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I hope all of you are having a fantastic President’s Day weekend. I’m sure its not as good as mine, considering I’m in New York for FASHION WEEK, but I’ll cut you some slack and try not to rub it in. So talking shop, today I was invited to the opening of the Ports 1961on Ninth Ave in the meat packing district. The store, designed by Michael Gabellini with art done by Mathias Hornung was almost more aesthetically pleasing than the clothes themselves…but not really. The pieces were stunning, impeccably made and modernly classic (yes, I know that’s a paradox but go with it). Afterwards, I hit up Theory across the street and went into Christian Louboutin but got yelled at for trying to take pictures of the shoes…eheh. Anyway, by far my favorite show yet was Rag and Bone despite my getting lost in Chelsea and ending up having to get in a cab to make it on time. The clothes were absolutely incredible; I realized my old habit of flipping through style.com can in no way do them justice. Featuring lots of slouchy, loose-fitted tops, short skirts, leggings and tailored outerwear in dark neutral tones, the clothes were definitely wearable, trendy and fantastically styled. Okay so after 4.5 hours of red-eye flying, 7 coffees, 4 shows, 3 cab rides in lieu of subway frustration, 30 degree weather (which is FREEZING coming from a Californian) and 2 very tired feet this is shaping up to be exponentially more exciting than quantifying the day can justify. Well now I’ve got to wake up for a morning show not including the ridiculous amount of time it takes for me to navigate the subway. P.S. A million apologies for my below par photography. For better Rag and Bone photos go here. Photo 1: Taken by Linda after our extensive people-watching-style-spotting session. Photo 2: Opening of Ports 1961. Photo 3: My (cough) photo taking skills at Rag and Bone,

When Ron Cooper boxed for Great Britain at the 1948 London Olympics, his mum sent him on his way from their home in Limehouse in the capital's East End to the old Empire Pool in Wembley with a bellyful of custard and jelly. As much as he loved it, it was not sufficiently nutritious to help the slim lightweight get past the second round in front of a similarly hungry crowd. Ron, the youngest of 10, was the breadwinner in the Cooper household, and custard and jelly was a cheap if unsubstantial staple of their diet in times when austerity was generated by the lingering hardship of a world war, not government policy. Ron, 84, lives not far from the site of the 2012 Olympics in Stratford and, as a surviving Olympian, he has tickets to the boxing. When he witnesses the fitness and stamina levels of the current squad, however, he might wonder how well he could have done if he had had the benefit of the hi-tech training methods and diet-to-the-minute eating regime of British boxers who will be as well prepared as those from any country in the competition. In 1948, their training was basic, with roadwork and sparring on alternate days, and their diet even more so. "We were absolutely starved," says Ron, looking back on the days of wartime rationing, which went on until 1954. In 2012, a few weeks before the Olympics, a day at the Sheffield training headquarters of Robert McCracken's excellent group reveals how investment pays a dividend. The former British and Commonwealth middleweight champion and his team of strength coaches, nutritionists, physios and performance analysts will deliver a team of 10 super-fit boxers, seven men and three women, capable of winning a swag of medals, maybe even a couple of golds. It is a quite superb squad, maybe one with even more potential than the one Terry Edwards took to Beijing and which returned with a gold and two bronze. Edwards was poorly treated, a victim of the interminable squabbling that has dogged the sport for as long as anyone can remember, but McCracken has benefited from the subsequent full-scale structural shake-up of the sport. Boxers are virtually full-time athletes on fixed salaries, with weekday accommodation in Sheffield for easy access to the English Institute of Sport, where they have access to the latest developments in sports science. "From here, it's full steam ahead," McCracken says in one of the many well-appointed offices in the EIS complex, while his fighters work the pads and three rings downstairs, each clicking to a meticulously worked-out timetable. "They're really close, there's no issues with this lot, no prima donnas or egos. Your character in the squad is the captain, Anthony Stalker, who's ranked No1 in the world. They're a down-to-earth group. You'd maybe expect big [Anthony] Joshua to be a little bit [big-headed] but you couldn't meet a nicer, hard-working kid." Joshua could be the British star of the Olympics. He's big, fast and articulate, and professional promoters are already barraging him with offers. "People forget when he arrived here he was a raw novice, nothing more," McCracken says. "We took him to a couple of international training camps to show him how tough it was. He struggled. "He won the ABAs but I didn't take him to the Commonwealth Games because he was very inexperienced. He took it fine, and developed. He's got a great attitude. Now to see him boxing the best [a silver that might have been gold at the world championships, in only his third senior tournament] it shows how he's improved. Above all he has the speed and that's the key: speed beats everything. "There's good camaraderie between them – and they don't bat an eyelid with the girls in the gym. They never did two and a half years ago when they came in. They're just boxers to them. They work together, train together. There's a lot of experience there too: Nicola Adams, Savannah Marshall – as young as she is, she won a silver at the worlds two years ago. "I was in China with the women [at the final qualification tournament] and Callum Smith sent a good luck message every day. And this is a kid who was really unlucky not to qualify [woefully judged in the last tournament, in Turkey, then passed over for a wild card in favour of a Montenegro boxer, Bosko Draskovic, whom he'd beaten by 10 points in April.] So, you'd think he'd be really down." They are used to success, their own and each other's. In three major tournaments before London – the world championships in 2011 and the Euros in 2010 and 2011 – the squad have won 13 medals: two gold, seven silver and four bronze. Mark Ellison, a nutritionist from EIS who works with GB Boxing – as well as Manchester United and Andy Murray – feeds them with scientific precision. So exact is the regime that weekly weight loss leading up to the Olympics will be measured in the tiniest amounts. "You'll see the targets on the door for the next few weeks," Ellison says. "No one's losing more than about 0.4kg to 0.5kg a week. It sounds like almost nothing but, at this level of elite sport, you've got to get that right over four, five weeks. Some of these guys are so good they're only dropping about 0.2kg a week, because that's all they need to do." In the gym kitchen, a fridge holds several boxes of pre-prepared food, individually sorted for each boxer. "This is Nicola Adams's breakfast for tomorrow," Ellison says, "chicken fajitas, there's the wraps to go with it. Nicky is the smallest boxer in the team so the portions reflect that, whereas Big Josh likes to eat two or three of these boxes. "We get 48 hours' worth of food delivered to their door at a time. But then Nicky comes to me and says she's tired. We predicted her to lose 0.3kg over the week but the fact is she's lost 0.5kg. Tomorrow it's just a phone call to the company and Monday's delivery for Nicky is up by 200 calories, and I want all of that to come from carbohydrates. I ask them to put it all in the afternoon meal, because that's when she was feeling tired. Totally specific." Joshua walks in with a weighted neck-belt hanging around his shoulders, ready to do some serious strength work. He dips into the fruit box and peels back a couple of bananas. "Nothing that fancy," he says of his cooking, but he attests to the claims that the diet, "is really helpful. Best of both worlds. I've just got to take it home and eat it. But then I'll get some fresh meat, fresh fish, fresh salmon, maybe some potatoes. Couldn't survive on Nicola's diet. It's important to stay close to my best fighting weight, even at super-heavyweight. My best is around 106.5kg. At the minute, I'm at 107.1kg. I wouldn't want to be, like, 109kg. After competition you lose a lot of weight, sweating and so forth. I could weigh in after a fight at 104kg. If I sat back, that's losing energy. So I have a shake, something to eat, put the energy back in. It's all about smaller portions, no carbs at night. This [his condition] is going to stay on me now. I'll be ready." Luke Campbell is sitting on a nearby table, a wired-up ice pack strapped to his left shoulder. "My shoulder's just a bit tight," he says. "I need my body to recover so I can push it again tomorrow. If I'm not recovering, I can't push my body anymore, and get any fitter. It's like a lost day. "I live in one of the flats nearby, Monday to Thursday. Then we go home Thursday tea-time, train at home on Fridays, Saturday. Sundays, rest at home, see my family. Definitely need them around me, to switch off from all this." What they all share with Ron Cooper is pride in the vest. "The pinnacle of the amateur game was the Olympic Games," he said recently, "to wear that Olympic blazer, with Great Britain on there. You feel proud, with the old beret, walking out, little 20-year-old, still wipin' his nose, like. When I got that Olympic blazer on, I thought I'd bust the buttons on me shirt." And you can bet it wasn't from being overweight.

Restoring Indoor Health, One House at a Time January 01, 2004 The Opportunity Council first does no harm, and then tackles IAQ problems. Last winter, a couple with four small children called the Opportunity Council (OC), a tri-county, private nonprofit Community Action Agency in Bellingham,Washington, hoping to get some help with their high heating bills. They came in for an appointment with an OC staff member and went through the normal steps to determine their income eligibility and their potential level of energy weatherization assistance.The intake staff member also explained the benefits of the Weatherization Assistance program (WAP) as an effective, long-term solution to lower a household’s utility bills.The staff member then asked if the couple would be interested in participating. Yes, they were definitely interested. Because the OC has implemented a new program, called Weatherization Plus Health, the staff member asked the family some additional questions:How old was the house? Did anyone in the house have asthma or other respiratory problems? It turned out that the house was built in 1959, and two of the children and the father had been diagnosed with asthma. Later that month, those answers became important to the weatherization project coordinator as he prepared to assess the home for cost-effective ... To read complete online articles, you need to sign up for an Online Subscription. Once an order has been placed there is an automatic $10 processing fee that will be deducted with any cancellation. The Home Energy Online articles are for personal use only and may not be printed for distribution. For permission to reprint, please send an e-mail to [email protected].

S. pyramidalis is considered a major problem in Australia because it reduces the productivity of native and introduced pastures, and the profitability of industries dependent on grazing animals. It has low palatability and is difficult for stock to graze due to the fibrous nature of its leaf blades. Therefore companion plants are preferentially grazed and S. pyramidalis becomes tall and rank. Over time, if plants are not controlled, they increase in number until almost pure stands of this undesirable grass result. Current control methods are centred on herbicide application and replacement of existing pasture species with more competitive species because little objective ecological information is available. The studies outlined in this thesis were conducted to identify the key ecological characteristics of S. pyramidalis seed that contribute to its success, and those ecological characteristics which may be exploited by land managers to control and reduce the impacts of this grass. Laboratory, glasshouse and field experiments were conducted between 1996 and 1999 to identify these ecological characteristics. Information from this research will be used to improve existing management strategies so that S. pyramidalis will be effectively managed. Stands of S. pyramidalis are generally characterised by large (780 to 7650 seeds/m2), persistent (3 to 8 years), viable soil seed banks and high seed production (1885 to 85420 seed/m2, 210 to 570 seeds/inflorescence) depending on plant density and rainfall. New seed and seedlings can be produced at any time of the year given adequate soil moisture and suitable temperatures, with the viability of fresh seed generally above 90 %. Seed falls within a 3 m radius from mature plants indicating the usefulness of buffer strips as a containment measure. Application of glyphosate or desiccation of seeds of S. pyramidalis at four days after anther appearance when they are at early milk stage reduces the viability of seeds produced to less that 5 %. The seed does not have a burial mechanism, therefore in undisturbed areas more than 50 % and 70 % of the viable seed bank is located in the litter to a depth of 5 mm and in the top centimetre of soil respectively. No more than 8 % of the viable seed bank is located below a depth of 25 mm. The effective maximum emergence depth of 20 to 30 mm is not significantly affected by soil type. Seed germination of S. pyramidalis is increased by temperature fluctuations in light, green light and darkness, with the greatest response occurring in light. However, as the effects of innate dormancy become negligible (4-6 months) the requirement for both fluctuating temperatures and light is reduced with significant levels of germination occurring in darkness with constant temperatures ranging from 15 to 45 °C. Seed populations which have seed with a range of responses to light and temperature enjoy an ecological advantage, as seeds are able to germinate over a range of environmental conditions. This suggests that, once aged seed is present, a small percentage of the seed bank will be able to germinate in poor light conditions such as in pastures with high levels of vegetation cover, or at depths where temperature and light fluctuations are significantly reduced. S. pyramidalis seedlings are able to emerge when soil moisture levels are at wilting point, although soil moisture must be at or above wilting point for at least four days for emergence to occur during the warm season. These soil moisture levels are much lower than those required for emergence of seedlings of either Heteropogon contortus or Dichanthium sericeum. These are important native grasses in Queensland in regions where S. pyramidalis is well adapted. Seedling emergence is negligible in undisturbed, burnt and mown plots, while significant emergence occurs only where competition is reduced and light and temperature are increased by herbicide application and cultivation. The time to 50 % germination for H. contortus, D. sericeum, Chloris gayana cv. Callide, Digitaria milanjiana cv. Jarra and Dichanthium. aristatum cv Floren is at least as fast as that of S. pyramidalis which took four days. S. pyramidalis is relatively tolerant of saline conditions; with time to first germination not affected until electrical conductivity (EC) reaches 20800 µs/cm, while time to 50 % germination increases significantly once EC reaches 7000 µs/cm. No germination occurs when EC reaches 44700 µs/cm while total germination after 15 days only declines significantly when EC is greater than 25300 µs/cm. H. contortus has similar salt tolerance to S. pyramidalis during the germination and emergence growth phases. D. aristatum cv. Floren, D. sericium, and Bothriochloa. insculpta cv. Bissett are all more sensitive to salt during these growth phases than either S. pyramidalis or H. contortus. Seed viability, soil seed bank viability and seedling survival are significantly affected by the dry heat of fire. Seed viability is reduced to zero when seeds are subjected to dry heat at/or greater than 125 ˚C for as little as 15 s duration, and viable seed banks are reduced by up to 50 % when subject to the heat generated by a relatively hot fire. Seedlings of S. pyramidalis are relatively fire tolerant although significant mortality can occur when seedlings are burnt when severely wilted. Fires with large fuel loads (7140 kg/ha) can kill all but a few of the oldest (15 weeks) wilted plants, while wilted plants as young as five weeks (15 cm high, base diameter 0.5 cm) can survive when burnt with 1790 kg/ha of fuel. A similar pattern of plant survival occurs with plants that are not wilted 0resh) at the time of burning, only with more plants surviving at higher fuel loads and younger ages. Fresh plants as young as seven weeks (30 cm high, base diameter 1 cm) can survive burning with 7140 kg/ha of fuel while one week old plants (first leaf) can survive burning with 3570 kg/ha of fuel. All 15 week old fresh plants (105 cm high, base diameter 2 cm) can survive burning regardless of fuel load. S. pyramidalis seedlings (aged 4-26 days after sowing) are more tolerant of severe moisture stress than similarly aged seedlings of D. sericeum and H. contortus. No seedlings of D. sericeum survived in soil at wilting point for more than seven days while seedlings of H. contortus did not survive more than 14 days in soil at wilting point. Seedlings of S. pyramidalis can survive in soil at wilting point for 112 days. Seedlings appeared dead prior to re-watering except at seven days without water when surviving plants were extremely wilted, but continued to grow as normal apart from some necrosis of leaf margins. With surviving S. pyramidalis seedlings, the exposed part of the plant was necrotic. New growth occurred by the continuation of leaf extension so that leaves had a necrotic section at the end, with new leaves emerging from the crown of the plant. The research reported in the thesis identifies the production of large amounts of viable seed; long lived soil seed banks; seed germination in a wide range of temperature, light and moisture regimes; an high degree of tolerance of moisture stress during the seedling stage; tolerance of seedlings to fire; salt tolerance during seed germination; and seeds becoming viable within a few days after pollination as key attributes of S. pyramidalis contributing to its success in Australia. Several attributes which may be perceived as weaknesses include relatively slow germination and emergence, seed susceptible to death caused by dry heat such as that caused by fire, and natural seed fall close to the parent plant. The main effects of management are to change the amount of plant cover/competition (fire, slashing, grazing, chemicals, cultivation, species replacement), disturb soil at various intensities (cultivation, grazing), and directly kill plants or seed (fire, cultivation, chemicals). In ecological terms, each of these impacts alters the light, temperature or moisture conditions which enhance or inhibit seed germination and emergence, prevent or promote seed production and change the balance of plant competition. Management must use these options to reduce the viable seed bank to negligible levels and prevent its replenishment if effective control is to be achieved. Development of grazing management strategies for S. pyramidalis infested areas to maintain productivity is an area that needs considerable research. Herbicide use is constrained by a lack of cost effective selective herbicides. The integration of grazing management, strategic herbicide use and perhaps strategic burning currently offers the greatest potential for improving the management of S. pyramidalis. The continual improvement of current management strategies is critical to the success of any weed control activities. Perhaps the greatest challenge is the transfer of developed technologies to land managers, so that it becomes part of everyday management of S. pyramidalis.

Obama Administration Set to Ban Asthma Inhalers Over Environmental Concerns 3:00 PM, Sep 23, 2011 • By MARK HEMINGWAY Remember how Obama recently waived new ozone regulations at the EPA because they were too costly? Well, it seems that the Obama administration would rather make people with Asthma cough up money than let them make a surely inconsequential contribution to depleting the ozone layer: Asthma patients who rely on over-the-counter inhalers will need to switch to prescription-only alternatives as part of the federal government's latest attempt to protect the Earth's atmosphere. The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday patients who use the epinephrine inhalers to treat mild asthma will need to switch by Dec. 31 to other types that do not contain chlorofluorocarbons, an aerosol substance once found in a variety of spray products. The action is part of an agreement signed by the U.S. and other nations to stop using substances that deplete the ozone layer, a region in the atmosphere that helps block harmful ultraviolet rays from the Sun. But the switch to a greener inhaler will cost consumers more. Epinephrine inhalers are available via online retailers for around $20, whereas the alternatives, which contain the drug albuterol, range from $30 to $60. The Atlantic's Megan McArdle, an asthma sufferer, noted a while back that when consumers are forced to use environmentally friendly products they are almost always worse: Er, industry also knew how to make low-flow toilets, which is why every toilet in my recently renovated rental house clogs at least once a week. They knew how to make more energy efficient dryers, which is why even on high, I have to run every load through the dryer in said house twice. And they knew how to make inexpensive compact flourescent bulbs, which is why my head hurts from the glare emitting from my bedroom lamp. They also knew how to make asthma inhalers without CFCs, which is why I am hoarding old albuterol inhalers that, unlike the new ones, a) significantly improve my breathing and b) do not make me gag. Etc. Well, tough cookies asthma sufferers! You should have written bigger checks to the Democratic party while you had the chance.

A small plot bunny who had rather sharp, pointed teeth. This does take place in the "TIF" universe, so if you haven't read that, you'll only be mildly lost. This is for my mum. Chapter One: Autumn Ron has pointed out to me that I'm a bloody idiot for writing to you when you've just got on the Hogwarts Express, but it seems so odd for me not to be there that I had to write to you right away. I can guarantee I'm missing you terribly, right now, and we've probably been apart for less than an hour. Just goes to show I've completely and totally lost my mind. That's all right, I'm rather liking my brainless state. I don't want to think that you won't be able to function without me, but do you think you'll miss me? Love from your, Of course I miss you, you wonderful git. It just doesn't seem right to be here at Hogwarts without you. I had a vision, just a few minutes ago, so I thought I would write to you immediately and tell you what was what while it was all fresh in my mind. It was different from all the others I have been having, you know? This one was sort of… happy. I was walking in this garden of a small, cheerful house; rather like the one we saw when we went strolling that one Saturday. There were some differences, though, this house wasn't white, more of a sage green, and instead of red shutters and a red door it had white shutters and a dark green door. Oh, I'm rambling again, aren't I? Well, anyway, I was in the garden and around the corner came two black haired boys chasing a garden gnome. I shouted at them, half-heartedly, to leave the poor dear alone, but they only laughed and said, "But it it's so much fun, Mum." They looked disturbingly like you. It was so… homey. Well, now that I've embarrassed myself fully, I'll sign off. Love from your, Are you sure that was a vision and not a daydream? I'm only kidding. It sounds wonderful, for the both of us. Unless, of course, you got married to someone that resembled me, and the fact that the children looked like me was a coincidence, then it wouldn't be so wonderful. I'd like to think that the reason the children in your vision looked like me was because I had some part in their formation. Speaking of which… Well, Ron says I can't possibly write that in a letter, and especially not a letter to his sister. He's here for a bit of a rest before he starts his job as a clerk in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Well, my try-outs for the Quidditch League are underway. I'll let you know how that works out, though the Cannons have already made some offers for me. They think that I might be the one to turn their program around. I told them that they were over-rating my ability. They didn't seem to think so. I was wondering, when is your first Hogsmeade visit? I'd like to come down and see you. Maybe we could get a bit of snog and a conversation in before you have to go back to school. Love from your, Harry I'm not entirely certain about the parentage of the children in my vision. Perhaps you'd better step up your efforts if you'd like the job. "A bit of a snog and a conversation…" Honestly, I've read more romantic things on the labels of the socks that Percy buys. That's not to say I wouldn't enjoy it. Our next Hogsmeade visit is in October. If you're not there, I can assure that you have felt less pain from rogue Bludgers bent on killing you. The difference is I understand that there are things much worse than death. Speaking of Quidditch, good luck with your try-outs, though you know that I know that you will do well. There's no doubt in my mind that you'll know by the end of the week who your next employer will be. What is Ron doing reading your letters to me, anyway? I've seen some of his letters to Hermione, and believe me, he has no room to talk. I'm missing you terribly. Give all my love to Ron and Hermione. I can't wait to see you again. Love from your, Your confidence in me has reassured me to no end. I've signed with the Cannons. Ron's over the roof in excitement, but that wasn't why I've chosen them. They're close to home, and they're traveling schedule is lighter, because, well, they just don't do very well. They've managed to hook Oliver Wood as the new Keeper, though, so we'll see what happens to the team's lack of motivation. I'm certainly shaking in my new dragonhide boots. As to Hogsmeade in October, you can rest assured that I will be there. If there is one thing I wish to evade in this world, Ms. Weasley, it is your wrath. Besides which, I haven't kissed you or touched you in sixteen days, six hours, and two minutes. That's a long time for a bloke to go. As to romantic side of me, I'm afraid it's buried deep. I'm breaking out the shovels to get to it for you. I can't promise you poetry, but next time I want to snog you, I think I'll be a bit more… eloquent. How's your term going? You're not speaking much of it. I want to know everything. Love from your, You'll have to forgive me if this letter doesn't make much sense. I'm afraid my brain has been stuffed to the bursting with knowledge and homework. Do you want to know why they call them the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests? Because all of the work you have to go through to take the test fries your brain so that you can't concentrate to take them! But, I guess you already knew that. In case you'd forgotten, though, I thought I'd refresh your memory. I think my hand is permanently cramped. Professor Black made us write three rolls of parchment on the benefits of constant vigilance for the ordinary wizard. The female Professor Lupin has been working me much harder than ever before, and I'm afraid Harry, dear, that I'm finding refuge in visions, or daydreams, if you will, of you. I'll hope you'll forgive me in putting you into the sort of… awkward situations that dream Harry has been in, but it's been entertaining for me. For instance, I was walking down the hallway towards the Charms classroom when I spotted a broom closet. I thought to myself, "What if Harry were here?" Then I proceeded to imagine all sorts of delightful things, only we had a time limit, you see. I had five minutes to get to my next class. You were rather… agile. Anyway, in Care of Magical Creatures we're studying unicorns. I was still able to touch them, which made some of the girls in my class raise their eyebrows and mutter. Apparently, with a bloke like you, I should have utilized the benefits. I will, too, but not for some time yet. Or a short amount of time, it depends on you… and when you hand me a ring. It sounds kind of odd to have those last two paragraphs back to back. I guess you'll understand though. I've got to go, I've a Potions essay to finish and I've only got about four hours before I conk out. Love from your, Sounds like you're working hard studying. Have Hermione owl you all her notes. She has them filed. I've seen the folders. That should make your work a bit easier. The cramping in your hand does go away, you know. It just takes a while. Sometimes I feel a twinge in my writing hand, but I've been told that passes too. Broom closets, heh? Well, I can assure you that are many romantic places in Hogwarts, and none of them quite rank up there with the broom closet. Now, as I've been told there are only really two ways to attack the broom closet situation. There's the "fast and furious" and the "cramped and uncomfortable" way. Seeing as how I obtained this information from your brothers, I think we can disregard that piece of information. Although, the idea of spending time with you in a broom closet inspired me to take a cold shower. A very long, very cold shower. You've accomplished your mission for the week, Ginny. Practice was insane. Oliver's pretty much taken over the time, and though I didn't think it was possible, Ginny, my love, he's got worse. We were up at four thirty in the bloody morning. Oliver called us personally to make sure. We required to be at the pitch by four forty-five, and we didn't get a chance to leave until three that afternoon. He's crazy. He's a genius, but he's crazy. I can already tell it's going to be good working with him again. Living in Sirius's house is odd when he's not here on the weekdays. On the weekends we go out, and work on these motorcycles we're going to rig to fly. Sirius said he's got a pretty good idea what not to do this time, so it should be slightly less dangerous. I'm prepared for just about anything. If I break my neck, though, you can have my socks. I'm sure you'll find something romantic on their labels. Ron and Hermione send their love. They've decided to move in with each other, although Ron tells me that it's "not that way". I've got to go. I'm having supper with the Lupins. Anna is making me her spaghetti. I can't wait. Love from your, Let me guess. They had you over for dinner so that Anna could tell you the good news in person. Isn't it wonderful? I'm afraid we're going to have to cut down some of our talking and snogging time to buy something for the baby. Anna doesn't know, but it's a boy. Her Divination sense has been heightened with her pregnancy, but it seems that she's blocked with her own future. I think that she knows that I know, but she hasn't asked me to tell her anything. There's something about surprise for Seers. Yes, that was a hint. I'm thinking of something that's red and smells pretty that you can buy at a florist shop. Class work keeps getting rougher and rougher. I think that the day at Hogsmeade with you will be just what I need. See you in two days. I'm missing you, Harry Potter. So much so that it's ridiculous. I won't let it affect my school work, or anything of that nature, but sometimes when I close my eyes, I can almost smell you behind me and I turn around quickly, and you're not there. Two days is not fast enough. Love from your, Of course they invited me so that they could tell me! You should have seen Remus. The old bloke is so proud and happy he can hardly see straight. He didn't think that he and Anna could have a child, or so he tells me. Thought they were both too old, or something, and Anna's on cloud nine. They've got all these plans. The poor kid. I had to tell them to slow down because he wasn't even born yet. So, it's a boy? Why am I not surprised that you know that? What do you think they'll name him? Remus told me some things about my parents, about the plans they'd made for me when Mum found out that she was pregnant. I'm learning more about them every day. Sirius has photo albums, and things that I didn't even know existed, like notes they all wrote in class. Either Sirius was a paper saver, or my mum had more access to their stuff than they thought. I'm missing you, too. The blokes on the Cannons keep pictures of their girls in their lockers. Says it keeps them focused. It occurs to me that I don't really have a picture of you… just you. Will you send one or have one ready for me tomorrow? I think that might help. It's only twenty-six hours, fifteen minutes and nineteen… no, eighteen seconds until I get to see you again. I find myself wondering if your hair still smells the same, if your laugh is as wonderful as I remember it, and if you taste as good as I seem to think you do. The time keeps ticking, but not fast enough for me. Now I've got to wait twenty-six hours, thirteen minutes and forty-five seconds. Love from your, Thank you for the lovely time in Hogsmeade. The flowers were lovely, the envy of every girl in Gryffindor. I just didn't know you would send so many. They fill my dormitory with a lovely scent. The fact that they were roses didn't escape me either. I don't know how you found out that they were my favorite, but whichever brother it was is getting an especially nice Christmas gift this year. I can't decide what was my favorite part of the day. Holding your hand and walking into the Three Broomsticks was good. Kissing you in front of the bookstore was amazing. Not kissing you in Zonko's was fun, particularly because of that look you got on your face. Oh Harry, I miss you so much. It's only been three days since we last talked, but I have so much to say, to tell you. The necklace you bought me hasn't come off since you clasped it for me. I can still feel the tingle of your fingers on the back of my neck, and your breath there as well. That might have been my favorite part of the day. You wanted to know about school, so I will tell you. Class work, oh class work. Harry, I'm seriously beginning to fear for my mental health. I've learned so many spells and wand movements and charms and counter curses that I found myself trying to levitate something with "Wingardium Flipendo" the other day. The result was not pretty, but I didn't have to spend too much time in the hospital wing. I've decided to start every other sentence with Harry, as it's beginning to be my favorite word. As in, "guess what Harry sent me?" or, "Harry wrote to me yesterday and said the loveliest thing", or just simply on a sigh, "Harry." It's nice to have time to sigh over you, Harry. See? Harry, I've enclosed that picture for you. It warmed my heart that you would ask for one. I've been walking on air so much lately that friends keep having to pull me back to the ground, and it's all your fault. Love from your, The N.E.W.T.s continue to destroy your brain cells, I see. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when you set that feather on fire. You gave me a bad moment there when you said you hadn't taken the necklace off. It took a vast amount of concentration to pull my mind from all the places you would have had to have worn it if you hadn't, like the shower. Nobody told me about the roses, I just knew. Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. If you ask your mum, though, I'm sure her version would be slightly different. I'm feeling wonderful now. So much better since I've seen you and we've talked. It wasn't too painful to visit Hogsmeade, to see where Neville had died, though it still hurts me. I wish that we could have done something differently to change all that, but we couldn't have, and I'm beginning to realize that. It's now my job to float in the air, but your letters make that so much easier, I probably wouldn't have to use my Firebolt if Wood didn't make me after I receive one of your letters. You said you couldn't decide what your favorite memory of our day in Hogsmeade was, but I know what mine is. You get this wonderful look in your eyes when I'm about to kiss you. It's surprise, and wonder, and mischief, all at once. I love that look, and you, so my favorite memory is standing outside of the bookstore and kissing you senseless, because that look stayed in your eyes for a bit longer. Ron and Hermione have had a bit of a falling out, again. I'm sure it will all blow over soon enough, but I'm just giving you a warning. Love from your, Mum says that the idea was, of course, all yours, but that she poked you a bit in the right direction. You're off the hook. I'm glad to hear that you aren't feeling so… mopey, though I would recommend using your Firebolt, even if you think you don't need it. I love your neck too much for you to break it. Ron and Hermione again, hmm? Let's stay out of this one, Harry. I miss you, and I'll love you forever. I've got to go now, my eyes won't stay open. Tell Hedwig to rest a bit. She's looking peaky.

|Topic Review (Newest First)| |01-12-2013 02:19 PM| |nvladik||Thanks, I deff appreciate the offer and one day want to meet up. Can't this weekend, kids are sick. But I think I can pick this thing up in a local store for sure. How much do I dose if I do get it?| |01-12-2013 11:56 AM| Originally Posted by ThatGuyWithTheFish View Post Originally Posted by nvladik View Post |01-12-2013 11:50 AM| Morning all. I have two more deaths in the tank, looks like 100% confirmed as molting issue as I saw one female trying to molt for an hour with no success. Even tried to help by giving here something more solid to grab on to. At this point GH was upped, I added a small piece or coral for calcium. More calcium or is there anything else I should try? |01-10-2013 12:01 AM| |nvladik||Eventually I will get to them also!| |01-09-2013 11:45 PM| |ThatGuyWithTheFish||You should try Supreme Reds. So far, I've been very disappointed with my Fire Reds.| |01-09-2013 12:32 PM| |nvladik||Cool, thanks. I will add some crushed coral to the tank today.| |01-09-2013 12:06 PM| |acitydweller||Its a sign that he is molting soon. best to add some calcium asap to ease transition out of the old shell. also ease up on the dosing until the mystery deaths stop... do you dose anything specifically for the shrimp? they need supplements to stay healthy and colorful. trouble happens when they cant source what they need from the environment or foods .| |01-09-2013 11:51 AM| So some good news this morning. I raised GH and temp by 2 degrees yesterday and no new deaths. So thanks everyone for ideas. Have another question I need help with. One of the cherries has a very visible white line where the shells connect, is this normal? Crappy iPhone pic, but the vertical line is visible. |01-08-2013 03:08 PM| |01-08-2013 03:05 PM| |acitydweller||Sorry for a hundred questions but what's the volume of your tank?| |01-08-2013 02:34 PM| |01-08-2013 02:31 PM| |acitydweller||1/4 tsp of ?| |01-08-2013 02:22 PM| |01-08-2013 02:21 PM| |nvladik||I thought about it, but I doubt it. 3 bps, 2 hours before the lights go on, off 1 hour before lights off, total 6 hours a day. Drop checker barely starts changing color from blue.| |01-08-2013 02:19 PM| |sbarbee54||Could just be CO2 posioning, what are you running your CO2 at?| |This thread has more than 15 replies. Click here to review the whole thread.|

North Shore Farmhouse | What’s New Is Old AgainNorth Shore Farmhouse | A Race to the Punch ListNorth Shore Farmhouse | House Requires Some AssemblyNorth Shore Farmhouse | Making New Look OldThe North Shore Farmhouse | 400 Years of Home TechnologyNorth Shore Project | Up on the RoofNorth Shore Farmhouse | North Shore FramezillaNorth Shore Farmhouse | Truck In the New HouseNorth Shore Farmhouse | The North Shore Is a BlastNorth Shore Farmhouse | This Old New HouseBelmont Victorian | Good-bye, Tired Old HouseBelmont Victorian | The Final CountdownBelmont Victorian | Inside-Out RestorationBelmont Victorian | What’s Old Is New AgainBelmont Victorian | This Old Tree HouseBelmont Victorian | Grinding Out the DetailsBelmont Victorian | Victorian WarmthBelmont Victorian | True ColorsBelmont Victorian | Antiques for an Antique HouseBelmont Victorian | Victorian 2.0Belmont Victorian | Opening the Entry Vermont PBS educates, informs, entertains and inspires Vermonters to be lifelong learners and engaged in their community.From Local Debates to National Conventions, Vermont PBS Has You Covered. Learn about our second HD broadcast service offering alternative programming and more content from local and regional producers. The Wish List is where we display things our station needs. If you enjoy tangible giving, you might consider funding an item – individually or with a group. Click for more info Upcoming and featured! People talk about Vermont PBS!

Lowongan BNI Syariah Surabaya About PT Bank BNI Syariah PT Bank BNI Syariah is one of the Indonesian-based sharia financial institution. The Company engaged in Sharia banking sector and based in Jakarta. The Bank established on June 19, 2010 and as a subsidiary of PT Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero) Tbk, a state-owned banking company in Indonesia. The Company supported by 59 branch offices across Indonesia. Based on BNI Syariah Annual Report 2010, the Company recorded a nett profit of Rp36.5 billion from the target Rp7.181 billion. It was achieved because BNI Syariah successfully managed third party funds and earning asstes appropriately. Forging of the 1997 financial crisis proved the toughness of the Islamic banking system. Sharia by 3 (three) pillars, namely fair, transparent and able to answer the needs of beneficiaries in the banking system more equitable. With based on the Law No.10 of 1998, on the date dated 29 April 2000 established Sharia (UUS) BNI with five branch offices in Jakarta, Malang, Pekalongan, Jepara and Banjarmasin. Furthermore UUS BNI continues to grow to 28 branches and 31 branch offices. Besides, customers can also enjoy the services of sharia in BNI Branch Conventional (office channeling) with approximately 750 outlets spread across Indonesia. In the execution of banking operations, taking into account the BNI Syariah compliance with aspects of sharia. With the Sharia Supervisory Board (SSB) which is currently chaired by KH.Ma ‘ruf Amin, BNI Syariah all products has passed the testing of the DPS that meets the rules of Sharia. In the Corporate Plan in 2000 UUS BNI established that UUS temporary status and will be a spin off in 2009. The plan was implemented on June 19, 2010 by the operation of the Commercial Bank BNI Syariah Sharia (BUS). Realization of the spin off in June 2010 can not be separated from the external factors of a conducive regulatory aspects, namely the issuance of Law 19 of 2008 on State Sharia Securities (SBSN) and Act 21 of 2008 on Islamic Banking. In addition, the Government’s commitment to the development of increasingly powerful Islamic banking and awareness of the advantages of Islamic banking products have also increased. - Being a selection of Islamic Banking community that excels in service and performance. - Make a positive contribution to society and care about environmental sustainability. - Provide solutions for the community to the needs of Islamic banking services. - Optimal investment value for investors. - Create the best avenue to work as a place of pride and achievement for the staff as the embodiment of worship. - A reference to the mandate of corporate governance. Ref : www.bnisyariah.co.id PT Bank BNI Syariah Surabaya Jl. Bukit Darmo Boulevard No. 8A – 8B Surabaya Telp : (031) 7328840, 7329870, 7329870 Fax : (031) 7385678 PT Bank BNI Syariah invites the fresh graduated candidates to join as following position below and will be placed in Surabaya, Sidoarjo, Gresik, Babat, and sorounding : - Min D3 from all majors with GPA min 2.75 (PTS) and 2.50 PTS) - Max age 26 years old - Have own vehichle and SIM C - Self motivated, high integrity and initiative Documents Application must be completed: - 4×6 color photograph (1 Sheet) - Copy of valid ID (1 sheet) - Complete CV - Copy of diploma (1 sheet) - Copy of academic transcripts (1 sheet) - Other supporting documents Should you interested, please submit complete documents above to : PT Bank BNI Syariah – KC Mikro Rungkut Ruko Rungkut Megah Raya – Jl. Raya Kalirungkut No. 5 Blok A1/2 Surabaya 60293 Or submit by e-mail to : [email protected] - All applications will be treated as strictly confidential and only short-listed candidates will be notified. - Advert Source : Click Here Lowongan Kerja BNI Syariah Surabaya provided by lokercpnsbumn

LAKE PROVIDENCE, La. — In an agonizing trade-off, Army engineers said they will open a key spillway along the bulging Mississippi River as early as Saturday and inundate thousands of homes and farms in parts of Louisiana’s Cajun country to avert a potentially bigger disaster in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. About 25,000 people and 11,000 structures could be in harm’s way when the gates on the Morganza spillway are unlocked for the first time in 38 years. “Protecting lives is the No. 1 priority,” Army Corps of Engineers Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh said aboard a boat from the river at Vicksburg, Miss., hours before the decision was made to open the spillway. The opening will release a torrent that could submerge about 3,000 square miles under as much as 25 feet of water in some areas but take the pressure off the downstream levees protecting New Orleans, Baton Rouge and the numerous oil refineries and chemical plants along the lower reaches of the Mississippi. Engineers feared that weeks of pressure on the levees could cause them to fail, swamping New Orleans under as much as 20 feet of water in a disaster that would have been much worse than Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Instead, the water will flow 20 miles south into the Atchafalaya Basin. From there it will roll on to Morgan City, an oil-and-seafood hub and a community of 12,000, and then eventually into the Gulf of Mexico, flooding swamps and croplands. The corps said it will open the gates when the river’s flow rate reaches a certain point, expected Saturday. But some people living in the threatened stretch of countryside – an area known for small farms, fish camps and a drawling French dialect – have already started fleeing for higher ground. Sheriffs and National Guardsmen will warn people in a door-to-door sweep through the area, Gov. Bobby Jindal said. Shelters are ready to accept up to 4,800 evacuees, the governor said. “Now’s the time to evacuate,” Jindal said. “Now’s the time for our people to execute their plans. That water’s coming.” The Army Corps of Engineers employed a similar cities-first strategy earlier this month when it blew up a levee in Missouri – inundating an estimated 200 square miles of farmland and damaging or destroying about 100 homes – to take the pressure off the levees protecting the town of Cairo, Ill., population 2,800. This intentional flood is more controlled, however, and residents are warned by the corps each year in written letters, reminding them of the possibility of opening the spillway. Meanwhile, with crop prices soaring, farmers along the lower Mississippi had been expecting a big year. But now many are facing ruin, with floodwaters swallowing up corn, cotton, rice and soybean fields. In far northeastern Louisiana, where Tap Parker and about 50 other farmers filled and stacked massive sandbags along an old levee to no avail. The Mississippi flowed over the top Thursday, and nearly 19 square miles of soybeans and corn, known in the industry as “green gold,” was lost. “This was supposed to be our good year. We had a chance to really catch up. Now we’re scrambling to break even,” said Parker, who has been farming since 1985. Cotton prices are up 86 percent from a year ago, and corn – which is feed for livestock, a major ingredient in cereals and soft drinks, and the raw material used to produce ethanol – is up 80 percent. Soybeans have risen 39 percent. The increase is attributed, in part, to worldwide demand, crop-damaging weather elsewhere and rising production of ethanol. While the Mississippi River flooding has not had any immediate impact on prices in the supermarket, the long-term effects are still unknown. A full damage assessment can’t be made until the water has receded in many places. Some of the estimates have been dire, though. More than 1,500 square miles of farmland in Arkansas, which produces about half of the nation’s rice, have been swamped over the past few weeks. In Missouri, where a levee was intentionally blown open to ease the flood threat in the town of Cairo, Ill., more than 200 square miles of croplands were submerged, damage that will probably exceed $100 million. More than 2,100 square miles could flood in Mississippi. When the water level goes down – and that could take many weeks in some places – farmers can expect to find the soil washed away or their fields covered with sand. Some will probably replant on the soggy soil, but they will be behind their normal growing schedule, which could hurt yields. Many farmers have crop insurance, but it won’t be enough to cover their losses. And it won’t even come close to what they could have expected with a bumper crop. “I might get enough money from insurance to take us to a movie, but it better be dollar night,” said Karsten Simrall, who lives in Redwood, Miss. Simrall’s family has farmed the low-lying fields in Redwood for five generations and has been fighting floods for years, but it’s never been this bad. And the river is not expected to crest here until around Tuesday. “How the hell do you recoup all these losses?” he said. “You just wait. It’s in God’s hands.” The river’s rise may also force the closing of the river to shipping, from Baton Rouge to the mouth of the Mississippi, as early as next week. That would cause grain barges from the heartland to stack up along with other commodities. If the portion is closed, the U.S. economy could lose hundreds of millions of dollars a day. In 2008, a 100-mile stretch of the river was closed for six days after a tugboat collided with a tanker, spilling about 500,000 gallons of fuel. The Port of New Orleans estimated the shutdown cost the economy up to $275 million a day.

The Lohan’s are infamously ALWAYS on the covers of tabloids, getting into some drama, being photographed or going to jail. Well the most recent Lohan drama involves Michael Lohan (Linday’s dad) taking a paternity test for a 17 year old girl in question. Well, after 17 years of denial, it turned out positive. What could possibly be next for this broken family?… It’s hard to believe many of the stories that come out about this family, but could a current tabloid be true? Could Lindsay Lohan be pregnant? Last night Lilo appeared on Jay Leno’s show and he brought up a tabloid story that says Lindsay Lohan is preggers…Lindsay replied citing ridiculousness! Lindsay talked about how untrue the accusation is. She said the tabloid made a picture look like she had a baby bump, which she didn’t. She wouldn’t be the first star to deny being pregnant if she really is (like Snookie did), so we’ll just have to wait and see if the “baby bump” grows over time.

You are here Loving collectors and a visionary decorator create an exotic interior bursting with passion and color Whoever said long-distance love affairs don’t work hasn’t stepped inside the jewel-box bungalow of Brad and Pat Ray. Perched near Lake Harriet in Minneapolis, the unassuming exterior of the 1915 clapboard house belies an interior bursting with color and passion—signs of the unmistakable vision of Los Angeles decorator Lynn Von Kersting. With little more than the phone and FedEx, the Rays and Von Kersting have cooked up a style that’s nothing short of exuberant. “It has been one of the most relaxing ways to decorate,” says Von Kersting, whose creative force is palpable in the collection-filled cottage, yet she has never been there. Brad and Pat fell in love with Von Kersting’s work in 1992 as they were perusing design magazines. On a trip to Los Angeles, they visited her shop, Indigo Seas, after having lunch next door at her restaurant, The Ivy. Brad remembers, “The shop was filled with old textiles, beautiful plates, and exotic paintings. We knew we absolutely had to have everything ‘to go.’” Inspired by their discoveries, the Rays asked the shop manager if Von Kersting would consider decorating their Minnesota home. They struck a deal that hinged on just how far-reaching Von Kersting’s vision could be. Once she agreed to communicate via snapshots, a passionate collecting and decorating collaboration was forged—and it’s still going strong. “The whole house was decorated by sending pictures, or as Lynn calls them, ‘snaps,’” explains Pat. “No bowl of lemons or stack of books went unnoticed. Somehow, she was able to take it all in and provide just the right direction. When we did the kitchen, she even counted out the tiles and told us exactly where to hang the stuff. ‘Go down 14 tiles and hang a cigar plate. Another 12 tiles and hang an old painting of St. Tropez.’ It was amazing.” Adds Brad, “The picture hangers thought we were crazy. But it worked.” Instead of taking the usual room-by-room approach, the 1,100 square feet of opulence evolved piece by piece. This fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants style of decorating gives the small space a freewheeling flamboyance that continues to reinvent itself as more pieces are delivered to the front porch. “When friends say our house is out of the box,” chuckles Brad, “we tell them it’s more like out of the crate. We’re crazy about this mail-order-bride style of decorating. It starts with a picture of a potential treasure. When we give the go-ahead and the piece itself arrives, Pat and I unveil it, ask each other if we love it, and then declare our ‘I do’s.’” What might have been a nightmare of disjointedness comes together in a joyful blend. That’s because nearly every piece is from the 1800s is loved by owners and decorators alike, and settles into the space according to Von Kersting’s eagle eye for order and symmetry. A case in point is the Ray’s living room wall of prized 19th-century dog portraits. Bringing life to a dark rear wall, Von Kersting artfully arranged rows of sweet dog faces around a large shell-framed mirror that reflects the front window. Thanks to the mirror’s careful placement, the warm and orderly composition has the bonus of visually expanding the room. A true dog lover, Pat explains. “It’s one of our favorite parts of the house. We call it the ‘Woof Woof’ wall. We collected pooch by pooch, following strict criteria for adoption: loving eyes and absolutely no leashes.” That same fearless approach to displaying art continues in the dining room, where an extra-large portrait of a chic 1930s sunbather hangs right over the wainscoting and down to the fainting couch below. The vignette not only encourages dinner conversation or lounging, but the sheer bravado of the scale also enlarges the dining room. Pat observes, “With Lynn, we’ve made the house bigger with mirrors and paintings that not only expand the space but also take your breath away.” The kitchen, too, was converted from what the Rays remember as a loathed white-tiled subway station to an adored portrait-covered French bistro. “We hated the kitchen and wanted to demolish the floor-to-ceiling white tile,” Brad recalls. “Then Lynn said, ‘Why don’t you just leave it, and we’ll make it a bistro?’” Voila! After painting the ceiling and walls a rich red and hanging quirky French portraits—usually of people sporting cigarettes or pearls—their bistro was born. To complete the va-va-voom of the room, a huge mirror hangs proudly above the stove, bringing light, volume, and attitude with its ever-changing lipstick-written menu. The same large-scale drama enhances the tiny blue bedroom. The soft blue walls bravely boast a three-dimensional wallpaper of exotic old Chinese reverse-glass paintings. And at the foot of their Porthault-covered bed rests an old Indian chartreuse bench that adds a solid punch to the peaceful blue. “As writers, we appreciate pieces and paintings that have a story to tell,” observes Brad; Pat nods in agreement. Ever the wordsmith, he continues to wax poetic: “Whether it’s the bistro mirror with a menu scripted in shiny red lipstick, a hand-stitched symbol on a Moroccan pillow, or favorite words in our collection of first-edition books, we know everything is perfect. Letter perfect.” And so, this long-distance decorating romance continues to this day, happily ever after. Its longevity (14 years) shows the characters involved have what it takes to make relationships last: a bit of bravado, a lot of humor, and a big dose of imagination. Photography: Susan Gilmore The living room’s 19th-century pieces include a Steinway piano and the model Eiffel Tower atop it. “With Lynn, we’ve made the house bigger with mirrors and paintings that not only expand the space, but take your breath away,” says homeowner Pat Ray. Living Room Details On the far end of the living room is the “Woof Woof” wall, so named for its collection of 19th-century American, English, and French dog portraits. The living room’s sunny palette is amped up by its smallest details, like gold-painted china, fresh flowers, and yellow stained-glass windows. Living Room Table Beside a Venetian sconce, a 19th-century portrait of a princess hangs above a skirted table holding old Chinese and Moroccan jars and a jaunty fez. Colorful pillows adorn the living room couch. Presented in an unconventional fashion, a large portrait of a sunbather boldly hangs above and below the dining room’s wainscoting. A hand-blocked Indian tablecloth and old Chinese lamp bases add cool color to balance the warm ochre walls and the rich red fabrics. Dining Room Details A pair of Chinese lamps with lipstick-red Irish wool shades adds pop to the dining room bistro table, strewn with 19th-century Venetian champagne glasses. A collection of sequined Indian prints from the same era enlivens the wall. Paper lanterns and bamboo furniture establish an exotic mood in the backyard patio area. A lush setting is the perfect backdrop for summertime entertaining. Homeowners Pat and Brad Ray outside their home in Minneapolis. The original 1915 kitchen was transformed from a drab white-tiled chamber into a charming bistro, adorned with portraits to give it personality. A 19th-century bust and sketch of Marianne, patron saint of France, hold court with an old Eiffel Tower bud vase, and Moroccan tea glasses. A big bistro mirror often shows the evening’s menu in red lipstick. “They keep us company,” Brad says of the portraits. Hand-forged silverware cabinet pulls continue the fun into the butler’s pantry. Vibrant paint energizes the walls and makes the small space glow. In the master bedroom, a chartreuse bench topped with exotic pillows continues the vividness of the bed’s giant red-silk embroidered pillows and the Chinese reverse-glass paintings on the wall.

The annual Seattle Interactive Conference is a two-day event celebrating the convergence of online technology, creativity, and emerging trends in one of the world's most innovative cities. SIC brings together entrepreneurs, developers and online business professionals from throughout the US and beyond for a powerful combination of in-depth presentations, networking opportunities, and uniquely Seattle social events. Attendees have the rare opportunity to explore disruptive technologies and business models with visionary thinkers and peers in areas ranging from online commerce and social media to gaming, interactive advertising, entertainment, and much more. Seattle Interactive Team Founder, Director (@rauschenbach) Born as an army brat in the heart of the Steel City of Youngstown, OH, raised in Germany and California. Brian is President at Add3 digital marketing agency, serial entrepreneur, proud dad to two girls, Arsenal FC soccer supporter, and an old school hip-hop DJ who has been an active internet industry leader for 19+ years. He was nominated as one of "The Most Influential People of 2005" by Seattle Magazine's. He's a lefty, prefers Hornitos tequila, air-cooled vintage VWs and has a record collection of 7,000+ pieces. Los Angeles born Rock & Roller turned Seattleite; Gloria Connors has over 25 years of experience in the music business and entrepreneurship. She is a self-made woman, engineer, art collector and a proud mom. Gloria is an expert producer of controlled chaos, on stage and off. Founder of Connors & Co., Gloria toured with various artists until she got tired of being the only woman on the bus. Now, she can be found carving her way down the mountain with her Connors & Co. team debating Yacht Rock vs. Real Rock. She’s a trailblazer & music lover at heart that is still in love with a loud guitar - even if she can’t hear it. Co-Founder, Programming/Sponsorship (@mabes1) 15 year Microsoft veteran, primarily in roles for the Microsoft Advertising and Trade Marketing teams; Spokane native, Ballard local; Board member of the Northwest Internet Advertising Group (NWIAG). Spends time raising money for local fundraising organizations such as The Team Jesse Foundation and The Inbetweener; Enjoys traveling to faraway places, neighborhood art walks, road trips, and polar bear plunges. Art Director (@michiko23) Native to the Seattle startup and art scenes, Zach is passionate about connecting business, technology and design as the CEO of social media agency, Crown Social. Prior to founding Crown in 2011, Zach was a digital strategist at Wunderman, client-side head of marketing, and serial entrepreneur, founding and co-founding startups in the music, marketing and finance verticals. To date, Zach is most proud of his ability to rap in several languages and his impressive collection of fanny packs. Montana native and Syracuse University alum/apologist; Two decades of PR leadership experience for public and privately held technology, commercial, and nonprofit ventures in US and abroad; History buff and outdoorsman who lived in West Berlin at height of Cold War and counts Queen Anne Hill, Mt. Baker Ski Area, Mt. Everest Base Camp and his couch among favorite places; Co-founder of LardButt.com, dedicated to below-average athletes and weekend warriors. Seattle Interactive Advisory Board We are very pleased to introduce SIC’s 2016 Advisory Board: This group brings a comprehensive base of thought-leadership perspectives from the converging areas of major technology corporations, digital and social media organizations, academia, entertainment, and more. We are excited to be working together to help make SIC a compelling and valuable event for everyone involved! Barrie Cohen, Advisor, Everyhome Benjamin Winters, Principal, WINTR Brian Marr, Director of Strategy, Smashing Ideas Chris Carter, Strategy Director, Y&R Group Seattle Dan Sundgren, Senior Director, Merkle Daniella Kim, Principal, HalibutFlats Research and Development, UW David Harris, Startup Advocate, City of Seattle Donte Parks, Vice President, Culture, Substantial Dave Curry, Executive Director of Interactive, POP Eddie Reheldt, Director, Global Campaigns, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Eric Duerr, CMO, Rocket Fuel, Founder Emphatic Gabriel Jones, Senior Producer Gareth Jones, Managing Director, POSSIBLE Jeffrey Chavez, Content Identity Consultant, Tether John SanGiovanni, Co-Founder, Vice President, Product Design, Zumobi Kelly Clay, Columnist, Forbes Kyla Fairchild, Publisher, No Depression Lissa Capps, Senior Vice President, Edelman Matt Ashworth, Leader of Seattle's Technology Public Relations Practice, Porter Novelli Melissa Barden, Tech & Telco Mobile Account Director, AOL Mike Reeder, Director, Global Coffee & Strategic Partnerships, Starbucks Michelle Maggs, Executive Vice President, GM, Weber Shandwick Michelle McRae, CEO, Northbound Brand Matthew Wood, Digital Media Business Development Director, Adsiduous Scilla Andreen, CEO & Co-Founder, IndieFlix Scott Macklin, Associate Director, UW Digital Media Surya Vanka, Founder, Authentic Design Tim Schmuckal, Legal & Operations Executive

Uni Watch NBA preview OK, so the rim update is actually pretty subtle, but that should give you an idea of how comprehensive Uni Watch is being with this year's NBA season-preview column. New uniforms, new compression undergarments, new warm-up gear, new throwbacks, new court designs, the new rim -- it's all covered here. So let's get to it. With the regular season due to tip off on Tuesday evening, here's what you can expect to see on the court: • Unfortunate downgrade for the Bobcats, who have a new pinstriped uni set (here's the rear view). When will the NBA learn that pinstripes don't make sense on players who are already 37 feet tall? Even worse, Charlotte's NASCAR alternates now feature checkerboards and pinstripes, which is really pushing it. Meanwhile, the road uni is now blue instead of orange -- probably an improvement when viewed in a vacuum, but does the league really need another team wearing blue on the road? • The Cavs have an anniversary patch, plus they'll periodically be wearing a late-'80s throwback, which will make its on-court debut on Dec. 2. In addition, they're featuring another "Cav Fanatic" mix-and-match throwback, just like last season. This time around it's the late-'80s design in 1970s colors -- weird but kinda cool -- which is slated to be worn on Jan. 10 and 21. • If you can get all worked up one way or the other over the Grizzlies' new alternates, then you're way ahead of Uni Watch. And really, enough already with the shimmer fabric. On-court debut: Oct. 28. • The trend toward abbreviations and nicknames continues, as the Hawks are adding an "ATL" road alternate uni, which will make its game debut on Nov. 26. Unfortunately, they can add all the alternates they want, but nothing can hide the fact that this uni set is utterly characterless. • The Heat have made three small changes to their shorts, so pay attention. First, the old format of having the NBA logo on the left leg and the team logo on the right leg has been reversed (that's so the shorts match up with the jersey, where the NBA logo appears on the right-chest area). Second, the team logo on the red alternate shorts has been changed from the flaming ball to the flaming "MH." And third, team logos have been added to the waistband on all three shorts designs. • Remember back around 1981, when the Jazz wore green road uniforms? Right, neither does anyone else, but you'll get a memory jog when when the team breaks out these awesome green throwbacks on Dec. 4. • Fabric change for the Knicks, who are changing from an open-hole mesh to a flat-back mesh, although you won't be able to tell unless you have a courtside seat. Who makes that kind of decision anyway? "In this case it was the equipment manager," says NBA apparel director Christopher Arena. "He felt the color wasn't holding up well enough in the laundry with the open-hole mesh." • As per recent custom, the defending champions -- in this case, the Lakers -- will wear a special patch for their home opener, when their championship banner will be raised. They'll also have commemorative warm-up outfits and other gear for that game, which will be on Oct. 27. • Mid-'90s pinstriped throwback set for the Magic. Yes, we've all seen that throwback before, but there's no denying that it looks better than their current road uni. On-court debut: Dec. 2. • The Mavericks have a new blue alternate uni. It's basically the same as the team's P. Diddy alternate, but with a different color scheme, plus the uni numbers are now in the team's standard number font. Here's the rear view, and there's a video of the unveiling here. On-court debut: Oct. 30. • Last year the Nuggets wore green jerseys as an environmental-awareness thing. That initiative has been retired for this season, although a broader uni-based environmental program may be put in place for 2010-11. • Two uniform memorials for the Pistons: They're wearing a jersey patch for Hall of Fame coach Chuck Daly, and they've added "Mr. D" to their rear collar for Hall of Fame owner Bill Davidson. The Daly patch is just for this season, but the Davidson memorial is a permanent addition to the uniform -- the first permanent memorial in NBA uni history. • Clever move by the Raptors, who are honoring Toronto's hoops heritage with 1946-47 Toronto Huskies throwbacks (for more on the Huskies, look here and here). Yes, the design is pretty plain, but hey, a Toronto throwback could've been much worse. Now let's hope they make use of the Huskies' old logo, too. On-court debut: Dec. 8. • Good news in Philly, where the Sixers have switched to a really nice retro-ish uni set. They've also resurrected their old ball-shaped logo, which will appear on the new shorts. Meanwhile, the team's alternate road uni has been mothballed. Further details here and here. • Uni Watch knows this is hard to believe, but there was once a time when the numbers and letters on the Timberwolves' jerseys were actually legible. And they're proving it by adding this throwback design, which will make its on-court debut on Dec. 5. • Has an announcer's signature phrase ever been the basis of a uni design before? That's the situation in Portland, where the Trail Blazers have introduced a "Rip City" alternate design that looks pretty sweet. (Don't know what "Rip City" means? Look here, and then check out the jersey's special tagging.) The plan is for the team to wear it only a couple of times -- once on Nov. 6 and again much later in the season -- but Uni Watch has a feeling we may see more of this one due to popular demand. Also: The Blazers will have a 1975 throwback in this season's rotation. On-court debut for that one is scheduled for Dec. 5. • The Warriors have a great uni history that presents all sorts of intriguing throwback possibilities, but here's one you probably didn't see coming. Simple but cool, and dig the little arrow on the shorts logo patch! On-court debut: Dec. 3. (Looking ahead, a small item buried within this interview with team president Robert Rowell and GM Larry Riley indicates that the team will get a design makeover next season. Uni Watch has seen the preliminary mock-ups and can say with a fair degree of certainty that you will not be disappointed.) • You won't have the Wizards' two-tone alternate uni to kick around anymore -- they've scrapped it. • The Knicks aren't on the St. Paddy's list this year, because they don't have a game scheduled for March 17. But they're playing at home against the Heat on Christmas Day, so they'll wear their green set and Miami will wear their red alternates, creating a Yuletide tableaux on the court. And for the second consecutive year, all teams playing on Christmas will wear snowflake patches. • Next March, the league once again will be running its Noche Latina promotion, which will feature seven teams wearing "El" and "Los" jerseys. • Heritage Week will be Feb. 21-28, 2010. Expect to see lots of number retirements and anniversary celebrations during this period, and five teams -- the Celtics, Knicks, Lakers, Pistons and Rockets -- will be wearing special warm-up gear celebrating their championships. Mock-ups of all five designs are shown here. • The replacement refs who worked the preseason wore the same officiating uniforms from last year. But now that the lockout has been settled, the refs will get new black-trimmed jerseys (they may look a bit goofy from the back, at least judging by this video game shot) and black slacks (the old ones were navy but were so dark that they basically looked black anyway, so the change is mostly moot). • Personally, Uni Watch can't work up much enthusiasm over shooting shirts, but the league is very excited about these. Each team will unveil them around Christmastime, after which they'll be worn at least for weekend home games, and maybe more often than that. They'll all be white with team-color trim. OK, so we all know what this is about, so let's just roll our eyes all at once and move on. • Many players will be wearing a new line of adidas compression tanks, shorts and calf sleeves. Adidas has an exclusive on the tanks and shorts -- players can wear other brands of calf or arm sleeves, but only the adidas gear can carry a manufacturer's logo or show the underlying "ribbing" technology. • Plus, adidas is getting into padded compression layers for the first time. Players have been wearing this type of gear under their uniforms for years, but this is adidas' first foray into this product category. • What's that tape strip on Kevin Garnett's leg and J.R. Giddens' knee? It's called kinesio tape, and the Celtics are apparently in love with it. So expect to see more of it in Boston, and don't be surprised to see it spreading throughout the league. • You may have noticed some players wearing undersleeves during the Sun-Warriors preseason game on Oct. 10. That's because the game was played outdoors, so the players had special permission from the league to wear sleeves. Could this eventually lead to sleeves being allowed for regular-season games? Something to keep an eye on. • Are you one of those people who like to keep track of court designs? You can see all 30 of this season's floor layouts here. • And just to bring things full circle, here's something else about that new rim: The new version has breakaway functionality on the sides, instead of just on the front. Watch for it on dunks coming from the sides of the basket. That should be enough to keep you busy for now. And there are some additional uni details still coming this season, including one absolute bombshell, but Uni Watch isn't at liberty to discuss any of that yet. Stay tuned. Mark Your Calendars The next Uni Watch party -- a chance to buy your favorite uniform columnist a few drinks mingle with fellow uniform enthusiasts and show off your favorite jersey -- will take place on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2 p.m., at Sheep Station in Brooklyn. Lots of you New York-area readers will be there, right? Right. Paul Lukas will break down all of this season's college basketball uniform changes early next month. If you liked this column, you'll probably like his Uni Watch Blog and Uni Watch Glossary too. Want to learn about his Uni Watch membership program, be added to his mailing list so you'll always know when a new column has been posted, or just ask him a question? Contact him here.

« previous entry | next entry » Jul. 26th, 2010 | 09:25 pm posted by: beth_shulman in sounis So: What is Children's lit, exactly? And what is YA lit? And where do these books belong? Surprisingly (or maybe not), the specifications of both are very contentious. Let's start with literature for children. According to Encyclopedia Britannica here: Children's literature is a "body of written works produced to entertain or instruct young people". That's very neutral. No age range, no specification as to what exactly "entertainment" and "instruction" are. Here are the criteria for the Newbery Medal, which is awarded by the American Library Association every year to "the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children". They define "contribution to American literature for children" as: This appears to indicate that children have less understandings, abilities, and appreciations than adults. Is this true? Parent or guardians or teachers who choose to restrict children's reading choices to shield them from dangerous and frightening things are practicing an exercise in futility. Children know that dangerous and frightening situations and people exist. Children learn history. Children live through history. The occurrence of 9-11 (or any horrors that happen often) wasn't something that could be dismissed to protect the children. Children can appreciate books with darker themes. They may not recognize the full extent of the darkness, but they perceive the tone and feel of the book. They can read books like The Giver and A Wrinkle in Time, both Newbery winners, and know that there are bad situations and people, and learn to emphasize, and they will not be scarred for life. (Then again, The Giver and A Wrinkle in Time are books that adults can and do read as well.) Here is a quote from Lois Lowry's Newbery acceptance speech for The Giver: And all of you, as well. Let me say something to those of you here who do such dangerous work. The man that I named The Giver passed along to the boy knowledge, history, memories, color, pain, laughter, love, and truth. Every time you place a book in the hands of a child, you do the same thing. It is very risky. But each time a child opens a book, he pushes open the gate that separates him from Elsewhere. It gives him choices. It gives him freedom. Those are magnificent, wonderfully unsafe things. Here is part of children's librarian Elizabeth Bird's review of The King of Attolia: Children usually don't have the emotional maturity to understand love, either. I would say that there is no possibility of a child understanding Gen and Irene's relationship. That's not to say that children should be condescended to. It just means that adult authors can't write about adult experiences for children, because children are not ready to understand them. Here's a quote from Madeleine L'Engle, just to put things into perspective: "You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children." Here's an article from the Washington University in St. Louis website quoting Gerald Early: We understand the customs and practices of the genre so well that we can usually spot a children's book without having to be told... But a children's book, as with virtually all of our thinking about children, has reality only in relation to how we see something that is not for children. If something is for children, it does not have sex, it does not have graphic violence, it does not have obscene language. And, interestingly, he continues: That's an extremely vague explanation. How does a publisher or YALSA determine what books should be published for 12-18 year olds? Here's a post from Cheryl Klein, an editor at a division of Scholastic, who blogs at Brooklyn Arden: - A YA novel is centrally interested in the experience and growth of - its teenage protagonist(s), - whose dramatized choices, actions, and concerns drive the - and it is narrated with relative immediacy to that teenage perspective. This is often where I find adult books separating themselves out here, because while they may have a younger protagonist, the adult books aren't interested in that protagonist's life per se -- they're interested in showing the world the protagonist will encounter in all its ugliness or glory, and a younger character often provides a useful "innocent" or "naive" viewpoint, or at the very least a figure of instant sympathy to adults. "growth" -- the character is different at the beginning than he is at the end, and usually for the better. I always think of Richard Peck's wise dictum that a YA novel ends "ends not with happily ever after, but at a new beginning, with the sense of a lot of life yet to be lived"; and that the events of the book have left the character better prepared for that. 2) "teenage protagonist(s)": Yeah, I'm going to posit that YA novels require a protagonist at an adolescent stage of life, between childhood and the full rights and privileges of adulthood. I do not think this is true of children's books, particularly picture books (that is, that they must have a child main character); but I think it's true of teen books, because life between the ages of 14-18 is such a unique time, full of so much intensity and so many firsts, that only a very sheltered adult or a very advanced child could have those same sorts of experiences and changes. Now, I think there's debate about exactly how old Gen is, but I also think that most, if not all, readers consider him an adult. He has the responsibilities of an adult: he has a job he feels obligated to fulfill, he loves a woman, he gets married, he runs a country. He may do it in an extremely original way, but there's no question but that he's an adult. Even if he's a teenager, which I don't think he is, he's beyond typical teenage adolescence. These YA criteria do not apply. More on YA from Patty Campell's 2004 article in the Horn Book magazine, quoted in author Gail Gauthier's blog here: Defining a genre in terms of its presumed audience is a problem. Especially when that audience is something as nebulous as “teenagers”. So, yes, YA is a publishing category and books are published there if that’s where a publisher thinks a book will sell best and attract the most attention. But it’s also a distinctive genre with its own flavour. She does not explain what she means when she says that YA is a distinctive genre. More from author Gayle Forman here: A YA novel will feature characters/narrator with a certain voice that sounds young, feels young, authentically so. From the blog Alien Onions here (who are in publishing in Australia): So YA fiction is often about a world in flux. It's about exploring this new world, or surviving it, or simply trying to navigate it without a compass. And it's the YA books that capture the authenticity of this see-saw between strength and vulnerability that resonate most with readers. So YA characters are often consumed by these questions: 'Who am I? What am I going to become? Where am I going and how can I possibly get there from here?' Their emotions and desires are intense and can have a huge impact on how they make decisions and which pathways they choose. Books for adults often have young protagonists, but this doesn't mean they are YA books.... A young protagonist in an adult novel is usually knowing and has an adult sensibility in their telling of the story. Here's what Orson Scott Card wrote about The King of Attolia: But then, there is no place in our society where personal politics is carried on with more ruthlessness and intensity than junior high school. No matter how much childish behavior you find in Congress or university faculties, image-building, character-assassination, and jockeying for position reach their peak among seventh and eighth graders. So this novel may be exactly right for that age group. It's also an adult book, however - an unusually entertaining and intelligent one - and I recommend it highly. Give the gross-out thrillers a break and pick up something that will actually exercise your brain and leave you feeling rather good about being human.I think what I said above about Gen is still true. He's not emotionally an adolescent, and Eddis and Attolia are definitely not. Think about how Ornon respects Gen, and the magus, and Sounis, and Attolia. He's an individual fully cognizant of his abilities and capable of making his own decisions and living with the consequences. He's an adult. So, in conclusion: The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia (I'm actually not sure if I can include A Conspiracy of Kings; Sophos seems to be a traditional YA protagonist) a) don't belong on the Children's shelf b) don't belong on the Young Adult shelf Where do they go, exactly? I still agree with the blogger who called it "a riveting political drama", and for all my Googling, I haven't found which blogger it was. So I can't credit it, though I think it's exactly right. They're in a genre of their own.

Sarah Davies, former World YWCA Staff (2007-2009) in Geneva, Switzerland, works as the Strategic Development Manager for the YWCA of Aotearoa New Zealand. Sarah is currently seeking selection for the Northland National Party seat in her country. By: Sarah Davies Anybody who believes in something without reservation believes that this thing is right and should be; has the stamina to meet the obstacles and overcome them – Golda Meir As a little girl, I remember dreaming of doing something different with my life. As much as I enjoyed dress ups and tea parties with my fellow six year old friends, I could feel a fire in the belly even back then to aim for a position where I could make a contribution to society. And now I find myself, aged 29, seeking selection for public office in New Zealand. The most common questions I am asked are, “Are you crazy”? which is actually cover up for “ I don’t think you can do it” and “ Do you think now is the right time”?… also cover up for “ I don’t think you can do it.” Yet it is those comment that push you along more determined, more focussed and more passionate about understanding and influencing the issues of the day. I have been asked to reflect on what I have learnt on the journey so far and share some advice with other young women that may be running for public office. Believe in yourself otherwise no one else will..(other than your Mum) Yes. It’s an oldie but a goodie and never a truer word spoken. If you don’t believe that you can represent other peoples interests with knowledge and integrity, don’t expect others to support or vote for you. Work hard. At the end of the very long working day, being voted into public office will boil down to whether you did the research and know the issues. This means every day is a working day and every second counts. Remain focused and plan your time. The truth is that the human body and mind can be pushed even further than it was the day before. Talk to anyone – and everyone – who can help you with your cause. This means reaching out to people who understand what is going on in your community. Most people are very willing to talk to you and share what they know. Remember that everybody has bits and bobs of information that you don’t – find out as much as you can and help it formulate your position on the issues. Understand there are going to be low days. There are people who will be very quick to write you off and say nasty and discouraging remarks about you. Don’t react to it. It says more about them than you. Make you have a good support team around you. Maybe someone you can call at the end of the day to chat with or drive with you to various places. You don’t have to do this alone even though there are days it feels that way. You will find support in the strangest places. One of the most exciting and refreshing aspects of the process so far is when I meet people who I thought would not support me, but do. You will be surprised. There are a lot of older people who are very receptive to younger people running for public office. There are a lot of men equally supportive of women running for leadership positions. If you don’t stereotype and alienate people they won’t stereotype and alienate you. (Except for the few narrow-minded people amongst us) Don’t lose yourself and your point of difference. It’s ok to be yourself. Really. Don’t stress if you don’t fit the traditional stereotypes of a certain political party or you don’t conform to what people think you should be. Use what you have. Our choices are unlimited on how we can make a difference in the world around us. As I head into 2011, I know I am seeking selection for a very competitive seat in a tough electorate. I am under no illusion as to what a challenge it is, but I am also under no illusion that this is what I want to do. As young women of the world, me must believe and demonstrate that we can lead change. Good Luck to you all.

1973 Schwinn Continental help! I'm new to the board and I am also new to caring for vintage bikes. I am a college student and recently received my mother's canary yellow 22" mens continental (after I casually mentioned how cool schwinns are, my mom exclaimed, "I still have mine at your grandmothers house! I got it when I was 13!"...I guess she rode that bike every single day when she was a kid and still rode it when she was pregnant with me!). The other day, I drove down to my grandma's house, picked up the bike, drove back and took it to the local bike shop for a casual tune up. (silly me, I forgot to take photos..grr...) I am so excited to clean it up (literally...I took it straight to the bike shop with dust all over it) and customize it to my liking... This brings me to my questions... 1) If I wanted to install a rear bike rack on it, would you suggest purchasing a vintage one? If so, would any brand/type do? 2) I'm debating purchasing fenders and putting them on...any suggestions? and if so, (again) would any old fender do? I have NO CLUE what i'm doing and the people at my local bike shop are no help since they really deal with modern bikes so all of your help is GREATLY appreciated!!!

I haven't watched the episodes since the DVDs were released, so I'm a bit rusty...... but here's how the story goes in my book so far (based on translating):I just took a look at the script - The character description for Lady Edwina states the she is "a DISTANT cousin/relative of Prince Adam's"... What I want to know is HOW distant?! - She's introduced as the King's niece (no names for anyone mentioned yet) - She says "You must be the king's son." Indicating she has never met Adam before. (later she says she's heard a lot about the "famous" Adam). - Randor says he heard she did well in track. She responds by saying "I think so" and something else not important and she's bored that nobody is fighting or attacking them. Here's her exact (translated) quote: "no enemy in the way .. no fight ... nothing" - Randor wants Adam to give her a tour of the palace, she's upset because "all palaces look the same." - Adam says he wants to introduce her to his friends. (here's where it gets interesting). Teela, overhearing, says "bah! the friends of princes are only serving courtiers and fools!" Harsh! - Orko then introduces himself and she says "And what is it? A flying carpet?" She asks Adam to show her to her room. He asks if she wants to meet his other friends. She says "The girl and the old suit? Please spare me the trouble, yes?" Teela says "I'll show her what this girl can do" and she's going to beat her up, obviously but MAA holds her back and says "No!" - Later, Edwina says she'll die of boredom and Teela says "Good! Then we won't have to talk to her anymore." She's a Princess in this book: "Cannot be said that the Princess has caused a good impression the royal family..."

