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Managing Committee 2019 - 20
An Ode to Our Alma Mater
Proud are we to be alumni of St Joseph's,
And for this we are all thankful to the founding father St. Ignatius,
It is because of the Brothers and Fathers Jesuit,
Every alumnus is an outstanding graduate.
Many a student can wield a bat or a hockey stick,
And even bowl or kick a hat trick,
All the students are smart and fantastic,
Belong either to St Andrew's, St David's, St. George's or St. Patrick's.
On Museum Road is this great school,
Where every student and pupil as a rule,
Emerges as a person not only whole and full,
But also with an outlook ecumenical.
Hats off to the great teachers of this elite school,
Where every alumnus is not only unique and cool,
But also very faithful and fiercely loyal,
To its motto 'Faith and Toil'.
My first teacher in my new school was Mrs. Lynette Lobo,
She was the aunt of my classmate Ricardo,
Thanks to her otherwise I may have become a bozo or hobo,
Or even a big zero.
She was kind and even keel,
And she knew how each boy did feel,
She knew it was no point being harsh or cold like steel,
Because she had sons of her own named Warren and Neil.
She knew that for each of us it was a difficult transition,
And therefore avoided being a strict disciplinarian,
She simply wanted us to enjoy our education,
Even if we were from backgrounds proletarian.
She taught at St. Joseph's on Museum Road,
And made sure we did not overburden ourselves with a high load,
Thanks to her kind and gracious teaching style and mode,
We are all now following the high road.
Our math teacher was the one and only Mr. Hartwell Yates,
We all wondered how mentally he solves and calculates,
To solving math problems he was true and passionate,
And to have him as a teacher we were indeed fortunate.
He would teach math with great vigor,
And in great detail and extraordinary rigor,
But up and down the long school corridor,
He would walk like an absent-minded professor.
While Swinging Clubs he made us all to co-ordinate,
And in geometry he taught us X and Y co-ordinates,
His voice and accent many a kid liked to imitate,
And his gentle personality impersonate.
With all the pupils he was a great hit,
Because of his mild manner and ready wit,
All the pupils were mesmerized by this teacher perfect,
Papa Yates is how we all referred to him with fondness and great respect.
Our principal was Fr. Hedwig,
He was the boss of school big-wigs,
He was the indeed the big chief,
And he certainly did tolerate the boys' mischief.
Up went every school kid's adrenaline,
When they saw the cane he used to discipline,
When the mischief-maker was caught, without a doubt he was toast,
And the parents were summoned for a solid roast.
He was an outstanding English teacher,
From him we learnt Norah Burke, Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare,
He made it very simple and easy,
For us to understand the meaning of concepts such as 'Quality of Mercy'.
Thanks to Fr. Hedwig Da Costa,
The school coffers increased like a bonanza,
And the students better understand poetry, verse and stanza,
Only once you graduate the kids get to know that he is indeed a fine, fine fella.
The name of our Geography teacher was Mr. Luke,
The fact that he was a great teacher was no fluke,
When provoked, his temper flared up like a nuke,
And he responded with a gruff rebuke.
He taught us figure running and latitude,
And also longitude,
When you did well he was reluctant to give you platitudes,
But he was not hesitant to slap your head when you had a bad attitude.
He felt that is important to know about stalagmites,
And stalactites,
About underground pillars made of calcite,
To be a complete Josephite.
He taught us about crescenticsand dunes and the Savanna,
And ox-bow lakes in Havana,
About the greatearthquakes in Lisbon, Tokyo and Yokohama,
Despite the fissures, faults and tremors we all respected Mr. Luke D'Souza.
We had a high school teacher whose name was Mr. John Pinto,
Always immaculately dressed like the movie star Django,
When he shook his head, he moved his whole upper body,
The students nicknamed him Noddy.
He took fifty boys on excursion to the hills of Ooty and Chamundi,
To Madurai to see the Temple Meenaskhi,
To see the bison and elephants at the game sanctuary in Thekadi,
Breath taking was God's Own Country.
We saw scenic rubber estates near Kottayam,
The capital Trivandrum and the beautiful beaches of Kovalam,
We saw the placid backwaters of Cochin,
And Vivekananda Memorial in Cape Comorin.
He taught us Physics and Maths,
And the importance of exploring new places and paths,
We are grateful to him for his energy unbounded,
To make us all rounded.
We had a teacher whose name was Mr. David Chatterjee,
He taught us high-school Chemistry,
And Biology,
Including Botany and Zoology.
When a mischievous student caused disarray,
He would express with dismay 'I say',
If the student was crass or behaved like an ass,
Red-faced, he would bellow ' I say, get out of my class'.
He was passionate about Chemistry,
And spent all day in the underground laboratory,
During his lectures he was full of energy,
And we all admired this prodigy.
We are grateful for him for laying the strong foundation,
For many an Old Boy to pursue the healing vocations,
Of clinical medicine,
Or that of a veterinarian.
Our history teacher was Mr. Hanumantha Rao,
He chuckled when the mischievous boys tried to gherao,
He taught us about the rule of the Mughal kings Humayun and Zair-ud-din Babur,
And about greatness of Ashoka and Akbar.
He knew we were more interested in reading racy comics,
Rather than learning History or Civics,
He was a teacher who was easy going,
As a result he had a big following.
He also taught us Kannada,
But in the exam many of us still scored a big 'nada',
He walked up and down the school corridors and verandah,
Grinning affectionately like a giant panda.
He was fun-loving and jovial,
He even borrowed our comics and novels,
We are grateful to him because he taught us life lesson quintessential,
That from time-to-time it is important to lighten up a little.
Hail to the notorious batch of 1975,
It continues to be victorious and alive,
These laborious faithful old boys certainly know how to sing and jive,
Hail to the glorious batch of 1975 who assuredly know to win, succeed and thrive.
Many a teacher tried to tame these rowdy hooligans,
Despite the generous cane many remained as ruffians,
These villains caused so much botheration and aggravation,
That the Principal packed them off without a valedictory or graduation.
This infamous batch reputed for their disobedience,
Nonconformity and lack of adherence,
Today with great vigor and confidence,
Express to the school utmost loyalty and allegiance.
Reunited in 2015 for their anniversary and celebration,
They arrived from Atlanta, New Delhi, Goa, Dallas, Bangalore and London,
Kerala, Coorg, Columbus, Mangalore and Houston,
They sang and danced in jovial jubilation.
The feted their Principals Fr. Claude D'Souza,
And the one and only Fr. Hedwig Da Costa,
Honored their teachers Mr. Cliff Wilson and Mr. John Coutinho,
Mrs. Rosario and the super stylish Mr. John Pinto.
United was this batch in being defiant,
And disobedient,
Today they continue to enjoy a great camaraderie,
A distinction better than any praise or glory.
Hail to the notorious batch of 1975,
It continues to be victorious and alive,
These laborious faithful old boys certainly know how to sing and jive,
Hail to the glorious batch of 1975 who assuredly know to win, succeed and thrive.
Dr. Ragavendra R. Baliga
(Class of 1975)


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Jeep Wrangler TJ Tires
Browse our wide selection of Jeep Wrangler TJ Tires to find the best prices for your Wrangler LJ or TJ. In this category you will find TJ Wrangler armor products for the 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 Jeep Wranglers. You can either select a product category or use our search box to find specific items in our store. Feel free to use our filtering options to sort by popularity, price or ratings within a category. The TJ Jeep Wrangler Tires we carry come from many of the top manufacturers like Kumho, Pit Bull, Super Swamper, Goodyear, General Grabber, Falken, Dick Cepek, Mickey Thompson, BFGoodrich, Nitto, and more.
Our TJ tires include everything you need to install new skins on your wheels which will certainly improve the ride & comfort of your Jeep or prepare it for some off-roading. We carry the products you need to upgrade or replace your TJ Jeep Wrangler's tires. The tires are one of the places you typically need an upgrade in order to install larger, more aggressive tires on your Jeep whether your rig is on or off the road. Browse our huge selection of Jeep TJ tires.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Interlink have been working with the RCT Local Service Board – a Board of Senior Leaders from the public and voluntary sector (it is the most senior strategic partnership) and worked with a partner (Egino CIC) to report on how we can work together to face up to the future.
- Egino Community Interest Company (CIC) recently undertook a qualitative research study in Rhondda Cynon Taf to understand the potential implications of the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Bill on how partner organisations currently work together and what changes the Act may require them to make in their working practices.
- The study was initiated by Interlink RCT (the County Voluntary Council), approved by the Local Service Board and delegated to a strategic partnership group of officers to manage.
- Research was undertaken between January and March 2015.
The summary report in now available – please email firstname.lastname@example.com
- There is also a strong consensus that there is a radical change in culture required across organisations in relation to new ways of working and greater community/service user ownership of services. Many services were found to be designed to tackle symptoms and each organisation had business functions (such as estate management and procurement) that were not strategic and undermined the strategic direction of the wider leadership.
- Recommendation 1: Partners in RCT identify, together, over time the key changes in the national guidance and funding arrangements they believe would make the Bill's successful implementation more likely.
- Recommendation 2: The LSB seeks to further reduce the volume of partnerships where possible; seek to ensure, over time, that the goals of partnerships all display a connection to the relevant elements of the Wellbeing Plan, placing the latter at the apex of local planning.
- Recommendation 3: The LSB should adopt a programme to develop the necessary leadership approaches for delivering the Bill (there are models to build upon from WLGA and individual early adopters) The programme should be open to all key partners and extend, at least on a pilot basis, to middle managers within key teams: the work could link to the pilots for area based work.
- Recommendation 4: The LSB should engage in a twofold forward planning process. The first stage is to identify the implications for services of modelled financial cuts: which services would face cuts and of what scale; the second stage is to examine for which services alternative models of delivery are feasible and what support that would require. Elements of this second phase are already beginning to happen: adding the first stage would build in an explicit recognition of future likely financial pressures.
Local partners are now hoping to work with the RSA Cymru to develop some thinking and actions to respond to the future needs of our communities.
The mission of the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) is to enrich society through ideas and action.Royal https://www.thersa.org/fellowship/in-your-area/regions/wales-cymru/


