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After 18 pro fights, including six in the UFC, it appears featherweight Akira Corassani has announced his retirement from MMA.Filed under: News, UFC read news >>
When a fighter hits his forties, a discussion about retirement arises after every loss. But despite having been stopped by Gegard Mousasi in the first round last Saturday, Dan Henderson wants none of it. It just wasn't Hendo's night. After a counter-right hand by Gegard Mousasi, the former Pride champion stumbled to the ground and got finished by follow-up shots after only 70 seconds of their co-main event fight at UFC on FOX 14: Gustafsson vs. Johnson. A stoppage that might have seemed a little read news >>
Former PRIDE two-division champion Dan Henderson is still not contemplating retirement following his 70-second knockout loss to Gegard Mousasi in the co-main event of UFC on FOX 14 this past Saturday night (Jan. 24, 2015). Following his fifth loss in his last six fights, MMAmania.com ponders what could be next for the legendary MMA pioneer. Dan Henderson told us prior to UFC on FOX 14 that win or lose, he would not retire. Following another knockout loss, "Hendo" still does not want to hear the read news >>
Retirement? Dan Henderson isn't considering anything like that. The MMA legend fell to Gegard Mousasi by TKO in the first round Saturday night at UFC on FOX 14: Gustafsson vs. Johnson in Stockholm, Sweden. Henderson was rocked, fell down against the cage and then was finished by Mousasi. The stoppage might have been a tad early -- Henderson seemed to be coming to when referee Leon Roberts stepped in -- but there was no doubt "Hendo" was in big trouble. Henderson (30-12) has now lost five of his read news >>
The former Strikeforce middleweight champion and UFC fighter has decided to hang 'em up at the age of 42. Cung Le will not longer be competing in combat sports, as the former Strikeforce middleweight champion and kickboxer has decided to retire from the sport. He went 9-3 in MMA, which included a four-fight stint in the UFC where he went 2-2. His last bout was against Michael Bisping last year who stopped him via TKO. After the fight he apparently tested positive for HGH and was subsequently sus read news >>
Former Strikeforce middleweight champion and UFC fighter Cung Le announced his retirement from fighting on Tuesday. read news >>
Following Cung Le's announcement of his retirement from MMA, UFC President Dana White and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta sounded far from vindictive in official statements.Filed under: News, UFC read news >>
If Cung Le ever engages in combat again, it will be of the courtroom variety. But his days in the ring and cage are over. The 42-year-old Le announced his retirement Tuesday. After an initial report by MMAJunkie that Le had retired from MMA competition, Le's manager, Gary Ibarra, told MMAFighting.com via text message that Le's retirement also includes kickboxing and all forms of combat sports. "He's retiring from all combat sports," Ibarra said. Following a distinguished kickboxing career, Le en read news >>
Swedish middleweight Mats Nilsson has elected to call it a career at 31 years old. read news >>
Although the UFC 181 title fight ended in a razor-thin split decision, most could tell that Johny Hendricks was not himself. The former champion endured a terrible weight cut ahead of his rematch against Robbie Lawler, as was evident from his lethargic movements in the later stages of the fight. In fact, it was such a dreadful process that Hendricks contemplated retirement just to shield himself from another such cut. "It was either [change his approach] or retire," Hendricks said. "That's how b read news >>
Heading into his UFC 181 welterweight title defense, rumors abounded that then-champion Johny Hendricks was going through a brutal weight cut. The gossip seemed confirmed when Hendricks appeared gaunt getting on the scale for the fight's weigh-in, and further reinforced when he seemed a step slow in losing his title to Robbie Lawler in a tight split decision. On Monday's edition of The MMA Hour, we found out just how bad Hendricks' weight cut went: In the fight's aftermath, Hendricks pondered re read news >>
In the split second after he floored Karo Parisyan with a left uppercut in their bout at Bellator 127 this past October, Fernando Gonzalez allowed himself a slight smirk. read news >>
Former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia talks about why he announced his retirement on Saturday night. read news >>
Tim Sylvia has retired from mixed martial arts after 42 professional fights. read news >>


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One would think so from the title of the story in a Philippine website: " Stem Cell Therapy: Cure For Autism? " I worried, has another overseas location started in the stem cell "therapy " businesses? Apparently not. The story is about a Philippine family, but the Clinic is in Germany and the stem cells are fetal lamb cells. Let's start with a statement from the end of the story : There's nothing to lose. It's so sad to see it in black and white like that. Of course one must be cautious not to assume this means she feels her children is "nothing to lose", but instead is saying that she feels that there is no chance of something going wrong. Either way, such statements should not be put in print. Is it really "stem cell" therapy? They are calling it "fresh cell" therapy. They seem to be rebranding their "fresh cell" idea to capitalize on the publicity around stem cell research. The story could form the basis for a thousand words essay by one of the skeptic bloggers. It's "non invasive", it just involves injecting fetal lamb cells into the body. The story continues with standard alternative medicine themes: they can't wait for proof, a large percentage (but never too high) report benefit, benefits can be seen quickly but long term therapy is needed (5-10 years of expensive therapy). This story is filled with red flags that make such stories frightening. And all the hooks of false hope that are sure to pull in some more families. – |
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Janet is a teaching her friends a little course in oral sex today. They start off by picking up some vegetables to simulate some good ol cock. After she shows the girls some techniques, she brings in her assistant. The girls go crazy when they see his giant dick and each take turns practicing on him. These girls go at it til the become real cock sucking pros.
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Formed in 1911, the Otago Mounted Rifles were a New Zealand Regiment put together purely for service in the Great War. They comprised of units from the Territorial Force including a number of Rifle companies from the South Island. As well as serving in the Battle of Gallipoli they were the only New Zealand Mounted troops to serve in France. Other notable battles that they were involved in included the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, Battle of Le Transloy, Battle of Arras and the Battle of Havrincourt.
Sir Henry Kelliher enlisted with the Rifles when he was a teenager, fought at Gallipoli and on the Somme. On returning to New Zealand he became a successful business man in the wine and spirit business and went on to implement a free milk scheme for New Zealand school children during the depression. He was later knighted in 1963.


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In a companion volume to the forthcoming PBS series that will air in the fall of 1993, Julia Child introduces 16 of America's most talented chefs, and edits their recipes for home use. Eighty full-color photographs show the chefs at work in their own kitchens, demonstrating the individual techniques that make their signature dishes so memorable. In a companion volume to the forthcoming PBS series that will air in the fall of 1993, Julia Child introduces 16 of America's most talented chefs, and edits their recipes for home use. Eighty full-color photographs show the chefs at work in their own kitchens, demonstrating the individual techniques that make their signature dishes so memorable. Read Less
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Mar 20, 2008
I actually ordered this on a whim while ordering other books for my son. It was a small book but filled with some great stories and wonderful recipes! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys Julia Child and wants to add to their collection of good, solid cookbooks!
Dec 27, 2007
The book was exactly as described, and the transacion was exactly right. It's a cookbook only if you're a serious cook, with skills, but even an everyday cook could enjoy the read.
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omg just watched 50 O_O omg DtK awesomness-power-stuff . Only one more to go pryo ;^; I think when it's over I'll be on a Soul Eater gfx craze..I'm just so into it! xD A second season would be awesome hey? but so long as it doesn't drag on and ruin it like other anime sometimes go D:
only 2 to go I think ;^; only just watched 49 omg...! I want to find out what happens..but at the same time I don't want it to end lol. Well at least there still is the manga xD
;^; only 4 to goo!! I just watched 48 maaaan it's getting interesting! he he, I was just going to read to see how different it was..but then I was hooked! man the latest chpt out left a cliff hanger something EPIC. I'm going to try to wait until it comes out here...but we always seem to wait so much longer behind teh US T_T
Hey. Thank you for the awesome Sig, am really enjoying it, but never expected the flower and pink colors lol.
OMG YEESS! I was teary LOL more at the fact that.. y'know they both walked away..SO SWEET ;^; shinigami was EPIC XD have you read the manga? I just finished what is out so far xD
that's bad ,but try to make New friends .. It will be better ,but Yeah I can be your friend if you want to go out....Haha
i've managed to get it working again, so you might just see some eye candy goodness..lol might take awhile to get into da funk again though ;P
*blush* Not really. I'm just super glad I met some wonderful ppl on here. I really am. Things would be different if I hadn't met them.....
lolz Of course. I'm glad to have met you!! You're really cool Pyro!! XD
I see you're already viewing my journal!!! XD You're in it!!! ~wheeee~
Send an Instant Message to Pyro Psycho Using...
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For additional information, please visit the Grant Seekers page.
Nike N7 Fund
The N7 Fund is committed to creating early positive experiences in sport and physical activity for Native American and Aboriginal youth in North America. Organizations that support Native American and Aboriginal communities through sport and physical activity programming for youth can apply. Applications are due by November 15, 2014 11:59 PST.
For additional information, please visit the Nike N7 Fund website .
