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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55540 | View Single Post
Old 03-19-2012, 04:44 PM #18
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Originally Posted by sergeyvl12 View Post
Please try:
All your comments are fixed + Spanish translation added + some keyboard navigation improvements.
Hello Sergey,
thank you very much for your quick response!.
In "new game" menu, "white" is not translated in Spanish due to my fault. I wrote "es.Blancas" instead of "es:Blancas" in the message.lng file. I am very sorry. If you want to distribute the Spanish translation, this glitch has to be corrected.
As a general comment, the new version 1.2.4 looks much better due to improvements in the menus. Now it is easier to see them due to the bigger fonts, and the checkboxes are also more visible. By the way, what is the function the submenu Contents, inside Base menu?
I recommend this application to anybody that likes the chess and the books Congratulations for your good work
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55542 | CipSoft GmbH
CipSoft GmbH is a German, independent development studio and publishing company of online games. The company was founded in June 2001 by Stephan Börzsönyi, Guido Lübke, Ulrich Schlott and Stephan Vogler.
Previously, the team worked together under the name CIP Productions when they created Tibia (1997)
Also Known As
• CIP Productions (from 1997 to 2001) -- This name was used before CipSoft became an actual company in 2001.
Location & contact information (March 2010):
CipSoft GmbH
Gabelsbergerstraße 11
93047 Regensburg
Email: [email protected]
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55543 | Navy Seal
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Commodore 64
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Take the role of a US Navy SEAL operative and embark in 3 missions involving terrorists, hostages, and the like. The plot is fairly superficial, since each mission is independent from the rest.
Each mission has several "portions" with different types of game mechanics, making the game almost a series of mini-games. Swimming and submarining are among your tasks.
The most predominant type of gameplay, however, consists of side-scrolling arcade action with a realistic basis, so you only have one life and there are no power ups available during missions.
Navy Seal DOS My parachute has been deployed (CGA).
Navy Seal DOS Infiltrate an enemy base (EGA).
Navy Seal DOS Infiltrate mission successful so far... (EGA)
Navy Seal DOS Parachute deployed! (EGA)
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Computer Gaming World (CGW) DOS Jun, 1991 1 Stars1 Stars1 Stars1 Stars1 Stars 20
ASM (Aktueller Software Markt) Commodore 64 Jul, 1989 2 out of 12 17
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Contributed to by Quapil (4733) and Zovni (9330) |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55544 | Knights of the Round (SNES)
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Critic Score
100 point score based on reviews from various critics.
User Score
5 point score based on user ratings.
Knights of the Round Credits
Game DesignBoyoyon, Hachi, K. Suke, NIS 7
Object DesignIkuo Nakayama (Ikusan Z.), Hitoshi Nishio (Tanuki), Inomushi, Jun Matsumura (Jun), Shoei Okano (Sho)
Scroll DesignYoko Fukumoto (Fukumoya), Pooh!, Yuki Kyōtani (Kyochan), Marchan
Music SoundIsao Abe (Oyaji)
ProgramYuzoh Tsunazaki (Ayrton Tsuna !!), Herohero, CKY
Presented byCapcom
Other Games
Shoei Okano, 31 other games
Yoko Fukumoto, 19 other games
Yuki Kyōtani, 17 other games
Ikuo Nakayama, 15 other games
Hitoshi Nishio, 13 other games
Isao Abe, 12 other games
Jun Matsumura, 5 other games
Yuzoh Tsunazaki, 4 other games
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, a group of 5 people
Street Fighter Collection, a group of 5 people
Street Fighter Alpha 3, a group of 5 people
Street Fighter II, a group of 4 people
Darkstalkers 3, a group of 3 people
Marvel vs. Capcom 2, a group of 3 people
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, a group of 3 people
Credits for this game were contributed by りき Hideto (22089), Evil Ryu (58048) and ryanbus84 (10444) |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55545 |
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5 point score based on user ratings.
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Overall User Score (7 votes) 4.4
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Adventure Gamers
Having just played Dreamfall about a month ago, I replay KQV and think "Wow, how far we've come." Even so, King's Quest V was a huge technical accomplishment for its time. The improved graphics, the point-and-click interface, and even the less-than-stellar voiceover represented a big leap from the adventure games of yesterday to those of today. It's a shame the storytelling didn't also evolve, because if it had, the game would be a winner all around. As it stands, Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder is a worthwhile stop on the King's Quest fan's walking tour through the series, but it's a fairly annoying game on its own merits. Never fear, though, because with King's Quest VI still ahead of us, the best is yet to come. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55546 | Outpost Kaloki (Windows)
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A space-station tycoon game with a story mode and a goofy sense of humor. The Hero (that's his name) manages space stations, and is randomly warped all over the galaxy in his quest to save and hopefully get a date with the imperial princess Bethyni.
Space station expansions include such oddities as singles lines, bars, parks, and solar windmills. Basic gameplay is to make money off of visitors and reach various profit and building goals within a time limit.
Outpost Kaloki Windows The president (the big fish ship) drops by to see how the station is doing.
Outpost Kaloki Windows Hanging out at the jungle station.
Outpost Kaloki Windows Here come the asteroids! It's tough to keep stations profitable during an asteroid shower.
Outpost Kaloki Windows Princess Bethyni Comes Home...
Alternate Titles
• "Аванпост Галактики" -- Russian spelling
• "Weltraum Tycoon: Outpost Kaloki" -- German title
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Binary Joy Mar 06, 2007 4.5 Stars4.5 Stars4.5 Stars4.5 Stars4.5 Stars 90
Bytten Mar 11, 2004 88 out of 100 88
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Adam Helps (16) added Outpost Kaloki (Windows) on Oct 28, 2004 |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55548 | With this mod you can play all the factions you want in the campaign mode. It makes Macedon, Pontus, Armenia, Dacia, Numidia, Scythia, Spain and Thrace playable. Installation: 1. Make a backup of your RTW folder, you might as well make a backup of the file you are replacing. 2. Go to RTW/data/world/maps/campaign/imperial_campaign there you'll see a file named descr_strat. 3. Open All Factions Playable.zip. 4. Drag the descr_strat in the All Factions Playable.zip in imperial_campaign. 5. Click copy and replace, and you're done!!
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55572 | Following other people's rules - Mothering Forums
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#1 of 10 Old 08-11-2013, 04:38 PM - Thread Starter
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So, at my house, my rules are pretty lax when it comes to eating and sitting still at the table. My kids are allowed to walk away in the middle of the meal and pretty much do what they want while eating. Our meal times are free and they can spend as long as they want to finish. I do it this way, because we struggle with our son's eating habits as he is a picky eater.
As a mother who is alone most of the time, this seems like the method that works best for us. (My hubby is often working during dinner time).
Anyways, we spent our vacation time (one month) with my sister and she has very strict rules at the dinner table. No one can get up until everyone is finished eating and they must eat everything on their plate. My kids are not used to this and I want to know how to handle this situation where our dinner time rules differ from our host.
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#2 of 10 Old 08-11-2013, 05:01 PM
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I would pick which of her rules you can find a way to say yes to. Sitting until everyone is done seems the easy one to me. And have a serious private chat about being a guest - never saying yuck and trying to taste everything and saying thank you for cooking for me! Kids already know different rules apply in school, at friends, etc so they'll feel it. Good luck!
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#3 of 10 Old 08-11-2013, 05:08 PM
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I think there has been a very similar thread recently, you might want to check that for ideas as well.
I wouldn't enforce the finish-everything rule, but I'd make them say at the table.
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#4 of 10 Old 08-12-2013, 03:43 PM
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A month, wow! Ways to handle this depend mostly on how old your kids are, IMO.
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#5 of 10 Old 08-12-2013, 07:26 PM
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When we are with people who require kids to eat all on their plate I make sure to prepare my dd for that and give her only small servings of things I am sure she will like or at least be able to eat without fuss. I agree with deciding on the expectation you want them to follow and telling them, maybe practicing it a bit before going. I think that the one that will be the biggest is staying at the table without playing around until most people are done, I wouldn't require them to stay while one child is picking at their food slowly though.
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#6 of 10 Old 08-13-2013, 05:20 AM
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Wow, after a month you and your sister might 'hate each other'.........(you know what I mean) wink1.gif. But we've been thru something niece sounds like your problems, long time to eat, etc......But for some reason, when she comes to my house, she's actually excited to follow our rules......she loves the 'structure'...........So first, don't child may do what the cousins are doing ------and second, it's your sister, Sisters always know what's going on.......she knows how your child eats, etc and something as simple as talking with her about meals can help................I'd try to have your kids stay at the table while everyone is eating (maybe create a kids table).......but don't be afraid to tell your own kids, "aunt mary has her own rules for cousin tom and cousin sara, but you still need to follow my rules........".......and your sister can tell her kids the same thing. Good Luck.
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#7 of 10 Old 08-13-2013, 08:40 AM
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If you have a different rule that is more restrictive than your sister's rules, you might mention that a bit. Like- "I expect you not to put your feet on the couch even if Billy is allowed to. Just like Aunt Mary expects cousin Billy to finish his food, families have different rules for what is important to them." Then it comes across as families following their own rules in each others presence, not you defying your sister's household rules. You could also go the other way about a rule of your own and say, "I think that since we're staying with Aunt Mary and we are all doing things a bit differently together, you may play catch inside the house. But when we get home we still have the rule of no throwing balls in the house."
Modeling give and take on rules that can be changed vs family rules that are always in effect might help smooth things over.
No way would I make my kid finish their plate due to someone else's rules. I would make sure to give portions that meant the kid was likely to finish everything, but I wouldn't enforce that rule and I wouldn't let my sister enforce that rule for my kid. She could enforce rules about household safety, etc.
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#8 of 10 Old 08-13-2013, 10:25 AM
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How close are you with your sister? Seems to me the two of you should reach a compromise in rules before this starts.
For what it's worth, since it is your sister's house, I do think many if not most of her rules should be respected and followed. BUT you do have kids used to certain things. A total 180 rule switch will just cause chaos for both parties.
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#9 of 10 Old 08-13-2013, 12:35 PM
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I would go for a compromise. For instance, in my house, the deal breaker would be leaving the table with food or drinks.
For us, the meal is over once you leave the table (unless it's to get something or use the restroom)
But, I might compromise on that a little.
I think there's a happy medium here. Walking around with food is not ok here. Even if the child hasn't eaten in a month, if they are hungry enough, they'll do it at the table. But, I think kids can learn different rules, and still survive, and things might even improve by being exposed to differences.
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#10 of 10 Old 08-13-2013, 02:39 PM
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I'd probably try to compromise where I could. No way would I make my kids eat everything on their plates, but I might agree to have them stay at the table. And I'd warn them ahead of time, "Aunt Katie has a rule that everyone has to stay at the table until everyone is finished eating, so while we're visiting her, you will have to sit at the table even when you're done eating." And that might be easier than you think. I don't have a rule like that at home, but when we've been at someone's home where they do have that rule, my kids seem to naturally follow the lead of the kids in the house.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55577 | Skip to main content
Based on 10 Critics
critic reviews ( 3 )
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• This is a fresh and cheerful movie with a goofy sense of humor and a good ear for how teenagers talk. show more
• The premise is ordinary, but the film is distinguished by funny gags and excellent performances by Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall. show more
• Screenwriter John Hughes, making his directing debut, is at his best when he empathizes with the sensitivity in the ugly-duckling Ringwald and Hall characters. [04 May 1984] show more
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One the best summer romance movies of it's time. Luv Molly Ringwold.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55578 | Love & Other Drugs premieres in New York
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November 17th, 2010
Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal took to the red carpet last night (16.11.10) at the New York premiere of their new movie 'Love & Other Drugs'.
The actress and the actor - who play lovers in the romantic comedy - posed for pictures and chatted with audience members at the 2010 New York Variety Screening Series at AMC Loews 19th Street East 6 Theatre.
In the movie - which follows the story of a pharmaceutical salesman played by Jake who meets his match in Anne's character, an alluring free spirit who won't let anyone tie her down - Jake and Anne have a raunchy love scene and the handsome star says he did his best to "protect" his co-star because he didn't want her to feel like a sex object.
He said: "It's a naturally awkward thing to be having fake cinematic sex with anybody, so I feel like with an actress when you're on a set and dealing with what is usually a majority of men on a movie set, I always feel like it's my responsibility to kind of protect and make sure that she feels comfortable because they tend to be more objectified.
"So I'd tease her and was always like, 'Where do you want me to go? What do you want me to do?' Anne was always like, 'You do your thing and I'll do my thing. I'm fine on my own!' "
The film opens in the US tomorrow (18.11.10). |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55590 | Thinking of having an abortion
(11 Posts)
Guava Fri 22-Jun-12 23:26:33
How would you feel if you had secondary infertility later and found you couldn't then conceive again?
RoxyRobin Sun 17-Jun-12 09:25:31
I've learnt from my long experience that, as John Lennon says in 'Beautiful Boy', "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".
I've always tried to overplan my life, but things have so often not turned out as I expected - and often it's worked out better than if things had gone according to my master plan.
Also, I'm the mother of an only child. Parents who intend only to have the one offspring - often because they feel that whilst one is copeable with, a second would disrupt their life - have cited me and my now grown-up son as a good model, because he is charming, sociable and has done well for himself.
But this only-child situation came about less through choice than by accident, and there is hardly a day when I don't find myself wishing that I'd had another child. For his sake as well as my own - I have three sisters and though we still argue after all these years I'm very glad they're there for me when I need them. I don't contradict the parents who've used me as a good example because they've already made their decision, but I feel like begging them to have another one because they'll only regret it.
It seems to me that if you and your DH were intending to have another baby it might make sense to go ahead and embrace this pregnancy, as you put it. You're making the assumption that at some future date when you are 'ready' you will be able to conceive a child without any problem, and it does seem likely since you've become pregant easily enough now. However, it's never 100% certain that it will all be plain sailing.
But this is just my take on the situation. As other posters have pointed out, you still have some time to get over the unexpectedness of the news and get to the bottom of how you really feel.
NimpyWindowMash Sun 17-Jun-12 08:37:48
My second child was unplanned and we just shrugged and got on with it. I felt a bit annoyed that I hadn't been able to plan things. But abortion is fairly drastic in these circumstances. The emotional fall out could be devastating.
If you are planning more children at some stage then having an abortion now seems quite perverse.
Take your time. Have a think about other possibilities for escaping the domestic drudgery. You could still go back to work once you've had the baby.
RationalBrain Sun 17-Jun-12 08:17:22
Can you afford to use a nursery a couple of mornings a week, even if you aren't working? Just to give you a break? Or lots of pre-schools take 2-2.5year olds.
It sounds more like you need some time to get your head round this, and think of ways to deal with the practicalities, plus to make sure you don't get lost in the baby years for another 2 years - any online courses or working from home you could look at?
Cbell Sun 17-Jun-12 07:57:25
I should add I have no ethical dilemmas regarding abortion.
At the moment I feel uninspired and detached from this pregnancy. However after having asked the question of what it's like to have two children I quite like the idea of DD having a sibling to grow-up and play with. Apparently the first year is the hardest.
Cbell Sat 16-Jun-12 20:41:42
My initial reaction was good. We'd just got back from holiday and DD had been ill so we were both feeling drained but I guess I just thought 'oh we'll baby has come earlier than planned'. There was a lot of doubt about the feasibility go the pregnancy because of the coil which wasn't cleared up until four days after the initial pt. during this time I tried hard not to think about having a baby as I was fully expecting something to go wrong- not sure if this was my get out clause or just protecting myself from bonding with a baby that might not stay around.
However as the week passed on and after a tough weekend of independent childcare I just started to slip away from he whole idea of having a baby. This became even worse during the week- I seriously thought I was having some knd of breakdown. Now I am trying to think about having the baby because I do want another child and a sibling for DD. i feel like I am trying to conquer the situation with reason. My DH will support me with whatever I decide. He wouldn't sacrifice my happiness but we both knw we want more children.
Just struggling with the whole 'I was going to have a baby when I was ready but now it's here and i need to try and adjust my feelings. Rambling incoherence, sorry
Blu Sat 16-Jun-12 20:01:25
Is this an actual ethical dilemma for you, or do you simply not quite know what to do / how to make a decision? The two are not necessarily the same thing.
You too contraceptive measures, you feel pressed, and dark, you feel you didn't want a where and what is the doubt? Can you identify that?
Many people seem to feel a small thrill at being accidentally pg if they want a baby - feel any of that when you found out?
What does your DH think? Is his reaction making you feel even more trapped, one way or the other?
onemorebite Sat 16-Jun-12 19:47:12
Hi Op - as Ace says, an abortion is really difficult and for some women traumatic - for a long time. It really is important to understand that you can go back to work, even if the baby is quite small, if that is what you want to do. Somehow, with the second child there is (at least was for me) less need to feel you have to give over your whole life to being a mother.
I really do think that you should only have an abortion if you are 100% certain that you don't want a child. And I suspect, if you were that certain you wouldn't be posting here.
happydotcom Sat 16-Jun-12 10:31:45
Hi, I've been there too. It's not an easy decision to make.
Please feel free to PM me if need be.
AceOfBase Thu 14-Jun-12 17:17:33
At 7 weeks you still have time to get your head around it before you decide. Abortion in any circumstance is hard emotionally whether its a wanted pregnancy or not. You really need to sort your feelings out before you do anything as if you do terminate too soon you may well regret that decision. I have been there and I know how hard that decision is so please if you need to vent feel free to use me. Just don't rush into anything.
Cbell Thu 14-Jun-12 16:54:19
I am 7 weeks pregnant. Obviously unplanned as I though I had a coil fitted. I'm married to a lovely DH and have a DD (17 months). We'd talked about having baby number two but were waiting until we 'wanted' a child as our first very much was. My reaction to this pregnancy has not been good. I went to see a counsellor yesterday which was of some help but has not helped me answer to question as to whether I want another baby now.
My reasons for not are entirely selfish. I was thinking that my DD would start PT child care at around two years and that I'd work pt. I've loved my time at home and have been wonderfully content but now with the prospect of a second I feel trapped by the tedium of child care and housework. Everything feels pressing and dark.
I would like in many ways to embrace this pregnancy but can't shake the feeling that I just didn't want a baby ....yet. Which feels hopelessly vague.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55615 | Movie tech: How 'Gravity' threw Sandra Bullock into zero gravity
Sandra Bullock and George Clooney seem to float effortlessly in "Gravity," a terror-filled tale of two shuttle astronauts set adrift by a space disaster. But getting that zero-gravity effect to work took years of effort and million-dollar innovations.
The first thing to get out of the way is that there are SPOILERS AHEAD. The second thing is to acknowledge that this is a fictional movie, not a physics lesson.
"There are places where they went against the science input that they got, because it blows up their story," Kevin Grazier, a planetary scientist who served as an adviser for "Gravity," told NBC News. "You have a choice. You can either say 'You can get to the ISS from here,' or you have a movie like 'Open Water' in space. That's a different movie, and that's not what they were shooting for."
So we won't dwell on how hard it would be to get from the Hubble Space Telescope to the International Space Station. That orbit-crossing trek is one of the movie's key plot points, but in reality it's virtually impossible — which led to huge logistical complications for NASA's final Hubble servicing mission.
We won't discuss how unlikely it would be for the planned shootdown of a satellite to cause an immediate catastrophe for a space shuttle. (Though it's important to note that the cascading effect of orbital debris, also known as the Kessler Syndrome, is a real concern — as the Russians found out this year.)
And we won't worry about the fact that the space shuttles aren't flying anymore. ("It's a typical historical drama," Grazier said.) If it's nitpicking you're after, check out the critiques from Time, The New York Times and Blastr.
Instead, we'll focus on how director Alfonso Cuaron and his team made Bullock and Clooney look good in zero gravity — so good that "Avatar" director James Cameron says "Gravity" is "the best space film ever done."
The work that went into pulling off that feat started years ago. Early on, the filmmakers decided to map out the entire movie with computer-generated imagery in a process they called previsualization, or "previs."
Animators adhered to the rules of objects in weightlessness as they previsualized the film, shot by shot, using highly detailed computer graphics. "We had to relearn physics, since we were all used to motion arcs that are determined by weight," senior animation supervisor David Shirk said in the movie's production notes. "We had to forget all that."
The animation shaped the actors' performances. "The live action was limited by what was preprogrammed in the previs. ... Due to the technological process, the margin for improvisation and spontaneity was very small, which added to the challenge for Sandra and George," Cuaron said.
Underwater and on a wire
But how do you get Sandra and George into zero-gravity mode? The weightless scenes in "Apollo 13" were filmed in short takes during parabolic airplane flights, which provide about a half-minute of weightlessness at a time. Those potentially nausea-inducing flights weren't an option for "Gravity" — in part because Cuaron was going for longer takes, and in part because Bullock has a deathly fear of flying.
"When we told her that that wasn't going to be [using] the system, and we have these other sets of tools, she didn't care how painful the other tools were," Cuaron told
For some scenes, the actors were filmed as they swam through their moves underwater. For others, they were hooked up with a 12-wire suspension system, and then filmed with robotic cameras while puppeteers pulled their strings. (The harness for the wires had to be made just right to fit under Sandra Bullock's skivvies.) Still other scenes were shot while the actors perched on a variety of rigs set up on a turntable.
In the Light Box
The filmmakers' most innovative tool was the Light Box: a 20-foot-high (6-meter-high), boxy enclosure outfitted on the inside with 4,096 LED bulbs. Those lights could be programmed to project moving images of Earth and space. When the actors were locked up inside, computer-controlled robotic cameras captured close-ups under just the right lighting conditions — even for the scenes where Bullock looks as if she's spinning out of control. In reality, it's the light patterns that are spinning around her.
The Light Box was the brainchild of "Gravity" cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and visual-effects supervisor Tim Webber. "When the Light Box came together, I knew it was not only going to be the way I could light 'Gravity,' but would impact the way I light movies for years to come," Lubezki said.
Webber said the contraption also showed the actors what their characters were seeing during the scene being shot. "It was primarily so we could reflect the appropriate light on them, but it had the double benefit of being a visual reference for them, too," he said.
Image: "Gravity" scene
Director Alfonso Cuaron discusses a scene with "Gravity" stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney.
Putting it all together
The computer-generated animations and the live-action clips were blended together in post-production. All traces of wires, rigs and harnesses were digitally removed, and more special effects were added in. The result is so seamless that you see Bullock's panic-stricken face loom through a computer-generated helmet visor as she slingshots from the computer-generated depths of space to an extreme closeup.
In the production notes, Webber said one of the biggest challenges was rendering the mist from the characters' breath on those helmet visors. "In reality, you wouldn't see as much breath on the visor because the systems in the suits keep the air very dry, but for us it was a visual indication of their tension," he said.
Grazier, who has been a consultant on Hollywood projects ranging from "Battlestar Galactica" to "Defiance," said science-fiction filmmakers seem to be paying increasing attention to the details. Even if they don't always obey the laws of physics, they still want the Right Stuff on the screen. That's why Cuaron and his team sought advice from Grazier as well as NASA astronauts Andy Thomas, Shannon Walker and Cady Coleman.
"They did their homework," Grazier said of the filmmakers. "They wanted to know which direction the switches went, which way the hatches opened."
Grazier said the stakes are likely to rise even higher as moviegoers become savvier about their sci-fi.
"Hollywood and science are starting to butt together more, partly because we're starting to lose our suspension of disbelief," Grazier told NBC News. "If an idea gets out that a movie is silly because this doesn't work, or that doesn't look right, that can affect your bottom line."
More about 'Gravity':
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55617 | @techreport{NBERt0280, title = "Identification and Inference in Nonlinear Difference-In-Differences Models", author = "Susan Athey and Guido W. Imbens", institution = "National Bureau of Economic Research", type = "Working Paper", series = "Technical Working Paper Series", number = "280", year = "2002", month = "September", doi = {10.3386/t0280}, URL = "http://www.nber.org/papers/t0280", abstract = {This paper develops an alternative approach to the widely used Difference-In-Difference (DID) method for evaluating the effects of policy changes. In contrast to the standard approach, we introduce a nonlinear model that permits changes over time in the effect of unobservables (e.g., there may be a time trend in the level of wages as well as the returns to skill in the labor market). Further, our assumptions are independent of the scaling of the outcome. Our approach provides an estimate of the entire counterfactual distribution of outcomes that would have been experienced by the treatment group in the absence of the treatment, and likewise for the untreated group in the presence of the treatment. Thus, it enables the evaluation of policy interventions according to criteria such as a mean-variance tradeoff. We provide conditions under which the model is nonparametrically identified and propose an estimator. We consider extensions to allow for covariates and discrete dependent variables. We also analyze inference, showing that our estimator is root-N consistent and asymptotically normal. Finally, we consider an application.}, } |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55620 | TY - JOUR AU - Aizenman,Joshua TI - New Activities, the Welfare Cost of Uncertainty and Investment Policies JF - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series VL - No. 5825 PY - 1996 Y2 - November 1996 DO - 10.3386/w5825 UR - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5825 L1 - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5825.pdf N1 - Author contact info: Joshua Aizenman Economics and SIR USC University Park Los Angeles, CA 90089-0043 Tel: 213-740-4066 E-Mail: [email protected] AB - This paper studies the effect of policy uncertainty on the formation of new activities in Romer's (1994) type of an economy, where productivity of labor increases with the number of capital goods. Adding a new capital good requires a capital specific set-up cost, invested prior to using the capital good. Agents are disappointment averse, putting greater utility weight on downside risk [as modeled by Gul (1991)]. Policy uncertainty is induced by the Disappointment aversion implies that investment, labor and capitalists' income drop at a rate proportional to the standard deviation of the tax rate. Hence, policy uncertainty induces first-order adverse effects, whereas policy uncertainty leads to second-order effects when consumers maximize the conventional expected utility. The adverse effects of policy uncertainty can be partially overcome by a proper investment policy. The paper interprets the tax concessions granted to multinationals as a commitment device that helps overcoming the adverse implications of policy uncertainty. ER - |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55672 | October 17th, 2012
Lard, Cheese and the Rewards of an Unhealthy Childhood
By Oscar Barajas, NewsTaco
My parents would pacify my sister and me with hamburgers whenever we pulled off A’s in B’s in report cards or if we sat through Sunday service without incident. Needless to say, I performed for the promise of a Big Mac rather than academic achievement. I would ask my teacher for extra credit assignments, when I sensed that report cards were right around the corner. As far as church was concerned, I think my parents were setting my sister and me up for failure. There is no way you can hope for two kids to sit still in church without air conditioning. I would start off well enough. I would sing my hardest. I would shake hands with everyone two rows ahead and behind me. However, just as thoughts of those burgers began to cement in my head, my sister and I would start messing around with each other like making fart sounds during the hymns. This would cause my mother to take the law into her own hands and start pinching us and whispering the kind of threats where even God disassociates from you.
However, there was even a burger hierarchy. If I reached my potential, we would go celebrate it at McDonald’s, but if I merely tapped into my potential, we would go to the local burger shop. I was putting away Big Macs since I was four years old, but my heart and gut would always belong to those little holes in the wall where everyone knew your name but would still refer to you by the color of your shirt.
Things like pizza were always out of the question. My father had some sort of mistrust of pizza. He always saw it as an overglorified quesadilla with salty boloney on top. There was no way he was going to spend ten dollars on that. Besides, we lived in what the pizza place considered a neighborhood of ill repute. Their solution was that my family waited for them at the gas station located on the corner of my house. The only problem was that if you waited inside the gas station without buying anything, the man behind the counter would kick you out for loitering. However, if you were outside, there was a good chance one of the local neighborhood gang members would roll up on you and take your ten dollars or the freshly delivered pizza. It was a no win situation because my father would demand that I go back into the street and wrestle the gang member for either the pizza or the safe return of his money.
I never got any of the pizzas back that we lost, and it goes without mentioning that the money was lost, and in the end my mom would end up covering it all up with the consolation prize – beans. They always tasted like second place. They tasted like ashes in my mouth, but that could have just been the lard they were basted in.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55762 | retrieved discs from Ice at Hornings Page Title Module
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• retrieved discs from Ice at Hornings
Retrieved three discs for the ice at the upper pond, heard that there was four but one must have sank. One has been already returned (had name & phone) the other two has no name or phone. Describe them and they're yours (as long as there is also a beer coming this way, ale prefered, after all, had to get a boat out to get them )
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Of Mice and Memory
Classroom Activity
Activity Summary
Students make a model of the human brain and use it to map the brain structures that govern different functions and behaviors.
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
• explain that the brain is divided into distinct functional sections.
• relate the various parts of the brain to the functions they control.
• identify the parts of the brain most commonly associated with Alzheimer's.
• explain how Alzheimer's-related changes in the brain affect mood, memory, and behavior.
Suggested Time
One class period
Materials for each team
• 1 head of cauliflower, cut into equal halves
• food coloring (package containing enough basic colors for mixing)
• cotton swabs
• toothpicks
• pad of sticky notes
• scissors
• paper towels
• sheet of blank paper
• ice cube tray or stack of 3 oz. paper cups
• small cup of water
• plastic knives
• Modeling the Brain student handout
The NOVA scienceNOW segment Of Mice and Memory reveals that Alzheimer's disease erodes people's memories and changes their personalities. By destroying brain cells, Alzheimer's disrupts normal patterns of communication between neurons. This, in turn, affects the actions and behaviors governed by the region of the brain where neurons have been destroyed. Scientists are still searching for the causes of Alzheimer's, but a substantial body of evidence suggests that, in the early phases of the disease, destruction of cells in one specific region—the hippocampus—explains much of the memory loss associated with Alzheimer's.
Your students may be surprised to learn that, rather than being one big mass of tissue, the brain is made of distinct, specialized regions that govern different functions in the body. Recent advances in imaging techniques have allowed researchers to pinpoint the regions of the brain that are active when people perform a range of tasks. These techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) scanning, show regions of brain activity by detecting areas of increased cellular metabolism in the brain. In other words, these types of scans highlight which parts of the brain are "working" by identifying areas where brain cells are breaking down nutrients to produce energy. These devices can detect this higher energy level as well as areas of increased blood flow. Such scans can also help scientists detect differences in brain activity between healthy individuals and those with illnesses such as Alzheimer's.
You may need to remind your students that, just like the other organs of the body, the brain is an organ made up of specialized cells. In the brain, there are two types of specialized cells: neurons—cells that are specialized for receiving and transmitting information, and glial cells—"supporting" cells that allow the neurons to function properly. Also remind students that all cells, including neurons, contain the genetic material DNA inside a structure called the nucleus. Scientists like David Sweatt, who is featured in the video, are exploring how processes that affect DNA inside brain cells may contribute to memory formation.
In this activity, your students will build a model of the brain and learn about the structures associated with various brain functions. They also will research how Alzheimer's-related damage to different brain regions affects mood, memory, or behavior. You may wish to have the class do this activity before they watch the video to help familiarize students with the connections between brain structure and function.
Procedure Before the Lesson
• Plan to have computer access for each pair or small group of students; this activity requires students to have access to several educational Web sites.
• Obtain enough heads of cauliflower so that each student pair or group will have one head to work with. (Grocery stores often discard unsold produce; your local grocery store may be willing to give you unused cauliflower or to make a donation to your class.) NOTE: To cut costs, you may choose to have students work in groups of four. Within the group, each pair of students can work on one half of a cauliflower and then compare their halves to make a full model of the brain. You also may choose to have students build their structures from modeling dough, which you can make ahead of time from simple ingredients including flour, water, and salt.
• Assemble other materials for each group of students.
• Print enough copies of the Modeling the Brain student handout (PDF) for each student.
• On class computers, bookmark the Web pages 3-D Brain Anatomy, Human Brain Map, Symptoms: Recognizing Alzheimer's, and Of Mice and Memory.
The Lesson
1. Give each student a copy of the Modeling the Brain handout. Have them read the introductory paragraph. Discuss the Brain Structure and Function table and the names of the brain structures and regions with the class before they begin the activity.
2. Next, divide the class into pairs (or groups). Have each group visit the Web sites 3-D Brain Anatomy and Human Brain Map.
3. Tell students to use the information at these Web sites to complete the "Function" column of the Brain Structure and Function table on their Modeling the Brain handouts. You may need to explain to the class that the Web sites portray the brain in slightly different ways. 3-D Brain Anatomy shows them a 3-D brain model that they can rotate in every direction, while Human Brain Map shows a cross section of the brain, roughly analogous to the interior of the cauliflower halves they are using as models.
4. Provide each pair or group with the materials. Have groups assign a unique color to each structure or region on the Brain Structure and Function table. They may paint these colors directly on the table as a key.
5. Have students paint their cauliflower brains, following the color keys they established. They will paint a total of 10 different parts of the brain.
6. Next, have teams write the name of each brain region and its associated functions on sticky notes. Have them make toothpick flags with these notes and stick them into the corresponding "brain" structures on their cauliflower model.
Note: Students will need to mix food colorings so they will have enough colors for the different regions of the brain. They may use the wells of the ice cube trays or separate paper cups to mix colors. Painting the cauliflower works best with a slightly moistened cotton swab. Also, have students use undiluted food coloring. The colors do not adhere well if the food coloring is diluted with water.
7. Have teams display their work for others to see.
8. Finally, have students watch the segment Of Mice and Memory. When they have completed the segment, ask them to make predictions about how Alzheimer's-related changes to particular brain regions may affect mood, memory, or behavior. They should write their predictions in the fourth column of the Brain Structure and Function table.
9. Have students compare their predictions with the information they will find on the Web site Symptoms: Recognizing Alzheimer's. The Web site does not include all the regions of the brain listed in the table—Alzheimer's typically follows a pattern in which it begins in the hippocampus and later develops in the lobes of the cerebrum.
10. Ask students to answer the questions on the handout.
As an extension, you may have students model Alzheimer's-related changes in the brain. Project the image found at Your Brain on the board and discuss three of the physical changes that take place inside the brain of a person with Alzheimer's. Have students use this visual as a guide as they carve one of the halves of their cauliflower brain model in a way that simulates the cell loss associated with Alzheimer's. Compare these halves with the original halves. What differences do they see?
As an additional extension, lead a discussion about how cell loss accounts for some of the changes in mood, memory, and behavior associated with Alzheimer's disease. You may wish to emphasize that just as all the organs in your body need to work together to keep you alive, all the regions of the brain must work together to help you carry out many of the activities you perform every day. What might happen when some of those regions begin to deteriorate?
1. In this model, what does the cauliflower represent? Why is it sliced in half?
The cauliflower represents the shape and structures of the human brain. It is sliced in half to facilitate labeling of the structures in the brain's interior; these are not visible from the outer surface.
2. The actions that are part of making and eating a sandwich require a lot of input from your brain. Describe some of the steps involved in these processes, and indicate which major regions of the brain would be activated for each step.
Use the table below as a rough guide; student answers will vary.
Lobes of the cerebrum Active in reasoning and thinking about how to make a sandwich; planning the steps in making a sandwich; moving and orienting around the kitchen to gather ingredients and supplies; processing visual information about ingredients
Cerebellum Maintaining balance while standing at the counter or table and while walking around the kitchen
Brain stem Regulating body movement, posture, and eye movement while looking for ingredients and equipment to make a sandwich
Limbic system Remembering how to make a sandwich; sending hunger signals
3. Scientists suggest that destruction of brain cells, especially in the hippocampus, causes some of the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Explain why destruction of the cells in the hippocampus might account for some of the memory loss associated with Alzheimer's.
The hippocampus is the brain region associated with memory and learning. Destroying the cells in this region may destroy the memories formed there.
4. What are some limitations of using models to study scientific concepts? What are some strengths? Your answers should include a reference to the cauliflower/brain activity.
Limitations: Models can't show processes or activity; models can oversimplify actual biological structures.
Strengths: models offer an easy way to visualize structures that might otherwise be hard to see; in this activity, the model helped show that the brain isn't just one solid, undifferentiated structure as it's sometimes represented in textbooks.
Activity Answer
Suggested answers for the Brain Structure and Function table :
Brain Structure/System Region Function Changes in mood or behavior with Alzheimer's-related changes in region
cerebrum (also called cerebral cortex) frontal lobe reasoning; speech; planning; movement; emotions; problem solving Losing the ability to plan or begin new activities
parietal lobe movement and orientation; recognition; perception of stimuli Becoming lost or disoriented; confusing common household objects
occipital lobe visual processing Losing ability to recognize people and faces
temporal lobe perception and recognition of auditory stimuli, memory, and speech Losing ability to remember words; occasionally "hearing things" (auditory hallucinations)
cerebellum (has two hemispheres) movement; posture; balance (students are not asked to fill in this cell)
brain stem (made up of the medulla, pons and midbrain) basic processes such as heart rate, breathing, digestion, and body temperature; also monitors hunger, thirst, and aspects of the sleep cycle. Changes in sleep patterns; later in the disease, breathing and heart rate may be affected.
limbic system thalamus sensory processing and movement (students are not asked to fill in this cell)
hypothalamus body temperature; hunger; thirst; circadian rhythms Losing short-term memory and ability to learn new things; confusion
amygdala basic emotions such as fear Expressing unusual or inappropriate behaviors
hippocampus learning and memory Losing short-term memory and ability to learn new things; confusion.
Use the following rubric to assess each team's work.
Excellent Satisfactory Needs improvement
Brain model
• Students use resources effectively to answer the activity questions and to build their models.
• Students show ability to integrate information from multiple resources and are able to answer additional questions about brain structure and function.
• Students need assistance while using resources and have difficulty integrating information from more than one resource.
• Students only partially complete the Brain Structure and Function table.
• Students have difficulty connecting the resources to the model-building activity or to the activity questions, or make little effort to create a brain model.
• Students cannot integrate information from multiple resources to correctly complete the Brain Structure and Function table.
"Of Mice and Memory" aligns with the following National Science Education Standards (see
Grades 9-12
Life Science
The behavior of organisms
Science and Technology
Understandings about science and technology
Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
Personal and Community Health
Classroom Activity Author
Jennifer Cutraro and WGBH Educational Outreach Staff
Jennifer Cutraro has 12 years of experience in science writing and education. She has written text and ancillaries for Houghton Mifflin, K12, and Delta Education and has taught science and environmental education at science centers across the country. She also contributes news and feature stories about science and health to media outlets including The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, Science News for Kids and Scholastic Science World.
