text:
Liar's Dice – Opening Night Film
Congratulations to Liar's Dice team for getting selected as India's entry at the Oscars in Best Foreign Film category
Ankhon Dekhi – Closing Night Film
The 5th Annual Chicago South Asian Film Festival Announces Dates and Call for Entries
Festival will take place in downtown Chicago and Evanston from Thursday, September 18, 2014 to Sunday, September 21, 2014.
Veteran, First-Time and Student filmmakers should submit Entries by July 15th.
The Festival is divided into five categories and is the largest of its kind in the heartland of America.
CHICAGO May 30, 2014 – The Chicago South Asian Film Festival (CSAFF) is celebrating its landmark fifth year by delivering the very best in South Asia's most fiercely original, daring and exciting cinema to Chicagoland from Thursday, September 18, 2014 to Sunday, September 21, 2014. CSAFF also announces its Call for Entries in all categories including student & first-time filmmakers and short & feature length films.
All submissions should be received by Tuesday, July 15th at 5pm CST. The Festival is divided into five categories: Feature, Documentary and Shorts where established and rising filmmakers will display their films while our exclusive, Student Shorts and First-Time Filmmaker Feature, will celebrate emerging talent. Please visit www.csaff.org or email firstname.lastname@example.com for details.
To accommodate loyal CSAFF supporters, Evanston, home to Northwestern University, will be showcasing the carefully curated and dynamic films alongside downtown Chicago during the festival weekend.
The Festival is the largest of its kind in the heartland of America. Because of this platform, a new initiative called CSAFF Presents: i2f2 Cinema Conversation Culture is being launched this year to spotlight films from the Middle East, along with South Asian films. The Festival looks to provide its diverse and integrated audiences extended world cinema in Evanston from September 19th to September 21st.
CSAFF will consider films recommended by our team of world-renowned curators: Deepti D'Cunha, Amy Kronish and Intishal Al Timimi of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival. Ambassadors of the festival include Evanston Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl and acclaimed South Asian artists, Aparna Sen, Lillete Dubey and Shabana Azmi.
The Fifth Annual Chicago South Asian Film Festival runs from Thursday, September 18, 2014 to Sunday, September 21, 2014 in Downtown Chicago and Evanston.
For additional information on CSAFF 2014, including submissions dates, screening times, locations, featured guests and ticketing details, please visit www.csaff.org
About CSAFF
Chicago South Asian Film Festival is dedicated to fostering a diverse cinematic experience through South Asian films. The Festival was founded in 2010 and is organized by the Chicago South Asian Arts Council Inc. The Festival is held in late September and includes a stellar selection of films and guests, panel discussions, opportunities for filmmakers and film lovers to connect, musical performances, tributes to major artists, and galas. In 2014 CSAFF will launch 'CSAFF Presents: i2f2 Cinema Conversation Culture' which will spotlight films from the Middle East, along with South Asian Films. The Festival is committed to providing a groundbreaking cinematic experience for filmmakers and moviegoers alike with the warmth and personal touch that is unique to Chicago. For more information, visit http://www.csaff.org/.
Farooq Sheikh and Youth
Farooq Sheikh's last film, Youngistaan, releases this Friday. Appropriately for a man who always embraced youth, the title itself lays claim to the younger generation. Even in his older character roles of recent years, Sheikh spoke to the struggles of the young, the spirit of play and joy. Sheikh has always been at his best when questioning wisdom of the old.
In his very first film, Sheikh dealt with this quandary. His character is in many ways secondary, but ultimately it is his argument for youth and the future which the film supports. Garam Hawa (1974) is one of the few films in Indian history to deal directly with the issues of partition (Khushwant Singh, who died earlier this week, wrote one of the few others, Train to Pakistan (1998)). It's focus is purportedly on the older generation, on Salim, the brother who chooses to stay in India. In the younger generation, the most important characters are the nephew who goes to Pakistan and the girl he loves. As their tragic love story unfolds, they unable to overcome their family and the state to be together, the girl is then rejected by her second choice suitor and finally commits suicide. And yet, there is also Farooq Sheikh's Sikander, traveling the outskirts of the plot, never falling in love, never searching for meaning, always clear on his purpose. Sikander wants to save this new India, to live in the here and now and fight for the future. In the end, it is his vision that wins out as his father Salim is convinced to join him in protest and, therefore, in hope for a better life.
In Sheikh's recent films, he has been playing the older generation convinced to follow the youth. His most recent films, Listen…Amaya (2013), Club 60 (2013), and Yeh Jewaani Hai Deewani (2013) all struggle with how the younger generation should act and interact with the older. In Listen…Amaya, he is reunited with his frequent co-star Deepti Naval in a middle-aged love story. Significantly, however, they are not the title character. The title is given to Deepti Naval's character's daughter. But it is phrased as a command, she is being told to "Listen." Listen to what?–to her mother, to her mentor, to the older and wiser people around her. The story is about her, about the youth, but it is also a command for the youth to continue to listen to and work with their elders.
Club 60, as the title implies, is about a community of those around 60 years of age. However, this is not a group that has smoothly and easily entered into Vanaprastha stage. They dress young, they talk young, they refuse to leave the world either literally or metaphorically. Sheikh's character, when he first meets them, is trapped in the past, unable to consider that their way of life may be anything more than a fruitless fight against time. However, through the course of the film, he comes to embrace their petty rebellion against the structures of age and find in it a freedom and purity. In a way, his journey parallels that of Salim in Garam Hawa. He begins trapped in a tragic loss and ends embracing rebellion and its hope for the future.
And then there is Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, one of the most successful films of 2013, in which Sheikh plays a small but significant part. The title itself calls out to youth. Yeh Jawaani is partly a romance, but mostly a Bildungsroman, the coming of age story of Bunny (Ranbir Kapoor) and, to a lesser degree, Naina (Deepika Padukone). Farooq Sheikh's character, in two short scenes, defines this struggle.
Bunny is the kind of character Farooq played in Katha (1983), a feckless youth enjoying himself and not worrying about tomorrow or the devastation he leaves behind him. It may be hard to see his growth, because Bunny is a charming character who is always in control and confident of his place in the world. However, Sheikh's two scenes at the beginning show that Bunny is still flawed and fearful, when he is forced to be in a place he does not choose. Sheikh, as Bunny's father, simply asks him why he was late to come home, requests that he respect his stepmother, and offers him food. This causes Bunny to react with all the grace of a three year old throwing a tantrum, finally forcing him to flee to his bedroom. Sheikh's character follows him and, in this second scene, expresses simple concern and love for his son, which Bunny is completely incapable of reciprocating or processing.
Sheikh's character disappears after this, but his gentle understanding and concern cast a long shadow of the rest of the film. Bunny's inability to relate to his love and support presage the inevitable incomplete ending of his romance with the gentle Naina. His desire to run away from the complicated emotions and situation of his father and stepmother foreshadow his failure to support his troubled friends. Bunny only truly grows up when he returns home and confronts the death of his father, finally able to take responsibility for people and relationships, not just move through life.
Sheikh's career tells India to embrace youthful rebellion against the status quo, to take responsibility for change, to never retreat into the past. Now that he is here no more, we should honor him by appreciating his contributions to film, but more importantly, striving to bring film forward, to look to the future and ask "how could things be better?"
Margaret Redlich is a Masters student in Media and Cinema Studies at DePaul University with a focus on Indian film. She has been published on the website Racialicious.com and is the Midwest Popular Culture Association's Area Chair for Indian film.
Somewhere and Nowhere: Hotels on Film
Hotels are a natural location for a film, they offer the opportunity to throw together a variety of people for a limited amount of time in an artificially beautiful background. Heck, the same thing could be said of working on a film, only working on a movie there is a much more artificial background and much more beautiful people! There have been many famous hotels in film, from Grand Hotel to Best Exotic Marigold to, as of this week, Grand Budapest. There are so many hotel films that there is no objective way to pick between them (Oscar winners? Most popular? Oldest? Most exotic?), so I went ahead and picked the two that are my favorites.
Hotel Louis (run by Louis Louis) is the location, the motivation, the solution and the problem in this fluffy screwball classic. From a script by Preston Sturges and Vera Caspary (author of Laura, the novel and the screenplay, but not the song), it was directed by Mitchell Leisen who never met a luxury travel script he didn't love, from an airplane to Mexico (Masquarade in Mexico (1945)) to a "radio powered" ocean liner (The Big Broadcast of 1938, which introduced the Oscar winning song "Thanks For the Memories") to another grand hotel in Budapest, the Ritz (Midnight (1939)). Easy Living may now be best known for the jazz standard originally written as its leitmotif, but it was one of the most successful film of its year and is a lifelong favorite of mine.
Travel is about the spaces between destinations, the gaps that allow for amazing experiences. In Easy Living, the only travel is the bus ride that opens it, but that bus ride gives Mary Smith (Jean Arthur) the one chance she has to change her life. When a fur coat thrown by plutocrat J. B. Ball (Edward Arnold) lands on her head, she is thrown into the middle of the tug of war going on between Ball and everyone else in his life, from his wife to his son to the hotel owner who he is threatening to destroy, Louis Louis (Louis Alberni).
Louis Louis and his hotel are the first to claim her, offering her a free luxury suite in return for her (supposed) ability to sway J.B. Ball. The connection is obvious, as an (presumed) unacknowledged mistress of J.B. Ball she exists in an impermanent but comfortable position, the very definition of hotel living. Next to move in is John Ball, Jr. (Ray Milland), the rich man's son thrown out on his own with nothing but the sophistication and charm of, well, a Ray Milland-but without the skills necessary even to work as a waiter at an automat. No wonder Mary Smith takes pity on him and brings him back to her new home to help her figure out the taps in the bathtub.
In one way, Easy Living is classic fluff, a slamming door farce that ends with a humorous marriage proposal and an embrace. But in another, it uses the hotel setting to highlight the impermanence and fragility of everything that appears secure, from the roof over your head to the money in your pocket. Mary Smith goes from a put upon office worker to a fur coat wearing hotel dweller in the space of a few hours, but she still has to steal from an automate to get a square meal. John Ball, Jr. goes from storming out of a Park Avenue mansion to working at an automat to being a kept man in a hotel, to taking over his father's business in the space to two days. Even Jenny Ball (Mary Nash) goes from a shrill harpy spending her husband's money to a crushed wife begging to scrub floors to support him within two days and barely 90 minutes of screen time.
In this way, Easy Living was perfect for its audience, crushed by years of economic depression. To see how the mighty could fall, the weak could triumph, and your whole situation could change as simply as checking into a hotel was a perfect encapsulation of the time.
Hrishikish Mukherjee's classic mistaken identity comedy Chupke Chupke begins at a remote Hill Station, a place so far off the beaten track that, once there, you can become anything and anyone you want and, at the same time, become more yourself than you ever will be. The whole film is an exercise in humanism, showing how, ultimately, we are all the same whether we are a botany professor, a driver, a English professor, or merely a pompous older brother pretending to be the most intelligent person in the room.
Mukherjee's films are tales of the middle-class, but not because this class is better, worthier, or more important than any other; just because he knows them best in all their insecurities, inanities, and kindness. The first charade of Chupke Chupke is a gesture of kindness. Professor Tripathi (Dharmendra) offers to pretend to be the caretaker for the guest house out of kindness, so an old man can go visit his sick relative. Tripathi has no embarrassment over changing personalities from a respected professor to a humble caretaker, just as he later has no compunction about pretending to be a lowly driver (and allowing his wife to pretend to the lover of a lowly driver). More than that, Mukherjee makes sure the audience is in on the joke. The funny one isn't the professor pretending to be a driver, or the middle-class wife pretending to have an affair, it is the uppity older brother who buys into these class divides.
But to return to the hotel that sets it all in motion: Professor Tripathi is at a remote Hill Station enjoying his annual vacation when the caretaker is called away and he offers to replace him. Schoolgirl Sulekha Chaturvedi (Sharmila Tagore) along with a bus full of her classmates arrives to stay at the station. Sulekha enjoys a charade as well, that of a clever femme fatale, as she sees through Tripathi's facade and punctures it, using her knowledge of his disguise to bring them closer. Chaturvedi is enjoying something of a vacation as well, becoming the kind of forward girl who flirts with caretakers and leaves her address in a tip instead of the obedient and worshiping sister we see later. While the rest of the film, with its commentaries on gossip, knowledge, society, and language, is firmly placed within Indian communities, the first 15 minutes are set apart, as removed from the everyday as the mountain peak on which the Hill Station is located is removed from the plain.
I haven't seen The Grand Budapest Hotel yet, but I suspect it will contain some of these same themes, the hotel as a place of transition, as a place where you can be whoever you want to be, as a place removed from all the petty rules and judgements of society. No wonder there have been so many films set at hotels- isn't that what we want from the movies? A chance to live in a fantasy world where we can pretend to be someone else, somewhere else, and somewhere anything can happen.
Margaret Redlich is a Masters student in Media and Cinema Studies at DePaul University with a focus on Indian film. She has been published on the website Racialicious.com and is the Midwest Popular Culture Association's Area Chair for Indian film.
The First, First-Women of Film
As the Academy Awards this Sunday reminded us, the movie industry is an Old Boys Club with a noticeable glass ceiling. Once again, no female directors were nominated. Which reflects the larger truth that there are only a handful of female directors working. Even fewer female heads of production. How about female studio owners? That is unheard of! Except actually, in the early years of film, some of the first studios were founded and run by women. In honor of International Women's Day this Saturday, I thought I would highlight some of them
Alice Guy-Blache
After being forgotten for decades, this French film pioneer is finally getting her due thanks to the impressive scholarship of a variety of women who have rescued her from obscurity. I first found out about her at an academic conference I attended recently while on a panel discussing religion and film. My fellow panelist, Dr. Gretchen Bisplinghoff, was talking about Guy-Blache's film The Birth, Life, and Death of Christ (1906), the first film on this topic to be made and a record-breaking success (for Indian film fans, this is particularly interesting as this version of Life of Christ very well may be the one seen by Dadasaheb Phalke which inspired him to make Raja Harishcandra (1913)).
Guy-Blache was born in France in 1873, but partially raised in Chile, before returning to France for further schooling. In 1894 she was hired as secretary (no visions of Mad Men, in the 1890s being a secretary was highly skilled labor involving using the cutting edge typewriter technology) at a photography company. The company went bankrupt soon after, but one of the partners decided to buy the defunct equipment and turn it into the first film studios in the world, Gaumont Film Company. Guy-Blache was hired as the head of film production, the first ever head of film production, in 1896.
During her time in France, she instituted many of the basic tenants of film production. For instance, she encouraged films with actual plots instead of just a series of novelty sequences, she instructed her actors to "be natural" on camera, she used double-exposures and ran film backwards to create special effects, she even created soundtracks on separate discs to synch up with the images onscreen. She also made The Life of Christ with a massive budget and 300 extras, the first religious epic starting a trend that has continued to this day with the recent television hit The Bible (2013) and Mel Gibson's record breaking hit The Passion of Christ (2004).
In 1907, Guy-Blache moved to America to head up Gaumont's new American wing. Three years later, she went out on her own, founding her own studio in New Jersey which rapidly became the largest studio in America, The Solax Company. Solax lasted several years, thriving on serial shorts, often with exotic location shooting, before finally collapsing due to competition from the new Hollywood based super-studios.
Guy-Blache briefly worked for William Randolph Hearst's International Film Service before retiring and moving to back to France in 1922. There are a few monuments to her achievements, Fort Lee, NJ film commission has updated her gravesite to indicate her importance and created an award in her honor, the "Alice", to be given to groundbreaking female filmmakers. In 1953, France awarded her a Legion d'honor. However, in the annals of film history, her contribution has been erased, replaced by men like French filmmakers the Lumiere Brothers, early directors like DW Griffith, and studio pioneers like Adolph Zukor.
There is a recent effort to recover her influence on film history. If you are interested in learning more, check out the kickstarter project to fund a documentary on Guy-Blache's career and influence.
Mary Pickford
If you are a fan of old movies, when you think of Mary Pickford, you probably think of America's Sweetheart, the Girl with the Golden Curls, Douglas Fairbanks' big romance and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.'s stepmother. You may even remember that Joan Crawford was briefly her daughter-in-law or that her estate Pickfair hosted the swankiest affairs. You probably don't know that she owned and ran her own studio for 20 years.
In 1918, while on tour together selling War Bonds, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin (who worked with Alice Guy-Blache early in his career) and cowboy star William S. Hart, had a wild idea: why couldn't they break free of the studio system and make the movies they wanted to make? By 1919, Pickford, Fairbanks, and Chaplin were ready to move forward, while Hart had doubts. He was replaced by superstar director D.W. Griffith and a lawyer who also happened to be the President's son-in-law, Hiram Abrams. Each founding partner owned 20% of the studio outright.
