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United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division
September 29, 2004.
SB DESIGNS, GARY SIDNEY and MAURICE SIDNEY, Plaintiffs,
REEBOK INTERNATIONAL, LTD., and CROSSOVA PRODUCTIONS, Defendants.
In their second amended complaint, SB Designs and its
co-owners, Gary Sidney and Maurice Sidney, assert violations of
the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1114 and 1125, against Reebok (Count
I) and Crossova Productions*fn1 (Count III), and violations
of the "Illinois Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act,"
815 ILCS 510/1 et seq.,*fn2 against Reebok (Count II), arising from
defendants' alleged infringement of plaintiffs' trademark.
Defendant Reebok moved separately to dismiss the instant
complaint, and the court converted the motion to a motion for
summary judgment. Because plaintiffs' state law claim arises out
of the same facts that form the basis for their claim under the
Lanham Act, the court's discussion herein focuses on the merits
of plaintiffs' claim under the Lanham Act. For the reasons discussed herein, the court grants Reebok's
motion for summary judgment as to Counts I and II.
According to the second amended complaint, on December 19,
1994, Gary and Maurice Sidney applied for registration for the
CROSSOVER KING trademark, which consists of the image of a
basketball player in the action of a crossover dribble with a
moving ball image and the trade name "CROSSOVER KING"
underscoring the logo. On February 24, 1998, the CROSSOVER KING
trademark was registered. On October 23, 2001, plaintiffs
registered the CROSSOVER KING word mark, as well.
SB Designs allegedly markets basketball apparel affixed with
the CROSSOVER KING trademark through the internet, magazine
advertising, street marketing, trade shows and sponsorship of
sports-related events. According to plaintiffs, beginning in June
1997, Christian Sidney, on behalf of SB Designs, pitched the
CROSSOVER KING concept to Reebok. SB Designs hoped that Reebok
would use the CROSSOVER KING concept in conjunction with
professional basketball player Allen Iverson ("Iverson"), who has
an endorsement agreement with Reebok. In response to his first
letters to Henry Que Gaskins, Reebok's brand manager of Allen
Iverson apparel, and Paul Fireman, then-chief executive officer
and president of Reebok, Christian Sidney received a letter from
Reebok's Idea Submissions Coordinator, Kim Lessow, indicating
that Reebok could not consider SB Design's idea unless SB Designs
signed Reebok's Idea Submissions Guidelines Form. Although SB Designs did not sign the guidelines form, Maurice
Sidney and/or Gary Sidney met with Reebok sale representative
Alonzo Alexander on three occasions, and Diego Ross, Reebok's
urban marketing manager, on one occasion. Further correspondence
ensued, and on March 3, 1998, Christian Sidney, on behalf of SB
Designs, allegedly sent CROSSOVER KING promotional art pieces to
Gaskins, Fireman, and Peter Roby, Reebok's brand director of
basketball. Roby declined interest and returned the art pieces,
and Heather Snow, Reebok's legal manager of intellectual
property, indicated that Reebok would not consider SB Designs'
CROSSOVER KING concept, and returned the art pieces.
Gaskins, however, allegedly called Christian Sidney on March
17, 1998, indicating that he wanted to explore discussions about
using the CROSSOVER KING concept in Reebok's (Allen) Iverson 13
Apparel line, and that there was also great potential for a
related CROSSOVER QUEEN concept. On September 22, 1998, Gaskins
informed Christian Sidney that they could not move forward until
Reebok's new chief executive officer gave direction. On December
17, 1998, Christian Sidney contacted Reebok's new chief executive
officer directly to pitch the CROSSOVER KING and CROSSOVER QUEEN
concepts. Reebok's idea submissions coordinator responded that
the Idea Submissions Guideline Form had to be signed before
Reebok would consider SB Design's idea. Again, SB Designs did not
sign the document.
In early 1999, Gaskins indicated that Reebok was planning to
move forward with the Iverson 13 Apparel line concept (presumably
without SB Designs), after which SB Designs broke off its contact
with Reebok. Gaskins never returned the CROSSOVER KING and
CROSSOVER QUEEN promotional art pieces that were sent by
Christian Sidney. Plaintiffs allege that in 1997 Reebok aired a television
commercial on the BET television network showing Iverson
performing a crossover dribble, "then the commercial flashed to a
crown with the number 3 enclosed, indicating that Iverson was the
`Crossover King.'" Plaintiffs also allege that in 2002 they
discovered two television commercials featuring Iverson and
rapper Jada Kiss. According to plaintiffs, one of these
commercials "indirectly insinuated that Allen Iverson was the
Crossover King," and the other "insinuated that Allen Iverson was
the Crossover King."
In March 1999, SB Designs allegedly discovered various internet
sites that promoted Iverson, Reebok and the 13 Apparel line using
the CROSSOVER KING trademark. In September 2000, SB Designs
discovered the website of Crossover Promotions, Iverson's
promotional company.*fn3 Plaintiffs allege that the website
is sponsored by Reebok, and that Crossover Promotions is actively
attempting to position and promote Iverson as the so-called
"Crossover King." Plaintiffs also allege that numerous other
third-party websites have promoted Iverson and sold Reebok
merchandise in conjunction with the use of the phrase "Crossover
King." For example, plaintiffs claim that in 2000 and early 2001
a website called the "Allen Iverson Chamber" featured Iverson and
Reebok merchandise and used the phrase "Crossover King." They
also claim that other websites contained material that infringed
the CROSSOVER KING marks. In addition, Plaintiffs allege that
Iverson retained Reebok to coordinate the marketing and promotion
of Iverson's name, including use of the crossover concept.
Moreover, according to the second amended complaint, the
Crossover Promotions name and image is confusingly similar to the
CROSSOVER KING trademark. Based on these allegations, plaintiffs seek damages and
injunctive relief under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1114 and
1125, against Reebok (Count I) and Crossova Productions (Count
III), and under the Illinois Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices
Act, 815 ILCS 510/1 et seq., against Reebok (Count II). Reebok
originally filed the instant motion as a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to
dismiss on April 23, 2004. The court converted it to a Rule 56
motion for summary judgment.
A movant is entitled to summary judgment under Rule 56 when the
moving papers and affidavits show there is no genuine issue of
material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter
of law. See Fed.R. Civ. P. 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett,
477 U.S. 317, 322 (1986); Unterreiner v. Volkswagen of America,
Inc., 8 F.3d 1206, 1209 (7th Cir. 1993). Once a moving party has
met its burden, the nonmoving party must go beyond the pleadings
and set forth specific facts showing there is a genuine issue for
trial. See Fed.R. Civ. P. 56(e); Becker v. Tenenbaum-Hill
Assoc., Inc., 914 F.2d 107, 110 (7th Cir. 1990). The court
considers the record as a whole and draws all reasonable
inferences in the light most favorable to the party opposing the
motion. See Fisher v. Transco Services-Milwaukee, Inc.,
979 F.2d 1239, 1242 (7th Cir. 1992).
A genuine issue of material fact exists when "the evidence is
such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the
nonmoving party." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc, 477 U.S. 242,
248 (1986); Stewart v. McGinnis, 5 F.3d 1031, 1033 (7th Cir.
1993). However, the nonmoving party "must do more than simply
show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts." Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio
Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586 (1986). "The mere existence of a
scintilla of evidence in support of the [nonmoving party's]
position will be insufficient; there must be evidence on which
the jury could reasonably find for the [nonmoving party]."
Anderson, 477 U.S. at 252.
Reebok advances two main arguments in support of its motion:
(1) plaintiffs fail to allege that Reebok itself used plaintiffs'
putative trademarks; and (2) plaintiffs fail to produce evidence
that Reebok is secondarily liable for the allegedly infringing
actions of Crossover Promotions or the third-party websites.
I. Lanham Act Claim (Count I)
A. Reebok's alleged direct infringement
Trademark infringement may occur when one either uses or
reproduces a registered mark in advertisement of goods or
services that is likely to cause confusion.
