recently was the director of communications for the Hamister Group, a Buffalo-based hotel and senior living developer.
"Andrea's experience with hospitality-related issues in both the private sector and government gives her a unique understanding of the priorities and demands from each of these entities," said John H. Percy, NTCC president and CEO. "Additionally, she has built positive working relationships with local media, business and community leaders and government officials, which will help us work more efficiently to achieve positive results for our community as well as our stakeholders."
Czopp has a BA in English from SUNY Fredonia and is a member of the Buffalo Niagara Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). She replaces Michelle Blackley Glynn who has moved into the global media relations role for the organization.


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You must be signed in as a super administrator for this task.
With Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML), your users can sign in to enterprise cloud applications with their Google Cloud credentials.
Set up SSO via SAML for QuboleStep 1: Set up Google as a SAML identity provider (IdP)
Sign in to your Google Admin console.
Sign in using an account with super administrator privileges (does not end in @gmail.com).
From the Admin console Home page, go to AppsSAML apps.
- Click Add at the bottom right.
- Locate and click Qubole in the application list.
- On the Google IDP Information page:
- Copy and save the SSO URL.
- Copy and save the Entity ID
- Download the Certificate.
- Click Next.
The Basic information window shows the Application name and Description seen by users.
- Click Next.
- On the Service Provider Details page, the ACS URL and Entity ID values are automatically populated. Keep the default values.
- Click Finish.
SSO setup is currently done by the Qubole support team. Email the following information to the support team to setup and enable SSO for your organization.
- The email domain you want to link SSO
- Identity Provider SSO Target URL
- Identity Provider Certificate's finger print
Once setup is done you can verify it by signing into your Qubole application as an administrator and clicking on Settings Single Sign-On. A message is shown if SSO is enabled and the login URL for the organization is also available.
Sign in to your Google Admin console.
Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).
From the Admin console Home page, go to AppsSAML apps.
- Select Qubole.
At the top right of the gray box, click Edit Service .
To turn on or off a service for everyone in your organization, click On for everyone or Off for everyone, and then click Save.
To turn on or off a service only for users in an organizational unit:
- At the left, select the organizational unit.
- Select On or Off.
- To keep the service turned on or off even when the service is turned on or off for the parent organizational unit, click Override.
- If the organization's status is already Overridden, choose an option:
- Inherit—Reverts to the same setting as its parent.
- Save—Saves your new setting (even if the parent setting changes).
Learn more about organizational structure.
(Optional) Turn on the service for a group of users.
Use access groups to turn on a service for specific users within or across your organizational units. Learn more
- Ensure that your Qubole user account email IDs match those in your Google domain.
- Close all browser windows.
- Open https://api.qubole.com/?saml=true and attempt to sign in with the Google email ID of the user. You should be redirected to the Google sign-in page.
- Enter your user name and password.
After your credentials are authenticated, you are redirected back to Qubole.


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You've been taught to keep your eyes on the road, never drive drowsy, and leave your phone on silent. However, while this may come as common sense to you, some drivers in these states could apparently use a few reminders.
Along with "stranger danger" and "stop, drop, and roll," looking both ways before crossing the street is one of the first lessons, safety-related or otherwise, that toddlers ever learn. This is thanks to the unfortunate reality that our roadways are a hazardous place. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), there were over 34,000 traffic accidents in 2017, resulting in over 37,000 deaths.
Not only do accidents cause costly damage and injuries at the time they occur, but they can also drive up insurance rates for years to come. That's why it's important to compare car insurance companies before purchasing a policy. If features such as accident forgiveness are important considerations in your coverage, you want to find the carrier that provides these options at the best rate.
While car accidents are a nationwide problem, these hazards are not evenly distributed. Some states see more than their fair share of collisions, so the team of analysts at Insurify, an auto insurance quotes comparison site, scoped out the data to find the top ten states with the highest accident rates.
To find the states with the highest rates of accidents, the data science and research team at Insurify, a website to compare auto insurance quotes, turned to its database of over 1.6 million car insurance applicants. As part of the quoting process, drivers disclose their driving record, including whether or not they've had an at-fault accident within the past seven years. Comparing these accident-prone drivers to the total pool of car owners gave the ratio of motorists with a history of accidents for each state. Statistics on fatal crashes and their associated death rates originate from the 2017 Fatality Facts report released by the IIHS, and data on seat belt use is from the Traffic Safety Facts 2017 study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Despite its reputation for hospitality in the American Heartland, Nebraska is home to a sizeable share of drivers that have shown themselves to be less than hospitable on the roads. As a state that is less densely populated than many of the others on this top 10 list, Nebraska obeys the trend that when collisions do occur on less crowded roads, they tend to be more severe. However, while Nebraska's car crash death rate is one of the highest of this top 10 ranking, it is statistically nearly indistinguishable from the national mean of 11.4 deaths per 100,000 population.