The initial plan was for each of the stars to make 5 films a year, filling out a slate of 20. They presented this deal to a distribution company and signed a contract. Unfortunately, in the meantime, the running time and budget for pictures had gone up, making the managing partners unable to fulfill their commitment. The initial business plan was scrapped, Joseph Schenk was brought in as managing director, and set up a separate deal with Pickford and Chaplin to build their own theaters in the UA name around the world.
By this point, while Chaplin was happy to use UA as a way to fund and distribute his vanity projects, and Griffith and Fairbanks had both entered semi-retirement, Pickford was still actively involved in the day to day running of the studio. She produced several pictures, helped broker partnership deals with Twentieth Century (which later became Twentieth Century Fox) and various independent producers, and generally kept the company going while her male partners pursued their new interests.
At the same time, Pickford helped found the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers which brought suit against Paramount for anti-trust violations. This lawsuit eventually led to the seminal United States vs. Paramount decision by the supreme court which forced movie studios to sell the theater chains and allowed for the massive growth in independent film seen by America in the 1970s.
To put it another way, if it weren't for Mary Pickford, we wouldn't have Martin Scorsese, David O. Russell, or, really, any of the groundbreaking and innovative directives nominated this year because the studio system she killed would never have let them flourish.
Devika Rani
In 1919, as Mary Pickford was founding United Artists and Alice Guy-Blache was packing up Solax Studios, Devika Rani was still in school in London. Rani was the child of a progressive doctor in India who believed that women should get an education at least as good as a man's. He sent her to school in Europe and later supported her when she decided to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. She also studied architecture, textile design, and apprenticed with make-up expert Elizabeth Arden.
Also traveling through Europe at this time was young Himanshu Rai, an Indian who dreamed of creating a large professional film studio in India. Rai and Rani met and fell in love, and returned to India to found Bombay Talkies along with their partner, Sashadhar Mukherjee (distant relative of today's powerful women in film, Rani Mukherjee and Kajol Devgn as well as rising director Ayan Mukherjee). Just like Pickford allying herself with Twentieth Century, Rani and Rai realized they were small fish in a very big pond and the best way to defend themselves was to ally with a bigger fish, therefore another founding partner of Bombay Talkies was the German state film studio, UFA.
Rai and Rani's alliance with the German's brought the first true technical training to the Indian film industry. The German's trained them, and they trained everyone else. Their Bombay Talkies studio believed in everyone working every day, and everyone knowing everything. This is how Raj Kapoor learned how to work a camera, how Dev Anand knew how to pick scripts, how Ashok Kumar understood how to produce.
In the early years, Rai starred in all their productions as well as working behind the scenes. Her extensive education allowed her to act, design sets, manage the actors' make-up, and help with scripts. Rai also found Bombay Talkies two greatest discoveries, the skinny camera technician Ashok Kumar who she picked to star opposite her in Acchut Kanya, and Muhammad Yusuf Khan who she renamed "Dilip Kumar." In 1940, Himanshri Rai died, leaving Rai in control of the studio. She ran it alone for several years, before finally selling it to Ashok Kumar, twenty years after she had pulled him out of the editing booth and made him India's first star.
While Rai is often forgotten, her contribution lives on in the studio she founded. Bombay Talkies was so pivotal to the early years of Indian film that the four director collaboration made to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of film in India was named for it, Bombay Talkies.
Hany Abu-Assad's newest film, Omar (2013), is a hard-hitting and powerful feature film. His previous films, Paradise Now (feature film nominated for an Academy Award, 2005) and Ford Transit (faux documentary, 2002), are also about the hardships of the Occupation. All three of these films are Palestinian productions. Even though Abu-Assad lives in Holland, the film Omar was almost completely funded by Palestinian businessmen and the major crew members were all Palestinian.
Omar is a love story. It is also the story of the struggles and insanity of life under the Israeli Occupation. According to the filmmaker, Hany Abu-Assad, who spoke at the premiere screening at the Jerusalem Cinematheque:
My only focus was to make a movie about the love story, friendship and trust.
He went on to explain that the political reality was meant to be context. The film shows how the political/national reality strongly affects the lives of individuals and the film's premise is that the terror of the occupation has caused these individuals to live with so much distrust, betrayal and paranoia — but ultimately, the real betrayal is not a political one but rather is connected to the love story.
Omar, Tarek and Amjad are close friends. Omar is in love with Tarek's sister, Nadia, and he climbs the separation wall, taking great risks, in order to visit her. As a result of the humiliation and degradation of regular life in the West Bank, the three friends decide to commit an act of violent resistance. When the filmmaker was asked whether his film supports the resistance to the occupation, he stated unequivocally that it is the primary message and that "injustice requires resistance."
Omar is played by Adam Bakri, one of the sons of Mohammed Bakri, and it is clear to see that he is as good looking and as compelling an actor as his father. He plays a baker — someone whose life is devoted to making bread, nurturing and satisfying a basic human need. He is a tragic figure — a moral, sensitive and beautiful human being who makes self-destructive choices in his life.
These are the major threads of the film — Omar's love story, the senseless act of violence committed by him together with his friends, and the resulting savage beating and harassment that he receives by the Israeli Security Services (Shin Bet).
Many people are comparing this film to the Israeli thriller, Bethlehem (previously reviewed on this blog), which is about the relationship between a Shin Bet handler and his Palestinian collaborator. The major difference is that since Omar is a film made from a Palestinian perspective, the main character, who is also being recruited by the Shin Bet to become a collaborator, never betrays his own sense of morality, never betrays any of his friends, and never collaborates in any way.
The film includes much tension and violence — on the part of the Shin Bet, the Israeli soldiers, and also among the Palestinians themselves — and therefore some might find it troubling. However, the film, which has already won accolades around the world and is on the list for an Academy Award nomination, offers an important reflection of the tragic choices that regular people are being forced to make as part of their lives in the West Bank.
Guest Blog by Amy Kronish
Write to Amy at amykronish
The History of the Foreign Film Oscar: Keep Your Friends Close…
How is Japan different from all other countries in Asia? If you answered, it was the only one to invade the United States, that is correct! And if you answered, it has won more than one Academy Award in the Foreign Picture category, that is also correct!
The Foreign Language Oscar was instituted in 1947, and for the first several years was a non-competitive award, similar to the honorary oscars, given out to whichever film the Academy decided most deserved it. Starting in 1955, it became a competitive category with rules and restrictions. Some of the biggest of these were: the film must be in a language other than English; that language must be a native language of the country from which it came; and only one film per country, selected by a committee of members of the film fraternity of that country, could be part of competition. Some of these rules have changed, any non-English language is now allowed (this is why the Hindi language film Water (2005), for instance, was able to be submitted by Canada).
Ultimately, however, it comes down to which films the Academy likes most, and those are the ones allowed in competition. And certain countries, the Academy obviously likes more than others. And those countries are still primarily defined as "countries that used to be at war with the United States."
When the foreign film Oscars started, America was in the throes of a dramatic shift in post-war policy. The previous standard was to punish the losing country as much as they could take. For instance, after WWI Germany was asked to give up all the territories it had gained, and also foot the bill for the war effort. This did not work out very well (that's why it's called "World War I" instead of "World War Only"), so post-WWII the United States decided to try the carrot instead of the stick. The idea was, if we assist our former enemies, help them to regain their self-respect, we can train them to be better, more peaceful, countries. Through out the late forties and into the 1950s, thousands of American GIs, civilian contractors, diplomats, and businessmen lived in Italy, Germany, Japan, and other locations we had just finished bombing into oblivion, in order to help rebuild them.
The "country we just finished invading" trend is still prevalent in film selections today. Of course, there are some other elements that go into this. The most Award heavy countries of all time (Italy, France, Spain, and Japan) are also the ones who have submitted the most. They also (excepting Japan) have languages, people, and locations that sound, look, and feel similar to American languages, people, and locations.
But these elements can't really be separated, can they? The locations in Japan now look more and more like American locations, because after we destroyed their cities, we rebuilt them in our own image. Italy has submitted the most films and won the most times, and post-WWII it was the only country in the perfect position to be in bad enough shape to deserve assistance, but in good enough shape to be able to pull together a film industry. No coincidence that France and Spain, similarly familiar and yet not catastrophically damaged, were the next most common.
Looking at more recent times, this year we have a film from Cambodia and another from Palestine. 2011's winner was Iranian. Bosnia & Herzegovinia won in 2004. Cuba was nominated in 1994, which was also the first year the Cuban government allowed aid from the United States into the country. So perhaps the best strategy for countries like Mexico and India (submitted almost every year, thriving film industries, have never won a Foreign Film Oscar) is to start a war with the United States; apparently it's a good way to get noticed.
The "love your enemy" trend may not be the best or most egalitarian tactic for choosing a good international film, but it is one of the best lessons in forgiveness and compassion I have ever seen. The American film industry, and the American audience, responds to hearing about war, violence, and misery by saying "How can I learn more about this country? Let me watch their movies." And the country of our "enemies" is happy to provide us with their side of the story. Iran has submitted a film almost every year since 1994. China has as well since 1979. The Russians actually submitted more regularly during the Cold War than in the years since. Even Cuba has submitted 17 times.
If you remember, one of the rules from the Academy committee is that a film be selected by a committee of filmmakers. Not diplomats or government officials, but filmmakers. And consistently, the artists of countries which have every reason to hate America, countries we have invaded, bombed, destroyed economically and vilified in the international community, send us as a gift the most heartfelt, the most beautiful, the most touching work they have to offer.
Blog by Margaret Redlich
Margaret Redlich is a Masters student in Media and Cinema Studies at DePaul University with a focus on Indian films. She has been published on the website Racialicious.com and is the Midwest Popular Culture Association's Area Chair for Indian films
The First Films of the Three Greatest Indian Filmmakers
For first blog post for the inaugural year of i2f2, a film festival committed to encouraging first time filmmakers, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about the first films of some of the first filmmakers of South Asia, the directors Bimal Roy, B.R. Chopra, and Satyajit Ray.
Bimal Roy
Bimal Roy was the first of these first filmmakers to appear on the Indian film scene, getting his start in 1943. In 1943, India was still a British colony, caught up in WWII and the freedom struggle. But this was not what inspired Bimal Roy to make his first film. Like many other Bengal intellectuals, Roy was horrified by the tragedy of the Bengal famine, caused by a combination of changing water patterns and colonial neglect. The famine served as a rallying cry for the artists, writers, and filmmakers of Bengal to speak for those who could not speak, the peasants dying in the fields with their women and children. Roy's first film was his one and only documentary, Bengal Famine, as he took a camera into the field and tried to record the tragedy of his state. Roy never returned to documentaries, perhaps the tepid reception of his first effort taught him that he could better effect change and move hearts through fiction.
Roy had a second first film with Udayer Pathey (1944), produced by PC Barua's New Theater film company, where Roy had gotten his start and his training. Udayer Pathey takes the sensitivity and tenderness Roy developed for the oppressed classes and deploys it through a standard film plot, that of a poor boy in love with a rich girl. Roy created a rich mixture of song, story, the tragedy of real life, and national feeling that remained his USP until the end of his career. His remake of Udayer Pathey in Hindi through the Bombay Talkies studio, Hamrahi (1945), was the first Indian film to feature the song "Jana Gana Mana", India's national anthem.
Roy's first film made with his own production company, rather than in partnership with New Theaters or, later, the studio Bombay Talkies, was Do Bigha Zamine. This was the first Indian film to win an international prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and the first film in what would come to be the Indian Neo-realist style. Roy combined the stylized songs and dialogue learned through his experience in the Hindi and Bengali studio systems, with the natural compositions and performances he craved from his documentary past to make a film that, to this day, is still considered one of the greatest Indian films of all time.
One more film first, Roy was the cameraman on the first film version of Devdas, PC Barua's 1933 version. He went on to make his own version in 1955, which was the first Hindi language film of Suchitra Sen. Although primarily a Bengali actress, on the strength of this performance, Sen's recent death was mourned nationally. She may not have been the first "Paro" of Indian film, but Roy certainly made her the greatest.
B.R. Chopra
B.R. Chopra was the first director to do a double role mistaken identity film, the first producer to transition to television, and the first of the illustrious Chopra family to come to Bombay. But before all that, he was a journalist. Chopra worked with words before he ever worked with images. Eventually, as the editor for the film journal Cine Herald, he worked with words in order to describe images. Interestingly, he only wrote the script for one of the films he directed, Humraaz (1963). In later years, he returned to his writing, with the scripts for Baghban (2003) and Babul (2006).
B.R. Chopra's first film as a director was Afsana (1951), based on a script by the writer, director, and actor I.S. Johar. Johar would later give Chopra's younger brother Yash (who went on to be one of the most loved directors of Indian film) his first job. Afsana combines several classic plot elements of Indian film, the separated brothers, the love triangle, and the mistaken identity. It also includes elements of the classic B.R. Chopra film, with the inclusion of a legal storyline, a sensitive treatment of marital infidelity and "the fallen woman", and a strong central performance by the evergreen actor Ashok Kumar. Chopra enjoyed this film so much, that he remade it 20 years later as Dastaan, this time starring Dilip Kumar in the lead role.
Chopra's first film as a producer is frequently wrongly listed as Naya Daur (1957), which is perhaps his greatest film, telling the story of man versus machine, and the rights of the common man over the rights of the elite. However, in fact, the first film produced by his production house B.R. Films was Ek Hi Rasta (1956). Ek Hi Raasta again stars Ashok Kumar, along with Meena Kumari and Sunil Dutt, again showing Chopra's taste for actors who combined star power with the ability to successfully perform the role. Ek Hi Raasta again returns to the theme of marital infidelity with the young boy Raja, unaware that his father is dead, hating his mother for marrying his stepfather. Chopra flourished when he focused on simple eternal human desires as they have been perverted by modern society: to have a faithful wife, to make a living through physical labor, to be raised in a stable family group. Unlike Roy, who used the human to show the universal, Chopra used the universal to show the human.
Perhaps this is because, while Roy experienced tragedy through seeing the massive human cost of the Bengal famine, Chopra experienced it on a personal level, losing everything in the Partition.
Satyajit Ray
While the previous two filmmakers made good first films and went on to greater achievements, Satyajit Ray made his best film first. Perhaps this is because he worked on it for so long before it finally became a reality. Ray spent years living with the novel on which it is based, making sketches, planning dialogue, making a perfect picture in his head of what he wanted to create, before he turned on the cameras. Even once filming started, due to lack of funds, he was forced to move slowly. The film took 3 years to complete, allowing him the luxury of revising and refining his vision as he worked.
Like Roy, Ray came from the Bengal artistic tradition. However, while Roy was awakened by the Bengal famine and the problems of his home state, Ray experienced awakening by leaving his home. He worked in London for 3 months, during which time he watched every film he could, learning about European film trends and techniques, and came home inspired. He went on to found the Calcutta Film Society, a group that worked around Indian importation restrictions to bring the great modern films of Europe to India. Before he made Pather Panchali, Ray saw The Bicycle Thief and Battleship Potemkin and had the opportunity to hear John Huston, Jean Renoir, and the Russian actor Nikolay Cherkasov speak. More than that, he assisted Jean Renoir during the Indian portion of the shoot of Renoir's film The River.
Even this modest amount of experience made Ray the most experienced person on his set. Unlike Roy and Chopra whose first films were supported by a strong studio system, Ray was working with whoever he could afford to hire. Perhaps because of this, Pathar Panchali is primarily a visual film. Ray, a former graphic artist, drew it out as he saw it, with minimal dialogue or even movements for actors. They were all props for his vision.
Just as Ray himself was only able to see the great films of other countries through a film society, so was Pathar Panchali only available internationally through the efforts of societies and festivals. It played in New York at the museum of modern art as part of an exhibit on Indian textiles (without subtitles, emphasising Ray's non-verbal vision), at Cannes, in Vancouver, and in Japan, traveling from festival to festival for years.
(For more information on Roy and Chopra, check out their sections on Upperstall.com. For more on the film Hamrahi, check out indiavideo.org. Ray's Pather Panchali is sometimes available on Hulu through the Criterion Collection. Chopra's Afsana is available in its entirety on you tube.)
Blog by Margaret Redlich
Margaret Redlich is a Masters student in Media and Cinema Studies at DePaul University with a focus on Indian films. She has been published on the website Racialicious.com and is the Midwest Popular Culture Association's Area Chair for Indian films