Tribal Colleges Research Grants Program (TCRGP)
This program was designed to assist 1994 Land-Grant Institutions (Tribal Colleges) in building institutional research capacity through applied projects that address student educational needs and solve community, reservation or regional problems. Awards are to be made on the basis of a competitive review process. Collaboration with 1862 or 1890 Land Grant Institutions is a requirement. Eligible institutions may propose projects in any discipline of the food and agricultural sciences.
Who Is Eligible to Apply
More Information on Eligibility
Grant applications submitted under this program must certify that the research to be conducted will be performed in collaboration with at least one 1862 or 1890 Land-Grant college or university.
For additional information, please visit Tribal Colleges Research Grants Program (TCRGP)


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Toontrack's EZkeys Upright Piano is a revolutionary plugin and stand alone instrument that combines a world-class piano player, songwriting partner, arranger and a meticulously sampled instrument - all in one package! Aside from breathtakingly rich tonal qualities, EZkeys allows the user unlimited creativity through its groundbreaking functionality.
EZkeys comes with an extensive MIDI library performed by a professional session pianist. Played with increasing complexity in full song sections and covering all major genres such as rock, pop, country, gospel, blues and funk, this library is not only a creative boost, it's an untapped source of inspiration for your yet-unwritten songs. Drag, drop and lay down the foundation to a track in no time.
EZkeys includes a host of revolutionary and creative songwriting features. Transpose full MIDI tracks on the fly, use any MIDI file and transform it with playing styles found in other MIDI files, use the groundbreaking EZkeys Chord Wheel to customize chord voicing and harmonic color with just one mouse-click.
The EZkeys Upright sound library is a carefully sampled Ostlind & Almquist piano. This classic and award winning Swedish brand dates back to late 1800s and delivers a characteristic, rich and warm tone unlike any other instrument of its kind. It was sampled in painstaking detail at a world-class studio using only the best of the best in modern and vintage recording equipment.
- 32- and 64-bit VST, AU and RTAS instrument as well as low latency stand-alone application
- Drag and drop the included MIDI straight to the built-in song track
- Drag and drop support for your own or third party MIDI straight into EZkeys
- Drag and drop MIDI from the song track or directly from the song browser to your DAW or to your desktop
- EZkeys will analyze and chord-separate any MIDI on the fly
- Record or overdub MIDI directly in EZkeys
- Use your own, the included or any third party MIDI/chord progressions and transform with playing styles found in other MIDI files
- Quickly add basic chords to the timeline or drag and drop any chord from the Chord Wheel
- Real-time chord display that enables you to instantly see what chords you are playing
- Chord selector, based upon the circle of fifths, allowing you to change chords instantly
- Presets for the most commonly used chord types
- Customize the coloration of any chord by opening up the detailed view
- Alter the voicing of a chord on the fly by clicking the - or + buttons in the Chord Wheel
- "Humanize" any pre-quantized MIDI upon import in EZkeys
- Transpose individual song blocks or full songs
- Export songs or files as wave files straight from the EZkeys interface
- Comes with an easy to understand music theory document including MIDI examples
- Possibility to tune the piano by octave, semitone or cents
- Dynamics controls that let you adjust the velocity response to match your keyboard or playing style
- Three pedals: sustain, sostenuto and damping
- Ready-made presets utilizing high-quality effects from Overloud. The presets range from raw and unprocessed to heavily distorted and tweaked
- Extensive MIDI library played by a professional session pianist
- All major styles covered (pop/rock, soul/R&B, country, gospel, jazz, blues, boogie, funk)
- All songs performed in full 8 bar or longer blocks
- All songs performed with increasing intensity as intro, verse, pre-chorus, chorus and bridge variations
- Single, rhythmical and broken chords in different variations as well as FX and endings
- Straight/swing variations in 4/4 and 6/8
- Intuitive browser that lets you add you own favorites and arrange them in folders
- A carefully sampled Östlind & Almquist upright piano
- Recorded at Studio 9, Sveriges Radio, Sweden using only the best of the best in modern and vintage equipment
- All sounds are designed to be mix-ready. Just pick a preset and the sound will sit right in your mix
- Uncompromising dynamic response for great playability
- Includes Sympathetic Resonance based on real samples
- 15 presets including Standard, Raw Tweaks, Britpop 1, Britpop 2, Living Room, Saloon, 70s Ballad, 70s Epic, 80s Chorus, 90s Dance, Balladesque, Southern Comfort, Swedish House Piano, Plate in the Mix, and Filter Sweep.


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Researchers can now distinguish the percentage of website viewers and the number of times they viewed the page, the number of pages they visited and the duration of each visit per website or webpage. For website owners, Ipsos provides a password that allows them to verify which external websites linked to their website, which search engines directed visitors to their website and what words the visitors used when entering the search engines.
Other analysis in calculations include the percentage of links used by online searchers that lead them to the owners website, either from a search engine, links or direct visiting. The system also provides the percentage of visitors, both local and regional, and gives a detailed description of their countries or regions.
In the interim, Ipsos is receiving the names of websites that want to have the Online Research services until the media planning program is available on the internet, which will later be provided to advertising agencies, companies interested in internet communications and webpage owners who would like to be aware of the percentage of hits or the click through rate their website receives.
Ipsos Middle East and Africa will start the next step of its Online Research service processes, to collect the demographics of online websites visitors in the second half of 2010. However, these studies will be provided to advertisers and corporate who participate in online communications directly off the internet through the "Gemius Explorer" program.
Furthermore, Ipsos will provide its online services through its partnership with Gemius Middle East and Africa, under the name of Ipsos/Gemius. Due to the concerns of over spending on online advertising the Internet Research Services will certainly identify the return on investment for advertisers and the success rate of their online communications.
Monday, May 17- 2010 @ 10:21 UAE local time (GMT+4) Replication or redistribution in whole or in part is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Mediaquest FZ LLC.


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Whether or not you live in the country, you can enjoy a simpler way of life by decorating your home in farmhouse style. From a Midwest farmhouse filled with early American antiques to a bright and sunny New Hampshire home that embodies good cheer, there are ideas to inspire everyone.
More decorating ideas:
Chicken Drumsticks and Vegetables in Mustard-Tarragon Sauce
This comforting classic has a flavorful twist.


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Pete Kasperowicz turns up the heat in Washington, providing an inside look into Congress
AG nominee Loretta Lynch has one big advantage in the Senate: She's not Eric Holder
Posted January 28, 2015 at 12:55 pm by Pete KasperowiczSenate Republicans indicated Wednesday that they might be willing to accept President Barack Obama's nominee to be the next attorney general, in large part because the nominee isn't Eric Holder.
Obama nominated U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch to replace Holder, and on Wednesday, GOP senators seemed to appreciate her competence and her earlier visits with then to discuss how she might do the job. But it also seemed clear that part of her smooth nomination hearing had a lot to do with who she wasn't.
Read More » -
Obama's AG pick defends legality of White House's immigration action
Posted January 28, 2015 at 11:20 am by Pete KasperowiczThe nominee to be the next Attorney General on Wednesday defended President Barack Obama's executive action on immigration, and backed up the Department of Justice's assessment of whether that action was legal.
U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch testified at the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning, and was expected to be pressed repeatedly on the legality of Obama's immigration action, as well as other actions from Obama that the GOP opposes.
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Rand Paul, 30 other senators renew call to audit the Federal Reserve
Posted January 28, 2015 at 10:23 am by Pete KasperowiczSen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and dozens of other senators have re-introduced legislation that would require a full audit of the Federal Reserve, a step many conservatives have demanded in order to get a better grip on how monetary policy has affected the lives of millions of Americans.
"A complete and thorough audit of the Fed will finally allow the American people to know exactly how their money is being spent by Washington," Paul said Wednesday. "The Fed currently operates under a cloak of secrecy and it has gone on for too long."
Read More » -
If a corrupt or negligent VA official gets a bonus, that's just fine with the VA
Posted January 28, 2015 at 9:08 am by Pete KasperowiczThe Department of Veterans Affairs said Tuesday that it's really not sure if Congress should pass a bill that would let it take back cash bonuses awarded to employees that are later discovered to be corrupt or negligent.
Statements from two VA officials stunned members of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, some of whom are pushing for ways to claw back undeserving bonuses in an effort to fix what still appears to be a broken and corrupt VA.
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HHS says 9.5 million are enrolled in Obamacare, more than its November estimate
Posted January 27, 2015 at 5:39 pm by Pete KasperowiczThe Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday that 9.5 million people were signed up in an Obamacare health plan as of this week, above the roughly 9 million HHS was hoping for this year.
Obamacare is current in its second annual enrollment phase, and people can sign up for a health insurance program through February 15 before the enrollment window closes.
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U.S., Cuba admit they don't trust each other…as they're supposedly trying to rebuild their relationship
Posted January 27, 2015 at 4:03 pm by Pete KasperowiczFormer Cuban President Fidel Castro and the U.S. State Department have each confessed within the last 24 hours that they don't trust each other.
