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RNC votes to block CNN, NBC from hosting debates
BOSTON — The Republican National Committee approved a resolution Friday to block two television networks from hosting GOP presidential primary debates.
Friday's vote affirms RNC chairman Reince Priebus' threat against CNN and NBC unless the networks dropped plans to air programs about possible Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton. The vote was unanimous.
Priebus said CNN has "an obvious bias."
"That's a network that won't be hosting a single Republican primary debate," Priebus declared, receiving a standing ovation from Republican activists from across the country gathered for the committee's summer meeting in Boston.
In a statement, CNN said a division of the company planned to air a documentary about Clinton in 2014.
"The project is in the very early stages of development, months from completion," the CNN statement read. "We encouraged all interested parties to wait until the program premieres before judgments are made about it. Unfortunately, the RNC was not willing to do that."
Even before the Clinton dispute, Republican leaders favored plans to have fewer presidential debates with more friendly moderators. They believe their 2012 presidential candidates spent too much time beating up on each other in last year's monthslong primary season, contributing to Mitt Romney's loss.
"Our party should not be involved in setting up a system that encourages the slicing and dicing of candidates over a long period of time with moderators that are not in the business of being at all concerned about the future of our party," Priebus told reporters.
Democratic National Committee spokesman Michael Czin criticized Friday's vote.
"Instead of modifying their policies to actually present smart solutions for middle class families, the only thing the GOP can unite behind is a plan to continue to limit the audiences — and voters — to whom they will communicate," he said.


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No, I'm not referring to the ASMR app that was released a while back that we have up for grabs in our two contests. This one was just released this week.
It's called ASMR Sounds and will work with iPods, iPhones and iPads, although naturally it's optimised for the latest iPhone, the iPhone 5.
The app boasts a personalised ASMR experience, with 70 high quality sounds, all in 7 different categories, such as "tapping sounds", "eating sounds", "nature sounds", "crinkling sounds", and the favourite of many but not all: whispering. You can play sounds on their own, or combine them, and not to mention you can adjust the speed and the volume – presumably without having to alter the volume of the iPhone itself. There's nothing worse than missing your alarm because you turned down the volume too much!
You can also save and load playlists, set timers (probably so the app stops playing after a while, say after you've fallen asleep, and you don't run down your battery – that would be my guess), and you can use the app in the background while doing other stuff. And ASMR Sounds is a native app, requiring no Wi-Fi connection, meaning no ads whatsoever. For those of you out there who absolutely hate ads interfering with your YouTube experience, this app was seemingly designed with you in mind.
You can grab it off of iTunes. There's also this page on Facebook dedicated to the app. It's a bit steeper than the other ASMR apps I've seen so far, costing $5.99, but it looks to be a very good quality product. It's also quite weighty at nearly 70 MB. There's no trial version for the time being, and no word so far on whether there will be one, either. The Android version of this app is still in development according to Oz Halpern, the developer.

subset: commoncrawl


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Paradise Auto Glass – What Should I know?
Simply put, this is glass that you would find in an automobile. Not too many know that in Paradise there are two major forms of auto glass. Each one is used on certain windows in the automobile. Both types of auto glass are more impact resistant and stronger than regular glass.
What Are the Different Kinds Of Windshield Replacement Paradise Services that are Available?
Laminated safety glass-this glass is generally used on a car's windshield. It is comprised of a couple of pieces of glass that has a slim layer of vinyl. The glass is then heated and pressed together in an autoclave, which is a type of oven. When this glass receives a tough impact it will shatter also but usually the shattered pieces will stick to the vinyl and not fall on the ground.
If the windshield just has a tiny vein or nick, the auto glass professional may be able to repair the tiny vein or nick to keep it from spreading further. The repair will generally take fewer than thirty minutes in Paradise. The vein or nick is cleaned thoroughly and dried. Resin is injected and a material like Mylar is used to hold it in place. The professional cures the resin by using an ultraviolet light.
Auto Glass For Classic Cars?
Windshield replacement can be expensive, especially if your insurance company will not pay for it. Replacing your windshield is usually covered if you have comprehensive coverage, which is other than collision, on your policy. It is best to check with your insurance company first before setting up an appointment to have it replaced. If you do have to pay for the cost of windshield replacement there are several factors involved in the final cost, which could cost over two hundred dollars. When you take your car in to have the windshield replaced, the company will first decide if it can be repaired instead of replaced. Not every cracked or chipped windshield will require replacement.
There is another choice for windshield replacement glass that does not meet the same standards as OEM windshield glass but it is cheaper. This glass is called aftermarket glass. Other than the more expensive dealer glass, OEM tends to be most popular choice.
In today's world, you may be able to save the cost of having your car towed to the auto glass repair shop by having a mobile unit come to your home to replace your windshield. The replacement does not take long but it needs a couple of hours to set up before you can drive the vehicle.
Should You be Fixing Windshield Cracks?
Were you aware that the windshield provides up to 30% of a vehicle's structural strength. In the event of a crash or rollover, the windshield supports the roof and assists the airbags in deploying. Maintaining the windshield will help to ensure safety while operating the vehicle.
In everyday driving conditions, a chipped windshield can quickly turn into a safety hazard if the chip cracks suddenly. It is impossible to determine whether a chip will crack and cause greater issue, but if it is a large chip, chances are it will eventually cause a crack if it goes unrepaired.
A chipped windshield does not mean that the windshield needs to be replaced, but the chip should be repaired as soon as possible. There are several reasons why windshield chips should be repaired rather than ignored:
Glass repair may not be covered by all car insurance policies; avoiding the need for full replacement is the best choice. Repairing a chipped windshield in relatively inexpensive, with do-it-yourself kits starting around $10. Many places offer windshield chip repairs while you are getting an oil change. This can be a convenient way to repair a chipped windshield while having other work completed on the car.
There is no way to know for sure how long a chipped windshield will go without cracking, however it is best to avoid taking chances and have windshield chips repaired as soon as you notice them.


text: Welcome to the Fellowship of Isis: Rediscovering the Love and Compassion of the Goddess! The FOI is an international society founded in 1976 by Olivia, Lawrence and Pamela Durdin-Robertson. Societies include: the College of Isis, Spirals of the Adepti & Alchemy, Druid Clan of Dana, Noble Order of Tara & the Muses Symposium. The purpose of this blog is for sharing general FOI information, website updates and announcements sent directly from the central FOI Foundation Center in Ireland.


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Tutorial - Updating a Quantum, CP100, CP200, CP370, CP470, CP570 with latest software
Populating a Flash Memory Card (mSD) with the Software Files
Note: microSD memory cards used with a/c/e/eS/gS Series MFDs should have a memory capacity of no less than 512MB and no more than 32GB.
Note: To avoid potentially corrupting the data on your Navionics chart card, DO NOT copy software update files to your Navionics chart card and DO NOT back up waypoint/route/track data to your Navionics chart card. MicroSD cards are commonly available in most stores selling consumer electronics products. Waypoint, route, track data, and system configuration data can be stored on a microSD memory card which also contains software update files.
Upgrading the Quantum, CP100, CP200, CP370, CP470, CP570 Software
The Radar, SONAR module software is now part of the latest a, c, e, eS, gS Series Multifunction Display (MFD) software download. It contains the following peripherals:
Once the Master MFD has updated, any connected MFD or peripheral will be updated as well.
If you have performed the MFD update recently you may not need to perform this update. Please check if you require the update.
Checking the software versions via the MASTER MFD:
The MFD's and peripherals software version may be verified via the command sequence:
You can locate the Authorized Raymarine dealers nearest to you anywhere in the world using our Dealer Locator. Click here or paste this URL into your browser to begin your search:


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Goodies In This Set
- 24Nails
- 12Sizes
- NailFile
- NailGlue
How To Apply Your Nails For Long And Short Wear
- If needed, file and clean your nails of any polish or oil with acetone-based polish remover.
- Select the correct size nails for each finger - all sizes included! If needed file sides for best fit.
- Apply glue to nail
- Apply thin layer of glue to natural nail
- Starting at cuticle, press on & hold for 10-15 seconds
- File and shape your new nails!
For shorter wear, just apply less glue. It's that easy!
Why NAILHUR?
NAILHUR is the perfect fix for your nailddiction and allows you to change your nails to match any look while achieving professional nail salon quality without spending a fortune. Are you ready to fall in love with your nails?
Removable, Reusable & Customizable
NAILHUR nails are removable, reusable & customizable. They can be customized to your needs, whether its length or shape to match your look and can be painted with nail polish to change the color to match any occasion. Tired of the color? Use nail polish remover to remove the polish and uncover the original nail design. (Please note any nails with glitter, 3D or matte finish will be damaged if painted).
Remove And Reuse
To remove and maintain for continuous use, remove your nails by soaking in warm water for 60 - 90 seconds. To begin removal, carefully use fingertip to lift sides of nail. Please do not force removal. As needed, soak further. Ready to rock these nails again? Apply again in minutes for the most fabulous manicure!