April 17, 2013 Alexander Field: Buy Tickets | Seating Chart & Ticket Info | Promotions WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- As Purdue baseball welcomes Nebraska to campus for the first time since 1907, a special Alexander Field dedication ceremony is set for Saturday at 6:30 p.m. before game two of the Big Ten weekend series. Former Purdue student-athlete, head coach and athletics administrator Dave Alexander will be the guest of honor Saturday and one of three featured speakers before the 7:05 p.m. game. Fifth-year senior Robert Ramer, who has already earned his bachelor's degree and is currently pursuing a master's, will speak on behalf of the current Purdue players regarding what the new stadium means to them. Director of Athletics Morgan Burke will also address the crowd during the pregame ceremony, which will be emceed by associate athletics director for communications Tom Schott. Alexander Field is named in honor of the late John and Anna Margaret Ross Alexander. The Alexanders were the parents of Dave Alexander, who provided the lead gift for the project. Dave was Purdue baseball coach from 1978 to 1991 and then served as an athletics administrator through 1994. He is currently a scout for the Seattle Mariners. Dave Alexander's Purdue classmate and fraternity brother, Chuck Armstrong, will also be in attendance this weekend. Armstrong, a 1964 Purdue graduate, is the current president of the Seattle Mariners. He will lead the crowd in a singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in the middle of the seventh inning Saturday. Former WLFI TV sportscaster Ken Double will perform the song on an organ live at the ballpark to accompany Armstrong and the crowd's singing. Saturday, Dave Alexander will also be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch after the stadium dedication. A commemorative home plate cover has been created to mark the occasion. The bases will also feature the special stadium dedication logo and be auctioned off later this season. Fans are encouraged to arrive at the ballpark early this weekend. The northwest edge of campus will be a busy place with women's tennis also hosting a pair of home matches (Friday and Sunday) and the annual Grand Prix festivities also being held at the track adjacent to Alexander Field. Purdue athletics announced this week that there will be increased security at all home events in response to the bombings at the Boston Marathon Monday. All bags carried in by spectators will be searched, and a uniformed police officer will be visible at all venues. With other events and security measures in the mix, fans are encouraged to allot themselves additional time to arrive on time for Saturday's stadium dedication ceremony. For Purdue baseball fans that live on campus, a free student shuttle will be making a loop from campus to Alexander Field throughout the game Friday and Saturday. The shuttle will pick up and drop off at the Purdue Memorial Union, Earhart Hall, Ford Dining Court and Alexander Field. Friday and Saturday's games begin at 7 p.m. The shuttle will begin its campus loop at 5:45 p.m. and run through the end of the game. April 18 Update: Purdue athletics will also be offering a free shuttle for all fans on Saturday from 6-10 p.m. from the R Lot north of Ross-Ade Stadium to Alexander Field. With the heavy amounts of rain this week, parking along Cherry Lane is expected to be limited due to mud. Nebraska baseball is visiting West Lafayette for Big Ten action for the first time. The Boilermakers won two-of-three in their first-ever visit to Haymarket Park in Lincoln a year ago. Friday's game will be televised live by the Big Ten Network as the second of Purdue's four games on the BTN over the span of three weekends. Dave Alexander lettered in baseball for the Boilermakers from 1960 to 1962 before earning a bachelor's degree in 1962 and a master's degree in 1964. He retired as the winningest baseball coach in Purdue history with 407 victories, a marked surpassed by one his players, Doug Schreiber, in 2012. Dave's 1986 team -- on which Schreiber was a senior second team All-Big Ten second baseman -- set a then-school record with 37 wins, and his 1987 squad participated in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. He coached many quality student-athletes, and all but one of them who exhausted his eligibility earned a degree. Dave was inducted into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. After leaving coaching in 1991, Dave spent two and a half years as the athletics department's compliance officer before becoming a scout for the Seattle Mariners. A John Purdue Club member since 1963, Dave continues to live in Lafayette, Ind., and scout for the Mariners. John and Anna Margaret Ross Alexander, both Purdue graduates, believed in the value of intercollegiate athletic competition and saw it as a way of enhancing leadership. They also believed in service and supporting others. John was a partner in the Indianapolis law firm Krieg, DeVault, Alexander and Capehart and was a leading authority on banking legislation in the state. He was president of the Purdue Alumni Association from 1953 to 1955. His uncle, Dr. Clarence Jones, was instrumental in the selection of the Old Oaken Bucket as the traveling trophy for the annual Purdue-Indiana football game. Anna Margaret was an active community leader in Indianapolis, particularly with the schools. She was a member of the Indianapolis Board of School Commissioners from 1966 to 1970, serving as president in 1969 and 1970. In 1984, she was the first recipient of the Purdue Alumni Association Citizenship Award. John earned a bachelor's degree in 1933, while Anna Margaret earned a bachelor's degree in 1935. Both received honorary doctorates in 1986. The Alexanders were members of the Purdue President's Council and inaugural members of the John Purdue Club in 1958-59. A complete series preview of Purdue-Nebraska will be available later this week.

We have been using dealer.com as our website provider for the last couple years. In October we upgraded our site from their V8 to their V9 Platform and since the upgrade we have seen a large drop in our organic traffic. It has been 3 months since the site release, and while we have seen a slight increase in our organic traffic, it is no where near what it was before the upgrade. After countless phone calls with dealer.com's support staff, the company still has yet to provide us with a solution to the issue. They believe that the drop in organic traffic is not due to the upgrade (even thought the drop in traffic coincides with the launch date of the upgraded site). Our SEO provider (we do not do our SEO with dealer.com) believes the drop in organic traffic is largely related to the excessive use of H1 tags (Header1) in the code of the new template. He believes that if these tags were changed to P1 tags (paragraph1) our organic traffic would return to what it was. He says the header1 tags for words like "About Us", "Welcome", and "Inventory", dilute our important keywords like "Cadillac", "Buick", "GMC", and our town name. Dealer.com does not agree that the H1 tags are negatively affecting our SEO, and since it is a templated site, they will not change the code to the P1 tags. They believe our site had dropped in rank because of the hundreds of landing pages we created for towns in the area that have similar content, ex. "Hartford Cadillac", "Bridgeport Cadillac", "Enfield Cadillac", etc. I'll admit I have a limited knowledge of SEO, but it has been my knowledge that having landing pages such as these helps to bring more traffic to our site. In addition, Google has cataloged these pages, which our SEO provider says is a sign they do not think of them as duplicate content, and they should not negatively affect SEO. In your opinions, are these landing pages negatively affecting our SEO? Is the H1 tag problem the real issue? Or, is dealer.com on track here and our SEO provider off base? In the midst of this ongoing clash of opinions, our Internet Inquiries have dropped, and, in turn, our internet sales. I am looking for a solution to help get our sales back to where they were, and, in the long term, increase them. So, while considering both dealer.com and our SEO provider's analysis of the situation, I have also started looking at other website providers. Our dealership recently signed on with VinSolutions as our CRM tool, and now we are considering switching to their website as well. Do you think this would be a wise decision? I am concerned about the drop in traffic when we change website providers. Are we better off sticking the course with dealer.com? For those of you who are familiar with VinSolutions websites, are they a better alternative to dealer.com? How is the site performance? I really am looking forward to hearing some opinions outside of dealer.com, our SEO provider, and VinSolutions on this one! I can offer this, we recently moved to VIN at our six locations, we were using a local company along with Mfg. controlled sites. Colbalt, Dealer.com, Dealer socket. It is a workout to get though the process, but early results with VIN have been good. Just understand no matter what Vendor you choose,you have to fit in their box, and then work through the process to get what you want on the site for your store. And we have chosen VIN for Website and CRM. Hi Jackie. Wow! This is quite a dilemma! I can certainly empathize with your situation having switched to a number of different web solutions providers over the years when I was an internet manager for a dealer group. Having fired dealer.com on more than one occasion I can relate to your frustration all too well. That said, I would consider dealer.com and VinSolutions two of (if not THE two) the best web solutions providers in the industry. The problem with dealer.com is their own success. The customer service experience is so heavily reliant on your dealer rep. The good ones get promoted and you are ultimately left with someone who will do the minimum and act as a message handler, but not actually work on your behalf to get what you need done. Their technology continues to be some of the best in the industry. As a digital marketing company, Wikimotive works with clients using dealer.com all the time when it comes to our SEO service. I am also a huge fan of VinSolutions and their technology as well. If you chose to make a switch, you would not be sorry. However, the solution to a drop in traffic is rarely to change providers. In fact, a switch would likely cause your traffic to plummet even more (in the beginning). Based on the vague description in your article, I would be likely to support what dealer.com is telling you regarding pages with duplicate content. Since I do not know your website, and can't see these landing pages, I can only speculate with very limited information. But I can say that if the landing pages use the same verbiage over and over and only change keywords like geo targeted keywords, then you are definitely being penalized by google for this. It is highly unlikely that H1 tags are bringing your traffic down to any significant degree. Again, this is speculation. I would need to see the actual evidence to properly advise you. That said, I would be happy to take a look at your situation and help if I can. No strings, of course. Hope this helps. Thank you so much! I really appreciate the advice! Hi Jackie, if you are considering changing providers I would suggest reading this checklist of information you should be aware of before making a provider switch. 20 Tips for Changing Website Providers The first thing I would suggest would be to find out who has access to Google Webmaster Tools for your current site. WMT will provide you with a wealth of information about how Google sees your site. I would focus first on any messages that Google has posted in the account. Once those are addressed if any take a look at the Crawl reports. Is Google crawling my site more or less since the change. Are you getting any Crawl Errors and why? Also in the Health tab check out the Index Status information. The next area I would focus on is the Traffic section. Check the Search Queries reports for impressions, ctr and keyword diversity. Have any major keywords declined or disappeared? Under the Optimization Tab make sure your Sitemaps are submitted, indexed and are not returning any errors or warnings. Also, in this section check out the HTML Improvements section. This is where you will probably see a lot of duplicate title tags and meta descriptions. You won't be able to fix many of them like the VDP pages and some of the Blog pages but try to fix as many as you can. I would be more than happy to discuss with you any of this info on the phone. Thank you so much for the reply! Our SEO provider just granted me access to WMT so I will take a look into those areas and see what I find! So we have had a few Crawl Errors (500 and 503 errors). All of which are after the new site launch. We do not have any sitemaps for our site. I know this is something our SEO provider has been trying to get dealer.com to do for us, but they either won't or can't. All of our duplicate title tags are for our vehicles, so I can't change those. Are the errors we have errors from dealer.com's side of things or from our SEO provider? Hey Jackie, look at the 500 and 503's to determine if they are old page urls or new urls on V9. Also, are we talking a few or a few hundred errors. When you click on the URL of the errors you get an option for "Linked From" if those pages are linking from another site see if you can have the link changed on the other site to the current appropriate page on your new site. Your sitemaps should be structured like yoururl.com/sitemap.xml and I see you have the video product from Dealer.com on your site. Your video sitemap should be something like yoururl.com/videositemap.xml the problem with the video sitemap is that they have the sitemap coded wrong. I have been complaining about this issue to Dealer.com since July. When you submit your sitemaps in WMT just enter the part after the slash in the url. How did your search queries report look especially the Impressions since the change over? I understand from some dealers that Joe Verde has a very good CRM tool. Not very expensive and works well. I think the issue with the H1's can easily be solved if they can be made more descriptive. For example, instead of simply saying, "About Us" it could be changed to "About (Your Dealership Name) in (Your Location)" or something like that. There are solutions out there other than VINSolutions and Dealer.com that allow you the flexibility to make these changes (you or your SEO provider) so that you don't have to conform to the "box". Check out AutoVelocity.com - they have a total control solution that I think will impress you. I disagree with your SEO company. I'm not a fan of SEO agencies for well-designed dealer sites (they are unnecessary with good onsite optimization unless they are doing off-site SEO and onsite custom content creation for you). Although there is merit to the theory of overused H1 tags, if used properly (one per page/section) they are absolutely not a problem. I would not attribute your lack of traffic to that. Google has come out with 5 Panda/Penguin updates since October. SEO is NOT the same today as it was a year ago. Focus on unique content, unique content, unique content and good quality local backlinks. Not saying the algorithm updates are exactly your problem but the landscape has seriously changed so all dealers should be adding custom content on a regular basis focused around relevant keywords. Change up your vehicle comments, change the inventory sort order, add new pages, etc. I'd also take a look at total indexed pages and crawl errors before and after switching providers. My guess is you have lots of 404 errors from off-site links that are pointing to areas on your old site that don't exist anymore. It can take Google months to adjust for 404 errors in their indices, but if you have lots of hard links all over the Internet specifically pointing to a dead page (links from blogs, forums, ebay, craigslist,inventory feeds, etc.) that problem is never going to get fixed without a 301 redirect, which definitely could attribute to traffic decline. I work at VinSolutions but have to side with Dealer.com on this one - not an h1 tag problem. Thanks for your input Caryn, it's very helpful! I just took a look at our Crawl errors and we only have 500 and 503 errors, but they all happened after the site upgrade. Any thoughts on that? Sorry to hear about your situation. As the CIO of a full service digital marketing agency, I have some insights but mainly questions that I would love to get the details on in order to be able to further advise you intelligently. I clicked on your profile link to find your dealer site and here is what I can tell you right off the bat... 1. your SEO problems go deaper than H1 tags. I only clicked through a couple of pages but I could immediately tell that you are not fully utilizing the most important meta tag elements of your pages. You have keywords repeated multiple time in the title tag which is a horrible use of such valuable SEO real estate. Many of the meta title tag elements are VERY similar or identical with only minor changes on pages within your site. You don't have static model pages for your vehicles. The vehicle details pages are great, but inventory comes and goes. You really need to have static model pages for each model you have. You need to load those pages up with relevant content and links to your inventory for all the trims and so forth for each model. The model page should also showcase the specials (both mfg and any you have at your dealership) for the particular model as well. 2. Landing pages CAN hurt you. Google did some major updates last year that could be making your landing pages look like boiler plate spam sites, a clear indicator of an attempt to game their system. The links pointing to your site could be toxic at this point. I would like to find out exactly how duplicated the content is on those landing pages. I would also like to find out how "light" they are on content. If it's lighton content and highly dupilcate, there is a VERY high chance that you need to do some customization to each of those landing pages in order to make them valuable again. And if you can't or don't want to make those kinds of change you may need to nix them completely in order to save your main site. 3. Do real link building Landing pages and link schemes are old. Google knows about them and is actively penalizing you for them now. You need to be guest blogging on real live active automotive blogs with individual, relevant, and exclusive content deep linking to your site. We have content writers and access to portals where our content is picked up by automotive blog publisher for single use guest blogging to accomplish this. 4. It's not the provider, it's the SEO company. As a full service digital marketing agency I can tell you that I LOVE our websites. They are built for SEO, speed, and conversion. The problem is that dealers get locked into contracts and vendors give away website for free, or whatever the situation may be. We wind up having to work with optimizing Cobalt, Naked Lime, Vin Solutions, Dealer.com, and just about every other provider out there. Soemtimes it's difficult, but I can assure you that a good SEO team will be able to optimize and rank just about anyone's website given enough access by the provider. In your case it sounds like you do have a problem with a highly templated web platform, however your SEO team is not stepping up to the plate and fixing things for you. They should be doing everything they can and working around the things they can't change, however I can tell you with absolute certainty that they are NOT doing everythign the could to help you rank your site organically. Also PPC, social media, and your reputation online all also play factors in the amount of trust customers have to convert as a goal on your site. I would love to take a deeper look at each of those factors and see if they may be impacting you at all. I hope this helps!

By Vella Munn She was a tiny thing, several inches shorter than my 5’2” and maybe one hundred pounds. Her lovely white hair had been professionally styled, she had flawless skin and sparkling eyes, and her pink smock appeared to have just been washed and ironed. In contrast I looked like something the cat had hauled in because I’d been running errands. (My story, my explanation) I was there for my yearly mammogram while this darling 80 year old woman was a clinic volunteer. Her job was to guide me to a changing room. “Are you the writer Vella Munn?” she asked. Surprised and wishing I’d washed my hair, I confessed I was. Turned out she’d read every one of my nine Native American historicals. They’d resonated with her because several were set in California where she’d lived with her husband of 47 years before his recent death. My stories in some small part took her back to their time together. She cried, I got misty eyed, and we hugged. On my way home, I turned on the radio. Neil Diamond, who I would have run away with if he’d known I was alive, was singing. It was a cold afternoon but the sun was shining. Just like that I was transported back to those innocent and heady days when it was all about the writing—when I didn’t concern myself with the business aspect of this career I’ve been addicted to forever. With the music as loud as my ears could handle and the sun on my shoulder, I embraced a raw thrill I haven’t felt for years. I vowed to again get drunk on writing. For years I’ve been telling new writers to treat what they’re doing like a business. We have to. Otherwise we don’t stand a chance. Publishers are there to make money. Much as an editor might love a writer or manuscript, if she doesn’t believe it’ll make a profit for the company she won’t/can’t buy it. The publishing world is constantly changing. Genres move in and out of favor, hot becomes cold, a book no one saw coming breaks all sales records and the charge to duplicate begins. We must be informed, realistic, to shift with the market. I get it. I wouldn’t have sold over fifty books for mumble-mumble publishers if I wasn’t committed to keeping my fingers on the publishing pulse. I also educated myself about self-publishing and hung out my own shingle. I pay the bills with my writing and that’s how the IRS has long classified me. But I’d lost the pure joy of burying myself in a fictional world and suspect I’m not the only one. All this time we spend staying informed takes us far from the stories in our hearts and souls. Even before meeting that 80 year old woman I’d been coming back to my roots, to when everything was about character and emotion. I’d spoken at this year’s RMFW conference and afterward my buddy Lynda Hilburn and I took off for the mountains. (I live in Oregon and had never been to Colorado.) We sat on a patio overlooking a rushing creek drinking wine and watching/feeling a storm come in. Suddenly it was there, maybe blown my way by the fierce wind, the kernels of a four-book romance series about something that has always resonated with me—the wilderness. I came home, cleared the decks of other writing projects (I’ve been doing a lot of erotica) and spent a day sketching out the series and pulling characters out of that place in all writers’ minds where characters wait to be brought to life. Early in November I got started. I didn’t have much of an idea about where story #1 was going, just that life hadn’t been easy for this man and woman and they need each other and the mountains that represent second chances for them. The words have been flowing from me and I’m approaching each writing stint with a joy I’d forgotten was possible for, I believe, one reason. These characters and their stories tap into what’s true about me. What matters to me. Promo time: Touch Of The Wolf, a paranormal romantic suspense with Entangled’s Ignite line releases on Dec. 30. The story is set in Washington state’s Olympic Forest. Hey, you can’t take this gal out of the country. It’s all I know or want to.

Yup. I’m putting the word out for CM08 volunteers. It's really not a scary thing, in fact just last year I gave a few hours of my down time on Wednesday morning, and immediately I saw the relief it helped create. But I don’t think everyone one realizes how the smallest contributions of time can make CM flow so much better. So here are a few Frequently Asked Questions (and answers.) “What can I do? I don’t know the process!” – Doesn’t matter. These people will just point and shoot and you’ll know pretty quick. “But I don’t know much about trucks…” - That’s ok, here’s a bag, just put one of each of these papers in it -or- That guy needs an XL (kids love this stuff, and last year a little five year old could stuff those things faster than I could.) “It’s so boring!” – Sure beats being home on the couch NOT at Cruise Moab! “It looks like they’ve got everything under control.” – Yup, ‘bout as under control as rioting bears. Ya I know I’m a smart-ass, but seriously volunteers are a sorely needed resource that all of the CM staff utilize every day of the event. Little things ranging from helping with Tech Inspection to stuffing hand-out bags at Registration, to pitching canopies help make our lives easier. I know that after helping last year it wasn’t any sweat off of my back to donate a little effort to the people, who together, keep the one event I look foreword to every single year going. My donation of time was nothing compared to the amount of time they spend making this event happen and I will gladly donate my time if it means Cruise Moab happens next year. Click (or copy/paste) this link for the volunteer form. We all appreciate any and all time you donate to Rising Sun 4x4 in any event. Thanks to anyone who has ever donated time and to anyone who has regularly been a part of what we do. If you have any questions feel free to contact me or any of the Cruise Moab Committee Members. My e-mail is [email protected]

One of the neat things about living in a big city is having a museum district. Houston has a real nice Natural Science Museum, which I have visited several times. The basic part of the museum is cool, and they usually have special exhibits come in throughout the year. In 2009, I had a chance to see Leonardo, the mummified dinosaur. It was like without a doubt, the coolest thing I have ever seen at a museum. A few months ago, I saw a billboard driving into Houston advertising a new exhibit at the Houston Health Museum — Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination. I looked it up online that night and read up on the exhibit. It featured a bunch of actual props, costumes and models from the six Star Wars movies. It also had displays and videos saying if the technology in the movies would be possible with today’s science. The exhibit was only going to be up for three months, so I needed to get up there by the middle of September. I figured I would drag Yeh-Peu-Dah up there at some point. However, Tuesday I found myself with a few hours to kill in the afternoon. I decided to make the venture up to the museum with my camera and enjoy the exhibit. It turned out to be pretty awesome. For $20, I got to see a ton of Star Wars stuff I grew up seeing in the movies. I also wanted to be a special f/x artist when I was younger, so seeing all the miniatures used for the film was fantastic to me. I paid the extra $5 for the Millennium Falcon experience. It was pitched as some kind of adventure in a replica cockpit of the ship, but it turned out to just be a film about the universe. Kind of dull. I know some of my readers are Star Wars nerds like me, so I took plenty of photos for a slide show. Hope you enjoy it! • High school football season starts this week. I’m excited. I’ll still be covering a lot of my old teams for radio, so that is going to be fun. Not sure if there is a Galveston County team that can win state, but I think La Marque and Clear Springs can make a nice run to Dallas. • It’s still f-ing hot out here…and it could get hotter. Blah. • There have been some weird traffic jams in Houston, but never due to bull semen. Sorry Nashville drivers. • Finally, if you haven’t seen this way to catch crooks in Alabama, you have to check it out. Do I still get the tickets? Bear Down and Keep the Faith!

This is a stub page for Haskell's OpenGL and GLUT bindings. It is meant as a starting point to replace the outdated and misleading documentation at the old page. First, note that the implementation is far more up-to-date than that old page suggested (originally, it was quite useful, but the page hasn't kept up with the implementation for a long time now). In particular, note that the examples/ directory in the GLUT repo contains lots of examples, including translations of the red book examples. Both the API documentation and the examples are best studied with the original specs and the original red book examples at hand. An index of the examples from v1.1 of the red book, with screen shots, can be found here 2 Projects using the OpenGL bindings - Endless Cavern, a 2D procedurally-generated exploration game. - Frag, a 3D first-person shooter game. - Monadius, a 2D scrolling arcade game. - Roguestar, a roguelike adventure game using 3D graphics. - Shu-thing, a 2D scroling arcade game. - Topkata, a jumping ball puzzle game. - PolyFunViz, a toolkit for scientific visualization (e.g. surfaces, flows, contours, volumes) 3 HOpenGL Resources - OpenGLTutorial1 and OpenGLTutorial2 - Beautiful Code, Compelling Evidence: Functional Programming for Information Visualization and Visual Analytics - Writing visualizations using OpenGL or Cairo (PDF) - Andre Furtado's nice tutorial written in 2001 (bitrotted) - Spriting with HOpenGL, David Morra 4 OpenGL Resources - OpenGL FAQ and Toubleshooting Guide Assumes some knowledge of OpenGL. Good for those who have written something but want to avoid common pitfalls. 5 Getting Started - Windows users can read how to install OpenGL in the blog article freeglut + Windows + HOpenGL + HGLUT - assuming you know Haskell, any OpenGL tutorial of your choice should get you going (browsing the OpenGL site is also a good idea) - use the Red Book, and its example code translations, to understand the small differences between OpenGL and HOpenGL - use the OpenGL and GLUT specs to find your way around the HOpenGL Haddock documentation - use the HopenGL list for questions and success stories 6 Additional software - FTGL: Portable TrueType font rendering for OpenGL using the Freetype2 library - GLFW: A binding for GLFW, An OpenGL Framework - GLUT: A binding for the OpenGL Utility Toolkit - graphics-drawingcombinators: A functional interface to 2D drawing in OpenGL Somewhat related is SDL, which is also based on OpenGL: - SDL: Binding to libSDL - SDL-gfx: Binding to libSDL_gfx - SDL-image: Binding to libSDL_image - SDL-mixer: Binding to libSDL_mixer - SDL-mpeg: Binding to the SMPEG library - SDL-ttf: Binding to libSDL_ttf To add sound to OpenGL applications: - OpenAL: A binding to the OpenAL cross-platform 3D audio API - ALUT: A binding for the OpenAL Utility Toolkit 7.1 I can't display text with renderString It's probably because the text is displayed too big. Setting a much smaller scale factor before calling renderString should solve the problem. scale 0.001 0.001 (0.001∷GLfloat) renderString Roman "Test string" 7.2 Animations flicker If you're not using DoubleBuffered display mode, turn that on. Also, you must set the display mode before creating the window you're going to be drawing in. To check if you've enabled double buffering use something like: db <- get doubleBuffered and set DoubleBuffered mode (before creating your windows!) like this: initialDisplayMode $= [DoubleBuffered] createWindow "My Window"

Going through my mother's boxes from her apartment, and re-examing Doris' Genealogy Box has made me stop and think. Have I made sure that the genealogy and family treasures in my care are going to be passed on to others for safe-keeping? I am sure that many of us have such treasured items. Even if we have no family heirlooms we have our genealogy research and papers. I've learned that when a loved one dies, it is not always easy, or possible, to preserve precious documents or heirlooms. Even if saved, how and when does one pass them on to others? It should be easy. You save everything you think is worth saving, and immediately decide you are passing everything on. Done - not your problem anymore. But wait! Who says the folks you want to pass these treasures on to are prepared to accept them. I'm learning it's not as easy as you might think. Will Others Treasure Your Treasures? Another scenario - you have family treasures that you enjoy so you don't want to pass them on to others now, but you want to be sure they go to other family members when you are gone. That's even more difficult to guarantee. There are logistics involved in passing on family heirlooms and genealogy papers. If you expect your journals to be kept for the next hundred years or more, you should be thinking ahead to the problems future generations might encounter. People move. Families split up. Your great-grandson might treasure your journals but his wife may think they are just taking up space and getting musty and dirty. You might have so many journals that they become scattered and lost. What about Great grandma's wedding ring? How will you ensure that is passed on and its history known and shared? Your great-uncle's Military Medals and papers - is it really logical to think that a jumbled mass of documents with some tarnished medals is still going to be kept all together by one descendant and its provenance still remembered? Who Wants Your Masses of Genealogy Papers! And your genealogy papers and records that take up 4 filing cabinet drawers or 10 binders. Who on earth is going to want to store those? Even if you have a son or daughter ready and willing, what are the chances that the next generation will accept those 4 filing cabinets of papers and store them safely? Who Will Carry the Torch? I've been giving this a lot of thought over the past year and even more so since my mother passed away. As the unofficial keeper of the family photos and treasures in my family, I need to make sure that everything I love and hold dear will go on to the people I think most apt to pick up the torch and continue to cherish them. I thank my lucky stars that my grandmother passed on most of her cherished heirlooms to me when I was a teenager. She saw an interest from me and she leapt at the opportunity to tell me the stories of who owned each item and what it meant to her. It must have been difficult for her to let them go in her lifetime but it was a very wise step on her part. Had she waited, it is unlikely many would have been saved when she died, as no one but me knew their significance. And I was many miles away with no say over who in the family was given any mementoes. Develop a Plan So I have developed a plan - a Genealogy & Family Hope Chest - for helping to ensure that treasured family items and genealogy papers do get passed on and cherished by others. I call it a Genealogy & Family Hope Chest because you cannot of course guarantee that what you consider important to pass on will be preserved and passed on by others. All you can do is hope. But along with that hope you can take steps to maximize the possibility that what you want will happen! Let's start with Step 1 of the Genealogy & Family Hope Chest First, make a list. Yes, sit down today and make a list of all the family treasures and heirlooms that you have in your possession. Beside each item, write a brief description of its provenance - who owned it and how old it is, and how and when it came into your possession. Take a photograph of it or scan it. Do this for each cherished item you have. Print the photos. You can print 4 to a page or 6 to a page, or print each separately. It's up to you. Make sure you clearly label each photo with the name and brief description of what it is. Yes, you're duplicating your list you just created, but in a visual format. You now have a written or printed list of family heirlooms with a description of each. You also have a photo of each family heirloom clearly labelled and described. Put one copy of the list and photos in your Safety Deposit Box (if you have one) This is just to safeguard against losing the other copy! The other copy (list plus photos) should go in a manilla envelope marked "FOR MY EXECUTORS" and placed where your Executor(s) will remember to go to first. You have written a will and appointed executor(s) haven't you? Phone your executor(s) and tell them where you are putting this envelope and what is in it. (You should already have such an envelope which contains instructions on what you want done with your remains, where your safety deposit box is, a list of bank accounts, lawyer's name etc but that's a topic for another blog post) This is the Family part of your Hope Chest, don't worry about your Genealogy papers just now. We'll get to those later. You can have a break now and relax. I'll talk about Step 2 of a Genealogy & Family Hope Chest in my next blog post. I think you will find Step 2 is a lot of fun!

I used a pale acrylic grey as a base coat. The tree I'm painting here is the smaller of the two. This is the larger tree. I dry brushed some darker grey to accent the rough bark texture. At the tops of the trees I added some cut paper to resemble old dried frond growth. Here are the two trees drying clamped to my turntable. For the fronds I decided on using stiff photo backdrop paper. I made templates of four sizes of palm fronds and traced them onto the paper. Then began the fun of cutting out the 60 fronds! Each frond was a double piece of paper stock glued together with an aluminum wire in the center. After gluing each frond was trimmed to shape. Each frond was painted with acrylics and dry brushed with various colors for hilites. After painting the wire stem was wrapped with cotton twine and painted to resemble the stem of a palm leaf. Part of my growing palm frond " jungle " drying. Each frond leaf being further trimmed before being glued to the trunk. Due to the aluminum wire stems the fronds can be manipulated and positioned as need be. The two trees completed with the fronds added. I was pleased with how they came out. Next I'll be starting work on two leafy type trees.

Sort: Category . Published . Updated . Title . Words . Chapters . Reviews . Status . A Brave New World by catchingafallingstar reviews In less than two years a baby came from nothing to be able to talk and interact with the world. Then something strange happens, and you have a 'normal person'. But what if the curiosity and thirsty for knowledge isn't killed so soon, but encouraged? What kind of person you will have, and how far could they go? Let's explore this possibility... Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Adventure/Sci-Fi - Chapters: 16 - Words: 63,948 - Reviews: 28 - Favs: 65 - Follows: 104 - Updated: 7/29 - Published: 2/8 - Harry P. Return of Emerald by Bleu Tsuki reviews Slytherin!Harry. When the BWL is discovered missing, no one thinks twice when Hasan Castell appears at Hogwarts. Abandoned in a muggle orphanage, Harry grows up with a love of magic-in books that is-and thinks sorcery is all in his dreams. He calls himself Hasan to separate his dreams from reality, and is adopted and raised by a man who should be dead.HP/LL mentor!Snape Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Friendship/Drama - Chapters: 44 - Words: 298,080 - Reviews: 990 - Favs: 1,053 - Follows: 1,493 - Updated: 7/29 - Published: 8/18/2013 - [Harry P., Luna L.] Severus S., Lucius M. Further Adventures of the Lone Traveler by dunuelos reviews Harry Potter, Lone Traveler, has accepted his role as the Multiverse's fix-it man. A figure of legend in many universes, he makes his way as directed by Creation to worlds where they could use a nudge here and there. Maybe he can prevent the multiverse from destroying itself in apocalyptic fire. Sequel to Stories of the Lone Traveler. Crossover - X-overs & Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Adventure/Drama - Chapters: 9 - Words: 41,623 - Reviews: 315 - Favs: 724 - Follows: 815 - Updated: 7/29 - Published: 7/14 The Difference One Man Can Make by joen1801 reviews After the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry Potter decided to travel the world. Twelve years later when a new threat attempts to destroy the progress made in Britain he returns home to deal with the situation. During the fight that puts down the small group of upstarts Harry finds himself in a world of ice and fire Crossover - Harry Potter & Game of Thrones - Rated: M - English - Adventure - Chapters: 18 - Words: 240,080 - Reviews: 3324 - Favs: 6,083 - Follows: 7,000 - Updated: 7/28 - Published: 3/22/2015 Fixing Past Mistakes by DebsTheSlytherinSnapefan reviews Harry didn't appear at Hogwarts causing concern. Albus immediately head's out to Privet Drive to find out what was going on, along with Minerva and a reluctant Severus Snape. What they find out changes everything for everyone in the wizarding world. Is there a chance for anyone to go back and fix past mistakes? is there any hope at all for the magical world? cover pic - Harry's cub Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Chapters: 49 - Words: 218,570 - Reviews: 5895 - Favs: 4,387 - Follows: 5,764 - Updated: 7/28 - Published: 2/11/2014 - Harry P., Severus S., Albus D., Minerva M. A Different Professor by AsphodelWolf15 reviews "Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever." Ginny has been taken to the Chamber of Secrets and Harry may know where that is. How would things have turned out if he had gone to a Different Professor? Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Adventure/Drama - Chapters: 16 - Words: 129,321 - Reviews: 625 - Favs: 1,195 - Follows: 1,889 - Updated: 7/27 - Published: 5/16 - [Harry P., Hermione G.] Harry Potter and the Rune Stone Path by Temporal Knight reviews 10 year old Harry finds a chest left by his mother with books on some of her favorite subjects. Discovering he has a talent for understanding and creating runes sets Harry onto a very different path than anyone had expected. Shortcuts, inventions, and a bit of support go a long way! Pairings: H/Hr/NT/FD/DG. Ron/Molly bashing and GreaterGood!Dumbledore. Harry Potter - Rated: M - English - Fantasy/Adventure - Chapters: 31 - Words: 316,097 - Reviews: 2447 - Favs: 5,214 - Follows: 6,834 - Updated: 7/27 - Published: 4/15 - [Harry P., Hermione G., Fleur D., N. Tonks] Harry Potter & the Game by Concept101 reviews With the powers of Gamer given to him Harry sets out to prove himself to the world of magic by becoming the best he can be despite the impossible odds against him! Watch our hero grow in this action filled adventure full of heart, humour & spectacle. And the occasional swear word. Politics!Action!Drama!Manipulation!OP Harry!Mind Bending Magic! Year 1 Complete! Updates every 4 days! Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Adventure/Humor - Chapters: 24 - Words: 164,024 - Reviews: 1477 - Favs: 2,125 - Follows: 2,887 - Updated: 7/27 - Published: 5/17 - Harry P., Hermione G., Ginny W. The Black Prince by cxjenious reviews He remembers being Harry Potter. He dreams of it. He dreams of the Great Other too, a beast borne of ice and death with eyes red as blood and an army of cold dead things. He is the second son of the king, a spare, but his fortunes change when secrets rather left in the dark come to light, and Westeros is torn asunder by treachery and ambition. Winter is coming, but magic is might. Crossover - Harry Potter & Game of Thrones - Rated: M - English - Fantasy/Drama - Chapters: 20 - Words: 125,705 - Reviews: 2460 - Favs: 6,318 - Follows: 7,320 - Updated: 7/23 - Published: 3/7/2015 A Man of Iron by Mr. Chaos reviews Antony 'Tony' Stark is the arrogant cousin of Ned Stark whose made his fortune crafting fine weapons for the lords of Westeros. Tony leads a joyful life, doing what he pleases and leaving the politics of the realm to others. But when violent attack nearly ends his life, Tony decides to take action and creates a hero for the people to rally around... a knight known as Iron Man. Crossover - Ironman & A song of Ice and Fire - Rated: T - English - Fantasy/Adventure - Chapters: 20 - Words: 79,373 - Reviews: 629 - Favs: 989 - Follows: 1,100 - Updated: 7/21 - Published: 3/2/2014 - A. E. Stark/Tony, J. R. Rhodes/Rhodey, V. Potts/Pepper, Jon S. by Firazh reviews What could be worse than a nightmare? Waking up to discover that it was reality, of course. But after finding out Bellatrix was his mother, discovering that the Death Eater who fathered him was Severus Snape almost came as a relief. Deciding to take up his real identity was easy enough ... actually living it, not so much. AU: After fifth year. Sevitus with a twist. Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Angst/Family - Chapters: 34 - Words: 203,874 - Reviews: 910 - Favs: 1,078 - Follows: 1,410 - Updated: 7/18 - Published: 6/23/2014 - Harry P., Remus L., Severus S. by theaceoffire reviews A young boy in a dark cupboard is in great pain. An unusual power will allow him to heal himself, help others, and grow strong in a world of magic. Eventual God-like Harry, Unsure of eventual pairings. Alternate Universe, possible universe/dimension traveling in the future. Harry Potter - Rated: M - English - Adventure/Humor - Chapters: 66 - Words: 290,947 - Reviews: 4086 - Favs: 6,380 - Follows: 6,938 - Updated: 7/14 - Published: 2/22/2014 - Harry P. by Stargon1 reviews The day before Harry Potter was due to go to Hogwarts for the very first time, his aunt and uncle informed him that he wouldn't be going. Instead, he was sent to Stonewall High. Now, three years later, the Goblet of Fire has named him as a TriWizard Champion. What that means is anyone's guess, but to Harry, one thing is clear: he can finally get away from Privet Drive. Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Adventure - Chapters: 28 - Words: 106,020 - Reviews: 1327 - Favs: 2,398 - Follows: 3,537 - Updated: 7/13 - Published: 11/11/2015 - Harry P., Daphne G. A Very Different Harry Potter by BarbedCaress reviews AU Harry first meets Draco on the train. Draco realizes how little Harry knows about the Wizarding World and the two boys hatch a plan. Meeting in secret, Draco teaches Harry all he needs to know to survive as Head of House Potter and The Boy Who Lived. No slash. Hufflepuff!Harry Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Adventure/Humor - Chapters: 14 - Words: 56,351 - Reviews: 164 - Favs: 207 - Follows: 347 - Updated: 7/12 - Published: 2/25/2015 - Harry P., Draco M. Not even a first chance! by senawario reviews (alt title: Disproportionate response). Give the death-eaters a second chance? No way, not even a *first* chance! This is a "redo" fic with a twist. The pairing will eventually be Harmony but a good part of the story happens when they are too young so hard-core Harmonians need to be patient. Rated M for possible violence in later chapters. Harry Potter - Rated: M - English - Adventure - Chapters: 28 - Words: 94,094 - Reviews: 192 - Favs: 357 - Follows: 608 - Updated: 7/10 - Published: 2/11 - [Harry P., Hermione G.] Dobby The Adventures Of Harry Potter, the Video Game: Exploited by michaelsuave reviews Harry Potter catches Voldemort's AK to the noggin only to find out that his life is a video game and he forgot to save. So what does he do? Does he return on Hard mode and work for the challenge? Heck No! Harry uses every exploit, grind, or underhanded tactic he can get his hands on. His life may be a video game, but nobody plays Harry Potter; Harry's going to exploit the system. Harry Potter - Rated: M - English - Humor/Adventure - Chapters: 12 - Words: 91,033 - Reviews: 3472 - Favs: 7,803 - Follows: 9,288 - Updated: 7/3 - Published: 9/22/2013 - Harry P. Lone Traveler: The Greatest Minister in History by dunuelos reviews The Lone Traveler arrives on the even of Fudge's election. Instead of pelting Dumbledore for advice, the new Minister listens to a new viewpoint. Much is changed. Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Drama - Chapters: 17 - Words: 79,617 - Reviews: 909 - Favs: 1,521 - Follows: 1,342 - Updated: 6/25 - Published: 5/14 - Harry P., Amelia B., Augusta L., C. Fudge - Complete A Marauder's Plan by CatsAreCool reviews Sirius decides to stay in England after escaping Hogwarts and makes protecting Harry his priority. AU GOF. Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Family/Drama - Chapters: 87 - Words: 893,787 - Reviews: 9466 - Favs: 9,192 - Follows: 9,590 - Updated: 6/13 - Published: 4/21/2012 - Harry P., Sirius B. - Complete The Hardships of Family by IAreGandalf reviews AU: Harry has a family, parents, a little BWL-brother and an adorable sister. Neglected by his parents and having to survive on his own since he was 4. Luckily he got Sirius. He is a great wizard and sets out to change the Wizard world. How will his life turn out with all the different hardships. Definitely not your usual wrong BWL-story. Takes a turn at chapter 5! Harry Potter - Rated: M - English - Family/Adventure - Chapters: 18 - Words: 76,973 - Reviews: 161 - Favs: 473 - Follows: 659 - Updated: 6/3 - Published: 3/21/2015 - Harry P. Harry Potter: Junior Inquisitor by sprinter1988 reviews Before the start of fifth year Dumbledore changes the plans. Unfortunately he didn't bother to inform Harry. At his trial, Harry realises that it is down to him to save his own skin. To do so his Slytherin side must come out to play, and once it's out it sticks around turning life at Hogwarts on its head. Warnings: EvilDumbles, SheepOrder/Staff, GoodGuysDontGetEverythingTheirWay Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Adventure/Drama - Chapters: 36 - Words: 211,722 - Reviews: 7942 - Favs: 11,277 - Follows: 14,834 - Updated: 5/26 - Published: 1/16/2013 - Harry P., Susan B., Hannah A., Amelia B. The Better Man by Laume reviews Suppose the Marauders torture hadn't driven Snape to Voldemort and he had been the better man. What would the future have looked like? Warning: may now contain DH spoilers. Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Drama - Chapters: 22 - Words: 81,568 - Reviews: 1990 - Favs: 3,254 - Follows: 4,108 - Updated: 5/15 - Published: 6/2/2007 - Severus S., Harry P. by pointlessjourney reviews What happens when the Nexus takes Jim Kirk and deposits him on the shores of Westeros? Watch as a powerful new note is added to the song of fire and ice. Completely AU, Featuring all your favorite characters and one character from the 24th century. Game of Thrones - Rated: K+ - English - Drama - Chapters: 12 - Words: 29,697 - Reviews: 122 - Favs: 177 - Follows: 217 - Updated: 4/23 - Published: 2/2 - Jon S., Tyrion L., Eddard S. Black as the Blood In Our Names by TimeAndLife21 reviews Regulus was drowning.Or At Least he thought he was until a woman of light came to him to offer a second chance. Thrown back into the world of the living, He basically plans from thin air to work around the new world he is in now. He will be helping Harry Potter go against the Dark Lord and saves Sirius from dying by Bella's Hand. Looks like Harry has perfect Ally on his side. AU Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Family/Drama - Chapters: 26 - Words: 169,187 - Reviews: 378 - Favs: 531 - Follows: 794 - Updated: 4/22 - Published: 10/29/2014 - Harry P., Sirius B., Severus S., Regulus B. by Quetzalcoatls reviews End of 4th year and Voldemort's back,but Harrys not waiting for him to make the first move SnowPoint Academy,hidden in the frozen reaches of the Antarctic ocean,is nothing like Hogwarts, but to win this war that may be exactly what Harry needs,but darker things are stirring in the shadows, and nothing is sure.fusion with Heralds of Valdemar(fut. AU) Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Adventure/Fantasy - Chapters: 25 - Words: 103,255 - Reviews: 1715 - Favs: 2,266 - Follows: 3,024 - Updated: 3/22 - Published: 9/2/2012 - Harry P., Hermione G. Investigator Harry Steel by TheBlackHand724 reviews The war is over. the dark is defeated. but the government is still corrupt. Harry is exiled to the U.S. where he meets the family he didn't know he had, and takes up the family trade. Multi crossover after chapter 18. and Harry/Multi after chapter 38 T for Language and Violence. Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Adventure/Romance - Chapters: 57 - Words: 403,710 - Reviews: 861 - Favs: 851 - Follows: 1,032 - Updated: 3/21 - Published: 3/2/2015 - [Harry P., OC] [Hermione G., Neville L.] Sorcery, UNITed, Independence, Space by Tangerine-Alert reviews Post-OotP, Harry decides to leave his relatives to ready himself for Voldemort, something Dumbledore seems unwilling to do. He meets a Brigadier and quickly finds Earth is not alone. Not Horcrux compliant. (Written Post-OotP) ARCHIVED-Errors/issues won't be fixed. Crossover - Doctor Who & Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Adventure/Drama - Chapters: 57 - Words: 213,846 - Reviews: 942 - Favs: 1,174 - Follows: 551 - Updated: 2/8 - Published: 5/7/2006 - Brigadier, Harry P. - Complete Harry Potter in the Claw of the Raven by BakenandEggs reviews When a more studious Harry Potter entered Gringotts with Hagrid, the Goblins managed to talk to him privately - Dumbledore never saw that one coming. A Ravenclaw Harry story. Warning: child abuse, character bashing, and pureblood society. Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Friendship - Chapters: 10 - Words: 56,257 - Reviews: 394 - Favs: 1,747 - Follows: 1,390 - Updated: 12/26/2015 - Published: 9/8/2015 - Harry P., Draco M. - Complete by BloodRedDemon reviews Neglected in favour of his younger brother, Harry Potter always was dissatisfied. His Parents and their friends fawned over Thomas, no matter what the older brother did. Harry upped and left; why would he have stayed? 6 years later, Harry Potter found a new home. The boy is in the middle of it all, though. What will his role be? Where will his allegiance lie? Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Adventure/Romance - Chapters: 30 - Words: 147,789 - Reviews: 1830 - Favs: 4,696 - Follows: 5,779 - Updated: 11/17/2015 - Published: 11/17/2014 - Harry P., Fleur D., Daphne G., Tracey D. Harry the Hufflepuff by Megark reviews There is a single point of divergence from this and canon. See if you can find it. "This is your Epic Fan Fiction. After you have been bathed in its Glory, you will be Changed and Perfected." -My Beta, after 4 hours of talking about this story. Harry Potter - Rated: K+ - English - Humor/Friendship - Chapters: 20 - Words: 64,800 - Reviews: 113 - Favs: 133 - Follows: 180 - Updated: 11/15/2015 - Published: 3/19/2015 - Harry P., Ron W., Hermione G. - Complete Doing it all over again by ultimate emperor reviews Ronald Weasley goes back in time to righten things that had gone wrong. AU universe good/OOC Ron slight Hermione bashing. NOT SLASH Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Adventure/Friendship - Chapters: 13 - Words: 50,488 - Reviews: 49 - Favs: 85 - Follows: 115 - Updated: 11/3/2015 - Published: 6/17/2012 - Ron W., Harry P. by Shikatanai reviews AU: At 5, an abused Harry is taken in by a powerful family. Taking the name Gabriel, he grows up into someone very different. How will Hogwarts and Voldemort react? Soldier!Harry, Neutral!Harry, implied child abuse. Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Drama/Family - Chapters: 44 - Words: 160,638 - Reviews: 4053 - Favs: 5,788 - Follows: 6,297 - Updated: 10/28/2015 - Published: 12/9/2005 - Harry P. The Trusted Hero by Blueowl reviews This is a what-if spin-off from the fanfic 'The Hidden Hero' by Evebb, answering the question: What would have happened if Dumbledore had believed and supported Mark (aka Harry) at the end of chapter 19? Mentor!Sensible!Dumbledore Enabled!Light!Harry. Giants, Dark Arts, Ministry takeover, Horcruxes, Undesirables, Harry masquerading as a muggleborn. No Deathly Hallows, MoD, or H/G Harry Potter - Rated: M - English - Adventure - Chapters: 18 - Words: 75,159 - Reviews: 293 - Favs: 334 - Follows: 291 - Updated: 8/3/2015 - Published: 4/1/2015 - Harry P., Albus D. - Complete Time to Put Your Galleons Where Your Mouth Is by Tsume Yuki reviews Harry had never been able to comprehend a sibling relationship before, but he always thought he'd be great at it. Until, as Master of Death, he's reborn one Turais Rigel Black, older brother to Sirius and Regulus. (Rebirth/time travel and Master of Death Harry) Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Family/Adventure - Chapters: 21 - Words: 46,303 - Reviews: 2403 - Favs: 10,381 - Follows: 4,041 - Updated: 1/14/2015 - Published: 8/11/2014 - Harry P., Sirius B., Regulus B., Walburga B. - Complete Where No Wizard has Gone Before by Blueowl reviews Harry has been reborn time and time again after becoming the Master of Death, living through hundreds of lifetimes in dozens of universes, but this rebirth is strange even by his standards—no doubt thanks to how he had died the last time. StarTrek:TNG/HarryPotter Powerful!Harry MoD!Harry, Guinan, Q, Borg, Lwaxana. COMPLETE Crossover - StarTrek: The Next Generation & Harry Potter - Rated: M - English - Sci-Fi - Chapters: 9 - Words: 35,120 - Reviews: 342 - Favs: 1,336 - Follows: 753 - Updated: 12/21/2014 - Published: 11/26/2014 - J. Picard, Q, D. Troi, Harry P. - Complete by ChipmonkOnSpeed reviews AU- Given up after that fateful night, a prodigious Harry Potter ends up in America, working as a Lab Tech/Federal Agent. Now his family wants him back, but can he trust their motives? Can he trust his own? Multi-crossover. Harry Potter - Rated: M - English - Humor - Chapters: 27 - Words: 136,637 - Reviews: 2074 - Favs: 4,358 - Follows: 2,599 - Updated: 8/24/2014 - Published: 2/27/2007 - Harry P., Albus D., OC - Complete Inspected By No 13 by Clell65619 reviews When he learns that flying anywhere near a Dragon is a recipe for suicide, Harry tries a last minute change of tactics, one designed to use the power of the Bureaucracy forcing him to compete against itself. Little does he know that his solution is its own kind of trap. Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Humor/Parody - Chapters: 3 - Words: 18,472 - Reviews: 1116 - Favs: 4,660 - Follows: 1,983 - Updated: 8/20/2014 - Published: 6/26/2014 - Complete by DobbyElfLord reviews Dark curses don't play nice- not even with each other. When nine year-old Harry is bitten by a werewolf, the horcrux fights back. The result could only happen to Harry Potter. Canon-ish for the first three years of Hogwarts - AU from that point forward. Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Humor/Adventure - Chapters: 23 - Words: 152,524 - Reviews: 3589 - Favs: 7,465 - Follows: 8,381 - Updated: 8/15/2014 - Published: 5/11/2012 - Harry P. Master of Wood, Water and Hill by Karmic Acumen reviews Bilbo Baggins wondered what Gandalf was thinking. Oh well, Bag End would sort him out. His house did NOT approve of vandalism, thank you very much. That rune carved into his door learned it personally. Besides, it served the wizard right for not heeding the rumors about Bilbo and the Old Forest. Hobbit - Rated: T - English - Adventure/Humor - Chapters: 5 - Words: 60,226 - Reviews: 338 - Favs: 1,428 - Follows: 1,431 - Updated: 5/11/2014 - Published: 2/9/2014 - Bilbo B., Thorin, Kíli, Fíli Knives in the Dark by Norrrrrrrrrr reviews When Harry saves a goblin's life from Quirrell before beginning his first year, he sets off a chain of events that brings the war to a head early. With an unstable, intelligent and desperate enemy facing them, how will the Wizarding world react? And how will an amoral mentor and ally affect Harry and his caretakers? This story is dead. Original planned ending included for closure. Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Adventure/Drama - Chapters: 61 - Words: 97,025 - Reviews: 950 - Favs: 1,237 - Follows: 1,509 - Updated: 4/12/2014 - Published: 5/4/2013 - Harry P., OC - Complete To Shape and Change by Blueowl reviews AU. Time Travel. Snape goes back in time, holding the knowledge of what is to come if he fails. No longer holding a grudge, he seeks to shape Harry into the greatest wizard of all time, starting on the day Hagrid took Harry to Diagon Alley. No Horcruxes. Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Adventure - Chapters: 34 - Words: 232,332 - Reviews: 8535 - Favs: 15,475 - Follows: 10,716 - Updated: 3/16/2014 - Published: 10/20/2010 - Harry P., Severus S. - Complete by Lord Silvere reviews Harry is a prisoner, and Bellatrix has fallen from grace. The accidental activation of Bella's treasured heirloom results in another chance for Harry. It also gives him the opportunity to make the acquaintance of the young and enigmatic Bellatrix Black as they change the course of history. Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Chapters: 46 - Words: 392,449 - Reviews: 7090 - Favs: 10,097 - Follows: 7,176 - Updated: 9/21/2013 - Published: 11/14/2009 - Harry P., Bellatrix L. - Complete by Rorschach's Blot reviews It all starts with Hogwarts' Class Reunion. Harry Potter - Rated: M - English - Humor - Chapters: 20 - Words: 61,134 - Reviews: 1742 - Favs: 4,454 - Follows: 3,291 - Updated: 3/2/2013 - Published: 11/14/2008 - Complete Harry Potter and The Phoenix Burning by mini-mid reviews Harry dies at the same time as Voldemort when the killing curse backfires the second time and is sent back to Kings cross station. Now however Fawkes meets him there and sends him somewhere all together different than the Hogwarts he knows. Not Slash Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Adventure - Chapters: 20 - Words: 69,010 - Reviews: 1321 - Favs: 4,023 - Follows: 2,484 - Updated: 2/21/2013 - Published: 3/13/2011 - Harry P., James P. - Complete by loralee1 reviews AU, Post HBP Snape travels back in time to warn pre SSPS Snape about what is to come. No DH Spoilers Harry Potter - Rated: K+ - English - Chapters: 11 - Words: 41,690 - Reviews: 1165 - Favs: 2,455 - Follows: 1,585 - Updated: 11/1/2012 - Published: 9/19/2006 - Severus S., Harry P. - Complete Trust Is A Relative Thing by Silverfawkes reviews What if Petunia put the blame where it belonged instead of on Harry? OOC Petunia Dursley Rating for mild language Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Chapters: 51 - Words: 219,068 - Reviews: 5467 - Favs: 5,967 - Follows: 6,649 - Updated: 10/16/2012 - Published: 12/31/2010 - Harry P. For Whom the Bell Tolls by nefieslab reviews AU fifth year. After saving Dudley from the dementors, the ministry letter arrives to order his wand snapped. Dumbledore's letter doesn't arrive. Harry/Daphne/Susan. Rating may change. Powerful!Happy!Independant!Harry. Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Romance/Adventure - Chapters: 17 - Words: 135,554 - Reviews: 1655 - Favs: 4,189 - Follows: 4,900 - Updated: 7/2/2012 - Published: 1/15/2011 - Harry P., Daphne G. A Different Halloween by robst reviews Could a chance meeting change history? What would a different Halloween in 1981 mean for wizarding Britain? Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Chapters: 20 - Words: 124,549 - Reviews: 4011 - Favs: 6,979 - Follows: 4,169 - Updated: 5/26/2012 - Published: 10/31/2010 - [Harry P., Hermione G.] - Complete A New Dawn by AlexanderD reviews SG1, Atlantis, and SGU all work towards a brighter future. Past conflicts heat up more than imagined, and a long wondered question is answered. Ancients, Tauri, Asgard, Furling, and a few others thrown in. This ties up the loose ends the writers left us. Stargate: Universe - Rated: T - English - Sci-Fi/Adventure - Chapters: 74 - Words: 295,200 - Reviews: 1288 - Favs: 602 - Follows: 425 - Updated: 4/16/2012 - Published: 4/29/2011 - Complete Back I Go by DebsTheSlytherinSnapefan reviews Harry ends up back in time twist of the usual sev is harrys father its now harry is sevs father! will Harry give Severus the childhood and future Harry has always wanted watch as severus blooms into the person he could have been. FINISHED Harry Potter - Rated: M - English - Chapters: 38 - Words: 67,877 - Reviews: 705 - Favs: 1,430 - Follows: 695 - Updated: 11/2/2010 - Published: 7/8/2007 - Harry P., Severus S. - Complete When The Future Died by SpikyStar reviews He controlled the elements, it wasn't enough. He was the powerful light wizard, but Voldemort was winning. Fate sent him back. No Slash please read, future Harry going back in time! Slight AU- Retains older body. fifth year Grammer fixed. Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Angst/Adventure - Chapters: 43 - Words: 155,275 - Reviews: 1445 - Favs: 1,563 - Follows: 1,652 - Updated: 9/9/2010 - Published: 12/28/2007 - Harry P. by GenkaiFan reviews Harry has had enough of seeing his reputation shredded in the Daily Prophet and decides to do something about it. Only he decides to embrace his Slytherin side to rectify matters. Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Drama/Humor - Chapters: 32 - Words: 74,506 - Reviews: 8452 - Favs: 17,618 - Follows: 7,235 - Updated: 6/21/2010 - Published: 12/3/2009 - Harry P. - Complete Wit of the Raven by japanese-jew reviews Highly AU. Mr. Harry Potter is age eleven, and the possibilities for his future are endless. The magic system of Harry Potter has essentially been turned on its head. Harry Potter - Rated: M - English - Chapters: 14 - Words: 101,733 - Reviews: 888 - Favs: 1,417 - Follows: 1,565 - Updated: 5/22/2010 - Published: 1/6/2006 - Harry P. Doctor John Watson, Police Surgeon Scotland Yard 5 by Bartimus Crotchety reviews This is the story of how the bravest and most singular person I have ever met, took down the most dangerous man in London, Colonel Jack Moran. In spite of what you might have heard, that man was not Sherlock Holmes. This is the true Empty House. Sherlock Holmes - Rated: T - English - Mystery/Crime - Chapters: 9 - Words: 32,369 - Reviews: 105 - Favs: 62 - Follows: 23 - Updated: 1/16/2010 - Published: 11/27/2009 - Dr. Watson, Inspector Lestrade - Complete Doctor John Watson, Police Surgeon Scotland Yard 4 by Bartimus Crotchety reviews A year ago a new killer stalked the East End. Baffling the Yard at every turn he left five dead. Shaken by their inability to capture him, the Yard turned to Doctor Watson. A new body turns up with the same trademarks. Can a very ill Watson prevail? Sherlock Holmes - Rated: T - English - Crime/Mystery - Chapters: 10 - Words: 38,336 - Reviews: 90 - Favs: 42 - Follows: 10 - Updated: 10/20/2009 - Published: 9/1/2009 - Inspector Lestrade, Dr. Watson - Complete Harry Potter and the Determinations of Fate by Baronvonblack reviews Like ripples through water, a single event can change the entire course of history. For Harry, all it took was meeting a misty-eyed Ravenclaw a year earlier... Major AU later Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Romance/Fantasy - Chapters: 11 - Words: 41,199 - Reviews: 536 - Favs: 1,284 - Follows: 1,572 - Updated: 10/12/2009 - Published: 8/7/2008 - Harry P., Luna L. Doctor John Watson, Police Surgeon Scotland Yard 3 by Bartimus Crotchety reviews Doctor John Watson has very few things left that he values, his reputation is one. Suddenly, he is being tarnished by an all too familiar face from his past. Someone demanding his help before the fog rolls in and the killer stalking him strikes again. Sherlock Holmes - Rated: T - English - Crime/Mystery - Chapters: 5 - Words: 16,225 - Reviews: 52 - Favs: 42 - Follows: 7 - Updated: 8/4/2009 - Published: 7/17/2009 - Dr. Watson, Inspector Lestrade - Complete Mahou mo Ken by Enterprise1701-d reviews When Harry cries out for help during a nightmare, halfway around the world somebody listens. Somebody that will change the way Harry looks at magic... forever. On hiatus. Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Adventure/Romance - Chapters: 10 - Words: 151,685 - Reviews: 719 - Favs: 1,710 - Follows: 1,915 - Updated: 7/6/2009 - Published: 3/15/2007 - Harry P., Luna L. Doctor John Watson, Police Surgeon Scotland Yard 2 by Bartimus Crotchety reviews To save his sanity, John Watson became a Yarder. He is now their top man in autopsy, and has become their chief investigative asset. However, there is a brilliant man posing as Sherlock Holmes in London, and he wants his Boswell at any cost! Sherlock Holmes - Rated: T - English - Mystery/Crime - Chapters: 5 - Words: 19,326 - Reviews: 52 - Favs: 48 - Follows: 8 - Updated: 7/3/2009 - Published: 6/19/2009 - Dr. Watson, Inspector Lestrade - Complete Doctor John Watson, Police Surgeon: Scotland Yard by Bartimus Crotchety reviews Scotland Yard is struggling. They have cases they cannot solve and people are dying as a result...they need help. John Watson is struggling. He lost his best friend, his wife, and his health...he needs a purpose. The criminals have a new force to fear. Sherlock Holmes - Rated: T - English - Crime/Mystery - Chapters: 5 - Words: 15,725 - Reviews: 69 - Favs: 96 - Follows: 26 - Updated: 6/11/2009 - Published: 6/6/2009 - Dr. Watson, Inspector Lestrade - Complete Searching for Disaster by Shadow Rebirth reviews ABANDONED. Owls, cauldrons, and pointed hats? Harry Potter was not amused. And he still wasn't entirely sure that his human trafficking theory had been wrong. Warning! Features a very cynical Harry. [AU, no pairings.] Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Adventure/Humor - Chapters: 10 - Words: 40,849 - Reviews: 1030 - Favs: 2,580 - Follows: 2,830 - Updated: 6/10/2009 - Published: 7/12/2008 - Harry P. The Roaring Snake by maidros78 reviews AU to PS. Starts with Harry's visit to Diagon Alley. Follows the general outline of PS, but diverges from canon. HarryMillicent. proactive Minerva intelligent, observant and socially active Harry manipulation attempts by Dumbledore, Lucius, Voldemort. Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Mystery/Adventure - Chapters: 30 - Words: 139,938 - Reviews: 970 - Favs: 1,024 - Follows: 893 - Updated: 5/17/2009 - Published: 8/13/2007 - Harry P., Millicent B. - Complete The Prometheus Encounter by Tangerine-Alert reviews HP/UNIT/SG1 crossover. Testing an Ancient hyperdrive flings the Prometheus and SG1 into another universe where Harry Potter, Night Wolf and magic greet them. ARCHIVED-Errors/issues won't be fixed TV X-overs - Rated: T - English - Drama/Sci-Fi - Chapters: 21 - Words: 110,518 - Reviews: 147 - Favs: 136 - Follows: 157 - Updated: 3/9/2009 - Published: 1/14/2008 - Complete by fake a smile reviews It's the summer before Harry's 6th year, and Harry is wracked with grief. But what happens when Harry makes a vow to himself to take control of his life? Harry's life takes a sharp turn when he gets an unexpected visitor one night. HPGW Independent!Harry Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Adventure - Chapters: 28 - Words: 523,307 - Reviews: 2903 - Favs: 5,932 - Follows: 3,053 - Updated: 11/15/2008 - Published: 5/23/2006 - Harry P., Ginny W. - Complete Harry Potter and the Secret of the Ancients by Towrag reviews What if Harry Potter and Daniel Jackson were the same people just at different times in their lives? Crossover - Stargate: SG-1 & Harry Potter - Rated: M - English - Adventure/Romance - Chapters: 3 - Words: 35,077 - Reviews: 252 - Favs: 533 - Follows: 730 - Updated: 7/7/2008 - Published: 2/16/2008 - Harry P. The Hidden Hero by EveBB reviews AU What if Harry knew he was a wizard and about the prophecy before he went to Hogwarts? What if he was kicked out of the Dursleys and decided to attend Hogwarts disguised as a muggleborn? Harry Ginny Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Chapters: 36 - Words: 181,065 - Reviews: 3074 - Favs: 3,733 - Follows: 1,253 - Updated: 1/28/2008 - Published: 1/6/2008 - Harry P. - Complete by Tangerine-Alert reviews Harry Potter, UNIT, NCIS xover. Harry has completed training with UNIT and been ordered 6 months off duty, he goes on a road trip in America…but is ordered back on duty to deal with an auction…and NCIS ARCHIVED-Errors/issues won't be fixed TV X-overs - Rated: T - English - Drama/Sci-Fi - Chapters: 12 - Words: 46,070 - Reviews: 122 - Favs: 173 - Follows: 88 - Updated: 9/24/2007 - Published: 7/8/2007 - Complete The TriSchool Tournament by DisobedienceWriter reviews One shot, AU of GOF. Here’s the story I wish I had found when I read GoF or GoF fanfiction. New, harder tasks. Observant!Smart!Harry. On the outs with Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, and Hogwarts in general. No pairings. Harry Potter - Rated: K - English - Adventure/Angst - Chapters: 2 - Words: 31,882 - Reviews: 283 - Favs: 1,881 - Follows: 551 - Updated: 9/3/2007 - Published: 8/31/2007 - Harry P. - Complete A Year with Q by Morena Evensong reviews Q loses a bet with his son. Now he must pretend to be a sixth year student at Hogwarts without using any of his powers. How will Hogwarts react to the new student? Will Q survive the year? x-over with Star Trek: TNG and Voyager. Crossover - StarTrek: The Next Generation & Harry Potter - Rated: K+ - English - Humor/Sci-Fi - Chapters: 43 - Words: 154,373 - Reviews: 696 - Favs: 490 - Follows: 325 - Updated: 8/2/2007 - Published: 6/9/2004 - Q UNIT: Night Wolf – Beginnings by Tangerine-Alert reviews Doctor WhoUNIT crossover Harry Potter. UNIT: Night Wolf, a covert division within UNIT, Night Wolf would explore and research alien technology…and magic… and whatever other threats that come to pass... ARCHIVED-Errors/issues won't be fixed TV X-overs - Rated: T - English - Drama/Sci-Fi - Chapters: 46 - Words: 161,121 - Reviews: 194 - Favs: 90 - Follows: 77 - Updated: 7/5/2007 - Published: 6/27/2006 - Complete Flames of Betrayal by marietsy2 reviews Harry was sent to Azkaban and was later found to be innocent. With the help of Ron, he will find out who his true friends are. Will he forgive those who betrayed him? Will he be able to let the world know what kind of man Dumbledore really is? Who Harry Potter - Rated: M - English - Drama/Humor - Chapters: 36 - Words: 200,869 - Reviews: 1178 - Favs: 1,957 - Follows: 1,783 - Updated: 3/23/2007 - Published: 1/9/2006 - Harry P., Ron W. Time to Live by loralee1 reviews Post OotP No HBP Takes place summer after fifth year. After defeating Voldemort Harrry decides it's time for him to live his own life. No slash. Sequel to follow. Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Adventure - Chapters: 31 - Words: 68,807 - Reviews: 1354 - Favs: 2,652 - Follows: 1,234 - Updated: 2/16/2007 - Published: 3/22/2006 - Harry P. - Complete A Better Man by Valandar reviews Vernon changed in the beginning to be a better man, thanks to a wish. How will this affect Harry, and the entire Wizarding World? Now complete! Please R&R. AU, HPGW, RWHG, RLNT Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Drama - Chapters: 54 - Words: 192,896 - Reviews: 1652 - Favs: 2,117 - Follows: 689 - Updated: 9/5/2006 - Published: 8/12/2005 - Ginny W., Harry P. - Complete Make A Wish by Rorschach's Blot reviews Harry has learned the prophesy and he does not believe that a schoolboy can defeat Voldemort, so he decides that if he is going to die then he is first going to live. Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Humor/Adventure - Chapters: 50 - Words: 187,589 - Reviews: 10089 - Favs: 14,429 - Follows: 4,306 - Updated: 6/17/2006 - Published: 3/23/2005 - Harry P. - Complete A Parents Secret Gift by EvilDaystar reviews What if Harry's parents had put in place a few contingency plans for Harry's future. How different would his life have been in the magical world then? Harry Potter first year AU story with some Albus Dumbledore perspective every now and again. Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Chapters: 30 - Words: 96,943 - Reviews: 602 - Favs: 1,604 - Follows: 493 - Published: 6/5/2006 - Harry P., Albus D. - Complete by old-crow reviews Complete. Harry makes a decision at the train platform at the end of year 5. Two little words change lives forever. Revised 606. Harry Potter - Rated: T - English - Romance/Angst - Chapters: 20 - Words: 95,688 - Reviews: 2936 - Favs: 5,424 - Follows: 1,361 - Updated: 5/26/2005 - Published: 2/21/2005 - Harry P., Hermione G. - Complete

