text:
By Digital Circe
(woman to pig transformation)
Story warning: violence, nudity, vore
Annie's mouth felt dry, like it was full of cotton balls. She blinked, waking coming back to her slowly. Her head hurt – had she been drinking that much? She felt cramped, like she'd been laying wrong and had a crick in her neck. Where, exactly, was she?
As her eyes finally focused, she realized how good a question that was. Annie was in a dark room, lit only by a few dim security lights. The walls seemed to be made of concrete. But more troubling were the metal bars around her. She was in some sort of small cage – something akin to an animal cage. Something big enough for a large dog, but tight and cramped for a grown woman. She was laying on some kind of pad that didn't offer much cushioning. She was also naked.
Annie moaned, her headache throbbing, and tried to sit up. It was hard to do in the small kennel.
"Hey, are you awake?" a hushed voice came from her right. Annie turned her head, surprised to see other cages like hers, several of which also had naked human contents. She looked into the eyes of another girl, surprisingly clear in the darkness.
"Yeah," Annie slurred. "Who are you?"
"Christine. My friends call me Chrissy."
"I'm Annie."
"Do you know what happened?" Chrissy asked, her voice still a whisper.
"I have no idea. I guess we got kidnapped." Annie looked around. "Do you have any idea where we are?"
Chrissy shrugged. "No. I think we were going east. If I had to guess? I think we're in Detroit. Parts of that, especially parts far enough away from the highway – we may as well be in Beirut."
"I was in Chicago."
"I was from Gary. I was in a nightclub, and someone slipped something in my drink."
"Will anyone come looking for you?" Annie asked.
"I'm a college student at IU Northwest. I was out drinking with my fake ID. People who saw me won't exactly be coming forward, if you know what I mean. It'll be investigated, but the search will get hindered. You?"
"Similar story, except University of Chicago."
Chrissy sighed. "Whoever they are, they probably prey on girls like us. Here and there. Never too many from one place."
"Why us?"
"We're young and pretty. And stupid about personal safety. Why not us?"
"But what do they plan to do?"
"I don't know. But I'm pretty sure I haven't been raped. And for some reason, that makes me even more scared."
"Yeah," Annie agreed. She looked around the darkened room. "How many people are here?"
"Counting us? It looks like eight people in cages. We're the only ones awake, so I can't be sure about everyone, but some of them look like boys." She pointed at someone in a cage in the corner, curled up with his back to them. Between his legs, Annie could clearly see his penis. She frowned.
"Is this some kind of slave ring? Or are they just catering to all clients?"
"I dunno. But everyone looks about our age. Physical prime. And it's dark, but nobody seems to be ugly."
"I don't see any guards," Annie said slowly.
"Maybe they're watching us on cameras. Or maybe they just think we can't get out of these cages. I can't, anyway."
Annie looked hers over, too. Chrissy was right; she couldn't see an easy way to break out. "Have you tried yelling for help?" she asked.
Chrissy shook her head, looking timid. "I probably should have, but I was scared. What if no one's around to hear? What if someone comes in and beats me for it? I thought, once everyone wakes up, we could all decide together if we want to take that chance."
"Well, we need to do something."
"Everybody seems drugged out. You're the first who's come around, and I've been whispering at people for about an hour. Or three hours, or just fifteen minutes, for all I know. It's hard to tell, without a clock."
"Then let's wake them up," Annie said firmly, daring to raise her voice above a whisper.
"That won't be necessary," a clipped voice interrupted them. Annie struggled to look around far enough in her cage to see the speaker.
"Who?" gasped Chrissy, but then Annie saw him – a middle aged man dressed in black, with several burly aides. The other men went around, prodding caged people awake, and turning their kennels so they could see the speaker. Murmurs and gasps filled the room, but none of the caged people had the nerve to challenge him.
He looked around the room at the caged, naked people. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," he said. "Welcome to our humble club. You have all been selected for your youth and vigor. Allow me to assure you, whatever your old lives were, they are over. You serve the club now, and will for the rest of your lives. However long that might be is up to you."
There was murmuring at that, and some snickering from the man's hired muscle. Annie swallowed dryly. They were going to be sex slaves for sure.
"Look, if its money you want, my dad…" one of the caged boys started.
"It isn't," the man cut him off, a trace of irritation entering his voice. "At least, not from you. Do you seriously believe that we'd go to this trouble, if there were any possibility that we would let you go free? No. You're our livestock, now."
Annie's ears perked up at that. 'Livestock' was a funny euphemism to use for sex slaves. She might have expected something dehumanizing like 'merchandise'… but livestock?
"Let me tell you what life will be like for you," he continued. "Our club caters to connoisseurs of bloodsport. The epic ballet of two gladiators locked in mortal combat, only one to emerge alive."
"But… but I don't know how to fight!" squeaked a girl in a cage to Annie's right.
The man wore a particularly cruel smile. "It's nothing as formalized as martial arts or wrestling. You'll fight as animals. With tooth and claw and whatever other natural weapons you receive."
What? Annie had difficulty following that line of logic.
He looked around. "You are still human, tonight, but our patrons enjoy animal fights. And thus we mutate you into beasts, so that they can enjoy combatants of both savage and intelligent nature. The best of both worlds."
The reaction was, predictably, one of disbelief. One of the caged men laughed mirthlessly. "Are you high?" asked one of the other prisoners incredulously. "What you're saying, it's not possible…"
"But it is. All of you will be crossed with animals, and fight in the pits. Fight well, and you live. Fight poorly… and die." There was more murmuring, but there was something about his tone that made Annie realize he wasn't lying. That what he said, bizarre as it sounded, was true.
"Please," a girl to the left whimpered. "Please, I don't want to be an animal, I'll do anything…"
"Oh, it's too late for that. You've already been exposed to the reagent. Your metamorphosis is a given." He turned to his assistants. "Separate them by species."
The men came forward, lifting the kennels and moving them into different rooms. Annie found herself carried into a grey, windowless cinderblock room. Chrissy's kennel was deposited beside her, and then, without ceremony, both of their latches were undone. Their handlers stood back, waiting for the girls to emerge.
It was still difficult for the two girls to crawl out of their cages. The openings were small, and they had been lying, scrunched up, inside the tiny spaces for God knew how long. One of Annie's legs had gone to sleep, and she felt pins and prickles run through it as she dragged herself out onto the hard cement floor. But still, it felt good to be free. The naked girls stood awkwardly, looking around nervously.
Annie took a moment to look Chrissy over, unconsciously comparing herself with the brunette. Both of them were traditionally beautiful, with long hair, pretty faces, full bosoms, and long legs. Both were thin, but curvy. Toned, without being noticeably athletic. It felt unfair to her, that they wanted to corrupt their beauty; turn them into something subhuman. But just as she started to wonder what kind of animal that would be, her question was cruelly answered.
"Let's get these pigs transformed and into their sty," one of the big, burly guards said to the other with barely a trace of interest.
"No," Chrissy mouthed, horrified. Annie could only whimper at the horrible sentence, as the men adjusted controls on a console, activating whatever horrible reagent was already inside them. She felt a warmth start to spread from the core of her body, and then it started to happen.
"Uhhhhh…" she slurred, feeling her face begin to change, to become more pliable. The shape of her jaw felt different, like it didn't fit. Annie looked up at her fellow prisoner, seeing Chrissy wrap her arms around her belly, fruitlessly fighting the overpowering sensations. She could see the brunette's ears start to point, to poke out past her disheveled mane of hair.
But her own sensations quickly reclaimed her attention. A twitching feeling came from just above her butt, and she reached back to feel a small nub of flesh, starting to twist out into her inevitable tail. She made a whining sound, almost like a squeal, and tried to look around behind herself. But before she could catch a glimpse of her nascent tail, she stumbled, unstable on her feet, splaying awkwardly on her side. And a quick glance told her why. Her toes had begun to crust over, changing shape, and her ankles had begun to shift, bringing her weight onto the malforming toes like she was wearing heels. They were becoming hooves – some of the toes swelling large and bony, while others shrank into mere dew claws. As she reached out to touch one, she could see that the same thing was happening to her hands, albeit more slowly – a hard keratin surface was building up on her middle fingers, and she was losing sensation in them. She tried to push herself to all fours, to stand, to reclaim her human posture.
But she noticed something else, down there on the floor – the cold cement was less noticeable. She felt warmer – her skin thicker, better able to retain heat. The room wasn't as cold anymore, despite her nakedness. She swallowed dryly, feeling her insides squirm, and knew that her changes would not all be as noticeable as her hooves.
Annie looked up at Chrissy, who had managed to retain her footing despite her own half-formed hooves. But she was bent over double, and from the side, Annie could see both that her tail had grown out a significant length, and her swelling ears were now quite visible over her hair. She reached up and touched one of her own ears, finding it not far behind Chrissy's.
She tried to sob, but only a squealing sound came out of her mouth, and she felt her nose begin to grow. It turned up, growing broader and flatter as it filled her face. And with it came the most disorienting feeling yet – her sense of smell improved dramatically. She could detect more, and more permutations, of odors on the air. There was something that she recognized as herself, albeit much stronger than she'd ever smelled before. And a distinct odor for Chrissy, and even the salty sweat of their two captors. A harsh smell that she guessed was from their guns. Something like mildew, from the corners of the room and around the small floor grates. And smells she didn't even have words for. It was too much to take in, and Annie's head began to spin. She couldn't control the competing sensations. Chrissy finally dropped to her knees, similarly overwhelmed.
But still her transformation pressed on relentlessly. Annie squealed as her snout pushed out, her small tusks growing past her delicate lips. She shook her head in panic, blonde hair and floppy ears flying. Her fingers stiffened more, losing sensation as they gained strength. Her corkscrew tail finally finished, twitching out over her full, beautiful bottom. And then, there was a sense like unclenching her muscles, as the strange pressures ceased. Her transformation was finished. Breathing heavily, Annie glanced up again at her fellow piggirl, as both struggled to their feet.
Denied mirrors, the girls instead took in the changes the other had suffered. Partial hooves for hands and fully transformed feet, a curly tail, floppy ears, and a long snout marred both of their beautiful forms. Aside from that, though, neither had lost any of her natural radiance. Full, curvaceous bodies, attractive if mussed hair, and full, innocent eyes. Enough for their audience to see them as subhuman, while still being turned on by them. But the changes weren't just physical. The cacophony of new sensory information was overwhelming. It wasn't just her sense of smell – Annie could hear better, too, and the extra sounds disoriented her.
"Looks like the transformations were successful," one of the guards said. "Let's get them to the sty." Both piggirls squealed in protest, but neither was in any shape to resist the large, strong men. They were taken by the arms, and dragged deep into the compound. Both could hear plaintive animal sounds echoing down the halls, of many types of beasts mixed with human despair.
At the end of the hall, they were transferred to the pigpens and the door locked behind them. Annie looked around nervously. A lot of other hogs were in the room. Some looked angry, others apathetic. All of them were sows, though, and most classically beautiful, albeit deformed with pig features. Just like she now was. The other women regarded them silently. The two new pigs shuffled uncomfortably, unsure of what to do.
Then, a monitor at the side of the room came to life, and the image of the man who they had first seen smiled down at them patronizingly. Annie noticed that the monitor was protected by black bars – presumably to keep the swine from damaging it.
"Ah, good," he said. "It's wonderful to see our latest gladiators settling into their new roles. I trust the accommodations suit you, given that you're pigs now." Annie winced. He must have a camera in the room, to be able to see them. But that made sense – surely the whole operation was heavily monitored.
"Why did you do this to us!" Annie squealed more than said, letting her anger and despair get the better of her. "We're not bad people. How dare you destroy our lives like… like this!"
The man on the monitor only smiled, able to hear them, as well. "It's nothing personal, my dear. To put it simply, you're entertainment. Our patrons have paid to watch you two lovely ladies mud wrestle like the pigs you now are. And fight you will, until one of you drops. Because the one who wins gets to live, and the other will be slaughtered for bacon. And don't think you have a way to opt out. Refusal to fight will simply result in both of you becoming pork dinners."
Annie and Chrissy both gasped in horror. The piggirls around them merely hung their heads. Eaten? Losing meant not just dying, but being eaten? Annie's head swam with the twisted revelation. What sort of madmen had kidnapped them?
"Our clientele enjoy seeing pretty young women behave as beasts," he continued. "Try to put on a good show for them. We can make the life of an entertaining fighter better than that of a lackluster one. Now, I'll give you some time to acclimate yourself to your new assets. Use this time wisely, and prepare yourselves."
As the monitor went dark, the other sows looked away, or down, or at the walls. Clearly hearing that had affected them, even though they must have heard it many times before.
Most of the women ignored the two newcomers, but a full figured, red-haired piggirl with a scar across one eye approached the new swine, with mugs of something that smelled like coffee in her deformed hands. "Welcome to hell, piglets," she grunted sadly, handing them the beverages. "My name's Melinda." Annie drank the bitter cup gratefully, and they introduced themselves, as well.
"What happens now?" Chrissy asked quietly.
"I train you," the older sow grunted. "You may have noticed that none of the other girls want much to do with you. Well, that's just how it is – nobody's gonna help you too much. Because even if they don't fight you tonight, sooner or later you might end up in the ring together. And nobody wants to help out a rival when the stakes are so high."
"But you do?" Annie asked.
"I'm not a fighter," answered Melinda. "Just here to make sure you have your best shot. And make it a better show for them, I guess." Chrissy seemed to brighten a little at the thought of an ally, but Melinda quickly shot it down. "Don't get too excited about it, it's not much. Even what I say, I say to everybody. I'm sorry I don't have anything more comforting to offer, but I wasn't kidding when I called this place 'hell'."
"Can we sit down?" asked Annie. "My new hooves hurt."
"Best you don't. When you get in the pit, you'll want to be used to moving on your new feet. Hooves actually take pretty well to the mud – but you don't want to be too shaky on your pins."
"Okay," said Chrissy unsteadily, taking deep breaths. Annie wanted to put her arm around her, but somehow couldn't bring herself to.
"Now. About the fight. Like he said, we're pigs, so they have us mud wrestle. And just like you'd imagine, they want it both dehumanizing and sexy. Remember that. Even though you'll be trying to kill each other, try to do it by suffocating the other one. Don't try to break bones, or bite and gore each other with you little tusks. They… they don't care for scars, at least not on our kind. You need to look beautiful at the start of every fight. And don't be fooled – this is a gladiatorial match, just like in pagan times. If you fight in a way they don't like, the crowd might just call for both of your executions. I've seen it happen. They want to demean you, but also lust after you. So give them what they want. They might want blood and gore from other species, but this is mud wrestling, and they want to see sexy girls going after each other."
"And we have to fight each other?" asked Annie, looking around the pigpen. She hadn't known Chrissy for long, but she was the closest thing she had to a friend in this horrible place.
"They don't let vets fight newbies, answered Melinda. "Unless they're bringing in a few more pigs, you two will fight each other. Whichever of you wins will eventually fight one of them. And so on. They like the fights to be relatively even." Annie swallowed. That meant that every other girl in the room had already killed someone. No wonder they were so surly.
"There were eight of us taken, but only the two of us were turned into pigs. What happened to the other ones?" oinked Chrissy.
"Well, there's also cockfighting and dog fighting that I know about," grunted Melinda. "Probably more, but I mostly just get to see the pigs. After all, I'm a slave, same as you. Not fit for the ring anymore, but they found other uses for me." She said the last sentence with dejection – whatever had happened to her, clearly wasn't a better fate.
Annie coughed quietly, and tried to change the subject. "What… what happens to the loser for those other fights?"
"Probably fried chicken for the boys turned into cocks. I don't know about the dogs. Chinese food, maybe?"
"There's probably chimp and bull fighting, too," another piggirl added. She didn't look up when she spoke. "And whatever other real animals people like to watch kill each other."
Annie went pale, but Melinda patted her on the arm with her misshapen hoof. "Try not to think about it, piglets," she said. "Let's just get you used to moving around in your new bodies; getting a feel for your new center of mass. And remember what I said about suffocation. Your beauty is all you still have that makes you desirable. Everyone here kind of has a gentlewomen's agreement not to damage that if it can be helped. We may have to kill each other, but we're not… we're… we're not monsters," she said after a pause. "Remember that. Whatever you have to do, whatever you look like… we're not the monsters here." Both new piggirls nodded, unsure.
It was a short day, all things considered, as Melinda helped ease them into the peculiarities of moving in their new bodies, and how to filter out the excess of sensory information they were being bombarded with. She didn't teach them much about fighting, though, and the other sows gave them a wide berth. Without weapons, all they would have to work with was mud and their own bodies.
"How long do girls tend to last in here?" Annie finally worked up the courage to ask during one of their water breaks.
"I think the club is only open three or four days a week. And there isn't a pig fight every night. Once, sometimes twice a week. I know there's a rotation of animals, but I don't know the schedule," answered Melinda. "Whichever of you survives tonight, it might be a few weeks before you're back in the ring."
"Really?" asked Chrissy dubiously.
"Yeah. I gather we're kind of niche entertainment, anyway. We're the sexy fighters, just mud wrestling. Here for titillation as much as blood sport. But others… others are supposed to tear each other apart, and the real blood aficionados do want to see gore and scars on them. I saw a cock fight, once. It was… well, it made me glad I was a pig. Those two boys tore each other up like there was hellfire and devil's blood in their veins, and the crowd was screaming and cheering like I've never heard. Way bigger than any pig fight crowd, too. I couldn't even bring myself to watch the end of it, but I heard the winning boy's hollow sounding howl of triumph, after he did the deed. I know they burn through cocks a lot faster than sows."
"My God," whispered Annie.
"Oh, He's long since abandoned this place," grunted Melinda. "And the only way He'll let you out of here is to lose." After that, Annie didn't want to ask any more questions.
They continued to practice basic movements, trying not to think about what was to come. Annie found herself staring at Chrissy, with a combination of sadness and guilt. She didn't want to try to hurt or kill this girl, but she couldn't let herself become a meal. She wouldn't let herself die like a pig.
All too soon, evening came, and the armed guards came in to collect the two young gladiators. Annie managed a small wave to Melinda, but the trainer just turned away. Obviously, she didn't want to let herself get too attached to new girls.
Chrissy and Annie were led down dark service halls, and even though the walls were soundproofed, they could hear the dull roar of a crowd's vicious approval in some nearby arena. Annie winced. They passed another set of guards as well, with their own animal cargo. They were leading another hybrid - it was a man with scaly legs, a beak, and a light dusting of feathers across his muscular body. He looked uninjured, and nervous. Annie wasn't sure if he'd been in the initial group with them – it might have been the boy who had said his father would ransom him.
They came to a waiting area, with two halls curving away. They could hear noise from above– the stands for their arena had to be above them. More guards were around, as well as support staff. There was an energy in the air – the match was coming quickly. The piggirls looked at each other nervously.
Then, Chrissy impulsively wrapped her arms around Annie, hugging her fiercely. Annie was briefly startled, but she needed the human contact too, and hugged the brunette back. "Whichever of us wins… no hard feelings, okay? I don't hate you, and I don't think you hate me," whispered Chrissy.
Annie shook her head, her body still wrapped tightly to the shaking brunette. With her snout buried in Chrissy's hair, she could smell the other piggirl clearly – a unique, beautiful scent that shouldn't be extinguished. "Never. Talking to you in those cages, when I was so scared… you gave me a friend when I needed one. We… we should have been friends. We're… we're not…" She couldn't bring herself to say 'enemies', but Chrissy finished the sentence for her, echoing Melinda.
"We're not monsters."
Annie nodded, trying not to cry.
"I want to live, Annie, so I'm going to fight – fight hard – but if you manage to kill me, don't feel guilty," Chrissy hissed. "Don't let them make you think you're a monster. I wouldn't want you to."
"Me either," managed Annie. "Whatever you do in there… you're… you're not a monster, either. Not an animal. Good… good luck, Chrissy."
"You too, Annie. I'm sorry." And with that they were forcibly separated, led down the different halls, each to their own entrance. Both were made to wait a moment, then pushed in as their name was called.
The piggirls blinked as they came into a muddy pigsty. It would normally be slippery, but Melinda was right – their new hooves took well to the sloppy, wet mud. Chrissy sniffled, taking in the clearer smells around her. The lighting was harsh, illuminating the arena clearly. A videoscreen was above, showing close-ups of the girls as they were before – Annie recognized the picture from her Facebook album – and listing betting information. She was a little bothered that Chrissy was apparently considered the favorite to win. She looked around for the announcer, but she couldn't tell where his box was. His voice filled the room, though.
"Ladies and gentlemen, enter your bets while you still have time. This evening we have a match between two brand new sows eager to gain your favor. Yes, fresh meat!" There was a cheer at that. "Look at this pair of fine pigs, ready to prove which of them is better. Lovely young animals, and skilled, as well. Anne, the blonde, was a cheerleader, and Christine, the beautiful brunette, was on her college tennis team. So, we have two athletes for you tonight!" Annie frowned at that – she had never been a cheerleader in her life. Apparently a lot of their biographical details were being fictionalized for the crowd. She wondered if the people might even believe they were willing participants. They wouldn't believe that the sows were just born as half-animals, though – the still images switched to footage that had apparently been taken during their transformation, and the crowd seemed to revel in the sight of beautiful young women being evolutionarily reduced to pigs. She looked around at the mass of people assembled to watch them battle to the death in the arena. Aside from the cage and the spotlights and the bleachers around it, the arena was an ordinary pigsty – a fitting place for a contest between two swine. Annie grunted nervously.
Odds were still being called out, as people continued to put in bets on which of the two beautiful sows would prove victorious. Their names and physical attributes were announced, and Annie blushed as her bust size was called out and even shown on the screen. She wished that they would at least be permitted to wear bikinis, but it appeared that no indignity was too small to inflict on them.
As she looked around, she noticed that there was a lot of criminal activity going on. In addition to the blood sports and the gambling, Annie could see drugs being sold and prostitutes circulating among the crowd. She wondered briefly whether they were willing whores, or as much slaves as she and Chrissy were. She hoped she'd live long enough to find out.
Men with guns guarded the exits, but Annie didn't see anyone who looked like a coach or referee. Clearly this wasn't going to be the kind of fight with rounds or rules. Her mind tried to form survival or escape plans, but she could tell it was futile. Every step of the way, there had been too much security; too many unknowns. This wasn't an incompetent organization.
"Ladies and gentlemen," the announcer boomed, "the moment has come that you've all been waiting for! Which little piggirl will win? Which will live, and which will fulfill her destiny as pork chops? Will it be the lovely, buxom Anne? Or will it be the vivacious young Christine? Remember, only one can win! Prepare yourselves, piglets, because it is time to FIGHT!"
A bell clanged, and the guards nearest the piggirls nudged them forward, towards the center. Wet mud squished between what was left of Annie's toes, staining her feet and dew claws and ankles. The crowd's cheering faded into a dull roar as all of Annie's attention was drawn to the movement of her mortal foe. Chrissy walked forward slowly, then started circling to the right, keeping some distance between them. Annie circled as well, wary.
Suddenly Chrissy switched to the left, and Annie turned to defend herself – but it had been a feint, and Chrissy cleared the distance, mud splashing around her hooves, and plowed into Annie. She staggered back into the wall of the sty, swatting at the brunette's arms to keep from being pinned.
Annie ducked, arms up to protect her face, and tried to roll along the wall out of her opponent's clutches. But Chrissy just grabbed the blonde's now-exposed tail, pulling hard. Annie squealed in pain as the crowd roared, and she lost her balance. Sliding down the wall, she landed on her butt in the mud with a squishy plopping sound. She could hear laughter in the stands, and tried to ignore it.
Annie swung her leg around, and Chrissy backed away, allowing the blonde to pull herself to her hooves and stalk forward. She could feel the mud ooze down her butt and the backs of her legs, and a brief glance at the screen told her that it was something the crowd was amused to see. Crouching slightly, she scooped up a fistful of mud and flung it at the brunette. With a sharp squeal of surprise, Chrissy brought her arms up, most of the mud spattering harmlessly across them. But in that moment, Annie charged, grabbing her arms and pushing her back into the far wall. Chrissy responded by bringing her knee up into Annie's unguarded belly, and Annie crumpled, dropping to her hands and knees in the muck. But she had managed to knock the wind out of Chrissy, who backed away gasping, unable to press the advantage. Both piggirls managed to pick themselves back up, circling again nervously and catching a fresh wind.
Chrissy was the next to try a charge, but Annie just jerked away from it, her natural fear instinct playing more of a role than any strategy. Surprised, Chrissy tottered, slipping in a slick spot of mud and crashing down to all fours herself. Her fairly clean butt stuck up in the air, tail wiggling about stupidly. Seeing it, Annie managed to get her wits about her, and rushed at the back of her downed opponent. But Chrissy was too quick, turning and struggling up from her knees just as Annie hit into her arms.
They both staggered with the collision, almost to the far wall of the pen before Chrissy lost her precarious balance. As she fell, she cracked her head into the wall with an audible, ugly sound, most of her back splashing in the mud. Unfortunately, Annie's first instinct was to check and see if the other girl was alright, rather than press her advantage. She reached down for Chrissy before she stopped herself, remembering that they were opponents.
Chrissy struck out wildly, and Annie backed up, in no real danger of the clumsy blows. Chrissy struggled up, touching the back of her head and smearing more mud in her chestnut locks, but no blood came off on her hooves. Still, her vision was swimming and she was disoriented.
Annie was beginning to breathe heavily, and couldn't tell how shaken up her opponent was. She went back to circling, keeping distance between them. But their circling began to bore the crowd, who screamed at the sows to fight. Annie and Chrissy both saw guards raise their weapons, and rushed at each other again.
This time, it was Chrissy who hit first, knocking Annie to one knee. She reached for her hair, but Annie shrugged away, taking all her weight off her right leg. The action didn't register with the brunette, and Annie seized her opening. She kicked hard, her hoof striking Chrissy's soft calf. The brunette went to her knees with a yelp of pain, and Annie pushed the advantage, shoving the other pig to the ground and getting on top of her. Not knowing how to pin her, Annie just tried to lay across the other piggirl, and to smother her with her chest. Chrissy slapped and struggled, finally wrenching an arm free and grabbing a knot of blonde hair, pulling. With a harsh squeal of pain, Annie pulled up and Chrissy shoved her off, rolling over and crawling away.
Chrissy coughed as she struggled away on all fours, her tail wiggling above her sexy, slime covered bottom. The crowd hooted at the now almost completely mud covered girl, her figure still evident under the filth. With a chill, Annie realized they were indeed objects of both twisted lust and simple degradation.
Annie recovered faster this time, and threw herself at the retreating sow. She landed on Chrissy's back, sending them both splashing into the mud again. But she couldn't seem to get a solid grip - her whole body was slick with the filthy slime. Chrissy wrenched around until they were face to dirty face, trying to pin the blonde's arms and not quite managing it. They both felt themselves losing their grip, and struggled to improve their position. The crowd around them cheered, enjoying their muddy, desperate bout.
The pigs rolled around together for a while, neither taking a clear advantage, but afraid to break the grapple lest their opponent come out of it better positioned. Both of them were filthy with muck now, and tried to shake the mud away from their eyes, their ears. The sensory overload from their new snouts, coupled with the mud occluding their traditional senses, left both sows severely disoriented.
Finally, Chrissy brought her knee up hard, and Annie rolled off, wind rushing out of her lungs. Chrissy gasped for air, blinking mud away from her eyes, as she looked for her opponent. She was crawling on all fours, person-shaped but otherwise all but unrecognizable, and kicked with everything she had. With a squeal, Annie went down face first in the mud. Chrissy struggled back up to her hooves and rushed her stunned opponent, thick, churning slime splashing around her legs. Annie became aware of her just as her hands closed around Annie's neck, squeezing. The blonde gurgled, pawing at her neck and shaking back and forth.
The pair of swine teetered around, Annie beginning to see spots, but she couldn't break Chrissy's grip on her neck. Finally, in desperation, Annie pushed backwards, hoping the wall was nearby. She was lucky; it was. With a grunt, Chrissy smashed into it, doubly crushed by Annie's falling body, and let go. Annie staggered away, gasping the sweet air.
The crowd was in a frenzy now, so close to seeing a kill. Annie looked around desperately, feeling their bloodlust. She tried to come up with a plan, still dizzy and disoriented. It almost looked like three Chrissys were standing up, and Annie couldn't quite make sense of her movements.
Chrissy was in bad shape too, but she took a play from Annie, scooping up a fistful of mud. As she charged, she flung it in Annie's face, making her turn. The sows slammed together again, falling back in the mud, Chrissy on Annie's back. Desperate to end it quickly, she grabbed the back of Annie's head, shoving her face deep in the slime. The blonde flailed about, desperate to get purchase on the slippery ground.
The seconds ticked by, as the crowd roared in approval. The brunette piggirl managed to keep her rival's face in the mud, every muscle in both of their misshapen bodies struggling to decide Annie's life. The blonde kicked and swung with her hooves, desperate to dislodge Chrissy's hold before she blacked out. Her heart clutched at the idea of being slaughtered and served as food, as bacon, like a common pig. But she had no purchase, and this time Chrissy had a solid grip.
She couldn't tell how much time had passed, as her mind went fuzzy and her limbs became like lead. For Chrissy's part, she couldn't gauge the time either, feeling Annie's struggles lessen almost interminably slowly. Finally, the blonde's hoof splashed in the mud by her head, no longer struggling. Sobbing, Chrissy sprung back up like she'd been touching a live wire. "I can't!" she shrieked! "I can't do it!" The sow sank to her knees, a few feet away from her fallen foe, as the crowd's cheers washed over her like a horrible baptism. One of the guards came forward, rolling Annie over with his foot. The blonde sputtered a little, but stayed still. She was out cold.
"I can't, I can't, I can't kill her!" Chrissy screeched, on the verge of hysterics. The guard just patted her on the shoulder, surprisingly gentle.
"It's okay, you don't have to. You knocked her out; that's close enough for the crowd. Come on, the butchers can handle it from here." Chrissy looked at him in horror. Above her, the announcer was shouting her name, declaring her the winner. Two other guards picked Annie up, hauling the hog's limp body out of the ring.
Annie recovered slowly, only dimly aware of what was happening to her as she was carried deep into the compound. But she revived with the shock of cold water, as she was unceremoniously hosed down. Runny mud sluiced off, dribbling down a gutter. She blinked, still disoriented, as her now-clean arms were bound behind her. "Whaa?" she slurred, but one of the guards just laughed at her, and shoved an apple in Annie's snout – a crude gag, and a reminder that she would soon be dinner.
She was dragged to her hooves, and brought into another room. There, a man in a dark suit was chatting with one of the patrons. As they talked, Annie became aware that the man had purchased her – that they were discussing her fate.
"Since she's still technically alive, we can make some modifications, if you'd like. Do you want her looking like this, or would you prefer your sow to look fully like a pig before we butcher her?" the man in the suit asked.
"Hmm. Make her more pig-like – I want a lot of meat from those thighs. But leave her with some semblance of her old self," her new owner said casually, as though she were not standing right there. Annie sobbed pathetically as her fate was decided.
"We can cut off and mount her head as a souvenir as well, if you like," the first man offered.
"Perfect. Have it prepared and given to my agent whenever it's done. As for the meat, there's no sense waiting hours and hours for a whole roast. Just butcher her now and cook up some pork chops for my group. I'll have my people come by tomorrow to collect the rest of her meat." The men shook hands and left, barely acknowledging the shaking, crying piggirl.
But she had a few horrors left to witness. As she was led into the kitchen, Annie winced, seeing a muscular cock forcibly held down by three brawny butchers and a lunette pressed around his neck. A moment later the blade came down, neatly severing his head, and his headless body sprang up, running a few paces before it crashed to the ground, twitching as the lifeblood pumped out and flowed down the drain. Men picked it up, and started plucking what would soon be someone else's meal. Had he been purchased by someone as well, or would he just be on the club's disgusting menu? She looked down at the head, eyes frozen wide in shock, beak open a little in his last caw.
"Pig her up a bit first," the guard told one of the cooking staff, and the man pushed a few buttons on a console similar to the one that she had seen when she was first transformed. Annie closed her eyes, preparing for the inevitable.
The warmth came first again, radiating out from the center of her body, as it began to reshape like soft clay. This time, it was her mass that changed, rather than her more delicate features. She could feel herself getting plumper as her body bloated, becoming more pig-like, as more breasts sprouted on her belly. She made a moaning sound as she felt them grow, each new rosy nipple bulging out on a small, maternal teat. But nursing piglets would be the last thing she'd have to worry about.
Her arms felt thicker, less able to move, even if they weren't tied. And her swelling body quickly shifted from simply taking on weight to taking on the barrel-like shape characteristic of pigs, as well as their meat-to-bone ratio. Her belly was made of taut, solid fat, nothing like the flabbiness of an obese human.
But, all things considered, her body didn't change that much. Her head remained the same, as did her hands, and even her legs kept their length, although a bit of girth grew out on her thighs and butt. At the end, she was surprised to find herself a much plumper piggirl, rather than a true sow. It was still Annie that would go to her death, and not an unremarkable pig.
The hog was dragged over to the lunette and pushed down into position. From there, she could see the cock being prepared, his body chopped into almost unrecognizable cuts of meat, and his head carried out of the room. Then the torso of a man filled her vision, and she noticed that he was holding an electric animal prod.
"Be careful of her head, the buyer wants it for a trophy," one of the men said, and her hair was raised and the cold metal pressed to the back of her neck.
"I'll take it down to preservation," the man with the shock prod said. "She is still beautiful, isn't she?" And then he pulled the trigger.
She was stunned, and only lightly felt the blade on her neck; the heavy sensation of her head falling. She could see her pig-like body behind her, blood pouring out of it. It was over. There was no point fighting the inevitable any more. Annie closed her eyes, and let herself drift off to sleep, to dream about having a full human life. Graduating college, finding a stimulating job, getting married, having kids. The life she would have chosen.
It was a beautiful fantasy. In the kitchen, though, her belly was opened, and she was thoroughly cleaned out. Her torso was divided in half, her limbs removed, and thick chops taken from her thighs to be put in the oven while the rest went in the meat freezer. The gristle and undesirable bits like her hooves were tossed in the trash. In the end, her human shape was gone, and her body looked like nothing more than ordinary cuts of pig meat. She cooked up deliciously, and her taste was praised both by people at the club who knew they were eating the piggirl gladiator, and later by those who thought she was simply ordinary pork.
Her head, on the other hand, was taken to the taxidermy department, where she was skinned, cured, and stuffed, her eyes replaced with realistic glass baubles. Her own skull was used in the mould to retain her proper and distinct shape, and the artist working on her was skilled enough to give her lips a hint of a smile under her snout. The useless bits, like her brain, were simply discarded. It was time consuming work, but she was impeccably preserved; styled and arranged on an oak plaque. She was still beautiful, despite her pig's snout and ears, and her mounted head would be enjoyed for many years, even going on to outlive her new owner. Of course, the people that eventually inherited her head assumed that she was nothing more than a strange, artificial creation – a bizarre curiosity of an eccentric man.
But as Annie was being dragged out of the ring to become pork chops, an official approached Chrissy with two guards, offering her a wet towel to clean off some of the excess mud. She took it, body still shaking with sobs that weren't quite audible. "Well done!" he congratulated the exhausted and aching brunette piggirl.
"Is that it? Am I done?" she whispered, tears running down the sides of her snout. She didn't know Annie before today, but she had felt the blonde's love of life in her struggle. She was sorry that she would be eaten like a common hog.
"For tonight, you are. But you're a pig gladiator now. Soon, you'll face another lovely lady-turned-pig in the ring. Every time you win, you extend your life a little longer. And everyone loves a winner – if you win a lot of contests, when at last you fall, you'll fetch a high price!"
Chrissy let herself cry for real then, and she squealed mournfully, in rage, in terror, and in loss. But she was still alive – for a little while, at least.
When she was returned to the training room, the hollow expressions on the other sows' faces made sense to her, and numbly, she accepted a cup of bad coffee from Melinda. She was one of them, now, after all. And she always would be.
Mud Wrestling by digitalcirceWatch
Story warning: violence, nudity, vore
Half-pig girls are forced to mud wrestle in a strange underground club.
Why are your stories so good and....dark.
I really hadn't given any of that much thought, but I guess since she's looking at someone, they're probably running from her eyes, down the side of her snout, and then down her cheeks or across the corners of her mouth. If she were to turn her head facing down, yeah, probably.
If you touched her intimately like that, she might jerk away like she'd been shocked with electricity. She reacts poorly in her distress to the comparatively mild touch of the guard, after all. She's probably in no fit condition to get anything comforting from intimate contact with a stranger.
Uhm… as salty as normal human tears, I guess. Pigs can't cry like humans do, so her tear ducts are unchanged.
I suppose they'd be a little bit warmer than human tears, since a pig's body temperature is about five degrees Fahrenheit higher than a human's. They wouldn't be much out of the ordinary.
I normally prefer stories with more karmic endings and less emphasis on violence or gory deaths, but I enjoyed this story.