15 U.S.C. § 1114(1)(a), (b). As Reebok points out, and the Lanham Act makes
clear, liability attaches under sections 1114 and 1125 of the
Lanham Act only when an unauthorized person or entity uses
another's trademark, or reproduces, counterfeits, copies, or
colorably imitates another's trademark. The second amended
complaint alleges three instances of directly infringing conduct
by Reebok: (1) the 1997 BET commercial; and (2) the two
commercials featuring Iverson and Jada Kiss, which allegedly
aired in 2002. Plaintiffs, however, do not allege that Reebok
ever used or imitated the CROSSOVER KING marks in its
commercials. Plaintiffs do not provide any evidence of Reebok's use of plaintiffs' marks, and they do not dispute
Reebok's argument in its motion that the alleged conduct does not
constitute direct infringement by Reebok. The court therefore
grants Reebok's motion for summary judgment with respect to the
theory of direct infringement as set forth in Count I.
B. Reebok's alleged secondary liability
The heart of the dispute between the parties centers on
Reebok's alleged secondary liability for the alleged infringement
by third-parties Crossover Promotions and various other websites.
A party that does not directly infringe on another's mark may be
found secondarily liable for the infringement, under either a
contributory or vicarious theory of liability. Hard Rock Café
Licensing Corp. v. Concession Services Inc., 955 F.2d 1143
(7th Cir. 1992). If the court finds there are genuine issues
of material fact as to either theory, summary judgment is
inappropriate. Reebok does not argue the alternative ground that
there was no infringement by third parties. For the purposes of
the pending motion only, the court will assume that Crossover
Promotions and the third-party websites infringed plaintiffs'
marks.*fn4 As set forth below, however, the court finds that
the undisputed facts entitle Reebok to judgment regarding both
theories with respect to both Crossover Promotions and the third
party websites. The court, therefore, grants Reebok's motion for
summary judgment with respect to secondary liability as set forth
in Count I. Vicarious liability
The Seventh Circuit has recognized that a joint tortfeasor may
bear vicarious liability for trademark infringement by another.
David Berg & Co. v. Gatto Int'l Trading Co., 884 F.2d 306
(7th Cir. 1989). This theory of liability "requires a finding
that the defendant and the infringer have an apparent or actual
partnership, have authority to bind one another in transactions
with third parties or exercise joint ownership or control over
the infringing product." Hard Rock Café, 955 F.2d at 1150.
Hard Rock Café held that a flea market owner could not be
vicariously liable for infringing acts by vendors who rented
space in the market, noting that the owner did not hire the
vendors, take a portion of their sales, or exercise control over
them beyond that exercised by a landlord. 955 F.2d at 1150. In
the instant case, the issue is whether there is a genuine issue
of material fact regarding the relationship between Reebok and
Crossover Promotions and/or the third party websites.
Plaintiffs make multiple claims that there was a business
relationship between Reebok and Crossover Promotions, Iverson's
promotional company, and that Reebok "allowed, encouraged, and
ratified" the actions of Iverson and Crossover Productions.
Reebok argues that there is no evidence of an agency,
partnership, or other relevant relationship between Reebok and
Crossover Promotions, and therefore Reebok cannot be vicariously
liable. The court agrees, for the reasons stated herein, that
plaintiffs fail to raise a genuine issue of material fact as to
the existence of a relationship between Crossover Promotions and
Reebok that would expose Reebok to vicariously liability under
the standard expressed in Hard Rock Café.
Reebok does not deny there it has a history of prior dealings
with Crossover Promotions. Despite plaintiffs' claim, however,
Lynch did not testify at his deposition that Crossover Promotions and Reebok had a "close relationship." Rather, Lynch
testified that at one time Reebok did allow Crossover Promotions
to sell Reebok products over the Crossover Promotions website. It
is undisputed that Reebok has sponsored Crossover Promotions'
Celebrity Summer Classic softball and basketball games in past
years. Lynch, however, denied in his affidavit and at his
deposition that there is, or ever was, a business relationship or
contract between the two entities, and plaintiffs presented no
evidence to refute this claim. The mere existence of a
relationship of some kind between Crossover Promotions, which is
connected to Iverson, and Reebok, which has an endorsement deal
with Iverson, does not render Reebok vicariously liable for the
actions of Crossover Promotions.
The court notes that plaintiffs concede that they present no
evidence of vicarious liability, but argue that they are entitled
to further discovery on the issue of the precise nature of the
relationship between Reebok and Crossover Promotions and/or
Iverson. Plaintiffs speculate that the endorsement agreement
between Reebok and Iverson (the "Agreement") may contain evidence
of such a relationship with Crossover Promotions. Reebok attached
a copy of the Agreement to its motion to dismiss that was heavily
redacted but contained paragraph 13.13, a statement that the
Agreement does not constitute a partnership, joint venture, or
employer-employee relationship between Iverson and Reebok. Lynch
testified in his affidavit that Crossover Promotions is not a
party to the Agreement. Plaintiffs present no evidence in
Plaintiffs never made a formal discovery request or other
motion to obtain an unredacted copy of the Agreement, but this is
not the first time plaintiffs have raised the issue of the
Agreement. Plaintiffs filed two Rule 56(f) affidavits reciting a
need for an unredacted copy in order to respond to Reebok's motion. The first was filed on June
7, 2004, in anticipation of the court's conversion of the motion
to dismiss, and the second affidavit, which was similar to the
first, was attached to plaintiffs' response to the instant motion
filed on August 6, 2004. Plaintiffs also aired their desire for
an unredacted copy in open court at a status conference hearing
on June 10, 2004, and again during Lynch's deposition on July 19,
A party in need of additional discovery must bring the issue
before the court in a timely and expeditious manner. Kalis v.
Colgate-Palmolive Co., 231 F.3d 1049, 1058 (7th Cir. 2000).
A plaintiff cannot continue to delay a summary judgment motion
for lack of discovery after being granted time to pursue the
purportedly necessary discovery. See Woods v. City of
Chicago, 234 F.3d 979, 990-91 (2000).*fn5 Reebok filed its
motion to dismiss on April 23, 2004, with a heavily redacted copy
of the Agreement attached. It was then plaintiffs' prerogative
whether to file any follow-up discovery requests, and they had
the burden to do so in a timely fashion. After the first 56(f)
affidavit was filed, and the motion was converted on June 10,
2004, Plaintiffs were given until July 16, 2004, to respond, and
then granted two extensions, to August 6, 2004. Plaintiffs never
brought the issue formally before the court.
Under Rule 56(f), a nonmoving party may submit an affidavit
requesting a continuance if further discovery is needed to oppose
a motion for summary judgment. Fed.R. Civ.P 56(f). The plain
language and purpose of the rule dictate that such affidavits are
to be filed before the response to summary judgment, not as an
attachment to the response, at which point a continuance is moot.
For these reasons, plaintiffs' second 56(f) affidavit is of no
significance to their response to the summary judgment motion. Further,
plaintiffs' speculation as to the contents of the Agreement is
nugatory because an unredacted copy is not before the court by
plaintiffs' own doing. While the court must accept any reasonable
inference against the movant on summary judgment, it need not
accord weight to pure speculation. Fed.R. Civ. P. 56(c);
Stop-N-Go of Madison, Inc. v. Uno-Ven Co., 184 F.3d 672
(7th Cir. 1999). The court, therefore, will consider the
record as it stands, which contains no triable issue of Reebok's
vicarious liability for the acts of Crossover Promotions.
Reebok also argues that it is not vicariously liable for the
allegedly infringing acts of several other third-party websites.
Plaintiffs attach various screen shots and print-outs of several
allegedly infringing websites, but these exhibits show no
indication that the websites are owned by, endorsed by, or
otherwise affiliated with Reebok. In general, the websites
contain what appear to be comments and postings by basketball
fans about Iverson and other players, and some of the websites
offer Reebok shoes and apparel for sale. There is no evidence
that Reebok supplied the products for sale on the websites, or
permitted the sales or the use of Reebok's tradename or logos.