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No real time to blog...we're sitting in the Vegas airport, waiting to board the plane. But to sum up:
We're leaving with more cash than we came with.
John bought new shoes.
Some things happened.
Vegas rocks.
There will be more details later. After we finally sleep.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Posted by Mrs. B at 2:21 AM
0 comments:
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UMass Lowell scales back Fall 2020 plan to minimize students, employees on campus. View the plan for more info.
Jill Gambon
Sophomore Laura Laranjo's long-term goal is to become a physician but she thinks a career as a high school science teacher may be a good backup plan. When the opportunity to pursue teacher certification while continuing her pre-med studies came up, she decided to give it a try. Training to be a teacher while earning a biology degree offers an alternative career path in a field she is passionate about. "It opens up an opportunity to still do something that I like," she says.
Laranjo is among the first group of UMass Lowell students enrolled in the UTeach program, an initiative to prepare a new generation of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teachers. In December, the state awarded the University a $1.6 million grant to fund the program, part of a nationwide effort to improve STEM teacher training. In recent years, concern has been mounting about the quality of STEM education in the U.S. and students' preparedness to compete in a technology-driven global economy. For instance, in its most recent Global Competitiveness Report, the World Economic Forum ranked the quality of math and science education in the United States 51st out of 142 countries.
The UTeach program is designed to change that. Founded at the University of Texas Austin 15 years ago, UTeach was established to attract a wide range of STEM majors to teaching careers. Central to the program are intensive classroom experience and extensive feedback and support from faculty. The program has been introduced at 29 colleges across the country, with UMass Lowell the only university in New England to offer it.
"With the shortage of science and math teachers, STEM teaching provides a stable career path," says Interim Dean of the Graduate School of Education Anita Greenwood, who is a co-principal investigator for the UTeach grant. "It gives our students another string in their bow."
The 27 freshmen and sophomores who signed up for the program are all math, science or engineering majors. As a first step, they will take two one-credit courses that include working with local public schools in Lowell, Lawrence and Methuen. The idea is to provide classroom experience early in the program to help the students decide if teaching is a good fit for them. If they stick with the program, they will take classes in education and research methods and will do student teaching, enabling them to earn secondary STEM teacher certification by the time they graduate.
"It's a great opportunity for STEM majors to find out if they like teaching. If they do, it gives them more career options," says Doug Prime, co-founder of UMass Lowell's DesignCamp program who has been tapped as a master teacher and program coordinator for UTeach. Ultimately, the faculty hopes to create a minor in STEM education, says Prime.
Sophomore math major Corinne Clifford wants to be a high school math teacher so the opportunity to get classroom experience as an undergraduate is appealing. She likes the idea of getting her teaching certification without having to earn a master's degree. "I'm excited about the program. It will save me time and money," Clifford says. "And I know I'll be getting hands-on experience."
Prof. David Kazmer, associate dean of the Francis College of Engineering and a co-principal investigator for the UTeach grant, says schools will benefit from STEM teachers who are experts in the subjects they teach and can share their enthusiasm and knowledge with students. "High school students often aren't aware of the opportunities that exist in pursuing a math or science degree. There's a real need for better advising and more content expertise among teachers," he says.
Kazmer predicts no shortage of job opportunities for teachers with STEM certification. "These STEM teachers are so much in demand. The local schools could entirely consume our output of teachers," he says.
Cameron Carey, a sophomore biology major, wants to become a doctor but he enrolled in UTeach because he likes the idea of a fallback career path. And Carey is convinced that even if he doesn't become a science teacher, the professional training will come in handy at some point in his career – whether he's practicing medicine or teaching medical school. "This will be an invaluable experience," Carey says.
The program is housed in Pasteur Hall on North Campus, in the reconfigured DesignCamp quarters. At their first class meeting, the students met the faculty, including Prof. Kenneth Levasseur, who is a co-principal investigator for the grant, and Sumudu Lewis, a master teacher with the program. They were encouraged to use the space to congregate and collaborate with each other. They also heard about paid internship opportunities with the DesignCamp program and starting making plans for their assignments at local public schools.
"We are building a community where the students can find a lot of support and where they will have the shared experience of learning to teach," says Greenwood.


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Coloring books are here again! Both children and adults are re-engaging with this pastime for pleasure and in the case of activity books, education. Doodles Ave™ is a brand name in educational coloring books. The company provides educational coloring and activity books that engage and educate school-aged children in a fun, artistic medium. The company's mission has been to foster education and scholastic exploration through coloring. This Canine Coloring Fun Doodle offers a great way to learn about man's best friend.
"We're always excited to release new activity books to our pint-sized customers," says James. "All of us on the team remember our own childhood love of coloring and being able to provide an avenue for our kinesthetic and visual learners to both learn and express themselves through art is a blessing."
Doodles Canine Coloring Fun is a great way to learn about man's best friends. Kids will explore the characteristics that define dogs and popular breeds including the Dachshund, Border Collie, Chow Chow, Basset Hound, Boston Terrier, Dalmatian, Labrador Retriever, Poodle, Welsh Corgi and many more! Featuring 34 full-size illustrations accompanied by unique facts and interactive games and activities, such as a crossword puzzle, a word search, a maze and writing prompts, Doodles Canine Coloring Fun offers hours of coloring fun and learning.
"Not everyone is as fortunate as we are to be able to not only use our creativity but to use it in a way that helps children," says James. "We are helping kids learn and entertaining them at the same time. What is better than that?"
The activity book will be released on August 1st 2017.
Setria James
Phone No: 214-673-2901
Website: http://www.doodlesave.com
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Drayton Fertility Clinics - North Dakota
In Vitro Centers is a Fertility Clinic locating service that allows you to search for local Fertility Clinics in or around Drayton, ND. To locate a a Fertility Clinic, simply select your location and you will be presented with a list of Fertility Clinics that can provide you with information on in vitro, sperm banks, infertility, tubal reversal and fertility centers.
Fertility Clinics
Related Searches
1. In Vitro Drayton
2. Sperm Banks Drayton, ND
3. Tubal Reversal Drayton
4. Fertility Centers Drayton


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Digital Production
The Gnomon Workshop offers the most comprehensive set of Digital Production tutorials anywhere. The broad scope of the tutorials contained in this section range from foundational understanding of the software tools all the way to the professional application of these tools and concepts used by artists working in the film and game industries.
Entertainment Design
The Gnomon Workshop is widely regarded as the global leader in training tutorials for the designer working in the entertainment industry. With tutorials ranging from foundational drawing and design concepts to process tutorials from some of the top concept and character designers in the world, there is surely something here to inspire.
As the tattoo industry has seen an explosion in popularity over the last few years, the need training in this field has also grown. In these video tutorials, some of the top tattoo artists in the world share their techniques and their take on the art of tattoo. The tutorials range from absolute beginner level to advanced color and blending techniques used by some of the world's best.
The Gnomon Workshop offers professional training on most of the software applications used in today's digital pipelines. There are foundational titles to introduce users to the software and tools, as well as advanced production titles that discuss application tools and processes vital to the production of digital assets and media.
Professional Training for Artists
The Gnomon Workshop seeks out the most highly-regarded traditional and digital artists and technicians currently working in the entertainment and design industries. Our instructors have shared their practices working at such top studios as Pixar, ILM, Blizzard, and many more.Instructor GalleriesInstructor Interviews
Wendy Froud was born in Detroit, Michigan. She graduated with a degree in fabric design and ceramics from The Center for Creative Studies in Detroit. She worked as a sculptor and puppet fabricator on The Muppet Show, and the feature films The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth and The Empire Strikes Back. Since moving to Dartmoor, England, with her husband Brian Froud, Wendy has concentrated on doll and model making, and illustrating books including "A Midsummer Night's Faery Tale", "The Winter Child" and "The Faeries of Spring Cottage" with author Terri Windling. She has provided both models and writing for Brian Froud's books "Goblins!" and "Lady Cottington's Pressed Faery Album". Wendy's newest book is "The Art of Wendy Froud", published by Imaginosis. She teaches doll and figure making workshops as well as mask making workshops in the U.S. and England. Her dolls and figures have been widely exhibited and collected throughout the U.S. and Europe.
"The intricacy of the costuming, delicate sculptural finesse of her faces, exquisite miniature props and the enchanted environments of Wendy's creations were not only uplifting to view, but seemed imbued with other worldly spirits that could whisk one away on a whimsical journey out beyond the edge of the garden or across the sun-dappled brook. Her figures had an incredible delicacy, yet each one also had eyes that sparkled with a life and vitality breathed into their bodies by Wendy herself."
Try a Class on Campus
Gnomon specializes in computer graphics education for careers in the entertainment industry.


text:
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Martin Luther King, Jr.
I chose to be a voice for over 300 million women who are voiceless and 3million helpless girls that Silent GENOCIDE is performed on them yearly.every 11 seconds a girl is mutilated every day over 200 bleed to death SILENT GENOCIDE! Am survivor of FGM ! many people react differently to torture, some become the healers(Survivors), I Am a SURVIVOR who chose to fight a good fight. 2stop this crime against women! I will not stop until FGM is history,This Blog is dedicated 2see the END FGM & VAW.