Connecticut is located along the densely populated Northeastern corridor, and most of its residents drive as opposed to taking public transportation to work according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Therefore, Nutmeg State car owners spend a substantial amount of time on the road in close proximity to other vehicles on a daily basis. Unsurprisingly, this can lead to accidents. Nearly 14% of Connecticut drivers report a history of accidents, at a rate 15% higher than the national average.
In many capacities, Utah is home to very run-of-the-mill drivers. Its rates of speeding, DUI, license suspension, and seat belt use are all near to the national average. However, in spite of this, the Beehive State is home to some of the most accident-prone drivers in the country. Despite this poor ranking, it nonetheless has the tenth lowest accident fatality rate in the nation, suggesting that even when Utah drivers do get into all of those accidents, most of them are just fender-benders.
Car owners in Hawaii would be happy to tell you that "island time," where everyone moves between engagements at their own carefree pace, is a romanticized fantasy. They have things to do and places to be just as much as the rest of us. So much so, in fact, that Hawaii is the eighth speediest state in the entire country. All of this rushing between point A and point B often catches up with them, though—Hawaii has the seventh highest prior accident rate nationwide.
New Hampshire is best known for its rugged individualism and beautiful New England landscapes. However, one surprising fact about the "live free or die" state is that it's in the top 15 nationwide for the presence of law enforcement officers, according to the FBI 2017 Crime in the United States report. Yet, in spite of this elevated police population, New Hampshire is still both within the top 10 states in the country for prior accident rates and at the very bottom of the ranking for seat belt use. It seems that the threat of a state patrolman around every corner is not a sufficient deterrent to dissuade New Hampshire drivers from the reckless driving that has put them in the number six slot for accidents in America.
Breaking into our top five is South Carolina, a state with a handful of standout statistics. For one, an average of 2.5 fatal car accidents occur in the Palmetto State per day—one of the higher rates in the country. Beyond that, with an accident fatality rate 72 percent higher than the national average, South Carolina has the third highest traffic death rate in the country. These sobering figures may in part be due to the fact that the state has the highest share of speeders in the entire country, with a proportion 1.5 times the rate in the U.S. as a whole.
Maine has the second highest car crash fatality rate of any state on this top 10 ranking, at nearly 13 deaths out of 100,000. Most of the states listed here are well-populated, with greater congestion and lower wreck-related mortality rates than Maine. Correspondingly, the accidents in these states are likely often lower-stakes, rush-hour collisions. Maine, on the other hand, spends an average of 12 percent less time commuting than the national average, according to the United States Census Bureau, and it ranks within the top 15 states nationwide for DUI convictions. This suggests that Maine's traffic incidents are less likely to be low-harm collisions and more likely to be perilous accidents than the other states on this list.
Rhode Islanders have a lot for which to be proud—the state is among the best nationwide for low rates of DUI, license suspension, and crash-related deaths. That being said, residents shouldn't start celebrating too quickly. Rhode Island motorists are nonetheless the third most likely to report a history of wrecks nationwide. That's a lot of money in vehicle repairs and expensive car insurance premiums down the drain.
Massachusetts motorists will be the first to tell you that driving in the Bay State is neither fun and games nor a courtesy contest. Scraped exteriors and fender-benders are a routine part of navigating Boston during peak congestion. That said, chipped paint and fatal crashes are far from the same thing; and in Massachusetts, the latter is the exception, not the rule. Mass has the second lowest traffic mortality rate in the U.S., with only five of 100,000 deaths attributable to accidents in the state. However, that is not to say the data only paints a pretty picture for the state, as it has the second highest rate of accidents and the second lowest rate of seat belt use in the entire country. Shape up, Massachusetts.
Maryland is home to fewer car owners than the second-ranked state on this list, Massachusetts. However, the Old Line State has seen nearly double the number of fatal accidents, averaging more than a death a day. With the second-longest commutes in the country, Maryland drivers spend a great deal of time on the roads every day, so—perhaps unsurprisingly—those drivers find themselves caught in a traffic mishap more often than any other car owners in the country.