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By Jared James
One of my jobs as a speaker/trainer is to help people be more productive. What I have found is that the answers to many of our problems can be found in the obvious, but other solutions can be found by switching our focus.
This couldn't be more true than it is when considering our level of productivity. There are apps solely dedicated to helping you create better to-do lists, with levels of priority and so on. What I believe most people need to create is not a to-do list, but a "not to-do" list.
This is a list of things that you are not going to do from now on. This list includes items that are continually eating up your time and, as a result, killing your level of productivity.
Don't send out emails first thing in the morning or right before you go to bed. Sending out emails first thing in the morning is a gateway that will lead you to continually disrupt your schedule, and sending out emails right before you go to bed will ultimately cause your mind to run and affect your ability to sleep.
Don't ever agree to meetings that don't have a set agenda and clear ending time. Believe it or not, people love the sound of their own voices and have an uncanny ability to turn 10 minute meetings into 45 minute marathons. Just because someone else is not managing their time correctly doesn't mean that it has to affect your schedule. Be specific and require details before you agree to any meeting.
Stop greeting people with open-ended questions. In an effort to be friendly, many of us greet people with an opening phrase like, "Hey! What's going on?" or "How's it going?" This question is going to lead to a 10 minute discussion of what is going on in their life or a discussion of what the weather is like. Learn to greet people in a friendly manner and then say, "Hey, I have to get on a call in 5 minutes, but what's going on?" This forces people to get to the point. I am all for great conversation, but learn to value your work hours.
Stop being a slave to email. Too many of us spend our day sitting in front of our computer waiting for the next email, so we can get our marching orders, or find ourselves hitting the refresh button on our phone all throughout the day so that we can feel good about the fact that someone is sending us something. Stop that! Pick times throughout the day and batch your emails. Start small and check every hour at first, but make it your goal to get to the point where you only check 3 to 4 times a day. You are much more productive when you answer your emails in batches than when you spend 10 minutes on each one while you wait for another one to come in.
Don't leave your social media page open all day in anticipation of the next notification. Social media is an awesome tool and I love it and am very active on it. But just like email, we have to batch our responses to people or we will find that our time has been hijacked by our desire to always be the quickest to respond. When it comes to social media, set times throughout the day to engage with others.
There are many other items that I could add to this list, but I'll save that for another article. Feel free to write your favorite "not to-do's" on my Facebook wall or tweet them to me. I would love to see them.
The key to your production level many times doesn't always lie in what you do – but rather what you make the decision to stop doing.
Jared James is the CEO and Founder of Jared James Enterprises, an internationally sought-after speaker and trainer. James built one of the fastest-growing real estate teams in the country, was inducted into the International Hall of Fame for one of the world's largest real estate companies and wrote a best-selling book—all before the age of 28. As an acclaimed speaker, James keynotes events for major real estate organizations and conducts regular webinars and training for nationally known organizations like NAR, CRS, Yahoo Real Estate, Trulia and Zillow Academy and blogs regularly for RISMedia.
To stay in touch with Jared James, visit www.facebook.com/jaredjamestoday and www.twitter.com/jaredjamestoday or visit his website at www.jaredjamestoday.com.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Princeton coach confirms Chanenchuk's intent to transfer
Princeton coach Chris Bates confirmed Wednesday morning that midfielder Mike Chanenchuk, the Ivy League Rookie of the Year in 2010, has been granted permission to transfer.
Inside Lacrosse reported last week that Chanenchuk, who has three years of eligibility remaining, was seeking to enroll at Maryland and join the Terps for the 2012 season. Per NCAA rules, coach John Tillman and other school officials are not permitted to talk about a potential transfer.
Bates said Princeton officials have been working with Chanenchuk to transfer since he left the university in the fall to rehabilitate a broken collarbone suffered during a scrimmage in October.
"We've worked with Mike throughout the whole process," Bates said. "There's a lot of contributing factors, but we were in close communication with him throughout."
Bates also confirmed that senior attackman Jack McBride has one year of eligibility left and will play somewhere else while pursuing a degree in graduate school.
Lacrosse Magazine speculated that McBride – who played just two games this past spring because of a groin injury – could land at one of the following programs: Denver because of his connection to former Tigers coach and current Pioneers coach Bill Tierney, Duke because two sisters went there, and Georgetown because his father went to Georgetown Medical School.
Because McBride played in just two contests and Chanenchuk was absent for the entire campaign, Bates said Princeton is prepared to move forward with its current crop of players to bounce back from a 4-9 overall record and a 2-4 Ivy League mark.
"It's nothing new," Bates said. "We obviously moved beyond that with not having him and Jack for the whole year. We certainly suffered the effects of their absence, but going forward, there's plenty of talent here. In essence, we've moved beyond it in our minds. [Chanenchuk] is a high-caliber player. He can shoot and put the ball in the back of the net. Any team would miss him. But there are other guys here who will rally to fill the void. There's no ill will, and we wish him obviously the best."
Categories: Maryland