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- Prehistoric
- Africa
- Age of Discovery
- Ancient Egypt
- Ancient Greece
- Ancient Middle East
- Archaeology
- Aztec, Inca & Maya
- British Empire
- British history
- British kings and queens
- History of London
- LET'S EXPLORE British history
- Castles & knights
- China
- Europe
- Explorers
- Famous leaders
- Famous women
- LET'S EXPLORE Famous people
- India
- Ireland
- Islamic world
- Japan
- Jewish history
- Latin America
- Modern history
- Mongols
- North America
- LET'S EXPLORE American history
- Oceania
- Pirates & galleons
- Romans
- Russia
- Southeast Asia
- Vikings
- World history
- LET'S EXPLORE Ancient worlds
- LET'S EXPLORE World history
- Culture
- Geography
- Space
- Technology
- Science
- Life
- Earth
- Indigenous Americans and Polynesians encountered each other around the year 1200
- Scientists reveal there are likely to be 36 alien civilizations in the Galaxy
- Britain's largest prehistoric structure discovered near Stonehenge
- Nesting marine turtles thrive while beaches around the world remain empty during lockdown
- US spaceplane is successfully launched into orbit
- Impact on the environment clearly seen as a result of coronavirus lockdown
- What do we know so far about the coronavirus, and how can we halt the pandemic?
- The race to create a coronavirus vaccine
- Astronomers discover a planet where it rains molten iron
- A giant asteroid dust cloud may have sparked new life on Earth 470 million years ago
- Scientists reveal why the Neanderthals went extinct
- UN refugee agency calls for urgent evacuation of people from Moria camp on Lesbos
- Swarms of locusts devastate vegetation in eastern Africa
- The 1918–19 Spanish flu pandemic: how does the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic compare?
- Death toll rises as coronavirus spreads across China and the rest of the world
- The year 2019 was the second hottest year on record
- Drone set to search for signs of life on Saturn's moon Titan
- Bushfires threaten the survival of Australia's endangered wildlife
- Bushfires rage across Australia as spring temperatures soar
- Delhi restricts local traffic in attempt to reduce air pollution
- Calls for international support to help rid Angola of landmines
- A smoky haze blankets large parts of Southeast Asia
- Complete skull of oldest-known human ancestor discovered in Ethiopia
- Discovery of microplastic pollution in Arctic snow prompts health concerns
- Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first manned Moon landing
- The melting of Himalayan glaciers has doubled since 2000
- Two million people at risk of starvation as drought returns to Somalia
- Arthur Eddington proves Einstein's Theory of General Relativity—100 years ago
- New research shows that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is thinning fast
- Extinction Rebellion protests make a global impact
- Astronomers capture the first image of a black hole
- Cyclone Idai causes catastrophic damage in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi
- Students' strike for climate movement gathers momentum
- Do temperature extremes indicate that climate change is accelerating?
- Scientists find the remains of tiny animals in a lake deep beneath Antarctic ice
- Plant successfully grown on the Moon during Chinese space probe mission
- New Horizons space probe to fly by the most distant Solar System object yet
- Scientists discover a vast underground ecosystem
- Scientists agree to update the definition of a kilogram
- NASA's InSight probe touches down on Mars
- California wildfire is the deadliest and most destructive in the state's history
- Remembrance Day falls on the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I
- The world's first hydrogen-powered train goes into service
- Astronomers announce the possible discovery of the first known moon outside our Solar System
- Japanese robots successfully land on an asteroid
- Rohingya shelter in the world's largest refugee camp
- Are world insect populations in catastrophic decline?
- Longest lunar eclipse of the century
- Krill fishing companies agree to back Antarctic Ocean Sanctuary
- Antarctic ice is melting faster than ever
- The FIFA World Cup tournament kicks off in Russia
- Is there a ninth major planet lurking in the outer reaches of our Solar System?
- Kilauea, one of Hawaii's active volcanoes, erupts
- The Sun will become a glowing ring of gas and dust when it dies
- Gorilla populations under threat, but numbers are higher than expected
- Gulf Stream current at its weakest in 1600 years
- Northern white rhinoceros dies, leaving only three left
- Scientists show that Archaeopteryx flew like a pheasant
- Scientists uncover new facts about the ancestry of modern Britons
- Cape Town awaits Day Zero when its water taps will be turned off
- Bayeux Tapestry to be loaned to Britain for public display
- Astronomers to check interstellar object for signs of alien technology
- Scientists show how feathers evolved from reptiles' scales
- Will Mount Agung, an active volcano on Bali, erupt?
- Potentially habitable planet found just 11 light years away
- New species of orang-utan discovered in Sumatra
- Astronomers witness neutron stars colliding in space
- Scientists discover an underwater "city" built by octopuses
- The Cassini space probe goes out in spectacular style
- Hurricane Harvey causes devastating floods in Texas
- Missing link between Stegosaurus and T. rex may have been discovered
- New evidence shows that people may have inhabited Australia 80,000 years ago
- Martian soil found to contain lethal chemicals that can destroy life
- Discovery of 300,000-year-old remains rewrites story of human evolution
- Global Seed Vault threatened by floods caused by climate change
- Space probe Cassini dives through the gap between Saturn and its rings
- "Hobbit" species may have been the first humans to migrate from Africa
- Dinosaur family tree may be completely redrawn
- Which country has been declared the happiest in the world?
- Mystery of what caused the woolly mammoth to go extinct may be solved
- Seven Earth-like planets discovered orbiting around a single star
- Scientists may have solved the mystery of why dinosaurs went extinct
- The fall armyworm is on the march in Africa, destroying maize crops as it goes
- Dippy the Diplodocus is being prepared for his tour of the UK
- Tooth repair drug may replace fillings
- Deep crack in the ice forces Antarctic research station to relocate
- Record low extent of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean expected this winter
- A 14-year-old girl who died of cancer has been cryopreserved
- Biggest supermoon in nearly 69 years
- United States prepares to elect a new President
- Hurricane Matthew wreaks havoc in the Caribbean and southeastern US
- Illegal trading in pangolins and other wild animals threatens them with extinction
- A "ring of fire" appears over Africa
- Are the strange signals from a distant star an "alien megastructure"?
- Controversy continues over fracking
- Marshlands of southern Iraq named as a World Heritage Site
- Juno space probe nears the planet Jupiter
- Centenary of the Battle of the Somme
- Britain to decide whether to stay in or leave the EU
- El Niño causes severe droughts across the world
- Driverless taxis could be on the streets within a year
- Scientists discover gravitational waves
- Antibiotic defences against diseases under threat
- Space probe Cassini flies through a spray of ice from Saturn's moon, Enceladus
- Coral bleaching is taking place on a massive scale
- Evidence of flowing water discovered on Mars
- Queen Elizabeth set to become the longest-reigning monarch in British history
- Tutankhamun's tomb may contain the secret burial chamber of Queen Nefertiti
- Scientists warn that Earth is entering a sixth extinction phase
- Can dinosaurs really be brought back to life?
- New human ancestor from Ethiopia discovered
- Australia and New Zealand prepare to mark 100 years since Gallipoli
- Solar-powered plane sets off on flight around the world
- Five trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean
- Ebola virus epidemic in Africa
- Q-&-A: Please send in your tricky questions…
- Q-files, the kids' encyclopaedia with fun facts, goes online
We have made every effort to follow citation style rules, but there may be some minor differences. If in doubt, please refer to the appropriate citation style manual.
Space probe Cassini dives through the gap between Saturn and its rings. (2017). In Q-files Encyclopedia, Q-news. Retrieved from
"Space probe Cassini dives through the gap between Saturn and its rings." Q-news, Q-files Encyclopedia, 2 May. 2017.
Accessed 9 Aug. 2020.
Space probe Cassini dives through the gap between Saturn and its rings 2017. Q-news. Retrieved 9 August 2020, from
Q-news, s.v. "Space probe Cassini dives through the gap between Saturn and its rings," accessed August 9, 2020.
Space probe Cassini dives through the gap between Saturn and its rings
Cassini dives between Saturn and its innermost ringThe space probe Cassini has begun its final sequence of orbits of Saturn, passing between the planet and its rings, and ending with a final plunge into the planet itself on 15th September 2017. Cassini made its first-ever dive through the narrow gap between the planet Saturn and its rings on 26th April 2017. As it did so, the tiny probe came within about 3000 kilometres (2000 miles) of Saturn's cloud tops and a mere 300 kilometres (200 miles) of the innermost visible edge of the rings. Skimming above the planet's atmosphere, Cassini is now beaming back images of Saturn from an extremely close viewpoint.
© 2020 Q-files Ltd. All rights reserved. Switch to Mobile


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Amorphous by sume
*Má didn't exist
before my fourteenth birthday.
Unable to accept that my blood
flowed in another direction,
my American mother never spoke of Việt Nam,
but the maternal compass
that had first mapped my veins
left markers that kept Sài Gòn
firmly imprinted in the corner of my eye.
Forgive me, Má, for letting over thirty years pass
before I lit incense for your ngày gió.
I have nothing of substance
to entice her back among the living,
only my words as I rewrite her
into existence
Ghost mother…imaginary mother…elusive mother
There were times when I'd picture Má as a spirit watching over me. A faceless apparition made of vapor and a child's imagination, Má was a source of comfort and mystery. As I grew older, I remade her several times adding details; long dark hair and eyes like my own. Still, despite my vivid imagination, Má refused to reveal herself in her entirety. Perhaps I wasn't nearly as creative as I'd thought.
Not knowing anything about my Vietnamese parents or the circumstance under which I'd been adopted left too much room for speculation. Confused and disturbed by so many unknowns, I sought to fill in the blanks. Just as I'd created and re-created Má, I wove intricate scenarios for my adoption.
Born January 1st, 1970, I was adopted and arrived in the US in July. My parents divorced in September of the same year. I don't think I consciously associated the events at the time. All I knew was that I seemed to have a problem with losing parents and didn't understand why. Because Má was such a mystery, I fluctuated between longing for her and being angry with her depending on whether I thought she'd died or abandoned me.
I've yet to explore why I put so much emphasis on Má and thought so little of Ba. Perhaps it was because my mom provided a constant reminder or maybe it was a manifestation of the traditional gender roles I'd learned. There is also the possibility that it was because as a daughter, I simply wanted to know my mother. Besides, fathers were inconstant beings that came and went every other weekends and holidays. Further still, some part of me feels that Má was just easier. Ba may not have been Ba at all, but Dad, 爸爸 or even 아빠 .
According to my dad, my foster mother lived in Cho Lon, and he'd had gotten the impression that I'd been born there. How he had gotten the impression that I had been born in Sài Gòn's Chinese district is still not clear. Given Dad's habit of revising of my adoption story, I can't be sure of anything. He's honed re-writing my history, including stories of Má into a fine art – mistress, wife, prostitute, dead, probably dead, possibly alive, unknown.
Ghost mother…voiceless mother…unreal mother
I wonder if she ever pictured me growing up in her mind. Did she see my face in other children, other daughters? If Má's alive, does she consider me as a ghost child? The thought of someone stripping away my substance feels demeaning, dehumanizing. I am here. I am real. I'm alive.
But Má and I have no way of knowing that about the other, do we? Some part of me knows I must except the possibility she tried her best to put me out of her mind. War and poverty can make people stretch their principles to the breaking point. Like my veteran adoptive father, perhaps she too, just wanted to forget the past – and me along with it. I understand this. I accept this. Experience has taught me that possibilities can become a burden of truth.
In the end, it's only for Má to say. Therein lies my dilemma as I "rewrite her into existence." Dad and I are both guilty of creating and re-creating Má at our own convenience. For dad, she was a tool for manipulation. For me, she was both a refuge and a whipping post for my rage. But Má is just Má, and I don't know who that is. What that means for me is that I must be willing to accept without passing judgment that all things are possible.
I can't judge on a possibility or even a probability. Who am I to judge anyway?
Chapter four of Jeanne Marie Laskas' book, "growing girls" is entitled "meeting the ghost-mother." After assessing the seeming malnourished condition of her newly adopted daughter, Laskas questions the treatment Sasha received at her orphanage. She goes on to write that she tried "to sympathize, to understand the ghost-mother and all the ghost nannies," but that "forgiveness was so far away now."
Laskas later goes on to describe Sasha's lack of responsiveness. She then expresses her feelings about there being "something wrong" with "our baby" going so far as to place blame on "those monsters." Who are the "monsters" she refers to? The ghost-nannies? The ghost mother? China as a society?
Surprisingly, I can sympathize with Laskas – not with her sentiments but with her seeming need to ask, "How could you let this happen?" I posed similar questions when thinking about my own situation, "What have you done? How could you?" But exactly who was I asking and upon whom could I rightfully place the blame? I sought to forgive Má, but who said I was in a position to forgive anyone?
That's the convenient thing about ghost people. Without substance, without an independent voice, they become whatever we need them to be. We can read stories of others in similar situations. We may even understand their circumstances on a personal level, but the results will more than likely be the same. Without all the things that make them equal in their humanity, they become little more than amorphous puppets.
We don't even have to feel guilty about it because without substance, they aren't real.
Ghost mother…my mother…Má
I can never rewrite or remake my mother as the person she was or might have become. The best I can do is place emphasis on the significance of her existence, hushing the voices of those who would presume to speak for her. The inner one is the hardest to quiet. It's the voice of longing – the need to have my questions answered, to know Má, to understand her, to love and be loved by her.
*The wisps of smoke hang suspended
before an alter that's still craving a face.
The empty picture frame holds nothing
but questions and laminated adoption documents
The need to fill a void can be overwhelming when dealing with so many significant unknowns. It has stretched my imagination to its limits, but I refuse to repeat the mistake Dad and I previously made. The emptiness isn't for me or anyone to fill. It's a space reserved only for Má no matter what that may mean.
*exerpts from The Feast of First Mourning.


