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Nineteenth-Century Abolitionist Literature of Cuba and Brazil
Nineteenth-Century Abolitionist Literature of Cuba and Brazil
The following entry discusses writings by Cuban and Brazilian authors who sought an end to the slave trade and often slavery itself in their countries in the mid- to late-nineteenth century.
Study of nineteenth-century Latin American abolitionist literature has been dominated by scholarship on antislavery sentiment in Cuba and Brazil, which, after the American Civil War, were the last two places in the western hemisphere where slavery was permitted. Even though historians and literary critics have noted the relative paucity of abolitionist literature in Cuba and Brazil, especially in comparison with the huge body of antislavery verse and prose generated in Britain and the United States, most have acknowledged that Cuban and Brazilian abolitionist writers faced far greater resistance to their ideals than their Anglo-Saxon counterparts. Although few contemporary critics have questioned the connection between Latin American antislavery literature and emancipation laws in 1886 and 1888 in Cuba and Brazil, respectively, a lively debate has emerged centering on which works should properly be included in the canon of abolitionist literature itself.
The development of abolitionist literature in Cuba, a Spanish colony until 1898, is almost unanimously credited to the work of Domingo del Monte, a literary critic and editor who, during the 1830s and early 1840s, encouraged and sponsored liberal Cuban authors to write novels expressing sympathy for the plight of the island's large slave population. Of the half-dozen novels dealing with slavery that are remembered today, at least half were written by del Monte's literary disciples, including Félix Tanco y Bosmeniel's Escenas de la vida privada en la Isla de Cuba (written in 1838; published in 1925), Anselmo's Suárez y Romero's Francisco (written in 1839; published in 1880), and Cirilo Villaverde's Cecilia Valdés (written in 1839; published in 1882). All of these works were published abroad, most of them some decades after they were written, and were circulated throughout Cuba only in manuscript form.
Although critics today usually agree that these novels made no outright appeal for the end of slavery, they are divided over how best to explain the relatively benign nature of early Cuban abolitionism. Some critics have noted Spain's tight censorship laws, which made it illegal to criticize slavery; others have argued that most of del Monte's associates were slave-owners themselves who merely wished to end the slave trade or reform the most brutal aspects of slavery. The only novels from this period that denounced Cuban slavery forthrightly were the 1840 Autobiografía of ex-Cuban slave and poet, Juan Francisco Manzano, and Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda's 1841 Sab, each published abroad and both virtually unknown in Cuba until after abolition. By 1844 Cuban abolitionism was forced further underground when a slave conspiracy to overthrow Spanish rule was discovered, its principal supporters executed, and del Monte fled the island, never to return. In the final two decades before Spain formally prohibited slavery in 1886, several important Cuban abolitionist novels were written, most notably Francisco Calcagno's Los crímenes de Concha (written in 1863; published in 1887) and Antonio Zambrano's El negro Francisco (1873). As was the case with the novels associated with del Monte, these later abolitionist texts are cautious in their standing against slavery, their appeals rarely evoking the scenes of brutality widespread in British and North American abolitionist literature, limiting themselves rather to eliciting pity from their readers for the hopeless condition of Cuban slaves yearning for freedom.
Brazilian abolitionist literature did not suffer the same limitations on free expression as it did in Cuba (Brazil became independent of Portugal in 1822), but its own antislavery writings were nevertheless limited by the fact that most of the country's literate population owned slaves and had a vested interest in keeping the institution alive. For the first several decades after independence, nearly all antislavery appeals were found only in newspapers and periodicals, and most of these confined themselves to calling for an end to the slave trade and not slavery itself. By 1850 the traffic of human slaves to Brazil was halted mainly as the result of British political and naval pressure. Poetry and literature began to appear soon after that portrayed free blacks and slaves more positively, though it was not always overtly critical of slavery itself. After the end of the American Civil War in 1865, many Brazilians became acutely aware that with the exception of Cuba, they were the only Western nation that allowed slavery, and essays, poems, drama, and novels began to appear attacking slavery as a corrupting influence on white slaveholders and as a drag on economic progress.