Lynch stated in his affidavit that at no time has Reebok
authorized, licensed, permitted, or encouraged the use of
Reebok's trademarks, trade name, service marks, or trade dress on
any of the websites cited by plaintiffs. Plaintiffs do not refute
this claim, and thus create no triable issue as to whether there
is a relationship between Reebok and these websites that would
subject Reebok to vicarious liability.
For the reasons stated above, the court grants summary judgment
with respect to the vicarious liability theory as set forth in
Count I in connection with both Crossover Promotions and the
third-party websites. Contributory liability
Even if the court finds Reebok is not vicariously liable,
plaintiffs argue, Reebok is still liable under the theory of
contributory liability. Contributory liability for infringement
attaches when the defendant either intentionally induces a third
party to infringe the plaintiff's mark or supplies a product to a
third party with actual or constructive knowledge that the
product is being used to infringe the mark. Inwood Laboratories,
Inc. v. Ives Laboratories, Inc., 456 U.S. 844, 853-54 (1982);
Hard Rock Café, 955 F.2d at 1150 (applying the Inwood
Laboratories standard). Plaintiffs allege only the latter basis
for contributory infringement liability and therefore must prove
that Reebok supplied a product to third parties with actual or
constructive knowledge that the product was being used to
infringe the CROSSOVER KING marks. Inwood Laboratories,
456 U.S. at 854. The Seventh Circuit has clearly held that a supplier
has no affirmative duty to seek out and prevent trademark
violations, but has a duty only to understand what a reasonably
prudent person would understand Hard Rock Café,
955 F.2d at 1149. The court is thus left to consider two issues on
plaintiffs' contributory infringement causes of action: (1)
whether Reebok supplied a product to third parties that was used
by third parties to infringe plaintiffs' marks; and (2) whether
Reebok had actual or constructive knowledge of the
Plaintiffs point to only one instance involving an actual
product. It is a t-shirt advertising the 2001 Celebrity Summer
Classic, allegedly for sale on the Crossover Promotions website,
that features the "RBK" logo of one of Reebok's product lines on
the sleeve, and a logo for the Celebrity Summer Classic on the
front. Although plaintiffs allege that the Celebrity Summer Classic logo infringes plaintiffs' mark, the logo bears little
resemblance to the CROSSOVER KING mark, and is markedly different
from Crossover Promotions' general logo.*fn7 Again, for the
purposes of this motion only, the court will assume that the
Celebrity Summer Classic logo infringes plaintiffs' mark.
Assuming infringement, this t-shirt satisfies the requirement
that the infringement involve a defendant-supplier's product, as
evidenced by Reebok's mark on the shirt sleeve. Plaintiffs fail,
however, to provide any evidence that the shirt was supplied to
Crossover Promotions by Reebok, rather than purchased or received
from another source.
Even assuming the t-shirt was supplied by Reebok, plaintiffs
present no evidence that Reebok was "allowing Crossover
Promotions to manufacturer products bearing Crossover Promotions'
and Reebok's marks in conjunction," as plaintiffs claim. Further,
plaintiffs offer no evidence regarding how and when the Celebrity
Summer Classic logo was placed on the shirt. There is no evidence
that Lynch or anyone at Reebok visited the Crossover Promotions
website, or otherwise inspected Crossover Promotions' promotional
material or merchandise. Plaintiffs therefore fail to identify a
triable issue as to whether Reebok knew or should have known that
the allegedly infringing mark would be affixed to the product, if
it was indeed supplied by Reebok.
The bulk of allegedly infringing incidents cited by plaintiffs
are not related to infringing products allegedly supplied by
Reebok. Rather, plaintiffs' allegations are centered on the sale
of Reebok shoes and apparel on the Crossover Promotions website,
which displays Crossover Promotions' allegedly infringing mark, and Reebok's sponsorship
of the Celebrity Summer Classic, which was advertised with
Crossover Promotions' allegedly infringing mark. Plaintiffs point
to an "Itinerary" for the 2004 Celebrity Summer Classic that was
allegedly posted on the Crossover Promotions website. The "RBK"
logo appears on the last page of the three page document along
with the logos of six other sponsors, and "RBK" appears twice in
the text as a sponsor. Reebok concedes that in addition to
sponsoring the event, it provided shoes and apparel for the
tournament, but plaintiffs do not present any evidence that these
Reebok products, other than the t-shirt discussed above, were
affixed with an allegedly infringing logo.
Plaintiffs appear to argue two bases for Reebok's contributory
liability for Crossover Promotions' allegedly infringing actions.
First, that a non-infringing supplier is contributorily liable if
the product it supplies is associated in some way with an
infringing product that the supplier did not supply. Second, that
sponsors of an event who supply products for the event, without
more, are contributorily liable for infringement committed by the
event's promoters or organizers. To accept either argument
requires a significant expansion of this theory of liability,
which is unwarranted under the instant facts. Plaintiffs cite to
Hard Rock Café as their only supporting authority without
elaboration, but they are in fact arguing for a substantial
expansion of the Seventh Circuit's contributory liability theory.
Hard Rock Café does extend the contributory liability
doctrine of Inwood Laboratories beyond the
manufacturer-distributor context. 955 F.2d at 1149. The expansion
of the "product" requirement for contributory infringement,
however, is more limited than plaintiffs suggest. The Seventh
Circuit's expansion of contributory liability is premised on a
defendant's direct control and monitoring of the instrumentality
used by a third party to infringe the plaintiff's mark. Hard Rock Café, 955 F.2d at 1149; see also Lockheed Martin Corp.
v. Network Solutions, Inc., 194 F.3d 980, 984 (9th Cir.
1999) (suggesting the contributory liability theory could be
applied to the internet if there was evidence of monitoring and
control). Reebok asserts that it exercises no control over any of
Crossover Promotions' conduct or materials, as Lynch testified in
his affidavit and his deposition. Plaintiffs dispute this
assertion, but present no evidence in support of their claim.
Therefore, an extension of the doctrine beyond "products" is not
warranted in the instant case because there is no evidence from
which a reasonable jury could infer that Reebok controlled or
monitored the contents of the Crossover Promotions website or the
promotional material related to the Celebrity Summer Classic.
Plaintiffs' argument that Reebok is contributorily liable for
the content of other third-party websites is less developed than
its arguments regarding Crossover Promotions' conduct, and
therefore even less persuasive. Several of the websites cited by
plaintiffs contain fan messages and postings that refer to
Iverson and other basketball players as a "crossover king," or
otherwise use the phrase "crossover king."*fn8 One of the
websites also offers Reebok sneakers and apparel for
sale.*fn9 Another displays the text "Allen Iverson
Crossover King" and images of a Reebok logo and an unidentified
basketball player performing a crossover dribble.*fn10
Plaintiffs do not explain how these websites infringe their mark.
More significantly, plaintiffs present no evidence that Reebok
sponsored or was in any way associated with any of the websites
attached as exhibits. Plaintiffs also present no evidence that Reebok
provided any products sold or displayed on any of the websites.
Plaintiffs argue that they need more discovery to determine
whether Reebok has sponsored third-party websites. As with the
Agreement, plaintiffs recited this need in both of their 56(f)
affidavits, but did not take advantage of the ample time provided
to take any relevant discovery. This is the same argument
plaintiffs advanced regarding their lack of evidence of vicarious
liability, and it fails again here for the reasons set forth
above. The court, therefore, will consider the record as it
stands, which contains no evidence from which a reasonably jury
could find Reebok's contributory liability for the acts of
third-party websites.
For the reasons stated above, the court grants Reebok's motion
for summary judgment with respect to the contributory liability
theory as set forth in Count I with respect both Crossover
Promotions and the third-party websites.