Secret Space Program, SSP, Revealed by David Wilcock THE FUTURE IS MORE WONDERFUL THAN WE CAN IMAGINE As one of many examples, California’s water crisis should be solvable within a matter of a few months once we get disclosure. In fact, water could quickly become California’s most profitable export, sending it to parched regions all throughout Middle America and beyond. Multiple technologies already exist that can easily de-salinate ocean water. California is right next to an ocean. There is water everywhere! What is the problem? ”Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink”may have been true in the pirate era, but we do have the means to alleviate those problems today. One of the technologies we are directly aware of will desalinate ocean water, generate free energy and produce any element in the Periodic Table as a by-product. This technology already has the quiet support of one of the most prestigious universities in the country. I have heard about it from more than one independent source. On a personal level, knowing these technologies exist and that they have not been released yet is extremely frustrating. For now, I continue to be almost ridiculously over-conservative with my water usage. Days without showering and the yellow toilet. Good thing I live alone. 🙂 It is interesting to simultaneously reflect on the fact that ”the darkest hour is before the dawn,” and we are far closer to it than most people could ever imagine. THE ”AFTER DISCLOSURE” WORLD WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING We are on the verge of an epic series of disclosures that will make all other information, books, videos and media in the UFO field seem hopelessly outdated. Everyone will be suddenly flooded with a ”learning curve” that will simultaneously be more amazing and more horrifying than they had ever imagined. Never again will we look at the records from our current civilization the same way. In the ”After Disclosure” or AD world, everything will be very different. Yes… we are going to need to learn some pretty upsetting things to get through this transition. However, the positives far outweigh the emotional shock that the negatives will temporarily put us all through, as a planet and a (hybridized) species. There are at least 40 different humanoid extraterrestrial groups that have tinkered around with our DNA — for many thousands of years. We have a much broader spectrum of emotions than most other human species out there. It is both our single greatest weakness and our most powerful strength — once we learn how to harness its power for the positive. Like being surrounded by a drowning ocean of ”useless” sea water, once we learn the command we have over reality, our thirst for the Beyond will be slaked. OK, SO WHAT ARE THE NEGATIVES THEY ARE SO AFRAID OF US FINDING OUT ABOUT? Bottom line: there are good guys and bad guys in the universe. Both are allowed to present their messages to us. The future we experience is the result of the choices we make. Our natural destiny is to go through moments of quantum change — where the ground state of reality itself, and all the assumptions that go along with it, is fundamentally and suddenly altered. We are not protected from negativity any more than our collective free will decides. When we act in selfish, manipulative, controlling and violent ways, that in turn allows elite controllers to do the same things to us on a larger scale. ”You are blaming ME for this problem? F- you, David! I haven’t done anything wrong! I am frickin’ awesome!” Not you per se, my friend. Humanity as a collective has created these problems. Some of them have built up from thousands of years of karmic patterns. MULTI-INCARNATIONAL KARMIC ALLEVIATION As I explained inThe Synchronicity Key,the Edgar Cayce Readings detailed many hundreds of cases where people were suffering debilitating karma from acts they had performed back in ancient Rome. Examples were given including people laughing at a little girl as she got her insides ripped out by a lion in the coliseum. Despite this being a socially-acceptable pastime for the era, any sufficiently negative emotion towards another who is in pain and agony will generate karma. The weirdest and most significant realization to come out ofThe Synchronicity Keyis the fact that history keeps looping around and around, very precisely, like the movie Groundhog Day. The precision with which this happens is utterly astonishing. In some cases, the repetition can be timed almost down to the day in cycles lasting 2,160 years. In the interview transcript you are about to read, I told Jimmy Church I do not consider myself to be a smart person. That being said, figuring out how to properly investigate and write about these cycles of history, making them understandable, is probably my headiest achievement yet. WE KEEP ON REINCARNATING The benevolent ETs I so often talk about inAncient Alienson History Channel (I am a regular, featured in over 35 episodes) seeded the ”cycle numbers” in multiple cultures around the world. This area of study was so arcane that in order to rescue it for our time, it required incredible effort — pulling together tiny threads of data I encountered over 20 years of time. It also is not conducive to a show likeAncient Aliens,due to its complexity, and thus no episodes have been made about this phenomenon at this time. Now we have a solid body of evidence that history is programmed by a greater cosmic intelligence to guide us through an intelligently-defined ”script” for spiritual enlightenment. In order to be a true Christian, it is necessary to understand and accept the reality of reincarnation. According to the direct inheritors of the original teachings, this was the greatest secret of Christ. The term ”burn in hell”(Gehenna)really means to alleviate (burn off) karma. The word we now call ”eternity”(Aion)simply means a cycle of time. The ”eternal hell” we were warned about is not some cosmic purgatory we experience after death. It is happening now — and the flames are hotter than ever. THE PRIME DIRECTIVE MAKES IT TOUGH The ETs, positive or negative, are simply not allowed to make a big showing. They cannot spontaneously decide to drop in and make an appearance on the Tonight Show. The Prime Directive is not just a theme you hear about on Star Trek. It is an absolute law in the universe that all beings, positive and negative, must follow. However, certain individuals can indeed receive contact directly. This is a fundamental part of how we learn the truth, both in the past and present. Corey Goode came forward and began sharing massive amounts of intel with me on the Secret Space Program (SSP) last October, 2014. I wrote everything down as he was telling me. He independently verified hundreds of things I had heard from other insiders. It was only after he decided to officially drop his pseudonym, GoodETxSG, and come forward that he began receiving direct ET contact in the present. It has been truly surreal to hear the new updates from him as he has been pulled into well over a dozen different off-planet meetings since that time. I UNDERSTAND MOST PEOPLE PROBABLY THINK THIS IS B.S. A fundamental part of the ”Prime Directive” istruth without proof. The higher-level beings cannot simply reveal themselves to us. There must be acalling,where a sufficient number of people request their help, before intervention can occur. We are truly blessed to have ongoing ”Divine Intervention” taking place. This is the only thing that has stopped the Cabal from destroying most of our lives. THE ZOMBIE PROGRAM The Cabal has been very innovative in coming up with a multitude of different ways to try to kill the majority of people on earth. One of the more upsetting and shocking ones I learned about, from three different credible insiders, is actually called ”The Zombie Program.” Using advanced cloning techniques, 150 million humans were manufactured in the US, all held in underground bases west of the Rockies, and another 100 million in Europe. They would look more or less like ordinary people — not what you see in the movies. The men might typically be wearing a plaid shirt and blue jeans. However, they are given a strange infectious virus that can make them bleed out of every orifice, including their fingernails. They are programmed to have an insatiable craving to attack and eat other humans who do not have the infection. When normal people come in contact with the pathogens in their blood, they will die a horrible death within 24 hours. Simply being scratched by the fingernails from one of these beings would be enough to cause death. AEROSOL SHUTS IT DOWN ONCE THE JOB IS DONE The Cabal also manufactured an aerosol that could be sprayed over an area where these ”zombies” were released. It would cause their death but leave ordinary folks alone. Otherwise, the only way to effectively kill the zombies would be to separate the brain stem from the neck, such as through beheading. The Cabal’s plan was to release this plague, bring about the deaths of millions to achieve their depopulation goals, and then shut off the plague with the aerosol. At that point, they had intended for us to have descended into mass starvation, rioting, anarchy and chaos, leading to martial law and internment camps (which people would flock to in fear of ”zombies.”) The technology was in place to generate this ”zombie apocalypse” all the way back in the 1960s. The ”Night of the Living Dead” was the first major movie to try to usesocial engineeringto get this apocalypse to be ”authorized” by the benevolent ETs. If enough of us saw these movies andreally believedthat zombies would attack us on a mass level, then thanks to the Prime Directive, the benevolent ETs would be forced to let it happen. THE ENTIRE PROGRAM HAD TO BE SCRAPPED The benevolent ETs have blocked the ”zombie program” so effectively that it has never been allowed to occur. Simply put, not enough peoplegenuinely believethat zombies are real for this to ever be allowed to happen. The Cabal is very well aware of this. They continue to crank out a tremendous amount of zombie apocalypse films and TV shows, hoping to get another chance. Other lifeforms that do not look anywhere near as similar to us have also been engineered with the zombie virus. The preferred design that would currently be used, if ”authorized,” are little beings that look like ”Greys” and are only about two feet tall. The hope was that they could be ”sneaky,” run around quickly, evade capture and scratch people on the legs to cause death. In this sense, the Cabal felt that if enough people believed in negative ”Grey” ETs, the hope was that authorization could then be granted. Again, this will never be allowed to occur. Every attempt to create mass depopulation, both conventional and unconventional, has been thwarted. I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN What you just read is an example of intel I have been aware of for some time, have held on to, and said I did not ever want to release it because it was upsetting and ”fear porn.” However, we are now being asked by the Alliance to release this information in advance of a much greater ”data dump” that will come our way with Disclosure. It is too late for the Cabal to stop Disclosure. It is definitely going to happen. I have been waylaid by a very busy schedule, as we will discuss, but I am definitely continuing the fight to write articles and produce videos about all of this. I discussed the zombie program in my last talk at the recent Contact in the Desert conference, having no idea how a live audience, including one 8-year-old child, would respond. Given that the kid was in the audience, certain details were definitely not shared that I might have done otherwise. Quite to my surprise, everyone seemed perfectly OK with it. They were very grateful to finally hear the truth, and not have me censor things I thought were too intense for us to hear. GETTING THE WORD OUT THROUGH RADIO SHOWS As part of this initiative to ”disclose as much as you can, as fast as you can,” I did two different radio shows to promote the then-upcoming conference. Since the conference, I had an Ancient Aliens taping that required a great deal of study, as always. Since the taping, I have been recovering. So to review, I had the New Living Expo event, hardly any down-time, then a major Gaiam taping of eight episodes, followed days later by the Contact event, followed days later by Ancient Aliens, and then a big recovery period. At the same time, ”negative greeting”, as defined by the Law of One series, has been taking shot after shot after shot at me. It is difficult to keep going amidst all of this. One small but significant part of the negative greeting is that we are getting very blatant death threats from the Cabal — like never before. This has been coupled with a very intense increase in the amount of hatred written about me by paid Cabal bloggers on the Internet. Again, I no longer care about the online hate. Most of the trouble has been in dealing with personal issues and the cleansing and healing of painful life experiences and memories. IT ALL SOUNDS CRAZY…. Yes, it all sounds crazy. However, with the full scope of ET technology available to the Cabal, making programmable clones is not at all difficult. In fact, a similar cloning program began making most of the ”Greys” that were actually doing abductions, beginning in the 1960s. Some abductions are genuinely ET-related. People are being brought into slavery off-planet in large numbers. That is another unpleasant truth we will soon be confronted with. The movie ”Guardians of the Galaxy” was intended to help soften the blow. Supposedly there is more than enough technology and capability in place to recover all surviving captives in the post-Disclosure world. THE NEGATIVE PROGRAMS ARE BEING SHUT DOWN Thankfully these highly negative programs are quickly being shut down. The negative elite have already lost. Now they are just in the final ”limbo” period before it becomes public. Rather than worrying too much about trying to prove all of this data, we have been instructed to simply release as much of the truth as we can. This will help buffer the emotional shock and gravity of people hearing so much of this upsetting material all at once. I have held on to the knowledge of the zombie program for at least two years now — but no more. That is just one of a variety of weird things there are to know. ON TO THE RADIO SHOWS… So with all that said, I am quite pleased with both of the radio shows I did. The first one was transcribed and submitted by an anonymous individual, beginning a half hour after I started speaking — and was discussing my music work. As soon as we ”went deep” and got into the cosmic stuff, the transcript started. The second show was that same Thursday with Richard Garner, entitledWhat in the World!,which airs on SiriusXM with a station out of Canada entitled ”Canada Talks.” This appearance was very highly bizarre for me. Fifteen minutes before airtime, I planned out a whole routine around a particular song —”Wild World”by Cat Stevens. I figured that if I mentioned the song, they would later play it in the show. It was utterly stupefying, and extremely shocking, when that same song started playing as I was live on the air. By the time Richard got me speaking, I had composed myself — but only partly. Every hair on my arms and the back of my neck was standing up. WHAT IN THE WORLD… Here is the brand-new show on Canada Talks / Sirius XM where you can hear my surprise in the aftermath of this highly strange synchronicity: This transcript begins at the 71:56 mark of the show. IS REINCARNATION A SOUL TRAP? Jimmy Church:Did the Annunaki and Dracos trick the Atlanteans into a soul-trap reincarnation cycle here on earth to strand DNA and amnesia? David Wilcock:That is what the Cabal’s disinformation agents are trying to tell us happened. That’s actually not true. Reincarnation is not a trap and the earth is not a prison. The Draco did have an agenda. That is true. And, again, this type of a question requires a lot of filling in of cracks for people who don’t already know what we’re talking about. DW:So I’ll do that because, obviously, these questions are very deep and we’ve got to start somewhere. JC:You know, let’s start there. You know what, there’s so much . . . You and I were talking earlier today about our time constraints and how we were possibly going to try to squeeze everything in tonight. CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE Yeah, so, you know, let’s just go deep now. Let’s just go deep now. DW:Okay. No problem. So let’s just first finish setting out the palette that I was establishing before, which is [this.] THE ONENESS DIVERSIFIED ITSELF You have a universe which started as a oneness. It divided itself into what we think of now as galaxies. The intention behind this was that oneness was originally a singular consciousness. It got bored and lonely. These are the closest emotions that we could think of [in our terms.] It had all of this creative potential, but it had no friends. It had nothing to look at. Nothing changed. It was just always the same. So it decided to create what we think of as the visible universe. THE CONSCIOUS COSMOS What we think of as galaxies are actually intelligent super beings. Stars are intelligent super beings. Planets are intelligent super beings. And as you step down from galaxy to star to planet, you’ve got a hierarchy of beings. These are intelligent beings. They are extremely powerful. They are extremely creative. And then the next stage down from that is sentient beings that live on the planets. So those sentient beings are beings like us. That setup of sentient beings on planets then plays out in a structure that has seven levels – seven grades that we evolve through. THE FIRST SIX DENSITIES And the first grade is mineral life like earth, air, fire and water. It’s not really even microbes. That doesn’t come until the second level, or what in the Law of One is called the second density. That goes all the way up through all the animals, the whales, the dogs and cats and everything except humans. [Third density] is where you now have an individualized sense of self. Then you have fourth density. At that stage you could have positive or negative beings. Fifth density can have positive or negative beings. Then you have sixth and seventh. At the sixth level you have to go positive or else you will dissolve back into the background energy in the universe. You literally cannot survive. So none of these bad guys get to exist past 6D. 7D is a very, very advanced level where all they really do is sort of create a virtual Internet. They kind of go back through all the experiences they’ve had in all the previous levels. They create this living database that 6D beings can analyze to help people. That’s the last gift they have to give before they get to reunify with this oneness that they came from. So with all that being said as back story, the beings that are actually running the show here and making sure that the earth doesn’t blow up, literally, would be sixth density. And as I said, in the Bible those are called seraphim or cherubim. THE DRACO ARE REPTILIAN-DERIVED HUMANS The Draco would be what you’d call probably a fourth density or possibly, but unlikely, possibly fifth-density negative. They may actually be 5D negative. I don’t really know. What we do know about these guys is that they were humans that evolved out of reptilian life. That’s another big, big stage in our learning curve here. HUMAN LIFE IS EVERYWHERE Human life is ubiquitous in our galaxy. About 40% of the universe is populated with human or hominid-type life, meaning it walks on two legs and it’s got two arms, or maybe sometimes more – usually just two. It’s got a head, two eyes and a nose, mouth, ears. The planets that these beings incarnate on are very similar to ours in the vast majority of cases. This means they have microbes. They have algae. They have plants. They have mammals. They have birds. They have reptiles. What we’re seeing here is a very, very commonly used biome. It works really well. Everything is divinely designed to work in harmonious synergy. JC:Breathing oxygen. (DW: Yes.) Carbon dioxide. (Yeah.) Plant life. (Yep.) DIFFERENT TYPES OF PLANETS CREATE DIFFERENT HUMANOID LIFEFORMS DW:There are some variations, of course. You might have a planet that is predominantly ocean. In those cases, sentient hominid life will evolve out of whales or fish or something like that. There are lots of those out there. You might have a planet where the bird actually becomes the prevalent form of life that then becomes human or hominid. And in certain cases, you have reptilians – reptiles – where reptile life becomes human-looking. And so these reptilians – for whatever reason – ended up being racists. [They were only interested in] other reptilians that had evolved independently from reptilian life on other planets – and they were out there looking at a lot of different planets. They wanted to partner up with other reptilians. THE DRACO CONQUERED OTHER RACES So what they’ve done is they’ve gone around in the last 700,000 years or so and found all the other reptilians. They’ve merged their genetic material with them and conquered them. So they have their own little negative group that you could call the Draco, because they apparently originated in the Draco constellation. They are also dragon-like. The word ‘draco’ also means ‘dragon’. When I’m telling you this, I’m combining this from several different highly credible insider sources. I’m seeing commonalities between what different people tell me independently, and were in a position to know this is what is going on. DW:And this is more information than most people have ever been able to get about these guys before. A lot of this stuff is new. What we find out is that they were going around conquering worlds. THE DRACO WERE BEATEN BACK INTO OUR ”CORNER” OF THE GALAXY This pissed off a lot of people and they really got their butts kicked. They got their butts kicked badly enough that most of their attempts have failed. They have been basically beaten back into one little corner of our galaxy. That corner happens to be some of the stars that are near to us, such as the stars in the constellation Orion, the stars in the constellation Draco, and a few other places like that. They also have settled in our solar system in fairly recent terms. Apparently they got to our solar system somewhere in the neighborhood of 375,000 years ago. DW:That’s just the figure that our new insider, Corey Goode, gave. JC:I got ya. DW:Based on what he was given. DW:Wow. I just turned my volume up and your voice exploded in my ears. Hello, Jimmy! (JC: Ha, ha, ha.) I got you back down to a manageable human level again. JC:Yeah. I’m whispering too, by the way. A PLANET DESIGNED FOR FEAR FARMING DW:And when I reel my brains back into my eardrums . . . (JC: Ha, ha, ha.) Okay? (Laughs) So here’s the deal. Here’s the deal. What are they doing? What are they doing out there? What do they want? Right? You’ve got to look at these beings . . . And I’m not saying this to be derogatory. It’s going to sound this way, but…. FEEDING ON FEAR When your dog leaves doggie doo in the forest, it’s not just going to sit there indefinitely. Nature has made certain species, such as little bugs, that will come up – and they love that stuff. That’s like a breakfast banquet for them. DW:Okay. The universe has designed itself so that there are intelligent life forms that absolutely are dependent upon our jealousy, our anger, our sadness and our fear. The more amoral, chaotic, violent, ruthless and selfish they can make us, the more energy they get. LOOSH IT UP That energy is calledloosh. That’s energy they need absolutely. It’s more important to them than what we would think of as money or food or water or any of the basic essentials for life. When you become a being that feeds on loosh, if your loosh supply is interrupted for even one day, you will die. They are that dependent on it. EVEN ONE DAY OF INTERRUPTION WOULD FINISH THEM OFF If we were to have even one day on earth – one single day – where a preponderance of people on earth had something to feel good about, most of these beings would die. In less than 24 hours they would be dead – gone forever. It’s THAT serious. They are THAT dependent on our fear. So what you need to understand then is that these beings deliberately custom-designed a planet they could use for FEAR FARMING. They require fear just like we require money in the bank if we want to go to the grocery store to get something to eat. DW:So they actually did intermingle their genetic material with our own. And this goes back to what Zecharia Sitchin was talking about. Sitchin tried to blame everything on the Annunaki. So you’ve got to look at his material as a suggestion, but not in any way iron-clad truth. There’re a lot of distortions in Sitchin’s stuff. But the basic ideas are correct. GENETIC ENGINEERING OF HUMANS There was a reptilian king called Anu. He did have two sons – Enlil and Enki. Apparently, Enlil was the bad guy and Enki was the good guy. [Enlil would be the] bad guy for us, meaning that Enlil supposedly was the one who genetically engineered humans [and did not want us to be more than a slave race of clones.] Enki was the one who then gave us the ability to reproduce because [the Anunnaki] made us to be sterile. We were supposed to just be [slave] workers. NIBIRU WAS MARS It’s very likely that the planet Nibiru was actually Mars. And it’s very likely that what they were doing was to get us to mine gold. [That way] they could chemtrail Mars’ atmosphere with gold. When you spray that gold in the atmosphere, it helps to keep the atmosphere from escaping. At the time that they were doing this, the earth was really kind of unpleasant. It was swampy. It didn’t have the kinds of oceans that we know now. It was hotter. It wasn’t as nice as it is now. So they didn’t really want to live here as much as they took the indigenous ape man they found and upgraded it. THE ”MISSING LINK” IS THE DRACO DNA UPGRADE Hence, [we see] the missing link in our fossil record where our brain suddenly doubled in size. DW:We have a lot of problems that are because of them tinkering with our DNA. That includes the fact that we have bad backs, the fact that we get sunburns, and the fact that the sun is bad for our eyes. There are lots and lots of strange things that we have that are because our genetics have been tampered with. It turns out that there’s over 40 different ET groups that have spliced their DNA with our own. So it’s a very big, strange situation. THE MARTIAN GEOENGINEERING INVOLVED VERY HIGH TECHNOLOGY JC:Well, the Nibiru-Mars connection makes sense, because, you know, the Martian atmosphere is blown away by solar wind constantly. And there isn’t any atmosphere there or very little atmosphere there. That would make a lot of sense. It would definitely connect those dots. DW:Well, you’ve also got to expand your mind a little bit and realize that these people have extremely highly advanced technology. That would include little nanites that can be spread out. Gold can be spread out to almost one atom of thickness. You get these little nanites that shake hands. When you get enough of them, you can build this virtual skin around the planet’s atmosphere. DW:It’s not just like there are little particles of gold that are floating around, dumb, in the air. This is a very advanced technology we’re talking about. ARCHONS ARE NOT EXTRATERRESTRIALS JC:And you had mentioned earlier the Ancient Aliens [television show] and angels and the non-connecting dots there. Would you also consider this negativity Archons? DW:Actually, if you get into alchemical writings, the word ‘Archon’ refers to “humans on earth who act as agents for these negative extraterrestrials.” DW:That’s a commonly misperceived term, because most people think Archons refer to the extraterrestrials themselves – and it doesn’t. It refers to their ‘people’ on earth – their ground crew. DW:Yeah. And that is a very important element. THE PARENTS OF THE ILLUMINATI In order to successfully fear-farm the earth, they did need to elicit the cooperation of people here on earth. That’s where you get into this very exciting new subject that we only learned about recently: the so-called Parents of the Illuminati. JC:I was going there right now. I don’t mean to cut you off, but that’s exactly where I wanted to take this. In that, the fear, the negativity that they are feeding off of – that very energy. If it is in their DNA, then that is were the lack of morals come from, from the Illuminati and Cabal where we constantly ask ourselves, David, “How can they do this crap?” I mean, where is the moral structure? Where is the moral fiber? How can they do . . . Well, is it because they need it to feed off of? THE COLLECTION OF LOOSH FROM WWE EVENTS AND WAR DW:Let me tell you something very bizarre that I heard from one of the new insiders. He, for a while, worked for the World Wrestling Entertainment – WWE. Every single time they do a major event when there’s a big stadium of people, they have all these big screen TVs at the event. And most, if not all of those big screen TVs, quote-unquote, “Mysteriously go missing after the show.” DW:Doesn’t it sound crazy? Okay? DW:I’m just going to tell you the truth. THE DRACO REALLY LOVE TO WATCH TELEVISION The crystalline structure of these television screens picks up enough of the loosh that the Draco want those TV screens after an event, because it helps keep them going. JC:It’s like vitamin C. DW:Yes! Now see, that’s stuff I would never have thought of. It’s so weird that people are going to laugh at me, but yet this is the stuff that you start to hear from people. This energy that we make actually gets imprinted into the crystals within the monitor – within the LCD, the liquid-crystal display. JC:So they use a new one for every event. DW:Every event. That’s in the budget. They’ve got to buy new monitors. Yep. JC:That’s interesting. Well, that’s some serious Big Brother stuff. You know, when you look at the screens over the crowds and the fear is just pumping and the energy is there and then it’s a sponge. THEY CREATE A MAGIC CIRCLE OF LCD SCREENS TO ENHANCE LOOSH ABSORPTION DW:I’ll give you another secret. They set these monitors up in the shape of, guess what? A pentagram. [A pentagram is a 5-pointed star, usually inside a circle, that is a symbol of mysticism.] JC:Oh, I was going to say an eye. DW:They put them in a pentagonal shape, because that’s the magic circle. I don’t like to talk about this stuff, but it seems like it’s fallen on my shoulders to leak a lot of unpleasant things to people. LET’S NOT GET ENCHANTED BY THE NEGATIVE What I try to do is to not get stuck in the fear porn. Let’s not stay in this place: “Oh, my gosh. The Illuminati are real and they’re just going to wipe us out.” Look, they’ve been trying to ever since they got their hands on the bomb. Back in the Trinity test,[The Trinity Test was the first test of a nuclear bomb on July 16, 1945, as a part of the Manhattan Project]you have Robert Oppenheimer saying, “This is not the first time we have done this.” He had read the Hindu Vedas where they very clearly describe the use of a thermonuclear weapon – all the same stuff. JC:Yeah. What would happen if we created a monitor that didn’t absorb and then they went to . . . (DW: Laughs) You know what I mean? That would certainly shut them down. DW:Well, that’s one of many things that they’ve done. THE DRACO DELIBERATELY CREATE WARS BEHIND THE SCENES, THEN SWOOP IN CLOAKED AND SOAK UP THE LOOSH Another thing, again this is a little disturbing, but what the hell. Remember when there was that genocide in Rwanda?[This was a mass slaughter of around 1 million Tutsis and Hutu moderates by the Hutu majority in 1994.] You’ve got the Hutus and the Tutsis and they’re going around chopping each other up with axes? And it was happening on a massive scale? They will literally cloak their ship, fly into our atmosphere, and park the ship over the battlefield as these people are dying – and just soak it up. That’s what they’ve been doing for thousands and thousands of years. They need to keep creating wars so they can keep soaking it up. JC:Is that what’s going on in Syria and Iraq with ISIS? Are they soaking that up? GENERATING LOOSH FROM CELEBRITY DEATHS DW:Absolutely. They’re doing whatever they can. And they are having a harder and harder time getting loosh. Here’s another thing. Okay? Robin Williams apparently did not commit suicide on his own. He was pushed into it. They tried to get loosh from Paul Walker’s death – the guy that was in Fast and Furious – and it didn’t generate enough. They needed to create a bigger celebrity death to try to get enough. And that worked well for them. They got a lot of loosh off of Robin Williams. The next big thing that they did involving a celebrity on that scale was leaking the Cosby rape allegations. They’ve gotten a lot of loosh off of that. That was something they had saved up for when they needed it. But there are not very many of these left that they can pull. That’s the thing. They’re running out of time. They’re running out of energy. And they are in serious, serious trouble now. PROPHECIES OF A GOLDEN AGE All the great religious prophecies – the Bible is only one example. There are 34 others that all say the same thing – that we go into this glorious golden age. Those prophecies were given to us by the benevolent extraterrestrials. And for those extraterrestrials, these reptilians we’re talking about are literally no bigger than little sand lizards in a sandbox. They can watch what’s going on in the sandbox, but they can’t intervene in our sandbox more than we invite them. [This is] because the universe is governed by the principle of free will. STAR TREK AND OTHER TV SHOWS – DISCLOSURE FROM THE BENEVOLENT ETs And believe it or not, Gene Roddenberry[the creator of the Star Trek movie series]was involved in some of these same channeling groups that were in Joshua Tree. [Joshua Tree monument is a U.S. National Park in the desert about 80 miles east of Los Angeles. It was where the original “Giant Rock” UFO conferences took place in the 1950s.] That’s where the whole story concept and the architecture ofStar Trekcame from. SoStar Trekwas Disclosure from the good guys. The whole prime directive that Capt. Kirk and Spock and they all had to work off of – that is absolutely what is going on. JC:The concept ofStar Trekwas way too ahead of its time. JC:It seems to have come out of nowhere — that and, of course,2001: A Space Odyssey. When we went from just juvenile science fiction and storytelling, we just leapfrogged right into, in the middle of the 60s, into2001andStar Trek. THERE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN DISCLOSURE EFFORTS IN PLACE SINCE THE DAWN OF TV DW:Well, they had been trying before that. Twilight Zone– a lot of Disclosure got pushed out through that show. The Outer Limitsis another show that a lot of Disclosure got pushed out through. There was a little show for a while calledThe Time Tunnelthat had lots of stuff in it. They’ve done a lot of movies:The Day the Earth Stood Still, various other UFO movies. There’s been a very consistent effort to tell us what’s really going on. [They hope] that once we find out that there are thousands of different extraterrestrials that we’ve interacted with, it’s not going to come as a big surprise. SPACE 1999, BUCK ROGERS AND BATTLESTAR GALACTICA JC:You know what I just finished this week? And I was kind of bummed out about it. I finishedSpace 1999 [British-Italian TV series that had two seasons from 1975-77.]Both seasons. JC:Yeah, man, I got to the last episode of season 2 and it was pretty melancholy. You know, I was kind of bummed. What a great series that was too. DW:That was one that had a lot of stuff in it. Buck Rogerswas loaded with Disclosure.Battlestar Galactica [TV series originally in the mid-1970s and launched again between 2004~2009.] The original one was loaded with Disclosure. They never got to finish the thought in the original one. They rebooted it and actually did finish the thought. If you watch all the recentBattlestar Galactica, they end up landing here when their fleet is literally down to the very last limping ship. All they could do is crash land here. And they had no ability to get off the planet once they arrived. THE MOVIE ”THEY LIVE” IS A DOCUMENTARY JC:Do you know where I think a lot of information was? And don’t laugh, man. Just stay with me on this. DW:Okay, I’ll try not to. JC:The movieThey Live. DW:Oh, absolutely! I’m not going to laugh at that at all. JC:Ha, ha, ha. I mean, I watched that now. I remember that the first time I saw it I thought, “You know, this is a pretty cool movie. A nice little B movie under the radar. Pretty cool.” I watch it now and it’s a frickin’ horror flick. It scares the crap out of me. DW:It’s a documentary. JC:Ha, ha, ha. Exactly! A STARGATE IS FEATURED IN THE MOVIE DW:And at the end, when you see that portal open up underground, it literally is a gate into the stars. It is a stargate! They have a stargate in the movie. It’s right there. It’s amazing. That scene is amazing. JC:For everybody listening, if you have not seen They Live, that’s your homework tonight after the show. Just go and peep that out. DW:Totally. It’s an amazing film. JC:Yeah, Ray Ban. DW:I’m not sure how that got made, honestly. JC:Yeah. Right, right, right. DW:That pissed off a lot of people. JC:Unless it was done for a reason. That’s all I’ve got to say. But there are elements of it that just scare the crap out of me. Let’s talk about your current research before, once again, David, we run out of time. OUR PREVIOUS SHOW GOT TAMPERED WITH AND INTERRUPTED JC:You know what’s funny? If you remember back when you were on with us, it was Christmas Eve. We got to the end of the show and, man, if they didn’t shut us down. That was messed up. That was so messed up. DW:Some sort of force majeure[superior force]technological interference with your ability to do the show. JC:Right at the peak. Right at the . . . “Okay, Jimmy, I’m going to drop a bomb.” DW:At the end of my sentence. DW:I wanted to kind of round out this thought, because we were heading somewhere and we never quite got there. JC:Okay, let’s do it. SECRET SPACE PROGRAM – THE PARENTS(95:35) DW:One of the big things we need to talk about is the Secret Space Program. That is where it goes back again to these Draco. And it goes back to where I was discussing the Parents. Now the Parents is something hardly anybody has learned about. This is brand new information, but I believe that it is coming from a highly credible source. I’ve now actually been able to vet out some of it with other sources. A NANOTECHNOLOGY INJECTION The Draco have the ability to give you some kind of nanotechnology injection. What happens is that your flesh becomes essentially robotic. You’re still technically human, but only in the way that you look. Your body works in an entirely different way now. You can take out a pocket knife and slice a big hole in your palm, and the nanites will just close it right back up for you. So they have used this in various things like the television showHeroes, and the character Wolverine inX-Men. It’s rapid healing. DW:There are 21 people on earth that have this. And they are called The Parents. THE OLDEST PARENT IS 13,000 YEARS OLD This goes all the way back to the oldest one of these people. Apparently he’s 13,000 years old. [This] dates back to the time of Atlantis before the big catastrophic event that sank the continent. This person was already given this technology. These 21 Parents are immortal. In practical terms, they can live for thousands of years. They were assigned to find the people who are making the most money and have the most power, and seduce them into their group. That’s where you get your 13 Illuminati bloodlines. THE 13 FAMILIES WERE CHOSEN FOR THEIR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE Those were the people who, simply through a basic Darwinian survival of the fittest mentality, came to the top of the food chain. [They] made the money, got the power, and took over the control of governments and religions. [They] were seduced by these Parents who had all the advanced Draco technology. And part of the deal the Parents had [from the Draco] is working star gates [they could use] this whole time. So they could go out into space. There are plenty of other places they could go. They are not stuck here on earth. That technology was not shared with the Illuminati bloodline families. Now the Illuminati bloodline families have found out the Parents had this the whole time, and they’re really upset about it. THE CABAL IS FRAGMENTING INTO FACTIONS, EVEN AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS And what’s interesting is that the alliance amongst these Illuminati folks is fracturing – and now the Draco have betrayed everybody. The Parents have actually turned against all the 13 bloodlines below them. They now have their own faction. Several of these 21 people apparently are really tired of immortality, and they don’t want to be alive any more. There is a way that they can die, which is to have the brain stem separated from the neck. That also has been depicted in fictional works including the movieHighlander,where you chop off this guy’s head and then you absorb his power. DW:So the Draco agenda led to the Illuminati being constructed. EVERYTHING THEY DO REQUIRES OUR CONSENT Now, people then say, “Well, wait a minute. If they want to screw us over, why are they telling us what they’re doing? Why do they make all these movies about it?” That’s a very important point. The magic requires them to tell us what they are doing. [That way,] the enslaved are actually being enslaved through their own free will. [This is] one of the things that you hear Illuminati people say – and this is more the card-carrying kind, not the kind that has defected. They say, “If people are too afraid to see the obvious when we’re shoving it in their faces, then they deserve to be slaves.” JC:It’s not free will if it’s deception. DW:That’s true. I think what’s happened is that they skewed far from the idea of it truly being free will enslavement. They’ve used trickery more and more. And they’ve lied more and more. And as a result, these governing beings – these seraphim and cherubim, or 6thdensity beings in Law of One terms – the ‘management’, if you will, the good guys – are now able to bring them down, and defeat them. THE ILLUMINATI LEADERS WERE TOTALLY DOMINATED BY THE DRACO So to get back to the Space Program, what’s happened is The Parents knew the Draco existed. The higher level bloodline Illuminati people knew the Draco existed. They basically realized that even though they had this cult that saw them as gods, they’re not in charge. They’re just licking the boot heels of these 12-foot tall, essentially demon-looking beings. [The Draco] literally have vertically-slit pupils, reptile skin and are massively strong. They have a 5-foot-wide shoulder span and weigh three thousand pounds. You can’t shoot them with conventional bullets. They’ll just ping off of them. They’re very, very tough. They’re very strong. They’re telepathic. They’re telekinetic. They can remote-influence people and make you walk around like a robot under their command. They are very frightening villains. THINK ABOUT IT… WHY WOULD THEY DO THIS? [If you think about it,] all the stuff that the Illuminati [is supposedly] doing doesn’t make any sense. You guys are human beings. You live here on earth. Why do you want to kill the planet? See, they don’t. Their bosses do. The people that they are under the control of do. It’s the Draco who have been gaming out our planet as a fear factory. We are generating fear for them. If a whole bunch of us die, that would be like a big prosperity bonus for them. JC:Is that why the Rothschilds bank both sides of every war? DW:Absolutely. It’s all about creating loosh. One of their sayings is,“Give Lucius his Loosh!” This is a Luciferian belief system. And Lucifer, in this term you could think of Lucifer as one of the Draco. JC:Which brings us to the Alliance. DW:Yes. If you’ve got to talk about something that is disturbing, you’ve got to balance it with something positive. And there is a lot of positive stuff going on. MILITARIZATION OF SPACE AND COLONIZATION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM So here’s the deal. [Let’s talk about] the military-industrial-complex. Roswell was not the first UFO crash. They had stuff that they found that went all the way back to the 1890s. Apparently out there in the Southwest they dug up this craft that was very aerodynamic. It was all gold in color. We had one insider that came forward and told us that. So they’ve had the stuff for a long time. There were ancient crashes they were able to go dig up. There’s all kinds of cool stuff they found. [It has] all [been] kept hidden from us. THE GERMANS WERE THE FIRST By the late 1930s, the Germans were the first to develop flying saucer technology. The Vril Society was doing this. It’s called the Hanebu or the Bell craft. Kronos is another secret name for the project. They flew out into space and then that’s where they [made an incredible discovery.] “Wow! There are a lot of people that have colonized the solar system before us. They left some really cool stuff behind. “We can seal it up, pressurize it and live in there.” That’s what they did on the moon and on Mars [as well as in Antarctica.] COLONIZING THE MOON AND MARS So when you get into the history of the space program, you have the Nazis colonizing the moon and Mars. They lost World War 2, but they came back and basically took over the military-industrial-complex through trickery – and through having better technology. They blackmailed the U.S., because the U.S. did not want to kick loose the secrets of Roswell. The Nazis started overflying the U.S. capitol in 1952 with their Bell craft, and essentially forced the U.S. to join them in a partnership. This is where you get the militarization of our space and our solar system. THE BRAIN DRAIN In the 1950s and early 1960s there was something called the brain drain. Approximately 60 million people were recruited from countries all over the world. So you still have to this day plenty of Latinos, plenty of blacks, plenty of people who look like they’re from India or Pakistan, plenty of Asians, and plenty of Caucasians that have lived generations out in space. They’ve never walked on the earth. If you’ve got 60 million people in the 1950s and they are specifically told to have as many children as possible, you’re now dealing with a large population. Plus, they have advanced cloning capabilities. They also continue to recruit people from our planet and bring them up there as much as they can. So this is ongoing. THEY WENT AFTER THE INTELLIGENTSIA — AND DESCRIBED IT IN CERTAIN FILMS JC:Did they recruit brains or did they also recruit brawn? DW:Mostly just the cream of the crop of the intelligentsia. There are various movies that tell this story, such asWhen Worlds Collide. If you want to go back and do research, go watch that film. That’s Disclosure. Only the cream of the crop were picked. It’s like Noah’s Ark all over again. That’s part of what these people are told. Something big and disastrous is going to happen on earth. If you come out with us in space, you’ll be fine. You’re going to get to live in a Jetsons,Star Trek-type reality. It’s going to be amazing. THEY ARE HERDED INTO TOTAL ENSLAVEMENT IN MOST CASES Then when these people actually go out there, many of them are treated like slaves. They have a very deplorably poor existence. They’re totally monitored and they just work their whole life. They’re told who they’re going to marry and they’re told how many kids they can have and all this kind of stuff. It’s really disgusting. JC:If they hit you up, would you go? FIVE FACTIONS OF THE SECRET SPACE PROGRAM DW:I already am in contact with a group that has been part of the space program and has broken away. It’s called the Solar Warden faction. There are five factions of the space program. Solar Warden was the first one. They’re like the planetary police force. Then you have the Interplanetary Corporate Conglomerate, or ICC, that has guys like Boeing and McDonnell-Douglas. They’re out there building all kinds of advanced technology and selling it to various extraterrestrials that come in here to check out what they’ve got. Apparently, their technology is some of the best in our part of the galaxy. This is odd because we are considered very primitive in terms of our spiritual levels of advancement, but we’re really good at building stuff. So you’ve got Solar Warden and ICC. GLOBAL GALACTIC LEAGUE OF NATIONS, MILITARY AND DARK FLEET Then you’ve got the Global Galactic League of Nations, which is sort of a UN in space. Then you have a Military faction. And actually there are several sub-groups in the Global Galactic League of Nations, as we have now found out. The Military faction essentially acts as a police force and logistical support for these other factions. And then last, but not least, you have the Dark Fleet. That is the faction that is run by the Draco, where you can see the Reptilians. You’re going to see mantis-looking people. You’re going to see ant-looking people. You [also] see certain humans who work with them that wear black uniforms that look like Nazi uniforms. They are very, very militant and very arrogant. SOLAR WARDEN BREAKS AWAY AND THE ARRIVAL OF THE SPHERE ALLIANCE The Solar Warden faction was the original faction. Their technology is no newer than what we were building in the early 80s. This is still really frickin’ amazing, but it is way less [advanced] than the other factions. They broke away. They got tired of being treated like the mushroom – kept in the dark and fed a lot of BS. Solar Warden has now sided with new beings that have showed up in our solar system. [These new beings have] technology way in advance of anything they thought was out there. We’re talking about spheres that in some cases are as large as the planet Jupiter. THE FIRST SPHERE ARRIVED DURING THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION One of them came into our solar system in the 1980s, and it was the size of Neptune. My insider Pete Peterson was there working with Ronald Reagan while this was happening. [It] freaked everybody out, because they saw this huge orb coming in. It circled Pluto, circled Neptune, circled Uranus and then came in to Saturn. It was cloaked, but they could very easily detect it with [the technology] they had at the time. They eventually confronted this sphere. The beings inside just said, “We’re peaceful explorers taking a cruise around the galaxy. Then they [the Secret Space Program personnel] said, ‘GTFO’, basically. [Get the f- out of here.] And so the beings left. MANY MORE SPHERES BEGAN APPEARING IN 1998 Then, right around 1999, 1998 or thereabouts, you start to have over a hundred, actually hundreds of spheres like this coming into our solar system. They entered in either through the sun or from the outside. They were all about the size of earth’s moon. ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION (NOT PART OF THE RADIO TRANSCRIPT) [DW: Kent Steadman of cyberspaceorbit.com was the main researcher who tracked this phenomenon for years. On Kent’s site, it appears to have started with his “Sun Cruiser” post, describing an anomalous object that first appeared around the sun on May 3, 1998. Kent interviewed various astronomers and got differing opinions about what this huge, fast-moving object was. Many other similar sightings followed for years to come. I was very captivated by this at the time and consistently checked Kent’s site for the latest updates. None of these attacks killed anyone. They were covered in our “China’s October Surprise” article series, linked in the above article. Interestingly, when I went back to this article to get the link, its hit counter was at 333,088 – another example of “numerical synchronicity,” where repeating digits appear as I am doing this work. There did appear to be a treaty that stopped the EMP attacks in January 2011, but the treaty was violated by the Cabal. This seems to have been what triggered the underground cities being portaled out from August to December of 2011.] THEY WERE USING HAARP TO DEFEND THEIR CITIES DW:Jimmy, you were probably covering this back when it happened. DW:And the fish were all washing up. Hundreds of thousands of dead fish were washing up. JC:Birds falling out of the sky. DW:Just falling out dead. And they were too crushed up by the time they hit the ground. Their bones had already been crushed. That was because [the Cabal was] using HAARP to try to defend against the destruction of these underground facilities – and it wasn’t working. So they apparently made a treaty sometime at the end of 2011, saying, “Please don’t destroy our underground facilities any more. We’ll do what you want.” OVER ONE HUNDRED GIANT SPHERES ARRIVED BEGINNING IN 2012 Then in 2012, you get what ends up becoming approximately 100 gigantic spheres coming into our solar system. When I say ‘gigantic’, I mean that they had three sizes. One of them is around the size of the moon, like the ones from 1999 to 2001 that came in. Then you’ve got another size that’s around (the size) of Neptune. Then you’ve got another one that’s around the size of Jupiter. It turns out that there are a lot more than 100 of them. We could only see 100 with our ability to detect cloaked spheres. There are a lot more than that. SOLAR SYSTEM TRANSITIONING INTO A ZONE OF SUPER STRONG COSMIC ENERGY And why are they here? Everybody in the Space Program on the inside knows this [next data point]. Our solar system is transitioning into a zone of heightened energetic strength in the galaxy. It’s like going into a cosmic storm. If you take a pan and you put it on your stovetop and you don’t put any heat under it, and you drop a drop of water in the middle of the pan, what’s it going to do? DW:It’s just going to sit there. Actually, eventually it will evaporate, but it’s just going to sit there. If you get that pan nice and red hot and you drop that same drop of water in it, what’s going to happen? It’s going to go zig-zig-zig-zig-zig, and zig all over the inside of that pan. A COMPLETE UPGRADE OF THE GROUND STATE OF MATTER, ENERGY AND BIOLOGICAL LIFE DW:Imagine now that the same thing happens to matter, AND to consciousness, AND to the actual signature of biological life that is our DNA. It’s a DNA-activating, consciousness-activating, matter-energy-space-time portal-activating energy force. Ultimately what appears to be coming our way is some sort of decisive shift in the way that matter and energy and consciousness itself functions. It is literally a quantum leap in what it means to be human. Our universe is designed this way. ALL ANCIENT RELIGIOUS PROPHECIES SPEAK OF THIS We have to fight through this incredible time of darkness and tribulation. That’s how they call it in the Bible, but there’s many other prophecies that talk about this. Take your pick. Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Native American, Celtic, Druidic, you name it. It’s all there. We go through this time of extreme suffering where people have fallen from spiritual teachings more than ever before. There’s greater amounts of violence, greater amounts of illicit behaviors, selfishness, jealousy, rage, a great amount of depression and sadness. STORED POTENTIAL ENERGY TURNS INTO RELEASED KINETIC ENERGY That all is part of what you could think of as like kinetic energy. [DW: Here I meant to say “potential” energy, which stores up. Kinetic energy is what happens when the potential is released.] It is as if you are pushing a spring down. Okay? But you can only push the spring down so far. Then what happens when you let go of the pressure? DW:You’ve got a spring-loaded action. DW:That’s what’s happening and the compression of the spring . . . SEEDING ”THE ILLUMINATI” INTO THE PUBLIC CONSCIOUSNESS I mean, Jimmy. I was out there trying to see any discussion whatsoever of the Illuminati online. I’m talking now back roughly 2003, 2004. It didn’t exist. You didn’t ever see the word. I went and I contacted some of the big names of the time. This included Henry Makow and Greg Szymanski, who was doing a radio show. Henry Makow was a popular guest on these radio shows. I farmed them information about the Illuminati through this whistleblower called Svali, who originally had come out in 2000. I’d been following her work. So I had a lot to do with reintroducing that when it had kind of all died out. Nobody was reading Robert Anton Wilson or any of that old stuff any more. OUR INCREASE OF KNOWLEDGE IS AN ENERGETICALLY-DRIVEN FUNCTION So what’s happened is now it’s common knowledge. You’ve got the Snowden disclosures. People are waking up. What we don’t realize is that the awakening is an energetically driven function. The energy is cranking up. [This affects] our apparent free will decisions of how we live our lives and what we choose to learn about. Are we listening to Fade to Black, and are we reading these books, and are we going to these conferences? We think that this is something like, “Oh, I just stumbled over it on the Internet.” It’s actually part of an energetically-driven process. SYNCHRONICITY IS INTELLIGENTLY DIRECTED Supremely high-level intelligence uses synchronicity to direct us to the sources of information that feed us this awakening. We are all going through this at our own speed, through our own free will. [This way,] we can veto it and take it in digestible chunks at the speed we want to learn. We’re learning what’s really going on here. And it is ultimately a very, very highly positive thing. When we go through this shift, if you have done your homework, [you will be fine.] OVER 160,000 DOCUMENTED CASES OF ASCENSION ARE ALREADY ON RECORD If you have followed the great spiritual teachings that these 35 ancient cultures were all trying to teach us about being a good person, being a loving person – service to others, forgiveness, compassion…. [Then,] you’re right back in to the realm of what happens to these 160,000 people in Tibet where they practiced these spiritual teachings. They don’t die. They transform into a light being. This is the next stage of what human evolution is built to do. We’re built to go in to this super-hero-type of character. It was all laid out for us in the story of Jesus and the resurrection. That is only one of many examples. You have it in other cultures as well. We just happen to have a celebrity worship thing where people get all hung up on Jesus having done it. They don’t realize that many others have accomplished this as well. THE TIBETANS WERE FOLLOWING THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST That does piss some people off. I understand that. But look. You’ve got these Tibetans who are following exactly what the teachings of Christ are. Their focus is to have every single thought to be a loving thought. And if they can attain that level of self-perfection, then they graduate into this higher level of humanity. What appears to be happening is that the people who are ready for it [will Ascend] when this spring springs. When this energetic springboard takes off, you’ll be able to levitate. You’ll be able to have telekinesis. You’ll have telepathic contact with other people – all the Jesus miracles. Pretty quickly if you start trying, you’ll discover that you’ll be able to do this. A BIFURCATION IN TIMELINES BETWEEN POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE POLARITIES(117:15) This event is also built where there is a bifurcation. That means there are a lot of people who have generated very seriously bad karma for themselves. If you’re sufficiently on that side of the coin, then the way the universe is built is that timelines bifurcate. The people who need that karma go through an Armageddon apocalypse. JC:They go into a dimension of darkness. DW:Well, the earth is basically destroyed. Yes. They experience a pole shift. They experience super-volcanoes which bury everything in about 30 to 100 feet of rocks. DW:And you just die with rocks falling on your head, basically. [DW: Some would experience this. Others would die of a mega-tsunami or massive earthquake damage.] TIME FOR A BREAK JC:That’s a good spot to take a break. Let’s take a break. We’re at the top of the hour. When I come back after the break, David, I’m going to share with you the first time I heard the word ‘Illuminati’. It’s fascinating. I want your comment. This is Fade to Black. Tonight David Wilcock. Bespoke radio for the masses. I’m your host Jimmy Church. INCREASE IN ET CONTACT AND EFFORTS BY CABAL TO CORRUPT STARSEEDS JC:Hey, David. I got a couple of emails during the break. One of them is from Renee. She says, “There appear to be an increasing number of people all around the planet who are channeling ETs. “Do you believe that this is a concerted effort on the part of various ET races to prepare us for their open interaction with humans in the very near future?” DW:Yes. I’ll step in dog doo again and get myself in trouble with the Cabal. And we’ll see if they leave us on the air for me saying this. One of the things that the Cabal apparently believes is that people who are the starseeds, who are getting this ET contact, are going to develop ascended powers before everybody else does. And so they are making a very strong effort now to try to find the people who are getting this ET contact and to corrupt them through their own free will. [This would be done through techniques] such as getting them to think in a more negative mindset, getting them to give messages of doom and fear, getting them to potentially be bought or bribed, that kind of stuff. IF EVEN ONE PERSON ASCENDS IN MODERN TIMES, THE NEGATIVE IS FINISHED JC:Back in February, you were on Coast to Coast, and you said that, and I’m quoting here, “If there is even one person who has ascended, he’s going to be able to drive away all of these bad guys. And they see it coming.” It’s only about a year and a half away for them. They know it’s going to be . . . They know it’s going to hit and there’s nothing they can do about it. And you were saying that there was going to be a small number of people who will have super-human abilities. GUESSTIMATE ON THE DATE OF ASCENSION Well, a year and a half is August 2016. DW:That is a date that is sort of the best guesstimate based on a variety of different factors, none of which totally resolve. It could be anywhere between the end of summer 2016 through 2017 to 2018. So, again, it’s not like you can just pinpoint a window. What you have to do is look at is the current of events that are taking place on earth and how fast are people awakening. This is very important. This quantum leap is not some event that takes place at a pre-described time. It is an event in which the human consciousness, reaching a critical minimum stage of awakening, releases the pressure on the spring. That’s the key. When do we grow up enough that it’s time for the quantum leap? So there’s a window in which this can happen. ”WHAT YOU THINK WILL HAPPEN IN 2012 IS ACTUALLY COMING IN 2017” I was told [about this] all the way back in 2009 by this high-level insider, very high-level insider, who I call Jacob. He told me that the event I thought was going to happen at the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012 was actually going to happen in 2017. I hid that data because, unfortunately, part of what happens is that if I say something publicly, many people who are allegedly channeling will very quickly co-opt my information. They trust my sources and they want to be on the right track. And so it then very quickly reaches a point where you can’t tell the difference, or it becomes harder to tell the difference between who’s real and who’s just parroting your information. I sailed right through 2012 and never said anything about 2017. I figured, “Hey, maybe it’s going to happen in 2012 after all.” There was a lot of good [scientific] evidence to point to that [which I extensively detailed in “The Source Field Investigations.”] 2012 came and went, but since that time, man, it is ramping up. You don’t have to be that ignorant. You don’t have to be that intelligent either. It is smack-in-your-face obvious that we are building up to something very, very huge here. OUR ABILITIES AFTER ASCENSION(126:20) JC:What were some of the abilities that you were referring to? DW:Well, if you go back to the Hindu scriptures, they talk about the eight talents of Krishna. [DW: Look up the ”eight superhuman faculties” of Kalki.] You know there are different Messianic stories from religious traditions. We’re talking about really incredible magic powers here. We’re talking about stuff that you would see in some of the best sci-fi and fantasy movies. So we’re talking about one person being able to instantaneously transform a landscape. We’re talking about stuff even at that level of significance. Somebody who would have the power to be able to levitate multiple automobiles at once and throw them in a direction, for example. MOVIES LIKE ”THE LAST AIRBENDER” WILL NOT BE FICTIONAL ANY LONGER Somebody who would be able to create any of the elements, like inThe Last Airbender. I know people said, “Oh, it was a terrible movie,” but it was interesting to see all of the abilities these folks had. Some people can throw water. Some people can throw fire, air, earth, et cetera. I don’t think that necessarily all of us get this kind of large-scale super-duper telekinesis right away. But it is true that if you go back to Tibet, there’s all kinds of reports of these yogis flying around like flocks of birds in the air. They would push their hand or foot into a stone. They could liquefy the stone and leave a very nice footprint or handprint behind. There’s lots of examples of that on my show, Wisdom Teachings. You can go check that out –WisdomTeachings.com. I have a whole 8 episode mini-series just on the Tibetan Rainbow Body, where I show all these pictures of the handprints, the footprints. I give all of the teachings of how they got to this Rainbow Body. And, again, basically, you have to meditate all of the time. You have to have every thought be a loving thought. That does not mean you have to be that good as a meditator. It’s like the Olympics of spirituality to go that far. What it says in the Law of One, which is where I believe the truth can be found, is all you have to be is slightly more than 50% good – Service to Others. [This means being a] positive, loving, forgiving type of person. You can still be 49% selfish, manipulative, jealous, conniving and controlling and you’re still good to go for this ascension. So it’s not something that only the elite are going to go through. It’s not like if you occasionally have marshmallows or a cigarette that you’re not going to ascend. [Nor is it that if] you get drunk once in a while or you do drugs, you’re not going to ascend. It’s not like that. What really counts is character: how you treat people and what kind of thoughts are going through your mind. WHAT ABOUT OUR PETS? JC:This takes us back to Allison’s question at the beginning of the show. What happens to the little ones – the cats and the dogs and the horses? DW:This is something very interesting that I learned through one of the new insiders. If you have human beings and you portal a human being forward in time, we have something called a zero-time reference. THE ZERO-TIME REFERENCE The energetic body is anchored to the moment of conception. If you move that physical body forward in time, it will automatically progress or regress to the appropriate age that it would be at that time in history. So if you’re going to move a human in time, you actually have to change this zero-time reference – to shift it. This requires advanced extraterrestrial technology. You can’t just do it. So for example, [let’s say] you go through a natural stargate. There’s a variety of vortex points on earth where that will happen in the right planetary alignments at the right time of the year. [In such a case,] you can end up portaled 300 years into the future. What will happen is very quickly you’ll become a feeble old man or woman and you’ll die – unless you have the right ZTR (zero-time reference) [shifting] capability. Now, the funny part is, and I only learned this recently, animals do not have a ZTR. You can portal animals forward in time and they’ll live out their lives just fine. DINOSAURS PORTALING INTO OUR TIME AND SPACE So, for example, the Loch Ness Monster was a plesiosaurus. There have been multiple cases of lake monsters and pterodactyls that have flown in or swum in to a portal, and portaled into our time. What we are calling the Cabal or Illuminati, the military-industrial-complex, would [pick them up with] an advanced craft that we would think of as a UFO. I [was told that at] some time in the early 1970s they picked up Nessie. They took Nessie out of Loch Ness. They’ve picked up a bunch of these monsters that come through – dinosaurs that portal through. And they’ve stored them in various facilities. BENEVOLENT ETs TO PORTAL LIFE ON EARTH TO A SAFE TIME So what’s happening now is that in reference to your question, we have a situation where benevolent extraterrestrials will portal the life on earth forward in time to when it is safe again. So nothing dies an unfortunate death. It’s not like some big global catastrophe. That’s a common misperception. It only happens to the people who have invited that type of balancing karma. If you stay on earth and you go through the shift, even if you’re not really a very nice person, you’re [fine.] Only the most evil, negative people are ever going to see this negative timeline. It’s possible that the positive people for a while won’t even realize that this thing has happened. APOCALYPTIC WORLD FOR NEGATIVE PEOPLE Only the most negative people are actually going to see this type of disaster. They [the Cabal] have seen within their time viewing technologies that this is coming. Look at a movie like Interstellar. There are all kinds of movies that [lay out this prophecy.] The newMad Maxmovie that’s out right now [Mad Max: Fury Road] [is another example.] [There are] so many films describing this post-apocalyptic world because they see that it’s coming for them, but not for everybody else. WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE WHO GO THROUGH THE EVENT BUT ARE NOT READY TO ASCEND?(132:00) So if you are not one of those types of people, you will go through this event. If you’re not actually going to ascend, then probably what will happen is that you live out your normal life. You’ll die normally. And then when you next reincarnate, you’ll just reincarnate on a different planet. CHINA’S PSYCHIC STAR CHILDREN JC:Is this why the Chinese government is trying to crush Tibet? DW:Well, I don’t know if you could boil it down to something that simple. I do think that there are elements of the Chinese government that are controlled by the Cabal. And I think the regional tension with Tibet is multi-generational. But, yeah, the Chinese government did go around [looking for people with advanced abilities.] There’s a really great book calledChina’s Super Psychicsby Paul Dong. Interestingly enough, when you have people that grow up in extreme poverty, in many cases that hardship makes you more apt to develop these types of ascended abilities. So there are these kids in China [with ascended-type abilities already]… and this was documented. HIGH-LEVEL OIL EXECUTIVES WITNESSED FEATS OF CONSCIOUSNESS THAT SEEMED LIKE MIRACLES In fact, US oil executives went to China and witnessed [these types of phenomena.] One of the most stunning ones is a little girl who can wave her hands in front of a whole room full of people holding flowers that haven’t bloomed yet. She time-accelerates the blossoms, and the flower literally opens up right in front of your eyes as you are holding it in your hand. JC:I remember that. DW:Yeah. And there’s kids that can teleport pills out of bottles that are sealed. The seal is still good, but the pills end up outside the bottle. JC:I do that now. But that’s a whole other show. DW:Ha, ha, ha. That’s the late show. UM…. MOVING ON…. JC:Hey, man. Have you picked out your wardrobe for this weekend? I’ve got to get you aFade to Blackshirt. You’ve got to wear it. DW:Ha, ha, ha. Shameless plug from this guy! JC:Oh, no, no, no. I’m just saying . . . I’m just saying that you’ve got to wear aFade to Blackshirt atContact in the Desert. Have your girl call my girl. We’ll get that all set up. ”THE ILLUMINATI ARE RULING THE WORLD” Oh, I meant to tell you before the break. Check this out. You’re going to love this and I want your comments. Back in the early 70s, I suppose . . . Let’s just say I’m 10 years old – 10, 11, right around in that area, 72, 73, I’m like 10 or 11 years old. I’m listening to shows like this on my little AM radio on my nightstand. I would dial in these crazy late-night guys. I would get no sleep, and I would go to school in the morning, you know, transformed. So anyway, late night, you know it’s 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning in the middle of the week. I’m listening to this late-night AM radio guy and he says this. This is what he says. He goes, “Okay, man. You don’t know this, but the Illuminati are running the world.” DW:Ha, ha, ha! HE WROTE IT DOWN AND ASKED EVERYONE HE KNEW JC:You know, this is like 1972, 73. And I guarantee you my eyes popped open. You know my room is dark. The Illuminati? So I roll over and I write it down. I write down ‘The Illuminati.’ I don’t know if I spelled it right, but I wrote it down. He said, “They go back to the cave man days. They were the strongest tribes back then. Ever since back with the Neanderthals. “They were the strongest tribe. They ran governments. They ran Egypt and they ran Greece and they ran Rome and the United Kingdom and China. “You know throughout history the Illuminati has been the strongest tribe. And today they are running the world. It’s a secret government.” And so I wake up in the morning, and I’ve had nightmares now. I wake up and I go to my parents. “You ever heard of the Illuminati?” ‘Nope.’ NOT EVEN MR. MC WILLIAMS KNEW ABOUT THE ILLUMINATI I go to school. I go to my 6thgrade teacher, whatever his name was. It’s escaping me now. I go to him. . . Mr. McWilliams. “Have you ever heard of the Illuminati?” “No, never heard of them.” JC:And it was crazy to me that I got this secret information from AM radio overnight that I never forgot to this day. I never forgot his description, the way that he laid it out there. That was in the early 1970s. I went around and quizzed everybody throughout life after that. I couldn’t get information out of anybody. Nobody had heard of it, which to me confirmed what he was trying to say that night back in 1973. FIRST BATCH OF ”DELETED” AUDIO: POP MUSIC PROPAGANDA (137:30 to 137:47 missing audio) DW:They have gotten so audacious and daring now. And particularly the amount to which they are jamming out propaganda through pop music now is unbelievable. End Restored Audio MADONNA WRITES A SONG OPENLY ENDORSING THE ”ILLUMINATI” DW:My last article, Secret Space Program: Countdown to Exposure, is on my website divinecosmos.com. I encourage everybody to go read that. Madonna has come out and openly admitted“If there is something called the Illuminati, I want to be in it. “And I know who the Illuminati is. The Illuminati are the good guys. And they are all the smartest people throughout history.” JC:Why would she, David, why would she come out when you have everything on the Internet and different fringe shows and websites and so forth that have been talking about this? [It is] not only Madonna, but you know JayZ, Beyonce, what have you, you know, pick a star – Lady Gaga. The finger’s [been] pointed at Madonna like that for so long. Then she turns around and comes out with a song called Illuminati. Why would she do that? DW:Yeah. And she sings, “The ‘all seeing eye’ is watching tonight. That’s what it is, the Truth and the Light.” Unbelievable! THE PEOPLE IN POP MUSIC ARE BEING GREATLY ABUSED AND WE SHOULD HELP FIGHT FOR THEIR FREEDOM JC:Yeah. Why would she do that? Was she told to do it? That’s the only thing I can think of. DW:Yeah. These folks in pop music, they don’t rank very high in the Order. They’re not running the thing. That is why I also pulled Kanye West’s quote where he got all excited about Madonna’s song, ‘Illuminati’. “Yes, yes!” He was jumping up and down on the soundboard. He got so excited about it. And he’s now come out and said, “People think we’re running the world. We’re just hired talent. “They just tell us what to do. And if we don’t go along with it, we don’t have a job.” So you’ve got to realize that the pop music big people are just playing along to a script. You have the artist Kesha who came out and actually had this song called ‘Die Young’ – right before the Sandy Hook school shootings. She’s basically saying, “Let’s just party and die young.” Then in the video she’s dancing in front of an illuminated pentagram. And then she comes out and says that she was raped by this guy that she was working with. She was forced to sing those lyrics and she didn’t want to. THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT SHAPESHIFTERS JC:I think she’s a reptilian anyway. JC:Oh, you laugh. Ha, ha, ha. DW:Look. The shapeshifting reptilians thing is a meme that David Icke introduced – and he since has altered it. He’s said he thinks these people have a spiritual reptilian influence, but are not physically shapeshifting. I don’t believe that there is any such thing as shapeshifting biological material. It just doesn’t work that way. We all have the same basic laws. I really encourage folks to try not to go on a witch hunt here. Madonna is basically doing what she has been told. THE POP STARS ARE BEING HORRIBLY ABUSED IN WAYS WE CANNOT EVEN IMAGINE People like Madonna, JayZ, Beyonce, Nikki Minaj, name ‘em, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry. These people are tortured by the Illuminati so fiercely. Many of them would do anything to get out if they could. They have been electrocuted. They have been raped. They have had to watch violence and death be done in front of them in satanic rituals. It’s horrible. We should not be hating these people. We should be trying to help these people get free. Most of the people who are stuck in this horrible cult do not want to be in it. They would do anything to get out. So let’s not go blaming them. THE HIDDEN CULT OF HOLLYWOOD JC:Well, are they in the cult? And look. Since I arrived in Hollywood in 1983, I’ve heard rumors about this. It’s like ‘urban legend’ in Hollywood. You hear about it everywhere you go in the music business and the movie business. And for those people that are not in Hollywood, that are listening now from another part of the country and are rolling their eyes and going, ‘Oh, come on….’ No. You know what? Live here. Move here and certainly become part of the industry in some way. It doesn’t matter on what level. JC:You’re going to hear these rumors. And this is nothing that David or myself have made up. This is a sub-culture that you kind of learn to accept because you hear it nearly daily. Whether it’s somebody like Corey Haim, God rest his soul. He was great. But you hear about these stories all the time. PEDOPHILE HOLLYWOOD DIRECTORS What was the director that . . . Oh, what’s his name? DW:Bryan Singer? [Who was accused of pedophilia by a boy who worked on one of his projects.] JC:Yeah, Bryan Singer and his family. He’s one of the most . . . Now look, I want to back up and use the word ‘allegedly’. JC:Ha, ha. Let’s just use the word ‘allegedly’. But you hear about guys like him and other directors and producers and influential people throughout the industry. This is stuff that happens on a daily basis out here in Hollywood and it’s crazy. I know it sounds nutty . . . DW:It is horrible. JC:Yeah. You hear about it every single day. There are . . . You know, you hear about…. SECOND DELETED SECTION: TOP CABAL PEOPLE ARE GUILTY AND WILL BE DEFIANT UNTIL THE END (142:55 to 143:30 – missing audio) JC:This thing with Bill Cosby. That’s just the public version of things. JC:What has been going on in this subculture, these rumors, I’ve heard about it since the day I set foot in Hollywood. DW:Well, let’s be clear about one other thing. There are some people who have really plotted for the deaths of millions and millions of people. And those people will be defiant to the end. In fact, they have an inner saying they use. [They say] that they will be defiant until the “quick drop and the sudden stop.” And that’s hanging. The quick drop is… End Restored Audio THE DEFIANCE OF THE CABAL DW: . . . when the ground falls out from under you with a noose on your neck. And the sudden stop is when your neck breaks. So they will be laughing. They will be saying “f- you” and “You’re a bunch of useless eaters” right up to the moment… THIRD DELETED SECTION OF THE ORIGINAL: DIABOLICAL LAUGHTER (143:44 to 144:10 – missing audio) …where the noose is around their neck. They will be cackling with diabolical laughter. (Laughs) That’s how they think. JC:We’re going to be, again, about 2 minutes up against our last break. And then I’m going to ask you, please indulge me and hang out for another 15 minutes. DW:Sure, no problem. JC:And maybe we’ll take a couple of phone calls. I want to throw this out at you. End Restored Audio HOW DID YOU MEET COREY GOODE? JC:. . . and his story and his involvement with you. It is all over the Internet. There’s been a lot of leaks. There’s been a lot of disinfo on both sides of the fence. So I want to talk about Corey when we come back. How did you meet Corey? And how far along are you with your research? I know that you’re going to be doing some additional disclosure. If it’s okay – I don’t know if I’m throwing you under the bus. You guys have shot some video. Are you going to present some of that stuff too? DW:Not at Contact in the Desert. It probably won’t be ready by then, but it’s going to be ready soon afterwards. JC:How did you meet Corey? INSIDER DATA ABOUT A FLYING BLACK TRIANGLE THAT WAS MALFUNCTIONING DW:He emailed me beginning in 2009 and shared some insider data with me. He saw a malfunctioning flying black triangle that was actually like a blimp held on a tether. It hadn’t quite inflated properly. It was a thing like a gigantic triangular blimp. He shared this story with me in confidence, and I said, “Wow, that’s amazing.” We talked off and on. I knew he was a supporter of my work and he’d write me from time to time. JC:When did he see this? DW:He wrote me about this in 2009. I think the event happened in the 1990s. A VERY STRANGE SIGHTING IN THE DESERT JC:Check this out. In the last couple of weeks, I was with somebody that told me this story. And this is somebody I trust like a brother, like a family member. Okay, without going any further. He said that he witnessed up in northern California in 2009 a craft that was being towed across the valley in northern-northern California, in the remote part of northern California, where there is nothing. And he said that it was being pulled at, and it looked like a dragon on the end of a long cable. It was moving like a snake. And the craft at the end was a ball with a long tubular structure with long tubes on the end. He drew it for me, by the way. It was being escorted by a couple of aircraft and helicopters across this large mountain range, where there are no airports. There is no civilization. There are no towns. There is nothing. And there were a few witnesses that saw this. But it was being towed. A TEST OF AN END-TIMES SIMULATION TECHNOLOGY DW:That’s probably a test of one of the types of technologies that they have. They were going to use [these technologies] to try to fake either an alien invasion or a biblical apocalypse. [It would be something like the] rapture, [or] demons in the sky. That kind of thing. JC:He said the ball in the front of the craft that was being towed . . . By the way, it was like . . . It was hundreds of yards long. This wasn’t some small craft. DW:Yes. It’s huge. JC:It’s huge. And he said the ball in the front had a windshield. He said it was so close to them that if there had been somebody standing in windows, he would have been able to see them. JC:But there wasn’t anybody at the front of the craft. He said he didn’t know if it was damaged or it was being tested, but it didn’t have wings. It was metallic. And it was interesting. IT LOOKED LIKE ”BUCK ROGERS” And the drawing that he drew, which I have with me now, it’ll blow your mind. It looks . . . It is Buck Rogers, man. It’s notBattlestar Galactica, Star Wars, no. This is like backwards looking. It’s more Buck Rogers-ish. Let’s take a quick break. When we come back, I want to talk more about Corey and take some phone calls. Let’s do it. This is Fade to Black. Tonight David Wilcock. Always great stuff when David is on with us. This is the Bespoke Radio for the Masses. I’m your host Jimmy Church. WHO’S PROTECTING DAVID WILCOCK? Let’s go straight to the phones. Hi, you’re live on Fade to Black. Say ‘Hi’ to David Wilcock. Who’s calling? Caller:This is Walt. JC:Hey, Walt. How are you man? Are we going to see you in a couple of days? Walt:Oh, no. I got a private invitation, but no. I just don’t have time. But listen. I want to thank you Jim. David, I got your book. I read it. Wow! What a guest tonight and what an interview. DW:Well, thank you. Walt:David, you know so much. And you talk to so many people that are in the know. A lot of them, I guess, keep themselves private to the general public. But for some reason they talk to you. And you’ve been protected, I guess, because you’re a hot item with the people that don’t want you to talk. ARE PEOPLE FROM THE FUTURE PROTECTING YOU? I think I know who’s protecting you. You’re not going to believe this. My guess, okay? Walt:I think it is relatives from your future. I think they’re coming back and they’re going to keep an eye on you and keep you safe. DW:I would actually agree with you. I think that’s exactly correct. So wherever you got that from, a high-five, buddy. You’re right. JC:Okay, thank you for the call, Walt. JC:Thank you. Well, yeah. Wow! I . . . DW:Let me just add one little thing here. These people don’t come to me as much as . . . are we still on? JC:Oh, yeah, we’re live. DW:I’m waiting for it at this point. I’m thinking, “If we get through this, it’s going to be amazing.” I sought these people out. [They didn’t just come to me.] I DO NOT CONSIDER MYSELF TO BE A SMART PERSON I also just want to say something. People say to me, “David, you know so much. You have all this information. You’re so intelligent.” Blah, blah, blah. I don’t think of myself as a smart person. To me, everything I talk about is very basic and very obvious. You know, I’ve been through the wringer. I’ve done the homework. I would not say the things I say unless I absolutely believed with every fiber of my being that I’m telling you the truth. As crazy as some of this stuff sounds, I have gone through and I have vetted it out. I’ve done the scientific research. And I have worked very hard to find these insiders. They don’t just come to me. I have to go seek them out. That’s a big difference from what he was saying. That’s the only thing I wanted to add. IS SCIENTOLOGY PART OF THE CABAL? JC:I’m going to . . . I don’t really want a comment from you on this, because it’s getting into dangerous territory and you’ll understand why after you hear what I have. Cortana says, “Is Scientology all part of this cult of Hollywood’s loosh junkies?” And I’m going to say this. Although Scientology scares the crap out of me, and there’s a lot to be said about it, I’d rather just research and not comment. You know what? They’re too vicious and I don’t want them coming after me, coming after you. They have long tentacles and deep pockets, too, as well. DAVID’S ORTHODONTIST WAS A SCIENTOLOGIST DW:(Laughs) Well, I had a orthodontist in Louisville, Kentucky who was a Scientologist. We got talking about the Illuminati. He definitely knew about it, but in his mind, they were the enemy. TOM CRUISE HAS AT LEAST TWO MOVIES BLASTING THE CABAL And Tom Cruise obviously is known as a Scientologist. And yet, if you look at either of his two most recent movies, which would be theLive, Die, Repeat…. I forget what the rest of it was actually called. [Edge of Tomorrow.] That’s what they ended up using as the main thing on the title. The other one wasOblivion. Holy smokes! I’ve done articles just on those movies. It does appear that at the top levels of Scientology there is some penetration from the Illuminati – but that group, per se, is not an Illuminati group. LET’S LEAVE IT RIGHT THERE…. JC:Interesting. I . . . You know what, I . . . and let it lie right there. I have no issues with Scientology. Ha, ha, ha, ha. JC:None. None. I find it very fascinating, though. I’ll say this. L. Ron Hubbard with all that money, David, all that money, and he never got his teeth fixed. I just don’t get that. I don’t get that. I mean why not get your teeth cleaned? I guess there’s no dentist in Scientology. Well, you just said you had an orthodontist. JC:All right. Moving on. This question just came in. Scientology, we kid. No, we don’t, but we do. WHY AREN’T ALIENS TAKING PEOPLE ONBOARD THEIR CRAFT NOW? “When you started the interview, David stated that the aliens are no longer taking people on board their ships. Please ask why. “Also, has he ever heard of real robots working with the aliens?” Interesting question. And I think he’s referring to robots like Robbie the Robot. DW:Yes, I get it. Okay, so, question number one I already did explain. We’ll probably have this transcribed because I’ve leaked a lot of new stuff. So we’ll get this typed up. I’ve also got to post a transcript of the one I did with George. I’ve been so busy with this video, I haven’t had time to actually post these things. IN-PERSON CONTACTS WERE DISCONTINUED DUE TO THE PROBLEMS IT CAUSED The reason why, as I said, people were not being contacted and actually brought on board the ships [after the early 1960s by the benevolent ETs] was because of two things. Number one, they were being worshipped by fans and followers as if they were different and more special than everyone else. And number two, they started doing things like womanizing, developing egos and doing illicit financial things – [such as] profiting too much off of their services. That kind of stuff. So the ETs are very strict about all this stuff – the good guys at least. They are very strict on that you have to live your life as an ethical person. The way the Illuminati would be able to take down somebody like me is if I actually had a breach in ethics. DAVID TRIES TO DO THE BEST HE CAN Now, people make up stuff about me online all the time. I’m not saying that the average person has to try to live as perfect of a life as I do, in terms of the amount of diet perfection that I try to go for. [Nor is it necessary to do] the jogging, the exercise, [or] the complete lack of any intoxicating substances or drugs whatsoever. I’ve been sober ever since September 21, 1992, and I intend to stay that way. I’m not saying you have to be sober to ascend. If you want to do what I’m doing and not get whacked, you absolutely have to be an Olympic athlete. You’ve got to be in it 100%. JC:Yeah, not only that, David. You’ve got to . . . If anything did happen to you, you’d become a martyr. Let’s knock on wood here. But then that just means everything that you said, now people have to sit up and listen to it. DW:You can pull Obi-Wan’s quote right out of Star Wars: “If you kill me, I’ll become more powerful than you can imagine.” (Laughs) Yeah, exactly. They don’t want that. JC:No, it’s exactly right. There’s . . . THERE IS A GREAT WEALTH OF RECORDED MATERIAL NOW AVAILABLE DW:See, because then . . . I’ve got about 130 episodes I’ve done with Gaiam TV now – onWisdomTeachings.com, as I said. People can go watch that for US$9.95 a month. You get this little Roku stick and you can watch it on your TV. There’s [the] Amazon Fire [stick]. There’s Google Play. Cable is obsolete now. And you can watch whatever you want. They do not want to make me into a martyr, because I’ve been able to release so much of the material that I want to tell the world [on my shows.] It’s [all] going to become far more significant if something happened to me. I know they’ve tried other [ideas.] There are various plans of how they could try to take me down. PLANS TO COOK UP A FAKE AUDIO TRACK One of the plans I’ve heard is they’ve actually cooked up apparently some very fake audio of me, where it appears that I’m saying very disparaging things. So if that ever happens, if people apparently have leaked information where I’m saying something on the phone and it sounds like I’m a Luciferian, or that I’m very disparaging, or I’m saying racist things, or whatever, it’s not true. I really do appreciate all types of people. I have not womanized. I’ve had just five girlfriends in my life. I am not a homosexual. Take your pick. I know they’re going to try a lot of stuff, apparently, as this all goes big. [DW: I am not attacking homosexuals here. I have been told that accusing me of homosexuality is simply another way to try to stigmatize and slander my work.] DISCLOSURE COMING SOON We are going to get Disclosure pretty soon. And that’s the next stage of this. We’re facing [a situation] now [where] Greece is going to default on June 6th. When they do, it very likely could take the euro down. And then when the euro goes down, the dollar’s going to go down. [DW: The payment was not made. Only an IOU that they may pay it later on, even though they have no money. Insiders have told us that this whole sequence of events is being delayed until early autumn.] THE US IS ALREADY BANKRUPT — IT JUST HASN’T BEEN ANNOUNCED YET The US is already functionally bankrupt. They haven’t announced this to the public yet. There are already laws on the books right now that say, “Your money in the bank already belongs to the federal government.” They can use it as needed to bail themselves out. They did the same thing in 1934 when they recalled everybody’s gold in the midst of the Great Depression. JC:Yeah, I’m a firm believer in one thing – a safe in your house. JC:Your grandparents had it right when they were putting everything underneath their mattress. JC:I have no issue with that at all. BAIL-INS COULD BE THE FINAL TRIGGER FOR MASS ARRESTS AND DISCLOSURE DW:Let me just finish that thought really quickly by saying that they apparently are going to try to do these bail-ins. They are expecting that the public is going to get really angry. This is probably going to be the trigger that will lead to this mass arrest scenario I’ve been talking about. When that happens, it’s going to be one of the biggest shocks and surprises. I know there are a lot of people that are pissed off, because I’ve been talking about this since probably 2011. It hasn’t happened yet, but the more I’ve learned, I can tell you that absolutely it is real. THERE IS AN EARTH ALLIANCE AND A SPACE PROGRAM ALLIANCE The Alliance is far more complex than I realized. This includes the fact that there is one type of Alliance that’s here on earth and they have goals. Then there’s another Alliance that’s actually working in the Space Program. Many of the things that the Alliance on earth is trying to do are ultimately going to be relatively obsolete, or only short-term transitional stages. Once the Space Program’s stuff comes into view, we’re going to have technologies that are so far beyond what we have right now. That alone is going to be the biggest quantum leap in society that we have ever had in recorded history. JADE HELM AND U.S. BANKRUPTCY JC:What do you think about Jade Helm? Is that part of what’s going on? DW:What I heard from Pete Peterson, who I trust, and his sources I trust, is that it is largely not true. They have been using that to try to inspire preppers to get more prepared, because they are expecting the U.S. to announce that it’s bankrupt. Congress is not going to approve any more debt ceiling raising. The rest of the world is not going to tolerate it any more. There is all kinds of weird stuff going on. Apparently, since January of this year, Saudi Arabia is not accepting dollars as payment for oil. They are only accepting gold. That has not been publicly reported. That’s one thing that could get me in a lot of trouble for saying, but it is apparently true. BITCOINS CREATED BY NSA GOOD GUYS And we’re in trouble. The U.S. government is bankrupt. As I said in my show that I did in San Mateo, California, the New Living Expo, the NSA good guys [made Bitcoin.] There are good guys in every intelligence agency. [The NSA good guys] did make Bitcoin to have a backup so that if the Federal Reserve tries to crash the dollar, we can reboot our currency off of Bitcoins. And Bitcoins cannot be tampered with. They cannot be hacked. Goldman recently bought a bunch of Bitcoins. They see the writing on the wall. JC:Yeah, yeah, yeah. I found that really interesting. Let’s back up. I have a couple of questions. Now we’re about out of time, so I’ve got to get these in. With your knowledge of DNA manipulation, do you think that all of the critical leaps of knowledge throughout history [were programmed?] I’m referring to mathematics, the chaffing of wheat, the wheel, fire. Were all of these predestined and preprogrammed in our DNA? [Do you think] that knowledge was set to happen on a set date? DW:I think we worship DNA too much. DNA is sort of like the antenna. Then the question is, who is actually making the broadcast? DW:Walt was giving me compliments about the last book I wrote,Synchronicity Key. I think that’s what he was talking about. In the whole second half of that book, I talk about how history is cyclical. The same things keep happening. So it does appear that we are on an intelligently-designed timeline. WE ARE ON AN INTELLIGENTLY-DESIGNED TIMELINE Synchronicity and forces of dreams and visions [drive us along,] and spontaneous inventors come up with things seemingly on their own. There are cases in history where all over the world, simultaneously or almost simultaneously, the same technologies are developed. You mentioned the mill for wheat as one example. It does appear that we are on a very precisely manicured timeline. [It] is steered to make sure that we all go through this collective initiation. We [needed to] have a suitable type of technology to mimic the telepathy that we’re going to have when we go through this quantum leap. Of course, I’m talking about the Internet, where everybody is now connected to everybody with this little gizmo that they carry around in their pocket. That is sort of like the training wheels to get us ready for this telepathic new reality we’re going to be in. This new reality is also not going to have money. And we’re already seeing everything going in that direction. INTERNET RESULTING IN THE INABILITY TO MONETIZE CREATIVE PRODUCTS All these institutions that used to make money are collapsing. Everybody is downloading their music. Everybody is stealing movies. It’s so hard now to monetize any creative work, because piracy is so widespread. Nobody thinks it’s a bad thing any more. This is bad for the artists – guys you and me who are out there trying to play guitar. JC:Right, right. You touch upon something that, I think, is critical. It is music and it is movies, but, you know what, it’s books, it’s photography, it’s illustration, it’s . . . JC:That’s what I’m talking about. Yeah. Newspapers, Time Magazine, pick something. Now that monetization part of our culture is completely gone, completely vaporized. DW:When was the last time that I paid to read something? I don’t even know. JC:I don’t know how they monetize. I don’t. I don’t. HOW CAN ANYONE MONETIZE THEIR WORK THESE DAYS? It’s frightening what the Internet has done. And it also goes to another level, David. I use a simple file share program to move stuff around. And I look at that website when I open up that program, which was given to me free from another company. I didn’t steal it. You know, this is what we use here. You can download it from our site. But there’s no advertising on that program. There’s no payment for it. But, there was a team of engineers somewhere that wrote the code that got it to work flawlessly, by the way. It’s amazing. But where . . . You know, . . . How . . . That entire part because of the Internet . . . That entire part of monetization is gone. How does that company survive? I don’t get it. But yet we want everything for free, for free, for free. It’s a road to nowhere, if we stop and think about it. DW:As many people are now using this term, it’s a race to the bottom. JC:Right. Ha, ha, ha. GIVE US SOMETHING BIG, NEW AND CRAZY! JC:Oh, man. Okay, now, this just came in and we have to leave on this note. “David has to give us a piece of unheard-of information live on the air.” Just like you did last time. Let’s have them shut us down, David. Ha, ha, ha. Ah, let’s see. Give us your best shot there, Tiger. 100 SPHERES COMING INTO OUR SOLAR SYSTEM (167:40) DW:Okay. Okay. I got a good one for you. I talked about these 100 spheres that have come into our solar system. This gets back to the Corey question. I’ll try to integrate some things here because we didn’t really talk about it. JC:No. How do we do that? How did we . . . That was the main part of the show for me tonight. DW:(Laughs) It didn’t happen. JC:It didn’t happen. I love you brother. Ha, ha, ha. DW:I got your back, buddy. Back to back, going down in a hail of gunfire here. JC:Yes, we are. DW:We’ve had 100 [cloaked] spheres show up in the solar system since 2012. They have given the Solar Warden people advanced technology that is allowing them to defeat the Cabal. Some very strange things are going on. ETs IN ”EMBASSIES” ON EARTH AND IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM There’s all of these ETs in what we call embassies somewhere in the earth. Some of them are spread throughout our solar system – Mars, the moon and a variety of other moons and asteroids. THE BLUE AVIANS GAVE SOLAR WARDEN HIGHLY ADVANCED DEFENSIVE TECHNOLOGY As I said, Solar Warden was the breakaway faction amongst these five space program factions. The Blue Avians are apparently one of five types of beings that are in these spheres. We’re talking now [about] humanoids that have bird-like heads. They are sort of a morph between a bird and a human face. They are 8 feet tall. (2.7 meters.) They have indigo-blue feathers mixed with some purple-type feathers, depending on which being you are talking to. These beings have now given Solar Warden the most advanced technology on the block. A NO-FLY ZONE AROUND THE EARTH AND A BARRIER AROUND THE SOLAR SYSTEM Solar Warden is now enforcing a no-fly zone around the earth. Nobody can fly in or out of the earth anymore unless they are permitted to. Something has been put around our solar system [that they] call the Barrier. This means that nobody can get in. Nobody can get out. And communications cannot get in and out. One of the interesting things is that when the Barrier was put up, the vast majority of all the reptilians in their so-called Dark Fleet were outside the solar system. And they cannot get back in. THE DRACO ROYALS BETRAYED EVERYONE BELOW THEIR IMMEDIATE LEVEL Another interesting thing that happened is that the royals of the reptilians, the Dracos that are still here, were willing to betray [everyone.] They asked if they could betray everyone in the Illuminati below their own cadre of royalty, meaning only the top, top level reptilians. They were going to betray everybody else in their order if they were just allowed to get the heck out of here. That’s apparently how real they see this coming Event as being. For them, it’s curtains time. For everybody else, it’s the Cosmic Springboard. EVERYTHING IS BUILDING UP TO MASS ARRESTS AND DISCLOSURE So what’s now happening is that there are all these meetings taking place with people on earth. This gets back to the question of why aren’t they bringing us up into space any more. They stopped doing that in the 1950s and early 1960s, but now it’s happening again. People are being contacted. People are being brought up into space. There are hundreds and hundreds of people, apparently, who are being brought up there in advance of this big mass arrest thing that is going to happen. We’re going to see the Illuminati exposed. We’re going to see their plans exposed. It’s going to be the greatest wake up call [in recorded history.] THE ILLUMINATI TRIBUNALS WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING It’s probably going to end up being called the Illuminati Tribunals. It’s going to be all over TV. It’s going to be what everybody is talking about. Probably once this happens, you’re not going to hear any Lady Gaga or Katy Perry or any of that type of music being played on the radio when you walk into a restaurant or grocery store. People are going to know now what was going on. There’s going to be a huge backlash against this stuff. You’re going to see heads of state, major celebrities, major world leaders, as well as shadowy international bankers being brought out on trial. Many of the top level witnesses, who are the people who can bring down the Cabal, have already been brought off planet. They are in such danger from the Cabal and from the angry public that they are being held off planet. [That way,] when these mass arrests and the tribunals take place, they will be testifying from a secure location – meaning not on earth. THERE IS NOWHERE FOR THE CABAL TO HIDE The Cabal is trying to find a place to hide, but there is nowhere they can go where they are not going to be picked up. Apparently, a lot of them are planning on moving to Brazil. They do have this sort of militarized nation within Brazil. It’s sort of like a separate nation-state. It has a 12-mile perimeter, all militarized perimeter stuff with a little green zone inside where they all have these houses. A lot of them have apparently moved all of their stuff there already. They are expecting this thing to happen any time. IT IS FRUSTRATING THAT WE HAVEN’T HAD RESULTS YET I’ve been hearing this over and over again. It is like “the boy who cried Wolf.” It upsets me because I’m out there defending the Alliance. I don’t get to talk to anybody directly. It’s all on a need to know basis. And I’m not apparently at a level where I need to know who these people are yet. Corey is meeting with them regularly, and so I’m getting a lot more specific details now. I’m able to ask questions. I’m able to interact with them. IT’S ALL COMING TO A HEAD IN THE NEXT SIX MONTHS I ask them something and they give me the information. And what they are telling me is, “For God’s sake, David, get off your ass. Hurry the F___ up. “Do as much as you can to release this stuff as fast as you can, because it’s all coming to a head very, very soon.” Somebody said that they want new information. One of the most juicy things I was just told is that where we are going to be six months from now apparently is very different from where we are right now. Everything is going to accelerate to warp drive over the course of the next six months. That’s what I’m hearing. So I hope it’s true. I’d love to see that it comes true. DREAMS OF BEING FAR MORE PUBLIC IN THE FUTURE You know, I have all of these dreams telling me that I’m going to be extremely public, extremely exposed. Already when I go out in public, people spot me a lot of the time. I still can reasonably go through life without having everybody wanting to talk to me and take a selfie. Apparently in the future it is not going to be like that. I’ll be like a Snowden. Everybody is going to know who I am. I’ll probably have to have security and just, you know, not leave the house – basically just stay home all the time. But I certainly do not live in a militarized compound. (Laughs) THE FAMOUS POP STARS GOT THAT WAY BY BEING TALENTED — IN PART JC:Well, I can live without Lady Gaga, but I kind of like Katy Perry. DW:Yeah. These people earned the right to be famous by being talented. And, again, they are being tortured. They’re victims. DW:They’re being raped. They’re being abused. They are not happy people. That’s why you’ve got guys like Kurt Cobain killing themselves. It’s horrible to have a career [in these industries.] It’s funny, because you’d think, “I want to be famous. I want everybody to know my name.” If you do it through film acting or you do it through being a music star, good God. It’s not the life you thought you were going to have. THOTH WOULD BE AN EXAMPLE OF THE BLUE AVIANS JC:Right. Right. Its sounds like you were describing Thoth [with the Blue Avians] too. Were you? DW:Yeah. Well, that is an earlier example of these same beings, yeah. Absolutely. JC:Very interesting. Very interesting. DW:They came back. They were back there during the time of ancient Egypt. You see cave paintings of these humanoids with bird heads. And they came back. They are here to make sure that this whole thing goes smoothly. They brought in these 100-plus spheres. THE SPHERES ARE HERE TO HELP STABILIZE US THROUGH THE TRANSITION [The spheres are] basically energy balancers. They make sure that our solar system isn’t going to have a catastrophe. It modulates the energy increase as it is happening and keeps everything smooth. They are keeping this thing very carefully balanced. The Cabal is not going to be allowed to do mass depopulation. They’re not going to be allowed to do mass atrocities. They try and try and try. But they’re not going to be allowed to do it. JC:Thank you so much, David. TWO MORE SHOWS TO SCHEDULE JC:We’ve got two shows we’ve got to schedule. We’ve got a full music evening that we’ve got to get to. One thing that we’ve got to put on the front burner over the next couple of months, we’ve got to do a Corey show. And there’s a timing with other stuff that you’re working on that will be a necessity. We’ve got to get that done. And we need to make that commitment to the audience, because we dance . . . I don’t know how we blew past that time, but we did. MORE INFORMATION COMING OUT DW:Well, there’s a lot of stuff that’s coming out. We are going to have Corey do a mini-series on Gaiam TV. Everybody who’s a subscriber is going to be able to watch that. [DW: The first episode of this is going to be released for free, in addition to any in-house videos I make from our original taping.] PUTTING TOGETHER VIDEOS AND A HUGE BOOK OF NOTES I’ve also got six hours of footage in the can. I don’t know how much it’s actually going to turn into when I make it into videos. I may actually do a series instead of just doing all in one, because there is so much stuff now that I’m going through it. It’s so frickin’ good. It’s going to be mind-blowing for people. I’m also putting together a document that was 130 pages [of notes] when it started. I would just type as Corey was telling me all this stuff. I’m trying to arrange it into a linear order so that all the data he told me is in a book. And that’s going to be free. Then that way, nobody can say I’m hiding anything or that I’m sequestering information. It’s full disclosure. It’s all out there. That’s what the Alliance is telling us [they want.] I don’t know why, exactly, because I’m not on that need to know level. They’re saying, “Get out as much of this stuff as you can as fast as you can, because the SHTF.” So there you go. NO ILLUMINATI CUT-OFF THIS TIME! JC:Thank you so much. We’ll see you in about two or three days, man,Contact in the Desertin Joshua Tree. DW:All right, buddy. JC:David Wilcock, everybody. Thank you so much, David. DW:My pleasure. And I’ll . . . JC:Oh, man. I cut him off. That wasn’t the Illuminati. That was me, David. Ha, ha. Thank you so much. We are up against it. I have got to roll credits. Thank you, David. That was not the Cabal. That was my mouse. I don’t want anybody to freak out. Thank you, David. David Wilcock. This weekend we’ll be hanging out at Contact in the Desert – and so should you. (Credits.) MORE ABOUT THE PROGRESS ON THE VIDEO I did see some very, very nasty stuff that people have been writing about me on the internet. Most people’s lives are fairly ”normal,” stable and predictable — which is good. I long for the relative safety and comfort of those days! Each time I do an event, a Gaiam TV taping or an Ancient Aliens taping, I put my all into it. One hundred percent. At the Contact in the Desert (CID) event alone, I had fullyfive different events,four of which were lectures with complex and unique slideshows totaling 100 or more slides each. I have people who go to every single public event I do, so I try to never repeat anything. And somehow I manage to pull it off. After the CID event, I had no time to relax. I immediately had to study for another complex Ancient Aliens taping. Since that time I have been trying to calm down. The night before the Ancient Aliens taping, I unwisely agreed to do a cameo on Coast to Coast with George Noory. As a sign of the trouble I was in, I had the cordless right next to my head in bed. I slept right through them calling me fully seven different times. IT’S NOT AS EASY AS YOU MIGHT THINK Now that we are starting off Season Two of my new show Disclosure by featuring Corey Goode, I can relax with confidence that at least some form of video will get out there. Gaiam did not think I should release the other video at all. The reason for this was that I did a lot of talking, since Corey wasn’t saying much. We have discussed this and he will be a lot more expressive in our next round of tapings. The first episode, at least, will be free for everyone to watch. I do feel that the things I said were very valuable, and Corey agrees with me. I will try to take what we have and make it into something good nonetheless. Bear in mind that the vast majority of all this work is being done all by myself. I have had to learn a staggering amount of new software to do this properly. Furthermore, I have spent at least 45 hours just fixing ambient noise in the audio track due to having a new microphone and not monitoring our audio. The mic was constantly scratching against my shirt. I have fixed almost everything, but it has been toweringly frustrating and difficult. DECIDING TO ”BUILD AS I LEARN” From here on out, now that the audio is almost cleaned up (finally), I have decided that I will ”build as I learn” with the video. That way, all the high-end techniques I’m working on will make their way into the finished product instead of just being stored in my brain and in demo tutorials I have worked on. This feels like the right move. My next course is a five-and-a-half-hour tutorial on integrating Adobe Premiere Pro with After Effects in an editing / FX environment. I have finally been able to get back into productivity in the last week and am excited about all the things I’m learning. In the meantime, Gaiam is planning on having our first episode with Corey out ASAP. It could be some time in July but may take longer. QUITE LONG… AS USUAL… This has grown quite long, as usual, so it’s a good time to end it here. No matter how much time I put into writing an article, any audio of me that gets leaked out there generates at least 10 times more traffic. Any video I release generates at least 25 times more traffic than an article, on average. So, the benefits in doing this on a high-end level (i.e. significantly better than the majority of YouTube videos on the subject) makes very good sense. That goal is finally coming into view. It will be a change in how I do what I do, and I am very much looking forward to it. We are hearing that everything is reaching a grand crescendo, and if I have the time and feel inclined, I may finish and publish what I was already working on to illustrate the clues. It is a wild and wonderful ride right now. The truth comes with pain, but in the aftermath of that moment of suffering we will finally be free — for the first time in thousands of years. That is worth fighting for. That is worth dying for. The time for change is now. Get ready for the Upgrade!