text:
David Bergstein vs. David Molner
I had an exclusive phone interview with former Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley and when I asked him what he knew about Bergstein vs Molner this is what he said:
"From what I know and I know quite a bit, David Bergstein has been victimized in a multitude of ways and I'm happy to help advance his cause, it's very just and I admire the fact that he has shown the strength of character and commitment to respond to his litigation opponents and others who have tried to do him so much harm. Genuine admiration for someone who had to fight some very serious battles on many fronts"
During my exclusive interview with David Bergstein the following article, the first in a series, represent what I learned.
The ongoing legal battle between David Bergstein and David Molner has recently heated up with a string of legal victories for Bergstein and his affiliates. Bergstein's recent legal wins span state and federal courts in New York and California. Desperate after 3 years and an estimated more than $20 million spent with nothing but mounting losses to show for the effort, Molner and his co-conspirators have proven the adage that desperate times call for desperate measures. Unable to win in the courtroom, Molner and crew have apparently joined in an effort to extort Bergstein and embarrass, pressure and perhaps extort the Federal Judge who is now ruling against them and dismissing all of their lawsuits. This is consistent with Molner's overall plan to use the media to achieve his goals.
Although Bergstein faces even greater pressures as the victim of an extortion campaign led by Molner and his accomplices (details in the complaint filed by Bergstein in May, case #BC508916,) Bergstein told us that he welcomes these developments because they will hopefully finally bring to the light of day the conduct of Molner and his associates.
Molner's Attacks On David Bergstein
Beginning in early 2010, Molner and entities with which he is affiliated (including Aramid Entertainment Fund Limited and Screen Capital International Corp.) filed scores of litigation around the world against David Bergstein and his affiliates. These actions include the initiation of five involuntary bankruptcy proceedings in Los Angeles against Bergstein-affiliated entities, well over 50 separate adversary proceedings in the bankruptcy court against Bergstein and his affiliates, as well as lawsuits in New York and California State and Federal court. In fact, Molner and his affiliates have brought more than 100 actions around the world against Bergstein and related parties in just the past few years.
Molner pursued litigation against Bergstein as part of a multi-prong attack designed to destroy him and cover up Molner's own wrongdoing. Molner's plan was to deliver a knock-out blow, a "shock and awe" onslaught of litigation and negative press so overwhelming that Bergstein could never recover from the cumulative effect. Molner's assault was designed to not just win in the Courtroom but rather to isolate Bergstein from his friends and family and ensure that he did not just go down, but stayed there. The plan included efforts by Molner to create criminal charges or incarcerate David Bergstein.
Molner waged this war against Bergstein using money from investors in the Aramid Fund. It is estimated that he has spent the staggering sum of more than $20 million of investor funds on his war against Bergstein. This money has been spent paying lawyers, on press and even spending millions on purchasing claims from third parties so that he could file as many lawsuits against David Bergstein as possible. Remarkably, it appears as if Aramid never had any of its own legitimate claims against Bergstein or his affiliated entities – they were all just made up or bought from third parties. A review of the volume of lawsuits initiated by Molner reveals that soaking wet, the most that Molner can muster of Aramid's actual claims are claims for approximately $5 million.
Bergstein denies that Aramid is owed any money – pointing among other things, to a release and settlement agreement Aramid signed in 2009 settling all claims against Bergstein in exchange for $3 million (which was paid in full). Molner, however, needed to pin tens of millions of dollars on Bergstein to conceal his own malfeasance. Molner, who is the subject of a lawsuit brought by two of the largest investors in the Aramid Fund, is alleged to have looted or mismanaged in excess of $60 million from the Fund (aside from the tens of millions he has spent as part of his jihad against Bergstein.) Molner even appears to have paid to commission a phony audit report to support the scheme where the auditor reported that Bergstein and his affiliates not only owed $45 Million to Aramid, but that this amount was going to be collected. Using Aramid Funds, Molner paid another law firm a reported $1 Million to tell the investors that he did not do anything wrong.
Why go to all this trouble?
Why would Molner spend more than $20 Million and engage in such an elaborate plan against David Bergstein? Molner's plot was to pin the losses on a scapegoat and then bury his problems with Bergstein's corpse.
Aramid's corporate structure and Cayman Islands base gave Molner complete control over Aramid's investment operations without any meaningful oversight. A Cayman Islands structure such as the one used by Molner is often setup for the very purpose it appears to have been used here – to raise money from US investors and avoid both SEC and other regulations. In August 2010 (6 months after Molner's litigation campaign against Bergstein began), an Aramid director began to investigate potential wrongdoing by Molner. The director produced a report detailing Molner's theft of an estimated $60 million from Aramid – giving light to what was motivating Molner to attack Bergstein so inexplicably. Beginning in at least 2007, Molner looted over $60 million from Aramid's investment operations. For example, Molner made loans to himself which he forgave on behalf of the Aramid Fund, took ownership in investments made by the fund at the funds expense, took kickbacks on deals, and engaged in a series of illegal activities. Aramid's investors were kept in the dark about Molner's activities and true financial condition. A subsequent investigation shows that the legitimate investments made by the Aramid Fund under Molner's control were failing and that Aramid was suffering significant losses. Despite this, Molner reported glowing results to the Aramid Investors.
The allegations against Molner are reminiscent of Bernie Madoff. While the looting and losses were taking place, Molner was also out there trying to raise a new fund on the purported success of the Aramid Fund. However, by the end of 2008, nearly 100% of the Aramid Investors demanded a return of their capital, but Molner was unable and unwilling to honor the demands. Molner refused to allow his investors any access to Aramid's financials or other corporate documents. For good reason.
By the end of 2009 (and even for years afterwards), Aramid was not able to obtain an audit, its auditors citing Molner's failure to write off bad assets. After struggling to come up with a legitimate reason for denying his investors proper access to financial records, Molner devised and hatched his plan calculated to solve his woes. In 2009, amidst of growing pressure from his investors to provide transparency, desperate to cover up his wrongdoing, Molner searched for an adversary upon whom he could blame Aramid's losses. Molner ultimately focused on Bergstein – a choice that Bergstein's former General Counsel turned double agent traitor Susan Tregub (discussed herein) recently admitted was made by Molner attorney Schuyler Moore of the prominent law firm of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP. Moore was even quoted in the press as admitting that his patron's goal (and apparently his own idea) was to do anything and everything they could to destroy Bergstein on all fronts.
Molner and his lawyers devised a plan designed to shift attention away from Molner and blame Aramid's losses on Bergstein. Initially, Molner approached Bergstein and encouraged him to be a willing participant in the plan. Molner gave Bergstein a plan he called the "Global Deal." The "Global Deal" called for Bergstein to accept responsibility for $75 million in Aramid losses that were actually Molner's fault. Molner's "Global Deal" called for Bergstein to purchase $75 million in bad investments which the Fund made so that Molner would not have to simply write them off and explain them to his investors. Molner explained to Bergstein that he could either cooperate and make it easy on himself or decline and face the consequences. Molner and his lawyers believed it would be credible to Aramid's investors to attack Bergstein in this manner because Bergstein had done significant business with Aramid and Molner believed certain Bergstein-affiliated entities were having financial difficulties at the time. The assault on Bergstein included the commencement of involuntary bankruptcy proceedings and other litigation.
Molner Recruits And Exploits David Bergstein's Lawyer
The lynchpin of Molner's attack on Bergstein involved Molner's recruitment of Susan Tregub, who was Bergstein's general counsel and had been for many years. Tregub worked for Bergstein through March 2010 and had access to all of Bergstein's personal, privileged, and confidential information of Bergstein, his family and his affiliated entities. Tregub oversaw the creation and inner workings of many of Bergstein's affiliated entities.
Molner aggressively recruited Tregub. Molner knew Tregub because of his prior business relationship with Bergstein and because Tregub was overseeing ongoing litigation between Bergstein and Aramid. In mid-2009, while Tregub continued to handle all of Bergstein's matters, including the then ongoing litigation with Aramid, Molner hired Tregub to work for Aramid.
Soon after Molner recruited Tregub, she began to work for Molner in furtherance of Molner's plan to destroy Bergstein and pin Aramid's losses on him. Molner enticed Tregub by paying her and ultimately seduced her into an intimate physical relationship – all with the goal of securing her allegiance.
Molner and his lawyers used Tregub to work as a mole inside of Bergstein's organization.
Molner's plan was to separate Bergstein from his funding sources, compromise him in his existing litigations, have him smeared in the press, alienate him from his family, and render him ostracized and unable to defend himself. Evidence obtained and information recently provided by Tregub to Bergstein recently explained that this was to be executed by Molner by filing a series of carefully planned lawsuits filed by Molner and hiring a member of the trade press to destroy Bergstein's credibility.
Tregub worked closely with Aramid's litigation and bankruptcy lawyers on the planned litigation and bankruptcy filings against Bergstein and his affiliated entities. Molner ordered Tregub to deliver all of Bergstein's information going back ten years. While continuing to represent Bergstein including in matters against Aramid, Tregub delivered the most personal of information and provided detailed information and reports as to how Bergstein conducted his business.
Additionally, Tregub actively solicited parties with whom Bergstein conducted business to join Molner's efforts. Tregub, at Molner's direction and in coordination with the other members of his team then systematically contacted anyone they could find in Bergstein's rolodex and that they thought might be tempted into Molner's scheme.
Tregub, at the direction of Molner and his other lawyers, also removed original files from Bergstein's offices and permanently deleted information from her computer and from Bergstein's servers. Tregub also enlisted the help of others within Bergstein's organization who were loyal to Tregub to help with her and Molner's plans.
Tregub also worked to execute Molner's plan by compromising Bergstein's position in ongoing litigation where she was his lawyer. For instance, in a case in which Bergstein and one of his affiliated entities were sued, Tregub answered on the entity's behalf but not on Bergstein's behalf. She also dismissed Bergstein's and the entity's claims without Bergstein's knowledge or consent. The result was a judgment against Bergstein in the amount of $900,000. The judgment against Bergstein was dismissed after these facts came to light. Hayes Michael of Baker Hofstadter represented the opposing party and worked with Tregub to engineer the loss. After Molner, Michael and Tregub masterminded throwing the case to create a judgment against David Bergstein, Molner went on to pay Michael to represent Tregub. Documents confirm that Michael was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by Aramid.
At the direction of Molner, Tregub attempted to arrange Bergstein's incarceration in civil court proceeding where she was representing Bergstein as well as through other means. Tregub also arranged to create judgments against Bergstein-affiliated entities that were later acquired by Aramid in connection with their filing of the involuntary bankruptcy proceedings. At Molner's direction, Tregub sought out parties which she calculated would be willing to make false creditor claims against Bergstein in exchange for money. Two parties came forward and provided sworn testimony. Aramid bought other claims for the express purpose of filing the involuntary bankruptcies. Aramid did not have any of its own legitimate claims against Bergstein so instead it went shopping to buy them. The scheme is not only bizarre and evidence of some ulterior motive by Molner, it is also illegal under Federal Bankruptcy law.
Molner Manipulates The Press To Harm Bergstein
Since the judgment against her, Tregub has now started to reveal some of the extent of her participation in Molner's scheme. She explained that Molner wanted to comb through David Bergstein's life to find people who would be particularly susceptible to Molner's advances. They targeted anyone who was desperate for money, had prior disputes with Bergstein, or exhibited weaknesses. Indeed Tregub has testified under oath that while she was working for Molner she was having mental issues and was being heavily medicated.
In seeking out the right press contact to participate in Molner's plan, Tregub recently informed Bergstein that Molner carefully selected Alex Ben Block. At that time, Ben Block was a freelance writer for The Hollywood Reporter.