Teacher's Guide
NOVA scienceNOW: Of Mice and Memory
Website3-D Brain Anatomy Shockwave Interactive
WebsiteHuman Brain Map Flash Interactive
WebsiteSymptoms: Recognizing Alzheimer's Web site
WebsiteOf Mice and Memory QuickTime or Windows Media video
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55877 |
If you're like most people in the market for a new desktop, you're not overly impressed by mind-bending processing speed. And you could probably care less whether your new machine's got six usb ports or eight. You don't need—or want to spring for—-pricey add-ons. All you're looking for is a reasonably powerful, functional desktop. One you can rely on to get you through the day. Oh, and a little bit of style thrown in might be nice too.
Just how much desktop does $1,000 buy you these days? Well, for starters, it'll get you the HP Compaq dx2200 Business Desktop PC, If your needs are modest and your budget's tight, this is a basic, clerical PC. It's Vista-compatible, and the Intel 5 Series (Pentium 4) processor ought to take you to the places you need to go for the next few years. The catch? Well, without upgrades the dx2200 is compatible only with Vista Basic (or business without the graphics). But at only $709 with a 17-inch LCD monitor, this desktop slides in as an Editors' Choice.
Then there's the Acer Aspire L310. At $849 (direct), the L310 makes a decent showing. It concedes a bit in the graphics performance and expandability departments because of its compact size, but as seen with other mini PCs such as the Mac mini, many users need only simple 3D capabilities for routine PC use. You also might want to check out the capable, compact HP Pavilion Slimline s3020n. With an AMD Athlon 64 X2 processor and a Pocket Media Drive bay, the $580 (direct) s3020n is reasonably priced for a dual-core PC.
The Dell Dimension E521 (Vista) also packs a dual-core, AMD Athlon 64 X2 processor, discrete graphics, and 2GB of memory, making for a good Vista experience. The E521 goes for $834 (direct)—$1,064 if you want the 20-inch LCD Widescreen.
Admittedly, these desktops aren't the thoroughbreds, but sometimes, all you really need is a reliable workhorse for a price that won't make college tuition look like chump change. Take 'em outta the box and start computing without a second thought to buyer's remorse.
Reviewed in this Roundup:
HP Compaq dx2200 Business Desktop PCHP Compaq dx2200 Business Desktop PC ($709 direct)
If your business needs a basic clerical PC, this desktop is it. It's (barely) Vista-compatible, and has the upgrade space to take you to the places you need to go for the next few years.
Acer Aspire L310Acer Aspire L310 ($849 direct)
A small-form-factor PC in the HP Slimline and Mac mini vein, the Acer Aspire L310 is one to consider for design mavens and the space-constrained user.
Full SetHP Pavilion Slimline s3020n ($580 direct)
Dell Dimension E521Dell Dimension E521 (Vista) ($834 direct)
Dual-core CPU, discrete graphics, 2GB of memory and a large, fast hard drive equal a good Vista experience. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55880 | Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites
By Kyle Monson
Sick of hearing and reading about the social-networking revolution? Then steer clear of Mashable, a blog devoted to covering MySpace, Facebook, and their ilk. Mashable reports on the exploding world of social-networking apps and features. It’s a top-notch news resource for Web 2.0 developers and even MySpace users who want to pimp their page with the latest plug-ins.
Check out the 2011 version of our Top 100 Websites story.
83 / 100
the lg g4 is here!
Want a chance to win one?
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55911 | note blahblahblah This will happen when you call a sub with an ampersand but without any parentheses, like the following: <P><code>⊂</code><P> Doing so makes the calling sub's @_ visible to called subroutine. To avoid this, either omit the ampersand or include empty parens when calling a sub with no args. See [perldoc://perlsub] for more info. 680420 680420 |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55912 | Beefy Boxes and Bandwidth Generously Provided by pair Networks
laziness, impatience, and hubris
Comment on
I have a theory that the day you stop wanting to learn stuff about your craft is the day that you should accept the fact that you're not a good programmer, merely an accomplished dilettante.
Actually, the theory extends to 'The day you stop wanting to learn stuff is the day you should accept that you have failed as a human being'.
It doesn't hurt to think you're good. What hurts is thinking you don't have to try to be better.
In reply to Re: On Hubris by pdcawley
in thread On Hubris by belg4mit
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We don't bite newbies here... much
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Most of the time, if you are creative enough to work well in Perl, you're probably smart enough to deduce at least the general reason for a downvote.
And this, I think, is where “the human psychology of this particular site” stands, and probably always will: “downvotes mean that you, personally, are not “–(whatever)– enough,” ergo they are used (merely) as a form of peer-pressure. Even though they are necessarily attached to a particular post, they are in fact an expression of opinion about a particular person as it was felt by “the minority who actually vote” at that particular point in time. Not of the post, and accompanied by no explanation of any kind. All of which therefore generally makes the vote-tallies (and the per-user vote accumulations ...) useless as a metric of post-quality.
The reason why I would quietly harp about this point is, actually, not “a wounded ego.” To me, a web-site such as this one is primarily valuable as a source of information ... for many years to come. The day-to-day bickerings among the individual contributors, some of whom might well be dead by the time I stumble-upon their post, are of no importance at all. Instead, what I am faced with is: “hundreds of threads in response to my Super Search, and right now I need to determine which three of them I need to read in their entirety.” I don’t care whether the Peanut Gallery, at that point in time, did or did not feel that the poster was “creative” or “smart.” But I do care about what the peers, at that point in time, expressed about the quality and relevance of the thread, and especially, why.
PerlMonks runs on very-old software (and not-particularly “beefy” servers ...) that as far as I can tell has never been updated in many years. But it is, nonetheless, a “go-to source” for information about Perl. The contributors who cast votes probably will always smugly consider themselves to be the smartest kids in school. That, too, is of no concern to the information resource.
In reply to Re^2: Negative voting by sundialsvc4
in thread Negative voting by mtmcc
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55929 | The "Contrarian" Myth
Michael Lewyn's picture
Every so often, I read something describing defenders of sprawl as "contrarians", implying that they are underdogs fighting against the elitist, anti-sprawl Establishment. For example, when I did a search for sites including Robert Bruegmann (author of one of the better defenses of the status quo) and the word "contrarian" I found over 1400 "hits." Similarly, a search for websites using the terms "smart growth" and "elitist" yielded over 6000 hits.
But realistically, most of the U.S. built environment is sprawl by any concievable definition. So how can it be "contrarian" to defend the status quo?
Moreover, numerous wealthy corporate elites are quite invested in this status quo, and give generously to politicians to ensure that nothing changes - most notably the road-building industry and large chunks of the real estate development industry. Other well-heeled industries (such as the tire, auto and oil industries) also benefit from the status quo to some extent.* Although the majority of planning academics may support less sprawling development, they control few dollars and fewer votes. If "elitism" means favoring wealthy corporations, supporters of sprawl are true elitists. And if "elitism" means disenfranchising the poor and the disabled, supporters of sprawl are the true elitists, since automobile-dependent development keeps jobs away from people too poor or too disabled to drive.
To draw an analogy: imagine a country called "Turkonesia" where most people (and most political donors) were Muslims. Unlike the most headline-grabbing Islamic nations, the nation is peaceful and more or less democratic. But in Turkonesia, most of daily life is structured to benefit Muslims; Muslims have more schools, those schools are located in more desirable areas, and many major employers are not close to any non-Muslim neighborhoods. Some employers are so far away from non-Muslim areas as to be almost inaccessible. Jewish and Christian neighborhoods tend to be either dangerous or very expensive. Although politicians are responsive to Judeo-Christian interests, Muslim interests come first, and when government subsidies are scarce, those most of interest to Jews and Christians tend to be squeezed out first. Even if most of the nation's intellectuals were Jews or Christians, it would make no sense to describe Muslims as rebels or contrarians. Clearly, Turkonesia functions better for Muslims than for everyone else.
If one substitutes "drivers" and/or "pro-sprawl lobbies" for Muslims and "nondrivers" and/or "sprawl critics" for "Jews/Christians", Turkonesia is pretty similar to the United States. Just as Islam is the easier choice for Turkonesians wishing to get ahead, sprawl and driving are the default choices for most Americans. Just as Judeo-Christian neighborhoods in Turkonesia tend to be either socially troubled or expensive, pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods in many American cities tend to be troubled or expensive.
Surely, someone wishing to bolster Muslim domination of Turkonesia would not be a "contrarian". And someone defending the interests of Turkonesia' religious minorities would hardly be "elitist." Similarly, the real contrarians and anti-elitists are those who dare to fight the sprawl status quo.
*To be sure, environments are quite critical of sprawl - but to them, sprawl is just one of many environmental issues.
elitism is an attitude
In this context, the elitist label is used to describe the attitude that opponents of sprawl often have. Reading through essays, blog posts, Planning articles, etc. pretty much anyone who wants to live in a big house with a backyard 20 miles or more from their job is too stupid to appreciate the benefits of urban living, don't know any better, or worse yet, actively hate the environment, poor people, basically anyone or anything but their very similar neighbors. That's where the elitist label comes from.
As for the contrarian label, I would guess it stems from the resistance of some to the overwhelming trend in the planning profession to embrace density and urbanism and in some cases to actively denigrate 'sprawl' as the root of all evil in society today. Yes, 'sprawl' is the dominant development pattern; however, the dominant thinking in the planning profession is anti-sprawl, so any defenders of the status quo are therefore contrarian because they oppose the group think happening amongst planners today.
Name Calling Is The Last Recourse...
If you can't refute someone's point, you can always call them names. Consider the following statement:
"the elitist label is used to describe the attitude that opponents of obesity often have. Reading through essays, blog posts, etc. pretty much anyone who eats too much, who doesn't exercise, and who is grossly obese is unhealthy."
Of course, it is true that overeating, lack of exercise, and obesity are unhealthy, and it is amply documented by many studies.
If I don't like the facts and I can't refute the studies, my only remaining recourse is to say that people who talk about health are elitists.
Charles Siegel
Systematic critique is different
Choltkamp, you seem to be misreading a critique of a system for a personal attack on individuals. These are the not the same thing. I'm not aware of anyone who argues that suburbanites are "too stupid" to appreciate urban life. I'd like to see which essays you have read that make this claim. Usually, the point is that collective policies and infrastructure priorities have placed a disincentive on higher-density living arrangements while undercounting the costs of lower-density living arrangements over the last several decades. Individual decisions can only be evaluated within the backdrop of the options that are available to them at their level of affordability.
Fuller analysis:
I have posted my fullest analysis of these issues so far, HERE:
I can kinda see the elitism/contrarian thing, but we don't have
The contrarian label often gets affixed to the "pragmatic" who describe reality with an unjudgmental eye. Stephen Leavitt is the most famous example, but the term contrarian really comes into its own in climate change and transportation circles. The reason they're contrary is that they accept the status quo as perfectly acceptable, even preferable to any other plan.
In their Candide-logic, this is the situation we've got, so it must be the best.
A lot of planners and advocates for better transportation (or better carbon policies, aside) get tarred with the label "elitist" for exactly the same reason. Wanting something radically different from the status quo is fundementally an alienating stance. We are calling all those schlubs who drive till they qualify, live in single family homes over an acre of septic fields, and clog up the arterials part of the problem so long as we focus on the status quo as the bad we are opposing.
I would suspect we'd shed the elitist label pretty quick if we started positively advocating transit oriented development, better zoning, and land-use/transportation solutions.
Consider the iPod. Apple was an also-ran in the 1990's until it sidestepped the PC wars and manufactured a gizmo everyone wanted. They didn't do this by dissing on Microsfot out of hurt, or CD players out of competetion. They just sucked all the market away from the old music players.
No metaphor is perfect, but the way to win is by working to offer a better value than the competition, with regard for what the public wants, not the old ways.
Good piece, though.
Elitism, zoning, and automobility
I will agree with you so far as THIS, Michael:
Opposition to mixed uses of land that would allow for more choice for everyone, of convenient locations to jobs, schools, retailing, and sports and cultural amenities; IS "elitist". I see this as the main problem, not "automobility". Opposition to connectivity between nodes is also "elitist".
"Automobility" itself is far from elitist, it is one of the most democratising forces imaginable. Women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive cars.
There IS a form of auto-based elitism in Germany, involving that obtaining a driver's license is so expensive and demanding (after all, you have to be competent to drive on no-speed-limit autobahns) that a significant proportion of the population simply cannot obtain a driver's license at all. The USA is the opposite contrast to this - automobility is so democratised that low speed limits are preferred to stringent driver training - and strict testing laws and mandatory expensive servicing for older cars- so that everyone can drive.
If you are against auto-mobility, high level of inter-connectedness between urban nodes, and mixed uses of land; you are an elitist. This is especially the case if the reason for your opposition to these things is that it would undermine the viability of transit proposals - which it does.
Good points, especially on
Good points, especially on the difference between German and American barriers to entry and social modes.
I am not sure what you mean by your first full paragraph: Are you saying that defense of status quo land use assumptions is elitist, but not status quo trasnportation assumptions? How are the two distinct?
Per your last paragraph: what if you are for walkability and bikeabiliity becasue it makes more fiscal sense for governments, retailers, residents, developers, commuters, environmentalists and employers? Not to mention all the land use savings you'll get from reduced parking needs. Is that elitist? It might be Cassandra, but it doesn't strike me as elitist.
Elitist and contrarian aren't along the same axes, really, though they are the loaded terms that most often get placed as bookends on the argument.
Freedom is actually strongly anti-elitist
Alan; glad to elucidate further.
Europe's old cities, and even the USA's old cities, HAD walkability at one time, not through design, but through freedom and natural growth patterns. It was chaotic and unhealthy, sure, but almost anyone could find accomodation right there among the factories where the jobs were.
America's planners destroyed this walkability with urban renewal and auto-oriented development. Europe's did not, due at least partly to much stronger societal resistance to renewal.
It is a question whether motives of public health could be accused of being "elitist" as well, if conveniently located low cost accomodation , was thereby eliminated. I say that if zoning was so arbitrary that high accomodation prices and/or long commutes became obligatory, yes, that is "elitist". One man's blight is another man's low cost accomodation close to the urban centre.
Where planning has resulted in extremely high land prices and high median multiple home prices, and lower income groups are literally forced right out of whole districts, yes, that is elitism at work. Denial by planners that this is a responsibility of theirs, is also elitism.
Where non-monocentric urban development has been freely allowed, the price premium for convenient location is much "flatter" - convenience of location is kind of "democratised". What many urban planners have against this, is that it renders mass transit unviable. So the best of intentions can lead to highly elitist outcomes.
5 minutes by auto, to work, schools, amentities, etc, is far superior to 1 hour train journeys. Believe it or not, the latter was a reality in the former USSR, and one reason behind the sheer inefficiency of their whole non-free-market system. Planning ended up imposing a whole lot of increasingly stupid outcomes - refer Alain Bertaud's "The Costs of Utopia".
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55966 | Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Reviews // 1 Articles
Sweetness in a World of Cruelty in Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's 'Apricot Jam and Other Stories'
28 Nov 2011 // 3:02 PM
The warm, jewel-like hue of something as simple as apricot jam becomes a fetish object to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
//Mixed media
'Staircase' Is Gay in a Melancholy Way
// Short Ends and Leader
READ the article |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/55980 | 3 Ways Owning A Pet Makes You A Better Person
Alisa Bowman April 23, 2014
You probably know Chewy, the crazy Labradoodle down the block. And Pearl, the rescued white greyhound that streaks around your local dog run. Quick—what are their owners' names?
Welcome to the Who Are Those People Who Live Next Door Club. Membership is always a bit awkward, but if you have a dog, you probably chat with those neighbors anyway. Why the ease? A large Australian survey found that pets serve as a social lubricant, with 74% of pet owners saying they rarely or never find it hard to meet and get to know people (even if they can't remember their names).
But what's less obvious is the possibility that your pet could be making you more fit for the company. We all know that a pet is a man's (and woman's) best friend: Our lives are richer for loving our pets and sharing that love with others. And research suggests something more profound: Our pets don't just improve our lives, they also improve us.
Read enough of the research and you start to wonder if our species might disintegrate into a chaos of petty isolationism if our pets weren't here to aid our growth as humans. And as pets nudge this evolution, what's fascinating is exactly which human traits they bring out in us.
In a pet's paws, we become...
More buoyant. A pet can foster hope during tough times. In one experiment, when study participants experienced the sting of social rejection and then were asked to think about their pets, their spirits lifted. "When we are at our worst, it's often because we feel helpless. Our animal companions remind us of our ability to make a positive impact on the life of another—and that's therapeutic," says Pia Salk, a psychologist and spokesperson for Adopt-a-Pet.com. "The unconditional acceptance of a pet can mediate the corrosive effects of stress over time. It can inoculate us by providing the reserve needed for emotional resilience."
More agreeable. Prison inmates who care for animals tend to be less violent and have better social skills than pet-free inmates. Aggressiveness and other problem behaviors among Alzheimer's patients drop significantly when a dog is around. Merely petting a dog or cat for 15 minutes lowers the stress hormone cortisol and causes the brain to release the calming hormone oxytocin.
More relaxed. Sounds weird, but it works: Salk suggests making eye contact, matching your breathing rate to your pet's, and listening to his or her heartbeat as you speak. Maybe even whisper your worries. And when you later cross paths with Chewy's owner and find yourself surprisingly open to connection with the near stranger down the block, remember how you gained that gift. That's worth at least one treat, yes?
More from Prevention: 5 Ways To Keep Your Pet From Driving You Absolutely Crazy |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56004 | PNI Photo Services API
PNI Photo Services
The PNI Photo Services API allows developers to monetize their photo-centric applications by providing an integrated "Print To Retail" experience. The API allows applications to create digital print orders at a variety of major retailer's online photo services and deliver them to the chosen location for pick-up and payment in-store once the order has been printed. The API is an easy to use Rest API allowing developers to not only place orders from their applications but also provides access to a user's existing photo services account with the selected retailer allowing for direct interaction with their existing image collections. No credit cards or online payment is required, the payment is made in-store at the time of picking up the print order. The API allows the developer to programatically access the participating retailer's product catalogs, retail pick-up location information and place orders with the selected retailer quickly and easily. The PNI Developer Program is free to join and pays a standard commission of 12% on all orders that are claimed by the customer at the retailer's location. The PNI Developer Portal allows developers to create any number of applications in the developer dashboard and get started right away building in our sandbox environment. The Developer Portal provides a wealth of support information including online documentation, support Q&A tools with a suite of SDKs, sample apps and language specific tutorials coming soon.
Printing, Printing, Sales
Coming soon! Coming soon!
Coming soon!
API Key, Sandbox and Production environments
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56009 | Audio Processing and Compressors for Your Station!
Q. Why do I need audio processing for my station? Do I need a compressor? Or a limiter? Or a clipper? Or a Multiband audio processor? Or something with Automatic Gain Control? And does a $2000 audio processor sound 10 times better than a $200 compressor?
One of your most important duties as a low power fm operator is making sure that the sound that you send from your studio into the transmitter is within the limits of volume set by the FCC. Your transmitter will set up a “carrier” signal that runs at your frequency. The carrier, running on your frequency, is what makes you distinct from other radio stations. You may have a carrier signal that is 91.3, while your nearest neighbor on the dial may be 91.7. You will add audio on top of that from your mixing board. Then the listener can hear your audio by tuning to your carrier frequency at 91.3 on the dial, and they can listen to your neighbor by tuning to 91.7.
The louder you turn up the volume at your mixing board, the more you modulate the signal, and the louder it gets for the listener. Up to a point, that is good so that you are not dramatically louder than anything else. However, there is only so loud that you can turn up your audio before the kettle boils over onto your neighbors carrier. The FCC has rules about exactly how loud (and how soft) you can be. Radio stations generally have modulation monitors, which help you calibrate your equipment and monitor your levels. They also have some form of audio processing, which take the raw audio from out of the mixing board and at least make sure that it does not exceed FCC specifications. Fancier models, that cost more, can create an array of effects that can make your station sound better. The following piece will introduce several concepts: limiting, compressing, clipping and automatic gain control. A compressor is a piece of equipment which can create a number of these effects on audio.
And we’ll look at some of the controls of a compressor, which include attack, release, ratio and threshold:
The diagrams below are visual representations of real audio clips, intended to show you what actual waveforms look like. Here are the unprocessed, natural waveforms:
Here is Radio Volta’s Dr. Sunup talking: Surprise peaks are the norm. Usually they are brief.
Here is some unprocessed music- in this case, Woodie Guthrie singing and playing guitar.
Most of the rest of this answer courtesy of John Shwenk, Engineer for WHUS-FM in Connecticut- we thank him for his valuable insights.
Limiting and Clipping
Limiting and clipping are related. The distinction involves the fact that a level adjustment with a time constant is involved in limiting but not in clipping.
Limiting drags the fader down (imagine an invisible fader internal to the limiter) to anticipate future peaks when the level exceeds the THRESHOLD and the fader is only slowly allowed to come back up (set by the RELEASE control). Clipping doesn't change the fader level. It just shears off the waveform. And during the next cycle or peak, it gets sheared again... and again. There is no pulling down of the imaginary fader to prevent future shearing, and no release (or recovery) time.
More detail:
Clipping is an instantaneous shearing off of waveform peaks that occurs when the intantaneous signal level exceeds (in either the + or - direction) the voltage that a given piece of equipment can pass (or is set to pass). When you look at the waveform, it looks like the mesas in Arizona. Flat topped hills. The waveform wanted to go higher (it did go higher before it hit the circuit that's clipping it) but it was prevented from doing so and the output of the circuit simply remains at the highest voltage it can put out while the input is above the clipping level (hopefully! - some circuits do even worse sounding things when they're clipped).
Effective, but rather abrupt sounding compression of the talking sample.
This is the "brick wall" clipper at -6db om the music. It will keep your signal safe from clipping distortion, but the sound is very abrupt to some ears.
Clipping is the most commonly heard kind of distortion (clipping distortion) and is very objectionable on voice and other monotonic (one tone or sound at a time) sounds. A similar amount of clipping distortion applied to some kinds of music is not quite as audible but is still a problem. Even amounts that are not explicitly noticeable to a given listener will still lead to greater listener fatigue. They may not know why they don't want to listen any more but it happens nevertheless.
Individuals vary in their ability to hear distortion (or at least to identify what they're hearing). I'm often surprised when others claim not to be able to hear the problem that I'm finding so objectionable I need to turn the radio off!
Limiting, revisited
First of all, limiting is a kind of compression. It is compression with the RATIO control set to infinity to 1 ratio. This causes the compressor to turn the level down (using its internal electronic fader) as much as is required to prevent the overall signal level from exceeding the threshold (set by the THRESHOLD control). When the input level drops back below the threshold, the fader starts to rise back up again at a rate set by the RELEASE control until another peak exceeds the threshold and the fader is forced down again.
Limiting refers to the fact that the output level of the unit is limited to that of the THRESHOLD setting. That's the case when the RATIO is set to infinity to 1. If the RATIO was set to 2 to 1, for instance, the output level would be allowed to rise 1 db over the THRESHOLD when the input level went 2 db over. The output would rise 5 db when the input rose 10 db, etc. Infinity to 1 ratio - limiting - makes it so that, not matter how much the input level rises, the internal fader is lowered enough to prevent the output from rising at all.
This state of affairs is similar to clipping - hence the confusion. With clipping, the output is also prevented from rising above a threshold level. But its not because a circuit effectively lowered a fader but because the circuit simply sheared off the intantaneous waveform peak.
The limiter alone doesn't do the whole trick here, but it helps give a more natural sound to Dr. Sunups voice. Compressors reduce not only the top dynamic range, but also allow the quieter passages to become louder, thus reducing the dynamic range on both ends. Some ears perceive this as "breathy" on vocals and "muddy" on music. Using a limiter, with a clipper at a slightly higher threshold, gives a smooth enough curve to keep things pleasant to listen to.
Here is the music with a limiter at -18db. With the slow attack and release time, it is more natural sounding than the hard clipper. Usually, the peaks are long enough to trigger the limiter: but sometimes the transient peaks are shorter than the attack time.
Compressor Controls, and Automatic Gain Control (AGC)
Another related issue I want to mention is the ATTACK control on most compressors. That's the rate at which the internal fader is allowed to respond to the peak; how fast it gets pulled down. So ATTACK is how fast it gets pulled down, RELEASE is how fast it's allowed to rise back up. It the ATTACK is slow, a fast peak will slip through the compressor. The fader didn't react fast enough to bring the level down. However, a sustained high signal level will allow a compressor with a slow ATTACK setting to respond and bring down the fader to compensate.
Different settings for ATTACK, RELEASE, THRESHOLD, and RATIO are used for different purposes and can be called by different names.
Limiting refers to fast ATTACK and infinity to 1 RATIO.
AGC generally refers to a very slow ATTACK and RELEASE. Imagine a very sleepy or lazy person sitting at the board, slowly riding the fader to compensate for level variations in the signal.
Now, try to grok this:
Clipping can be viewed as compression/limiting with instantaneous (infinitely fast) ATTACK and RELEASE and infinity to 1 RATIO.
If you understand that statement, you now fully understand this stuff.
Limiting and Clipping, one more time
The reason you want both limiting and clipping in an FM audio processor is this:
The limiter is needed to control the level and do most of the job of preventing overmodulation. However, most limiters have a finite, if small, attack time constant; they don't instantaneously respond to peaks. Many also do not have perfect compression ratios of infinity to 1. That is, the output is still allowed to rise a little even when the input exceeds the threshold and especially when it exceeds it quickly. Thus, a clipper is needed as the very last stage to absolutely guarantee FCC compliance. The clipper will just shear off any errant waveform peak that makes it through the other stages, preventing overmodulation.
Most FM audio processors purposely reduce the attack rate or the compression ratio on the limiter stage and/or increase the limiter threshold so that some clipping will occur in the clipper stage. Yes, this causes clipping distortion, especially on fast attacks and narrow peaks. But it also raises average volume level. Up to a point, the more you clip, the louder you'll sound because the average level to peak level ratio is increased.
That's the critical adjustment I referred to previously and where the loudness vs. distortion compromise comes in.
With the limiter AND the clipper, there is a natural sounding compression - with a safety net on Woody’s music.
As with music, a pleasant style of compression that also prevents clipping distortion in Doctor Sunups ill-chosen words. The typical two-channel compressor/limiters commonly found in live sound and recording studios generally cost $100 to $200. For the limiting and clipping, the outputs of one channel (set as a limiter), can be wired to the inputs of the other channel (set as a clipper. Some units offer a peak limiter (also known as a clipper) in each channel in addition to the full set of parameters for other compression purposes. If this is the case, you need use only one channel. Simply set the threshold of the peak limiter (the only parameter offered) slightly higher than the limiter.
So, what is the difference between a cheapo compressor and a multiband audio processor?
A multiband audio processor basically includes several different compressors, which each have different settings for the low, medium and high frequency components of the program audio. This allows each of the compressor settings to be more subtle and boost the loudness of the low and medium frequency tones more than the high tones. The high frequency tones cause modulation problems at lower volumes, so overall loudness can be legally boosted if the frequencies are treated separately. Most commercial stations use very aggressive multiband processing. Try listening to a classic rock song on a CD, and then listen to it on the radio and you will hear the difference.
Some of what you get with the more expensive audio processors is stuff that an LPFM doesn't need. They're all stereo, for instance. That means you're paying for twice the circuitry and not even using it! Some have stereo enhancement circuits and stereo composite generators that are also superfluous. (Running in stereo will lose you way more listenable range than slightly reduced loudness.)
Loudness does not correlate that much to listenable range for FM. Certainly it's a matter of degree. Increased loudness will always give you increased signal to noise ratio (SNR) at any range, but as a gross general statement, a station either comes in well enough to listen to, or it doesn't, regardless of it's loudness. (This is an entirely separate matter for AM.)
Some people can not hear any of this. But some people who listen carefully can be driven absolutely batty by overprocessed sound. Many do not even notice but they find that their ears are tired when they listen to overprocessed commercial radio. Because they push everything to be maximum volume at all time to bust over the sound of drills at a construction site or the traffic noise on the freeway, the programming lacks the soft spots that we find in natural unprocessed listening.
There is just one important issue which sets most commercially available compressor limiters used by musicians from professional broadcast boards. This issue is Pre-emphasis. All FM transmitters have a special circuit that adds a special boost to the higher frequency parts of the audio, and all FM receivers have a little circuit that takes that boost back out. This helps improve the signal to noise ratio. If your compressor does not take into account this “pre-emphasis” all hell can break loose. Broadcast compressors take this into account. Music compressors generally do not.
There are a few of the English radio companies that build cheap compressors that have pre-emphasis circuit. You can check out broadcast warehouse ( or veronica ( We have not tested these yet, but will soon. Ask for a 75 microsecond pre-emphasis- that is the US standard.
If they turn out to work, a best bet would be to use one of the english compressors, plus a cheapo compressor musician compressor like the ones from behringer. A good source is These range from $100 to $200. Set it for hard limiting - infinity to 1 compression ratio (or as high as it goes) with a fast attack. Of course, you need a clipper following it. You can set up a Behringer for that.
The level adjustment following the compressor, driving the clipper, will be a critical one. Higher gives you more apparent loudness but with increased distortion.
Yes, you would get somewhat more loudness with a $2000 box over a $200 box, but you certainly won't get 10 times the loudness! Maybe you'd get on the order of 2 or 3 db more. (A total guess). It is probably not worth it except for operations with large budgets. There are just too many other things to spend that money on! Meet all the other stations numerous needs, then revisit the audio processor issue when there's extra money in the budget. (Hah!)
How all this relates to Mixing Boards
Broadcast consoles are designed for broadcast use, and have special features designed for taking phone calls, turning down the monitors when the mics go on, etcetera. DJ mixers are designed for recording or contolling a live show. They are much cheaper and more common and can do a decent job in a radio studio, but have a few design limitations that make them less than optimal if you can afford to choose.
A good example of a relatively inexpensive pro control board intended for broadcast use is the "Blue" from LPB. But, given that most LP stations are going to run in mono anyway (Blue is a stereo board like most modern broadcast boards), the small recording boards and DJ-type mixers are probably the best bet except for stations with big budgets (for an LPFM).
Old broadcast boards are often a very good deal. Because so many radio stations are going digital now, their giant old clunky boards are being dumped on the market for less than they are worth. They may need some work, but broadcast boards are one of the places where second hand can make sense if the equipment was built well to start with.
Here’s another related issue that plagues some of our staff members at U Conn's radio station, WHUS. It's that some DJs just seem untrainable as far as setting levels is concerned. It's all nice and good to have an audio processor that keeps the station from overmodulating (keeps it legal), but it doesn't help if the DJ has their level way too low or too high. If it's too low, the station will be quiet. If it's too high, they'll clip in the mixer before the signal can even get to the audio processor!
This is usually handled with some kind of automatic gain control (AGC) between the mixer and the audio processor. It can be built in to the audio processor as the first stage. The AGC can raise the level slowly to compensate for the DJ setting their fader too low or for quiet musical passages. The problem with this scheme is that it can't help if the DJ sets their level too high. The control board will still clip before the signal gets to the AGC. It's assumed that your DJs are professionally trainable to set and watch their levels properly. This seems to be an incorrect assumption with college and community radio.
The ideal solution may not exist as a commercial product. That's to have the AGC built in to the mixer! That way, you wouldn't be able to clip the mixer. Its built-in AGC would compensate for poorly set faders / trims controls. (I've been considering modifying our control board to do just that.) The feature could have a defeat switch so that competent DJs could run without the AGC.
Entrepreneurs take note: there's a market for a mixer/processor specifically designed to meet the needs of LPFM, micro, and college radio. It would be an all-in-one mono mixer, AGC, limiter, clipper, that is simple to use, physically robust, and not too expensive. A fool-proof device. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56033 | Picture of Author
Author Name
Photo (c) Jerry Bauer
The New Yorker offices were then on 44th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues. In those halls it was still the old martini-fueled New York, writers sleeping it off on daybeds. I would deliver mail and packages around the city or lounge around in the messenger room, which was as forlorn as a train station out in the sticks. The messenger department was run by a wispy guy who protected his boys, most just out of college. We argued, competed, complained. Between errands, I ducked into the magazine's library, where I tried to give myself the education I had not gotten at college.
The most revered figure at the magazine was Joseph Mitchell, who, in the 1930s and 1940s, wrote his mystical stories about the lost characters of New York, legendary books of reporting on rats and shad fishermen and eel pots. Joe Mitchell published his last story in 1963, and his books had since gone out of print. You had to hunt for them in secondhand bookstores; there was a kind of underground traffic in his work. By the time I reached the magazine he had become a sainted figure, an elegant man with white hair, often in seersucker, who seemed to reflect a distant world. He came into the office each morning and worked at his typewriter all day and produced nothing. To ask after his writing was considered bad form, so I admired him from afar, his comings and goings, past and present. I knew he had grown up on a tobacco farm in North Carolina, that he began his career during the Depression as a reporter for one of the now defunct New York dailies. I had been in search of the real world beyond the theme park which has taken the place, or so it seems to me, of every city and town in America. In Joseph Mitchell, I at last found proof of this other world--of the authenticity that Jamie too was after. His writing was modern and exotic, a guide to a city that had ceased to exist, a Constantinople lost under decades of advertising and noise.
One afternoon, though I had been told Joseph Mitchell was a recluse and the last thing he wanted was to be bothered by someone like me, I said, "To hell with it," and went to his office. I was nervous, of course--about the possibility of an icy reception and how the real man might shatter the image. But when I knocked, the door flew open and Mitchell leaned back in his chair and said, "Come in, come in," as if he had been waiting for me. He wore a rumpled suit, the sleeves rolled up, his eyes the same soft blue as the fabric. I explained my admiration for his writing, and he asked about my hometown and told me about his. He got excited as he talked and rubbed his palm along his bald head and stammered, as if the right words eluded him. When he could not explain just what he wanted to say, he showed me photographs of old New York, pier sheds and town houses. Pointing to a sign high on a brick wall, he said, "That is a ghost sign. It advertised a store that had already been gone for eighty years. To me such signs have always been strange and scary."
I told Joe Mitchell my biggest fear--that I had reached the city too late and that the world itself had become a kind of counterfeit. "I felt just the same when I got to New York," he said. "I was too late. I said it to myself again and again: 'Too late. Too late. Too late.' And then one day, in these offices, way up on the wall, I noticed those same words, 'Too late.' And I began seeing those words everywhere: 'Too late. Too late. Too late.' I found out it was James Thurber, from a world far older than mine, who had been writing them. So you see, even Thurber thought he had come to the city too late. And the people before Thurber? Well, they thought they had come too late too! That's the human condition. Wherever you go, you are by definition too late. You missed the whole show. Which, if you think about it, means that wherever you go, you cannot help but be right on time."
"The Education of a Writer"
It might be said that the literary career of Richard Cohen was born in the eye of a storm. More precisely, The New Yorker magazine, around the start of last century's penultimate decade. Much had transpired in the years leading up to his arrival. After sixty-five years of constancy, the storied magazine changed owners and directions. It's second editor (only the second!), the legendary William Shawn, was deposed in favor of a younger if not necessarily hipper sort, book publisher Robert Gottlieb. The editorial changes that followed have been chronicled so thoroughly that it has become for the insular world of magazine publishing a species of modern history roughly equivalent to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Richard came to The New Yorker in the midst of these upheavals, and it was during this time that I came to know him. He was nearly two decades my junior, but a shared sensibility and a similar taste in authors cleared the way for a friendship that still endures. There were certain things about him that one noticed right away--a mid-western openness tempered with big-city irony, an often dazzling wit, an inscrutable fondness for the Chicago Cubs. He was hungry for writerly experience, and eager to distance himself from a world that was too confining. In a profile of Joseph Mitchell for The Oxford American, his backward glance at the Chicago suburb where he grew up occasioned some of his best writing:
It's a place devoid of an epic heritage. There is not now, nor has there ever been, a seedy or shameful or interesting quarter in this town. There no dark alleys, no teeming streets, no outdoor markets or bazaars. Like most suburban-spawns, my early life lacked variation and adventure. Anything seen as dangerous or subversive was corralled and contained in the library or movie house.
His most conspicuous trait was a passion for good sentences -- reading them -- and making them. It must have been a heady time for a twenty-two- or-three-year-old who suddenly found himself working for a magazine he'd read greedily since adolescence, the magazine that gave shape to his young imaginings and fed his dreams of wanting to be a writer. I never heard him come right out and say it, but I have little doubt that -- at least subconsciously -- he felt it his destiny to be walking the halls where E. B. White, James Thurber, Liebling had walked. It was not so much a job as a legacy.
This was never so apparent as when he discovered Mitchell. It was one of those remarkable revelations, once common among devout men of austere religious orders, and now reserved for worshipers of the printed page, serious readers and aspiring writers hunched over library tables. In The New Yorker library is a repository of thick bound scrapbooks containing the every word that every writer has ever published in the magazine. For a time it was impossible to walk past Richard's desk without seeing an imposing stack of such volumes atop it, all but obscuring him from view. Book by book, he was reading through the work of White, Thurber, Ian Frazier, George Trow, and seemingly everyone in between. But it was Mitchell who proved to make the most profound impression, they were his sentences that became lodged in the reader's consciousness, defining once and for all what it meant to be a writer. Through scrapbooks, some as much as seven inches thick, he devoured the tales and reportage which had later been collected in such classics as JOE GOULD'S SECRET, THE BOTTOM OF THE HARBOR, and McSORLEY'S WONDERFUL SALOON. These books would shortly be republished after many years of being out of print, thus heralding a much deserved, if belated, re-acknowledgement of the author in his final years. It was a wonderful piece of symmetry -- and good fortune -- that their careers overlapped. By this time the legendary writer had lapsed into silence, but it was rumored that he was working on something, perhaps a grand summing up, a monumental masterpiece. He'd gotten used to being sought out by the curious -- fans, journalists, young people who dared to become writers and hoped, faint-heartedly, to catch a glimpse of the old magic at work. Richard seemed to occupy another category altogether -- a serious young writer who knew he had talent, someone less interested in magic than in mastering the craft of writing. This alone fueled the feverish foraging through those piles of scrapbooks; it was the motive behind his seeking out every writer he could find who might be inclined to disclose something about work habits and perhaps lend an ear to a younger man's vision of the future.
