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The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned by the official harassment of investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova, who is being criminally investigated in Baku in apparent retaliation for her reporting on government corruption. Ismayilova works for the Azerbaijani service of the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Since Tuesday, Ismayilova has been repeatedly questioned by the Serious Crimes Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General's Office in Baku, which has accused her of having divulged state secrets in a Facebook post that included a photo of a scanned document reportedly issued by the Azerbaijani security service, the MNB, according to news reports. The document alleges the recruitment of an Azerbaijani opposition activist as an MNB informant. Ismayilova, who redacted the name of the purported recruit before publishing the document, said on Facebook that she had been given the document by a former MNB employee.
Ismayilova has been banned from leaving Baku without informing the authorities. She has not signed an actual physical travel ban, and she has not yet been formally charged, she told CPJ today. If convicted of publishing state secrets, Ismayilova could face up to seven years in prison.
This latest government action against Ismayilova follows a smear campaign in the state-controlled media. On February 12, the pro-government website Haqqin published an article calling Ismayilova a US agent and alleging that the journalist had told U.S. congressional staffers visiting Baku in January about Azerbaijani opposition activists allegedly contracted as informants by the MNB.
Both Ismayilova and the U.S. Embassy in Baku denied the claims. But other pro-government media quickly republished the Haqqin article, thus amplifying the accusations against the journalist. Ismayilova told CPJ that the last two interrogations at the Prosecutor General's Office were about the purported dinner meeting she had with U.S. congressional staffers. "We have information that you delivered state secrets to foreigners," she said her interrogators told her.
On Wednesday, Ismayilova posted a note on Facebook, called "If I get arrested," which lists several of her recent journalistic investigations. The note said: "If/When I get arrested, I want you to make sure that your audience understand the reason. Anti-corruption investigations are the reason of my arrest. The government is not comfortable with what I am doing. I am about to finish three investigations. I will make sure to finish them before anything happens. If not, my editors and colleagues will finish and publish [them]."
"This despicable campaign to silence Khadija Ismayilova must stop at once," CPJ Europe and Central Asia Programme Coordinator Nina Ognianova said. "Officials are using pro-government media in yet another cowardly attempt to stop a brave, independent journalist from doing her job. We call on the government of President Ilham Aliyev to cease this harassment."
Ismayilova is no stranger to government-sponsored persecution. In March 2012, she was subjected to a campaign intended to intimidate her into stopping her investigation into Aliyev's family's alleged interests in lucrative construction projects in Baku ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest. She received anonymous threats, warning her to stop her work or face consequences. When she did not, a video of a personal nature, purportedly depicting her, was posted online, and the pro-government media published articles calling her "immoral" and "corrupt."
Another wave of harassment started in April 2013 and continued through the year, with videos secretly recorded in the journalist's apartment being posted online. The state-controlled media kept posting links to them, with the apparent intent to harass Ismayilova. The journalist continued her independent reporting.

subset: commoncrawl


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It's time for the next installment of What's Baking?. This time around the theme is pumpkin or squash (appropo, no?).
I love these sugar cookies!! They're pillowy soft and so chewy and delicious. A hint of pumpkin, a hint of spice and sugar all rolled together with a thin layer of spiced glaze.
They were very easy to make and have stayed perfect in an airtight container for a few days. I froze half of the dough so that I can make them again soon.
Pumpkin Sugar Cookies with Spiced Glaze
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/2 cup more for topping
- 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 4 cups AP flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 3 cups confectioners sugar
- 4 tbsp almond coconut milk
- 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- Pre-heat oven to 350F.
- Prepare cookie shee(s) with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl put the butter, oil, pumpkin, and eggs. Mix until well combined and smooth.
- In a small bowl combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk well to combine and break up any lumps.
- Add 1/4 of the dry ingredients to the wet. Mix to combine, scraping down any on the sides of the bowl. Repeat until everything's combined.
- Spoon large 1 tbsp mounds of the dough onto the prepared cookie sheet, 2 inches apart.
- Place the additional 1/2 cup sugar on a deep plate.
- Using the bottom of a glass dipped in the sugar, flatten each cookie round to 1/2 inch, dipping the glass into the sugar before each cookie.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes. They will not brown.
- Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes then transfer to cooling racks with waxed paper or foil underneath.
- Mix the glaze. Spoon about 1 tsp over each cookie.
- Allow glaze to harden.
Adapted from wishesndishes.com


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Samantha Final - Hi Res
To download, be sure to open the image to the largest available size before saving - click on the image, then click the icon below it to the right which looks like nested boxes, then select the largest size available. Right click (or cmd click) and "save as". If you don't open them to full size *before* downloading, they won't be high-resolution enough to print.Read More


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Davies, Joseph Edward
Davies, Joseph Edward dā´vēz [key], 1876–1958, American diplomat, b. Watertown, Wis. Admitted to the bar in 1901, he was commissioner of corporations (1913–15) and chairman (1915–16) of the Federal Trade Commission, before serving (1919) as President Wilson's economic adviser at the Paris Peace Conference. He later served as ambassador to the USSR (1937–38), ambassador to Belgium (1938–40), and special assistant (1940) to Secretary of State Cordell Hull. During World War II, Davies was (1942–46) chairman of the President's War Relief Control Board. In 1945 he attended the Potsdam Conference. His book, Mission to Moscow (1941), gave a favorable picture of the USSR.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: U.S. History: Biographies


