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Gay Filmmakers Discuss "Deep Throat," Anita Bryant And Educating Young People About AIDS
Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, the filmmakers who added immeasurably to the legacy of Harvey Milk with their Oscar-winning 1984 documentary about the late activist, are now focused on uncovering the truth about another 1970s icon. With their new film Lovelace, the duo uncover both the public and private lives of Deep Throat star Linda Lovelace (Amanda Seyfried), who during her heyday seemed the model of the sexually liberated woman, but who later with the publication of her memoir Ordeal revealed the contradictory dark underside of her fame and the abuse she suffered at the hands of husband Chuck Traynor (Peter Sarsgaard). Lovelace, which also features performances by James Franco, Chris Noth, Sharon Stone and Bobby Cannavale, is now playing in select theaters and available on VOD.
The filmmakers chat with Queerty about how their new film might speak to gay audiences, their upcoming documentary about amfAR and their controversial next project —a bio of gay rights opponent Anita Bryant.
When did Deep Throat first enter your consciousness and what did you think of it?
Jeffrey Friedman: I grew up in Manhattan so I used to sneak down to Time's Square to look at dirty pictures. I think that's when I saw it on a marquee.
Rob Epstein: I was in college and there were midnight screenings along with Pink Flamingos so I kind of thought of it in that context as counter-cultural. I thought it was cartoony and campy and racy in the way that Pink Flamingos was racy. I didn't have much historical context for it. Then when we got into the research of this movie it was situated more in an historical context. It felt like more of a countercultural phenomenon.
What does Linda Lovelace represent to people?
Friedman: At first she represented the girl next door. She was a non-traditional porn star. She wasn't blond and buxom. She was nice looking but not a knock-out beauty. That was something new. She also had a quality that people responded to. I think what made Deep Throat so successful is that she had such a natural, guileless quality which served her throughout her life. Even in later years when she was telling the darker version of that period she had that same kind of straight-ahead, guileless presentation. At that point she became a symbol of a woman claiming her own body and her own power. But that was many years later.
Epstein: After she became he poster girl for the mainstreaming of porn and more frank and open conversations about sex, she was the first reality star in a sense. Then she spent the rest of her life resenting it because there wasn't any payoff for her as there is for reality stars today.
Friedman: She also felt that people were profiting from a time in her life when she was being abused.
Why was it important for you to make this film?
Epstein: That period is fascinating. It was the sexual coming-of-age of the culture.
Friedman: At the same time we came to learn that that sexual revolution was really just phase one. It was the sexual revolution for straight men. Women had to create their own revolution and so did gay people. What interested us was to show that that period had a lot more complexity to it as embodied in the story of this singular person. Her singular circumstance was that she was in a situation as the victim of domestic violence that set up all the other circumstances. We didn't even have the language at the time to talk about domestic violence and the cyclical nature of that. It seemed like an important time when all of this was starting to come into the culture yet we didn't really have the context and language for it all. Now we're further along in continuum of all of this. Porn is now ubiquitous and free and kids are growing up with it. Women have taken control of their participation in porn.
As part of our research we went to a shoot and the director was a woman and the lead talent was a woman who controlled how the guys were going to cum. We're in a different world now in all those respects.
How can the film resonate with LGBT viewers?
Epstein: When people ask us why you as two gay men are interested in this subject, we talk about the same self-identity claim that Linda had to go through, which is not unlike what we as gay people have to go through. Most people don't go through life having to rethink their own identity. It's just a progression. As gay people we have to own our identity and articulate it in some way. Linda had to do that in a really different circumstance, but as a woman she had to find her own power. As gay people, we have to do that. We have to find our own power. Fortunately we're changing the world and the world is changing with us so we'll se where we end up on that continuum. Gay people still have to come out.
You tell the film two different ways. First from the perspective the public had of the events at the time and then in a way that mirrored Linda's psychology. What were your thoughts in doing this?
Friedman: It was to track her psychology and tell her story the way she presented it to the world. We thought we knew who she was and that she presented this knowledge to us. She presented herself as somebody who loves to have sex and had no hang-ups, that she was just a fun-loving girl. That's how we thought of her until we learned there was a whole different layer to the story. We wanted to mirror that. And show the way the public learned her story.
Do you believe her memoir Ordeal?
Epstein: We had to decide what our point of view was going to be. Ultimately we decided to tell it from her point of view. We believe that she was abused by Chuck because we saw an interview with Chuck in which he says he did slap her around. He didn't consider that do be domestic abuse, but he said, "Yeah, I slapped her around." We took that at face value.
Friedman: In terms of her participation in porn and whether or not she was willing, all we can know is that she was 22 when she did it. She did it very briefly and she did it while she was married to Chuck Traynor. We don't make any judgments about that. There's nothing in our presentation that's commenting on porn.
Your documentary Battle of amFAR has been well-received on the festival circuit and will air December question. There's this somewhat common idea that a lot of young people are very ignorant about the AIDS epidemic and the struggles gay men have faced. In researching the film or maybe at screenings, what evidence have you seen of this?
Friedman: We see the statistics. Young people are being infected at alarming rates. I think we have had young gay people at screenings come up to us afterwards and say they didn't really understand what it was like back then when we were in the thick of it.
Epstein: I think there needs to be a resurgence of information outreach. We're at a different juncture in regards to the epidemic and meds and prep and all of that. I think either grassroots or established organizations need to step up and get on the same page as far as the information that's disseminated. Right now it's the community talking to ourselves but I'm not sure to what degree is getting information out there.
Is there someone out there who can give the foundation's work as much visibility as Elizabeth Taylor did?
Epstein: Someone we've been working closely with who's a force of nature is Regan Hofmann. She's in the film. She's a white woman of privilege. She feels like she's saying to the gay community that she needs them to get involved again. She needs this resurgence of energy. She's incredible and very knowledgeable.
Friedman: There's a group called generationCURE, which is connected to amFar that is specifically aimed at younger people. It's young gay people speaking to young gay people.
Your next project is a bio of Anita Bryant for HBO. Will your film be an objective, sympathetic look at her?
Epstein: No, the structure of the story is a writer going to meet Anita today and talking with her about her life and those events in Dade County, Florida in the 1970s.
Have you met with Anita?
Epstein: No, but our writer Chad Hodge has.
Why do you feel compelled to tell her story?
Epstein: I think it's interesting to look at her story from the wrong side of history, knowing where we are at this point in history, and to try to understand her passion and her psychology, because that's going to be the underbelly of being on the wrong side of history. She's just a fascinating character. I think we want to try to really understand her and what's behind that fear.
Friedman: To find out what makes otherwise decent people do hateful things and behave shamefully.
Watch the trailer for Lovelace below.
@boring: true, true . L.Lovelace looked like crap
Epstein and Friedman have got it so wrong. Porn is NOT about sex. Porn is about having sex for money in front of a camera . It's prostitution on film.
Don't forget, also, that porn is very homophobic. It has a bisexual double standard which discriminates against the male homosexual act but embraces lesbianism. Many of the women in porn are extremely homophobic in their attitudes toward the male homosexual act.
If anything, porn is anti-freedom and pro-homophobia..
As for Linda Lovelace, didn't she have a drug habit? She made poor choices in her life.
They have it ALL wrong about why "Deep Throat" was so successful. It was successful because it was the only porn movie that they ever tried to show in regular first-run theaters rather than only in sleazy porn houses. They thought the world was ready for that in 1972, and they got away with it by making what was essentially a SPOOF of porn movies but was pornographic in itself. Some of the reviews were good, and celebrities were going to see it, so it caught on as a popular thing to go see and even to take a date to.
It was banned in many places, and the additional publicity just made more people want to see it. There were obscenity trials against the producers in some states, but the irony is that it wasn't any more obscene than porn movies that were already being shown in adult theaters in those states. The film was wildly popular because of all the publicity. It had nothing to do with Linda Lovelace's performance, and in fact all the acting was pretty bad.
@boring: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Exactly!