When he began to publish in the magazine it was clear that he'd learned quickly and well. His pieces for the "Talk of the Town" and "Notes and Comment" revealed a plucky sure-footedness and surprising range. Soon he was writing for other publications as well, travel pieces, profiles, journalistic snapshots of contemporary Americana. Overnight, it appeared, he developed a style, a brand of reporting that owed more to journalism's golden era than to the present.
Richard was still in his early twenties when he left The New Yorker. What might have been one of those long marriages to the company that distinguished the careers of scores of predecessors was abruptly abbreviated. A week or so after his departure, I looked up what I think was his very first "Comment." It was an essay he'd composed in the aftermath of ex-Klansman David Duke's failed campaign for a seat in the state legislature of New Orleans. He wrote,
Duke has also reminded people that the electorate has baser instincts and that these are easily manipulated. In order to expand his constituency, such a candidate must soften his language and compromise his pronouncements. David Duke, whether he was telling the truth or not, was forced to disavow his past, and in the end this disavowal may be the saving grace of the entire incident: a reminder that, although democracy isn't capable of repressing evil, it seldom fails to dilute it.
I remember thinking, "We're going to miss this voice."
Next essay |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56042 | Bodega treats. by Ronemoo in nyc
[–]Wayne_Skylar 4 points5 points (0 children)
There's one near me where the cat will sneak attack and play-bite your legs! Always scares the crap out of me.
Tuesday evening my adopted daughter apologized for falsely accusing me of sexual assault over 20 years ago. What do I do now? (xpost from r/advice) by FullNoodleFrontity in legaladvice
[–]Wayne_Skylar 16 points17 points (0 children)
I think this is the reason why he is asking for advice. He senses that he might be able to get her cooperation. Assuming that she is willing to testify on his behalf (stating that she'd lied in the past), what would his chances be then?
When it happens it is usually either something like DNA or evidence that is corroborated in some way.
So here you give an example of evidence that will overturn a conviction.
Keep in mind it is not unusual for victims of sexual assault to recant accusations
You don't explicitly say that recanted accusations don't lead to overturned convictions, but you are hinting at it by not including it with the examples of circumstances that would overturn a conviction.
And that's really the question. If he has her full cooperation, what happens then? I think he's trying to understand that before he interacts with her, so he can know what's at stake.
Russ Hanneman at home by Wayne_Skylar in SiliconValleyHBO
[–]Wayne_Skylar[S] 18 points19 points (0 children)
I don't know why but this cracked me up. I love the fact that he's in his underwear and it's never mentioned or emphasized.
One of my favorite scenes by JabroniBozo in SiliconValleyHBO
[–]Wayne_Skylar 7 points8 points (0 children)
My favorite part is that he's wearing a long john shirt as if it were some kind of sweater.
De Blasio Wants to Lease Public Housing Land to Developers by obsoletest in nyc
[–]Wayne_Skylar 0 points1 point (0 children)
I'm not by default a proponent of tearing down old buildings instead of rehabbing them - a lot of modern construction is cut-rate and will not last anywhere near as long as the better prewar construction in the city
I know, right? I am nowhere near being able to afford a house in this city, but I can tell you that I'd never buy one of these new developments. In five or so years and they really start to show their poor quality.
Why do people hate baby boomers? by Trop232 in OutOfTheLoop
[–]Wayne_Skylar 1 point2 points (0 children)
Ignore that BS. If you think you can do a given job, just apply for it. The longer you in the job market, the more you realize that these things are written like wish lists.
Watching 'The Aviator'... Hello Gavin Belson. by soaring44 in SiliconValleyHBO
[–]Wayne_Skylar 1 point2 points (0 children)
What's cool about this guy is seeing his other roles. They are so different from each other. He's a really good actor, it seems.
[IIL] William Orbit - Last Lagoon [WEWIL]? by Wayne_Skylar in ifyoulikeblank
[–]Wayne_Skylar[S] 0 points1 point (0 children)
Thanks a lot!
I know about Steve Roach and Max Corbaccio. They were on the soundtrack of a game called Neocron that I really enjoyed.
Yeah I do like a handful on there.
777 Millenium Painted Rock is ok.
Was this your first time hearing that album?
If I like shows like Between Two Ferns and Check it Out! with Dr. Steve Brule, what other tv shows would I like? by amc896 in ifyoulikeblank
[–]Wayne_Skylar 9 points10 points (0 children)
All of Tim and Eric's stuff
2 wet crew (Dougpound)
The Eric Andre Show
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace
Look Around You
Probably one of my favorites by spacymushroom in Tinder
[–]Wayne_Skylar 1 point2 points (0 children)
I know! It all went down between like 2 and 4. Some people can't Tinder at work, you know!
The Failure of Agile by frostmatthew in programming
[–]Wayne_Skylar 1 point2 points (0 children)
I'm not worried at all! I'm currently working from home with a group that's more waterfall-like, but it's great. I find that the requirements-gathering phase is quite useful and something that would be useful in agile.
But in the end agile is not a panacea. I don't think it would be possible for my old place to actually implement it correctly. It was way too ambitious with way too much say in the hands of the CEO / tech lead.
The Failure of Agile by frostmatthew in programming
[–]Wayne_Skylar 2 points3 points (0 children)
I'm no long with said company :)
But to answer your question, I didn't know better. This was my first experience with agile and I hated it (because it wasn't being done properly).
But yes it's clearly not good management practice to have a daily shakedown of where you are and why x, y, or z is taking longer than expected. We spent so much time and effort on process that it was demoralizing.
I think if you take bad management and add agile you just end up making things worse. In our case, it was simply a time-wasting veneer. I can't opine on agile done correctly, but I can certainly say that I know we weren't doing it.
the best form of exercise for depression by rob_cornelius in EOOD
[–]Wayne_Skylar 1 point2 points (0 children)
I like to run, and I will say that I hate running on a treadmill. Even when it's 25F I'd prefer to run outdoors in the sun.
The Failure of Agile by frostmatthew in programming
[–]Wayne_Skylar 0 points1 point (0 children)
Our "standup meeting" was everyone in the company (about 7 people) and often took about 30 minutes. We did this every day.
NYPD officer shot in face by ex-con in Queens dies from injuries by gollywobbler in nyc
[–]Wayne_Skylar -27 points-26 points (0 children)
Maybe we should stop locking people up for victimless drug offenses?
3 way street by only_nyc_gifs in nyc
[–]Wayne_Skylar 2 points3 points (0 children)
Ah yes, exactly what we need. More entitled pricks in this town.
How often do you guys take a day off work? by bigboi26 in cscareerquestions
[–]Wayne_Skylar 19 points20 points (0 children)
In my experience it's not a good situation. I worked at a small startup and it was advertised as "take as much time off as you want!" But really they mean, "take as much time as you like. But not too much!" It's actually terrible because there always is an acceptable number of days to take off in the mind of management, but it's never said explicitly.
In the end the precedent was set by the founder who almost never took any time off. I'd say I took about 20 days a year and I was made to feel like a pariah for doing it.
Maybe if the atmosphere of the company is super relaxed, but I can't imagine a startup being in that position. I'll always ensure that this kind of thing is in my contract in the future. But a lot of startups will likely find that to be a turn-off because you're not "a team player." But that's just a bad signal anyway.
Mark Cuban smiling like Russ Hanneman by aaaaaaron in SiliconValleyHBO
[–]Wayne_Skylar 0 points1 point (0 children)
That's what's so funny. I don't think Russ Hanneman ever does this. It's just one of the many ways that you can tell it's kind of a parody of Mark Cuban. I mean except for the offensive stuff?
This made me crack up tonight by fyt2012 in SiliconValleyHBO
[–]Wayne_Skylar 1 point2 points (0 children)
Yeah I feel like that should have been a hooli search.
Sneaky sneaky... by Dawscene in funny
[–]Wayne_Skylar 4 points5 points (0 children)
This is such a stupid law. What's the difference between sleeping in your car drunk, and sleeping in your house drunk with your car in the driveway? |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56043 | Sepp Blatter resigns. Calls for new election. by baymenintown in worldnews
[–]captaincupcake234 0 points1 point (0 children)
We could invade Qatar in the name of national security in 2022....I mean liberate their people and oil with FREEDOM!!! Nothing like a cruise missile barrage to level those stadiums.
Dickipedia: Floyd Mayweather by Kalivm in videos
[–]captaincupcake234 521 points522 points (0 children)
Mr. Mayweather also probably had to have one of his buddies read him the menu.
A company near my hometown has been illegally dumping oilfield waste onto the ground for two years by ADavidJohnson in pics
[–]captaincupcake234 2 points3 points (0 children)
This is one of the reasons why I went into hydrogeology (and also glacial geology, but irrelevant to the topic here). I want to make it my life's goal to create site assessments for contaminated sites like this to show how badly an organization fucked up by contaminating nature...and to help people develop a proper remediation plan for the site.
TIFU by trying to masturbate while passing a kidney stone. by DogGammitBobby in tifu
[–]captaincupcake234 0 points1 point (0 children)
That is really cool you can nerd out to kidneys. My current grad school focus is on glacial geology and basically I'll be studying the rock deposits glaciers left behind in SW Michigan, trying to interpret the depositional environments, then trying to see how these environments are either conducive or in-conducive to groundwater flow. I'm fascinated by both because I took a glacial geology course in grad school last fall and I was drawn towards trying to identify glacial depositional environments. It felt like I was trying to unravel a Sherlock murder mystery!
As for hydrogeology, I really nerded out to it this previous spring semester when I learned about the need to sustainably pump groundwater and conducting a lab where I did a geological, hydrogeological, and contaminant site assessment for a chemical storage site in Indiana (it was lab of a case study, so I didn't actually go out to Indiana, but looked at various maps and well logs describing the area).
I started my thesis project by just talking with my glacial geology professor and he was like "we have this drilling project in SW Michigan coming up, want to be part of it?" and I said "YES!!!". We ran into a major funding problem because the MI government failed to approve the budget, so main drilling part of the project will be halted until September (boo), but I will try to get a head start by looking at online databases on well logs in the area.
If you're curious, feel free to ask me any question about geology or my grad school experiences so far!
And congratulations on finding an awesome master's thesis project!
Hey Reddit, what's a misconception you'd like to clear up about your country once and for all? by Universal-Cereal-Bus in AskReddit
[–]captaincupcake234 0 points1 point (0 children)
Sorry about taking a few days to answer your post, I've been working this whole weekend.
Disclaimer, I'm a hydrogeology guy not a structural geology guy, so I'm not an expert within this geology subfield, I will try to explain things from what I have read on your question online.
So from reading this paper online:
The modern day city of Karachi was probably located on the continental shelf of the Indian Plate. A "continental shelf" is an underwater landmass which extends from a continent, resulting in an area of relatively shallow water known as a shelf sea. Here is the wiki page for more information on continental shelves:
Continental shelves accumulate a lot of sediments from land as sediments flow off of the continent via rivers and erosional processes. So you'll get a sequence of sediments ranging from sand to shale. If the continental shelf lies in a shallow warm area, you'll also get ALOT of coral formation....which over millions of years can turn into limestone.
Since the Indian plate contained the continent of India, it had a continental shelf. When the Indian Plate and the Eurasian plate collided, the continental shelves on both plates squished together and started to fold and deform. As a result, the Kirthar Fold Belt (north-south oriented between Quetta and Karachi) was formed. You can see this on a map, and the Kirthar Fold Belt is more than 800 km long and about 200 km wide.
A "fold belt" is a series of folded and twisting looking foothills that forms between two continental shelves squishing into each other which forms due to contractional forces of the two continents squishing into each other over millions of years (which what the Indian and Eurasian plate did). If there was mountain forming also occurring as a result of two continents squishing into each other, you get a "fold-thrust belt" which you see where the Himalayas are (which separates both plates).
As for why the Indian plate is green and fertile compared to the dry Eurasian plate west of Pakistan, I think the climate of the region has a huge role in it, which is not within my field. So I would as a climatologist or a meteorologist. Is Pakistan hot-and-dry to warm-and-dry inland....and warm and wet near the coasts?
Name your top three nicest restaurants by ihasask in kzoo
[–]captaincupcake234 0 points1 point (0 children)
I'm sorry to hear about that. I felt the same way your grandfather did when they demolished the old 60 year old dorms at my boarding school (Indian Springs School if you are wondering). I had a lot of memories from living my boarding school dorms and was sad to see them go. But in the end the dollar did have a final say. The new dorms they built were state of the art, power efficient, and much much nicer. But still, I'm still sad that they were demolished. My boarding school campus just isn't the same without them. On the plus side the new students seem to love the new dorms. So they'll be able to make their own happy memories for ages to come. That brings me some reassurance.
Name your top three nicest restaurants by ihasask in kzoo
[–]captaincupcake234 1 point2 points (0 children)
Damn, I was going to name those 3 too.
These two also get an honorable mention:
1.) Hunan Garden (best Chinese take out I've had in Kzoo)
2.) Schwarma King (or is it House) on S. Westnedge. Their lunch buffet is also amazing.
I am a full-time college student by day, part-time prostitute by night. AMAA! by idontaskwhy in casualiama
[–]captaincupcake234 8 points9 points (0 children)
Ah the good ole' Rusty Trombone, I see you're asking the important question here.
[–]captaincupcake234 1 point2 points (0 children)
If it was an igneous process, there would have to be molten magma flowing through one's kidneys, that would be pleasant.
The nephrocalcinosis sounds like a fascinating and terrifying disorder. It reminds me of a bird's nest we have in our geo department minerals and rock collection, the bird's nest organic layers are replaced by calcite making it hard and brittle....kind of like the hard as rock kidney.
What about kidney stone research interested you enough to pursue it? |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56045 |
Re: [Fedora-xen] Problems with fedora 7 paravirtualize
neohtm wrote:
I'm using Fedora 7 with xen's virt-manager. I'd manage to install a full
virtualized WinXp domU after changing the settings in .xml files. Now I
would like to try to install the paravirtualize fedora 7 using virt-manager
I'm using this install media address >
That's actually FC6.
And the virt-manager console was managed to show up the installation screen.
After the normal steps of the installation, the console was hanged when it
shows the 'Retrieving image2'
Yes, I've heard of bugs like this too ...
I even had tried to used the Fedora 7 installation DVD as the installation
media but it's cant detect the cdrom when the installation begins. I'd
googled and find out that I can export the DVD using a FTP/NFS/HTTP from
dom0 host, but how to do this?
According to Sadique, the Fedora 8 seems to have a better and easy
virt-manager to manipulate the Xen virtualization. How to upgrade the fedora
7's virt-manager to fedora 8's?
You'll probably want to upgrade more than just virt-manager. At least libvirt, python-virtinst, xen and kernel-xen.
Enable the Fedora development repository while installing these by doing:
yum --enablerepo=development install xen [etc...]
England and Wales under Company Registration No. 03798903
Attachment: smime.p7s
Description: S/MIME Cryptographic Signature
|
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Rediff News All News » Business » Fact check, reality check? New GDP data
Fact check, reality check? New GDP data
January 15, 2008 08:42 IST
The World Bank's statisticians have changed the economic facts. Under these circumstances, Keynes, the economist, would have us change our opinions, while the great scientist, Einstein, would have us tamper with the facts especially if they clash with our theoretical priors. Which should it be? A little bit of both, it seems.
The key to constructing internationally comparable GDP data is purchasing power parity exchange rates, which are different from market exchange rates. For example, in 2005, the market exchange rate of a dollar was 44 rupees. But 44 rupees bought more of a typical basket of goods and services in India than a dollar did in the United States because a lot of nontraded goods such as haircuts, education and health, which make up this basket, were cheaper in India than in the US.
PPP exchange rates are the metric that tells us how many rupees (the new answer is 14.7) have the same command over goods and services in India that a dollar does in the US.
Since the 1970s, the Penn World Tables produced several editions of cross-country data on PPP exchange rates and PPP-adjusted GDP, each based on detailed prices that were obtained periodically and most recently in 1993. For the years beyond 1993, the PWT and the World Bank continued producing GDP numbers, which can best be described as intelligent "guesstimates."
These guesstimates used the 1993 numbers as the base and extrapolated beyond using price data from the national income accounts for each country. For several countries, including China and the oil exporters, which never provided the detailed price data, there was not even a base year with firm data from which to extrapolate. The latest numbers produced by the Bank are therefore superior by construction because they replace the old guesstimates with actual data.
Unsurprisingly, the old numbers have been substantially revised. For example, in about 40 per cent of cases, GDP per capita has been revised upwards or downwards by more than 20 per cent. For China and India, the downward revision was about 40 per cent. Many oil exporters -- Saudi Arabia (28 per cent) and Iran (34 per cent) -- saw significant upward revisions. Understanding these revisions is critical to acquiring trust in them.
One way of assessing the new data would be to check for patterns in the revisions. It turns out that, on average, the magnitude of the revisions to the data was much smaller for countries that participated in the 1993 exercise than for countries that never provided detailed price data (see table). For example, the mean percentage revision (treating positive and negative revisions alike) in the GDP per capita for the latter group was about 34 per cent compared with 14 per cent for the former group (the difference remains substantial even after excluding rich countries, and is larger for PPP revisions).
The variability in the revisions (or standard deviation) was also greater for the latter group, especially for revisions to the PPP exchange rates. Thus, the revisions are not random but reassuringly consistent with what we might expect: the more dated the previous data, the greater and more variable the subsequent revisions.
That said, a number of specific revisions raise questions to which the Bank will have to provide answers.
Poverty: The reductions in GDP per capita imply a large increase in measured poverty, especially in China and India. Is this a problem? Yes, the new numbers are going to be awkward for the Bank because China and India cannot suddenly have hundreds of millions more poor people because new data have been produced. We are not quite in a Heisenberg quantum world where measurement affects underlying realities.
But the problem is less big than it appears. First, it should be emphasised that the new revisions change poverty rates according to the international one-dollar-a-day standard. But most researchers and policy-makers place far more faith in nationally determined poverty benchmarks and estimates. India's poverty rate will always be determined by the NSS surveys (fraught and contentious though even they are) not by international measurements.
The international standard was created to facilitate cross-country comparisons. But it was always recognised that setting this standard was hazardous because of the difficulties in comparing poverty across borders and time. The new revisions have merely served to expose these difficulties, and it is going to be very interesting to see how the Bank extricates itself out of this problem.
China: Perhaps a better basis for judging, and being wary about, the new China numbers relate to their implications for the Chinese exchange rate. The new data suggest that renminbi undervaluation is about 16 per cent, which is not only substantially lower than most analysts' estimates (of about 30-40 per cent) but also implausibly lower than the estimates for other countries, including India's (undervaluation of about 26 per cent). The price estimates for China were based on urban data, leaving open the possibility that including rural prices will yield more plausible numbers for the magnitude of undervaluation.
Singapore: It is surprising why data for this country, which has presumably one of the better statistical systems, should be amongst those with the greatest revisions (plus 40 per cent).
India: While China's large revision might be understandable because the old data were particularly shaky, why did the Indian numbers change? Recall that the old estimates for 2005 were really extrapolations. For those 115 countries (including Singapore) that provided detailed price data in 1993, these extrapolations were for 12 years. But India last participated in 1985, so the extrapolation was for 20 years.
Indian numbers, therefore, saw greater revisions in part because India's data were older than for other countries. It is possible that the Indian economy has seen so much change since 1985 that extrapolations for twenty years failed to reflect these changes.
The broader policy question that India and the world community should be asking is why nearly 15 years had to elapse before GDP data were updated. Had the Bank devoted more time, effort, and financial resources to doing more such exercises in the past, there would be fewer surprises today.
The World Bank has just replenished its coffers by about $40 billion to keep concessional finance flowing to poor countries. Nancy Birdsall, President of the Center for Global Development and I have argued that a large share of the Bank's resources -- substantially larger than currently foreseen -- should be channelled to activities that produce global public goods. A great example of such goods is knowledge produced by the Bank, including the knowledge embodied in the new GDP data generated by the Bank's statisticians. Like the efforts of the PWT in the past, this knowledge has transformed and enriched our understanding of the poorer parts of the world.
We should therefore raise a toast to these humble folk, the bean counters, who beaver away at such unsexy but invaluable tasks. But as we do so, we should not shy away from asking this question: can the loanwallahs at the World Bank (and elsewhere) make comparable claims of adding value to the world.
Arvind Subramanian |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56074 | How to Measure Exoplanet Light
126 of 522
How to Measure Exoplanet Light
March 3, 2011
These plots from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope show light from a distant planet, GJ 436b, and its star, as measured at six different infrared wavelengths. Astronomers use telescopes like Spitzer to measure the direct light of distant worlds, called exoplanets, and learn more about chemicals in their atmospheres.
The technique involves measuring light from an exoplanet and its star before, during and after the planet circles behind the star. (The technique only works for those planets that happen to cross behind and in front of their stars as seen from our point of view on Earth.) When the planet disappears behind the star, the total light observed drops, as seen by the dips in these light curves. This same measurement is repeated at different wavelengths of light. In this graph, the different wavelengths are on the vertical axis, and time on the horizontal axis. Those dips in the total light tell astronomers exactly how much light is coming from the planet itself.
As the data demonstrate, the amount of light coming off a planet changes with different wavelengths. The differences are due to the temperature of a planet as well as its chemical makeup. In this case, astronomers were able to show that GJ 436b lacks the common planetary ingredient of methane.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56133 | Rhapsody App for
Rhapsody International, Inc.
Can't Take My Eyes Off You (Single)
Can't Take My Eyes Off You by Barry Manilow
Released: Sep 2006
Label: J Records Llc
Is there anything Barry Manilow can't do? Originals, standards, show tunes -- this Franki Valli cover -- all seem to be that much brighter when sung by Barry. Benefiting from his recognizably warm vocals and his expert touch with arrangements, "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" is another jewel in a hit-studded crown. Barry really is the man.
Linda Ryan
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56134 | Rhapsody App for
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Christmas Extraordinaire
Christmas Extraordinaire by Mannheim Steamroller
Released: Aug 2001
Label: American Gramaphone
Producer Chip Davis first launched Mannheim Steamroller with Fresh Aire in 1975; while always successful, the instrumental project really took off with 1984's multiplatinum Mannheim Steamroller Christmas. Continuing the holiday tradition, Christmas Extraordinaire collects a healthy swath of well-known Christmas music. While the New Age stylings of "Away in a Manger" and "Do You Hear What I Hear?" are highlights, it's the '80s-riffic "Faeries" from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker that's the major draw here. A practically psychedelic "O Tannenbaum" (with Johnny Mathis) is another winner.
Mike McGuirk
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56135 | Rhapsody App for
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Today's Gospel Favorites
Today's Gospel Favorites by The Statler Brothers
Released: Jun 1993
Label: Island Def Jam
This gospel treat is a notable stopover on the Statler voyage. It sounds old fashioned even for 1993, but that's part of their charm. While not actually related, these country greats don't let mismatched DNA keep them from blending harmonies like family. They bless the LP with their knack for melodic twang and southern playfulness on tracks like "Just a Little Talk."
Amy Bartlett
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56205 | RedHat Single User Mode Authentication Vulnerability
A vulnerability exists in the manner in which RedHat Linux 6.0 protects the obtaining of a shell by booting single user mode. RedHat will prompt for the root password upon entering single user mode. Pressing ^C (causing a SIGINT to be sent) immediately results in a root shell being made available.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56206 | NetGap Escaped And Encoded URL Filtering Bypass Vulneribility
NetGAP is an internet security appliance distributed by Spearhead Security. The device is designed to provide a physical buffer between private and public networks, while allowing logical access through content filtering and access control.
A problem with the appliance makes it possible to bypass the URL filtering function. By encoding requests with escaped (%) URL requests, the requests are passed along by the appliance unchecked.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56210 | young boy gets initiated
I was about nine years old when this incident happened to me. It has affected me all my life but not adversely. I have always had a fascination with anal probing and anal intercourse. Not necessarily to others but to me.
I was walking home one day from school and was within a block of my house. I had gotten some money refunded by the school and had bought a wad of candy and couldn't eat it all before I got home. As I turned the corner to go home I stopped and wondered what I was going to do with all of this candy. There was a little house next to a bigger house that faced the street I just came down. It was vacant and hadn't been lived in for some time so I went to the screen door to see if it was open. It was! I gently opened the door and quietly walked in and found a place and sat down with my back against the wall.
As I sat there gorging myself on what was left of the candy I thought about stashing it in the house and coming back tomorrow and finishing it off. As I looked around in the tiny house I saw a cabinet drawer and opened it. There were some books in there with people with no clother on. Remembering now that this is in the '60's. We didn't have the graphic nudes and women having oral sex and intercourse then in publications. But we did have nudie books.
I put my candy in the drawer and took one of the books out and begin to look at it. The sight of a womans breast made my penis feel funny, but I couldn't take my eyes off of the men's penis. Some of them were quiet large. They weren't erect but they were large by my standards.
I sat there and looked at them for some time and went home and played with myself for the rest of the day. The next day I left school just as quickly as I could so I could get to that little house and get my candy and look at some of the books again.
I almost ran there bacause I didn't want to waste any time. The screen door was still open and I quietly went into the house and straight to the cabinet. I got a piece of candy and a book and found a chair to sit on next to a small table. I looked at the books for several minuts when I heard a noise and looked ub an there stood an old man looking at me with a smile on his face.
"like that kind of book? he asked.
"I was just looking at the pictures". I told him.
"Some pretty good looking women in there aren't they?" he said
"I guess so, I said, "I anin't ever seen any like them before."
He sat down beside me and put his hand on my leg, and whispered in my ear"they make you feel funny down here don't they?" and with that he put his hand on my penis.
"Yea, they do", I said wuietly.
When I ddidn't jump up and run he got bolder. He opened my pants.and pulled down my shorts and looked at my tiny little dick. The next thing he did scared me so bad but felt so good that I just sat there and let him do it.
He took my prick in his mouth and began to suck it. Very gentle at first but more boldly as he went on. I began to lean back and let him have more of it if he wanted it Man did that feel good.
He took one hand and began to caress my balls and suck even harder and one finger began to
ease its way down between my legs. I let my legs open wider and that finger began to find its way to my asshole. He told me to take off my pants and shorts and to spread my legs for him. His finger felt so good I didn't want it too stop. It was up to abot the first knuckle when he pulled it out and licked on it to make it wet and slippery, and studk it back in again and began to worm it up to about the second knuckle.
"You like that" he asked
All I could was give a nervouse uhhuh and try to smile
At that point he began to move his finger in and out of my asshole very gently.
I began to moan an little and move my hips into hes mouth a little.
He began to moan and suck even harder and I guess you could say that I cummed, if one that age can cum. He began to move his finger in and out of my but even faster and it was going in deeper until I could feel it bottom out. He stopped and asked me if I wanted more. I didn't want him to stop because it felt good. He told me to stand up and lean over the table and he would make it feel even better. When I leaned over the talbe he took me by the cheeks and spread them oen and stuck his tongue right up my asshole. I squealed like a little girl and pushed back on his tongue. I know that his finger had shit on it and probably his tongue too.
All of a sudden he stood up and dropped his pants,(I don't think he had any shorts on) and spit on his dick. I looked at it and hoped that it wasn't as large as some of those in the books and it wasn't. I wasn';t sure what he was going to do but I just laid there with my ass in the air as he spit on his dick an on my ass. Then he took his dick and slowly aimed it at my buthole and slowly pushed it in. I did hurt a little but it wasn't much bigger than his finger so I just liet him do it. It was linger than his finger by three or four inched but I liked the feeling.
He pushed it all the way in and asked me if it was ok" I just nodded my head and the next thing I knwe he was taking it out and just about the time he got it out he pushed it back in and so began a short series of him slamming back into my ass. It got pretty violent for a minute or two but strangely I was liking it. He stiffened up and grunted and then pulled it out. For a minute or two I just laid there and he leaned over on me and said"Remember how I sucked your wee wee a little while ago? I didn't have to say anything, se just helped me turn around and drop to my knees and he stuck his dick right up to my mouth.
I didn't really like the smell and didn't know that was my own shit on his didk but I stuck it in my mouth and tried to do what he had done to me. Man, did that feel good and the smell of shit wasn't that bad. I took that dick as deep as I could and just kept on sucking on it.
He let me suck for some time and then told me that I sould stop now
He helped me up and dressed me and told me if I liked what I had done I coould come back the next day too. But I probably shouldn't tell anyone else what I had done because they might not think it was good.
I went home, just a block away and noboby said anything. My stepmother looked at my shorts that night and came to my bedroom and asked me if I was OK. I told her that I had a stomach ache and that I was OK now. She asked me to let her lookat my bottom and see if it was alright.
I got up off the bed and turned aroung for her too look.What happened next startled me but I just stood there and took it. She bent me over and spat on her finger and slowly began to insert it in my ass. I faked being uncomfortable but just stood there while she pulled her finger out and said she would be right back. She came back with vaseling on her finger and asked me to bend over again. I did. This time she put her finger up to the first knuckle and it felt pretty good. I moaned a little and she sent it up to the second knuckle and then buried it so far up my ass that it did feel good. All I could do was moan..
She came close to me up next to my ear and whispered."was that good" I nodded like I had earlier in the day, and she began to stroker her finger in and out of me. I just pushed my butt
back on her hand and moaned. I was getting to liking this but stuff
She gave me several fast strokes and then pulled her finger out and then back in very quickly, doing this several times.
I'll check you tomorrow when you get home from school" she said and that began a long series of butfuckings that continued until I got married.
She checked me at least twice a week until I was 18 years old. Eventually she used candles on me.
There are other incidents with the old man and his son that made me like taking it in the ass and even though I am not homosexual I do like to suck a dick and get ass fucked even now.
2009-09-14 13:44:50
fantastic story got me wanking hard also loved the shitty cock, hope you do a follow up story
2009-06-16 16:17:54
Good story, made me cum after just only a few stroke
Anonymous readerReport
2009-04-29 23:55:47
even though I am not homosexual
Anonymous readerReport
2008-06-07 10:48:29
very nice i love taking it in my ass so i know how you feel
2007-06-16 20:51:11
oh yeah i luv'ed it when men fucked me - still do - gud story
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56211 | David is left alone with Mary
Although the girls had not mentioned it, a few days later they were booked to go on a coach outing with other girls from their school which meant they would be away overnight. David was obviously disappointed at missing the girls for a couple of days, especially as although the night following their exploits in the woods they had chatted, they hadn’t yet repeated the experience either in bed or back in the woods. Kate, however, promised him they would do something as soon as they came back.
The girls left quite early on the Thursday morning which left David and Mrs. Ellis alone in the house. Since his relationship with the girls David had given no thought to Mrs. Ellis herself, but Mary had certainly given a thought to David! In fact the next couple of days would prove the ideal opportunity to put her plan into action…
David had agreed to help Mrs. Ellis in the garden that day, and luckily the sun shone brightly. There was quite a bit of work to do in tidying up and the pair of them went to it with a will. David was a good worker, which pleased Mary, but she hoped he wouldn’t be paying all his attention to the garden that day. She had specifically chosen the outfit to garden in which, although obviously suitable for gardening, was perhaps a bit more daring then she would normally wear.
She had her hair tied up in a turban as was the fashion, and was wearing a pale blue cotton blouse which she had tied under her bust, exposing her tanned midriff. She wore a pair of matching shorts which she carefully rolled up, exposing as much of her tanned legs as possible, and catching sight of herself in the mirror as she left the bedroom she had to confess she did look rather sexy, although perhaps a little too tarty for the garden! She felt sure David would not object…
Mrs. Ellis’s appearance had naturally struck David as soon as she stepped out into the garden, where he had already been working. He tried to keep his concentration but found it very difficult as Mrs. Ellis kept bending over where she was weeding in the vegetable plot. If she faced away from him, her backside was stuck provocatively up in the air, and if she was facing him, he could stare right down her blouse where her breasts were swinging happily underneath their blouse.
Meanwhile Mary herself was only too aware of the effect she was having on David and smiled to myself as she caught him staring at her out of the corner of her eye. In fact she was getting quite aroused herself with the heat and David’s attention.
Mary checked her watch and noticed it was nearly 1.00. She stood up and stretched, carefully thrusting her breasts outwards towards where David was nestled in the flowerbeds. She stifled a grin at the look on his face.
“Time for lunch I think don’t you?” David stood up and agreed. He carefully stepped out of the flowerbeds onto the lawn and Mary reached out to take his hand to steady him. She then led him into the kitchen, and between them they fixed a large ham sandwich and a glass of lemonade each.
They sat on the freshly cut lawn to eat this, chatting happily as they did so and once they had finished David politely took the plates and glasses back into the kitchen. When he returned to the garden, Mrs. Ellis was stretched out on the lawn, obviously intending to sunbathe. She glanced up at him.
“I think we’ve done as much as we need to in the garden today don’t you? I thought perhaps we could take the afternoon off.”
“Sounds good to me!” David replied and settled down next to Mrs. Ellis. He tried not to stare at the perfect view he had of Mrs. Ellis’s breasts, convinced as he was that she had shifted the neckline of her blouse down to expose as much flesh as possible! Occasionally she would run her fingers along the cleavage, wiping away the sweat that was gathering there in the heat, and this making her breasts wobbled was starting to get to David. He was somewhat embarrassed to feel stirrings in his shorts and tried to think of other things.
“Gosh it’s hot isn’t it?” Mrs. Ellis suddenly exclaimed and, to David’s astonishment, casually untied her blouse and undid the buttons, allowing the two sides to fall away from her body, exposing her bra-clad breasts. “That’s better.” She quickly glanced across at David.
“You don’t mind do you? I’m not embarrassing you am I? It’s just so hot out here and it seems a shame to go inside and waste the sun.”
“No it’s fine.” David replied. He paused. “I thought I might take my shirt off actually.”
“I’m surprise you haven’t done so already. Don’t mind me! I’ve seen it all!” Mrs. Ellis grinned at him. I’m only going to take my shirt off, thought David but thinking nothing further he quickly sat up and pulled off his shirt over his head. He lay back again and closed his eyes, enjoying the heat of the sun on his chest.
It was now Mary’s turned to gaze at David. His chest was quite broad and well toned for a young lad, and she longed to run her hands up and down it, especially to the firm flat stomach. And who knows what lay beyond that? She giggled to herself mischievously. To her horror she realised she had giggled out loud and David turned to look at her with a puzzled expression.
“Sorry David… I was just thinking.” Mrs. Ellis bit her lip. David waited in case she decided to share the joke with her. Mary looked up at him and wondered if she dare say what was on her mind.
“I was just thinking…when I said just now “I’ve seen it all” you must have wondered what I was on about! I meant that I had seen boys chest before. Not that I had…you know... seen it all…” her voice trailed away and she realized she was making a complete idiot of herself.
“God I’m sorry David.” She heaved a sigh. “What must I sound like?” She turned to look up at David who was now resting on one elbow and staring down at her. She looked into his blue eyes and her heart melted. She had to have this boy. Luckily David said nothing and she raised her hand and gently stroked his cheek.
“I miss my Jack…” Mary whispered. The words hung in the air as David continued to gaze at Mrs. Ellis, his heart beating faster. He was of course inexperienced in the ways of older women but he recognized a look of pure lust when he saw it! He felt sure Mrs. Ellis was his for the taking…
“Of course you do…he did so much around the house and garden for you I’m sure. And other things…” David grinned at Mrs. Ellis, hoping he was not overstepping the mark.
“Yes…other things…” Mrs. Ellis turned to stare at the skies. David wondered if perhaps he had gone too far. Then she turned to look at him again.
“That’s why it’s nice to have a man around the place again.” She grinned up at him and once again stroked the side of his face.
“I’m always happy to help whenever I can, around the garden and in the house…” David purposely left the sentence hanging but grinned at Mrs. Ellis who was still smiling up at him and gently caressing his cheek. Surely all he had to do was lean down and kiss her. One little movement…
“You know this garden isn’t overlooked don’t you?” Mrs. Ellis said quietly. This was all the invitation David needed. He leant down and carefully kissed Mrs. Ellis on the lips. The kiss lasted for several seconds, before David pulled away again. He gazed into Mrs. Ellis’s eyes, and the expression said it all.
“God I want you so much David…” she whispered. He kissed her again, now knowing what the afternoon would bring. He carefully brought his left hand up to caress Mrs. Ellis’s tummy and he slowly slid upwards until he met the harsh material of her bra. He felt her right breast jiggling inside and moved his hand up and over the material until it was gently caressing the soft flesh of the breast itself. It felt wonderful and warm.
“That’s it David…nice and gentle.” Mrs. Ellis had pulled away and whispered to him before starting to kiss him again. Then he felt her lips apart and he slid his tongue between them, searching for the soft wetness of her tongue. They now started to kiss quite passionately and David moved his body closer to her, almost climbing on top of her. As if sensing this, Mrs. Ellis slid her hands down and grasped hold of David’s hips pulling him onto her. He now didn’t care how or if they were overlooked as Mrs. Ellis parted her legs and allowed him to nestle between them.
They were still kissing and David could now feel Mrs. Ellis is large breasts crushed against his chest. The harshness of the thick material scraped against his skin and he felt his cock straining against the material of his shorts. Suddenly Mrs. Ellis pushed him up and he leant up on to his elbows gazing down at her. She had a startled expression on her face.
“David what on earth is that I can feel between my legs?” She grinned mischievously as she wiggled her hips up at him. His cock was now thrusting against the vee of her groin.
“That’s my cock Mrs. Ellis!” David grinned smugly at her.
“Is it all yours? It feels enormous!” David laughed.
“It was last time I looked!”
“Shall we go inside David? I think my big double bed is a bit more comfortable than this lawn don’t you?” David nodded and quickly climbed off Mrs. Ellis. He reached down and helped her to her feet and they quickly went into the kitchen, up the stairs and onto the landing. Mrs. Ellis quickly pushed open the large wooden door of her bedroom and dragged David inside.
He had only been in the bedroom a couple times and it was wonderfully bright in the sunshine. It was quite a sparse room, he noted, but very clean and the wooden furniture almost glowed in the sunlight. The room was dominated by a large wooden double bed.
Mrs. Ellis stood in the middle of the room, her blouse still hanging loose from her shoulders and stared at David.
“Have you done this before David? I mean have you…you know…been with a woman before?” David blushed.
“Not as such….” He bit his lip, being careful not to reveal what he had done with her daughters! “I’ve seen a girl naked and that. And I’ve played with her and she played with me…my girlfriend Beth that is…back in Southampton.” He added hastily. Mrs. Ellis grinned at him.