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Billy Hallowell is a journalist who has appeared in places like the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, Fox News, and worked at TheBlaze.com for several years. Now, he is the senior editor at Faithwire.com. His most recent book Fault Line is about the cultural forces that shape our thinking and how to respond to them. Today he shares how Christians can build bridges to culture using a little kindness and some good stories.
Stories Billy shared:
- What he has learned about navigating differences with people who disagree with you
- His latest book Fault Line: How a Seismic Shift in Culture Is Threatening Free Speech and Shaping the Next Generation (affiliate links)
- Why the Church needs to embrace even the unpretty stories
- Choosing Christ in New York City in his senior year of college
- What it's like as a Christian conservative to work with liberal outlets
- How stories help him deal with the his questions for God
- Why he wrote Fault Line and how he hopes it challenges the Church to not abandon cultural engagement
Great quotes from Billy:
We talk about our faith and needing to evangelize and spread our faith, well, we are not present in any of the three areas that have the most ability to do that.
Not every story is going to be pretty…but there is a place for those stories.
What matters is faith and culture and everything else streams from that.
There's nothing else I've seen change somebody instantly, like the way Jesus does. That evidence is overwhelming and we see it in people's stories.
Books mentioned by Billy (affiliate links):
- Fault Line: How a Seismic Shift in Culture Is Threatening Free Speech and Shaping the Next Generation
- The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation


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Reporting about student achievement and progress to students and parents is a critical responsibility of schools and teachers. In addition, reports may be provided (in line with privacy guidelines) to other schools, employers and training organisations. Rooty Hill High School uses the mandatory A – E grades required by the government for all schools in NSW. In addition, exam marks and positions in courses are shown for students undertaking studies towards the HSC.
Reporting takes a variety of formal and informal forms including:
• Formal academic reports issued
- at the end of Terms 2 and 4 for Years 7-10,
- at the beginning of Term 4 for Year 11 and
- at the end of Terms 1 and 3 for Year 12.
• A one page academic summary for Year 7 &11 issued at the end of Term 1.
• Parent/Student – Teacher interviews held in Terms 1 and 3.
• Portfolios issued at the end of each year, containing records of student participation in the life of the school as well as a summary of their merit and significant achievement awards.
• Results provided to the Board of Studies for Year 10, 11 and 12 tests and to ACARA for NAPLAN in Years 7 and 9.
• Assemblies, letters of commendation, merit awards and other forms of recognition (see below).
• Contact with parents by letter or telephone.
• Class Meetings.
• Personalised learning interviews and discussion of GPSa (Grade Point Averages).
In the formal academic reports issued at this school student achievement will be reported against selected outcomes, (both subject and competency) in academic studies, against the school's values and against the school's and DEC standards for behaviour and other non-cognitive domains. Teachers will ensure that reporting informs parents, and assists students to improve their performance. Teachers will ensure that reporting, including the writing of report comments, is handled in an ethical, fair and professional manner.
Reports for Years 7 – 11 will indicate a grade (A – E) for each course. The number of students in each grade for each course will be retained by the faculty and will be produced for parents wishing to know grade details.
End of semester reports will show student grades against the whole cohort enrolled in a particular course (eg Year 7 English) and each course will be required to undertake cohort assessment at least once per semester to moderate marks and grades in each class.


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1. Ted Baker London Embellished Collar Velvet Dress
2. Rebecca Taylor Black Lace Mix Dress
3. Colourpop Highlighter Trio in Cookies (See also in Cake & Ice Cream)
4. ASOS One Shoulder Midi Dress
5. BaubleBar Moonrock Drops in Green – I need these!
6. Covergirl Katy Kat Matte Lipstick in Cat Call
7. Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Liner in Midnight Cowboy
8. Wayf Next to You Wrap Dress
9. Steve Madden Stecy Sandal in Pewter
10. BaubleBar Crystal Mason Ring – Size up and wear on your middle finger!
11. Forever21 Faux Gem Body Chain
12. Slate & Willow Silver Aileen Dress
Story time, y'all – last week, I finished up work in San Antonio, packed up my little apartment, and drove my pup cross-country to Las Vegas, Nevada, the unlikely place that I will call home for the next few years. C and I are in the process of buying our first home (hurray!), and, until we close in a week or two, all but a suitcase of my clothes are in temporary storage. After 10+ months of long distance marriage, we are so happy to be together again!
Imagine my elation when my husband (hi, Conner!) rolled over on Sunday night and said, "By the way, babe, I keep forgetting to tell you – we have a work holiday party is Dec. 17." With all my heels and party dresses in storage, my girlfriends and I have been scouring the internet to find an affordable, quick-ship outfit for the party, and I figured it couldn't hurt to share my findings! Here are my favorite dresses and accessories for this holiday season – happy shopping!


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Austrian to open Customer Service Center in L'viv
With 48 key destinations, Austrian now plays a pioneering role across Central and Eastern Europe, and continues to enjoy a strong market presence in the region.
Austrian offers six destinations in Ukraine in the cities of Kiev, L'viv, Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkov and Odessa, and seven destinations in Russia in Moscow, Krasnodar, Rostov, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Sochi and Nizhniy Novgorod. Austrian Airlines operates 63 frequencies a week to Ukraine and 50 frequencies a week to Russia, taking into account the growing importance of the region for tourist and business travel.
Austrian will initially employ 12 people at the newly opened Call Center in L'viv to look after passengers' needs. As the Center grows in coming years, it will become possible to increase staffing, eventually creating a total of 30 jobs.
Austrian Airlines will offer visitors to the new Customer Service Center wide-ranging information about reservations and bookings in Ukrainian, Russian and English. Benefits to the customer include improved levels of service, longer opening hours and consequently greater accessibility, and employees highly trained in the respective national languages. Customers from these two countries can reach service staff via a toll-free hotline. The Call Center will have the capacity to process up to 300.000 calls a year in future.
For more information, visit Austrian.com.


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Join us for our 2020 boston marathon charity TEAM!
- Marathon MOnday April 20, 2020 -
Are you ready to join our exclusive Back on My Feet Boston Marathon charity team?!
Check out all of the perks and register for this world-renown race before our 15 spots fill up!
Transform lives one mile at a time - Fundraising minimum begins at $7,500
Check out our Event Info Page for additional information and save the dates!
Runners & Fundracers


text: gunsguy 2,606 Posted June 25, 2016 (edited) Guns N' Roses Thrill in Detroit With Electric Reunion Tour Opener - Detroit The group's Not in This Lifetime tour, which launched in Detroit last night, left the earlier Guns N' Roses classic reunion dates – a warm up gig in Los Angeles in April, then a few Las Vegas shows, with a double weekend at Coachella to top it off – feeling like nothing but mere practice. This was the real thing, the thing we'd all been waiting for: the triumphant return of one of the most important bands to cross rock music history. And it happened in our lifetime. Whatever bumpy start the reunion got off to – a criticized lineup, which featured original members Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan, but not Izzy Stradlin and Steven Adler; a broken foot for Rose at the very first gig; lengthy delays – had mostly smoothed itself out by Thursday night. Not only were Guns N' Roses on time in Detroit, but they were two minutes early. With an expected start time between 9:45 p.m. to 10 p.m., Guns N' Roses promptly took the stage at 9:43 p.m., making it clear they're no longer playing games. On a bi-level setup backed by a video screen with additional screens on each side of the stage, Slash and McKagan were first to emerge, followed by Dizzy Reed and newer Guns N' Roses members Richard Fortus, Frank Ferrer and Melissa Reese. Then a completely mobile Rose burst onstage last with a boundless energy and lust for the performance that lay ahead. Rose, who initially borrowed the throne used by Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl after he broke his leg last summer, ruled without one: Detroit saw Rose in full force, letting loose the snake-like moves that defined the Guns N' Roses look. While Rose often let his weight sit on his right foot (he had broken a bone in the left one), it never once limited him from spinning, hopping and darting from the back of the stage to the front of the catwalk that stretched into the crowd. Opening with a pulsating rendition of "It's So Easy," Guns N' Roses played for two-and-a-half hours to a near-capacity Ford Field. Often sporting Detroit shirts, the members showed their love for the Motor City. "You want the jungle, Detroit?" Rose screamed during "Welcome to the Jungle," later cracking a few Detroit-centric jokes. ("Everything here is fucking fried," he exclaimed at one point. "First thing I'd do in Detroit is put a tariff on vegetable oil.") Rose continuously thrilled with his immense vocal range – especially seated at the piano for "November Rain" – which was always precise and extraordinarily fresh despite coming off of a string of dates with AC/DC, where he filled in for vocalist Brian Johnson. But he never let himself become the star of the show: Slash shined as often as Rose (if not more), letting his unrivaled guitar skills speak for themselves. Most solos were extended and spotlighted, but none spoke louder than his cover of The Godfather theme – a real treat for fans. McKagan and Fortus weren't forgotten, either. McKagan – sporting a purple Prince symbol on his bass – doubled briefly as lead singer, providing vocals for "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory." Later, Fortus and Slash traded riffs for a duetted instrumental of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here." But the same didn't apply for Reed, Reese and Ferrer, who were all but left in the background for the duration of the show. While Rose made it a point to introduce the band members several times, it didn't stop half of the group from feeling lost in the stage's shadows – a problem that has persisted since earlier dates. Nonetheless, Guns N' Roses genuinely had a good time. With Rose's exuberant persona balanced by Slash's unnerving coolness, their connection never felt stronger than the many moments they spent singing and playing off one another, both often lost in levels of cathartic release. Even when Slash took over guitar duties for numbers off 2008's 'Chinese Democracy,' recorded entirely without him, he didn't feel out of place. As evident by the giant smile that often crept its way onto Rose's face, he was happy to be there – and happy to have his original bandmates at his side. No songs hit harder than the classics from Appetite for Destruction, the group's 1987 debut record: "Sweet Child O' Mine," "Mr. Brownstone" and "Rocket Queen" were set highlights. And when the group finally closed their 24-song performance just after midnight with "Paradise City," complete with fireworks and a confetti shower, the two-and-a-half hours still didn't feel like enough for a full Guns N' Roses experience. The group began rehearsing at Detroit's Ford Field on Monday, following teardown of Beyonce's stage from her June 14th performance. Although a tremendous debut evening, it came with a few hiccups to work out: What appeared to be a succession of pyrotechnic fails sounded like rounds of gunshots, unnerving particularly following recent terror attacks in music venues. Backup vocals were also on the low side, almost entirely drowned out. But it didn't deter from the overall show, which was so deeply steeped in electric energy that a couple mechanical flaws couldn't chip at its magnitude: this night was history being made, and there was no taking away from it. guns n' roses, gnr, guns n roses, axl rose, slash, duff mckagan, reunion tour, detroit, dave grohl throne, ford field, appetite for destruction Katarina Benzova Guns N' Roses Set list: "It's So Easy" "Mr. Brownstone" "Chinese Democracy" "Welcome to the Jungle" "Double Talkin' Jive" "Estranged" "Live and Let Die" (Paul McCartney & Wings cover) "Rocket Queen" "You Could Be Mine" "Raw Power" "This I Love" "Civil War" "Coma" "Speak Softly, Love" (Theme from The Godfather/Andy Williams) "Sweet Child O' Mine" "Better" "Out Ta Get Me" "Wish You Were Here" (Pink Floyd cover) "November Rain" "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan cover) "Nightrain" Encore: "Don't Cry" "The Seeker" (The Who cover) "Paradise City" Check out the thread with all the pictures and video as well as setlist and discussion Source: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/live-reviews/axl-rose-guns-n-roses-thrill-in-electric-reunion-tour-opener-in-detroit-20160624 Edited June 25, 2016 by gunsguy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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From conception to execution, CDP has you covered. Many clients have a clear vision on what they want, but what they need is a clear path to get there.
With CDP's Needs Assessment, we provide customers with a snapshot of their current challenges and working environments. We listen and observe, and take into consideration your needs and goals. CDP's real world experience allows us to match the specific features of our tools with your unique requirements and recommend the steps to improve and automate your processes.
The Needs Assessment will allow you to gain a faster return on your investment and help insure the success of your software roll-out by delivering an action plan that clearly identifies phases, tasks, responsibilities, level of effort, time lines and deliverables for all parties involved.