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NEW YORK -- The Mets plan on putting Bartolo Colon on the bereavement list Tuesday and calling up reliever Gonzalez Germen from Triple-A.
Colon was scratched from his scheduled start today against the Cubs because he went back to his native Dominican Republic to visit his ill mother. Carlos Torres took his place and threw five shutout innings in the 4-1 loss.
Colon will have to miss at least three games, starting with Tuesday's game in Oakland, but no more than seven.
Germen had a prior stint with the Mets this season, posting a 4.78 ERA in 21 games.
He has pitched well in Triple-A since returning there last month, running a 0.52 ERA in 17 1/3 innings over 14 appearances.

subset: commoncrawl


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Written by mrsaboyd on July 08, 2015
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MONSON - Firefighters, fighting a brush fire off T Peck Road early Monday afternoon, summoned their counterparts in Palmer to provide mutual aid.
The blaze was reported shortly before 2 p.m. Additional information on the blaze was not immediately available.
About an hour later, Chicopee firefighters were summoned to a brush fire at St. Patrick Cemetery.
CBS3 meteorologist Mike Skurko said low relative humidities and gusty winds on Monday and Tuesday will bring enhanced risks for out-of-control brush fires.


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Saban made a statement and then made it clear that it would be all he would say on the matter.
The staff members are Jeff Stoutland, the Crimson Tide's offense line coach, and Joe Pannunzio, Alabama's director of football operations.
"If any of these people had any wrongdoing, I'm sure the NCAA will investigate it in due time," Saban said, "and if they did anything wrong, I'm sure they will get the appropriate punishment, which we would do if we had any internal problems in our organization."
In this video, here is what Saban's full statement. ...


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When a server says "appetizer?" do you say "wings!"?
Can you taste the difference between a true Buffalo wing and a simply spicy one? Are you a connoisseur of blue cheese dressing or barbecue sauce?
Do you keep a bottle of hot pepper sauce on your desk at work?
You can help us find the best wings by entering our contest to be a judge in The Plain Dealer/cleveland.com Wings Playoffs contest.
Simply fill out our online entry form at contests.cleveland.com/wings-playoffs for your chance to win and tell us why you are qualified to help select the tastiest wings in Northeast Ohio.
Judging will take place on Saturday, March 30th, so you must be available to participate on that day. And of course, you must be able to tolerate hot and spicy food. Find out more about the Wings Playoffs at cleveland.com/foodplayoffs.
Please note that you must not have any affiliation to any of the competing restaurants in order to be eligible. Winners will be notified after the selection on March 21, 2013. Complete the entry form for your chance to win! One entry per person.


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WYOMING, MI -- The social media presence of Michigan triple-homicide suspect Brady Oestrike shows a heavy focus on guns and gun rights.
Oestrike is suspected of killing Charles Oppenneer, 25, and Brooke Slocum, 18, before he took his own life after a police chase about 9:15 p.m. Thursday, July 17. Slocum was eight months pregnant at the time of her death.
On his Facebook page, Oestrike's main photo shows a cartoon character holding a gun and with a machine gun feed around her neck. In various posts, he champions gun rights. One picture shows a sheep armed with a type of grenade or rocket launcher.
Police say Oestrike is suspected of killing Oppenneer and Slocum sometime on or after the evening of July 12. Police determined Slocum had contacted Oestrike, 31, via Craigslist just before midnight on July 12.
Police with an Internet Crimes Against Children task force later used Slocum's computer to track her conversations and find Oestrike's residence.
Police planned to execute a search warrant and surrounded his residence at Porter Street and Taft Avenue on Thursday night, but he ended up getting in his Chevy Cobalt before police were ready to act.
A pursuit ensued and Oestrike crashed the car along Burton Street at U.S. 131. Police said they believe he then shot himself.
Officers found Slocum's body in the car trunk. Oppenneer's body was found Wednesday, July 16, in woods near Gezon Park.
In a later search of Oestrike's residence, police found "a number of assault-type rifles."
Oestrike also has shown a presence on AR15.com forums, talking about guns and triggers. He also is described as a "junior member" on Armslist.com.
Oerstrike's Facebook photos show that he may have participated in some sort of medieval re-enactments at some point. He is shown with swords in one photo.
The photos also show a softer side. He is pictured holding a baby in another photo.
In one of the photos with him holding a baby, a handgun can be seen on a table next to him.
E-mail John Tunison: email@example.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/johntunison


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SHOULD OUR representatives focus on meeting taxpayers needs and therefore direct government operations to meet those needs, or should they focus on public service constraints and difficulties, and explain to taxpayers why things cannot be done?
To determine a path for useful improvement, we need to identify any gap(s) between what is and what should be. Such gap(s) help us work out what to do to improve our situation.
A recent revolution
Over several decades, apparently missed by Australia, large and successful multinational corporations discovered the obvious – that without customers their businesses were meaningless – unwanted and unnecessary.
No customers – no business. Simple.
Some industries decided to reconceive their operations from the customer up through the entire supply chain that was required to meet the customer's requirements. Identifying the whole supply chain, and the use of proven techniques to massively increase service and product quality were both called 'revolutions'.
As a result of these activities, industries saved massive amounts of otherwise wasted money and achieved superior business results because customers became more satisfied with their offering.
The case of Motorola and their personal pagers was a much quoted one.
Because each personal pager was unique, Motorola took around 52 days to produce one. Trouble was their pagers were suffering too many errors while replacing a faulty pager for a customer took another 52 days - plenty of time for more errors to occur, more costs to be incurred and more customers to be unhappy.
Upon analysing their pager business, they soon learned that too much can go wrong in 52 days, too much handling, too much moving around, too many opportunities for dust to settle in the works. They needed to cut down the production time which had built up by various groups operating to their own convenience to carry out their part of the process.
After several cycles of re analysing and modifying the entire business, Motorola cut the time of their pager production from 52 days to 1 hour! You can imagine the cost savings that went along with those time savings. And if there was a fault, another personal pager could be produced while the customer was getting a cup of coffee!
This was a typical result of focussing on the customer and on getting it right first time – every time, which cut costs because errors and rework were virtually eliminated.
Customer aware CEOs led their businesses into success upon success, posting profits through massive cost reductions and increased customer demand. They did this by recognising the supremacy of the customer. One new CEO of an ailing airline, when shown lines of Boeing jets described as 'company assets', famously remarked that they weren't assets, they were liabilities until and unless customers could be found to pay to fly in them. He understood that it took customers to convert those liabilities into assets.
It is the leader's understanding of the importance of satisfying the needs of the organisation's customers that drives the process of change because it focusses the staff's mind on what's important – customers and meeting their requirements efficiently and effectively.
Governing for the community
Government is only slightly different to business in the primacy of customers. Taxpayers are forced to pay tax, they don't have a choice as business customers normally do. But there are many points of similarity.
Without taxpayers government is meaningless and unnecessary. Taxpayers are needed to fund every activity of government - without their payments governments will grind to a halt. The best way to get more revenues is to help taxpayers to earn more money – create better infrastructures, remove legislative impediments, cut taxes and imposts on business, and make Australia an attractive business proposition for all scales of business. That's how Singapore shifted from cows in the streets, to a major economy in its own right.
By concentrating on helping businesses, communities and taxpayers to succeed - governments can create the conditions for a more successful Australia.
Just increasing taxes, rates, charges etc., simply impoverishes the population and makes it progressively harder for businesses to operate or invest. It takes from the successful value creators without reference to the overall effects on communities and Australia as a whole.
The difference between the two approaches is huge – one empowers the people to succeed, the other is parasitic on those who produce value.
A transition from one to the other is usually a matter of leadership. Note how the US slid backwards after the transition from Clinton to Bush. Bush was a 'leader' who approved torture, assaults on poor countries, tax breaks for the wealthy, and open slather for investment bankers – the result is the US we see today.
How are we doing?
Sometimes the statements of the 'leaders' imply that they care about customers but their actions are different.
Here's Queensland Rail GM of passenger services, self-description in conference promotional materials…'Paul Scurrah intends to take QR Passenger from near enough to good enough with a 'practice makes perfect' customer service focused philosophy'.
In the real world here's something else he said (1) 'It is not the best way to run a public transport operation where your sole focus is on-time running'. What about the costs to business and commuters waiting for late or non-existent trains?
But wait…there's more…'Fare refunds if train services were more than 15 minutes late, (something being pushed by the Rail Back on Track lobby group), would cause 'more effort than deliver benefits'', he said.
A leader that is not committed to customer service soon gives away their real priorities.
Academic deliberations
In John Halligan's ominously titled report (2) 'The Centrelink experiment: Innovation in service delivery', we read that there's 'a tension between efficiency and customer needs'. He describes the need to be both efficient and effective as a constraint – as if one tends to obviate the other.
These kinds of linguistic problems appear in many writings.
There is no conflict between efficiency and service delivery – witness Motorola's approach above. The idea is to deliver required services efficiently because that saves money, increases profits and increases customer satisfaction.
He also suggests that governments are asking too much by wanting both efficiency and effectiveness, yet Motorola (and many other companies) achieve both because both are required.
Imagine a watch that was efficient but not effective, never needs winding but always wrong time.
Or a watch that was effective but not efficient e.g. needs winding every 10 minutes.
Both are nonsense ideas, particularly when we can buy watches that are both for $25.
The failures of leadership lead to reports like Halligan's, they focus on supplier problems and preferences, fail to explore the world of the customer and sympathise with internal management difficulties. They seem to be written to assure the authors more work because they fail to make propose ideas and directions that would achieve breakthrough performance.
I suggested the title was ominous because so many people have reported that Centrelink is anything but innovative. It is mainly reported as inefficient, bureaucratic and controlling (3).
Links to the top
I was deeply troubled to hear from Wayne Swan on the TV news Friday night that, when questioned as to why he'd left out the lower paid people of Australia from the federal stimulus package he answered, somewhat acerbically, 'we did it for administrative simplicity'! And there you have it. The entire problem for Australians in a nutshell. Leave out those most in need because it's too difficult administratively.
Our public servants aren't ready to serve that need therefore it's too hard.
Many taxpayers would imagine that we're paying public servants to be inconvenienced by serving the needs of the public – that highly paid administrators would organise their affairs so as to make serving the public easy and straightforward – that they'd create systems that served the public needs.
Instead we seem to be trapped in a pre-1980's world where service convenience rules supreme, where the 'tension between efficiency and customer needs' is resolved by choosing to ignore any of those needs that are deemed difficult or not worthy.
Real leaders (as opposed to those in name only) have followers, and the leaders attend to the needs of their followers recognising that without them, they'll be on their own. Political leaders would be well advised to attend to the needs of their constituents – they are more likely to fail when they ignore their followers in favour of the problems of public servants. Instead of relying on focus groups, they should rely on personal contact and experience with the issues facing their electors.
Leaders understand that to inspire change, they need to demonstrate that there will be real benefits from the change, that the work is difficult but worthwhile. Obama is still looking promising as a leader. Refreshingly, he admitted errors and commits to work on them (4). How rare it is for an Australian politician to do that.
Another key for leaders is to set customer expectations to achievable levels, and to then inspire their organisations to produce that level of service. Of course, this takes skill and commitment, something that I think it's fair to expect from Ministers being paid high salaries and multiple benefits.
Wayne Swan neither sounded, nor looked, like a man who could inspire Treasury to change its performance, he sounded like an apologist for the status quo.
Can someone like that really cause the system to improve? Can they really represent the needs of taxpayers at the highest level?
The effective leader assures that the needs of customers are met by the organisation that they are leading. They take the voice of the customer to the highest organisational level. Look at how Richard Branson operates – he doesn't keep explaining that his airline can't cope with customers – he gets the problems sorted out and keeps on flying.
Let's face it, the various bureaucrats and department heads don't need our politicians to represent them – they have the position and access to represent themselves.
The public doesn't need to pay politicians to reiterate what bureaucrats have told them – the bureaucrats can tell us themselves.
What the public needs is for politicians to listen to them, understand their needs then go forth and assure that as many of those needs are met as possible - then to shift the barriers to improve on what was possible. That doesn't mean 'focus groups' - it means personal contact with ordinary citizens, and not at special dinners costing thousands per head but in the world of the citizen but on the factory floor, in the workplace, on the farms, in the fields.
The opportunity is massive, indeed GetUp reports that 86% of Australians do not believe that their politicians represent them.
It would be refreshing if Rudd's team would genuinely take up the cudgels on behalf of citizens and start their own 'taxpayer revolution' by assuring that public services worked for the wider public good, not just a few selected industries.
We're seeing what is – the state of the current system. We have learned what can be from practical lessons in important industries all over the world.
Can Rudd make the transition from bureaucrat to 'voice of the taxpayer'? Can he deliver?
Watch this space.
Mike Bolan
Mike is a complex systems consultant, change facilitator and executive and management coach.
1. http://blogs.news.com.au/couriermail/pineapplepolitics/index.php/couriermail/comments/fare_refunds_more_trouble_than_theyre_worth_qr_chief1/
2. http://epress.anu.edu.au/centrelink_citation.html
3. http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/youll-work-like-a-dog-to-make-centrelink-happy/2009/01/30/1232818724404.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
4. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28994296/
5. For a start on the quality revolution see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwards_Deming
Mike Bolan
I was deeply troubled to hear from Wayne Swan on the TV news Friday night that when questioned as to why he'd left out the lower paid people of Australia from the federal stimulus package he answered, somewhat acerbically, 'we did it for administrative simplicity'! And there you have it. The entire problem for Australians in a nutshell. Leave out those most in need because it's too difficult administratively.