“Bet you’ve never actually fucked a woman before?” David was astonished at the language, which he had never heard Mrs. Ellis use before, but was secretly aroused by it.
“No I haven’t. I’ve never fucked a girl or anything.” He rolled the word around his mouth. He found himself excited just saying it himself. Mary grinned.
“So would like to fuck me now David? Here?” She pointed to the big double bed. David nodded dumbly.
“Yes please… if that’s all right?”
“Of course it is David…but there’s no need to be so polite!” David grinned sheepishly as Mary stepped forward and ran her fingers down his chest. He shivered at the contact and as Mrs. Ellis slid her fingers down onto his tummy she closed her eyes, enjoying for the first time for a long time the feel of a man’s body.
They kissed again, David automatically wrapping his hands around her and she slid her hands around him and started to stroke is back. Then she slid her hands down to his backside and squeezed the cheeks through the material of his shorts. They felt very firm and pert.
“I think we should get undressed don’t you?” She stepped back and quickly slipped off her top. David stared as she held his gaze, reaching behind her and unclipping her bra. She slowly eased each strap off before gently shrugging her shoulders, allowing her bra to fall away, revealing her large breasts. David gazed at them.
“Do you like them?” Mrs. Ellis teased. David swallowed hard.
“They’re fantastic Mrs. Ellis…” They were far bigger than any he had seen before and licked his lips. Without being asked he reached out and took each breast in his hand, feeling the weight as the soft flesh overflowed his hands. They were enormous! He looked up at Mrs. Ellis again who was grinning at him. He was like a boy in a sweet shop! She loved the feel of a man’s hands on her breasts again and her nipples rapidly hardened.
“Look what you’re doing to me David…” She glanced down at her breasts and David marvelled at the stiffening nipples. He expertly flicked his thumbs across them, as he had done for Beth, and Mrs. Ellis sighed appreciatively. Then he lifted each one in his hands and kissed them in turn, flicking his tongue across the nipples and gently nibbling at the firm stalks.
“Jesus, David that’s nice…” Mrs. Ellis gasped. Suddenly she pulled away and David glanced up at her.
“Let’s get undressed…I need to have that cock inside my cunt as quickly as possible!” Mrs. Ellis grinned mischievously at him. Her face was red and her eyes were sparkling. He had never seen an expression like it! Mrs. Ellis quickly unbuttoned her shorts and slid them down. To his amazement she hadn’t been wearing any panties! Her pubic area was bald and she obviously noticed his puzzled expression.
“Don’t worry David, I shaved it. Is the fashion now you know?” She casually reached down to her pussy and rubbed her fingers along the slit, pulling the lips apart. David gazed in wonderment. Mrs. Ellis was so wanton, so brazen he had to have her as soon as possible.
He quickly unbuckled his own shorts and pull them down, followed swiftly by his briefs and he stepped out of them as they fell to the ground. He looked up at Mrs. Ellis who was now gazing wraptly at his groin.
“Jesus, David - it’s fucking enormous! That is quite easily the biggest cock I’ve ever set eyes on.” She glanced up at him. “And I’ve seen a few believe me…” David smiled sheepishly as his cock swayed about in front of him, almost throbbing with desire for this woman. Suddenly Mrs. Ellis turned away and quickly clambered onto the bed. She made herself comfortable on the pillow as he stood at the foot of the bed and then staring at him she slowly spread her legs. Her pussy opened up before his gaze, the lips almost winking at him. Even from this distance he could see she was wet. He licked his lips again.
“Come on David…fuck me hard quickly!” David needed no second invitation and quickly scrambled onto the bed. This was of course his first time with a woman but he felt sure he knew what to do. Mrs. Ellis grabbed his shoulders and guided him down to her as he nestled between her legs and she suddenly felt the head of his cock nuzzling against the wet lips of her pussy.
“Are you ready for this David? You have to hang on tight because once I get going I can get pretty noisy!” Mrs. Ellis grinned up at him and he looked back nervously.
“I’ll do my best Mrs. Ellis…” Mary grinned. He loved the fact that he called her Mrs. Ellis. It made her feel motherly towards this young boy, which only seemed to heighten the arousal. She slid her hands down his back and took a firm grasp of the pert cheeks of his backside. He was smaller and tighter than Jack and she had been astonished at the size of his cock. At least wto inches longer than jacks! She hoped she could take it…
She took a breath, closed her eyes and widening her hips slightly she pulled at David’s hips so that the entire length of his massive cock slid into her in one swift movement. Jesus it was huge! She thought she was going to burst! She let out an involuntary grunt.
“Are you OK?” David whispered in her ear as he nuzzled the side of her neck in the pillow.
“I’m just fine David don’t you worry! Just beautiful…” she whispered back. She flexed the muscles of her pussy around David’s cock and heard him whimper. They were both ready…
“You can start now David…start fucking me!” Mary murmured in the boy’s ear. Obediently she felt his shaft slide out of her pussy and then back in again, out then in, out then in. He started to get a good steady rhythm going and soon all that could be heard in the room was the slapping of this young boys body between her legs. His balls, she had noticed, were also quite large and these were banging against her groin. The whole effect was stunning…
“God this is nice David…this is really nice…” David did not reply but was breathing heavily in her ear as he continued to thrust in out of her. She knew she wasn’t far off coming.
“You’re going to make me come in a minute David you know that don’t you? You’re going to make a girl come by fucking her for the first time. How does that feel?”
“Lovely Mrs. Ellis…” David gasped and she smiled to herself. Still so polite. Mary desperately wanted to come at the same time as David. She could feel David was close by the way he was twitching and she knew there was one way guaranteed to bring her off quickly.
“I love being fucked David. I love having you on top of me and fucking me with your big cock. Do you like it?” Mrs. Ellis gasped. David wasn’t quite sure what to say.
“Yes I do…it’s brilliant…” he muttered.
“Say it for me David…” Mrs. Ellis whispered. “Tell me what you’re doing”
“I’m making love to you Mrs. Ellis…” David gasped, his orgasm rapidly approaching.
“No you’re not David…your fucking me…say it! Say it!” Mary was getting desperate now. She felt David hesitate hiss rhythm but then start again.
“I’m fucking you Mrs. Ellis I’m fucking you with my big cock” That was what she wanted!
“That’s it David! That’s it! that’s what you’re doing. You’re fucking my cunt with your huge cock. What are you doing?”
“I’m fucking your cunt…I’m sliding my big cock in and out of your wet cunt!” David guessed what was expected of him and started to use his imagination. “Your cunt is really tight around my cock and in a minute I’m going to spurt juice into you. But I’m not going to stop. When I finished I’m going to flip you on to all fours and fuck you from behind and then lay on my back and get you to fuck me on top so I can watch your tits bouncing about!” David surprised even himself at this and hoped he wasn’t assuming too much!
Mary, on the other hand, almost came in an instant. This was what she wanted! Suddenly she felt her orgasm building.
“I’m coming David! I’m coming! Fuck yes I’m coming! I can feel it… I can feel my cunt going to explode…YESSSSSS!” With an almost animal growl Mary felt her orgasm thunder through her and she wrapped her legs around David as he continued to thrust in out of her cunt. It seemed to last forever and she luxuriated in the stamina of this young boy as he continued to thrust his whole body against her. All too soon it started to subside and she collapsed back on to the bed. However David was still thrusting away…
“Almost Mrs. Ellis almost…” He muttered.
“That’s it David…” Mary cooed into his ear as she ran her hands through his hair and down his back to clutch at his backside. He felt her fingers slipping between the cheeks of his backside and to astonishment she started to rub her finger insistently against the opening.
“Do you like that David? Most men do…”
“Yes…yes that’s lovely!” David gasped.
“Come on David…come in me…come for me…” Suddenly she felt the young boy stiffen and the familiar squirt of juice shot into her cunt. David cried out as he came, his thrusting still not ceasing as he continued to pump more juice into her.
“Oh David that’s lovely! I can feel it! I can feel your huge cock pumping its juice into my waiting cunt! Oh yes that’s just wonderful!” Mary knew she was safe and it had been a long time since she had felt somebody coming inside her. It brought back fond memories and she felt complete once again.
David collapsed on top of her, breathing heavily and she ran his hands through his hair, gently stroking him. David stayed where he was, lying on top of Mary whilst the two of them recovered, enjoying the silence. All was quiet except for the birdsong coming in through the bedroom window.
“The girls aren’t back until tomorrow you know that don’t you?”
“Yes I know…” David replied. Mary smiled to herself.
“There’s a lot I can teach you David.” She whispered. He looked up at her with a broad grin on his face.
“That would be brilliant Mrs. Ellis!” She felt sure that David would be a willing learner. She glanced at the clock by her bedside and saw it was nearly 4.00.
“Shall we get something to eat?” The pair of them quickly got up before wrapping a towel round each of them and then venturing downstairs. Mary suggested they put together some cheese sandwiches and take them upstairs to eat, which David thought a great and somewhat daring idea.
Once back in the bedroom they dropped the towels and each sat cross legged on the bed munching at the sandwiches. They chatted generally about this and that, each skirting round what they both were thinking…what would happen over the next few hours. David was also trying to glance surreptitiously between Mrs Ellis’s legs!
Once they had finished the lemonade they had brought up they sat side by side leaning against the headboard, now quite relaxed in each other’s nudity. Mary idly stroked her hand up and down David’s leg and watched in fascination as his cock began to twitch once again. The stamina of young boys! She turned to him.
“Would you like me to suck your cock?” David’s eyes widened, and Mary smiled. “Don’t worry it’s quite common…men and women often use their tongues on each other…you know…down there…” David had never heard of this but thought it sounded fascinating and was more than happy to learn.
“You lay back and I’ll do you first if you like.” David quickly shuffled down the bed until he was laying full length, his head resting on the pillow. Mary lay down next to him and kissed him gently on the lips before working down his chin and on to his neck.
She stroked her hand down his chest, enjoying the firm taut muscles of his young body. She started to kiss down his chest, carefully twirling her tongue around his nipples which he seemed to enjoy. She continued kissing down his belly, giving him a quick peck on the naval before continuing her journey down.
He smelt wonderful. He smelt so young! She quickly put to the back of her mind the fact that he was only 15 and continued her journey, as her nose started to furrow through his soft curls. She slipped her hand down to cup his balls which lay swollen and plump in her hands. His balls were in proportion to his cock, quite enormous…almost the size of the plums they grew in the back garden.
His cock was now starting to stiffen and she gently sniffed at it, sensing her own scent on it, which aroused her even more. She carefully poked out her tongue and ran it along the full length of his cock, which brought forth a gasp from David. She glanced up and saw his eyes were closed and mouth half open. Time for her to get to work!
She ran her tongue to the very tip of his cock and carefully twirled it around the engorged head. Then carefully opening her mouth she slipped her lips over the top and just captured the head of his cock in her mouth, running her tongue along the slit. David grunted at this and she felt his balls twitching as she gently squeezed them.
Now his cock was in her mouth, she could appreciate the size of it compared to Jack’s, and she carefully slid her mouth down but could only get about half in. She didn’t want him to touch the back of her throat so she carefully started to slide her lips up and down the hot, salty shaft. She could now sense David breathing quite heavily and starting to twitch. Her left hand continued to gently squeeze and caress his balls as her head bobbed up and down on his cock. He knew he was close to coming and longed to taste his young spunk. Suddenly he felt his hands on her head.
“I’m coming Mrs. Ellis…I’m…” He jerked his cock into her mouth, and using her hands she managed to stop him jamming it into her throat but then suddenly she felt the first spurt of his orgasm. A jet of semen shot into the back of her throat and she swallowed greedily, being careful not to choke. The second jerk seemed almost as fierce and once again she swallowed hard. Several more spurts followed, each time the volume lessening and Mary continued to swallow each one as young David jerked and writhed underneath her.
David felt he was on a different planet! It had been nice enough when she was running her tongue up and down his cock and caressing his balls. He thought she would stop at this but when he felt his cock disappearing into her mouth he could not believe it. He hoped he hadn’t come too quickly but the feelings were just sensational. He opened his eyes and lifted his head to gaze down at Mrs. Ellis. She was now lying between his legs, his cock grasped firmly in her hand. She was rubbing it gently against the side of her face and gazing up at him with a mischievous grin on her face.
“How was that David?”
“Brilliant…” He croaked, dropping his head back on the pillow again. Mary smiled to herself and gave his cock and gentle kiss again. He would miss this when it was gone!
She crawled back up the bed again and lay down next to David, carefully licking her lips. The taste of his sperm was so different from Jack’s…somehow cleaner and fresher. She turned to David, who was now gazing at her.
“Would you like me to do you now Mrs. Ellis? If you can tell me how to…” She nodded.
“Don’t worry I’ll give you a guided tour!” He smiled back at her and quickly shuffled down the bed. Mary spread her legs and David carefully positioned himself between them, leaning on his elbows and gazing between her thighs. She felt incredibly sexy and wanton at this young boy gazing at her most private place. She carefully slid her hand down between her legs and parted her lips. She was glad she had shaved freshly that morning - it felt so much sexier!
“These are my pussy lips David.” She ran her fingers down each side of her opening. “You can lick up and down these and the occasionally slip your tongue in if you like.” She peered down at David who was looking studiously between her legs and then he leaned forward. She closed her eyes at the first soft touch of her breath on her pussy and then she felt the tentative touch of his tongue on her lips.
“You can do it quite hard David…” she instructed and suddenly she felt the rasp of David’s tongue sliding up and down her lips. “That’s it…!” she gasped. She brought her hands up to caress her breasts as David continued to run his tongue up and down the lips of her pussy. Then she suddenly felt it slip into the opening and she gasped again. This was fantastic! Jack was quite good at this but the fact that David was more tentative made it far more exciting.
“Do you know where to find my clit David? My clitoris that is…” she wondered how much David knew. His head appeared between her legs.
“Is it just here Mrs. Ellis?” He brought his hand up and she felt a finger delving into the folds at the top of her pussy. She gazed back at him with a grin.
“Right first time David…” He grinned back and then his head disappeared between her legs once again. She let her head fall back and then David’s tongue rasp across her clitoris. She felt it unfolding from its hood and heard a gasp from David.
“Wow...” he whispered as Mary smiled to herself. He might have seen a clitoris before but he certainly wouldn’t have seen one as big as hers! She peered down as his eyes caught hers again. She saw him go bright red.
“Sorry Mrs. Ellis…it’s just that…well it’s big isn’t it?” He glanced down again.
“Just treat it like I did your cock David…that’ll be nice…” Suddenly she felt his lips wrap around her clitoris.
“That’s it David…that’s lovely…just use your tongue and then… JESUS CHRIST!!! FUCK YESSS!OH YESSSS....!” Suddenly Mary’s whole body seemed to explode as David hit the right spot, her clitoris almost disappearing into his mouth as he sucked on it. She grabbed his head and thrust her hips up at him, as her orgasm thundered through her, spasm after spasm of intense ecstasy coursing through her body.
David held on as best he could as Mrs. Ellis’s pussy was thrust into his face. All he had done was suck on her clitoris and she seemed to explode! He continued lapping at her pussy as she came, hoping it would help her.
He was fantastic! He actually kept lapping at her cunt as she was coming! Jack never did that - he was a bit squeamish about her pussy juices. She felt herself coming down and casually eased back on the bed, taking hold of David’s head and carefully lifting him up. She gazed down between her breasts where his bright red face stared back at her, slick with her pussy juices.
“Kiss me David…” she gasped and David quickly crawled up her body and they kissed wetly. She lapped her tongue over his face, licking her own juices from it and then sliding her tongue into his mouth they kissed again. She gave a little tremble. It was almost as if her orgasm was continuing.
“Got that was fantastic David…absolutely fantastic…” She whispered as once again David lay on top of her, his head cushioned by her breasts. She felt him kiss her lightly on the soft mound of flesh. Surely he didn’t want more? She glanced down at him and taking his face in her hands lifted it up to gaze at him.
“You know what I’m going to do tonight don’t you?” He raised his eyebrows. “I mean to let you fuck me again.” His face broke into a broad grin. “You’d like that wouldn’t you?”
“Yes please Mrs. Ellis!” He replied eagerly.
“I’m going to let you fuck me from behind, so you can play with my tits as you’re fucking me and then I’m going to climb on top of you and bounce up and down on your cock. You’ll like that because you can play with my tits while I’m fucking you!”
David would never forget that night as long as he lived.
They snuggled together and actually slept for an hour before he was woken up by Mrs. Ellis’s hand delving between his legs. She brought him to full hardness before straddling him and, as promised, bouncing up and down on his cock. She leaned forward so he could play with her breasts as she did this and the feeling of the soft, warm flesh in his hands was fantastic. She came twice as she did this, each time almost screaming as she came and then she quickly climbed off.
She turned on to all fours and stuck her backside towards him. It was a very inviting sight and he quickly got onto his knees behind her. He grabbed her hips and pulled had them back onto his cock which slid up to the hilt into her pussy. It was in this position that he came himself. The sound of his hips slapping against Mrs. Ellis’s backside and the feel of her enormous breasts overflowing his hands was too much for him. As for Mrs. Ellis, this was the final and the best orgasm…
“That’s it David…squeeze my tits! Squeeze them! Pinch the nipples! That’s it…I love that! Harder! Harder! God doesn’t that sound good? Doesn’t that sound so fucking good, your hips banging against my cunt! I’m nearly there now…a bit more…that’s it… Squeeze them! Oh fuck...YES! Oh FUCK my cunt is on fire. YESSS! YESSSS! SHIT YESSSSS!!!”
Mrs Ellis collapsed on to the bed and David was pulled down with her, her backside cushioning his hips as her fell on top of her, his cock trapped deep inside her. They lay like this for a few seconds before he carefully withdrew and knelt up.
David and Mary shared a bed that night but nothing else happened apart from a kiss and a cuddle the following morning. They were both too exhausted from the previous afternoon’s exertions. They didn’t speak about what had happened but both hoped that they would get an opportunity to repeat the experience.
Anonymous readerReport
2015-05-29 23:54:43
anonymous readerReport
2011-05-21 07:53:37
@anon reader two below me
fair point......but she could have had a little snip snip..
2010-10-29 08:17:00
Anonymous readerReport
2010-06-04 20:16:24
Ah yes, during WW2, while her husband's away, NO 'pill', not using a condom, she is bound to end up pregnant & cause all sorts of scandal.
Anonymous readerReport
2010-03-29 21:45:32
Excellent story.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56214 | My Disgusting Experience with Daddy: Parts 6 and 7: Kevin Comes Home
(This is a hard-core story, meant for people who like hard-core, raunchy, taboo stuff!! If you’re not into that, please don’t read!)
[As always, I love reading your comments and reviews. Please rate and comment, and feel free to email me at]
Part 6:
I’d had enough. It wasn’t right, and it was time for me to call my oldest brother Kevin, who was away at college, whom I was closest to. I had to tell him about Daddy, about what he had become, that he’d raped me, that he was a drunk. I knew that telling Kevin might possibly create some irreversible family turmoil, but I knew in my heart and in my head that this was what I had to do. Kev was more like a father to me than Daddy was, that’s for sure!
It was early in the morning, I remember it was a Thursday, a little before 8 am, and I prayed that Kevin didn’t have any early classes that day, that I’d get him at his dorm room. My heart was pounding out of my chest, and with shaking hands I dialed the number from the kitchen phone and waited while it started to ring. One ring…. I could barely breathe… two rings…. I was starting to sweat… three rings…
“WHO ARE YOU CALLING AT THIS HOUR?” I heard Daddy’s booming voice from behind me. I jumped out of my skin!! My head snapped around, my hands fumbled and I dropped the phone. I was shaking so much I couldn’t stand still, and clumsily grabbed the phone cord to pull the receiver back up off the floor.
“Uhh, I’m just calling Kevin” I said. Why did I tell him who I was calling?? Dammit!!
I was back in possession of the phone, if only barely. The phone wasn’t up against my ear, but I heard Kevin answer and say “Hello?” while I looked at Daddy, and he looked at me. He had a look of realization in his eyes, like he remembered, like he knew what had happened. And like he knew why I was calling Kevin.
“Hello??!” I heard Kevin say again.
I put the receiver to my ear, and feeling scared as a mouse I meekly said “H- h-hi Kev”.
Daddy and I still had our eyes fixed on each other, and then Daddy surprised me. I was really expecting him to take the phone out of my hands and do something awful. But he didn’t. Instead, he just smirked, and also let out a little bit of a chuckle, and then went to the fridge to get himself an unopened and chilled fresh bottle of vodka. He seemed amused at something, and I couldn’t believe he was letting me make this phone call!
“Hey Squirt” Kevin said sleepily. “It’s 8 am, why are you calling so early? This is the one day I can sleep in, my first class is after lunch!”
“I’m sorry Kev” I said. How could I talk to him with Daddy right there??
“Is something wrong? Is everything ok with you and Dad and Jakey?” Jakey was my other brother, younger than Kevin, older than me. He was 20, and also away at college. His real name was Jake, but we’d called him Jakey for as long as I can remember. The story goes that he used to play with himself so much as a child that my mom would wake him up saying “Wakey wakey, hands off snakey, Jakey!”
“Yeah, yeah, we’re ok” I said. “I just wanted to chat.” CHAT?? I couldn’t believe I said that, but with Daddy right there I didn’t know what else to say.
I heard Kevin sigh; I could tell he was annoyed. “Chat, Jenny?? It’s 8 o’clock in the morning. I’m going to be home in like 36 hours… think you could wait until then?? Seriously, I’ve only bed in bed for like 2 hours.”
“You’re coming home this weekend??!” I asked.
“Yes!” he said with frustration. “It’s my birthday on Saturday, or did you forget?”
Kevin was coming home this weekend!!! I’d totally forgotten about his birthday!! That was perfect! I’d much rather talk to him in person!
“Oh, no I didn’t forget! I’m sorry I bothered you…” I told him.
He asked “Is Jakey going to be there?” I didn’t know the answer to that. Reluctantly I said “Let me ask”.
I went to find Daddy, who was once again in his chair in the family room, pouring himself a morning “pick-me-up”.
“Is Jakey coming home for Kevin’s birthday this weekend?” I asked.
My father didn’t even look at me and said “No, he has to work.” Both my brothers worked jobs to put themselves through college, since Daddy wasn’t making any money anymore.
“No, he has to work” I said to Kevin. Strangely, I heard my dad chuckling, again.
“Ok, Jen” Kevin said. “I’ll see you soon, then, ok? And we’ll chat. I need to go back to sleep.”
“Ok, Kev” I said, feeling grateful that I’d be able to see him so soon!
I was about to tell him goodbye when he said “Hey, Jen, Dad said he has a big surprise for me for my birthday, do you know anything about that?”
I was really surprised. Daddy hadn’t been able to afford anything more than dollar store presents for a long time, I had no idea what he was talking about!
“Umm, no idea Kevin.” I truly had no idea what that was all about.
“Ok, well, see you soon. Love you, Squirt” he said.
“Love you too, Kev” I responded, and then hung up the phone.
I looked at Daddy again and I couldn’t stop feeling like he was amused at my attempt to call Kevin for help. It didn’t make sense. “Asshole”, I thought, again, and turned to walk away. “You’ll pay for this jerk-wad!” I went to my room, to gather my sheets and find my panties, and do yet another load of laundry.
The next 24 hours passed without incident, except for a few sleezy leers from Daddy. And that smirk. Where did that come from??!!
It was the next night, Friday night, that Kevin finally arrived home with his duffle bag. He had barely said “I’m home” when I flew at him and threw my hands around his neck. “Happy Birthday!! Welcome home!!” I cried, so happy to see him!!
“Hey Squirt!” he said, and laughed. He hugged me back. I was so thankful he was home! I’d tell him everything this weekend, what a relief!!
“It’s not my birthday until tomorrow, so you can say that again then” he laughed.
That night we ordered out for pizza, watched the new Harry Potter movie, and had a nice normal evening. Daddy got drunk, but he drank in his bedroom, so I’m not even sure if Kevin had any idea what Daddy had become.
Part 7:
The next day it was Saturday, and it was Kevin’s birthday. Very early, around 6 o’clock, I was woken up by Daddy. His hand was on my thigh, then on my breast and he shook it, saying “wake up, little one.” He shook my tit again, and chuckled, letting his laugh come out as a “heh heh heh”. His hand on my breast tightened and squeezed my tit through my tee-shirt. I opened my eyes, thinking I needed to get Kevin, to show him what Daddy was doing!! I sat up, and even after that Daddy didn’t let go of my tit! He kept opening and closing his hand on my breast, pinching my nipple through my tee-shirt as I was awake and looking at him! I pushed his hand away, wiping the sleep out of my eyes.
“Follow me” he said. No, commanded. He found my nipple again and gave it a hard rolling pinch, and then started to walk out of the room. Half-asleep, I got up and followed him. He was still my daddy, and I still felt like I needed to do what he said.
He led me to the family room, and told me to have a seat in his recliner chair. I thought to myself, “That’s the chair that he usually sits in to look at those incest pictures on his computer and jerk off!”
Nonetheless, I sat down on the chair. I felt a little bit of confidence, knowing that Kevin was in the house.
Suddenly, I felt my dad’s hands on my wrists, and before I knew what was happening my hands were in restraints, and I think they were real handcuffs! My hands were behind my back with my wrists tied, or handcuffed, together! My natural reaction was to try to get up, but the next thing I knew I was knocked back on the chair, my head feeling the blow, and I felt my legs being tied or duct taped or hand-cuffed (I had no idea) to the front legs of the chair.
I fully woke up and realized I was bound to Daddy’s chair, unable to get up. My hands were behind my back and my ankles were bound to the chair legs.
My eyes were wide open now, and the clock on the wall showed that it was only 6:08 am.
I looked around and saw Daddy on the couch. What a role reversal! Now I was the one in his chair and he was the one looking at me!! I couldn’t believe he was doing this with Kevin in the house!
He picked up a box, wrapped in Spiderman birthday paper, and held it out to me. It looked like a present!!
I said “What?? Why did you get me a gift, Daddy? It’s not my birthday, it’s Kevin’s!!”
He laughed, and ohhhhhh how he relished that laugh!!
Without saying anything he turned the box so that it’s bottom-side was pointing towards me. There was no bottom. It had been completely cut out. It was basically a wrapped empty cardboard shell that resembled a present.
He set it down next to him on the couch, rose, and came towards me. He put his face right next to mine.
“Listen” he said, in his commanding Daddy-voice. “You are going to be quiet and not say a word. You listen to me, little girl!” He pulled at the waist line of my sweatpants and shoved 2 fingers into my dry pussy. He didn’t seemed ashamed anymore, his face close to mine, as he fingered my puss, snagging some of my pussy hair and breathing his disgusting breath in my face. He looked me right in the eye and said “Keep quiet or you’ll get my cock in your ass next time.” I felt his thick fingers inside of me, moving around and feeling me from the inside. I was still so sore down there, and I didn’t want his fingers inside me again.
I sucked in my breath, and started to quake, once again, with fear. “Kevin!!” I cried out in my mind!
Then he withdrew his hand and fingers from my pussy, and picked up the Spiderman gift box and put it over my head.
I couldn’t see anything, and I couldn’t get that damned box off my head because my hands and legs were bound!
He used scissors on my tee-shirt and then my sweatpants until I was 100 percent naked.
I heard the slosh of the bottle again, and knew he’d taken another swig of vodka, while I sat in his chair, bound and spread naked, with that stupid Spiderman box on my head.
Suddenly, I felt and heard an enormous slap on my left tit, followed by another chuckle. I started to cry out, but then remembered what he had said; that I should keep quiet. I felt his presence there for a while; he was probably just looking at me, spread open and completely exposed!
A few quiet moments went by, and I thought he had left the room. Then I heard 2 sets of feet shuffling into the family room.
“Happy Birthday, Son!” I heard Daddy say.
“Oh my God, Dad!! Seriously??!!!” It was Kevin’s voice. “This is WAY better than last year!”
“Who is she?” Kevin asked, as I felt a new hand lift up my breast, flick my nipple, and let it fall...
[to be continued….]
Anonymous readerReport
2014-10-31 10:12:23
Lulz, oh god!!! Hilarious , the ending priceless.
2014-04-16 21:03:28
Hey sweetie this old man loves your story ----- I only wish I were there to help!
Help Kevin or Corkey that is.
anonymous readerReport
2013-10-16 17:40:18
Ohhhhh I can tell what is next. What the heck is with fathers these days raping their daughters.
anonymous readerReport
2013-08-10 15:27:11
Hey, I enjoy your site if I'm truthful. Where did you obtain it built?
anonymous readerReport
2012-12-20 17:32:43
Nice fucking storie 1 Naughty Girl...Your writing always makes me hard and throbbing for more...My daughter loves your stories also, you get her so hot that her little cunt gushes cream as I finger her and play with her rock hard nipples and tits...
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56215 | Harry and Hermione are captured by the Death Eaters.
Chapter 6
On a chilly, clear early spring morning, Hermione and Harry were once again packing up their tent in preparation to leave their camp. Nearly a month had passed since there narrow escape from Godric’s Hollow and thanks to Hermione’s tender love and care, Harry was as fit as a fiddle once more. Ever since Hermione had rejected his advances, Harry had noticed a difference in his relationship with her. Harry loved her even more as a friend and since they had destroyed the locket with the newly acquired sword of Gryffindor, their friendship was the strongest it had ever been.
‘Ready to go Hermione?’ asked Harry as he playfully offered his arm to Hermione.
‘Sure Harry,’ responded Hermione with a smile as she folded her arm around his. With Hermione holding tightly to his arm, Harry slowly revolved on the spot and felt the unpleasant feeling of being sucked through a narrow tube. Finally, the feeling of grass under his feet announced to Harry that they had arrived.
‘Where are we then Harry?’ asked Hermione who had released Harry and began to fire off protective spells around them.
‘It’s a disused barn near Privet Drive,’ replied Harry as he dropped his bag on the ground, ‘Voldemort will never find us here.’
‘Harry!’ Hermione suddenly gasped, ‘you said his name; it’s jinxed remember!’ In a moment of horror Harry had realised what he had done as suddenly, six cloaked figures appeared around them.
‘Drop your wands filth,’ said one of the figures gruffly as Hermione and Harry reluctantly obliged, ‘so....who we got ‘ere then?’ The man grabbed Harry roughly by his arm so he could get a better view of him.
‘Merlin’s beard! It’’s.....Potter!’ A murmur of shock and excitement rippled around the group of Death Eater’s as Harry felt his pulse quicken, ‘yes it’s him! And look..... this is his mudblood companion Granger. Hope you’re ready for retirement boys,’ cackled the Death Eater excitedly to the group, ‘once we hand him over to the Dark Lord, we’ll be as rich as Kings!’ Suddenly, Harry felt a sharp blow to the back of his side causing his vision to black-out.....
‘Are you sure it’s him?’..............., ‘It looks like him,’............., ‘we have to be sure or the Dark Lord will kill us.’ Harry heard these voices as if they were a million miles away as his eyes flickered open. His hands were tied behind his back and he seemed to be chained to a wooden chair as he looked around the room. He seemed to be in an impressive looking living room, with high windows that were covered by thick looking velvet curtains. A fire was crackling in the marble fireplace and a stone slab had seemed to be recently erected in the middle of the room. It was around 6 feet tall and stood just off vertical high in the air; as if supported by magic. Harry’s chair was positioned to the side of the slab which seemed to be at least a foot thick. Harry heard a groan as he looked to his side and saw Hermione also chained to a chair.
‘Hermione!’ whispered Harry urgently. Hermione’s head however lolled to the other side as two figures suddenly approached him.
‘He’s come round,’ said Draco Malfoy to a hooded figure as they squatted right in front of Harry’s face.
‘Hello Potter,’ said Draco with a wide grin.
‘Please, Draco, let us go,’ pleaded Harry as he fought silently against his bonds.
‘It is him,’ said Draco triumphantly, ‘we should call Master,’ Draco said as he lifted his sleeve in preparation to press the Dark Mark tattooed on his arm.
‘Wait!’ said the cloaked figure urgently, ‘if we call the Dark Lord he’ll kill us.’ Draco looked confused as the Hooded Man addressed Harry.
‘Potter,’ spat the man in a hoarse voice, ‘how did you get the sword of Gryffindor?’ Harry felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as he realised they must have taken all their belongings, including their only weapon against Voldemort’s horcruxes. Harry looked straight into the Hooded Man’s eyes, whose face was covered by an elaborate metal mask.
‘Found it,’ said Harry simply. Harry felt the Hooded Man’s fingers grip more tightly around the arms of Harry’s chair.
‘That sword should be safely locked away in my Gringott’s vault along with another item the Dark Lord has entrusted me. If you refuse to talk then we’ll have to make you.’ Suddenly the Hooded Man released Harry’s chair and clicked his fingers, causing the double doors to swing open. Harry gasped as Ginny, Luna and Dean traipsed into the room with their hands tied, flanked either side by Wormtail and Bellatrix.
‘Ginny!’ cried Harry in relief as he looked upon an unscathed Ginny.
‘Harry!’ cried Ginny back in relief as the three of them were forced into empty chairs next to Harry.
‘Bellatrix, untie Hermione,’ ordered the Hooded Man as Hermione suddenly came too. Bellatrix roughly untied Hermione as she pushed her into the Hooded Man’s arms. Hermione felt the Hooded Man give an unusual sigh as she felt his arms wrap tightly round her. Harry and the others looked on in horror as with the help of Draco, the two of them undressed Hermione so she stood naked in front of them all. With an inhuman strength, he lifted her on to his shoulder like a rag doll and placed her against the stone slab, locking her hands above her head with the manacles that were there.
‘If none of you will talk then I’ll shag her,’ said the Hooded Man coldly. A murmur of excitement went out among Death Eaters while Harry and his friends struggled against their bonds to help Hermione.
‘Harry.....Harry,’ said Hermione surprisingly softly, ‘it’s ok, don’t tell them anything.’ Harry stared at Hermione who had set her face to her an almost accepting determination. Even while stood naked and tied up, she looked so brave to Harry.
‘Bad decision mudblood,’ sneered the Hooded Man as he gave her face a forceful slap. As Hermione recovered from the blow, the Hooded Man unfastened his robe and eased the folds aside, revealing his powerful body and his erect, fat cock. Hermione’s eyes widened in fear, as she felt the Hooded Man lift up her slender legs and wrap them round his hips. Ron looked down at his old love with disgust as he felt her breathing quicken. He grabbed hold of her large tits and squeezed and slapped them hard; laughing out loud at Hermione’s pain. Slowly, he lowered his hands from her gorgeous tits and let them stroke her soft, supple tummy. Ron breathed in hard as finally, he brought his hand to the pussy he had used to so long for. Ron roughly jammed in three fingers into her, causing her to moan out loud. Ron circled his fingers inside her pussy; loving the tight wet feeling around his fingers. Hermione watched as the Hooded Man removed his fingers from her pussy and brought them to the gap in his mask where the mouth was to lick them clean.
‘I’m gonna fuck you so hard,’ said Ron as he placed his hands on her firm ass. Harry and the others watched on in horror from the side as they watched the Hooded Man thrust his hips violently forward, so that his entire erect dick vanished inside of Hermione’s pussy. His robes billowed out behind him as he quickly picked up a fast, steady rhythm. Ron squeezed and slapped Hermione’s fine ass hard as with low grunts, he continued to pound Hermione’s tight pussy. Ron watched with satisfaction as Hermione’s large, but perky young tits bounced with each thrust he gave her.
‘You go man,’ whooped Draco, ‘fuck that mudblood hard.’ With a dark smile, Ron picked up his pace, so that his hips were moving like blur. Hermione let out a high pant as she felt the Hooded Man’s cock go balls deep in her.
‘Look at her Potter,’ moaned Ron between thrusts, ‘the little mudblood is crying.’ Sure enough a tear had formed in her eye and was slowly descending down her cheek.
‘I miss Ron,’ Hermione said softly, causing the Hooded Man to stop his thrusting momentarily.
‘What did you say?’ asked the Hooded Man in shock.
‘He was a young man, greater than any of us, but you lot killed him before I got the chance o tell him I loved him,’ Hermione said defiantly as she felt her attackers hands let go of her ass, causing her to drop her legs to the floor.
‘Y-you don’t what you’re talking about bitch,’ said the man suddenly as he released Hermione from her bonds and chucked her to the floor. Instantly, he was upon Hermione once more as he lay down behind her and laid her forcefully on her side. Quickly, he lifted her leg high in the air and stuck his cock deeply into her pussy once more. Harry watched on in disgust as he saw the Hooded Man’s balls slap loudly into Hermione’s violated pussy each time he thrusted. Hermione felt the Hooded Man grab her by her throat while his other hand squeezed and massaged her boobs. Hermione buried her face in the soft carpet of the floor, willing her attacker to orgasm soon. As if by luck, Hermione could feel hear her attackers moaning become prematurely louder and more erratic as she sensed his orgasm approach.
‘Go on, fill that mudblood up,’ shouted Draco eagerly as he heard Ron start to moan loudly in ecstasy.
‘Fuck that, I’m not seeding this whore,’ grunted Ron as suddenly he pulled his fat, 6 inch cock out of her pussy and stood over her. Hermione lay quivering on her back as Ron stood straddled over her, pumping his dick with his silver hand at a furious rate.
‘Ahhhhh fuck!!’ blurted Ron as suddenly, a streak of his young cum erupted from his dick, landing on Hermione’s tummy. Ron felt his knees buckle in pleasure slightly as shot after shot of cum landed all over Hermione’s body. Finally the electric feeling in his body, as well as his groan’s ended, as his dick went limp in his hand. With a final shake of his cock to get rid of the last few juices of cum, he buttoned up his robes once more and stood Hermione up from the floor. With the help of Bellatrix, he roughly re-dressed Hermione and chained her back to her chair next to Harry.
‘So,’ said the Hooded Man dangerously once his breathing returned to normal, ‘are you going to tell me how you got that sword?’ Harry opened his mouth to speak but saw Hermione shake her head defiantly in the corner of his eye.
‘No,’ replied Harry bluntly.
‘If you still won’t talk Potter then you leave me no choice,’ said the Hooded Man coldly. Suddenly, he grabbed Harry by his hair and like Hermione chained him to the stone slab. The Hooded Man kept Harry’s face pressed against the cold stone as he felt his shirt ripped from his body. Suddenly, to the shock of everyone, he then pulled down Harry’s trouser’s and boxers and threw them aside, so that Harry stood chained naked before them.