II. Illinois Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Claim (Count
Where a plaintiff's factual allegations under the Illinois
Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act also form the basis for
plaintiff's claim under the Lanham Act, the legal inquiry is the
same under both statutes. Claims for unfair competition and
deceptive business practices brought under Illinois statutes are
to be resolved according to the principles set forth under the
Lanham Act. Gimix, Inc. v. JS & A Group, Inc., 699 F.2d 901,
908 (7th Cir. 1983). Illinois courts look to federal case law
and apply the same analysis to state infringement claims. Spex,
Inc. v. Joy of Spex, Inc., 847 F. Supp 567, 579 (N.D. Ill 1994)
(dismissing claims under the Illinois Uniform Deceptive Trade
Practices Act and the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act). Because the court grants summary
judgment for defendant Reebok with respect to all portions of
Count I, the court also grants summary judgment as to Count II.
For the reasons stated herein, Reebok's motion for summary
judgment is granted as to Counts I and II. Plaintiffs are
directed to appear for a report on status as to defendant
Crossova Productions on October 13, 2004, at 9:00 a.m.
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text:
Alternative Titles
Synonyms: Namaiki Seitokai wa Tsugou no Ii Kanojo
Japanese: 生イキ生徒会は都合のいい彼女〈パートナー〉
Type: Novel
Volumes: 1
Chapters: Unknown
Status: Finished
Published: May 16, 2014
Authors: Aiuchi, Nano (Story), Cocoa (Art)
Serialization: None
Score: N/A1 (scored by 0 users)
1 This score is not weighted. Please note that 'Not yet published' titles are excluded.
Ranked: N/A2
2 based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity: #33335
Members: 21
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
It's A Mild Chili!
Total Time
Prep 25 mins
Cook 20 mins
Steam does not come out of your ears! Your sinuses do not open in a flood! (just a little clearing :)) And say goodbye to Heartburn! It's a definite comfort food for a cold Autumn or Winter's day. It's the chili recipe I grew up with. I know many think the spicier the better. I guess I'm just not one of those people. Too much spice and I reach for Tums :( BTW In my opinion, the V-8 juice is the better choice.
Ingredients Nutrition
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 1 small onion, cubed
- 1 can tomato soup
- 1 can water
- 2 cans chili beans, with sauce (mild or hot)
- 1 cup V8 vegetable juice or 1 cup tomato juice
- 1 can diced tomatoes or 1 can chopped tomatoes or 1 can stewed tomatoes
- salt and pepper
- Brown beef and onions.
- Add rest of ingredients.
- Simmer 20 minutes.
- NOTE: Tastes better the next day.
- The ingredients have time to meld together.
Most Helpful
I tried this recipe and it was very good and easy to make!! I used one can on chili beans (mild) and one can of kidney beans. I had gall bladder surgery and the doctor said to stay away for grease, fats and spices and I was so tired of chicken that I thought I would try this and it was great!! It did not upset me at all!! When I had left overs I fixed some pasta and put the chili over it and it was very good too!! Thanks for the recipe Kris!!!!
This chili was really easy to make and tasted good. I made a few changes to it due to available ingredients. Instead of V8 juice I used one small can of tomato sauce and 1/2 cup water. I added about 1/8th teaspoon of Mexican Chili Powder and used diced tomatoes with chilies instead of diced tomatoes. My husband liked it too.


text:
|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|May 15, 1984
|Filing date
|May 29, 1979
|Priority date
|Sep 16, 1976
|Publication number
|Jerome J. Cuomo, Thomas H. DiStefano, Jerry M. Woodall
|Original Assignee
|International Business Machines Corporation
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (7), Non-Patent Citations (8), Referenced by (10), Classifications (9), Legal Events (1)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
This is a continuation, of application Ser. No. 723,857 filed Sept. 16, 1976 (now abandoned).
The efficiency of conversion of photon energy into thermal energy is dependent upon the relationship of the portion of the photon energy absorbed to the portion of heat that is emitted or reflected. Metals which have good thermal properties, absorb or are non-transparent at essentially all wavelengths, while at the same time they also reflect much of the energy in which they are exposed. Generally, highly reflective surfaces have both low absorbtivity and low emissivity. Since absorbtivity and emissivity are interrelated, the art thus far has developed long the lines of multilayered structures wherein one layer has one desirable property and another layer another desirable property. An example of such structure is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,920,413. Such structures however, are subject to structural limitations in that the effect of one layer may interfere with the optimum benefit from another. Further, the manufacture of multilayered structures frequently involves many processing considerations in fabrication.
The invention involves a reflectivity control surface region for photon absorbing materials such that the reflection from the photon absorbing material surface is attenuated and reflected by the operation of the criteria selected of the radiation control surface region contour so that the net reflection effect is sharply curtailed. Anodically oxidized tungsten with a particular type of rough surface can meet the criteria of the invention so that a superior photon absorber and a superior converter of solar energy into heat results.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,698 a new surface is provided which is a geometric maze of aligned needle-like protrusions with dimensions and spacing related to visible light wavelength. The material of U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,698 provides a most efficient photon energy absorber than has been seen heretofore in the art and when the reflectivity control surface region is applied thereto an even more improved photon energy absorber is produced that can absorb 99.94% of incident light at a particular wavelength.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the optical operation of the invention.
FIG. 2 is a photomicrograph of a hillock-type of tungsten surface.
FIG. 3 is a photomicrograph of a dendritic-type of tungsten surface.
FIG. 4 is a plot of light wavelength vs. reflectance illustrating the effect of the invention on three types of surfaces.
FIG. 5 is a plot of light wavelength vs. reflectance illustrating the effect of the invention on reflectance for several angles of incidence of the light.
FIG. 6 is a plot of thickness of surface region of tungsten oxide on tungsten vs. wavelength at the maximum of the absorption.
The efficiency of conversion of light energy into heat may be expressed as: ##EQU1##
Referring to FIG. 1, a schematic view is presented showing the effect of the invention on the absorption and reflection of light. In FIG. 1, a radiation control surface region 1 is shown as an optically transparent material for the desired wavelength having a surface 2 parallel to the surface 3 of the photon absorbing material and having a thickness 4 related to the wavelength of the incident light. The optical and physical specifications of the reflection control surface region are interrelated as is set forth below.
For purposes of definition reflection means energy that impinges and is returned without entering the material in contrast to reradiation where the energy enters the material and by virtue of a change in temperature of the material energy is emitted by the material.
In FIG. 1 the light striking the surface 2 has an initial reflectivity component 5 and a series of decreasing subsequent components, three of which are illustrated as elements 6, 7, and 8. In operation, the light reflected from the surface 3 is enhanced or diminished by interference with the light returning from surface 2 from a previous reflection.
The following description is set forth using an oxide of a metal photon absorber material as an illustration although it will be apparent in the light of the principles described that coatings other than oxides as well as materials other than the composition of the base metal may be provided to achieve the desired properties.
In FIG. 1 the first reflection coefficient (element 5) may be expressed as follows: ##EQU2## where r1 is air-to-oxide reflectivity, and
No is the index of refraction of the oxide.
Similarly the reflection coefficient of (element 6) may be expressed by Equation 3. ##EQU3## where r2 is oxide-to-metal reflectivity.
Nm is index of refraction of metal.
km is extinction coefficient of the metal.
i is √-1.
Thus the relationship of reflection coefficients for the components 5, 6, 7 and 8, etc. is as follows:
6=r2 (1-r1)2
7=r2 2 r1 (1-r1)2
8=r2 3 r1 2 (1-r1)2
Hence the reflectivity of the control surface 1 is as expressed in Equation 4 ##EQU4## where d is the thickness 4 and,
λ is the wavelength, and
| | indicate absolute values. ##EQU5##
This is approximately ##EQU6##
For applications involving the conversion of solar energy into heat the desired reflectivity at minimum wavelength (λ MIN) should be less than 0.05.
The desirable goal is for RTOTAL to be as small as possible and the reflectivity of the surface 2 is nearly equal to the reflectivity of the surface 3.