Information contained on this page is provided by an independent third-party content provider. Frankly and this Site make no warranties or representations in connection therewith. If you are affiliated with this page and would like it removed please contact email@example.com


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Set Lists
The Kinks
Contributed by: Jay
Friday, 3rd October, 1980
Seattle Center Arena, Seattle, Washington
Don't have the setlist, only my ticket stub. Was my fourth or fifth concert ever and will never forget what happened whether you wanna believe it or not. Anyone that knew the Seattle Center Coliseum (now called Key Arena) knows how this could happen. During the show some dude decided to climb up one of the girders on the ceiling of the Coliseum to get a better view (I assume). He fell into the crowd (either during or right before, still being debated) while The Kinks were playing "Catch Me Now I'm Falling". I recall during as everyone thought it was part of the show until security showed up to clean up dude and the people he fell on. No one was killed believe it or not. I KNOW the story to be true. Whether any of the band members will admit to it in public is another question. In private, I guarantee they all remember it!!!
Contributed by: Rick
The events described by Jay actually took place on October 3, 1980 at the Seattle Center Arena (the hockey rink). The man was trying to sneak into the concert by climbing in through the ceiling. He stepped onto a suspended ceiling tile which broke loose, causing him to fall into the crowd who were standing on the main floor. The gatecrasher suffered only minor injuries. Four others were injured, one with a serious compression fracture of the spine (according to The Seattle Times).
As I recall, The Kinks were performing "All Day and All of the Night" at the time. It was toward the end of their main set, before any encores. They finished the song but then the house lights came up and the concert was cut short. This was my first concert ever and I had a clear view of the entire fall. He fell face down, as if crawling, with arms and legs flailing. The ceiling tile floated harmlessly into the stadium seats like a Frisbee.
Ray Davies mentioned the event in a 2006 interview with Seattle Weekly: "Yes, it's true. A fan fell out of the ceiling trying to sneak in. I'd love to say it was while we were playing '(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman,' but I don't think it was. It happened at the arena. I saw the body land. He was OK. He walked away. A few people got their arms broken or something."
The Kinks did return to Seattle on September 4, 1981 at the Seattle Center Coliseum (Key Arena). They played one of the longest shows in the band's history to make up for the previous abbreviated appearance. I don't have the set list either but it was certainly an epic concert!
Contributed by: James Holden
I was at the Seattle Arena show where the guy fell thru the ceiling! It was indeed during "All Day and All of the Night" torwards what must have been the end of the show. Seattle music lore will tell you it was during "Catch Me Now I'm Falling", but this is not true. This guy did indeed sneek into the show. I also snuck into this show with a friend! We banged on the side door of the Seattle Arena with a rock until a security guard opened the door. My friend and I immediately ran passed the guard as he grabbed another individual that was sneaking in! I was fourteen years old and remember being bummed that there wasn't an encore. I remember it was a really good show. I believe the highly energetic Angel City opened the show!
I also was at the Seattle Coliseum show the next time the Kinks came thru Seattle. It was indeed a long show and the band was full of energy! I was a bratty teenager and I remember the stage setup had an area where Dave Davies could walk out on a catwalk while playing guitar. I kept untying his tennis shoe and he eventually stomped my hand. I found it funny.
Saw them a couple years later at the Seattle Paramount and it was another stellar show! Wish I could relive those carefree days!
Contributed by: David Dawes
It was All Day & All of the Night, but it was very early,
about 3 songs in, 4 at most.
Contributed by: Jef Jaisun
I was at the October 3, 1980 in Seattle, covering it for the
Bellevue, WA Journal-American, a (now late) suburban Seattle
newspaper. (Wow...that was 35 years ago!)
The sneak's involuntary skyfall occurred towards the end of the show.
I saw him tumble, injuring four people below. Most of us who
witnessed the dive reacted the same: WTF? By the time it happened, I
was the only local music photographer still in the building
(doubtless because I was a Kinks fan, not merely an assigned photog
for one of the larger daily papers). Ray noticed the commotion and
immediately stopped the show. He apologized for having to do so, but
correctly deferred to the safety of the fans.
Attached is a scan of my column of October 10, 1980 (the column was
weekly, so this was my first shot at a review/comment). This is
probably as accurate a description of the incident as you're likely to get.
My photo of an injured fan being attended to accompanied the review,
even though a security goon tried to keep me from shooting. (When he
stuck his hand up in front of my face I swung the camera under his
arm and got the shot.) Unfortunately, our newspaper archivist cut my
photo from the tear sheet, but I have the negative in my files. In
subsequent media articles it was revealed that the floater and his
friend had found a way to climb up on the roof of the Arena, break in
and were on a maintenance catwalk when the dummy lost his balance.
Btw, the line towards the end of the piece should read, "that some
IDIOT would actually try it before the night was over." I didn't get
to set my own type in those days.
E-mail Dave Emlen


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Monday, July 22, 2013
RevGals summer of fun continues...
If you don't blog, don't worry! You can email us your play at wednesdayfestival at gmail. (you can email your links there too, if you play on your blog!) You can play on Facebook. You can play in the comments.