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There were lot of brutal albums that came out this year, from just about all forms of Extreme Metal. I knew by June that it'd be difficult to chose just one. It was so bad that I even put out an Instagram poll – in which just one person voted…which is why this year's Album Of The Year…is actually a tie. One of these two is a record I had already reviewed over the summer, and the other one is a record that took me by surprise, not because I didn't expect this one in particular to be any good – oh I did! – but the increase in songwriting quality and atmosphere absolutely blew me the fuck away. So let's get started:
Municipal Waste – Slime And Punishment
I reviewed this record back in August, by which point it had been out for a few months. Here's the link:
But in short, Municipal Waste are BACK. Five years away plus the addition of additional guitarist Nick Poulos to beef up their sound, did the band way more good that I ever expected. The album sounds fresh compared their previous albums, 2009's Massive Aggressive and especially 2012's The Fatal Feast, a seeming desperate attempt by the band to be more of a Crossover act.
The songs are all perfectly quick and to the point, with the longest one clocking in at just over three minutes. The guitars are way beefier, and singer Tony Foresta found the perfect vocal approach, using the same high pitched scream he's used for the last few Iron Reagan albums. Bottom like: With Slime And Punishment, Municipal Waste found a formula that absolutely works for them, one that's focused yet reckless at the same time. Let's just hope they keep this for a bit, eh?
Key Tracks: Breathe Grease, Enjoy The Night, Shrednecks, Parole Violators, Poison The Preacher, Under The Waste Command, Think Fast
The Black Dahlia Murder – Nightbringers
The other album that blew me away. I was dead set on making the Municipal Waste record my album of the year until this past October. The Black Dahlia Murder went through a possibly band shattering change two years ago when lead guitar Ryan Knight left the band just a month after the release of Abysmal and after four albums with the band. As far as I'm concerned, Ryan's playing is what turned The Black Dahlia Murder into a full fledged Death Metal band. In his place they hired Brandon Ellis of Arsis, marking the second time the band has poached anyone from Arsis – which is fine because Arsis are absolutely fucking BORING. I never thought technical guitars with a black metal vocal could get so stale so fucking fast!
When I heard the band were releasing a new album I expected it to be good, until I heard this:
Oh fuck! I knew the band were Carcass disciples but I've never heard Trevor Strnad sound so much like Jeff Walker until this moment. Same with the music, it honestly sounds like the band's best interpretation of Carcass during their early 90's peak. A lot of the credit here goes to guitarist Brian Esbach, the only other remaining original member of the band, for seemingly NEVER forgetting where he came from and NEVER straying away from what has essentially become his signature songwriting style. You can hear any song from the band and know instantly who you're listening too.
As mentioned earlier, BDM are essentially disciples of the old school and Nightbringers, at times, is without question equal parts Carcass and even Domination-era Morbid Angel – and if you've read this blog in the past you know I love that album! Tracks such as "Matriarch", "Widowmaker", "Of God And Serpent, Of Spectre And Snake", "Catacomb Hecatomb", "As Good As Dead", are absolute balls to the wall musical masterpieces that, while calling on the band's obvious musical influences, enhance the band's own signature style, one that seems to easily convey every single negative emotion I could think of. I own every single BDM album going back to Unhallowed and that album was THE last time the band made me feel every negative emotion I knew of. That was fourteen years ago, by the way.
I love reading the lyrics sheets to these albums. Trevor Strnad's lyrics at times are either straight out sadistic and very Poe-ish. Take for example these lines from "Kings Of The Nightworld": Enshrouded in ebony mystery/Blacker than the darkest pitch/A bond of blood to death an drek/Seeking to defile everything which bears his name we will/Destroy you all the same sucking each vein we shall corrupt and dismantle/waging a war without end until/The head of the one fettered Christ doth sate/Our lust for revenge…". Trevor never seems to run out of inspiration from the dark side.
So why was this a tie along with 'Waste for Album Of The Year? Consistency. They never strayed to far from what works; they also have a unique signature sound that can reach out to more people than most modern Death Metal bands today. It's the reason why Nightbringers was the biggest pre-ordered album in the history of Metal Blade Records. It's the reason it's a tie for my Album Of The Year.
Key Tracks: Of God And Serpant, Of Spectre And Snake; Matriarch; Jars; Kings Of The Nightworld; As Good As Dead; The Lonely Deceased
Honorable Mention
Morbid Angel – Kingdoms Disdained
Speaking of Morbid Angel! I want to make it clear right now – if this came out earlier than it did it would've easily knocked off both 'Waste and Black Dahlia for Album Of The Year without me hesitating. But I couldn't write this post without mentioning Kingdoms Disdained. This is literally THE record no one saw coming regardless of how excited people were to hear Steve Tucker rejoined the band nearly three years ago.
I actually wrote an article on the situation at the time, debating whether David Vincent or Trey Azagthoth himself were to blame for that last pile of shit Morbid Angel released an it could've gone either way. Yeah, David is now a completely different person, but apparently Try is actually into techno. But with David's departure, as well as the release of this track, it's easy to see who wasn't to blame after all:
Oh yeah. This right out the gate reminded me of something off Covenant…but with Steve on vocals instead of David. It's absolutely brutal from beginning to end, chock full of polyrhythms, time signature changes, and the single most angry performance I've ever heard from Steve Tucker as a vocalist. Sounds to me like he felt the need to make a statement after being gone for twelve years!
Another great addition to the band is new drummer Scott Fuller. On tracks such as "For No Master", "Paradigms Warped", and "Architect And Iconoclast", Scott shows that not only can he channel the legendary Pete Sandoval's double bass expertise, but he also has his own feel and style. That's important because…there's only ONE Pete Sandoval. Back behind the controls for this one as former Morbid Angel and current Hate Eternal guitarist Erik Rutan. I wonder if he was intentionally trying to give Morbid as much of a bare bones sound as possible because this doesn't sound like any of the other bands he's produced over the years.
What I'm thrilled about most, as I'm sure most fans are, is hearing Trey rip it up in a way we haven't heard in a long ass time. His solos remind me of the late Jeff Hanneman's at times, always have. Oh yeah, there's structure. But in that structure is so much dissonance and chaos, yet it all fits perfectly every single time. Not many guitarists can pull that one off. As one of my Instagram followers put it recently "thank fuck they are back!". And more so than even 'Waste, lets hope they keep this up!
Key tracks: Piles Of Little Arms, For No Master, Architect And Iconoclast, From The Hand Of Kings
Don't' forget to follow me on Instagram And Facebook:


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Billy Graham.Add to Cart Add to Lightbox Download
12 March 2006. New Orleans, Louisiana.
Praising the Lord. A capacity crowd mingles with counselors in front of the pulpit at the last appearance from the Rev Billy Graham. Claiming this to be his last event preaching from the pulpit, the world's most famous evangelist, The Reverend Billy Graham addressed a capacity crowd at the New Orleans Arena as he brings his 'Celebration of Hope' weekend event to an end. After the show the counselors invite as many people as possible to invite Jesus into their hearts to be 'saved.' Proselytizing is intense. Counselor Rebecca Phillips gets down on her knees to sign up 9 yr old Virginia Guichard as her father Kenneth looks on.
Photo©; Charlie Varley/varleypix.com
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- Charlie Varley http://www.varleypix.com/
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new orleans louisiana orleans rebecca phillips phillips virginia guichard guichard kenneth america americana usa united states arena new orleans arena stadium billy graham graham reverend rev crusade crusader evangelist evangelical preach preacher preaching christian radical christianity radicalism christian right scripture religion god jesus godly holy unholy famous infamous celebrate celebration of hope celebration hope christians crowd crowds pray raise hands lord praise the lord praise god fanatical salute fanatics worship worshipers congregation bible proselytize proselytizing convert converting converts conversion saved savior
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- 12mar06-Billy Graham NOLA


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You've heard about Flat Stanley and Carmen Santiago? So, let's play . . . errant ferry, Staten Island ferry (SIf) in particular. We've seen a SIF here, here, and here . .. so thanks to Birk Thomas, enjoy these new installments. Where is this?
Well . . . the location is the Chesapeake, and the answer is not really that vessel had chosen to go way offcourse; rather, it's that maintenance is done in Norfolk, the result of bidding, I suppose. And that's Colleen McAllister doing the tow. No matter how capacious the SIf's appear when you are onboard, they seem to shrink
when juxtaposed with other traffic in the sixth boro. Thanks to John Watson for this foto of a busy harbor; foreground ACL is unidentified and the cruise ship is Crystal Serenity.
Thanks to Birk and John. And now, I'm heading out to get re-acquainted with the sixth boro myself. Remember . . . to vote for Pegasus/79 daily AND if you see an errant SIf, please snap a foto or several.


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Ulster Unionism
From Conservapedia
Ulster Unionism is a political term used to describe the proportion of the population of Northern Ireland (which encompasses most of Ulster, hence the name) who wish to maintain the union between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Unionism is opposed to unification of the island of Ireland as one national entity. The overwhelming majority of Ulster Unionists tend to be Protestant, and similarly the overwhelming majority of Nationalists (that proportion of Northern Ireland who want closer ties with the Irish Republic) tend to be Roman Catholic.


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With only 1% of the vote in, CNN has declared President Barack Obama the winner of the 2012 election.
Wolf Blitzer and the crack CNN election team barely finished their morning coffee when Wolf Blitzer told the American peoplem "Barack Obama has won the election. There's no need for anyone else to vote."
This is the first time CNN has declared a winner BEFORE the polls even open, but "we are now incorporating mind readers at CNN and we know how people will vote today," said a CNN executive. In addition, CNN is using "Entrance Polls" to help persuade voters to cast their vote for Barack Obama.
"We have done everything we can to help re-elect the President and by calling the election this early, we hope that this will discourage a lot of Romney voters from going to the polls. Even if Romney wins a state, we are planning on calling it for Barack Obama. That's how much we believe in the President," Blitzer reportedly told WWN.
CNN did make one mistake already today. They called Florida for… Al Gore.
President Obama went over to CNN offices to help the network handle coverage of his victory. CNN staffers enthusiastically greeted the president this morning.
CNN's Candy Crowley gave a speech to the office staff. She was thrilled that the President was victorious. The President gave her a big hug and thanked her again for helping him in the second debate.
While the "Presidential results" show GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney winning the popular vote 55-43 percent, the chart shows President Obama winning the election with 280 electoral votes to Romney's 257.
While MSNBC may be excited to proclaim Obama's victory, the network may want to wait until the votes are counted.
In other news, Joe Biden proudly announced this morning that he voted for Bill Clinton. "He deserves another term."