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State Palace Theater
Thursday, August 07, 2014 5:11 PM
Inappropriate photo? Alert us.
The paint on the walls of the theater's balcony is badly peeling. Commercial real estate developer Gregor Fox recently purchased the State Palace Theater on Canal Street. Fox plans to revive the theater to its former glory through a major restoration project. (Photo by Callaghan O'Hare, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Related articles
- New Orleans' State Palace theater: From movie premieres to raves to revival? August 08, 2014, 9:12 AM


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New Survey Indicates a Drop in Small Business Optimism
Bowling Green, Ky – Hiring increased in March, but small business owners surveyed by the National Federation of Independent Business are less optimistic about the economy. Tom Underwood, the Director of the group's Kentucky chapter, says increasing concerns about fuel prices and budgets at the state and federal levels are worrying business owners. Underwood told WKU Public Radio that unknowns about healthcare costs and healthcare policies are making it difficult for business owners to plan for expansion.
The survey did find that 18 percent of those questioned plan to increase employment over the next three months. The NFIB describes that finding as the "brightest spot" in the March survey.


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|If You See Charity, You See the Trinity
|Written by Sherry
|Tuesday, 14 September 2010 11:18
From Winston Elliott, on of our occasional posters, (via his blog The Christo-centric Life) comes these two posts:
The first, the well known passage by J. R. R. Tolkien, about the Eucharist:
"Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament . . . . [ellipses in original] There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves upon earth, and more than that: Death: by the divine paradox, that which ends, life, and demands the surrender of all, and yet by the taste (or foretaste) of which alone can what you seek in your earthly relationships (love, faithfulness, joy) be maintained , or take on that complexion of reality, of eternal endurance, which every man's heart desires."
J.R.R. Tolkien to his son, Michael, dated 6-8 March 1941
Sherry's note: 1941 was a exceedingly dark time to be English - but I wonder what other frustrations Tolkien is referring to. The triumph of the Lord of the Ring lay many years in the future. He had just begun writing The Hobbit in 1939. Any Tolkien afficianados know?
And this meditation:
"If you see charity, you see the Trinity", wrote Saint Augustine in De Trinitate. The Trinity is the perfect model of a community of love. A true community (communio) is where love received as a gift from our Creator is poured out in abundance to the broken and the needy. Doesn't this include most of us? Aren't many of us in need of a "Good Samaritan" who offers healing love to hearts that have grown cold?
In gratitude for the tremendous love that has been given to us Christians will share with the broken, the lost and the lonely. Why is it important that we share the love we have been given? As John Paul II wrote: "Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it. This...is why Christ the Redeemer 'fully reveals man to himself'".


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Christmas has gone, which means that it's time to focus on 2013 and all the fun that a new year will bring.
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To see other deals that will meet your extra travel needs, click here.
Happy New Year!
Please go to your email and confirm your subscription.


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New Orleans Pelicans Coach Monty Williams will reprise his role as a studio analyst on NBA-TV Wednesday night, dissecting playoff action for the league's in-house network.
Williams had a successful first attempt last season as a studio analyst for NBA-TV, meriting a call-back for another night of action.
Wednesday night's schedule includes the Boston Celtics playing at the New York Knicks, as the Knicks attempt to close out that first-round series, and the possibility of two other games at this point: the Atlanta Hawks at Indiana Pacers and Houston Rockets at Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Pacers have a 2-1 edge over the Hawks, but the Thunder hold a 3-0 advantage over the Rockets with Game 4 scheduled Monday night.


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Vivienne Westwood has said that becoming a punk in the seventies was he way of changing the world.
Speaking to Vogue, the 71-year-old designer said: "I was so upset with what was going on in the world. I just couldn't stand the idea of being people tortured and that we even had such a thing as war. I hated the older generation, who had not done anything about it. Punk was a call-to-arms for me."
She added: "The bravery shown by Azza Suleiman who dared to stand up for another woman who was being beaten, and paid a heavy price in doing so, is both awe-inspiring and humbling,.
"Not only has Azza suffered physical trauma at the hands of those who had a basic responsibility to protect her, she suffered a further blow in being denied the justice she is owed. This is shambolic. I urge everyone to be trendsetters for Azza Suleiman. Let's make it one fashion which everyone will want to follow."