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Digital transformation is a journey, not a destination. Each organization evolves at its own pace, but is the journey ever truly over?
These questions and others are covered on this webinar entitled, "Digital Transformation: Are We There Yet?". Presented in conjunction with 451 Research, this exploration of mobile and digital transformation will examine:
For more information, call our United States office at +1 (949) 783-1333, or contact a local office around the world.


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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Many of the 1,559 confiscated firearms are antiques, relics
Copyright © 2013 Albuquerque Journal
The feds have Bob Adams' guns, and he wants them back – all 1,559 of them.
Adams says in federal court documents that the firearms are worth more than $1 million and the Homeland Security Department investigation that led to their seizure is destroying his gun dealer business.
Federal agents confiscated the firearms in January from his gun shop on Carlisle NE and his Albuquerque home.
The search and seizure warrants allege broad violations of federal gun laws, including illegal importation and intentional avoidance of taxes and customs duties.
So far, Adams hasn't been charged with any crime or violation of federal gun regulations. But in court documents filed last week, federal prosecutors said they expect to charge Adams sometime this fall for illegally importing the guns.
Adams, 68, has been collecting guns for 50 years and has been a licensed gun dealer in Albuquerque for decades.
Federal agents paint a picture of a man illegally importing guns through Canada to avoid customs import duties who also played fast and loose with federal regulations governing licensed gun dealers.
In an unusual legal maneuver, Adams' attorneys, Nancy Hollander and Vincent Ward, filed court documents last month asking that the guns be returned.
Hollander and Ward allege the seizure was done under warrants based on information that was three years old, and that many of the firearms seized were entirely unrelated to the allegations in the search and seizure warrants.
They also allege Homeland Security agents went beyond the scope of the warrants by seizing all of Adams' guns, and not just those that might be evidence of arms smuggling.
Federal prosecutors claim Adams' attorneys are trying to suppress evidence in a criminal case before Adams is indicted.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman Cairns responded to Adams' claims last week that the investigation has been slowed because many of the weapons have no serial numbers from manufacturers or importation numbers as required by law.
In a May email, Cairns wrote, "I could have Mr. Adams arrested today on a criminal complaint, and if we went to trial this week, I could readily prove several dozen felony counts" of a federal statute that makes it illegal to remove the importer's or manufacturer's identification number from a firearm.
"The reasons I have not had Mr. Adams arrested are his age, lack of criminal record and my attempt to not inject hostility and animosity into the case," he wrote.
The email exchange that includes Cairns' email was attached to Adams' motion to get his guns returned.
Neither Adams' attorneys nor the U.S. Attorney's Office would comment on the case.
Investing in guns
While some people invest in stocks and bonds for retirement, Bob Adams says he collected firearms, using his small business to supplement his federal pension by selling, purchasing and trading firearms.
Most of his business revolved around the sale of collectible firearms, categorized by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as antiques or curios and relics. "I consider my personal collection to be a retirement fund …" Adams said in court filings. "I dispose of them as needed to fund my retirement and for cash flow for my business."
He estimates that 80 percent of the guns seized by federal agents fall into the categories of antiques or curios and relics. Federal law classifies antique firearms as those manufactured in or before 1898 and include black powder flintlocks, muskets, matchlocks and modern replicas as long as they have not been redesigned to use modern ammunition. Curios and relics are another ATF category that includes firearms made more than 50 years ago that derive a substantial monetary value from the fact they are novel, rare, bizarre or have an association with some historical figure, period or event.
One such gun seized in the raid, according to Adams' website, is a Springfield Model 1879 Trapdoor .45/70 Saddle Ring Cavalry Carbine that was purchased from a now-defunct studio where it was used as a prop gun. It is fitted with a rifle rear sight, but otherwise it is an original cavalry carbine.
Adams says the market for such guns fluctuates and it could take him years to find a buyer for a particular weapon. He claims the Homeland Security raid created a "business disaster" and that he had to turn away prospective buyers because federal agents had taken the guns that buyers were seeking.
While all his business licenses from the ATF were seized, none has been revoked.
In May, Homeland Security returned two of the guns and backup copies of some of his files.
Tax avoidance alleged
Federal law enforcement paints a different picture of Adams.
The search warrant affidavits allege he consistently broke federal gun laws by importing weapons from around the world, transferring the weapons to his "personal collection" and only putting them on the "books" when he sold them.
Federal prosecutors say few of the sold guns were put on the "books" and the lack of sales records has slowed their investigation.
Many of the guns, according to federal prosecutors, were purchased at Canadian auctions.
In the process, he avoided paying customs duties and federal gun taxes, they allege.
In some cases, agents claim, he made the weapons difficult if not impossible to trace if used in the commission of a crime and stripped the weapons of importers' serial numbers – also a federal felony.
Longtime troubles
Adams' troubles with federal agencies began in 2006 when his licensed firearms business was inspected for compliance with federal laws and regulations by the ATF.
The ATF found 32 instances where Adams had removed importers' marks from imported firearms.
They also had trouble resolving paperwork issues because Adams had transferred firearms from his business to his personal collection and then back to the gun shop.
The ATF took no action in 2006 and inspected Adams' business again in 2009, finding some of the same problems as the 2006 inspection.
In 2010, the ATF analyzed Adams' licensed sales, and concluded he was avoiding excise taxes and ATF inspection by transferring the guns in and out of his personal collection. But again no action was taken, according to court records.
Adams' attorneys say in court documents that no further inspections of his business were conducted before Homeland Security raided his business and home more than two years later in January 2013.
The search warrants show the latest investigation of Adams' gun business started because he was attempting to import 135 firearms from Canada.
Those guns were seized by Canadian law enforcement because their storage did not comply with Canadian laws.
Canadian authorities and Homeland Security have been communicating about the guns seized in Canada, but it is difficult to tell which agency initiated the investigation into the weapons seized there.
Adams has not been charged with any crime in Canada.
& Mike Gallagher SUBSCRIBE NOW cancel anytime


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Many red faces here at New Scotland Yard, as it was revealed that the hunt for Polish Stolen Car dealing crook Prawo Jazdy, which cost millions in taxpayers money, has been revealed as an absolute waste of time and money.
Jazdy was booked by traffic cops in locations all over London and issued with on-the-spot fines. But a keen eyed Scotland Yard administrator picked up on the alarming frequency with which Jazdy was being stopped, and the amazingly different make and model of vehicle involved.
The administrator took his findings to a senior Detective at the Yard who became quickly convinced that Jazdy must be the mastermind behind a vehicle-theft ring, and asked for permission to launch 'Operation Dogs Die In Hot Cars.'
Hundreds of traffic cops were inducted into the elite squad, and the hunt for Jazdy was on. At a hefty rate of overtime.
But it was Detective Chief Inspector Morse who finally got to the bottom of the mystery after flying to Warsaw to meet with The Chief Of Police, who had just popped out for a wiener when he arrived.
Acting on a hunch, DCI Morse asked a cleaner if she had ever heard of Prawo Jazdy. She seemed somewhat taken aback, so Morse explained that Jazdy was a Polish criminal mastermind operating in London.
The woman thought for a moment, before reaching into her purse and producing a card bearing her own image with the name Prawo Jazdy printed above it. Now it was Morse's turn to be astonished.
"This Prawo Jazdy is no criminal mastermind," she told him. "And I am not Prawo Jazdy. Prawo Jazdy is not a name. It is Polish for DRIVING LICENCE."
At which point the Chief Of Police walked in with his wiener in his hand.
More as we get it.