text:
Clough's Twinza IPO one to watch
PUBLISHED: 07 Mar 2011 00:03:29 | UPDATED: 08 Mar 2011 08:04:39PUBLISHED: 07 Mar 2011 PRINT EDITION: 07 Mar 2011EDITED BY SARAH THOMPSON AND PAUL GARVEY
The forthcoming listing of oil and gas play Twinza Oil is likely to be closely watched.
Perth-based Twinza is the project of Bill Clough, scion of Perth's well-known resources and engineering Clough family dynasty, who has branched out on his own. With a holding of about 60 per cent, he is the biggest shareholder.
Twinza revealed its plans for a listing in its most recent accounts filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, and Clough's involvement means any initial public offering would attract plenty of attention.
Clough, who sits on the board of Mirabela Nickel and London-listed Serabi Mining, has been pumping his own cash into Twinza, last year providing a $20 million funding facility to the group.
It's not just Clough's involvement that would garner attention. Twinza is active in Burma and, as a quick search of the internet shows, there are plenty of groups ready to criticise it for working in the country controlled by a military dictatorship.
Burma has been a bit of a mixed bag for Twinza. Last year, a well successfully intersected oil and gas but failed to flow at commercial rates. A second planned well was cancelled as a result. Twinza also has gas targets in Australia and Thailand, and last year sold its 6.4 per cent stake in the Pandora gas project in Papua New Guinea to Oil Search for $US15 million.
The Australian Financial Review
Read more
People | Bill Clough |
Topics | Energy & Utilities /Oil , Energy & Utilities /Gas Extraction |