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Nikki Sixx is one of the most active artists there is. Apart from doing the Motley Crue shows, he does Sixx A.M., he does photography, he has a presence on social media and he does his radio show. Somewhere in between he finds time to also be a family man.
A few days ago, his mother passed away, and from that tragedy, it got me to go back and listen to the music that Nikki Sixx has created.
Dancing On Glass (1987) from Girls, Girls, Girls
Going way too fast
Gonna burn and crash
Valentine's in London
Found me in the trash
I'm no puppet
I engrave my veins with style
It is the Mick Mars guitar riff that hooked me first, using the renowned devil tri-tone. It's rock 'n' evil and it's Nikki's memoir to his heroin addiction. Life Is Beautiful (2007) from The Heroin Diaries by Sixx A.M. goes a step better (plus the chorus line gives a nice nod to Duran's Duran's Come Undone).
There's nothing like a funeral to make you feel alive
How true is that? We complain about our life, sometimes even wishing that we are dead and then when tragedy strikes, we realise how alive we really are.
Find Myself (1997) from Generation Swine and Heart Failure (2007) from The Heroin Diaries from Sixx A.M. explore the addictions of Nikki Sixx with lyrics like "I gotta find myself some drugs, I gotta find some liquid sunshine" and "I miss today I miss the past, I miss my veins 'cause they've collapsed."
However the best song that captures Nikki's addiction is Girl With Golden Eyes (2007) from The Heroin Diaries by Sixx A.M.
She speaks to me in Persian
Tells me that she loves me
The girl with golden eyes
And though I hardly know her
I let her in my veins
And trust her with my life
I love the heroin and girl romance analogy. Credit also goes to James Michael and DJ Ashba.
On With The Show (1981) from Too Fast For Love
Frankie died just the other night
Some say it was suicide
Nikki has gone on record to say that On With The Show is about him leaving his birth name behind and taking on the Nikki Sixx name. The reference to Frankie is a reference to himself.
Dr Feelgood (1989) from Dr Feelgood
Cops on the corner always ignore
Somebody's getting paid
Jimmy's got it wired, law's for hire
Got it made in the shade
It's a movie scene. It paints a picture. It's Scarface and Jimmy is Al Pacino. Music done right is timeless. Dr Feelgood is timeless and it is Nikki Sixx at his sober best for the first time.
Primal Scream (1991) from Decade Of Decadence
Broke dick dog
My head slung low
Tail knocked in the dirt
Time and time of being told
Trash is all I'm worth
Primal Scream was rewritten again as Face Down In The Dirt (2008) from Saints Of Los Angeles.
All I ever heard as a kid was "you're born to lose"
All I ever wanted was a shot at breakin' the rules
Stick To Your Guns (1981) from Too Fast For Love is the original Primal Scream.
You got to stick to your guns
What's right for you, ain't right for everyone
What's It Gonna Take (2008) from Saints Of Los Angeles
So we wrote another song cut a demo on a dime
They didn't like the sound, we didn't fit the times
The radio station said "it's way too loud"
I really like the autobiographical nature of songs. Down At The Whisky (2008) from Saints Of Los Angeles covers the same theme of the band trying to make it.
We slept all day in our clothes
That's OK in hollywood
Another shot, another show
All night long at the whisky a-go-go
Poison Apples (1994) from Motley Crue
Took a Greyhound Bus down to Heartattack and Vine with a fistful of dreams and dimes
So far out didn't know that I was in
Had a taste for a life of slime
When push came to shove, the music was the drug and the band always got to play
Sex, smack, rock, roll, mainline, overdose
Man, we lived it night and day
Poison Apples and Danger also tell the story of the band's early days.
Danger (1983) from Shout At The Devil
So we took our dreams
Ran like hell
Lived our youth
From the wishing well
Me and the boys
Made a pack
To live or die
No turning back
Then the band finally gets signed and become slaves to the machine with a stiff middle finger raised at all authority.
Welcome To The Machine (2008) from Saints of Los Angeles
Welcome to the machine
Once it sucks you in you'll never leave
Grind you up spit you out
After all you're just a piece of meat
Welcome to the machine
Saints Of Los Angeles (2008) from Saints of Los Angeles
We are…we are the saints
We signed our life away
Doesn't matter what you think
We're gonna do it anyway
We are…we are the saints
One day you will confess
And Pray to the saints of Los Angeles.
Home Sweet Home (1985) from Theatre Of Pain
Just one more night
And I'm comin' off this
Long & winding road
Every band that spends a lot of time on the road ends up writing a song about the road. Bob Seger did it with Turn The Page, Bon Jovi did it with Wanted Dead or Alive, Motley Crue did it with Home Sweet Home and the unreleased track Rodeo from the Girls, Girls, Girls sessions.
Rodeo (1987) from Girls, Girls, Girls
Another day, another night on stage
Lights go down, time to turn the page
Was this all I ever wanted to be
Six hundred miles, the highway calls
Another long day, now the hours get small
Riding out this rock n roll rodeo
No accolade to Nikki Sixx would be complete without reference to his favourite topic, SEX.
Girls, Girls, Girls (1987) from Girls, Girls, Girls
I got the photos, a menage a trois
Ten Seconds To Love (1983) from Shout At The Devil
Bring a girlfriend
Maybe bring two I got my camera
Make a star outta you
Let's inject it
Photograph it
It's like Nikki new that Tommy Lee and Vince Neil would end up in their own sex tapes. That's what happens when you have keepsakes.
Punched In The Teeth By Love (2000) from New Tattoo
Construction work it's silicone
Lights are on but no one's home (wow)
She's painted blue like a cartoon
Every man in town went on the honeymoon
I really like the cartoonish vibe in this song. The lyrics are witty and funny. Was Nikki referencing Pamela Anderson.
THEN comes the new Holy Bible, Nikki Sixx style.
Wild Side (1987) from Girls, Girls, Girls is Save Our Souls part 2.
Kneel down ye sinners, to
Streetwise religion
Greed's been crowned the new King
Hollywood dream teens
Yesterday's trash queens
Save the blessings for the final ring-
Save Our Souls (1985) from Theatre of Pain
Black Angels laughing in the city streets
Street toys scream in pain and clench their teeth
The moonlight spot lights all the city crime
Got no religion, Laugh while they fight
Save our souls for the heavens
For a life so good it sure feels bad
Save our souls for the heavens
Save our souls for the promised land
Sure Feels Right (2011) from This Is Gonna Hurt by Sixx A.M.
I'm driving down Sunset Boulevard,
Sex Pistols on the radio in my car,
And I must be high,
I just saw Jesus walk by.
Again, a picture is painted with these four lines. I can relate. I can't even recall how many times I have seen Jesus look a likes among the homeless. Oh My God covers this theme even better.
Oh My God (2011) from The Heroin Diaries by Sixx A.M.
And we sit in our highrise apartments and complain about things that don't matter,
And we race through this life just to see who can die with as much as we can gather,
And a few blocks away a teenage mother plays Russian Roulette with her daughter,
Is this the best that we can do, is this the best that we can do.
We focus on all the wrong things. Nikki even eluded to it, in his recent Facebook posts.
Thank you for all the supportive posts here and on Twitter about the passing of my Mom.Her and my grandfather Tom's recent passing is a gentle reminder of how fragile time is and a not so gentle sledgehammer to the heart that non of us get out of this life alive.If your wasting time procrastinating on anything trust me when I say "You'll be sorry".
I waited too long after a rocky road with my mother to try and rebuild the broken fence's.You can never get time back.We all make mistakes and that was mine…..Again,thank you because it reminds me reading your posts how much we're all alike…….
And of course that post, reminded me of a song that was released by the Brides of Destruction.
Life (2004) from Here Comes The Brides by Brides of Destruction
This is life this is it
It's not everything you want
It's everything you get believe it
It's not worth leaving
Yeah this is life once again
It's been knocking at your door
You ought to let it in
Don't waste it it's time you faced it