According to Tregub, Molner believed that the negative press would build up industry support for Molner's activity and create negative sentiment towards Bergstein in advance of his planned litigation filings, which would sway the judges. Additionally, Tregub told Bergstein that Molner's view was that the judges had "low grade intellect" and could be easily swayed. Indeed, in email exchanges between David Neale (Molner's bankruptcy counsel) and others Neale stated that the judge assigned to the Bergstein involuntary cases "never reads anything" and Tregub stated that the judge would simply "look at [my] boobs and legs."
Bergstein's allegations seem to be supported by what followed. There appears to be no legitimate rhyme or reason to Ben Block's campaign against Bergstein. Beginning in February of 2010 (before the involuntary bankruptcies were filed), Ben Block wrote and The Hollywood Reporter published scores of articles that smear Bergstein and report as facts things that were factually untrue. In a February 2010 article, prior to the time of the involuntary filings against Bergstein, Molner scripted a story claiming that there were nearly 90 judgments against a Bergstein-affiliated entity, and that the entity had defaulted on a $70 million loan to Comerica Bank. The article was timed to cause maximum damage to Bergstein as it was published while Bergstein had a large contingent at the Berlin Film Festival there to license the company's extensive film rights. The article was conceived by Molner, scripted with Tregub, delivered to Ben Block and was designed to destroy Bergstein's ability to make sales at the Festival, as well as interfere with Bergstein's other ongoing business. Tregub also explained to Bergstein that this was the perfect time to begin the negative sentiment campaign that Molner was also putting into play in advance of the planned litigation filings. Email exchanges between Molner and Tregub that occurred the day before the article was published contain the discussions between them of the intended effect of the article. Indeed, the article was published the next day. This article also claimed that a Bergstein-affiliated entity did not have rights to films it was attempting to sell at an important industry film festival. None of it was true. Even cursory research would have proven that none of the reporting was even remotely accurate.
The article was not just false, it seemed to have been written with the goal of not merely reporting the news but rather smearing David Bergstein. The article, scripted by Molner for Ben Block and published by The Hollywood Reporter, had its intended effects on Bergstein, destroying the ability of Bergstein's team to sell films at the Festival. This article became the first of an onslaught of negative press initiated by Ben Block, often containing what appears to be knowingly false information.
In the 18 months following the February 2010 article, Ben Block wrote over 60 derogatory articles about Bergstein, time and again containing false or misleading information. Bergstein's numerous legal victories were ignored by Ben Block. Good news for David Bergstein, such as legal or business victories, were either ignored by Ben Block entirely or spun to sound negative. For example, Ben Block's coverage of the $50 million verdict rendered against Tregub was portrayed as a horrible loss for Bergstein that would result in terrible consequences.
In the Tregub litigation, Bergstein alleged that Ben Block was on Molner's payroll, and he told us that Tregub recently substantiated this allegation. Sworn testimony from another attorney involved in the scheme admitted that Ben Block was fixated with Bergstein. Ben Block also told Bergstein's lawyers he intended to sue Bergstein. Ordinarily, a reporter is protected by broad first amendment rights that prohibit them from being deposed. However, the presiding judge in the Tregub litigation ordered Ben Block to be deposed based on the extraordinarily large number of articles written by Ben Block about David Bergstein containing so much false information. The judge recognized that whether or not Ben Block was on the payroll, a reporter is not entitled to target a party based on malice and there was no rational explanation provided by Ben Block. During the deposition, Ben Block denied being on Molner's payroll, but had no explanation as to why he published so many negative articles about Bergstein and why he did not bother to fact check series allegations that were easily disproven. In fact, when questioned about how many articles Ben Block ever wrote about any person other than Bergstein, he answered "28" – those articles being about Harvey Weinstein (the actual number was 22.)
The recent article published by Ben Block seems to support Bergstein's allegations. Before publication of the most recent article, Ben Block had exchanges with Bergstein's attorney, Alex Weingarten. Weingarten provided Ben Block copies of a court order prohibiting the dissemination of the illegally recorded tapes and other evidence proving that they had been sealed. Weingarten was ignored and Ben Block published the article. Ben Block once again included facts in the article that he knew to be untrue, stating that a New Jersey court ordered the tapes released when he had already been provided evidence to the contrary.
David Bergstein Racks Up Wins And Molner Piles Up Losses In The Bankruptcy Proceedings
Beginning in March 2010, Molner made scandalous claims about Bergstein, representing to the bankruptcy court that this was "the Enron of the Entertainment Industry" and making claims of large scale investor fraud. Aramid and its attorneys were fully aware that all of the claims they were making were untrue and impossible to substantiate. Tregub explained to Bergstein that this was not important to Molner or his lawyers. Molner and his attorneys believed they would never have to prove anything because Bergstein would simply collapse under the immense pressure of public humiliation and the overwhelming amount of litigation. This was a realistic assumption given what was planned and based on the legal system. In the early stages of litigation, which can take years, a plaintiff who files a lawsuit does not have to prove anything. All they need are clever lawyers who can state a claim. Molner's plan was to delay having to prove anything until Bergstein collapsed. In fact, in the involuntary cases which were filed well over 3 years ago, Aramid is now only getting to the point where they have to come up with proof. Bergstein explained that is why they are now losing.
In 2013, Bergstein having unexpectedly surviving three years of Molner's onslaught, Molner was finally forced to back up his allegations in numerous adversary proceedings commenced by his affiliated entities in connection with lawsuits he filed around the country, including the involuntary bankruptcy proceedings. When forced to come forward with actual facts, Molner has repeatedly and consistently lost. Case after case which Molner brought against Bergstein and his affiliated entities ended up getting dismissed with prejudice, both in the bankruptcy and other courts.
Thus far, in those matters adjudicated to conclusion, both in the bankruptcy court and elsewhere, including in New York, Bergstein and his affiliates have been vindicated.
For instance, the $190 Million New York lawsuit which Molner and Aramid filed against Bergstein and his affiliates was dismissed. Aramid's subsequent appeal was denied. Thus far, Bergstein and his affiliates have obtained early complete victories in all eleven actions that have been decided this year in the Molner orchestrated involuntary bankruptcies. Specifically, the Court ruled in ten of these eleven actions that Molner had not even alleged sufficient facts to state any type of claim despite the numerous depositions taken in the bankruptcy proceedings and Molner's access to a mountain of Bergstein's business and financial records. Additionally, in all eleven actions, the bankruptcy court ruled that Aramid and its affiliated entities had released all of their claims against Bergstein and Bergstein affiliates through a contractual release entered into in 2009 under which Aramid was paid $3 million.
Molner Retaliates In An Attempt To Distract From The Mounting Bankruptcy Losses
Molner and Aramid are desperate to reverse the tide of debilitating losses in the bankruptcy court and otherwise distract from their flailing litigation efforts. As such, Molner has attempted to exploit another former Bergstein affiliate – Paul Parmar – by obtaining illegal recordings Parmar made of his conversations with Bergstein.
As Molner and his team searched for vulnerable targets of their recruitment efforts against Bergstein, they came upon Paul Parmar. According to public records, Parmar has judgments against him or is in default for over $50 Million. His house is in foreclosure and his fall from financial grace has even been chronicled by the New York Times. Tregub had admitted that in early 2010, she recommended that Molner work to recruit Parmar. Parmar initially informed Bergstein of these approaches, delivering to Bergstein copies of email solicitations from Molner and reports of their conversations. Parmar delivered to Bergstein a signed declaration detailing bribes which Molner offered to Parmar in exchange for his cooperation.
At that time, Parmar vowed to David Bergstein that he would not participate with Molner. However, at some point, Parmar yielded to Molner's bribes. Over the past several years, Molner conspired with Parmar to secretly record conversations Parmar had with Bergstein without Bergstein's knowledge or consent. Parmar and Bergstein had ongoing business and spoke frequently. Parmar later revealed that he recorded each and every conversation he had with Bergstein. Molner and Parmar had elaborate plans for use of the tapes, including extorting Bergstein and his business associates, entrapping Bergstein, and ultimately disclosing the recordings to the press.
In 2012, Parmar (with Molner's encouragement and assistance) threatened Bergstein with release of the secret recordings if David Bergstein did not pay millions of dollars. Specifically, Parmar approached Bergstein and demanded $5 million in exchange for the secretly recorded conversations. Parmar represented to Bergstein that no one had yet heard the tapes. By that time, as alleged in Bergstein's extortion complaint filed against Parmar and Molner in May of this year, Bergstein had already succumbed to Parmar's extortionate demands and paid millions on promises by Parmar that he would leave Bergstein alone. But, time and again, Parmar was back for more money. Bergstein realized that Parmar would never stop asking for money. Therefore, Bergstein finally refused to pay the $5 million demanded by Parmar.
After Bergstein refused to pay Parmar's extortionate demands, Parmar delivered the tapes to Aramid's lawyers purportedly in response to a subpoena Aramid's lawyer issued to Parmar. Bergstein later discovered that the subpoena was a ruse aimed at trying to insulate their illegal nature and that Parmar had already played the tapes to Molner. The subpoena process was simply another scheme to provide cover for the illegal recordings and extortion demands.
How Molner's lawyers learned about the tapes is not yet clear (did Parmar play them for the lawyers as well or was the information just relayed by Molner) but what is clear is that they were aware of their contents before Parmar had "produced" them. Foremost, Molner's lawyers knew that recordings of Parmar's conversations with Bergstein existed as they issued a subpoena to specifically obtain them. Moreover, before Parmar "produced" the tapes, Molner's lead litigation attorney, Daniel Rozansky of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP, slipped during Parmar's deposition and asked questions that proved that he had heard the tapes. Specifically, Rozansky asked Parmar whether he knew if Bergstein had ever spoken of a federal judge patronizing prostitutes or conducting surveillance on the judge. Under oath and penalty of perjury Parmar told Rozansky that this did not occur.
Accordingly, Molner and his lawyers already had access to Parmar's illegally recorded tapes before they were "produced" as part of the subterfuge created to shield themselves from the fact that the tapes were illegally recorded and were being used to extort Bergstein.
Tregub explained to Bergstein that the first tape they would release would be a portion of a recording whereby Bergstein was insulting a federal judge and that this would be followed by a demand from Parmar for the $5 Million. If Bergstein refused, Parmar would then play the second portion of the tape where Bergstein stated that he had a federal judge under surveillance. Molner and Parmar were certain that this would result in Bergstein paying the $5 Million, and would trigger an investigation. Parmar has released the first tape and reiterated his demand for the $5 million.
Tregub and a close confidant of hers told Bergstein and his attorneys that Molner played the contents of several of the tapes for Tregub back in July of 2012. Tregub explained that Parmar spent a considerable amount of time sorting through and editing the tapes, engaging a professional service to perform the work. Parmar carefully edited out key portions of the tapes to maximize their impact.
Tregub explained that in subsequent tapes that Parmar recorded, Bergstein told Parmar he was providing this misinformation to Parmar in order to see if Parmar would run back with this information to Molner. Around the time of the recordings, Parmar was constantly threatening David Bergstein that he would assist Molner in his efforts (and use his law enforcement contacts) if Bergstein did not help Parmar resolve Parmar's financial issues.
Parmar told Bergstein that he was in a desperate situation and would use all of his resources and say whatever he needed to say and do in order to motivate Bergstein. Parmar claimed to have a close affiliation with law enforcement, and claimed to be employed as part of a group to counter terrorism. In order to demonstrate this to Bergstein, Parmar identified a specific FBI agent in the Bay area of California and provided Bergstein with his contact information. In later 2010, shortly after providing the sworn declaration about Molner, Parmar reported to Bergstein that the particular FBI agent sent a contingent to Parmar's house as part of an investigation initiated pursuant to claims from Molner and the Trustee in the involuntary cases. Parmar told Bergstein that he told the agents the truth, and "vowed" for Bergstein, but that he could easily say whatever he wanted.