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Placer awards contract for temporary homeless shelter in North Auburn
Placer Supervisors consider funding challenges for next year's budget
Pet adoptions just $20 at Placer County's Auburn shelter April 30 - May 7
Placer County offers three development opportunities in Kings Beach
2016 Tahoe Truckee Area Regional Transit Systems Plan approved
Placer County is special with its breath-taking scenery, rich history, and year-round recreation. This website will help you locate various county services and amenities and you'll see why more than 360,000 people call Placer County "home."
Open government is an accountable government
It's like heaven on earth!
ADA and accessibility information
The only information posted on the County's web site that should be relied upon in making an investment decision.
Includes veterans' benefits, starting and running a business, unemployment, County job openings, and selling to the County.
Includes the courts, grand jury, most wanted, law enforcement, child support enforcement, sealing record, victims' services, and jury duty.
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Includes air quality and burn days, garbage and recycling, sewer, conservation, and green energy financing.
Current headlines for Placer County
Mass casualty exercise planned for May 18 in Roseville
Firefighters and law enforcement officers from throughout Placer County will team up to practice and ensure preparedness for a mass casualty incident...
New Brockway area parking restrictions now in effect
New parking restrictions near North Lake Tahoe's Speedboat Beach go into effect May 2, aimed at reducing congestion issues at the popular beach...
Final environmental docs released for Martis Valley West project
The final environmental impact report was released today for a proposed development plan in the Martis Valley. ...
The Placer County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to award a contract to Volunteers of America of Northern California and Northern Nevada Inc. to...
Community Development Resource Center (CDRC) Building, 3091 County Center Dr, Auburn, CA
Creekview Ranch Middle School, Library behind the Multipurpose Room, 8779 Cook Riolo Road, Roseville, CA
Stewart Hall, 6005 Camp Far West Road, Sheridan, CA.
Water Conservation
There are lots of simple ways to reduce the amount of water that we use at home, both inside and outside.
Explore the fun and interactive water saving tips section at the Save Our Water website to find even ways to save water during this historic drought.
District 1
Jack Duran
Representing Roseville
District 2
Robert Weygandt
Representing Lincoln, Sheridan and portions of Rocklin
District 3
Jim Holmes
Representing North Auburn, Ophir, Newcastle, Penryn, Loomis and most of Rocklin
District 4
Kirk Uhler
Representing Granite Bay, portions of Roseville
District 5
Jennifer Montgomery
Representing the communities from Auburn to North Lake Tahoe