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Soon after the Lance Armstrong doping scandals emerged last year, I was talking to friends about the prevalence of doping, and my shock. "How could it be true?" I asked. And my friends said, "Are you being willfully naïve? Doping isn't optional, it is required! they informed me. Riders were kicked off teams for NOT doping. And it's not just biking…" and a lecture on professional sports, and how they work, ensued. You can do a blood transfusion, and train while on drugs, then do another transfusion before the testing to clean up your blood. There are new, undetectable drugs.
Next they told me you could take Adderall and improve not only your basic school performance, but also your S.A.T. scores. Kids were opting out of studying, and the months-long, grueling Kaplan SAT prep courses and popping pills instead. One girl, now at an Ivy League college said:
"Do I want only four hours of sleep and be a mess, and then underperform on the test and then in field hockey? Or make the teachers happy and the coach happy and get good grades, get into a good college and make my parents happy?"
Madeleine estimated that one-third of her classmates at her small school, most of whom she knew well, used stimulants without a prescription to boost their scholastic performance. Many students across the United States made similar estimates for their schools, all of them emphasizing that the drugs were used not to get high, but mostly by conscientious students to work harder and meet ever-rising academic expectations."
"Steroids are now in the middle schools," one of my interloctors said grimly. And even before middle school, parents are "redshirting" — putting 6-year-old kids in kindergarten to give them an advantage — they'll be bigger, stronger, and more advanced than their peers, an advantage that appears to follow them throughout their lives, especially in sports.
If there is a national, secular religion in the United States it is the belief that America is the Land of Opportunity, that we are a Meritocracy, that any kid, no matter who they are, or where they come from, can work hard and move up in the world. That their effort matters. "You too can be the President," every American kid is told. But one unintended consequence of this belief, it is that, as a result of our being a meritocracy, if you have not succeeded, you are of lesser merit. It is shameful to be a failure in this country. Everything from doping to boob jobs speaks to the struggle to gain an advantage in a competitive world. But this is a rational response to a society where the winner takes all.
So how do we keep the dream alive? How do we make it a dream worth striving for? I am reminded of one of my most retweeted tweets: "Avoid a life of chasing prizes not worth winning." You've been such amazing commenters, I'd love to hear your ideas.


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Experts say the case of a mother accused of poisoning her 5-year-old son to death with salt appears be an example of how social media feeds into Munchausen by proxy, a disorder in which caretakers purposely harm children and then bask in the attention and sympathy.
Lacey Spears, of Scottsville, Kentucky, has pleaded not guilty to charges of depraved murder and manslaughter in the January death of her son, Garnett-Paul Spears, whose sodium levels rose to an extremely dangerous level with no medical explanation.
As Spears moved around the country – Alabama, Florida and eventually New York – she kept friends updated on her son's frequent hospitalizations with photos and musings on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and a blog.
"My sweet angel is in the hospital for the 23rd time," she tweeted in 2009. A series of reports on the case by The Journal News, which covers the New York suburbs, found she kept it up right through her son's death, with 28 posts in the last 11 days of Garnett's life, including, "Garnett the great journeyed onward today at 10:20 a.m."
Dr. Marc Feldman, a psychiatrist and forensic consultant in Birmingham, Alabama, who wrote the book "Playing Sick," said he believes the Internet has contributed to the number of Munchausen by proxy cases, estimated from one study to be more than 600 a year in the U.S.
In a case exposed in 2011 in Great Britain, a childless 21-year-old woman joined an Internet forum for parents, claiming to have five children and chronicling her nonexistent baby's battle with celiac disease and bacterial meningitis. Doctors at Seattle Children's Hospital found three cases of mothers who falsely blogged that their children were near death and were rewarded with support.
"There are instantly accessible and endlessly supportive groups out there that will pray with you and cry with you if you purport your child to be ill," Feldman said.
Mark Sirkin, director of the mental health counseling program at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, said that with social media, "you can expand your circle from the people you know to strangers who you've never met – you're just getting that much more attention."
While prosecutors and defense attorneys in the Spears case have yet to mention Munchausen in court papers or hearings, experts say the disorder could play a role because Spears fits the pattern of caregivers who invent, exaggerate or cause a health problem in someone in their care and then seek to portray themselves as a hero.
Spears, who was living in suburban New York when her son died, is accused of administering sodium through a feeding tube he had in his stomach while he was hospitalized at Westchester Medical Center. Prosecutors say she did it in the bathroom, where there were no surveillance cameras.
"This mother was intentionally feeding her child salt at toxic levels," Westchester County prosecutor Doreen Lloyd said at Spears' arraignment. She also alleged that Spears had done Internet research on the effects of sodium and that Spears had tried to dispose of a bag tainted with sodium by asking a friend to "get rid of it and don't tell anybody."
According to court documents, Spears told police she used only "a pinch of salt" for flavor when feeding her son fruits and vegetables through his tube.
Spears said the feeding tube was necessary because Garnett couldn't keep food down. Some friends told The Journal News they saw no sign of that. They were also confused by her claims that Garnett's father was killed in a car accident. A man who says he's the father lives in Alabama.
Her attorney Stephen Riebling said last week that the defense would focus "on the relevant facts, not fiction."
Spears' lawyers won't comment on whether a psychiatric defense is planned.
But by using a "depraved murder" charge, the district attorney seems to be taking a disorder like Munchausen into consideration.
The charge alleges "extreme recklessness" and "depraved indifference to human life" rather than an intentional killing, so prosecutors don't have to prove that Spears meant to kill her son.
Feldman said it's difficult for jurors to believe a mother would purposely hurt her child just to get attention.
"These mothers tend to be psychopathic," he said. "They don't experience guilt and they lack empathy."
Louisa Lasher, an Atlanta-area consultant in child abuse cases, said parents who have the syndrome "do not love children in the way that most people do."
Munchausen by proxy has been suspected in several court cases over the years. In 1979, a California woman was convicted of murder for slowly poisoning one child; the case was cracked when a second baby came down with similar symptoms. In 2010, a Tennessee woman pleaded guilty but mentally ill to charges she injected saltwater into her infant son's feeding tube. A woman in Minnesota is accused of smothering her son; she said she wanted more attention from doctors.
Most cases rarely end in death because the child "is the goose that lays the golden egg for somebody who's so needy of attention," Sirkin said. "It would defeat the purpose to kill the child." Often when a death occurs, it's because of a miscalculation, Feldman said.
As for treatment, Sirkin said long-term psychotherapy is required.
"It's not like a snake phobia where you can take somebody through some behavioral training and they'll be over it," he said. "This is a personality type that takes years in the making, and I think it probably involves psychotherapeutic treatment that would also take years."
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This weekend many of my genealogy friends are attending the RootsTech 2015 conference in Salt Lake City. Unfortunately, I'm not there. I figured that February travel ought to include someplace warm… Little did I realize that the high tomorrow for Salt Lake City would be 54 degrees while we're expecting a wind chill of 0 here on the East Coast. But hearing about all of the new technology and how it can relate to or help our genealogy research is in stark contrast, much like the weather this weekend between those two locations, to what genealogical research used to be.
In the last few weeks I've been organizing and de-cluttering my home office, and I found my notes from a non-credit genealogy course I once taught. From about 2000-2002, my friend Marie and I taught the basics of researching your family history in a 5-week class at a Philadelphia university. It wasn't until I looked over those notes that I realized just how much genealogical research has changed in the last fifteen years – mostly due to computers, the internet, and digitization projects. Not to mention DNA testing!
The first week of the class we focused on Federal Census records (at the time, the latest year that was released was 1920 and none were online), and the first thing we "taught" was all about Soundex. Today, while newcomers to genealogy might hear about Soundex and understand it conceptually, there is no need to really use it anymore. When I first started my research back in 1989, figuring out the Soundex code for my surnames almost added to the thrill of the search because it appealed to the cryptogram and code-loving days of my childhood. Today, it really doesn't matter that my name converted to P532 because we no longer have a 2-step manual search through various microfilms (yes, microfilm constituted high technology back then)-just a short wait after the click of a button to see the possibilities.
But besides the onslaught of the availability of online digitized records (which we sparingly covered in the last week of our class in 2000), I realized that much of what we taught still applies as much today as it did a decade ago – or two hundred years ago. Step #1 in researching your family history – then, now, and forever more – is gathering all of the information you already know from talking to relatives.
As evidenced by the photograph above, I used whatever means available at the time to capture that information. Yes, friends, that is a paper plate. And an envelope. You see, back in those beginning days of research, I'd constantly pepper my parents with questions. Once I'd find something, perhaps a fact or person they hadn't mentioned, and I asked again, it would jog their memory to reveal more information that I'd hurriedly write down. My parents' house is renowned for never having notepaper, or a pen, available when one needs it, so I'd reach for whatever would serve as paper.
Not as cool as Evernote, Family Tree Maker, or even Notepad – but it got the job done. Looking back on these relics of research (before I finally toss them in the recycle bin), one thing is certain – those little tidbits of information I wrote down were, eventually, all either proved or disproved by my research. They were clues, and the search – whether you are using a computer and the latest technological advances or not – begins with basic family information.
Don't get me wrong – I am so happy with all of the technological advances that have happened since I started my research. But don't forget about the how-to lessons that will never change no matter how much more easier technology makes our search:
- Write down everything you know.
- Talk to living relatives about everything they know.
- Remember that spellings can change and were flexible in the past.
- Remember that history is important to know and geographical boundaries change over time.
- Document your sources!
One other tip that people just getting started in genealogy in today's age of technology just don't quite fathom…not every record you need to trace your family can be found online. That doesn't mean it can't be found, it's not not as easy as clicking a button. Happy Ancestor Hunting!