Parmar used the threat of exploiting his FBI relationship again and again, ultimately extracting millions from Bergstein. When Bergstein grew tired, Parmar flexed his muscle. In early 2012, Parmar told Bergstein that he was going to have the FBI Agent contact the VP of an International Investment Bank which was in litigation with Parmar over $24 Million which Parmar was in default on. Parmar told Bergstein that even through the Bank had done nothing wrong, he would be able to utilize his FBI relationship to muscle a result. Indeed, that is what happened. The VP of the bank provided sworn testimony detailing the call of the FBI Agent, who questioned the VP about the "potential wrongful conduct" of the Bank against Parmar. Pursuant to the Extortion case filed by Bergstein, Bergstein engaged a former US Marshall who contacted the FBI Agent which was identified and confirmed the calls made to the VP and the relationship with Parmar. However, the FBI Agent also stated that there was never any open investigation into the Bank. In addition, the Agent confirmed that Bergstein was never under investigation and that the interview which Parmar told Bergstein took place in 2010 in fact never took place.
At the time, Parmar continuously reminded David Bergstein about his ability to enlist his FBI contact at will. Parmar reminded Bergstein that his mortgage lender did nothing illegal, but that Parmar was still able get the FBI involved. Given what he had already endured at the hands of Molner, his cronies and others (like the bankruptcy trustee, also a former FBI agent who had taken Bergstein's confidential information improperly obtained from Tregub and reveled in making it public), combined with Parmar's claimed connections, Bergstein took the threat extremely seriously. Parmar promised Bergstein that if Bergstein solved Parmar's legal issues and paid him millions, that Parmar would remain loyal. On occasion, it seemed to Bergstein that Parmar was not being true to his word and it appeared to Bergstein that Parmar was working in the background with Molner. In order to see if this was the case, Bergstein provided several pieces of misinformation that he felt Molner would use if Parmar had actually given it to him. Two months after the recording posted on the Reporter was made, after one of Parmar's significant legal problems was solved by Bergstein, Parmar sent Bergstein several effusive emails pledging his allegiance, and repeatedly telling Bergstein that he would never have to worry. At that time, Bergstein told Parmar about the instances of misinformation he gave Parmar, including about the surveillance.
Parmar then explained to Bergstein that at the time, Parmar was indeed fishing on those calls for information and had planned to give that information to Molner if things did not work out, but that he actually never violated the confidence.
Last week, Parmar leaked a recording to the press in an attempt to embarrass David Bergstein, damage Bergstein in his ongoing litigation with Molner, and force Bergstein to pay additional money to Parmar. Specifically, Parmar leaked a portion of one of his secretly recorded conversations with Bergstein to The Hollywood Reporter in which Bergstein made negative comments about the personal affairs of the judge presiding over the involuntary bankruptcy proceedings. An article and a portion of the recording were subsequently published by The Hollywood Reporter.
Parmar repeatedly texted Bergstein and asked him if he was now ready to pay Immediately following The Hollywood Reporter's publication of the article and the posting of the portion of the tape. Similarly, Parmar's counsel contacted Bergstein's counsel and asked if we were ready to "settle." Bergstein understands that if he does not pay what Parmar is demanding, Parmar intends to leak more illegally obtained recordings. Parmar has made clear that there are more recordings and that unless he gets his price, he will release them.
Attached to the article, The Hollywood Reporter provided a link to the illegal recording, with full knowledge of the court order prohibiting their actions. Attorneys for Bergstein sent a demand to the service hosting the tape, demanding that the tape be taken down as it was a flagrant violation of California Penal Code section 632 and multiple Federal laws. Recognizing the illegal nature of the recordings and wanting to avoid liability itself, the service immediately took down the recording.
Before it was taken down, I listened to the recording several times. It sounded like it was a prank phone call that one could hear on a wacky morning radio program. Parmar was clearly fishing for information, asking questions with a contrived intonation and in an exaggerated manner. When asked about the veracity of the claims made on the tape, Bergstein explained that he was giving Parmar outlandish misinformation in order to see if it would be leaked to Molner. Bergstein also confirmed that shortly after this conversation, he told Parmar that he was telling tall tales to make sure that Parmar was true to his word and was not betraying Bergstein's confidence.
Bergstein Sues Molner And Parmar
David Bergstein sued Parmar and Molner for extortion in May 2013. That case is pending.
As is detailed in the extortion complaint, Parmar claimed to have strong ties with law enforcement. Although reports by Alex Ben Block and The Hollywood Reporter at the time mocked the allegations in this lawsuit, evidence presented by Bergstein confirms their veracity. Parmar allegedly used an FBI agent to help him muscle Bergstein and others in his disputes. Parmar frequently boasted that he was a counterterrorism asset used by Federal law enforcement officials and that as a result, he had extensive FBI connections that he could marshal at his whim. Parmar even had one of his supposed FBI connections attempt to intervene on his behalf when faced with his mortgage lender foreclosing on his house. Independent witnesses and investigation by reputable sources have corroborated that Parmar was able to have an FBI agent speak to his creditors and when the FBI agent in question was interviewed, he emphatically denied that Bergstein was ever an FBI target – despite Parmar's best efforts and threats to the contrary. In fact, the FBI agent in question explained emphatically, "David Bergstein has nothing to worry about when it comes to the FBI."
Molner's Problems Continue To Mount
No Bergstein investor has ever supported any of Molner's accusations. None have ever sued Bergstein for the outlandish claims being asserted and no bona fide creditors ever stepped forward in the involuntary bankruptcies engineered by Molner. Moreover, the records published in the involuntary bankruptcies indicate some $40 million of transfers by Bergstein or his affiliates into the entities that were put into companies dragged into bankruptcy by Molner. Bergstein filed proofs of claims for advances he made to the entities in bankruptcy in excess of $25 million. Aramid originally filed objections to Bergstein's claims in the bankruptcy but, when forced to substantiate its claims, dismissed them. In layman's terms, faced with a decision to put up or shut up, Aramid did the latter. Given that Aramid chose to voluntarily dismiss its claims, the only logical conclusion is that there was never any evidence to support what Aramid was claiming. It seems that there was never any basis for Molner's involuntary bankruptcies, it was nothing more than a fraud on the court.
Meanwhile, a Los Angeles jury found Tregub liable for more than $50 million in damages she caused to Bergstein through her work for and at the direction of Molner. Her conduct was so reprehensible that the jury awarded punitive damages against Tregub and an ethics expert, a former lead prosecutor for the California State Bar, testified that Tregub had committed the most egregious ethical violations she has seen in her 25 years of practice. Tregub herself is now in bankruptcy following the judgment against her.
Tregub and the other attorneys involved in Molner's scheme are currently being investigated by the California State Bar for ethics violations. Severe disciplinary action, including possible disbarment, is expected.
Molner promised the Aramid investors the instant collapse of Bergstein and recovery of the "missing money" immediately after the filing to the March 2010 litigation onslaught against Bergstein. However, Molner miscalculated. Eventually, Aramid's investors growing tired after years of hide-the-ball, started to learn of Molner's wrongdoing. As a result, Aramid's investors began to understand that Molner was falsely reporting Aramid's performance. They filed suit and the litigation, which is currently pending, followed. As he has done in the Bergstein case, Molner used the Aramid Fund's money to delay the prosecution of this case, but this has run its course. If tried, Molner will be forced to deliver the information and if the allegations are correct, Molner could face severe personal consequences.
As to Bergstein, Molner has been at this for more than 3 years now and has not been able to prove any of his outlandish claims. The cases brought are being thrown out of court and the losses keep mounting. The Trustee in the involuntary case faces losing over $4 Million invested in the Bankruptcy case. If Bergstein is successful, Molner, his lawyers and other parties who joined in Molner's scheme face losses and liability well over $100 Million. It appears as if Molner and his accomplices' only option at this point is to go down fighting, causing as much damage as they can in the desperate hope that he can sling enough mud and do enough damage in the hopes that Bergstein's resources will be exhausted and he will be left unable to defend himself.
David Bergstein noted that since he made the comments about the judge to Parmar over 18 months ago, the Judge has made a series of rulings against Bergstein, many particularly harsh, and has made derogatory statements about Bergstein personally in court.
Bergstein pointed out that although Molner had the tapes at least since July of 2012, that Molner has only now arranged for them to go public, and that he did so in violation of a court order. David Bergstein suggests that Molner found a way to disclose the contents of the tapes to the Judge when Molner first obtained them. A review of the decisions by the Judge reflects unusually harsh decisions against Bergstein which occurred following this date. The Judge's decisions included a ruling by him giving Molner the exclusive rights of the Trustee to sue whomever Molner decided to within bankruptcy. By this time, it was admitted by all parties that Aramid did not have a single original claim in any of the bankruptcy cases. Nonetheless, Molner was given the exclusive rights of the Trustee and able to stand in their shoes. Despite substantiation by Bergstein and others of claims against Molner and Aramid of over $50 Million and Bergstein's willingness to fund the litigation of the claims, the court threw them out and also fully released Molner and anyone who helped him. All of this in light of the fact that in the main involuntary cases, Bergstein, Tutor and their affiliates were in total over 80% of all the creditors and 100% of the secured creditors. The decision also gave Aramid 50% of any recovery for suits brought against anyone. That effectively meant that Molner was given the right to use Bergstein and Tutors' money to sue Bergstein and Tutor and then keep half of whatever was recovered.
Predictably Aramid used this power only to file suits against Bergstein or his affiliates – in total filing over 80 complaints within the bankruptcy proceedings. And all of this was done despite the fact that Aramid has already previously entered into an agreement whereby they were paid $3 Million and gave up their rights to sue Bergstein or any of his affiliates.
Bergstein suggests that Molner only now released the tapes because Molner's efforts were not successful, and that this was a last ditch attempt by Molner to try and get the judge to remove himself from the case by doing to him what Molner did to David Bergstein – making a spectacle of him.
Bergstein told us that he expects that the recent Hollywood Reporter article will almost certainly trigger a criminal investigation, and that he is relieved. Bergstein told us that any investigation will bring to the light of day what Molner and his accomplices have done not only to him, but to the Aramid investors who were victimized in the first place. Bergstein hopes that as investigation will once and for all level the playing field and put an end to all of this.
Given the situation and recent results, it is expected that Bergstein will sue Molner and his lawyers for malicious prosecution to hold them accountable for the damage they have caused. Molner has brought so many frivolous lawsuits against Bergstein and his affiliates (many of which have already been dismissed by Courts around the country) that it is only a matter of time before they will have to answer for what they have done.
The situation goes well beyond Bergstein. Molner's scheme is a gross perversion of the judicial system and he they can do it to Bergstein and get away with it, what is to stop anyone from doing something similar to anyone else?
The final quote I got from former Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley when I said it was not an easy task to defend oneself in our legal world was "Well the legal world or the journalistic world because of all the protections which are legitimate, you have litigation privilege which lets people say things in a court that are protected even though they may not be true, such is the nature of the beast, and then you have the first amendment which allows a broad range or discussions of issues and journalists and their institutions to report and we all understand that but at some point in time hopefully the truth will win out and has been wining out in the case of David Bergstein. David Bergstein's a client of mine and I'm very very proud to be at his side. I think his cause is just and I'm happy to be part of the team advancing his cause and I truly, genuinely, admire the strength he's shown in the face of some adversity including manipulation perhaps, of some people in the media by his litigation opponents."
Watch for more in the coming days and you can read my next installment at David Bergstein vs Molner
Published on Aug 28, 2013