Even stamping it in pavement can't change its transitory time with us. I wonder who tried? I wonder who attempted to retain it, right there in old cement? I know, it's just somebody's name. It's a signature for whoever poured the foundation of the now old house that was, back then, young. But maybe Ponce de León was just a few centuries early and on the wrong coast. It's not a fountain of youth after all. It's a sidewalk. And I'm going to linger on it every time I walk by.

I decide to embed a weekly post on my blog. Every week I'll write an interesting quote from sages. Here you go to pick the first up. “Buy the best, and you only cry once.” Yes, you have caught me, I bought a very posh coat!! ... this has made my day!! Anyway here you go to get an amazing and relly funny tool to avatar yourself sponsored by McDonald, I did it and was super!! Enjoy your weekend baking scones! Here my favorite websites of this week period: ♥ dwell - nice designers and modern fornitures ♥ lombok - it is a colonial shop but they also have wonderful things ♥ habitat - really a masterpiece The atmosphere is great and cool and cozy, you can see Piazza San Marco from their windows right in front of you! It is not overly smart, but it is stylish, it looks like a classic and old style restaurant, you can feel the antique atmosphere around you. Not to expect great culinary innovation, they use to cook just Italian classics and they do that greatly! Harry's Bar is not cheap but I´m so satisfied with the portions and drinks and the service is so excellent. I LOVE how they change the tablecloth before serving the desserts (their meringa lemon cake is haevenly! Have fun there It takes the stuff you get from the drive-thru and turns it into haute cuisine, complete with step-by-step instructions and pictorial evidence. Delicious! Fans of the site think the cheap but impressive-looking dishes are “timely in our economic downturn” or “a great resource for guys trying to impress girls without having to shell out for an expensive restaurant.”. On this website you can find lots of example of how presentation can change perception of quality and value. It's definitaly the website that turns your Big Mac into a gourmet dinner. "Whether you are staying for 48 hours or five days, visiting for business or a vacation, we’ve done the hard work for you, from finding the best restaurants, bars and hotels (including which rooms to request) to the most extraordinary stores and sites, and the most enticing architecture and design. Wallpaper* City Guides enable you to come away from your trip, however brief, with a real taste of the city’s landscape and the satisfaction you’ve seen all that you should. In short, these guides act as a passport to the best the world has to offer." All Lea Stein pins are copied by many others but to recognize the original and authentic one you can loot at back and find back these signs "Lea Stein, Paris" on the "V" clasp. MV says: all types of accessories such as jewels and also bags or belts are full of worth because you can hand them to your children! I've got lots of gorgeous vintage accessorises from my mum, my grandmother and my aunt and I LOVE them so much!!! At least I’m back and ready to enjoy properly this new year. I had really good time on the mountain with some friends of mine, skiing, eating, relaxing basically I enjoyed my life. Now it’s time to think about the next months and I’ve decided to achieve 2 goals in short time: the first one is to improve my English and the second is about health, I mean, getting fit curing my party-season hangovers (please don’t say the this is a waste of time, I need of many motivations from everyone!!). I wanna achieve my two goals by myself staying at home. To do this I got a special interactive and digital English course to upload on laptop, I’m going to watch one English movie per week, I’m going to read some English magazines or English books. I bought also lots of things to better motivate myself on the fitness side, yes I’m addicted of shopping. Anyway my get-fit essentials to motivate myself are: Erreà vogue tracksuit bottom (they’re a total fad in Italy in this season), white and soft socks, cool hood. I’m feeling more confident and motivated wearing them, I love this quote: dress to feel good!! I bought also weight-bearing, ankle-weights, bar weight and some special tones from Itunes too. Now after these investments in myself I’m ready to get fit with full body workout! As you can get I’m doing lots of lists about things to do, I’m not so sure I’ll do all of them but I’ll try it! Some lists I did: • New year’s resolutions • Things to learn and improve • Books to read • Movies to see • Things to buy for home • Things to not do • Gigs, Concerts, Exibitions, Museums to get

Originally Posted by UnrulyCactus Okay, I'll bite. What makes you the unluckiest guy? Sorry for some of the words i use in this text. They are, trust me, the RIGHT ones to describe everything. Oh.... That story... It's actually more then just a few months... It all started back in 2007... (Story time!) The begging of my adventure in "computer worlds". I got my first computer! This one is my baby FOR LIFE! It's specs are: Pentium 4 3.2 Ghz HT (overclocked to 3.8 with stock voltage) + Asus P4P800 + 2 GB DDR 400 Mhz + 500W power supply Eurotech + 40GB Seagate Barracuda + Nvidia 7600GS 512MB (It had an MX 400, but latter in 2007 before the first victim i bought this new card for him). The computer didn't had a SINGLE PROBLEM for almost 8 years and counting! (it's birthday date is 24 December 2003). So far so good, it run great for several years. Lets get to where i steeped in some really bad luck wave: HP Desktop (Pentium dual Core 2.0 Ghz + 7300 LE + 2 GB ram?) When i first got my second computer, a HP Desktop, i got crazy since i could finally get this Dreamcast emulator running at full speed (God, i was really dumb back that time). It worked fine for 6 months and then, it died. Stupid thing, no overclock and it didn't even last for 6 months. (i bought the second computer in those stores that sell lots of electronic stuff, like computers, machines, DVD's, Films, Games, etc, Big Surfaces? Don't know how to say it in English. Shopping maybe?). Highscreen Desktop (Intel Q6600 @ stock + Biostar something + 4 GB DDR2 800 Mhz + Nvidia 8600GT 512MB + (iup you can laugh) 400W OEM power supply). I was NOT allowed to open my computer case, doing so would void my warranty, thats why i didn't fixed the problem myself. So, since HP didn't answered RMA in time, i got this, and like i said to the vendor "New awesome and super fast computer"! It was a Quad core (i went from a Pentium dual core 2 Ghz to a Q6600 one). Guess what, same day i got the computer, it already came with defect! The front leds didn't worked and the system was all funky. Got it to the store, same day it was repaired. Now lets start the party. 3 months after i bought it (bought it January 2008, the computer died again. It didn't even turn on. At the store they said it was the PSU. 30 Days without the computer, back to my old and faithful Pentium 4 stk 478. 29 Days latter, computer back (since that computer was made by the store, they themselves repaired the computer, so, no "money back or switch to another product, they said). Three +/- 3 weeks later, computer died again (3º time, keep counting). This time it was the motherboard. More 30 days without it, and more 30 days with my old guy. Got it back again. It was working. Surprise surprise, it DIED AGAIN 2 months later! This time it was my graphics card. Notice how every single component is dying one by one! More 25 days. I was starting to get really pissed of with this delays and problems with my computer, but o well, i always got my old baby to help me out. I got it back home, inserted a DVD to install Windows Vista x64, TADAH! DVD Drive was dead, it killed my original DVD. Back to store, they replaced it imitatively. So i tough the problem was solved for this year, since the computer kept working fine, and i though the unlucky wave was over... Still the same O Well, February just started, and like spring was slowly arriving. With the end of the winter, comes the birds, the flowers, the BSOD... Wait, what? Thats right! 5º Time dead! The computer started to bluescreen from one day to another, and soon it wouldn't be able to even get into windows. Guilty: Memory RAM. 25 Days without the computer (until the beginning of March). My old guy still working just fine, and because i didn't trusted the new one anymore, he was the one that i did all my important works, even with the new one at home. March passed, April, May.. And then we got June. June, where the component you are thinking about died. No it's not the case, it's the hard drive. Luckily all my data was in my old computer (see, i predicted the future!). Guess what? Day 30, i already had my mind set: Get my money back the day after. Unfortunately, they called in the end of the day saying the computer is ready... O well, one can dream... Computer arrived home. I plugged everything in and started to use the computer. Latter that month,i was about to start watching some TV on my computer (it had an TV card). Guess what: TV CARD IS DEAD! For crying out loud, o well, lets get this back to store... one 6º time...... again.... Back to my old computer.... I talked to the guys saying that "this can't happen anymore", and "common, i bought this computer like almost 2 years ago, and i don't have even 5 months of normal usage with it to count!". He promised me that it would happen anymore. The card was replaced, got it back home the other day. Right after i got home with the new TV card. The Sound Card (PCI One) didn't work. Seriously !!!! Back to store, more 27 Km.... More 15 Days without it. This time, they replaced the computer completely with new components, only the Case was the same, to see if the problems would go away. Basically i got a new computer. (7º Time i took it to the store) September passed, October, Novem.. Hey, stop right there! Thats it, go back to the end of October. You already know it died. But this time this guy didn't just died. It madded my house power down! The computer completely BURNED DOWN, PLUGGED TO AN UPS (that UPS still lives in my old computer)! No storms that day, nothing out of the ordinary. My USB Pen drive turned BLACK (it fried). I saw the sparkles coming out of the frontal USB where my Pen drive was plugged. I was watching a movie, Jesus, i got SO SCARED, my first reaction was grab the Pen drive the fastest as i could and take down the computers power (although my Power Thingy (don't know the name of it in English, is where we cant take down the power down the house, and if it notices a discharge, it just Stops and kills the power in the entire house) had already done that. I went to the store, they where freaked out. Almost every component died. They finally decided that something was wrong with that system specs (OH, REALLY?) and sent it to the "National Product Quality control" for evaluation. November passed. 30 Days passed. 31 Days passed. Oh my god, i could FINALLY ask for my money back! Or not. I went to the store, they said i could get my money back, because the product was sent to the Quality control guys, and because of the there was no "30 days max" law applicable. I even called the manager, but no go. December passed. Home Made computer (Same as my signature except the board was an Asus P7P55D-E Deluxe and the CPU a i5 750) We got to January. Not a single word from the store. I went there, my computer was still not in sight. I thought the quality guys had lost it . Almost in the end of January, after a really long time arguing with the store, the computer FINALLY arrived. They said it was packed, and that this time they wouldn't unpack it and give it to me without me there. They wanted me to see it running to in the store in front of my eyes. Ok, lets do this. I arrived to the store. In the balcony of the test / repair area there it was, my tower all wrapped up in this white sponge. The technician, in the presence of the Manager of the store, started to unwrap it. He started taking the sponge from the back, and as soon as we see the computers case: OOOHH MYYYYYYY GOD. The computer was TEARED APART! The case was all broken up, full of dints, white paint marks all over, the computer was like if it felt down the truck! The store manager put his hands in the head, the technician turned white, my sister got freaked out and i.. I laughed. Seriously, i laughed. This time i was like "Now i want to see how they are going to solve this out now", since i wasn't going out of there without my computer or money back. Buying another one in that store was OUT of the equation. After 4 hours there, i finally got my 1200 euros back. I said to myself: Time to make myself a computer. After a few weeks selecting the components, i finally bought it. I was thrilled and enchanted with it, it was SO MUCH FASTER then the other one. A few weeks later, i noticed something. My Seagate 1.5 TB had bad sectors. Here it goes again i thought. Hopefully, that was all by that year, got myself a WD 2 TB replacement and done. (my i5 750 and later the one in my signature computer) Hell yeah! 1 year without a single problem! It was overclocked to 4 Ghz since the day it arrived, it was rock solid, no problems at all. It was my dreams computer. We where in the beginning of May. I was watching some CSI Miami Episode. It was raining, my computer is plugged to a UPS and the UPS to a resistance to enhance protection. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a thunder, right above my house strikes. I jumped from my chair, the sound was so loud. My speakers sub woofer gave a "POP" like sound, really loud, it scared the sh** out of me. Since, even with an UPS i turn my computer off and unplug it, i hit the shutdown button right the way. After a few seconds (3 ~ 5), i noticed: the computer was already down. When i turned it on again, i tough "puff, close". Well, i was going to keep watching the episode. Opened it up and all, and then, no sound. "What the hell?" thought i. Checked my 5.1 system, it was working with my cellphone just fine (my on-board sound card was being detected by windows). Then i was thinking to go to the internet to see if it was the driver. No Internet. My modem burned down, and since the phone line wasn't plugged in the UPS (and the lightning stroked on the Telephones lines), it burned down the modem, and by the Ethernet cable, part of my board. One of my two Ethernet ports didn't work, as so didn't my sound card. Sent it back to RMA, since it wasn't black or smelling like it fried. One month later, the store called me asking if i wanted another product or my money back since Asus was late delivering the board. For the first time i didn't want another product, or my money back. Just the board back. I waited three more weeks. Searched every single store for my board, no one had it on stock. Only those low end models. Well, i talked to the store, and well, got myself a new computer. A Sandy Bridge one. P8P67 Deluxe + i7 2600K, it arrived in the begging of June this year. God, i was completely with the overclocking capability of this chip. I used it at 4.6 Ghz, and some days before the disaster, at 4.8 Ghz. Day 29 July, one day before my birthday. I decided to re-seat my NH D14 because i was getting to 80 ºC on IBT (Prime would pass 73. My room temperature was 32 ~ 33 ºC.). Oh from all the worst things that could happen, the WORST OF THEM ALL happened! I bent without noticing 2 pins in my board! Buy Buy warranty i tough! Stupid me! Why did i touched the computer?! I was so mad that day. Called the store i bought the motherboard from, and for my surprise they said they could help, for me not to worry. They said that, if there is only 2 slightly bent pins in the board, they could try to fix them and sent the board to asus to get a new one. This of course wouldn't take more then 1 month. One year i didn't almost used my old computer. That computer just LOVES to be in here in the main secretary with my two screens (and runs fast like a champ! But games, don't even think about it, only on low or medium settings) (i think he is the one that is putting some sort of spell or something like that to kill all my new computers, so he can get all the attention to him LOL!) Well, one month passed. Since i screwed up, i was not thinking about asking the store for a replacement, since they where kind enough to send the board to Asus, even tough it was my fault. A few days latter, in 27th day September, i was already kissing goodbye to that board, because the repair (in case asus didn't accepted to change the board for a new one) would be around 80 euros, and my fully brand new 3 year warranty would be reduced to some insignificant 3 months. I started looking for boards to buy. That day, precisely two days away from buying the new one, the store guy called. He had already sent my board, it would arrive the next day. « My face! I thanked him so much! That store is now my #1 place to make my buys, just because they helped me out when i was already "traumatized" so much with RMA's and stores and everything because of that stupid store i bought the desktop (i named it that way for obvious reasons) Got it back, placed the thermal paste in another way, and at the same room temperature, temps go as high as 73 on IBT. It's up and running until now like a champ. Well, sort of. I can't get the 4.8 Ghz stable, the system will randomly shutdown (i created a thread about it in the Intel CPU's area, hopping for some fix to this problem). By now i'm rock solid stable at some amazing 4.6 Ghz. Stay tunned for more "Adventures of "Me" @ the computer world". EDIT: WOOW Thanks all for the big welcome EDIT2: Now, grammar a little bit fixed, along with some orthographic errors and removed the swearing that was missed in the edition by the moderator. Sorry again Bitemarks, thank you for being tolerant by not giving me any warning this first and last time

Young • Male • Large Cade is a handsome young fellow ready for an adventure. He is about 10 months old and 65lbs. Cade is a tall strong boy and is working hard on his manners. He is friendly, playful and eager to please! Cade is a real lover and will be very loyal to his family. ~Adoption donation $250. All vetting is up to date. Microchipped and neutered. Also on flea/tick and heartworm preventative. Visit www.ruffloverescue.com/adopt to make this pup a member of your family

|Photo by, Jessy Kigen| Lets make this more interesting, Am a great follower of a street photographer Eric Kim simply because he is so precise on his photographs and his articles are Amazing. Today i want to talk more on how to make your street photography interesting even when you are bored. "One of the most exciting ways to live life is to avoid boredom. By following what makes us curious, passionate, and have fun create meaning in our life. one of the great ways to guide our work in street photography is to avoid boredom." Eric Kim Tips to make Street photography interesting.In street photography, i always make sure that i listen to my self, By making street photography interesting we should avoid boredom at all cost. we need to be Passionate. for a street street photographer is really hard to avoid boredom and make it interesting when one is not passionate. There are days where we get mishaps. There are days we feel Gloomy and we just want to stay indoor lazily. or maybe walk all day on the street and not find anything to shoot. Through my Guide, we should try avoid boredom and make street photography interesting,i think its important to switch things up. check this few points: 1.Shoot in Different Areas As a street photographer you should not shoot in the same old place every time at your exploration. try to find different location, streets and interesting scenes. you don't need to travel all the way to Paris,china or Germany to shoot or get lovely scenes. Start with your own street at your home town, find a strategic place that looks busy and interesting, exhaust the place then move to the other street. If you have a car much better, yo can drive to the next town and explore more just to make you street photography interesting and not bored. Avoid boredom at any cost, if you are brave enough yo can take a bus and get off at random stop then start shooting. As humans, we love to explore. We love serendipity, and discovering new places (think about all the guys who sailed around the world in search of new lands). Be a “street photography explorer”...Jessy Kigen 2.Experiment on your skills when shooting and it makes you feel bored, find something more interesting try switch up things.Most important is lens, try use different lenses when shooting. if you dont want to get close to the subject try a long range shots by using zoom lens.If yo are used to zoom lens try switch it to a prime lens, more wider angle. Most of the time we feel bored shooting with digital, if thats the case switch up to film.. make your photography interesting If you are bored shooting like Henri Cartier Bresson (looking for an interesting background and waiting for someone interesting to walk into the scene), switch it up by trying to shoot more aggressively like Bruce Gilden (more head-on). Eric Kim 3.shoot in different Time Zone. You want to make your street photography interesting try use different time zone, if yo are used to day time try late night shoot. try to shoot the lighting on the streets near you,trust me you will love the street at night. Life is short. When it comes to your street photography, follow your curiosity and what makes you happy and excited. Make your photography interesting. Am out........#slickphoto#streetphotography#B&W...My story there life's ....Article by Jessy Kigen.

By Gloria Mwaniga. I first read this winning story on august 1st 2012. Even then, it did strike me as a typical African story. This was because of two reasons; first, I August 1st was the 30th anniversary for the Coup attempt on the Moi government of 1982 and secondly Kiss TV was running a rather interesting series on the Nyayo house torture victims and focusing on the chief torturer; one James Opiyo. The coup attempt is what is believed to have transformed the then Kenyan president from a cool president following Jomo Kenyatta’s nyayo to a wild and ruthless dictator who sent people to the cold, dark and quite frightening chambers of the Nyayo house if they dared to show open defiance or even when they were deemed to have hidden agendas. The Torturer in chiefs’ story of retirement and unceremonious relocation back to his rural home of Rongo; together with most of the the Nyayo house victims’ rather un-heroic existence till today sort of blend in with the Bombay Republic Short story. The story starts on a rather optimistic note with the author introducing us to one Sergeant Bombay a veteran who had come back from the world war. He comes back to his district that is ruled by a District Officer who is white. At that point, I had expected that having seen the world and with a thinking outside the box, Bombay would end up swaying loyalties’ from the mzungu to himself and hence become an undisputed war hero who led his people to the paradise called freedom. I even dared to think that the story would turn out like the infamous Nigerian Biafran war where Ojuka starts a revolution against the incumbent leaders and either wins or dies (Forget the running off to another country bit). However, the writer Rotimi Babatunde slowly builds up this character in the traditional heroic fashion when he gets posted to a combat unit and later promoted to a sergeant; strangely enough, the war suddenly comes to an unwelcome end even before our new hero gets a chance to prove his art of war. However, the reader is kept optimistic as Bombay has been exposed to the world and we watch amidst baited breath, for him to show his Moses-like savior traits. Back at his home town, the air is full of euphoria with the nationalists getting bolder and criticizing the colonial government as they gathered in the evenings for animated discussions zealously quoting Gandhi and Du Bois. Bombay, who was expected to be a part of this revolution, was busy elsewhere telling jinni stories to wide eyed children. The strange man then moves to an old jailhouse where he is immersed in a utopia of his own making in his newly independent state of Bomby. In a rather un-heroic ending of the story, Bombay is considered a sleeping dog that should be let to lie by his DC. The humor filled and unpredictable plot give this story quite an unexpected twist even as this man; who refused to pay hut tax because he lives in a stone house and not a hut; is described by one local columnist as Colour Sergeant Bombay, war hero and perpetual president who was loved by all the citizens of his Peoples Republic of Bombay. The story leaves one with a sort of emptiness that is all too familiar in Kenya. Having happily gotten our uhuru, we looked forward to the promise that the new learned wananchi would bring on the table. These expectations were later to be shrouded as Kenyans watched incredibly as the same leaders assassinated each other, stole country resources and punished those who dared speak out. Like Bombay, they speedily forgot the real reason they had an upper hand was to pull others out of the darkness but instead, the leaders engage in self-satisfying, get-rich quick corruption deals in a country where most leaders still hope to stay in office until death finally unseats them. This they do as they brand themselves vijana and hopelessly try to tweet their way into the real vijana’s hearts.

If you just got a new acoustic guitar and want to learn how to best take care of your instrument, here are a few useful tips. Let's face it. It's not too difficult to learn how to play acoustic guitar. That's why there are so many guitars bought each and every year. However, it's takes something else to actually become a pro at it. And it's not just about learning to play. You also need some information regarding the instrument itself and how to take care of it. Most acoustics are made of wood and are usually hollow. They are sensitive to changes in weather, such as extreme heat or extreme cold. It's very easy for parts of the guitar to warp or otherwise get damaged depending on how you store it and what it has to deal with on a daily basis. Remember the old cassette tape and how it would warp into a useless mess if left on the back seat of your car on a sunny day. One of the major necessities for a guitar is a good enclosure. It really should be water resistant and also provide protection from heat. Black cases will absorb heat more than lighter colored cases, so remember that when selecting one for your guitar. There are soft shell cases and hard shell cases. In most situations, I would endorse the hard shell case unless you can't afford it. Guitar strings are sensitive to environmental changes as well. Note how quickly guitars go out of tune, especially if you put on a new set of strings? The neck of your guitar will give and let go depending on the type of strings you use, and if you decide to use a particular gauge of string, it's probably the best thing you can do, as the shock of going from one gauge of string to another isn't good for your guitar. Also, don't take all the strings off your guitar at once, as that might cause warping of the neck. Change your strings one at a time, as that will keep the tension on the guitar neck at a constant level. If you can, it's a great idea to have at a minimum two guitars, a beater you use for practice and another that you use for performances. Your practice guitar doesn't have to be wonderful, something in the hundred dollar price range. You should't have to replace the strings on it as much as the guitar you use for performances. When cleaning your guitar, don't use water or furniture polish. Just use a soft cloth and wipe the dust. Try to not wipe so hard that you affect the finish of your guitar. And don't go crazy. Your guitar should have its own natural character, and the way to let it do this is letting it get used and worn in a normal fashion. For more information, click HERE Other Sites of Interest Acoustic Guitar Tips Catherine Zeta Jones My View On Things Cheap Auto Insurance Cheap Places to Live Easy Wood Projects Free Sheet Music Funny Clean Jokes Improve Your Credit Ivory Tower Group Quality Dating Advice Who Are The Beatles

There's that tipsy fairy at the top again! I love my old Woolworth's tree, lots of tinsel and a string of vintage lights. It's bringing so much comfort right now. Today has been a course of events that I could never had imagined this morning. A neighbor's visitor falling on the slope outside our houses. Waiting for the emergency services. Trying to provide comfort and warmth. The amazing coincidence of a passing RAF helicopter rescue pilot, in his car, who worked with the first responder and calmly took control of the situation. Sometimes when things happen, absolutely the right people have been placed in position to help. Four years ago on Christmas Day I fell over and broke my leg. A tale for another time, but basically I was walking my dog, it was getting dark and frosty when I slipped over. I was on my own, although a car stopped. I remember how cold and shocked I felt on the floor. It felt good to be able to help in a way that I understood was needed and re-assuring to see it being handled in such a professional way. The patient is safe and warm in hospital now, but he will need an operation on his hip and wrist tomorrow.

World of Darkness - Alpha Network Fight style: fancy footwork or single merit: add part of attack pool to defence while still able attack. Also a style using acrobatics to tumble evade etc like Swashbuckling, gun Fu for cinematic melee with firearms, lunge, riposte, flourish, - Edge being any extra Advantages added to an Action Roll. GM Advice. Social Style – Fast Talk - Style Merits tend to range from 1-5. The Skill that defines them is required and must at least equal the Style Merit DoTs. For example, having Fighting Style – Boxing at 4 DoTs you must first have Brawl at 4 DoTs. Having Occult Style – Alchemy at 3 DoTs means having Occult of 3 DoTs first. - Flaws must now be purchased like a normal Merit but is noted with an (F) for Flaw. When a Character is roleplayed as effected by the Flaw in a relevant in-game situation and there are effects of these actions – Experience Points (XP) should be awarded. Ineptitude – Specify is a great example of this and such Flaws truly allow a Player to deeply customise their PC and develop a deeper Character Concept. Primary, Secondary & Tertiary Merits. 5/4/3 for example. These should really be chosen at Character Creation unless the GM says otherwise or a lot of time and effort put in to work for that specific Merit such as a Profession Merit that grants access to Skills. Orphaned, Abused, Ancestral Heritage (like secret royalty, ancient Bloodline etc), Supernatural event, Memorable event, Horrific event, awkward event, …. |Accute Sense (1-5)||Specific one of the five senses is heightened.||None| |Ambidextrous (3)||Does not suffer the -3 off-hand Penalty….||Dex (3). Char. Gen only at (3)| |Aptitude – Specify (3)||Choose a specific area which you have a natural aptitude or talent for, such as Computers, Acrobatics or any Skill or Speciality really.||GM accepts| |Awareness (2)||Natural talent to be more perceptive than most. Bonus to Perception Checks.||Char. Gen or intense training| |Blood Heritage (3-6)||Select a type of Being or Breed you are Blooded to such as Demon, Fae, Nobility, Wolf etc.||Specify Type; After Char. Gen shows you discover the truth later on.| |CIPA (5)||A genetic disorders that stops you feeling any pain at all, including torture and wounds but it is also very hard to tell.||Appear at birth or during infancy.| |Color Blind (1)||You have real trouble telling one primary colour from another.||Flaw| |Common Sense (3)||Grounded & pragmatic, can often be depended upon to make sound, wise decisions at a moments notice. GM can make a “Reflexive Perception Roll” if the Character is about to do somethimg disasterous.||—| |David’s Arm (3)||Like David against Goliath, you’re great with spatial distance, range etc. Double all benefits of aiming.||??| |Double Jointed (2)||Able to bend your joints in improbable ways.||None| |Dual Nature (3)||You have a personality that works with two compatible Natures each rewarding WillPower.||GM agreed on the Natures.| |Early Riser (1)||You seem able to manage with less rest than others, getting up hours before or staying up til dawn.||None| |Eidetic Memory (3)||A near photographic memory, able to recall vast amounts of observed detail with almost perfect accuracy. Rolls usually only needed under Stress..||Char.Gen Only| |Emotional Detatchment (2)||Nasty, mean temper when you lose control. Any time you fail your Composure Test, …||None| |Encyclopedic Knowledge (2)||Knows much about anything.||None| |Fast Learner (3)||Does not suffer the ??….||Char.Gen Only| |Fire Within (2)||You have a natural resistant to the cold or damage caused by cold.| |Ineptitude – Specify (1-5)||Penalised for being just terrible in a specific Sub-Skill where you excel in the rest of the Skill.||Trying Skill for first few times. (F)| |Internal Thermostat (3)||Able to control & balance your internal temperature and thus, does not suffer such extremes of hot or cold environments.||Res (2) Com (4)| |Intuition – Specify (2-5)||Machinery, Computers, Electronics, Clockwork, etc||Char. Gen only usually.| |Longevity (4)||You are one of those rare few who age well, not taking penalties until your 70’s..||Something surely| |Maturity (1)||The Character is growing older and had reached into the more solid, firmer Summer years of 40’s and 50’s… Effects are ??||Age of 40+| |Natural Immunity (3)||Immune to disease..||Requirements| |Night Vision (2)||Able to see well at Night or in darkness with only the barest amounts of light..||None| |Obvious Appearance (2)||An obvious or memorable feature of appearance may gain you WillPower if part of the Story.||(2)| |Obvious Aspiration (2)||A strong interest or drive in achieving a particular goal.. Can regain WP during Play if Character actually makes headway in achieving this ambition in some way.||(2)| |Obvious Demeanor ••||A strong type of attitude… Can regain WP during Play…||(1)| |Obvious Nature ••||Natures and Demeanors Obvious Nature A strong type of personality… Can regain WP if used during Play.||???(2)| |Obvious Quirk (1)||Those rare idiosyncratic subtleties & strange, uncommon interests that set someone apart…||GM approval.| |Obvious Vice (1)||A strong need for specific type of sin.. Can regain WP during Play…||Brawl (2)| |Obvious Virtue (1)||A strong desire to show goodness.. Can regain WP during Play…||Brawl (2)| |Predatory Bearing (1-5)||You have that menacing aspect or aura of someone.. or something very dangerous, and others often recognise that.||Char. Gen| |Prized Possession (1-5)||Get something good…| |Prodigy (3)||Gifted child below 13 that has higher than usual traits etc.||Char. Gen only.| |Small Framed (2)||Shorter or much thinner than the average gives the Character a size of 4 and chance they’ll be overlooked, not taken seriously or ignored.||Flaw| |Toxin Resistance (3)||Immune to Poisons and other toxins..||Usually only at Char.Gen| |Vengeance (1-5)||Character has a particular Nemesis or enemy that they truly need to get revenge on. They use this advantage to get a bonus +2 to attack actions..||Requires Enemy Merit| |Veteran (1-5)||A strong type ay.||???(2)| |Alertness (2)||Aware of things at all times…||Wit (3) Com (2)| |Ambidextrous (4)||Does not suffer the -3 off-hand Penalty….||Dex (3)| |Armored Fighting (2/4)||Able to fight in heavy and burdensome armor without penalties.||Str (3) Sta (3)| |Athletic Dodge (2)||= You use your Athletic prowess …||None.| |Automotive Genius (1)||Can see what’s wrong in seconds and a knack for fixing and rigging..||Crafts (3), Drive (2), Science (1)| |Brawling Dodge (2)||Nasty, mean temper when you lose control. Any time you fail your Composure Test, …||Active| |Bruiser (1)||Appearance is so rough & tough and thug like to appear menacing. +1 to Intimidation.||Requirements| |Cat-like Balance (2)||Your talent for balance is exceptional.. +1 to all such Rolls..||—| |Cheap Shot (2)||Dirty tricks to distract. (Dex+Subt VS Wit+Com to act. -2 cumulative penalty each time)||Brawl (2)| |Choke Hold (2)||Once you have a’ hold, you have them..||Brawl (2)| |Choke Shot (2)||Excellent accuracy, no matter what weapon you’re holding. +1 Dice when not targeting specific area.||None| |Crack Driver (2/3)||Nothing distracts once she’s driving. (-Com Penalty to anyone seeking to disable vehicle)||Drive (3)| |Customised Item (2/4/5)||You have a specially made or gained of a special item, customised but not magical. Perhaps a hand crossbow, blowpipe disguised as a cigar or pipe, swordcane, hidden tools etc.||GM approval| |Defensive Combat (1)||Able to defend against multiple opponents with the base Defence for each opponent….||Dex (3) Wit (3) Com (3) Brawl or Weaponry (2)| |Driving Style – Heavy Vehicles (1-5)||Actively||Dex (3) Res (2) Drive (2)| |Driving Style – High Performance (1-5)||Able to make the most of Fast Cars and know all the tricks of the Race Tracks and cars made for speed.||Dex (3) Res (2) Drive (2)| |Driving Style – Pilot Aeroplane (1-5)||Able to fly planes and jets.||Dex (3) Int (3) Res (2) Drive (2)| |Driving Style – Ocean Sailing (1-5)||Able to sail and navigate ocean waters safely.||Dex (2) Res (2) Drive (2)| |Driving Style – Stunt Driver (1-5)||Able to perform the most death defying of tricks and impossible feats of vehicle agility.||Wit (2) Dex (2) Drive (2)| |Disarm (2)||If Damage exceeds Dexterity then Diarm Opponent..||Dex (3) Weaponry (2) Active Weapon (s)| |Enchanting Gaze (2)||Truly beautiful and captivating eyes that attract others to them..||??| |Enchanting Voice (2)||Beautiful voice that truly is captivating||??| |Fast Reflexes (1-2)||Does not suffer the -3 off-hand Penalty….||Char. Creation| |Feint (2)||Using two weapons you attack from different angles, ignoring Defence on 2nd Attack.||Fighting Style – Two Weapon Fighting (3)| |Fighting Finesse (3)||You use swift, agile attacks with your light Weaponry.||Dex (3) Weaponry (2)| |Fleet of Foot (2)||Nasty, mean temper when you lose control. Any time you fail your Composure Test, …||Active| |Fresh Start (1-2)||Do nothing this turn so that you may act first next turn..||Requires: Fast Reflexes| |Gunslinger (4)||Able to use two handguns at once though with penalties.||Dex (3) Firearms (3)| |Hardy (1-3)||Add Hardy DoTs to Rolls resisting environmental hurt from extreme temperatures, poison, disease, deprivation, exhaustion, suffocation etc.||Sta (3)| |Heavy Hands (2)||Especially hard or heavy hands for unarmed attacks +1 Dmg to Unarmed Strikes||Str (3) Brawl (3)| |Heavy Sleeper (2)||Often sleeps in late, fails to hear the alarm clock and is almost impossible to waken at times.||Flaw| |Huge Size (4)||Very large, either fat or tall so they are well above the human average. Add +1 Health due to the increased Size.||None| |Immunised (1)||Up to date on your regular and normal jabs for common diseases. You still should see a GP for more if visiting exotic countries.||None| |Indomitable (2)||You are better able to resist strange events and they have less effect on your mind. Any supernatural effect or creature trying to influence you gets you +2 Bonus to resisting.||Resolve (3)| |Iron Skin (3)||Tough, less penetrable skin.||)| |Iron Stamina (1-3)||Able to endure fatigue for longer.| |Iron Stomach (2)||The ability to eat pretty much anything without side effects such as being sick.||?| |Light Sleeper (2)||Wakes easily and without loss of orientation etc.| |Outdoorsman (2)||Experience or natural ability to make most of her environment and survive out in the wilds.||Survival (3)| |Movement Style – Parkour (1-5)||Combines acrobatic talent into Athletics so as to perform outstanding feats of free-running.||Dexterity (3) Athletics (2) Acrobatics (2)| |Movement Style – Spelunker (1-5)||Pot Holing and Cave Diving are your thing.||Dexterity (3) Athletics (3)| |Parry (3)||Usable with Weaponry or Brawl to allow you to replace your Defence with that Skill.||Brawl (3) or Weaponry (3)| |Punch Drunk (2)||Able to keep 1 BODY Health Level by spending WillPower & upgrading existing damage.||WillPower (6)| |Quick Draw (3)||So trained with the weapon or firearm that drawing the weapon is instinct and is considered a Reflex Action that can be done whenever Defence applies.||Wits (3) Speciality in Weapon or Fighting Style chosen here.| |Quick Healing (4)||Able to heal more rapidly than normal.||Sta (4)| |Seizing the Edge (2)||Always read for a chase, be it to escape from enemies or to hunt down that next ticket..||None| |Signature Item (3)||An object that is an intrinsic part of the characters identity now and without it they feel lost, suffering on social rolls.||None| |Shield Rip (2)||Using two weapons, you use tricks & distractions to allow your 2nd weapon to rip aside an opponent shield.||Fighting Style – Two Weapon Fighting (3), Weapon that can hook shields,| |Shiv (1 or 2)||Can carry a 0 or 1 Dmg small blade that when rolled for detection receives -Wea penalty.||Street fighting (2), Weaponry (1)| |Sleight of hand (2)||Long, delicate and light fingers make pickpocketing and picking locks or other intensely delicate operations of hand dexterity easier with a +2 bonus to such rolls..||None| |Strong Back (2)||The ability to carry more than normal and dead lift well.| |Strong Lungs (2)||Ability to hold your breath for longer.| |Weaponry Dodge (1-5)||A??.||Requirements| |Wheelman (3)||Some people are born Drivers and have a natural aptitude.||Dex (2) Drive (2)| |Adrenaline Junkie (1)||Does not suffer the -3 off-hand Penalty….||None| |Cheap Shot (2)||Nasty, mean temper when you lose control. Any time you fail your Composure Test, …||Active| |Coldly Logical (2)||??| |Combat Awareness (2)||Does not suffer the -3 off-hand Penalty….||Military, Law Enforcement or Combat Background.| |Concentration (1)||Ability to focus on tasks or details even when there are distractions.||??| |Crafter’s Sense (3)||Doe||Crafts (3) and Craft Speciality.| |Cultural Awareness (1/2/4)||Silent, Speedy series of hand movements or signs used my military etc…||?(3)| |Danger Sense (2)||+2 Bonus to “Perception Rolls” for Character to detect an impending ambush.||—| |Daredevil (2)||Does not suffer the -3 off-hand Penalty….||None| |Demolisher (2)||Nasty, mean temper when you lose control. Any time you fail your Composure Test.||None.| |Direction Sense (1)||An innate knack for finding your way. Rarely suffers penalties to finding her way.||None| |Doubting Thomas (2)||Cynical and questioning nature, any Psychics nearby receive -2 to Psychic Rolls. Paradox increased.||Flaw| |Easy Ride (2)||Somehow you are easily possessed by Spirits, Demons etc.||Flaw| |EOD (4)||Experience in many types of Explosive Devices and EOD or Explosive Ordinance Disposal.||Some.| |Eye for the strange (2)||Though they may have no actual knowledge of the supernatural or Occurred, they know it when they see it and thus get bonus.||Res (3) Occult (1)| |Good Brain (2)||Removes the penalty from the unskilled for mental skills.||Int (4) Wit (3)| |Holistic Awareness (1)||You have knowledge surrounding the Skill?||?| |Indomitable (1-5)||Such an Iron Will that most Mind dominating powers don’t work.||Requires Iron Will. Can only be bought equal to their Resolve.| |Informative (2/4)||May be silent on most topics but when it comes to them and their job they won’t shut up and very open.||Wit:2, Skill:2| |Ingenious (2)||Always seems to have a cunning or backup plan to escape any predicament. +2 to outlandish or especially cunning ways around an obstacle or solution to a plan.||Drive(3)| |Interdisciplinary Speciality (2)||A speciality that can cross over??||Skill (3), Speciality| |Iron Will (3)||Amazing ability to resist takeovers of your mind and gain +3 Dice when resisting outside forces attempting to take it over.||WillPower (6+)| |Language (1-4)||Able to communicate in another language. The more DOTs you have the greater your skill with 3 being well educated and full mastery in the language..||Requirements| |Library (1-3)||Select a topic and you have a collection of books, references and websites for that subject.||?| |Linguist (2)||You have a natural talent for languages and are able to learn them more easily than other people.||Int (3) Academics (2) or Int (2) & Academics (3)| |Lucid Dreamer (2)||Ability to influence and control your own dreams.||Res:3, non-changeling.| |Good Time Management (1)||Due to good organisation and diligence you manage your time very well and know how to cut out those wasteful moments. Extended Actions can be reduced by 1/4.||None| |Make Do (1-3)||Used to working under sub-optimal conditions means you can often use poor tools etc to repair, perform scientific tests, survey archeology sites etc. This is Cross-Skill effective while||?| |Meditative Mind (1, 2 or 4)||You get better at Meditating (See Merit for full Bonuses).||None| |Multi-lingual (2)||Conversational language ability in two sister languages for each DOT. Roll Int+Aca to attempt to make out enough when read also.||None| |Occult Style – Alchemy (1-5)||A mix of Science and magic to transform base substances into “Divine” substances.||Int, Science, Occult| |Occult Style – Artificing (1-5)||A mix of Science and magic to imbue powerful Spells and abilities into special items.||Int, Science, Occult| |Occult Style – Body Endowments (1-5)||A mix of Science and magic to use tattooing and body art to endow with power.||Int, Science, Occult| |Occult Style – Curses (1-5)||A mix of Science and magic to use sympathetic magic and effigies to curse others.||Int, Science, Occult| |Occult Style – Fortune Telling (1-5)||Able to predict the future, tell Fortunes and read events and aspects of the past and present via a Focus such as Tarot, Crystal Ball, Bones, Runes etc..||Int, Science, Occult| |Occult Style – Necromancy (1-5)||A mix of Science and magic to experiment, modify & manipulate the dead.||Int, Science, Occult| |Occult Style – Runecraft (1-5)||Art of using powerful Runes to create certain effects.||Int, Science, Occult| |Patient (1)||You take the extra care and effort to get things right. On Extended Actions, Abi would provide.||None| |Police Investigation Style (1-5)||Able to use police procedure effectively to investigate crime.||None.| |Professional Training Style – Specify (1-5)||Extensive training in a specialist field grants advantages to contacts & Bonuses. Select your field and choose two asset skills for it.||One Asset Skill = DoT wanted| |Psychic Resistance (1-3)||Intensive training or natural ability has given you the knack of blocking your mind from invasive telepathic powers.||Res (3)| |Rational Explanation (3)||Whenever making Res+Com Rolls to resist Fear, Panic etc you gain a Bonus for finding a Rational Explanation to support the situation.||Some.| |Relic Analyst (1-5)||Active.||?| |Seen Combat (2)||= You have experience with combat in variety of forms, giving you that edge and instinct necessary to truly make use of combat skills…||Been in combat?| |Sign Language – Specify (2)||Silent, Speedy series of hand movements or signs used my military, Deaf etc. or Marks in Urban Environment for Homeless, Gangs etc.||?(3)| |Mental Style – Skill Ingenuity (1-5)||You are more than skilled in a particular Skill,||None.| |Spatial Awareness (1)||Talent to coordinate things and space between them.||None.| |Speed Reading (2)||Able to read and take in the information from text in half the time.||Int (3) Academics (2)| |Steady Driver (1)||Calm and safe when driving and not prone to Road Rage or Composure loss while driving.||None| |Technology Style – Hacking (1-5)||Able to hack most computer systems and similar interfaces.||??| |Time Sense (1)||Able to tell what time it is to the half hour and to estimate the length of time it’s taken or how long something lasts etc.||None| |Tolerance for Biology (1)||Very strong resistance to gruesome biology. no need to roll when confronted with blood & guts||Com (2) Res (2)| |Tolerance for Pain (3)||Very strong resistance to feeling pain such as wounds, torture etc.||Res (3) Sta (2)| |Technophile (1-2)||Nasty, mean temper when you lose control. Any time you fail your Composure Test, …||?| |Trained Observer (1 or 3)||Years out in the field has taught you to notice everything and to remember them.||Wits (3) or Com (3)| |Trivia Hound (2)||A geek who collects tidbits of worthless information.||None| |Tunneller (1)||You’ve spent some time down in tunnels and you tend to feel comfortable and able to find your way, sense direction etc.||??| |Vice Ridden (2)||Someone who is especially sinful may choose a second Vice which gains you WillPower if interacted with meaningfully..||Flaw| |Virtuous (2)||Someone who is especially good and moralistic, they may choose a second Virtue which gains them WillPower when meaningfully interacted with.||None| |Allies (1-5)||You are able to call on a selected group for help.||None.| |Alternate Identity (1-3)||At 1 DoT an unofficial, superficial I’d with +1 bonus, 2 dots has paperwork to support the I’d but it won’t hold up to close scrutiny. 3 DoTs is a deep cover id, fully supported in databases and paper and gives +2 bonus to Subterfuge. Available Multiple Times for separate Identities.||None| |Animal Affinity (2)||Specific types of animals tend to like you, not attack you etc.||Select Animal Species.| |Animal Companion (2 to 5)||You have somehow befriended or attached to you an animal. More than a pet, more intelligent etc.||None| |Animal Magnetism (1)||A strong, animal-like …||None| |Anonymity (1 to 5)||Lives completely off the Grid and only uses Cash, no Id etc. Anyone trying to track your Paper Trail or look you up online received penalty equal to the DoTs here.||Can’t also have Fame| |Approachable (1)||A friendly face or attitude or something else but people find you easy to talk to. -2 to Difficulty on Empathy Rolls.||None| |Armory (1-5)||A collection of Weaponry is available to choose from, either owned by you or able to collect from friends etc.||Resources 3| |Barfly (2)||Able to get an open invitation anywhere. Bars & Clubs are home to her. Told to ostracize her receive her Socialize Skill as penalty.||Socialize (2)| |Bureaucratic Negotiator (2)||Able to plough through red tape and get things done in a bureaucratic institution.||None.| |Calming Presence (1)||Does not suffer the -3 off-hand Penalty….||Com (3)| |Certification (1-3)||Has the proper licenses and paperwork for a particular activity.||None| |Closed Book (1-5)||Particularly hard to read and/or crack. When someone uses Social Maneuvering against us, add your DoTs in this Merit as a bonus to resist.||Man (3) Res (3)| |Community Ties Style – Specify (1 to 5)||Pick a specific community such as Does not suffer the ..||None| |Contacts (1-5)||Gather information from single source. More DoTs mean deeper information and a greater chance to discover others Social Merits or any Conditions. (Man+Doc to gather the info.)||None| |Cult (1-5)||Leader of a new Cult.||??| |Decorated (2-5)||Recognition for actions have awarded you a medal at lower DoTs and a peerage or national award at higher level. War hero, Community Volunteer or Lord all suitable details here.||One Attribute at 4+ & suitable backstory.| |Defender (1-3)||You feel protective and responsible for those loved ones and family around you. You gain bonus WP on protecting them but losing them causes serious Breaking Points.||Loved Ones Merit/s.| |Dependent (2)||You have a loved one you must care for and look after. May be a young child, I’ll or disabled parent or sibling etc.||Flaw| |Destiny (1-5)||Fate has things in store for you, though you’ve no idea what.||None| |Destitute (2)||No Resources of any kind available now makes for an extremely uncomfortable and dangerous quality of life. Homeless and indebt.||Flaw| |Enemy (1-5)||A particular person hates your character enough to consider getting revenge. In time this might grow into them becoming a Nemesis.||Flaw| |Evil (1-5)||You have negative Karma and you like it, doing bad stuff excites you or leaves you unconcerned..||Negative Karma at least = to DoTs in this Merit. Flaw| |Extremist Group (4)||You have influence and contacts within an Extremist Group of some kind.||None| |Faithful Devotion (1-3)||You have faith in a Higher Power that grants you peace & solace.||??| |Fame (2 or 4)||Local or National fame can be a disadvantage as well as advantage.||??| |Fence (1/3)||Always able to find somewhere to buy or sell stolen goods to the crimminal community.||Streetwise (3)| |Firearms Licence (2)||You have the necessary written paperwork to own a gun legally. This is only applicable in a single country so if you want more licences this needs to be got each time for it to be legal.| |Fixer (3)||You know people.. not only can she get best people for the job but also best prices. Availability Cost reduced by 1 DoT.||Wits (3) Contacts (2)| |Hobbyist Clique (2)||As long as you stay in contact and up to date with this social circle, you receive a bonus to the hobby specified.||Any Skill (2)| |Infamous (2)||You are known and remembered for something negative.||None| |Inheritance (1-5)||Someone leaves you an amount of money or wealth in Savings. These are stocks, shares, Jewelry etc.||Who left you this?| |Insignificant (2)||Socially Small – They’ve either a natural talent or cultivated the ability to be easily overlooked or appear ordinary or unnoticeable.||-1 to Perception. Flaw.| |Inspiring (3)||Able to motivate, enthuse and inspire people around you.||Pre (3)| |Job (2)||You work for a living and are paid for that work regularly. This may include Freelance Jobs.||State Job| |Job Status (1-5)||You work for a living and are paid for that work regularly. This may include Freelance Jobs..||Rise high in job profile.| |Library (1 to 5)||Character has her own access to Library close at hand. The DoTs determines the size and breadth of the material. For each DoT a Speciality can also be chosen.| |Love (1-5)||You’ve fallen in love with someone and going out.||Requirements| |Love unrequited (1-5)||You have fallen in love with someone but they don’t have any feelings for you.||Flaw| |Luxury (1-5)||Details how well you live. 1 dot and you are just above the standard surroundings, 5 DoT and you’re in a huge mansion with almost everything. This can be permanently switched with Resources DoT by DoT.||None| |Mentor (1-5)||A teacher or guide that is able to give advice, aid and support that is often from the background and sometimes without the Characters knowledge.||None| |Negotiator (2)||Be it working with Hostages or big finance dealing, you know how to liaise your way to success.||Requirements| |Personal Attachment (2/4)||You are very close to family or friends and losing them would hurt dearly. Bonus to WillPower.||State who.| |Prejudice (2)||Has a distinct and often irrational hatred or distrust of a particular group such as gays, women, race, religion or creed, hippies, liberals etc. and Reaction penalised by -3.||Flaw| |Pusher (2)||Very experienced at Bribes and tempting others into their Vices, giving you Bonuses.||Persuasion 2| |Resources (1-5)||This determines how much funds are readily available and what equipment can be bought.||None| |Retainer (1-5)||An assistant, sycophant or servant that can be relied upon to carry out daily tasks, short and long term goals even. More DoTs mean more power the Retainer has.||None| |Safehouse (1-5)||Often well guarded, secure location perhaps with blast doors, vault and panic room, emergency exit etc.||None| |Safe Place (1-5)||Simply a place you feel comfortable and safe where you can hide or get lost in the anonymous crowds. No security etc. in place here.||None| |Savings (1-5)||Instead of regular disposable income this shows your Savings that start at (Resources+Resolve)…?||None| |Small Unit Tactics (2)||An effective leader of small groups.||Pre (3)| |Social Style – Fast Talk (1-5)||Allows the Character to Fast Talk their way through many social situations. Each DoT provides an extra method of Fast Talking.||Man (3) Subterfuge(2)| |Social Style – Reasoned Debate (1-5)||Uses Reason to debate in Social Situations.||Int (3) Academics (2)| |Social Style – Rhetoric (1-5)||Uses Rhetoric to influence Social Situations.||Pre (3) Expression (1)| |Social Style – Social Maneuvers (1-5)||???.||Pre (3) Man (3) A Social Skill (3)| |Social Style – Theology (1-5)||Using Religious argument to debate or influence Social Situations.||Pre (2) Expression (2) Religion (s)| |Special Forces (3)||You have experience within the Special Forces and perhaps status, contacts, allies etc are drawn from here as well as familiarity with various exotic weapons.||Lots?| |Spin Doctor (2)||Talented at Fast Talking and Bullshitting stories, Gossip and Personal PR.||Man (3), Subterfuge (2)| |Staff (1 to 5)||A group of working employees who fulfil whatever day to day tasks your character wishes..||None| |Status (1 to 5)||Determines your reputation and standing within the chosen organization or group.||None| |Street Rat (1)||Spent a lot of time on and upon the streets of an urban settlement you specify and know the many ways, hideouts, shortcuts, problem traffic routes etc.||Specify Town or City.| |Striking Looks (1 or 2)||Especially beautiful, intimidating, strange, ugly or funny looking. Whatever the specifics, they attract attention (both good & bad) and receive either the +1 or +2 bonus to relevant Social Rolls.||None| |Sympathetic (2)||Good at letting people get close and they feel comfortable opening up to you or revealing secrets.||None| |Table Turner (3)||Able to spot opportunities and see openings to get the upper hand and switch advantage when the chance comes.||Com (3) Man (3) Wit (3)| |Takes one to know one (1)||When uncovering clues that relate to your Vice you suffer penalty but now ???..||None| |Taste (1)||m..||Crafts (2) and a Speciality in Crafts or Expression| |Tripsitter (3)||Especially good at guiding people through intense psychoactive head trips.||Com (3)| |True Faith (4)||much more than the Faithful Devotion merit.||Devout as a Virtue or Vice| |True Friend (3-5)||You have a trusted and loyal friend.| |True Love (4)||m..||None| |Tunnel Rat (2)||Specify the Tunnels and you know your way around them better than your own home. Sewers, Underground, Old WW2 Tunnels, Mines etc.||Tunneller & Street Rat| |Uninspiring (2)||You are so boring, flat or uninteresting that people just seem to wilt or grow bored when you’re around and would rather leave.||Flaw| |Urban Dark ??||???.||None| |Well Travelled (2)||Natural experience of different Cultures and Languages.||None.| |Fighting Style – Aggressive Striking • – •••••||Str (•••) Sta (••) Brawl (••)| |Fighting Style – Aikido ••||Throwing.. Once you have a’ hold, you have them..||Str (••) Dex (••) Wit (••) Brawl (••)| |Fighting Style – Archery • – •••••||Str (•••) Sta (••) Brawl (••)| |Fighting Style – Armed Defence (1-5)||You can use a weapon to stop people trying to kill you.||Dex (3) Weaponry (3) Defensive Combat| |Fighting Style – Armoured Combat (1-5)||Particularly skilled at combat wearing the very heaviest and bulky of armours.||Str (3) Sta (3) Athletics (2) Armored Fighting| |Fighting Style – Berserker ••||Throwing.. Once you have a’ hold, you have them..||Dex (••) Wit (••) Brawl (••)| |Fighting Style – Blind Fighting (1-5)||You are particularly skilled in fighting without eyesight.||Wit (3) Com (2) Brawl (3) or Weaponry (3) Acute Sense (Hearing)| |Fighting Style – Boxing • – •••••||Str (•••) Sta (••) Brawl (••)| |Fighting Style – Brute Force ••||Throwing.. Once you have a’ hold, you have them..||Dex (••) Wit (••) Brawl (••)| |Fighting Style – Chain Weapons (1-5)||Str (•••) Dex (•••) Weaponry (•••)| |Fighting Style – Close Quarters Combat (1-5)||Wit (•••) Athletics (•••) Brawl (•••)| |Fighting Style – Combat Falconry (1-5)||Go into battle with a trained, combat-ready bird of prey.||Pre (2) Wit (2) Com (3) Animal Ken (3) Birds, Trained Bird type| |Fighting Style – Combat K9 (1-5)||Go into battle with a trained dog at your side.||Pre (2) Wit (2) Com (2) Animal Ken (2) Dogs, Combat Trained Dog type| |Fighting Style – Combat Marksmanship (1-5)||d, you have them..||Str (2) Dex (2) Com (3) Firearms (2)| |Fighting Style – Combat Mount (1-5)||Your Mount is able & ready to fight with you in combat.||Pre (2) Wit (2) Dex (3) Com (3) Animal Ken (2) Mount specified & Training Speciality, Mount Combat Speciality| |Fighting Style – Covering fire (1-5)||Nothing distracts once she’s driving..||Drive(3)| |Fighting Style – Defensive Combat (1-5)||Str (2) Dex (3) Wit (3) Com (3) Brawl (3) or Weaponry (3)| |Fighting Style – Dirty Fighting (1-5)||Hmmmm..||Str (3) Brawl (3)| |Fighting Style – Dream Combat (1-5)||Nothing distrac.||Wyrd (3) Empathy (3)| |Fighting Style – Evasive Striking (1-5)||Unarmed combat that very much prioritises Defence & evasion during combat.||Str (2) Dex (2) Sta (2) Brawl (2)| |Fighting Style – Expressive Combat (1-5)||Theatrical & Dramatic stage combat.||?| |Fighting Style – Fencing (1-5)||N..||Dex (3) Weaponry (3) Rapier (1) or Epee (1)| |Fighting Style – Filipino Martial Arts (1-5)||Dex (3) Weaponry (3)| |Fighting Style – Firefight (1-5)||Once you have a’ hold, you have them..||Brawl (2)| |Fighting Style – Formation Tactics • – •••••||Not.||Str (••) Sta (•••) Weaponry (••)| |Fighting Style – Frenzied Assault • – •••••||Nothing distracg..||Wyrd (3) Empathy (3)| |Fighting Style – Grappling • – •••••||Str (••) Dex (•••) Sta (•••) Brawl (••)| |Fighting Style – Gladiatorial • – •••••||N..||Str (•••) Pre (••) Weaponry (•••) ?? (•)| |Fighting Style – Gun Fu (1-5)||Type of tricks to combat firearms from melee like Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen etc.||Dex (3) Wit (3) Acrobatics (3) Athletics (2) Brawl (3) Another Fighting Style (4)| |Fighting Style – Hapkido • – •••••||Korean Martial Arts..||Str (••) Dex (••) Sta (••) Wit (•••) Brawl (••)| |Fighting Style – Harmonic Dissonance • – •••••||High Monk Mentorship..||Str (••) Dex (••) Sta (••) Res (•••) Brawl (••)| |Fighting Style – Heavy Melee Weapons • – •••••||Capable of wielding claymores, chainsaws etc with skill..||Str (3) Sta (3) Athletics (2) Weaponry (2)| |Fighting Style – Iaido • – •••••||Armed Defensive Striking..||Str (•••) Dex (•••) Com (•••) Weaponry (•••) Quick Draw| |Fighting Style – Improvised Weaponry • – •••••||Wit (•••) Weaponry (•)| |Fighting Style – Judo (1-5)||Dex| |Fighting Style – Kendo ••||Big stick.||Dex (•••) Weaponry (•••) Stick (•)| |Fighting Style – Kick Boxing ••||???.||Str (•••) Dex (•••) Brawl (••)| |Fighting Style – Knife Fighting (1 to 5)||???.||Str (•••) Dex (•••) Brawl (••)| |Fighting Style – Krav Maga • – •••••||Str (•••) Dex (•••) Wit (•••) Brawl (•••) Brawling Dodge (m?)| |Fighting Style – Kung Fu ••||Nothing distracts once she’s driving..||Str (••) Dex (••) Sta (••) Brawl (••)| |Fighting Style – Langschwert • – •••••||Skilled in the German style of Large, Two handed Sword like the Claymore or similar.||Str (••) Dex (••) Sta (••) Brawl (••)| |Fighting Style – Light Weaponry (1-5)||Dex| |Fighting Style – Marksmanship (1-5)||Does not suffer the -3 off-hand Penalty….||???| |Fighting Style – Modern Army Combatives • – •••••||Str (••) Dex (••) Sta (••) Brawl (••)| |Fighting Style – Mounted Combat (1-5)||Skilled at fighting while on a mount such as a horse..||???| |Fighting Style – Police Tactics • – •••••||Str (••) Dex (••) Sta (••) Brawl (•••) Weaponry (••)| |Fighting Style – Qinna • – •••••||Overwhelming attack that forces opponent to come with..||Dex (•••) Brawl (••)| |Fighting Style – Savage Predator • – •••••||???..||Str (••) Dex (••) Sta (••) Brawl (••) Intimidation (••)| |Fighting Style – Shurikenjutsu • – •••••||Dart throwing..||Dex (•••) Athletics (•••) Throw (s)| |Fighting Style – Sniping • – •••••||Dex (•••) Res (•••) Firearms (•••) Stealth (•••) Automatic Rifle (s)| |Fighting Style – Staff Fighting • – •••••||Overwhelming||Str (•••) Dex (••) Weaponry (••)| |Fighting Style – Stick Fighting • – •••••||“Iron Fist”||Str (•••) Sta (•••) Res (••••) Brawl (••)| |Fighting Style – Street Fighting (1-5)||It’s just like the Street brawls all over again.||)| |Fighting Style – Swashbuckling (1-5)||“Daring Do”||Dex (3) Sta (3) Com (4) Weaponry (3)| |Fighting Style – Sword and Shield (1-5)||“Iron Fist”||Str (•••) Sta (•••) Res (••••) Brawl (••)| |Fighting Style – Suppression Fire (1-5)||Nothing distracts once she’s driving..||Drive(3)| |Fighting Style – Tekken • – •••••||“Iron Fist”||Str (•••) Sta (•••) Res (••••) Brawl (••)| |Fighting Style – Two Weapon Fighting • – •••••||Trained to fight with short weapons (Size 2 or less) in both hands to their advantage in defense and offense.||Wit (•••) Dex (•••) Weaponry (••••) Athletics (••)| |Fighting Style – Unarmed Defence • – •••••||“Unarmed Defence”||Dex (•••) Brawl (••) Defensive Combat-Brawl| |Fighting Style – Wall Fighting • – •••••||Able to use walls and other vertical obstacles during combat.||Str (••) Dex (••) Sta (••) Athletics (•••) Acrobatics (s)| |Fighting Style – Wrestling • – •••••||Able to use walls and other vertical obstacles during combat.||Requirements| |Fighting Style – Zui Quan • – •••••||“Drunken Boxing” is a general term for all styles of Chinese Martial Arts that imitate a Drunkard.||Str (••) Dex (•••) Sta (••) Wit (•••) Athletics (•••) Acrobatics (s) Expression (••) Drunkenness (s)| |A Little Knowledge (2)||Once you have a’ hold, you have them..| |Awakened (8)||Dreams plague you as your Soul begins it’s Ascension and you awaken to the Truth of the Lie.||As you discover and experience this.| |Clear Sighted (2)||Spend one Willpower, and you’re effectively immune to supernatural powers that fuck with your senses for the rest of the Scene. It’s niche, but you can laugh off stuff like Hallucinate.||None.| |Cult Initiation (1-5)||None| |Deadpan (3)||Need to be a Sleepwalker (which Hardened Exorcist technically does), but this merit makes you immune to supernaturally inflicted fear unless it plays off your Vice or a mental condition (in which case you just get a bonus). Helps you avoid being spooked by ghosts.||None.| |Dead Reckoning (2)||Something makes you feel more comfortable with the Dead than the living and Bonus to navigate the Realms of the Dead.||None| |Dragons Tongue (2/4)||..||None| |Empathic Bond (2)||Working like a Mother’s intuition for anyone, specify close persons to bond with||None| |Fog of Ages (1-5)||None| |Fortitude of the Soul (2)||You believe.. and having symbol of your faith with you improves your supernatural resistance.||True Faith, Symbol,| |Generation (1-5)||Denotes your Vampiric Generation, from 13th when no DoTs to 8th gen at 5 DoTs & 4th Gen at 9 DoTs. Kindred only.| |Ghoul (4)||You have yourself a Ghoul in your Retinue..||Kindred usually.| |Gifted (2-5)||These people are in tune with the Twilight in ways that grant them “Psychic Powers”.||Trauma, accident or intense treatment may cause this or born.| |Hardened Exorcist (2)||Skillful Exorcist with Experience..||Lots?| |Haunted (1-5)||A Being of some kind has latched onto you and is causing problems that will only escalate unless stopped.||??| |Lesser Shaman (6)||Part way towards being a Mage but nowhete near the power or danger involved.||Must be a Sleeper| |Lucid Dreamer (2)||Nothing distracts once she’s driving..||None| |Medium (3)||Interact with Ghosts etc and Linda dismiss or summon.||Lots| |Mythologist (2)||Lots of knowledge of Myths & legends..||Probs| |Necropolis • – •••••||None| |Nostalgia • – •••••||None| |Psychic • – •••••||Yes| |Sensitive (2)||Not quite in tune with the Twilight all around but somehow aware of it and vague feelings occur.||Various.| |Spirit Magnet • – •••••||None| |Spirit Mentor (3)||.||None| |Spirit Sight (4)||D||None| |Strong Aura ••||N||Drive(3)| |Supernatural Lore • – •••••||Actively owe money to some person, people or organization. Each DOT deducts a DOT from yourt.. Negatives mean …||Ath & Across| |Thin Blooded (1-5)||Beings with weaker than average Vitality in their blood. It means a lot less Power and potential. Vampires with such weak, watered down blood are often Outcast or lack Status and Power.||Flaw| |Unseen Senses ••||Select a specific type of Supernatural Creature which you have the ability to sense in some way.. More DOTs better the Sensing. This can be bought multiple times for multiple Creature types.||None| |Vision ••||Seeing things…||?| |Weak Aura • – •••••||None| |Whispers ••||Experiences strange voices in your head..||?| Merit Name Prerequisites Description Beast Whispers - You can talk down frenzying vampires. Clan Bane Immunity - You do not suffer your domitor’s clan bane. Powerful Vitae Blood Potency 6+ domitor You feed from a Kindred with exceptionally potent blood. Predatory Aura - You can pretend to be a vampire. Predatory Instinct - You can spot vampires on sight. Source Sympathy - You experience blood sympathy towards your domitor. Vitae Hound - You are a connoisseur of Vitae. Watch Dog - You can use your domitor’s Auspex during the day. Merit Name Prerequisites Description Allies - Friends and confederates. • Lawman’s Friend - The Sheriff and Hounds have taken a liking to you. • Old Pal - An Embraced friend from your mortal days. • Paramour - A Kindred lover and confidante. • Primogen Friendship - The city’s Primogen value your advice. Alternate Identity - A false identity, complete with documentation. • Broken Bond - Another Kindred thinks you are blood-bound to him. • Covenant Infiltrator - You have infiltrated a rival covenant or sect. • Personal Masquerade - You have passed yourself off as a member of another clan. Contacts - Mortal information sources the character possesses. • Cacophony Savvy - How in-touch the character is with the Cacophony. • Mole - An informer in a rival clan or covenant. Domain - Feeding grounds acknowledged by Kindred society. • Elysium Domain • Your domain includes an Elysium. Herd - Vessels to which the character has free and safe access. Mentor - An elder vampire who advises and supports the character. • Sugar Mommy/Daddy - A romantic relationship with an elder Kindred. Protégé - A childe or other younger Kindred mentored by your character. • Thrall - A Kindred your character has subjected to the blood bond. Safe Place - A secure location you control and own. • Outside Haven Tremere You have permission to make your haven outside the clan chantry. Status (Kindred) - The character’s standing and respect in undead society. • Kindred Friendship - The character’s closeness to a clan, covenant, or sect other than her own. • Setite Initiate Non-Setite You have been inducted into the Followers of Set. • Staff - A staff of ghoul and mortal servants who follow your orders. • Status (Camarilla) - The character’s standing and respect in the Camarilla. • Status (Clan) - The character’s standing and respect among her clan. • Status (Coterie) - The character’s standing and respect in a coterie. • Status (Covenant) - The character’s standing and respect in her covenant. • Status (Society) - The character’s standing and respect in some other Kindred-exclusive fraternity, cult, or secret society. • Title - An office of formal authority within the Camarilla. Touchstone - Additional mortals who help maintain Humanity. Merit Name Prerequisites Description Calm Heart - Your character frenzies less easily than most. Fury’s Focus Brujah Your character has greater control over her frenzies. Night Doctor Surgery Anarch, Medicine •• Your character has been trained as an Anarch Night Doctor. Merit Name Prerequisites Description Bloat - Your character can store more Vitae than most Kindred. Cannibal - Your character gains sustenance from human flesh. Blush of Health Non-Nosferatu Your character easily blends in among mortals. Eat Food - The ability to eat mortal food. Foul Blood - Your character’s blood tastes revolting. Light Sleeper Wits ••• Your character easily awakens during the day. Lizard Limbs - Your character can detach their limbs. Misplaced Heart - Your heart is not located where it should be, making you very difficult to stake. Monstrous Maw - Your character’s fangs do more damage. Prehensile Wings - You are capable of crude flight. Rugged Bad Looks Nosferatu You can pass for an extremely ugly human. Thick-Skinned - Your character is difficult to drain blood from. True Worm - You can remain awake during the day, so long as you remain underground. Unmarred Face Nosferatu Your character’s face is less deformed than other Nosferatu. Merit Name Prerequisites Description Antitoxin Blood - Immunity to poisons that affect Kindred. Benevolent Blood - Your blood does not drive ghouls mad. Malkavian only. Claws of the Unholy Protean • Your character’s Protean claws inflict horrific wounds. Close Sympathy - You are particularly close to Kindred wih whom you share blood ties. Closer Than Blood Paramour • You have a mental link to your Paramour. Consanguineous Resistance Sangiovanni Immunity to blood bonds from mortal relatives. Deceptive Aura - The ability to pass as mortal to other vampires. Discipline Prodigy - One of your clan Disciplines costs less Vitae to use. Embraced without the Cup Tremere Your character is not blood-bound to her elders. Favored Visage Obfuscate •••• You are especially adept at assuming certain appearances with Obfuscate. Generation - How many generations the character is removed from Caine. Ghost Eater - You can feed from ghosts. Gifts of the Beast - Hidden powers possessed by your character’s Beast. Hidden Diablerie - Your character is difficult to detect as a diablerist. Hive Minded Animalism • Animalism that works on insects. Indomitable Soul - Diablerizing you curses your murderer. Inoffensive to Animals - Animals do nut shun your presence. Intoxicating Vitae - Your vitae develops faster blood bonds. Lesser Mark of the Beast Gangrel Your character can mitigate their Beast Marks. Living Masquerade Alternate Identity ••• Your character blends in seemlessly among the kine. Lunatic Insight Malkavian A Malkavian’s inexplicable oracular insights. Malkavian Time Malkavian A Malkavian’s connection to the clan Madness Network. Of Rose and Thorn Animalism • You can use Animalism on plants. Sleep Unseen Obfuscate • Your character can use Obfuscate while sleeping. Swarm Form Protean ••• Your character can become a swarm of animals with Protean. Sympathetic Bond - Anyone who blood bonds your character becomes blood bonded too. Thousand Forms Protean ••• The power to assume an unlimited number of animal forms with Protean. Wits ••, Academics ••, Occult •, Geomantic Specialty Perceive mystical resonance in a specific city Area of Expertise Increase a Mental Specialty to +2 Dexterity ••• or Wits •••, Intelligence below ••• Use higher of Wits or Dexterity for Defense Allies (• to •••••)Social Effect: Allies help your character. They might be friends, employees, associates, or people your character has blackmailed. Each instance of this Merit represents one type of ally. This could be in an organization, a society, a clique, or an individual. Examples include the police, a secret society, crime, unions, local politics, and the academic community. Each purchase has its own rating. Your character might have Allies (Masons) ••, Allies (Carter Crime Family) •••, and Allies (Catholic Church) •. Each dot represents a layer of influence in the group. One dot would constitute small favors and passing influence. Three could offer considerable influence, such as the overlooking of a misdemeanor charge by the police. Five dots stretch the limits of the organization’s influence, as its leaders put their own influence on the line for the character. This could include things such as massive insider training or fouling up a felony investigation. No matter the request, it has to be something that organization could accomplish. The Storyteller assigns a rating between one and five to any favor asked. A character can ask for favors that add up to her Allies rating without penalty in one chapter. If she extends her influence beyond that, her player must roll Manipulation + Persuasion + Allies, with a penalty equal to the favor’s rating. If the roll is successful, the group does as requested. Failed or successful, the character loses a dot of Allies. This dot may return at the end of the chapter (see Sanctity of Merits, on p. 158.) On a dramatic failure, the organization resents her and seeks retribution. On an exceptional success, she doesn’t lose the dot. One additional favor a character can ask of her Allies is to block another character’s Allies, Contacts, Mentor, Retainer, or Status (if she knows the character possesses the relevant Merit). The rating is equal to the Merit dots blocked. As before, no roll is necessary unless the target’s Merit exceeds the character’s Allies. If the block succeeds, the character cannot use the Merit during the same chapter. Reference: ChoD 49 Alternate Identity (•,••, or •••)Social Effect: Your character has established an alternate identity. The level of this Merit determines the amount of scrutiny it can withstand. At one dot, the identity is superficial and unofficial. For example, your character uses an alias with a simple costume and adopts an accent. She hasn’t established the necessary paperwork to even approach a bureaucratic background check, let alone pass. At two dots, she’s supported her identity with paperwork and identification. It’s not liable to stand up to extensive research, but it’ll turn away private investigators and internet hobbyists. At three dots, the identity can pass thorough inspection. The identity has been deeply entrenched in relevant databases, with subtle flourishes and details to make it seem real even to trained professionals. The Merit also reflects time the character has spent honing the persona. At one or two dots, she gains a +1 to all Subterfuge rolls to defend the identity. At three dots, she gains +2. This Merit can be purchased multiple times. Each time representing an additional identity. Reference: ChoD 50 Effect: Your character does not suffer the -2 penalty for using his off-hand in combat or to perform other actions. Available only at character creation. Reference: ChoD 47 Animal Empathy (?)Social Anonymity (1-5) Social Prerequisites: Cannot have Fame. Effect: Your character lives off the grid. This means purchases must be made with cash or falsified credit cards. She eschews identification. She avoids any official authoritative influence in her affairs. Any attempts to find her by paper trail suffer a -1 penalty per dot purchased in this Merit. Drawback: Your character cannot purchase the Fame Merit. This also may limit Status purchases, if the character cannot provide sufficient identification for the roles she wishes to take. Reference: ChoD 50 Area of Expertise (•)Mental Prerequisite: Resolve •• and one Skill Specialty Effect: Your character is uncommonly specialized in one area. Choose a Specialty to assign to this Merit. Forgo the +1 bonus afforded by a Specialty in exchange for a +2. Reference: ChoD 44 Can safely gauge how far Old Laws can be pushed Cheap Shot (••)Fighting Prerequisites: Street Fighting •••, Subterfuge •• Effect: Your character is a master at the bait and switch. She can look off in an odd direction and prompt her opponent to do the same, or she might step on someone’s toes to distract them. Either way, she fights dirty. Make a Dexterity + Subterfuge roll as a reflexive action. The opponent’s player contests with Wits + Composure. If you score more successes, the opponent loses his Defense for the next turn. Each time a character uses this maneuver in a scene, it levies a cumulative -2 penalty to further uses since the opposition gets used to the tricks. Reference: ChoD 61 Choke Hold (••)Fighting Prerequisites: Brawl •• If you can get your hands on someone, it’s over. When grappling, you can use the Choke move. • Choke: If you rolled more successes than twice the victim’s Stamina, he’s unconscious for (six – Stamina) minutes. You must first have succeeded at a Hold move. If you don’t score enough successes at first, you can Choke your opponent on future turns and total your successes. Reference: ChoD 61 Close Quarters Combat (• to •••••)Fighting [Style] Prerequisites: Wits •••, Athletics ••, Brawl ••• You know that hitting someone in the face is an easy way to break the little bones in your hand. To that end, you’ve perfected the art of using the environment to hurt people. Firing Lines (•): In some situations, your best option is a tactical retreat — especially if you’ve inadvertently brought a knife to a gunfight. You can run for cover as a reaction to a ranged attack instead of dropping prone (see “Going Prone,” pp. 164-165 of the World of Darkness Rulebook). You give up your action for the turn but can get to any cover that’s within twice your Speed. Hard Surfaces (••): Bouncing someone’s head off a urinal, computer monitor, or a brick wall is a handy way to increase the amount of hurt inflicted while not breaking the aforementioned hand bones. When you’re grappling someone, you can bounce them off a hard surface with a Damage move. You deal lethal damage and immediately end the grapple. Armored Coffin (•••): The problem with protection is simple: the very things that protect you can be turned against you. That holds true for body armor just as much as anything else. Sure, it blocks bullets and knives, but get in a clinch and you might as well be wearing a straightjacket. When you grapple an opponent, add their general armor rating to your dice pool. When you use a Damage move, ignore your opponent’s armor. This technique can’t be used in conjunction with Hard Surfaces. Prep Work (••••): If you’ve got a second to look around, you could catch someone by surprise almost anywhere. When launching a surprise attack, your Dexterity + Stealth roll becomes a rote action. Drawback: You can’t use this Merit to set up sniper attacks — your ambush must use Brawl or Weaponry. Turnabout (•••••): If you’re caught short in a fight, your opponent’s weapon suits you just fine. When you attempt to Disarm your opponent, step the results up one level — on a failure, your opponent drops the weapon. On a success, you take possession of your opponent’s weapon. On an exceptional success, you’ve got the weapon and your opponent takes two points of bashing damage. Reference: ChoD 61 Closed Book (• to •••••)Social Prerequisite: Manipulation •••, Resolve ••• Effect: Your character is particularly tough to crack. When a character uses Social Maneuvering (see p. 81) against her, add her dots in this Merit as additional Doors. In other Social actions to uncover her true feelings, motives, and position, add her Merit dots to any contested rolls for her. At the Storyteller’s discretion, this can apply to supernatural effects used against her. For example, it might allow her to resist a power that forces her to speak the truth, since she can manipulate the wording. However, it wouldn’t affect someone looking at her aura, since she cannot manipulate her spiritual resonance. Reference: ChoD 50 Common Sense (3) Mental Effect: Your character has an exceptionally sound and rational mind. With a moment’s thought, she can weigh potential courses of action and outcomes. Once per chapter as an instant action, you may ask the Storyteller one of the following questions about a task at hand or course of action. Roll Wits + Composure. If you succeed, the Storyteller must answer to the best of her ability. If you fail, you get no answer. With an exceptional success, you can ask an additional question. • What is the worst choice? • What do I stand to lose here? • What’s the safest choice? • Am I chasing a worthless lead? Reference: ChoD 44 Combat Awareness (2) +2 to any situational awareness roll Crafter’s Sense (3) Common Sense related to a chosen Crafts Specialty +2 to detect ambush Gains 8-again when navigating in the Underworld; loses 10-again navigating above ground. Remember with ease, gain +2 to Intelligence + Composure to remember facts from large swaths of data Ignores stress penalties equal to Resolve Know obscure facts choose a topic and can make Intelligence + Wits rolls to gain facts related to it at any time Wits ••• or Dex •••, Crafts •••, Crafts Specialty of Demolitions Reduce penalty for disarming unfamiliar explosives +1 to Perception when using psychoactive drugs Good Time Management Academics, Medicine or Science •• Cut time for non-magical extended rolls by 1/4 Asy 50, Rel 84 +1 on Resolve rolls to resist coercion Help others heal faster Hypnotic Voice (4) : Persuasion (3), Science (3), Hypnotherapy (s) Induce trance state Hypnosis (3): Medicine (1), Occult (1) •• or •••• Wits ••, Mental Skill •• Use specified Skill in place of Expression Two Skills ••• Share Specialty between two Skills Speak another language WoD 109, errata Fight off intrusions into dreams Control dream environment and engage intruders in dream combat • to ••• Wits •••, Skill • Remove -1/dot penalty for shoddy tools No penalties to meditate • to ••••• 2 languages per dot, conversationally Intelligence ••, Stealth ••• Strike a Killing Blow (WoD 168) against a single unsuspecting target Occult ••, Underworld Specialty Gains some insight into some of the Underworld’s enigmas • to ••• Inhibit mental alteration by psychics Resolve ••, Science or Academics •••• Resist mental breakdown with Science or Academics Science •••, Specialty Common Sense related to Science • to ••••• Know the ways of a particular type of supernatural being. May be purchased separately for multiple types. • or •• Encyclopedic Knowledge in one topic •• or ••• Intelligence ••••, Medicine •• After killing something, roll Intelligence + Medicine. •• version allows to ‘taunt’ those who would make Wits + Investigation rolls. ••• version allows to change the ‘meaning’ of a murder. Tolerance for Biology Resistance Attribute •• +2 to keep composed when shown scenes of violence or carnage Composure ••, Investigation • Memorize information perfectly; roll to memorize for entire scene (i.e. everything a character could sense in a given moment) instead of specific information or sensory input • or ••• Wits ••• or Composure ••• Ignore penalties or gain Rote quality on Perception rolls • to ••• Navigate the Chicago Undercity tunnels, ignoring penalties equal to dots in this Merit • to ••••• Mental Attribute or Composure •••• Use successes on Vision+Skill roll to aid an Extended Action 9-Again on Mental and Social rolls relating to foreign cultures Can purchase Dream and use it as Instant Action, at the cost of sanity Remove off-hand penalty to attack •• or •••• Strength •••, Stamina ••• Reduce heavy armor penalties by 1 (••) or 2 (••••) Dexterity ••, Athletics • Add Athletics rather than doubling Defense on Dodge Strength ••, Brawl • Add Brawl rather than doubling Defense on Dodge • to •• Strength ••• or Intelligence ••• Can ignore 1 (•) or 2 (••) points of Durability when attempting to damage objects Dexterity •••, Weaponry • Can disarm if damage exceeds Dexterity Dexterity ••, Brawl ••• Successful, defenseless Brawl strike adds damage as bonus to subsequent grappling attack Dexterity •••, Brawl ••, Weaponry •• Add size of blunt weapon (3 or less) to overpowering maneuver dice pool • or •• +1/dot to Initiative Dexterity •••, Weaponry •• Substitute Dexterity for Strength Dexterity ••, Wits ••, Brawl ••, Firearms •• Subtract Brawl dots from attempts to disarm by overpowering Fleet of Foot • to ••• +1/dot to Speed Fast Reflexes •• Delay action into next round Ground and Pound Combination Blows, Boxing ••• or Aggressive Striking •••, Grappling •• Perform Takedown/Throw, gain +2 to following unarmed strike Dexterity •••, Firearms ••• Two gun attacks per round Strength •••, Brawl •• +1 damage to unarmed strikes • to ••• Stamina ••• or Resolve ••• Negate fatigue/injury penalties Eat even unpalatable cuisine +2 on Stamina rolls to resist illness Negate environmental penalties to Survival -2 to all rolls to visually detect character Draw weapon reflexively Heal twice as fast Only -1 to attack when using a shield instead of -2 Substitute Resolve for Dexterity on Drive rolls +1 to lift or carry +2 on Stamina rolls to hold breath Student of the Blade Fencing • or Iaido • May use Fighting Style with all Size 2 blades. Drive and carry out another action The Weapon at Hand Krav Maga •• Reflexive Wits + Weaponry roll for improvised weapon, instant action to wield, no penalty for being improvised +2 on Stamina rolls to resist toxins Strength ••, Weaponry • Add Weaponry rather than doubling Defense on Dodge Weapons to Empty Hands Dexterity •••, Brawl •••, Weaponry •••, Two Weapons or Filipino Martial Arts or Knife Fighting •••• Use Brawl instead of Weaponry for maneuver-related attacks. Dexterity ••, Drive •• Gain 9-Again on Drive rolls • to ••••• Call upon favors from an individual, group or organization with influence and resources proportional to dots in this Merit • to •••• Loyal animal partner with intelligence and capability proportional to dots in this Merit •• to •••• Resolve ••, Larceny or Subterfuge •• -1/dot to attempts to investigate character • to ••••• Own an array of weapons and armor. May be shared among multiple characters Find ways into bars and clubs +2 to navigate a bureaucratic system • to ••••• Access to information through a particular individual, group or organization. Depth of shared information is proportional to dots in this Merit • to ••••• Formal awards for meritorious conduct from the military or a comparable organization • to ••••• Strong beneficial or harmful relationship with another character • to ••• Mortal acclaim, +1/dot to Socialize • or ••• Always find a way to buy and sell stolen goods • to ••••• The aid of a friend, ally or peer. Distribute dots in this Merit between the Friend’s Power (comparable to yours at •••) and level of Trust with you Gain bonus to locate authority figures in local power structures Help others regain Willpower •• or •••• Live a wealthy, comfortable lifestyle at the sufferance of a patron • to ••••• Guidance and interference of an authority in a field, with capability and influence proportional to dots in this Merit •, •• or •••• Establish a forged identity • to ••••• Disposable monthly income ranging from $500 USD at • to $50,000 USD at •••••, with total assets ranging from several hundred GBP at • to millions of GBP at •••••. • to ••••• Loyal agent, employee or cohort with influence and capability proportional to dots in this Merit Shadow Cult Initiation • to ••••• Membership in a cult, with unique benefits to each level of initiation Small Unit Tactics Manipulation •••, Persuasion •••, Leadership Specialty When conducting a tactical maneuver with squad, leader can spend Willpower to benefit entire group • to ••••• Resources ≥ Staff Employees or workers at a set venue, with manpower and expertise proportional to dots in this Merit • to ••••• Authority and sway with a group or organization, to a depth proportional to dots in this Merit •• or •••• Appearance adds 2 to relevant Social rolls • to •••• Empowerment as a law enforcement official, with scope of jurisdiction proportional to dots in this Merit Help others resist side effects of drugs +2 to escape notice while casing a target under cover of some mundane activity. +1 to Resolve to resist The Forgetful Mind (Dominate •••) • to ••••• Possess a cursed item, which may be invoked for a benefit and a paired drawback Difficult to Ride Resolve •••, Composure ••• +2 to resist the control or influence of ghosts and spirits • to ••••• Grant a chosen vehicle bonuses for a scene per day You can welcome a possessing spirit in, remaining alert while ridden You can welcome even spirits without the Possession Numen +1 to Persuasion and Socialize rolls against spirits, often surrounded by spirit activity • to ••••• Possess a mystic relic +1 to determine how to use a relic, or whether it is cursed Occult ••, Crafts •• Create limited-use relics with an extended Resolve + Occult ritual, following the crafting itself +1 to Intimidation, abjury and exorcism against spirits, but -1 to Expression, Persuasion and Socialize against them ••• to ••••• You know how and where to ask questions of a mysterious entity, but it extracts a price for answers • to ••••• Take refuge in a place where spirits have difficulty following •• to •••• Wits or Composure ••• +1 to Empathy and Subterfuge rolls to understand spirits speaking human tongues, ignoring penalties, or with four dots, roll Wits + Empathy – 3 to understand the tongue of spirits