But that isn't stopping both countries from trying to formalize diplomatic relations for the first time in years. The U.S. and Cuba met just last week in Havana, and Cuban officials will likely come to the U.S. in the coming weeks to continue those meetings.
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Senate Dems give Obama two months to reach a deal with Iran
Posted January 27, 2015 at 2:46 pm by Pete KasperowiczTen Senate Democrats told President Barack Obama on Tuesday that they would not vote for an Iran sanctions bill until after late March, essentially giving Obama two months to reach a framework deal under which Iran agrees to give up its nuclear weapons program.
The Obama administration extended negotiations with Iran on a nuclear deal last November, and is now targeting March 24 as a deadline for reaching a framework agreement. The administration hopes to reach a final deal by June 30.
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How much will Obama's immigration action cost taxpayers? Republicans demand answers.
Posted January 27, 2015 at 1:38 pm by Pete KasperowiczThree Senate Republicans are demanding to know how much it will cost to implement President Barack Obama's executive action on immigration, in anticipation that more taxpayer funding will be needed to carry out that action.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), and Homeland Security Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) warned the chief financial officer of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that Obama's action raises "serious legal questions and may have significant budgetary consequences."
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Watch: Trey Gowdy tussles with State Dept. liaison during uncomfortable back-and-forth
Posted January 27, 2015 at 12:27 pm by Pete KasperowiczRep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) on Tuesday demanded that the State Department speed up the process of getting information to Congress about the 2012 attack that led to the death of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya.
But several Democrats rejected Gowdy's implied argument that State is stonewalling, and said State had not rejected any request for information yet. Democrats argued that Gowdy's Select Committee on Benghazi only started asking for information in mid-November, and State so far has not rejected any request for this information.
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Dems Are Proposing a Perk That Only Federal Workers Would Get
Posted January 27, 2015 at 10:59 am by Pete KasperowiczRead More » -
See the Letter Democrats Sent to Trey Gowdy Complaining About His Benghazi Committee
Posted January 27, 2015 at 9:31 am by Pete Kasperowicz213 Comments » -
Dems keep the Keystone bill clogged up in the Senate
Posted January 26, 2015 at 7:02 pm by Pete KasperowiczDemocrats on Monday night were able to stall legislation that would approve the Keystone XL pipeline, sending Republicans back to the drawing board on a plan to get the bill through the Senate.
The Senate held two votes on whether to end debate on the bill and move it toward passage, but it failed both times, 53-39. Sixty votes were needed to advance the bill.
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Doctors 'optimistic' after Reid's eye surgery
Posted January 26, 2015 at 5:18 pm by Pete KasperowiczA spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Monday that doctors are encouraged that Reid will regain full use of his right eye after surgery earlier today, although they said they can't be sure until more time passes.
"Doctors have said they are optimistic about his prospects for regaining vision in his right eye but there is no definitive verdict yet," spokesman Adam Jentleson said.
Read More » -
Watch: Lawmaker Says Obama Has Gone 'Completely Whacko' With Alaska Wilderness Decision
Posted January 26, 2015 at 4:50 pm by Pete KasperowiczRead More » -
CBO: National Debt to Hit $19.1 Trillion Under Obama
Posted January 26, 2015 at 3:16 pm by Pete KasperowiczRead More » -
Watch: Dem says Boehner's invitation to Netanyahu was a 'terrible mistake'
Posted January 26, 2015 at 2:20 pm by Pete KasperowiczA House Democrat said Sunday that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) made a "terrible mistake" by inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to Congress, in part because Netanyahu will likely push Congress to pass a bill that President Barack Obama opposes.
Netanyahu is expected to talk about the need to hit Iran with tougher sanctions, something Obama opposes as his administration tries to negotiate a nuclear non-proliferation deal with Iran.
Read More »
UPDATE: House of Representatives gets a snow day
Posted January 26, 2015 at 1:15 pm by Pete KasperowiczThe House of Representatives canceled a series of formal votes planned for Monday due to a brewing snowstorm that forced the cancelation of thousands of flights in the Northeast region of the United States.
The House was scheduled to be in and working at 2 p.m. on several non-controversial bills aimed at fighting human trafficking. But shortly after noon, Republican leaders canceled all scheduled votes.
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Obama Has Big Plans for Alaska, and the State's Republicans Aren't Happy
Posted January 26, 2015 at 12:01 pm by Pete Kasperowicz195 Comments » -
IRS still having trouble figuring out who's dead, who's alive
Posted January 26, 2015 at 10:18 am by Pete KasperowiczAs the old saying goes, nothing is certain except death and taxes… and the occasional uncertainty at the IRS about who's dead and who's still alive.
A 94-year old Ohio man has fought with the IRS for nine months about whether he's alive or dead. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Siegfried Meinstein says he's alive, and his family has presented evidence to the IRS several times showing he's alive.
Read More »
Israel to Obama: No offense intended
Posted January 26, 2015 at 9:14 am by Pete KasperowiczIsrael's ambassador to the U.S. says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned address to Congress in early March is not a sign of disrespect to President Barack Obama, and is instead a chance to speak out against Iran and other threats to the world "while there is still time."
"The prime minister's visit here is not intended to show any disrespect for President Obama," Ambassador Ron Dermer said in a speech in Florida on Sunday.
Read More »
Steeling money: Lawmakers hope to save billions with new pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters
Posted January 23, 2015 at 4:21 pm by Pete KasperowiczThree members of the House have proposed legislation that would require common, everyday U.S. coins to be made from U.S. steel instead of imported copper, zinc and nickel.
The Cents and Sensibility Act, from Reps. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) and Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio), is aimed at saving money by ending the use of these imported minerals to make pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. Those members say most of the minerals used to make these coins come from Canada, and are so costly that it costs more than 1 cent to mint a penny, and more than 5 cents to mint a nickel.
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U.S. Union Membership Falls to Record Low in 2014
Posted January 23, 2015 at 3:12 pm by Pete KasperowiczRead More » -
Will U.S. fugitives will be returned as part of U.S.-Cuba normalization? Nobody knows…
Posted January 23, 2015 at 2:11 pm by Pete KasperowiczThree Senate Republicans on Friday pressed Attorney General Eric Holder to answer whether he supports normalizing relations with Cuba in the absence of an agreement by Cuba to return dozens of fugitives from the U.S. justice system.
The question is increasingly being asked by those who oppose closer ties between the U.S. and Cuba, and is being raised at a time when Obama administration officials are openly discussing a new chapter in the bilateral relationship.
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Ted Cruz: Keep Americans who fight with terrorist groups out of America
Posted January 23, 2015 at 12:50 pm by Pete KasperowiczSen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Friday announced the reintroduction of legislation that would prevent any American from returning home to the U.S. if they leave the country to fight with a terrorist organization.
His legislation, the Expatriate Terrorist Act, is a response to some instances in which Americans have left to support these groups, and then were allowed to return home. Cruz and other Republicans pushed for similar legislation last year, but the Republican-led House and Senate gives the bill a much better chance of passing Congress this year.
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Senators demand answers on government's use of radar to peek inside homes
Posted January 23, 2015 at 11:54 am by Pete KasperowiczSenate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and ranking member Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) this week demanded that the Justice Department brief senators on the federal government's use of radar devices that allow the FBI and other agencies to see inside people's homes.
USA Today reported Tuesday that the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and dozens of other law enforcement agencies are using these devices. That report immediately raised the fear that the government may be violating people's constitutional rights.
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By the Numbers
< MyNorthwest
10 favorite Seattle food trucks
From fish tacos to pulled pork to handmade ice cream, there's no shortage of delicious food being served up around the Seattle-area from our ever growing food truck scene. Check out some of the favorites from the staff of MyNorthwest.com and KIRO Radio.
9 of 10 |
This one's for those sticking with the paleolithic or caveman diet where meat is in, grains are out. Outside the Box gets rave reviews for its grass-fed pasture raised meats, vegetables, fruit, fungi, roots, and nuts, without grains, legumes, dairy products, refined salt and refined sugar.
Their popular offerings, which vary weekly, include favorites like the pulled pork carnitas on lettuce wraps with sauteed onions and pico de gallo, and grass-fed beef sliders with uncured bacon and roasted garlic aioli on an almond slider bun.
Photo by Outside the Box
Photo by Outside the Box
9 of 10 |
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Washington leads 1-0 (as of 8/1)
Game 1: Friday, August 1 | ||
Cincinnati | 2 | Final |
Washington | 5 | |
Recap »Boxscore » |
Game 2: Saturday, August 2 | ||
Cincinnati | 6 | Final |
Washington | 10 | |
Recap »Boxscore » |
Game 3: Sunday, August 3 | ||
Cincinnati | 2 | Final |
Washington | 4 | |
Recap »Boxscore » |
7:35 PM ET, August 1, 2008
Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Odalis Perez liked his chances after the Washington Nationals raced out to an early lead Friday night.