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By Nadeska Alexis with reporting by Rahman Dukes
Pusha T has plenty going on right now, including his work on the upcoming G.O.O.D. Music LP, but his most important project at the moment is surely his official debut album. Although it seemed likely that Pusha would look mainly toward Kanye West for guidance on the album, he also teamed up with The-Dream, who's helping the Clipse rapper make 'superhero' music.
Between the mad genius that is Kanye and the R&B storyteller that is The-Dream, Pusha might've just hit the production jackpot.
"I've learned so much about song structure from Dream and I've learned so much from 'Ye about finding the most colorful parts of your rhymes, editing it down and making sure, like, all the best parts of the rhyme are right in your face," he told MTV News during a studio session with Mr. Terius Nash in Atlanta. "I've just totally taken this [attitude of] sitting back and absorbing everything they say."
After just a few sessions with Dream, Pusha said he has learned to accept the creative criticism as a tool to push further. "Sometimes [a track is] wrong. Sometimes it's over-rapped and [The-Dream] will tell you, 'Nah, stay right here. Stay within these lines, in these perimeters right here.' This sh– is school, man; it's real live school to me."
What might be school for Pusha, however, is just another spiritual experience for The-Dream, who's infamous for crafting engrossing narrative across his projects.
"It's [being] spiritual about it and I think it's just a timing thing," The-Dream explained of how he builds the perfect songs. "It has a lot to do with what we want to hear, so it wasn't [like I wouldn't] allow Pusha to get off on rapping. We just need [him] to be this guy for us right now, because I need that music in my car. I'm R&B, but I grew up on Bankhead and I was riding around with UGK in my car, so I know what that real sh– is. I know how it makes you feel like a superhero."
"I want to feel like I'm literally beating my chest out the car," he added. "You look over in my car — I'm mean-mugging you, you mean-mugging me, and I got Pusha in my deck. That's how I want to feel. And so I was just providing that feeling, I just wanted to capture it in each song. We need [him] to say this because [he's] talented enough to do it."
Thus far, we know that a few titles on the album will tentatively include "40 Acres" and "Automatic." But Pusha, who recently dropped the fiery "Exodus 23:1," is sure that the entire project will be cohesive and, of course, classic. "At the end of the day, we're trying to make classic material," he said. "Everybody who's here is tuned into this project — period. It's about being cohesive, and cohesive musicality is just not happening right now."
Since Pusha and The-Dream are hitting it off so well on this album, we asked if we might expect any future collaborations? "Man, I called him about the next album, already," Pusha said without hesitation.
And to that, The-Dream said with a laugh, "We will grow old together."