Conan Acheronian Edition Infantry officer and military advisor |Levels||Soldier 5 (81 points)| Feats: Formation Combat: Heavy Infantry, Officer, Weapon Focus, Weapon specialization, Parry, Power Attack, Great Fortitude, Toughness, (2 unselected) Skills (32 points + 8 background) |Athletics||6 + 3||9| |Gather Information||8 + 0||8| |Intimidate||4 + 3 + 2 (S)||11| |Know: Warfare||8 + 2||10| |Ride||6 + 2||8| |Perception||6 + 0 + 2 (S)||8| Mazare is the most seasoned veteran among the soldiers Barathus rescued from slavery. He is no longer young, but looks even older. Wrinkles and patches of grayed hair cover his face, enhancing the impression of a stressed old man. Mazare is disappointed in himself, feeling that he hasn’t really achieved anything in his life. He’s angry, badmouthed and needlessly onerous. People often see him bullying the recruits or just cursing to himself. Regardless of this, he is a skilled commander and archer. It’s a running joke among the soldiers of the keep that Mazare has never laid a woman without monetary compensation. It is rather unwise to tell this joke to his face.

One morning, Skeeter woke up to a hazy sky. It'd rain soon. This happens many a times...The weather goes bad and you are cribbing and cribbing and some more when one morning you wake up to this: A dhaba near the old office in central Delhi served AWESOME alu paranthas. With mixed achar (pickle they call it), makhan (Skeeter won't call it butter here) and a big dollop of dahi (yoghurt you know it as :P )An evening when you can have elaichi chai with the self would find you somewhere near a nice bamboo swing when the rays of the sun bid adieu to you by kissing the cuppa with their warm glow. They say Delhi is rough. They say the people are ruthless. They say Delhi is this. They say Delhi is that.To Skeeter Delhi is warm, caring and a lot more. It is her beloved city. P.S.: Work's getting crazier but Skeeter is fighting for the time to write here...She wins!

I have paid attention to Lindex and their new campaign and come to a conclusion that they definitely are lifting their fashion profile up ! all pics borrowed from Lindex I have not really shopped at Lindex in a loooonnng time but now I stopped by at their store and the pieces looked good! Also,I like their new TV ad which includes these same (above) pictures as a flick. It has some old days glamour in it. Nice !

When you’ve finished cleaning your sock drawer and have some time to practice your Icelandic, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haByWjOXdKQ and listen carefully. They’re talking about a Spanish documentary, Campillo, Sí Quiero, which is about a village in Castille called Campillo de Ranas (Littlefield of Frogs). Or you can skip all that and read about the village in the New York Times. Get in your car in Madrid, head north on the A-1 for about 70 km., take Exit 76 toward Avenida de la Venta de Méa, take the M-137 about eleven km. till you get to Prádena del Rincón, where you turn right onto M-130. Go about 7-8 km till you rejoin the M-137 again. Be sure to take the right turn and go north and not the left turn which would take you back to where you started on M-137. Follow that for about 8 km, till you get to the GU-187. Stay on that about 5 km. till you get to GU-181. Turn right and continue on about three and a half km. till you get to GU-194. Turn left onto the highway to Corralejo (Carretera a Corralejo) (GU-194) and go about 8 km. till you get to GU-186 (Ctra a Majaelrayo). Take that about half a kilometer, turn left toward Calle Cuesta about half a kilometer and there you are in Little Field of Frogs, the gay marriage capital of Spain. If you make all the right turns it shouldn’t take you more than two hours from Callao in downtown Madrid, about 128 km. in all. Probably best to go when there’s a wedding you’re invited to. Or arrange one of your own, gay or non-gay. Takes about 45 days to clear the paper work, I understand, so get cracking. Besides the wild boar, there are only 50 or 60 inhabitants, but there are apparently lots of B&Bs and restaurants in villages nearby. You can see the mayor (and local beekeeper) of Campillo de Ranas, Francisco Maroto, interviewed by Teresa Viejo on the Castillian TV program Tal Como Somos (Such as We Are). People are coming from all over the place (Peru, the U.S., Eastern Europe) to get married in his town, since he decided (he’s gay himself) to take advantage of the fact that Spain approved same-sex marriage in June of 2005. The marriage featured on the program is one done in medieval costume where everybody, including the alcalde gets all dressed up in medieval drag. When Lord of the Rings fans got married, Maroto got dressed up as Gandalf. Whatever it takes, says Mayor Maroto. This is one clever dude in the body of a cozy teddy bear. He’s stopped the exodus to the cities, the school has opened again with eleven kids after being closed for 32 years, and the old folks are rallying round their mayor in case there might be anybody who would wish him harm. The interviewer puts him on the spot. She asks him if he’s married himself and he says no. She then tries to interview his partner, Quique Rodriguez (the local justice of the peace), sitting in the audience, but the partner refuses. Mayor says they’re not interested in getting married. Interviewer says, well if you change your mind… A real marriage-maker, this one. She then interviews a straight couple he married some time ago with their four-month-old daughter who want to thank him for his efforts in marrying them. Most of the folk who come there now to marry are straight. They just like the place. Seriously – you can skip the Icelandic interview since it’s just talking heads – unless, of course, you like to hear Nordics make those delicious sounds with their mouths. But watch the mayor’s interview, even if your Spanish isn’t up to snuff. The warmth of the guy, of the interviewer, the warmth of Spain comes through. Where, I ask you, in all this, is the view that gays are a threat to the institution of marriage?

Bruce Jenner is 10 years old and home alone. He walks into his mother’s bedroom closet, brushing a hand over the cotton dresses. He selects one, careful to mark its exact position with a piece of paper, so no one discovers. He accessorizes with one of Mom’s scarves and with shoes belonging to his sister, Pam, and dabs on some lipstick. After surveying the ensemble in a mirror, the child ventures out of the red brick apartment building in tiny Tarrytown, N.Y., making it around the block. The adventure is both thrilling and painfully alienating: It’s 1959, and Bruce has no idea what’s going on. “Even at the age of ten, my life had become a sealed box, and over time, the sides would become even higher and ultimately impossible to scale,” Jenner writes in the new memoir The Secrets of My Life, in which she refers to herself as Caitlyn after her transition, in the spring of 2015, and Bruce beforehand. Before transitioning publicly, Jenner’s is a lonely life of concealment. Trying to “exorcise what was living inside,” Jenner marries and divorces three women, trying on their clothing, too. The wives are left deeply confused, as are the children. After their makeup starts going missing, young Kylie and Kendall enable a security camera on their computer, only to discover Dad in drag – they are “too young to understand.” In the eighties, the Olympic decathlete crisscrosses America, delivering corporate motivational speeches to stay afloat financially. On these occasions, Jenner dons a suit with a bra and pantyhose underneath. There are strolls in little black dresses through anonymous hotel lobbies, excursions that leave Jenner self-conscious, “a thinner version of Big Bird standing out for the world to see and snicker at after I pass.” Excruciating electrolysis sessions and hormone therapy treatments are conducted in secret throughout the mid-80s. Later, Jenner gets more daring, changing into dresses and wigs in a car near the family home – and lurking paparazzi – in Los Angeles. With a low, masculine voice, Jenner makes sure never to speak out loud, except for one Starbucks run to order a vanilla latte. Applying and removing makeup and false eyelashes, squeezing into undergarments – the daily rituals most women find oppressive, Jenner finds liberating and life-affirming. But Caitlyn’s glamazon femininity has earned her few friends in either the transgender or feminist camps. When she gushed about nail polish in her first revelatory interview with Diane Sawyer, her critics were aghast, noting that the struggles of womankind extend beyond chipped nails. Others took issue with Jenner’s wealth and her politics: She’s a Republican who voted for Donald Trump. Jenner’s memoir presents a person who is deeply conscious of her critics, desperate to avoid confrontation and constantly apologizing – now to her transgender critics, but before that to her three wives and six children for being “consumed and self-absorbed” by a lifelong gender dysphoria. “I am trying to learn as quickly as I can,” writes Jenner, who visits with the families of bullied transgender children lost to suicide. “I am very new to the community and I understand some still perceive me as an outsider. My own story, I believe, is worth telling because the pain and fear I experienced was real.” The Globe and Mail spoke with Caitlyn Jenner from Los Angeles. What does hiding the way you did for five decades do to a person? Everybody has stuff they have to deal with in life. My identity was my stuff for my entire life. In the fifties and sixties, there wasn’t even a word for it. I didn’t know why I felt this way. There was no information. This continued all the way through the eighties, when I was really struggling. I couldn’t even find a therapist. It was a life of hiding and sneaking around and being embarrassed that my identity was such an issue in my life. It’s not like you take two Aspirin and get plenty of sleep and wake up the next morning and you’re fine. It was extremely lonely. After a lifetime of hiding, you are abruptly thrust into the spotlight as a mainstream transgender spokesperson. How was that for you? The public and the press put me in a position where, all of a sudden, I represented this entire community, which is not the case. I’m a representative for my story. Disenfranchised transgender women take issue with you as a spokesperson because of your privilege. You seem acutely aware of your critics, writing out the words “I am white. I am entitled. I have wealth” in a bold font in the book. You face a trans protest at one of your appearances and you distinctly remember the protest signs. “You are an insult to trans people,” one reads. How does it feel to be an outsider all over again? It hurts. If a trans woman writes something [critical of me], I have this terrible problem where I just call ‘em up. I’ve done this on numerous occasions. I tell them, “You don’t know me. You don’t know my intentions.” They don’t know where my heart is. Yes, I’m white – can’t do anything about that. Privileged? My experience being trans is much different than theirs, I will admit to that. But I’ll never apologize for working hard all my life and making a good living. That’s what this country’s all about. We’re all trying to do the same thing: to make it better for our marginalized community and for the next generation. There’s no sense in criticizing anybody. I call my critics and say, “I’d like to get to know you. Tell me your story.” It changes people’s minds. At the same time, you write about taking some of the “sanctimony out of the sails of the trans community.” You make a point of noting that you’re not hung up on pronouns. Pronouns are extremely important, and I get that. I try to do my best to get all the pronouns right but even I’ve messed up. I was six months into my transition, and somebody working in production called and I said, “Hi, it’s Bruce.” My daughters Kendall and Kylie have asked me, “What do we call you?” I said, “‘Dad’ is going to work for me. I’m your dad. I’ll always be your father till the day you or I die.” Sometimes “Dad” and “she,” they kind of get messed up a little bit. But my daughters do a very good job. I spoke to Kendall on the phone today and she goes, “Yes, ma’am.” She’s getting it. But I don’t get hung up on it. I know people are going to make mistakes. You explain that you consider yourself a trans woman, not a woman. What is the distinction to you? My road to womanhood has certainly been different. I will never have a period. I will never bear a child. So I’m very comfortable with the words “trans woman.” It’s the way my life has been. There is clearly division among trans women, but there is also division between feminists about trans women. Some feminists argue that trans women can’t just take on the label of “woman” after enjoying the perks of masculinity all their lives. What’s your feeling about that? People criticize trans women because you go from what society treats as the powerful, masculine role to what society thinks is a weaker, feminine role. From this standpoint I think women underestimate themselves and the amount of power they have. I’ve always been with very strong women. Your first wife, Chrystie Scott, and your second wife, Linda Thompson, did not take the news of your cross-dressing well. Kris Jenner was less stunned by it but still not into it. What was it like for these wives – who clearly wanted their husband Bruce Jenner back? I did open up conversations with them, but it was the last thing they wanted to hear. I can’t blame them for that. I understand that it’s difficult when you transition. I respected if they were not into it. I get it. We’re better friends now with both Chrystie and Linda. In a lot of ways, we’re fine. With Kris, it was a little closer and tougher for her. Plus, we spent 23 years together. You say that your stepdaughter Kim Kardashian was the most sympathetic. As you’re chucking Bruce’s clothes, Kim carts her favourite pieces away. In a clip from Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Kris Jenner smells the suits and cries, mourning that Bruce is gone. Do you empathize with that? [Chuckles] She can be pretty dramatic at times – on the show. I understand that. It’s tough. But we didn’t go our separate directions because I was going to go and transition. It had been 23 years and things had changed. We both mutually decided that it was best for both of us to go in separate directions for many reasons. The book was leaked and tabloids have been obsessing over its final revelation – your gender reassignment surgery. I had “it” done and that already snuck out and it’s been all over the Internet. The tabloids love that, and so does the general public. The book is about honesty, about getting all this weight off my shoulders and getting rid of it. That had to be part of it, but I didn’t want to make it the main part. My reasons for doing something like that are in the book, and then I’m not talking about it any more. I want to protect myself and I want to protect the community. Why is the fixation on surgeries upsetting to transgender people? Gender confirmation surgery is an extraordinarily personal thing. It’s not for public consumption and it’s not something trans people really want to talk about. The general public thinks it’s all about what’s between your legs. It has nothing to do with that. It’s about what’s between your ears. The day after she has that surgery, a trans woman is no more a woman than she was the day before surgery. She is just more comfortable with herself. People are pruriently obsessed with your surgeries but also with your sexuality. They want to know if you’re gay or straight – post-transition. Where do you stand on those questions? I have no idea. I’m not looking to date – men, women, anything. I have no problem being by myself in my home. I’m set in my ways. If I can find a really good friend down the way, I would have a friend. How are the challenges for trans teens different today than what you were facing, completely alone, in the 1960s? My journey is a lot longer than many journeys of people today. Today it’s a different world. The big change for our community was the Internet. It opened the entire community up. Transgender people can now get a lot more information at a very young age, and that’s good. It also hurts. Online bullying is worse than getting bullied in person in high school or grade school. The real critical kids are the ones that suffer from depression combined with trans issues. It is devastating for these children, and a lot of them take their own lives. We have to do a better job of accepting the community. You expressed disappointment after Donald Trump revoked Barack Obama’s federal guidelines for public schools to let transgender students use bathrooms of their choice. You asked Trump to call you about it. Did he? Okay, this is where I’m at. I had talked to Trump during the campaign. We spoke on the phone about a lot of these issues. He seemed to be on our side. I was relatively optimistic at first. When he rescinded the federal guidelines with Jeff Sessions and Betsy Devos, I couldn’t figure out why he would do that. It was the absolute wrong thing to do. Why even go there? We’ve got so many more important issues to deal with in this country. Go deal with those and just leave us alone. When I was at the inauguration, he said he wanted me to come down and play golf with him – I just don’t know if he wants to get beaten by a 67-year-old trans woman. I would love to get four hours out on the golf course with him to be able to talk business. That’s how a lot of things get done. But if I went down now and played golf with him, the transgender community would just destroy me. If I do anything now, it’s got to be behind closed doors. A trans friend of yours talks about the first day she wakes up and goes to bed without thinking once about gender. Have you had that day? I am very pleased at where I’m at in my life. This woman has lived inside of me since I can remember. Maybe it’s time to let her live and give her an opportunity. Bruce pretty much did everything – there was nothing left for him to do. Let’s take little Bruce and put him inside and let her live. It was very liberating to let her go. I always want to wake up in the morning excited about the day. In the old days, when I was training, I would wake up in the morning excited for the day to start. I had weights to lift, I had workouts to do, I had competitions coming up. I lost that in my life for many years. I couldn’t care about the next day. In going through this transition, that excitement for life has returned. I got the old mojo back. This interview has been edited and condensed.

It comes, unsurprisingly, from Latin. What may be surprising is the root: it means to have, hold, possess. It’s an ownership term, really, and it raised my interest because, as it happens with old words, we do not use it in that sense. We use the word for something that is fragile, young, delicate or for a feeling of deep affection that makes us smile at our happiness. I can possibly reconcile the first meaning with the root, as usually the things we have/hold are smaller, more fragile than ourselves. I am also used to diminutives and even diminutives of diminutives – they sound sweet, truly 🙂 – especially around children (smaller, more delicate, fragile). I cannot reconcile the second meaning though, not to that root. It would be interesting to know how it got there. Maybe the ownership is reversed, do you think? Maybe the object of our tenderness actually has a hold of us, and we enjoy our servitude? Tenderness in this form leads, if you’re the impulsive type (like me) to the blurting out of certain facts of life (like “I love you”), most of the time in the middle of conversations that have nothing much to do with feelings. It’s a welling up of feeling, you see, it was always there but then that object of tenderness says something so lovely that you can’t help yourself and you have to let them know of the link. Even if the situation puts a muzzle on the words though, tenderness is one of those feelings that calls out for more of the same. Unlike romantic love, where pain is almost implied in the process, tenderness leans more towards agape, about as pure as any human feeling can get, and so pain is bypassed which makes you feel safe, which then leads to you wanting more tenderness and so you put yourself in situations where you are likely to get this. In other words, you seek out both the feeling and the people who have offered this in the past. Tenderness is an indulgent feeling, there is a luxuriating qulaity to it that I believe stems from that feeling of safety I mentioned above. This is what I mean by the hold being reversed. If we are safe, then it follows that some walls can come down, that we do not have to prove so much, be so active or try to decide how far to go. We do not have to impress therefore we can relax, be vulnerable and understand ourselves as small, rather than the larger than life bias we usually see ourselves through. We offer tenderness usually to children, youth, pets, the elderly and sometimes baby gods. Basically, the ones on the brink of change (to grown-ups, to human, to death, to power). When it comes to receiving tenderness though, sometimes we identify the lack before defining it. Something may be missing from a relationship that we have in another. We wish and ask for it (let’s just cuddle on the couch, anybody?), we model it, we grieve when we don’t get it and yet we get embarassed when we see it (PDA? It’s in our DNA 😛 ). Contrary creatures that we are! Now, what to do about those who have never felt tenderness? Where will they learn?

With a groan and a twitch of my (somewhat bleary) eyes I reached over to turn my alarm off. Why is that infernal contraption going off? Surely it must be Saturday. Yesterday was Friday, so this must be the weekend? Yes, my internal musings were correct, it was indeed the weekend. But this was no ordinary weekend, this is Historic Scotland’s Free Weekend Pass ‘event’*. A weekend in which you can get free access to all of Historic Scotland’s numerous buildings and attractions, all for the measly price of giving them your email address. Now this seemed far too good an opportunity to miss. Since both Mel and I moved back to Edinburgh in July we’ve been talking about going to Edinburgh Castle, however, something has always got in the way. In the summer it’s packed with tourists and at £14 to get in it’s quite expensive (especially during a period of unemployment). Our appetites for our visit were moistened back in September when we got a sneak-peak ‘behind the scenes’ tour of the preparations for the Virgin Money Fireworks Concert at the end of the Festival, but then I (rather inconsiderately) got a job and the 12th Century fortress once again got put on hold. No matter where you are in Edinburgh you are never too far from a view of our most famous and recognisable monument. Perched upon an outlet of and extinct volcano – named, hugely imaginatively, Castle Rock – the castle sits aloft of the city, looking down on its inhabitants and to the hills or water (depending on which direction you look) beyond. It is (in a slightly stylised form) the symbol of Edinburgh, appearing on the city’s coat of arms amongst a whole raft of other emblems (including our rugby team’s logo and my old school’s coat of arms) and, of course, one of the UK’s most visited attractions. We decided to go just after opening time as we decided that this would, in all likelihood, save us from the majority of the visitors and allow us to spend a quiet hour or so there before doing a bit of Christmas shopping. Whilst we arrived roughly on time we got a bit carried away with our visit and didn’t end up leaving until just after one. A full set of the photos can be found here on Flickr. As with most people walking through that famous gatehouse we headed up the cobbled street that leads up to the Lower Ward. Being the history buffs that we clearly are (not) we headed straight for the Argyle Battlements, so that we could look out over the New Town and the northern side of the city. Having thoroughly studied the view (and been asked three times to have our photo taken by the Castle’s photographers – I’d like to think it’s because we’re so good looking and not because they can sell you them at the end) we proceeded down to some of the lower battlements – although not the lower one on the Western side as they were closed off – to look out at the New Town at a slightly different angle. Having admired how picturesque our city is and how big Inverleith Park is (see its post for more details) we went to have a look at the One O’Clock Gun exhibition, which details how in times of old the city observatory on Carlton Hill signalled the hour at which the gun went off. From here we headed west to the battlements over the national war museum and look out to Costorphine Hill. We almost got blown off for our troubles. The wind had been getting strong since I got up and by this point – exposed on the highest point in the town centre – it was pretty strong; in fact the Castle actually closed early, I later found out, due to the high winds. Once inside the museum, however, the only wind was the hot air coming from the video feature on our nation’s military background, which was clearly written by a propaganda ministry/for a nationalist party political broadcast. This aside, the museum was very well put together, charting all aspects of the armed forces from pre-Acts of the Union (those from Scotland and England officially creating the UK) right up to a phone card (and other artefacts) from Kosovo in the mid nineties. From one museum to another we next went to the regimental museum of the Royal Scots. This infantry regiment served in almost every campaign of the British army for just under 400 years. Their museum also contains their 148 battle honours, from Tangier in 1680 up to the first gulf war in 1991. I think this is one of the most interesting parts of the Castle, with its collection of stories and objects covering hundreds of years and thousands of souls; but also one of the saddest as it was all brought to an end with merging of all the Scottish regiments in 2006. I think the two walls of medals, only a tiny fraction of those that have been awarded, say it all. Standing at the heart of the Upper Ward in Royal Square is the National War Monument. Built in 1927 on the former sight of St Mary’s Church it now commemorates those who have died in the two world wars and later conflicts. The walls are lined with friezes to each Scottish regiment, marking in stone the conflicts they have fought in and with the names of those who perished in the first and the second world wars at the base. At either end of the monument are the two huge stained glass windows that make up the friezes for the navy and air force. At the heart of the building is the shrine that holds the casket containing Roll of Honour. I think that the building’s statues perfectly encapsulate its significance – Courage and Peace, Justice and Mercy, and most importantly a figure rising from a phoenix, representing the survival of the spirit. A thoroughly fitting and moving tribute. The other sides of Royal Square hold the Great Hall and the Royal Palace. The Palace is not the grand affair represented by its rival at the other end of the Royal Mile at Holyrood, but cramped and enclosed. There is, however, one room which is rather stunning, with a beautiful fireplace. The Palace also hold the Scottish Crown Jewels, however, having joined a slow procession around their (fairly poor and uninteresting) exhibition before it I’m afraid to say I was rather bored by the time we got to the jewels and perfectly happy to have a quick look before heading out into the buffeting winds again. Our final stop before leaving was the One O’Clock Gun. Originally used (in conjunction with the time ball on Carlton Hill) as a time signal for ships in the Firth of Forth and port of Leith the gun has been firing at 1pm six days a week (excluding Good Friday and Christmas Day) since June 1861, interrupted only during the world wars. As with (what seemed like) every other visitor to the Castle we decided to watch this spectacle before taking our leave. Stupid as it sounds – considering that the sound makes people jump down in the New Town and beyond – it was louder than I was expecting, and you can really feel the shock wave pass through you. With the exception of our fireworks tour I genuinely cannot remember the last time I went to Edinburgh Castle. I went with my parents many times when I was younger, but never at an age were it meant anything more than fighting, explosions and canons. I am glad that I’ve now been and can appreciate it, both for the huge depth of detail in the fantastically well-constructed displays and exhibitions, and for what and who it stands for. Like many countries Britain’s history is a fairly bloody one, but those who have fought for her beliefs, historically to the present day, are forever remembered here. As its tagline suggests Edinburgh Castle is the Defender of the Nation. *The M&S TV advert voice is optional, but recommended, for this sentence.

I started meal planning a couple of years ago to prevent the age old grocery store problem. You all know what I'm talking about...the "I spent $100 at the grocery store and have nothing to eat." I was guilty of buying one full meal, and the rest? Ghosts of meals that should have been. I was also working part time and just thought it would make my life easier, not having to think about what was going onto my table when I got home... annnnd it gave me less of an excuse to impulse buy McDonalds. It was around this time that I embraced the philosophy of...the two-fer; one meal that instantly lends itself to two. So...baking a chicken? Great, open a few cans the next day and you've got White Bean Chicken Chili. And it is -almost- like you cooked two days in a row...which in my house makes it somewhat excusable when there is Hamburger Helper in Dad's lunch pail the next day. Somewhat. It is borderline....very borderline. So, my twofer began its life as an herb roasted oven stuffer, collard greens, sweet potatoes, rice and home made rolls. The rolls were obliterated immediately, as were the greens and sweet potatoes the next day. I was left with clumpy rice (I am the -worst- rice cooker ever....it is painful, honestly.) and a huge chicken breast no one wanted any parts of. Typically it would be off to the culinary graveyard for both of these fallen foods, but not here. NOT ON MY WATCH...there was some re-purposing to be done. And so? I made Chicken and Dumplings with Rice Pudding for dessert. The Rice Pudding recipe follows, but the C and D recipe will be posted later this week. This recipe is a piece of cake, and amazingly customizable to suit your personal preferences. This time around I used 1% milk because that is what I had in the fridge, but typically I prefer to use whole or half and half to make a creamier pudding. In a saucepan mix one part rice to one part milk, and then sweeten to your liking. I work in tablespoons of sugar, and for this batch I got up to four. Make sure to temper the heaps of sugar with a sprinkle of salt, which will give the whole dish a bit more depth of flavor. When everything is mixed together, bring it to a boil, taking care to stir frequently to prevent the bottom from burning (and it -will- burn, trust me). Once it is boiling and bubbly, reduce the temperature and simmer until the pudding gets to a consistency you are comfortable with, keeping in mind that it will solidify even moreso in the refrigerator. Flavor it however it pleases you. I like a sprinkle of cinnamon, and this time I tossed a vanilla bean into the milk before it boiled. I have heard that some folks enjoy a sprinkle of cardamon....help yourself, I hate cardamon with a white...hot...passion. White hot. Eat hot or cold and refrigerate the leftovers.

Welcome to Dragon Cave! Dragon Cave is an online adoptables game. Collect eggs, raise them to adulthood, and then breed them to create interesting lineages. New types of dragons are added regularly! Kyanite Pygmies are a feisty breed, always full of energy. Playfully ebullient, these tiny and elusive dragons like to chase after one another, darting in and out of small alcoves and other such hiding places. They often dig small burrows underneath large trees and nibble on the roots for sustenance. They rely on the towering oaks’ formidable trunks and vast immensity to hide them from predators, something their small size aids in. Kyanites also secrete a weak toxin when threatened, which further protects them from intruders. However, this poison is not strong enough to affect larger creatures, humans included. Dragons are creatures with nearly unlimited life spans. They can survive for long periods of time, and no one has found a dragon that has died of old age. Adolescence is usually marked by the growth of a hatchling’s wings, although not all breeds of dragons grow wings and some breeds have other traits that indicate the beginning of maturation. Once they hit adolescence, hatchlings change quickly, maturing to their full forms in only 2 years. Dragons don’t communicate with each other verbally, but they will growl to scare off predators and frighten prey. Young dragons will emit an extremely high-pitched squeal when they are frightened. To communicate, they use telepathy with each other and to speak to other creatures.

No surprise which side John and Ken are on. The KFI shock jocks have done their best to drum up anger over the lane reductions in Mar Vista and Playa del Rey, coming down squarely on the side of keeping our streets dangerous. Now they’re using the KFI website to support the misguided effort to recall Mike Bonin, one of the city’s best councilmembers. And one of the few with the guts to stand up to bullies like them. Although I have to wonder if the national iHeartRadio chain, which owns KFI, knows what their employees are up to? And what they’d think about using the company website for partisan political purposes? Then again, I also wonder if the people leading the recall effort are aware that anonymous political contributions totaling over $100 in a single calendar year are against the law. And that Los Angeles has a $700 limit on contributions to city council campaigns, which would undoubtedly apply to recall campaigns, as well. Making the nearly $25,000 pledged to the recall so far tainted, and questionable as to whether it can be used for political purposes in the City of Los Angeles. But then, that’s something for the city Ethics Commission to sort out. What is clear is that this recall attempt — and especially John and Ken’s involvement in it — have little to do with Bonin. It’s really about putting a stop to Vision Zero, and maintaining the deadly automotive hegemony on our streets at the expense of everyone else. And sending a message to the rest of the council that they could be next. Which should send a chill up the spine of anyone who cares about traffic safety. Or good government. Note: Just to be clear, the term “bullies” was in regard to John and Ken. I did not refer to anyone opposed to the road projects in Mar Vista and Playa del Rey bullies, nor did I intend to. Photo of Mike Bonin taken from CD11 website. A woman was shot in the upper thigh with a BB gun from a passing car while riding in La Verne on Wednesday. As the Claremont Cyclist commented, attacks like this should be classified as hate crimes. If not terrorist attacks. Update: A comment from Robs Muir indicates that this attack occurred near Benson and 7th Street in Upland, rather than La Verne. Thanks to Erik Griswold for the heads-up. It’s been a bad week in the war on bikes. And yesterday was the worst yet. A Sacramento bicyclist was shot with a stun gun by a teenager in a passing car. A Houston mountain biker was left bloodied and scarred when someone strung a line thorny vines like a clothesline across a popular bike trail. A Vermont man faces charges for running a bike rider off the road, then crashing his truck as he tried to flee, and running away from that crash. A British bicyclist suffered head injuries when he was kicked off his bike by a passing motorcyclist. Another British rider was apparently shot at from a passing car; fortunately, the bullet missed. Of course, it sometimes it goes the other way. Concord CA police are looking for a bike-raging bicyclist who shot a driver with a flare gun following an argument. Yes, a flare gun. David Drexler forwards security video, along with a wanted poster, of “crusty old men” stealing bicycles from a locked garage. Which serves as yet another reminder that locked garages and storage rooms aren’t as secure as they may seem; the isolation gave these thieves over 15 minutes to cut the locks and make off with the bicycles without anyone noticing. Store your bikes inside your home or apartment if you have the room; if not, lock them as securely as possible to an immovable object in a locked garage or storage room. LA Curbed offers a great interview with former LACBC Executive Director Tamika Butler about her efforts to expand the conversation about bicycling beyond just bikes during her time at the coalition. CiclaValley discovers just how hard it is to ride up the third steepest hill in the US. Seventy cyclists raised nearly $15,000 for the Agoura Hills chapter of the ALS Association at the inaugural Ride to Defeat ALS last month. Under proposed regulations to combat racial profiling, police in California would be required to collect data on every traffic stop they make, including bicyclists and pedestrians. As Laguna Beach debates the need for more parking, one councilmember suggests removing parking from PCH to widen sidewalks or install bike lanes. As the story notes, they can’t build enough parking spots to meet the demand from tourists and residents. So the obvious solution is to provide transportation alternatives to reduce the demand for parking. A 60-year old San Diego man was seriously injured when he lost control of his bicycle riding downhill and slid into a retaining wall. Lake Elsinore will begin work on adding sidewalks and bike lanes on some of the city’s older streets. The annual Tour de Big Bear rolls this Saturday with rides ranging from 25 to 100 miles. Now there’s a good cause. Three Texas women stop in Santa Barbara on a 1,700-mile ride down the Left Coast to raise funds to care for young sex trafficking survivors. A writer in San Luis Obispo complains that the bike lobby is forcing crazy ideas for a bicycle boulevard on unwilling residents — never mind that bike boulevards actually benefit the people who live on the street. And says Los Angeles had to “roll back many similar improvements” at great expense to the public. Um, no. LA is undoing a single road diet on Vista del Mar, which simply involves removing a little paint and restriping the roadway. And it’s not like we actually have bike boulevards to roll back. A hairy Santa Rosa mountain biker goes riding in Annadel State Park. Bicyclists are excited about plans to ban private cars from San Francisco’s iconic Market Street, but merchants are worried about the effect it will have on their businesses. It’s not unusual for a blind bicyclist to ride a tandem. But a blind cyclist is riding coast-to-coast on his own bike to raise awareness for people with vision impairments, guided by a riding companion via two-way radio. Oregon dedicates a new bicycle and pedestrian bridge connecting parks in the state capital. Streetsblog Denver reminds the local constabulary that ticketing a man in a wheelchair after he gets hit by a car is not Vision Zero. Colorado officials find a leg bone from a 70 million-year old duck-billed dinosaur while conducting a survey for a new bike trail. Austin TX is installing 12 bicycle traffic lights around the city to give bike riders a few seconds head start at intersections. New York plans to add more bike lanes to meet surging demand. NY Streetsblog says the NYPD continues to slander victims by incorrectly blaming them for causing crashes, inflicting needless pain on their families. An anti-bike Philadelphia columnist says put a referendum on the November ballot about bike lanes, and let the entire city vote on whether it wants them. Which won’t pass if people like this woman have anything to say about it. This is why you always carry ID when you ride. Canadian authorities are still trying to identify a woman who was killed in a crash on Tuesday. The Guardian asks if cyclists and autonomous cars can co-exist by 2035. Or ever. A British bike rider wants to thank the hit-and-run driver who left him lying on the side of the road, because doctors found a brain tumor as they were treating him for head wounds. A motorcyclist in the UK is being called a hero after he ditched his bike to avoid a head-on crash with a group of cyclists, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. A crowdfunding campaign to buy him a new specialized wheelchair has raised nearly twice the original goal of £15,000, the equivalent of almost $20,000. Bicycling is booming in Israel, as the country encourages riding as an alternative to driving, though not everyone is happy about it. A Malaysian city moves to ban teenage bike riders from certain streets at night, in response to a crash earlier this year that killed eight young riders. No, don’t knock a bike rider off his bicycle and drag him by his dreadlocks, even if you think he’s a snitch. If you’re going to wrestle a bike from its owner, make sure it doesn’t have two flat tires first. And you could buy a new car for the price of some bikes. But then you’d have to drive it.

Ask The Designer This week we are asking a question from: “How Do You Decorate a Tough Space?” “My Toughest Space was……. My ORC space was the toughest to date. The size of the room was only 64 sq ft and had NO windows/natural light. I solved those issues by being picky with the furnishings and choosing a comfy but super stylish sofa that was the correct size for the space. Instead of a coffee table I used 2 small side tables together with minimal bases to keep it feeling open. I used an acrylic bookshelf which gave me storage without feeling heavy. And an old ladder which I used as shelving, it had a small footprint but gave me style and a spot for my vintage books. I broke with traditional thought and went big and bold on the walls. With such a small space I wanted major impact and instead of going the tiny equals light color route I went black on the main wall with a rustic wood ceiling and blush pink on the other 3 walls. The black draws your eye up to the wood ceiling which makes it feel bigger! The blush pink goes beautifully with the black while keeping it fresh feeling. For light I went with an oversize chandelier that had 8 lights on a dimmer, this way it feels much brighter yet you can tone it down if you choose to. I’m very happy with how it all came together. It’s now a fun, interesting, beautiful and comfortable space.” Great question Tina!! I remember following your design in the Spring 2017 One Room Challenge, and your space turned out wonderful, it was one of my personal favorites. (Click here to link to Tina’s blog and the get the rest of the answers from our 16 expert bloggers, including me at #11) FOR MORE ANSWERS TO DESIGN QUESTIONS, DON’T FORGET TO VISIT THE REST OF MY FEATURED BLOGGING FRIENDS! Jessica Devlin Expert Bloggers Top Home Decorating Ideas Susanne Stewart Decorating on a Budget, 16 Design Bloggers Tell You How Sam Franklin Home Decor Style & Trends; Design Experts Favorites Denise Bryant Decorating With Thrift Store and Flea Market Finds Susan Kuc Small Home Design; 16 Bloggers Tell All Emy Flint How 16 Bloggers Use Color In Their Homes Jennifer Gainer Ask the Designer-What is Your Style? Christy Harper Grey Paint Colors – Top Bloggers Favorites Liz Elliott Design Bloggers Top Design Tips

The Chiropodist will be in attendance in Borris in Ossory on Tuesday September 10. For appointment please contact Lily Sheeran at 0505-41308. Free Home Security Checks are being offered by Borris-in-Ossory Community Alert to anyone who has signed up to the Community Text Alert System. For details, or to make an appointment contact any member of the committee. BORRIS IN OSSORY ICA Borris-in-Ossory ICA Guild will resume after the Summer recess on this Wednesday night September 4. The meeting will commence at 8pm and new members are welcome. It is hoped to start a course of armchair Pilates for the members on Wednesday September 18. The annual Harvest Thanksgiving Service will take place in St Mark’s Church, Borris in Ossory on Sunday evening September 8 at 7pm. The guest preacher at the Service will be Rev. Tim Irvine, Vicar of Kilkenny. All are welcome to attend. After a great year in the garden now is the time to reflect on what has been done and what we would do different next year,[ or maybe do the same better]. This is the most important time to get information for next year and prepare the ground. The next meeting of the Gardening Group is on Thursday September 12 at 8pm in St. Canice’s Hall. This year has been very educational with garden visits and also guest speakers at some of our meetings so come along and enjoy your garden. Any tips to make the garden easier and more enjoyable are always welcome. Presentation Secondary School Thurles Reunion Committee organising a school reunion in conjunction with the Gathering for past pupils who left the school between 1942 and 2002 on Saturday, September 21. Tickets, which are €30 and are on sale now, must be purchased in advance of the day and will be sold on a first-come-first-served basis. Registration will begin in the secondary school at 2 p.m. on the day. For further details email [email protected] or they can phone (087) 7037861. There are forms available in Phelans Ballaghmore for anyone interested in joining the Text Alert System in the area. Please feel free to avail of this great service; it is in everyone’s interest to protect their family and their property as best they can. Successful Roscrea Beó As the fall of night silhouetted Roscrea Castle and surrounds on Sunday it became clear that RosCré Beo 2013 was a roaring success. The smiles on the faces of spectators over 4 days of a jam packed line-up said it all. It was fantastic to see the people of the town supporting each other, enjoying themselves and enhancing the sense of community. Starting on Thursday 22nd August with the ‘Echoes of Roscrea’ cd launch in The White House, guests were treated to select performances of songs from the cd. Our cd is available from local retailers. As the night moved on Brendan’s bar was packed to capacity for Tom Stapleton’s ’40 years of gigs & jigs’. Friday 23rd saw musical legend Sean Keane play an intimate gig in the Abbey Hall. On Saturday in the Coláiste Phobal Sports field the Cu Chulainn Hurling skills competiton got underway. Hurling enthusiasts were smiling. The young and old were tested on skills such as 65, poc fada, penalty taking and side line cuts. Sunday began with an early rise as committee members, participants, stewards and OPW staff busily prepared Roscrea Castle and Castle Street for a historic occasion. Visitors were treated to free guided tours of our truly unique castle and Damer House. I t is encouraging to see the level of support amongst the townspeople again. The committee wish to thank everyone person who attended. A huge thanks to our sponsors and An Garda Síochanca whose support was vital to RosCré continuing in a safe and friendly environment. We are meeting this week to discuss next year already.

Posted by Bob on May 23, 2003 In Reply to: Ick! posted by TheFallen on May 22, 2003 : : : : : : Hi! Can you please explain the origin and meaning of the word "lowbrow?" Thank you, Sax : : : : : HIGHBROW/LOWBROW - "Dr. Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828), founder of the 'science' of phrenology, gave support to the old folk notion that people with big foreheads have more brains." The theory, later discredited, "led to the expression 'highbrow' for an intellectual, which is first recorded in 1875.New York Sun reporter Will Irvin popularized 'highbrow,' and its opposite 'lowbrow' in 1902, basing his creation on the wrongful notion that people with high foreheads have bigger brains and are more intelligent and intellectual than those with low foreheads. At first the term was complimentary, but 'highbrow' came to be at best a neutral word .Life magazine coined the term 'middlebrow' in the mid-1940s." From "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997). : : : : Calling some activity or entertainment or cultural event by one of these three terms is very chancy these days. There is no general agreement or clear dividing line to : : : : clarify where (for example) middlebrow begins and ends. Unless you are willing to stand your ground against verbal attack, it's best to avoid the classifications. (But hey, being reckless, I'll give you a quick self-test: was your favorite film of the past year Adaptation, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, or Jackass? They are high, middle, low.) : : : What if you went to see Adaptation but didn't really like it? : : I didn't see any of those three. I saw About Schmidt, though. What does that make me? What would it make me if I'd gone just for Kathy Bates's nude scene? : To answer the latter question, in need of some serious, intensive and long-term therapy, I'd say. You don't have to *like* highbrow stuff. Just appreciate how the cattle couldn't possible grasp ... oh, never mind. I will never again sit through a Wagner opera, regardless of where that puts my brow.

It is finally time for an official preview of Afrojack’s tantalized remix of the uber hit Gangnam Style by K-pop artist PSY, and after having listened to it multiple times over, I am honestly torn. In one hand I was expecting an actual remix, one that was based on the overly played anthem, as I was curious to see what Afrojack would do to rejuvenate the song, but instead we are greeted by this unrecognizable result. Afrojack’s remix’s only resemblance to the original is the fact that he forcibly inputs some vocal samples, other than that, it just sounds like an original piece. The instrumental of the track in and of itself is actually decent and very reminiscent of his past hits, but it is most definitely not what we were promised. So like I said, I am disappointed because we are not really given what we were anticipating but instead Afrojack delivered a trademarked original that sounds just like his past tracks, so should I really be complaining? Let us know what you think! UPDATE: Yes I should be complaining, we should expect more from producers than the simple rehashing of old synths, especially when given the opportunity to remix the first song to hit 1 billion views. Afrojack you can do better.

At nearly three years old, Tucker the Miniature Pinscher/Chihuahua/Miniature Poodle mix doesn’t move the way a dog that young should — in fact, this albino runt of the litter can’t walk at all. A progressive disease keeps Tucker stationary, but it doesn’t keep him down. This happy pup is too busy loving life in Los Angeles with his human, Brittany Johnson. The first-time dog owner didn’t realize how sick Tucker was she adopted him, but she has no regrets about opening her heart to this funny-looking little dog. “He’s just totally filled my life with so much happiness and love. I never really understood that you can love an animal so much,” says Johnson, who adopted Tucker when he was 6 months old after seeing his photo on an adoption website. Looking back now, she suspects her dog may have been neglected in his early puppyhood. “The adoption agency brought him over, and they were like, ‘He can’t really walk, you have to teach him how to walk,’” Johnson remembers. Not having had a dog of her own before, she didn’t realize that a 6-month-old pup should already know how to walk, so Johnson began working to get Tucker up and about. After only a couple of days under her care, the pup was slowly walking on his own, but he was never able to jump, run, or even walk quickly. Tucker’s peculiar appearance and physical delays raised red flags for those close to Johnson. “A lot of friends and family members were kind of like, ‘Brittany, you adopted a sick dog,’ but I just didn’t really realize it,” she says. “Then I started taking him to a lot of vets, and a few of them suggested I put him down.” Euthanizing Tucker just wasn’t a choice for Johnson, who decided early on that she was going to do everything in her power to give Tucker the best life possible — no matter what was wrong with him. “That was the only option. I never saw anything else. I could never imagine not giving him that.” As Tucker’s health continued to decline, Johnson kept taking him to veterinarians, but it took awhile to find out what caused him to look and act the way he did. “In January of last year, I took him to a vet — a cardiologist — to check his heart out, and she was like, ‘I suspect he has MPS VI. I don’t know if you’ve heard of this dog named Walter, but he resembles that dog a lot.’” When Johnson looked up Walter at the cardiologist’s suggestion, she realized she had in fact heard of this dog before. Six months after she’d adopted Tucker, Johnson’s aunt had sent her a Facebook video of Walter, an inbred Min Pin who has a disorder known as Mucopolysaccharidosis VI (MPS VI). The tiny social media star instantly reminded Johnson of her own pup. “It was just his mannerisms, and the way he walked just exactly the same way as Tucker did.” Through Facebook, Johnson got in touch with Walter’s human and was soon networking with other people whose dogs suffer from MPS VI. “It’s a genetic developmental disease, and it’s unfortunately progressive,” explains Johnson, who has watched Tucker’s health deteriorate further since his diagnosis. “It affects everything in his body. Nothing has developed quite correctly. Unfortunately, it keeps progressing, and it’s not curable.” About three months after the cardiologist suspected MPS VI, Tucker went from being unsteady on his feet to not walking at all anymore. “His bones have since fused so they won’t straighten out,” says Johnson. “He can’t put any weight on his front legs. He does kind of like an army crawl — he crawls with his front legs and his back legs pushing.” Facing big vet bills, Johnson set up a GoFundMe page for Tucker, but the donations weren’t significant at first. Then, at the urging of some of her friends in the online MPS VI community, Johnson set up social media accounts for Tucker, and the GoFundMe page began attracting traffic. “Once I started him on Instagram and Facebook, it flourished,” says Johnson, who estimates she’s received between $8,000 and $10,000 in donations through the GoFundMe page and other forms of online fundraising. She says she’s very thankful for all the help and doesn’t know how she would have supported Tucker’s expensive medical care if not for the generosity of strangers. “I definitely can’t do it on my own, so it’s really amazing that he’s gotten so much support, with so many people donating to this dog they don’t even know.” Thanks to Johnson’s loving care and the outpouring of support from his social media friends, Tucker is doing as well as possible these days. With the exception of some issues with his heart, his condition has not significantly progressed over the last 12 months. “He’s so happy, his tail is always wagging,” says Johnson. The feisty pup certainly has a lot to be happy about these days. Tucker recently received a cart thanks to his Facebook friend Mango, who helps paralyzed pets access expensive carts that their pet parents can’t afford. While Tucker learns to use his wheels, Johnson plans to continue raising awareness about MPS VI by spreading one important message. “If people do breed Min Pins, I would highly encourage them to test for this gene, MPS VI. It’s not a very expensive test, but a lot of Min Pins are being bred with this gene and it causes dogs to live life with this progressive, awful disease.” The disease may be awful, but according to Johnson, living with Tucker is anything but. The first-time dog owner recommends anyone looking to adopt consider animals with special needs or physical challenges. “I think sometimes people are looking for that perfect dog, but honestly, Tucker is the perfect dog.” Read about more Monday Miracles: About the Author: Heather Marcoux is a freelance writer in Alberta, Canada. Her beloved Ghost Cat was once her only animal, but the addition of a second cat, Specter, and the dog duo of GhostBuster and Marshmallow make her fur family complete. Sixteen paws is definitely enough. Heather is also a wife, a bad cook, and a former TV journalist. Some of her friends have hidden her feed because of an excess of cat pictures. If you don’t mind cat pictures, you can follow her on Twitter; she also posts pet GIFs on Google+.

The technology now exists that could flag certain buzzwords or phrases in your emails to alert “the authorities” that you might be up to no good. A published report in ITPro describes anti-fraud, language-analyzing software co-developed for Ernst & Young’s anti-fraud unit and the FBI with technology that can uncover 3,000 words and phrases that suggest fraud. Even more remarkable, the software is able to identify changes in tone that “suggest an underlying problem and can be targeted to specific sectors, particularly traders,” looking for “phrases that indicate an employee is nervous of eavesdropping, such as “call my mobile” and “come by office.” Here are the ten most common phrases used by fraudsters: “cover up,” “nobody will find out,” “off the books,” “grey area,” “failed investment,” “write off,” “illegal,” “they owe it to me,” “do not volunteer information” and “not ethical.” This technology is being used to catch crime in the making. Imagine the other applications it could have. Thought police come to mind? Could they also be looking for certain phrases and words like, oh, I don’t know … “gun,” “ammo,” “tea party meeting?” Somewhat amusing was this observation – using the ten watch phrases – left in the comment section at an article about the eavesdropping software at The Blaze: “Cover up Bengazi (sic). Write off the dead Americans. Don’t arrest anyone illegal. Congress is a failed investment. Nobody will find out if we keep our mouths shut. Fast & Furious is a ‘grey’ area. They owe it to me, so I’m raising taxes. Do not volunteer any information on our attempt to confiscate their weapons. I don’t care if it’s not ethical. Our pan (sic) to destroy America must be kept off the books.” Sad end to a bright future REDDIT co-founder Aaron Swartz, 26-year old Internet genius, took his own life last week. Police said Swartz was found in his Brooklyn apartment. When he was just 14, the Internet wizard is credited with drafting an early version of the RSS format, a web-based feed that helps syndicate popular headlines. Swartz was facing charges of hacking. According to the New York Post, “Federal officers arrested him for allegedly downloading academic journals on the subscription-only website JSTOR.com. He pleaded not guilty to fraud in 2012 – but the case remained open at the time of his death. He faced decades in prison and a fortune in fines.” Read more about Swartz and his legal problems here. Dot marks viral spot This app locates you on a map via geo-locator and poses the question, “How are you feeling?” Your answer can range from “awful” to “meh” to “good.” The app then plots your report with others in your area to let you know through color coded dots if the flu epidemic is virulent where you are, and if not, which areas that are and to avoid. Green is good, yellow indicates some outbreak and red means full-blown flu. Germ Tracker app is a Twitter-based algorithm that pinpoints areas hardest hit by also tracking key words on social networking sites. “Headache” and “sick” flag high-risk areas in the city. The info is available on smart phones and computers. Find my phone You’re at a concert, enjoying the music. After a while, you notice your smart phone is gone. You begin searching for it but it’s nowhere to be found. Luckily, you’ve left the geo-locator in the “on” position, so you get to a computer and launch the “Find My iPhone” app that helps you locate your lost device. This situation happened to a construction worker from San Diego. But when he “located” the phone, both he and the thief got more than they bargained for. In a similar story, another guy also lost his phone to a thief. His solution to retrieve his device? He impersonated a woman and using email alerts from a dating site profile set up by the phone’s owner, arranged for a “date” with the thief. The sting worked. Thief was caught with a bottle of wine and the phone in hand. “On one hand, I kind of feel bad for him because he was just looking for a date and it ended up being me and that sucks for anyone. At the same time he was keeping my phone,” the phone’s owner concluded. Bits & Bytes Sex offender in the Lone Star state? Identify yourself online. A hundred bucks to talk to Zuck? Not so much. Nipping the tipper. To catch a thief. Apple call. Russia honors Steve Jobs with iPhone Monument in St. Petersburg that displays slide show of Jobs’ life. Already? Next generation iPad and iPad Mini set for release in March. Clean-up on aisle two – electronics. Walmart deep discount on iPhones and iPads. Google gets off with FTC wrist slap. “We did what the law required.” Yahoo image search. Find and share photos on web with Flickr. Speaking of photos, Zuck’s wedding photog not happy. Free open college course includes video, audio, notes by profs at Harvard, Princeton, MIT and more.