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Skip to comments.You're Bob Dylan? NJ police want to see some ID
Posted on 08/17/2009 4:23:25 AM PDT by urroner
Rock legend Bob Dylan was treated like a complete unknown by police in a New Jersey shore community when a resident called to report someone wandering around the neighborhood.
The officers asked Dylan for identification. The singer of such classics as "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Blowin' in the Wind" said that he didn't have any ID with him, that he was just walking around looking at houses to pass some time before that night's show.
The officers asked Dylan, 68, to accompany them back to the Ocean Place Resort and Spa, where the performers were staying. Once there, tour staff vouched for Dylan.
The officers thanked him for his cooperation.
"He couldn't have been any nicer to them," Woolley added.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...
I don't think they will, but what they will probably do is descend upon Dylan and demand that he straighten his act out and become one of the offended and say those coppers were unAmerican and owed him an apology.
Wandering While a Wilbury?
I think Obama needs to get involved.
Ain't Talkin'
As I walked out tonight in the mystic garden
The wounded flowers were dangling from the vine
I was passing by yon cool crystal fountain
Someone hit me from behind
Ain't talkin', just walkin'
Through this weary world of woe
Heart burnin', still yearnin'
No one on earth would ever know
They say prayer has the power to heal
So pray for me, mother
In the human heart an evil spirit can dwell
I am a-tryin' to love my neighbor and do good unto others
But oh, mother, things ain't going well
Ain't talkin', just walkin'
I'll burn that bridge before you can cross
Heart burnin', still yearnin'
There'll be no mercy for you once you've lost
Now I'm all worn down by weeping
My eyes are filled with tears, my lips are dry
If I catch my opponents ever sleeping
I'll just slaughter 'em where they lie
Ain't talkin', just walkin'
Through the world mysterious and vague
Heart burnin', still yearnin'
Walkin' through the cities of the plague.
Well, the whole world is filled with speculation
The whole wide world which people say is round
They will tear your mind away from contemplation
They will jump on your misfortune when you're down
Ain't talkin', just walkin'
Eatin' hog eyed grease in a hog eyed town.
Heart burnin', still yearnin'
Some day you'll be glad to have me around.
They will crush you with wealth and power
Every waking moment you could crack
I'll make the most of one last extra hour
I'll revenge my father's death then I'll step back
Ain't talkin', just walkin'
Hand me down my walkin' cane.
Heart burnin', still yearnin'
Got to get you out of my miserable brain.
All my loyal and my much-loved companions
They approve of me and share my code
I practice a faith that's been long abandoned
Ain't no altars on this long and lonesome road
Ain't talkin', just walkin'
My mule is sick, my horse is blind.
Heart burnin', still yearnin'
Thinkin' 'bout that gal I left behind.
Well, it's bright in the heavens and the wheels are flyin'
Fame and honor never seem to fade
The fire gone out but the light is never dyin'
Who says I can't get heavenly aid?
Ain't talkin', just walkin'
Carryin' a dead man's shield
Heart burnin', still yearnin'
Walkin' with a toothache in my heel
The sufferin' is unending
Every nook and cranny has its tears
I'm not playing, I'm not pretending
I'm not nursin' any superfluous fears
Ain't talkin', just walkin'
Walkin' ever since the other night.
Heart burnin', still yearnin'
Walkin' 'til I'm clean out of sight.
As I walked out in the mystic garden
On a hot summer day, a hot summer lawn
Excuse me, ma'am, I beg your pardon
There's no one here, the gardener is gone
Ain't talkin', just walkin'
Up the road, around the bend.
Heart burnin', still yearnin'
In the last outback at the world's end.
'The officers asked Dylan, 68, to accompany them back to the Ocean Place Resort and Spa'
Funny. I guess the cops were lost and needed Dylan's help finding the resort and spa.
It would have been awesome if he said no.
Old old news, search and reading is your friend.
Contrast this with the video of Chicago "youths" referenced here yesterday.
That would have been awesome and then if he gave them free tickets.
Since I really don't pay much attention to "who's who" in entertainment - just about anybody could sit down at a table next to me and eat without me jumping up and going "Oh, OH, can I have your autograph? Will you take a picture with me?"
Personally, I wouldn't know Dylan if I saw him on the street,so I think the police acted responsibly in this case.
How refreshing. A "star," who was being inconvenienced, who didn't act like he was too good to cooperate. Amazing how he didn't get arrested like Prof. What's-his-name.
I think that the key thing we can learn from this incident is not that the police acted responsibly here, but that Bob Dylan acted very responsibly here also, unlike Gates or ObamaYoMama did.
I know how you feel. I don't recognize half the names or 99% of the faces that are called celebrities these days.
This is amerika changed, you can't just be out a wanderin anymore.
"I wouldn't recognize him either."
It is not that the cops did not recognize *him*, it is that they did not recognize his *name*.
It's like the cops stop someone and ask him "Who are you?" The guy says "Paul McCartney" and the cops don't either (a) roll their eyes at being goofed; or (b) say "You mean like the guy in the Beatles?"
And thus, the difference in outcome...
Contemplating while caucasian?
My guess is he was looking for an 'illegal influence' when the Police stopped him. SO, you be nice and let them take you back to the hotel, then get a roadie to get some for you.
"that he was just walking around looking at houses"
NEVER do that. People will think you`re checking out their place for a robbery.
I once was asked if that guy standing over there in a crowd was my twin ,,,, when I looked over at him chills ran through my body in disbelief . I'm sure everyone has a twin somewhere . Some ,,,, maybe insecure people even go out of their way to look like celebs . Everyons should carry an ID to prove who they are .
Thanks for the ping, Scott.
The officers asked Dylan for identification. he didn't have any ID with him, The officers asked Dylan, 68, to accompany them back to the Ocean Place Resort and Spa, .. tour staff vouched for Dylan.
The officers thanked him for his cooperation. "He couldn't have been any nicer to them," Woolley added.
SEE! This is what happens to an Old White Jew in America!
The cops roust him for no reason, beat him with clubs, handcuff him and throw him in the Drunk Tank for 48 hours! Just because he didn't have any ID!
Uh ....oops ... wait a sec ... that didn't happen, now did it?
No. Dylan was polite, then so were the police.
THAT'S how it works in America 'professor' Gates!
So why doesn't he just carry a piece of ID? If he found a nice pair of gloves he'd like to buy then he couldn't write a check.
I feel so stupid having missed something so obvious!!!
The police have no right to ask anyone for ID without probable cause. Wandering around the neighborhood doesn't qualify. Dylan didn't have his ID but he would have been perfectly justified if he refused to provide ID if he had it.
If a policeman asked me for ID simply because I was wandering aimlessly, which I often do, I would tell him/her to pound sand. If, on the other hand, they found me climbing into a second floor window of my own house, which I have also done, that's another story.
Bob Dylan is a Great American.
If we can have a hundred Michael Jackson threads, there's no problem with two Bob Dylan threads.
Which is just a minor point. The big deal is Dylan's behavior in contrast to Gates' hissy fit. I believe the two events were happening close to the same time.
Bad guess. Not a chance. None.
There are a number of of half impaired ill groomed seniors wandering around Long Branch on any given day or night, and most of them carry ID. < /sarc >
Wandering ~ Traditional
Ive been wanderin early and late
From new york city to the golden gate
And it dont look like
Ill ever stop my wanderin
My daddy was an engineer
My brother drives a hack
My sister takes in laundry
While the baby balls the jack
And it dont look like
Ill ever stop my wanderin
Ive been in the army
Ive worked on a farm
And all Ive got to show is the muscle in my arm
And it dont look like
Ill ever stop my wanderin
My ma she died when I was young
My daddy took to stealin and he got hung
And it dont look like
Ill ever stop my wanderin
Snakes in the ocean
Eels in the sea
I let a redheaded woman make a fool out of me
And it dont look like
Ill ever stop my wanderin
Ive been wanderin early and late
From the new york city to the golden gate
And it dont look like
Ill ever stop my wanderin
No, it dont look like
Ill ever stop my wanderin
Well, you can stand on Principle if you want but a simple thin like producing a valid ID upon reasonable request seems OK to me. To do otherwise is to perhaps make a 'Gates' Moment out of a simple matter.
Frankly, if someone looks out of place in my neighborhood I'd like the Police to inquire a little.
Hmmmm... a rock star has never done drugs, or gone looking for them in a strange city? Ridiculous?
Your claim that a 50 year rock legend that is on tour with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp, surrounded by the industry and crews would have to leave to go down to some shady neighborhood to score some third rate drugs in person is ridiculous yes.
Does Bob Dylan even do drugs?
Your claim that a 50 year rock legend that is on tour with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp, surrounded by the industry and crews would have to leave to go down to some shady neighborhood to score some third rate drugs in person is ridiculous yes.
Does Bob Dylan even do drugs?
Dylan has admitted that he enjoys pot and hash... never admitted to using harder drugs. Who knows for sure but him and those closest to him. I'm just saying it's always possible.
Think about it, Bob Dylan or any other tour headliner would not have to escape his music scene shows and hotel and crew (and Willie Nelson) to go out into a poor neighborhood alone desperately in search of a joint.
At least it didn't stop him from showing up at the G8 Summit.
I'm just saying that you never know.
Anything is possible if you want to play a childs game.
Well, you're playing it with me.
No I really did not know that you were like this, I thought that I was dealing with a regular freeper, not a childish goofball.
Next visit to the office, No Novacaine for You.
The big deal is Dylan's behavior in contrast to Gates' hissy fit.
I said it before and I'll say it again. Gates' hissy fit was a reaction to distract the police from finding out who the other man was.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.