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The Dome was a German television program and music event, produced and broadcast by RTL 2. Roughly every three months, a new show was recorded in an event hall in different cities in Germany and Austria. In each episode, several national, but also international bands and musicians perform their recent songs in front of a crowd of 5,000 to 15,000 people. Additionally, a compilation album was published when a new episode of The Dome was broadcast.
Beat-Club was a German music program that ran from September 1965 to December 1972. It was broadcast from Bremen, West Germany on Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen, the national public TV channel of the ARD, and produced by one of its members, Radio Bremen, later co-produced by WDR following the 38th episode. It is notable for being the first German show dedicated to popular music, and featured artists such as The Moody Blues, MC5, The Equals, King Crimson, Grateful Dead, Captain Beefheart, Joe Cocker, Zager and Evans, Cream, Frank Zappa, The Rolling Stones, Steppenwolf, Gene Pitney, Ten Years After, Rory Gallagher, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix, Ike & Tina Turner, The Who, Harry Nilsson, David Bowie, Bee Gees, The Beach Boys, Chicago, The Doors, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Kraftwerk, Yes, and Robin Gibb in its seven-year run. In 1972, it was replaced by Musikladen.
Disco was a pop music program that aired in Germany on the ZDF network from 1971 to 1982. It generally aired on the first Saturday of each month at 7:30PM, each show running 45 minutes. 133 shows were produced. The show was hosted by German actor and comedian Ilja Richter. Its lesser known predecessor on ZDF, 4-3-2-1 Hot & Sweet was aired between 1966 and 1970, presenters included Ilja Richter and Suzanne Doucet. Disco generally served a younger pop-oriented audience compared to ZDF's Hitparade, and until 1972, its main competitor was Beat-Club (originally patterned after the pure live-act show Ready Steady Go! in the UK, from the late-1960s turning more and more into psychedelic music videos made especially for the invited acts), followed by Musikladen, both on ARD.
Der Musikladen (German: The Music Shop) was a West German music television programme that ran from 13 December 1972 to 29 November 1984. The show continued the 1960s Beat-Club under a new name, and in turn was replaced by Extratour.
Rockpalast (Rock Palace) is a German music television show that broadcasts live on German television station Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR). Rockpalast started in 1974 and continues to this day. Hundreds of rock and jazz bands have performed on Rockpalast. Some acts were recorded for broadcast and for retail sale. All-night marathon shows called "Rock Night" (Rocknacht) were produced once or twice a year from 1977 through 1986 and simulcast throughout Europe via the Eurovision network of TV broadcasters. Rockpalast is involved in several German rock and underground music festivals, once sponsoring Bizarre Festival.