The criteria for a radiation control surface region 1 for a desired wavelength may be expressed as follows: ##EQU7##
In essence as may be seen from Equation 7, the criteria of the reflection control surface region of the invention operate to equate the effect of the reflection components of surface 3 with that of the initial reflection of the incident light from surface 2.
The thickness d (element 4 in FIG. 1) enters in two ways. It is part of the calculations of Equation 4 establishing the desired reflectivity at the wavelength of the minimum, and then as will be described in FIG. 6, it permits movement of the wavelength minimum.
In such a relationship it is apparent that a desirable goal is to absorb all radiation in the desired band of wavelength, to reflect all undesired wavelengths, and to keep the desired wavelength energy that is reflected to a minimum. This is done in accordance with the invention by providing wavelength selective reflection control surface region at the surface of a photon absorbing material such that the air-to-region 1 reflectivity, thickness, and contour; the index of refraction of region 1; and the index of and extinction coefficient of the photon absorber material all interact to curtail the light reflected from the photon absorbing material.
The surface contour is best chosen to be rough or textured such that light which is incident normal to the surface must substantially undergo more than one reflection before it can escape from the surface. This roughened or textured surface, in combination with the reflection control layer, produces an absorptance which is greater and which covers a larger band of wavelength than a simple anti-reflective coating on a smooth metal. For example, an anti-reflective coating on a smooth metal has a reflectance of PTOTAL which varies with wavelength, while an anti-reflective coating on a roughened or textured surface, in which light suffers two bounces before being returned, has a reflectance of RTOTAL 2, which is less than RTOTAL.
The reflection control region may be contrasted with passivating coatings by the fact that in the passivating coating the primary concern is chemical protection of inertness and therefore the choice of materials is directed at this purpose.
Referring next to FIGS. 2 and 3 there are shown photomicrographs of tungsten surfaces having respectively increasing degrees of absorptivity. The surface of FIG. 2 is known as a hillock surface well known in the art and the surface of FIG. 3 is known as a dendritic surface as set forth in the referenced U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,698. Both surfaces are prepared by the technique of Chemical Vapor Deposition, well known in the art. The hillock structure is much thinner than the dendritic structure and hence is less expensive. The degree of magnification is shown on the photomicrograph. The radiation control surface region of the invention when fabricated in connection with surfaces such as the surfaces of the type of FIGS. 2 and 3 and with a flat surface not illustrated results in an abrupt decrease in total reflectivity for a particular wavelength which is selectable in accordance with the criteria set forth above.
This is illustrated in the graph of FIG. 4 wherein Total Reflectance for normally incident light is plotted against wavelength in microns. Three curves are shown. A dotted curve is shown for flat tungsten, a dashed curve is for hillock material in FIG. 2 and the solid curve is for the dendritic material in FIG. 3. It should be noted that the radiation control surface region in accordance with the invention produces a peak in absorption in the vicinity of 0.62 microns. This wavelength is accepted in the art as being at or near the peak in solar emissivity. From the logrithmic scale of FIG. 4 it may be seen that the dendritic material of FIG. 3 when provided with the radiation control surface region of the invention absorbs 99.94% of the incident light at 0.55 microns.
Referring next to FIG. 5 the effect of the invention for varying directions of incident light on a dendritic surface is shown.
In the graph of FIG. 5 total reflectivity is plotted against wavelength in nanometers for 0�, 20�, 40�, 60� and 80� angle of incidence of light. In each instance the absorption peak appears at approximately the same wavelength.
In accordance with the invention, fabrication of the reflection control surface region 1 of FIG. 1 is accomplished by providing the region 1 material contoured to the surface configuration of the photon absorbing material, with the desired parameters which are: the reflection coefficient from the surface 2 of the region 1 material is approximately equal to the reflection coefficient of the interface 3 between the photon absorbing material and region 1. These reflectivity coefficients are related to the index of refraction of region 1 material, the index of refraction of the photon absorbing material, and the extinction coefficient of the photon absorbing material. These are well established parameters in the art and are available in most standard handbooks. In order to enable one skilled in the art to minimize experimentation however, a set of specific values for equations 2-7 are provided in the Table 1 for the material WO3 as the radiation control surface region 1 on dendritic W as shown in FIG. 3.
TABLE 1______________________________________ W WO3 W--WO3______________________________________m 3.43 2.26 --k 2.96 0.0 --|r1 | -- -- 0.386|r2 | -- -- 0.496||r1 |-|r2 |.vertline.2 -- -- 0.012______________________________________
The fabrication of the radiation control surface region 1 is particularly adaptable to processes that form chemical compounds of the photon absorber material. Such processes use the material of the photon absorber material as one component, form in a conformal contour with the surface and are generally easily controllable for the desired thickness range of the surface control region. Some examples of such processes are anodization or oxidation, nitridation and carburization. One particularly controllable fabrication approach is the technique of anodization where the material of the photon absorber and the region formed so permit in accordance with the criteria of the invention set forth above. In this technique an oxide is frequently formed that limits current flow so that thickness of the region is precisely correlated with voltage. Some metals forming advantageous oxides useful in accordance with the invention are W, Mo, Hf, V, Ta and Nb.
Again in order to facilitate the practice of the invention, Table 2 sets forth the relationship between the thickness dimension 4 of FIG. 1 and anodization voltage for the material WO3 on W.
TABLE 2______________________________________VOLTAGE THICKNESSIn Volts In μm______________________________________20 0.03525 0.04530 0.05535 0.06540 0.075______________________________________
As an illustration of the spectacular advantages of the invention the following test results of a particular embodiment are provided.
A hillock tungsten surface as illustrated in FIG. 2 was anodized in a phosphoric acid bath at a voltage of 30 V. In this technique the WO3 region stops the anodic reaction at a specific thickness which is controlled by the applied voltage. The rate of "absorptivity" to incident radiation "over" "hemispherical emissivity," in other words, (α/.sub.ε) for this surface at 150� C. is 3.9. In the following table the efficiency as computed by Equation 1 for this surface is compared to that of a standard blackbody for varying temperature.
From the table it may be seen that efficiencies of greater than 50% are realized for temperatures up to 150� C.
One major benefit is that the technique of the invention now makes possible a new photon absorbing material in that antireflective coating benefits may now be imparted to substrates having photon absorbing properties derived from surface irregularities.
For most solar energy conversion applications it is desirable to have photon absorbers which absorb greater than 90% of the solar spectrum. Neither flat metal, rough metal nor simple antireflective coatings thereon can achieve this result. However, in combination with the reflection control surface region of the invention applied to particular types of textured or rough metal surfaces such as tungsten low reflectance over a broad spectral region can be achieved. Textured or roughened surfaces, which normal incident light experiences multiple reflections off the surface of the reflection control layer, have been found to yield the desired absorptance for the solar spectrum. In contrast antireflection coatings on smooth metals have an absorptance which covers only a small portion of the solar spectrum.