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Risk management is a part of our everyday personal and professional lives. We know to look both ways before crossing the street. We also know that we must diversify our investment portfolios to mitigate the impact of a stock market crash.
But, what about the less obvious risks?
The World Economic Forum is out with their list of 50 Global Risks of 2012. It includes well-known ones: chronic fiscal imbalances, severe income disparity, rising greenhouse gas emissions, cyber attacks, terrorism, etc.
It also includes risks we don't think about every day like cyber neotribalism, the militarization of space, and a volcanic winter.
What follows is a list of risks once believed only to exist in science fiction novels. They're also risks highlighted by 469 experts and industry leaders surveyed by the World Economic Forum.
Courtesy of the World Economic Forum.
How IBM is bringing front-office data analysis to Super Bowl fans
More "Tech" »
This Tech Platform Is Allowing Brands To Scale Native Advertising In A Big Way
More "Advertising" »
More Companies Are Switching To Subscription Models — Here's Why Wall Street Needs To Pay Attention
More "Strategy" »
Why So Many Business Owners Are Turning To Online Business Loans
More "Finance" »
FREE AppDownload


text:
control - motion - interface
HomeWelcome to motrona
About motronaCompany and Contact Persons
InternationalDistributors Worldwide
ContactHow to contact motrona
Indicators, Counters, Speed Monitors
Panel Meters, Indicators
Electronic Counters
Tachometers, Frequency Meters
Timers, Industrial Stopwatches
SSI Indicators, Parallel Displays
PROFIBUS / CANBUS Indicators
Speed and Motion Monitors
Stand-AloneMotion Controllers
Synchronization of Drives
"Flying" Saw and Shear Control
Rotating Cross Cutter Control
Rotary Eccentric Shear Control
Tubular Bag Machine Control
Winding and Traverse Control
Printing and Punching Control
Signal Converters for Encoders / Sensors
Signal Converters Frequency >>
Signal Converters Analogue >>
Signal Converters SSI and Parallel >>
Signal Converters Incremental >>
Level Converters TTL-RS422-HTL
Encoder Distributors, Splitters
Frequency Dividers, Multipliers
Interface for SinCos Encoders
Combinations with Converters
October 2014:DS230: The new safety monitor for speed, standstill and direction of rotation with dual certificate according DIN 61508 and ISO 13849 is convincing by its easy parameter setup and flexible connection options for several sensors with different technology. This generation of devices was developed to achieve the classification according to the security level SIL3 or performance level PLe, also by using the existing non safe" sensors.[More information ...] _______________________
October 2014:MC800, the new motrona Motion Controller is convincing with its flexible input configuration, an adaptive interface structure and the use of a cascaded tandem drive-controller .[More information ...]_______________________
March 2014:The new service software OS 6.0 is now available via download. By using this innovative user interface motrona units can be programmed in a very quick and easy way. The OS 3.2 will be replaced by this new software and the compatibility with all Windows 7 respectively Windows 8 platforms can be ensured.[More information ...]_______________________
International FairCalendar 2014
motrona, Hall 4, Booth 140
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[Legal Notice] [firstname.lastname@example.com] © 2014 motrona GmbH, Zwischen den Wegen 32, 78239 Rielasingen (Germany) October, 2014


text:
The Cordova municipal government in the Philippines and some fishermen are demanding that owners of MV St. Thomas Aquinas and MV Sulpicio Express Siete pay around 132 million Philippine pesos ($3 million) for damage caused by an August 2013 collision.
The fishermen are separately seeking compensation of at least PHP 81 million ($1.8 million) for the loss of livelihood from the oil spill, Inquirer.net reported.
The collision, which claimed 116 lives, saw 2GO Group Inc.'s St. Thomas Aquinas sink and spill fuel that polluted the coastline in Cordova.