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Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play smartphone will finally make it to O2 next month, the network operator said this week.
Originally due on 1 April, the Android-running game-centric handset was pulled by O2 at the eleventh hour after fail to pass the company's network-friendliness tests.
Other carriers went ahead and launched the phone, presumably satisfied with its performance.
Thanks to a series of firmware updates, the Play is now nearly ready for deployment on O2, blogged Stuart Hibberd, head of O2's testing team.
But he cautioned that the Play hasn't yet been certified by O2 and the smartphone will only debut on the network "if everything goes to plan". There are still bugs that are being worked on, he said, but said he is "confident that they will be fixed shortly". ®


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Many species exhibit cooperative survival strategies — for example, sharing food or alerting other individuals when a predator is nearby. However, there are almost always freeloaders in the population who will take advantage of cooperators. This can be seen even among microbes such as yeast, where "cheaters" consume food produced by their neighbors without contributing any of their own.
In light of this, evolutionary biologists have long wondered why cooperation remains a viable survival strategy, since there will always be others who cheat. Now, MIT physicists have found a possible answer to this question: Among yeast, cooperative members of the population actually have a better chance of survival than cheaters when a competing species is introduced into an environment.
This experimental setup, in which yeast must coexist with a bacterial competitor, more closely mimics natural environments, where species often have to compete with one another for scarce food and other resources.
"It's very difficult to study these things in the truly natural context," says Jeff Gore, an assistant professor of physics at MIT and senior author of the new study, which appears in the journal Molecular Systems Biology on Nov. 13. "These experiments can act as a bridge between single-species experiments and very complicated ecosystem dynamics that are out there."
Hasan Celiker, an MIT graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science, is the paper's lead author.
Cheaters do prosper, sometimes
Gore and Celiker studied a strain of yeast that relies on small sugars such as glucose and fructose for nourishment. When yeast cells are grown in a test tube containing sucrose, some secrete an enzyme that breaks the sucrose down into smaller sugars, most of which diffuse away and are available to any nearby yeast cell.
In 2009, Gore and colleagues published a study showing that in a stable population of these yeast, freeloaders dominate. Only 14 percent of the yeast cells cooperate by secreting metabolic enzymes, while the rest enjoy the bounty of others' work.
In the new study, the researchers wanted to bring their experimental system closer to the complexity of natural environments. "Our approach is to start with the most simple system you can," Gore says. "Then we'd like to try to understand these more complicated interactions between different species, so as a baby step in that direction, we added a bacterial competitor."
This bacterial competitor consumes much of the sugar produced by the cooperative yeast, and also competes for other resources, such as nutrients. After these bacteria were added, the percentage of cooperators in the yeast population increased to about 45 percent.
This isn't because the yeast "decide" to become more cooperative, as humans might when faced with an external threat, Gore says. It's determined purely by genetics. "That's the point of doing experiments with microbial populations: There should be a mechanism that we can understand," he says.
Extra competition
In this case, the researchers found two mechanisms at work. First, in the face of extra competition for sugars, the cooperators have a slight advantage over cheaters because they have slightly easier access to the sugar they produce themselves.
A related mechanism involves population density. When bacteria are present, the overall yeast population stays smaller and is forced to spread out more, making it harder for the freeloaders to find food.
"The cheater cells can really spread when there are a lot of other yeast, because there's a lot of sugar out there for them. If there aren't very many yeast, then it's challenging for cheaters to spread," Gore says.
The study represents an important step toward integrating interactions between species into scientists' understanding of the evolution of cooperation, says Michael Brockhurst, a professor of biology at the University of York.
"This suggests that the effects of species interactions on social traits in natural communities could be highly dynamic and complex, and thus provide an area ripe for future research," says Brockhurst, who was not part of the research team.
Though the experiment does not precisely replicate natural conditions, it does show that it is important to try to get as close to those conditions as possible, Gore says.
"If you just study something in isolation, such as yeast in a test tube, you might conclude that cooperation is very unstable," he says. "But if you look at these populations in the wild, where their densities are limited and they have to interact with all these other species, you might come to very different conclusions for how difficult it is for the cooperative behavior to survive."
In future studies, Gore hopes to add further complexity to the experimental microbial ecosystems, including varying the size of the yeast habitat.
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, a Pew Fellowship, a Foundational Questions in Evolutionary Biology grant, a Sloan Foundation Fellowship, and a Siebel Scholarship.
rod schleicher
November 14, 2012
Great study. Lets expand it to multiple factors, in varying cultures, with varying populations. Lets add virus' to
see what/how they interact. Also, different bacteria: to observe how they compete, as well.
As the differing experiments and the resultant different interactions are understood more clearly, lets expand to more varieties to study and catalog.
Keep us posted. Thanks for the research update.