While the invention has been shown in connection with a specific embodiment of anodized tungsten it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that in the light of the principles set forth many specific embodiments can be realized.
|Cited Patent
|Filing date
|Publication date
|Oct 9, 1963
|Apr 6, 1965
|Engelhard Ind Inc
|Solar energy collector
|Oct 13, 1965
|Oct 13, 1970
|Westinghouse Electric Corp
|Antireflective coatings for solar cells
|Jun 3, 1971
|Aug 7, 1973
|Us Army
|Energy conversion system
|Apr 25, 1972
|Feb 4, 1975
|Imp Metal Ind Hynoch Limited
|Preparation of oxides
|Feb 13, 1973
|Apr 13, 1976
|Communications Satellite Corporation (Comsat)
|Method of applying an anti-reflective coating to a solar cell
|Oct 18, 1974
|Feb 1, 1977
|International Business Machines Corporation
|Photon energy converter
|Mar 6, 1978
|Oct 23, 1979
|Borg-Warner Corporation
|Coated metal nodule solar heat collector
|Cuomo et al., "A New Concept for Solar Energy Thermal Conversion", Applied Physics Letters, vol. 26, No. 10, May 1975, pp. 557-559.
|Cuomo et al., "Photothermal Device . . . ", IBM Tech. Discl. Bulletin, vol. 18, No. 7, Dec. 1975, p. 2385.
|Cuomo et al., A New Concept for Solar Energy Thermal Conversion , Applied Physics Letters, vol. 26, No. 10, May 1975, pp. 557 559.
|Cuomo et al., Photothermal Device . . . , IBM Tech. Discl. Bulletin, vol. 18, No. 7, Dec. 1975, p. 2385.
|Gittleman, "Application of Granular Semiconductors to Photothermal Conversion . . . ", Applied Phys. Ltrs., vol. 28, No. 7, Apr. 1976, pp. 370-371.
|Gittleman, Application of Granular Semiconductors to Photothermal Conversion . . . , Applied Phys. Ltrs., vol. 28, No. 7, Apr. 1976, pp. 370 371.
|Okuyama, "Dendritic Needles of Tungsten . . . ", Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 14, No. 11, Nov. 1975, pp. 1811-1812.
|Okuyama, Dendritic Needles of Tungsten . . . , Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 14, No. 11, Nov. 1975, pp. 1811 1812.
|Citing Patent
|Filing date
|Publication date
|May 9, 1984
|Jun 4, 1985
|International Business Machines Corporation
|Radiant energy collector having plasma-textured polyimide exposed surface
|Aug 16, 1984
|Mar 4, 1986
|Technion Research And Development Foundation Ltd.
|Method for obtaining a selective surface for collectors of solar and other radiation
|Jul 30, 1984
|May 20, 1986
|Martin Marietta Corporation
|Optically black coating with improved infrared absorption and process of formation
|Oct 30, 1990
|Aug 11, 1992
|International Business Machines Corporation
|Separable electrical connection technology
|Apr 29, 1991
|Feb 9, 1993
|International Business Machines Corporation
|Method of fabricating nendritic materials
|Feb 28, 1992
|Jul 5, 1994
|Martin Marietta Corporation
|Method of forming electrodeposited anti-reflective surface coatings
|Jun 6, 1995
|Dec 29, 1998
|Martin Marietta Corporation
|Substrate coated with highly diffusive metal surface layer
|Dec 18, 1997
|Mar 4, 2003
|Yazaki Corporation
|Antireflection coating
|Jan 22, 2013
|Aug 15, 2013
|Industrial Technology Research Institute
|Apparatus for solar thermal collection and system of the same
|Aug 6, 2015
|Jun 23, 2016
|The University Of North Carolina At Charlotte
|Optical detector based on an antireflective structured dielectric surface and a metal absorber
|U.S. Classification
|359/634, 126/400, 126/908, 359/839
|International Classification
|Cooperative Classification
|European Classification


text:
Lana Grossa SLIP COVER Colorato
FILATI Handstrick No. 62 (Home)
Design 71
600 g of Lana Grossa Colorato (87% pure wool, 13% polyamide; 135 m/50 g) in Yellow/Light Green/Green/Turquoise/Grey-Green (col 1). Size 6 mm crochet hook; wooden cube or foam cube, 49 x 49 x 49 cm
The model packages do not include any needles, buttons and accessoires, but knitting instructions are delivered by email or in printed form without extra costs.
Product recommendation for this model
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text:
Eriocnemis isabellae
|Scope: Global
|Scientific Name:
|Eriocnemis isabellae
|Species Authority:
|Cortés-Diago, Ortega, Mazariegos-Hurtado & Weller, 2007
Common Name(s):
|Taxonomic Source(s):
|del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International.
|Identification information:
|The male is blackish-green, with iridescent blue-green rump and blue-black tail, bluish-violet undertail, and white leg puffs, and differs from other Eriocnemis in having a bicoloured blue-violet and green gorget. Females are similar to E. nigrivestis and E. vestitus but underparts are more intensively fringed rufous with turquoise reflections on the belly centre (Cortés-Diago et al. 2007).
|Red List Category & Criteria:
|Critically Endangered B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii) ver 3.1
|Year Published:
|Date Assessed:
|BirdLife International
|Symes, A.
|Cortés, O. & Salaman, P.
|Sharpe, C J, Symes, A. & Ashpole, J
This recently described species qualifies as Critically Endangered because it is known from a single location and has an extremely small area of occupancy within which habitat quality is continuing to decline owing to conversion for agriculture (particularly coca cultivation).
|Previously published Red List assessments:
|Range Description:
|Eriocnemis isabellae has been recently described from Cauca Department, south-west Colombia, where it occurs in a tiny area of the Serranía del Pinche (Cortés-Diago et al. 2007). Three birds (one male and two females) were mist-netted in 2005 and a total of six further males were caught in 2006 (Cortés-Diago et al. 2007). The global population has not been quantified but is presumably very small given that the area of suitable habitat is thought to be less than 10 km2, and it is suspected to be decreasing as elfin forest habitat is converted for agriculture and illegal coca plantations.
|Countries occurrence:
|Additional data:
|Range Map:
|Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.
|The population has not been quantified, but it is presumably very small given that the area of suitable habitat is thought to be less than 10 km2.
Trend Justification: The population is suspected to be decreasing owing to habitat loss and degradation, however the rate of decline has not been quantified.
|Current Population Trend:
|Additional data:
|Habitat and Ecology:
|It inhabits the cloud and temperate forest zone, within which the species appears to be associated with elfin forest on steep slopes along mountain ridges (Cortés-Diago et al. 2007). Elfin forest at the type locality averages 6-8 m in height with frequent natural clearings and is found at around 2,600-2,900 m (Cortés-Diago et al. 2007).
|Continuing decline in area, extent and/or quality of habitat:
|Generation Length (years):
|Movement patterns:
|Not a Migrant
|Major Threat(s):
|The primary threat is the shifting of the agricultural border towards remaining primary forests, causing a loss of vegetation cover, contamination of watersheds and soil degradation (Cortés-Diago et al. 2007). Illegal coca cultivation is a major threat due to the lack of governmental presence, with 8.3 % of potentially suitable habitat reportedly damaged annually by coca cultivation. The potential completion of a road from El Estrecho in the Patía Valley to Guapi on the Pacific coast would hold serious implications for Serraníadel Pinche (Cortés-Diago et al. 2007).
|Conservation Actions:
Conservation Actions Underway
CITES Appendix II. There is an ongoing conservation plan involving local authorities, community leaders, Ministry of Environment, The Hummingbird Conservancy, Ecohabitats foundation and local residents.
Conservation Actions Proposed
Carry out further studies to determine status and population size. Develop a Species Action Plan. Continue and extend local conservation and education initiatives. Work towards the creation of a protected area in the Serraníadel Pinche.
|BirdLife International. 2015. Eriocnemis isabellae. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T22735457A78802554. . Downloaded on 02 December 2016.
|To make use of this information, please check the <Terms of Use>.
|If you see any errors or have any questions or suggestions on what is shown on this page, please provide us with feedback so that we can correct or extend the information provided


text:
Group Purchasing Organizations:
Services Provided to Customers and Initiatives Regarding Their Business Practices
GAO-10-738: Published: Aug 24, 2010. Publicly Released: Sep 27, 2010.