text:
Monday, January 4, 2010
Lane Bryant Semi-Annual Cacique Sale
If your bras and undies are a little worse for the wear, stock up and save now! Bras are buy 2, get 2 free (an AMAZING deal that whittles the price of each bra down to about $15 or so) , panties are 5 for $25, and you can snag sleepwear for 60% off. I live for this sale. Seriously.
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10-day music festival in Finsbury Park
What do you think about plans for a 10-day music festival in Finsbury Park?
A survey/questionnaire begun by one of our SGR councillors about this upcoming 'event':
Oh yes, some slayer in the park.
I had 2 years of terror with my upstairs neighbours and their anti-social behaviour late night until early mornings. I'd take the 10 days on the chin. Earplugs for the time being and all will be good.
It's certainly not going to be easy, but it's a limited period of time.
Would be good to know more details about the event. The website just seems to contain promotional fluff at the moment.
It sounds like a terrible idea but before I dismiss it out of hand I'd like know more about it.
How are the park cleaners going to deal with the rubbish when they can't even clear up properly over a Bank Holiday weekend?
I was thinking earlier, at least when the bloody Olympics are rendering the TV schedules a wasteland, and doubtless taking over the majority of pubs, and most of my mates are watching the damn thing, I can go read a book in the park. My mistake; staying in with DVD box sets it is, then.
I hope they do the decent thing and reach out to the local community who will be affected by the event. It would certainly be well out of order if an event takes place in our neighbourhood and we don't actually get a chance to participate in it.Discounted or free tickets would be a nice gesture, or better still, perhaps raising money for some local causes?
A terrible idea, and I can't believe the council approved it with no real consultation. Is there not something in the property law statutes that a resident has a right to reasonable enjoyment of their property? For 10 days in the middle of summer, those of us who back onto the park or live within earshot will lose that right. If anyone knows chapter and verse for the legal bit I mentioned, please let me know!
It's tenuously connected to the Olympics, so over-rides all legal and ethical considerations. Just consider yourselves lucky your houses weren't compulsorily purchased to be turned into accommodation for Papua New Guinea's shot-putt team (which could quite coincidentally be sold on for a tidy profit once the games are done).
Fully intend to be nowhere near London during the Olympics for all the reasons mentioned above. This just further justifies my bah humbug attitude.
Why do we allow these unelected pricks who are Haringey council's so-called officer cadre to dominate our lives? Local government. Representative? Democratic? Consultative? Crap! What happened to local representative democracy and the ability of local councillors to actually do anything for the people who vote for them?
I think this is a really good idea. This is kind of the point of the Olympics, isn't it? A celebration of the cultures of all the countries of the world, and we get Jamaica, which is pretty cool. Hopefully, Usain Bolt will show up with his medals. My only reservation is that it would be better if it was free, but hopefully some of the events will be. It's hard to see how it works as a promotion for Jamaica if casual visitors (and residents!) can't wander up to have a look. And yes, I live within earshot of the park, and am dismayed by the everyday litter. But licensed events have to pay for their own litter clear-up, don't they?
Anyway, given how difficult it is to actaully get tickets to Olympic events, it seems a fantastic idea to have a little bit of it come to us.
Don't know anything about the festival but am childishly excited about Olympics.
I know it's deeply unfashionable and, in North London, unpopular but I'm really excited about the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
I have next to no interest in sport and the Olympics is every four years but the Diamond Jubilee is a once in a lifetime event - with lots of free stuff going on.
Really not my thing, but the music is only licensed till half 10, so hopefully not too disruptful.
@Idoru, I haven't seen anything about what time it will start each day - have you? I also really hope they direct people in through the main gate - I don't mind the occasional shindig in the park, but I do get fed up of having having to pick up litter which home-bound idiots toss into my front garden.
I'm excited about the Jubilee in so far as it's an extra bank holiday, and whatever the politics, an extra day off is an extra day off.
Can't say I really care about the Olympics, the Jubilee, or the thing in the park - although I'm certainly not going to get out of London for any of them. But at the same time, if other people enjoy them (and I've no doubt many people will enjoy all three) then that's all well and good as far as I'm concerned.
Oh, and I agree with ADGS - I'm all for extra days off work :-)
[ETA I realise I'm probably further from the park than some of you, though]
The user and all related content has been deleted.
I haven't been excited by the Olympics at all up until 2 weeks ago when i walked from Stroud Green all the way to the Olmpic Park. Its gives you a great perspective of whats been created, what it's replaced, what it sits within and what's going to happen. These are historical events happening within 5 miles of our postcode, i can see the sculpture thingy from my window. This is a global event and its in our city!
I doubt i will get particularly excited by some of the mad sports on display, but in a year of complete doom and gloom i can't think of a better series of events (jubilee, euros, olympics) to feel proud about our country and to focus on the fun things in life.
I have been looking forward to the Olympics for years. I'm ridiculously excited about it. And this festival sounds fun. I don't think, as residents, we have any overriding rights over the park and what is done with it - surely London's parks are for all of London? I hope Usain Bolt turns up too (maybe he'll do a few laps of the athletics track). It would be like being visited by Muhammad Ali, or Pele, or someone. Amazing.
Better watch out Brodiej the Tories might call a snap election on the back of your cheer and throw in a comitment have a referndum on Europe to just to make sure of a majority !
I think it's basically a choice - it is easy to think that the Olympics is an enormous waste of cash and a terrific hassle and you will come out of this year miserable.
I wasn't a great fan of bidding for it but now it is here I think that this is an event that will only be in our country once in our lifetime or more, it has the whole world watching and I hope is a massive party. Other countries will come here, take spaces like Finsbury Park and set up their own parties and we should join in. We should be working out how we get a better deal for local residents rather than belly aching about the fact that other people will be having fun in a massive park.
Seriously, if you don't want the hassle, go abroad for two weeks. Fun in life is about experiences. Whatever happens with the Olympics, living in London during it will be a ride worth experiencing and one that we will end up talking to our grandkids about, even if just to moan that we couldn't get a 3G signal.
I'm all for other people enjoying themselves and I hope it goes well so that we don't embarass ourselves, but I don't see what I might enjoy about it.
I don't enjoy watching sports, I don't have tickets for any of it. I have to go to work on already overcrowded public transport and London is overcrowded and outrageously expensive as it is, even before every place in town has inflated their prices to fleece the tourists.
Perhaps I'll join in by going to watch the fireworks for the opening and closing ceremonies and I might watch the synchronised swimming if it's on tv.
My mum lives in Essex and the train goes through Stratford - right beside the new stadium. I've watched the whole demolition and rebuilding project from the train, it is impressive. I know that part of the city very well and it is massively improved now even with that eyewatering monstrosity of a shopping centre.
Oh I think it's fantastic that we've got the Olympics. I don't like athletics, though, so won't be watching it.
London was already a world city with the eyes of the world on it. London already has plenty of exciting stuff going on, always. London already has staggering architecture and more history - past and current - than it knows what to do with. If, as had at one stage been proposed, the British bid had been mounted by somewhere like Birmingham which needs to put itself on the world map, then sure. Here, they're totally surplus to requirements.
You're right. London's the best city in the world.
don't diss brum
personally i cant wait forthe FP event, more music and dancing the better.
Idoru: I thought New York City was the best city in the world, and London was the second best? I've never been to New York City though.
Nope. London is the best. (I've never been to NYC, either.)