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May 6, 2016
Sarah Palin's office has released a nearly $2 million cost breakdown detailing what the resigning Alaska governor says the state has paid tackling ethics complaints against her.
The spreadsheet compiled by the governor's office totals more than $1.9 million reportedly spent by various state agencies to handle the complaints as well as public records requests.
Palin, who steps down July 26, has racked up more than $500,000 in personal legal debts on top of that.
According to the cost breakdown, expenditures by the state Department of Law added up to more than $850,000.
The governor's office says its expenditures totaled more than $425,000 in nearly 6,000 hours of staff hours.
Palin's staff released the numbers to back up her contention the onslaught of "frivolous" ethics complaints have cost the state millions of dollars and thousands staff hours.
Copyright 2016 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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Accommodating Cabinets Plan
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By Jared James
This is such a simple question yet it can have such profound results. Last week's article, "Watch Your Mouth," generated a lot of emails, Facebook messages and tweets. The majority of the messages were very positive and some of you were very honest. In fact, one person wrote, "I completely get the power that our words and thoughts have on our emotions, and in turn on our production level, but I just can't seem to figure out how to stay consistent with being intentional with my thoughts and words no matter how hard I try."
Can anyone relate to this? The reader went on to write, "I will make it a point to stop and, as you put it, take every thought captive, but then once my day gets going all that goes out the window and I just start reacting, thinking and talking like I always have. This unfortunately leads me to the same emotional state that I have always been in and I just can't seem to break the pattern! HELP!!"
I want to thank this person for their honesty because I think that a lot of people find themselves in the same situation. Let's face it: Sometimes when something is not working for you, it is not the tool that is the problem, it is the implementation of the tool that is flawed. Which gets me to my point: How do you start off your day each and every morning? It is a relatively simple question but can have so many answers.
This was brought to my attention recently by someone from my Facebook group, "Don't Be a Wantrepreneur." The point of the group is to provide a place where people can be lifted up every day and made to feel good and push them towards whatever they are after in a world that is surrounded by so much negativity.
This group member commented on how much she loves the group and how much she gets out of it every day, especially now because of something she was going through in her life and the struggles she was having professionally. Then she followed up with the question, "How do you do it? How do you stay motivated and keep your thoughts in check like you wrote about? It is so hard sometimes." She referred to what I wrote in "Watch Your Mouth," about how some days you wake up on the wrong side of the bed and lose half of your day because you don't FEEL right, while other days you feel like you are ready to conquer the world and find yourself so much more productive.
Without even thinking I looked back at her and told her that I am able to stay positive, motivated and ready for each day, not because I just think positive thoughts, but because I start each day the exact same way. When I am not on the road traveling or speaking I don't schedule any phone calls or anything prior to a certain time. I drop my sons off at school and then the first half hour of every day is spent the exact same way – I pray, read and immerse myself in uplifting content. It is amazing the effect that this has on my state, on my thoughts and words and ultimately on my emotions.
Haven't you ever noticed when you are leaving an incredibly inspiring movie, at that moment, you are not thinking about bills, issues with other people or anything else? You are still lost in the emotion of the movie you just watched. If you don't believe this I challenge you to go and watch any one of the "Rocky" movies and not want to get into a boxing match with somebody afterwards.
Whatever you immerse yourself in will determine how you feel. It is impossible to spend a half hour every morning praying, reading about other people's triumph over struggle and immersing myself with uplifting content and not leave that 30 minutes feeling energized and ready to go.
I promise you if you invested this kind of time every morning you will find that you are more productive and more enjoyable to be around as well. You are working in an industry where people select who they want to work with and they have many options. If you want more clients it is as simple as having more people in your life that actually WANT you around because you make them feel a certain way.
It all starts with you though. Have you asked yourself lately what you actually do to prepare yourself to be your client's best option? Most people simply react to all of the emails, phone calls, text messages and Facebook messages they get and then wonder why they feel burnt out by the end of every day with nothing left to give back to themselves or their families. So I ask the question again—How do you start your day? This time in the morning to me is similar to a stop at the gas station for your car. Without it, I would find myself running on empty.
Some of you reading this will come up with excuses of why you couldn't possibly invest 30 minutes every morning because you are much too busy, but I firmly believe that we make time for the things that we value. I don't know too many sales people that view their morning shower as an optional activity before they meet with clients because they "just don't have the time to take a shower." The truth is we wake up early enough to take a shower because to not do so would be ludicrous. I want you to start to associate the idea of not taking time to take control over your day as just as ludicrous as not keeping up with good hygiene. Both will have an effect on your business but only one will have an effect on your emotional state each day.
Jared James is the CEO and Founder of Jared James Enterprises, an internationally sought-after speaker and trainer. James built one of the fastest-growing real estate teams in the country, was inducted into the International Hall of Fame for one of the world's largest real estate companies and wrote a best-selling book—all before the age of 28. As an acclaimed speaker, James keynotes events for major real estate organizations and conducts regular webinars and training for nationally known organizations like NAR, CRS, Yahoo Real Estate,Trulia and Zillow Academy and blogs regularly for RISMedia.
To stay in touch with Jared James, visit www.facebook.com/jaredjamestoday and www.twitter.com/jaredjamestoday or visit his website at www.jaredjamestoday.com.
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Steeped in history, this elegant hotel is reputed to be one of London's earliest hotels, having opened in 1885. After a very high quality refurbishment, the hotel has emerged with exceptional style. T...More about Corinthia Hotel London
This large hotel is ideally situated for the arena, stadium and conference centre. It has a range of modern public areas and well equipped meeting rooms.More about Holiday Inn London - Wembley
Premier Inn London Hammersmith has incredible views across The Thames to The Shard and Southbank. Just hop on a tube and the city's easily accessible. The Apollo Westfield Shopping Centre, Olympia and...More about Premier Inn London Hammersmith
With St Paul's Cathedral on one side, Tate Modern on the other and The City on your doorstep, it's hard to find somewhere more central than Premier Inn London Blackfriars. It's perfect for a short bre...More about Premier Inn London Blackfriars
Premier Inn London Richmond is in one of London's most beautiful boroughs means so you'll be able to discover some of England's rich heritage, visit great shops and take leisurely riverside walks. Of ...More about Premier Inn London Richmond
This Georgian building, dating back to 1740, overlooks the River Thames and is within easy reach of the town centre, Kew Gardens and Hampton Court. The contemporary bedrooms feature bespoke art deco s...More about Bingham
Stanley House is conveniently situated close to Victoria station and with easy access to the West End. Plain, soundly appointed bedrooms of varying sizes are offered, with breakfasts served in the low...More about Stanley House
The Victoria is in a quiet residential area close to Richmond Park. The bedrooms are refreshingly stylish and thoughtfully equipped. The public areas consist of a small contemporary seating area, a mo...More about The Victoria
A purpose-built hotel situated in the centre of Hounslow, within walking distance of the tube station and with easy access to the motorway network. The accommodation is comfortable and offers a range ...More about Ramada Hounslow - Heathrow East
This family-run hotel continues to offers a warm welcome and attentive service. It is ideally located, close to Paddington station and near the West End and major attractions. Bedrooms include a numbe...More about Mitre House Hotel