Perez pitched into the eighth inning to earn his first home win and Washington ended a nine-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night."If I see five runs in the first two innings, I have a 90 percent chance to win the game," Perez said.The matchup featured two struggling teams that made dramatic changes to their rosters this week.It was Cincinnati's first game since it traded outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. to the Chicago White Sox on Thursday. Reliever Nick Masset, one of two players acquired by the Reds in the deal, allowed one hit in three scoreless innings.Perez was backed by the majors' youngest team. After Thursday's release of 36-year-old catcher Paul Lo Duca, the Nationals sported a roster with an average age of 27 years, 197 days.Washington also had a new double play combination: second baseman Emilio Bonifacio, just recalled from Triple-A Columbus and shortstop Alberto Gonzalez, acquired Thursday from the New York Yankees.Perez made it easy for them, winning for just the fourth time in 20 starts. He allowed one run and three hits over 7 1/3 innings in his longest start since he pitched eight innings for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Philadelphia Phillies on Aug. 11, 2005."When I came out after the seventh inning, I thought 'I'm done," Perez said.Washington manager Manny Acta thought otherwise, and sent Perez back out for the eighth. The left-hander allowed a triple to Jolbert Cabrera before Saul Rivera entered and got out of the jam, retiring Jerry Hairston Jr. on a comebacker before striking out Jeff Keppinger to end the inning.Joel Hanrahan worked the ninth, allowing a home run to Jay Bruce.Perez (4-8) also allowed a leadoff double to Keppinger in the fourth and a fifth-inning single to Andy Phillips."He was pitching smart. Getting us to chase -- getting me to chase pitches that I couldn't drive," Bruce said. "He's a veteran guy and he really knows how to pitch."Bonifacio and Gonzalez both played well in their first game with the Nationals. Bonifacio went 1-for-4, scored a run and swiped a base, and Gonzalez doubled, scored a run and walked twice. They also combined on a nifty inning-ending double play in the seventh."You saw athleticism in turning a double play that I didn't think was going to be turned," Acta said.Homer Bailey (0-5) lasted just two innings for Cincinnati, allowing five runs and seven hits. The Reds have lost six of seven."I was damn near putting it on a tee for them," Bailey said. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, as long as they don't cut your arms off -- and they're still attached."Jesus Flores hit a two-run single in the first, and Washington added three more in the second. Bonifacio had an RBI single and Elijah Dukes doubled in two runs.Dukes went 2-for-4 with two RBIs in his first action since missing 19 games with an injured right knee."I'm just fortunate in being a quick healer," Dukes said. "If I didn't hit that double, Odalis would have stepped it up and probably giving up no hits."Keppinger scored on Brandon Phillips' fourth-inning groundout for the Reds' first run.Game notes
Washington 3B Ryan Zimmerman missed the game with a bruised right hand. He was hit by a pitch in Thursday's game against Philadelphia. ... Nationals SS Cristian Guzman missed his sixth game with a bruised left thumb. ... The Nationals optioned RHP Garrett Mock to Columbus to make room for Bonifacio. ... Washington reinstated RHP Ryan Wagner from the 60-day disabled list and optioned him to Columbus. ... The Reds activated Hairston from the 15-day DL and optioned RHP Todd Coffey to Triple-A Louisville.
Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
Also See
Regular Season Series
Scoring Summary
1st | J Flores singled to left, W Harris and E Dukes scored. | 0 | 2 | |
2nd | E Bonifacio singled to center, A Gonzalez scored. | 0 | 3 | |
2nd | E Dukes doubled to left, E Bonifacio and W Harris scored. | 0 | 5 | |
4th | B Phillips grounded out to shortstop, J Keppinger scored. | 1 | 5 | |
9th | J Bruce homered to right center. | 2 | 5 | |
View complete Play-By-Play |
Game Information
Stadium | Nationals Park, Washington, D.C. |
Attendance | 30,572 (73.7% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
Game Time | 2:26 |
Weather | 89 degrees, clear |
Wind | 7 mph |
Umpires | Home Plate - Jeff Kellogg, First Base - Sam Holbrook, Second Base - Chad Fairchild, Third Base - Mark Wegner |


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Scanners Reviews & News
TechRadar | November 24, 2014
ScanSnap iX100 Review
Overview and how it works Before I had the opportunity to review the Fujitsu ScanSnap iX100 ($199, £186.40,...
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Epson Perfection V800 Photo and V850 Pro Scanners
Epson America just introduced two new photo scanners featuring 4800 x 6400 dpi optical resolution for under $950. The...
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Fujitsu ScanSnap iX100 Mobile Wireless Scanner
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Brian Mitchell | September 2, 2014
Canon imageFORMULA P-215II Scan-tini Mobile Scanner
Canon just introduced the imageFORMULA P-215II Scan-tini Mobile Document Scanner, which is compatible with both Windows and Mac....
Brian Mitchell | June 28, 2014
Canon imageFORMULA DR-M160II Scanner
Canon just introduced the imageFORMULA DR-M160II office document scanner, which offers speeds up to 60 pages-per-minute (PPM) and...
Brian Mitchell | November 26, 2013
Fujitsu fi-7160, fi-7180, fi-7260, fi-7280 Workgroup Scanners
Fujitsu just announced four high performance workgroup scanning solutions designed for small and midsize businesses (SMBs), priced from...
TechRadar | March 20, 2013
Canon DR-C125W Review
Wi-Fi functions Canon's latest high speed scanner, the imageFORMULA DR-C125W, is its first desktop scanner to incorporate Wi-Fi...
Brian Mitchell | February 15, 2013
Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 Color Duplex Scanner
Fujitsu introduced the ScanSnap iX500 desktop scanner for Mac or PC featuring built-in Wi-Fi connectivity giving customers the...
Brian Mitchell | January 23, 2013
Panasonic KV-S1026C and KV-S1015C Document Scanners
Panasonic announced the KV-S1026C and KV-S1015C personal workgroup document scanners, ideal for small and medium businesses looking to...
Brian Mitchell | January 12, 2013
Canon imageFORMULA P-208 Scan-tini Scanner
Canon just announced the imageFORMULA P-208 Scan-tini, a personal document scanner, which handles a variety of documents, such...
Brian Mitchell | January 4, 2013
Xerox DocuMate 5445 and 5460 Scanners
Xerox introduced the 45 ppm DocuMate 5445 and 60ppm 5460 scanners for workgroups in small and medium sized offices. Both appear...
Brian Mitchell | January 1, 2013
Doxie One Paper Scanner
Apparent has released the Doxie One, a simple and affordable 300dpi personal paper scanner for homes, families, and...
Brian Mitchell | July 7, 2012
Canon imageFORMULA DR-C130 Scanner Announced
Canon announced the imageFORMULA DR-C130 compact office document scanner for individuals or small workgroups. Successor to the imageFORMULA...
LAPTOP Magazine | May 2, 2012
Brookstone iConvert Scanner for iPad Review
The Brookstone iConvert Scanner for iPad lets you scan documents and photos directly to your tablet, but its...
Everything USB | April 12, 2012
Wacom Inkling Review
If you're a creative professional that needs something to capture quick ideas on the go in a small...
Brian Mitchell | April 9, 2012
PlanOn ScanStik SK600 Portable Pen Scanner Announced
PlanOn today announced ScanStik (model SK600), a pen-sized full page color scanner that scans the whole page at...
Brian Mitchell | March 7, 2012
PlanOn SlimScan SS100-RMS Receipt Scanner
PlanOn System Solutions introduced the SlimScan, the first credit card-sized portable full color scanner that lets you scan...
Brian Mitchell | February 27, 2012
Plustek MobileOffice S410 Portable Scanner
Plustek Technology announced the MobileOffice S410 portable USB-powered document scanner, which is able to scan to the Cloud....
LAPTOP Magazine | February 24, 2012
Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 Review
With its compact design, fast performance and superb scan quality, the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 is our top pick...
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Xerox 7600i Flatbed Scanner
Xerox introduced the budget-priced 7600i multipurpose flatbed color scanner, able to scan, organize and share almost anything with...


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Mozart Madness to Air January 25 through 27 on TheClassicalStation.org
William Woltz, music director for WCPE, TheClassicalStation.org, announces today that in recognition of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Birthday, WCPE celebrates the wunderkind from Salzburg for three days, January 25 through his birthday on January 27, 2013.
"That Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart could write a symphony at the age of eight is remarkable," offers Woltz, who also hosts Allegro. "That the dying adult left us with his achingly beautiful Requiem is a gift to mankind."
You can request your favorite Amadeus on All Request Friday and Saturday Evening Request Program by going to TheClassicalStation.org and clicking Music Requests under Quick Links on the right.