The beauty of the midway is that there's something for everybody--and this carnival midway is free, so everybody jump right in! Toss some rings, squirt some water guns, pop some balloons, and have a great time!
4 comments:
Here are my first five for Friday Five:ReplyDelete
1. Five favorite saints (from July 19-July 31 there are some great choices) including:
Macrina (July 19)
Stanton, Bloomer, Truth, Tubman
(July 20)
Mary Magdalene (July 22)
Mary and Martha of Bethany(July 29)
William Wilberforce(July 30)
Ignatius of Loyola (July 31)
2. Perhaps a focus on friends--what makes a good friend, kinds of friendships, friends with God, great friendships in history, friends in the Bible
3. It's the dog days of summer--maybe something about dogs--funny dog stories, dog movies, best dog friend, things dogs have eaten, training or being trained by dogs.
4. Am I the only one in desperate need of new recipes for summer? Even I am getting tired of my old standby beef salad and take-home chicken salad.
5. Re-entry after vacation--wisdom, experiences, awkward moments....
I love it when the Friday Five is posted late on Thursday night. Gives me time to play before I head off to work. Thanks to all the early posters!ReplyDelete
I think it is always a good play to see what people are reading especially during the summer when folks might really have time to read. Books for fun, professional book and books that make you go hmmmm?ReplyDelete
I would love to know what websites people people follow that might give them the spark to see God working in different ways. We all have blogs (at least most of us) but there are those particular sites that make us think or primes our pumps
I have the Friday Five this week, and will do my best to post it early! Thanks for the reminder. <3ReplyDelete
You don't want to comment here; instead, come visit our new blog, revgalblogpals.org. We'll see you there!
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.


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Pilaro family relieved appeal is over
Keeling Pilaro and his family felt a sense of relief Wednesday, a day after winning their appeal that permits the 14-year-old boy to compete at least one more season in field hockey, a girls sport.
An appeals committee Tuesday overturned a March ruling that would have barred him from playing for Southampton High School next season because he was too skilled and could take away opportunities for girls to participate and succeed.
Keeling's mother, Fairley Pilaro, believes statistics presented by Southampton coach Kim Hannigan and the school's attorney, Thomas Volz, may have swayed some votes and countered an argument about the eighth-grader's dominance.
"The stats showed that while Keeling was Southampton's leading scorer, none of his goals came against top-three teams in their division," Fairley Pilaro said.
Pilaro was held without a goal against Rocky Point, Shoreham-Wading River and Miller Place.
"Looking around the room and trying to read body language, it seemed this panel was more engaged and open-minded," Hannigan said of the Tuesday meeting.
Kevin Seaman, attorney for Section XI, the governing body for high school sports in Suffolk, said the vote favored Pilaro being allowed to play by "about a 4-5 margin" among a panel of about 20.
According to New York's mixed competition rules, boys are allowed to compete in girls sports as long as they don't have an adverse effect on the girls.
Miller Place athletic director Lisa Lally was a member of the committee whose ruling allowed Pilaro to play.
"I stand by how the committee voted. That's the decision we came to after deliberation and I'm comfortable with it," she said. Lally, however, wouldn't divulge which way she voted or why the Suffolk Athletic Council's ruling was contrary to that of the Section XI mixed competition committee on March 30 or an appeals panel on April 18. "We won't talk about what occurred in that room," she said.
Pierson athletic director Montgomery Granger wasn't a voter, but said Tuesday's decision puts female field hockey players and coaches in the unfair position of "having to accept and adapt to Keeling," whether they approve.
"The real reason we have mixed-competition rules is to prevent lawsuits," Granger said. "When you have one of these anomalies, and if the parents are really pushing for it, everyone is forced to accept a situation that shouldn't have been in the first place."
Sayville field hockey player Olivia Cabral, who scored 28 points last fall, said Tuesday's panel made the right call. "I would understand if a boy was physically dominant, but that's not the case here," she said. "I'm glad they changed the ruling. To have banned someone for being too skilled wouldn't have made sense."
Her teammate, Taylor Mills, added: "I think the perception might have changed once [Section XI] saw how many people, from all over, were supportive of Keeling."
Pilaro, born in Southampton, moved to Ireland and learned to play field hockey there. His family moved back to Southampton in 2010 and the mixed competition committee granted him permission to play for Southampton that fall and again in 2011 on the basis that his size (4-6, 82 pounds) wouldn't put girls at a physical disadvantage.
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Clean Elections: How it works – House, Senate, Statewide
(There are many other ways, as well. For a city or county election, numbers & dates would need to be revised.)
If you would like this info as a handout, download it and freely distribute. See Bill Moyers address clean elections here.