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Why does it look like mind control when someone is under hypnosis?
Why does it look like mind control when someone is under hypnosis? Niall Wade
The reason people confuse hypnosis with things like mind control is that most people only see examples of hypnotized people in movies and on TV. But those people aren't really hypnotized; they're actors pretending to be hypnotized.
Many years ago, when hypnosis first became popularly known, plays and books started distorting hypnosis to use it for dramatic purposes. The hypnotist became a villain, often a wizard or vampire, who would use his "powers" to make the other characters do evil things like murder. The actors' faces look almost frozen, zombie-like — just like you think they would be if they were actually under someone else's control and their own mind and will power have been taken away. But this is all pretend.
If you want to see someone who is actually under hypnosis, you'll notice that at stage hypnosis shows, people are usually slumped over in their chairs and they look like they are sleeping.
But in no way can any hypnotist or hypnotherapist ever make someone do anything that they personally believe is wrong. A person's moral, core beliefs are sacrosanct and cannot be affected or changed. You can also never be made to do something that would hurt you personally. Hypnosis consists of suggestions and the subconscious mind will always reject the dangerous ones.
How does hypnosis work?
I've been reading your site and was wondering exactly how hypnosis works.
There are two parts to our minds, the conscious and the subconscious. The conscious mind is our awareness, the thoughts and feelings we experience everyday. It experiences the world based on what comes through our five senses during the time we are awake, but it doesn't take everything in. While we can control most of our actions and feelings through our conscious decision-making, we can't always — such as when our will power is too weak to stop us from eating things we shouldn't or emotions boil up that we have no control over.
Below that is our subconscious mind which we are not directly aware of except when thoughts "jump" into our mind. This is where our imagination lies and is the seat of our creativity. It registers all the information we receive more quickly and completely than the conscious mind, but without a sense of time, logic, or reasoning. In it are established all our central beliefs, conditioning, and every kind of habit from behavioral to emotional. Its processes are closely tied to the brain itself, which is why we sometimes call hypnosis "retraining the brain." Unlike our conscious mind, the subconscious "thinks" in images.
When the client is in hypnosis, they are in a semi-awake state – a form of trance — where there is direct access to the subconscious, better known as suggestibility. The hypnotherapist phrases his or her suggestions using the images and words he or she has discovered that are most meaningful to the client. These go directly to the subconscious mind which, as long as it doesn't violate the client's core moral belief system and reinforces what the conscious mind wants to believe, is seen as true and accepted. This then changes how the brain actually thinks so that it changes associations such as when cigarettes no longer seem pleasurable or comfortable, but make you feel sick. Or instead of triggering a panic attack, a once fearful object creates feelings of calm and comfort.
What are the advantages in using hypnosis instead of medication for insomnia?
I've never had trouble sleeping in my life until we recently had a major shake-up where I work. But even though things have pretty much calmed down, I still can't seem to get more than four hours of sleep a night. Half my friends say I should try hypnosis while the others say I should just see a doctor but I'm a little uncomfortable taking pills for what may be a long time.
The main differences between hypnosis and medication is that hypnosis itself puts you in the state that occurs naturally starting about 30 minutes before you fall asleep. That alone starts preparing your body for returning to your normal sleep pattern. Your hypnotherapist will usually make suggestions and give you relaxation techniques that you will use that evening to put yourself back in hypnosis and your brain will start regaining its natural ability to quickly move from hypnosis to regular sleep with all the necessary stages of sleep.
Usually the process takes less than 4-8 sessions, especially if the problem began after something that temporarily changed a person's routine. Your case sounds very similar with a break in your your normal pattern and now you're having difficulty getting back to your natural schedule. This often occurs frequently after the holidays.
Doctors have to be very careful when prescribing sleep drugs. No matter what other side-effect(s) they might have, all sleep medications can cause psychological dependence.
The newest type of drug imitates the actions of the brain hormone melatonin which is what normally regulates your sleep/wake cycle. It may take as long as 10 days to become fully effective. Side effects rarely occur, but they include the possibility of doing activities while quasi-asleep like driving, eating, and making phone calls at night and having no memory of them in the morning. Mental changes can occur as well such as agitation, anxiety, nightmares, and other changes in your usual thoughts, mood, or behavior.
Older medications contain selective Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). GABA receptors work in the brain and affect levels of alertness. These are directed specifically at the receptor thought to affect sleep. Side effects include memory problems and activities like sleep driving and sleepwalking.
Often people will use an over-the-counter allergy medicine. Most contain diphenhydramine that works on the body's histamines, which are what create cold and allergy symptoms. Diphenhydramine also has a sedating effect, hence its use in sleep. While it is efficacious with mild, infrequent insomnia, all histamines are known for creating morning grogginess. Other side effects can include difficulty urinating and confusion or delirium.
While hypnosis' greatest advantage may be that it has no side effects, because hypnosis has returned your brain to his normal sleep/wake cycle, you will continue your normal sleep schedule while, sometimes, stopping a sleep medication means that your sleeping problems may return.
What if things come up in hypnosis that I don't want to know about or I'm not ready to deal with?
I had a really bad childhood and I don't remember it all. What if stuff comes up during hypnotherapy that I don't want to know about or I'm not ready to deal with?
One of the advantages of hypnotherapy is that you and your hypnotherapist are always in control of the situation. A difficult or painful memory will not come up until you are absolutely ready to — and want to — work with it.
Hypnotherapy's object is to change behavior. To do that we are changing habits by "retraining the brain." It doesn't matter what caused the habit to change it. Events like panic attacks can be removed without ever bringing up what caused them. In any case, we always ask the subconscious first if it is ready to handle any memories and scary memories will never surface until you are ready for them. When you are, we'll examine the memory while keeping you completely blocked from the emotions. You'll know what you felt, but without feeling scared, pained, fearful, or any sort of negative emotion. Then the emotions themselves are removed. The memories remain, but not the emotions that used to be connected to them.
Phobias — Can hypnosis help me get rid of my fear of spiders and what's it like?
I'm scared of spiders. It used to be that if I saw one, I'd have a panic attack but now even a picture of a spider causes me to panic. Can hypnosis help me?
What you have is a phobia, specifically arachnophobia, the fear of spiders. While fears and phobias are very similar, a fear is when you get panic attack symptoms that are triggered by something realistic while a phobia is when the panic attack is triggered by irrational and sometimes unknown factors. Usually, as in your case, the phobia will become more and more easily triggered until it becomes a significant problem in everyday life. However, for all the discomfort, a phobia is essentially a habit and very easy to handle in hypnosis. At no point do we bring up the actual feeling of the panic so that the person feels completely safe and comfortable throughout the experience.
Phobias are usually created when someone experiences feeling panicked, terrified, physical pain, or the fear of impending danger and then associates it with something around them, whether or not what they've associated the feeling with caused or played a part in creating the negative feeling. Very often the trigger is only marginally related to the original emotion. Since you've been scared of spiders since childhood, chances are that it's based on a psychological experience. But phobias based on truly traumatic experiences, such as abuse or physical trauma are much rarer than people think. You may have been scared by something other than the spider, saw a spider, and "pinned" the blame on it. Maybe someone bullied you with a toy spider and you became scared of the toy and not the person.
However, phobias that develop in adulthood are quite often due not to something psychological, but physiological, i. e., due to hypoglycemia or a lack of sugar in one's system. This mimics a panic attack and the person associates that shakiness and panicky feeling with something around them. People skip breakfast or eat poorly, get that panicky feeling later, and suddenly they begin to develop a phobia around whatever they were doing or where they were when the feeling hit them — driving, eating a specific food, or taking tests (when a person is already pretty nervous to begin with).
Ironically, for such a potentially life-disrupting condition, a phobia is fairly simple to manage. The technique of systematic desensitization allows for the person to feel absolutely calm and then imagine that when they wake up they'll no longer have any irrational responses to anything. From then on when the trigger is referred to or seen they associate it with comfort and relaxation and the negative symptoms disappear. The client is able to think about the phobia trigger and the fear is gone.
It will often take one to three sessions for a phobia to resolve. A phobia that was produced by a significant trauma is very different since we need to diffuse the incident and all the additional damage it has caused. This requires more time and may require working in partnership with a psychotherapist.
What is Hypnotherapy Revisited/Can Anyone Be Hypnotized?/What Does Hypnosis Feel Like?
When you posted earlier that hypnotherapy was only like the theatrical hypnosis shows in that people are hypnotized, I got curious. When you see those shows it's always a big joke about that person who claims they "can't be hypnotized" and always is (at least in the show). But really how often does this happen? Are there people who can't be hypnotized, even if they are coming to you for therapy?
I've been doing this since I was 12, a very long time now, and in my experience nearly everyone can be hypnotized. The few exceptions have been those people who really did not want to be hypnotized because they, mistakenly, thought they would lose control. And, I get those people partially under before they are too uncomfortable to continue. The fact is, you are ALWAYS in control. You hear everything that is going on, we talk while you're in hypnosis, and you can stop the session at any time.
The fact is everyone is in hypnosis everyday. Hypnosis is that 30 minute period before you naturally fall asleep when your imagination becomes more active and your conscious mind is turning inward. Another familiar example is when you're reading and completely wrapped up in the book. The biggest difference between that type of hypnosis and what we do in my office is that you are focusing on my voice.
When I put you in hypnosis, it feels like a daydream only I'm guiding you through it. At the beginning of the session, we discuss what your goals are or what behaviors you want to change. From this, I learn the language of your subconscious mind which thinks in images. Some people are more visual or kinetic, so I can figure out how to phrase things and what sort of imagery to use. And then, after I put you under, everything I say is what you've told me that you want to hear. You'll hear every word I say although you might drift off once or twice. When I see that, I'll bring your attention back to me. Everything in hypnotherapy is based on being comfortable and safe.
Hypnosis, Health, and Lifestyle
I'm trying to get healthy but I'm always in a rush and fast food just seems like the easiest option. Can hypnosis help me?
Here we have a few goals to tackle — the first is to get you in control of your schedule so you can get everything you need done comfortably on time and we need to train you so that you no longer think of fast food as an option. Schedules are fairly easy once we discover the right one and avoiding fast food isn't so hard — imaging driving down a busy street and as far as you're concerned you don't see any place that has a drive-thru!
But the underlying issue is making you your first priority and taking control of your life. Luckily, you wouldn't be asking me this question if you didn't know that you needed to make the change to a healthy lifestyle.
The way you get through the day is a series of habits and these ones are all relatively easy to change. By the first session we'll be finding convenient and creative ways to reaching your goals. Making lunches and dinners over the weekend to take to work become second nature. Just the thought of eating a fast-food burger becomes unpleasant once I link it to how every bite can be doing damage to your body. And you won't leave my office without beginning some sort of exercise regimen even if it's just stepping side-to-side twenty minutes before you go to sleep at night. We'll come up with more and it shouldn't be long before you're living your life the way you want.
Can Hypnotherapy Help With Smoking?
Hypnosis is all about changing habits, getting your subconscious to stop associating something with a behavior that you don't like — like smoking.
I cannot stop smoking and would like to know if hypnotherapy can work for me. Sam
In nearly every case, yes. The techniques I use have about a 90% success rate and usually take from 2-8 sessions, depending on the situation. Obviously, someone who has been smoking since they were ten takes longer than a 28 year-old who started in college. Ultimately, however, the only deciding factor is if you are really ready to quit now.
First ask yourself "WHY DO I WANT TO QUIT?" If the answer is that my doctor told me to or my wife did, it's going to take longer because we're going to be spending a few sessions getting you to want to quit for your own sake.
No matter what, smoking cessation will require you to do some work. I'll have you cutting down regularly, smoking in unfamiliar and uncomfortable places all while we replace the habit with something positive. If you smoke for social reasons, I'll teach you to be comfortable without anything in your hands. Breakfast is coffee and a cigarette? You need a better start in the morning to begin with and this is a great time to take control of your health in every way. If your cigarette is your best friend, well, there are a lot healthier ones out there and we'll find one you like even more.
We'll need a check-in session three months after we're done and three months but the six month can easily be done by phone.