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Hidden Cash Arizona: 2nd person finds hidden cash in the Valley
PHOENIX - A social media frenzy of free cash has made its way to the Valley, and so far two people have found $100 total.
On Sunday, Terragene Lutz found the first $50 inside an envelope taped to the Tempe Town Lake pedestrian bridge. She followed clues from the Twitter account @Hidden_CashAz.
On Tuesday around 6 a.m., the account sent clues that the second drop of money was hidden near 40th street and also Arbor Avenue.
Twitter user @rcloma found $50 in a bush at Chelsea Park around 7:30 a.m.
@Hidden_CashAz For some reason my tweet didn't go through the first time. Thank you for doing this, AWESOME! pic.twitter.com/FVsc71fYE7— rcloma (@rcloma) June 3, 2014
It's not known who is behind the Valley account, but the account asks participants of the game to "have fun, treat each other with respect", and for a picture to be tweeted out with the hashtag "#Hidden_CashAz".
This modern day treasure hunt first started in San Francisco in late May by the user @HiddenCash. The user anonymously began hiding envelopes full of cash around the city, and soon moved to Oakland, San Jose, Burbank and Hollywood.
The next stop for the mysterious millionaire is Manhattan. All that's known about him is that he's a middle aged real estate investor who's recently joined the wealthiest 1% of the American population, he told CNN.
Soon after, different hidden cash accounts popped up in Dallas, San Antonio, St. Louis, Chicago and even the United Kingdom.
Although the money that has popped up around the Valley is in smaller increments compared to the hundreds that the user Hidden Cash has been hiding, Valley residents are still on the hunt for the next monetary drop.


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How to handle this transaction in Sage?
Evening all,
I require some advice please with posting the correct transactions for a process in Sage. Several similar transactions have been done over a number of years with the same company but a) I feel they were posted on Sage incorrectly, and b) the staff member who posted them has left the company and c) the Director doesn't get into the mechanics of the accounting system so cannot explain how to do it.
On 12 April we paid 45000 to Company A which I understand was for a Remuneration Trust. I entered this as a Bank Payment or Cr. Bank.
We also received an invoice from this Company A for the Minerva Trust fee of 10% or 4500. This I entered as a supplier invoice.
On 23 April, we received 40500 back from Company A. I think this was because we had a cashflow issue and couldn't pay other suppliers but it may be the way the trust works - I must confess I don't understand it despite asking some questions and will seek further info from the director. But either way, I entered this amount as a Bank Receipt or Dr. Bank
Now clearly the invoice of £4500 should be offset by that difference to clear the Purchase Ledger. But I am unable to relate the two together. And I think this is because I have done them as BP and BR and probably should have posted those entries on to the supplier account.
In previous years, it seems they did not get the funds back and simply did a BP for the outgoing funds, and then a Supplier Payment for the 10% Minerva Fee.
So far my bank account is reconciled but the supplier still has the open balance of £4500 which I am unable to pay because that would throw out my bank balance and reconciliation.
Can anyone help?
Re: How to handle this transaction in Sage?
I agree that it would have been easier had you posted these to the supplier account.
However, IMO you have 2 options to fix this:
1) Assuming you have posted the bank payment and bank receipt to the same nominal, change the £40500 you received on 23rd April to £45000 in corrections, then post the payment to the supplier. This will make your bank right, the balance on the nominal into which the payment and receipt were posted will be Nil, and the cost of the Trust fee will show in whatever nominal you put it to as an expense.
2) Delete the supplier invoice altogether and the balance remaining in the nominal to which you posted the bank payment and receipt will show the difference of £4500 being the trust fee expense
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Memorial ride planned for BurryFri, 04 Jan 2013 11:12 AM
As tributes continue to pour in for mountain biker Burry Stander, a memorial ride is being planned to celebrate the young athlete's life.
Stander died after being hit by a taxi in Shelly Beach, KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday.
However, the full details of the incident have yet to be revealed.
Stander will be remembered as an inspiration to South African cyclists.
Just hours after his death was confirmed, his Facebook and Twitter feeds were filled with condolences from fellow cyclists and South Africans following his career.
He was the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Champion and won the ABSA Cape Epic back to back in 2011 and 2012.
Former pro cyclist and one of Stander's close friends, Andrew Mclean, said South Africa had lost one of its greatest ambassadors.
"He was the ultimate role model, a true champion and it's a sad day for South Africans. In fact it's a sad day for South Africa."
Cape Epic founder Kevin Vermaak echoed his sentiments.
"This is the saddest news I've received since I began my involvement in South African cycling 10 years ago. Burry was our brightest star. I'm upset that the world has been deprived of a true legend in the making," said Cape Epic founder Kevin Vermaak.
"Now we'll never know just how great he was destined to be. My thoughts are with his wife Cherise and his family, who have always been his biggest supporters."
Stander married elite road cyclist Cherise Taylor in May last year, just three months before he narrowly missed out on a medal at the London Olympics.
A memorial ride is set for next week but no details have been provided as yet.


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- Inhabitat – Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green Building - http://inhabitat.com -
New York's So-Called Greenest Skyscraper Actually Found to Be an Energy Hog
Posted By Yuka Yoneda On August 2, 2013 @ 4:00 pm In Architecture,carousel showcase,energy efficiency,Environment,New York City,News | No Comments
It looks like all that glitters is not LEED Gold (or LEED Platinum in the case of 1 Bryant Park [1]). The NYC skyscraper has been called the greenest in the city but according to a report by The New Republic [1], the building actually consumes an enormous amount of power [1]that does not coincide with its eco-friendly rep.
Article printed from Inhabitat – Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green Building: http://inhabitat.com
URL to article: http://inhabitat.com/new-yorks-so-called-greenest-skyscraper-actually-found-to-be-an-energy-hog/
URLs in this post:
[1] 1 Bryant Park: http://inhabitat.com/nyc/new-yorks-greenest-tower-1-bryant-park-isnt-so-green-after-all/
Click here to print.
Copyright © 2011 Inhabitat Local - New York. All rights reserved.


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Contact Us
For more information regarding our program, please contact us one of five ways. We look forward to hearing from you.
|The Center for Continuing Education
1000 W Boston Post Rd
Mamaroneck, NY 10543
|Our office is located in room 126 of the Palmer Building, Mamaroneck High School, building 2 on the campus map. Click for Campus Map
Directions to The Center's office in the Palmer Building of Mamaroneck High School. DO NOT FOLLOW directions from Mapquest, Google Maps or your car's GPS. Directions from those sources will lead you to the Post Road building. Follow these directions instead: From either Palmer Ave. or Boston Post Rd. in Mamaroneck, turn onto Rockland Ave. Turn onto Carpenter Place. At the end of Carpenter, turn right at the stop sign. Make your first left into the driveway of the building (ignore the one-way sign) and you may park in any staff parking space. Keeping the school on your left, the entrance to the building is around the front, across from the flag pole in the circular driveway.
|Office Hours:
|Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 1:00 pm. In addition, Monday - Thursday, 6:30- 9:30 pm, when Continuing Education classes are in session.
|Staff Members:
Blythe Hamer (Executive Director)
Susan Kettig (Assistant Director)


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This is Part II of the conclusion to 80 year old male CC: Chest pain. For Part I see Excessive discordance as a marker of acute STEMI in LBBB.
First, let's take another look at the initial 12-lead ECG.
The first thing that catches my eye in this ECG is the strange morphology of the ST-segments and T-waves in the inferior leads (and lead aVL).
Could these be reciprocal changes to an acute anterior STEMI?
This ECG easily meets Sgarbossa's criterion of discordant ST-elevation > 5 mm, but is the ST-elevation excessively discordant when taking into account the depth of the S-wave?
Let's apply Dr. Smith's decision rule (that we learned about in the previous post). Do we see "excessive discordance" in this ECG?
If this isn't evidence enough there are also significant changes in QRS voltage and ST/T morphology between the first and last 12-lead ECG.
Diagnosis: Acute anterior STEMI in the presence of LBBB.
See also:
80 year old male CC: Chest pain
Excessive discordance as a marker of acute STEMI in LBBB
Discordant ST-segment elevation in LBBB or paced rhythm
62 year old male CC: Chest pain
58 year old female CC: Chest pain
New left bundle branch block is a poor predictor of coronary occlusion (Dr. Smith's ECG Blog)


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Top Definition
When you're in a tight spot and need to take control, BRO STYLE.
Deed bra, i fell behind in the brew drinking contest so i had to kick it into broverdrive
af Alex dexheimer 28. juni 2006
Skriv din email-adresse nedenunder for at få Dagens Urban Ord gratis hver morgen!
Emails sendes fra email@example.com. Vi lover ikke at spamme dig.×