Here is a partial listing of programming being offered:
25 Friday
8:00 a.m. Mozart: Overture to The Marriage of Figaro
9:00 a.m. All-Request Friday
10:00 p.m. Mozart: Rondo in A Minor
26 Saturday
8:00 a.m. Mozart: Serenade no. 13 in G (Eine Kleine Nachtmusik)
9:00 a.m. Mozart: Symphony no. 35 in D (Haffner)
10:00 a.m. Mozart: Piano Concerto no. 20 in D Minor
11:00 a.m. Mozart: Quintet in E-flat for Piano and Winds
12:00 p.m. Mozart: Overture to Don Giovanni
4:00 p.m. Mozart: Piano Concerto no. 21 in C
5:00 p.m. Mozart: Symphony no. 39 in E-flat
27 Sunday
7:00 a.m. Mozart: Exsultate, Jubilate
11:00 a.m. Mozart: Symphony no. 40 in G Minor
12:00 p.m. Mozart: Piano Sonata no. 8 in A Minor
2:00 p.m. Mozart: String Quartet no. 22 in B-flat
3:00 p.m. Mozart: Piano Concerto no. 24 in C Minor
4:00 p.m. Mozart: Serenade no. 10 in B-flat (for Winds) (Gran Partita)
5:00 p.m. Mozart: Symphony no. 41 in C (Jupiter)
In 1990 a group of psychologists studied Mozart's written personal history and labeled him as "Pathologically Optimistic." WCPE's Mozart Madness will explore, through music, his exuberance and hope, even when composing during times of personal hardship and despair.
WCPE's live broadcast of 'Great Classical Music, 24 Hours A Day' can be accessed around the globe in several ways; on-line streaming in multiple formats, including IPv6, local cable television systems and traditional radio broadcasting. A complete list of the ways WCPE is available with instructions for cable and Satellite reception can be found at: TheClassicalStation.org/listen.shtml. In central North Carolina and southern Virginia, WCPE is found on the radio at 89.7 FM.
About Author
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We had reserved two rooms but upon arrival discovered that only one room was reserved. The owners went out of their way to get us another room even though the hotel was pretty much booked. Rooms were clean and breakfast was better than we expected. Would stay there again.
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Friday 30 Jan 2015
By Sophia Kishkovsky. Web onlyPublished online: 15 November 2013
Architectural preservationists say that plans to build a new cathedral on the grounds of Moscow's 14th-century Sretensky Monastery will destroy other historic buildings on the site, irrevocably alter the surrounding cityscape, and set a troubling example for other heritage sites across Russia.
"There are no guarantees that the abbots of other ancient monasteries with 'cramped' Medieval cathedrals won't want to follow Moscow's example," said Konstantin Mikhailov, a leader of the Archnadzor preservationist organisation in an appeal published on 23 October. "It will be hard to cite [architectural] preservation legislation [in response], if Moscow shows how to overcome it. And if monasteries start becoming arenas for new construction, then the system of monuments protection could collapse."The construction project has received particular attention because the Sretensky Monastery's abbot, Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov, is a best-selling author who is rumoured to be the confessor to Russian president Vladimir Putin. Shevkunov says that construction of the cathedral is essential because the monastery's existing church cannot handle the flow of pilgrims and that it is intended to honor those who died for their religious faith in the Soviet Era and have been canonised as the "new martyrs and confessors". The cathedral is due to be built by 2017, in time for the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution when attacks on the Russian Orthodox Church began, and its full name will be the Cathedral of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia on the Blood, on Lubyanka. On 13 November, a Moscow city committee that oversees construction on heritage sites approved the cathedral project.The Sretensky Monastery is near Lubyanka Square, the site of the headquarters of the KGB, which carried out the Soviet era persecution of religious believers. Several of the monastery's churches were destroyed in the early Soviet years and its facilities were used as a killing ground in Stalin's time. President Putin, a former lieutenant colonel in the KGB, is now avowedly Russian Orthodox. The Russian media and bloggers have dubbed the florid style of the cathedral design by the Moscow architect Dmitry Smirnov "Chekist gothic", a reference to Cheka, an early name for the KGB.Mikhailov and other activists say that they are not against the construction of a memorial cathedral per se, but that they oppose the size and methods in this case, and accuse city officials of failing to enforce zoning and preservation laws.In an interview with The Art Newspaper, Shevkunov said that activists' objections were being taken into account in alterations to the design that are being worked on now and will be presented by the middle of 2014. He denied, however, that there is widespread opposition to the project and said that most of the criticisms from activists are groundless."I repeat: not a single one of the structures designated for demolition is or ever was an architectural monument," he told The Art Newspaper. "Moreover, all of these late 19th-century and early 20th-century structures have had additions built on and have been reconstructed and lost their authentic appearance, which is confirmed by historical-cultural research. And one of the buildings that is so fiercely defended by activists was built by us around a decade ago. It's an [electrical] substation. Another building is a brick shed. But they are fighting for them as if we want to destroy the [Kremlin's] Spasskaya Tower or the Bolshoi Theatre."Another church construction project that is also garnering attention is a huge new church being built in Sochi in time for the 2014 Winter Olympics. Critics have raised question about its size, style and financing.Sergei Chapnin, the editor of the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate, has created a new magazine, Khramozdatel ("Church Builder"), and organised conferences to address the often controversial issue of new church architecture as the Russian Orthodox Church continues to rebuild."In my view, the intense scrutiny of the external appearance of new Orthodox churches speaks of two important tendencies," Chapnin told The Art Newspaper. "First of all, the copying of designs from the 16th or 19th centuries is becoming a thing of the past. The question of what a 21st-century church should look like is becoming more and more acute. Secondly, there is the question of how a new church fits into the cityscape. For now, there are quite a few unsuccessful examples, not only in new [city] districts, but in historic districts as well."
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The designs for the proposed church are appalling on many levels, but more importantly it follows a very dangerous precedent of the Russian state to raze, replace, recreate, and over-restore structures, rather than to work with principles of conservation and preservation long considered of paramount importance in the rest of the world. Until Russia can appreciate what it already has, it will never design anything new with any sensitivity.
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Who do you think looks best today? (5 photos)
The best street style from London Fashion Week: http://ow.ly/p48HS via @StyleCaster
Charlize Theron sure knows how to make an entrance! The actress attended the premiere of In the Valley of Elah at the Venice Film Festival in a dramatic gown by Atelier Versace. "Being a fashion icon was never her focus," her stylist Lisa Michelle Boyd has said. Really? Could have fooled us.Read MoreLess


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She became the first U.S. war ship to round the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean. Thirteen years later, the Essex became the first American man-of-war to round the Horn into the Pacific, where her crew fought?and lost?one of the bloodiest sea battles in U.S....
She became the first U.S. war ship to round the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean. Thirteen years later, the Essex became the first American man-of-war to round the Horn into the Pacific, where her crew fought—and lost—one of the bloodiest sea battles in U.S. History. A list of her commanders—Edward Preble, William Bainbridge, James Barron, and David Porter—reads like a who's who of the early American Navy. David Farragut served as a midshipman before achieving fame as the first rear admiral of the US Navy.
The Essex's most important role, however was in promoting and protecting the interests of the United States throughout the world. By the late 1790s, the young country was emerging from its colonial dependence on Europe into a global commercial presence and a budding world power in its own right. Its future growth depended on international trade, and that trade depended, in turn, on unimpeded access to the sea.
The history of the Essex is both a stirring nautical adventure and an engaging look at an important turning point in the history of the young American nation.
Essex and the Young
American Navy
Although we recommend taking good care of your vessel and people, yet we should deem it more praiseworthy in an officer to lose his vessel in a bold enterprise than to lose a good prize by too timid a conduct.
— Continental Congress, letter to Captain Elisha Warren of the sloop Fly.
The USS Essex, a thirty-two-gun frigate built in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1799, was not the most glorious vessel in the history of the American navy, yet she was unique. Sailors throughout the world remarked on her speed and beauty of line, and the list of men who commanded her—Edward Preble, William Bainbridge, James Barron, and David Porter—reads like a who's who of the early American navy. She was the first U.S. warship to round the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean. Thirteen years later, she became the first American man-of-war to round the Horn into the Pacific, where her crew fought and lost one of the bloodiest sea battles in U.S. history.
Yet, Essex was also typical of many warships of her era. She did not go down in history as the victor in any momentous combat, like the more famous frigates Constellation and Constitution. Many of her fifteen years in the U.S. Navy were spent in ordinary, during periods when the United States faced no war and had downsized its navy. When she was at sea, Essex spent much of her time performing the mundane but necessary task of protecting American merchant vessels from the Barbary States of North Africa and other enemies. And like a fair share of U.S. men-of-war, she was captured and ended up in the British navy. Essex was an integral part of the young U.S. Navy, and her singular and ordinary qualities make her a worthy subject of study.
The U.S. Navy, now the world's most powerful and advanced, began with jumps and starts, interspersed with extraordinary milestones. The exact origin is difficult to pinpoint, but the Gaspee incident is a good place to start. The year was 1772, when the white oaks used to build Essex were growing along the Merrimac River, outside Salem. In June of that year, an armed British schooner, Gaspee, patrolling for colonial vessels that were violating England's Navigation Acts, was boarded from whaleboats by a group of colonial seamen led by Abraham Whipple and burned in Narragansett Bay off of Providence, R.I. Three years later, as Britain's relations with her North American colonies worsened by the day, British frigate commander Sir James Wallace discovered Whipple's role in the destruction of Gaspee and wrote to the rebel seaman, You, Abraham Whipple, on the 17th of June, 1772 burnt his Majesty's vessel the Gaspee, and I will hang you to the yardarm." Whipple wrote back: "To Sir James Wallace: Sir—always catch a man before you hang him."