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"I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had left; he was gone. My heart sank at his departure. I looked for him but did not find him. I called him but he did not answer." Song of Solomon 5:6 NIV
One of the hardest facts of life is that people move on. They may feel they've outgrown us or we them, or that there is too much distance or difference between us and them for any meaningful continuation of a relationship or friendship. Sometimes of course it is us doing the leaving behind.
Often these partings are the culmination of a slow demise, a difficulty communicating, or they may come after a break of trust. Other times it is a selfish move onto something or someone else who seems better, and we feel left behind, discarded, abandoned and alone, and often broken-hearted.
If we are abandoned and don't see it coming, we can feel caught totally off-guard. It can feel like a catastrophe, as though the world were coming to an end. If it is the end of a marriage or relationship, it can also feel like a bereavement, as though half of us is missing. Like someone whose partner has died, we may well keep turning around to talk to someone who isn't there. Devastated doesn't even begin to cover it.
Some of us are abandoned by parents, either when very young, and put up for adoption, or later by needing to go into care. In the first case we probably don't find out till later in life and have a great shock and a lot of questions to deal with, and in the latter, it must feel like the world has crumbled under our feet.
Even If we haven't known any of these greater abandonments, we have surely all been left behind by someone we trusted or thought was our friend. However shallow or high the drop, the fall (not to mention the landing) is desperately hard. But perhaps at some point we can look back and see our abandonments with different eyes. Hindsight and time are great healers of course, so that is easier to do the longer it was ago. Maybe we can see a rescue or a release instead of a desertion. Maybe that relationship, that friendship or bad parenting was crushing us.
If I had not been abandoned myself many years ago, I might never have come to understand that greater and safer relationship in my life that I have with God. What a calamity that would have been! I will never make light of what I suffered in the aftermath of my heartbreak nor what any of us go through when we are cast aside, but I will begin to slowly and circumspectly rejoice that I have received instead a new heart, still scarred, but joined to my Lord, the living loving God of mercy who will never leave or reject me. To rejoice too in relationships that were made stronger in those years when I was at my most broken, and in the new ones that have come since.
It is certainly true that God can use all things for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose, as Romans 8:28 tells us. And we learn through these painful leavings and partings, whether of lovers or friends, that there is really only one person to be utterly relied upon, who will never leave us or forsake us.
©Keren Dibbens-Wyatt
Photo from Pixabay


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Situated in the heart of Illinois is Springfield, the state's capital and home of major attractions such as the Lincoln Home National Historic Site and the 4,200-acre reservoir Lake Springfield. Visitors to Springfield who are traveling in a recreational vehicle will find no shortage of RV parks, many of which are located within easy access to outdoor recreational opportunities.
Like much of the Midwestern United States, Springfield has a humid continental climate characterized by hot, humid summers and cold, sometimes severe, winters. Daytime summer temperatures tend to stay in the mid-80s, while winter temperatures can plummet below zero degrees at night. The city receives frequent rain, and sudden downpours in late summer are not uncommon. Visitors to the city should follow weather precautions and avoid strenuous outdoor activity in extreme heat or cold.
Springfield Parks
Visitors to Springfield can stay at the city-run Riverside Campgrounds or the Springfield KOA. The 61-site Springfield KOA offers a seasonal pool, restrooms and showers as well as full hookup sites. Wireless Internet is available, and guests can play mini-golf for a fee. The 87-site Springfield KOA offers hookups, such as water, electric and sewer, as well as a dump station. Most of the Springfield KOA's RV sites are equipped with only water and electric.
State Fair Camping
Springfield offers a large state fair campground for RVers. The campground offers more than 300 sites, all of which have full hookups. Guests have access to electric, water and sewer and showers and restrooms. Sites are asphalt, and many are large enough to accommodate big rigs. Much of the campground contains manicured lawns, complete with trees that naturally shade the RV sites. Amenities are few, although guests can buy ice on site.
Springfield contains several multi-use trails open to hikers, joggers, roller-skaters and bikers. Visitors can try the leisurely seven-mile Interurban Bicycle and Pedestrian Trail, an asphalt trail that follows an abandoned railroad south to the nearby town of Chatham, or the Lost Bridge Trail, a level, five-mile trail located in east Springfield that provides views of woodlands and wildflowers. Trails are open to the public year-round.
Other Activities
Lake Springfield is a major recreational hub of Springfield, particularly for swimming, boating and fishing. The lake contains fish species such as channel catfish, tiger muskie, bluegill and more. The lake has multiple public fishing areas, some of which are wheelchair accessible. Those wanting to fish must acquire a fishing license. Visitors can rent boats such as kayaks and canoes, which may be launched off from Bridgeview Park, the Lindsay Bridge or Marine Point.
Leaf Group is a USA TODAY content partner providing general travel information. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.
Photo Credits
- rv on highway image by jedphoto from Fotolia.com