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I crossed a big milestone on the Munger State Trail near Hinckley, MN last Sunday – 1000 miles on my Vibram FiveFingers KSO. I am still a huge fan of these, and they are my usual go-to shoes. They are still in great shape, and have many more miles on them. I will post a more detailed 1000-mile review soon.
More good miles to come, thanks for the memories KSOs!!


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You'll know you have arrived at John Waters' Christmas party when you see the wreath of thorns.
Ricky the doorman — he's worked this party for 25 years — will not let you past the heavy wooden door unless your name is on the list. You might be able to bring a plus-one. But only one. Waters does not like strangers snooping around his home in Tuscany-Canterbury.
Politicians, actors, old neighbors from Reservoir Hill, childhood friends from Lutherville, sexy bartenders and waiters and party kids are on the list. Of course, all the Dreamlanders, the core of friends who made Waters' films, are there. So are some of the parolees Waters taught while they were in prison.
Once a former convict and the judge who sent him to jail stood around the banquet table together.
"I never disinvite people, and every year I invite new people," says Waters. "So for a couple hours, it's a little too crowded."
Waters has been throwing parties on the Saturday before Christmas for about half a century, since the days when his guests brought thrift-store gifts for everyone else in the room and were too hyped up on speed to eat.
These days, there will be a massive spread— ahi tuna with wasabi creme fraiche, teriyaki grilled flank steak, sushi, antipasto — all sorts of delicacies carefully chosen by Waters and caterer Sascha Wolhandler.
First, though, Waters, 67, will snap your photo with his boxy Fuji camera. He is the only one allowed to take photos at the party.
"I take a picture of everyone who has ever been in this house," Waters says. "It's my diary. It's very revealing if you have a picture of everyone who has ever been in your house and don't destroy some of them."
Then you will pass through the hall, past the electric chair that fries Dawn Davenport in "Female Trouble," a film which also has a memorable Christmas scene.
The chair is tricked out with twinkle lights and garlands and plastic bones and a pillow bearing the image of Divine, Waters' late muse and friend who played Davenport. There are the traditional needlepoints crafted by Waters' 89-year-old mother and an ornament featuring a brawny, bare-chested Santa seductively lacing his boots.
This is John Waters' Christmas.
"All I ever wanted for Christmas is sticks and stones. I never got them as a child, and I tried," says Waters. "I want glamorous ones, handmade ones."
The man who brought us "Serial Mom" and "Polyester" and that infamous scene at the end of "Pink Flamingos" can't get enough of the sappiest time of the year.
He starts designing his Christmas card in the summer. He has come out with a Christmas album. He has penned a paean to the holiday that mentions heroin and shoplifting and the eros of Santa. And for more than a dozen years, Waters has cast himself as a sort of Christmas shrink, traveling the country with his one-man show.
The flash and dazzle of the holiday has fascinated Waters since a childhood party when he recognized the man in the Santa suit.
"I could see it was the man next door," he says. "Even as a child, I thought, 'There's Mr. So-and-so.'"
The tension between appearance and reality captivates Waters. Trompe l'oeil objects fill his home: a battered cardboard box that is a cleverly painted porcelain vase, a realistic hamburger by the lamp, a spread of artificial sushi glistening with plastic roe.
The contrasts of Christmas — the lofty ideals and the flaccid lawn ornaments pooled in the slush — intrigue him.
"I liked Christmas" as a child, he says. "And I still like it for real. But I understand how some people hate it. It's an emotional time of year."
This year, Waters is slated to speak to audiences in 10 cities, including Chicago, New York, and, of course, Baltimore, about his crush on Alvin the chipmunk, Divine's purloined presents and how to spend time with your family without losing your mind.
"If you go home and it's abusive, bring a verbal abuse whistle," recommends Waters. "If anyone says anything abusive, everyone blows a whistle."
Waters is sort of Baltimore's gay uncle with the scandalous past, the one everyone wants to sit next to at dinner, except that great-aunt who hasn't spoken to him since 1973.
He relishes pointing out the absurd. Manger scenes with real babies, for example.
"Who would let their child be Baby Jesus when there's straw in there and mules and fire?" says Waters. "I'm always secretly obsessed with living creches and spy on them. If you see someone crouched down, it's moi, because I don't want to be recognized and I don't want to ruin the people's night, but something about it is very scary to me. Very scary."
And, despite his predilection for the tasteless, Waters has strong opinions on what constitutes good taste.
"To me, the worst-taste decorations are the inflatable ones," he says. "Those look really pitiful the next day. A slush-covered lawn with a deflated Christmas thing — that's the perfect Diane Arbus shot."
If you are one of the 100 or so people on Waters' Christmas list, expect a present personally selected by Waters. Nothing too lavish.
"It's not about going out and spending a lot of money," he says. "If you do, that's an insult."
Books make the best gift, says Waters, whose North Baltimore home is lined with stacks of books. Some of his favorite shops are Atomic Books, the Hampden store where for years his mail has been delivered, Normal's in Waverly and Royal Books on 25th Street.
And don't give gift cards. At least not to anyone you actually like.
"It just means they think you're stupid and you have no interests, or you're too lazy to look," he says. Restaurant gift cards are acceptable. He wouldn't mind receiving a gift card to Peter's Inn in Fells Point, his favorite restaurant.
Or you could make him an ornament. Fans and friends have sent him all kinds of crazy decorations — a birdhouse modeled after the Unabomber's boarded-up cabin, a bedazzled antler, a bust of John Travolta as Edna Turnblad in "Hairspray" (2007).
"Go through your family albums, find the ugliest photos of your relatives and make balls," Waters says.
One artist made a glittering depiction of the Christmas scene in "Female Trouble" in which Divine's character, enraged after her parents fail to give her cha-cha heels, knocks the tree onto her mother and stomps on the presents.
The scene was inspired by the time the tree actually fell on Waters' grandmother. Not because of a teenage temper tantrum, though.
"I wasn't there, but I've exaggerated it in my family and in my own mind," says Waters. "She wasn't injured. My presents weren't ruined. Going around the world, people tell me Christmas trees do fall over a lot on people. Usually it's the dog."
Waters puts as much thought into his Christmas card as he does into gift-giving. One year there was a picture of him wearing grills on his teeth. Another time, he sent out ornaments with fake cockroaches inside.
That one winds up posted for sale online sometimes. A terrible faux pas.
"Sell it on eBay — I'll find out who you are and burn your house down," he says.
The card is an important tradition, like the decorations that his old friend, Bob Adams, helps him put up each year. Adams, who appeared as a cop in "Pink Flamingos" and has a Christmas shop in Havre de Grace, knows just what to place where — the Justin Bieber ball and the albums by Johnny Mathis, The Chipmunks and "some scary child singing" on the mantel, under the Warhol.
The party, like most things that persist for half a century, follows certain traditions. Waters' sister-in-law lays out the greens. His mother and siblings attend. Caterer Wolhandler, Waters and an old friend taste each dish before the party begins. Bizarro films play silently in each room. Everyone who's anyone attends, including the governor, the mayor, even Pat Sajak in recent years.
There's a certain nostalgia, not just of the kitschy, Johnny Mathis variety, but for memories of the '70s and '80s when guests were high on pot and amphetamines and Waters would chuck the most outrageous gifts from the seventh-floor apartment where he used to live.
Christmas was an obsession for Divine, aka Harris Glenn Milstead. He was always in trouble with Watson's Garden Center in Lutherville for writing bad checks for decorations, Waters says.
"It wasn't because he was being criminal. He just loved Christmas so much, and he loved Christmas decorations," Waters says. "I still have a cashmere blanket in my bedroom that Divine gave me for Christmas when he could not afford a cashmere blanket, and who knows who actually paid for it?"
"Christmas is when I miss Divine the most," he says. "He was a wonderful host."
If you go
A John Waters Christmas runs Dec. 19 and 20 at Baltimore Soundstage, 124 Marketplace. Tickets are $44 in advance, $49.50 day of show. baltimoresoundstage.com
Recommendations: Waters' favorite places to shop for Christmas presents in Baltimore:
Atomic Books, 3620 Falls Road, Hampden, atomicbooks.com
Normal's, 425 E. 31st St., Waverly, normals.com
Royal Books, 32 W. 25th St., Charles Village, royalbooks.com
The Store Ltd., 5100 Falls Road, Cross Keys
Value Village, 5013 York Road, Govans
[An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the type of camera John Waters uses at his party. Details about a "Hairspray" ornament were also misstated. The Sun regrets the errors.]