‘Draco,’ said the Hooded Man as he looked upon Harry’s naked back and bum with hatred, ‘fuck him.’ Harry felt his mouth go dry as a collective gasp went around the room.
‘W-what?’ replied Draco startled.
‘I said, fuck...him,’ said Ron dangerously as his eyes flashed red. Draco gulped as he looked upon Harry; his dark hair, his long smooth back, his peachy bum and his long, slender legs. Feeling an unusual tingling in his groin area, Draco looked back at Ron and gave a small nod.
‘NO!’ cried Ginny desperately as Draco began to walk over towards Harry. In one swift motion, Draco removed his tight t-shirt and chucked it away, revealing his gleaming pale slender, but strong body. Harry gave an involuntary shudder as he heard Draco begin to slowly unbuckle his belt behind him. Finally, Draco stood fully naked behind Harry as the two teenagers stood barely a foot apart. Suddenly, Draco closed in on Harry and grabbed the back of his hair roughly with his fingers.
‘I’m not going to enjoy this Potter,’ whispered Draco through gritted teeth, ‘and neither are you.’ Harry refused to reply, deciding that whatever happened, he wouldn’t let a sound escape his lips. Harry closed his eyes as he felt Draco place his hands around his tummy muscles, feeling Draco’s soft cock rest on his peachy bum cheeks. Harry felt Draco’s hot breath on his neck as Draco’s breathing became faster and shakier as he began to naturally grind his hips into Harry’s bum. Harry could feel Draco’s hands squeeze lustfully into his ab muscles as Harry felt Draco’s hot, slender cock begin to grow in size against his ass. With one hand still on Harry’s tummy, Draco took a forefinger to his mouth and sucked it until it was coated in his hot saliva. Harry let out the smallest of gasps when he felt Draco ease aside his cheeks to begin stroking his bum.
Draco let his fingers caress the inside of Harry’s bum; pleased to find it was smooth and completely hairless. Obviously, Potter kept his private areas well groomed with a hair removal charm for the ladies Draco thought. Suddenly, Draco himself let out a little gasp when his wet finger found Harry’s small asshole. Draco smiled and moaned lightly so that only Harry could hear as he began to circle his finger around Harry’s entrance. With difficulty, Draco began to try and force his forefinger into Harry’s ass. Suddenly, after meeting resistance, his finger slipped in knuckle deep, causing Harry’s eyes to open wide in shock. Draco smiled as he looked over to Ron in a happy disbelief. Potter may have been the enemy, but he was still the most famous wizard of all time and here he was, at Draco’s sexual mercy.
Draco gave out another groan of satisfaction as he felt how tight Harry’s warm ass felt around his finger. Draco lustfully gave Harry’s shoulder a hard bite with his teeth as he began probing his finger around inside Harry’s bum.
‘God you’re so tight Potter, you know.....I think I may actually enjoy this after all,’ whispered Draco menacingly in Harry’s ear. Harry could only bury his face into the cold stone to hide his pain as he felt Draco slip in another finger into his ass. Draco could start to feel Harry’s entrance expanding nicely as he continued to thrust his fingers slowly into Harry’s bum.
‘It’s time,’ said Ron impatiently. Draco nodded as he removed his fingers from within Harry, noticing that his entrance was now a little larger. Harry could hear Ginny and Hermione begin to cry as he heard Draco spit into his hand, no doubt to lubricate his cock up. Suddenly, Harry felt Draco spread his left bum cheek wide as he felt a long, slender cock begin to push eagerly against his entrance. Harry tensed up his bum cheeks in vain as he tried to stop Draco from entering him. Suddenly, Harry felt a sharp blow to the back of his side, quickly followed by a few inches of Draco’s cock entering into his ass.
‘O Fuck!!’ cried Draco as he felt his cock finally break through and enter Harry, ‘O my God.....o my God.......o my God.....,’ Draco began to repeat through heavy panting as he took a hold of Harry’s hips.
‘Harry Potter, the boy who fucked so many girls. Let’s see how he likes to get fucked himself,’ laughed the Hooded Man coldly as Bellatrix and Wormatail cackled in glee. Harry had never felt anything like it, as Draco began to force his hips forward. Harry felt Draco pull his hips backwards slightly, so that Harry had to bend over slightly against the stone slab. Eventually, Harry felt Draco’s sizeable balls rest gently against his bum as Draco finally managed to get his entire 7 inch dick into Harry.
‘Jesus,’ cried Draco, as he let go of Harry’s hips to pull back his shining blonde hair away from his face. Draco smiled as he looked at the sight before him, Harry bent over slightly, his long, strong back gleaming in the dim light and his peachy ass, beautifully enveloped around his long, pale cock. Draco shifted his weight back slightly and took a hold of Harry’s hips once more as he began to slowly thrust in and out of Harry.
Harry turned his head to look at his friends sat to the side of him. Ginny and Hermione were crying into each other’s shoulders, not being able to watch. Luna and Dean were watching, their mouths slightly opened in shock while Wormtail and Bellatrix stood laughing in a twisted delight. The sudden smacking of his ass brought Harry back to his senses as he began to hear Draco pant in pleasure.
Draco looked down at his cock entering Harry’s ass with a sexual lust as he gritted his teeth at the feeling of Harry’s tight ass around his dick. Draco dug his fingers into Harry’s sweet, fleshy bum, loving the feeling of it.
‘Ahhhhh......ahhhhhh.........ahhhhh,’ grunted Draco loudly as each time he groaned he gave Harry’s ass a hard slap. After a few minutes, Harry’s ass had turned bright red from Draco’s spanking as Harry felt Draco slow his thrusting slightly. Draco quickly removed his cock from within Harry and stood closer to him, so that Harry was stood up tall, squashed in between the stone slab and Draco. He then took a hold of Harry’s right leg and forced it upwards into the air so that Harry’s bum cheeks spread slightly. Draco took hold of his cock with his other hand and playfully slapped it on Harry’s soft ass cheeks. With a quick bend of his knees and a forward thrust, Draco entered Harry easily and began fucking him once more. Harry’s ass by now had expanded due to Draco’s cock and Draco began to easily thrust in and out of him.
Draco’s panting by now was more erratic and louder as Harry suddenly felt Draco’s surprisingly delicate hand wrap around his soft cock. Harry’s face turned to that of disgust as he felt Draco stroke and pull on his soft cock as he continued to thrust deep into Harry’s ass. Draco felt like he was in heaven, the combined sensations of Harry’s ass around his cock, his large balls smacking loudly into Harry’s ass cheeks and the stroking of Harry’s dick giving him a massive amount of pleasure. Soon enough, Draco felt his impending orgasm approach as he dropped Harry’s leg to the floor and grabbed one of his peachy bum cheeks.
‘Ahhh God I’m gonna cum!’ Draco announced to the room loudly as he placed his weight onto Harry’s back and began to thrust at a fast rate. Suddenly, Draco felt his cock go into spasm as he felt wave after wave of pleasure overpower him, causing his body to shake uncontrollably.
‘ ahhhhhhh.......fuck!’ groaned Draco suddenly as with an extra hard squeeze on Harry’s cock, he suddenly exploded inside of Harry. Harry felt a sense of shame as he felt shot after shot of Draco’s hot cum, spray into his ass. Draco’s thrusting suddenly stopped as he continued to shoot off smaller amounts of his youthful cum deep into Harry. Draco rested his head onto Harry’s shoulder, giving his neck a little kiss which no one else could see as his hips involuntarily twitched now and then as his orgasm subsided. Finally, once his breathing returned to normal, Draco removed his now soft, pale shaft from out of Harry and gave his ass one final slap. Draco watched as a small amount of his white cum oozed out of Harry’s ass and dribbled onto the floor.
‘Put his trousers back on,’ ordered the Hooded Man as once Draco re-dressed himself, he obliged. Harry felt his arms drop to his sides as his chains were released and he felt Draco return him to his seat, his naked torso shivering slightly despite the roaring fire nearby.
‘So,’ said the Hooded Man triumphantly to Harry, ‘ready to talk now?’ Harry stared ahead, his face blank of emotion as he refused to answer. Suddenly, a loud crack made everyone turn their heads to the centre of the room. To the shock of everybody, little Dobby the house-elf stood before them.
‘Dobby,’ said Draco in surprise, ‘what are you doing here?’
‘You shall not harm Harry Potter!’ cried Dobby as he raised a commanding finger to the ceiling above them. With an eerie creek, the chandelier above them snapped and fell to the ground, causing glass to shatter everywhere. Harry used the distraction to sink a satisfying right punch into Draco’s cheek, causing them both to fall to the glass-ridden floor.
‘Here,’ cried Harry desperately as he grabbed the wands in Draco’s pocket and threw them to their owners. Suddenly, the air was filled with cries and flashes of light as Harry and the others began to fight back.
‘Stupefy!’ Harry shouted at Wormtail, causing him to crumple to the floor unconscious, ‘Dobby,’ said Harry as he ducked and dived his way to him, ‘take as many of the others as you can and go. Take them to Bill and Fleur’s place, I’ll hold them off and then come back for me.’ Dobby nodded determinedly as he raced away to group the others together.
‘NOOOOOOO!’ cried the Hooded Man as he watched Hermione and Ginny disappear with Dobby into thin air. The Hooded Man aimed a killing curse at Harry who managed to duck behind an overturned table just in time. Harry aimed a stunning spell over the table and luckily hit Bellatrix square in the face, leaving himself and the Hooded Man as the last men standing.
‘POTTER!!’ screamed the Hooded Man as he started towards Harry. Suddenly, Harry stood up away from the table, wand raised in defiance.
‘Incendio!’ Harry cried. Hot flames suddenly erupted around Ron’s hood causing him to lower it away hurriedly from his head, ‘stupefy!’ shouted Harry, taking advantage of his opponent’s distraction. As if in slow motion, the spell hit the Hooded Man on the edge of his metal mask, causing it to fly off his face. The hair may have been duller in colour, the eyes may have been more bloodshot and tired looking but there was no mistaking it; Ron Weasley was stood before him.
‘Ron....,’ said Harry in disbelief as Ron looked at Harry with a cold hatred. Just as Ron picked up Bellatrix’s fallen knife and threw it at him, Harry felt a small, loving hand wrap around his own, ready to take him far-away. Suddenly, Harry was falling and tumbling through nothingness, his mind numb in shock until finally he landed on the soft sand of a beach.
‘Harry! Thank goodness, what happened?’ came Hermione’s voice from somewhere near him.
‘Hermione....the Hooded Man, its Ron..........its Ron,’ said Harry faintly before collapsing onto the sand.
anonymous readerReport
2011-11-19 05:58:55
Pretty good series dude . Even though the gay rape scene disgusted me i enjoyed the chapter as that was necessary . Hats of to this fanfic
anonymous readerReport
2011-11-13 01:57:01
this is bullshit man harry gets raped ron his a evil freak i am done with these series
anonymous readerReport
2011-10-10 18:27:42
I can see that you don't really like hermione!that's why her scenes are so small!
anonymous readerReport
2011-09-28 17:20:01
WTF harrys the hero it seems soo wrong for him to be raped...
anonymous readerReport
2011-09-27 21:12:20
Have no worries dude. I don't lke gay stuff either, but the scene really fits in your story. It was a forced action by someone evil. I think your story is one of the best in the site, and there is nothing wrong to write all kind of sex. Why would people have problem with a gay scene but they don't have with a lesbian scene or a incest scene? It doesn't make sense.
Really your story is awesome and I can't wait to read the next chapter.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56216 | Son and Friend want Mom badly!
"How brilliant would it be to fuck a woman right now?" I commented to my best friend, Danny.
"That would rule!" Danny confirmed.
"If a woman came in right now and asked us to fuck her," I continued, "I'd be so happy!"
"Guess it won't happen though."
"We can dream dude!"
My name is Cory. I'm eleven-years-old, a slender blonde boy who, at this moment in time, was kneeling naked on a bed.
Next to me was Danny Pearce, my best buddy in the whole world. He was also blonde, a freckle-faced kid aged ten, a year younger than myself. We were at his house, where he lived alone with his divorced mother.
Danny was naked, like myself, as we knelt on his bed whilst flicking through a pornographic magazine. It was nothing special, just a soft-core publication, but it was good enough for us two pre-teen horny little bastards! We may be pre-adolescents with no body hair, no pubes and still a good few inches below five-feet in height, but our bald nut-sacs seemed to be swelling with sperm and our cocks were rock hard.
"Look at her, she's hot!" Danny commented as he pointed to the centerfold in the magazine, a hot brunette on her knees and elbows, flashing a sexy smile at the camera.
"I wish I could step into the picture," I declared, "and fuck her hard from behind!"
We'd bought the magazine off an older friend at school, who swiped them from his dad and sold them to us kids. Danny and myself had put together our allowance to buy the mag, and though $5 was quite a lot of cash to two small kids in 1986, it was worth it! I'd started masturbating a few months ago and had taught Danny how to do it, both of us often jacking-off together.
"Hey, I got an idea," Danny said, "Why don't we try fucking each other?"
"" I quizzed.
"Well, we can fuck each other in the arse. Remember that hard-core mag we saw once, round at my cousins? It had a photo of a guy fucking a chick in the bum?"
"Oh yeah."
"Well, let's try that."
"Okay," I grinned.
It didn't occur to either of us that it might be wrong, or that it was gay, or any shit like that. It's only older people who end up being morally constricted and restrained by prejudices. For now, I just got down on my hands and knees whilst Danny got himself some hand-cream from the bathroom (his mother was out so we didn't have to worry about being caught...for now.)
Soon, Danny was kneeling behind me, slathering cream onto his dick.
"Better put some on my arse," I suggested.
"Okay," Danny replied.
"Fuck that's cold," I shivered as I felt my friend paste some cream onto my arse.
Danny edged up to me and placed his hard, hairless dick to my lubed bum-hole and pushed. It felt a little discomforting at first as my sphincter resisted, but then suddenly it gave way and Danny's prick eased up into me. His cock was only four-inches in length. I was only eleven so this was kinda big for my tight arse. Nonetheless, it did feel pretty good, and I said so too.
"Feels good for me too," Danny commented as he picked up a rythym, "Better than wanking!"
"Go for it dude," I urged him, "This is making me feel real horny too. I can feel your dick right up my bum! It's cool!"
Danny increased his pace very gently, holding my slender thighs as he drove his ten-year-old prick up my rectum. Five-minutes of pre-teen sodomy later and Danny cried out as he hit an orgasm. It was obviously pretty powerful for he banged my bum all the way in with his prick, hard and held my hips in a tight grip as his sperm filled my arse.
"Holy shit that was fun!" my friend gasped as his orgasm finished, "Shit, you got to try that dude!" He slid from my bum and I knelt up.
"My cock is so hard," I said, stroking my dick which was so hard it felt like it would fall off, "Turn round dude I want to bum-fuck you!"
"Okay 1 sec."
Danny got on his hands and knees and I used the hand-cream to grease up my dick and then my friend's anus. His bum was tight looking, pale little buttocks with a bald pink hole between them - it looked similar to a the assholes of the women bending over in the porn magazine, apart from the tiny nut-sac hanging beneath.
I copied Danny in shuffling up and placing my lubed dick to his sphincter and pushed in. Progress was quite good and my five-inch prick was soon wedged up in my friend's arsehole.
"You're right," Danny gasped under my rough impalement, "it does feel good! It's making me feel horny again."
"This is fucking tight," I panted, humping his bum, "It feels really hot in there! Shit, I bet this is just what it's like fucking a woman in the arse or something."
My hips banged against Danny's bum as I thrust into his gripping bum. My orgasm was not too long in coming and I hunched over Danny as I drilled his nipping arse with my cock, spewing my young jism into his bum. In a dozen hard pumps, my youthful cock flooded Danny's arse with my sperm before I finally slid from out of him, tired and dazed.
"That was a great idea dude!" I congratulated him.
"Yeah," Danny grinned, turning round, "Shit, we'll have to do that more often. It's fun isn't it?"
"I liked closing my eyes and imagining you were a woman. It works too, you can just imagine that you're doing a woman in the bum."
"I guess we'll have to be content with each other for a long while though, there's no girls in our class who'll let us fuck them."
Shame really. Fuck it, each other's butts will suffice!"
"I feel horny again, shall we fuck each other once more?"
"We could..." I was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and shutting downstairs.
Instinctively, Danny and myself leapt off the bed and hurridly dressed, tugging on our clothes as the sound of footsteps came up the stairs. We were both dressed when there was a knock at the door.
"Coming mom!" Danny called, quickly shoving the porn mag under his pillow, and then opening the door.
"Hey kids," Monica Pearce said as she stepped in, "Hi son," she added, kissing Danny on the cheek, the boy squirming as all ten-year-olds do when kissed by their mom in the presence of a friend.
"Morning Monica," I smiled, politely.
"Hiya Cory," the woman greeted me, "Are you up to much?"
"Not really," her son shrugged.
"Nothing much," I added.
Monica grinned, probably easily able to tell that we had indeed been up to something, but not something we'd want a mother to know! Danny's mom was a 'cool mom', a friendly and laid back woman who almost seemed like a big sister to me. Monica had given birth to Danny was when she was only eighteen-years-old, and so was now still youthful at twenty-eight - a lot younger than my mom and most of my mate's mothers. She was blonde, tall with lovely big brown eyes and flowing golden hair. She was very pretty and had a warm smile, and she was also slim, the tight jeans and tight white T-shirt she wore showing off her curvey body. Her tits were not necessarily huge, but they did seem big beneath her top, the nipples slightly poking through as she didn't seem to be wearing a bra. My arsehole still burned pleasurably from it's recent fucking and my dick stirred as I appreciated Monica's body.
"Anyone hungry?" the young mother asked.
"Yeah," Danny replied, "I'm starved mom!"
"Me too," I added.
"I'll cook something up then," Monica announced, then turned and left the room.
"We'll have to leave it until later before we can fuck each other then," Danny said after shutting the door.
"Yeah," I agreed, "Will your mom go out later?"
"I think so. She often does on a Saturday afternoon."
Monica didn't go out that afternoon, however.
Danny and me sat on his bed, in our jeans and T-shirts, a little folorn.
"I thought your mom would go out," I said, idly wiggling my big-toe through a hole in my white sports sock.
"I thought so too," Danny sighed, flicking through the porn mag, "She often goes shopping."
"Shit, I wish we could fuck. I'm horny again!"
"We can't risk gettin' caught though dude."
"Yeah. My parents never go out so we can't go there."
Danny sighed again. "Maybe," he began looking up with a look of inspiration on his cute, freckled face, "we could ask my mom."
"Ask her what?" I wondered.
"For a fuck," grinned Danny.
"What? She'll go mad!"
"She won't! Mum taught me about the facts of life a few months ago and she was really cool about it, she didn't get all embarrassed or anything. Seemed to be quite forthright in explaining that sex was as much for fun as it was for making babies."
"Doesn't mean she'll want to fuck us though!" I laughed, though I was beginning to like the idea and saw that Danny was serious.
"We can always ask," Danny continued, "C'mon, my mom's too laid back to go mad at me! The worst that will happen is that she'll say no, moan at me for being cheeky, and that'll be that! Let's go for it!"
"You ask her though dude, she's your mom."
"Sure!" agreed Danny. He was very confident for a ten-year-old. He slid off the bed and, followed by me, went downstairs.
Dressed in her tight jeans and T-shirt and drinking a cup of coffee, Monica was lounging across the sofa in the spacious living room. It was about four o'clock and she was watching a quiz show, half-paying attention to the TV.
"Mum?" began Danny as he strolled into the living room, myself hanging back and biting my lip with anticipation as to whether my pal's plan would work! It alternately made sense one moment and absurdly surreal the next. We new 'motherfucker' was an insult, but so was 'jack off', even though most boys jacked off! Danny knew that fucking his own mom was not exactly a normal thing to do but neither of us thought it was in anyway 'wrong'.
"Yes honey?" smiled Monica, a look of understanding on her face. Like all mothers, she knew that the word 'mom' spoken in a certain way by her child would be followed by some sort of request.
"Can I ask you somethin'?" Danny said.
"Sure honey," his mother replied.
"It's...more of a favour really. You see...well, me and Cory...can we have sex with you?"
Monica, not unnaturally, blinked in some surprise at this.
"Cory and me," began Danny, stumbling over his minor hesitation and just going for it, "are really horny! We've been, you know, jacking off and stuff and thinking about sex. We really want to have sex with a girl you see, and you're the nicest looking girl we know mom! Plus, you're er...the only one around! Heh! whaddya say mom?"
"It's not quite what I expected you to ask me," Monica said, Danny and me relieved by the way she smiled softly, "but I guess we could arrange something?"
"Really mom?" exclaimed Danny, excitedly, "Jeez, I wasn't really sure if you'd say no or tell me off or something! Wow, this is cool, isn't it Cory?"
"Yeah!" I agreed, stepping up, "This is going to be fun! You won't regret this Monica!"
"You can't tell anyone about this though," Monica began, "Either of you! We could get in trouble, especially me because you two are under the age of consent (16)!"
"We won't mom!" Danny agreed, "Boy, this will be great! Thanks mom, you're the best! I got a real stiff willie about you. I bet Cory has too!"
"Damn right!" I confirmed, my cock indeed bulging in my Superman underpants.
Smiling, Monica put her coffee cup down and stood up. Without any warning, the sexy woman tugged off her T-shirt, revealing that she wore no bra, her nice round tits plump and sexy on her slender frame. Clearly very aroused at being watched by two appreciative little boys, my friend's mother continued to strip, now removing her socks and jeans. Finally, off came her lacy white panties so that she stood naked. Like I said earlier, she was twenty-eight years old, still fairly young for a mother of a randy boy approaching puberty and still with a very beautiful figure and face.
"Come and explore me boys," she invited us, "I'm all yours!"
Danny and me flashed a grin at each other and went for it! Monica knew that all me and her son wanted at first was just to explore a real life, nudey woman! Danny knelt in front of his mom and peered up at her cunt, which looked tight and hot between her slightly parted legs, topped with blonde hair. Standing next to Monica, my eyes were level with her tits, and I stroked them gently.
"Wow, your cunt looks nice mom!" Danny observed.
"And I love your tits," I commented.
"Thanks boys," Monica responded, enjoying the attention. After feeling up her tits I knelt behind her and stroked her buttocks. They were firm and smooth. Meanwhile Danny had finished getting a good look at his mother's cunt and he stood and fondled her breasts.
"I love your arse!" I said to my friend's mom shortly, still stroking her buttocks.
"Thanks boys," Monica responded, "Now it's my turn to see you naked! I haven't seen naked boy-flesh for a while, I must say."
Danny and myself moved away from Monica and, with the lady sitting on the sofa, we both stripped naked. Monica was clearly impressed, for she looked hot and aroused as her eyes roved over our nude, prepubescent bodies.
"Come over here my sweethearts!" she invited us, "Come here, I want to explore you."
We did so, standing in front of the sofa whilst Monica, with a great deal of enthusiasm, ran her hands over our bodies, stroking our bellies and chests then moving to our dicks. Our cocks were hard and grew stiffer as the woman's fingers delicately stroked over them. Then she took her son's prick in her mouth. Danny hadn't expected this and closed his eyes in pleasure as his mother sucked his cock. Then she moved to myself, her mouth warm and wet round my member, her fingers tickling my bald scrotal sack that tightened under her gently touch.
"Such lovely hard little dicks," Monica crooned once she'd removed my penis from her throat, "I can't wait to have these in me. Are you looking forward to fucking me kids?"
"Yeah!" cried Danny.
"Me too!" I added.
"Let's do it then," Monica announced and stood up. She offered her hands to us and Danny and myself took one each. With a young, pre-pubescent boy in each hand, Monica lead us out the room. She was five-foot-eight, much taller than her son and myself.
It would have been fantastic had there been someone to take a photo of that moment, the lovely lady walking up the steps with her son and myself holding her hands, all three of us nude, our bare bums wiggling as we ascended the stairs.
We went into Danny's mom's room. There was a large bed under the window, the covers stark white to match the light tones of the room.
Monica got onto the bed naked and invited us to sit up next to her.
"Okay," she began, "Who wants to go first?"
"Me," I piped up, selfishly.
"Aw, I wanna fuck her first," whined Danny, just as horny as me, "She's my mom."
"Now now," Monica calmed us with a knowing smile, "There's plenty of time for both of you. Here, Cory, you can fuck me first. Danny? Sit back and stroke your dick, you'll be fucking me before you know it."
Danny moved aside and his mother lay on her back, spreading her legs and revealing a hot slit between her parted thighs. I licked my lips and followed her gentle instructions to mount her. I placed my hands flat on the bed either side of Monica's shoulders and looked down. My cock jutted out stiffly from my groin, pointing towards her cunt, but without me knowing exactly how to guide it in. Luckily, Monica took me in hand, literally, and held my dick in between her finger and thumb.
"Now just lower yourself honey," she said.
I did so, my cock being guided elegantly into the woman's hot cunt. I let out a sigh of pleasure as I relaxed on top of Monica, her body warm and soft beneath my small firm frame.
"That feels brilliant!" I panted.
"Good sweetheart," Monica purred into my ear, "Sex is meant to be good! Now, fuck me honey, start fucking me...that's it...thrust into me..."
My arse rose and fell between Monica's spread thighs, my small hard dick driving up into her cunt. She was tight and hot down there and I was in utter heaven as I shafted her neat cunt.
"I'm gonna cum," I began to stammer after just a few minutes. I knew only a little bit would come out since I just fucked Danny a few minutes ago...
"Pull out Cory," Monica said to me, "Slide out and cool off a minute."
With great willpower, I did so, dismounting my friend's mother, my prick slick with cunt juice as it slid from out of her. I moved aside, stroking my cock as my imminent climax ebbed away for now, whilst my friend mounted his mother just as I'd done. Guided and instructed by his mother, Danny was soon pushing his stiff dick into his mom's cunt, laying out flat on her and grinning with pleasure.
"Fucking hell it's great!" he announced, "Shit, mom, you're so hot!"
"Fuck me son," Monica panted. I was delighted to see that lust and enjoyment were clearly in her voice.
Danny fucked his mom's tight twat for several minutes, pumping his pelvis as he drove up into her cunt, his head barely reach up past her tits he was so short compared to her! Not that I was much taller myself.
As she had done with me, Monica instructed her son to pull out before he climaxed. Once Danny had done so, I took his place and re-inserted myself into Monica's cunt. It was lovely to be back fucking her again and I shafted her cunt at a good speedy rate.
My orgasm began to rise and, with no possibility of stopping, I cried out as I drove my dick up into Monica's womb and ejaculated there. My climax was harder than it had been when I'd arse-fucked Danny. For a good twenty-seconds I was close to fainting with pleasure as my youthful prick pumped out thick wads of sperm up into the cunt of the horny woman beneath me.
I kissed Monica on the lips and dismounted her. In no time at all Danny got back on top of his mom and fucked her. He shagged her just as fast and as zealously as I'd just done, Danny's climax shortly hitting him. He sucked on one of his mom's erect nipples as his prick spasm inside his mother and fired thick sperm into the cunt from which he'd been borne from ten-years and five-months ago.
"You boys are good for beginners," Monica said once her son had clambered off from her. She was disheveled looking and had clearly enjoyed it just as much as we'd done.
"Thanks mom," said Danny.
"My pleasure," his mother responded.
"You're so sexy Monica," I told her, "Shall we do this again? I'm feeling horny already!"
"Me too," Danny added, stroking his semi-stiff dick.
"And me aswell," his mother said, sitting up and giving us both a kiss, "I want to drink your young sperm next. How d'you horny rascals fancy a nice BJ?"
"Yeah!" exclaimed Danny, as if his mother had told him he was going to Disneyland or something, "That'll be wicked mom!"
"Would you like me to suck your dick?" Monica then casually asked me.
"Yes please Monica," I replied, politely.
"Right then," the naked woman began as she got onto her hands and knees, "I fancy a spit-roasting. Danny sweety?"
"Get up behind mommy and put your dick in my cunt from behind. You can fuck me doggie-style whilst I give Cory a blow-job."
Positions were taken up. In no time at all Monica was being seen to from both sides - her son thrusting his young cock into her tight cunt whilst his mother sucked on my dick. I'd never had my prick sucked before but there was no doubt Danny's mom was skilled at this. Tingling pleasure rippled up my hard shaft and through my body. Her tongue felt fantastic as it ran over my throbbing little bell-end whilst I lightly humped my hips and fucked Monica's ruby-red lips. Danny was having a great time too. He knelt at the other end of the bed, gripping his mother's firm bum-cheeks and slamming his little dick into his mom's cunt.
Ten-minutes passed until Monica took my dick from her mouth and asked me and Danny to swap positions.
As fantastic as it'd been getting my dick sucked, I was more than happy to go round to the other end of Monica at her out-thrust bottom. Her buttocks were smooth and firm looking, and her puckered anus lay between them. Under that tight rear-hole was her cunt, wet and inviting looking, it's pink lips glistening with juice. I slid my prick into that tight cunt and began humping Monica hard. Danny was already getting a nice cock-sucking, his mother deep-throating the boy's cunt-juice slick penis, taking it entirely into her mouth. Across from his mother's back, Danny and me grinned happily at each other as we fucked away, my grin containing admiration for my friend's nerve in just blatantly going downstairs and asking his mom for sex...and getting some!
We looked down at Monica as she began to fuck and suck us harder. Her tall, slender body squirmed with pleasure, banging her bum back against my dick whilst her head bobbed as she deeply sucked her son's prick. Though muffled, you could hear Monica moaning and grunting in pleasure, Danny's member stifling her deep moans of ecstasy.
"We're making her cum!" I announced, knowledgeably.
"Shit yeah!" laughed Danny, "We're making my mom orgasm! Yeah, go for it mom! Take our cocks! Haha! This is great!"
A dick in her cunt and mouth, Monica wasn't able to reply but nonetheless, on her hands and knees between us pre-teen boys, was able to confirm my conclusion by letting out more loud, muffled cries of ecstasy, her body bucking between us.
"I'm gonna cum too mommy!" Danny began to pant, "Oooh, your mouth...SHIT! UUUH!"
His eyes rolled back and ecstasy fell across his young face as he began to squirt his seed. Still banging Monica's cunt from behind, I could hear the horny woman gulping as she swallowed her son's sperm, her own climax having finished just as her son's began.
As Danny fired the last of his jism into his mom's mouth, I began my orgasm. It was a good, hard one, long pent up, and I hunched over Monica's back and let out a long cry of joy as I ejaculated deeply into her cunt. My sperm fired up into her womb, joining the cum myself and Danny had shot up there earlier. All the while, Monica was greedily licking her son's wilting prick. Finally, I pulled out of her and lay back along the bed along with Danny, Monica between us and just as tired.
A few months after this incident, Danny's mom invited me into their house to make an announcement. She smiled and joyfully explained how she was pregnant. Danny and I were shocked but Monica was so happy so we smiled as well. I wonder who's child it is...
Anonymous readerReport
2015-04-23 11:52:44
I also rily want to fuck someones mum
Anonymous readerReport
2014-05-22 00:33:35
Oh yeah, and also to add to my previous comment, the dialogue just seemed so weirdly formal, im afraid it was all jist wrong
Anonymous readerReport
2014-05-22 00:33:06
Anonymous readerReport
2014-05-22 00:32:41
Anonymous readerReport
2014-05-22 00:28:12
This is ridiculous, pre-pubescent boys with 4 / 5" cocks, and ones that can make someone pregnant. The whole bloody point of puberty is to make you able to have kids
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56220 | anticipated - meaning in Hindi
Pronunciation of anticipated
ऐन्टिसपैटड / ऐन्टिसपैटिड
1. अपेक्षित
2. पूर्वानुमानित
3. प्रत्याशित
Definitions and Meaning of anticipated in English
anticipated - adjective
1. expected hopefully
Information provided on anticipated
Meaning and definitions of anticipated, translation in Hindi language for anticipated with similar and opposite words. Also find spoken pronunciation of anticipated in Hindi and in English language.
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Hindi meaning of anticipated, anticipated meaning in Hindi, anticipated definition, examples and pronunciation of anticipated in Hindi language. |
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Beauty Finds: Pixi Succulent Lip Twin
Our desert island makeup pick
Did you ever get the question, ''What beauty product would you take if you were stranded on a desert island?'' We've got a great one, in case you're worried about what the coconuts and parrots think of you.
Pixie Lip TwinPixi Succulent Lip Twin
Alright, we know it's a silly question, but it's one we get here all the time. And really, it means something else. Like, ''If you're out hiking with that really hot guy and you don't want him to know you're wearing makeup...?'' Or, ''If you're going to the gym and you don't want to look like you just woke up, which you did, and you want something to fit in that tiny pocket in your gym bag...?''
If you're going pretty much bare and you just want a little something to perk you up, we suggest Pixi's Succulent Lip Twin. Nothing takes the edge off a pale face like a little color in the cheeks and lips. Remember all those books about women living in a time where makeup was for floozies and the only way to darken your lashes subtly was to hold a candle under some metal and use the soot? (Yes, we'll be doing a historical makeup post in the near future.) Remember how those ladies pinched their cheeks and bit their lips?
Pixi has the perfect little product in the Lip Twin. It's a tube of gloss/lip balm with a lip and cheek tint in the cap. It's enough to give you a glow but not enough to overwhelm your face with color. It's also great for you. It's got aloe vera, lavender, jojoba oil, vitamin E and shea butter. It comes in four colors including Nude Lily, Coral Camillia, Pink Peony and Poppy Red. The Poppy Red is a lot brighter than the others and will work best on darker skin tones. We're hoping they come out with a plum version as well.
Pixi Succulent Lip Twin retails for $18 and is available at pixibeauty.com.
TELL US: We'd love to hear your answer to the desert island question. Let us know below!
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56239 | Who should convert from 401(k) to Roth 401(k)?
01/4/2013 | MarketWatch
The 401(k) conversions now allowed under federal law might make sense for investors who want to leave tax-free inheritances, regardless of the up-front costs, experts say. Conversions to a Roth 401(k) also might make sense for investors who expect to retire in a higher tax bracket or who have tax deductions and credits that would offset the taxes due as a result of the conversion. Consultant Jeffrey Levine says it's rarely wise to convert if an investor has to tap his or her retirement savings accounts to pay the taxes.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56252 | A Quest to Save the Orangutan
Smithsonian Magazine | Subscribe
(Continued from page 2)
Orangutans live wild only on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. The two populations have been isolated for more than a million years and are considered separate species; the Bornean orangutans are slightly larger than the Sumatran variety. Precious little was known about orangutan biology before Galdikas started studying it. She has discovered that the tree-dwelling animals spend as much as half the day on the ground. Adult males can reach five feet tall (though they rarely stand erect) and weigh up to 300 pounds. "They're massive," says Galdikas. "That's what you notice more than height." Females weigh about half as much and are four feet tall. Both sexes can live 30 to 50 years. At night they sleep in nests of sticks they build high in the treetops.
Galdikas also has documented that the orangs of Tanjung Puting National Park procreate about once every eight years, the longest birth interval of any wild mammal. "One of the reasons orangutans are so vulnerable is because they are not rabbits that can have a few litters every year," she says. After an eight-month pregnancy, females bear a single infant, which will remain with its mother for eight or nine years.
Galdikas has cataloged about 400 types of fruit, flowers, bark, leaves and insects that wild orangutans eat. They even like termites. Males usually search for food alone, while females bring along one or two of their offspring. Orangs have a keen sense of where the good stuff can be found. "I was in the forest once, following a wild orangutan female, and I knew we were about two kilometers from a durian tree that was fruiting," Galdikas says on the front porch of her bungalow at Camp Leakey. "Right there, I was able to predict that she was heading for that tree. And she traveled in a straight line, not meandering at all until she reached the tree."
Males are frighteningly unpredictable. Galdikas recalls one who picked up her front porch bench and hurled it like a missile. "It's not that they're malicious," Galdikas assures me, gesturing toward the old bench. "It's just that their testosterone surge will explode and they can be very dangerous, inadvertently." She adds, perhaps as a warning that I shouldn't get too chummy with Tom and Kusasi, "if that bench had hit somebody on the head, that person would have been maimed for life."
She also has made discoveries about how males communicate with one another. While it was known that they use their throat pouches to make bellowing "long calls," signaling their presence to females and asserting their dominance (real or imagined) to other males, she discerned a call reserved especially for fellow males; roughly translated, this "fast call" says: I know you're out there and I'm ready to fight you.
Along the way, Galdikas has published her findings in four books and dozens of other publications, both scientific and general interest; signed on as a professor at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia (she spends about half the year in Canada and the United States); and mentored hundreds of aspiring scientists, such as the four students from Scotland's University of Aberdeen who are at Camp Leakey during my visit. Their mission? To collect orangutan feces samples to trace paternity and measure the reproductive success of various males.
I ask Galdikas which orangutan riddles she has yet to solve. "For me," she says, "the big, abiding mystery is: How far did the original males travel here in Tanjung Puting, and where did they come from?" She may never know. The 6,000 remaining orangutans can no longer travel at will because of palm oil plantations surrounding the park, all created since 1971. When she began the study, she says, "orangutans could wander to the other side of Borneo if they felt like it. Now they're trapped. They get lost in these palm oil plantations and they get killed."
Galdikas says the killings are usually carried out by plantation workers who consider the animals pests, by local people who eat their meat and by poachers who slaughter females to capture their babies, which are then sold illegally as pets.
As recently as 1900, more than 300,000 orangutans roamed freely across the jungles of Southeast Asia and southern China. Today an estimated 48,000 orangutans live in Borneo and another 6,500 in Sumatra. Galdikas blames people for their decline: "I mean, orangutans are tough," she says. "They're flexible. They're intelligent. They're adaptable. They can be on the ground. They can be in the canopy. I mean, they are basically big enough to not really have to worry about predators with the possible exception of tigers, maybe snow leopards. So if there were no people around, orangutans would be doing extremely well."
To grow oil palm (Elaesis guineensis) in a peat swamp forest, workers typically drain the land, chop down the trees (which are sold for timber) and burn what's left. It's a procedure, Galdikas says, that not only has killed or displaced thousands of orangutans but also has triggered massive fires and sent huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the air, furthering climate change.
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Upgraded to be 23% lighter than previous USA jerseys.