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I am the CEO of my startup, and have two co-founders. I hold the most shares among us, but our ownership percentages are fairly close. We have no other employees. One co-founder is only involved part-time because of another job; he has useful connections for our business, but can't contribute much day-to-day. The other one works in the company full-time like me, but needs to be guided through almost everything they do, taking very little initiative to solve problems on their own. I often feel that in the time I spend worrying about whether or not they have accomplished their next important task (and constantly following up with them), I could have just done it myself. Am I better off trying to motivate them to contribute more, or looking for new team members?
I feel your pain — I've been there several times in a couple of my companies. Each situation ended up being unique, and had to be handled differently.
I think there are a few things to consider before you make your decision:
1. What is in your cofounder's way?
Is you cofounder being held up by a lack of clarity? Lack of motivation? Lack of autonomy?
One of my past cofounders was very good at getting the job done, but didn't naturally have the skill to lay out tasks in a manageable way. To get around this, I worked with the whole team (4 people) to write up process documentation that removed the need to "figure out what to do next" that was tripping up this cofounder.
2. What job was your cofounder brought on to complete?
And is it being completed?
One of my companies brought on a cofounder simply to give us a marketing platform — he had a huge online audience — but he did nothing else. At first, this caused tension; once we had specifically laid out who was on the team and for what purpose, it was easier to identify where responsibilities lay.
3. Is your cofounder capable of doing the job?
One of the more painful ordeals I've gone through in business is bringing on a good friend, then realizing that — despite his talent and intelligence — he just wasn't able to perform the job I'd hired him for.
His skills were better suited for a different job: he needs hands-on management; he works better with repetitive tasks that don't require big-picture thinking; he lacks assertiveness and confidence, which were critical for the management-level role he'd been hired to do.
After I tried to clear everything in his way, it became clear the company couldn't survive if he remained on the team. I had to lay him off.
4. Do you just simply not like the way this cofounder works?
In one of my startups, there was a cofounder who I didn't know all that well, but he had amazing industry contacts and domain knowledge.
However, once we started working together it became clear that we had VERY different working styles. He drove me completely nuts with (what seemed to me to be) a very ADHD-style of planning, with projects starting and being dropped and then coming out of nowhere with a call at 21:00 to discuss something critical that would be forgotten tomorrow.
I'm sure I drove him nuts, too.
So eventually we ended up selling that company — it was that or shutter it — because we knew there wasn't a chance we'd be successful if we continued as we were.
Working with other people is tricky in general. Our instinct is to assume that we're the best workers on the planet and everyone else is incompetent, an idiot, a slacker, or all of the above.
Usually it's a combination of an organizational-level lack of clarity, poor communication, no processes, and (sometimes) plain ol' we-don't-see-eye-to-eye-on-things-ness.
Hopefully that helps. Feel free to get in touch if you'd like to hear specifics on my situations, or if you'd like any help devising a strategy for resolving your cofounder trouble.
Good luck!
I've got a tactical model you may find useful to employ to remove the tension and resentment before it escalates.
I'm currently on my second startup, it's just myself and one co-founder.
A decade ago, I had three other partners. What I learned then was that everyone will go through different challenges in their own lives, at different times. This of course, affects our ability (time, energy) to contribute to the business.
Others (Jason, Ken) have answered your question here from important angles you should consider first. I wanted to add some tactical tips (a model, in fact) that you could put into place; but only after you've covered those big-picture topics.
These techniques all assume one thing however: trust. If you don't have that, then you really shouldn't be in business with your co-founders.
First, if you have revenue, you can assign everyone the same hourly rate. The income you distribute amongst the team is simply a matter of how many hours everyone worked.
If you don't have predictable income yet (but you have some), you can split the income you do generate in the company amongst yourselves, based on the proportion of hours worked in that period. This actually works better than a flat hourly rate, as it provides more incentive for everyone to really work on the venture making real revenue.
Let's say you choose quarterly as your time period, and your timesheet has you working twice as much as your co-founder. You'd then naturally get 2/3 of the income generated in that quarter.
Even though you might have a 50/50 equity split, you can put in an agreement between yourselves that treats all income generated by the company for the first (or next) x years this way. Perhaps x is five years, by which time, these sorts of issues typically of concern in a startup, won't be as pressing or even relevant.
Another variation to this is to track company income from inception. The proportion of time each co-founder puts in over the life of the startup to date, is the proportion of its generated income that they are owed. This removes co-founders "surging" their efforts in quarters that are known to bring in a disproportionate amount of revenue (should such a situation be possible in your startup).
Yet another variation that tests everyone's commitment to the business, is have all work income generated by all partners (whether through other day jobs, contract revenue etc.) put into the company pot, and re-distributed in this model. In that way, the co-founder only participating part time has a bigger role: they are helping bring in income for everyone, and it gets distributed based on how much time everyone is putting in respectively, across all of these activities.
Finally, you can add a time component to this whole formula: time logged in the first year of the company is like the deposit of a financial investment into the company: it earns interest.
It is worth more than the same amount of time deposited into the company in year three, when the company is likely more established. Generally, as time goes on, as there is less risk to pour your time into the company; you should have more clarity about the company's prospects.
Thought of another way: the Angel takes on more risk than the Series B venture round (a downround being the exception here).
Therefore, the Angel's investment, dollar for dollar, is going to have a higher percentage of ownership. Similarly, you can treat everyone's investment of time in the early days this way; it gets seasoned. You incentive co-founders to put in more effort early when it is not as clear that you'll succeed, and when the company most needs that push.
With these tools in place (you can setup a spreadsheet to track this), you will not resent your partners if they need to take a 6 month sabbatical, or work much fewer hours than you do. It can take the tension out of these critical relationships.
Note that if you don't yet have any income from the venture, but you expect it will be coming soon, extend the timeframe of the model to cover the point that you would have reached success (and then some) or have ultimately disbanded.
This model is like training wheels. It's a gentler transition from the standard FTE or solo contract income world into one of shared destiny with your co-founders.
I've tested a variant of this model and it has worked beautifully.
I hope that gives you some tools to consider. I could write reams more. If you'd like to follow up with ideas on how to put this into play for your specific scenario, feel free to get in touch with me here on Clarity.
I've done a ton of work on conflict management, starting / managing difficult conversations, and picking up the pieces after it goes poorly.
Here are a couple of tips on starting the discussion with someone who is not pulling their weight:
1. Decide what you need and want from the discussion before it ever starts... I can't tell you how many people I see that wade into a heavy discussion without knowing what the exit point is for all parties. By knowing, bottom line and what you need from that discussion, you can re-direct it towards that simple outcome if things spiral out of control.
2. In your first few sentences, re-assure the person this is a safe discussion... If there person doesn't know their fate in a heavy discussion, they're much more likely to be defensive. Start the discussion by letting them know you don't want out, you don't want them out, and this isn't a "fix it or we're done" discussion. Re-assure them that you are proud to work with them and that this discussion is meant to strengthen an already great team.
3. Promote COLLABORATION not COMPROMISE... Collaboration is two people working to meet each others' needs, whereas compromise is two people trying to give up as little ground as possible. Start by asking them if there is anything YOU can do to help them move towards the middle and pull the weight you need them to pull.
4. Set a date to re-evaluate... If the discussion is open-ended or viewed as a rant / lecture, you won't get a whole lot of follow-up. If you set a date to revisit (2-4 weeks is ideal), then it creates some sense of urgency and internal monitoring and people are more likely to accommodate your vision.
Hope that helps... you could write a novel on this stuff.
Remember, starting the conversation is the most important aspect. You cannot go around hoping people understand frustrations that you have not voiced. Remember to protect people's dignity and value - people who feel cared for will often bend over backwards for you.
I'd be happy to give you more tips on your specific situation... feel free to contact me through Clarity to set up a consulting arrangement.
There are a lot of variables here. As the CEO you have to set expectations for how your team members, regardless of equity status, are expected to perform. Startups, just like larger businesses, need to be very clear on job expectations, what makes a success and what doesn't. Ultimately holding equity does not make someone a better worker. If you feel you have created a problem for yourself by allocating equity to partners who do not carry their weight then you hopefully have a buy/sell agreement in your operating or partnership agreement. I've had to do this several times. Some of them didn't go well and some did. I'd be happy to discuss it with you.
I have been involved in many startups, some successful and some not so successful. When a team of founders gets crosswise its a harbinger of real trouble. You can sit down with your cofounders and discuss the problem openly and hope that you can solve the problems by everyone agreeing. However, unless you have un-vested stock, or contracts that require a certain amount of contribution, or some other leverage, you are reduced to mere persuasion without any leverage. If you would like to discuss this further, please feel free to get in touch with me.
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Panoramic Grand Celebration Tour
- Breathtaking views of the Grand Canyon
- Flight over and views of Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and the Grand Canyon
- Landing at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, 4,000 ft. below the rim
- Light meal & refreshments on the canyon floor
- Exploration time
- Aerial views of the Vegas Strip
- Multi-lingual narration
- Round trip Limousine hotel transfers included
This is a must-experience part of your Vegas trip. Aboard the luxurious EC-120 Helicopter, catch stunning views of Hoover Dam, Grand Wash Cliffs, Grapevine Mesa, and Grand Canyon West where you will also land to explore the breathtaking landscape.
- All fees inclusive tour ticket
- Food & drinks
- Pick-up & drop-off from and to hotel
- Gratuity
Additional Information
• Please provide all passenger names, their respective weights, hotel name, and address, in the Hotel Name or Address field at checkout
• All passengers booked on a tour must carry government issued forms of identification
• 3.5 - 4 hr tour includes hotel pick-up, helicopter tour, and hotel drop-off
• Cameras are allowed in flight. However, water bottles and selfie sticks are not allowed
• If your flight is canceled due to poor weather, we will reschedule your flight for another day at no additional cost