Such was the spirit of the nascent American navy. From its beginnings, its officers and crew did not hesitate to thumb their noses at countries with superior firepower. The irreverent impulse seemed natural for a nation of thirteen fractured colonies who declared their independence from the strongest naval power on earth. Boldness—absolutely essential in a navy that was often short on gunpowder, cordage, and provisions—was nurtured by the country's first captains, among them John Paul Jones, Stephen Decatur Jr., Isaac Hull, and Oliver Hazard Perry. These men and their crews brought honor to a host of ships—Bon Homme Richard, Constitution, and Niagara—whose names are carved into American history books.
As the prospect of war heated up with Great Britain, the United States did not possess a unified navy. Rather, individual colonies were scrambling to put a few fighting ships onto the seas and rivers. The first colony to act was Rhode Island, whose legislature, after the attack on Gaspee, fitted out two vessels under the command of Whipple.
The first step in creating a national navy came when General George Washington—though Congress had given him command of the army only—commissioned the schooner Hannah, on 5 September 1775, into national service. Washington's foray into naval affairs was triggered by his army's desperate need for ammunition and other supplies. He had no intention of dispatching Hannah to take on ships of the all-powerful British navy. Rather, her mission was to capture British store ships and make haste back to port with much needed materiel.
Two months later, Washington had six vessels operating under his command, and this minuscule navy, whose crews were recruited from the ranks of the army, surprisingly met with early success. One of the richest hauls came with the capture of Nancy by the American warship Lee, under John Manly, in November 1775, accomplishing exactly what Washington had hoped for. The Lee's flag had a green pine tree on it (a common symbol on colonists' flags) and the motto "Appeal to Heaven!" Certainly, the haul from Nancy, which struck her flag without resistance, was a blessed one. It consisted of 2,000 muskets, 30 tons of musket shot, 30,000 round shot, 100,000 flints, and many barrels of powder. It was a quantity of munitions that would have taken the colonies a year and a half to manufacture.
A messenger bringing news of Nancy's capture arrived in Philadelphia when the Continental Congress was deciding, ironically, how to round up materiel and other supplies to fight the British. The messenger knocked on the meeting room door but was ordered to wait. He persisted until he was admitted. He delivered his news. So moved was John Adams that he rose to his feet and proclaimed, "We must succeed—Providence is with us—we must succeed!"
The enthusiasm was contagious. The Marine Committee was established by the Congress and, in a milestone act, was ordered to "devise ways and means for furnishing these colonies with naval armament, and report with all convenient speed." The committee consisted of seven men, John Adams among them, and soon recommended fitting out thirteen ships, ranging from twenty-four to thirty-two guns, at a cost not to exceed $67,000 each and to be ready by March 1776. Congress voted half a million dollars to foot the bill, and with that, an embryonic American navy was officially born.
The new navy was viewed by General Washington with mixed emotions. Despite the success of Lee and other vessels, the ragtag fleet was giving him headaches. "The plague, trouble, and vexation I have had with the crews of the armed vessels, are inexpressible," he wrote to Congress in December 1775. "Every time they come into port, we hear nothing but mutinous complaints.... The crews of the Washington and Harrison have actually deserted them." Washington worried that the navy would follow its own priorities and would not support his military initiatives, a fear that came to pass.
Dissension was so prevalent that the navy's first commander in chief, Esek Hopkins, was sacked soon after his appointment. Hopkins, who was being paid an annual salary of $1,500, set off in the winter of 1776 to the Bahamas—a British colony—where he seized one hundred cannons and a goodly number of supplies. It was a victory of which he could be proud. Unfortunately, Hopkins had not followed the more urgent instructions given him—to cruise off and protect the coast of Virginia. He was censured, removed from his post, and not replaced.
Despite the lack of naval cohesion, the Marine Committee strongly believed its officers should look like a unified body; so it established a code of dress. Officers cut dashing figures. Captains wore blue coats with red lapels, a slash cuff, stand-up collar, yellow buttons, blue britches, and a red waistcoat. Midshipmen were similarly attired, though not quite so colorful or elegant. As for salaries, it was established that captains commanding ships of twenty or more guns would make $60 per month, while those of ships carrying between ten and nineteen guns would take home $48. Lieutenants earned between $24 and $30, while surgeons made $25. A midshipman's salary was $12, while seamen got $8.
The navy was not America's only fighting force on the seas during the Revolutionary War. There were also privateers, defined as private armed vessels allowed by the government to cruise against merchant ships of an enemy power. Privateering—first recorded in Great Britain in 1295 during the reign of Edward I—was an important part of the American war effort because the nation had such a small navy. The advantage of privateering was that it kept merchant vessels and sailors employed during wartime, when trade lagged because shipowners were wary of sending vessels out to seas patrolled by an enemy. Even landlubbers signed up to take a berth aboard a privateer, whose commanders promised rich rewards. Handbills that circulated during the Revolutionary War asked for "seamen or landmen who desired to make their fortunes in a few months." Crewmen received a percentage of whatever they captured after the booty was sold at public auction. Anything from almonds to wine to tea to the captured vessel itself went on the block, but success was never guaranteed. Privateers sometimes cruised for months without a successful capture, and they themselves were fair game to enemy ships.
However, there were success stories. For example, Salem, one of the country's bustling ports, sent to sea over 150 privateers that made close to 450 captures. But many crews of privateers returned home with little to show for their efforts. Because they were lightly armed, privateers avoided combat at all costs. They aided a war effort but were no substitute for an experienced and well-financed navy.
America's navy, unfortunately, was neither experienced nor well financed. There were a handful of victories, many of them scored by John Paul Jones in his eighteen-gun Ranger. The colonists were also successful in raiding merchant shipping around the British Isles, subsequently causing a rise in insurance rates. However, in the end, America's navy was drastically outgunned and outmanned by the Royal Navy.
Of the thirteen vessels authorized by Congress in 1775, all were eventually captured or destroyed. The thirty-two-gun Randolph had been blown to smithereens after taking a hit in her magazine, in March 1778, during a fierce battle with the sixty-four-gun Yarmouth. Only four of Randolph's 315-man crew survived. The thirty-two-gun Washington and twenty-eight-gun Effingham suffered more ignoble defeats. They were burned to keep them from falling into British hands. Even the battle for which John Paul Jones is most famous—his defeat of the fifty-gun Serapis by the forty-gun Bon Homme Richard—was a pyrrhic victory. Both ships were heavily damaged, and Jones's vessel soon sank. America's victory in the Revolutionary War was not secured by her own men-of-war but by French Admiral de Grasse, whose fleet appeared at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in October 1781 to drive away the British fleet and thus assist General Washington in the final showdown at Yorktown.
Nevertheless, victory went to the colonists, and it was time for them to move ahead with their experiment in democracy. One of the first orders of business was to reduce the armed forces. Having so recently unyoked themselves from the British, the colonists were suspicious of large armies and navies, which in times of peace were looked upon as engines for establishing despotism. To that end, Washington's victorious army was reduced to seven hundred men. The navy, or what was left of it, was totally disbanded. The newly completed ship-of-the-line America, with seventy-four guns, was given to France as a thank-you gift. Another surviving vessel, the thirty-two-gun Alliance, was sold to a private shipper (and subsequently converted to a China trade ship) to save the cash-stricken government the money needed to repair her. A few colonies kept a handful of ships to act as a kind of coast guard, but the United States was too poor and too divided under the Articles of Confederation to contemplate maintaining a national navy.
The choice was shortsighted. As one British official observed soon after peace had been made with the United States:
It is not probable that the American States will have a very free trade in the Mediterranean; it will not be in the interest of any of the great maritime powers to protect them from the Barbary States. They cannot protect themselves from the latter; they cannot pretend to a navy.
The words proved prophetic. In July 1785, two American merchant vessels, Dolphin and Maria, were captured in the Mediterranean by ships from Algiers, one of several kingdoms along the North African coast comprising the Barbary States. The rulers of these states, who reported to the Ottoman sultan of Turkey, had been blackmailing world shipping for centuries, even though they did not possess large navies. Algiers, for example, had nine ships, the largest wielding thirty-two guns, and fifty gunboats—nothing compared to the fleets of France and Great Britain. Nevertheless, the Barbary States could demand tribute payments for a couple of reasons. For one, many countries, such as Holland and Denmark, had large and active merchant fleets but relatively small navies. It was easier for these countries to pay off Barbary rulers than to send their navies, sometimes needed to protect local interests, deep into the Mediterranean. As for larger powers, like Great Britain and France, it was less trouble to pay tribute money than expend their energy—often needed to fight each other—laying waste to Barbary cities, some of which had well-protected and well-armed harbors.