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Badgley Mischka
Strapless Mermaid Gown Ruched Bodycon Bow Gala
Rent from $99 ($1000 retail) In stock
In order to become a Lender or a Seller, you need to enter your Payment and Payout information in Settings. This way other people will be able to pay for your products.
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Jul 28 2015 - Jul 31 2015
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Alstom success continues with major equipment award in Saudi Arabia
Alstom has been awarded a contract to supply equipment for the Yanbu 3 power and desalination plant located on the Red Sea coast in the western part of Saudi Arabia. This will be one of the country's first supercritical power plants to run on heavy fuel oil. This investment is part of Saudi Arabia's objective to expand its power generation base while minimising impact on the environment. The contract is worth around €750 million.
Alstom's part in the contract includes the basic engineering of the power block, advisory services during detailed engineering and procurement, supervision services during construction and commissioning and delivery of main equipment for 5 x 620 MW units including the steam turbines and generators, the HFO-firedsupercritical boilers, electrostatic precipitators and the flue gas desulphurization system. The plant is due to enter commercial operation in 2016.
Alstom will supply the equipment to Al-Toukhi Company for Industry, Trading & Contracting, which is leading the consortium in charge of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the plant for the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), one of the leading power and water utilities in the region.
The project is of great significance for SWCC and for Saudi Arabia in general. The plant will produce 3100 MW power to meet the increasing electricity demands as it will supply sweet water and feed the grid in the western part of the country where the cities of Jeddah, Yanbu and the holy cities Mecca and Madinah are located. The balance power and extracted steam will be fed into the associated new Yanbu 550'000 m3/d desalination plant which will be a key supplier of water to the city of Madinah.
"The Yanbu 3 project will add 2700 MW of cleaner high-efficiency power to the Saudi grid and steam to a new desalination plant thanks to our market-leading supercritical technology combined with Alstom's ability to integrate equipment into complete and complex power projects," said Andreas Lusch, Senior Vice President for Alstom's steam business.
Alstom has equipped over 20% of Saudi Arabia's installed power generation base. Its steam turbine technology also features in Shoaiba – the region's biggest power plant and aptly called the 'Giant of the Middle East'. Its environmental control systems in operation at projects like Rabigh IPP, Shoaiba 3 and Yanbu 2 are enabling the country to reduce power plant emissions.
Alstom is the world leader in supercritical and ultrasupercritical steam power plant technology and has already supplied or has under construction over 36 GW capacity globally including projects in South Africa, Germany, Poland, Malaysia and China.
Press Contacts
Emmanuelle Châtelain, Isabelle Tourancheau – Tel +33 1 41 49 37 38 /39 95
firstname.lastname@example.com , firstname.lastname@example.com
Majed Almajed (Alstom Middle East) – Tel +971 56 216 8305
Sapna Lalwani (Alstom Thermal Power) – +41794863798
Investor Relations
Delphine Brault – Tel +33 1 41 49 26 42


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+ Elmer (Benny) Leeman (b. 1914) ↑
   + spouse unknown
   + Linda Holt ↑
   + Sherri-Lee Evelyn (Leeman) Mumby ↑
A number prefix represents generation number.
Dotted lines indicate adoptive or step relations.
Names in parenthesis are either aliases or names commonly associated with person
Last updated 18 May 2023 by Andrew Billyard
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I want to use Eclipse for software development and testing. Specifically UML, C/C++ and Java, as well as unit testing of the latter two. As I'm using OpenSUSE 12.2, I used YAST/Software/Software Management. This installed the following :-
ecj, ecj-bootstrap, eclipse-swt
However, nothing has shown up in the main-launcher/Applications/Development menus. I tried using (command not found) "cnf eclipse" in a terminal which resulted in "eclipse: command not found".
I then visited eclipse.org and found that there are many different versions, namely Europa, Ganymede, Galileo, Helios, Indigo and Juno.
As my PC is based on an Intel Pentium 4 running OpenSUSE 12.2, I understand that I need a Linux 32-bit version. However, other than that, this wide selection has left me confused.
Could some kind soul please point me in the direction of which version of eclipse I should install ?
Could you also please advise which plugins I need ? I know that I need cdt for C/C++ and jdt for Java. What plugins do I need for UML, and for unit testing of C/C++ & Java ? Will all these plugins be found on eclipse.org or will I need to source some of them from other locations ?
Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to give with this.


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Retro 105.9 DCG-FM has a new rival.
Almost three years to the day Retro 105.9 made history as Metro Manila's first classic hits-oriented radio station, a new network of the same genre began to emerge out of nowhere. On February 2, 104.3 FM2 made its maiden broadcast, with Bong 'Sonny B' Aportadera and Carlo 'Carlo Jose' Villo sharing the day-to-day operations of the new station.
For those who are not familiar with this station, DWBR 104.3 is owned by the Philippine government via the Philippine Broadcasting Service. Thus, the station is part of an umbrella that includes the People's Television Network (PTV-4), DZRB Radyo ng Bayan 738, DZSR Sports Radio 918 and DZRM Radyo Magasin 1278.
The station was originally known as 104.3 Business Radio, playing mostly songs of the 'big band' era. They also covered business news that cater to affluent citizens, hence the name.
However, on January 15, Business Radio officially left the airwaves after over 30 years in operation. It was clear to Martin Andanar and the PCOO that the station is losing its luster, with its brand of 'big band' music getting out of touch with a modern generation of listeners.
As a result, the station underwent a drastic makeover in order to attract a younger audience. Thus 104.3 FM2 was born, with a playlist mainly dedicated to 80s and 90s music.
The establishment of FM2 became a turning point in the classic hits genre of FM radio in the country. While Retro 105.9 DCG-FM remains the premiere source for throwback songs, the emergence of FM2 could pose a threat to their dominance.
That said, listeners now have two options to find the music that they love and grew up with. Not to mention that both stations operate in the daytime and deep into midnight.
The entry of FM2 is only the beginning for Martin Andanar's rebuilding of the PBS Group. Next up is an unnamed FM station on the 87.5 band, which is still in the testing stage.