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This post focuses on key points learned from the Library Trend article Prison Libraries in Poland: Partners in Rehabilitation, Culture, and Education.
Poland and subsequently the prison system and prison libraries have experienced some major changes in the last 3o years. This is due to the Solidarity movement, Round Table Agreements, and joining of the European Union.This transformed the prison system from one that focused on punishment to one that's focus is on rehabilitation, "reeducation," and re-entry. One primary change was to see people behind bars as having individual needs, for example sentencing changed to three different "regimes" once could be sentenced to which dictates what day to day life is like in prison. Those are:
- The Program Regime
- "includes juvenile and adult offenders who agree to participate in a variety of structured activities" (410)
- The Therapeutic Regime
- "includes 'offenders with non-psychotic psychiatric disorders and other persons addicted to alcohol or intoxicating or psychotropic drugs, as well as offenders with physical disabilities that require special care'" (410-1)
- Looks like we got some ableism going on.
- The Regular Regime
- "includes those who have failed to comply with the requirements set forth in their individual treatment plan or who have refused to participate in such a plan" (411)
Within the prison system, the Minister of Justice regulates all of the facilities in the prison system. The director of each prison facility controls the prison library's operation, development, space, budget, rights of the patron, library policy, staff training, etc. Staff who are called facility educators run the library part-time (or is one part of their full-time job) and are in charge of:
- developing and maintaining collections
- lending materials
- record keeping and preparation of reports
- organization of the library premises (maintain library space and satellite programs)
- cooperate with public library staff (418)
The library facility educator does not necessarily have a library science degree and receives professional development through the prison facility or public librarian. This is due to the Minister of Justice creating a regulation that prison libraries and public libraries work together. This regulation is key for professional development and inter-library loan services. A similar regulation is in place to encourage inter-library loans through the prison facilities, including juvenile facilities.
Policies and collection development decisions are made to support the following needs that the prison system has deemed important in their setting:
- Reading as a constructive use of free time, as a method to reduce stress, and as a means to minimize undesirable behavior
- Meeting emotional needs and intellectual interests
- Increasing basic and advanced knowledge
- Developing positive personality traits
- Developing aesthetic sensibility and appreciation of art and education
- Developing cognitive skills
- Preparing for life and work after release
- Meeting professional needs of prison staff (413)
Inmates are allowed to recommend titles, except what is banned by law from patrons, which are:
- pornography
- content that advocates violence
- content that advocates antisocial behavior
- content that advocates threatens the healthy development of juveniles (416)
Items in a foreign language are not actively collected due to the very low numbers of inmates that speak a foreign language. Collection development happens for these rare inmates once they are in prison and usually with the help of partnering with organization and community members.
Libraries use an open and closed stacks model, sometimes both. A unique aspect of Polish prison libraries is their branch libraries in facilities, such as in the medical wing of the prison, classrooms, etc. In such branch libraries, there is a small collection of items, which rotate quarterly, with a 3-ring binder catalog of items that can be requested and sent to them. If the library employees inmates, managing these branches is usually on of their duties.
Initiatives have been put in place to encourage all prison libraries to have author catalogs, although not all do yet. Some also have title and subject catalogs. These are hard to come by at some libraries due to funding issues, staffing, and the ability to get all of the information needed to complete a catalog.
An other unique component of Polish prison libraries is their communication about the libraries:
reading promotion is often an important component of other cultural and education activities conducted by prison staff not directly involved with library work, and is also supported though internal radio and television broadcasts. (417)
These communications include new acquisitions and even broadcast audio books!
For example, in 2008 the Chelmno prison inmates had the opportunity to listen to twenty books, presented in 50-minute installments over the in-house [speakers] (423)
Programming is an important role of the library, especially in the subject of reentry. Patrons have the opportunity to explore about how to be successful after prison by learning how to fill out a job application and resume, new skills, what the job market is like, being free of addictive substances, ect.
Beyond inmates, there is a collection developed exclusively for staff to utilize. This collection is primarily focused in professional development. In an article I read in the past, they stated that if you wanted prison staff to respect and work with the library (instead of seeing it as a pain), attempt to collect materials that the staff will also enjoy and be able to check out. Doing so the staff will also see the library as something that also benefits them and the staff would then hopefully want to help maintain physically and provide better access.
More information is included in this article about further education and cultural programs that are offered in many prison facilities, which I encourage you all to read if you can pick up a copy of Library Trends! You can click on the Library Trends link below to see if a library near you has one!
Zybert, Elzbiea Barbara. Prison Libraries in Poland: Partners in Rehabilitation, Culture, and Education. Library Trends. 59.3 (Winter 2011): 386-408.
Additional Poland Resources:
Frister, Roman. Polish Prisons Teaching Jewish Studies to Inmates. Haaretz. Feb. 21, 2011.
Polish Librarians' Association
Zybert, Elzbieta Barbara. Prison Libraries in Poland. International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions Newsletter. 58 (2004).


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New from Google, Texthelp & MathType
New! from Google
Google announced a new set of shortcuts that you may find useful. Now to open up a new doc, sheet, or slide, simply type new.doc or new.sheets, etc. into the omnibox (address bar).
This should prove to be a time saver and is easy to remember!
Check It! Finally a spelling/grammar checker in Google Docs, courtesy of Texthelp and Read&Write for Google Chrome! We are fortunate to have R & W pushed out to the entire district, so everyone can benefit from this new feature. Kasey Bell, over at Shake Up Learning has a nice post about this. Remember, if you need to boost your skills in Read & Write, or just want to explore their offerings, they have a great training resource here.
While I was meandering about on Texthelp's YouTube channel, I noticed something else that was new to me- DataDesk. This enables the teacher to lock in features on a student's R&W toolbar for a period of time. It is hooked into Google Classroom. Now, I don't think this tool has widespread use- but for example, if I have a student who is easily distracted and I want him to work on highlighting and defining all the vocab words in a passage, I could shut off all the other features and just leave the highlighting tools on. Check out the video below and see if this tool is useful for you.
Math Type for Google Docs
I know that some of you have been waiting for this one to come along for awhile. MathType is now up and running in Google Docs as an add-on. Note- it is currently free, but they are giving you a heads up that it will require a license in the future. So, if LaTex or Equatio aren't making you happy, now you can try MathType. There is also built-in support for chemical equations.
Now for "Secrets" from Matt Miller
I try to keep up with Matt Miller's blog, his podcasts, his tweets, since he is in the classroom and has great practical ideas. This week's blog post has 10 "secrets" "Find the tips, tricks and features of your favorite G Suite tools that you didn't know existed!" Take a quick trip over to Ditch That Textbook and check out Matt's ideas. There were a couple I didn't know.
Stop Motion Movie Making
To Test or To Teach/Learn
(soapbox warning)
I was reading through some recent work on Modern Learner and I have to say- the title:
"The Testing Emperor Finally Has No Clothes" hooked me. Bruce Dixon has pulled together a very thoughtful article around the "tyranny of testing". Although I don't often agree with Alfie Kohn, thinking that he likes to stir the waters and stand back and watch, this quote, "90 percent of the variations in test scores among schools or states have nothing to do with the quality of instruction." really struck close to home. Just go read the article.
Then come back... and read about how they are changing education in Singapore. This is the title of that article: Children in Singapore will no longer be ranked by exam results. Here's why A quote: ""Learning is not a competition," states Ong Ye Kung, Singapore's Education Minister. The Ministry of Education (MOE) is planning a series of changes aimed at discouraging comparisons between student performance and encourage individuals to concentrate on their own learning development."
If you still feel like reading, try this one from the Irish Times: Classroom of 2030: A flashforward to learning techniques. Education to not only use technology as tools but also to inculcate computational thinking.
The world is changing rapidly. Our education system is not. These kids are our future.
Are we gonna just test 'em or learn with them?
Leave a Reply.
Maureen Tumenas
May 2020


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Farewell emerging church, 1989-2010
by Anthony Bradley
Posted on Wednesday, April 14, 2010, at 2:53 pm
Reading a new book or going to a conference about the emerging church is a waste of time and money unless it's to understand the movement as a recent historical one. The emerging church movement has ended. Andrew Jones, a leader of the movement in the U.K., wrote about the demise at the end of 2009. Rob Bell, the founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., delivered an April 4 sermon on the Resurrection that marks, in my opinion, the end of an era. Bell recounts how Mars Hill started out to be a different kind of church without the baggage of watered-down "seeker" churches and the religious legalism of "traditional" churches. In a moment of wonderful honesty Bell admitted that Mars Hill had become a big institution that wounded people in similar ways as the churches many Gen-Xers swore they would not mimic. Jones affirms much of Bell's experience on his blog.
From Brian McLaren to Erwin McManus to Rob Bell to Tony Jones to Mark Driscoll and others, the theological lines have been drawn and are settled. We have all moved on. We know who fits into evangelicalism, post-liberalism, Anabaptism, Calvinism, and so on. If you are interested in the emerging movement as church history, pick up a copy of Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Communities in Postmodern Cultures by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger.
Gibbs and Bolger provide a good summary of the short-lived movement:
Emerging churches are not young adult services, Gen-X churches, churches-within-a-church, seeker churches, purpose-driven or new paradigm churches, fundamentalist churches, or even evangelical churches. They are a new expression of church. The three core practices are identifying with the life of Jesus, transforming secular space, and commitment to community as a way of life. These practices are expressed in or lead to the other six: welcoming the stranger, serving with generosity, participating as producers, creating as created beings, leading as a body, and taking part in spiritual activities.
There is a wonderful obituary for the emerging church for those still concerned that we need to spend time trying to understand it and protect people from it. Don't waste your time.
Bell's April 4 sermon recounts that Mars Hill entered a process of re-thinking everything about itself as it has grown and matured into an institution over the past 11 years. Mars Hill and other churches born out of the emerging church era are no longer new, trendy, "cool," nor innovative. These formerly "cool" churches are full of singles, married couples, growing children, balding middle-age men, and so on, who are all trying to figure out how to live a redemptive life here and now while confronting daily struggles with sin, repentance, grace, loving the poor, marriage, raising children, the recession, ailing parents, etc. Bell is launching a new focus on the implications of the Resurrection. Resurrection signals victory over sin, death, and the devil. Bell's notes read:
Resurrection announces that God has not given up on the world.
Because this world matters.
This world that we call home.
Dirt and blood and sweat and skin and light and water.
This world that God is redeeming and restoring and renewing.
Jesus is victory. God has a redeemed a people to be his intimate allies in the renewal of all things through the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is neither provocative nor cutting edge in the Kingdom. This is simply the teaching of the early church oriented around the Nicene Creed.
Because post-modernism as movement is also dead as scientific realism emerged as a recent culture-shaping philosophical movement, the generation of Christians struggling to meet the challenges of post-modernism, instead of yelling at it hoping it would go way, are shifting as well to address a world asking different questions. While the effects of the emerging church movement will linger for some time we will begin to see books praising and attacking the movement go out of print.
Anthony Bradley
Anthony is associate professor of religious studies at The King's College in New York and serves as a research fellow at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty. He is author of The Political Economy of Liberation and Black and Tired. Follow Anthony on Twitter @drantbradley.