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May 6, 2016
MIAMI (AP) -- The execution of a convicted mass killer is back on after a federal appeals court lifted a stay put in place over the weekend by a district judge.
The stay was lifted late Monday by the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, meaning 64-year-old John Ferguson could be executed as early as Tuesday evening.
A federal judge in South Florida on Saturday ruled that issues raised by Ferguson's lawyers should be explored further. His lawyers say Ferguson is mentally ill and the Constitution prohibits the state from executing him.
Ferguson was convicted of killing eight people including six who died execution-style in 1977 in Carol City. He was also convicted of killing a teenage couple in 1978.
Ferguson has been on death row for more than three decades.
Click Here to access the online Public Inspection File
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Magazine and News is a place where, every day, we bring you not only whats going on in the Napoleonic world and interviews with those leading Napoleonic history today, but we also offer you Napoleonic pastimes, entertainments, and even recipes. Enjoy!
Latest updates :
Each month we present an important recent book, and every week we report on recent publications.
You can also find the books published in previous years by using the scrollbar menu at the bottom of the page. To add one or more books to your «My napoleon.org » account, click on the title(s) and then select «Add to my account».
For information concerning this section, contact us.
© Legacy Books Press
Description: From the publishers:Between 1870 and 1871, the world changed forever. The Franco-Prussian War is often a forgotten war, its significance lost amidst larger conflicts such as the Napoleonic Wars and World War I. But, whilst it lasted less than a year, its aftermath would shape the course of history for decades to come.In this comprehensive account, John-Allen Price explores how this short but far-reaching war came to be, bringing the men who shaped history to life. Price examines the Franco-Prussian War and its world, from the seeds of the war in the Age of Napoleon to the Paris Commune, and the aftershocks that led to a century of slaughter, a war to end all wars, and an even greater war after that. About the author:John-Allen Price is an author and independent historian living in Lewiston, New York.
Place and publisher: Legacy Books Press
Date of publication: 2010
Number of pages: 442
See all books highlighted as This month's book
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text: Needs addition to Vice City Easter eggs Forum page Revision as of 05:36, November 28, 2009 by Peter13 (Talk | contribs) (diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) 11,127pages on this wiki Edit History Forums → GTA → Needs addition to Vice City Easter eggs I want people to know that the Vice City Secrets and Eater Eggs column is completely balnk. This is a n important section and if anyone can add some content that would be greatly appreciated. Retrieved from "http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/Forum:Needs_addition_to_Vice_City_Easter_eggs?oldid=149287" Category: GTA


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- Inhabitat – Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green Building - http://inhabitat.com -
Memsys Creates a Solar-Powered Shipping Container Desalination System
Posted By Jessica Dailey On March 23, 2011 @ 9:51 am In Design,Environment,humanitarian design,Solar Power,Water Issues | No Comments
When disaster strikes, one of the most vital needs of survivors is access to clean drinking water. A Singapore-based company has created a mobile desalination [1] system that could make it much easier to provide stricken areas with clean water. Using a shipping container [2] as the system shell, memsys created a solar-powered desalination system [3] specifically designed for disaster relief [4].
A portable desalination system requiring external parts by MIT
The system uses Solar Power Membrane Distillation [1] to convert saltwater into drinking water using only solar energy. The desalination unit is completely mobile, does not require any external parts, and fits inside a 20-foot shipping container [2]. It is powered using both solar thermal and solar PV, and requires little maintenance. Unlike existing desalination technology, it does not need chemicals, diesel generators, or any other external power. Depending on the amount of sunlight, it is expected to produce, on average, 1000 liters (or 265 gallons) of drinkable water per day.
The special process combines thermal distillation and membrane distillation, the most common process used by desalination systems. Water is boiled in a small vacuum at lower temperatures, 50-80 degrees Celsius (or 122-176 Fahrenheit), and the steam is passed through several membrane distillation stages, also at lower temperatures and pressures. Energy is recovered after each step in order to power the next, making it a far more efficient system than current technologies. Plus, the system is able to handle very high salt concentrations, like those found in saline groundwater.
"We have the first modular thermal separation process," Götz Lange, managing director of memsys [5], told the New York Times [6]. "We didn't change the thermal technology itself — you can't change physics — we are just the first to put this advanced technology of thermal separation into a very tiny, cheap and reliable modular concept."
A year long test was completed in Singapore's Marina Barrage last year that focused on system integration, the stability of operations, and optimization of output under different weather patterns to ensure that the system will indeed be successful in remote or devastated areas. Currently, about 25 companies, like IBM, are investing in the systems.
While a mobile desalination system is awesome in itself, memsys [5] is working on wider applications for the technology, including treating oil-contaminated water.
Via Treehugger [7]
Lead Image © memsys
Article printed from Inhabitat – Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green Building: http://inhabitat.com
URL to article: http://inhabitat.com/memsys-creates-a-solar-powered-shipping-container-desalination-system/
URLs in this post:
[1] desalination: http://inhabitat.com/tag/desalination
[2] shipping container: http://inhabitat.com/tag/shipping-containers
[3] memsys created a solar-powered desalination system: http://www.memsys.eu/water-desalination/
[4] disaster relief: http://inhabitat.com/shipping-containers-could-provide-disaster-relief-for-haiti/
[5] memsys: http://www.memsys.eu/
[6] the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/business/energy-environment/22iht-rbog-technology-22.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&src=busln
[7] Treehugger: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/03/solar-powered-desalination-plant-fits-on-shipping-container-for-disaster-relief.php
Click here to print.
Copyright © 2011 Inhabitat Local - New York. All rights reserved.


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What do you think of when you hear the words "global warming?" You might envision melting ice caps, drowning polar bears and shrinking coast lines. Or perhaps your mind turns to magazine covers, politicians and celebrity activists. Global warming has become a very divisive term, but is it real?
The short answer, according to environmental scientist David Keith, is yes.
"There is no disagreement among really anybody who is scientific in any way that the world is a lot warmer than it was 100 years ago," Keith says. "If there are interesting disagreements, the disagreements are about whether this is the warmest it's been since the ice ages 10,000 years ago."
A recipient of honors that include MIT's prize for excellence in experimental physics, Keith has spoken to governments, corporations and media outlets about climate change. As he points out, scientists use various methods to measure global warming; they produce varying answers.
"If all the scientists in the world believed there was only one answer, it would be right for all the rest of us to be skeptical," Keith said. "There's nothing in the world that one ever measures with perfect accuracy."
Those measurements include thermostatic records and satellite images that document temperature increases over the past century. Additionally, paleoclimate databases suggest the current rate of increase is substantially higher than normal.
While global warming is certainly an important aspect of climate change, the term's use in mass media may actually serve to distract people from the real issues. Keith uses the example of a human patient hooked up to a mercury drip to illustrate this point.
The hypothetical human will eventually die from mercury poisoning — it's the scientific reality of the situation. The media focus on year-by-year warming or cooling, he argues, is akin to focusing on the patient's symptoms instead of the proven underlying condition and the cause behind it. In the case of climate change, elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) levels are the deadly mercury drip.
"The core theory says if you double or triple CO2 in the atmosphere, it's going to get warmer," Keith said. "This is something we've known from pretty basic physics and proved with a lot of good science for more than 100 years. That's the reason to worry, not the warming over the last few decades."
Scientists first raised concerns over the warming effects of CO2 in the atmosphere in the 1960s, when the climate was actually cooling. While there's nothing overtly problematic about natural climate change, it's the rate of change that worries experts.


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Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to everybody and I hope that all of you have a wonderful 2010.
Happy New Year everyone.:cheers:
Happy New Year, everyone!!!
Happy New Year to everyone, all the best in health, happiness & wealth for 2010 !!!
Happy New 2010 to everybody out there. Hope all of ya'll wishes is gonna come true this year and all the blessings in the world!
happy new year to you all here, and to those who no longer post
but still pop by to see how things are. :-D
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Annotations for
Bleach 4
Baker & Taylor
Fifteen-year-old high school student Ichigo Kurosaki has martial arts skills and the ability to see ghosts, and his life is about to change when he meets Rukia Kuchiki, a soul reaper and protector of innocents.
Simon and Schuster
Hot-tempered 15-year-old Ichigo Kurosaki, the hero of the popular fantasy-adventure
, has the unsettling ability to see spirits who are unable to rest in peace. His sixth sense leads him to Rukia, a Soul Reaper who destroys Hollows (soul-devouring monsters) and ensures the deceased find repose with the Soul Society. When she's injured in battle, Rukia transfers her sword and much of her power to Ichigo, whose spiritual energy makes him a formidable substitute Soul Reaper. But the orange-haired teenager isn't sure he wants the job: too many risks and moral dilemmas.


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3,204pages on
this wiki
this wiki
- "Nine years Syrio Forel was First Sword to the Sealord of Braavos."
- ―Syrio Forel
First Sword of Braavos is the title held by the chief protector and champion of the Sealord of the Free City of Braavos.
For nine years Syrio Forel held the position.
In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire books, the First Sword of Braavos is chosen by the Sealord often because he is the most observant of the Bravos, not necessarily the most talented swordsman, thus most able to protect him from threats both seen and unseen.
See also
- Sealord of Braavos at A Wiki of Ice and Fire (spoilers from the books)