1) Participation is voluntary – wealthy candidates may spend own $$$. Others who choose not to participate in Clean Elections may use fund-raising methods as allowed by current law.
2) Candidates must prove they are 'viable' with 2 -3 % of voter signatures from constituents withinthecandidate'sdistrict on a petition-to-run and petitionmustbecirculatedbythecandidateandnon-paidvolunteersonly.
3) Voter signatures on candidate petition must be accompanied by a $10 check payable to the Oklahoma Clean Elections Fund (OCE Fund) – not to the candidate.
4) Collection of signatures & donations made from 6/1/11 – 6/1/12 (duration of one year) for candidates for Statewide offices and 12/1/11 – 6/1/12 (duration of six months) for candidates for the Legislature remitted on a weekly basis. (House districts usually have about 35,000 registered voters, 3% is 1050 signatures accompanied by 1050 checks of at least $10, or minimum of $10,500.)
5) Participants must maintain records and file with Ethics Commission as current law requires.
6) Once qualified, Clean Elections candidates are immediately allowed to tap into the OCE funds, but must abide by strict spending limits and EC rules. (One of the biggest problems in other states has been the slow release of funds – early funding is critical to one's campaign.)
7) Candidates may contribute his or her personal/private funds to up to a maximum amount of 100 times the Minimum Wage for candidates for the legislature ($725) and 300 times the Min wage for Statewide offices ($2175). The personal contribution limit includes contributions received from certain family members. Contributions from political action committees (PACs), businesses, corporations, political parties and labor unions to an individual candidate areprohibited. But they may contribute as much as they want to the OK Clean Elections Fund. Contributors to OCE Fund do not know to whom their money will go – hence no power or influence over any candidate.
8) A Clean Elections Commission shall be established by the Judiciary – five Commissioners appointed by the Chief Justice of the OK Supreme Court and five by the Presiding Judge of the OK Court of Criminal Appeals. These ten Commissioners shall unanimously select an eleventh Commissioner as Chair. (Or perhaps we need to somehow connect this with the existing Ethics Commission. The LWV says only one authority should govern elections. However, any increase in EC powers would never fly with Dems or Repubs.)
9) A participating candidate is required to attend a Clean Elections Commission's training workshop andaCleanElectionsCommissionsponsoreddebate on pain of disqualification.
10) After establishing viability, donations to CE candidates are allowed up to $200, provided the donor has not reached the $200 per candidate limit. Full disclosure of Name, address, occupation, employer required else donation must be returned. Anonymous donations go to Ethics Commission coffers. Individual donations are matched six to one from the OCE fund (like the NYC law.) Contributions allowed from in-districtonly.
11) Violations of the Clean Elections regulations will void the candidacy or (if elected) make the office immediately vacant and may be punishable by one (1) year in jail and up to $10,000 fine.
12) Funding. See suggestions from document sent by Brennan Center: http://www.policyarchive.org/handle/10207/23, which includes the following and many more:
- Punitive Damage Surcharges and Proportional Awards from Legal judgments over $100,000
- Criminal and Civil Fines and Civil Filing fees
- "Good citizen" donations – all voluntary and no limit on amount by supporters of Clean Elections.
- "Sin" Taxes on Alcohol, cigarettes and Gambling
- Voluntary Attorney Fees or Corporate Contributions
- Refundable Deposits on Containers
- State Funded Tax Check-Off Programs
- Voluntary Taxpayer-Funded Tax Add-On Programs
- Penalties for Public Campaign Finance Law Violations
- Public Campaign Finance Bonds
See a description of these funding methods and many others at the Brennan Center link:
Report: Court Rulings Fray Maine's Pioneering Clean Election Law
"The great thing about the Clean Election system is that someone like me, who is a convenience store worker, could actually become a politician in this state," Russell says.
"Russell says the system has had a leveling effect on Maine politics and has encouraged people from all walks of life to run for the Legislature. She says she will support all efforts to strengthen the system, as she seeks her third term in the Maine House of Representatives."
More information available from:
Mary Francis
405 474-0695


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The apocalypse may begin with swarming ants. New, deadlier species keep popping up: Researchers at University of Texas recently discovered a new ant species in the Amazon, which they named Martialis Huereka, or "the ant from Mars." It's a predator that feeds on termite larvae. Sure, the wee dude appears benign for the time being, but we're on to him: His evil progenitors have long demonstrated an appetite for destruction, as documented by some of weirdest ant monster movies of all time. EXHIBIT A The Naked Jungle (1954) WHAT TRANSPIRED: An army of ants has designs on taking over a cocoa plantation in South America. (Was the cocoa actually coca?) LESSON LEARNED: The late Charlton Heston, again, proved our handiest weapon against non-human thugs.