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Remember the "senior superlatives" from your high school yearbook? Maybe you were voted "most likely to succeed" or "most likely to be a rock star." Me? My dear classmates graciously awarded my best friend and me the title of "Most Likely To Be in an X-Rated Movie." (It was unclear whether we were supposed to star in it together or what.) At the time, I pretended it was a compliment, smiled and curtseyed, and then secretly vowed to spend the rest of my life proving them wrong. Well Bellingham High School Class of 2002, now I realize what you actually meant to say: Amber M. Burroff, "Most Likely To Write a Sassy and Salacious Legal Blog About an X-Rated Movie."
So, here's the scoop. In April 2009, Arrow Productions, Inc., owner and distributor of Deep Throat — a tastefully-titled carnal classic whose plot (the sexual adventures of a sexually frustrated woman who is in search of the saucy secret to the female orgasm) is surpassed in greatness only by its tagline ("How far does a girl have to go to untangle her tingle?") — filed suit against VCX Ltd. and its owner, David Sutton, alleging a variety of claims for copyright and trademark infringement arising out of VCX's unauthorized distribution of Deep Throat. According to Arrow's complaint, VCX and Arrow are both in the business of "selling prerecorded sexually oriented motion pictures for personal home use, presently and, in recent years, in DVD format and previously in VHS videotape format." (Translation: "we sell porn.") And in addition to competing for sales of Deep Throat, Arrow and VCX have both long distributed one of the other seminal classics of the "Golden Age of Porn," Debbie Does Dallas.
Last month, though, after two and a half years of down-and-dirty legal combat, Arrow and VCX suddenly settled the lawsuit, with the parties agreeing that Arrow would hold the exclusive rights to Deep Throat, while VCX would move forward as the exclusive distributor of Debbie Does Dallas. So now that this long-running battle over two titans of adult film history has come to a sudden and anti-climactic finish, what lessons can we learn?
Reading Between the Lines of the Complaint
Even if they may not be the most stimulating subject, let's start with the basics: the legal claims.
It seems pretty obvious that the pivotal issue in this case was whether VCX's distribution of unauthorized copies of Deep Throat constituted copyright infringement. Yet Arrow's complaint devoted a measly 14 lines, on page 23 of the complaint, to its claim for copyright infringement — the thirteenth independent cause of action it asserts. Why would Arrow bury the lede? Presumably because it was worried that its copyright infringement claim was dead in the water from day one.
VCX's main defense in the case was that it was free to distribute Deep Throat because the film entered the public domain (i.e., lost copyright protection) when it was first circulated to theaters without a copyright notice in 1972. (This copyright notice requirement, like many of the quirks of the 1909 Copyright Act, was eliminated in the 1976 Copyright Act, which governs works created after January 1, 1978.) If VCX was right, then Arrow wouldn't just be unable to stop VCX from distributing its prized porno production: it couldn't stop anyone else either.
So, to get around the vulnerability of its copyright infringement claim (and the risk that vulnerability posed to its business in general), Arrow's complaint claimed trademark rights in the phrases "Deep Throat" (the title of the picture) and "Linda Lovelace" (the name of the orgasm-hunting character), and buried the copyright claim amidst a barrage of contingent trademark claims arising out of VCX's use of those marks in connection with its sales of Deep Throat. While it may make for difficult reading, Arrow's strategic decision may well have been defensible if its trademark claims were actually stronger than the buried copyright claim. The real problem? They're not.
Sure, Maybe They Can Sell Deep Throat, But Can They Call It Deep Throat? (Answer: Yes.)
As regular readers of our blog know, trademarks are words, images, and phrases that help consumers identify the source of a product or service. And, says Mr. DeWitt of this pivotal issue: "Even if the movie were in the public domain, [VCX] could sell it, but they couldn't use the title; we've trademarked that. They'd have to call it something else, and that would eat into their sales considerably, I would assume." Hmmmm…I'd love to see the legal authority that supports that position. Hint: it doesn't exist.
In fact, it is a general principle of law that the title of a public domain work cannot be protected by trademark. And this makes sense: a public domain work, by definition, can be distributed or exploited by anyone. If the law were otherwise, and the title of a public domain work could be protected as a trademark, it would frustrate copyright policy because trademark law could be used to prevent works in the public domain from being freely distributed. So if Deep Throat is in the public domain, then VCX's use of the phrases "Deep Throat" and "Linda Lovelace" couldn't serve any source-identifying function — rather, VCX would just be referring to the genuine title of the film and its main character, without implicating trademark law at all.
In other words, Arrow's complaint focuses on claims for trademark infringement because Arrow was apparently worried that its claim for copyright infringement was, on its face, weak. But if VCX is right, and Deep Throat is in the public domain, Arrow's trademark claims necessarily flop too. Hence my conclusion that Arrow's decision to bury its copyright claim in a sea of trademark claims wasn't worth the confusion it causes. But what makes Arrow's framing of its complaint even worse is the fact that Arrow could have made a pretty solid argument (had it tried) that Deep Throat was not in the public domain at all.
Can Deep Throat Be Saved from the Public Domain? (Answer: Probably.)
Remember, VCX's argument is that Deep Throat was circulated to theaters without a copyright notice, and that, under the 1909 Copyright Act (applicable at the time of release), this would constitute a "general publication" that thrusted (no pun intended) the movie into the public domain. Arrow's counterargument is that, during the early theatrical exhibition of the movie, the screenings were "four-walled." In other words, Arrow's predecessor rented the theater, sold the tickets, collected the revenue, and operated the projector. The idea is that the film never left Arrow's control, and therefore, the theatrical exhibition of Deep Throat did not constitute a general publication. If Deep Throat's release was merely a "limited publication," the lack of a copyright notice would not be fatal to its copyright status. This is, as you can imagine, a tough and nuanced argument. There's also a good chance it's right.
While the 1909 Act places immense importance on the concept of "general publication," it doesn't actually define the term. For that, we can look to Professor Nimmer, a virtual god of copyright who has centuries of copyright law tattooed on his brain. According to Nimmer, general "publication occurs when by consent of the copyright owner, the original or tangible copies of a work are sold, leased, loaned, given away, or otherwise made available to the general public." Nimmer has expressed the view that the distribution of a film on an unrestricted and commercial basis constitutes a general publication.
In contrast, a limited publication "communicates the contents of a (work) … to a definitely selected group and for a limited purpose, and without the right of diffusion, reproduction, distribution or sale … (and) does not result in loss of the author's common-law right to his (work) …. [T]he circulation must be restricted both as to persons and purpose, or it can not be called a private or limited publication." Nimmer goes on to say that the theatrical exhibition of a motion picture, where the audience is merely allowed to view the work, is not in and of itself a publication. And courts have specifically held that audience test screenings, even where the copyright owner charges a small admission fee, are limited publications. Without having all the dirty details about the late-night exclusive Deep Throat porn fests of the 1970s, it's difficult to conclusively say that Arrow avoided the general publication trap by "four-walling" the film. But given the existing law on test screenings and limited publication, I think it's a pretty darn good argument.
Can a Plaintiff Really File a Lawsuit and Walk Away With Less Than It Started With? (Answer: You Betcha.)
Even with that argument available to it, Arrow probably didn't want to risk a judicial decree thatDeep Throat was in the public domain, so the fact that it chose to settle comes as little surprise. And as mentioned above, this case ended with Arrow turning over to VCX the exclusive right to distribute Debbie Does Dallas (a film Arrow and VCX were both distributing) in exchange for VCX conceding that Arrow had exclusive rights to Deep Throat. Seem like a pretty fair trade, right? Not at all. In fact, Arrow's settlement might have been the worst part of its legal strategy of all.
In 1987, the Eastern District of Michigan specifically ruled, at VCX's urging, that Debbie Does Dallas had been "irretrievably injected into the public domain" because it was — you guessed it — distributed without proper copyright notices. (Try not to snicker at the court's choice of words.) In other words, while VCX may have been peeved about Arrow competing with it in distributing Debbie Does Dallas, there was virtually nothing VCX could do to stop Arrow. Which means that Arrow gave up the right to do something it was definitely legally entitled to do (because Debbie is in the public domain), and gave up its lawsuit against VCX for doing something VCX was likely not entitled to do (because Deep Throat probably is not in the public domain), in exchange for VCX's acknowledgement that VCX wasn't allowed to do it and its promise to stop. Wow. Now that's what I call a deal.
The icing on the cake here, of course, is that two and a half years of litigation didn't just leave Arrow with less than it started with — it left Arrow with the same deal it could have had two and a half years (and several thousands of dollars in legal fees) ago.
According to news reports, VCX's decision to start selling Deep Throat, in 2008, was itself retaliation for Arrow's decision to start selling Debbie Does Dallas back in 2004. Undeterred byDebbie's "irretrievable injection" into the public domain back in 1987, VCX had claimed "mob provenance" — excuse me, what? — for its exclusive rights to the film. When that line of reasoned argument didn't work, VCX basically decided, "If you copy mine, I'll copy yours," and went into the Deep Throat business itself — but not before giving Arrow one last chance to trade all of its copies of Debbie for all of VCX's copies of Deep Throat and have everyone walk away. Even after VCX called Arrow's bluff and goaded it into this lawsuit, VCX's CEO, Sutton, told AVN (that's Adult Video News, for those who aren't in the know), "If I get away with putting out Deep Throat because of an ambiguity in the copyright status of the film, what it does in effect is throw the title into the public domain, and I do not wish to do that… I don't think any of us wants to see that happen." (Talk about a pointless lawsuit — one that even your opponent doesn't want to win.)
And so, in 2011, Arrow and VCX are finally parting ways, with the same deal they could have had in 2008, before Arrow's lawsuit was ever filed (or in 2004, before Arrow started sellingDebbie Does Dallas in the first place). Maybe at the end of the day, Arrow's lawyer, Clyde DeWitt — the so-called "Will Rogers of the adult industry" (whatever that means) — took to heart one of the real Will Rogers' true pearls of wisdom: "If stupidity got us in this mess, why can't it get us out?"