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During the latest edition of Aero India 2013, Northrop Grumman will showcasing a full range of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance products this week.
"ISR capability is critical to effective homeland security and our leadership in multiple-domain ISR strongly positions Northrop Grumman to help create solutions for India's defense modernization," said Mary Petryszyn, vice president, International, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. "We are excited to offer our core capabilities to advancing Indian naval, military and homeland security priorities."
A major capability on show will be the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning system that couples newly designed electronically scanned radar with a matching suite of sensors, avionics, processors, software and displays, according to an official statement.
Northrop added that the backbone of the aircraft is the AN/APY-9 radar for more flexible target detection and tracking. The system will be demonstrated at the show by an E-2D Advanced Hawkeye crew workstation and flyable cockpit simulator.
Also on display will be the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft and the lighter-than-air Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle. Triton is a maritime version of the Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system. It can fly 24-hour missions at altitude of as much as 10 miles and can be used in conjunction with the P-8 Poseidon, which has been purchased by the Indian navy.


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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. manufacturing output bounced back in February in the latest signal of strength in an economy that is showing clear momentum despite the headwind from government austerity.
While other reports on Friday showed a surge in gasoline prices caused a spike in consumer inflation last month and eroded consumer sentiment in early March, the impact on the economy was likely to be limited and temporary.
"It appears that real economic growth is on an upswing," said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics in New York.
Factory production increased 0.8 percent last month after falling 0.3 percent in January, the Federal Reserve said. The gain was broad based and double what economists had expected.
The increase combined with a big rise in utilities' output to lead overall industrial production up by 0.7 percent, a good sign for first-quarter economic growth after activity stalled at the end of 2012.
Data ranging from employment to retail sales have suggested a limited hit on the economy from the end of a 2 percent payroll tax cut and higher tax rates for wealthy Americans, which went into effect at the start of the year.
Economists, who had already raised their first-quarter growth forecasts substantially this week, were further encouraged by the rise in factory output.
"It had seemed like the economy was going to be leaning primarily on the consumer and housing. We have another leg to stand on with manufacturing kicking in," said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
First-quarter GDP growth estimates currently range as high as a 3.0 percent annual rate. The economy grew at only a 0.1 percent pace in the fourth quarter.
Separately, the Labor Department said its Consumer Price Index increased 0.7 percent last month, the largest gain since June 2009, as the cost of gasoline spiked 9.1 percent. The CPI had been flat for the two previous months.
Gasoline accounted for about three quarters of the rise in consumer inflation in February, and so-called core prices, subtracting volatile food and energy costs, advanced just 0.2 percent, leaving the door open for the Federal Reserve to press ahead with its bond-buying stimulus.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected the CPI to advance 0.5 percent. In the 12 months through February, it was up 2 percent, the largest gain since October and an acceleration from January's 1.6 percent.
Core prices also increased 2 percent over the past 12 months, the largest gain since October. However, a separate inflation index the Fed - the U.S. central bank - follows more closely has been falling and hit a nearly two-year low in January.
"The way the data has been playing out, it gives them a free hand to be extremely aggressive to bring down unemployment," said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities in Stamford, Connecticut.
Fed officials meet next week to assess the economy and are widely expected to keep purchasing $85 billion in bonds per month to spur even stronger growth.
The dollar dropped from a seven-month high against a basket of currencies as the inflation data reinforced expectations the Fed would continue to pump money into the economy.
U.S. Treasury debt prices rose, while stocks dropped on corporate news, ending the Dow Jones industrial average's longest winning streak since 1996.
The rise in gasoline prices last month was the largest since June 2009 and snapped four straight months of declines.
The gasoline-driven spurt in inflation eroded household purchasing power, which could hurt spending. Average hourly earnings adjusted for inflation fell 0.6 percent in February, and were up only 0.1 percent compared with a year ago.
But relief is on the way as prices at the pump have declined in the past two weeks.
Expensive gasoline and tighter fiscal policy also weighed on consumer morale early this month. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level since December 2011.
Given the signs of strength in the economy, economists were little disturbed by the drop in sentiment, however.
"This drop in consumer sentiment was quite a surprise. I think these numbers will be revised higher later in the month, but consumer confidence remains fragile," said Terry Sheehan, an economist at Stone & McCarthy Research Associates in Princeton, New Jersey.
The data on industrial production further bolstered growth expectations.
The gain in manufacturing output reflected a big 1.2 percent jump in the production of long-lasting goods, with auto production up a sharp 3.6 percent after a 4.9 percent plunge in January.
Even though a separate report from the New York Federal Reserve Bank showed its "Empire State" general business conditions index slipped to 9.24 in March from 10.04 in February, economists were not too concerned.
"The Empire index has kicked off March manufacturing surveys on a fairly solid note, suggesting further growth in the manufacturing sector is in store, even if at a slightly less-stellar pace than had been indicated in February," said Gennadiy Goldberg, an economist at TD Securities in New York.
Additional reporting by Margaret Chadbourn in Washington and Richard Leong, Ellen Freilich and Leah Schnurr in New York; Writing by Lucia Mutikani and Tim Ahmann; Editing by Neil Stempleman and James Dalgleish


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Charity profile
Please visit the official CANSA Website here...
Purpose & Mission
The Cancer Association of South Africa's (CANSA's) purpose is to lead the fight against cancer in South Africa by offering a unique, integrated service to the public which involves holistic cancer care and support to all people affected by cancer. It's mission is to be the preferred non-profit leader that:
- enables research
- educates the public
- provides support to all people affected by cancer
Service Delivery
As a leading role-player in cancer research (R12 million spent annually), the scientific findings and knowledge gained from our research are used to realign our health programmes, as well as strengthen our watchdog role to the greater benefit of the public. CANSA has more than 350 staff, 5 000 volunteers and over 30 Care Centres countrywide and is thus well placed to deliver its service to most communities in South Africa.
CANSA's wide-reaching health programme includes screening and cancer control, a home away from home in the form of 12 CANSA Care Homes in the main metropolitan areas, plus one Hospitium, based in Polokwane, for out-of-town cancer patients undergoing cancer treatment. Furthermore, support is provided to children and their families who are affected by cancer - CANSA TLC lodging is provided for parents and guardians of children undergoing cancer treatment. CANSA Care Centres and Care Clinics offer specialist care and treatment (stoma | lymphoedema | wound care | medical equipment hire), individual counselling and support groups for cancer patients and their loved ones.
The CANSA Science & Resource Centre runs a toll-free information service during office hours: 0800 22 66 22 and co-ordinates CANSA's research projects. CANSA gives out free CancerCare Coping Kits (audio programmes) in multiple languages.
CANSA needs YOUR support in the Fight Against Cancer
You can help CANSA fight cancer by raising funds online via GivenGain. GivenGain enables you to make a donation to an existing online fundraising project that we have created, alternately, you can become a fundraising activist for one of our online fundraising projects and manage your own fundraiser for us. Your supporters will be able to make a secure online donation directly to CANSA. Make a stand against cancer and become a fundraising activist TODAY!
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While we truly appreciate your efforts to support CANSA, please note the following...
If you wish to sign up as Mo Bro or Sista & raise funds online for CANSA's Movember Campaign, you may only do so on the Movember Website and not via CANSA's online fundraising projects, on the GivenGain fundraising platform.
- Activist Pages created on the GivenGain platform in support of Movember, will be removed.
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