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New Episode of The Steve Austin Show Now Online
Stone Cold has posted his latest podcast of the Steve Austin show:
WWE composer Jim Johnston joins Steve to talk about some of their favorite entrance themes. Hear what inspired the themes for Stone Cold, The Undertaker, Bret Hart, D-Generation X, and Shawn Michaels.
As always you can listen:HERE
(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)


text:
Effectiveness evaluation of the EEA, 2008
- Effectiveness evaluation of the European Environment Agency — revised final report — 17 Oct 2008
- This study has been carried out by Technopolis Ltd. This evaluation was commissioned by the European Environment Agency, in line with the requirements of its founding Regulation and to meet the wishes of the European Parliament. The timing of the evaluation reflects the desire of the Management Board to be able to use the results in the development of the new multi-annual strategy.
- Final appendices — 06 Aug 2008
- Final appendices to effectiveness evaluation of EEA
- Management Board response to effectiveness evaluation — March 2009 — 19 Mar 2009
- Management Board recommendations to the European Commission, Parliament and Council regarding the Technopolis report on the evaluation of the European Environment Agency (EEA)
For references, please go to www.eea.europa.eu/soer or scan the QR code.
This briefing is part of the EEA's report The European Environment - State and Outlook 2015. The EEA is an official agency of the EU, tasked with providing information on Europe's environment.
PDF generated on 25 Oct 2016, 08:25 PM


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Those who've been interested in the recent video of a provoked bison attack in Yellowstone National Park that have been playing repeatedly in recent days, might enjoy this video shot in the park last summer by my son, Casey.
As hundreds watched a grizzly from the relative safety of the roadside, near their vehicles, at least a hundred yards from the bear, one guy decided he had to get ridiculously close to the bear to get a photo with his vastly underpowered camera.
As you view the video, keep in mind that he is closer to the bear by quite a bit than he is to any vehicle, and he's downhill from the bear. If the grizzly had decided he had been pushed far enough, he could have been on that guy in a few seconds.
We expected to see the bear charge the guy - at least in a bluff - at any minute. Only luck kept that from happening.


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PORTLAND, Ore. -- Detroit Pistons coach Flip Saunders was planning to play Lindsey Hunter at some point during the team's current West Coast trip.
With point guard Chauncey Billups less than full strength following a hip bruise suffered in Tuesday night's 102-94 loss at Portland, there is a good chance Hunter will see some action tonight.
"It's hurting," said Billups, who later suffered a left knee injury as well. "Hopefully I'll be all right."
With tonight's opponent (Golden State) having been off for five days the Pistons will need as many healthy bodies as possible to contend with the Warrior's helter-skelter style of play.
That likely means playing time for Hunter, who has yet to appear in a game this season.
"We just want to get him (Hunter) out there, to do what he does," Saunders said. "Defend for us, knock down open shots, get us in our offense ... give us three or four really good minutes."
Even though he wasn't playing, Hunter went through his usual pre-game routines with the mindset that he could be called upon to play at any moment.
"You know me," Hunter said. "I'm a guy that loves to stay active, no matter what the situation is. Whenever I'm called upon, I'll always be ready. I'm not going to change what I do and how hard I work out."
Official intel: There are a number of NBA coaches who love the fact that the league now announces which officials will be calling games that day.
Don't count Saunders among them.
"I just don't want to know," he said. "I don't like to pre-determine too much going into a game."
Still, Saunders recognizes that officials, like players and coaches, have certain tendencies as far as how they do their job.
However, by going in expecting them to call a game a certain way creates potential problems Saunders would just as soon avoid.
"I think you set yourself up, if it's not called that way, all of a sudden you're kind of stone-walled," Saunders said. "We just go in worrying about what we can do. You have to see how the game is being called that night, and then make adjustments."
Odds and ends: Golden State will be without team captain Stephen Jackson, who is serving a seven-game suspension handed down by NBA commissioner David Stern. Jackson pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 100 hours of community service in June following an incident in which he fired a gun outside an Indianapolis strip club in October 2006.
He also was fined $5,000. That wasn't Jackson's first run-in with the law. Then with the Indiana Pacers, Jackson was suspended 30 games during the 2004-2005 season for his involvement in the brawl at The Palace.
Pistons assistant Terry Porter as well as ex-Piston Cliff Robinson, were among the former Trail Blazers honored on Tuesday.
Antonio McDyess, who has been hampered by a sore left shoulder, left the game with 6:39 to play due to the injury. He had an magnetic resonance imaging test performed after the game. Team officials said the MRI revealed no structural damage, however his status for tonight's game is uncertain.
A. Sherrod Blakely can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com, or his blog at blog.mlive.com/pistonsinsider/.


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Sheffield High School junior Kalil Slaughter has already come a long way, from the streets of Philadelphia to the Abraxas juvenile detention facility then on to Sheffield High School.
Slaughter, with the help of guardians Buck and Sharon Hilyer, is trying to turn his life around by living in Clarendon and becoming a student at Sheffield High School.
He's flourishing to the tune of a new school record in the 100-meter dash on Saturday at the prestigious McDowell Invitational, as well as being part of the school record-breaking 400 relay there.
Article Photos
Kalil Slaughter
Slaughter has his sights set on the Warren County Track Meet, the District 9 Championships and a possible return to the PIAA Class AA Championships. Then, Australia.
Slaughter has been invited to participate in the Down Under Sports Tournament (downundersports.com) in Australia from June 26 through July 4. The Down Under Sports Tournament hosts a number of sports, but Slaughter has been invited for track and field.
The Down Under International Games Tri-Nations Meet is a three-day international competition with athletes from the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. The Tri-Nations Meet is in its 11th year and is the largest high school-age international meet held in Australia each year. In 2011, the meet will take place at Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, on July 2nd, 3rd, and 4th with an opening and closing ceremony.
The facility is an all-weather, synthetic track with electronic photo-finish timing.
In addition to the competition, which Kalil is obviously looking forward to, he's never been out of the country.
The total cost of the competition is $3,598 and Sharon Hilyer is heading a four-person committee to help Kalil raise the funds. Additional funds are needed for travel and personal expenses, but the Hilyers and Slaughter have already helped to raise $1,500 through the Sheffield Sports Boosters, Sheffield Gridiron Club and the community.
Letters have been mailed to community businesses asking for sponsorship, and Slaughter is going to hold "Tag Days" at local businesses in Sheffield this Friday and Saturday.
A benefit dinner will be held at noon on Sunday, May 22, at the Sheffield Vets Club.
To top it off, Sharon Hilyer would like to travel to Australia with Kalil and is selling her camper to try to raise the money.
Prior to Slaughter accepting the invitation officially, or Down Under Sports accepting payment, he must wait for his passport, which has been sent for.
In the meantime, all donations by check should be made out to International Sports Specialists, Inc., or ISSI, and mailed to Kalil Slaughter, 12890 Route 6, Clarendon, Pa. 16313.


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Back in elementary school, Alice met a boy who helped her out. Now president of her school, Alice meets a magical sorcerer named Lu who can't go back until the next full moon. All the students in her school dislike her and think that she is not good enough for the presidency. Where is the boy who helped her out..? (taken from VNManga) A oneshot published in ????? (Otome no Saino).
- No comments posted so far, be the first one!
- 7 years agoTsuki Iro Secret 1
- 5 years agoTsuki Iro Secret 0
By editing this manga you will earn the editor title for this manga!