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Michael Bradley, hijo del ex entrenador de la Selección de Estados Unidos, Bob Bradley, es un defensor conocido por la calidad de sus pases y su capacidad de generar jugadas de ataque. Apoya a Bradley con esta camiseta de visitante. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56266 | S&V Entertainment Awards
Mandate? We'll leave that topic to the political arena. But in the realm of our annual S&V Entertainment Awards, ten music and eight movie critics have voted, and in each department the majority has ruled: Brian Wilson's SMiLE is the best CD of 2004, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the best DVD. Interesting. . . . After all, Wilson first attempted to crack his SMiLE 38 years ago. And King is based on a 50-year-old book set in a mythical prehistoric time - yet through the magic of 21st-century moviemaking, it resonates with viewers of all ages today. There are plenty of young punks below, too - literally (Green Day) and figuratively (Franz Ferdinand and directors like Kill Bill 's Quentin Tarantino and Lost in Translation's Sofia Coppola). Then there's the hybrid of Loretta Lynn's CD, pairing the Coal Miner's Daughter with a White Stripe. And remember, Star Wars fans: the trilogy that, for its time, was a quantum leap in film technology was also set a long time ago.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56337 | Easy (and cheap) nail art
Last updated 05:08 18/06/2014
nail art
NAILED IT! Finally, a nail art look we can actually achieve.
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Get the beauty look: Aishwarya Rai’s teal eyeliner Get the beauty look: Anna Kendrick How to find your new winter hair colour Beauty - how to reboot your signature look How to choose a foundation Unmentionable beauty problems - and how to solve them Stay cool, calm and well-coiffed Get the beauty look: Gugu Mbatha-Raw Get the beauty look: Emily Ratajkowski Makeup trick: Why she smears red lippie under her eyes
Nail art has always been in my 'too hard' basket - I have enough trouble getting a regular DIY polish job looking perfect. Plus, all the special tools most looks seem to require are off-putting.
However the manicurists at Orly showed me a simple way to get a striking nail look, with products that you can re-use in multiple ways. (Orly has just introduced Orly Colour Blast, a spin-off range with 72 colours that are just $13.99 each at Farmers.)
1. Start with a clear base coat, then apply two coats of any colour nail polish - here we chose black.
2. Cover the colour with a matte top coat, such as Orly Colour Care Matte Topcoat, which adds a dulled-down, velvety finish to any shade.
3. Add dots of any shiny topcoat all over the nail. You can use a professional dotter tool, a toothpick or even a piece of dried spaghetti (yes, really!). Tip: brush a small amount of polish into a flat dish so you can pick up dots of polish with your chosen tool.
Note: Don't finish this one with your usual step of clear topcoat as that will reverse the matte effect. The dots should be your final process.
The final look is subtle yet whimsical. It works with any shade of polish and most topcoats.
Your only investment will be the matte topcoat, which can be used on any of your existing polishes to create multiple effects.
Are you game to give this one a try?
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56408 | SpaceX's Dragon Capsule Splashes Down, Historic Mission Comes to an End
Artist rendition of Dragon's re-entry. [Credit: SpaceX]
Thursday morning at 8:42 AM Pacific, SpaceX's Dragon capsule successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean a couple hundred miles west of Baja California. The capsule just returned to Earth after spending five days at the International Space Station (ISS) on a cargo-supply and cargo-return mission.
This mission was the first ever in which a commercial company's spacecraft docked with the ISS. Additionally, according to SpaceX, the Dragon capsule is the only cargo vehicle in service which is capable of returning a significant amount of cargo from the ISS.
By comparison, other unmanned vehicles can only deliver cargo to the ISS and are later de-orbited in a fireball above the ocean (that is, they can't return cargo to Earth), and vehicles rated for manned spaceflight, such as the Soyuz have limited space for cargo.
Dragon after being released from the ISS. [Credit: SpaceX]
While docked with the ISS, astronauts onboard the ISS unloaded 1,146 pounds of cargo, which included food, student experiments, and other materials. The astronauts also packed the capsule with 1,455 pounds of cargo that is no longer needed on the ISS for a return trip to Earth; this cargo will be returned to NASA.
Astronauts inside the Dragon on the ISS. [Credit: SpaceX]
Upon re-entry, the Dragon capsule used a heat shield to protect itself from the extreme temperatures of re-entry, and it also used Draco thrusters--small rocket engines--to bring itself to the correct landing location--off land and well out of populated areas. When it was as an altitude of 45,000 feet, the Dragon deployed drogue parachutes, and at 10,000 feet it deployed the 116-foot-diameter main parachutes. Upon landing, the SpaceX picked up the Dragon using a barge and crane.
What's Next?
Now that SpaceX has successfully demonstrated the use of its Dragon capsule in their second Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) launch, it will evaluate the mission. If SpaceX deems the mission complete success, the company will begin a series of cargo missions to keep the ISS stocked. If not, SpaceX says that it will try again.
[SpaceX (1, 2)]
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56412 | Wednesday 03 June 2015
Ad hoc: Sex is fine but please don't talk with your mouth full
Pretend, for a moment, that you had stepped off the British Isles for a few years (living, say on a Pacific island), and returned earlier this month in time for the election after your idyll was ruined by visiting ITV film crews preparing for Celebrity Love Island.
You watch Tony Blair boasting on children's TV about his "five times a night" prowess, part of his man-of-the-people routine.
Celebrity Love Island itself is based on the premise of two ''famous'' people disappearing into a ''love shack'' for two days. Then you see an ad for KFC in which a group of call-centre workers sing with their mouths full.
Now guess how many complaints the Blair routine got, and how many the KFC ad: none for the PM, and more than 1,600 for KFC, the takeaway chain formerly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Its crime, apparently, is that it might encourage children to eat with their mouths full, thus promoting bad table manners, disrespect and - you couldn't make it up - mocking those with speech disabilities and increasing the risk of children choking.
Your natural conclusion - wrong, of course - might be that you were living in a parallel universe in which normal social mores had been turned upside down, a feeling confirmed by the fact that complaints against KFC far outnumbered those against two other ads which, arguably, are far more controversial.
One, for Reebok, featured the rapper 50 Cent, famous for surviving a nine-bullet wounding. As nine gunshots sound, he talks about his life in the 'hood, before concluding: "I am what I am." Pretty tasteless, not least as drug and gun culture becomes more prevalent. (The ad, incidentally, was voluntarily withdrawn by Reebok, then banned by the Advertising Standards Authority).
Meanwhile, an ad for Pot Noodle features a man with a suspiciously large bulge in his trousers (in fact, a hunting horn) - which allows the ad to ask viewers if "they've got the Pot Noodle Horn?".
It's an outrageous double entendre, mitigated slightly perhaps by the ad's Carry On-style panache. But with complaints running at about 1,000, it's offending only two thirds as many people as KFC.
It is into this minefield that the ASA, which handles complaints about ads, has to step. It's a tough job, made all the harder by apparent contradictions in which contemporary society - or at least the part that complains about ads - is more offended by bad manners than by sex and violence.
Nevertheless, the KFC case suggests many in the UK today believe advertising has a potency to influence society (as opposed to merely encouraging people to buy certain products) way beyond the reality.
There may be a relatively simple explanation for the outrage caused by KFC, as opposed to, say, Reebok. As long as adults are involved, one set of - much looser - standards prevails.
Ads that target children or the teenage market, however, are scrutinised much more closely by adults; and any advertiser that promotes yob or disrespectful behaviour (watch out for the new Fanta Z ad by Coca-Cola featuring spitting and drooling) will find itself in the firing line.
Fortunately, the ASA - whose track record suggests it takes a pretty enlightened view - doesn't base its decisions on the popular vote. An ad that offends 5,000 people may survive, while one that upsets just 20 can get the bullet. As for the KFC ad, there's virtually no chance of a ban.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56439 |
Eagle Beau Waters hopeful of playing again
Beau Waters
Beau Waters Photo: Sebastian Costanzo
West Coast coach Adam Simpson is hopeful Beau Waters will play on next season, but says the defender will need to re-evaluate his troublesome right shoulder at the end of the year.
Waters was forced to undergo a second shoulder reconstruction last week after an infection ruined his chances of recovering from last year's operation.
Although the 28-year-old will miss the rest of the season, his current contract runs until the end of next year.
Simpson is optimistic Waters will be able to return to the field next season, but said a final decision wouldn't be made for some time.
"Of course he's going to be banged up when he finishes his career, (but) there's still no permanent damage risk," Simpson told Perth radio station 6PR.
"We'll sit down at the end of the year and see where it's at in terms of how it's healed.
"At this stage, hopefully he's up for it and will go around again."
Waters has a history of being able to recover from serious injuries.
The hard-nut defender was plagued by groin problems early in his career, but returned with a bang to help the club win the 2006 premiership.
A dislocated elbow threatened to prematurely end his career in 2008 and again in 2011, but he rebounded from those setbacks to win All-Australian selection in 2012.
Waters has only managed 120 games during his 11-year career, but his bravery has earned him respect across the competition.
Meanwhile, Simpson is confident midfielder Chris Masten will be fit for Sunday night's clash with North Melbourne at Patersons Stadium.
Masten was subbed out of last week's loss to Collingwood with a tight hamstring, but scans have cleared him of any damage.
The Eagles will be bolstered by the return of star forward Mark LeCras from suspension in a match they are desperate to win in order to stay in touch with the top eight.
West Coast sit in ninth spot with a 4-5 record, while North Melbourne (5-4) are clinging to eighth spot following last week's loss to Geelong.
AFL 2015
Round 1
Thu, 02 AprTimes shown AEDT
CAR 78 vs RIC 105 Report Stats
Sat, 04 AprTimes shown AEDT
MEL 115 vs GCF 89 Stats
SYD 72 vs ESS 60 Stats
BRI 74 vs COL 86 Stats
WBU 97 vs WCE 87 Stats
Sun, 05 AprTimes shown AEST
STK 78 vs GWS 87 Stats
ADE 140 vs NTH 63 Stats
FRE 75 vs PTA 68 Stats
Mon, 06 AprTimes shown AEST
HAW 123 vs GEE 61 Stats
View All Fixtures
Round 2
Fri, 10 AprTimes shown AEST
WCE 131 vs CAR 62 Stats
Sat, 11 AprTimes shown AEST
RIC 66 vs WBU 85 Report Stats
GWS 101 vs MEL 56 Stats
COL 63 vs ADE 90 Report Stats
GCF 76 vs STK 104 Stats
PTA 44 vs SYD 92 Stats
Sun, 12 AprTimes shown AEST
GEE 60 vs FRE 104 Stats
ESS 78 vs HAW 76 Stats
NTH 133 vs BRI 51 Stats
View All Fixtures
Round 3
Fri, 17 AprTimes shown AEST
COL 140 vs STK 66 Stats
Sat, 18 AprTimes shown AEST
CAR 84 vs ESS 105 Stats
ADE 80 vs MEL 55 Stats
SYD 111 vs GWS 90 Report Stats
NTH 105 vs PTA 113 Stats
BRI 58 vs RIC 137 Stats
Sun, 19 AprTimes shown AEST
HAW 127 vs WBU 57 Stats
GEE 105 vs GCF 96 Stats
WCE 81 vs FRE 111 Stats
View All Fixtures
Round 4
Fri, 24 AprTimes shown AEST
RIC 51 vs MEL 83 Stats
Sat, 25 AprTimes shown AEST
STK 81 vs CAR 121 Report Report Stats
ESS 49 vs COL 69 Report Stats
GWS 119 vs GCF 53 Stats
PTA 99 vs HAW 91 Stats
FRE 74 vs SYD 60 Stats
Sun, 26 AprTimes shown AEST
BRI 65 vs WCE 118 Stats
GEE 67 vs NTH 83 Stats
WBU 125 vs ADE 68 Stats
View All Fixtures
Round 5
Fri, 01 MayTimes shown AEST
CAR 45 vs COL 120 Stats
Sat, 02 MayTimes shown AEST
RIC 76 vs GEE 85 Stats
SYD 73 vs WBU 77 Stats
GCF 118 vs BRI 54 Stats
NTH 70 vs HAW 130 Stats
WCE 120 vs GWS 33 Stats
Sun, 03 MayTimes shown AEST
MEL 50 vs FRE 118 Stats
STK 80 vs ESS 82 Stats
ADE 91 vs PTA 115 Stats
View All Fixtures
Round 6
Fri, 08 MayTimes shown AEST
COL 59 vs GEE 100 Stats
Sat, 09 MayTimes shown AEST
NTH 109 vs RIC 74 Stats
WBU 87 vs STK 94 Stats
GWS 108 vs HAW 98 Stats
GCF 78 vs ADE 119 Stats
MEL 50 vs SYD 88 Stats
FRE 80 vs ESS 52 Stats
Sun, 10 MayTimes shown AEST
CAR 75 vs BRI 84 Report Stats
PTA 68 vs WCE 78 Stats
View All Fixtures
Round 7
Fri, 15 MayTimes shown AEST
ESS 82 vs NTH 93 Stats
Sat, 16 MayTimes shown AEST
ADE 119 vs STK 73 Stats
HAW 155 vs MEL 50 Stats
CAR 57 vs GWS 135 Stats
SYD 120 vs GEE 77 Stats
WCE 135 vs GCF 43 Stats
Sun, 17 MayTimes shown AEST
WBU 88 vs FRE 101 Stats
RIC 105 vs COL 100 Report Stats
BRI 102 vs PTA 65 Report Stats
View All Fixtures
Round 8
Fri, 22 MayTimes shown AEST
GEE 140 vs CAR 63 Report Stats
Sat, 23 MayTimes shown AEST
STK 78 vs WCE 131 Report Stats
GWS 108 vs ADE 84 Report Stats
GCF 63 vs COL 132 Report Stats
HAW 69 vs SYD 73 Report Stats
FRE 115 vs NTH 42 Report Stats
Sun, 24 MayTimes shown AEST
ESS 136 vs BRI 78 Report Stats
MEL 103 vs WBU 64 Report Stats
PTA 43 vs RIC 76 Report Stats
View All Fixtures
Round 9
Fri, 29 MayTimes shown AEST
SYD 122 vs CAR 62 Report Stats
Sat, 30 MayTimes shown AEST
HAW 93 vs GCF 40 Report Stats
MEL 54 vs PTA 115 Report Stats
WBU 113 vs GWS 68 Report Stats
RIC 72 vs ESS 59 Report Stats
ADE 57 vs FRE 68 Report Stats
Sun, 31 MayTimes shown AEST
BRI 86 vs STK 108 Report Stats
COL 112 vs NTH 95 Report Stats
WCE 120 vs GEE 64 Report Stats
View All Fixtures
Round 10
Fri, 05 JunTimes shown AEST
FRE vs RIC 20:10Domain Stadium
Sat, 06 JunTimes shown AEST
CAR vs ADE 13:40MCG
GCF vs SYD 16:35MS
ESS vs GEE 19:20ES
PTA vs WBU 19:40Adelaide Oval
Sun, 07 JunTimes shown AEST
GWS vs BRI 13:10Spotless Stadium
NTH vs WCE 15:20BA
STK vs HAW 16:40ES
Mon, 08 JunTimes shown AEST
MEL vs COL 15:20MCG
View All Fixtures
Round 11
Fri, 12 JunTimes shown AEST
PTA vs GEE 19:50Adelaide Oval
Sat, 13 JunTimes shown AEST
GCF vs FRE 13:40MS
WCE vs ESS 16:35Domain Stadium
NTH vs SYD 19:20ES
Sun, 14 JunTimes shown AEST
COL vs GWS 13:10MCG
STK vs MEL 16:40ES
View All Fixtures
Round 12
Thu, 18 JunTimes shown AEST
ADE vs HAW 19:50Adelaide Oval
Fri, 19 JunTimes shown AEST
RIC vs WCE 19:50MCG
Sat, 20 JunTimes shown AEST
CAR vs PTA 13:40MCG
GWS vs NTH 16:35Spotless Stadium
WBU vs BRI 19:20ES
Sun, 21 JunTimes shown AEST
GEE vs MEL 15:20SS
View All Fixtures
Round 13
Thu, 25 JunTimes shown AEST
FRE vs COL 20:10Domain Stadium
Fri, 26 JunTimes shown AEST
SYD vs RIC 19:50SCG
Sat, 27 JunTimes shown AEST
HAW vs ESS 13:40MCG
BRI vs ADE 16:35G
STK vs WBU 19:20ES
Sun, 28 JunTimes shown AEST
CAR vs GCF 15:20ES
View All Fixtures
Round 14
Thu, 02 JulTimes shown AEST
SYD vs PTA 19:20SCG
Fri, 03 JulTimes shown AEST
COL vs HAW 19:50MCG
Sat, 04 JulTimes shown AEST
RIC vs GWS 13:40MCG
GCF vs NTH 16:35MS
WBU vs CAR 19:20ES
MEL vs WCE 19:40TIO
Sun, 05 JulTimes shown AEST
ESS vs STK 13:10ES
ADE vs GEE 15:20Adelaide Oval
FRE vs BRI 16:40Domain Stadium
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Round 15
Thu, 09 JulTimes shown AEST
PTA vs COL 19:50Adelaide Oval
Fri, 10 JulTimes shown AEST
RIC vs CAR 19:50MCG
Sat, 11 JulTimes shown AEST
ESS vs MEL 13:40MCG
WBU vs GCF 16:35CAZ
NTH vs GEE 19:20ES
WCE vs ADE 19:40Domain Stadium
Sun, 12 JulTimes shown AEST
GWS vs STK 13:10Spotless Stadium
HAW vs FRE 15:20AS
BRI vs SYD 16:40G
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Round 16
Fri, 17 JulTimes shown AEST
NTH vs ESS 19:50ES
Sat, 18 JulTimes shown AEST
GEE vs WBU 13:45SS
GCF vs GWS 14:10MS
COL vs WCE 16:35ES
SYD vs HAW 19:20ANZ
FRE vs CAR 19:40Domain Stadium
Sun, 19 JulTimes shown AEST
MEL vs BRI 13:10MCG
PTA vs ADE 15:20Adelaide Oval
STK vs RIC 16:40ES
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Round 17
Fri, 24 JulTimes shown AEST
CAR vs HAW 19:50ES
Sat, 25 JulTimes shown AEST
GWS vs GEE 13:45SO
ADE vs GCF 14:10Adelaide Oval
RIC vs FRE 16:35MCG
ESS vs PTA 19:20ES
BRI vs NTH 19:20G
Sun, 26 JulTimes shown AEST
WBU vs COL 13:10ES
MEL vs STK 15:20MCG
WCE vs SYD 16:40Domain Stadium
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Round 18
Fri, 31 JulTimes shown AEST
HAW vs RIC 19:50MCG
Sat, 01 AugTimes shown AEST
GEE vs BRI 13:45SS
COL vs MEL 14:10MCG
SYD vs ADE 16:35SCG
CAR vs NTH 19:20ES
GCF vs WCE 19:20MS
Sun, 02 AugTimes shown AEST
PTA vs STK 13:10Adelaide Oval
ESS vs WBU 15:20ES
FRE vs GWS 16:40Domain Stadium
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Round 19
Fri, 07 AugTimes shown AEST
ADE vs RIC 19:50Adelaide Oval
Sat, 08 AugTimes shown AEST
COL vs CAR 13:45MCG
WBU vs PTA 14:10ES
BRI vs GCF 16:35G
GEE vs SYD 19:20SS
WCE vs HAW 19:40Domain Stadium
Sun, 09 AugTimes shown AEST
MEL vs NTH 13:10MCG
GWS vs ESS 15:20Spotless Stadium
STK vs FRE 16:40ES
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Round 20
Fri, 14 AugTimes shown AEST
SYD vs COL 19:50SCG
Sat, 15 AugTimes shown AEST
ESS vs ADE 13:45ES
NTH vs STK 14:10BA
PTA vs GWS 16:35Adelaide Oval
GEE vs HAW 19:20MCG
BRI vs CAR 19:20G
Sun, 16 AugTimes shown AEST
RIC vs GCF 13:10MCG
WBU vs MEL 15:20ES
FRE vs WCE 16:40Domain Stadium
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Round 21
Fri, 21 AugTimes shown AEST
HAW vs PTA 19:50ES
Sat, 22 AugTimes shown AEST
COL vs RIC 13:45MCG
GWS vs SYD 14:10Spotless Stadium
GCF vs ESS 16:35MS
STK vs GEE 19:20ES
ADE vs BRI 19:40Adelaide Oval
Sun, 23 AugTimes shown AEST
NTH vs FRE 13:10ES
CAR vs MEL 15:20MCG
WCE vs WBU 16:40Domain Stadium
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Round 22
Fri, 28 AugTimes shown AEST
GEE vs COL 19:50MCG
Sat, 29 AugTimes shown AEST
GWS vs CAR 13:45Spotless Stadium
HAW vs BRI 14:10AS
NTH vs WBU 16:35ES
ESS vs RIC 19:20MCG
GCF vs PTA 19:20MS
Sun, 30 AugTimes shown AEST
ADE vs WCE 13:10Adelaide Oval
STK vs SYD 15:20ES
FRE vs MEL 16:40Domain Stadium
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Round 23
Fri, 04 SepTimes shown AEST
COL vs ESS 00:00MCG
RIC vs NTH 00:00ES
HAW vs CAR 00:00MCG
GEE vs ADE 00:00SS
SYD vs GCF 00:00SCG
MEL vs GWS 00:00ES
BRI vs WBU 00:00G
PTA vs FRE 00:30Adelaide Oval
WCE vs STK 02:00Domain Stadium
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Collingwood 9 6 3 0 128.24 24
GWS Giants 9 6 3 0 110.26 24
Hawthorn 9 5 4 0 151.26 20
Adelaide Crows 9 5 4 0 113.37 20
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56441 | Home > Opinion > Article
Deeply committed Christians, yet so out of step
January 27 2003
Bush, Blair and Howard say they are Christian. So why won't they listen to the churches - and the gospel? Peter Matheson asks.
With rare unanimity, religious leaders across the world have condemned the proposed war against Iraq. The Pope, Eastern patriarchs, the Archbishop of Canterbury, American and Australian religious leaders have all spoken out in unmistakeable terms.
Yet George Bush and Tony Blair are deeply committed Christians. The same may well be true of John Howard. So what is going on? Why are Western church leaders and political leaders so out of step?
There will be purely secular factors. The military tail is wagging the political dog. The urgent, quite hysterical note to be heard from the White House these days reflects the exigencies of a military timetable that is already set in concrete. The logic of military events drives the political lunacy.
But there are deeper issues. One is reminded of the icy fury of Mrs Thatcher when the churches dared criticise her intervention in the Falklands.
The assumption of such leaders as Bush is obvious: the role of the Christian churches is to provide moral legitimacy and pastoral support for the "national interest". And when Christians decline to be instrumentalised in this way, such leaders are outraged.
We are standing in vigil in Melbourne because, as people of faith, we feel closer to the likely victims of a pre-emptive strike than to our political leaders.
One reason, as our posters illustrate, is that we put people first - the Iraqi people in the first instance. Where humanity is to be trampled on, the warning signs flash on.
But it goes much deeper than that. This is an outrageously unjust war. By every criterion laid down by the churches over the centuries, this pre-emptive strike has to be condemned.
We fear it will ignite tension and hatred and a string of other wars. World War I was hailed as the war to end all wars. This will be the war to start all wars. Its destabilising potential is alarming for all with eyes to see.
"For all its religiousrhetoric, this market-driven war amounts to practical atheism."
In his rhetoric, President Bush often uses the prayer: God bless America. We have no difficulty with that. The trouble is that he appears unable to distinguish between God and America. It is not just the churches that Bush and Blair want to put in their pocket but the God of all times and nations - ludicrous as that would seem.
So we stand today in the ancient, Judaeo-Christian prophetic tradition to warn that God is not mocked, and that blessing can swiftly change into cursing.
Our worst fear is that there will be a terrible curse on this enterprise. Imagine what would happen if other major nations - China, for example - arrogated to themselves the right to such pre-emptive strikes.
In God's world - and there is no other - security cannot be secured by military superiority, however overwhelming, but only by respecting mutuality of interests.
For all its religious rhetoric, this market-driven war amounts to practical atheism. Charlton Heston ideology. It believes in nothing but overwhelming force and self-interest and is unfortunately right in line with the ravaging of the environment and the polarisation of rich and poor with which this US Government is identified.
We are not anti-American. We stand, however, for humanity and common sense. This fear-driven slide towards war flies in the face of the Christian Gospel of hope and reconciliation and justice. It also happens to betray the best in the noble US traditions of enlightenment and freedom.
We are not fatalists. Even now, hoping against hope, we call in the name of God for a halt to this war. We cannot wash our hands of it, because it will sully us all, but at the least we want it to be crystal clear to our Islamic sisters and brothers that this is not our war.
God bless Iraq.
Reverend Dr Peter Matheson is principal of the Uniting Church Theological Hall in Melbourne. This is an edited text of his address at the weekend to the peace vigil at St Paul's Cathedral.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56449 | David Shiner in Seussical(Photo: Joan Marcus)
David Shiner in Seussical
(Photo: Joan Marcus)
From its press presentation to its rocky pre-Broadway engagement in Boston to its troubled preview period at the Richard Rodgers Theater in New York, the travails of Seussical: The Musical have been chronicled ad infinitum in newspaper columns and on-line chat rooms. Observers suggested that the tone of the show was fuzzy because its creators couldn't decide if their target audience was children or adults, and we all watched in horror as the production endured a great amount of turnover in personnel: The original costume designer, Catherine Zuber, was replaced during the Boston run by William Ivey Long; much of set designer Eugene Lee's work was apparently thrown out and/or spruced up by Tony Walton; and director Frank Galati was unofficially replaced by Rob Marshall. As recently as a few weeks ago, there was even talk that the show's Cat in the Hat, David Shiner, might yield his role to Andrea Martin (who had played it in workshop.)
As it turns out, Seussical's biggest problem is unrelated to any of the above. Though Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens have crafted wonderful songs for the show, what sinks this ship is the fact that the team (who are also credited with the show's book) and their colleagues have tried to do far too much in what should have been one small musical. Aware that so many of the characters and stories of Theodor Geisel (more famously known as Dr. Seuss) are beloved by millions of children and former children, the creators have unwisely attempted to cover all bases. Or, to put it another way, they seem to have been terrified to leave anything out.
The result is a weird conflation of various characters--Horton the Elephant, the Cat in the Hat, the Grinch, etc.--and their adventures. To be entirely accurate: The Cat in the Hat acts more or less as the show's tour guide, and doesn't really figure in the plot(s). But there is still a tremendously off-putting sense of split focus here. I had read from the beginning that most of Seussical followed the action of two of Seuss' greatest stories, "Horton Hears a Who" and "Horton Hatches the Egg"--but I never dreamed until I actually saw the show that Flaherty, Ahrens and company would try to tell both of these tales simultaneously, while also jamming a number of other characters and subplots into the mix.
For those of you who led a childhood deprived of the magic of Dr. Seuss, "Horton Hears a Who" is about an elephant who alone notices that faint cries of help are emanating from a dust speck. His fellow jungle-dwellers think he's nuts, but Horton is adamant about protecting the tiny Whos (as they are called) and their miniscule world, pointing out time and again that "A person's a person, no matter how small." The elephant's big heart is further demonstrated in a separate story, "Horton Hatches the Egg"; here, he is duped into "temporarily" babysitting the egg of a selfish bird named Mayzie, who then hightails it to Palm Beach for an extended vacation. Seussical starts telling the tale of Horton and the Whos quite effectively--and then, right in the middle of it, the egg story begins! Both plots continue to unwind on parallel tracks, for no fathomable reason.
Never does the show's effort to be all-inclusive appear more desperate than in its treatment of the Grinch, here a glorified cameo role played by William Ryall. One can practically imagine Seussical's creators saying to themselves: "We can't leave out the story of how the Grinch tried to steal Christmas, because it's too famous, and it's the subject of a blockbuster movie that's going to open at the same time as our show! But we can't recap the entire Grinch plot, because we simply haven't got time. So we'll introduce the character, forget about him for awhile--and then we'll tell just the last few minutes of his story, since everybody knows it anyway." What a mistake!
Kevin Chamberlin and Sharon Wilkinsin Seussical(Photo: Joan Marcus)
Kevin Chamberlin and Sharon Wilkins
in Seussical
(Photo: Joan Marcus)
On the other hand: Flaherty & Ahrens are incapable of writing a bad musical theater song, and Seussical is full of gems, from the infectious opener ("Oh, The Thinks You Can Think!") to the finale. Kevin Chamberlin, a heartfelt Horton, shines in such numbers as "Alone in the Universe" (a duet with the Who child Jo-Jo, played alternately by Anthony Blair Hall and Andrew Keenan-Bolger) and the lovely ballad "Notice Me, Horton" (another duet, this time with the scintillating Janine LaManna as the lovesick Gertude McFuzz). Though the talents of Stuart Zagnit and Alice Playten are largely wasted in the roles of the Mayor of Whoville and his wife, Sharon Wilkins is a scream as the Sour Kangaroo who derides Horton as the "Biggest Blame Fool" in the Jungle of Nool. Michele Pawk is sexy and funny as "Amazing Mayzie," even if the emotional climax of her story with Horton and the egg has been excised (don't ask). Adding a touch of sex appeal to the show are Natascia Diaz, Sara Gettelfinger, and Catrice Joseph as the Bird Girls, not to mention David Engel, Tom Plotkin, and Eric Jordan Young as the Wickersham Brothers. As for Shiner--he's by no means a disaster, but his particularly brand of comic brilliance is not really suited to the Cat in the Hat. Ironically, he is more effective in the second act of Seussical, doing what he does best as he briefly takes on the personae of several other, minor characters.
The show's sets and costumes are certainly bright and colorful under Natasha Katz's lighting; but, perhaps predictably, there seems to have been some disagreement as to how closely they should ape the look of the original illustrations in the Seuss books. Things are better on the musical end, given Doug Besterman's excellent orchestrations of Flaherty's terrific melodies. And though Kathleen Marshall's choreography can't be described as innovative, it's lively and fun. But Seussical as a whole doesn't really work, no matter how enjoyable so many of its individual parts may be. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56462 | Thread: The Program
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Ryan grinned and took some food and put it on his plate.
"No reason..." Ella muttered, cuddling up next to Mike. She didn't realize her cut arm was the one on top around his waist.
"When are you coming home?" Mary asked. "I'm sure your father probably forgot about all of that already."
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Eric Sprott, Sprott Asset Management
Eric Sprott, Sprott Asset Management
Market Strategy
Q&A with Eric Sprott: First, 'fix the economy' Add to ...
When it comes to a bearish view of the markets, veteran money manager Eric Sprott takes a back seat to no one. So it's not surprising that his firm, Sprott Asset Management, would organize an event, called A Night with the Bears, in Toronto next Tuesday, or that he would be one of the four prominent pessimists who will be addressing the latest market currents.
With everything governments are doing to repair the financial system and prop up markets, is this really a good time to be such a committed bear?
Here's how I characterize what a bear has to put up with. It's like you're in a Texas Hold 'em, no-limit poker game. You're the one bear at the table, and you've got the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Treasury, the Bank of England, the ECB. And they keep coming up with these moves that are all-in, all trying to prevent what is in fact transpiring ... So far, none has been successful.
Are you saying they won't work?
It's very difficult when they're fighting what I would call the forces of nature. The forces of nature would have had us in a bear market back in 2000, which was aborted by interest rate policy. ... Now we have, in essence, multilevel quantitative easing. It's everywhere. We'll see how that does.
From where you sit, what worries you most?
It's the irresponsibility of the monetary authorities. These [moves to buy up toxic assets and guarantee debt]are not in any rule book you or I have ever read. It's a little surreal. We're trying to defy the laws of nature. You had a credit bubble that has broken, and you're trying to prevent the logical outcome.
What's your sense of the sentiment out there now?
There are two sentiment measures. One is the economy, which has got to be about as bad as it's ever been. And then there are the financial markets, which in some ways are a bit of a game. It's the game of trying to get financial assets to inflate, which may have nothing to do with the economy. The accepted belief in the U.S. is you cannot get an economic recovery without stability in the banking system. That's why all this effort, for the most part, has been dedicated to the financial system and very little to the economy.
You disagree?
I think you've got to fix the economy. You can keep stock or bond prices moving. But ultimately people have to want to lend. And if the economy gets weaker, they're not going to lend. And ultimately, people may not want to borrow. It can cut both ways.
Do you see a widening divergence between the markets and the economy?
I could see a scenario where they disengage. If you throw enough money at the system, the money has to go somewhere. Typically, it seeks out a paper asset. You could have stocks going up, because they're hyper-inflating the money supply.
How do you think that will play out?
It's a tough call to know whether the economic weakness supersedes the quantitative easing. It's not something that I've ever been through before, and I truly don't know the answer. But those are the two forces at work. Whether quantitative easing has an impact on financial prices, irrespective of what the economy does, is very difficult to gauge.
Do you regard this unpredictability as an opportunity or a handicap, given your investing approach?
I have to be cognizant of what could happen. As a guy who's short the market, you always have to look at all the range of possibilities. One of the possibilities is that people buy stocks.
If you're living in Japan today and you're a bear, and the government comes in and says it's going to buy stocks, what do you do? Maybe you say: If they're going to start buying, I'd better cover my shorts. I may not believe in it, but that's the way it is.
So what does the ordinary investor do in this environment?
I can only tell you what I do and what I do on behalf of our clients.
There are only two things we do today: precious metals and shorting. There are only three things in the world that have worked [during the crisis] Having cash, which I question, because of the quantitative easing. ... Owning gold and precious metals or shorting the market.
I know you have been deeply bearish on financials. What else are you shorting?
I've actually been going a little further into the economic stocks lately. You know pretty well that anybody who's related to the economy cannot be doing well.
Any that you care to discuss?
To me a classic example is Caterpillar . We've seen many, many instances where the makers of big things get orders cancelled [in bad economic times] Whether it's airplanes, ships, front-end loaders, the orders just get cancelled, because there's enough equipment around already. They've already announced layoffs [at Caterpillar] And I'd hate to see what the order book looks like.
Do you ever second-guess your bearish approach, knowing that governments may be doing enough to prop up the markets, if not the economy?
We always question it. I was asked a question today: Do you see any signs of an economic turnaround? No, I do not. But trust me, every day every piece of information that comes out on anything [is analyzed closely]
So to sum up, you've still got a solidly negative outlook, despite the heavy intervention of governments, or perhaps because of it.
I would guess that it's too big to bail. ... They're trying to solve a very complex problem that I suspect they're not going to be able to solve.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56491 | The secret life of the lippy dominatrix
Lizzie Roper
'There's comedy in everything' ... Lizzie Roper. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod
Verbatim theatre, we know about. But verbatim stand-up? Lizzie Roper is a comic and actor who starred last year in All the Right People Come Here, a docu-play about Wimbledon tennis by the theatre group Recorded Delivery. The company makes shows by taping interviews with the public and, earphones in ears, repeating them to an audience live on stage. Now, in pioneering fashion, Roper has cribbed the idea for her Fringe comedy show, an investigation into people's sex lives called Peccadillo Circus.
"I fell in love with the technique," she says. It's easy to see why. "As an actor, you're constantly looking for a naturalistic delivery. But when you do a verbatim piece, you realise how appalling people's grammar actually is." The "recorded delivery" technique celebrates the idiosyncrasy of colloquial speech. "No matter who was interviewed and put on stage," says Roper, "if their every vocal tic was represented, it would be hilariously funny."
The more so when the subject under discussion is sex. Roper's show features testimony from coprophiliacs, swingers and a lippy dominatrix: ("He said he didn't come in here to be humiliated, and I'm thinking, 'Read the flyer!'") Research wasn't plain sailing, says Roper. "I put an advert online asking to speak to people, and I got loads of men saying, 'I'll come on your tits.' But eventually you whittle out the rapists."
Roper finally interviewed 14 people, of whom six have made it to the stage. "These are people you might sit next to on the bus and wouldn't know anything about," she says. "Now you're going to discover their amazing secrets." She's so excited about docu-comedy, she says, "I now carry a tape recorder with me at all times. This way of working has made me rejoice and see the comedy in everything. It's fascinating: what's more interesting than real people?"
Lizzie Roper: Peccadillo Circus is at the Gilded Balloon (0131-668 1633) until August 28. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56505 | Science Weekly podcast: The inscrutable brain
Bryan Appleyard on the 'vastly inflated claims' of neuroscience, and Richard Holmes on the contenders for this year's Royal Society science book prize
On this week's show Alok Jha meets science writer Bryan Appleyard to discuss his new book The Brain is Wider than the Sky: Why Simple Solutions Don't Work in a Complex World. It's "part memoir and part reportage" on what he sees as our tendency to oversimplify the complexity of the human experience – particularly in the field of neuroscience – and misunderstand the limits of science.
With science writing to the fore, we hear from writer Richard Holmes in his role as chair of the judges for this year's Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books, which is due to be announced on Thursday. Richard has a unique perspective on the relative merits of the six shortlisted books, having won the prize in 2009 for The Age of Wonder.
Guardian Science is reviewing all six shortlisted books, and we're offering two complete sets as prizes in our competition. The deadline for entries is 23:59 on Thursday.
Finally we have the concluding instalment of Cosmological Connections, a wickedly insightful lecture given at The School of Life in London by theoretical physicist Professor Lawrence Krauss.
|
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56506 | The irrational and sinister campaign against gay marriage
Lord Carey and The Coalition for Marriage have made an argument that is confused, irrational and ultimately self-defeating. Why are some people so preoccupied with the sexuality of their neighbours?
The "Coalition for Marriage" has started a petition, headed by Lord Carey and an assortment of politicians and religious leaders, which asks people to "support the legal definition of marriage" as "the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others" and "oppose any attempt to redefine it."
The Daily Mail has lavished attention on the group, describing it as "a new grassroots organisation." 'Grassroots' is an interesting choice of term for a group led by a former Archbishop, former Lord Chancellor, half a dozen MPs, four bishops and countless charity leaders.
Their arguments are conveniently laid out on the petition website, and in an article by Carey himself at the Mail's ironically-titled blog network 'Rightminds'. For sake of time I'll take the website first, which covers the issues under four sections.
First, "MARRIAGE IS UNIQUE", the block capitals reinforcing the moral correctness.
Even if this were true; throughout history and in virtually all human societies women didn't have the vote, life expectancy was naff all and you couldn't play on a Playstation. So what?