EXHIBIT B Them! (1954) WHAT TRANSPIRED: Gigantic, irradiated ants terrorize homo sapens in a Darwinian bid for self-preservation. LESSON LEARNED: For the love of god, keep insects away from atomic energy. EXHIBIT C Dr. Who (1965) WHAT TRANSPIRED: While under the power of the Animus, the Zarbi insect species nick the humans' time-travel gizmo. LESSON LEARNED: Giant ants are not necessarily evil, unless themselves subjected to mind-control. EXHIBIT D Phase IV (1974) WHAT TRANSPIRED: A feral race of ants band together and attack humans in the Arizona desert. LESSON LEARNED: Beware new species. EXHIBIT E Empire of the Ants (1977); also an H.G. Wells short story (1905) WHAT TRANSPIRED: Intelligent ants brainwash folks in Florida, turning them into slaves. (Wells' account takes place in South America.) LESSON LEARNED: Joan Collins is impervious to insect bamboozlery. EXHIBIT F It Happened at Lake Manor (1977) WHAT TRANSPIRED: A placid resort is overrun by poisonous ants high on chemical waste. LESSON LEARNED: Ants notwithstanding, bad things just tend to happen at isolated hotels. EXHIBIT G Legion of Fire: Killer Ants! (1998) WHAT TRANSPIRED: Flesh-eating South American ants coordinate organized assaults. LESSON LEARNED: South America is apparently a hotbed for evil ants.
EXHIBIT H MANT (a movie within the 1993 movie Matinee) WHAT TRANSPIRED: "Half man…Half ant…All terror!!'" LESSON LEARNED: Hybrid ants-no less potent.


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Compatible with the following printers:
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Skip to main content
Mammen Family Public Library
Library Resources
MFP Library Small Business Guide
Human Resources
Search this Guide
MFP Library Small Business Guide: Human Resources
Online Resources
Computer Software Resources & Training
Business Books & Magazines
Human Resources
Online resources
SBA - Hire & Retain Employees
Topics include: Hire your first employee, Hire a contractor or employee, Pre-employment background checks, Required & optional employee benefits, Writing effective job descriptions, and Employee Handbooks
Texas Workforce Commission - Recruiting and Hiring Resources
Use their recruiting and hiring services to search for qualified workers. Take advantage of job matching assistance, participate in incentive programs, find important information about the local labor market, and more.
US Department of Labor Small Business Resource Center
Rules and regulations assistance for small business owners. Topics include labor management standards, employee benefits, pay, training and OSHA safety standards.
IRS - Small Business and Self-Employed Tax Center
IRS website offers help for small business and the self-employed that includes forms, electronic filing, expenses, and employment tax.
Texas Secretary of State -
Find many resources including start-up guides, small business general resources, permits, licenses, patents, and copyright.
UTSA Small Business Development Center
Entrepreneurs have access to professional and confidential business advising, a variety of quality training programs, and an extensive referral network at the Small Business Development Center (SBDC). With the addition of business advisors who live and work in your local community, success is just around the corner!
Benefits of contacting your local SBDC include:
Free, one-on-one, confidential business advising
Cost friendly workshops designed for small businesses
Professional referral network
Access to research resources
Lifelong business partners
TWC - Top Ten Tips
BSB Chamber Resources
HR Simple
This is a great resource provided FREE to members of the BSB Chamber that literally has all the information you need as a small business owner requiring Human Resources help.
Login at the BSB Chamber website: bulverdespringbranchchamber.com with your member id then click on Resources and then on the HR Simple link. It will require you to login, get the login info from the ladies at the Chamber office.
MFP Library Books on Hiring/Human Resources
Human Resources Kit for Dummies
Max Messmer; Harold Messmer
Call Number: BUS 658.3 MES
Publication Date: 2006-12-11
Dealing with Problem Employees
Lisa Guerin; Amy DelPo
Call Number: BUS 658.3 DEL
Publication Date: 2009-12-11
The Essential HR Handbook
Sharon Armstrong
Call Number: BUS 658.3 ARM
Publication Date: 2008-07-01
Strategic planning and mission statements -- Optimal staffing -- Orientation and onboarding -- Training and development -- Useful performance evaluations -- Benefits -- Compensation -- Employee relations -- Legal considerations -- Managing a diverse workforce -- Technology -- 21st century challenges.
The HR Answer Book
Shawn A. Smith; Rebecca A. Mazin; J. D; Jd; Mazin, Rebecca A., Shawn A Smith
Call Number: BUS 658.3 SMI
Publication Date: 2004-04-05
Provides answers for over two hundred questions faced by human resources professionals, including employee selection, compensation, benefits, employment laws, termination, and workplace violence.