Moreover, the European states used the North African potentates to harass the shipping of their enemies. Britain employed that strategy against the United States as a form of revenge after the Revolutionary War; British diplomats stationed along the Barbary Coast let it be known that merchantmen flying the Stars and Stripes were ripe for the picking. Ships from America had no navy and were no longer protected by the British Empire, they said.
The twenty-one crewmen of the Dolphin and Maria were stripped of their clothing and valuables, taken to Algiers, and paraded past crowds of heckling citizens to prison. They were then sold into slavery and ransom was set at a phenomenal $3,000 per head. The seamen wasted away while negotiations ensued; the United States had no choice but to buy peace with the Barbary nations through annual payments. America had no navy and, in addition, was too consumed with its own domestic survival to spend much energy protecting interests thirty-five hundred miles away.
Luckily for the Americans, a subsequent war between Portugal and Algiers lessened the depredations against U.S. shipping, for a while. American vessels often sailed under the protection of Portugal, but this situation did not last long. A peace was brokered between Algiers and Portugal and, by the 1790s, captures resumed. In July of 1793, eight American merchantmen were taken during a three-week period. By November, eleven American vessels with over one hundred seamen (seven of whom would die in captivity) were in Algerian prisons. Colonel David Humphreys, American minister at Portugal, wrote to Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, "If we are to have a commerce we must have a naval force (to a certain extent) to defend it." Humphreys's qualifying phrase "to a certain extent" is extremely telling. It shows that, despite the attacks on U.S. shipping, many government officials were still averse to the notion of creating a full-fledged navy.
Nonetheless, some congressmen had had their fill of bullying and blackmailing. In the early months of 1794, the House of Representatives passed a resolution "that a naval force ... ought to be provided for the protection of the commerce of the United States against Algerian cruisers." The resolution, which passed by the slimmest of margins, 43 to 41, eventually led to the construction of six frigates. Three would carry forty-four guns, and three would wield thirty-six. Secretary of War Henry Knox took charge of the building project because the nation had no secretary of the navy. The six frigates (and their host cities) were Constitution (Boston), President (New York), United States (Philadelphia), Congress (Portsmouth, New Hampshire), Chesapeake (Portsmouth, Virginia), and Constellation (Baltimore). To captain these vessels, the United States reached into its past and selected Revolutionary War naval figures like Samuel Nicholson, Silas Talbot, Joshua Barney, and Richard Dale.
Resistance to raising a navy continued. Americans—particularly Jeffersonian Democrats—dragged their feet on any initiatives designed to resurrect a fighting sea force. They encouraged negotiations with Algiers even while the six warships were being built. Paying tribute, they reasoned, was cheaper than raising a navy from scratch. Their logic also was fueled by a continuing wariness of militias and navies. They argued that Louis XVI, the French monarch whose head had fallen to the guillotine the previous year, had brought on revolt of the people because of his nation's costly expenses—"the king, nobility, the priesthood, the army and, above all, the navy." James Madison, who led opposition to the frigates, went so far as to suggest paying Portugal to protect U.S. shipping.
The ruling Federalist party won the shipbuilding vote but not without the compromise that work on the six frigates would cease if peace were made with the Barbary States. The dey of Algiers, after catching wind of American resolve, hastened to broker a treaty. Though he agreed to stop his nation's attacks, he made out very well under the accord, signed in July 1794. The United States agreed to pay Algiers a hefty sum of $800,000, plus annual tributes. Ironically, the treaty cost the young nation about as much as six good frigates. At the insistence of President Washington, however, three of the vessels were completed because they were nearly finished anyway. They were Constitution, United States, and Constellation.
There were other sound reasons for completing the frigates. Other Barbary States were now preying on U.S. shipping. Second, there was a foreboding sense among Americans that the dey himself was not wholly satisfied with his arrangement, and his future actions would eat further into the U.S. Treasury. Finally, and most significantly, American shipping was being increasingly harassed by far more threatening powers: the British and French.
As of 1793, Great Britain and France were again at war and were using American shipping as a pawn in their struggle. Each side wanted American trade but would not countenance it with the other. American merchant vessels were forced to submit to lengthy searches by the warships of both nations. Many captains were forced to stand trial and, as if to rub salt into the wound, saw their perishable cargo spoil while awaiting judicial proceedings. When their vessels were intercepted by British warships, some American sailors were pressed into the Royal Navy. U.S. Minister to France Governeur Morris hit the nail on the head when he said, "One thing I am thoroughly convinced of, that if we do not render ourselves respectable we shall continue to be insulted."
The seizures hit the port of Salem hard. The Salem Gazette carried account after account of depredations. For example, on 5 November 1793, the Gazette reported, "Captain Joshua Webb of the schooner Polly was robbed of $200 by a privateer flying French colors but manned by British sailors, obviously a ruse." And on 17 February 1794, it stated that "at the Port of St. Kitts, 26 Americans are libeled" (libeled meant held prisoner for transporting contraband). Other accounts reported American seamen being beaten and deprived of food. Some died in prison.
American merchant skippers attempted to adapt to wartime conditions, taking advantage of French convoys (which often sailed under the protection of French warships) when shipping goods to France and British convoys when moving goods to Britain and its colonial ports. Seizures, however, still occurred, cut profits, and threw many people out of work. In Salem, the town's sailors held demonstrations and petitioned Congress for action. It is easy to understand why towns like Salem, which relied so heavily on sea trade, would rally to support and build Essex.
But, that was five years away. For now, President Washington and his government tried to address problems with the English and French through negotiation. He dispatched Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay to Great Britain to settle the seizure question, as well as other thorny issues left over from the Revolutionary War. Jay returned home with a treaty that granted many concessions to Britain, including most-favored-nation trading status. Jay also promised that America would not allow French privateers access to its ports. Thirdly, naval stores, which France needed in its war against Great Britain, were deemed contraband. The one-sided agreement, which brought temporary peace, angered so many Americans that Jay once said he could ride across the nation by light given off from his burning effigies.
If the treaty angered Americans, it enraged the French, who deemed it a slap in the face from an ungrateful nation with a short memory. Had not Lafayette helped assure the victory at Yorktown? Had not the treaty of friendship signed in 1778 made France and the United States allies in practically all matters?
The United States, however, took a pragmatic view towards its French brethren. Americans wanted no part of foreign entanglements. Having ratified a new constitution in 1787, the nation was anxious to get down to the business of commerce. Also, Americans—while feeling some solidarity with a nation that also had unyoked itself from a monarchy—were troubled by the excesses of the French Revolution, which had terrorized that nation.
American aloofness made the French resentful; they took out their revenge by issuing a broad decree on what was considered neutral trade. It stated that "every vessel found at sea, laden in whole or in part with merchandise coming from England or her possessions, shall be declared prize goods, whoever may be the proprietor of these productions or merchandise." The decree made official and government-sanctioned a policy that was already being carried out.
Future decrees got tougher. In March 1797, France declared that "every American vessel shall be a good prize which has not on board a list of the crew in proper form, such as is presented by the model annexed to the treaty of the 6th of February 1778." No American captain had followed this "model" since the end of the Revolutionary War, and the French knew it. Their intent was to harass American skippers or frighten them from taking to the seas at all.
A typical example of French harassment was recorded in the Philadelphia Gazette on 6 April 1797, reporting the action involving the American merchantmen Two Sisters and a French privateer. The American captain, whose name was Worth, was ordered aboard and asked to sign a paper written in French. Worth refused, and the captain of the privateer drew his cutlass and threatened to cleave the American skipper in two. Worth still would not budge, arguing that it was absurd for him to sign a paper written in a language he did not understand. The French captain, with his weapon still drawn, ordered two American seamen to put their names to the paper, and they complied. The seamen had signed a confession that their ship was bound for Jamaica, a British port, and the French claimed Two Sisters as a prize.
While such incidents heightened tensions between the United States and France, the so-called XYZ affair set the two nations on an inevitable course for war. The incident, in October 1797, came during a last-ditch effort to address problems with France. Three U.S. diplomats—John Marshall, Elbridge Gerry, and Charles Pinckney—were dispatched to Paris, where they were met by three French agents (known as X, Y, and Z) who demanded a $250,000 bribe before negotiations proceeded. The Americans refused and returned home. The newspapers reported the incident, which triggered the famous quote: "Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute!" Depredations by France, as well as Great Britain, continued. By 1797, Secretary of State Thomas Pickering reported to Congress that over two hundred American ships had been plundered.
In April of the following year, Congress re-established its official navy—disbanded fourteen years earlier after the Revolutionary War—by a vote of 42 to 27. The legislative act was a key turning point in the development of the U.S. Navy and the nation as a whole. America would downsize its navy in future years, but never again would the nation find itself caught without some type of national force to protect its interests on the seas.
The position of the secretary of the navy was also established. The first incumbent was Benjamin Stoddert, a successful and well-connected shipper from Georgetown, Maryland. As a young man, he had joined Washington's army, despite that his father had been a captain in the British army. Benjamin was so severly wounded in the Battle of Brandywine that his injuries plagued him for the rest of his life. In 1779, he was appointed secretary to the Board of War, where he made the acquaintance of future U.S. President John Adams and other leaders. When the American capital was being moved from Philadelphia to the outskirts of Georgetown, President Washington asked Stoddert to buy up tracts around the proposed government site to prevent speculators from doing the same and selling the land at exorbitant prices to the cash-starved U.S. government.