The site makes no attempt to link to or cite this evidence, which is doubly suspicious when you look for it yourself and find that e.g. the American Psychological Association have surveyed research and found that "results suggest that lesbian and gay parents are as likely as heterosexual parents to provide supportive and healthy environments for their children."
Even if their statement were true, to what extent would children suffer because the the innate 'unfitness' of the parents, rather than the hostility and bigotry the parents faced from intolerant peers?
Finally, if you're going to link the fitness of parents to the right to marry and have kids, then either a) you're a hypocrite, or b) it needs to apply to everyone. Surely, by Lord Carey's vaguely-eugenicist reasoning, we should institute licensing requirements to weed out 'all' unfit parents? If C4M don't agree with this then what reason can they possibly have for singling out only gay parents?
There are electrons at the edge of the observable universe that will have a bigger impact on your heterosexual marriage than two gay people exchanging vows somewhere within a ten mile radius.
People's careers and lives are harmed now - by homophobic bigotry. Just ask the families of Justin Fashanu, or other victims of the tragically high rate of suicide among non-heterosexuals. In England and Wales, gay couples were legally excluded from adoption until as recently as 2005 - a double-tragedy given the shortage of suitable families available for kids to go to.
On the other hand, it's hard to see - and no logic, evidence or explanation is provided - how exactly legalizing gay marriage is going to harm anybody's career, or exclude straight couples from the foster system.
...and schools would inevitably have to teach the new definition to children.
Presumably we'd have to drop geography to make way for the epic amount of time and resources that would be consumed by the replacing "a man and a woman" with "two people" in the curriculum. And do we really want to educate our children about the world? What is it about love and commitment between two people that is so dangerous for young minds to hear?
"NO NEED TO REDEFINE" is the third, rather self-defeating point.
On the other hand, why not? Even ignoring the fact that marriage has been redefined regularly, doesn't arguing that there's no difference basically undermine every single other point you've made?!
It's not discriminatory to support traditional marriage.
That's like saying, "It's not disciminatory to support straight people!"
Or, "I'm just saying there should be more support for white people!"
Or, "I'm not a racist, but...!"
Carey expands on this in his Daily Mail article "The state does not 'own' the institution of marriage. Nor does the church. The honourable estate of matrimony precedes both the state and the church, and neither of these institutions have the right to redefine it in such a fundamental way."
This is such an unholy and inconsistent mess of an argument that's very hard to untangle it. Carey wants to invoke the legal definition of marriage as immutable, while simultaneously arguing that nobody has the right to define marriage. The obvious question: since the current definition came about through acts of Parliaments-past, why are dead MPs more entitled to define marriage than living ones?
If nobody has the right to impose a definition of marriage on society, then surely the logical conclusion is to remove it from the law books entirely (keeping civil partnerships), and say that's it's a personal matter that people are free to interpret as they see fit.
SPEAK UP is the final section.
I can only imagine the trauma that will be inflicted on the millions of heterosexual people who will be forced to marry homosexuals against their will under the proposed legislation.
Statements like this are just another attempt to pretend that gay rights are somehow in conflict with the rest of society, when clearly they are not. If you're heterosexual and you want to get married, your rights will not be affected in the slightest by gay marriage. It will have no conceivable impact on you, your children, or wider society.
Your ability to adopt children will be undiminished. You will not lose your job because of The Gay Mafia. You and your children will not be 'turned' gay by street gangs of roaming homosexuals. If you're worried about these things, or you're the sort of journalist who would post a picture of a couple on their wedding day with the caption, "such communions... jeopardise the stability of our country," then frankly you need to grow the fuck up.
There are only two relevant questions in this debate; why are some people so unhealthily obsessed by the sexuality of their neighbours, and is the campaign against gay marriage based on anything more than homophobia?
Twitter: @mjrobbins |
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56612 | L-r: Cheetara, Lion-o, Tygra, from the cover of a British Thundercats comic book
Original medium: TV animation
Produced by: Rankin/Bass Studios
First Appeared: 1985
Creator: Ted Wolf
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Fantasy adventure in TV cartoons ranges from simple superheroes like Birdman taking a few minutes to bash a villain, to fully-realized worlds with an ongoing storyline that …
continued below
… has a beginning, middle and (if the series lasts long enough) end, like Pirates of Darkwater. Thundercats, a syndicated daily cartoon that debuted in 1985, was toward the latter end of the spectrum.
The world in question was a planet called Third Earth, where a band of refugees from the destruction of their home planet, Thundera, set up housekeeping as part of the series back-story. They were cat-like folks, but in a funny animal sort of way — that is, they had perfectly human bodies with a few cat-like features, mostly in the face. They were led by Lion-o, a young warrior who was actually even younger than he looked — because of a malfunction in the time suspension device they'd used to cut short the dreary years of travel, he was physically an adult but had none of the maturity that comes of actually living in real time (tho he did grow up some during the course of the series). Lion-o wielded a magical weapon called The Omen Sword, which was small and kept out of sight most of the time, but when needed would become large and useful in action. (Sexual symbology is no-doubt in the mind of the beholder.)
Second in command was Tygra (no relation) (her too), who could turn invisible, and whose awesome weapon was The Bolo Whip. It was Tygra who designed their headquarters, The Cats' Lair. Cheetara was the token female, who had female-type super powers (an intuition-like ability to sense things not perceptible through normal means), as well as the speed of her namesake species. Panthro was the mechanical genius, who built vehicles and suchlike. Jaga was Lion-o's predecessor as leader. He died in transit to Third Earth, but hung around like Obi-wan Kenobi to dispense advice from the spirit world. Snarf wasn't a regular member of the team, but as Lion-o's nursemaid, was also available to dispense advice (to the scorn of most young viewers). There were also a couple of Thunderkittens, Wilykat and Wilykit. A few more cat-like characters joined the group in the second season.
There were various bad guys, but the most frequently seen were Mumm-Ra and his band of mutants (Slythe, Monkian, Jackalman, Vultureman, and Rataro, who resembled the species suggested by their names, Slythe being reptile-like). They were constantly trying to steal The Omen Sword so Mumm-Ra could rule the Universe forever.
The series, and all the characters in it, were created by writer Ted Wolf, who saw it as a morality play with human characters in strange bodies. His creativity manifest itself mostly in inventions, and he made the bulk of his living from patents. This is his only known credit in animation — in fact, in film in general. The show was produced by Rankin/Bass Studios, which is probably best known for Christmas specials starring Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It debuted in an hour-long special on January 23, 1985, and the series began in September of that year.
Lion-o's voice was done by Larry Kenney (Count Chocula), Tygra's by Peter Newman (Quicksilver, no relation, in Silverhawks), Cheetara's by Lynne Lipton (also heard in Drawing Power), Panthro's by Earle Hyman (mostly a face actor), and Snarf's by Bob McFadden (Milton the Monster).
Aside from a whopping 130 half-hour episodes, the Thundercats characters were made into a line of action figures that are highly prized by today's collectors, and into a role playing game that's still sometimes played. Marvel Comics licensed the property for its "Star Comics" line (Royal Roy, Wally the Wizard), which was aimed at younger readers. Twenty-four issues were published between December, 1985 and June, 1988.
Eventually, the series ran its course, but instead of simply fading away, it got a genuine ending. Thundera was de-destroyed (since death means about as little in animated cartoons as it does in comic books) and the characters got to go home.
Interest in Thundercats remains high — to the point where, as recently as 2002, it was licensed for comic books again. DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint (Astro City, Tom Strong) has done a couple of specials and mini-series, as well as a regular series about them. This version maintains continuity with the cartoon, being set on Thundera a few years after the return. It even did a crossover with another TV cartoon from about the same time, Battle of the Planets.
In one venue or another, Mumm-Ra and his mutant minions will undoubtedly continue trying to carry out their nefarious plans for a long time to come.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56638 | View Single Post
Old September 2 2009, 02:46 AM #26
Major Chord
Choir Boy Extraordinaire
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Location: Major Chord
Re: Why no half ranks?
It could be that the Vulcans just don't have a rank of commander. Sub commander could be equivalent to SF commander, from there you go to Captain. There are plenty of times in TNG, and DS9 where LCDRs are referred to as "commander" the absence of this with T;\'Pol leads me to believe that either the Rank of commander doesn't exist for Vulcans, or the crew was attempting to point out that she was not part of Starfleet (as in, emphasizing her Vulcan rank).
One of Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting Green and Purple Pills
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56642 | View Single Post
Old April 8 2012, 03:10 PM #36
Rear Admiral
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Location: Alt: 5280
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Re: MLB Discussion - 2012 Season
And last night's Rockies game showed the Rox that I know and love. Way to be inneffective guys. Oh yeah, a 49 year old as your #2 pitcher is brilliant.
Not a knock against Jamie Moyer, he seems like a decent guy, and had a pretty good spring, but he's old enough the be the Dad of some of the other guys in the rotation. Maybe coaching would be a better idea.
Give each other $10, put it on Underhill.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56643 | View Single Post
Old May 31 2012, 03:44 AM #3442
Re: The Dark Knight Rises Anticipation Station
Hathaway might just deliver guys - she is quite a versatiel actress and not the dumb one-dimensional rom-com only type that some want to portray her as, for god's sake they could have used Jennifer Aniston for the Selina role and I'd still love this movie, it's a minor part so let's not get our knickers in our twist that will have little overall impact on the movie as a whole and may be quite a decent performance anyway
Join the debate about what is the best in science fiction at
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56647 | Thread: Trek Tech FAQ
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Old June 5 2003, 05:10 PM #18
Cid Highwind
Fleet Captain
Location: Germany
Re: Trek Tech FAQ
Posted by AlexR:
Just FYI, I'm probably going to skip any short-and-sweet FAQ answers about stardates, since it seems like there are almost as many theories about stardates as there are Trekkers. That one's best left to ongoing discussion.
I don't know if this is what you already have in mind, but I would suggest two threads for this FAQ - one for the discussion about its possible content (this one), and another one, closed&sticky, where only you can add new content.
The Andorian Mining Consortium runs from no one!
-- Shran
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56658 | View Single Post
Old September 17 2013, 12:59 AM #4
Vice Admiral
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Location: Sacramento, CA
Re: Babylon 5: What If The Shadow War Came Last?
From what I understand, there was no truncation of the Shadow War due to Cancellation fears. I believe, only the final four of S4 (Not including Deconstruction of Falling Stars) were truncated, they were meant to stretch out into the first couple/few episodes of S5. On the flipside, Byron and his people would've started flowing in, in the background at the end of S4, so there would've been a smoother transitition between Seasons/Plot lines. Then of course, there is Ivanova's originally intended S5 Arc.
Putting those things back, is about all I'd change and I wouldn't want to lose Deconstruction of Falling Stars, I know some don't like it, but, many of us like it quite a bit.
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Old January 16 2014, 06:55 AM #7269
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Location: The Warped Sector of the Demented Quadrant
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Re: Star Trek A To Z
A is for Adam. Yea, brother, we reach!
B is for Bibi Besch, who played a middle-aged Carol Prime.
C is for Captain Leo Walsh, better known as Harry Mudd.
D is for Deneb IV, first visited by Starfleet officers at some unspecified date prior to 2265.
E is for Engrams from Richard Daystrom impressed onto the M-5 Multitronic Unit.
F is for Ferengi Rules of Acquisition. There were 285 of them during the late 24th century, though some Ferengi often added their own unofficial ones to the list.
G is for Gaetano the radiation specialist, a redshirt in all but color.
H is for Holodeck malfunctions.
I is for the Ilari warlords who ruled over their Delta Quadrant society.
J is for Jupiter Station.
K is for Kriosian independence. I want Krios for Kriosians! I want our homeland back!
L is for Lizard babies marooned in the Delta Quadrant.
M is for the Martian Colonies and their Fundamental Declarations, which would go on to be considered one of the great documents of human history.
N is for Nacelles.
O is for Organia.
P is for Plasus of the cloudy city of Stratos on planet Ardana.
-Jonathan Archer, 2151
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56681 | Sophie Clarke, Jeff Probst Sophie Clarke, Jeff Probst
If anyone understands the importance of an immunity challenge it would have to be Sophie Clarke. As one of the final contestants left on Survivor: South Pacific, the 22-year-old medical student from Willsboro, New York, was no frontrunner. But after winning the last immunity challenge of the season and ousting fan favorite and Survivor veteran Oscar "Ozzy" Lusth at the 11th hour, the game was suddenly Clarke's to win. We caught up with Clarke right after she beat out Benjamin "Coach" Wade and baseball coach Albert Destrade for the grand prize of $1 million to find out what she was thought her chances of winning were after the final tribal council, how the show changed her life and why she would return to Survivor in a heartbeat.
TV Guide Magazine: How did you feel going into the finale?
Clarke: I was so nervous. I was watching the show backstage and I started crying watching myself cry. I thought I would break down.
TV Guide Magazine: Did you think you were going to win?
Clarke: I had a good feeling. You never know, right? You never know if at the last second these people that you're getting a good read on write down Albert's name, or something. So, I felt like I was going to win, but it was a close vote.
TV Guide Magazine: That last tribal council was kind of gnarly.
Clarke: I don't think you saw all the gnarl that was there! Everyone was lighting into everyone. I think the only comfort... well, there were two things that were comforting. One was that Coach was getting it much worse than I was. Albert was getting it much worse than both of us. And I had champagne in my water bottle from the breakfast, so that was calming my nerves as well.
TV Guide Magazine: Your personality came under a lot of scrutiny during the season. What did you take away from all that criticism?
Clarke: I've always considered my confidence to be an attribute, and I've always kind of been proud of how blunt I was. I just felt like it was me. I haven't changed that but I'm just more aware of how it comes off to people initially. I'm more aware of my first impressions. I'm trying to be a little more like Dawn [Meehan], a little sunnier.
TV Guide Magazine: There seemed to be no love lost between you and some of the other contestants on the show, but now you all seem chummy again.
Clarke: It is a game, and part of my game was just to be a hard-ass and observing people and staying the course and being serious and calm. I didn't want to align with the Savaii [tribe]. I didn't want to be friends with them. I wanted them out. So it's very different in the game and out of the game. Also, I really felt like I, more than anyone, had my personality stripped of me because of the [lack of] food. I didn't feel like myself out there. I'm usually a very funny, joyful person, and I felt the whole time like I was Mrs. Potato Head — expressionless. It was really awful.
TV Guide Magazine: What happened?
Clarke: We were starving. Physically I looked different, I lost so much weight. But emotionally, it's overwhelming.
TV Guide Magazine: I've been told you feel emotions like you've never felt before?
Clarke: Oh, exactly! I was saying to Dawn, I'm terrified that I'm never going to feel such extreme emotions again in my life. I participated in this charity event, fasting for a day for health clinic, and I was so excited by it because I thought, maybe by the end of the day I'll feel the same kind of joy about eating a banana that I felt on the island. And of course, I didn't. You can never recapture it. I think that's why all these Survivors keep going back. When we were out there we thought they were crazy. This is sadistic! Why would you ever want to do this to your body again? And now I understand. It's really the emotions. I can't describe them and they can't come across on TV. Watching the show and being on the show are two different experiences. It's life-changing.
TV Guide Magazine: You mentioned that on TV. What is the greatest change?
Clarke: I think you're at your weakest, you're at your most vulnerable. You learn so much about what you can do physically and emotionally — what you can handle. It gives you so much confidence in your everyday life. It's hard to say anything else is a challenge.
TV Guide Magazine: Would you do Survivor again?
Clarke: I would do it again in a heartbeat. It sounds so ridiculous to say. I have nothing to prove, it's more about recapturing the emotions and meeting a whole group of new people.
TV Guide Magazine: What are you going to do with $1 million?
Clarke: I'm in medical school right now, so I have a lot of loans. Well, I'm not going to have a lot of loans. It eases my mind a lot.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56715 | 3 definitions by DAGITT
Top Definition
A person who keeps closing their eye's when talking to you, not blinking, but actually shutting their eyes and continuing to talk. Often they feel so superior to the rest of the world they do not even want to see it.
There is this kid in my class that is a total closed eye talker, one day we got fed up and when he answered a question everyone silently moved over one seat so when he opened his eyes 30 seconds later he got very confused.
by Dagitt October 19, 2009
by Dagitt October 19, 2009
An invitation out or to your home intended to induce someone else to bring you, or buy you food.
we were hungry and broke so we called mike and gave him a foodvite to come over watch a movie
by DAGITT July 29, 2009
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56717 | 14 definitions by Shrimphead
Top Definition
1. (n) a vagina in Colombia and some other Spanish-speaking countries; probably a short form of cucaracha
2. (n) genitalia; supposed to refer to a vagina but in English you can say it for a penis too because we own the universe and can do as we like
My cuca hurts.
Damn, bitch! I got scabs on my cuca now cuz you don't wash that stank-ass bush!
by Shrimphead May 09, 2008
1 - (n) a dirty whore
by shrimphead May 08, 2008
A really HUGE douchebag. A douche so big that he spreads his douchiosity all around the room.
Dude, I gotta get out here. That douchebomb, Greg just walked in. I can almost feel the douchiosity crawling up my leg.
by shrimphead May 07, 2008
(v) to covertly put a wad of jizz (semen) into someone's drink
Check it out: Kyle just jizzbombed Brett's Dr. Pepper! That kid sure likes to jizzbomb. Be careful when you drink around him.
by Shrimphead May 09, 2008
1. (n) a person with a small head and a large body
2. (n) in certain parts of Asia it refers to a man with a small penis
3. (n) a film/comedy about a monster named Shrimphead
1. Derek's brother is football player and a total shrimphead
2. Dat shrimphead can no get into my pant, ok? OK!? So just fo-get it. I eat some chop-suey instead. It more fun.
3. I saw Shrimphead last night and it was the bomb.
by Shrimphead May 09, 2008
(n) the quality or state of being a douchebag
I must say, Jeeves, that Henry's douchiosity surpasses even that of Napoleon's. I dare say he might be the biggest douche ever!
by shrimphead May 07, 2008
(n) the sticky white crap that forms at the corner of your lips when you get drymouth
Yo, dude, Lana's coming. Clean that lipjizz off your mouth. It looks nasty.
by Shrimphead May 09, 2008
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56722 | Top Definition
When you go to type "add her" (like as a friend on facebook, myspace, etc) and accidently say "ass her" making things awkward.
Friend 1: "Hey you know that Michaela girl?
Friend 2: "Yeah, she's kinda hott."
Friend 1: "You should ass her."
Friend 2: "..."
Friend 1: "I mean add her. My bad."
by N. Is Awesome. March 01, 2011
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56727 | Top Definition
smart...but in sex
intellectual = book smart
intellsexual = fuck smart
by Bluerose January 06, 2009
1 more definition
A hot nerdy girl/guy. This usually refers to closet-nerds and/or overly proud of their nerdiness nerds.
Intell-Sexuals are generally more popular and good looking then regular nerds, or they have an amazing history in bed.
Pearl: Oh my god, Texas is such an Intell-Sexual!
Iris: I know, I heard Taffy and him broke up... I'm gonna get a piece of that!
Taffy: Oh no you didn't!
Iris {enters from out of nowhere}: Oh yes I did!
Texas {from the corner}: Ladies, ladies, quiet down. Everyone can have a little piece of Tex, plus, I'm studying.
by CassieHasABananaPhone August 20, 2012
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56728 | Top Definition
(MĀN'ə-rĭz'əm) -noun.
A characteristic and often unconscious mode or peculiarity of action, bearing, or treatment which belies or exposes the male-ness of the apparent female one is observing.
"I was talking to a hot chick. When I noticed the MAN-erisms, I realized she wouldn't need a strap-on to ass-fuck me. We got some lube and went home!"
by Smart as Shat June 15, 2009
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56729 | Top Definition
time for me to leave; see ya later; I'll catch ya on the rebound!
Well, it's already 2 a.m. I think I'm gonna make like a fetus and head out! See you later.
by weave March 24, 2003
8 Words related to Make Like A Fetus And Head Out
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56732 | Top Definition
The act of buying pants/shorts three sizes smaller than your waist to make your Penis and or testicals appear larger than they actually are.
Hey jannet, I think andrew finally grew a package either that or hes Super-Sizing
by Ruger187 January 04, 2011
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56734 | Top Definition
On a stormy day, a heap of at least 5 broken and mangled umbrellas tossed on the side of a city street/sidewalk.
Coworker 1: Wow, it's like a hurricane outside.
Coworker 2: I know, I must have passed 6 umbrella graveyards this morning!
by Peter Patrelli April 12, 2007
5 Words related to Umbrella Graveyard
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56738 | Top Definition
A female, or lover, who instead of snow-balling or swallowing (see appropriate definitions) prefers "gurgling", swishing, and throughly enjoying whatever cum load they receive or request, produce or provoke.
"That girl is such a slop-sink, she gurgles cum like its listerine."
by dirtypiratehoe'12 September 03, 2008
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56752 | Street: Happy Hour
Coronado Brewing Co., 170 ORANGE AVE., CORONADO; (619) 437-4452
Rundown: Look at it this way: Coronado is Arabia, Coronado Brewing Co. is a magic lamp and the ginger-haired mermaid mascot is the magic genie who brings you not three wishes but three beers. That's right, CBC pulls the plug after your third drink (whatever it may be) because, let's face it, the Coronado Bay Bridge is no place for swerving flying carpets. And unless you have two IDs and an overabundance of cojones there's no point in trying the fake mustache routine, especially when the Little Club sits a few doors down.
The deal: Happy hour at CBC is a late lunch in disguise. Pints drop from $5 to $3.50 from 2 to 6 p.m. weekdays, and small bites like spicy shrimp tacos, carne asada quesadillas and calamari strips slip into red tags, too ($3-$8).
Not to be missed: Of CBC's nine microbrews, the stars include the Islander IPA (a copper malt that took the silver at the 2007 L.A. County Fair), the Islandweizen (the Crown City's answer to unfiltered wheat beer) and Neptune's Nectar (a pale ale that maxes out at 8.5 percent ABV). And Mondays, when happy hour stretches from 2 p.m. till close.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56759 | Parkinson's Patients Hear From The Scientists
Application of human stem cell technology to Parkinson's disease
Human pluriptotent stem cells have literally created a revolution in medical research. Most people think of these cells as being useful for cell therapy. Cell therapy applications all have the same basic plan: the pluripotent stem cells in a culture dish are turned into a specific cell type that has died because of a disease, and then they are transplanted to the location of the degeneration, in the hope that they can replace the function of the missing cells.
Cell therapies are still in the early stages, because scientists need to be absolutely certain that every aspect of the procedures, from the choice of pluripotent stem cell line to the method of delivery of specific cell types, must be shown to be safe before the therapy can be tested on people. There is currently only one clinical trial with human pluripotent stem cell transplants, for spinal cord injury.
There is another valuable use for pluripotent stem cells, which is commonly called "disease in a dish". That means that scientists are turning pluripotent stem cells into cell types that are susceptible in a disease, and using these cultures to understand what causes the disease, and to test new drugs or other therapeutic interventions, without involving patients at all.
Parkinson's disease therapies can benefit from both ways in which pluripotent stem cells can be used. For cell therapy, induced pluripotent stem cells can be made from a patient's skin, then developed in culture into dopamine neurons, the nerve cells that degenerate in Parkinson's disease. These neurons could, with approval from the FDA, be used as transplants in a therapy designed to restore function. Dopamine neurons made from pluripotent stem cells can be studied in culture to determine what causes their degeneration, and used in high throughput assays to identify potential drugs that could rescue them.
Research projects in the Loring laboratory
Researchers are working on a range of projects that are all concerned with understanding and using human pluripotent stem cells:
· Developing methods for assuring the safety of cell therapy
· Improving better methods of making induced pluripotent stem cells
· Creating ethnically diverse collections of induced pluripotent for drug testing
· Generating disease-specific induced pluripotent stem cells
· Studying neuronal development and function in culture
· Studying developmental neural disorders, Fragile X syndrome, autism, and schizophrenia, in disease in a dish models
· Developing methods to correct genetic defects
· Developing cell therapy approaches to Alzheimer disease
· Developing cell therapy approaches to arthritis
· Improving the survival of transplanted cells
· Mapping the genetics and epigenetics of pluripotent and differentiated cells
· Using pluripotent stem cell technology to improve the survival of endangered species (with the San Diego Zoo)
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56818 | The Origins of Snark: Finally Revealed!
Don't get enough snark on the Internet? Then try it in handy book form at approximately infinity times the cost! In his new book, Snark, David Denby has fun snarking on the snarkers. From what we've read by Denby in the past, we just don't see this turning out well for anyone. [] |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56850 | I am thinking of creating a web page wich, when opened on a computer which has a fully running and installed webcam connected, grabs images from the cam to load it into the web page.
I don't want to have to install an extra application on the PC to get the cam-images into the web page, or perform configuration; the web page itself needs to take care of getting the images, using scripts and/or plugins.
This way any PC-with-working-cam on it will be able to see the images of their cam, just by loading the web page.
What technology should I use to make this work? I don't think Javascript would work for this.
Maybe Flash does, or maybe ActiveX? Other idea's? XAML?
Has anyone come across example code which I can use? |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56852 | Skip to content
Cancer Health Center
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Table 2. Comparison of Aprepitant and Standard Regimens continued...
Dexamethasone is also used orally for delayed N&V. Long-term corticosteroid use, however, is inappropriate and may cause substantial morbidity, including the following:
• Immunosuppression.
• Proximal muscle weakness (especially involving the thighs and upper arms).
• Aseptic necrosis of the long bones.
• Cataract formation.
• Hyperglycemia and exacerbation of preexisting diabetes or escalation of subclinical diabetes to clinical pathology.
• Adrenal suppression with hypocortisolism.
• Lethargy.
• Weight gain.
• GI irritation.
• Insomnia.
• Anxiety.
• Mood changes.
• Psychosis.
A study that examined chemotherapy in a group of patients with ovarian cancer found that short-term use of glucocorticoids as antiemetics had no negative effects on outcomes (e.g., overall survival or efficacy of chemotherapy).[77] As previously shown with metoclopramide, numerous studies have demonstrated that dexamethasone potentiates the antiemetic properties of 5-HT3 -blocking agents.[78,79,80,81,82] If given IV, dexamethasone should be given over 10 to 15 minutes, since rapid administration may cause sensations of generalized warmth, pharyngeal tingling or burning, or acute transient perineal and/or rectal pain.[74,83,84,85]
Prednisone and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) given concomitantly with other active antiemetic agents have also demonstrated efficacy against N&V caused by cisplatin-containing chemotherapy during the acute phase (within 24 hours after receiving chemotherapy).[86,87,88] In a double-blind, randomized study of metoclopramide and dexamethasone with or without 1 mg of ACTH, patients receiving ACTH prophylaxis for cisplatin-containing chemotherapy experienced a significantly decreased incidence and severity of delayed emesis for up to 72 hours after treatment.[88]
The plant Cannabis contains more than 60 different types of cannabinoids, or components that have physiologic activity. The most popular, and perhaps the most psychoactive, is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-9-THC).[89] There are two FDA-approved products for CINV:
• Dronabinol (a synthetic delta-9-THC), as prophylaxis for CINV, 5 mg/m2 orally 1 to 3 hours before chemotherapy and every 2 to 4 hours after chemotherapy, for a total of no more than 6 doses per day.
• Nabilone, 1 to 2 mg orally twice a day, for CINV that has failed to respond to other antiemetics.
With respect to CINV, Cannabis products probably target cannabinoid-1 (CB-1) and CB-2 receptors, which are in the central nervous system.[90] Another product, Sativex, a cannabidiol that is a buccal spray, is under investigation.[91,92]
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56893 | This array of moss collects enough solar energy to power an FM radio
Designer Fabienne Felder wants to reupholster jumbo jets with moss. In her vision, passengers will sit on verdant tufts while the bryophytes purify the air and use electrons captured during photosynthesis to power the Direct TV panels on the seat backs. Many would think Felder was crazy, but biochemist Dr. Paolo Bombelli and plant scientist Ross Dennis from the University of Cambridge were impressed with her bio and offered her the opportunity to collaborate with their lab.
The scientists are researching the potential of photo microbial fuel cells, or photo-MFCs, which are essentially potted plants that act like miniature power plants and transform sunlight into electricity that can power iPads. They aren't as efficient as traditional photovoltaic solar cells, but are more eco-friendly to manufacture.
Bombelli and Dennis have worked with designers previously and created a concept design called the Moss Table -- a surface covered in photo-MFCs that could supposedly power a lamp. In reality, all the prototype cells could power was a small LCD display, but it illustrated the potential. While they appreciated Felder's gonzo vision, the scientists proposed a project that would be possible this year instead of a decade in the future and decided to build a humble FM radio.
The result is a sound system comprised of ten photo-MFCs housed in a frame meant to evoke the feel of a biochemistry lab. It looks like a science experiment, but Felder's biophilic boombox can generate enough power to play a short song. The array and a hidden capacitor can only power the radio for a few minutes at a time, and listening to an entire baseball game would require hundreds of plants, but she's still bullish on the potential of truly green energy. "Give the researchers a few more years and it will all change," says Felder. "But despite these little steps forward, the breakthrough we've had with the radio is not to be underestimated."
Moss FMFabienne Felder
The University of Cambridge holds a patent on this technology and they're finalising an educational kit that will surely replace potato clocks in 3rd grade classrooms around the country. Beyond that, stabilising the technology and expanding its efficiency is the next order of business. Finding the perfect moss and growing them directly onto conductive surfaces could lead to efficiency gains, but more experiments are required. There are over 20,000 species of moss growing in Britain alone and aside from their ability to produce electricity they also insulate, muffle noises, filter the air, and have anti-fungal/bacterial properties.
"On a small scale I think we could soon-ish convert people's normal houseplants into little power-generators for charging phones," says Felder. "On a large scale, especially outdoors, the right mix of plants will be crucial and that will need more research, both in terms of plants and irrigation systems, maintenance, etc."
The team's well aware that it may take years before the technology is viable in the market. Even at maturity it might only make sense in developing countries. Despite the challenges, Felder is excited by the fact that current setups only convert approximately 0.1% of the electrons the mosses are exposed to. Even with that meager efficiency, if a quarter of London's residents used moss to charge their mobile phones for 2 hours every other day, it would save 42.5 million kilowatt hours, nearly $12 million (£7.1 million) per year, and keep approximately 40 tons of carbon dioxide from the environment.
"I like the idea of getting closer to nature again and to use it in ingenious ways, without exploiting it," says Felder. "I am a designer by trade, but a scientist at heart."
This article originally appeared on
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56900 | Aim higher, reach further.
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A Head-Scratching Issue pediculosis
Head lice, also called pediculosis, has been around since the dawn of man. The old joke goes that "Adam had 'em."
Pediculosis is related to the old word "pedicle" (a louse) which may be linked to an Indo-European root meaning "to break wind." At one...
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56903 | Aim higher, reach further.
'Lawrence of Arabia' (1962) by David Lean
Desert Spoils
Despite the near-universal recognition of David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia" as a film classic—it received seven Academy Awards—there are certain critical observers who seem to wish that its director had never left the home counties of England. The view that Mr. Lean did his finest work on such small-scale British dramas as "Brief Encounter" is best expressed by David Thomson, who wrote in the New Biographical Dictionary of Film that in the epic-size films (including "Lawrence") that characterized his mature career, "Lean became lost in the sense of his own pictorial grandeur."
Jean-Paul Sartre reportedly considered the real-life Lawrence to be a model existentialist. ENLARGE
Jean-Paul Sartre reportedly considered the real-life Lawrence to be a model existentialist. Columbia / The Kobal Collection
There is no denying that "Lawrence of Arabia" (celebrating its 50th anniversary this year) is Mr. Lean writ large. But few other approaches suggest themselves in telling the story of T. E. Lawrence (played by Peter O'Toole), the British army officer who was improbably plucked from making maps in Cairo to lead the Arab uprising in World War I. "Lawrence was bitten by the desert and by the people of the desert," Mr. Lean said in a 1963 interview, "and if you are going to show that, it must be in the best possible way, and there is nothing like this big screen process for showing it."
Yet for all its girth, "Lawrence" is as nimble as Mr. Lean's early, more modest films. He was an editor by training, and his direction is sinewy and economical; along with editor Anne V. Coates, he achieves many of his wittiest effects with sudden edits. (The most famous is the transition from a flickering match to a desert sunrise.) So, at Lawrence's funeral, after a priest asks doubtfully, "Well, nihil nisi bonum, but did he really deserve a place in here?," Mr. Lean cuts with haste to an exterior shot of St. Paul's Cathedral (though Lawrence was actually buried in a Dorset County village). A contemporary audience unfamiliar with Lawrence might share the clergyman's skepticism, since the film opens with Lawrence's death, presenting his exploits in flashback, and it will be several hours until the magnitude of his life will seem equal to the majesty of that place.
Ms. Coates told interviewer Vincent LoBrutto in his 1991 book, "Selected Takes," that Mr. Lean taught her to be "ruthless" in her editing: "He threw a whole heap of stuff out that broke my heart and he was right." While Mr. Lean often dwells on cinematographer F.A. Young's shots (knowing that it takes time to register that those are camels, not ants, marching across the desert in an extreme wide shot), he also teases us with them. For example, in the moment before Lawrence realizes that he has reached the Suez Canal, he sees the uppermost part of a ship on the horizon, the rest of it concealed by a giant dune. The vessel appears as though it is lodged in the sand. The image is startling, but Mr. Lean cuts from it quickly, just as soon as Lawrence realizes that it is not a mirage. Even in the film's conception, Mr. Lean said, the goal was for "dramatic economy." He added, "Consequently we have short-circuited certain incidents, and run six characters into one." The result is a surprisingly spry epic.
Mr. Lean's star-studded cast communicates with efficiency, too. As the diplomat Dryden, Claude Rains has one of the film's most tender moments when he calls Lawrence's name so that he will turn to him and thereby reveal to a general that there is blood soaking through the back of his jacket, the result of torture ordered by a Turkish Bey (José Ferrer)—a discreet way of explaining Lawrence's reluctance to rejoin the campaign. In his one scene, Mr. Ferrer manages to be terribly menacing simply by affecting a faint cough, refraining from over-the-top histrionics. As Pauline Kael wrote in her review of Mr. Lean's film "A Passage to India," the director "knows how to give the smallest inflections an overpowering psychological weight."
Jean-Paul Sartre reportedly considered the real-life Lawrence to be a model existentialist, a view reflected at times in the superb screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson. "How much of that is there?" Lawrence asks, sounding like a character in "Waiting for Godot" as he contemplates crossing a vast desert. Mr. O'Toole delivers such lines with pluck, while making plain Lawrence's transformation from an insouciant junior officer (who says, upon being given his initial assignment, "It's going to be fun") to a genuine leader. He also gives a concrete quality to a character too often described as enigmatic. When Lawrence single-handedly retrieves a tribesman who has strayed in the long journey to Aqaba, Mr. O'Toole believably does the unbelievable.
In its soaring battle scenes, "Lawrence" clearly enunciates what Alec Guinness's Prince Feisal calls "the virtues of war"—"courage and hope for the future." When Lawrence is sent back home, he does not want to go, and the film stresses the irony of his death: occurring not in war, but in a motorcycle accident on a tree-lined road in the English countryside. The trajectory of Mr. Lean's career indicates he took this as a lesson: You can't go home again. Following "Lawrence," Mr. Lean never returned to the small potatoes of "Brief Encounter." Instead, he made more films in the "Lawrence" mode, such as "Doctor Zhivago," though they suffer from diminishing returns—none were as agile as "Lawrence." Still, it is hard to fault Mr. Lean for again taking a page from his hero, who counselled that "nothing is written." If an unimportant cartographer in Cairo can rise to liberate Damascus, why can't a director expand his cinematic canvas?
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56912 | Aim higher, reach further.
A Lamborghini for the Tall Driver in a Huge Hurry
2013 Lamborghini Aventador Roadster ENLARGE
2013 Lamborghini Aventador Roadster Dan Neil/The Wall Street Journal
What's Sanskrit for "free tires"?
Photos: 2013 Lamborghini Aventador Roadster
WSJ's Rumble Seat columnist Dan Neil reviews the Lamborghini Aventador Roadster, saying "headroom" and "an awful lot of fun" make up this Italian exotic. (Photo: Automobili Lamborghini)
The big girl you see here is the Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster, a designation that will itself bring connoisseurs up short. "Roadster" is supposed to connote a pared-down, essential open-top car (strictly, not even fixed windows). The Aventador Roadster is, of course, a spaceship with a removable top: two seats, carbon-composite construction, scissor doors; midengine, 691-horsepower V12 layout; seven-speed single-clutch transmission; Haldex center-diff all-wheel drive with rear-axle torque vectoring; and, twirling gaily in the wheel wells, dumbfounding foot-wides, the finest custom tires God and Pirelli know how to make.
The front third of the Roadster is identical to the coupe's, which is to say, chiseled like a Klingon's forehead. With the roof panels in place, the roofline is also identical; however, because of shallow interior recesses in these panels (the first application of Lambo's forged-composite technology), headroom is increased about an inch over the coupe. Johnny Longtorsos may want to pony up the extra $44,100.
Flip the switch to 'race' and you've got hold of a fully ornery car.
The back third is where the drama is: The roof buttresses surge rearward in sprays of geometric tension. Between the buttresses, the engine cover comprises two long hexagonal openings filled with overlapping glass polygons, like transparent dragon scales. Visible underneath is the ligature of the car's pushrod rear suspension, the carbon monocoque's X-bracing and, of course, the induction plumbing and cam covers of the naturally aspirated, 6.5-liter, port-injected, 48-valve mega motor. That's it. I'm quitting the papacy to spend more time with my car.
2013 Lamborghini Aventador Roadster
Dan Neil/The Wall Street Journal
Price as tested: $450,000 (est.)
Powertrain: Naturally aspirated, midmounted, port-injected 6.5-liter DOHC, 48-valve, 60-degree V12 with variable valve timing, induction and exhaust; seven-speed single-clutch automated manual; full-time all-wheel drive with Haldex center differential, open front differential, and limited-slip rear differential with torque vectoring
Horsepower/torque: 691 hp at 8,250 rpm/509 pound-feet at 5,500 rpm
Length/weight: 188.2 inches/3,900 pounds (est.)
Wheelbase: 106.3 inches
0-60 mph: <3 seconds
Top speed: 217 mph
EPA fuel economy: 10/16, city/highway
Cargo capacity: 5 cubic feet (est.)