text:
(04-03-2012 11:41 AM)Num1Monroefan Wrote: Going to look at a bunch of them today. From the late 90s and early 2000s of the hot products with the hot insert sets. Anyone down for buying them if I get some??? I will update this later
(04-03-2012 04:20 PM)Num1Monroefan Wrote: God what a bunch of garbage.......products from 01-02 all the way to 07-08. Nothing good period


text:
Bible in Basic English (BBE) | New International Version (NIV) |
1 Let the horn be sounded in Zion, and a war-cry in my holy mountain; let all the people of the land be troubled: for the day of the Lord is coming; | 1 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand-- |
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain. (The Bible in Basic English Version Online) | Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |


text:
RC Cars & Trucks
Tires & Wheels
Bodies & Accessories
Radio System
RC Airplanes
RC Helicopters
RC Drones
FPV & Cameras
RC Crawlers
RC Boats
In Stock. Usually ships within 24 hours.
Traxxas replacement servo saver for the Rustler and Stampede is constructed of white plastic. Spring loaded. Two adaptors-Futaba and Airtronics
5 Stars Rc Planet
Tjm from PA wrote (May 14, 2013):
4 Stars Fast Shipping
James from IL wrote (January 17, 2013):
Was as described. fast shipping
3 Stars good part
nickolas from MD wrote (September 06, 2012):
5 Stars Works great
Howard from PA wrote (June 25, 2012):
I love how it works. It is smoth


text:
9 thoughts on "Get Girlfriend Back After Break Up"
How can I get my ex girlfriend back after a break (up)?
I met this girl 5 months ago and fell head over heels in lve with her. It was instant attraction. WE started talking for hours on end. We started dating four months ago. And a few days ago she told me that she thinks I want the relationship to be more serious, and said she felt caged in, even though I let her stay out all night with one of her guy friends and didn't complain. And she said she needed a break to figure it out. Were meeting tonight to talk and shes going to tell me her decision. I've never loved anyone more than her, or anywhere near. She tells me she loves me and misses me even though I saw her yesterday. How can I get her back?-
dude tell her how you feel and if she dont reply then dont bodere let her go and just walk away cause you never know one day she can just dump you once more and that would hurt you way too much and be careful not to fall in love cause then you will bee hooked and then you will suffer for some girl that dosent deserve you so think it twice man there are many girl out there your just obsess with her
take my advece dont fall in love ok please is not worth it giving your hear out and the getting it broken in peaces like it happen to me i was stupid and in love and one night i got dump by text man that was not kool so do me a favor play around dont fall in love k
how to get my girlfriend back after break up?
i got drunk and said some **** to my girlfreind that was hurtful. we have been fighting alot lately. she broke up with me. she dropped all my stuff off and didnt even want to talk to me. i called her this morning and told her i still love her much and want to work out the relationship. she said she doesnt know and she thinks she doesnt love me anymore. how can i win her back? should i just let her go and see if she comes back to me or should i nag at her and try to sit and talk to her? i love her and dont know what the **** to do anymore.-
call her up and tell her you are sorry foreverything and tell her how you really feel and that you want to give it another try.
How can i win my ex-girlfriend back after a break up that was not unpeaceful?
So i had this girlfriend for a little over a month and a half. We previously have known each other for two years and we started off as friends and over a long period of time became best friends and eventually ended up falling in love. About a week after we fell in love she began to have a feeling change when another guy asked her out she said yes and felt bad and after three weeks saw many flaws in him and broke up with him for me and for her own good. The same day we kissed during a spin the bottle game and was happy after i made a vow to save my lips for her. The next day we had one of the best kisses in our relationship. The day after that i asked her out and she said yes in an excited manner and we had another kiss. About another week later our relationship grew more passionate and we kept in touch despite complications. We eventually started to get closer andf closer each day and that escalated to each second. i even held her a sunset one day and she said that was romantic. We even talked about what if a break up occurs and she said she would never break up with me i felt comfortable and i said the same thing and other things such as "You are my one and only", "I love you with all my heart", and "You are my forever". She replied with the same thing also we seemed unseprable. However about 3 days later things began to turn strange it seemed like we were drifting away i notified her and she got worried also because she had said she did not want to lose me either. i did not know that that was the trigger to our demise just yesterday everything just went down south. She told me "this is hurting me more than you i need to focus on studies and regaining my dad's trust but youre my best friend and nothing will change that you'll be my best friend forever i just dont love you like that anymore i love you as a best friend maybe in junior year we might get back together we probly will but no promises". I was devastated what seemed like an indestructable relationship was now reduced to just being best friends. My love of my life became absent ihad cried myself to sleep that very nite and now im in a state of extreme sadness. Does anyone know what i can do to win her heart and love back? anyone have advice?
but i dont want any other girl -
How can i get my Girlfriend back after breaking up with her?
My Gf and I broke up a few weeks ago after going out for 2+ years bcs we were fighting a little bit she has a new bf but she doesnt really like him how can i get her back?
thanks for the help-
its going to take time but try to stay connected with her and always try to tell her to remember the good relationship she had with you and or try to one up her new bf
Has an Ex Girlfriend come back after they break up with another?
my ex gf could be dating another kid soon, and lets say it doesnt work out…id like her to come backive changed as a person, and ive tried everything to get her back except leaving her alone and waiting so im trying that…and if she dates a new kid…could she come back if they break up
moving on…has already been done, and i liked her more then the other girls i dated so i think ill just wait…
maybe if they haven't gone that far.
Comments are closed.


text:
Breastfeeding is natural, but it's not always easy. It is the biological norm, but it is not the cultural norm. By learning the seven basic principles in this book, mothers can dramatically increase their likelihood of success and make breastfeeding the enjoyable experience it should be. The seven laws taught in Breast Feeding Made Simple are easy for mothers to understand and are sure to help them avoid some of the pitfalls that they might otherwise face.
The book also addresses how to solve common problems and deal with special situations such as breast reductions and babies with special needs. The authors describe some of the social, psychological, and cultural reasons why breastfeeding is not currently the norm, and what this implies for mothers. In all, this is an easy-to-use breastfeeding resource for new mothers, which includes all the latest research and techniques used by those in the lactation field.


text:
Join or Sign In
Skill Level: intermediateA basic knowledge of crochet is necessary Stitches used:Dc- double crochetHdc-half double crochetBpdc-back post double crhochetSlst- slip stitchCh- chainBst- bobble stitch (includes instruction how to make a bobble stitch)Finished Size: -fits most adults - 21-23" aroundThe pattern is written in American crochet terms and includes step by step instructions and lot of photos!! Great for beginners!There is no refund on my patterns, I will try my best to help you with the instructions.If you have any questions about this pattern or the sales conditions please convo me.============================================This pattern is Copyright and designed by Eva's Studio. This pattern may not be distributed in any form. You are welcome to sell the items that you make using the pattern, but please put a link back to my shop.Please do not use my copyrighted images.Thank you
5,5 DC and 3 rows = 4 cm, hook size 5.00 mm4 DC and 2 rows = 1", hook size 5.00 mm
Blue Giants
Be the first to comment on this pattern!


text:
Check out the premiere of Adam Lambert's "Never Close Our Eyes" video! The track is off the 30-year-old singer's latest album, Trespassing, which debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 chart. "One of the great things about the album going number one this week is that it proves a point that music doesn't have [...]
read more
Adam Lambert hits the stage during American Idol's live elimination show on Thursday (May 17) in Hollywood. The 30-year-old singer performed his new single, "Never Close Our Eyes," off his sophomore album, Trespassing, available in ... Read Post
Adam Lambert, you tease. As a reward for his followers on Twitter helping to push his new record, "Trespassing," up the iTunes chart, Lambert has given us a glimpse at his next music video. It's for the track "Never Close Our Eyes."... Read Post
Adam Lambert takes the stage at Jimmy Kimmel Live! and belts out some of the upcoming hits from his album Trespassing on Thursday night (April 26). The 30-year-old singer performed "Never Close Our Eyes" and "Trespassing" in front o... Read Post


text:
Iggy Azalea's New Video, Like, Totally Recreates Clueless
Naturally, Azalea is our Cher and she brought Charli XCX along with her to sing the chorus and stand in for Tai. Not only do we get the opening debate scene, but snippets of tennis practice, the party, and the hallway cell-phone strut. Azalea and co. even went through the trouble of recreating the freeway scene, complete with swerving Mac trucks. That's dedication, people.
The song itself, off of Azalea's forthcoming third album, The New Classic, is all about the high-flash, high-glam, high-cost lifestyle. So, we honestly couldn't think of a better marriage of movie and music. Watch for yourself below and you'll see why we're totally buggin'.
Video: Via YouTube.