Danielle's Trip to Skills USA National Competition Organized by: Thom Hollis EVENT DATE May 05, 2015 SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry representatives working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. SkillsUSA helps each student to excel. SkillsUSA is a national organization serving teachers and high school and college students who are preparing for careers in technical, skilled and service occupations, including health occupations and for further education. Danielle's dream is to become the best technical designer she can be. She strives to make the most of every day to fulfill that goal. She took it upon herself to enter Skills USA and go after the gold medal in the Bulletin Board Design competition. She won the local competition and the statewide competition, and now she has the opportunity of a lifetime to compete at the national level. But, as you might guess, that's expensive for a 17 year old high school junior. The total amount of money needed to go is $1060, but some of that total is being covered by points rewards she has received from local Skills USA competitions and gatherings, and some by a paid book cover design job she is currently finishing up. To add to the issue at hand, she needs to cover the air fare expenses of $610 by May 5th. As you know, any amount helps, so whatever you can do is GREATLY appreciated. Thank you and God Bless!

Experience beautiful Port Perry and celebrate local craft beer! We will be set up in Palmer Park to give you the opportunity to sample a variety of craft brews and ciders, while enjoying delicious food from local restaurants and live entertainment. Join us on August 11, 2018 from 12 to 6pm and get ready to put your tastebuds to the test! DOGS ARE ALLOWED – We are happy to make this a pet-friendly event so please feel free to bring your four-legged friends. Dog water bowls will be provided by Old Flame. We do ask that you respect others and clean up after your dog as needed. Please note this is a 19+ event and you should expect to be asked to show photo ID to enter. No outside food or drink will be permitted. Bags may be checked upon entrance. Please DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Lake Scugog Enhancement Project.

Have you noticed that an increasing number of formerly “religious” people identify themselves by saying, “I’m not religious but I am spiritual,”? I suspect that for many it’s because they’d rather say that, than identify themselves as an atheist or agnostic. Perhaps it’s because they have become disenchanted with organized religions for any number of reasons, but still believe in God and have a need to acknowledge a higher power, without having to profess a particular faith tradition. I read in a recent report by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, that approximately one-third of those who say they were raised Catholic no longer describe themselves as Catholic; which means that roughly 10% of all Americans are former Catholics. I’m not sure how many of those “ex-catholics” call themselves spiritual, but I suspect it is a high percentage. My own experiences in speaking to many folks who do not identify themselves with any religion but identify themselves as spiritual, is that there is often confusion between religious and spirituality. A person I spoke to recently told me, “I suppose if I were being admitted to a hospital and they asked my religion, I’d tell them I’m catholic, even though I haven’t gone to church in years. If I were to say I’m a spiritual person, it might take too much explaining.” I’ve heard others say, “I’d tell them I’m a ‘recovering catholic’.” It’s this kind of ambivalence or confusion that prompted me to pursue this topic both here and on my blog. Below, I have a number of links to the topic that I believe will be helpful in our dialoguing on religion and spirituality. I have them here as references that you may use when I bring up the topic on my blog. Or if you just want to explore the topic on your own, hopefully these articles and essays will be useful. - Religion versus Spirituality a Spiritual Problem: Reconnecting Experience with Tradition by David Tacey – I suggest that this article by Dr. David Tacey be read first. I found it very helpful in distinguishing between religion and spirituality and realizing how they can work better together than separately. He argues that Spirituality and Religion are becoming disconnected and they need to be re-connected., since they both rely on the other. In his opinion, Religion focuses more on community and worship and, spirituality is usually, but not always, based more on an individual’s experience. I personally have a need for both a sense of community and my own sense of awe, when I meditate, read inspirational book, or just discuss a specific topic with someone else. All of these spiritual experiences can lead to feeling of awe. - This is an article by Emmy Silvius, a lay theologian, that appeared in the Australian website Catholica – Her commentary is based mainly on Dr. Tacey’s premise of how religion and spirituality might be reconnected. Her belief is that Spirituality is not just a selfish, individualistic pursuit, but that it has a community aspect. - The author of this web page asks the question: “I think that Spirituality is believing the universe is alive, and Religion is believing it expects something of you. What do you think?” Good question! Basically, it’s a position the Creation Spirituality believers embrace. (see Mathew Fox’s website) So, what do you think? - The Journal of Religion and Spirituality – This journal has a number of resources that can be very helpful. - Enlightened-Spirituality. There are a number of interesting web pages on this web site. For example if you scroll down the main page, you’ll find information about how a variety of religions describe and practice spirituality: Buddhism, traditions of the Jewish Kabbalah, Hinduism, Islam etc. - Interesting interview with Dr. Micael Ledwith – Since he retired as a catholic priest he has gone on to appear in the groundbreaking film, What the Bleep Do We Know? He has also produced three volumes so far in his own series of DVDs that deal with fundamental matters in relation to spiritual evolution, and three more of which were scheduled for release in 2010/2011. In 2008 Ledwith published The Orb Project, a book detailing his intensive five-year study of orbs, which was co-authored with German physicist Klaus Heinemann. He is currently working on a new series of books titled Forbidden Truth, a three-volume work that focuses on human destiny and the mechanics of spiritual evolution. The interview with Dr. Ledwith and SuperConsciousness Magazine speaks at length about his life, his choices, and his passion to know God as himself. - The following reading illustrates some parallels between Native American spirituality and the Buddhist way of life. The authors of this web site chose themes and readings for their proximity to Buddhist teachings. They are not meant to suggest that Native American spirituality and Buddhism are the same or share similar historical source, both are different from one another but share some similar viewpoints and religious experiences. - This web site is authored by Orrin Lewis, a Cherokee. He says in his introduction that, “This is my personal homepage – I am old-fashioned and I don’t like to put my picture on the Internet.” He might be old fashioned, but his web site contains a wealth of information besides this article entitled Seeking Native American Spirituality: Start Here. - This article by Jody A. Long, J.D., Near Death Experience, Religion and Spirituality, is described by the author as one of the last frontiers of study surrounds spirituality and Near Death Experience (NDE). She also suggests that this is a highly sensitive issue due to the nature of religion. What this study attempts to do is to objectively look at the data submitted by NDErs to the website and to categorize the answers. Questions that are analyzed include pre and post NDE religious preference, and changed beliefs. There are some surprising results that focus on universal purpose and order gained from NDE understandings. - There are a number of rich spiritualities within the catholic tradition. These spiritualities have their origin in great spiritual leaders after whom they are named; for example, Franciscan spirituality is attributed to teachings of St. Francis of Assisi, and so on. A particular spirituality is a system, or schema of beliefs, virtues, ideals and principles which form a particular way to approach God and therefore all life in general.Even though these spiritualities are different, does not mean they are contradictory. They all have their roots in the same Christian heritage and they all aim at the same goal – to love as Jesus loved. The difference is a matter of emphasis. The differences give each approach its unique character traits.To mention just a few of the more familiar: Ingnatian Spirituality, Franciscan Spirituality, Benedictine Spirituality and Dominican Spirituality. - In addition to those from the catholic tradition, here is a website that provides spirituality from other faith traditions including: Protestant, Jewish, Orthodox Christianity, Buddhist, Hindu and Muslin. I believe that since faith and beliefs are so often confused, it’s important for us to have a clear understanding of the differences. If I were to design a bumper sticker for this topic, it would be, Keep the Faith but Question the Beliefs. Theologian and Professor Emeritus at Harvard University, Harvey Cox, in his book, The Future of Faith, describes a conversation he had with a friend, who described himself as “a practicing Christian but not always a believing one.” Initially Cox was surprised with his friend’s statement, but the more he thought about it, he came to the conclusion that to call oneself a practicing Christian but not a believing one acknowledges the certainties and uncertainties that mark the life of any religious person. When I read his book, I realized I had come to the same conclusion about the differences between faith and beliefs a number of years ago, but I just wasn’t able to articulate it as well as he did. In my case, the more I studied the magisterium tradition of the Catholic Church, and the fathers of the church, the more I came to the conclusion that many of the beliefs of my pre-Vatican II background did not pass the litmus test of my conscience. My faith was in the Jesus of what Cox calls the Age of Faith, the first three centuries after Jesus died, when the early church was more interested in following Jesus’ teachings than making obligatory what to belief about Jesus. The Jesus that I believe in and in whom my faith is grounded in is: the Jesus who gave us the Beatitudes and his example of how to live; the Jesus who focused on compassion for the disenfranchised. As Dr. Cox observed, when he realized how faith and beliefs were not the same, “To focus the Christian life on beliefs rather than on faith is simply a mistake. We have been misled for many centuries by theologians who taught ‘faith’ consists of dutifully believing the articles listed in one of the countless creeds, this came as a welcomed liberation.” Amen! This webpage provides a number of references to faith and beliefs. It primarily focuses on the Christian tradition. It does not pretend to be all inclusive. The references are meant to be background for future discussions on my blog or as possible sources for your spiritual reading. From Blind Belief to Enlightened Faith – Reprint from the Theosophical Movement. The following is a quote from the article that is characteristic of the author’s position. “Blind belief passing through the fire of reason emerges as enlightened faith, casting off the ashes of exclusiveness, fanaticism and bigotry. If a man of religious belief passed from blind belief to real knowledge and practised the ethics of his own creed, he would soon be forced to discard the exclusiveness of that creed and to embody its universal aspects. Thus enlightened faith comes to birth.” - Faith Versus Belief. Posted in The Thinker by Jeffrey Ellis. In addition to this article there are a number of interesting topics that the website covers. - The Omega Connection – Faith and Belief. A brief but interesting article. - Bill Moyer’s website Faith and Reason, contains a wealth of information about faith and beliefs. It contains dozens of interview of religious leaders from every denomination, scientists who have positive and negative views about religion and in depth articles and programs both in text format or tapes of actual intervies. http://www.pbs.org/moyers/faithandreason/index.html - Harvey Cox, The Future of Faith (New York: Harper, 2009). 16. The author of classic, The Secular City, writes his last book before retiring from Harvard University, on the difference between faith and beliefs and how important this distinction is for the future of faith. - Donald F. Fausel, From Blind Obedience to a Responsible Faith: The Memoir of a Cradle Catholic. (Bloomington, IN. 2010 iUniverse) Fausel’s Memoir is a combination of stories of his life pre and post-Vatican II, including his time as a catholic priest, his struggles with many beliefs of the church, his dispensation from the priesthood and his reflections on his life’s journey, back to a responsible faith in his catholic tradition. - Judy J. Johnson. What’s So Wrong about Being Absolutely Right: The Dangerous Nature of Dogmatic Beliefs – This webpage is a commentary that Johnson contributed to her book in the Australian website Catholica. After considering some of the major features of dogmatism: the power of dogmatism and its psychological aspects, its intolerance of ambiguity and its authoritarian positions, the author concludes that “It seems reasonable to conclude that, given that features of dogmatism become manifest in social institutions, the challenge for scientists, religious leaders, and politicians – indeed, for all of us – is to open our minds about dogmatic thought; first and foremost our own.” - Faith and Foolishness: When Religious Beliefs Become Dangerous – This is an article in Scientific America, by Lawerence M. Krauss, that offers statistics about the high percentage of respondent who discard scientific facts in favor of their religious beliefs. - What is Belief, What is Faith? This is a video on YouTube by Randall Niles. He suggests that beliefs are something we arrive at after a period of time when we intellectually accept a premise, either because of a preponderance of the evidence or evidence beyond a reasonable time, while Faith is when we put our beliefs into action. He provides an interesting but simple example (parable) of a tight rope walker who successfully walks across Niagara to the amazement of large crowd of on-lookers. When he finishes, he ask the crowd if they believe he can walk across Niagara Falls. They all shout yes! He then pushes a barrel across the falls and ask the same question and get the same answer. Next he puts a friend in the barrel and pushes the barrel across the falls. When he finishes he asks if they believe he can push someone across the falls in a barrel. They all respond excitedly, “we believe,” his response to the crowd is, “whose next?” That, says Randall, is the difference between Belief and Faith. Faith requires putting beliefs into action. - Here’s a summary by Meghan Smith, News Editor, of The Gavel Online on March 25, 2011, of an address at Boston College by Vicki Kennedy, the wife of the late senator, Ted Kennedy. It is on faith and political beliefs. She said at one point, as a young girl, growing up in a Democratic family, she actually thought that Jesus must have been a Democrat, because He advocated for all the things that she learned growing up: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty and reach out to the poor and disadvantage, all things that were a vital part of her family’s beliefs. - Mark Powel, on Faith vs. Beliefs This is a video on YouTube by Mark Powell giving his views of the French Theologian Jacques Ellul on faith and beliefs. On the same You Tube page there are a number of other spiritual topics that Jacques Ellul presents, that are worth listening to.

Photos courtesy Brenda Zawacki Meller, Milan Stevanovich (w/ Chanel Stevanovich), Ziggy Whitehouse, and my iPhone. What do you do when you know you need to network and market yourself but the introvert within says, “Uh, maybe later”? On August 9, 2018, Kerr Russell Director of Marketing Roy Sexton (that’s me!) presented strategies for embracing your qualities as an introvert (or for those occasions when you aspire to introversion!) and establishing and maintaining a successful personal brand, both online and in person. About the session, co-chair Brenda Zawacki Meller of Meller Marketing wrote, “Today my friend and marketing idol Roy Sexton of Kerr Russell presented ‘How to Win the Room When You’d Rather Stay Home’ to a PACKED ROOM at Inforum Michigan Troy. Video link below. Now that the meeting is over, I have to confess: I was freaking out a bit this week. We typically have 30 attendees at this monthly meetup and our registration was at 62 people earlier this week. We were getting pretty close on seating. It was almost going to be ‘standing room only’ at one point! But we brought in extra chairs. This is what happens when you book a ROCK STAR MARKETER for your speaker. I think both his marketing and the topic itself were both reasons for our outstanding turnout. Roy was an amazing presenter. I knew he would be great, but he was even better than I anticipated. Roy has a genuine, approachable, and relatable speaking style. He reminded us introverts that we’re OK to be an introvert. We don’t need to apologize for it, and we can be effective at networking, too. I learned that if you give introverts an assignment at a meeting (live tweeting, taking pics, helping at the registration table), it eases our anxiety. Need a keynote or conference presenter? Check out Roy Sexton. And tell him Brenda sent you. Then, check out the hashtag #BeARoySexton.” Roy (me again!) has nearly 20 years of experience in marketing, communications, business development, and strategic planning. He earned his BA from Wabash College, his MA (theatre) from The Ohio State University, and his MBA from University of Michigan. He is a graduate of Leadership Detroit and Leadership A2Y. He sits on the boards of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Ann Arbor, Royal Starr Film Festival, Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit, EncoreMichigan.com, and Legal Marketing Association – LMA International. A published author with two books (ReelRoyReviews), Roy is an active performer, awarded 2017 Best Actor (Musical) by BroadwayWorld Detroit. He recently received recognition as one of Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s “Unsung Legal Heroes.” - View video here. And then THIS happened … My mother Susie Sexton’s critique of my first (and probably last) radio gig as vacationing Rochelle Burk’s stand-in alongside Robby Bridges on their 96.3 WDVD drive-time show Friday, August 10. This is one of the funnier things I’ve read in a while: “stayed for nearly every second? geesh? you both were fabulous….nice repartee all the way around…I now am no longer a music lover as I was listening to stuff about the smell of sexy sheets and such just to hear your patter? one little bit I missed was when I needed to medicate issie with her pill and she was hiding? the word mousey was said and something about walking down a street? and sears called with a mix-up….they had changed delivery date to aug. 17 and then just called to robot me about tomorrow delivery again…that was sure effing fun. maybe straightened out now. damn 4 hours of choreography, engineering and listening to countless sex-crazed songs….but the patter was mighty fine…spell-check? no…I am exhausted.” Postscript – she added when we chatted on the phone: “I liked that man (Robby) a lot. He has a kind, sweet quality that is inviting and not snarky, but also very funny. That is rare.” ❤️ And – bonus – Brian Cox, editor of Detroit Legal News, ran my “tech thoughts” article from the Legal Marketing Association’s Strategies Magazine. Whew! You can read the full text here. Reel Roy Reviews is now TWO books! You can purchase your copies by clicking here (print and digital). In addition to online ordering at Amazon or from the publisher Open Books, the first book is currently is being carried by Bookbound, Common Language Bookstore, and Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room in Ann Arbor, Michigan and by Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan. My mom Susie Duncan Sexton’s Secrets of an Old Typewriter series is also available on Amazon and at Bookbound and Common Language.

– Press Release Former Formula 1 test and reserve driver, Fairuz Fauzy, is set to take up a new challenge after confirming a drive with OD Racing for the 2015 GT Asia Series. Fauzy will partner Zen Low in the team’s Lamborghini Gallardo FLII GT3 for the season which is scheduled to start this May. The 32 year old is a well-known single seater driver and former test and reserve driver for three Formula 1 teams, including Lotus Renault GP in 2011. The Malaysian’s participation with OD Racing will mark his first full season in a closed cockpit series, having had stints in the Super GT events in Japan and Malaysia, as well as his most recent participation in the World Final of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo at Sepang International Circuit last year. “I am happy for the opportunity that Zen has given me. We were actually in talks for me to drive for the team in the Asian Le Mans Series when this opportunity opened up and Zen offered me the drive, just last week. I am certainly looking forward to racing in the GT Asia Series for the first time” said Fauzy. “We are all happy to have Fairuz on board with the team. He has such great capabilities, skill and speed, we are sure that he will be an exciting addition to the team” said Low, driver and owner of Aylezo Competizione, the technical partner for OD Racing. It will be an exciting chapter for the newly formed team when they make their first appearance for the opening round of GT Asia Series (GTA) at the Korea International Circuit in Yeongnam this 15th to 17th May. GTA will bring teams to seven of Asia’s most challenging circuits in six countries for the 12 rounds race program. OD Racing was formed with the sole purpose of making its first venture into racing with the GT Asia Series. Aylezo Competizione is a Sporting Administration and Technical Team with over 30 years of combined International race experience in some of the Region’s most renowned Series, will provide technical support for the team throughout the 2015 season. OD Markets is the title sponsor for OD Racing team. The team is also supported by Cartivia, Youth Lite, Miro Asia, Prince Lubricants, Aylezo Compatizione, iTagU.com, Best Leader Financial Group, ESG Inc, EliteSoftAsia, OD Glo, Tom’s Stickers and My Smart Gold.

As physicians, we see every day how access to contraception improves our patients’ lives. We know that it is crucial to women’s well-being and their children’s health, because access to contraception empowers patients to achieve their life goals, gives them autonomy to care for and support their families, and participate in society. The most reliable forms of birth control are often too expensive to afford out of pocket. Because we believe everyone should be able to choose the method that meets their health needs, we are fighting to keep the Affordable Care Act’s contraception coverage. It is critical that we continue to speak out for comprehensive education on, access to, and financial coverage for of all contraceptive methods so that patients are able to choose what is right for them. No one should be denied birth control because of where they work, their income, their age, or their geography. Patients face a variety of obstacles on the way to getting the contraception that's best for them. Before the Affordable Care Act, access to contraception varied based on a person's insurance. Under the Affordable Care Act, women could find the right contraceptive method without worrying about high costs. But this contraception benefit is being threatened, and we are working to preserve it. Although the ability to plan and space pregnancies is essential to women's health and well-being, many people have difficulty accessing either the prescription or the pharmacy. Our doctors are speaking out about access. While many think of birth control as just the pill, some of the most reliable forms of birth control include long acting reversible contraceptives like IUDs and implants. Many women may not know they have access to these effective options through the contraception benefit of the Affordable Care Act. We work to educate patients about their options. Last week, I overheard a moving conversation in the waiting room of my mobile health center. A middle-aged Colombian woman said, “My daughter got a […] I have been fortunate to be in places where I’ve been able to get birth control and testing easily. I had to take a pregnancy […] I saw a patient yesterday who was seeking an abortion at Planned Parenthood. She had an early pregnancy, just six weeks along, and she came […] I recently saw a 17 year old patient in the emergency room who I’ll call Lisa who brings to life why we are in need […] My adult daughter was diagnosed with a reproductive health condition after graduating from college, while she was working part-time before beginning graduate school. She requires […] I was a newly divorced mom in 1994 with two daughters ages four and nine. I lost the health insurance I’d had through my husband, […] Dr. Jamila Perritt talked to MedPage today about why Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is a threat to abortion rights and access to health care. Dr. Sarah Horvath and Dr. Kristyn Brandi talked to Elite Daily about picking the birth control method that is right for you. Dr. Anne Davis talked to CNN about the pros and cons of IUDs. Support access to contraception today with a tax-deductible donation.

Alley that runs north from Richmond toward Queen Street West. The laneway pictured in the above photo extends north from Richmond Street, west of Portland. It seems to be one of the favourites of Rick Mercer when he films his “rants” and rages in his inimitable style about some issue or another. His biting words are outrageously funny but also contain a great deal of truth. Another alley he frequently employs runs parallel with Queen Street West, extending from Portland to Bathurst Street. It is known as Graffiti Alley. Rick Mercer personally writes the material for the “rants” and walks past the graffiti in the laneways as he talks. You may recognize some of the graphics below. Most of them were created by Uber5000, one of the most prolific graffiti artists in the city. He came to Toronto from Nova Scotia and has painted numerous pieces of colourful art on the walls in Graffiti Alley and the surrounding laneways, as well as in the Kensington Market. I have also seen his work on Queen Street West and on Spadina, commissioned by the owners of the shops. Many tourist groups and Torontonians from throughout the city are often seen in the alleyways near Queen and Bathurst/Spadina. Most of them are avidly taking photos and videos of the art work. You may recognize some of the artwork below from the Rick Mercer Show. The yellow bird frequently appears in Uber500’s graffiti murals. The above murals are the work of Uber5000 This sea world fantasy covers the complete east and north facades of a building in the laneway. The north wall of the building with the sea world fantasy. Creating the sea world fantasy. An artist at work on a brick wall in McDougall Lane. The mural in McDougall Lane when completed Toronto is fortunate to have so many talented graffiti artists. To view others posts about the Toronto graffiti scene: New graffiti art in McDougall Lane The graffiti-decorated “hug-me-tree” on Queen Street West. Graffiti in a laneway amid the colours of autumn A mural in the Kensington Market, with tongue-in-cheek humour: To view the Home Page for this blog: https://tayloronhistory.wordpress.com/ To view previous blogs about other movie houses of Toronto—old and new To view links to other posts placed on this blog about the history of Toronto and its buildings: Recent publication entitled “Toronto’s Theatres and the Golden Age of the Silver Screen,” by the author of this blog. The publication explores 50 of Toronto’s old theatres and contains over 80 archival photographs of the facades, marquees and interiors of the theatres. It also relates anecdotes and stories from those who experienced these grand old movie houses. To place an order for this book: Another book, published by Dundurn Press, containing 80 of Toronto’s old movie theatres will be released in the spring of 2016, entitled, “Toronto’s Movie Theatres of Yesteryear—Brought Back to Thrill You Again.” “Toronto Then and Now,” published by Pavilion Press, explores 75 of the city’s heritage buildings. This book will also be released in the spring of 2016.

2012-07-10 08:16 PM i am a newbie of netapp. I have a question about DFM. I downloaded dfmsetup-4-0-2-win32 and nmconsole-setup-3-0-2-win32. and I installed them on my VM(windows2008, the IP is 10.73.203.XX) successfully. I can log in http://10.73.203.XX:8080/ with my domain account to browse the operation manager; I can also log in NetApp Management Console 3.0.2 via my domain account. but the issue is that there is no data, no storage found yet. The IP network of my storage is 10.73.202.XX; and the BMC IP of my storage is 10.74.240.XX. as per the DMF doc, no configuration needed. the DFM will auto-discovery the filer within a few minutes if the network allows it. but currently I can't get answer if I ping the storage IP 10.73.202.XX or the BMC IP 10.74.240.XX from the windows server. this is a network zone with strict network security rules. The permissions are allowed on demand. what am supposed to do? I mean do I need to open ports? if yes, which ports do I need to open then the DFM can discover the storage filer? there are ports what I got from the DFM doc. but I am not sure whether they are enough. ssh 22(ssh), 80(http), 443(https),10000(ntdmp ), 514(rsh) Please help point the right direction. thanks in advance! 2012-07-10 09:38 PM Can you check whether windows firewall is enabled on your win2k8 server? You should be able to ping the storage from DFM server. Also try resolving your storage system from the DFM server. Once ping works fine, You can as well add your storage system to DFM using the following command "dfm host add <storage system ip>" and set the credentials for the storage system using "dfm host set <storage system ip> hostLogin=<user name> hostPassword=<password>" 2012-07-10 10:08 PM You can add storage using NMC. In NMC, under provisioning and protection dashboard, Click on " Hosts-> Storage Systems" 1. to add new Netapp storage click on add 2. To set credentials for filers in DFM, click on Edit else, from cli, run # dfm host add <storage system ip> 2012-07-11 12:00 AM The discovery of storage systems on the network depends on the prefix length too. Is the prefix length allowing the dfm ip to reach the storage systems ip ? 2012-07-11 10:05 PM "under provisioning and protection dashboard, Click on " Hosts-> Storage Systems" I don't have "provisioning and protection" in dashboard...I think we do purchase that...............please look into the following screenshot. I indeed can see "provisioning and protection dashboard" in other DFM box. so how can I make "provisioning and protection dashboard" show up? 2012-07-11 10:27 PM In NMC Please check for: Help->about-Licenses. You need to have below below licenses: 1. Protection with Disaster Recovery Once you have this, Provisioning and protection manager Dashboard appears. Please refer attachment. 2012-07-16 08:20 PM I clicked Help->about-Licenses, but there is no " Protection with Disaster Recovery" and "Provisioning"..... I have " Protection with Disaster Recovery" and "Provisioning". in our exsiting DFM server........but it's empty on these 2 boxes I installed DFM and NMC last week.... How can I make them appear? 2012-07-16 08:32 PM What version of DFM are you running ? Are you on 5.0 ? If so you wont see that as starting Oncommand 5.0 you have only one license namely core license and that enables all features like protection, provisioning etc upto 250 nodes. 2012-07-16 08:37 PM I installed DFM(version:18.104.22.16803) and NMC(version:3.0.2)on windows 2008 seems I didn;t license the feature...during the installation process, I only type the "Core" license C:\Users\iyang>dfm license list Provisioning Error: Provisioning Manager: not licensed. But I am sure we have purchased the license since I can see both Protection with Disaster Recovery" and "Provisioning" in our old DFM server. so How can I know our license for Protection with Disaster Recovery" and "Provisioning"..... and import them to our new DFM boxes? thanks very much!

Styles are constantly changing. For a while baggy jeans were all the rage. If you didn’t own a pair, you weren’t cool. At one time bell bottoms were the in thing. Today, it seems that everyone is wearing skinny straight leg jeans. We members of the fellowship are as concerned with fashion as the next person. Survey any meeting and you will see that our clothing choices follow modern trends. So yes, you will see us wearing skinny straight leg jeans. Philosophically, we take a very different approach. A popular expression in the rooms is to “wear this world like a loose garment”. With a tight fitting garment, we don’t have much room to move. The same holds true in life. We need to display a degree of flexibility. This means that when appropriate we let go of old ideas and patterns that no longer work for us. We are open to applying new approaches in solving issues that arise. Often, we just need to let go of expectations and accept how things unfurl for us. Because we have flexibility we can even accept hurt and disappointment. Our jeans may be stiff and tight but our minds are limber and open. Personal Reflection: Do I need to develop flexibility?

American Falls, ID Painting Company (866) 296-8909 Kitchen Cabinet Painting Wall and Ceiling Repair Water Damage Repair Exterior Painting American Falls Deck Cleaning and Staining Condo Association Painting American Falls, ID Painters | (866) 296-8909 determined home spread projects absolutely require a professional. I cannot think of many homeowners who are ready to install their own HVAC, pour a foundation, or build an addition. supplementary projects, when painting, just seem to be begging for the do-it-yourselfer. After all, who isn’t proficient of dabbing a brush in paint? But painting is more difficult than it looks. So, it is following great pleasure that many DIY painters announce that it is now grow old to employ a painting contractor to take upon the job. Let us locate out what painting contractors do, how to employ them, and how to negotiate the best price for your painting job. What Is a American Falls ID 83211 Painting Contractor? A painting contractor can put-on as a sub, or sub-contractor, under a general contractor, or can employ itself out directly to the homeowner. Usually, the painting contractor is a relatively small operation, ranging from the one-man sole official going on to 20 or 30 painters keen for a small company. How To locate One Painting contractors tend to be local (as of yet, there are no nationally franchised paint contractors). even though paint contractors concentrate upon painting, some play united tasks such as plaster repairs, teenage drywall work, trim and molding, and wallpapering. The other difficult allowance is getting a painting contractor to play in up. even if this generalization does not apply to every painter, personally I am utterly grateful if I can get a paint contractor to bill stirring to look at the house and to forward-thinking develop a written estimate in American Falls ID 83211. I hardly malformation the painting contractors, because I think it is a concentration of the contractors beast smaller operations along subsequently a high demand for their work. Because it is next to impossible to find out assistance about local painting contractors upon the Internet, the old adage talk to neighbors applies here in American Falls ID 83211. Some painting contractors display signs on the lawns of houses they are in force on, but you locate this more taking into account general contractors and siding and replacement windows companies. So, supplementary than the painters white panel van out front, you often reach not know what is going on inside your neighbors houses in American Falls ID 83211. Urban areas often have local magazines (i.e., in Seattle, there is Seattle Magazine), and many of them have features upon renovated houses. These pieces will list the names and phone numbers for the contractor and sub-contractorsbut be warned, these sub-contractors are usually unconditionally high-end and expensive. What Will He Do? Most painting contractors will endure upon any nice of job, from merely painting your window trim to a full-house paint job. But allow us say you will that they are painting your interior. You can usually expect: - Coverage of all areas that will not be painted, including floors, windows, kitchen counters, cabinets, etc. - Minor surface preparation prior to painting, which means well-ventilated sanding and scraping away lost paint, tapping in a few protruding nails, cleaning off woodwork, using tackcloth in some areas. The key here is minor, as the contractor will endure that the home is mostly in paint-ready condition - Removal of electrical plates, lights, doors, and new obstacles. - Moving furniture away for improved access to the areas to be painted. This is not truly a painters job, correspondingly you would obsession to confirm this beforehand. - Priming other drywall or the current paint behind an interior latex primer. - Two color coats of interior latex paint upon the walls. - Two coats of ceiling paint. - Painting the trim and molding (baseboards, window trim, window mutins, etc.). - Touchups of missed spots. - Cleanups for accidents (no concern how fine the coverage in the manner of drop-cloths, some drips will happen). - A unquestionable evaluation in the midst of painting foreman and homeowner. How To talk To Him Unlike conversing in the same way as an electrician, you pull off not compulsion to know specialized lingo. Most house painting contractors are fine at making things distinct to the homeowner. A few topics you will want to discuss: - Is the cost of the paint included in the estimate? - What type of paint does the contractor seek on using? - How many coats will be laid down? - How does he aspire upon covering the non-paintable areas? - How long does he expect the job to take? - Is it preferable for the residents to vacate the home during the job? - Will he use masking tape in relation to the trim or the cut-in method? How Much Will It Cost? More than you expect. Some painting contractors will have formulas that they use, adding together up square footage of walls and ceilings, along in the same way as linear footage of trim. They will calculate preparation time, as with ease as the hard costs for primer and paint. Most paint contractors will manage to pay for you an estimate based upon their experience behind thesame jobs. even if this estimate cannot be tied to specifics, it is usually a adequately fine figure. For you, the homeowner, the without help artifice you will know if this is a fine estimate is to compare it to quotes you get from supplementary contractors. A whole-house interior paint job like the one described in this article can easily cost around $10,000 or more.

If I had a dream job it would be as an investigative reporter/photographer. I wouldn’t cover current events; no, I would cover news stories 20 years after they had occurred and try to find out what we got right and what we got wrong. It would be to remind people of the names of the Challenger and Columbia astronauts, to recall mistakes, and to celebrate the sacrifices and triumphs of events and to look at how they have changed the world or one person. It would also be for a major publisher so I wasn’t afraid of being sued for libel. News reporting is hard work, finding two reliable sources to corroborate a story can be a fairly monumental task, especially under a deadline. All too often you are not reporting the truth, but a viewpoint. You go in with a preconceived notion, or your source is promoting their own agenda. With print journalism’s slow death, and smaller newspaper budgets, investigative journalism has mostly disappeared. We tend to get sound bites and copies of press releases as our news. Being unbiased in reporting is nearly impossible, even watching football the announcers always seem to favor the other team. 17-year-old me recalls turning on the news in mid-April of 1989 and hearing about a massive explosion in the number two turret of the USS Iowa. Forty-seven crew members lost their lives in a training accident. An open breach caused five powder bags to exploded inside the number 2 turret center gun crumpling the bulkhead doors and killing everyone in the turret’s upper levels, 12 men in the lower turret survived when their blast doors held. Over the next five weeks it turned from an accident into an alleged act of sabotage. And then the news cycle ended. The Navy had named a crew member for planting a explosive timer into one of the powder bags. I went to college, the Gulf War started and I forgot about the tragedy on the USS Iowa. Instead we heard about the USS Missouri and Wisconsin firing nearly 1200 shells into Iraq and watched a new reporter on CNN named Wolf Blitzer report the nightly war status. Meanwhile, a second investigation and a congressional inquiry into the Iowa were initiated. Almost a year and a half later in October of 1991, the explosion was ruled an accident. Two officers had convinced the captain that Naval Sea Systems Command (NavSea) had authorized gun testing using experimental loads. It was later revealed the contact at NavSea didn’t have the authority to allow such testing. The crew had been testing the 16 inch guns using 40 years old powder. It had been adjusted to correct for the difference in burn times due to age and improper storage. Their testing was to see if they could increase the ship’s firing range. The bags stated not for use with the 2700 lbs shells they were firing. The bags were intended for the lighter high-explosive shells weighing 1900 lbs. In initial tests they they recorded the longest shots fired from a battleship. In an earlier test a bag had start smoldering as it was loaded into the gun but they closed the breach in time and the gun only misfired, lightly damaging the ship. In later drop testing of these bags, using the same load as the Iowa the entire test setup was destroyed in an explosion. Also, as the ship was returning to port after the explosion the captain instructed the crew to throw damaged parts overboard and repaint the interior of the damaged turret. This matter greatly complicated the investigations. As a result of this testing and additional investigation, the accused crew-member was cleared, the Navy offered its regrets to the family, and the cause was determined to be an accidental explosion. No senior officers were officially reprimanded or reduced in rank. The best friend of the sailor they had named as the saboteur was denied re-enlistment likely due to his vocal objection to the initial report. In a Washington Post article in 2001 the captain was quoted as saying, “Only God knows what really happened in that turret. We’re never really going to know for sure.” The USS Iowa was decommissioned the year following the explosion and the turret was never put back into service. She is currently a museum ship in Los Angeles, CA. The USS Iowa is a ship rich in history. She took part in many battles and shore bombardments in WWII and the Korean War. She served as Admiral Willis Lee’s and Admiral Halsey’s flagship. She has carried presidents Roosevelt and Reagan. My family went on the tour several weeks ago, it was a great experience. And it’s a great way to pay your respects to the 47 sailors who died serving their country. However, she is in dire need of new decking. For more information about the explosion aboard the Iowa there are two books A Glimpse of Hell : The Explosion on the U. S. S. Iowa and It’s Cover-up by Charles C Thompson II and Explosion Aboard the Iowa by Richard L Schwoebel. There is also a movie called A Glimpse of Hell.

Official Xbox Magazine |Single issue||$ 8.99||-| Just $1.83 per issue Subscribe to Magzter GOLD and enjoy Unlimited reading of Official Xbox Magazine Magazine (including old issues) along with 5,000+ other best-selling magazines and premium articles for just $9.99/Month! Official Xbox Magazine is North America's only all-Xbox monthly publication, dedicated to delivering the latest information on the hottest current and upcoming Xbox games. Each issue comes packed with breaking details and first looks, as well as more in-depth commentary and expert analysis on all of the latest trends and thriving culture that surrounds the games industry. Rolling rodent revamps roster. David Anfossi - The Last Crusade..

10 Random Things Fatherhood Taught Me Fatherhood comes at you like a Miley Cyrus Wrecking Ball (minus the odd irrelevant naked woman riding it). It changes you. As more grey hair comes in, I’m starting to realize that sometimes it takes a wrecking ball to make you realize what really matters. Especially as a man. Men are judged on things like strength, tolerance, income, and many other things. That’s not to say that women aren’t… but this isn’t about women. As I understand it groups of women can be the worst circles to be in for other women. But as men we seem to be perceived fundamentally and naturally as animals. That’s just the way it seems to be. Here’s what I’ve learned. - It is actually possible to shed Happy tears. - Unconditional love exists. - It takes just as much strength to punch an asshole who cut you off in traffic in the face as it does to NOT punch the asshole who cut you off in traffic in the face. - Women appreciate a man who is transparent with his feelings. - Children appreciate time over anything. - You don’t know what it is to be a protector until you have a child. - Hard decisions are things like choosing to enroll your child in a sport over spending that money on a new pair of shoes every month. - Bless your parents, but you learned everything not to do from them. - Bless your parents, but you learned everything TO DO from them. - Your child will mimic everything you do as soon as they are able to. This includes anything and everything from profanity to your actions. You realize that throwing your middle finger up might have been cool when you were a 20 something year old punk driving around in a 1989 honda civic, but as a parent you definitely never want to see your child doing the same thing.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN Like any other great idea Yonkers Brewing Co. was thought of with a beer in hand. In 2010, the concept of brewing came to John Rubbo and Nick Califano after they tirelessly helped their grandfathers make homemade wine. As they exchanged stories about crushing grapes and discussed the intricacy of fermentation, they cracked open a cold beer. As the cap fell off the lights went on, “Why not just make the sweet nectar we enjoy so much more?” they asked. The generations-old tradition of wine making sparked a fire and with head brewer, Sharif Taleb, they brewed up a recipe that is now known as Yonkers Lager THE BREWERY (Now Open!) Yonkers Brewing Co. will open to the public in the former Yonkers Trolley Barn, located at 92 Main Street in downtown Yonkers, New York. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the last remaining trolley barn in Westchester County, this Renaissance Revival style brick building has soaring 20 foot ceilings and plenty of exposed brick.The building is accessible by Metro North, less than 30 yards away and a 23 minute train ride from Grand Central, and numerous buses. If you are driving we are stone’s throw away from the New York State Thruway, Cross County Parkway, Sprain Brook Parkway, Saw Mill Parkway and Bronx River Parkway – we also have a parking structure across the street.This building is the perfect location to bring together the old Yonkers and the new Yonkers – which now include Yonkers Brewing Co.

Sign Up for the 2019 Piedmont Plus Senior Games & Silver Arts Registrations are now underway for the 2019 Piedmont Plus Senior Games and Silver Arts, to be held April 5 through May 25. Entry forms are available at all city recreation centers, local YMCAs, the Gateway YWCA and the Senior Games office at 2301 N. Patterson Ave. Early bird registration closes Feb. 28, and the final registration deadline is March 31. The Piedmont Plus Senior Games and Silver Arts, coordinated by Recreation & Parks, is a year-round wellness and education program for ages 50 and up that culminates every spring with athletic, art, craft and performance competitions that draw hundreds of participants. City Soliciting Participants in Small Business Plan Competition The city is holding its Small Business Plan Competition again in 2019 and is inviting executive summaries and business descriptions to be submitted by Mar. 15. The Office of Business Inclusion and Advancement is sponsoring the competition to promote job creation and small businesses by helping entrepreneurs develop sound business plans. The two winners will each receive a $5,000 grant for start-up costs, up to $5,000 in a potential matching micro-loan and technical assistance. Eligible submissions must be for micro-businesses (five employees or less) located within the Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area. For more information go to CityofWS.org and search for Small Business Plan Competition, or call Steven Harrison at 336-747-7474. Applicants Sought for Community Appearance Commission Mayor Pro Tempore Vivian H. Burke is accepting applications from citizens interested in filling three vacancies on the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Community Appearance Commission. One vacancy must be filled by a person who has demonstrated special experience or education in a design field, such as architecture, landscape architecture, horticulture, land use planning, historic preservation, or a closely related field. The other two vacancies may be filled by any citizen with an interest in the commission and its work. All nominees must be Forsyth County residents. Interested candidates should contact the City Secretary's office at 336-727-2224 or send an email to [email protected]. The application deadline is Feb. 8, 2019. Businesses Should Register in New Vendor Database Businesses and individuals who want to do business with the city and county should register with the new vendor database used by the City/County Purchasing Division. The division uses the database to solicit bids for city and county departments that have construction or repair projects, or need other goods and services. Purchasing cannot transfer the old database entries into the new database because the programs are not compatible. Once the old database is inactivated, businesses that have not re-registered may not receive notice about upcoming opportunities to do business with the city or the county. Registration in the new database takes about 10 minutes and can be accomplished by clicking on a link to the new system posted on Purchasing's web pages at CityofWS.org. See all public meetings on the website calendar Garbage, recycling, yard-waste cart collection changes for holiday weeks

A Frenchman, a Mercedes and a Morceau of Limburger I had an encounter with the southern Dutch province of Limburg, long before my visit to its capital, Maastricht, last month. It was a close encounter of the rind kind—with Limburger cheese—in France. As a teenager, I spent a couple of summers with a French family in Hossegor, a beach town located on the Basque Coast. Albert Barrieu, husband to Marie-Josee and father of seven, was a man of taste, especially for old things. For starters he had a collection of pre-Colombian and African artifacts, amassed in Peru and Africa after World War II and coveted by museum curators all over the world. At the family’s main residence in Pouillon, also a small town in the Basque Country, the commode in one of the bathrooms was encased in a heavily carved, dark-wood chair. Albert told everyone it was “the throne of the queen of Cameroon.” Most of Albert’s antiques were displayed in the 18th-century stone house in Pouillon. The stucco villa in Hossegor (which he named Chasquitambo, after a town in northern Peru) was a museum under construction. During the summers I spent there, Albert filled it with antiques, mostly purchased from dealers in southwestern France. He could sniff out antiques like pig sniffing out a black Perigord truffle. Albert was a regional sales manager for Gaston Jaunet, a women’s ready to wear firm. His oldest child, Dominique, and I accompanied him on some of his summer sales trips. It was on one of those trips that I encountered Albert’s passion for old cheese—old Limburger cheese, to be precise. One morning as I was finishing my breakfast at the long, pine table in Chasquitambo’s dining room, and was ready to hit the plage sauvage (a favorite with surfers), Albert asked Dominique and I to accompany him to St. Jean de Luz, a fishing port not far from the Spanish border. I was thrilled to have a chance to see more of France’s Basque region. But Dominique, normally a dutiful daughter, refused to go. Was it because Albert would be driving the black Mercedes sedan, and one of us would be peering at the scenery from the back seat, through the clothing samples? No, that was not why she refused to go. Was it because her father threw a fit in just about every restaurant he took us to? Once, in Hendaye, he advised me that the best French food is served in restaurants with the shabbiest exteriors. He found a run-down restaurant, ordered poulet basquaise for lunch, took one mouthful and pronounced it to be “as filthy as the restaurant floor.” As we left the restaurant, Albert told me that very occasionally there were exceptions to his French restaurant rule. No, Dominique did not care about her father’s restaurant rows. The reason she did not want to go with him was because of the Limburger cheese that he kept in the glove compartment of the Mercedes and ate as he drove the French national roads at Le Mans speed. I volunteered to sit next to Albert. But Dominique insisted that even if she sat behind the clothing samples, they would not be a strong enough barrier to the smell of the cheese. “Deglas,” she said, which is a stronger word than “disgusting.” Marie-Josee came to her daughter’s rescue, telling Albert that Dominque had to help the other children with their summer homework. Alas, she made no excuse for me. Albert put on his misshapen Panama hat, stuffed more clothing samples onto the rack over the Mercedes’ back seat, and off we went to St. Jean de Luz. Not 20 miles into the trip, Albert said he was hungry. I knew what that meant: time for the terrible, smelly cheese. He popped open the glove compartment, and I held my breath. He pulled out a crumpled piece of white paper, and I kept holding my breath. A small piece of cheese fell out of it onto the floor. William Shakespeare had it right, when he wrote in “The Merry Wives of Windsor” that Limburger was “the rankest compound of villainous smell that ever offended a nostril.” I stuck my head out the window and took a deep breath as Albert reached for the cheese on the floor and popped it into his mouth. The boutique owner we were going to see in St. Jean de Luz was one of Albert’s best clients. She was as impossibly chic as she was frank. As we pulled the samples out of the car, she implored, “Albert, please keep the cheese in the glove compartment. You are selling Gaston Jaunet, not the Limburger line.” In Maastricht, where I attended the Association of European Journalists’ annual meeting in November, I learned two things about Limburger cheese: first, it is mostly made in Germany now; and second, there is a great benefit to its much-mocked odor. A 2006 study, which showed that the malaria mosquito is attracted equally to the smell of Limburger and to the smell of human feet, earned a Nobel Prize in the area of biology. Limburger has now been placed in strategic locations in Africa to combat the epidemic of mosquito-borne malaria. A French Musketeer in Maastricht In another French connection, Maastricht is where the captain of musketeers, Charles Ogier de Batz de Castelmore, also known as Compte d’Artagnan, fell in battle in 1673. He is the person upon whom Alexandre Dumas based d’Artagnan, the hero of “The Three Musketeers” and other novels. In June 1673, as part of the Franco-Dutch War of 1672-78, the French laid siege to Maastricht. As Compte d’Artagnan, commander of King Louis XIV’s First Musketeers Company, prepared to attack the city’s Tongerese Gate on the night of June 25, he was killed by a single musket shot. The night attack was portrayed in “The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later,” the third and last of Dumas’s D’Artagnan Romances. Maastricht surrendered to French troops on June 30, 1673. The French occupied the city until 1678. It was subsequently restored to Dutch rule. The French again took the city in 1748, during the War of Austrian Succession, but it was restored to the Dutch that year. The French would return once more in 1794, annexing Maastricht to what would become the First French Empire. The following year, it became the capital of a French province (departement de la Meuse-Inferieure). In Maastricht’s city park (Stadspark) there is a cast-iron statue of d’Artagnan drawing his sword. Dumas wrote, “A person who doubts himself is like a man who would enlist in the ranks of his enemies and bear arms against himself. He makes his failure certain by himself being the first person to be convinced of it.” That is what the statue of d’Artagnan looks like he is thinking. Or is he thinking, as Dumas also wrote, “I prefer rogues to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest.” Once a decade a world horticultural exposition, Floriade, is held in the Netherlands. The sixth Floriade, themed “Living Nature,” will be held from mid-April until mid-October 2012 in Venlo. “In addition to the most exquisite and exceptional flowers, plants, trees, fruit and vegetables, each day at the expo features a cultural program of music, dance, literature, theater and visual art from all over the world,” Sven Stimac, director of projects for Floriade 2012, told the Association of European Journalists. Floriade 2012 aims to get visitors to use “all their senses, so they can experience the influence horticulture has on the quality of their daily lives; be part of the theater in nature, get closer to the quality of life,” according to its organizers. Venlo, the site of the world expo, is located in the province of Limburg, close to the borders of Belgium and Germany. “More than 30 million people live within a two-hour distance by car,” Stimac said, adding, “The Greenport Venlo agrologistics area and the Lower Rhine Agrobusiness region together form the largest area of horticultural production in Europe.” Besides the horticultural highlights, there is another reason to visit Floriade 2012: the green buildings and landscaping. Exhibitions of this nature often leave a legacy in the form of spectacular buildings, such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Atomium in Brussels and, after Floriade 1960, the Euromast in Rotterdam, Stimac said. “This Floriade will also have a number of imposing structures. The buildings and landscapes will leave a legacy by becoming the site of GreenPark Venlo: an innovative, sustainably developed business park where economy, ecology and knowledge transfer go hand in hand,” the organizers said. Floriade 2012’s organizers anticipate more than 2 million visitors, and 35,000 peak-day visitors. Press Freedom and ‘Jeans’ in Ukraine There was much revelry at the Association of European Journalists’ meeting in Maastricht, notably at the dinner hosted by the Provincial Council of Limburg in the building where the Maastricht Treaty was signed on Feb. 7, 1992, and at the APG Group-hosted dinner among the ruins of an ancient Roman temple and forum. But there was also much to dampen the spirits of the journalists, especially the presentations on media freedom in Europe and two former Soviet republics, Belarus and Ukraine. In their report on freedom of speech in Ukraine, where the media benefited from the Orange Revolution, Arthur Rudzitsky, Diana Dutsyk and Mykhailyua Skoryk wrote that journalists are often pressured by media company owners. “Most owners of the media in Ukraine have political interests and partially implement them through the media,” they wrote. Media companies are so cash-strapped that they mostly depend on “donations” for their operating capital. “The number of such media is increasing because of the advertising market’s fall by 40 percent for the first half of 2009, compared to the same period in 2008,” they wrote, adding, “The main donors for the media are Ukrainian businessmen and state and local budgets. This grant nature of media has led to mass layoffs in the media … and the closure of many television projects and programs.” While the Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice opened access to the state register of print media and news agencies last December, “this information is still not enough to make a complete picture of the owners of Ukrainian media companies. In particular, owners of leading Ukrainian TV channels, according to the documents, are offshore companies; so it is difficult to determine who actually owns them,” they wrote. In 2009, there was a spike in the number cases of violence against journalists. These appalling cases include: - On Feb. 16, someone blew up a car owned by Valery Vorotnyk, owner of the Antenna media group, headquartered in Cherkasy. - On March 16, unknown assailants beat up Anatoly Ulayanov, journalist, art critic and editor of the Kiev-based Prosa Web site, who has criticized the National Expert Committee on the Protection of Public Morals. - On June 24, Kiev Pharmacy guards used tear gas against a TV crew attempting to film a stand-up in front of the company. The saddest statement in their report was “most journalists rarely come to court in cases when the violation of their rights takes place because they do not believe in justice and do not consider it worth their time; and the rest of the journalists simply do not know how to do it. The cases that reach the court are not always resolved in favor of journalists.” Not stated in their report was the corruption of journalists. “ ‘Dschinza’, which means ‘jeans,’ is the name commonly used for the system of paid contributions, as the money vanishes immediately into the jeans pocket of the journalists. That this practice forms part of everyday journalistic life is an open secret among those working in the media in Ukraine,” journalists Cristoph Kersting and Dorthe Ziemer wrote in the latest edition of Kontakt, the newsletter of the social and cultural arm of the Erste Bank Group in Central and Eastern Europe. “Volodymyr Mostovoj, editor in chief of the critical political weekly newspaper Zerkalo Nedeli, also complains about the dubious work methods of many of his colleagues. He believes that one reason for the attitude of many journalists to professional ethics lies in their poor training. ‘When I studied journalism, in what was still the Soviet Union, there were three faculties in the entire Ukraine where I could study. Today there are, believe it or not, 41 – of questionable quality,’ ” wrote Kersting and Ziemer, whose report has been picked up by Deutsche Welle and other media outlets. Apple Park Hotel’s Polished Service The Association of European Journalists’ meeting was held at the Golden Tulip Apple Park Hotel, located in a sports park area not far from Maastricht’s historical center. The hotel’s Big Apple theme had a few sour notes, like the dark halls with shadow boxes filled with New York mementos hanging outside the guest rooms. The one outside my room contained pictures from the rowdy American television comedy of the 1960s, “The Three Stooges,” and Grand Street in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. As a child, I could not stomach the three knuckleheads. It was even harder to do so as a hungover adult entering a hotel room. The hotel service was sweet and polished, especially at the front desk and in the Dreamz restaurant.

Everybody has their own way of dealing with MCAS [Mast Cell Activation Syndrome]. Some document their symptoms and share pictures of their reactions. Others discuss treatment options that have helped or made them worse. Personally, I either disappear off the face of the earth – that’s when I’m truly struggling – or pretend that everything’s okay because I’d rather not concern my family or friends. But seeing as it is World Mental Health Day [10 October 2018] and we’re being encouraged open up for the sake of our mental wellbeing, I’m going to share a secret. I’m not always fine. In fact, more often than not, I’m petrified of this frustrating horrible disease and just internalise it. Of course, you wouldn’t know it by looking at my recent Instagram feed which is filled with images of stunning Bajan beaches – the snaps were taken on my most recent holiday. (Regular readers will know I struggle to relax but Barbados, which was the inspiration for the name of this blog, is the one place in the world where I truly switch off). However, the pictures only tell half the story because behind the scenes I was also dealing with very nasty tongue swelling and throat closing episodes that left me feeling frightened, groggy and anxious. I thought I was beginning to beat this damned condition. [Read more about MCAS here] The month before I’d gone for 10 days without a serious reaction, managed to play two tennis matches – popping a super strong antihistamine beforehand as a precautionary measure – and even reintroduced certain foods. I was beginning to feel like my old self, especially as I was returning to activities that used to bring me such joy. But a couple of days before the holiday, my trusty car stopped working. Just like that… Turned out a cambelt (no, I had no idea what that was either) had gone, there was engine damage and I needed to buy a new vehicle. WTH? I was strapped for cash (having moved house earlier this year), and still chasing invoices from publications that hadn’t paid me for four months. My head began to spin. I started panicking about the car being stranded at the garage while I was away, the storage fees it might incur, how I’d commute to the news shifts I had booked in immediately after my holiday (I live alone) and whether I’d be able to find a car within one day of my return. Then boom…my mast cells decided to throw a party gifting me a tongue swelling reaction the night before my flight. It happened again on the plane – despite taking meds as a precaution before the journey – and then every day of the trip bar one – in some instances occurring twice in 24 hours. On the last two nights, intense palpitations – another symptom of MCAS – were to be my wake-up call, not the sound of the ocean. Although I refuse to be defined by this condition, the truth is that living with MCAS is exhausting and frightening. When I’m in a continuous flare, the thought of suffocating to death (or my meds failing through overuse) is never far from my mind. Even if I manage to control a reaction, I’m left wiped out for days. The accompanying brain fog is a joke – I struggle to formulate words – not great when I rely on them for a living. The stabbing pains in my joints aren’t much fun either. Oh, and every day I wake up with a sore throat or feel as though I’m fighting something. So why am I telling you this now? Well, when the going gets tough I stop speaking – I AM a chatterbox so this is out of character for me. I vanish from social circles and, seemingly, stop blogging. (Apologies for the dearth of recent posts – now you know why) I’ve since recognised this withdrawal trait in a couple of my (non-MCAS) friends. I suspected one was struggling recently so I sent a text to let him know how grateful I was to have him in my life and thanked him for being amazing. He responded saying he had woken up to my message, texting back a row of love hearts. He was having a hard time and thanked me for making him feel better. This MCAS journey has taught me about anxiety – something I never used to struggle with – and how to identify the individuals who might be struggling with their own mental wellbeing. It’s made me realise that if someone is behaving out of character or is being non-committal that there could be more to their actions – or lack of them – than meets the eye. We shouldn’t judge but simply be kind. A simple ‘are you okay’ could make all the difference.