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Even before Gov. David Paterson used his new powers to kick undeserving companies out of the Empire Zone program, the businesses and their state legislators started to fight back. Paterson's economic development staff mailed warning letters last week to 640 businesses that his staff thought did not deserve the tax breaks.
At the same time, state legislators introduced a bill that would essentially take back the hammer they gave the governor in April. And the companies' lawyers started prepping their arguments to change the state's mind and, if necessary, go to court.
Paterson's economic development staff made public Thursday the names of the businesses that appear to fail the state's tests to stay in the program.
Those targeted include some of the state's best-known businesses: Rich Products in Buffalo, law firm Bond, Schoeneck and King, a subsidiary of Corning Inc., Harden Furniture, and big boxes Wal-Mart and Lowe's.
It includes law firms that had been around for a century and did not need tax breaks to keep them from leaving the state. It includes landlords who created only one job and were reimbursed for hundreds of thousands of property taxes each year.
Top links
» Read the entire list of Empire Zone companies threatened with removal. (PDF)
» The list of companies who have been asked to give the state more information. (PDF)
» Those who needed to give more information received this letter.
» The companies told they remain in the program. (PDF)
» Those remaining companies received this letter.
» Search The Post-Standard's easy-to-use database to find how much each Empire Zone business planned to claim in tax credit before recent changes in the law
» Read the Citizens Budget Commission's recent report, which said the Empire Zone program is not worth the $600 million it costs taxpayers each year.
The list did not spare large manufacturers or big box stores, already punished by the economy.
More than one of every four rejected companies statewide comes from Syracuse and the immediate area.
Most everyone agrees that the Empire Zone program is out of control. The cost grew from $30 million to $600 million a year as savvy lawyers and attorneys took advantage of loopholes in the law. But there has been little agreement or political will to stop it.
With a new governor and declining state income, state officials seriously cracked down for the first time. The changes were part of the state budget vote in April.
Paterson estimates he would save $90 million in the first year and $100 million in the second year.
Thursday's hit list includes many of companies highlighted in The Post-Standard's investigation of the program, which began in 2003.
The state went after two kinds of abusers: old businesses that misrepresented themselves as new to take higher tax breaks, so called "shirt changers"; and businesses that do not spend at least $1 in payroll and investment for every $1 they receive in tax breaks.
The state is holding up 2009 tax returns because the law changed at almost the same time as taxes were due. In fact, the tax department sent a memo to clarify changes to the Empire Zone law on the April 15 filing deadline.
Upstate Senate Democrats have set out to soften the crackdown.
Sen. David Valesky, D-Oneida, and Sen. Darrel Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, signed on to a bill sponsored by Sen. William Stachowski, D-Buffalo, chairman of the Senate's economic development committee that would, among other things, delay the impact until next year.
With the economy struggling and unemployment in Central New York over 7 percent, Valesky said, it is important to protect jobs.
Stachowski said he never agreed with the idea of canceling tax credits immediately, but voted for it in April in order to get the budget passed.
The state mailed three kinds of form letters at the end of last week. The company's name doesn't even appear on the letter. The most coveted letter earned the nickname the "golden ticket," a reference from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." It tells 6,418 businesses that they are safe.
Another asks 1,402 businesses for more information.
A third letter warns 640 businesses that the state's initial analysis shows they may not meet the new standards and could be decertified. It does not say why. It does not explain an appeals process. In fact, it reads, "You do not have to do anything in response to this letter."
"They didn't invite an argument," said Tim Lynn, an attorney at Green & Seifter, a Syracuse law firm that advised many of the first businesses to apply for the tax credits.
Lynn is telling his clients, which include the owners of the AXA Towers in Syracuse, to respond anyway and to do it quickly. They are guessing at the state's reasons for putting them on the bad list. Lynn is telling businesses to gather documents to argue that they invested more money than the state knows about. Some will argue that they did not change shirts, but reincorporated for valid business reasons.
Some businesses may have an ace up their sleeve, he said. They are digging out an old letter they received from state officials early in the program that they say encouraged them to take advantage of loopholes the state left open. This could lead to a lawsuit that argues the state violated the state Constitution by breaking a contract, Lynn said.
"The advice was very clear," Lynn said. "New York state was trying to save at-risk manufacturing facilities that were closing down in the wake of the recession after Sept. 11 and they encouraged people to buy businesses and they went to great lengths to get them in (the program)."
Lynn said officials from the state economic development office and the tax department encouraged companies to reincorporate to qualify for benefits intended for new and expanding ventures. The administration of Gov. Pataki considered the program its chief job-creation tool.
Aside from the legal argument, the competitive economic development world warns that broken contracts are also creating a public relations problem.
"New York will lose far more than the $90 million it estimates will be saved as a result of this action," said Brian McMahon, executive director of the New York State Economic Development Council. "The loss of credibility that New York will suffer as a trusted partner in economic development will result in fewer investments and jobs made by businesses in our communities."
Rob Simpson, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Development Association, said the state would send the wrong message if it took benefits away from companies such as Anaren and Welch Allyn Inc. -- two Central New York manufacturers notified that they could be decertified.
"In recent years, these companies and dozens of others have consistently added jobs and invested hundreds of millions of dollars in our region; their commitment should be rewarded, not punished," Simpson said.
Welch Allyn Inc. is a medical equipment manufacturer that employs about 1,300 workers in Central New York. The company is talking with its lawyers and will appeal the decertification, said Matt Chadderdon, vice president of communications.
The Skaneateles company would lose $1.2 million per year in tax credits if the decision stands.
Chadderdon said Welch Allyn has added about 500 jobs since it joined the program in 2002 and it has a $30 million expansion under way at its Skaneateles world headquarters.
"We are dismayed and very disappointed in receiving this (decertification) letter," he said. "There are very few companies in Upstate New York who have made the kind of investment that Welch Allyn has. For us to be decertified seems to us to be a little ridiculous."
Anaren Microwave, which employs 500 Central New York workers manufacturing components for cellular phone towers and missile detection technology, is also planning to appeal, said John Hoeschele, communications manager for the East Syracuse firm.
NRG Inc., a Princeton, N.J. company that owns electric generating stations in Oswego, Tonawanda and Dunkirk, would be among the biggest losers.
NRG would lose about $8.6 million in tax credits per year on its Oswego steam station, which it runs only a handful of days per year when the demand for electricity peaks.
But the state determined that NRG should retain its Empire Zone certification for its coal-fired plants in Tonawanda and Dunkirk. NRG collects $12.2 million per year in Empire Zone tax credits from those sites.
The state gave the all-clear to the owners of the Carousel Center shopping mall, whose nearly $10 million in estimated tax credits in 2007 ranked it fourth in the state.
Michelle Breidenbach can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com or (315) 470-3186. Mike McAndrew can be reached at email@example.com or (315) 470-3016.


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Pier 1 Mum on NYSE Inquiry
November 27, 2006-- Home Textiles Today,
Fort Worth, Texas – Pier 1 Imports said it was notified by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) of unusual trading activity in the company's stock on Nov. 14. In response, the company only said, "The NYSE has asked the company to respond by press release to the unusual activity. The company's policy is not to comment on market rumors or speculation including unusual market activity."
Pier 1 had issued a special statement in early October to clarify — to deny, in effect — quotes made by chairman and ceo Marvin Girouard and published in the Fort Worth Star Telegram to the effect that the company's board of directors was close to a sale price with a strategic buyer. The company at that time said, "Pier 1 makes no prediction whatsoever as to when, if ever, Pier 1's board will reach an agreement with respect to a proposed transaction."
In May 2006, the company announced that it had retained JPMorgan to explore strategic alternatives. Last March, HTT reported that Pier 1 had sold its United Kingdom and Ireland operating division to Dutch retail investor Jakup a Dul Jacobsen for "approximately $15 million," and that Jacobsen had purchased 9.9% of Pier 1 in January 2006.
The home furnishings specialty retailer recorded $1.78 billion in sales for fiscal 2006 (ended Feb. 25, 2006), down 2.7% from $1.82 billion the previous year, with a comp-store drop of 7.1%. The company reported a fiscal 2006 net loss from continuing operations of $27.5 million or $0.32 per share.
In its most recent monthly note, the company reported year-to-date sales of $1.0 billion, down 8.7% from $1.1 billion for the same period last year, and a comparable store sales decline of 11.1%.
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Hi Monika!
About a 15.30 we got the puppy in the airport. Everything is ok, all the airport workers were there and watched the puppy. At first the puppy was little bit shy and scared but after that when Siirika tooked him into his lap after that he was little bit braver. Then we visited our veterinarian and we looked over our puppy and he said that he is absolutely fine. And just in case he cheked the microchip number and it was too ok. So our puppy is healty. When we came home then the puppy was very energetic and started to drink and eat. And now he is playing with Siirika and is very very active.
Tomorrow we will meet him our big komondor, Stefi.
I haven't yet read through the one year guarantee but I will do it tonight so I'm going to send the answer tomorrow.
And I have to excuse that at first we were so pessimistics and didn't trust you. Now I know that we can trust you any time and I can suggest your company all of my friends. It was very pleasant of making a business, if it is correctly said.
With love
Kristo Orman