Sample Hiring Documents
Job Description Template
Release to give references
Reference Check Template
Employment Application Template
Especially for Texas Employers
Handy employment manual from the TWC
Susan's examples
Sample Library Job Description
Sample Interview Questions
Skills Comparison Chart
Used during interview to determine how they rate on the skills you are seeking
Business Books & Magazines
Last Updated:
Apr 6, 2019 12:44 PM
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Flight 001 is an incredible resource for any travel need. It's been such a fun find.
There is everything from Deiter Graf Verlag's Point It picture dictionary {"1,200 items photographed in logical groupings and categorized for quick and easy reference. When you don't know how to say it, point it!"}:
to really great laptop bags {Flight 001's exclusive F1 Safety laptop case} made to replicate cartoon-strip-like safety cards:
Of course I love this Cars Wheelie Bag:
and this Bree Toiletry case:
My favorites aside, it's nice to have a go to for the details like travel clocks and pocket-sized board games.


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Sofas and Sofa Groups
The ultimate in comfort.
This model has the visual appeal to stand apart from any other models. Integrated footrests make ottomans obsolete. Electric motion allows you to find the perfect position for reclining, supporting and relaxing at the touch of a button. Rechargeable battery packs mean there are no trailing electric leads; no need to be close to a power socket. Check out the Style recliner for a matching chair.


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Sumon Mazumdar
Vice President
San Francisco
Ph.D., economics, Southern Methodist University; BSc., economics, St. Xavier's College, Calcutta University
Summary of Experience
Dr. Mazumdar specializes in securities and finance. His litigation consulting focuses on capital markets, valuation, commercial damages, and tax controversies. Dr. Mazumdar has addressed class certification, materiality, and loss causation issues in some of the largest securities fraud class actions. He has also analyzed liability and damages issues related to trading strategies, mutual fund market timing, complex derivatives, structured products, intellectual property, illiquid assets, and breach of contract. Dr. Mazumdar's research on corporate finance, capital markets, and securities law has been cited by The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Reuters, Bloomberg, Forbes, and the US Supreme Court. Since 1996, he has been a member of the finance faculty at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business. Dr. Mazumdar has also taught at McGill and York Universities and served as visiting scholar at the US Federal Reserve Bank, San Francisco.
Selected Cases
Selected Publishing
Cryptocurrencies Demystified and the SEC's Regulatory Stance
American Bar Association, Litigation News, Summer 2018
Kim S, Mazumdar S


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June 16, 2015
Listen to The South Bay Show – Preparing for Disaster in America!
Our guest this morning is known simply as Survivor Jane. She created the website SurvivorJane.com and writes on a multitude of topics dealing with disaster survival and preparedness in easy to understand 'girl-talk' that she interlaces with bits and pieces of humor on her personal experiences and discoveries.
Check Out Current Events Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with The South Bay Show on BlogTalkRadio


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Learn Forex Scalping Strategies
Another Great Scalping Day!
Today, Chief Trader Armando Martinez explains to the traders in the live training room about how important it is to collect your profits and not bend rules. Armando explains that it is always best to collect some profits and have a running trade for further gains. The market conditions can change at any moment, so that is why it is important to always put profits in the bank. Chief Trader Armando says that by getting greedy and wanting to collect more out of a trade makes you bend your rules. The result of being greedy and bending your rules will eventually break you as a trader. Learn how to generate consistent profits and emotion-free trading in the Forex market long-term with the FXST Trading System.
Tagged with: learning moment
Filed under: Daily Learning Moment
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Denver Premier Limousine - Our Fleet of Limos in Denver
Here at Denver Premier Limousine we have a variety of vehicles for all of your transportation needs! For trips to and from DIA or corporate events consider using the classic Lincoln Town Car to arrive in comfort and style. If you're already thinking about ski season, let one of our seasoned drivers shuttle you to one of Colorado's spectacular mountain resorts in one of our Yukon XL Luxury SUVs. Equipped with fully enclosed ski racks, our luxury SUVs keep all of your equipment safe and contained. If you're simply up for a night out on the town, keep it intimate with a Lincoln Town Car or make a splash with a group of friends as you arrive in a luxury SUV.
Call us at 303.332.4588 for a limo in Denver today and we'll make sure we hook you up with the perfect vehicle for you!


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This bulletin highlights significant events in the world of arms
control in the coming days, as compiled by staff and friends of the Arms Control Association.
For more news and analysis on these and other weapons-related security issues, consider subscribing to ACA's monthly journal Arms Control Today. Available in print/digital and digital-only subscriptions.