She was entering Akra. The heap of grain, yet burning, showed a dull black-red mound over which towered a column of strong incense. Here, for the night was cool, lay in circles many of the unhoused Passover guests. Here, also, was wakefulness and the hatchment of evil. The running girl was upon them before she knew it. One of the figures that sat with its back to the dull glow saw her approaching. Instantly he rose upon one knee and snatched her dress as she ran. Jerked from her balance, she screamed and threw out her hands to keep from falling upon the shoulders of her assailant. One or two others with unintelligible sounds struggled up, and as she fell, the Maccabee leaped from the darkness, wrenched her from the grasp of her captor, and warding off attack with his knife, fled with her into the darkness. The transfer of control over her had been made so swiftly that in her stupor of terror she hardly realized it. She was struggling silently and strongly in his hold, when he clasped her to him with a firmer impulsive embrace and whispered to her: "Comfort thee, dear heart! It is I, Hesper!" She ceased to resist so suddenly and was so tensely still that he knew the shock of immense reaction was having its way with her. He knew without asking that she had been forced to leave the shelter of the Greek's roof, and though his rage threatened to rise up and blind him he was not entirely unaware of the benefit the inhospitality of others had given him. At last she was with him; entirely in his care. It was a safe shelter into which she was brought, but no luxurious one. There was light enough from the single torch stuck in a crevice in the ancient rock to show that it was habitable. The immense floor was packed hard by the trampling of many feet; overhead, lost in gloom, there must have been a rocky roof, but it was invisible. On the ledges of rocks were belongings by heaps and collections, showing that this was an abiding-place for great numbers. In the far shadows she distinguished long, silent, mummied windrows of men wrapped in blankets, sleeping. Huge gloomy piles of provisions filled up shadowy corners; about under the light was the litter left in the wake of human counsel; over all was the air of repose and occupancy that made a home out of the burrow. Though the place held a great number of refugees, the footstep of the Maccabee wakened resounding emptiness. At the threshold he slackened his step and looked with pathetic anxiety at whatever light on Laodice's face would show her opinion of her refuge. But the uncertain torch revealed nothing and he led her in and across to a solitary place where rugs from some looted house had been folded up for a pallet and spread about for carpets. She sat down and awaited his speech. He motioned to the spacious barrenness about him. "Canst thou content thyself in this place?" he asked, hesitating. She nodded, but feeling that her reply had not shown all that words might, she lifted her face that he might see therein that which she could not trust her lips to say. It was her undoing. Her weakness overwhelmed her and burying her face in the folds of her mantle, she wept. After a dismayed silence, he bent over her and said with a quiver of distress in his voice: "I—I have work, here, to do, but I shall take thee out of the city for better refuge—" That she should seem to be grieving over the nature of the shelter given her, stirred her deeply. She half rose and with the light shining on her face, filled with gratitude in spite of her tears, took his hand in both of hers and pressed it with pathetic insistence. He understood her. He laid a hand unsteady with its tremor of delight and young eagerness upon the vitta and it slipped off her hair. As it dropped, the subtle warm fragrance of the heavy locks, now braided in maidenly style, reached him; the liveliness of her relaxed young figure communicated itself to him without his touch; all the invitation of her helplessness swept him to the very edge of abandoning his restraint. On his dark face a transformation occurred. All the hardness, even his years and his experience vanished from him and a soft recovering flush faintly colored his cheeks. In that sudden bloom of beauty in his face was stamped a realization of the far progress of his triumph. She was in his house and dependent on him, within the very reach of his arms. When she looked up at him again, she read all this in his face, and instantly there returned to her, with warning intensity, the fear of her love of him. The last obstacle but her own conscience that stood between her and his perfect supremacy over her life had suddenly been swept away. She started away from him, and put up her hands to ward off his touch. "If you do that," she said in a tone sharp with distress, "it is sin and I shall be cursed! I shall have to go back to him!" Then she had voluntarily left Julian, perhaps to seek him! "You shall not go back to him!" he exclaimed. "After I have given up everything but my life to have you for myself!" "You must not think of me in that way!" she commanded him vehemently. "I am a married woman! You shall remember that! If you forget it, I will go out into the streets and ask the Idumeans to kill me!" "Nay, peace, peace! I shall do you no harm! You are frightened! I will do nothing that you would not have me do! Be comforted. Not any one in all the world has your happiness at heart so much as I. Believe me!" "Believe me!" she insisted. "I am weary of doubt and denial. I am only safe if you recognize me as that which I claim to be. Answer me! You do believe I am the wife of Philadelphus?" "I believed it, at once," he said frankly. "Then—then—" but she flung her hands over her face and slipped down on the rugs. For a moment he hesitated, restraining the impulse to break over the limits she had laid down for him. Then he rose and, summoning one of the women who had taken refuge in the crypt, sent her to remain with the girl, and departed, shaken and uncertain, to his own place. IN THE SUNLESS CRYPT The twilight of the cavern rarely revealed enough of the features of her fellows to Laodice for her to identify them or for them to identify her. She lived among them a dusky shadow among shadows. And because of her fear that Philadelphus might be searching for her, she stayed in the sunless crypt day by day until the Maccabee, noting with affectionate distress that she was growing white and weak, bade her take one of the women and venture up to the light. There were, besides the women, two men who took no part in the preparation for war which went on about them in the cavern day and night. While weapons and armor were made and tramping ranks formed and broke before the commands of the lithe dark commander of that fortress and subdued but fierce councils took place around torches—while all this went on, they kept back, even apart from the women, and said nothing. Laodice saw that they were physically unfit; that one was very old and the other very feeble and her heart warmed again to that stern master who saw them fed as abundantly as his most valued men. These, then, were those Christians whom he had taken into his protection because of the Name which had inspired a shepherd boy to save his life. When he commanded Laodice to go up into the sunlight, he approached the corner in which the two useless men hid and bade them, too, to go up into the air. "Let us have no sickness in this place," he said bluntly and turned on his heel and left them to obey. Laodice took one of the older women and timidly climbing the steps from which the rubbish had been pushed away by the climbing hundreds, went through the dusk of the passage that terminated in a brilliancy that dazzled her. And as she walked she heard the footsteps of the two men behind her. Up in the chaos of fallen columns, she stood a moment with her hands pressed over her eyes. Only little by little was she able to permit the full blaze of the Judean sun to reach them. The uproar on Jerusalem after the muffled silence of the underground cavern filled her with terror, and she pressed close to the shelter of the entrance until the woman at her side reassured her. "It is nothing," the woman said, with a dreary patience. "It is as it was yesterday. I come here every day. I know." After a while Laodice looked about her. The entrance to their refuge was about the middle of the ruin and therefore a great many paces back from the streets, so that she did not see Jerusalem's agonies face to face. But she saw enough to make her cold and to turn her shivering and panic-stricken into the darkness of the crypt below. She saw the ascending streets of Zion and the tall fortifications mounting the heights within the city's limits. There she saw the flash of swords, swung afar off, spears brandished and the running hither and thither of defenders on the wall. Below she saw the remote constricted passages between rows of desolate houses, moving with people, sounding with clamor. There she saw combats, terrible scenes of frenzy, deaths and unnamable horrors; starvelings gnawing their nails; shadows of infants pressed to hollow bosoms; old men too weak to walk that went on hands and knees; young men and young women in rags that failed to cover them, and wandering skeletons screaming, "Woe!" Meanwhile huge stones mounted over the walls and fell within the city; three great towers planted beyond the walls, out of range of the Jewish engines and equipped with superior machines, were steadily devastating the entire quarter near which they were erected. Here two-thirds of the forces of Jerusalem were concentrated in a vain effort to resist the dire inroads of these effective engines. Here, the Maccabee and his Gibborim stood shoulder to shoulder with the Idumeans and fanatics of Simon and John, and here the half-mad defenders awakened at last to the fact that only divine interference could save the city against Rome. In the south and the east conflagrations roared and crackled, where burning oil had been scattered over some remaining structures near the walls. When a great ram began its thunder somewhere near the Sheep Gate, there came a hollow booming noise of deafening volume from the charnel pits outside the walls and a black cloud of incredible depth soared up into the skies. Laodice, dumb with horror, looked at the prodigy without understanding, but the woman at her side shuddered. "God help us!" she exclaimed. "They are vultures!" Laodice turned to rush back into the cavern and so faced the two men who stood behind her. One, at sight of her, shrank with a gasp, and, averting his shaggy head till the long white locks covered his face, fled back into the crypt. The other was gazing with unseeing eyes across groaning Jerusalem. "I am the man," he was saying aloud, but to himself, "that hath seen affliction by the rod of His wrath." The sight of him had a paralyzing effect upon Laodice. She saw, before her, Nathan, the Christian, who had buried her father, who had blessed her, who would know and could testify to a surety that she was the wife of Philadelphus! She slipped by him without a sound and hurried down into the darkest corner of the cavern. Circumstance had found her in her refuge and would drive her away from this sweet home back to that hateful house, to the man she did not love! For many days, with increasing distress, Laodice avoided Nathan, the Christian. With that fascinated terror which at times forces human creatures to examine a peril, she felt irresistibly impelled to try his memory of events, that she might know if indeed he would recognize her. Though she turned cold and flashed white when he came upon her one day in the darkness of their shelter, she felt nevertheless the relief of approaching a solution to her perplexity. "They tell me," he said with the deliberate speech of the old, "that Titus is once more permitting citizens to depart from Jerusalem unharmed." "Then," she said, grasping at this hope, "why do you stay here in this peril?" "Why should I leave it? Even with the singers who wept by the waters of Babylon, I prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy. Except for the time when we of the Way were warned to depart, I have been in Jerusalem all my life. Then, though I had gone as far as Caesarea on my way to Antioch to join the brethren there, homesickness overtook me and I turned in my tracks, saying no man farewell, and came back." "A weary journey for one so old," she said gently. Would he remember also that it had been dangerous? "Nay, but a journey full of works and reward. And I discovered at the end of it that I had lived in error forty years; that Christ never ceases to prove Himself." Already the forbidden tenets of the Nazarene faith had entered into his words. But feeling somehow that her deflection from uprightness covered her whole life, there was no reason why she should not hear what these people believed and have done with it. "Art thou a Christian?" she asked timidly. "I am a believer in Christ, but whether I may call myself one of the blessed I do not know, for they have had faith. But I demanded a sign. Behold it! The ruin of the City of David!" Her eyes widened with alarm. "Is there no hope?" she exclaimed. He looked at her, even in his old age impressed with the immense importance life and love must have to so beautiful and beloved a woman. Presently he said, as if to himself: "Yea, be thou blessed, O thou Redeemer, that givest life to them to whom life is dear and death approacheth." Her concern for concealment vanished entirely in her rising terror for the future of the Holy City. "I pray thee, Rabbi," she said in a low voice, drawing close to him, "tell me what thy people believe about the city. I have heard—but it can not be true!" "Do not be troubled about the city," he answered. "Ask me rather how to become safeguarded against any disaster, greater even than the fall of cities." "It is not for myself," she protested earnestly, "but for the world. Is there not a King to come to Israel?" "There is, but not yet, my daughter. Of that day and hour no man knoweth. Now is Daniel's abomination of desolation; the generation passeth and the prophecy is fulfilled. Jerusalem is perishing." Seeing the wave of panic sweep over her, he put out a soothing hand. "Yet, do not fear. For such as you the Redeemer died; for your kind the Kingdom of Heaven is built, and the King whom the earth did not receive is for ever Lord of it." The veiled reference to the tragedy which Philadelphus had recounted stood out with more prominence than the promise in his words. "Whom the earth did not receive?" she repeated. "O prophet, as thou boasteth truthful lips and a hoary head, tell me what hath befallen us." "Hear it not as a calamity," he said reassuringly. "Thou canst make it of all things the most profitable, if thou wilt. Forget the city. I, who would forget it but can not, bid thee do this. Behold, there is another Jerusalem which shall not fall. Look to that and be not afraid." Her lips, parted to protest against the vague answer, closed at the final sentence and the Christian pressed his advantage. "Of that Jerusalem there is no like on earth. Against its walls no enemy ever comes; neither warfare nor hunger nor thirst nor suffering nor death. This which David builded is a poor city, a humble city compared to that New Jerusalem. There the King is already come; there the citizens are at peace and in love with one another. There thou shalt have all that thy heart yearneth after, and all that thy heart yearneth after shall be right." In that city would it be right that she love Hesper instead of Philadelphus, and that she should have her lover instead of her lawful husband? While she turned these things over in her mind, he wisely went on with his story. Shrewdly sensing the young woman's anxiety, the old Christian guessed the interest to her of the Messiah's history before His teaching and began with prophecy to support the authenticity of the wonderful Galilean's claim to divinity. It was no fisherman or weaver of tent-cloth who brought forth the declarations of the comforter of Hezekiah, the captive prophet and the priest in the land of the Chaldeans. His was no barbarous manner or slipshod tongue of the market-place and the wheat-fields, but the polish and the clean-cut flawless language of the synagogues and the colleges. Laodice saw in the gesture and phrase the refinement of her father, Costobarus, of the gentlest Judean blood. "I saw Him," he went on in a low voice. Laodice with her intent gaze on the beatified face put her hand to her heart. "Forty years ago," the old voice continued, "I saw Him first in Galilee. There He was disbelieved and cast out. He came then unto Jerusalem and I saw Him there heal lepers, cast out evil spirits, cure the blind and the sick and the palsied. And in the house of Jairus and at Nain, I saw Him raise the dead. "I saw Him come to Jerusalem. Multitudes followed Him and accompanied Him, casting their mantles and palm-branches in the way that His mule might tread upon them." The old man pointed south toward the single summit from which Christ approaching could overlook Jerusalem. "On that hill," he said, "while the multitudes hailed Him and the sound of Alleluia shook the air, He reined in His meek beast and looked upon this city, and wept over it. When He spoke, He said, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. "And three days later, I saw the Rock of David and all that multitude follow Him unto the Hill of the Skull and there His enemies crucified Him!" After a paralyzed silence, Laodice whispered with frozen lips, "In God's name, why?" But he wisely did not pause with the calamity. He had the whole of the beginnings of Christianity to tell, a long narrative that contained as yet no dogma. Paul had seen the great light on the road to Damascus, and accepting apostleship to all the world had fought a good fight and had come unto his crown of righteousness; Peter had established the Church and had fed the sheep and had been offered up by the Beast who was Nero; John the Divine was seeing visions of the Apocalypse in the Island of Patmos; Herod Antipas, "that fox," had passed to his own place, prisoner and exile, sacrifice to a mad Caesar's imaginings; Judas had hanged himself; Pilate had drowned himself; thousands of the saints had died for the faith by fire and sword and wild beasts; kings had been converted and of the believers in Rome it was said, Your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. Laodice sat with clasped hands, intent on each word as it fell from the lips of the aged teacher, seeing at one and the same time the Kingdom of Heaven constructed and her dream of an earthly empire falling. "He said," the Christian continued, "They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Repentance was a rite for Laodice, a payment of offering, a process to the righteously inclined, a thing that could in no wise purify the sinner as to make him worthy of association with the upright. The old Christian's use of the word was different; he had said that the Messiah came to the sinner, and not to the righteous. Had the young Jewess been less in need of comfort in her own consciousness of spiritual delinquency she would have set down the old teacher as one of the idlest dealers in contradiction. But now she listened with keener zest; perchance in this doctrine there was balm for her hurt. She made some answer which showed the awakening of this new interest and then with infinite poetry and earnestness he began to unfold the teachings of Christ. A woman came to them with wine and food, for the midday had come, but neither noticed it. In his fervor to enlighten this tender soul, the old man forgot his weariness; in her wonder at the strangely gentle doctrine which had contradicted all the world's previous usage, the girl forgot her prejudice. She listened; and with such signs as change of expression, flushes of emotion, movements of surprise and brightenings of interest to encourage him, the old Christian talked. When he had progressed sufficiently to round out the theory of Christianity, she had grasped a new standard. The contrast between the old and the new made itself instantly felt. On one hand was the simple and logical; on the other the complex and dogmatic. The Christian was able to measure proportionately how much should be laid upon her mind for study at once and while she still waited, he rose from his place. "There is more; yet there are other days," he said. But she caught his hand as he rose and with a sudden yearning in her eyes whispered: "O Rabbi, what said He of love?" "Love?" he repeated, with a softening about his lips. "The Master blessed love between man and woman." "But, but—" she faltered, "if one love another than one's wedded spouse, then what?" His face grew grave. "That is not lawful even among you, who are still of the old faith." He laid a kindly hand on the one that held his. "Suffer but sin not. He that endureth unto the end shall be saved." She was silent while she gazed at him with change showing on her gradually paling face. "Then—then what is in thy faith for the forlorn in love?" she exclaimed. "Peace, and the consciousness of the joy of Christ in your steadfastness," he said. She rose. How much longer had she to live? "And thou sayest we die?" "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul," he said gently. Fear Hesper, then, but not the Roman. While she stood in the immense debate of heart and conscience he laid a tender hand on her head. "Perchance in His mercy thou shalt be welcomed there first by thy father, whom I buried, and by thy mother." The sudden recurrence to that past tragedy and the unfolding of his recognition fairly swept Laodice off her feet with shock and alarm. If he noted her feeling, he was sorry he had not succeeded in comforting her with a promise of reunion with her beloved in that other land. He took away his tremulous hand from her hair. Leaving her transfixed with all he had said, he moved painfully away, stiffened by long sitting while he discoursed. THE FALSE PROPHET It was a different Amaryllis that the pretended Philadelphus faced now, from the one who had welcomed him on his arrival in Jerusalem months ago. Then she had been so cold and self-contained that it would have been effrontery to discuss her hopes with her. Now, with the avarice of love in her eyes, with wishfulness and defeat making their sorry signs on her face, she was a creature that even the humblest would have longed to help. Philadelphus sat opposite her in the ivory chair which was hers by right. She sat in the exedra and listened eagerly to the things he said with her finger-tips on her lips and her eyes gazing from under her brow as her head drooped. She had ceased long ago to debate idly on the actual identity of the man who had called himself Hesper of Ephesus. There was another question that absorbed her. Of late, it had been brought home to her that the charm of Laodice for the stranger from Ephesus, to whom the Greek knew the girl had fled, had been her purity. Why should it matter so much about virtue? she had asked herself. Why should it weigh so immeasurably more than the noble gifts of wit and beauty and strength and charm? Behold, she was wise enough to educate a barbarous nation, beautiful enough to bewitch potentates—for a time—strong enough to take a city; yet Hesper, who best of all could appreciate the value of these things, had turned from her to Laodice, who was merely chaste. The greater part of the jealous and bitter passion that had shaken her then was dumb regret that the measure of charm was so irrational—and that she had not believed in it, in time, in time! Now, however, since she had become convinced that Laodice had gone to Hesper for refuge, hope had awakened in her, but so filled with uncertainty and lack of confidence in another's weakness that it was little more than a torture to her. If Laodice had gone to this winsome stranger, either claiming to be the wife of Philadelphus or acknowledging the imposture, there was now no difference between Laodice and herself! But, she asked herself, was it not possible that this lovely girl who had shown signs of illimitable fortitude, could live in the shelter of the captivating Hesper as uprightly as she had lived under the roof of the man she called her husband? In one exigency, the hopes of Amaryllis budded; in the other, her intuitive belief in the strength of Laodice discouraged her. And while she alternately hoped and doubted, Philadelphus, in the chair opposite her, talked. "It follows that you and I must work together to gain diverse ends. If our fortunes are to be tragic, we are undoing each other in this conjunction. Since I in all frankness prefer it to turn out comedy, let us make no error. Are you weary of John? Do you seek a new diversion?" She looked at him, at first puzzled, then with a frown. It leaped to her lips, grown impatient with suffering, to tell him all that she had evolved of the histories of himself, his lady and of Hesper; but there seemed to be an element of recklessness in that which threatened to do away with a means for her success. He did not wait for her answer. "And I," he said with mock intensity, "am done to death with weariness—with my moneyer, this lady of mine. Let us be diverted while we live, for by the signs we shall all die soon." "Where," he began when her mind wandered entirely from him, "dost thou think the mysterious man hath taken my other wife? "I would I knew," he continued, conducting his inquiry alone. "It will be right simple to have her beauty spoiled in this hungry town, unless he takes tenderest care of her." There was still no comment, but the lively sparkle in the Greek's eye showed that he had touched upon a jealous spot. "And by the by," he pursued, "what does this stranger, whom I can not remember having known, look like? A villain?" She answered now in a voice filled with rancor. "Win away the girl from him and thou wilt know thyself to be the better man; but study how much he hath outstripped thee and thou shalt decide for thyself, then, that he is handsomer, more winsome, stronger and more profitable. Describe him for thyself." "Out upon you! How irritable misfortune makes most of us! Now, here is my lady. She would fail to see the humor in my fetching back this pretty impostor. Alas! Were I Deucalion or Pyrrha or whoever else it was that repeopled the world, I should have left jealousy out of the make-up of wives. It is a needless element. It gives them no pleasure, and Jove! how inconvenient it is for husbands! Now, I am not jealous of my wife. In fact, had any man the hardihood to supplant me, I should not discourage him; I should not, by my soul!" "Why," she burst out again, irritated beyond control at his manner, "do you not leave this place?" He swung his foot idly and smiled. "I shall when I can take with me this dear pretty impostor who is so determined to have me," he answered lightly. "Will you?" she asked eagerly. "Is that why you remain?" "And for my lady's dowry. She keeps the key. But had I the girl cloaked and hooded for flight, I might go, even without the treasure. The times are precarious, you observe." She rose almost precipitately and hurried over to the swaying curtain of some heavy white material like samite, covering that which appeared to be a blind arch in the wall. She drew the hanging aside. It had hidden the black mouth of a tunnel, closed by a brass wicket which was locked. "Here," she said rapidly, "is what strengthens John in his folly. This is a passage that leads under the Temple through Moriah into Tophet. The whole city is underlaid with these galleries, but this is the only one which leads to safety." She dropped the curtain and approached him. "But thou canst not go out of that passage alone!" He smiled, and then with that boyish impulsiveness that he had cultivated to cover the evil in his nature, he thrust out his hand to her. "Here is my hand on it!" he exclaimed. "Go, then, and cease not till you have found her. Then, by any or all the gods, I shall see that you do not go out of that passage empty-handed." He smiled at her radiantly and went at once to his chambers. When he reached the apartments, he found them silent and deserted. He seized upon the opportunity as most propitious for a search for the possible hiding-place of the dowry of two hundred talents. When he opened first the great press in which his lady kept her raiment he was confronted by emptiness. Dismayed, he turned to look into the room and found the chests for the most part open and rifled. On the brazier, now cold, lay a wax tablet. He snatched it up and read: Received of Julian of Ephesus the appended salvage in good repair. Items: One wife, Two hundred talents. JOHN, KING OF JERUSALEM. He went back to the andronitis of Amaryllis. "I have lost interest in the treasure," he said whimsically. "But I'll go out and look for the girl. I—I should like to discover of a truth if the passage leads out of Jerusalem." Amaryllis closed her lips firmly. Philadelphus read in the look that he could not escape without Laodice. Without further speech, he went to the vestibule, took his cloak and kerchief from the porter and went out into the city. It was nearly midnight when he passed into the streets. The tumult of assault on the walls had ceased. The long lines of beacon-fires on the walls showed only a few men in arms posted there. Without there came no sound of activity in the camp of the Roman. The streets below, lighted up by the ever-burning beacons, showed its usual restless tramping of houseless, hungry ones. But there was no talk; each one who walked the passages went wrapped in his own dismal thoughts; the thousands took no notice of one another. Jerusalem was as silent as a city stricken with plague. From the summit of Zion, which Philadelphus mounted, he could see three Roman war-towers, planted along the outer works, dimly lighted, and manned by a vigilant garrison of legionaries. These had been a dread and a destruction which the Jews had been unable to overthrow; coigns of vantage from which the enemy had been able to deal the sturdiest blows of the campaign. They had permitted no rest to the defenders on the wall; they had spread ruin by fire and carnage, by arrow and sling for days. Sorties against them had resulted in the death of their assailants, only. Jewish engines accomplished nothing against them. The three, alone, were taking Jerusalem. Philadelphus looked at their tall shapes, black against the remote illumination of the Roman camp, and inwardly hoped that they would hold off complete destruction of the city, until he had found the desirable woman. No one noticed him; men passed him like shadows with their eyes ever on the ground; no one spoke; nothing disturbed the deadly quiet of the falling city. But the next minute, Philadelphus, who walked alertly, saw people step out into gutters or press against walls, as if to allow some one to pass. Awakening interest ran abroad over the street ahead of him. A lane between the wandering multitude opened almost by magic. Through it, walking swiftly, his head up, his mystic eyes ignited, came Seraiah, soldier of Jehovah. There was no sound of his footfall. His garments flashed in the light of the beacons, but there was not even a whisper of their motion. But he had changed. There was fierce, superhuman intent in the despatch of his gait and in the uplift of his superb head. After him, as he passed, ran whispers. Each one stopped and looked. He went down the uneven slope of Zion as some great shade borne on a swift air. Two or three bold ones began to move after him. Others followed. The little nucleus grew. Philadelphus was caught in it. Numbers were added as courage grew with numbers. From intersecting streets people came. Some, although oppressed by the silence, asked what it was and were silenced quickly. Others began to mutter unintelligible predictions, and their neighbors shook their heads without understanding that which was said. The news of Seraiah's mysterious progress communicated itself to rank and rank and spread abroad. Faces appeared against a background of lights at barred windows, along the balustrades of house-tops, from areas and ruins. Philadelphus, fascinated and astonished at this curious demonstration, was contented to pass with it. Silence, except for the rustling of garments and the multitudinous footfall, fell about the vicinity. Ahead of them, Seraiah moved. His steps, finely balanced, passed over obstructions where most of his followers stumbled, and when he turned across Akra and faced the Old Wall, the excitement became painful. His pace was flying; many of his followers were running. It seemed that he was going against the Wall. Dozens anticipated that course and skirting through short ways clambered up on the fortifications and clung there though menaced by the sentries until Seraiah appeared. At a narrow point in the street that ended against the wall, Seraiah met that Jew who had become a maniac on the day Jerusalem attacked Titus. Without warning the maniac leaped up into an intensely rigid posture; his legs spread, his lean arms upstretched at painful tension, his mouth wide, his eyes dilated immensely in their hollow depths. Seraiah passed him as if no man stood in his way. Instantly the maniac wheeled, as a huge spread-eagle wind-vane on its staff, and stood at gaze, the broad uninterrupted light of the beacon shining down on him and the mysterious man. The street ended short of the wall. About the base of the fortification was an open space, in which was planted a scaling-ladder. Seraiah climbed this, an infinitesimal detail on the great blank of blackened stone. Hundreds, rushing upon the wall, though a goodly distance from the point at which the strange man had mounted, climbed it and beat off the sentries. And the foremost who reached the top saw the Roman Tower directly opposite Seraiah shudder suddenly and sink in a roaring cloud of dust upon itself to the earth. Instantly the maniac below broke the tense silence with a scream that was heard in the paralyzed Roman camp: "It is He, the Deliverer! Come!" Of the thousands of Jews that heard the madman's cry, every heart credited it. Hundreds melted away suddenly, as if stricken with terror at what they might see; other hundreds scrambled down from their places to run purposelessly, crying aimless things to the night over the city; yet others covered their faces with their arms and fell in their places, expecting the end of the world; and of the rest, the less imaginative, the more composed and the more curious, remained on the walls to see enacted a further miracle. Uproar had broken out instantly among the four stolid legions of Titus on the Assyrian bivouac. Lights flashed out everywhere; great running to and fro could be distinguished; rapid trumpet-calls and the prolonged roll of drums from company quarters to quarters were echoed back from Antonia and from Hippicus. The startled shouts of commanders; the nervous dropping of arms; the sharp excited response to roll-call; the sound of sentries challenging, the curt response by countersign, showed everywhere irregularities and the symptoms of panic in the immovable ranks of Titus. Seraiah meanwhile had disappeared from his place as mysteriously as he had come. Many of the Jews who remained on the wall believed that he had passed into the Roman camp and was troubling it. The fall of the tower, and the confusion it had wrought in the Roman camp, never occurred to them to have been fortuitous incidents with which Seraiah had nothing to do. Of the thousands that witnessed that miracle, most of them were convinced that the hour had come. Meanwhile Jerusalem was roaring with excitement. The city was ready for a Messiah. Seraiah had arisen at the psychological moment. Earlier the Jews would have been too critical to accept him readily; later they would have reviled him for coming too late. Whatever his advent lacked in thunders, in darkness, voices, and shaking of the earth, had been passed by his miraculous work against the Romans. Philadelphus, who had seen the fall of the tower, and had dropped down from the wall as soon as he had explained it all to himself, came upon new disorders. Great concourses of awakened Jews were hurrying to the walls to see what had happened, or to behold the Roman army wiped out by the Angel of Death as the army of Sennacherib had perished. Others collected at the end of the Tyropean Bridge and watched the pinnacle of the Temple for the miracle which should restore the city. But the burned ruin where the Herodian palace had stood was the center of the most characteristic frenzy. There thousands were congregated. A great bonfire had been kindled and above the multitude, on a colossal architrave fallen at one end from the giant columns that had supported it, stood a figure, redly illuminated by the fire, tiny as compared to the immense ruin of its high place, but Titan in its control over the wild mob below it. It was a woman, a Jewess, dressed in faithful imitation of the archaic garb of the prophetesses, mantled with a storm of flying black hair, stripped of veil or cloak, and splendidly defiant of the restrictions laid upon woman long after the days of Deborah. Over the heads of the panting multitude she shook a pair of arms that glistened for whiteness, and bewitched by the spell of their motion. From under her half-fallen lids shot gleams of fire that transfixed any upon whom they fell; from her supple body shaken at times with the power of its own dynamic force her hearers caught the grosser infection of physical excitement; they swayed with her as blown by the wind; they ceased to breathe in her periods; they groaned as the intensity of her fervor pressed upon them for response that they could not shape in words; they wept, they shouted, they prophesied, and over them swept ever the witchery of her wonderful voice, preaching impiety—the worship of Seraiah! Philadelphus looked at this frantic work with a creeping chill. He knew the sorceress. Salome of Ephesus, who could send the sated theaters wild with her appeal to their senses, had found enchantment of a half-mad city not hard. Aside from the impiety, in fear of which his own irreligious spirit stood, he saw suddenly opened to him the immense scope of her influence. Not Simon, not John, not Titus, had discovered the logical appeal to the city's unbalanced impulses. But the reckless woman, robing herself in the ancient garb of the days to which the citizens would revert, assuming the pose of a woman they had sanctified, preaching the dogma they would hear, showing them the sign that helped them most, held Jerusalem, at least for that hour, in her hands. He realized at once that to attempt to denounce her would expose him to destruction at the wolfish hands of the frenzied mob. There were not soldiers enough in the city to destroy her influence, for she had achieved in her followers that infatuation that goes down to death before it relinquishes its conviction. Her control was complete. Seraiah was the anointed one, but the prophetess, the instigator, the founder of the worship, as follows in all apostasies, was the final recipient of the benefits of that devotion. Philadelphus walked away from the sight of Salome's triumph. He had surrendered instantly his hope of regaining the treasure. The whole of mad Jerusalem had ranged itself with her to protect it. And Laodice was not yet found. AS THE FOAM UPON WATER The madness on Jerusalem poured like an overwhelming flood into the cavern under the ruin of the Herodian palaces. There was Hesper, with most of his Gibborim gathered, preparing to proceed to the defense of the First Wall in Akra against which the Roman would hurl himself in the morning. For days he had controlled his men only by the force of his fierce will. Restlessness, little short of turbulence, had changed his six hundred from earnest recruits to bright-eyed, contentious, irresponsible enthusiasts whom only intimidation could manage. They seemed to be balanced, prepared, ready at the least whisper in the wind to scatter madly, each in his own direction, after a vagary, albeit the end were destruction. Throughout these latter days the Maccabee had become strained and unnatural in his manner. There was a vehemence in all he did which seemed to be a final resolution against despair. His decisions were arbitrary; his methods extreme. Laodice, sensing something climacteric in his atmosphere, kept aloof from him, and regarded him from the dusk of her corner with wonder and a pity that she could not explain. The Christian on the other hand seemed always in an unobtrusive way to be at the Maccabee's elbow. The apparition with the long white hair, however, ran away and was found on the streets by the Christian and brought back to the cavern, where he hid in a dark shadow in the remote end of the crypt and was not seen. Of late the cavern was always full of suppressed excitement; unpremeditated conferences among the Gibborim, which Hesper harshly forbade; and general sharp resentment against imposed regulations and military drill. On several occasions the six hundred were sent in defense of the walls only by sheer force of their leader's will-power. And there they fell in at once with the irregular methods of the Idumeans and fanatics that fought each after his own liking, and the careful instruction of the Maccabee was disregarded. Only so long as he cowed them, they obeyed him; and he seemed to feel, as they seemed to indicate, that when that thing happened which all Jerusalem indefinitely expected and could not name, his control over them would be lost beyond restoration. On the night of the fall of the Roman tower, the Maccabee's forces had been withdrawn for rest to their retreat and at midnight were formed again for return to the fortifications. By the strange inscrutable spread of rumor, sweeping with the air, the tidings of the miracle and the rise of Seraiah poured in upon the restive hundreds that the Maccabee was attempting to form in his fortress. It came like the gradual velocity of a burning star across the sky. From the ranks nearest the exit from the burrow the murmur issued, growing into intelligible sound, mounting to the wildness of hysteria and prevailing wholly over the Gibborim in the space between heart-beats. Everywhere they cast down their spears and their weapons, everywhere they gazed at him with brilliant threatening eyes and cried in loud voices so that the things each mad mind put into expression were lost in a great unintelligible raving. Laodice, the Christian and that white-haired trembler in his refuge, saw the Maccabee raise himself to his full height and lifting his sword confront in one grand effort at command a mob of six hundred madmen! Perhaps that manifestation of iron courage and strength, which the crazy lot somehow realized, saved him from death. Instead of falling upon him they turned away from the scene of the last vain effort for their own salvation and rushed, trampling one another, into the mad city of Jerusalem. From without, the hoarse uproar of their desertion was heard to merge with the great tumult over the Holy City. Tense silence fell in the crypt. The light of the torch wavered up and down the tall figure of the Maccabee as he stood transfixed in the attitude of command that had achieved nothing. It seemed the final inclination beyond the perpendicular that precedes the fall. The Christian started from his place and hurried toward the tense figure in the torch-light. Laodice, unconscious of what she did, approached him with an agony of distress for him written in her face. The white-haired apparition crept out a little way on his knees and putting aside his tangled locks gazed with burning eyes at the defeated man. Laodice, in her anxiety, moved into the range of the Maccabee's vision. The next instant he had thrown away his sword and had caught her in a crushing embrace to him. His voice, blunted and repressed as if something had him by the throat, was stunning her ear. "And thou!" he was saying. "What from thee, now? Hate! Curses! Ingratitude! Hast thou poison for me, or a knife? Or worse, yet, scorn? Speak! It is a day of enlightenment! I'll brook anything but deceit!" She stopped him in the midst of his vehement despair, by laying her hands on his hair. There surged to her lips all the eloquence of her love and sympathy, but beside her old Nathan stood—an embodiment of her conscience, watching. Twice she essayed to put into words the comfort of her submission to his love. Twice her lips failed her; but the third time she turned to the Christian. "Rabbi, what shall I do?" she implored. "Tell me out of thy wisdom!" "What is it?" he asked, feeling that there was more than sympathy for the defeated man in her heart. "What would thy Christ have me to do?" she insisted. "This stranger, here, is the joy of my heart; I am like to die if I can not give him the love that I feel for him this hour!" The startled Christian looked at her with suspicion growing in his eyes. "Art thou a wife? Wedded to another than this man?" he asked gravely. "Wedded," she whispered, "to one who hath denied me, affronted me and cast me out of his house! In this man I have found favor from the beginning. He has been tender of me, he has sheltered me, and he has strengthened me against himself to this hour. There has been nothing sinful between us!" The old Christian's face grew immeasurably sad. "There is but one thing for you to do," he said. She wrenched herself away from the Maccabee, who had been angrily protesting against her carrying his case to another for decision, and confronted Nathan. "But he rejected me!" she cried with earnestness. "That alone is enough among our people for divorcement!" The Christian shook his head sadly. He was not happy to lay down this prohibition before them who suffered. "There is no help in thy faith for such as I am. In that thy religion fails!" she cried. "Love, now, is all in all to thee, daughter. It is but the speech of thy young blood running through thy veins, the claim of thy youth to thy use upon earth. Resist it; for when thy years are as many as mine thou wilt lose thy rebellious spirit and the fervor will have died out of thy heart. Then, if thou hast fallen in this hour, how vain and worthless it will seem to thee! Divine fires in the heart of men never become changed in value. Love purely and thou wilt never repent; but I say unto thee thou fashionest for thyself humbled and shamed old age if thou transgressest the Law!" "What mercy, then, since thou preachest mercy, in filling me with this weakness if my life must be darkened resisting it, and my future show no relief for it?" she insisted passionately. It was the cry old as the world. He looked at her sadly, hopelessly. "As for God, His way is perfect," he said. "How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! Thou shalt struggle with the truth, my daughter, but without fail and most readily thou shalt know when thou hast sinned!" She was past the influence of argument. Impulse controlled her now entirely. She would see if there were not an intelligence, even a religion which would see her sorrow from her own heart's position. She listened now to the words of her lover. "He is an exclaimer, a prophet of doom!" he was crying. "Love me and let us die!" Without in the entrance of the crypt some great-lunged fanatic was calling the multitude to harken to the prophetess. The Maccabee's lips were against her cheek as he continued to speak. "It is the end! There is no help for us. Love me, and let me be happy an hour before we perish! The Nazarene is right! The city is cursed! God's wrath is upon us. The hour is still ours. Love me and let us die!" Without the great voice, like an unwearying bell, was calling: "A sign! A sign! Behold the Deliverer! Come all ye who would share his triumph and hear! Hear! Come ye and be fed, ye hungry; be drunken, ye thirsty; love and be loved, ye forlorn!" Laodice stiffened in the Maccabee's clasp. "Dost thou hear?" she whispered. "It may be true!" He shook his head that he had bowed upon her shoulder. "Let us go," she urged. "Perchance he has comfort for us. Come, Hesper; let us see what he has for the forlorn." "Who?" he asked dully. "They say the Deliverer has come." He shook his head again, but with her two hands she lifted his face from its refuge, and urging with her eyes and her hands and her lips she led him toward the stairs. The Christian looked after them. "For there shall arise false Christs; and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect," he said sorrowfully. The horror of the city augmented hour by hour. The Jerusalem Laodice locked upon now was infinitely more afflicted than the one she had seen in the daylight days before. The walls were now outlined by fire which illuminated all the city that lay directly beneath the beacons. To the north gnomish outlines by hundreds against the flames showed where the soldiers of the factionists were placing the topmost stones upon an inner wall or curtain erected just within the Old Wall, which was by this time shaking and cracking under the assaults of a great siege-engine without. Titus, awakened by the fall of his tower, had immediately renewed the attack, although the morning was still some hours distant. But the citizens were no longer disinterested, no longer wrapped in hopelessness and dull misery. Hungry, sleepless, houseless, diseased and mad though they were, their hollow eyes gleamed now with hope that was almost defiant. Around the Maccabee and Laodice roared the comment of the multitude. "They say he climbed to the summit of the outer wall overlooking Tophet and remains there a target for the Roman arrows, which rebound from him!" cried one. "One of John's men says that the heads of the arrows are blunted and the most of them snapped in two when they are picked up." "The Romans have ceased to shoot at him!" "They say that his footprints in the dust on the Tyropean Bridge are Hebrew letters writing 'Elia' in gold!" "It is said that the inner Temple is rocking with trumpet blasts and that John is struck dead!" "They say that those who believe in him shall ask for whatever they would have and have it!" "The breaches in the First Wall have been healed; the old rock is back in its place!" "They say that the dead beyond the wall in Tophet are prophesying!" "There is a bolt of lightning fixed in the sky over Titus' camp. We are called to go forth and see it fall!" A voice swept by distantly crying that a woman had eaten her child. Crazed Posthumus, self-elected guardian of the Law, with the sacred roll under his arm, declaimed, without any of his audience attending, that prophecy which this horror fulfilled. All Jerusalem was in the streets; all Jerusalem poured into the immense open space where some palatial ruin stood, and melted in the giant concourse that gathered to hear the prophetess. Laodice and the Maccabee were unable to see the woman; only her voice, mystic, musical, pitched at a singing monotone, intoning rather than speaking, reached them from the distance. The long harangue, delivered as a chant, had long ago had a mesmerizing effect on her audience. Absolutely she controlled them; along the dead level of her preaching they maintained a low continuous murmur, accompanied by a slight slow swaying of the body; in the climaxes of the appeal they responded with cries and wild gestures, flinging themselves about in attitudes characteristic of their frenzy. In their faces was the reflection of a peculiar light that proved that derangement had settled over Jerusalem. It was the end of the reign of reason. "It is the abomination of desolation. Even so, it is finished! It is the time, it is full time, and Michael hath come. There are seventy weeks; behold them. The transgression is finished and the end hereto of all sins. Approacheth the hour for the reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteousness and to seal up the vision and prophecy and to anoint the most Holy! Prepare ye!" Somewhere in the city a voice that was heard even by the fighting-men on the wall in Akra cried: "The Sacrifice has failed! The Oblation is ceased! There is no Offering for the Altar; none is left to offer it!" The vast gathering heard it, and immediately from the high place of the prophetess came back the words, prompt and effective: "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease!" Posthumus, buried in the midst of the crowd, was shouting, but over him the splendid mesmerism of the prophetess' voice soared. "The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children; they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people ... The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; ... and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate!" Among the crowd now growing frantic, people began to cry: "A sign! A sign!" "Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the Heaven of the Lord!" "Lead us!" they still shouted. They were hungry; they had been abstinent; they had surrendered their riches and their comforts. It was not independence but necessities that they wanted now. The primal wants were at the surface. "Come up and be filled!" she cried. "Ask and it shall be given unto you! Eat of the grapes and the honey; drink of wine and warm milk; sleep as kings; be housed in mansions; be rulers; command potentates! Let kings bow at your footstools! Be replenished; be great! Suffering hath been your portion since the earth was; but the end is come. Draw nigh and have your recompense. Laugh, you whose eyes have trickled down with the waters of affliction! You in the low dungeon come forth and range all the free boundaries of the world. Whosoever hath gravel between his teeth, let them be grapes! He who sitteth alone, gather company and revel unto him! Feast, ye hungry; be drunken, ye thirsty; love and be loved, ye forlorn!" Laodice leaned forward suddenly and hung on the woman's words. "The time for sacrifice and humiliation is paid out! It was a long time! Now, behold in the generosity of his repentance, ye shall ask and nothing shall be denied. Speak! Ask! The whole world, Heaven and earth and the delights of all the years are yours, now and for all time!" At Laodice's side was Amaryllis. The Greek's face was pale but lighted with a certain enlightenment that was almost threatening. Startled and frightened Laodice moved back from the Greek, who moved with her, without a glance at the Maccabee. The voice of the prophetess swept on: "Ye have bowed to tyrants and bent your necks to murderers; ye have waged wars for pillagers and shared not in the spoils. Why are ye hungry now? Who is full-fed in these days of want, yourselves or your masters? A sword, a sword is drawn; uphold the arm that wields it!" "Sedition!" Amaryllis whispered, as the mob began to murmur and stir at this new doctrine. "For behold, he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to make away many!" Amaryllis bent so she could whisper in Laodice's ear. "John hath taken him a new woman to keep him cheerful this hour. I was not daring enough. Philadelphus' wife hath supplanted me. Your place with him is vacant. Go back and possess it!" "Why was appetite and desire and thirst of power and the love of riches lighted in you, but to be satisfied?" The prophetess' words swept in after Laodice's sudden fear of returning to Philadelphus. "We have expiated the sin of Adam, the greed of Jacob and the fault of David. The judgment is run out; ye have come to your own! Verily, I say unto you, if ye follow me in the name of him who hath come unto you, the world shall be yours!" Amaryllis still continued to whisper, and Laodice, fearing that the Maccabee might hear, drew farther away. He stood where she had left him, with his head lowered, waiting—at last a creature dependent on another's will. "Listen!" Amaryllis said. "I have been seeking you since midnight! Philadelphus' doubt was awakened in this woman. He questioned her, so minutely that she betrayed ignorance of many things she should have known had she been the real daughter of Costobarus. And when finally he taxed her with imposture, she robbed him of the dowry and fled to John. Convinced that you are his wife, he set forth and hath since searched for you without ceasing! See, over there! He seeks you, now!" Laodice looked the way the Greek pointed and saw Philadelphus, standing with lifted head and stretched to his full height, as if searching over the crowd for her. Panic seized her. She wrenched herself from the Greek's hold and, forgetting even the protection of Hesper who was within touch of her, she threw herself into the crowd behind her and struggled out of the press. Nathan, the Christian, saw her turn and followed instantly in the path she made. Once out, she turned in a bewildered manner this way and that. What refuge, now, for her, indeed, but the cavern under the ruin and the care of Hesper, until the end which should swallow them all! A trembling hand was laid on her arm. She whirled, expecting to find Philadelphus. Beside her, his old face radiant with emotion, stood Momus! THE FAITHFUL SERVANT Within the Roman lines was a bent and deformed figure of an old waif that the soldiers had picked up attempting to run the lines into Jerusalem the second day after the siege had been laid about the Holy City. The old man, though wrinkled and twisted and bowed, had fought with such terrible savagery and had incontinently laid in the dust in succession three of the camp's best fighting-men, that the Roman soldiers, for ever partizan to the strong man, had finally with great difficulty succeeded in trussing the old belligerent and had brought him before Titus. There they laid the twisted old burden before the young general and shamelessly told how he, thrice the age of the vanquished men, had finished them with despatch. It was evident that the old man was a Jew; it became also apparent that he was dumb and partly deaf, and further to their amazement and admiration, they discovered that his right leg and arm were too stiff for ordinary use and that he had done his wonderful execution with terrific left limbs. This saved his life and gave him a partial liberty. Titus, however, admitted to Carus that the old man's distress at being kept out of Jerusalem was pitiable enough to urge the young general to deport him and get him out of sight. For it was manifest that the old minotaur was in deep trouble. But his paralyzed tongue would not serve him, and his menial ignorance had not provided him with the means of telling his desire by writing. Titus was unable to understand from his signs anything further than that he wished to get into the city. The young general in one of his outbursts of generosity would have permitted this, but that Nicanor happened in at an evil moment and drew such pictures of calamitous effect in passing the old servant into Jerusalem that Titus was forced reluctantly and irritably to be convinced of the folly of his kindness. So here, through the terrible days of the siege, old Momus at times desperate and savage, at others piteously suppliant, wore on the sentries' peace of mind and stood like a shadow, for ever watching the white walls of the besieged city. The Romans were now within the city. Only Zion and the Temple held against them. A wall built with the thoroughness of David, the ancient, and solidified by the mortising of Time, ran directly from Hippicus to the Tyropean Valley, joining the tremendous fortifications of Moriah and so cut off Zion from the advance of the army. Securely intrenched within that quarter and the Temple, Simon and John began the last resistance which should tax Roman endurance and Roman patience as it had not been taxed before. Titus no longer lagged. Famine had long since become a powerful ally and the honor of the Flavian house rested upon his immediate subjugation of the rebellious city. He no longer expected capitulation; yet he did not neglect to be prepared for it and to encourage it. Though the heart of the historian Josephus broke, he did not fail to serve his patron as mediator, though without hope. Titus himself, as from time to time the horror of his work impressed itself upon him, made overtures to the factionists, neglecting no art or inducement which should convince the seditious that their resistance was foolhardy, even mad. At such times, Nicanor's face became contemptuous and Carus himself frowned at the young general's attitude. But the spirit of a Roman and the traditions of a soldier even could not prevent the young man from weakening at times before the charnel pit in Tophet where countless thousands of vultures fattened with roaring of wings and hissing of combat. But under an ever-thickening veil of horrid airs, the struggle went on. The Roman Ides of July arrived. Titus had erected banks upon which his engines were raised to batter the walls of the Temple. From Titus' camp, the Romans on sick leave, the commissaries, those attached to the army who were not fighting-men, and old Momus, saw first, before the attack on the Temple began, a soft increasing dun-colored vapor rise between the Temple and Antonia. It issued from the cloister at the northwest which joined the Roman tower. As they watched, they saw that vapor grow into a pale but intensely luminous smoke, as if fine woods and burning metals were consumed together. In a moment the whole north-west section was embraced in a sublime pall of fire. John was burning away the connection between the Temple and the tower and was making the sacred edifice four-square. As soon as it became confirmed, in the minds of the watchers in the Roman camp, that the Temple had been fired, the old mute among them seemed to become wholly unbalanced. Without warning, he leaped upon the nearest sentry who, not expecting the attack, went down with a clatter of armor and a shout of astonishment. The next instant the old man was making across the intervening space between the camp and Jerusalem as fast as his stiff legs could carry him. The purple sentry sprang to his feet and strung an arrow, but before he could send it singing, the old minotaur was mixed with a second soldier in such confusion that the first sentry hesitated to shoot lest he should kill his fellow. Another moment and a second soldier was struggling in the impediment of his armor in the dust and the old mute was again hobbling straight away toward the walls of Jerusalem. He was now a fair mark for the first sentry, but that Roman's rancor died after he had seen his own disgrace covered by the overthrow of his fellow. Two of Titus' scouts next stood in the path of the running old man. One went to the ground so suddenly and so violently that the watchers, now breaking into howls of delight, knew that he had been tripped. The other stood but a moment longer, than he, too, rolled into the dust. The old man might have gone no farther at this juncture, for at every latest triumph he left a crimson soldier murderous with shame. But before the arrow next strung to overtake him could fly, Titus, Carus and Nicanor, accompanied by their escort, rode between the fugitive and the men he had defeated. "There goes our minotaur," Carus said quietly. Titus drew up his horse and looked. Nicanor with a sidelong glance awaited the young Roman's command to his escort to ride down the fugitive. But he waited, and continued to wait, while Titus with lifted head and with indecision in his eyes watched the deformed old shape hobble on toward the Wall of Circumvallation. "Shall we let him go?" Nicanor inquired coldly. "If some of my legionaries or those erratic Jews fail to get him between here and Jerusalem, he shall get into Jerusalem. But by Hector, he will earn his entry!" They saw the old man mount by the causeway of earth which the Romans had built over the siege wall for the passage of the troops, saw him an instant outlined against the sky on the summit, and the next instant he disappeared. Titus touched his horse and rode at a trot toward the causeway himself. He would see the end of this mad venture. In the hour of sunrise the sentinel above the North Gate in the Old Wall saw among the ruins of the houses of Coenopolis a figure dodging painfully hither and thither. It was not habited in the brasses of the Roman armor. Also, it hobbled as if lame and ran toward the gate fast closed below the sentry. The Jew, too intensely interested in the great climax enacting in the city below, ceased to remark on this figure. Presently, however, he looked again into ruined Coenopolis. He saw there this un-uniformed figure wrapped in fierce embrace with a young legionary. Almost before the sentry's astonishment shaped itself into exclamation, the legionary was tumbled aside as if crushed and the old figure hobbled on. Suddenly there appeared in the path of the wayfarer a galloping horseman, who drew his mount back on his haunches, then spurred him to ride down the old man. The sentry on the Old Wall made a choked sound, unslung his bow and sent an arrow singing. There was a shout and the figure of the horseman plunged from his saddle face down on the earth. The wayfarer flung himself away and rushed toward the wall, only a little distance away. But all Coenopolis seemed to swarm now with legionaries, afoot or horseback. The Jewish sentry rushed to the edge of the tower overhanging the gate. "Open!" he shouted below. "One cometh!" With a rattle and clang of falling bars and chains the gate of the Old Wall swung. Disregarding the known wishes of Titus, two of the legionaries simultaneously let fly their javelins. But the mute, hobbling uncertainly, was not a steady mark and under the whistle of arrows received and sent, he blundered up the causeway leading to the Gate of the Old Wall, and the portal slowly and ponderously closed behind him. Wild howls of derision and exultation went up from the Jews. Many of the soldiers clambered down to satisfy their curiosity about the latest addition to the starving garrison. But he proved to be a deformed old man, mute and weary, who was distressed for fear he would be detained by them and who hobbled out into the besieged city and posted as fast as his legs could carry him toward the house of Amaryllis, the Seleucid. But at the edge of a great open space where the Herodian palaces had stood he came upon a concourse which seemed to be all Jerusalem. It was a gaunt horde, shouting, raging, prophesying and drowning the roar of battle at the Temple fortifications with the sound of religious frenzy. Momus, fresh from the orderly camp of Titus, was struck with terror. He would have retreated and followed some side street toward his destination, when he caught sight of a girl on the very outskirts of this mob. Momus laid a trembling hand on her arm. She threw up her head with a start. The tremulous old man, weakened from his long and superhuman struggle to enter the doomed city, held Laodice to his breast while she stroked his rough cheeks and murmured things that he did not hear and which she did not realize in the rush of her helplessness and dismay. At the corner of Moriah and the Old Wall, the tumult was infernal. Out of the suffocating sallow smoke from the tuns of burning tar heaved over the fortification upon the engines and their managers, the stones from the catapults soared into view and fell upon the sun-colored marbles that paved the Court of the Gentiles. Clouded by the vapor, targets for the immense missiles, the Jews heaving and writhing in personal encounters appeared black and inhuman. Every combatant shouted; the great stones screamed; the boiling pitch hissed and roared, and the thunder of the conflict shook the Temple to its very foundations. Without, the Romans planted scaling ladders, mounted them and were pitched backward into the moat regularly. Regularly, the ladders were set up again after struggle, mounted without hesitation and thrown down again, with an inevitability which furnished a grim travesty to the struggle. The two remaining towers were set in position against the base of Moriah and resumed execution. One after another the engines of the Romans were hauled into position, and worked unceasingly until covered with burning oil from the battlements above and consumed. Others were hauled into place; fresh detachments of Romans seized upon the scaling-ladders or mounted to the towers, and the roar of the conflict never abated. Meanwhile on the slopes of Zion the whole of Jerusalem, gaunt, dying and demoniacal, was packed in the ruins of the palace of Herod. Old Momus with triumph and tearful exultation was holding out to Laodice a heavy roll of writings, dangling important seals, ancient papers showing yellow beside the fresh parchment, and an old record dark with long handling. Here were the proofs of her identity! Laodice shrank from him with a gasp that was almost a cry. Behold, the faithful old servant had suffered she knew not what to bring such evidence as would force her to do that which she believed she could not do and survive! Momus sought to put the papers in her hands, but she thrust them away and he stood looking at her in amazement and sorrow. Nathan, the Christian, stood close to her. From the opposite side, Philadelphus rounded the outskirts of the mob, searching. He did not see her. She flung herself between Momus and Nathan and cowered down until Philadelphus had passed from sight. When she lifted her head, Momus was gazing at her with the light of shocked comprehension growing in his eyes. Nathan, the Christian, touched her. "Who was that man?" he asked gravely. She rose and laid her hands on the Christian's shoulders. "My husband," she said. Something had happened at the Temple. She saw the Jews at the wall recoil from the dust of battle, rally, plunge in and disappear. From out that presently shone now and again, then with increasing frequency and finally in great numbers, the brass mail of Roman legionaries. Titus' forces had scaled the wall. From her position, she saw running toward them John of Gischala, with his long garments whipping about him, wrapping his tall figure in live cerements. He was disarmed and bleeding. She saw next Amaryllis, with compassionate uplifted hands stop in his way; saw next the Gischalan thrust her aside with a blow and the next instant disappear as if the earth had swallowed him. Nathan was speaking to her. "How often, O my daughter, we recognize truth and deny it because it does not give us our way! God put a sense of the right in us. We transgress it oftener than we mistake it!" The roar of the turning battle and the mob about her drowned his next words, except, "You can not be happy in iniquity; neither blessed; but you are sure to be afraid. Right has its own terror, but there is at least courage in being right, against your desires." He was talking continuously, but only at times did the wind from the uproar sweep his fervent words to her. "Christ had His own conflict with Himself. What had become of us had He listened to the tempter in the wilderness, or failed to accept the cup in the Garden of Gethsemane! How much we have the happiness of Christ in our hands! Alas! that His should be a sorrowful countenance in Heaven! "The love of a man for a woman was near to the Master's heart! How can you feel that you must love and be loved in spite of Him! Pity yourself all you may you can not then be pitied so much as He pities you! "Love as long and as wilfully as you will, and then it is only a little space. The time of the supremacy of Christ cometh surely, and that is all eternity! Which will you do—please yourself for an hour, or be pleased by the will of God through all time? Love is in the hands of the Lord; you can not consign it longer than the little span of your life to the hands of the devil." Momus, in whose mind had passed an immense surmise, was again at her side. "O daughter of a noble father," his dumb gaze said, "wilt thou put away that virtue which was born in thee and let my labor come to naught?" But the preaching of Nathan and the reproach of Momus were feeble, compared to the great tumult that went on in her soul. She had seen John of Gischala cast Amaryllis aside. Even the Greek's sympathy was hateful to him. Yet when Laodice had first entered the house of Amaryllis, the woman had been obliged to dismiss John from her presence for his own welfare and the welfare of the city. Why this change? Amaryllis was no less beautiful, no less brilliant, no less attractive than she had once been; but the Gischalan had wearied of her. Laodice recalled that she had not been surprised to see the man throw Amaryllis aside. It seemed to be the logical outcome of love such as theirs. How, then, was she to escape that which no other woman escaped who loved without law? In the soul of that stranger who had called himself Hesper, were lofty ideals, which had not been the least charm which had attracted her to him. Was she, then, to dislodge these holy convictions, to take her place in his heart as one falling short of them, or were they still to exist as standards which he loved and which she could not reach? In either event, how long would he love—what was the length of her probation before she, too, would encounter the inevitable weariness? It occurred to her, then, how nearly the natural law of such love paralleled the religious prohibition that the Christian had shown to her. However harsh and unjust the sentence seemed, it was rational. With her own eyes she had seen its predictions borne out. Already the relief of the sorrowing righteous possessed her. She turned to the Christian. "Take me to my husband," she said. "Now! While I have strength." Momus caught the old Christian by the arm and, signing eagerly that he would lead, hurried away in advance of the two down into the ravine and crossed to the house of Amaryllis. There were no soldiers to stop them about the house. When no response was made to her knock, Laodice opened the door and passed in. Her old conductors followed her. Amaryllis sat in her ivory chair; opposite her in the exedra was Philadelphus. At sight of him, the last of the soft color went out of Laodice's face. A curve of despair marked the corners of her mouth and she seemed to grow old before those that looked at her. Philadelphus and the Greek sprang to their feet, the instant the group entered. Laodice waited for no preliminary. Amaryllis' design was patent to her; it was part of her sorrow that now Hesper would be free to the devices of this deceitful woman. So she did not look at the Greek. She addressed Philadelphus in a voice from which all hope and vivacity had gone. "I have brought proofs. Behold them!" Nathan, the Christian, stood forth. "I, Nathan of Jerusalem, met and talked with this Laodice, daughter of Costobarus, in company with Aquila, the Ephesian, three men-servants in all the panoply and state of a coming princess three leagues out of Ascalon, her native city. I buried by the roadside her father, who died of pestilence on their journey hither. I bear witness that she is the daughter of Costobarus and thy wedded wife." A great light sprang into the face of the Greek. Philadelphus, nervous, albeit the news he heard filled him with pleasure, stood and waited. The Christian stepped back and Momus, bowing, approached and handed the leather roll into the none too steady hands of the Ephesian. He opened it and drew forth parchments. Aloud he read a minute description of Laodice from the rabbi of the synagogue in Ascalon; under the great seals of the Roman state, he found and read the oath of the prefect, that such a maiden as the rabbi had described had been married before him to Philadelphus Maccabaeus fourteen years before. Then followed the depositions of forty Jews and Gentiles who were nurses, tradesmen and other people like to have daily contact with the young woman in her house, setting entirely at naught any claim that Laodice was other than the wife who had been supplanted by an adventuress. Philadelphus did not read them all. Before he made an end he dropped the documents and flung wide his arms. But Laodice with a countenance frozen with suffering held him off for a moment. "Go," she said to the old Christian, "unto Hesper and lead him into the belief of the Lord Jesus Christ which is mine." The old Christian approached the fountain in the center of the andronitis and taking up water in his palm sprinkled a few drops on her hair while she knelt. "In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, I baptize thee, Laodice. Amen!" While she knelt, he said: "I shall search for him also. Christ have mercy on thee now and for ever. Farewell." He was gone. When Nathan, the Christian, stepped into the streets once more there was an immense accession of tumult about him. He turned to look toward the corner of the Old Wall in time to behold Jews in armor and Romans in blazing brass rush together in a great cloud of dust as the Old Wall went in and Titus swept down upon Jerusalem. At the same instant from the ruined high place upon Zion came a roar of stupendous menace. The Christian, with sublime indifference to danger, kept his path toward the concourse from which he had taken Laodice. As he ascended the opposite slope of the ravine, he saw, descending toward the battle, the front of a rushing multitude, as irresistible and as destructive as a great sea in a storm. He saw that the mob was turning toward Akra, and to avoid it, the Christian climbed up to the Tyropean Bridge, and from that point viewed the whole of Jerusalem sweeping down upon the heathen. At the head of the inundation passed a melodious voice crying: "An end, an end is come upon the four corners of the land! Draw near every man with his destroying weapon in his hands for the glory of the Lord! For His house is filled with cloud and the Court is full of the brightness of the Lord's glory! A sword! A sword is sharpened! The way is appointed that the sword may come! For the time for favor to Zion is here; yea, the set time is come!" After this poured a gaunt horde numbering tens of thousands. They bore paving-stones, stakes, posts, railings, garden implements, weapons from kitchens, from hardware booths and from armories; anything that one man or a body of men could wield; torches and kettles of tar; chains and ropes; knotted whips, and bundles of fagots; iron spikes, instruments of torture, anything and everything which could be turned as a weapon or to inflict pain upon the Roman, who believed at this moment that Jerusalem was his! The Christian overlooked this ferocious inundation and shook his head. On a mound near him stood the spirit of the mob concentrated and personified. It was crazed Posthumus. He was screaming: "It is finished; the law is run out! All prophecy is fulfilled!" And over his head he was swinging a parchment fiercely burning. It was the Scroll of the Law! After uncounted minutes, vibrating with roar, the terrible flood rushed by. Feeble arms clasped the Christian about the knees and he looked down on the tangled white locks of the palsied man, who had searched for him until he had found him. The Christian laid his hand on the man's head but did not speak. At the breach in the Old Wall, the watchers on that almost deserted street saw the brazen wave of four legions gather and sweep forward to gain ground in the city before the mob swept down on them. Between the two warring bodies, one orderly, prepared but apprehensive, the other mad and perishing, was a considerable space. Fighting still went on at the breach in the walls, but the supreme conflict of a comparatively small body of soldiers and an uncounted horde was not yet precipitated. Ordinarily, the Roman army could have reduced any popular insurrection with half that number of men. But at present the legionaries confronted desperate citizens who were simply choosing their own way to die. Reason and human fear long since had ceased to inspire them. They were believing now and following a prophet because it was the final respite before despair. There was no alternative. It was death whatever they did, unless, in truth, this splendid sorceress was indeed the Voice of the Risen Prince. Force would be of no avail against them. Madness had flung them against Rome; only some other madness would turn them back. The Christian, from his commanding position, expected anything. It was the moment which would show if the false prophet would triumph. If the four legions went down before the multitude, it would mean the ascendancy of a strange woman over Israel, and the obliteration of the faith in Jesus Christ in the Holy Land. It can not be said that the Christian watched the crisis with a calm spirit. He did not wish to see the heathen overthrow the ancient people of God, nor could he behold the triumph of a false Christ. He put his hands together and prayed. A figure appeared between the two bodies of combatants, rushing on intensely, to grapple. It was a tall commanding form, clothed in garments that glittered for whiteness. By the step, by the poise of the head, the Christian recognized Seraiah. The front of the multitude fell on their faces at that moment as if he had struck them down. Out of the forefront, the prophetess appeared. The Christian heard her splendid voice out of the uproar, and while he gazed, he saw mad Seraiah turn away from her, with the front of the mob turning after him, as a needle turns to the pole. In that fatal moment of pause, out of which the warning cry of the prophetess rang wildly, the Roman tribune, in view for a moment under the blowing veils of smoke, flung up his sword, the Roman bugle sang, and the brassy legions of Titus hurled themselves upon the halted mob. The Christian dropped his head into the bend of his elbow and strove to shut out the sound. The nervous arms of the palsied man at his feet gripped him frantically. Up from the corner of the Old Wall, came the prolonged "A-a-a-a!" of dying thousands. Jerusalem had fallen. The foremost of the mob, turning with Seraiah, escaped the onslaught of the Romans, and as the mad Pretender strode toward the broad street from which the Tyropean Bridge crossed to the demesnes of the Temple, they followed him fatuously, blind to the death behind them and the oncoming slaughter in which they might fall. Seraiah passed above the spot where the sorrowful Christian stood, crossed the great causeway leading toward the Royal Portico and after him six thousand blind and insane enthusiasts followed, expecting imminent miracle. Above them towered the heights of Moriah, now veiled in smoke. Up the great white bank of stairs they rushed after him, facing an ordeal which must mean a baptism in fire, and on through a curtain of luminous smoke into a gate pillared in flame, up into the Royal Portico, resounding with the tread of the advancing Destroyer, out into the great Court of Gentiles wrapped in cloud through which the Temple showed, a stupendous cube of heat, through the Gate Beautiful where the Keeper no longer stood, thence into the Women's Court, raftered with red coals, up smoking stones tier upon tier till the roof of the Royal Portico was reached. At the brink of the pinnacle, they saw through tumbling clouds Seraiah towering. He was looking down through masses of smoke upon the City of Delight, perishing. They who had followed watched, uplifted with terror and frenzy, and while they waited for the miracle which should save, the roof crumbled under them and a grave of thrice heated rock received them and covered them up. Below, Nathan, the Christian, seized upon the shoulders of the Maccabee as he was dashing after the thousands. His face was black with terror for Laodice. He struggled to throw off Nathan, crying futilely against the uproar that Laodice was perishing. "Comfort thee!" the Christian shouted in his ear. "She is saved. She sent me to thee." The Maccabee stopped, as if he realized that he need not go on, but had not comprehended what was said to him. Nathan dragged him out of the way, still choked with people struggling to pass on to the Temple or to flee from it. Half-way down the Vale of Gihon, where speech was a little more possible, the Maccabee, who had been crying questions, made the old man hear. "Where is she? Where is she?" "She has returned to her husband. In love with thee, she has done that only which she could do and escape sin. She has gone to shelter with him whom she does not love!" The Maccabee seized his head in his hands. "It is like her—like her!" he groaned. In the Christian's heart he knew how narrowly Laodice had made her lover's mark for her. "It is her wish," Nathan continued, "that I teach thee Christ whom she hath received." "How can I receive Him, when He sent her from me?" the unhappy man groaned, unconscious of his contradictions. "How canst thou reject Him when His teaching led thy love to do that which thine own lips have confessed to be the better thing?" "Then what of myself, when I love where I should not love?" the Maccabee insisted. "You may suffer and sin not," the Christian said kindly. The unhappy man dropped to his knees. "O Christ, why should I resist Thee!" he groaned. "Thou hast stripped me and made me see that my loss is good!" The Christian laid his hands on the Maccabee's head. "Dost thou believe?" he asked. "Will Christ accept me, coming because I must?" "It is not laid down how we shall baptize in the thirst of a famine," Nathan said, "yet He who sees fit to deny water never yet hath denied grace." But the Christian's hand extended over the kneeling man was caught in a grip steadied with intense emotion. The unknown had seized him. But for his feeling that this interruption was necessary to the welfare of another soul, the Christian would not have paused in his ministry. The phantom straightened himself with a superb reinvestment of manhood. "Thou, son of the Maccabee, Philadelphus!" he exclaimed to the kneeling man. The Ephesian's arms sank. "Who art thou that knoweth me?" he asked in a dead voice. "I am all that plague and sin hath left of thy servant Aquila," the phantom declared. The Maccabee lifted his face for what should follow this revelation. It was only a manifestation of his subjection to another will than his own. He was not interested—he who was hoping to die. "Hear me, and curse me!" Aquila went on. "But save thy wife yet. I say unto thee, master, that she whom thou hast sheltered in the cavern is thy wife, Laodice!" The Maccabee struggled up to his feet and gazed with stunned and unbelieving eyes at this wreck of his pagan servant, who went on precipitately. "Her I plotted against at the instigation of Julian of Ephesus. Her, my mistress, Salome the Cyprian, robbed and hath impersonated thus long to her safety in the house of the Greek. This hour, through ignorance of thine own identity, through my fault, she hath gone reluctantly to his arms. Curse me and let me die!" The Maccabee seized the hair at his temples. For a moment the awful gaze he bent upon Aquila seemed to show that the gentler spirit had been dislodged from his heart. Then he cried: "God help us both, Aquila! My fault was greater than thine!" He turned and fled toward the house of the Greek. The four legions of Titus swept after him. Aquila lifted his eyes for the first time and gazed at Nathan. "I cursed thee for sparing me to such an existence as was mine! Behold, father, thou didst bless me, instead. I am ready to die." "Wait," the Christian said peacefully. A moment later, the Maccabee dashed into the andronitis of Amaryllis. After him sprang a terrified servant crying: "The Roman! The Roman is upon us!" A roar of such magnitude that it penetrated the stone walls of Amaryllis' house, swept in after the servant. Quaking menials began to pour into the hall. Among them came the blue-eyed girl, the athlete and Juventius the Swan. These three joined their mistress who stood under a hanging lamp. Into the passage from the court, left open by the frightened servants, swept the prolonged outcry of perishing Jerusalem. Over it all thundered the boom of the siege-engines shaking the earth. The slaves slipped down upon their knees and began to groan together. The silver coins on the lamp began to swing; the brass cyanthus which Amaryllis had recently drained of her last drink of wine moved gradually to the edge of the pedestal upon which she had placed it. The dual nature of the uproar was now distinct; organized warfare and popular disaster at the same time. The Roman was sweeping up the ancient ravine. Jerusalem had fallen. The gradual crescendo now attained deafening proportions; the hanging lamp increased its swing; the silver coins began to strike together with keen and exquisitely fine music. Juventius the Swan, with his dim eyes filled with horror, was looking at them. The peculiar desperate indifference of the wholly hopeless seized him. His long white hands began to move with the motion of the lamp; the music of the meeting coins became regular; he caught the note, and mounting, with a bound, the rostrum that had been his Olympus all his life, began to sing. The melody of his glorious voice struggled only a moment for supremacy with the uproar of imminent death and then his increasing exaltation gave him triumph. The great hall shook with the magnificent power of his only song! The Maccabee confronted Amaryllis, with fierce question in his eyes. She pointed calmly at the heavy white curtain pulled to one side and caught on a bracket. The brass wicket over the black mouth of the tunnel was wide. Without a word, the Maccabee plunged into it and was swallowed up. Amaryllis looked after him. "And no farewell?" she said. The thunder of assault began at her door. Juventius sang it down. The athlete and the girl crept toward the mouth of the black passage, wavered a moment and plunged in. After them tumbled a confusion of artists and servants who were swallowed up, and the hall was filled only with music.

There’s nothing more relaxing than a long drive right? The stereo’s bumping, you’ve got your bouncing baby startup strapped tightly in the car seat in the back, and you’re looking for ice cream, because your startup is about to startup some major crying without ice cream. If you speed, you’ll get to it quickly. If you jump the curb and cut through someone’s lawn you might get to it even faster. But all of that is illegal and dangerous. Do it even once and there’s a chance you could suffer a calamitous outcome, and above all, you’d be putting your precious baby startup in jeopardy. The same applies to private company financings. You’ve GOT to know and adhere to the “rules of the road” or all of the work you’ve done up to this point could be for not. The rules for most private company financings are found under the Securities Exchange Commission’s (SEC) “Rule 506,” which dictates how individuals and startups must conduct themselves when seeking investment funds by selling securities (a share of stock, a convertible note, etc.). Running afoul of these rules can not only prevent you from raising the funds that you need, it could subject your personal assets to exposure (no corporate liability shield will be there to protect you), and in the worst case scenario, subject you to civil and criminal penalties. So, these rules can’t be taken lightly. The Rules of the Road for Private Company Financings under Rule 506 Before you start your securities offering, you have to identify an applicable securities law exemption from registration. What does this mean? Each time your company issues a security, the company must register the securities offering with the SEC and state securities divisions with jurisdiction unless there is an applicable exemption from registration under the securities laws. Meaning, you have to identify a specific provision under both state and federal law that says that either for the type of transaction you are involved with or the type of securities you are selling, you do not have go through a registration process with the SEC or with the particular state. Registration is a very expensive process. Thus, exemptions are key. In general, for most private companies, the exemption most frequently relied upon in the fund raising context is Rule 506 under federal Regulation D. Under Rule 506, companies can raise an unlimited amount of money, as long as they abide by the following “rules of the road”: 1) General Solicitation, Know What You Are Doing – Rule 506 used to flat out prohibit the offer or sale of securities by any form of general solicitation or general advertising. Now Rule 506 is split into two rules – Rule 506(b) (the “old rule 506”) and Rule 506(c). Under old Rule 506, now known as 506(b), you still can’t generally solicit. The rule states that “neither the issuer nor any person acting on its behalf shall offer or sell the securities by any form of general solicitation or general advertising.” Advertising seems like a great way to find prospective investors, but that’s a no-no under Rule 506(b). No matter how tempting it is to post to Twitter or LinkedIn that you are raising money, don’t do it. Under new Rule 506(c), you can generally solicit, but if you do, you have to take additional steps to verify that all of your investors are in fact accredited investors. The rules say that this means you have to ask them for their Forms W-2, or their personal financial statements. Your prospective investors may get upset when you ask them for this information. Or they may back out of your deal. Thus, before you generally solicit, consider carefully what you are getting yourself into. Red this blog post: 10 Things To Consider Before Generally Soliciting. 2) Accredited investors only – One of the keys in raising money in Rule 506 offerings is to accept funds only from accredited investors. If you accept funds from only accredited investors, there is no specific information that you need to provide (no audited financials, for example). Note: that doesn’t mean you don’t have to provide information; it just means that there is no specific format for the types of information you have to provide. You’re still subject to the anti-fraud requirements of federal and state law. Here’s another important note: The rule that says that in a Rule 506(b) offering you can raise money from up to 35 non-accredited investors —don’t be misled. Keep on reading the rule. If you do, you will see that, if you accept money from any non-accredited investors (even one), you will have to provide the potential investors a voluminous amount of information. The same as in a registered offering. Read—very, very expensive. You probably don’t want to do this. So, accept money from accredited investors only. Accredited investors generally are: High net worth individuals – The SEC defines this individual as “a natural person” (a human being as opposed to a “legal person” such as a corporation) who has individual net worth (meaning, net of debt), or joint net worth with the person’s spouse, in excess of $1 million at the time of the purchase, not including the value of their primary residence (vacation homes can count). High income person – This is a natural person with income exceeding $200,000 in each of the two most recent years or joint income with a spouse exceeding $300,000 for those years and a reasonable expectation of the same income level in the current year. Entities In Which All Owners Are Accredited – This can be a business in which all of the equity owners are accredited investors. Director or Executive Officers of the Company – These individuals can be a director, executive officer, or general partner of the company selling the securities. Certain Other Entities – Entities with assets in excess of $5 million not specifically created in order to acquire the securities offered can qualify. 3) File Forms D – In a Rule 506 offering, you are supposed to file a Form D with the SEC and with most states in which investors are resident within 15 days of first raising money. 4) Be careful with finders – Be careful with folks who want to charge you a fee to help you raise money. First, any such fees will have to be disclosed to investors as part of the offering. Second, the SEC and state securities regulators take a dim view of finders, especially finders who are not registered as broker/dealers (for an example, see http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2013/2013-36.htm). The SEC will want you to disclose on your Form D who you used as a finder in your financing. And certain states give investors the right to rescind investments in which unregistered finders were involved (e.g., see California’s law on finders). 5) Beware of “integration” with other offerings – In Rule 506 offerings, you have to be careful, because all sales that are part of the same offering must meet all of the terms and conditions of Regulation D. So, if you sold stock to friends and family who were not accredited three months ago—and now you want to sell stock to investors in an all accredited investor offering—your prior stock sales to your friends and family may be “integrated” into, and disrupt, your planned all accredited offering and not allow you to rely on Rule 506. 6) No Bad Actors – If you are a regular reader of this blog, then you may have heard the term bad actors mentioned. For a full detailed description of bad actors see the article Willful Blindness: The Rule 506 Securities Law Exemption and the New “Bad Actor” Rules. The SEC has now adopted the final rules that prohibit companies from using Rule 506 if bad actors are involved with the company. The new rules are now in effect. You can read them here: http://www.sec.gov/rules/final/2013/33-9414.pdf If you are raising money under Rule 506, you now have to investigate your directors, executive officers, 20% or greater shareholders, and other officers involved in your offering. If they are “bad actors,” you have to make disclosure of this to your investors, and or you may not be able to use Rule 506 at all. Always consult counsel on your offerings. So let’s recap: don’t advertise for funds unless you have carefully thought it through, file your Forms D with the SEC and state securities regulators, choose only accredited investors, be wary of finders, look out for integration, and keep your eye out for bad actors. It seems like a lot, but nobody said that there weren’t going to be potholes in the road to your dreams. We just know that swerving around them is a heck of a lot less damaging than plowing into them. Now drive safely…somebody needs some ice cream.

Thanks for your interest in Dropshipping Bridal! I’m currently working on a detailed video to get you the latest information on this… But in the meantime… Checkout the best ClickFunnels offers, benefits, and features below. In this day and also age, the means your company runs online can make or break you. Exactly how do most organisations presently have a visibility online? The reality of the matter is, nonetheless, that web sites have actually substantially developed over the previous decade – and the techniques of old are not useful for contemporary organisation. Back in the day, it would be enough to have a basic web site with a home page, solutions, pricing, regarding us, and also get in touch with pages. A possible customer would go to your site, scroll around, go to the various web pages and consume content as they please. Nevertheless, if you are an organisation spending any type of cash on advertising and marketing, you want to manage exactly what customers are learning more about on your website, present deals at the correct time, as well as take full advantage of the income you make from each individual. Exactly how does one achieve this? Making use of sales funnels. ClickFunnels is the most convenient way to earn high transforming sales and also marketing funnels. It is an unique device developed specifically to turn potential clients right into purchasers. It actually is an all-in-one remedy to develop sales funnels and includes touchdown pages, e-mail integration, invoicing, webinars, subscription websites, and so far more. Not surprising that it has quickly end up being a preferred device for online marketers. Below is my comprehensive ClickFunnels Testimonial, including favorite features, pricing, pros/cons, and contrasts against competitors. Dropshipping Bridal: But First, Just What Is a Sales Channel? Sales funnels (also called marketing funnels) are multi-step campaigns that are designed to relocate potential prospects via your sales procedure, as well as transform them into buyers. Photo a real-life channel. On top, you pour fluid in, which narrows down in the direction of one taken care of destination. In sales, a similar occasion occurs. On top, visitors come to your website, yet not all who go into make it out of the various other end as customers. Numerous things have to happen from the moment a visitor enters your funnel, to the moment they do something about it and also efficiently finish an acquisition. By damaging down the consumer’s journey right into smaller sized steps, you can be a lot more precise regarding just how and when you offer an offer to your target market. The detailed action in a funnel might look something like this: - Unqualified lead comes to touchdown page - Page communicates the initial deal (something cost-free to collect an email). - As soon as e-mail is collected, major deal is pitched. - Lead becomes a paying consumer. - More e-mail communication delivering consumer value. - Further relationship structure - Recurring sales. ClickFunnels additionally has a visuals that describes this in a simple method:. Exactly what is ClickFunnels? As discussed previously, ClickFunnels is the most effective sales channel software application around today. The company makes the vibrant case of giving you everything you should market, sell, and also supply your items online – as well as they most definitely supply. A basic funnel will utilize an opt-in web page (to collect e-mail addresses), an e-mail car responder (to send out emails to your customers), plus an additional sales web page with some web content and also an order kind, potentially complied with by added material, a subscription site, etc . Formerly, you would certainly have to make use of different platforms and devices to achieve all of these jobs such as: - Develop a web site - Locate Hosting - Discover an autoresponder solution - Locate subscription website software - Locate split-testing software application … etc But ClickFunnels cares for whatever with their system. You not only save a ton of money by not having to buy different products/services, yet you additionally avoid the technical mess of having to establish whatever up, and also can concentrate on just what’s truly vital – expanding your company. ClickFunnels uses a Cost-free 14-Day Test, so you reach explore the tool as well as really see if it’s best for your company. * Quickly Create Pages Using Templates as well as Aspects *. Before getting too much, it is essential to understand that a channel is a collection of web pages created in a calculated order, with the goal of transforming as numerous leads into consumers. And a page is merely a collection of various components made to obtain somebody to take a particular action. ClickFunnels offers even more compared to 50 different components in order to help you build the perfect web page. The editor is incredibly very easy to use as well as all you have to do is drag as well as drop various elements on the web page, and update the text and also look to fit your requirements – no coding abilities called for! ClickFunnels also makes your life less complicated by providing you with a ton of complimentary templates. In fact, ClickFunnels gives over 37 sorts of web pages for you to mix and match with. These are broken down right into the complying with 10 categories: - Presell Pages: Survey Page, Article Web Page, Presell Page, Clickpop Page - Optin Pages: Squeeze Page, Reverse Capture Web Page, Lead Magnet, Voucher - Thank You Pages: Thanks Web Page, Deal Wall, Bridge Page, Share Web Page - Sales Pages: Video Sales Page, Sales Letter Page, Item Launch Page - OTO Pages: Upsell Page, Downsell Web Page - Order Forms: Two Step Order Web Page, Traditional Order Page, Video Sales Letter Order Page, Sales Letter Order Page, Item Introduce Order Web Page - Webinar Pages: Webinar Enrollment Page, Webinar Verification Page, Webinar Program Space, Webinar Replay Room - Subscription Pages: Accessibility Page, Participant’s Area - Affiliate Pages: Access Page, Associate Area - Various Other Pages: Application Page, Ask Page, Shop Front, Home Page, Hero Web Page, Hangout Web Page, Live Trial Web Page The pre-built design templates are completely adjustable, and also are what most users make use of. You are able to choose a design template, edit or replace the elements with your personal, and also your new web page prepares to go. You can additionally link any funnel you create with your personal e-mail advertising solution (if you don’t make use of the one consisted of in ClickFunnels), and use the ClickFunnels constructed in invoicing system. This is likewise a great time to discuss that ClickFunnels provides very useful as well as understandable training videos when you initially subscribe. I highly recommend experiencing those since they quickly allow you to use the device at its complete capacity, and you’ll have much more fun playing around. Dropshipping Bridal * Develop One-Click Subscription Websites *. One of the best features with ClickFunnels is the ability to quickly produce membership websites and provide web content to your audience in one area. Your membership site will certainly come complete with registration pages, subscription gain access to web pages, and also content pages which you can easily lock or trickle feed to your consumers inning accordance with purchases they made in your funnel. ClickFunnels subscription websites permit you to send emails, easily manage your e-mails, as well as construct a community all while removing the tension that’s connected with various other options such as Kajabi, or WordPress systems. It’s really convenient to not need to purchase a separate software application or plugin to develop membership websites. * Email Combination & Actionetics *. With every funnel comes e-mail listing structure opportunities. ClickFunnels sustains e-mail assimilation with all of the major e-mail automation platforms such as: - Active Campaign - Constant Contact - Get Response - Mad Mimi - Market Hero - And others Nevertheless, ClickFunnels additionally has their very own powerful automation device called Actionetics. Although you could develop, routine, and deliver emails as with any other e-mail advertising platform, Actionetics is a lot extra. I love Actionetics because it not only replaces your e-mail advertising and marketing yet carrier advertising and also SMS advertising softwares also. This takes automation to an entire new degree and also assists you interact the best message to your customers, precisely when they need it. A video clip review of Actionetics will be given even more listed below. * Billing and Payment Assimilation *. A fantastic attribute within ClickFunnels is the ability to accumulate every one of the payment information from your consumers exactly on your sales web page. Offering is made so much simpler when consumers don’t need to leave your website. ClickFunnels integrates with significant settlement entrances such as PayPal, Stripe, and also InfusionSoft, among others. While you could begin with the Free 14-Day Test, there are three different rates options with ClickFunnels: - $ 97/month. - $ 297/month. - $ 997 bulk discount plan (advised). I’ll explain for each of these plans below. 1. ClickFunnels Standard Strategy – $97/month. The standard strategy consists of all the features you would certainly require within ClickFunnels, but with limitations on the variety of funnels (20) and web pages (100) you could have in your account, in addition to how many visitors (20K) could see your web pages each month. You additionally do not get innovative capability such as ClickFunnels very own e-mail advertising and associate tracking devices. 2. ClickFunnels Etison Suite – $297/month. This strategy includes all the bells as well as whistles of the basic strategy, with no restrictions. It likewise comes with two added items generated by ClickFunnels called Actionetics (email advertising and marketing) and Backpack (affiliate management platform). In Actionetics – you could take care of every one of your get in touches with that sign up for your checklist, send e-mail broadcasts, and also produce a host of other automations. Dropshipping Bridal The distinction in between the two plans really is the restrictions, and Actionetics/Backpack. If you are a fundamental user as well as don’t expect to utilize greater than 20 funnels in your account – the Standard Strategy should be sufficient. Nevertheless, if you intend to have an associate program or want to maintain your email advertising and marketing within ClickFunnels as well as not make use of a third party software, the Etison Suite is for you. You can always begin on the reduced strategy and also upgrade if required. 3. Funnel Hacks System – $997 For any individual that’s significant about their service, the ClickFunnels Funnel Hacks System is the offer of the century. The $997 Funnel Hacks System consists of durable training programs bundled with 6-month accessibility to the ClickFunnels Etison Suite. This is an amazing deal since beyond this program, 6-months of Etison Suite alone would cost you $1782. Not just are you saving $785 yet you’re getting a lots of trainings and overviews of help you get the most from ClickFunnels! ClickFunnels Advantages And Disadvantages - Producing funnels is really straightforward, simple, and also fast - All-in-one platform with whatever your business should win - Split screening and also conversion monitoring included - Email integration with all of the major email autoresponder platforms - Settlement handling abilities within ClickFunnels - ClickFunnels is always adjusting and also upgrading to the times - There is always sustain available (whether live or not). - Extremely active Facebook Group Community. - Free 14-Day Test – allows you to attempt it run the risk of cost-free. - As outstanding as ClickFunnels is, it definitely is not an inexpensive option and also requires a continuous membership to utilize - Assistance isn’t really always the fastest and might take from 1 min to 1 Day relying on the issue. ClickFunnels versus Everybody Else. Many people ask just how ClickFunnels as compares to various other landing page builders such as Leadpages, Unbounce, as well as Infusionsoft. For the most part it’s not actually a fair contrast since each of these devices succeeds is one location or the various other. The graph above provides a comprehensive analysis – yet I’ll highlight a few of the significant comparisons listed below. ClickFunnels vs Leadpages Prior to ClickFunnels, Leadpages was the large canine. Leadpages is just a lead capture software program – nothing more. You can produce landing web pages, lead boxes, collect leads … that’s practically it. Additionally, the Leadpages design templates are also restricted on customization. ClickFunnels is even more functional – it’s a lot easier to utilize as well as does so a lot more compared to create lead capture pages. Put simply, Leadpages is actually just a touchdown page home builder, while ClickFunnels is focused around constructing extremely integrated funnels. ClickFunnels vs Infusionsoft Infusionsoft is not a touchdown page or sales web page building contractor. It has several of that functionality constructed it, however that’s not what it’s understood for. At it’s core, Infusionsoft is a CRM system – one that allows you to handle your entire customer database. ClickFunnels has this ability with Actionetics, however it’s not almost as progressed as Infusionsoft. Infusionsoft is also incredibly costly as well as forces every brand-new customer to pay $2000 for a compulsory kickstart mentoring plan just to find out how to use the intricate system (which is infamously tough to utilize). ClickFunnels Associate Program There are two primary paths individuals decrease as ClickFunnels customers. Those that prefer to use the device for their service – in hopes of eventually achieve both Comma Club (over $1M in income). And also those that have an interest in earning passive income as a ClickFunnels Associate and also winning the Desire Auto Competition (where they pay $500/$1000 to your desire vehicle if you get to 100/200 active month-to-month signups, respectively). With a whopping 40% monthly recurring compensation, ClickFunnels quickly has one of the best associate programs of any kind of platform available. That’s right – you make money a continuous 40% compensation on every affiliate signup you make via the ClickFunnels Affiliate Program. Yet, just what does that really equate to? The standard plan is a $97/month investment as well as the Etison Suite plan is a $297/month financial investment. therefore you make $38.80 per fundamental strategy and $118.80 per Etison Suite plan … each and every month! On average, every 100 signups will certainly generate $4000/month in affiliate compensations (basically depending on the amount of Etison Plan users are in there). All-time Low Line ClickFunnels is pass on the best system if you are aiming to easily develop high converting sales funnels. Since it was constructed from the ground up to be the best sales channel contractor, it vanquishes every one of the competition because regard. On the surface, it may not be the most inexpensive product around – but if you utilize it to its full capacity, your organisation will come to be extra lucrative as well as you will conserve loan from not having to make use of various other tools. Dropshipping Bridal If you have actually read this much into my ClickFunnels Review, I advise you see for yourself with a Free 14-Day Trial below.

Quick look at news that might not warm our heart but does offer a peek at our changing times . . . Victoria's Secret Knows It Has A Problem, But Does It Have Time To Fix It? Closer to home, these news links define our morning . . . Who Owns Kansas City Streets?!?! KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission is taking the reins on the city's Adopt-A-Street program, which had been suspended "We would really like to be part of the reduction of the violent crimes problem we have in the city, and we think this is a good way to partner with some of the neighborhoods to try to impact that problem," Metropolitan Community Service Program Supervisor Michael Wilson said. Celebrate Copycat Tech During the presentation of the city of Aurora, Ill.'s new technology plan, the mayor read a letter from Kansas City Chief Innovation Officer Bob Bennett praising the plan for looking forward. This Old Cowtown Country Club The historic mansion that was once home to the Rockhill Tennis Club has new owners. Peter and Heather Caster of Kansas City, Missouri, have bought the house built in 1910 for the daughter of Kansas City Star founder William Rockhill Nelson. "It's a beautiful home," says Peter Caster. Pothole Fight Help KCMO company steps in to help patch potholes Make Him A Coach & Keep This Inspirational Footballer In Kansas City According to multiple reports dating back to October, Eric Berry has been suffering from what's known as a Haglund's Deformity, a bone spur on the heel of his foot that required surgery for a torn Achilles tendon back in 2017. Season Of Selling Upon Us KANSAS CITY, MO - IKEA Merriam is a paid advertiser of Kansas City Live and is responsible for this content. Are you looking to redesign your kitchen or spice up your home décor? IKEA is the place to shop for quality furniture and home items at fantastic prices. Home Team Gives Back Chiefs' Players, Executives, Ambassadors and Cheerleaders Celebrate Read Across America Day with Local Kids Ellie Goulding - Flux is the song of the day and this is our OPEN THREAD for right now . . .

It was a year of stormy headlines in 2013, from the fierce partisan rancor surrounding "Obamacare" to the emotionally charged divisions over guns, gay marriage, and race – as well as the devastating weather that afflicted the nation's heartland. But 2013 also saw some new beginnings: New York's One World Trade Center officially became the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere at 1,776 feet – a symbolic presence of US resilience and renewal. But even as a rebuilt "Freedom Tower" heralded the beginning of a new era of sorts, anxieties old and new were a heavy presence in many people's minds. Indeed symbols of freedom were suddenly jarred with the bombings at the Boston Marathon, a reminder of the more-than-decade-long threat of terrorism. And an ocean of secret documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden revealed a gasp-inducing picture of government surveillance – domestic spying meant to shield Americans from further harm. None of these events, however, is your top-ranked US-based story of 2013 – at least not directly. Here are 10 top stories Americans followed in 2013, ranked by respondents to a Nov. 21-25 Monitor/TIPP poll according to the percentage who said they followed the story very closely. Click here to read the full story.