text:
- Details
- Vibration reduced up to 50%
- Grip molded and bonded directly to the handle.
- All Estwing hand tools carry a Lifetime Guarantee.
- Painted Finish.
- Overall length: 11"
- Weight: 3 lbs
- Specs
SKU 1160376 Model MRW-3LB Weight 3.0000 Color N/A size N/A Width N/A In Store Only No Price $17.99
- Warranty
Rural King provides a defect or damage warranty within 30 days of receipt. All Manufacturing Return Policies Supersede Rural King's Return Policy.
- Reviews
Customer Reviews
- Not Happy Review by Stone Mason
Price Value Quality
I love these hammers...I have been using them for 12+ years. The reason that I am not happy with my order is that I have not received it yet. I received 5 wooden handled hammers instead of the actual hammer shown. I work outdoors and in dry climates so wooden handles do not last. They also do take the same kind of abuse the metal/rubber handled hammers take. The price however is great. I hope I get the correct hammers soon....
(Posted on 5/3/2013)
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Harrisburg police say a 21-year-old man was walking home on the Mulberry Street Bridge in Harrisburg just after midnight Friday when he was confronted by two men who tried to rob him. Police say one of the men demanded the victim's valuables and showed a handgun and the second acted as if he had a gun, but did not show it to the victim. The victim refused to hand anything over to the would-be robbers, moved toward them and they ran away, police said.
One robber is described as a teenage black male with a shaved head, wearing dark basketball shorts, Nike shoes and no shirt. The second robber is described as a young black male with short hair with shaved sides.
Anyone with additional information may contact Sgt. Dennis Sorensen at 717-255-6586 or email@example.com.


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More Than 100 Die in U.S. Custody in Iraq
Associated Press | March 17, 2005
WASHINGTON (AP) -- At least 108 people have died in U.S. custody in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and roughly a quarter of the cases have been investigated as possible U.S. abuse, according to government data provided to The Associated Press.
The figure, far higher than any previously disclosed, includes cases investigated by the Army, Navy, Central Intelligence Agency and Justice Department. Some 65,000 prisoners have been taken during the U.S.-led wars, most later freed.
The Pentagon has never provided comprehensive information on how many prisoners taken during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have died. The 108 figure, based on information supplied by Army, Navy and other government officials, includes deaths attributed to natural causes.
To human rights groups, the deaths form a clear pattern.
"Despite the military's own reports of deaths and abuses of detainees in U.S. custody, it is astonishing that our government can still pretend that what is happening is the work of a few rogue soldiers," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. "No one at the highest levels of our government has yet been held accountable for the torture and abuse, and that is unacceptable."
To the Pentagon, each death is a distinct case, meriting an investigation but not attributable to any single faulty military policy. Pentagon officials point to military investigations that have found that no policy condoned abuse.
Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col. John Skinner said the military has taken steps to reduce the chance of violent uprisings at its prisons and the use of excessive force by soldiers, and also has improved the health care available to prisoners.
"The military has dramatically improved detention operations, everything from increased oversight and improved facilities to expanded training and the availability of state-of-the-art medical care," he said in a statement.
Some death investigations have resulted in courts-martial and convictions, others in reprimands. Many are still open. In some cases, during riots and escape attempts, soldiers were found to have used deadly force properly.
The most serious sentence handed out in the completed cases is three years imprisonment, which was given to two soldiers in separate cases.
Pfc. Edward Richmond was convicted of voluntary manslaughter for shooting Muhamad Husain Kadir, an Iraqi cowherd, in the back of the head on Feb. 28, 2004; Richmond said he saw Kadir lunge for another soldier.
Staff Sgt. Johnny M. Horne pleaded guilty to killing a critically wounded Iraqi teenager in Sadr City, Iraq, on Aug. 18, 2004. Horne described it as a mercy killing.
In Iraq, the military is currently holding around 8,900 people at its two largest prisons, Abu Ghraib and Camp Bucca.
At least two prisoners died during interrogation, in incidents that raise the question of torture. Human rights groups say there are others:
- Manadel al-Jamadi, a suspect in the bombing of a Red Cross facility in Baghdad, died Nov. 4, 2003, while hanging by his wrists in a shower room at Abu Ghraib prison. Nine SEALs and one sailor have been accused of abusing al-Jamadi and others in Iraq. The CIA and Justice Department are also investigating the death.
- Four Fort Carson, Colo., soldiers, including three in military intelligence, are charged with murder for the death of an Iraqi major general who died in November 2003. The CIA has also acknowledged that one of its officers may have been involved and referred the case to the Justice Department for investigation.
Of the prisoner deaths:
- At least 26 have been investigated as criminal homicides involving possible abuse.
- At least 29 are attributed to suspected natural causes or accident.
- 22 died during an insurgent mortar attack on April 6, 2004, on Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
- At least 21 are attributed to "justifiable homicide," when U.S. troops used deadly force against rioting, escaping or threatening prisoners and investigations found the troops acted appropriately.
The majority of the death investigations were conducted by the Army's Criminal Investigation Division, as most prisoners are held in Army-run facilities.
In many of the cases, resolution has not been swift. Military officials have attributed this in part to the difficulties of conducting investigations in war zones, and they say accuracy is more important than speed.
"Our special agents have literally been mortared and shot at while going about investigative duties," said Army spokesman Christopher Grey.
Grey said Army investigators have looked into 79 deaths in 68 incidents. Most were in Iraq. No prisoners have died at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the third major site for prisoners since the Sept. 11 attacks.
A Navy official said the Navy Criminal Investigative Service has investigated eight deaths. One of those, of al-Jamadi, has also been investigated by the Army and is counted among their numbers, officials said.
The CIA and Justice Department have looked into four deaths that may have involved agency personnel or contractors. One CIA contractor has been charged with assault in connection with a third death investigation in Afghanistan. The fourth death was attributed to hypothermia, not mistreatment.
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text: Thank you so much for doing an incredible job hanging our lights this year. We'll definitely call you well in advance next year as you really did save us a ton of time and trouble. Just please don't do it for our neighbors as they are super jealous --- and we like that :)


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"It seems like the Stalin billboard is the one everybody remembers," said Larry Taunton, founder and executive director of Fixed Point Foundation. "The idea is just to make you think."
The Super Bowl commercials debuted last year on the local Fox 6 affiliate during the Super Bowl. This year, Fixed Point paid for the ads to air on NBC 13 during the Super Bowl, and also bought time on other regional stations during the Super Bowl.
The block of air time purchased included showings that continued the week after the Super Bowl in selected markets, including Birmingham, Montgomery, Jackson, Miss.; Col umbus, Ga.; and Columbia, Mo.
"If one person responds, it's worth it," Taunton said. "A very significant number of people do not know what John 3:16 says. Our thought is, let's encourage people, let's put something out there that challenges somebody who isn't a believer to consider where their hope is."
The Super Bowl commercial was taped from the point of view of football fans watching a game on TV and noticing a football player wearing a "John 3:16" eyeblack patch, which prompts them to discuss looking up the Bible verse to see what it means. Taunton said it's part of the Christian nonprofit's initiative called "LookUp 316," with a website, www.lookup316.com. "As of halftime here, we had about 10,000 hits," Taunton said. "A majority of those people, it's a curiosity factor."
Fixed Point Foundation promotes and defends the Christian faith, encouraging Christians to engage
skeptics and nonbelievers. Fixed Point Foundation has brought prominent atheist authors Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins to Birmingham to debate Christian theologian John Lennox and others.
While those debates put Taunton in the public eye, behind the scenes he and his family were doing something he considers more important, adopting a daughter from an orphanage in the former Soviet Union.
Last year he published a book, "The Grace Effect," that recounts his friendship and travels with Hitchens, who recently died of cancer, and the Taunton family's adoption of Sasha, a Ukrainian girl diagnosed with HIV.
Fixed Point has six billboards up in Alabama, one in Cullman and the rest in the Birmingham area. The Stalin billboard on U.S. 31 in Hoover has the slogan, "Imagine no religion? So did he."
It then plugs Taunton's book, "The Grace Effect."
A billboard on the Red Mountain Expressway says, "Think America can survive without God? Think again."
Taunton, who taught history at Altamont School for 10 years before founding Fixed Point Foundation in 2004, said he was surprised a lot of people don't recognize the Stalin picture or know who he was. Stalin, a Bolshevik revolutionary leader, ruled the Soviet Union from 1941 until his death in 1953.
"Someone asked why we had a picture of Tom Selleck up," Taunton said. "Some people it's completely lost on."
But he thinks it still provokes thought about faith versus atheism.
"It has been making a lot of people think and reflect on that," he said. "One of Richard Dawkins' claims in his book, and it's been a standard claim of atheists, is that atheism was just incidental to Stalin, no more relevant than him having a mustache. A worldview does matter. It does factor in."