text:
When we first got our Akita, we went to puppy school. The trainer told us the following story:
He was sitting watching TV late one night when someone knocked on his door. He opened the door to find an angry man with a very large wolf mix dog. The man handed the trainer the leash and said "Fix him!". Apparently, when the dog was very young, Mom would take the dog into the shower with her - on a regular basis, hoping to adjust him to bathing.
Well, Mom & Dad went away for a day - only to come home to a flooded bathroom. Flooded so badly, the subfloor was saturated, along with a good 6" up the wall of drywall. Of course, the water also seeped out onto the hallway carpet, and being on the second floor, also dripped into the dining room below. Appears that doggy got bored & decided to take a shower. Guess Mom should have also taught him how to turn it off and not to close the drain by stepping on it. As I understand it, doggy no longer showers with Mom & the owners have redesigned their bathroom so the dog no longer has access to the tub. Poor boy - he was only imitating what Mom did. But, oh my, can you imagine if you came home to that? How do you explain that one to the insurance company??? My Kita often goes into my shower stall at night - but fortunately, she doesn't know how to turn it on (I think). |
Follow-Up Postings:
- Posted by christine1950 (My Page) on Sun, Jun 20, 10 at 8:13
Cute story. I once knew someone who had to put on lock on the fridge because their GS knew how to open it LOL |
That is a funny story and a good reminder not to leave our pets unattended for very long. One of our cats loves drinking drips from the bathtub faucet. If he could turn on the water himself, we'd surely be flooded. |
Our great dane used to be able to turn the floor fan on. He'd then sit with his butt on the chair in front of it and enjoy. Also had a cat with a toilet paper fetish. She'd tease the end of the roll within reach of her mouth, grab the end and run with it, unrolling the paper behind her. |
- Posted by murraysmom (My Page) on Mon, Jun 21, 10 at 19:54
We once had a cat that would get into the pantry and pull out every roll of paper towels and do battle with them by bearhugging them and kicking the daylights out of them with his back feet! Very messy to come home to. :) |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Pets Forum
Information about Posting
- You must be logged in to post a message. Once you are logged in, a posting window will appear at the bottom of the messages. If you are not a member, please register for an account.
- Please review our Rules of Play before posting.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review your post, make changes and upload photos.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- Before posting copyrighted material, please read about Copyright and Fair Use.
- We have a strict no-advertising policy!
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.
Learn more about in-text links on this page here


text:
(Updates with Fini comments in second paragraph, opposition leader in last.)
Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Italy's Parliament failed to approve the government's 2010 budget in an "unprecedented" vote that raised questions about the strength of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's majority, with the opposition urging him to resign.
The government was unable to obtain a majority of votes on the 2010 final budget in the lower house in Rome today, following its approval earlier by the Senate. Gianfranco Fini, speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, said the ballot was an "unprecedented case," Ansa newswire reported, as the budget is simply a record of spending and revenue that can't be changed.
Fini, in remarks broadcast on the Chamber's television channel, called another lower-house session for 1 p.m. in Rome tomorrow when the issue may be revisited. Economy Ministry Undersecretary Alberto Giorgetti said the government will find a "technical solution," Radiocor newswire reported.
Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti held talks with Berlusconi after the vote, Ansa newswire said. The government, with a slim majority in the Chamber, has previously lost ballots there even as it's won every confidence vote that it's faced since coming to power in 2008.
Fabrizio Cicchitto, who heads Berlusconi's People of Liberty party in the lower house, told reporters in Rome that the government may have to hold a vote in the Chamber to "verify" whether it still has a ruling majority, Ansa said.
Opposition leaders including Anna Finocchiaro, who heads the Democratic Party in the Senate, called on the government to resign. "With the failure to pass Article 1 of the general state budget, the very preconditions for public-finance accounting no longer exist," Finocchiaro said in an e-mailed statement.
--Editors: Jeffrey Donovan, Leon Mangasarian
To contact the reporter on this story: Chiara Vasarri in Rome at firstname.lastname@example.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Angela Cullen at email@example.com.


text:
Watkins Glen International
My Account
The Shop
Tickets & Events
Event Calendar
Opening Weekend
Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen
Finger Lakes Wine Fest
US Vintage Grand Prix
Cheez-It 355 at The Glen
Finger Lakes Beer Festival
Group Tickets
Ticket Information
Travel Packages
Guest Info
Plan Your Visit
Drive The Glen
Carry In Policy
Guests with Disablities
Interactive 3D Map
Guest Guide
Fan Hospitality
The Glen Club
Corporate Hospitality
Track Info
Media Center
Facility Rentals
Corporate Marketing
Front Office
Work With Us
Contact Us
Buy Tickets
Recording Artist "FREEMAN" to Perform National Anthem Before Centurion Boats at The Glen
Rising Arista recording artist FREEMAN will be performing the National Anthem prior to the start of the Centurion Boats at The Glen on August 12th where the biggest stars of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series will take on the twists and turns of the historic road course. The green flag for this exciting race is scheduled to drop at 2:00 pm and will air live on ESPN. Freeman, a native of Wales, currently resides in Los Angeles where he is already making a name for himself in the music industry. Freeman's talent was first recognized when he dared to perform 4 songs on Arista's boardroom table in front of Grammy Award winning record producer and a leading music industry executive Clive Davis. Freeman is currently in the process of making his debut album with producer Howard Benson who has produced for superstars as Chris Daughtry, My Chemical Romance, The All-American Rejects and Hoobastank. You can look in stores for the release of his debut album at the end of 2007, early 2008. You can also find Freeman's work on the big screen where his single "Well, Well" was placed in the recently released movie "The Break Up." Don't miss the action at one of New York State's largest weekend spectator sporting events returning August 9-12 with the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series taking center stage on Sunday in the much-anticipated Centurion Boats at The Glen. The NASCAR Busch Series is back for a third straight year to compete in the Zippo 200 on Saturday and the cars and stars of the Rolex Sports Car Series take to the track on Friday night. Weekend tickets start at only $80 and can be purchased by calling 866-461-RACE, stopping by The Shop, located at 2 North Franklin Street in downtown Watkins Glen, NY or at the WGI ticket office located on the old Bronson Hill Road off of County Rte. 16. A complete weekend schedule can be found on www.TheGlen.com.
Subscribe to our newsletter
Related Features
Watkins Glen International Awarded State Funding for Modernization and Repaving
Make a Change at The Glen
Renewals Continue for 2015 WGI Season
Cheez-It™ 355 at The Glen in 2015
Bully Hill Vineyards and WGI Harvest Deal
All News
Buy Tickets
Watkins Glen International
Join Our Team
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
RSS Feed
Contact Us
Media Center
Track Sites
© 2015 Watkins Glen International
ISC Track Sites
Auto Club Speedway
Chicagoland Speedway
Darlington Raceway
Daytona International Speedway
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Kansas Speedway
Martinsville Speedway
Michigan International Speedway
Phoenix International Raceway
Richmond International Raceway
Talladega Superspeedway
Watkins Glen International


text:
SF Women's Group Members Recognize 'Equal Pay Day' At Board Of Supes Meeting
Members from a women's organization recognized Tuesday as Equal Pay Day at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday afternoon and called on city leaders to support equal pay for women.
San Jose Wins Arbitration Battle Against Police Union
On Thursday, retired judge John A. Flaherty formally declined to restore the 10% cut in wages imposed on police officers in 2011, as San Jose was struggling to balance its budget amidst a struggling economy.
Facebook COO Extols Video Games For Young Girls
One of Facebook's leaders is urging parents to let their daughters play video games because it is one way to close the gender gap in computer science.
San Francisco Firefighter Salaries Grew During Recession
Despite some labor concessions over the past two years, San Francisco firefighters still make nearly 20 percent more than their counterparts in other parts of the Bay Area, according to city officials.


text:
I recently started doing this about 18 months ago. I don't know how necessary it is, but have felt it's only prudent to do after reading several articles in just how many ways ammunition has played a role at trial.
I will keep back a minimum of 5 or 6 rounds of my carry ammo and keep it in the original box in order for LEO or my Defense Attorney to do ballistics testing.
I also keep the box to have a record of the manufacture date and lot number should anything about my ammunition comes into question it will be available for testing.
I was wondering how many people follow this practice as well?


text:
Indicia title is "Luke Short's KING COLT, No. 651." Code number is K.C.O.S. #651-559. Copyright 1955 by Frederick D. Glidden.
Inside front cover; black and white. Full page reproduction of Dell's "A Pledge to Parents."
Story continues on the inside back cover in black and white and concludes on the back cover in color. Adapted from the 1937 novel "King Colt" by Luke Short. Pencils and inks credits for this sequence from Alberto Becattini (May 14, 2007)
Promo for Dell's Zane Grey's Stories of the West #27. Line-drawn version of the painted cover is depicted. Promo comes at bottom of last interior page, in the middle of the story.