Despite his patriotism, Stoddert thought long and hard about taking the position as naval secretary when it was offered in May, 1798. He wrote:
I hate office—have no desire for fancied or real importance and wish to spend my life in retirement and ease without bustle of any kind. Yet it seems cowardly at such a time as this to refuse an important and highly responsible position.... You know I have managed Peaceable ships very well. Why should I not be able to direct as well those of War? After all this preface I think there is about thirty to one I shall not accept.
Stoddert defied his own odds. The position paid $3,000 a year, not a trivial sum, but Stoddert really needed to devote time to his personal affairs, which were suffering from poor investments, rather than directing the nation's small navy. But in the end, he could not refuse President Adams. On 19 June 1798, the President administered the oath of office for a position marked by very humble beginnings. The staff, numbering less than ten, included Stoddert, an accountant, some clerks, and a messenger. Repair and equipping of ships was done through naval agents located in the country's major seaports. The agents were paid $750 per year and a 2 percent commission.
Humble beginnings aside, Stoddert's first directive to his captains proved the American navy meant business:
You are, hereby, authorized, instructed and directed to subdue, seize and take any armed French vessel, or vessels sailing under authority or pretense of authority from the French Republic, which shall be found within the jurisdictional limits of the United States, or elsewhere on the high seas; and such captured vessel with her apparel, guns, and appurtenances, and the goods and effects which shall be found on board the same ... to bring her within some port of the United States.
To put punch into Stoddert's words, Congress supplied him with more warships, authorizing President Adams to hire or purchase twelve more vessels, with none to exceed twenty-two guns. This was in addition to the six frigates authorized earlier. By 1798, the American navy possessed twenty warships. A year later there were thirty.
No formal declaration of war was made in what historians have called "The Quasi-War with France." (In fact, French Foreign Minister Charles Talleyrand, who was behind the XYZ affair, was making peace overtures before much of the fighting began.) Nevertheless, the firing commenced, with America's first naval victory coming in June 1798, when the twenty-gun Delaware captured a fourteen-gun privateer by the name of Croyable. The American captain, Stephen Decatur Sr., sent his prize back to America, where she was aptly rechristened Retaliation. Command of her was given to Lieutenant William Bainbridge, who would become the second captain of Essex in 1801. Bainbridge would have a checkered career, often redeeming himself from blunders, a pattern that began as commander of Retaliation.
In November 1798, while cruising off the coast of Guadeloupe, Bainbridge and his crew mistook two French frigates for British warships they had seen a day earlier. Finding himself suddenly facing the forty-four-gun Volontaire and the thirty-six-gun Insurgente, Bainbridge ordered the flag struck without firing a shot. Any action on his part would have meant utter destruction for his ship and crew. Retaliation was now back in French hands.
Bainbridge was taken aboard Volontaire, where he watched Insurgente pursue two smaller American warships that had been sailing with him. The French man-of-war quickly gained on the American vessels, which were no match in speed and firepower. The French captain turned to Bainbridge and asked him how many guns the American ships wielded. One ship has twelve twelve-pounders, and the other carries twenty nine-pounders, lied Bainbridge, doubling the power of the American weaponry.
The captain of Volontaire was stunned, never expecting such force, and called Insurgente off the chase. Such ruses were not uncommon. Men-of-war sometimes flew the flag of a different—usually neutral—nation in order to catch an enemy vessel by surprise. The only hard-and-fast rule of that cat and mouse game was that a ship had to be flying her true colors when her men opened fire. At fault was the French captain, who had been foolish enough to believe Bainbridge.
A few months later, in February 1799, Insurgente was captured by the USS Constellation. It was not only the first major engagement of the war but also a battle in which a future Essex captain, David Porter, exhibited heroism and a coolness under fire. As the battle raged, the nineteen-year-old Midshipman Porter climbed into the rigging of the foretop and, while French cannonballs whizzed past him, cut down a damaged fore-topsail yard, which was in danger of pulling down the entire mast. Had Constellation lost the mast, it would have greatly hindered her maneuverability and speed, vitally needed under the intense battle conditions. Shortly thereafter, the French frigate, riddled by American fire and her decks strewn with seventy dead and wounded, surrendered.
After the fighting, Porter had a chance to show his mettle again. As French prisoners were being removed to Constellation, a storm erupted. Porter, First Lieutenant John Rodgers, and eleven American seamen were caught aboard Insurgente, surrounded by defeated French sailors. The enemy was quickly herded into the lower hold, and for three tense days, the "prison" ship made its way to St. Kitts to join Constellation. Not a single prisoner escaped.
Americans, so hesitant to raise a navy, grandly celebrated the capture of Insurgente. The captain of Constellation, Thomas Truxton, was awarded a gold medal by Congress. Toasting the navy was suddenly in vogue. Shop owners sold pitchers emblazoned with the words "Success to our infant navy," and people were singing a popular ballad called "Truxton's Victory."
The call went out for more warships, but the young nation was short on cash. Given the enthusiasm for the new navy and the news that the Barbary States were rattling their sabers again it is not surprising that money for several ships was raised by private subscription. America's largest cities—New York (population: 60,000), Philadelphia (41,000), and Boston (28,000)—responded by building frigates. The town of Salem, which had a population of less than 10,000 but which possessed a seafaring reputation second to none, came through with Essex. She would serve faithfully during the Quasi-War, and the Barbary Wars and famously during the War of 1812. The thirty-two-gun ship embodied America's spirit during the first two decades of the nineteenth century, when the navy—like the nation—was brimming with the attributes of youth: righteousness, cockiness, and speed.
Cast of Characters | ix |
Foreword | xv |
CHAPTER ONE Essex and the Young American Navy | 1 |
CHAPTER TWO Salem Builds a Frigate | 23 |
CHAPTER THREE The Shakedown Cruise | 45 |
CHAPTER FOUR Mediterranean Duty | 67 |
CHAPTER FIVE America Defeats the Bashaw | 107 |
CHAPTER SIX Porter Takes Command | 137 |
CHAPTER SEVEN The Glorious Pacific Cruise | 169 |
CHAPTER EIGHT Valparaiso: The Final Battle | 215 |
CHAPTER NINE A Fitting End | 255 |
Epilogue | 261 |
Bibliography | 265 |
Glossary | 273 |
Salem Subscribers to Essex | 281 |
Acknowledgments | 285 |
Index | 287 |


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Some people brag about how little sleep they need to function, but sleep disorders and the problems they cause are getting a lot more attention these days. Are we actually suffering from an epidemic of sleep deprivation or do we just know more about this mysterious process of absent consciousness?
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49ers players mum about what happened at Ray McDonald's house
Tight end Vernon Davis said he was present at Ray McDonald's house when police arrived early Sunday morning but that he saw neither McDonald's arrest nor the incident with McDonald's fiancee that led to it.
"Unfortunately, I didn't see anything, I didn't hear anything," Davis said. "So I don't know what went on over there. Wish I could put my finger on it but I don't know. What I do know, Ray is a great guy. He's awesome."
The San Jose Police Department released a three-sentence synposis of McDonald's arrest, including that the victim "had visible injuries." McDonald's first court appearance is Sept. 15.
Other 49ers also had little to say about what happened at McDonald's birthday celebration, and it was apparent that the team had been intructed to be tight-lipped about the ongoing legal matter. Teammate Patrick Willis, the unofficial spokesman for the 49ers' defense, said he wouldn't answer questions about Sunday's incident, only that he supports McDonald.
Asked if he had spoken with McDonald to get his side of the story, backup defensive end Tony Jerod-Eddie said, "It's an ongoing legal investigation, so I don't want to touch on anything on it." Was he advised not to say anything? "No, just out of respect for Ray as my friend and as my teammate, I just don't want to talk about it."
McDonald was not made available during the open locker-room session Tuesday, the first since McDonald's arrest on suspicion of felony domestic abuse. McDonald practiced with the team Tuesday but his status for Sunday's game in Dallas is unresolved, general manager Trent Baalke said.
Davis said half of the team was present at the party. "I was there with the other guys, probably half the team was there," he said. "Having a good time, just enjoying the team. That's what I posted on my Instagram. Relaxing, enjoying the team."
Davis posted a photo on Instagram of the party location Saturday night, then on Sunday took the picture down. Why'd he do that?
"Took it down, just because," Davis said. "Just because."
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Matt Barrows was born in Blacksburg, Va., and attended the University of Virginia. He graduated in 1995, went to Northwestern for a journalism degree a year later, and got his first job at a South Carolina daily in 1997. He joined The Sacramento Bee as a Metro reporter in 1999 and started covering the San Francisco 49ers in 2003. His favorite player of all time is Darrell Green. Reach Barrows at firstname.lastname@example.com: @mattbarrows
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