The brick schoolhouse I attended from kindergarten through senior year of high school is slated for demolition. (No, I didn’t cause any lasting damage to the structure. Honest: the school’s demise wasn’t my fault.) I’ve been revisiting old yearbooks full of photos of people who grew up, married, and sent their kids to the same small-town school they’d attended. Familiar family names and resemblances to uncles, aunts, fathers, and siblings are all over the pages of old black and white photos. Familiar–and yet, growing up there, I never felt I was home. I never belonged, never paid much attention to the world I found myself in. In my head I was somewhere else, long ago and far away, or light years away in a future I was supposed to attend but I had lost my ticket. It wasn’t a conscious thing. It was a general detachment, being “tuned out” rather than tuned in. I was lost, out of time, out of place, separated from whatever people or beings I must have belonged with. The high school that burned before I was born (or old enough to remember) I was ostracized or ignored by my classmates. I didn’t want to dress like them or do what they were doing. I couldn’t follow their conversations for long before drifting off into my own world in my head. With my own sisters–five of us all barely more than a year apart in age–I felt alien and out of touch. Much of my childhood was spent in a chair in a corner, alone with my books. In fairy tales, I felt at home. Fairy tales were full of misfits, magic, and happily ever after. I learned to like the music and TV shows my four sisters loved, but antique stores, vintage photo albums, and the “Golden Oldies” radio station felt much more like “my” time and place. Stores and shopping malls held little that I wanted. This was the era of polyester, psychedelic prints and colors, palazzo pants, maxi and mini skirts, halter tops, hippie beads, bell bottoms, platform shoes, blue eye shadow, shag carpet, the velvet Elvis print, and other phenomena that defied explanation. Photos were taken with cheap Kodak Instamatics, faded and out of focus. For hours I’d stare at the 1950s yearbooks of my parents and think that was the way people were supposed to look. The 1960s and 1970s hair, fashion, furniture, and architecture felt alien to me. Old photos of ancestors I had never even met, or met only as frail, stooped, wrinkled elders, felt more like my contemporaries than my actual peers. I never asked why; I simply felt a kinship with people who had come and gone before my time. These looked like the people I was meant to be with. Never mind they were teenagers in WWI and I was a child during the Vietnam war. On the left, back row, my mom’s mother; front row, bottom right, my mom’s father. The present wasn’t a bad place to be. I knew the past wasn’t “better”–they didn’t have telephones, radios, TVs, paved roads, cars, refrigerators, running water, indoor plumbing, or electricity. The people were not “better.” But their faces in old photo albums seemed to be calling me home. I don’t believe in ghosts or reincarnation, but I like to imagine ancestral memories can survive like radio waves. Or maybe it’s epigenetics. Maybe our best memories are somehow encoded in our DNA, and an occasional grandchild arrives in this life remembering a world that is gone. What if some kind of interference from a paranormal radio signal was messing with me? Misfits cannot help but wonder why they don’t fit in. The most common explanation doesn’t explain much:”You are an old soul.” I was born with a sense of nostalgia for a time, a place, a people I had never seen, yet it seemed more familiar than the world I was in. At a party, I would gravitate to the old ones rather than people my own age. Other people’s memories, and even more so, fictional stories of other lives, seemed to displace my own, and I had many gaping black holes in my mind. I was disengaged from my surroundings, living in another world in my mind. “Immediacy” and “agency” are key words here. I lacked agency; I passively watched the world around me, feeling out of place, instead of actively engaging in it; I missed out on immediate people and events. “You were there,” my sisters would say. “How can you not remember this?” And whatever “this” was, or “who,” it was elusive. Groping in the dark corners of my mind for memories of some specific event I had actually attended in real time and real space, I came up empty. To this day there are events I am told I was physically present for, but my mind was so far away from it all, I cannot remember my lived life. Now that I am more than half a century old, now that I have seen the dawn of a new millennium and the advent of such wonders as “the picture phone,” I like to imagine that I wasn’t just born weird–I was born somewhere else, and transferred here in some kind of fluke of metaphysics or a magic spell gone wrong. Or a portal. I’ve had a fascination with doorways and tunnels, windows and winged things all my life. While Mrs. Hoffman was telling our first-grade class how to do simple math, I was riding a dragon or a space ship somewhere far away. When I went to her desk saying I didn’t understand how to do the worksheet, she’d spank me, in front of the entire class, and say “they” paid attention, so they knew what to do, and so would I, if I ever quit daydreaming. She died of cancer in later years. That, too, was not my fault. Today the school building is about to take a hit from a wrecking ball, and suddenly this place I felt so detached from feels like an important locale, a childhood home, a fixture that needs to be preserved a little while longer. One more generation, at least. But the body count is too low. The children didn’t stay close to home and send a new generation to that little school. They grew up and moved to bigger and better places. Me, I never moved more than 90 miles away, though I’ve lived in other galaxies and ancient kingdoms of Middle Earth in my mind. I’m the one feeling like an amputation is about to sever me from the schoolhouse where my entire childhood was lived, or un-lived, but it was where my body was stationed, and enough of my mind tuned in, I developed a sense of nostalgia for this old place. The shortest (Julie) and the tallest (Carl) were “frenemies” before the term existed, relentlessly trading barbs with each other like a comic duo. They graduated together in 1975 and both were dead by the end of the year. Julie was murdered. Carl crashed his car into a bridge. These four classmates, and far too many others, were dead before age 50: Our bus drivers: Plainfield Community School, you had a good run. I’m sad to see the old building go empty. If I walk through the hallways one last time, I will see Julie and Carl, my dad his buddy Wayne at age 18, and all the little kids who grew up and left their rural homes for greener pastures. The first school already burned to the ground. The 1960s version also has become last-century and has outlived its use. What will take its place? um, how about a portal, or a launch pad for a spaceship…. Peter Saga cover art for Perihelion Science Fiction ezine Farm girls in the sun, in the snow Those farm boys were ripped! See also Symptoms Of An Old Soul: 7 Signs You Were Meant To Live In A Different Era BY LAUREN MARTIN | JUNE 6, 2014

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25 November 2013 On Saturday, Anne and I drove up to Tennessee to pick up a five month old wolfie pup that was in need of rehoming. Simon and I have always wanted a big fuzzy, wolfhound or deerhound, and so we jumped at this chance. Daisy probably would have preferred that we hadn't, but since she doesn't have thumbs she doesn't get a vote. She does, however, get loads and loads of extra attention and has resumed sleeping in the middle of our bed, pushing us to the very edges and taking all the duvet for herself. Fair play. On Sunday, Bryn made her first appearance with the Hounds of East Fairhaven, giving the crowds something to ooh and ahh over and HOEF a full time wolfie member for the first time in almost a decade. She was a star, braving the cold, trolling for turkey tendons, and posing for loads of pictures. There is something about a giant breed that captures the attention, even when she's only just a baby. So far we haven't lost any thing to her voracious chewing except for a tiny bit of sanity when she chooses a toy that squeaks. But even that is tempered by the fact that she makes sounds that resemble Lucas's Chewbacca as she chews...she is just hilarious. We did a bit of puppy proofing before she came home, but for the most part we just keep an eye on her and keep her busy with appropriate things rather than wait until she's chosen something inappropriate to dissect and investigate. While it has only been just over 36 hours, she has responded well to correction when needed and is just a big old growly rumbly furry lovebug that tried to climb onto Simon's lap for snuggles last night when she got sleepy. We adore her and hope that Daisy will too in time...keep an eye out on the Lettuce for more stories of Bringing Up Bryn!

I had those words spoken to me recently, and it just struck me. It's been mulling around in the back of my head for days, like an endless loop. "You're not who I thought you were..." In this case it was more of a compliment than one of those last minute, throw it in your face things that that phrase brings to mind. For me it does, anyway. But it got me to thinking about first impressions. Those instant judgments that we all make, upon first sight of a person, by their clothes, their hair, the way they walk, even before they ever open their mouths. And how wrong they can be. Hair back in a pony tail, grimy, stained jeans, old wore out t-shirt, ball cap that looks like its better days are far behind it, skinny as a rail, walking in a fluid slouch that saves the knees and back when walking long distances on hard surfaces. That's what I look like. It's not who I am. I love movies and books, horses and learning. I like clothes shopping, as long as I can do it at my speed, which is fast. I like tall shoes, I was the smallest person around for so many years, I like having the extra height. I dress for what I'm doing. If I'm working, I dress for work, if I'm goofing off, I dress for comfort. When I go out, I dress for going out. I don't dress to impress the people I see every day, because I don't care if they're impressed with how I look. I love to dance and to sing, even though I'm no good at either of them. I love Edgar Allen Poe, e.e. cummings, Mercedes Lackey, Laurell K. Hamilton, Hemingway and Mark Twain and Robert A. Heinlein. I cuss like a... well, like a construction worker, and I make a decent meatloaf. I'll dig a hole, climb a hill, stand all day, and shovel shit, but I don't have to be happy about it. I'll drive off into the sunrise with nothing more than a cheap road map and a car full of camping gear. I'll park myself in the middle of a wheat field and just sit for hours. I'll park in front of my computer and surf the web for hours, talk to friends and work on papers. I hate feeling helpless, and I hate when people don't follow through on their promises. I can live in the world that is around us today and I can still have hope for the future. I can live in the world of technology and cars, four wheelers and automated everything, and still believe with every ounce of my being that there's a place for the horse mounted cowboy in the world. I can watch the skills that made my grandparents and great grandparents their living be turned into a hobby, or a curiosity, and still know that those same skills are valuable, and honorable. All of that still doesn't add up to who I am. And some people will never look past the grimy jeans and hat far enough to see any of that, let alone see more.

It has become my goal to change the face of limited mobility. The only way I know how is to spotlight stories and pictures of others to help change the view. Here is just one….. The people we meet along the way are far more heroic and fascinating than ourselves. I received an everyday order for two MagnaReady shirts. The sizing varied, one medium and one large. As old fashioned as it sounds, I picked up the phone to call the customer (Francis’s daughter Karen Masterson) to see if I could help and look who I met! Below is a few segments from a tribute his son gave when receiving his distinguished honor. Francis Hulshof grew up and worked on a farm in Portageville Missouri. He was drafted into he army like a lot of other young men on Feb 14th, 1951 He was given the job for driving the jeep for Col. Ralph Melcher. Together they worked as Forward Observers, going to the front line to assess the situation, and return back to their camp with new information to process and use in offensive maneuvers. Some stories heard from veterans are very entertaining but then again serious. It was their way to remember certain stories and react to the magnitude of the situation. I remember one buddy said to the other, “Where were you when we were attacked at Pearl Harbor?” “I was up on the roof with my machine gun, shooting down every zero I could see.” While the other replied, “Oh no you weren’t, you were hiding down under the bunker with your head down, I saw ya. He was with the 8th field artillery of the 25th Infantry Division, commonly known as Tropic Lightning and he was stationed around Hill 1062 most of his deployment. Corporal Hulshof never said much about the battles. Today we thank you! What an honor and privilege that Francis will be wearing our MagnaReady shirt!

I wanted this list to be versatile, I wanted gay men, straight men, couples and even women looking for a realistic sex toy to find what they are looking for or at least find SOME inspiration. I have included realistic vaginas, mouths, butts and even dildos so there should be something for everyone on this list. A realistic looking and feeling sex toy is something a lot of sex toy users flock too, it heightens pleasure, the realism allows for plenty of fantasies and foreplay and it’s just sometimes nice to feel and experience something new in the bedroom. All of the products listed below are skin-safe and made from high-quality ingredients, the site where I also send you to buy these toys is the site where I buy all of my sex toys. Their shipping is completely discreet, they have constant deals on their site and they have incredible customer service so you really have nothing to worry about when purchasing your new realistic sex toy. Make sure to also check out my Top 10 Male Sex Toys Of 2017. If you have a favorite to add please leave them in the comments below! Beautifully crafted to look just like a real vagina, masturbation will never be the same again. Slide this gorgeous colored masturbator over your member with plenty of water-based lube and enjoy the interior thrilling textures that will send you into ecstasy with each thrust. Supple and realistic material, responsive to temperature play AND open ended for suction control. What Others Have Said: “All can say is unbelievable, it felt pretty good, much to my shock. Could have easily have cum after a few minutes of action but decided my wife was still more fun so we put it to one side.” One of the most realistic dildos you may ever come across, this girthy 7-inch dildo has a lifelike head, raised veins, balls and even a real feel when used internally and externally, if a realistic dildo is something you’re after, this BASICS dildo is for you. Firm yet flexible to bring to you intense, incredible internal stimulation. Other Thoughts From Users: “I’ve now had this dildo for over a year it’s still like brand new. I’ve used it more than a hundred times. It’s great for them lonely nights. I found it easy to rub plenty of lube onto the dildo and slowly insert it inch by inch. Either for vaginal or anal use” If you’re a fan of the renowned pornstar Jenna Jameson you are going to love her amazing vagina fleshlight, made from superskin technology, that makes it look and feel like the real thing you will be lost in her deep, tight and ribbed canal for hours on end. Experience and experiment with temperature play to really heighten the pleasure and make this vagina even more realistic. Easy to use, easy to clean and the outer casing is also discreet to the naked eye so you have nothing to worry about. “I slid my manhood into the inviting opening and forced myself in hard and fast. The suction is excellent. I came in a matter of minutes. So the long and short of it, guys, is you have got to try it.” With a lifelike ass opening, this ass masturbator will send you into to another world of pure pleasure, but the visually pleasing aspect isn’t all, the interior of this ass masturbator is ribbed for your pleasure and with each thrust inside, it only feels better and better. Remember to apply plenty of water based lube to really make the experience even better and to avoid any discomfort. With Mini Andi, you can also slip in a bullet vibrator to the base and send tingles around your manhood just to push you over the edge that bit more. More Customers Thoughts: “The ribbed texture of this toy is incredible and doesn’t feel like it’s too much, providing the right amount of stimulation without giving you friction burn. It feels incredible.” This soft and floppy penis does exactly what it says on the tin, it’s flaccid, squishy and entirely soft even down to its balls. Made from TPE for an authentic texture for you to enjoy, this 8-inch floppy is ideal for anyone who enjoys the feel and the thrill of a flaccid penis, anyone who wants to enjoy some kinky roleplay, however there’s of course a lot more to do with a floppy penis and what you do with it is your choice. More Users Thoughts: “Amazing fun to just squeeze and grab. The realistic feel is amazing and can start off foreplay with your partner easily.” Riley Reid is an infamous star inside the sex industry and she did us a favour by modelling her own vagina on to this incredible fleslight. A 9-inch canal awaits you with a realistic vaginal opening, along with realistic lips and a tight, ribbed textured interior is longing to send you into another dimension of pleasure. Made from SuperSkin technology to really vamp up the realism and pleasure, this fleshlight will go down in history. Other Customer Thoughts: “And to say it felt realistic doesn’t do it justice. For me, the texture, length, grip and whole experience were a 10 out 10 on intensity. It definitely felt realistic and the fact my OH was using it on me was a huge turn on.” The detailing on this dildo is wonderful, it has lifelike veins, ridges, bumps and head. The only thing it’s missing is a pair of balls but instead of this, they have included a suction cup which means it can be attached to any hard and flat surface making it ideal for any man or woman looking for a bit of versatile pleasure. Ideal for beginners and more advanced dildo users, this king cock will satisfy any anus or vagina and is there to meet your needs. More Thoughts From Users: “It looks very realistic with veins and a pink pronounced head. It goes great in a harness. We had no problems with it whatsoever. This is now our number one go to dildo. I love it.” This realistic ‘Holly’ vagina has jaw-dropping outer detailing from the plush pink almost swollen in appearance lips and opening, a soft and smooth texture but the fun doesn’t end here. The real fun starts when you apply water-based lube and slip inside to find tear jerking detailing and even a G-spot for you to pleasure. Add a bullet vibrator to her base for even more pleasure. Easy to use, grip and clean, Holly will never disappoint you. What Others Have Said: “Would very much recommend this product. It feels lovely with the real feel texture and is easy to use and clean. A must-have!” Discreetly stored in a disguised ‘beer can’ this ass fleshlight is hidden away but once open, you can find an extremely tight butt hole with outer detailing that even the most sceptic will raise their eyebrows at, once you plunge inside you are met with SuperSkin technology and a tight ribbed inner canal that will make you weak at the knees with just a few thrusts. Experiment with temperature play, suction, use plenty of water-based lube and enjoy this flexible yet tight realistic ass fleshlight. What More Customers Have Said: “I’d say this feels better than anal sex, especially if you hold your hand around the seal at the top to give you an amazing suction.” I’ve mentioned Ella a few times on my website and there’s a reason for that, she’s fantastic. Her plush lips look inviting and feel inviting, she’s small enough to discreetly store away when she’s not in use, she has an incredible super-tight canal, a hole in her base where you can pop in a vibrator, she’s easy to clean and easy to use. Ella is also an incredible price for something so genuinely good at her job. More Opinions On Ella: “I think this is a fantastic toy and great for someone who is looking for a tight male masturbator with an exciting texture, without having to fork out a lot of money. Also ideal for adding a bit of spice to couple’s play.” Just like the beer can disguised fleshlight above, this mouth sex toy is exactly the same. Nobody will ever know the pleasure of what’s housed inside this discreet and ‘normal’ beer can. Made with SuperSkin material this blowjob simulator features a mini Swallow inner texture that allows your imagination to run wild as this mouth swallows every last drop. Tight, textured and even featuring realistic looking lips and mouth opening, this mouth fleshlight is a masturbation game changer. What Others Have Said: “This was my first venture into the world of Fleshlight, and I definitely made the right choice. The internal canal changes texture every few inches, so you can really find the sweet spot that does it for you. The material is so soft and very realistic” I wanted something a little different to end this list with and the sex toy in question is this male butt masturbator. Easy to take anywhere with you with its discreet storage case and versatile size, the internal textures of this butt masturbator are something I cannot even do justice, super-soft, made of SuperSkin, nodules, bumps and twists and turns to really test how long you can last, that is of course if the tight, realistic opening doesn’t set you off straight away. More Opinions From Customers: “Oh, my god – boys, ya need this. This is my first Fleshlight, and I gotta tell you I would’ve bought sooner if I knew they were this good! I recommend you buy this item. You won’t be disappointed.” How To Care For Your Realistic Male Sex Toy… - Keep it clean! Once you are finished with it clean it out and let it dry properly, this prolongs the sex toy and prevents premature damage. - Store it properly, if it comes with a storage bag keep it in there when not in use and if it doesn’t just keep somewhere cool and dry where it won’t get scratched or harmed. - Wear lube! You may think it’s just for your comfort, but lube actually helps you from tearing your sex toy in some cases. I recommend using this water-based lube, it’s safe with condoms and sex toys and you only need a small drop to get you on your way… Why Buy A Realistic Sex Toy? There are a few reasons why somebody would want to purchase a realistic male sex toy and I’ve listed them below: - The realism of a fleshlight, for example, makes a solo masturbation session much more exciting. - If you’re looking to last longer in bed and increase your stamina, the realism of the outside and inside of each sex toy makes it harder for you not to cum and thus allows you to practice not climaxing prematurely. - Sometimes people can get lonely and realistic sex toys allow you to just feel a little more accompanied. - They feel amazing! Inside a fleshlight, for example, you are met with unique sensations, suction and more. - If you’re a couple looking into buying something realistic it can help you to live out a fantasy, experience a ‘threesome’ and more. - If your partner isn’t up for it or if you just want some alone time, it’s just like the real thing but without the person. - It allows you to explore different shapes and sizes. - The world is to be explored and your plain old hand will get boring at some point, it’s fun to just switch things up a bit and experience new things. Related Posts – - Best Male Sex Toys Of 2017 - Crazy Sex Toys You Can Use In Public - How To Make Your Dick Bigger Naturally - Sex Toys For Long Distance Couples

The Australian athletics team at the 2014 Commonwealth Games has continued to enjoy strong results in the morning session of Day 2 of competition at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland with 2012 Olympic finalist Steve Solomon (NSW) easily advancing to the second round of the hotly contested men’s 400m. Racing in one of the deepest events in Glasgow, Solomon clocked 46.26, easing down to finish in second place in his heat and earn a coveted automatic qualifying spot for the next round. Solomon said he was glad to have his first run in Glasgow under hos belt so he could now focus on the semi-finals on Tuesday. “I did exactly what I needed to,” Solomon said. “I think I set my race up well and it was my first hit out in a fair while so it was good to get rid of the rust and come back tomorrow firing. “I think I will have a whole new tank by tomorrow. When you haven’t raced for a while that first one back can be a bit dusty but I got through the round and that’s what I had to do today.” The women’s 1500m heats provided some unexpected drama, as the Commonwealth Games record was broken in the first heat and there was a protest around the second. In heat one, Kenyan Hellen Obiri ran a scorching 4:04.43 to break the Games Record. Australians Melissa Duncan (VIC) and Kaila McKnight (VIC) benefitted from the fast pace, with Duncan running a personal best of 4:05.76 to finish fifth and McKnight a season’s best time of 4:06.06 in sixth. In the second heat, Australia’s 2013 IAAF World Championship 1500m finalist Zoe Buckman(VIC) led early but was the subject of some interference and faded to finish sixth in 4:11.56 and outside the qualifying group. The Australian team subsequently lodged a protest to the jury based on interference coming into the final lap, but it was dismissed and Buckman will miss the final of 12 as the thirteenth fastest athlete. There was good news for Australia in the men’s high jump qualification too, as both Nik Bojic (QLD) and Brandon Starc (NSW) advanced to the Final on Wednesday after each successfully clearing 2.20m. Bojic had a perfect series of jumps, clearing 2.06m, 2.11m, 2.16m and 2.20m all on first attempts. Starc had to work harder and needed gutsy last-ditch clearances at both 2.16m and 2.20m to ensure he made the final. In the men’s hammer qualification round, Tim Driesen (ACT) threw a season’s best of 69.63m to ensure a place in the final on Tuesday. Driesen finished with the fifth longest throw of all competitors in either group. Fellow Australian Huw Peacock (TAS) reached 63.95m with his furthest qualifying attempt, but it wasn’t enough to advance and he finished in 14th overall place. In the first day of the men’s decathlon competition, after three completed events Stephen Cain (VIC) sits in 15th place and Jake Stein (NSW) is 18th. Stein started the competition with a decathlete’s worst possible nightmare, false starting twice in the opening 100m and the subsequent disqualification seeing him earn zero points for the event. “It’s a school boy error,” a disappointed Stein reflected. “You learn to start when you are seven or eight and I forgot how to do it today. “For the first few seconds after it I wondered whether I wanted to keep going but it came to me quickly that I have to. I have trained for two years to get back on to the track and being out there, the stadium is ridiculous, there are 40,000 people watching me here and I’m looking forward to what is still to come.” Stein recovered from his disappointing sprint start to jump 7.15m in the long jump (850 points) and win his group in the shot put with a throw of 14.80m (777 points). Cain opened his decathlon with an 11.33 performance in the 100m (789 points) before reaching 6.73 (750 points) in the long jump and 13.87m (720 points) in the shot. In the men’s T37 100m Sean Roberts (SA) successfully advanced to the next round. Roberts ran third in his heat in the time of 12.99 (+0.1 wind) to earn an automatic qualification place in the round of eight. Competing in the opening event of the day, Paul Raison (SA) and Don Elgin (VIC) both made the top-eight of the men’s F42/47 discus throw. Raison came seventh with a throw of 44.44m (723 pts) while Elgin threw a new personal best of 37.72m for 510 points and eighth place in the final. Elgin, a veteran of Paralympic and IPC World Championship competition said afterwards a top eight finish was a pleasing result. “The plan coming into this was to make the top-eight,” Elgin said. “That was what I knew I was capable of and it’s great to have achieved the goal. “I can’t take home any medals, knowing this field I think I had more chance of my leg growing back than that happening, but it was amazing to be back in the green and gold after such a long time and it’s not over for me yet. Competing for your country never gets old and the atmosphere today was electric.” The 2014 Commonwealth Games commenced in Glasgow on Wednesday 23 July, with athletics competition spanning seven days from Sunday 27 July. The competing Australian athletics team is 98-strong, the largest ever to compete in the green and gold offshore.

“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” – Lucille Ball Wow what a title! Amiright?! Anyways, lets move on to the matter in hand. After a period of self-growth and finding the person I am, or the person I was destined to become. I see how growing up I had my self-esteem shredded and how I became a sad sack of shit. So, when people ask me why and how come I don’t speak to certain family members, I remember the comments about my weight, about my skin, about my looks. I remember how I was told that if I was fat, I would end up alone. I believed it so much I starved myself, how I threw up my food. How there was always a blind eye to it, reading this will be hard. But that’s life, so suck it up. I will continue my whole life with a weird relationship with food, how I was told that food was the enemy and how staying away from it made me, attractive. I wish this was the worst thing I was told growing up. But thinking about how Cas and I will NEVER be able to have ice cream together or a piece of cake, because that alone triggers me to do some horrible stuff to myself… That upsets me. How I have to had to grow up with comments that I’m ugly and unlovable has put its mark on me. So, so, bad that just taking a picture of myself can bring out the fear of god in me. And let’s not forget how I will always have to wear baggy clothes because skin tight clothes make me feel like a whale. Oh yeah, I suffer from body dysmorphia1. My childhood scars will have to rip away some childhood memories with Cas, and thinking of that makes me mad! But I’m in recovery, which is all you can ask for a person in my position. So why at the age of 25, going on 26, made me decide to recover from childhood trauma and decide to break away from the thoughts and build up my self-esteem? (if you are waiting for some big surprise with confetti, you are reading the wrong blog mate) Cas and Dines. Simple and easy. I want our life together to be as simple as apple pie, I want my son to take my hand and say “mum, it’s time for ice cream” and we will sit on the beach watching the waves come in. I want Dines and I to have a date night, where I don’t go up on the weight, like I’ve done every morning, and say “hey, let’s go out” instead of me staring at him saying “we can’t” – it isn’t fair on these two souls. So cheers for recovery and for fighting back, no matter how old you are.

Nike is set to release a new line of sneakers for casual, on-the-go wear. Coming 2012, is the new Nike Alphaballer Mid. The sneaker’s design is based on old school silhouettes with a modern feel featuring a sleek and simple midsole, synthetic uppers and an overall retro look that premiers in 4 different colorways: – Cool Grey/Gym Red/Neutral Grey/Black – White/Light Charcoal/Midnight Navy – White/Gorge Green/Stealth/Anthracite The Nike Alphaballer Mid drops next spring with a price tag of $80.

The Old Grist Mill | 390 Fall River Avenue, Seekonk | 508-336-8460 The Old Grist Mill “It was like a movie. It just went up in flames,” says Greg Esney, recalling the infamous incident. Greg and his wife Sue have been the owners of The Old Grist Mill since 2009. “I was the general manager for years,” he says. “When the owner decided to sell, Sue and I jumped at the opportunity.” But then an unbelievable accident happened in the summer of 2012. A large truck filled with bananas rolled over, tripped a gas line and hit a telephone pole – causing an explosion and major fire damage. “We knew right away we were going to rebuild,” Greg says. Two and a half years later, the tavern reopened to triumphant response from its devoted customers and community. Built in 1745 and a restaurant since 1930’s, The Old Grist Mill was a piece of history long before the fire. The rustic tavern overlooks a picturesque pond complete with a bubbling waterfall. The classic New England view perfectly complements the menu, which boasts traditional favorites like hand-cut steaks and chops, hearty pastas and seafood. The portions are very generous and include a trip to the salad bar. A large surf and turf menu allows you to indulge in the best of both worlds. Speaking of indulging, their desserts and legendary cinnamon bread are made in their in-house bakery. A pub menu available at the lounge offers crowd-pleasers like burgers and sharing boards. The bar hosts monthly tasting events where guests can taste the newest tastes in spirits. Lobsterfest, a month-long celebration that includes a special menu and prices, returns on August for its 26th year. “We’re thrilled to bring back this tradition for our customers,” says Greg. The Wharf Tavern When the owner of The Wharf Tavern, a RI mainstay since 1955, announced his retirement five years ago, the Esneys once again leaped at the chance to own it. “We always loved this restaurant,” Greg says, adding that the restaurants compliment each other. “They both serve traditional New England fare in casual and welcoming environments,” he says. With an updated look and a mission to serving fresh and local seafood, The Wharf Tavern continues to be a family-friendly favorite. Built directly on the Warren River, the sprawling restaurant offers gorgeous waterfront views from nearly every table. Simply prepared seafood such as oysters, clams, swordfish, salmon, steamers and lobster is the house specialty here, always priced reasonably and served with a choice of soup or salad and fresh-made bread. The large family friendly menu also includes flatbread pizzas, slow roasted prime rib, chops, ribs, homemade chowder and much more. Like its sister restaurant The Old Grist Mill, there’s great private spaces for special occasions, including the wonderful second story banquet room. A rebuilt floating dock welcomes boaters to dock and dine. “We really support the boating community,” Greg says, pointing out that the restaurant offers a 10% discount to diners that arrive by boat. Be it a family dinner, a romantic outing or a custom special event, you’re bound to have a great dining experience at these time-honored restaurants.

There’s a lot going on in the heavens this month but the big news for you is the continuation of glorious fire trines which began late last month. This involves your ruling planet Jupiter (expansion) in Leo still close to a trine with Uranus (spontaneity) in Aries and early in this month Mars (action) in Sagittarius links the two. This is a big tick for doing all the things you love in life, especially when they expand your horizons physically, mentally and/or spiritually. It’s about discovering what gives you meaning in life and doing more of it. Your sign is the explorer, the traveller and you’re at your best when you’re setting off on a new quest or journey. Mars in your sign adds courage and bravery to your personal tool box and it’s the planet of get-up-and-go. There is a slight foolhardy quality to Mars in Sagittarius so ensure that the risks you take this month don’t endanger you. Mars rules passion and anger and it’s not a quiet influence by any means. Mars trines Uranus on the 5th and Jupiter on the 8th and this is about grabbing life with both hands and getting really over-the-top excited and enthusiastic for what you want to do. It feels entrepreneurial and is a ‘flying high’ combination. You may decide to jump out of a plane, bungee jump or simply take a big leap somewhere in your life with your feet placed firmly on the ground. Whatever works for you. It does feel wild and crazy and potentially hedonistic though so a great time to join in a Full Moon party and let your hair down. The 8th is an important date this month as it’s not only part of the fire trine energy but there’s a Lunar or Full Moon eclipse on the same day. Eclipses tend to have hidden themes and they’re often quite dramatic as they bring what’s hidden to light. This Lunar eclipse cuts across the Aries/Libra axis of your chart, highlighting friendships, groups, children, love affairs, so a very sociable and pleasurable feel to the two sectors involved. The love planet Venus is also pulled into the dynamic combination and as the Uranus-Pluto square is in the mix, this could be the reoccurrence of an old dilemma or issue. A flare up of a disagreement with a friend, a repeat problem with a child, the same old, same old issue with a lover or something similar that applies to your personal situation. With such combustible energy in the heavens, it’s going to be hard to remain calm and as Full Moons are emotional at the best of times, get ready for fireworks but also be ready to respond rather than react. By this I mean choose how you want to behave instead of falling into automatic behaviour patterns. If there is some kind of fall-out or split, be aware that Mercury, the communication planet, also retrogrades back into Libra on the 10th and remains on go slow until the 25th. This suggests that there is a chance to negotiate and talk things through, in particular on or around the 16th/17th. However Mercury retrograde could symbolise silence and not talking to someone for a couple of weeks. Either way, know that towards the end of the month, new information comes to light and you may discover that it’s a muddle or misunderstanding which caused the rift/split/argument/dramatic events and there’s a chance to resolve the issue and get back on good terms. Libra is the sign of relating and diplomacy and with three key planets in this sector of your chart throughout most of October, it is worth your while sorting out your friendships and relationships as best you can and being open and willing to change and/or connect. The sticking point could be around money but again if this is the case it’s something you know about already and you need to do the best you can with what you’ve got. Pluto in your money sector sometimes signifies a loss but also a chance to transform your earnings/money dynamics. It is the planet of finality and if you are putting money into a bottomless pit, here’s another opportunity to stop. Mars, the action planet, enters Capricorn and your cash sector on the 26th urging you to focus on money matters now and get things sorted. Finally this month, the end of October is punchy when there’s a Solar or New Moon eclipse in Scorpio, the sign before yours. This indicates secrets or a confidence; it’s hidden information, perhaps deeply personal and is potentially healing for you. The Solar Eclipse takes place on the 23rd when the Sun, Venus and the Moon all come together in this powerful sign. This is a strong feminine energy so turn to the women in your life or your girlfriends if you’re seeking insight or understanding. Trust your intuition and develop your feminine skills. A lot of this month’s planetary activity is very masculine and active especially with Mars in your sign until the 26th so you need a balance of a quieter, softer energy. Learn to ‘be’ as well as ‘do’; prioritise quiet time and sleep if your schedule is hectic ad listen to your inner guidance. There’s a sentimental feel to the last week in October whether you’re wafted back to your past in some way or there’s a chance to heal and grow closer to a family member or someone from your childhood.

3 Easy Decorating Ideas to Brighten Your Kitchen Does your kitchen need a quick facelift? Many kitchens are functional but bland. Some are just plain ugly. There are lots of ways to improve the appearance of an out-of-date kitchen without breaking the bank. Kitchen remodeling is expensive and usually requires a well-padded savings account. If you’re building a nest egg for a remodel, you might not want to invest time and money in temporary fixes. There are two ways to get around that concern. First, make changes that will carry over after your eventual redo. Second, choose temporary updates that are cheap but will make you happy now. Here are 3 mini-makeovers to brighten your kitchen: Make the Most of Windows Many kitchens don’t need curtains. If your kitchen has old blinds or curtains, take them down. Privacy and glare reduction can be achieved with window film. Tinted film gets rid of glare, and decorative film looks great in the kitchen. Installing film is affordable and easy to change if the decor is updated. What kind of decorative window film should you use? Etched-glass effects on a door gives your family a little privacy. A colorful collage, stained-glass look or frosted-glass look would be perfect in a kitchen. Choose a pattern that’s purely decorative or one that keeps people from seeing into your home. A few well-placed lights can transform the mood of a space. Inexpensive lights are quick and easy to add under kitchen cabinets. They’ll add cheer and functionality. Since the fixtures themselves are mostly out of view, buy cheap stick-on models. Lighting strips are an even more temporary addition. Many come with a remote and a selection of different colored lights. With just a few dollars spent, your kitchen can look bright, fun or funky. When it’s time for a permanent lighting redesign, it’s easy to remove these handy lighting strips and fixtures. Paint Walls, Cabinets, Countertops or Appliances Changing color schemes will make your kitchen look completely different. Light tones give the illusion of more space. Turn up the energy of a room and its occupants with bright colors. Dark paint won’t brighten your kitchen, but can serve as a backdrop for shiny appliances. Painting walls and cabinets is pretty straightforward. If you’re going to paint your countertops, do a bit of research in the right techniques and materials for your kitchen. Did you know you can paint appliances? Use paint that resists heat and is formulated for kitchen appliances. You can achieve a custom look when you paint your oven, fridge or dishwasher.

By: Paulanne Simmons Ever since Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen in 1872, audiences have been wondering what happens to Nora after she walks out on Torvald and her children. Now, well over a hundred years later, thanks to Lucas Hnath’s new play, A Doll’s House, Part 2, we know. When Nora (Laurie Metcalf) walks back into her old home (scenic designer Miriam Buether’s minimalist victorian home with high paneled walls and almost no furniture), fifteen years later, she’s a bit nervous, but definitely in control. She’s met by the family servant, Anne Marie (Jayne Houdyshell), the only one who knows Nora’s back. We soon learn why. It turns out, Nora has become a famous author of feminist literature, writing under a pseudonym. But recently, an influential judge who believes he’s lost his wife because of Nora’s influence has found out not only who Nora really is, but also that she has never been divorced. In 19th century Europe, this could cause significant legal problems and Nora has come back for that divorce. Not surprisingly, Torvald (Chris Cooper), who has let on that Nora has died, is not exactly compliant. So Nora tries to enlist first the help of Anne Marie and then Emmy (Condola Rashad), the daughter she abandoned fifteen years ago. Emmy has her own agenda and her own ideas about how to solve the problem. In many ways she’s her mother’s daughter. Considering Sam Gold directs, there’s not an overabundance of directorial flourishes, except for the unnecessary projection of the names of the appropriate characters at the beginning of scene transitions. For the most part, Gold lets his excellent cast work their magic. Metcalf is superb as the imperious and impervious Nora. When her conversations with Torvald become debates, we’re pretty sure who’s going to win. Yet Cooper never lets Torvald become an object of pity or scorn. As for Rashad, although one may well question why an African American woman should be cast as the daughter of a white man and woman in 19th century Norway, her convincing acting soon makes the audience believe the impossible. If Houdyshell alone creates a likable character, this is entirely consistent with the satirical nature of Hnath’s work. This play may be set fifteen years after Nora left Torvald, but the language Hnath uses makes it clear he is writing about men and women today. When each of the characters expresses his or her understanding of what happened in the Helmer household, raising questions about the nature of marriage, motherhood and responsibility, what we are hearing is clearly a modern perspective on these issues. A Doll’s House, Part 2 is often quite funny and always penetrating. It also keeps the audience in a constant state of uncertainty, as one idea that seems to make sense gives way to another, equally plausible. Be prepared for some very interesting after-theater conversations. A Doll’s House, Part 2 The Golden Theatre 252 West 45 Street Through July 23, 2017 Photos: Brigitte Lacombe

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Veteran Kim Joseph Kurosky has been a faithful customer to Billie Jo Sebastian for more than 10 years. He visits her weekly while she works at the Value Pawn & Jewelry in Brandon. During one of Kim’s visits, Sebastian noticed his legs were extremely swollen. “He and I had stepped outside and I said to him, ‘You need to elevate your legs, Kim.’ He responded, ‘Billie Jo, can you please let me know how I’m supposed to elevate my legs when I’m sleeping in my truck and trying to swat off mosquitoes?’ Up until that point, I never realized the severity of his living situation,” Sebastian said. Sebastian asked Kim if he would be comfortable with sharing his story on social media to try and get him some help. “I could not believe how many people wanted to donate food and help him,” Sebastian said. Kim is a Marine sergeant who did two tours of duty in Vietnam. He suffers from a hoarding condition and diabetes. Because of his hoarding illness, his trailer became unlivable and his property is overrun with items. His trailer is 40 years old and has electricity, but no running water. Kim sleeps in his truck each night, which has caused his legs to swell to a dangerous size. Ashley Harden, a bartender at Keith’s Oaks Bar and Grill, saw Sebastian’s post on Facebook and immediately wanted to help. She decided to create a GoFundMe page to help him. “So far, we’ve raised almost $3,000 to make his trailer and the other structure on his property livable for him,” Harden said. “The outpouring from the community has been absolutely amazing.” Harden and Sebastian also received help from Jim Stacey at AMVETS Post 44, Travis Wright of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and Nam Knights, Ellie Saldana of Hot Boxes Dumpster, Jarrod Matthews of Wretched Few VMC and Lori Finnegan of Finnegan Real Estate, in addition to the numerous people who have donated funds on Kim’s GoFundMe page. Nearly 40 people from the Brandon community have helped to clean and organize the property. “I am amazed at all the help that has been available to me,” Kim said. “I couldn’t imagine there were so many people who wanted to come out and help, especially with the virus happening now.” To help Kim, please visit his GoFundMe page at https://bit.ly/2UfImLN.

New Orleans is a unique city, and the Sazerac is a unique cocktail. It is my go to drink every time I am in New Orleans. Fortunately the cocktail renaissance over the last few years has revived the drink’s popularity outside of New Orleans, so I’m less likely to receive a blank stare from a bartender when I order one. After trying a bunch of versions, this is the one I make at home: 2 ounces rye whiskey Teaspoon of absinthe 2-3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters ¼ to ½ ounce super simple syrup Put the absinthe in a chilled glass, swirl it around so you coat the inside of the glass. Discard the remaining absinthe. Add the rye, bitters, and simple syrup, then stir. Garnish with a lemon twist. Originally the Sazerac used cognac instead of rye. If you don’t want to go really old school, use rye and cognac to make a Vieux Nouveau Sazerac. Thanks to Gaby, a bartender at my favorite local watering hole, I learned another variation – use rye, but instead of using all Peychaud’s bitters, use an equal amount of Peychaud’s and orange bitters. It took me a long time to figure out why her Sazeracs are liquid magic.

(This article first appeared in the July 2013 Trucks & Trailers Issue of The Equiery) The Equiery asked its readers a series of questions related to the types of towing vehicles and trailers they own. The responses were varied but one common theme seemed to shine through: buyers do a lot of research before purchasing and are loyal to the brands they currently have, for example, many use chevrolet car dealers to find pickup trucks as they’re such a reputable brand. There are a lot of dealerships out there that could help those who are interested in pickup trucks find that right one for them, for example, in Wichita Ford pickup trucks are available along with other brands and could be handy for this type of work. Questions concerning towing vehicles and trailers related to the make which companies similar to I-55 Towing & Recovery Service – Blytheville have some very powerful examples of, model and year of the vehicle as well as engine size, towing power and “must-have” features. We also asked where they purchased each and why they chose that make and model. Finally, we wanted to know how satisfied readers were with their current towing package and if they would recommend either to others. Below is a quick summary of what we learned and quotes and comments from various readers. Thank you to all who participated! What You Tow With According to the responses to our survey, Ford is the make that is the most popular among our readers with 61.76% saying they tow with Ford pickup trucks. The next most popular brand was Chevy with 23.52% followed by GMC with 8.82% and Dodge with 5.88%. Most readers who took the survey tow with a midsize truck in the 250/2500 model size. The 350/3500 model and 150/1500 model size were tied. Christine Jennings of Bentwood Farm in Owings bought her 2002 Ford F250 because of its power and previous positive Ford experiences. Brenda Senseney owns a 2009 Chevy 3?4 ton Diesel Extended Cab and bought it because she loved GM products and said, “They are dependable, comfortable for long distances and have an excellent turn ratio.” In terms of sport utility vehicles, it was a dead tie between Ford, Toyota, GMC and Land Rover, though an overwhelming 89.47% tow with a pickup truck versus an SUV. Bernadette Kilcer of Brandywine tows with a 2005 Toyota 4Runner that she bought “because it was small, yet powerful, and in my budget. I love this one and have an excellent mechanic that keeps it in tip-top shape.” Denise Parsons of Boyds has two towing vehicles, one of which is a 2010 Land Rover Range Rover Sport. “The Range Rover is a great little truck for a two-horse bumper pull that can be used as a daily driver as well. It has plenty of towing and stopping power,” she said. Gas engines outweighed diesel 63.6% to 36.4% but what was interesting were the reasons people bought one over the other. Krista Martinko of Frederick County, who owns a 2010 Ford F250 Super Duty Extended Cab, said she would have loved to buy a diesel but she just does not tow enough to make the added costs worth it. Jeanne Bond (Halcyon Farm, Warwick) agrees, stating, “I don’t use my truck enough to warrant the extra expense of a diesel engine or diesel fuel.” Jeanne currently tows with a 2002 Chevy 2500 HD Extended Cab. Only 11.11% stated that if they were to buy another vehicle, they would switch to diesel. There was a wide variety of engine sizes reported from a 5-liter to an 8-liter and everything in between. For the most part, the size of the engine correlated to the size of the trailer. Larger trailers are being towed by larger engines, as they should be. However, there were a few readers who reported towing large trailers with small engines. Those readers did comment that when purchasing a future vehicle, they want to upgrade to a larger engine with more towing capacity. Janine Borofka (Quiet Rock Farm, Frederick) currently owns a 1996 Ford F150 but says she is dreaming of getting “the same but with an extended cab and bigger engine. Some hills are a strain [for the F150] and the small cab is tough for hauling people.” Buying a new vehicle versus a used one was nearly evenly split with 52.6% buying new and 47.4% buying used. Most vehicles in the survey were made in 2001 through 2005 (40.5%) with 24.3% being made in the 1990 to 2000 range and the same amount made in the 2006 to 2010 range. Only 10.8% of our readers reported owning a towing vehicle that was 2011 or newer. Most readers (42.9%) went directly to dealerships to find their current towing vehicles while 31.4% found their vehicles through various online sites. The rest of our survey participants either found their vehicles through local newspapers, auto auctions, Horse World Expo or friends and family. The majority of readers (80.65%) purchased their vehicles right here in Maryland with Virginia and Pennsylvania being other states mentioned. The most popular feature that people said they just could not live without was four-wheel drive. The second most popular must-have feature was a large engine and maximum towing power. After that, readers liked having four doors and a full back seat for more interior carrying space. Jennifer Tanio of Avalon Farm in Sparks said she just cannot live without the full back seat and full four doors in her 2004 Ford F250. “I have two young kids who are often with me when I am trailering and so the full cab is essential,” she explained. Interior features like navigation systems and heated seats were also popular, with many people saying if they were to get a new vehicle, they would want both. Some readers even said cooling seats would be a great feature in a future vehicle. What You Tow Equiery readers own a wide variety of trailers but the top three most popular trailers according to our survey results were Adams (23.08%), Cotner (12.82%) and EquiSpirit (10.26%). Fifteen other trailer brands were mentioned, proving that trailer options for buyers are vast. Elizabeth Carey of Second Wind Farm (Gaithersburg) is a big fan of her 2011 Adams 2+1 that she bought through H.R. Collins’ ads in The Equiery. “It’s a great trailer that we bought for a great price at the time and it was priced lower than other goosenecks that I looked at. I love, love the way this trailer is made with the drop-down windows and side-loaded ramp. It is a very user-friendly trailer,” she said. Cheryl Swing of Hidden Tides Farm in Upper Marlboro had a 2010 Cox Signature (Warmblood) by Cimarron basically custom made for her. “It was the most trailer for the money, even with the modifications and additions,” sshe said, adding that plenty of room for her horses and good airflow were reasons for the purchase. More people reported owning gooseneck trailers than bumper pull trailers, though two-horse trailers were the most popular no matter which type. Just over 63% stated they bought their trailers new, with 36.1% saying they bought used trailers. An equal number of readers said that they found their trailer either through The Equiery, a friend or directly from a dealer (20% each). Seventeen percent said they found their trailer from online sites and another 17% said they got theirs through Horse World Expo. About 56% said they purchased their trailer in Maryland while some purchased nearby in Virginia, Pennsylvania or Delaware and others went as far as Florida to purchase their trailer. Most trailers in the survey were made between 2006 and 2010. When it comes to favorite trailer features, 43.3% said having a dressing room is a must-have. Other must-have features were the size of the stalls, type of flooring and the extra space at the nose of a gooseneck. For the most part, readers are happy with the features they have on their current trailers. Some stated that roof vents and drop-down windows would be nice additions as would a larger dressing room and stall cameras. How Often You Tow The majority of our readers had their vehicles for long periods of time and put lots of mileage on them with 31.58% having between 51,000 and 100,000 miles. The same percentage reports 101,000 to 150,000 miles. Only 7.89% reported owning a vehicle with more than 150,000 miles on it while 28.95% have vehicles with less than 50,000 miles. Readers reported that they tend to trailer less than five times a month and most of that distance is local. In terms of average towing mileage per year, 44.12% reported towing between 1,000 and 5,000 miles a year. Just over 26% said they tow less than 1,000 miles a year and just over 20% said they trailer between 6,000 and 15,000 miles a year. Very few reported trailering more than 15,000 miles a year. The majority of survey participants stated that they trailer for personal use only with just 6.25% saying they trailer for business and 15.6% saying they use their towing vehicle and trailer for both business and personal uses. Every single person who responded to our survey recommends his or her vehicles to others and 94.6% said there is no need for a new vehicle at this time but if they were to buy again, they would stick with the same brand they have now. Several stated, however, that they would upgrade in engine size. Paul Cohen (Association Underwriters & Ziplow Horse Insurance, Inc.) of Westminster replaced his previous Ford F350 with a new Ford F350 Twin Turbo Diesel after he credits the old truck for saving his life: “This was a replacement for the previous F350 that I owned and it saved my life in a very serious accident caused by a drunk driver.” Jeanne Bond, a current Chevy owner, said, “If I were to buy another truck, it would be from GM. This is my fourth GM truck, they have always been reliable, so I’m a loyal customer.” Julia Beamish of Mayadinya Farm in Brookeville however, recently switched from a Ford to a Chevy for her newest towing vehicle stating, “After hearing good things about the Chevy truck transmission and having had many bad experiences with our Ford trucks and the Ford company we went with Chevy.” Most readers are loyal about their trailers as well, staying loyal to what they have and feeling no need to buy another trailer at this time. Bernadette Kilcer said she got her 2012 Bockmann Portax trailer though Traveled Lane Trailers and would buy the same again, stating, “The folks at Traveled Lane are magnificent.” Seventy-five percent said they would buy the same trailer again if they were looking for a newer trailer with 25% saying they would either upgrade to a larger trailer or buy a different brand. Only 6% said they would not recommend the trailer they have, although that was mainly due to the age of the trailer. One reader would not buy a Sundowner again due to large amounts of repairs that had to be done within the first few years of buying it new. Amy Phillips of Red Horse Ranch in Gwyn Oak has a 1996 Collin Arndt trailer and feels it is a great “starter trailer.” She is not currently in the market for a trailer but said if she was, she’d want to upgrade to a three- or four-horse Hawk gooseneck because it is heavier and she feels that makes it a safer trailer.

Sculptures on campus There are many sculptures and statues on the grounds of the College of William and Mary. - 1 David H Turner's sculptures - 2 James Monroe Statue - 3 King and Queen Gate - 4 Lord Botetourt - 5 Marshall-Wythe School of Law - 6 Muscarelle Museum of Art - 7 Curled Up C - 8 Oliver - 9 Rev. James Blair - 10 Spring - 11 Thomas Jefferson - 12 Tyler Family Garden - 13 References - 14 Materials in the Special Collections Research Center - 15 Need help? David H Turner's sculptures Located in the Crim Dell, the 4 foot sculpture "Great Blue Heron with Marsh Wren and Turtle" was made by College of William and Mary alumnus David H. Turner, class of 1983. It was donated by Ben Field, class of 1957. The statue features cattails and a turtle on the base. The statue went missing in September 2006 after Hurricane Ernesto went through campus and was found at the bottom of the Crim Dell. The Canada Geese sculpture is located next to the Alumni House on Richmond Rd. Soaring Eagle is in the Sadler Center atrium and the Memorial Garden Dove is in the Memorial Garden near Lake Matoaka. James Monroe Statue The James Monroe statue, located outside Tucker Hall just east of the Senior Walk, was dedicated on April 23, 2015. The statue was a gift of William & Mary alumni Carroll and Patty Owen in honor of the class of 1962. The statue is made of bronze and shows Monroe protecting a globe in his right hand, referring to the Monroe Doctrine, and a frieze around its base depicting important moments in his life. Eight panels show scenes from Monroe's life such as his student experience at William & Mary from 1774-1776, Monroe at the Battle of Trenton, his diplomatic experience, as secretary of war, and as president of the United States. The statue was the first in a series of commemorations of the 200th anniversary of James Monroe's inauguration in 1817. The statue was sculpted by Gordon Kray, class of 1973. Kray has created other sculptures on campus including the replica of the Botetourt statue on the Wren Yard, The [Marshall-Wythe statue at the law school, and the Pierre Charles L'Enfant Statue in the atrium of Alan B. Miller Hall. King and Queen Gate Donated in the 1920's by Mary Cooke Branch Munford, first woman member of the Board of Visitors. Women at the College of William and Mary these statues of King William and Queen Mary stand atop brick pillars which flank a driveway behind Tucker Hall off Richmond Rd. The original statue of Lord Botetourt is now located on the ground floor of Swem Library. A reproduction was erected in front of the Wren Building in 1993. Lord Botetourt was so revered by the Virginians that in fact they erected a statue in his memory which stood first at the Old Capitol building and then was purchased by the College of William and Mary in 1801. Barring a brief period during the Civil War when it was moved to the Public Asylum for safety, it stood in the College Yard until 1958 when it was removed for protection from the elements, and then installed in the new Earl Gregg Swem Library in 1966 in the Botetourt Gallery. A replica created in bronze by College of William and Mary alumnus Gordon Kray, class of 1973, was installed in the College Yard in 1993 on Homecoming weekend. It is a College tradition to dress up the statue for the holidays such as hanging a wreath on the statue's outstretched hand. Marshall-Wythe School of Law A statue of John Marshall and George Wythe is located at the main entrance to the Marshall-Wythe School of Law. It was created by Gordon S. Kray, class of 1973, and was a gift of Robert Friend Boyd, class of 1950 and J.D. class of 1952, and Sara Miller Boyd, class of 1954. The statue was dedicated on October 7, 2000. Muscarelle Museum of Art Known for its early American and European portraits and works on paper, the Muscarelle Museum of Art’s treasures span the centuries, and the permanent collection includes more than 3,900 works of art. The Muscarelle is also host to a spectacular variety of traveling shows. Above all, the Muscarelle is a teaching facility, where the academic program is considered when building the collection and planning exhibits. Faculty members are frequent collaborators who give gallery talks or classroom lectures based on the exhibits. Curled Up C This abstract sculpture by Lila Katzen consists of two curving forms, one of light-colored, buffed stainless steel and the other of Corten steel that weathers to a rich textured brown. The two large vertical shapes lean diagonally against one another establishing a single point of contact before curling away, each in its own distinct form. This work was created in 1979 by Lila Katzen, an American artist known for her large-scale, site-specific sculptures. Her works have been exhibited at some of the nation's foremost museums and, in 1981, a duplicate of Curled Up C was installed in the courtyard of the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C. Curled Cup C has been on loan to the Museum from the artist since 1983, when it was placed near the Museum entrance at Katzen's instructions. Since the, the sculpture has become an integral part of the visual aesthetics of the Museum and campus. Designed in 1979 by the College's Sculpture-in-Residence, Robert Engman, "Oliver" is named for the artist's father. The sculpture is adjacent to Andrews Hall and Barksdale Field. The dimensions of Oliver are 156 h. x 96 w. x 96. d . ins. (396.5 x 244.0 x 244.0 cm). Rev. James Blair The Reverend James Blair, A.M. (1655-1748) was the founding president of the College of William and Mary. Sculptor: Lewis Cohen, member of the faculty; a tercentenary gift to the college. It was dedicated October 21, 1993, during Homecoming. J. Seward Johnson's sculpture "Spring" was installed at the College of William and Mary in 1979. At some time prior to 1991, the letter held by the figure Tina in the sculpture was broken off. A transcription of the letter from "Spring" at the Fitton Center for Creative Arts in Hamilton, Ohio (June 2008): Hi! you wouldn't believe how much I miss you! I am having a great time here but I do wish you were here. Next month we go on vacation and I will be home to see you and I hope you still Love me. So what's new in town? Last week Bill met a girl and Broke up with Sue. Even if I see a good looking girl I think of you and I will never break up with you. I hope you don't Break up with me for Some one else. The statue of College alumnus Thomas Jefferson was given to the College of William and Mary by the University of Virginia to celebrate the connection of Jefferson between the two institutions. Jefferson went to school at William and Mary from 1760 to 1762 and was a member of the Board of Visitors. He later helped to establish the University of Virginia in 1819. The statue was dedicated on November 11, 1992 as part of the College's Tercentenary Celebration and was placed between Washington Hall and Tercentenary Hall (later renamed McGlothlin-Street Hall). John T. Casteen III, President of the University of Virginia, College President Timothy J. Sullivan, and Hays Watkins, Rector of the Board of Visitors, were in attendance at the dedication. The University of Virginia has a similar statue of Jefferson between their Darden School of Business and the Law School. Both statues were created by Lloyd Lillie, a professor at Boston University. Casteen learned from an article by William and Mary History professor Ludwell Johnson that before Jefferson died, he took out a $17,000 loan from William and Mary to settle his debts, but was unable to pay it back before he died. Even a deed of trust on Shadwell, Jefferson's birth place, in 1876 could not settle the debt owed to the College. As a result, the College was in financial peril and had to close in the 1880s. Therefore, Casteen mentioned that he hoped that the debt would be forgiven with the donation of the statue. The statue is frequently dressed up for holidays and special events as the statue of Lord Botetourt is. The dedication plaque includes a quote by Jefferson. "I look to the diffusion of light and education as the resource most to be relied on for ameliorating the condition, promoting the virture and advancing the happiness of man." The plaque goes on to read "This statue is a gift of the University of Virginia to Jefferson's Alma Mater on occasion of its 300th Anniversary, 1993. Dedicated November 11, 1992." Tyler Family Garden In recognition of the Lyon Gardiner Tyler legacy – and a family legacy to the College of William and Mary that spans three centuries – a garden was dedicated at the college April 30, 2004. The Tyler Family Garden includes bronze busts of three members of this extraordinary family – Lyon Gardiner Tyler, the 17th president of William and Mary; his father, the 10th U.S. President, John Tyler, who served as rector and chancellor of the college; and Lyon Gardiner Tyler’s grandfather, John Tyler, Sr. who served as the 18th governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Tyler Family Garden is part of an endowment gift from Mr. and Mrs. Harrison Ruffin Tyler, son of Lyon Gardiner Tyler, to the college’s history department. The garden is located outside James Blair Hall, the building on campus that houses the college’s history department, now named the Lyon Gardiner Tyler Department of History. The Tyler family’s affiliation with William and Mary began in 1704 when the grandfather of U.S. President John Tyler, also named John Tyler, attended the college. His son, the governor of Virginia from 1808 to 1811, and his grandson, the U.S. President, also studied at William and Mary. Harrison Tyler’s father, Lyon Gardiner Tyler, earned degrees from the University of Virginia but was awarded an honorary degree from William and Mary at the end of his 31-year term as the college’s president. In all, about 30 members of the Tyler family have attended William and Mary. - The Flat Hat, 13 November 1992, p. 1-2. - Buildings and Grounds--Sculptures--Statue of Thomas Jefferson, University Archives Subject File Collection, Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, The College of William and Mary. - Jefferson Returns to William and Mary, Alumni Gazette, Winter 1993, p. 2. Materials in the Special Collections Research Center The Flat Hat, William & Mary News, and Alumni Gazette: - Blair and Botetourt statues to be dedicated AG, Sept. 1993, pg. 3, 6 (picture). - Statues of College leaders to be dedicated at Homecoming WMN, 9/1/1993, pg. 6. To search for further material, visit the Special Collections Research Center's Search Tool List for an overview of the Special Collections Database, W&M Digital Archive, Flat Hat-William & Mary News-Alumni Gazette index, card catalogs, and other tools available to help you find material of interest in William & Mary Libraries Special Collections Research Center. |A Note About The Contents Of This Wiki| |The information available in this wiki is the best available from known documents and sources at the time it was written. Unfortunately, many of the early original records of William & Mary were destroyed by fires, military occupation, and the normal effects of time. Information in this wiki is not complete as new information continues to be uncovered in Swem Library's Special Collections Research Center and elsewhere. Researchers are strongly encouraged to use the Special Collections search tools for their research as the information contained in this wiki is by no means comprehensive.|

A young couple dream of growing old together as they as they deal with the struggles of being in a long-term relationship. |Released:||August 29, 2018| |Companies:||ABS-CBN Film ProductionsStar Cinema| |Cast:||Daniel PadillaDarren EspantoJean GarciaKathryn Bernardo| |Crew:||Carmi RaymundoCathy Garcia-MolinaGilliann Ebreo|

(Pocket-lint) - If the yell of your alarm clock is getting old there's a novel social alternative thanks to the Wakie app. Install on your phone, set the alarm and a random person from anywhere in the world will wake you with a one-minute limited call. Or do it do them if you're feeling social and creative. The Wakie service first launched in Russia as a website in 2011 before being made for iOS, Android and Windows Phone. The idea behind the app is to properly wake you up, without the usual snooze function - as well as being social. According to CEO Hrachik Adjamian, "Research shows that a one minute talk to a stranger wakes your brain up with a 99 per cent guarantee. When someone asks you questions in the morning your brain has to wake up to answer. Also you try to be kind, you try to turn on your social pattern of behaviour. After the call you can’t sleep anymore even if you had a short sleep." The app also features a message board where people can, potentially, find the person they spoke to suggesting it could act as a service to connect people too. A premium version of the app extends talk time by five minutes and allows you to specify the gender of who you're connected to as well as being able to see their profile. Dating aspirations for Wakie perhaps? Meeting at a time when your guard is down, first thing in the morning, could be ideal. The app is free and available to download. It sounds scary but has got to be worth a try. Let us know how you find it. READ: iPhone panic alarm app now on iTunes

Once upon a time (circa 1928), in a Hollywood of our mythic imagination rather than historic reality, a 21-year-old aspiring actor named Marion Michael Morrison (later to become more well known as John Wayne) met 80-year-old former marshal Wyatt Earp. The aged gunfighter had been hired to appear in one of those newly invented “oaters” that had become a part of popular culture following the cinematic success of The Great Train Robbery (1903). The two met on the set of a Western being directed by genius-in-embryo John Ford and the living legend of the Old West hit it off with the youngster who would come to embody the 20 century’s glorification of that time and place. Between takes, the tall tale goes, Earp recalled his hair-raising exploits as Duke (he’d been called that since childhood owing to his close attachment to a large dog of that name) sat spellbound, admiring and absorbing the old lawman’s personal code of conduct. As a lawman, Earp (unlike some of his trigger-happy contemporaries) believed a gun must only be employed as a last resort. Even at the O.K. Corral shootout, Earp and his brother Virgil attempted to talk the Clantons and McLaurys into handing over their pistols before all hell broke loose on October 26, 1881. Despite the lawman’s misgivings about employing his weapon, three men lay dead on Tombstone, Arizona’s Fremont Street when the incident was over, ensuring Earp’s “reputation” as a fast-gun. Though as Earp later explained: “I don’t think 30 seconds should sum up a man’s whole life.” The iconic Westerner would have preferred to be remembered for his 100-plus earlier gunfights in which only one man died, and this by accident. When Earp passed away on January 16, 1929, Hollywood myth places young Duke as one of his pallbearers. Shortly after, Wayne got his Western movie break. First came the 1930 sound epic The Big Trail, a box-office disaster and potential career-killer. However, Wayne survived by starring in low-budget items for Poverty Row studios, and by the decade’s end, Ford rescued his protégé from B-movie purgatory by casting Wayne in Stagecoach (1939), a critically acclaimed, financially successful big Western. From then on, Duke placed on the A-list. Throughout his career, whether he was working in cheaply produced program-pictures or in Cinemascope extravaganzas, Wayne never forgot what he learned from Earp and insisted on embodying the man’s code of honor on-screen. For example, while filming The Shootist in 1975, Wayne noticed that in the rough cut, his character, dying gunfighter John Book, appeared to shoot an opponent in the back. Wayne requested that the sequence be re-edited. Never before, he explained to director Don Siegel, had Wayne shot a man in the back, this in deference to Earp. Earp’s code influenced Wayne in other roles as well. Even during the deadly gunplay at the O.K. Corral, Earp refused to gun down Ike Clanton when the outlaw leader raised his hands, insisting he was unarmed. And Earp would not fire on that arch-enemy as Clanton ran away. Likewise, in Rio Bravo (1959), Wayne, playing sheriff John T. Chance, says: “Man gets shot and he’s got a gun, there’s room for reasonable doubt. Man gets shot that hasn’t got a gun, what would you call it?” By implication, he answers his own question: Murder. As historian Gary L. Roberts wrote of Earp: “He lived his life according to a code that seemed right to him.” That holds true for Wayne’s characters as well. Here’s where the tall tale ends. After all, the greatest Wayne/Ford Western produced—The Searchers (1956)—contains a sequence in which Duke’s character, Ethan Edwards, does in fact gun down a fleeing would-be robber. All of the above at once becomes an opened can of worms. The reality of Wayne’s relationship with Earp is less romantic—though no less interesting—than the legend. Truth be told, Wayne wasn’t a pallbearer at Earp’s funeral (though two silent stars, Tom Mix and William S. Hart, were). In fact, Earp never even appeared in a movie (though other living remnants of the West—lawman William Tilghman and outlaw Al Jennings—did). Rather, Earp took a side seat on movie sets, recounting old-time incidents for Ford during the shooting of Mother Machree (1928), a non-Western. Wayne, who here made his screen debut in a bit part, wasn’t even present when Earp explained to Ford that the O.K. Corral gunfight hadn’t been the slam-bang bullet-fest popularized by myth and media, but rather an orchestrated battle, executed with military-like strategy. (Nearly two decades later, Ford employed that approach to his staging of the incident in My Darling Clementine (1946). Intriguingly, Ford chose Henry Fonda, not Wayne, to play Earp in the film. Why? We’ll never know, as Ford took that secret with him to the grave, much to Wayne’s consternation.) Bottom line: Earp and Wayne never met. Anything Wayne knew about the real Earp came to him secondhand from Ford during their 25-year working relationship. Their encounter is only a charming Hollywood fable. Nonetheless, Earp and Wayne did share several qualities. Both were, in fact, natives of the North: Earp was born in Illinois, Wayne in Iowa. Each, in his own time, made his way west to California. As well, Wayne—on-screen as John Chance—and Wyatt Earp, Easterners so far as Arizona locals were concerned, found themselves drawn into a deadly conflict with the reigning cattlemen and the cowboys working as their hired hands. Chance, like the man he may have been based on, was dedicated to taming, not enabling, the wildness of the West. In our collective unconscious, fans tend to recall Wayne playing John Law in film after film—testament to how powerfully he resonates in that role. However, before Rio Bravo, Wayne never enacted a lawman in an A-Western (though he did pin on a star in several 1930s grade-Z junk movies). And, however serendipitous, the Earp connection at once emerged. The reasons: In Blue Steel (1934), Duke’s youthful marshal was mentored by an old-timer (George “Gabby” Hayes) while cleaning up a nasty town, just as a young Earp was by Sheriff Whitney in Ellsworth, Kan., circa 1872. The Big Stampede (1932) depicts Wayne’s lawman as recruiting and reforming a bad man who then joins the cause against other outlaws; Earp managed such a trope when he enlisted former enemy Ben Thompson as an uneasy ally. In The Star Packer (1934), Wayne’s lawman insists on hiring a Native American as his full-fledged deputy owing to the man’s tracking abilities; Earp is believed to have been the first marshal to over-ride Anglo prejudices in Wichita and Dodge by doing precisely that. Wayne playing a lawman, however, is the exception in his cinematic career. More often, Wayne was cast as an outlaw or outsider, such as in Somewhere in Sonora (1933), Sagebrush Trail (1933), Paradise Canyon (1935), and almost a dozen others. Even in the triumphant Stagecoach, he’s the righteous outlaw Ringo, on the run from the law. The same holds true for Wayne in Ford’s The Searchers and Hawks’ El Dorado, if in time Duke would return to lawman roles, most notably in True Grit (1969). Initially, Duke’s plethora of bandit roles seemingly severs the Wayne-Earp connection. In truth, it reinforces a parallel between Wayne’s evolving screen persona and the flesh-and-blood man who served as role model. For if their face-to-face meeting is mythic, the truth is that Wayne did have Earp in mind not only when he played roles where he donned the badge, but also in those where he was on the run. In most of the 25-plus movies that depict Earp, the story begins on that day when our hero accepted his first job as a trail town deputy. Only Wyatt Earp (1994), starring Kevin Costner and directed by Lawrence Kasdan, reveals the truth, the whole truth. Earp did not leave his family in Illinois to seek excitement on the fabled frontier. He ran away from home after the sudden passing of his first wife. The self-pitying widower then degenerated into a life of crime. His arrest record includes citations for petty theft and whoremongering. Earp, like so many others, went West in hopes of being born again—discovering the righteous life he had abandoned while temporarily embracing (as George Lucas might put it) The Dark Side. How perfect, then, that John Wayne, as the cinematic stand-in for Earp, likewise portrayed many wandering gunmen, Hondo (1953) prime among them. Almost always, his character would be a seemingly bad man harboring an inner decency just waiting to be rekindled (particularly by some good woman). One film, Angel and the Badman (1947), addresses that process in its narrative. In that film, Wayne as gunfighter Quirt Evans learns from a benign religious leader: “Each human being has an integrity that can be hurt only by the act of that same human being.” The message: Don’t blame others, or circumstances, for your lowly lot in life. Take individual responsibility for your previous actions and your subsequent self-recreation. That’s what Earp believed. Wayne, too. Wayne’s great films, from Stagecoach to Angel and the Badman to The Searchers to Rio Bravo, depict (however unawares filmmakers behind each project may have been) a transition for Wayne’s on-screen icon from wanted man to lawman. And, fittingly, the journey directly parallels Wyatt Earp’s. Respectability didn’t come easily to the saddle tramp. As Wayne’s Tom Dunson in Red River (1948) would say: He earned it. Just as Wayne’s anti-heroes do in their films. However much the old movies may have insisted there were the Good Guys and the Bad Guys, most Westerners, like Earp in history and Wayne in his Hollywood canon, were a bit of both. Johnny Ringo, who had a reputation for violence, briefly served as a lawman. Wild Bill Hickok, town marshal of Abilene, had been pursued by the law after shooting down two members of the Seventh Cavalry in a saloon. One of the strongest recommendations for the job of lawman was a previous reputation as a gun-slick. Would-be troublemakers, hearing such a fellow’s handle, stayed away from any place where that onetime bandit wore a badge. Nowhere is this situation so strikingly depicted than in The Shootist, partly explaining why the film (Wayne’s last) serves as a perfect bookend to his career. In the prologue, a youngster (Ron Howard) sums up the title character’s life. When the boy speaks of the old days, John Book’s early years as an outlaw are depicted via a choice clip from Hondo. As the narrator then recalls Book’s later term as town marshal, we see (not surprisingly) a key moment from Rio Bravo. A landmark film, and not just because it was Wayne’s final Western, The Shootist is the genre-piece that most perfectly captures a paradigm that holds true for both John Wayne’s movie career and Wyatt Earp’s reality: While there were no clear-cut Good Guys and Bad Guys, any one person (or character) may have played either part at certain moments in his journey. In a transitional film—a medium-budget Republic release called The Dark Command (1940)—Wayne portrayed a Kansas lawman who must arrest the young brother of the woman that he loves. In anguish, the young love interest asks how he could do this. Duke drawls: “I took an oath.” That’s that: the Code of the West, pure and simple. Perhaps it was historically true for Wyatt Earp. Clearly, it’s the moral principle on which John Wayne’s mythical lawman hero operates. Douglas Brode is the author of more than 40 books on film including John Wayne’s Way: Life Lessons from the Duke.

Title: Bittersweet Moments(Moments in Time #3) Author: Dori Lavelle Genre: Contemporary Romance Release Date: April 30, 2014 Can the embers of an old life ignite the flames of a new love? Six years ago, Melisa Bergfeld’s husband died. As the grief of losing him tore into her, she lost his last gift to her—their unborn child—and her hopes and dreams turned to ashes. Left with a life she no longer wants, she seeks salvation in a homeless shelter. For a while, that’s more than enough. But when a fire breaks out, in walks the man who will try to save her life—if she’ll let him. Florian “Heat” Dane has left behind a trail of broken hearts in his wake, including pieces of his own. For all the girls he’s used to fill the hole in his heart, there has been just one he could never erase from his memories. But when Melisa married his best friend Scott Bergfeld, he knew she would never be his the way she’d been the one unforgettable night they spent together. Now that she’s back in his life, he will do anything to recapture her heart, even if it means giving away his own. Heat still has the power to ignite passion in Melisa, something she both desires and rejects. He’s a known heartbreaker, and if there is one thing Melisa doesn’t need, it’s another crack in her heart. But when he confesses his love for her, she fears her secrets from the past will surface. And she might be the one to break his heart this time. About The Author Dori Lavelle, is a mother, wife, and a sucker for happy-ever-afters and mint chocolate. Give her a great romance novel and a mug of hot chocolate and she’d be one happy woman. Growing up, Dori read a lot, and when she wasn’t happy with a particular ending, she wrote a different one, just for herself. Before long, she was writing stories when she should have been doing homework. The time has come for her to share the stories she cooks up in her head. Heat placed the flowers on an empty table next to the bed and lowered himself into the only chair in the room. “How are you feeling?” “I’m fine. Just a few burns.” The pain was more bearable now that it was muted by the bandages. He shook his head and the same stubborn lock of his hair brushed across his forehead. “That’s not what the nurse told me. You got some serious burns on your arm.” “You talked to the nurse about me?” Should she be offended or touched? “I was concerned.” “How can you be concerned about someone you haven’t seen in years?” Heat narrowed his eyes. “Whose fault is that? You were not only my best friend’s wife—we were friends… then you disappeared without a trace. What were you thinking, living in a shelter, when you could have come to me for help?” A vein throbbed in his jaw. “I’m not your responsibility. I never was. I’m a grown woman. I can do whatever it is I want.” “Looks like you still have your stubborn streak. Well, it won’t get me off your back. Right now, I’m making you my responsibility. You clearly need help if you’re sleeping in a shelter. And as your friend, I’d like to help.” Anger coursed through Melisa’s body. Not necessarily directed toward him, but at the situation. The fire and seeing Heat brought back memories she’d worked hard to repress, and those memories were making it difficult to be grateful. “I was doing fine all by myself, thank you.” She turned her head to the window. “Can you even afford to pay your medical bills?” Melisa looked down at the bed and said nothing. “That’s what I thought.” Heat’s eyes were the color of thunderclouds as he stood. “You stay in here as long as you have to. I’ll handle it.” He paused, his dark gaze piercing the distance between them. “And when you leave this place, you’ll move in with me until you get back on your feet.” Before Melisa could respond, Heat marched out of the room to handle it, leaving her staring at the door, seething with rage. She felt like throwing something. Maybe the vase of roses?

How do these changes affect the DSO/PC tax structures you have in place? In short, it depends…. Highlights of the Tax Changes The most significant changes are as follows: 1) Corporate tax rates for Personal Service Corporations (PSC’s) and C Corporations were lowered from 35% to 21%. 2) The top individual tax rate was lowered from 39% to 37%. 3) A new deduction was created for pass through entities equal to 20% of qualified business income. 4) For companies with gross revenues greater than $25 million dollars, the deduction for business interest is now limited to 30% of EBITDA (earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization). Current Tax Structures The tax structures of dental practices (PC’s) range from PC’s being taxed as Partnerships to S Corporations and Personal Service Corporations. Entities that are structured as S Corporations and Partnerships are considered pass through entities. As a result the entity’s owners are taxed on the PC’s profits or losses, regardless of whether profits are distributed, on their individual returns. Entities that are taxed as PSC’s incur their own tax at a corporate rate of 35%. In the event that the PSC distributes profits to its owners, the owners would then be taxed on the so called dividend at a rate of 23.8%. This is where the term “double taxation” comes from. Thus under the old law, owners of pass through entities were taxed at 39% and owners of PSC’s were taxed at an effective rate of 50.5%. Tax rates for owners under the new law Pass-through Entities 37.00% Tax on the Corporation 21.00% Dividends Received (Net of Corporate Tax) 18.80 New Tax Rate 39.80% Am I eligible for the 20% deduction? It is worth noting that the 20% deduction for pass through entities is not available for dental practices and potentially service businesses, i.e. management companies, if the owner’s individual taxable incomes exceed a range from $315,000 to $415,000. In those situations where the owners taxable incomes fall within the range above, it may behoove the PC to remain a pass through entity. What is the best type of entity for me? To determine the optimal entity type under the new tax law system, consider the following: A. Will you be able to receive a 20% deduction against the pass through income, i.e. will your taxable income be between $315,000- $415,000. B. How much of the profits of the practice will be distributed over the next 3-5 years?

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