An open-top Aventador was always in the product plan, which means the company's engineers—led by the ultimate Italian car guy, technical director Maurizio Reggiani—had plenty of time to perfect the top mechanism. Which they didn't. Actually, it's a fairly clumsy system requiring you to fiddle the panels into place and latch them blindly while standing outside the car. To store the top, you simply snug the two panels into rubberized sockets in the boot in the front of the car, abandoning whatever luggage you have on the side of the road.
The Aventador's targa top at least has the virtue of continuing Lambo's line of fumbling, maddening tops on its big mid-12s (Diablo, Murcielago). It's tradizione. Que sera.
Like the coupe, the Aventador Roadster posts some respectable hypercar numbers: 0-60 miles per hour under 3 seconds; 186 mph in 24 seconds; a 217-mph top speed. Those towering numbers don't really do justice to the overall balance, the bandwidth of this car: With the dynamics switch set to "Strada," or "street," the Aventador Roadster is distinctly calm, even seemingly sedated, with lax throttle, transmission, suspension and steering responses. The Aventador Roadster has a fuel-saving stop-start system, as well as cylinder deactivation for periods of light load, which gains the car a full 1 mph better highway fuel economy (city mileage is status quo). As weird as it may sound—and setting aside the fact that the Aventador will grind its luxuriant nose across just about any curb cut or speed bump—this car could be comfortably driven every day.
Put the big switch to "Corsa," or "race," and whatever flex and elasticity was built into car evaporates. Now you've got hold of a fully ornery car, with 509 pound-feet or torque at 5,500 rpm and peak horsepower arriving at 8,250 rpm. A clamor onstage. Alarums. Between the stability programming and the adroit all-wheel-drive system, the car is nearly impossible to get wrong. Forget about accelerating at the apex of a corner. In this car you go back to the throttle as soon as you see the apex. The computers cipher the maximum torque allowable at each wheel, given steering angle, grip and other variables, and put it the hell down. Ker-pow.
The Aventador needed more excitement like John Brown needed more beard. Still, now that it's here, I can hardly go back to the coupe. I mean, look at all the headroom.
Email Dan at
Spyker's Back in the Hunt
The Dutch car maker rebounds from Saab with a new sports car
Spyker Spyker
EXOTIC-SPORTS-CAR entrepreneurs are the world's most optimistic accountants: Enzo Ferrari, Carroll Shelby, Aston Martin's David Brown. Spyker Cars Chief Executive Victor Muller attempted to swoop in and keep Saab going, eventually with Chinese help, after General Motors GM 0.11 % dumped it, but the effort ended in 2011 with the Dutch company about €160 million ($210 million) in the red.
In 2012, Mr. Muller said in a recent interview, the company restructured its debt and cut deals with suppliers, bringing the company a €125 million net profit that moved it slightly into "positive equity territory," even though production of the company's singular C8 Aileron sports car almost ground to a halt. These are rather magic beans. Nonetheless, armed with a €10 million stake from Chinese heavy-vehicle maker Youngman—which was also party to the Saab deal—Spyker Cars is staged for its "resurgence": the world premiere of the B6 Venator Concept at the Geneva Motor Show, Tuesday.
Venator is Latin for "hunter." Mr. Muller explained that in World War I, the Dutch called fighter planes "hunters" (the historic Spyker company built strut-and-canvas warplanes and grand touring cars). The B6 Venator, in brief: midengine, 375-horsepower V6; six-speed automatic transmission; aluminum chassis, carbon-fiber body; under 3,080 pounds. That's a weight-to-power ratio of 8.21 pounds per horsepower (a little better than the Porsche 911 Carrera's) in a footprint the size of a Porsche Boxster. But "anybody who says they're going to build a Porsche killer is crazy," Mr. Muller emphasized.
The Venator also bears a striking resemblance, in profile and in specification, to the Toyota-powered Lotus Evora S, though Mr. Muller declined to specify his powertrain supplier. Mr. Muller says he played the role of designer, and the Venator, he promises, will have all the piquant details of Spyker's previous cars, an aesthetic evoking an era of silk scarves and aerial chivalry: the machine-turned aluminum dash; the exposed gearshift mechanism; the rich, quilted leather. The italicized script logo on the Venator's grille is a reproduction of the company's 1903 logo.
The B6 Venator will be priced at €125,000 in Europe and $150,000 in the U.S., said Mr. Muller. He anticipates production numbers "in the hundreds."
Meanwhile, Spyker and Youngman have signed a joint-venture agreement to develop Spyker's P2P, the Peking-to-Paris super-sport-utility vehicle first seen at the 2006 Geneva show. And Spyker and Youngman will form a new company called Spyker Phoenix to build a premium vehicle based on Saab's Phoenix platform.
Corrections & Amplifications
The Spyker B6 Venator will be priced at €125,000 in Europe and $150,000 in the U.S. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said it would be priced between €125,000 and €150,000.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56914 | Britain's Royal Baby: Bookies Bet on Ginger Girl
6/28/2013 3:02AM
If the U.K.’s gambling public are on the money, then the Duchess of Cambridge will give birth to a baby girl with ginger hair. WSJ’s Dipti Kapadia reports.
I ... all eyes are on ... the new piece I just write what can we expect from the Duchess of Cambridge ... well in theory that they knew we board ... in the alternate on the seventeenth of July typical values on them ... to do a bit to seven am eight pounds ... to get out The Elias ... and she's going to have ginger to ... say that this Carney will affect the suggests gonna happen ... the most anticipated GT around the globe has turned into quite the sport in the UK swelled to about eight or gambling on the Royal family is a popular pastime ... as a collective wits of the of this magnitude in the UK we go about fifteen different than ... that the law kicks of a new book ... The without doubt the busiest in the one that we think will be to get even busier is that on God's grace it ... is all about the name ... you name it there so we'll be back on for ... for all the ATS the merchant the hospital ... is too posh to push for an actual for her will she have Asus Ariane ... which magazine look at the exclusive first picture the oil and ... those that won a longer time and ... where will the new oil Corty University ... Oval will be the name of the first call for the boys ... but don't expect these acts to break the bank for bookies ... in almost a must for something fun still cited in the intake to live with Aki we should take around a hundred and fifty thousand across all the different lawyer at ... all it's ... once the babies pulled ... back home compact and the house me for leaving the Superbowl it was taken to stay in town ... if we break even ... across the market will be pretty happy ... until then we'll have cake expectations ... for the Wall Street |
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56990 | This is Snowflake, a highly experimental Linux distribution based on the musl C
library, with a per-process view of the /usr filesystem, such that users may
choose to have different perceptions of which packages are available on the
system. Snowflake runs on i[3456]86, x86_64 and ARM.
Within Snowflake, users may choose to change their view of which packages and
versions are installed. For instance, if you do not expose gcc in the default
set of packages, a user may compile packages like so:
$ gcc
sh: gcc: not found
$ with gcc
$ which gcc
$ gcc test.c
$ ./a.out
Hello, world!
To build snowflake, make a config.sh (or use the existing one), and run
build.sh (in core/). Building a Snowflake root filesystem does not require
root. It runs the following sub-scripts, in this order:
* ./buildcc.sh: Builds a cross-compiler targeting linux-musl. Due to a
confluence of bugs, including possibly a bug in my GCC patch (which I'm
investigating) as well as a pseudo-bug in GCC (GCC 4.7.0 can only be
cross-built with GCC >=4.7.0), you currently need a cross-compiler for
linux-musl. It's generally a good idea since it avoids pollution anyway. If
at some point I figure out how to get GCC 4.7.0 to reliably compile with the
musl-gcc wrapper instead of a cross-compiler, this step will not be strictly
necessary, but will still be recommended. As a point of comparison, note that
most other musl distributions require that you compile GCC 3.6 for musl
before compiling GCC 4, so the number of GCC compiles is the same.
* ./build-gcc-deps.sh: Builds prerequisites to build GCC for the guest. This
needs to be done after buildcc and before buildroot.
* ./buildroot.sh: Builds a Snowflake root filesystem. This is the only
necessary step if building Snowflake on a native musl system.
It is mandatory to build out-of-source. To do so, put config.sh in a directory
of your choosing, then simply run the scripts out of the core/ directory.
Once you have the root filesystem set up, write it to an HD image:
* ./mk-hd-image.sh: Builds a Snowflake HD image from a root filesystem. This
requires root, but for very silly reasons (it needs fdisk and loop mounting).
If you don't have root, you can work around that requirement with, e.g.,
https://bitbucket.org/GregorR/umlbox . In that case, run it as `umlbox -fw /
-s ./mk-hd-image.sh`.
You may also chroot directly into the root filesystem, if your host kernel has
aufs. The first time you do so, you will have to run the init script, which
does in-tree configuration:
$ chroot root /usr/bin/init
That step is done automatically if you run Snowflake in a VM or a real machine,
it is only necessary if you use chroot.
Once you're in the Snowflake filesystem, the final step is to bootstrap the
last few packages.
$ /src/bootstrap.sh
Snowflake supports the NetBSD pkgsrc as a source of packages. The integration
is imperfect but working. To include pkgsrc, set WITH_PKGSRC=yes in your
config.sh. To use it, just `with pkgsrc` then build in /var/pkgsrc.
Installation will automatically go into separated packages in /pkg.
The default root password is "snowflake".
Snowflake can run on ARM, MIPS and PowerPC, though these ports are considerably
less tested. Currently pkgsrc does not work on musl+MIPS, but other
combinations seems to work. A native compile on one of these systems should
work just like a native compile on any other system. To cross-compile Snowflake
for them:
* Your config.sh must specify one of
* On MIPS, config.sh must additionally specify
* On PowerPC, config.sh must additionally specify
GCC_BOOTSTRAP_CONFFLAGS="--with-long-double-64 --enable-secureplt"
* Up to buildroot is as normal. After buildroot asks you to sudo, it will have
some errors. These are normal.
* Use mk-hd-image.sh to create an image, even though it hasn't been finalized
or bootstrapped.
* The image should be usable in qemu. Example commands are provided in
* Run /src/bootstrap.sh to finish bootstrapping. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56996 | Medicating Children: ADHD and Pediatric Mental Health
Front Cover
Harvard University Press, Jan 1, 2009 - Medical - 352 pages
1 Review
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I have lived and dominated the negative effects of ADHD without meds! My younger brother and an two adult buddies of mine were perscribed ritaline. In all three cases I watched my family and friends become addicted and majorly effected negatively by taking these pills in dramatic ways! My friend Chad was given methylin for his narcolepsy. Chad was an electrician after completing college for this field of work. As Chad drove home he became at risk of falling asleep since he had sleep problems. After confirming this was because he had narcolepsy, his doctor perscribed methylin for his narcolepsy!? A drug given to ADHD victoms. I can't understand why a doctor would attempt to fix a sleep problem with an ADHD stimulant! Since Chad took the drug, his life was increasingly on a downward spiral! He slept much less and became weird! He WAS my best best friend before Methylin. I saw the effects of this drug as it wrecked Chad's mind. He became addicted. His doctor continued to increase his dosage until he was obsessed with the drug! Chad lost his job, lost all his friends and made Methylin his only passion. He now is a compulsive Methylin head who abuses his perscribed pills as most people do. He became depressed and now abuses the pills while he sits in his parents basement while he snorts his "solution" even though he has no need to stay awake since he's been jobless for six years and hardley drives anywhere these days. Many old friends called him out, saying he changed and needs to stop taking these life wrecking pills. He admitts he is addicted and eventually going to die from an overdose. A successful man with slepping issues lost his life because of these ADHD/sleeping problem pills (in one) given to help his tired eyes while driving. Four seasures later, his doctor admitts these pills are causing his seassures. Still his perscriptions come at top legal limit persentage while his phamacy continues to question his doctors decision as all his friends and family do the same. It doesn't make sence! Chad will admitt he lost his house, friends, job, confidence, and will to live because of methylin! His doctor was contacted by authorities but he still snorts up these white pills while watching movies in his parents basement at age 32. Thanks for all you did for him! Rob Cone was administered ADHD meds his whole childhood. He is now an adult who swears the pills made him depressed and uncomfortable throughout his childhood. Rob now speaks out against parents controling their kids behavior with ritaline! Rob says the fact he took Ritaline as a child is still his biggest life regret he wishes he could take back! My little brother was an over active kid as I was. He got bored with school and couldn't sit through long classes all day. By the age of 11 his school councelor requested he got evaluated for ADHD. He was diagnosed and spent 6yrs on concerta. He has obvious growth and attention issues since taking the pills. He claims the pills make him uncomfortable, stop his ability to be happy and his energy levels are depleted if he goes without the pills for two days or more. He thinks the pills make him depressed and block his ability to interact socially when the pills are in his system. He wants to stop the pills but his mom watches him swallow his pill eachmorning in fear he will sell the pills on the black market as his school warned. What's wrong with people? I've seen cases of people buying pills everyday and becoming addicted to pills they don't like! These are legal meth pills that are replacing parenting and dicipline! I tried the pills myself and became addicted immediately! ADHD, Narcolepsy and eating disorders are all receiving the same treatment! It's the biggest crime I've heard of and experianced! Doctors are constantly increasing their victoms for blood money! The effect on any person is the same ADHD or not! Someone will sooner or later put the drug dealing doctors in jail for this I promise you! I know first hand what behavioral control these pills cause. My son's
An Introduction to ADHD
A Survey of the Evolution of ADHD and Pediatric
ADHD and the Politics of Childrens Disability Policy
The Backlash against ADHD and Stimulants
Current Questions about Stimulant Treatment
Selected Bibliography
Common terms and phrases
About the author (2009)
Jennifer Erkulwater is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Richmond.
Bibliographic information |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/56999 | Main Page
In The Year of Our Lord 2208...
...the world burns. Two decades ago, the once mighty dominion of the Corporate Empire was shattered by a massive civil war, a war created from blind greed and unchecked ambition. A war that will be forever remembered in history as The Sundering. While the torch of that war has cooled, a new threat rises from the depths. It is awake.
The major powers of this world are currently as follows:
• The Commonwealth of Human Nations
• The Corporations
• The Guilds
• The Underground
• Asgaurd Mercenary Company
The Commonwealth is an extremely tense allaince of most of the Earth's nations. Racism and hatred still abide but they realize that only by standing together can the Nations of the world exert any control over the now extremely powerful Corporations and Guilds. For all intents and purposes, any nation you can think of (except a small few Third World Nations) is represented in the COHN. They will do nearly anything to dismantle the iron grip the corporations and guilds have on the planet, and some might think they go a tad too far. Asgaurd is frequently employed to engage in military action for the Commonwealth, as both gaurds and as assailants.
The Corporations are effectively monopolies now. Most of the biggest ones are actually offshoots of what was once the biggest corporation of all time, The Corporate Empire. The Empire lasted for 112 years until it's Board of Directors voted to divide the Empire behind it's Founder's back. By the time the Founder had discovered their treachery, The Corporate Empire was no more. It was divided into 7 Corporations, the biggest of which being The Corporate Allaince (The remnants of the original Corporate Empire still under control of it's legendary Founder. They are once more expanding at a great rate. Specialize in Magnetics and Robotics, particularly advanced AVATAR technology), Mirage Electronics (Run by Shinjo Karasawa. Specializes in advanced computing hardware and programming, and more covert military equipment), Chrome Heavy Industries (Run by Anthony Speck. Specializes in heavy industry equipment and high impact military hardware. Also a parts competitor of Alliance), Resonance Research (Run by Jarvis Sallee. Mostly deals with Bionics, but rumours abound they had been working on genetic engineering for military purposes), and others (whom are not as big a deal as some would have you beleive. Will introduce them as the story goes along). Their rivalry is legendary, and sabotauge, attacks and corporate skirmishes are common. Asgaurd enjoys a steady stream of bussiness from the Corporations.
The Guilds are, just as one might think, the massive unions that represent the workers of the big corporations. Though they require the corporations for their existence, they are not above reminding the Corporations from time to time that they are as important to the massive indusitries as money and materials. This has led to many different confrontations as of late between bitter workers and their corporate taskmasters. The guilds are certainly not above using illegal methods to get their way, from hiring Hunters from Asgaurd to carry out raids or sabaotauge to staging massive strikes that shut down entire factory complexes at once. Their actions as of late have become much more aggressive.
The Underground is a vague term used to describe the numerous, large-scale but poorly coordinated groups that wish to instigate change in how the world works. They range from simple commonfolk opposing corporate or National rule, to apocalyptic cults bent on anhillating all of mankind, to international aid groups who simply can't operate effectively within the red tape of the law (The Red Crystal, the decendant of the Red Cross, is considered an underground resistance group). They employ Hunters frequently, seeing as they usually lack any real military presence, and most of the greater political and military powers on the planet refuse to acknowledge their existence, let alone lend them aid (The Red Crystal and similar agencies being one of the few exceptions, with the Red Crystal receiving a substancial amount of unofficial funding from Mirage, Chrome, and Allaince, as well as nearly every guild).
Asgaurd, a mercenary contracting firm consisting of the planet's most elite mercenary personel. They specialize in AVATAR combat, and their experience puts them in extremely high demand. Asgaurd itself is recognized by all governments and is techinally not affiliated with any particular nation, corporation, or guild. For a price, this mercenary organization will take on any mission, be it legal or otherwise. Asgaurd has no discretion with regard to the content of missions or their requesters of the missions they assign their Hunter Teams (Teams of Mercenaries employed by Asgaurd), and no substantial details are known about how this legendary organization came to be. A Hunter's affiliation with Asgard places no restrictions on the Hunters personal activities (many famous Hunters are, in fact, famous criminals or support well known terrorist resistance movements), and as long as they are members of Asgaurd and within Asgaurd territory lines or military bases, they are considered to be diplomatically immune to punishment for any crimes they committed outside or on Asgaurd territory.
Whoever is playing in this campaign, their characters are, for whatever reason, applying to Asgaurd for membership. Their past is theirs to devise, but their present is the same. The characters will serve as members of an Asgaurd Hunter Team, and their team is being deployed on their final test: succeed, and the opportunity to earn unmeasurable wealth and fame is theirs. Fail, and they will die a lonely death on the field of war. Theirs is iron and grit, shell and sword. They pilot customizable, nearly twenty foot tall, robotic war engines known as an AVATAR (AdVanced ATtack ARmor), with which they can overturn tanks, leap over buildings and smash aside infantry, but even armed with such awesome power, they cannot take on the missions they will face alone. They must work together with their team, or they will die alone.
Get ready, Hunters. Things are about to heat up.
Main Page
High Calibur SilentAdjutant |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/57011 | Skip to end of metadata
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Hive JDBC Driver
The current JDBC interface for Hive only supports running queries and fetching results. Only a small subset of the metadata calls are supported.
To see how the JDBC interface can be used, see sample code.
Integration with Pentaho
1. Download pentaho report designer from the pentaho website.
2. Overwrite report-designer.sh with the code provided below.
3. Build and start the hive server with instructions from HiveServer.
4. Compile and run the Hive JDBC client code to load some data (I haven't figured out how to do this in report designer yet). See sample code for loading the data.
5. Run the report designer (note step 2).
6. Select 'Report Design Wizard'.
7. Select a template - say 'fall template' - next.
8. Create a new data source - JDBC (custom), Generic database.
9. Provide Hive JDBC parameters. Give the connection a name 'hive'.
10. Click on 'Test'. The test should succeed.
11. Edit the query: select 'Sample Query', click edit query, click on the connection 'hive'. Create a new query. Write a query on the table testHiveDriverTable, for example, select * from testHiveDriverTable. Click next.
12. Layout Step: Add PageOfPages to Group Items By. Add key and value as Selected Items. Click next. And Finish.
13. Change the Report header to 'hive-pentaho-report'. Change the type of the header to 'html'.
14. Run the report and generate pdf. You should get something like the report attached here.
Integration with SQuirrel SQL Client
1. Download, install and start the SQuirrel SQL Client from the SQuirrel SQL website.
2. Select 'Drivers -> New Driver...' to register the Hive JDBC driver.
1. Enter the driver name and example URL:
3. Select 'Extra Class Path -> Add' to add the following jars from your local Hive and Hadoop distribution.
4. Select 'List Drivers'. This will cause SQuirrel to parse your jars for JDBC drivers and might take a few seconds. From the 'Class Name' input box select the Hive driver:
5. Click 'OK' to complete the driver registration.
6. Select 'Aliases -> Add Alias...' to create a connection alias to your Hive server.
1. Give the connection alias a name in the 'Name' input box.
2. Select the Hive driver from the 'Driver' drop-down.
3. Modify the example URL as needed to point to your Hive server.
4. Leave 'User Name' and 'Password' blank and click 'OK' to save the connection alias.
7. To connect to the Hive server, double-click the Hive alias and click 'Connect'.
When the connection is established you will see errors in the log console and might get a warning that the driver is not JDBC 3.0 compatible. These alerts are due to yet-to-be-implemented parts of the JDBC metadata API and can safely be ignored. To test the connection enter SHOW TABLES in the console and click the run icon.
Also note that when a query is running, support for the 'Cancel' button is not yet available.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/57013 | Implementing HTML5 <details>
At Opera HQ, we're implementing the HTML5 <details> element. It's a groovy interactive element that functions as "a disclosure widget from which the user can obtain additional information or controls".
Most browsers will implement it as an expando box: when the user clicks on some browser-generated icon (such as a a triangle or down arrow) or the word "details" - which can be replaced by an author supplying their own rubric in a child <summary> element - the element will slide open revealing some further details inside. These could be a full description of an image or graph; a description of a complex table structure; advanced options for a search form; or just about anything else, and wouldn't need JavaScript to function.
It is vital that browsers implement HTML interoperably. So Opera's Lachlan Hunt has written to the WHATWG (the group speccing HTML5 with the W3C) to detail how Opera is implementing it, in the hope of getting feedback from developers, other browser vendors and (we hope) encouraging vendors to share information and implement similarly.
Our main aims in implementing <details> are:
• The disclosure triangle must be styleable by authors using CSS without complex hacks, either to replace with their own icon, remove it entirely, or adjust other common styles. Ditto with <summary>: we cannot require, nor expect, authors to use XBL to restyle these elements.
• Styles we use internally in the shadow tree shouldn't do weird things to author styles or surrounding content. Generally, the way that authors style the element and users interact with it should be simple and not contain any nasty surprises.
• Accessibility: The summary element must be focussable by default and keyboard activation must be possible.
• Internationalisation: The disclosure triangle and any applicable margins and padding must render on the opposite side and point the opposite direction for RTL languages.
• We should reuse as much existing CSS styles as possible to achieve the effects, avoiding unnecessary creation of special properties or values without a good reason.
(I've summarised and paraphrased Lachy's fuller explanation.)
So: if you're a web author or an implementor, please read the email and respond on the WHATWG list (anyone can join).
Hurray for open discussion that leads to an interoperable Web! (But please, do it on the mailing list and not here!) |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/57021 | Category:World War I games
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Games with a World War I theme. These might be board wargames, miniature wargames or computer games.
This category has only the following subcategory.
Pages in category "World War I games"
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/57022 | Hann Tableland National Park
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Hann Tableland National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
Hann Tableland National Park is located in Queensland
Hann Tableland National Park
Hann Tableland National Park
Nearest town or city Mareeba
Coordinates 16°47′54″S 145°09′03″E / 16.79833°S 145.15083°E / -16.79833; 145.15083Coordinates: 16°47′54″S 145°09′03″E / 16.79833°S 145.15083°E / -16.79833; 145.15083
Established 1989 (1989)
Area 108.2 km2 (41.8 sq mi)[1]
Managing authorities Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
See also Protected areas of Queensland
Hann Tableland is a national park in Far North Queensland (Australia), 1,436 km northwest of Brisbane. It is located in the northern section of Paddys Green, a locality in the Tablelands Region local government area. It was first set aside as national park in 1989 and nearly doubled in size with an expansion in 2004.[1]
The park is located within the Einasleigh Uplands bioregion and the Mitchell River water catchment area.[2]
The national park was established to conserve the forests of the Hann Tableland mountain range.[1] Three rare or threatened plant species have been identified within the Hann Tableland National Park.[2] It lacks visitor facilities with the exception of the Bicentennial National Trail.[1]
See also[edit]
1. ^ a b c d "Hann Tableland National Park Management Statement 2013" (PDF). Department of National Parks, Sport, Recreation and Racing. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
2. ^ a b "Hann Tableland National Park". WetlandInfo (Department of Environment and Heritage Protection). Retrieved 9 May 2015. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/57023 | International political economy
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International relations theory
Politics portal
International political economy (IPE), also known as global political economy (GPE), is an academic discipline within political science that analyzes economics and international relations. As an interdisciplinary field, it draws on many distinct academic schools, most notably political economy, political science and economics, also sociology, history, and cultural studies.
IPE scholars are at the center of the debate and research surrounding globalization, both in the popular and academic spheres. Other topics that command substantial attention among IPE scholars are international trade (with particular attention to the politics surrounding trade deals, but also significant work examining the results of trade deals), international development (poverty and the role of institutions in development), international finance, global markets, political risk, multi-state cooperation in solving trans-border economic problems, and the structural balance of power between and among states and institutions. Unlike the broader field international relations, power is understood to be both economic and political, which are interrelated in a complex manner.[citation needed]
It has been predominantly considered by authors such as Benjamin Cohen (2008) that IPE emerged as a heterodox approach to international studies during the 1970s as the 1973 world oil crisis and the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system alerted academics, particularly in the U.S., of the importance, contingency, and weakness of the economic foundations of the world order. IPE scholars such as Susan Strange asserted that earlier studies of international relations had placed excessive emphasis on law, politics, and diplomatic history. Similarly, neoclassical economics was accused of abstraction and being ahistorical. Drawing heavily on historical sociology and economic history, IPE proposed a fusion of economic and political analysis. In this sense, both Marxist and liberal IPE scholars protested against the reliance of Western social science on the territorial state as a unit of analysis, and stressed the international system.[citation needed].
Traditional approaches[edit]
Academic courses, journals, and text books generally cover the various view points from which policy recommendations originate and will endeavour to provide an ideologically neutral presentation of the field of study. Following a precedent set by one of the founding text books of the discipline,[1] individuals and organisations engaged in promoting particular policies, as well as many scholars active in this field, are commonly grouped into one of three worlds views, all of which have existed long before IPE emerged as a distinct academic discipline. These categories are liberal, realist, and Marxist. Constructivism may be classed as a fourth high level view, although scholars such as Ravenhill have grouped it as a sub-class of the Marxist approach. The liberal category is relatively unified, while the realist and Marxist views capture a vast range of outlooks. Widely shared views are found only at the highest level of abstraction:
The 'liberal' view believes in freedom for private powers at the expense of public power (government). It asserts that markets, free from the distortions caused by government controls and regulation, naturally will harmonise demand and supply of scarce resources resulting in the best possible world for populations at large.
The 'realist' view (formerly commonly labelled "nationalist") accepts the power of free markets to deliver favourable outcomes, but holds that optimum conditions generally are obtained with moderately strong public power exerting some regulatory control.
The 'Marxist' view believes that only robust application of strong public power can check innate tendencies for private power to benefit elites at the expense of populations at large.
The 'constructivist' view assumes that the domain of international economic interactions is not value-free, and that economic and political identities, in addition to material interests, are significant determinants of economic action.[citation needed]
The liberal approach[edit]
The Liberal approach often is wrongly traced to the work of Adam Smith. Economics, as some[who?] may claim, has been viewed as dawning with the Smithian revolution against Mercantilism.[2][3]
The liberal view point generally has been strong in Western academia since it was first articulated by Smith in the eighteenth century. Only during the 1940s to early 1970s did an alternative system, Keynesianism, command wide support in universities. Keynes was concerned chiefly with domestic macroeconomic policy, however in IPE terms his mature views fall largely into the Realist camp, in that Keynes called for a middle way between public and private power and favoured a managed system of global finance for which he was one of the two chief architects at Bretton Woods.[4][5] The Keynesian consensus was challenged successfully with attacks launched by Friedrich Hayek's Austrian School and Milton Friedman's Chicago School as early as the 1950s, which by the 1970s had succeeded in displacing Keynes as the dominant influence.
Keynes's approach to international relations, including his thinking on the economic causes of war and economic means of promoting peace, has received further attention with the onset of the global financial crisis and recession since 2008, especially through the work of Donald Markwell.[6]
In policy making terms Western governments have generally pursued mixed agendas drawing on both the liberal and realist view point. This has been the case from the dawning of modern commerce to the present day, although there have been periods where one or the other school had gained temporary ascendency. Sometimes the period leading up to 1914 is described as a golden age of classical economics, but in practice governments continued to be partially influenced by mercantilist ideology, and following WW1 economic freedom was constricted. After World War II the Bretton Woods system was established, reflecting the political orientation described as Embedded liberalism. This has been described as a compromise between the realist and liberal viewpoints, in that it allowed governments to manage international finance, while still allowing considerable freedom of action for private commerce. In 1971 President Richard Nixon began the rolling back of the Bretton Woods system and until 2008 the trend has been for increasing liberalization of international trade and finance. Domestically, the Atlantic nations since the 1970s and large Asian states such as China and India since the 1990s also have largely pursued a mixture of realist and liberal policies. The only close to wholesale implementations of the liberal viewpoint being carried out is by smaller developing nations, often with some degree of coercion by actors such as the U.S. treasury or IMF, who have been able to apply financial pressure when the developing nations faced various crises.[7] During 2008, liberal influences began to wane in the wake of the 2008–2009 Keynesian resurgence which the Financial Times described as a "stunning reversal of the orthodoxy of the past several decades".[8] From later 2008 world leaders have also been increasingly calling for a New Bretton Woods System.[9]
The realist view[edit]
Some academics[citation needed] within IPE use game theory to explain outcomes of international negotiations, the simplest case being bilateral meetings where there are only two players.
Within IPE the Realist approach was commonly labeled nationalism until the first decade of the twenty-first century. Historically the earliest distinct school of thought in this category was mercantilism. Contemporary examples of the realist approaches are statism and developmentalism.[citation needed]
The mercantilist view largely characterised policies pursued by state actors from the emergence of the modern economy in the fifteenth century up to the mid-twentieth century. Sovereign states would compete with each other to accumulate bullion either by achieving trade surpluses or by conquest. This wealth could then be used to finance investment in infrastructure and to enhance military capability.[citation needed]
The contemporary realist view generally agrees with liberals in viewing international trade as a win-win phenomenon where firms should be allowed to collaborate or compete depending on market forces. The chief point of contention with liberals is that realists assert national interests can be served best by protecting new industries from foreign competition with high tariffs until they’ve built up the capability to compete on the world market. One of the earliest formal expressions of this view was found in Alexander Hamilton’s ‘Report on Manufacturers’ which he wrote for the U.S. government in 1791.
After WWII a notable success story for the developmentalist approach was found in South America where high levels of growth and equity were achieved partly as a result of policies originating from Raul Prebisch and economists he trained, who were assigned to governments around the continent. After the liberal view re-established its ascendancy in the 1970s, it has been asserted that high levels of growth resulted from generally favourable international conditions rather than the Realist policies.[citation needed]
A contemporary statement of the Realist view is strategic trade theory, and there has been much debate as to whether the policies it suggests could be effective in solving some of the issues with globalisation, such as persistent north/south inequality divide.[citation needed]
The Marxist view[edit]
International meetings such as the 2009 G-20 London summit are analysed by IPE scholars.
This category has been used to group together an array of different approaches which sometimes have very little in common with Marx’s focus on class, but which all believe in a strong role for public power. Labels for approaches within this category include: feminist, radical, structuralist, critical, underdevelopment and 'world systems'. Broadly the Marxist approach is associated with Heterodox economics.
Marx’s Das Kapital was published in 1867 and an economic system based on his ideas was implemented after the Russian Revolution of 1917. Since the collapse of the Soviet union and the COMECON trading bloc in 1991 no major group of trading partners or even single large economy has been run along Marxist lines. Problems with a Marxist command economy are seen as including the very high informational demands required for the efficient allocation of resources and corruptive tendencies of the very high degree of public power need to govern the process.
Few academics currently promote classical Marxist views, especially in America, but there are a few exceptions in Europe. More popular perspectives include feminist, environmental and radical – developmentalist. The social – constructivist view is an unusual school of thought sometimes grouped into this category. Rather than focus on the tradition factors affecting trade such as distribution of resources, technology, and infrastructure, it emphasises the role of dialogue and debate in determining future developments in international trade and globalisation.[citation needed][citation needed]
Criticisms of the traditional divide into the liberal, nationalist, and Marxist views[edit]
Critics [10] have asserted there is now too much variation in the different viewpoints grouped into each category, especially those under the Nationalist and Marxist headings. Also, the names can be considered misleading for the general public. The labels nationalist and Marxist have negative connotations, with many of the perspectives grouped under the Marxist label having very little to do with the classical Marxist position. Many advocates within the nationalist tradition, being themselves strongly opposed to nationalism in the commonly understood fascist or racist sense, and some professors, have replaced the label "nationalist" with "realist" in their most recent books and courses.[11]
The constructivist view[edit]
Constructivism is an emerging field in international political economy. In general, the constructivist view propounds that material interests, which are central to liberal, realist, and Marxist views, are not sufficient to explain patterns of economic interactions or policies, and that economic and political identities are significant determinants of economic action.
American vs. British IPE[edit]
Benjamin Cohen provides a detailed intellectual history of IPE identifying American and British camps. The Americans are positivist and attempt to develop intermediate level theories that are supported by some form of quantitative evidence. British IPE is more "interpretivist" and looks for "grand theories". They use very different standards of empirical work. Cohen sees benefits in both approaches.[12] A special edition of New Political Economy has been issued on The ‘British School' of IPE [13] and a special edition of the Review of International Political Economy (RIPE) on American IPE.[14]
One forum for this was the "2008 Warwick RIPE Debate: ‘American’ versus ‘British’ IPE" where Cohen, Mark Blyth, Richard Higgott, and Matthew Watson followed up the recent exchange in RIPE. Higgott and Watson in particular, queried the appropriateness of Cohen's categories.[15]
Notable IPE scholars[edit]
Master programs and studies[edit]
See also[edit]
Notes and references[edit]
1. ^ Gilpin, Robert (1987). The Political Economy of International Relations.
2. ^ editor John Woods, author Prof. Harry Johson, "Milton Friedman: Critical Assessments", vol 2, page 73, Routledge, 1970.
3. ^ Watson, Matthew, Foundations of International Political Economy, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005
4. ^ The other chief architect being Harry Dexter White, though it should be noted that there were dozens of other influential voices at the Bretton Woods conference, including several Wall St bankers who were partly successful in influencing the conference towards a more liberal outcome than either Keynes or White were happy with. See chapters 2 - 5 of Helleiner (1995)
6. ^ Donald Markwell, John Maynard Keynes and International Relations, Oxford University Press, 2006. Donald Markwell, Keynes and International Economic and Political Relations, Trinity Paper 33, Trinity College, University of Melbourne, 2009. Trinity Paper 33 - Keynes and International Economic and Political Relations, Donald Markwell
7. ^ Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine, Metropolitan Books, New York, NY 2007.
8. ^ Chris Giles, Ralph Atkins and, Krishna Guha. "The undeniable shift to Keynes". The Financial Times. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
9. ^ "European call for 'Bretton Woods II'". Financial Times. 2008-10-16. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
10. ^ for example John Ravenhill, in chapter 1 of his 2005 edition Global Political Economy
11. ^ E.g. compare John Ravenhill's 2005 edition of Global Political Economy with the edition published in December 2007.
13. ^ New Political Economy Symposium: The ‘British School' of International Political Economy Volume 14, Issue 3, September 2009
14. ^ "Not So Quiet on the Western Front: The American School of IPE". Review of International Political Economy, Volume 16 Issue 1 2009
15. ^ The 2008 Warwick RIPE Debate: ‘American’ versus ‘British’ IPE
Further reading[edit] |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/57024 | Ivo Papazov
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Ivo Papazov (or Papasov; Bulgarian: Иво Папазов) (born 16 February 1952 in Kardzhali), nicknamed Ibryama (Ибряма), is a Bulgarian clarinetist. He leads the "Ivo Papazov Wedding Band" in performances of jazz-infused Stambolovo music, and is one of the premier creators of the genre known as "wedding band" music in Bulgaria, along with the violinist Georgi Yanev, saxophonist Yuri Yunakov and accordionists Neshko Neshev, Ivan Milev and Peter Ralchev. Together with Emilia they are known as Mames 2001. An orchestra that had great success in the TV show Познай кой е под масатаn (Guess who is under the table).
According to Garth Cartwright, he was "the first Balkan Gypsy musician to win a wide international following with his two Joe Boyd-produced albums for Hannibal Records in the early 1990s."[1] Papazov and his Wedding Band have toured the United States several times.
In 2005 Papazov won the Audience Award from the BBC's Radio3 World Music Awards.[2]
Papazov and Yuri Yunakov are briefly profiled and the recording of "Kurdzhaliiska Ruchenica" from their 2005 album Together Again is analyzed in the popular textbook, Worlds of Music, 5th Edition.[3]
Ivo Papazov is a Bulgarian Gypsy [4][5] and his original name is Ibrahim (Turkish name). Papazov has stated: "I am one of the few light skinned people in my family but I know I am Romani."[6] As a result of the extensive programme of forced nationalisation of ethnic minority groups during Bulgaria's socialist rule, Papazov changed his first name to Ivo (adapted from Ibo, short for Ibrahim). He speaks Turkish and comes from Kardzhali, a city close to Bulgaria’s Turkish and Greek borders. He grew up in a musical family and followed the Balkan Gypsy tradition of leaving school at a young age to focus on playing music for a living.
Contributing artist
1. ^ Cartwright, Garth (August 2008). "Review: Dance of the Falcon". fRoots. Retrieved 2008-08-13. Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/5a1eRwF85.
2. ^ "Awards for World Music 2005: Ivo Papazov (Bulgaria)". BBC - Radio 3.
3. ^ Cooley, Timothy (2009). Custom Enrichment Module: Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World's Peoples. Belmont, Cal.: Schirmer Cengage Learning. pp. 256–259. ISBN 978-0-534-59539-5.
4. ^ "Ivo Papazov". Mondomix: Le magazine des musiques et cultures dans le monde. 30 March 2003. Archived from the original on 7 May 2007.
External links[edit] |
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