Additional Materials:
- Highlights Page:
- Full Report:
- Accessible Text:
(202) 512-3000
Office of Public Affairs
(202) 512-4800
Health care providers rely on group purchasing organizations (GPO) to negotiate contracts with vendors of medical products. In 2002, questions were raised about GPOs engaging in potentially anticompetitive business practices such as collecting excessively high contract administrative fees. In 2003, GAO reported that selected GPOs had adopted or revised codes of conduct to respond to the questions about their business practices, but that it was too soon to evaluate the impact of the codes of conduct. GAO was asked to provide information on GPOs. In this report, GAO describes (1) the types of services that GPOs provide and how the GPOs fund these services, (2) initiatives that GPOs have implemented since 2002 to address the questions that had been raised about their business practices, and (3) the reported impact of the GPOs' codes of conduct and other initiatives. To do its work, GAO reviewed GPO documents and collected written responses to structured questions from the six largest GPOs based on their reported 2007 purchasing volume. GAO also conducted follow-up interviews with these six GPOs. GAO interviewed representatives from six GPO customers--hospitals--that varied in size, the GPOs with which they did business, and whether they had an ownership stake in a GPO. GAO also interviewed five medical product vendors of various sizes that do business with GPOs.
The six GPOs in GAO's review reported providing a range of services for their customers and funding these services in two ways. All six GPOs reported offering to their customers the following three services--custom contracting, clinical evaluation and standardization of products, and assessments of new technology. Other GPO services were not provided by all six of the GPOs in our review. For example, five of the six GPOs reported providing their customers with electronic commerce and benchmarking data services. Funding of these services, according to the six GPOs, was either through contract administrative fees received from vendors or by charging customers directly for the service. GPO representatives explained that the level of contract administrative fees collected from vendors can vary depending on the contract negotiated with a vendor. According to the GPOs, the average contract administrative fees paid by vendors in 2008, weighted by purchasing volume, ranged from 1.22 percent of customer purchases to 2.25 percent of purchases. The GPOs in GAO's review reported implementing some new initiatives since 2002. Specifically, the GPOs reported that they have revised their codes of conduct and established a voluntary membership association focused on promoting best practices and public accountability among member GPOs. This association--the Healthcare Group Purchasing Industry Initiative (HGPII)--adopted a set of principles of ethics and business conduct that its GPO members are expected to follow. These include having a written code of business conduct, working toward high quality health care and cost effectiveness, working toward an open and competitive purchasing process, sharing best practices, and being accountable to the public. HGPII members are also required to annually report information on their policies and business practices. The reported impact of GPOs' codes of conduct and other initiatives varied among GPOs, customers, and vendors. All six GPOs reported that their codes of conduct--which include conflicts of interest and other policies--and other initiatives have had impacts on GPO contracting practices, innovative product selection, contract administrative fees, potential conflicts of interest, and the transparency and accountability of GPO business practices. However, the impact of the GPO initiatives reported by representatives of customers and vendors GAO interviewed varied. For example, while some customers and vendors reported that GPOs are operating with greater transparency regarding their contracting practices, most customers and vendors did not comment on an impact associated with GPOs' initiatives to add innovative products to contracts. In commenting on a draft of this report, representatives of the six GPOs and their trade association noted that the report was fair and balanced and most provided technical comments, which we incorporated as appropriate.
Dec 9, 2016
Medicare Value-Based Payment Models:Participation Challenges and Available Assistance for Small and Rural PracticesGAO-17-55: Published: Dec 9, 2016. Publicly Released: Dec 9, 2016.
Prescription Drug Labels:Actions Needed to Increase Awareness of Best Practices for Accessible Labels for Individuals Who are Blind or Visually ImpairedGAO-17-115: Published: Dec 9, 2016. Publicly Released: Dec 9, 2016.
Dec 6, 2016
Nursing Homes:Consumers Could Benefit from Improvements to the Nursing Home Compare Website and Five-Star Quality Rating SystemGAO-17-61: Published: Nov 18, 2016. Publicly Released: Dec 6, 2016.
Nov 17, 2016
Drug Compounding:FDA Has Taken Steps to Implement Compounding Law, but Some States and Stakeholders Reported ChallengesGAO-17-64: Published: Nov 17, 2016. Publicly Released: Nov 17, 2016.
Nov 15, 2016
Highlights of a Forum:Preventing Illicit Drug UseGAO-17-146SP: Published: Nov 14, 2016. Publicly Released: Nov 15, 2016.
Oct 27, 2016
Opioid Addiction:Laws, Regulations, and Other Factors Can Affect Medication-Assisted Treatment AccessGAO-16-833: Published: Sep 27, 2016. Publicly Released: Oct 27, 2016.
Oct 20, 2016
Breast Cancer Education:HHS Has Implemented Initiatives Aimed at Young WomenGAO-17-19: Published: Oct 20, 2016. Publicly Released: Oct 20, 2016.
Oct 17, 2016
Medicare:CMS's Round 2 Durable Medical Equipment and National Mail-order Diabetes Testing Supplies Competitive Bidding ProgramsGAO-16-570: Published: Sep 15, 2016. Publicly Released: Oct 17, 2016.
Oct 13, 2016
Health Care Quality:HHS Should Set Priorities and Comprehensively Plan Its Efforts to Better Align Health Quality MeasuresGAO-17-5: Published: Oct 13, 2016. Publicly Released: Oct 13, 2016.
Oct 6, 2016
Skilled Nursing Facilities:CMS Should Improve Accessibility and Reliability of Expenditure DataGAO-16-700: Published: Sep 7, 2016. Publicly Released: Oct 6, 2016.
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Rajashekhar turned villian with Teja's film
Hero Rajashekhar is now turning as Villian under the direction of Teja's film Aham.He was not doing well since his last films and hence his decision of turning into a villain is a nice thing but we need to wait and see how far he can succeed in this role.
The movie is directed by Teja who is also struggling for good success films. Let us hope this film will be a good comeback for both of them.
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TV/radio: 8 p.m. Saturday; ESPNU, WLS-AM 890.
Records: Notre Dame 18-8, 10-3 Big East; Villanova 11-14, 4-9.
Brian Hamilton's quick look: How Irish's seven-game winning streak holds up on road is a concern. Villanova has quickness and explosive Maalik Wayns (17.8 ppg), who is doubtful with a sprained left knee. The Wildcats have beaten only DePaul, St. John's, Seton Hall and Providence in the league.


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New Jersey Supreme Court
Decided: January 25, 1940.
MARY GUGLIOTTA AND FRANK GUGLIOTTA, PLAINTIFFS-RESPONDENTS,v.GREAT AMERICAN INDEMNITY COMPANY, A CORPORATION, DEFENDANT-APPELLANT
On appeal from the Supreme Court.
For the plaintiffs-respondents, Horace B. Brown.
For the defendant-appellant, Ralph N. Kellam.
[124 NJL Page 117]
The opinion of the court was delivered by
HAGUE, J. This is the defendant's appeal from a judgment entered in the New Jersey Supreme Court (Camden county), in the amount of $3,068.15 damages and costs. The court struck out defendant's answer as insufficient in law.
The plaintiffs held judgments representing their damages for personal injuries arising out of an automobile accident. The present suit is to collect said judgments from the insurer of the tort feasor.
Defendant's answer admits its liability but interposes a defense directed at the amount of one judgment. It is that the judgment should be decreased by $985. The argument is that testimony was offered tending to show that this amount had been incurred for medical and dental expenses to or in behalf of Mary Gugliotta, the wife plaintiff; that the amount of such expenses was not questioned and that the verdict of $3,000 to the husband plaintiff necessarily had included in it this sum; therefore appellant concludes it is now entitled to deduct this sum from the verdict and judgment for the husband. It is said that the item in question for medical services, &c., was not, under the contract of insurance, recoverable by the husband but were proper items to be included in the wife's claim personally. Assuming that the policy did not comprehend this item of damage as recoverable by the husband it is impossible, as the learned trial court held, to say how much of this expense claimed by the husband was included in the round-figure amount of the verdict allowed
[124 NJL Page 118]
the husband by the jury. Perhaps part or none of it was included. It is clear that the amount allowed cannot be dissected and allocated on the pleadings and trial, in a subsequent suit to recover the amount of such judgment, and the court struck out the answer, whereupon plaintiffs had judgment. We find no error in that judicial action. The issue is controlled by Smith v. Phoenix Indemnity Co., 119 N.J.L. 522; 197 A. 15.
The judgment under review will be affirmed.