– the Editors at Arms Control Today
Feb. 4: Senate Hearing on "Negotiations on Iran's Nuclear Program"
With the formal implementation of the "first phase" agreement on Iran's nuclear program underway, attention is now turning to the talks on a comprehensive, final phase agreement between the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and Iran.
Two top U.S. officials, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Wendy Sherman, and Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financing at the U.S. Department of Treasury, David Cohen (and other outside witnesses) are scheduled to testify on Feb. 4 before Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the talks at 10 am in Room 410 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Talks between the P5+1 and Iran are to resume February 28 in Vienna, Austria, according to a January 31 statement from EU High Representative Catherine Ashton.
For more information and analysis, see: "Implementation of the Joint Plan of Action At a Glance" from ACA and "After the First Phase Deal With Iran" by Daryl Kimball in the December issue of Arms Control Today.
Feb. 7: Two Former Negotiators on Iran Talks
Two former U.S. officials, Nicholas Burns, former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs; and Robert Einhorn, former State Department special adviser for Nonproliferation and Arms Control will give their "Perspectives on Iran" at a briefing in Room 2118 Rayburn House Office Building at 11 a.m. The event is sponsored by the Partnership for a Secure America.
Iran and IAEA to Meet on Feb. 8
Representatives of Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will meet on Feb. 8 to discuss options for completing the agency's investigation into Iran's past nuclear activities with possible military dimensions, as well as other other transparency steps.
For more information, see ACA's new Fact Sheet on "Implementation of the Iran-IAEA Framework for Cooperation."
Pentagon to Review Missileers Reports
Next week, the Department of Defense is expected to appoint a panel of outside experts to assess the troubling behavior of ICBM launch officers who are accused of cheating on performance tests, using drugs, napping on duty, and failing to follow safety rules.


text: BUSINESS Asia Pacific Alliance swells 6:47 AM PDT 3/24/2009 by Karen Chu , AP FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME 3 new members on board; slate includes 'Eat Drink' sequel More Filmart newsHONG KONG -- Salon Films' Asia Pacific Alliance announced three new partners -- National Arts Entertainment of Hong Kong and Enlight Pictures and Pearl River Film Co. of China -- and unveiled a new slate on Tuesday.With the help of the Access Asia Fund and the alliance, Taiwan's Zoom Hunt International Production said it is developing the $10 million "The Mermaid," a special effects-heavy retelling of the legend about the underwater city in Yunnan province by "Dim Sum Funeral" scribe Anna Chi.Li Shao-hung, director of the new $14.6 million television adaptation of literary classic "Dream of the Red Chamber," and Chi are in negotiations to helm "Mermaid." Chi will bring husband Douglas Smith, visual effects supervisor of Rhythm & Hues, if set to direct, Zoom Hunt president and veteran Taiwanese producer Hsu Li-kong said.Also in the pipeline is the sequel to "Eat Drink Man Woman," tentatively named "Far Away but Close," to begin shooting in August by director Tsao Jui-yuan ("Love's Lone Flower"). Newly crowned Asian Film Awards best actress Zhou Xun and "Eternal Summer" star Joseph Chang are in negotiation for the leads.Producer Hsu Li-kong, also known as Ang Lee's mentor, said that the company is also shaping a wuxia martial arts project told through Chinese poetry that is intended for Lee.Likewise developed by the $300 million Access Asia Fund is Singapore's MediaCorp. Raintree Pictures' "1965," a $15 million snapshot of Singapore's political history from 1945-60 by "Maid in Manhattan" Chinese-American director Wayne Wang, who is in talks with Peter Morgan, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of "The Queen," to write the script.National Arts Entertainment is developing a prequel biopic of "Ip Man." Production starts in October with Hong Kong Wushu champion To Yu-Hang as the young Ip Man. National Arts chairman Checkley Sin is also involved with Mandarin Films to make "Ip Man 2."Also announced by the Alliance was China's Zhejiang Hengdian Film Production's development of a theatrical chain in China, which would complete the studio's industry value chain. The company started as a production facility before moving into film financing, filmmaking and distribution.The Asia Pacific Alliance initiative aims to promote the collective development of the Asian film industry. It was formed in 2008 by Hong Kong's Salon Films with China's Zhejiang Hengdian Film Production and the China Film Foundation; Japan's Yoshimoto Kogyo; MediaCorp. Raintree Pictures; Media Development Authority Singapore; Zoom Hunt; and the Access Asia Fund to finance Asian co-productions,"We can't call ourselves the 'Hollywood of the East' and then just compete with other film industries," Salon chairman Fred Wang said."That's counterproductive. It should be a collaborative process for the whole region." FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Karen Chu email@example.com @thr AP email@example.com @thr