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Sunday, 31 August 2014: One Year, One Hundred and Fifty Three Days Old.
My Mum and I took Ayla to a nearby park today, and then for a little walk around a community garden.
Ayla LOVED the garden; stopping to look with cautious awe at the bright and colourful scarecrows.
We also let her pick a fresh snow pea of a vine and taste it's crispy freshness, and Ayla bent down with eager curiosity to inspect strawberries and peer at ripening tomatoes.
The highlight of the adventure though was showing Ayla little lady beetles for the first time.
Lady beetles have special meaning for Hubby and I, and it was precious to see how gentle and appreciative Ayla was of the tiny red insects.
Ayla was even brave enough to let the lady beetles run along her open palm, resisting a certain urge to close her fists and squish.
Hours later when we were at home getting ready for bed, I sat down with Ayla to read her touchy-geeky bunny book.
I hadn't realised before that each page of the book had a hidden lady beetle and now knowing that Ayla knew what a lady beetle was I asked her if she could see one.
After a couple of moments studying the page Ayla pointed, straight at the beetle. I tried again on the next page, and the page after that and got the same result every time.
After going through the book a couple of times Ayla even began saying "beetle" when she pointed to them. I was surprised and amazed and proud at my clever little girl.


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You are currently browsing the daily archive for August 30, 2007.
In the case of K-Sea, the ancestors were a father and son in a rowboat selling used rope in the harbor about a hundred years ago. For the evolution til the present, including K-Sea's ownership of the Mary Whalen, check this fantastic link.
Taurus has one of the best names for a tug or pushboat. Think strength like a bull. Picture powerful horns to move things in front of it. Isn't single-minded determination a characteristic of Taurans?
Another great name, Davis Sea, honors a body of water surrounding Antarctica. K-Sea has almost 20 "___Sea" tugs. So much for the "seven seas" expression.
Falcon, another great name, alludes to tugs' speed and sense of effortless movement.
And last and greatest, it's Lincoln Sea. Notice the helmsman's looking tiny in the upper pilothouse. Named for an ice sea near the North Pole between Canada and Greenland, Lincoln Sea won the speed and pushing competition at last year's 14th Annual Tugboat Race and Challenge. Well it should have, twin props nearly 12′ diameter each and more horsepower than all three K-Sea tugs above, Lincoln Sea belies its rowboat ancestry. Come find out on September 2 if she'll be back.
And next time you have a transaction with a small family business, remember Carl Eklof and his rowboat and how that modest effort evolved into K-Sea.
All images, Will Van Dorp.


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"We keep track of which hosts we get a lot of support requests for, so we can reach out to them. We had a hard time finding SiteGround in that list as we had so few complaints from customers hosted with them."
Jenny WongOne of the leading WordPress core contributors, an organizer of WordCamps and a frequent speaker at events.
"What I like about SiteGround is the support is super friendly and attentive. I also love how easy it is that I work on my site locally, push to GitHub and it just magically appears on the server. I really appreciate not having to think about the site and the upgrades too."
Matt CromwellA WordPress developer with a strong background in the non-profit sector who is currently partner and COO at Impress.org
"I can't say enough good things about SiteGround. I highly recommend their GoGeek shared hosting platform if you are a developer on a budget but still want advanced features like staging, GitHub integration, and of course the SuperCacher."
Rian RietveldSenior Accessibility consultant with Level Level, a full-service digital agency and contributor to the WP Accessibility team
"The SiteGround support team keeps amazing me. I love the chat function, where I always get a prompt answer and help, in my own timezone. Even if a question take longer to answer, I'm reassured that they will return with a solution."
Andrey SavchenkoMember of the WordPress core team and a highly reputable plugin developer.
"I am passionate about web performance. It takes a hosting committed to performance to match that passion. SG Optimizer delivers powerful cache for WordPress data, assets, and pages with a flip of a switch. Even on the shared plans!"
Monique DubblemanA Web and UX designer and an active member of the Dutch WordPress community
"I moved all my client's WordPress websites to SiteGround hosting a few years ago and it was the best decision I ever made. I can now easily add new clients, new websites, SSL certificates and other features from one dashboard. Through the staging environment, it's easy to test new features on your website. With one click you can upload it to the production site. If this fails after all, there's a daily backup that covers you with a one click restore option."
Rian KinneyIntellectual property attorney and founder at Kinney Firm
"I have been a happy customer of SiteGround for 2 years now. From their easy to use migrator tool that quickly transferred domains from another platform, to their automatic WP updates that assist with maintaining the functionality of my sites, they have made hosting easy for someone with a non-technical background"
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- The 15 Best Free Android Apps
- Any.do to Evernote
- Google to RedPhone
- Slacker to Viber
Mobile apps have drastically changed our relationship with free software. More often than not, the best mobile apps don't cost you a cent (though you might pay for them in other ways). But there are also plenty halfbaked free apps out there. Our handy list can help you navigate Google Play to make sure you're getting the good stuff.
We've covered everything from budgeting, to note-taking, to music, and security, and more. If you're starting up a new Android device for the first time, or you're on a tight budget, these apps will get you up and running.
The Trouble with Free
While "free" is great, it doesn't always cut the mustard. For instance, the best office suite I've seen for Android costs a hefty $14.99. There's a very worthy free competitor in the office space, but it's got some issues that simply aren't present in paid apps. I love paying nothing, but sometimes it's worth paying a little bit extra for a higher quality product.
So while these are the best free apps, they aren't necessarily always the best apps. If you're looking for that list, check out our 100 best Android Apps article. You'll also note that there aren't any games in this list. Not to worry, we have an entire collection of the 10 best Android games for your perusal.
Haven't I Seen This Before?
You might have seen this list before, but like many round ups on PC Mag we try to update them from time to time to keep them relevant for our readers. Every few weeks new apps will drop in while older ones drop out. This list should live and grow along with the changing Google Play store. In fact, it's sprouting five new apps this time around.
You Missed One!
We can't possibly fit everything into one list, but we've tried out best. What we've listed here is the best, or as close to the best as you can get, and that means some had to be left out. But if you notice that we've overlooked a worthy app be sure to drop us a line in the comments. I promise we'll read them.
Hopefully, the next time you come around there'll be something new for you to discover.


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Tagged: Derek Jeter
The Yankees Make Life Sweeter
The Yankees are in town for a weekend showdown, and Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen has written a well-timed article
making a case for the forced extinction of the chant, "Yankees Suck!" I
couldn't agree more with Kevin, and his article reminded me of a piece
I wrote in March, 2008 for the Sox and Pinstripes blog, about why Red Sox fans actually love the Yankees more than we hate them. Here's an excerpt from that article:
I'm Vice President of Red Sox Nation, and I love the New York
Yankees. Are you a Red Sox fan who's shocked by this statement? Guess
what, you love them, too. In fact, the longer you've been a Red Sox
fan, the greater your love is for them.
Close your eyes for a moment and imagine a world without the
Yankees. Imagine there's no rivalry between the Boston and New York
baseball teams; in fact, there's no legitimate "rivalry" between the
Red Sox and any other team. Goose Gossage was never a nemesis and David
Ortiz never hit those dramatic
walk-off homers.
Mariano Rivera played for the Reds so we hardly knew
him, and George Steinbrenner owned the Phillies so his name merely
rings a bell. 1978 never happened, but neither did 2004.
Do you find this vision enticing? Nah. Like me, you appreciate the
way things have turned out so far (the painful times made the jubilant
times more jubilant), and you're dying of anticipation as you think
ahead to future seasons of the greatest rivalry in all of sports.
You'll never root for the Yanks, but you'll be happiest when they're a
top-notch team that buys whatever superstar they want…. then loses to
the Red Sox in games that really count. And you'll give Derek Jeter a
"standing-O" in his last at-bat at Fenway Park because, like me, you
deeply appreciate what he has contributed to your enjoyment of The Game
– as a Yankee.
To read the article from Sox and Pinstripes in its entirety, click here.