For affirmance -- THE CHANCELLOR, CHIEF JUSTICE, TRENCHARD, CASE, BODINE, DONGES, HEHER, PERSKIE, PORTER, HETFIELD, DEAR, WELLS, WOLFSKEIL, RAFFERTY, HAGUE, JJ. 15.
For reversal -- None.
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About this recipe: I use this recipe two or three times a week in an effort not to buy shop made bread. The quantity of ingredients in the recipe makes a single 2lb (900g) loaf or two smaller loaves or 12 rolls that are delicious especially with butter and homemade strawberry jam. I often vary the flour types for example, I might reduce the white flour to 250g and add a 100g of multi-grain strong flour and 150g of strong wholemeal flour to make the total flour content 500g. Remember the more wholemeal flour you use you will have to add a little more water to the mix because wholemeal flour absorbs more water than white flour. When you measure the ingredients into the bowl remember to keep the yeast and salt on opposite sides of the bowl. I use olive oil in the recipe.
You can change the flour mix to make a slightly different loaf. For example, if you prefer a white loaf then use only 500g of strong white flour.
I make this loaf twice a week and have had not mishaps or failures. Enjoy. - 15 Jan 2015


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Appeal from the Circuit Court of Cook County, Criminal
Division; the Hon. HERBERT R. FRIEDLUND, Judge, presiding.
Reversed and remanded.
Rehearing denied July 12, 1967.
CHARGE: Possession of narcotic drugs. *fn1
JUDGMENT: A jury found the defendant guilty of the illegal possession of narcotics, and the court entered judgment sentencing the defendant five to ten years in the Illinois Penitentiary.
1) Defendant was denied due process of law when the trial judge refused to hear a petition for substitution of judge and refused to conduct a hearing on the motion.
2) It was reversible error for the trial court to permit two police officers to testify before the jury and give the substance of a conversation they said they had with a special police informer outside the presence of the defendant, in which conversation the informer allegedly told the officers the defendant was selling narcotics.
3) In the argument to the jury the Assistant State's Attorney made an inflammatory and prejudicial argument.
EVIDENCE ON BEHALF OF THE STATE: According to the testimony for the State, on July 9, 1964, at about 1:00 p.m., two Chicago police officers, Ernest B. Jamison and Henry Pates, talked to a man who they said was a "special police informer." The officers testified that the informer told them a man named Travis Trotter was selling narcotics at the corner of 44th and State Streets, and had narcotics on his person at the time. The informer gave them a description of Trotter, and the two officers went to the area where they found Trotter who fitted the description given them.
Officer Jamison testified that he observed that Trotter had a newspaper in his hand; that he saw him shake the newspaper and a package of L & M cigarettes fall from the paper to the ground; that he picked up the package and found six tinfoil packs inside which contained a white powder.
Officer Pates testified that he saw the defendant come out of a tavern, at which time he and Officer Jamison stopped him; that he saw Officer Jamison pick up a cigarette package from the ground, open it and dump the contents into his hand, then place the contents in his pocket. Officer Pates stated that he examined the package and saw six tinfoil packets inside. On cross-examination he testified that he did not see the package thrown, and that there were three or four people at the corner when they saw Trotter. There was necessary proof that the tinfoil packets contained narcotics.
EVIDENCE ON BEHALF OF THE DEFENDANT: The defendant, Travis Trotter, testified in his own behalf that on July 9, 1964, he was standing with ten or eleven other people on the corner of 44th and State Streets when a car drove up; that two of the people standing there started to run, and Officer Jamison and another officer got out of the car and chased them. When Officer Jamison returned he ordered the group to line up against the wall. Trotter testified that he was ordered by a policeman "they called Officer King" to get in the car, which he did. He said that Officer King began to search the gutter and found a cigarette package which he said belonged to the defendant, and that when Officer Pates came back to the car with two hypodermic needles and syringes, the defendant was arrested for possession of narcotics, which he denied. The defendant testified that the police officers were Negroes.
Officer Pates was recalled and testified that Officer King was not present at the time in question; that Officer King is white; and that no hypodermic needles or syringes were found on anyone at the time of defendant's arrest.
OPINION: In this opinion we will discuss only two points raised by the defendant in the appeal: that he was not given a fair trial because of the testimony of Officers Jamison and Pates that they had conversation with a special police informer outside the presence of the defendant, which informer told them the defendant was selling narcotics at the area in question; and that he was prejudiced by the argument of the Assistant State's Attorney.
Officer Jamison had testified that he and Officer Pates talked to a special police informer who told them that Trotter was selling narcotics on the corner of 44th and State Streets and had narcotics on his person at the time, and that the informer described Trotter. No objection was made to the testimony of Officer Jamison. Officer Pates' testimony was substantially the same as that of Officer Jamison, and it was objected to by defendant. The court sustained the objection and ordered Officer Pates' testimony stricken as to what was told him by the informer because it was not in the presence of the defendant. Following that, counsel for Trotter moved for a mistrial, which motion was denied by the court.
It is the law that declarations out of court or statements of any kind by a third person against the accused, made in his absence and without his knowledge, are inadmissible as evidence against him. In People v. Smuk, 12 Ill.2d 360, 146 N.E.2d 32, the court said:
"The rule is elementary and a violation of it is a violation of the constitutional right of the accused that he shall not only be informed of the nature of the charge against him but be permitted to meet the accusing witness face to face."
In that case an objection was made to testimony, and the court said that permitting the hearsay testimony to be received in evidence, with the unqualified sanction of the court's ruling, was highly prejudicial.
While it is true that at the time Officer Jamison was testifying, Trotter's attorney did not make a specific objection to the testimony with reference to the policeman's conversation with the informer, counsel had objected when the witness stated, "My partner and I made numerous narcotic arrests and narcotic investigation." The court ordered that statement stricken, then said, "What he did with reference to this case is what is important." The question was then asked as to the conversation with the informer. When Officer Pates was called and was asked the same question, defendant's counsel properly objected, and the court sustained the objection.
While it is necessary for the defendant to object, during the trial, to the introduction of evidence he considers improper (People v. Williams, 28 Ill.2d 114, 190 N.E.2d 809), in the instant case counsel for Trotter objected to Pates' testimony with reference to the conversation with the informer, which objection was sustained by the court. Immediately thereafter counsel moved for a mistrial, which motion was overruled by the court. However, the State in its argument to the jury, made the following statement:
". . . this case briefly can be described by a person working in this building as a throw away case. It is very common with dope peddlers. You must understand in the world of narcotics what a dope peddler on the street has to go through. . . . You also understand that a dope peddler offender is in constant danger of being arrested with the dope in his possession. It is a risk of being a dope peddler. . . ."
The Assistant State's Attorney argued as though it were proved that Trotter was a dope peddler. Counsel for Trotter did not object until the State's Attorney said,
"Apparently, we don't know why, Trotter either recognized one of the two police officers or he became suspicious, and people like Trotter on the street selling dope can sometimes tell a police officer two blocks away; we don't know why he threw the dope away. . . ."
At that point Trotter's counsel objected and the court overruled the objection. The argument of the Assistant State's Attorney was highly prejudicial. People v. Weinstein, 35 Ill.2d 467, 220 N.E.2d 432; People v. Baxter, 74 Ill. App.2d 437, 221 N.E.2d 16.
In the instant case the evidence of Officer Jamison would not have been properly admitted had there been a proper objection made. The objection is vague. The court properly sustained the objection made to the testimony of Officer Pates; however, the argument of the Assistant State's Attorney is so highly prejudicial that when the court refused to sustain Trotter's objection to it, reversible error was committed.
We will not discuss the other question raised by the defendant with reference to the alleged error in the trial court's not permitting a hearing on the substitution of judges, since the case will be retried, and the question is moot.
The judgment of the Circuit Court is reversed and the cause remanded for a new trial.
Reversed and remanded.
ENGLISH, P.J. and DRUCKER, J., concur.
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