text:
Mon, Jan 4, 10 at 18:06
So I have the night sweats, and am dealing with that.
Will that be all? I haven't had any other changes in 2 months. Should I expect more changes and take some type of natural help now? I am doing OK, because it is better to have sweats than a period. How long can I expect this to last before it gets better, or will it get worse? Will I really eventually lose my bladder control, my happy mood, my energy, my hair and if so, how do women who seem fine with gray hair in their 60's deal with this? Doesn't anybody do OK after or during menopause wihtout HRP? Thanks Lori |
Follow-Up Postings:
Hi loriwoo, Have you read any of the other posts? Sorry to be a killjoy but there are loads more things that could happen if you've only had night sweats for 2 months. I've had loads of different symptoms for about 7 years and I'm only? 49. On the other hand you could sail through this with only the night sweats and the odd hot flash. And you don't have to take HRT either cos there are natural remedies.I haven't lost control of my bladder or lost my hair but......oh I can't be bothered to go through all the other stuff again. The one thing that most of us try not to lose is our sense of humour (or temper)and these forums are the best places I've found to make you feel like you're not going mad when everyone else around you seems perfectly normal. One other thing you have to know is that most GPs don't link lots of symptoms with menopause and in GB they don't even use the term perimenopause. I have seen several docs over the years and most of them have looked at me as if I had a third eye when I suggest my tingling in my arm is connected to my hormones! I could go on forever but I won't, I just wanted to let you know what might happen. I hope you can keep a sense of humour and keep reading these forums cos they do help. Take care. |
every woman can or may get differnts reactions to menopause- |
Here is a link that might be useful: How-Long-Does-Menopause-Last.html
Yeah,I read all the posts, and that is just plain DEPRESSING, so that is another reason why I asked. I thought maybe there are more LUCKY women out there than all of you poor unlucky ones. It is so discouraging to think about. Not fair... |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Menopause Forum
Information about Posting
- You must be logged in to post a message. Once you are logged in, a posting window will appear at the bottom of the messages. If you are not a member, please register for an account.
- Please review our Rules of Play before posting.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review your post, make changes and upload photos.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- Before posting copyrighted material, please read about Copyright and Fair Use.
- We have a strict no-advertising policy!
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.
Learn more about in-text links on this page here


text:
General Business
State of Wyoming Coal Port Appeal Rejected
October 5, 2014 By Bozeman News Wire
State of Wyoming coal port appeal rejected The Oregon Department of State Lands rejected the State of Wyoming's appeal of Oregon's decision to deny a key permit to develop the Port of Morrow coal export port on the Columbia River in Oregon. The permit had been sought by Ambre Energy, a financially troubled Australian firm that wants to export Western coal to Asia. The Oregon agency said Wyoming did not have standing in the Port of Morrow decision because the state had no legally protected interest in the project and did not submit comments during Oregon's public comment period on the proposed port. "Oregon is charged with the stewardship of the fishery of the Columbia River Basin and has an enormous economic stake in preserving that valuable asset," said Mark Fix, a Montana rancher and member of Northern Plains Resource Council in Billings. "The proposed coal … [Read More...]
Resource Group Seeks Transparency from Board of Oil & Gas
August 27, 2014 By Bozeman News Wire
Resource group seeks transparency from Board of Oil and Gas The Northern Plains Resource Council has delivered a formal letter to the Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation (BOGC) requesting the regulatory agency to uphold the Montana Constitution. The letter calls attention to the fact that the BOGC does not provide public access to usable information that would allow the public to know about the impacts of oil and gas development. The lack of transparency by this quasi-judicial body denies citizens the right to participate in the operation of government agencies, the right to examine documents, and the right to observe the deliberations of all public bodies or agencies of state government and its subdivisions. Citizens are not allowed to determine whether the BOGC is upholding its purpose of preventing waste and protecting mineral owners. "Not … [Read More...]
'Visit Big Sky' Brings Together Local Businesses
August 23, 2014 By Bozeman News Wire
VISIT BIG SKY BRINGS TOGETHER LOCAL BUSINESSES Over Ten Area Vendors Work Together to Promote Summer in Big Sky Big Sky, Mont. There is no shortage of things in to do in Big Sky, Montana. Located in the Southwest corner of the state, and just a short drive from the Bozeman International Airport, a summer in Big Sky is magical. Visitors can enjoy a family vacation, and adventure filled weekend, or even a romantic getaway. For the first time, with the help of Visit Big Sky, a nonprofit corporation responsible for marketing Big Sky, 10 local businesses, including restaurants, guest ranches, hotels, fly fishing outfitters and more, have partnered together to promote summer vacation and activities. The partnership will strengthen the local Big Sky business economy and will offer endless summer fun to those who visit. "The stories that are generated by … [Read More...]
Oregon Agency Denies Crucial Port of Morrow Permit
August 19, 2014 By Bozeman News Wire
Oregon Agency Denies Crucial Port of Morrow Permit, Deals Significant Blow to Coal Export Proposals BILLINGS, Mont. — Oregon's Department of State Lands today denied a crucial removal-fill permit for a proposed coal terminal at the Port of Morrow in Oregon. The state agency posted the denial in a fact sheet posed online. http://www.oregon.gov/dsl/PERMITS/docs/fact_sheet_coyote_island_terminal.pdf The denial is a devastating blow to the facility, which, if permitted, would export 8.8 million tons of coal per year from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and southeastern Montana to Asian markets. Coal export critics from mining, rail, and port-impacted communities celebrated. "Governor Kitzhaber and his Department of State Lands stood up for dozens of communities along the railroad tracks from Wyoming to Oregon today," said Billings pulmonologist Dr. Robert … [Read More...]
Got Baby Belly? Finally a cream that works!
July 9, 2014 By Bozeman News Wire
Got Baby Belly? Finally a cream that works! ~ Betsy R. Smith NeriumFirm is already a HUGE hit! We sold 375,000 bottles in the first 2 hours! And it is flying off the shelves. Nerium International posted $400 million in sales in just the first 30 months with our anti-aging night time treatment, NeriumAD and the industry is buzzing. Now NeriumFirm is poised to surpass those amazing sales records. And just in time for SUMMER! Get bikini ready NOW. Check out these before and after pictures! For more info on purchasing and the summer deals see below or contact me. Betsy Smith 847-431-3536. Or order at: http://www.nerium.com/Customers.aspx?ID=namaste Summer season is in full swing, and there's no denying the great results ofNeriumFirm Body Contouring Cream! NeriumFirm is a hot commodity, as we've seen by how quickly our contouring cream … [Read More...]


text:
Fox Spirit Books [External Link] has agreed to rehome 25 Ways To Kill A Werewolf – publishing dates, etc, to be confirmed.
Novel, horror / dark fantasy (in the Alex Jones world)
25 Ways to Kill a Werewolf came out on Tuesday 12th August (Squeeee!) from Fox Spirit Books [External Link]. The paperback is available from Amazon (here: [External Link]).
Ebooks are available from Amazon (here: [External Link]) and will be available from Spacewitch [External Link].
This is the first of (currently) four background posts for 25 Ways To Kill … Continue reading
Well, the big day is getting nearer and Elkie Bernstein is almost official! Here's a sneak peak at the cover for 25 Ways To Kill A Werewolf:
And here's what you see if you open it up to see front and back at the same time:
It's been designed by Sarah Anne Langton [External Link] who also designs the Fox Pocket books from Fox Spirit [External Link].
I can't wait to … Continue reading
Earlier Orders of Play can be found here (version 0) and here (version 1)
Following the recent announcement (I'll say it again: 25 Ways To Kill A Werewolf has been accepted by Fox Spirit [External Link]) a few things have been cleaned up and renamed, so here's another note for myself that I'm sharing with the world.
First of all, I've … Continue reading
The original idea behind the Fur-Skins world, the idea that started it all off, is that humans and wolves are two social species that are different biologically but a significant chunk of both species are attempting to live together. Consider it a social symbiosis.
So from the canine point of view, dogs are wolves that initially tried join in human society and arguably got royally screwed over in having done so. Whatever they were several … Continue reading
Fox Spirit Books [External Link] has agreed to rehome 25 Ways To Kill A Werewolf – publishing dates, etc, to be confirmed.
Novel, horror / dark fantasy (in the Alex Jones world)
– Download as PDF –
Conn stood on the shore hills, his pack heavy against his back despite only holding one item. Or maybe that was just the weight of implications.
"Welcome yam," he whispered.
The weather was clear enough to see the double hump of Mann, halfway to Ireland, and Scotland was spread out to the north, across the Firth. It was an amazing view considering there were days when the … Continue reading
(I'm a geek with some computer science in my background. I start counting at 0.)
I have a confession. While I write short stories (and so far have a little more luck with them than long form), they're as much about working out how a world works as anything else. When an idea hits me, it's often as a combination of facts and characters that eventually work themselves into a scene, so writing is just … Continue reading
On the original Alex Jones' page in the previous incarnation of the site, I mentioned the "If Jesus Then Aliens" trope [External Link] (last mentioned in "The Order Of Play" post). From a world-building point of view, I'm applying the idea as a short hand for "if werewolves exist, what else can be true?"
However, anything I add to the Alex Jones' world has to fit in. I … Continue reading
With the new site layout and the recent publishing of "Dog Handler", I figure this is the sort of thing best done as an occasional repost. The current order of play for the Alex Jones short stories is as follows:
Possible future stories are:
I'm quite taken with the idea of doing an "If Werewolves, Then …" in … Continue reading
Title Goes Here:, Issue 1.9, 02/09/2011 [External Link]
Short story, horror / dark fantasy (Alex Jones)


text:
Latest News
Check Out the Band on YouTube
- Details
- Category: News
- Published on Friday, 11 May 2012 00:18
- Written by Dustin Page
- Hits: 1145
We are pleased to announce that you can view some of our previous performances on YouTube. Click on the video on the right or click on Videos to see more.
Latest Tweets get updated with our fresh news
This user has reached the maximum allowable queries against Twitter's API for the hour.