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Tag Archives: jaw
5 Tips to Help With TMJ
Commonly known as TMJ, temporomandibular joint pain affects over 10 million Americans and can involve difficulty chewing, jaw muscle stiffness and painful popping or clicking, according to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.
Although for some people the pain of TMJ goes away on its own, others develop long-term problems and need treatment to help their pain.
Posted in Acupuncture Also tagged clicking, popping, tmj Comments Off on 5 Tips to Help With TMJ


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Forum Communications to start Upper Midwest news service
FARGO - Forum Communications Co. is expanding its presence in the region with the launch of a multi-state news service, company President Lloyd Case announced today.
FARGO - Forum Communications Co. is expanding its presence in the region with the launch of a multi-state news service, company President Lloyd Case announced today.
Existing FCC newspapers, websites, magazines and broadcast outlets in North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin will provide content for the news service - an effort that will begin immediately. Over the next two years, the company will make continued investments into the news service with the intention of building the most comprehensive, affordable product to which other media outlets throughout the Upper Midwest can subscribe.
Mike Jacobs, editor and publisher of the Grand Forks Herald, has been selected to lead these efforts.
"Jacobs is a good, strong newsman and a good, strong manager," Case said. "Nobody knows more about the region than he does."
Jacobs, a Stanley, N.D., native and the Herald's editor since 1984, will continue as publisher, but the search for a new editor in Grand Forks will soon be under way.
One of Jacobs' first tasks as head of the news service will be to establish a footprint for the company in northwestern North Dakota - specifically the Oil Patch. The search for a reporter to cover the state's largest ongoing issue will begin immediately. The northwestern North Dakota bureau, as well as existing FCC bureaus in Bismarck, N.D., and St. Paul, Minn., will report to Jacobs.
In the next couple of years, additional bureaus and staff will be added in an effort to further boost the company's reporting reach, Case said.
William C. Marcil, chairman of Forum Communications, said the Marcil family company continues to dedicate itself and its properties to providing the best-quality news and information to its audiences in the Upper Midwest.
The FCC properties will continue to publish the kinds of regional, national and international stories and photos offered by wire outlets such as the AP. However a company-wide task force will evaluate in the coming year which outside news providers are the best fit for the entire FCC network, which includes daily newspapers in Fargo, Grand Forks, Jamestown and Dickinson, N.D., as well as Mitchell, S.D., and Duluth, Bemidji, Willmar and Worthington in Minnesota.
Additionally, Forum Communications owns nearly two dozen weekly papers in the region, including concentrations in the Twin Cities suburbs, the Mississippi River Valley, northeastern Minnesota and the lakes country of west-central Minnesota. The company owns broadcast outlets in Fargo, Grand Forks, Bismarck and Minot, and publishes Prairie Business, a monthly magazine, and Agweek, from its Grand Forks offices.


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'The Master' smashes box-office records
LOS ANGELES – Paul Thomas Anderson's cult drama "The Master" commanded a huge following in its opening weekend, smashing records on just a handful of screens.
The Weinstein Co. release made $729,745 in five theaters in New York and Los Angeles for a record-setting per-screen average of $145,949, according to Sunday studio estimates. The hugely anticipated film, which just won several of the top awards at the Venice Film Festival and will open in more cities in upcoming weeks, stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as a charismatic cult leader and Joaquin Phoenix as his wayward protege.
The No. 1 film at the box office was "Resident Evil: Retribution," which took in an estimated $21.1 million in its debut. This is the fifth film in the Sony Screen Gems action franchise, starring Milla Jovovich.
That topped the 3-D re-release of the Disney Pixar animated favorite "Finding Nemo," which opened in second place with $17.5 million.
The 3-D "Resident Evil: Retribution" was directed by Jovovich's husband, Paul W.S. Anderson, who has made three of the five films. It features the actress once again as the warrior Alice, the last hope for the human race as an evil corporation unleashes a deadly virus that creates more flesh-eating undead on a worldwide scale. And fittingly, the film performed even better internationally, where it made a healthy $50 million.
"You have to give so much credit for that to Milla," said Rory Bruer, Sony's head of distribution. "She's such an incredible star and absolutely just works so hard in every country. Whether it's Russia or Japan, everywhere she's gone, she's worked so hard in regards to making the franchise a success."
The re-do of "Finding Nemo" follows in a recent tradition of Disney converting its classic animated movies into 3-D for a whole new audience. The 2003 underwater comedy about a tiny, lost fish named Nemo, featuring the voices of Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres and Willem Dafoe, won the Academy Award for best animated feature.
Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com, said the No. 1-opening for the latest "Resident Evil" movie came as a bit of a surprise. He figured "Finding Nemo" would come out on top, given the track record of the Pixar brand and the strong opening a year ago of Disney's "The Lion King" in 3-D, which debuted at No. 1 with $30.1 million.
"The Screen Gems label, they know how to create a profit-making franchise," Dergarabedian said. "It's become so important if you have a star who resonates in the international marketplace — you can have a real winner worldwide."
Last week's No. 1 movie, the Lionsgate exorcism thriller "The Possession," fell to third place with an estimated $5.8 million. It's now made about $41.2 million over the past three weeks.
Among the other new movies this weekend, "Arbitrage" opened in 12th place in limited release with nearly $2.1 million. Richard Gere stars as a hedge-fund billionaire juggling scandals that could destroy him personally and professionally.
The huge opening for "The Master" beats the per-screen-average record for a live-action feature debut set earlier this year by Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom," which made $522,996 when it opened on four screens in May for an average of $130,749.
Asked who the audience was for "The Master," Weinstein Co. president of theatrical distribution Erik Lomis said: "We didn't do exit polls but from eyeballing the ArcLight (Cinemas), everyone in Los Angeles showed up."
Part of the allure was the rare opportunity to see the film projected in lush 70mm, which was possible at four of the five locations where it was playing. Expertly paced trailers released over the past few months revealed nothing, and unannounced screenings in select cities created more buzz. And some of the film's mystique may have come from its parallels to the origins of the secretive Church of Scientology. Anderson has said the church's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, provided inspiration for Hoffman's character.
"We knew we would do a lot of business but we didn't think it would be this big," Lomis said. "We knew from not only the pop-up screenings and the guerrilla marketing PTA does but also from the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto (International) Film Festival that we had something special. But you can never expect these kinds of numbers — it blew the doors off the theaters."
As Dergarabedian phrased it: "Paul Thomas Anderson, among film buffs and film fans, is a directing god. He's on Mount Rushmore with Christopher Nolan and some other great filmmakers. When he puts out a movie, it's a long lead time — we're forced to wait for a new Paul Thomas Anderson film. 'There Will Be Blood' was 2007.
"In the independent world, directors are the stars," he added. "They draw people to the theater and fill theaters."
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Resident Evil: Retribution," $21.1 million ($50 million international).
2. "Finding Nemo," $17.5 million.
3. "The Possession," $5.8 million.
4. "Lawless," $4.2 million.
5. "ParaNorman," $3 million.
6. "The Expendables 2," $3 million ($7.5 million international).
7. "The Words," $2.88 million.
8. "The Bourne Legacy," $2.875 million ($9.1 million international).
9. "The Odd Life of Timothy Green," $2.5 million.
10. "The Campaign," $2.4 million.
Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:
1. "Resident Evil: Retribution," $50 million.
2. "The Bourne Legacy," $9.1 million.
3. "Masquerade," $8.3 million.
4. "Ted," $8.1 million.
5. "The Expendables 2," $7.5 million.
6. "Prometheus," $7.1 million.
7. (tie) "Brave," $6.9 million.
1. "Madagascar 3," $6.9 million.
2. "The Dark Knight Rises," $6.4 million.
3. "The Watch," $4.3 million.
Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.