text:
Denbigh school governor accused of £10,000 dinner money fraud will deny charges
Court told Eirian Jarratt will plead not guilty to allegations that she stole the money from Ysgol Pendref over a six year period whilst she was the school's secretary
Denbighshire is a county in North Wales. Like neighbouring Conwy it has some densly populated towns in the north of the county such as Rhyl and Prestatyn with more rural areas to the south, including Ruthin and Denbigh. The county has a population of more than 90,000 people.
SIGNING OFF: That's it for me for today. Hope you can join myself and my colleague Sam Yarwood from 10am tomorrow morning. Until then, noswaith dda.
More »NO EMERGENCIES: It's been a routine and rather quiet day so far, according to the police, fire service and Coastguard.
More »NORTH WALES FOOTBALL WEEKEND RESULTS...
https://t.co/VbKgQdEuay pic.twitter.com/t7sfpImB95
— Dave Jones (@DaveJDailyPost) January 31, 2015
More »
FOUR DEAD: Four people are dead after an avalanche hit a group of skiers in the south east of Switzerland, police said. Police in Graubuenden canton said the avalanche on the slopes of the Piz Vilan mountain this afternoon swept away seven members of a nine-strong group of skiers.Rescuers recovered three bodies and four seriously injured people, who were flown to hospitals in St Gallen, Zurich and Chur. A fourth person later died at a hospital.
More »FULL-TIME: The final score at the end of the Chelsea v Manchester game was 1-1.
More »VATICAN INQUIRY: Two Polish-born prelates are being investigated by Holy See authorities for alleged possession of child pornography, a Vatican spokesman said. One was Monsignor Bronislaw Morawiec, an administrator at St Mary Major Basilica, a Rome church where Pope Francis prays. The other was Josef Wesolowski. A Vatican church tribunal already found Wesolowski guilty of sexually abusing boys while serving as papal ambassador in the Dominican Republic.
More »Just completed my statements etc for the Devaway Burglary @wrexham Police ref RC15014618 refers and investigation is now on going
— Wesley Williams (@NWPWWilliams) January 31, 2015
More »
More »Colwyn Bay Fire Station have raised £600 after making us their charity of 2014! A massive thank you all involved pic.twitter.com/9O7mpvbk1V
— Wales Air Ambulance (@air_ambulance) January 31, 2015
Up to date photos of the inside of the brand new, state of the art Moelfre RNLI lifeboat station taken by our... http://t.co/iGJjNkyWnZ
— Moelfre Lifeboat (@MoelfreLifeboat) January 31, 2015
More »
Despite having fancy digital mapping in the aircraft, we still use A to Z's. You can't beat a paper map. pic.twitter.com/YWgE6cOGRi
— NPAS Hawarden (@NPAS_Hawarden) January 31, 2015
More »


text:
World Public Finances
Up one levelIn this section: documents and papers which open the perspective towards world public finances
- The Tobin Tax and Global Civil Society Organisations: The Aftermath of the 2008-9 Financial Crisis
- Paper by prof. Heikki Patomäki, originally written as a basis for his talks in Kyoto and Tokyo in January 2009, but it has been up-dated and rewritten and includes also an analysis of the International Financial Transaction Tax proposal. This paper is forthcoming in the Ritsumeikan Annual Review of International Studies; and a different version later in a European journal.
- WPF comment by Francine Mestrum
- Here Francine comments that we should define what Global Public Goods are within the WPF platform, and make a strong case for them. Also link WPF to the development discourse.
- WPF Blog
- The purpose of this blog is to debate the concept of World Public Finances, a platform created by various NGOs to create proposals to regulate the global financial market for the purpose of welfare of all citizens of the world.
- Concept paper for Nairobi - idées pour Finances Publiques Mondiaux pour Nairobi
- This document has a concise version of the concepts and plans that the WPF platform plans to do in Nairobi. It's open to discussion, debate and further elaboration. Ce document est une version plus courte du document qui a été crée pour le blog, worldpublicfinances.blogspot.com, qui a pour objectif a ouvrir une discussion sur nos plans et projets communs au FSM de Nairobi.
- World Public Finances Mailing List
- A mailing list for the organisations, associations and movements participating in the World Public Finances initiative.
- The Bamako Meeting, January 2006
- This folder contains materials from the meeting on World Public Finances at the Polycentric World Social Forum in in Bamako, January 2006
- More ideas on world public finances, development and global public goods
- Based on the failures of aid policies of the past decades, organisations like UNCTAD and the World Development Movement today propose a direct, multilateral financing of development and refer to the possibility of raising global taxes. Francine Mestrum connects the dots.


text:
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - Page updated at 03:55 PM
Minn. courthouse attacker long at odds with officials
Gordon Wheeler Sr. clashed for years with Morrison County officials over the strip club and porn shop he once operated, but he wasn't known as a violent man. So when he took a seat in the back row at a commissioners meeting, nobody paid much attention.
Associated Press Writer
Gordon Wheeler Sr. clashed for years with Morrison County officials over the strip club and porn shop he once operated, but he wasn't known as a violent man. So when he took a seat in the back row at a commissioners meeting, nobody paid much attention.
He sat quietly in his bib overalls, clutching a manila folder Tuesday as the board finished its agenda in this central Minnesota city 100 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
"He showed up midway through the meeting and didn't say anything," Commissioner Duane Johnson said. "When we adjourned, he said, `No, not yet,' or something like that."
Wheeler, 60, pulled a red handkerchief from his overalls, unwrapped it to reveal a handgun and began making demands, including a request to talk to Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Authorities said he held the gun to the head of County Administrator Tim Houle at one point.
"It was a very, very tense situation," Houle said. "When you're in that situation, you don't know how it will end. And we know there could have been multiple endings than the one that transpired."
Wheeler held Houle, Johnson and five other county officials and employees hostage in the board's chambers, but some others were able to leave and alert the sheriff down the hall.
When Wheeler demanded to talk to Pawlenty, Houle said, he dialed the number and relayed the request to a receptionist. After she transferred him to Capitol security, he repeated Wheeler's request.
"He was never going to talk to the governor, and I think he knew that," Houle said.
Sheriff Michel Wetzel arrived at the chambers with his deputies within minutes and ordered everyone to get out. Houle and Johnson wouldn't say how Wheeler reacted or whether he pointed the gun at any of the commissioners as they fled, but both heard shots as they reached the doorway.
The officers shot Wheeler, who died at a Little Falls hospital. Nobody else was injured, but the emotional toll from the confrontation was evident Wednesday at the government center where the shooting occurred.
As Wetzel walked down a hallway, two men rushed to shake his hand and a woman hugged him. "It's OK. It all worked out," he told her.
Houle and Johnson declined to provide many details about the confrontation, saying they didn't want to compromise the investigation by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Wetzel declined to comment.
Dave Bjerga, the BCA assistant superintendent, also declined to give additional details pending ballistics tests and more interviews with witnesses. He said Wheeler's motive wasn't yet clear.
Randall Tigue, a Twin Cities attorney who represented Wheeler, said his former client appears to have snapped after all the disputes with county officials.
"He was a jovial, friendly, very nice guy who was doing his best to make a living," Tigue said.
"He tried to do everything he could to operate in the system legally and got dumped on. I think that it just drove him over the edge."
Wheeler was an outsider in Little Falls, a city of 8,500 best known for favorite son Charles Lindbergh, who made the first solo flight across the Atlantic in 1927. Wheeler bore grudges toward the county, complaining about corruption and a conspiracy to make his life difficult, officials recalled Wednesday.
Houle said he had had spirited discussions and disagreements with Wheeler for the past 14 years.
"There had never been any previous indication of physical violence with him," Houle said. "Often, we would disagree about the issues, but I never found him to be disagreeable."
Wheeler's dispute with the county stemmed from adult businesses he owned that were eventually closed. In 2003, the county tightened a land-use ordinance for sex-related businesses. Commissioners later moved to shut down an adult book and video store Wheeler owned near Swanville called Lookin' Fine Smut and Porno.
Johnson was the mayor of Swanville at the time. The shop was outside his jurisdiction, but residents called him saying they "didn't want an operation like that going on in Morrison County."
In 2006, Wheeler was convicted of promoting prostitution out of a strip club he owned called Camp Bar near Camp Ripley, a training ground for the Minnesota National Guard just north of here. The county denied Wheeler's liquor license for the bar, and the bar closed.
Wheeler sued the county and several officials about a year later, accusing them of corruption, but judges dismissed all his lawsuits.
On Wednesday, as a humid breeze blew across the courthouse grounds, the U.S. flag flew at half-staff - both for a public institution that has been traumatized and for Wheeler, Houle said.
"Whether you agreed with Gordon and what he did for a living, he was a human being," he said.
Associated Press writer Elizabeth Dunbar contributed to this report from Minneapolis.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
Rebels tighten hold on Libya oil port
Reality leads US to temper its tough talk on Libya
2 Ark. injection wells may be closed amid quakes
Armed guards save Dutch couple from Somali pirates
Navy to release lewd video investigation findings
This feature requires Flash 7.
Top video | World | Science / Tech | Entertainment
general classifieds
Garage & estate salesFurniture & home furnishings
just listed
City of Des Moines Summary of Ordinance No....
City of Des Moines Summary of Ordinance No....
City of Newcastle Summary of Ordinace No. 2...
More listings