The most important Brazilian abolitionist, Antônio Frederico de Castro Alves, produced some of the most explicit denunciations of slavery before his early death in 1871, his 1883 volume of poetry, Os Escravos (which includes well-known poems such as "Navio Negreiro: tragédia no mar," "O Bandido Negro," and "Vozes d'Africa') earning him the posthumous title of "the conscience of Brazil." Other poets, including Sílvio Romero and Valentim Magalhães, followed in Castro Alves' poetic footsteps, fanning the flames of abolitionism with portrayals of the brutality and inhumanity of slavery. In addition to poetry, Brazil produced many abolitionist novels, many directly influenced by Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, translated into Portuguese a year after its American publication in 1852. Stowe's thematic motif of innocent slaves suffering at the hands of cruel masters and overseers became widespread in Brazilian literature in the final decades before emancipation in 1888, most notably in Joaquim Manuel de Macedo's As Vítimas Algozes (1869) and Bernardo Guimarães's A Escrava Isaura (1875). Another abolitionist work that is widely noted for its popular and political appeal is O Abolicionismo (1883), a text by statesman Joaquim Nabuco that carefully refuted the rationale pro-slavery forces used in arguing for the continuance of Brazilian slavery. As is the case with modern criticism dealing with Cuban abolitionist literature, many scholars today debate how much of Brazil's abolitionist literature should be labeled as such, many noting that much of what is considered abolitionist writing created negative stereotypes of the very slaves they were reputedly trying to free.
Representative Works
Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda
Sab (novel) 1841
Aluizio Azevedo
O Mutato (novel) 1881
Francisco Calcagno
Los crímenes de Concha (novel) 1887
Antônio Frederico de Castro Alves
"Navio Negreiro: tragedia no mar" ["The Slave Trader: Tragedy at Sea"] (poem) 1880
"Vozes d'Africa" ["Voices of Africa"] (poem) 1880
"O Bandido Negro" ["The Black Bandit"] (poem) 1883
Os Escravos (poetry) 1883
João Severiano Maciel da Costa
Memoria sobre a Necessidade de Abolir a Introdução dos Escravos Africanos no Brasil (essay) 1820
Bernardo Guimarães
A Escrava Isaura (novel) 1875
Pinheiro Guimarães
O Comendador (novel) 1856
Joaquim Manuel de Macedo
As Vítimas Algozes. 3 vols. (novels) 1869
Valentim Magalhães
"Liberdade" (poem) 1887
Juan Francisco Manzano
Autobiografía (autobiography) 1840
Domingo del Monte
"Estudo de la población blanca y de color de la isla de Cuba, en 1839" (essay) 1839
Joaquim Nabuco
O Abolicionismo (nonfiction) 1883
Sílvio Romero
Cantos do Fim do Seculo (poetry) 1881
Anselmo Suárez y Romero
Francisco (novel) 1890
Félix Tanco y Bosmeniel
Escenas de la vida privada en las isla de Cuba (novel) 1925
Cirilo Villaverde
Cecilia Valdés, o la Loma del Angel (novel) 1882
Antonio Zambrano
El negro Francisco (novel) 1873
Criticism: Overview
SOURCE: Schulman, Ivan A. "The Portrait of the Slave: Ideology and Aesthetics in the Cuban Antislavery Novel." In Comparative Perspectives on Slavery in New World Plantation Societies, edited by Vera Rubin and Arthur Tuden, pp. 356-67. New York: New York Academy of Sciences, 1977.
[In the following essay, Schulman argues that Cuba's nineteenth-century abolitionist novels, though few in number, set the stage for emancipation in Cuba and were the earliest and most influential critiques of the island's long tradition of slavery.]
La primera tarea que se impuso nuestra literaturea … [fue] … la preocupación social de orden ético …
Augusto Roa Bastos1
The origins of the novel in Cuba are irrevocably linked to the internal contradictions and inconsistencies of the institution of slavery, the repressive policies of the colony, and the polar dynamics of Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism, Costumbrismo and Eclecticism. As a consequence, an exclusionary analysis of the early narratives, that is, their examination from either a purely literary, philosophic, socioeconomic or political perspective is bound to yield distorted and fragmentary results2; whereas a comprehensive methodology, even of the limited disciplinary scope provided in this study, will hopefully clarify some of the more perplexing genetic questions raised by their reading and provide a foundation for the further study of the special nature of their attitudes, concepts, perspectives, themes, language and style.
The first Cuban novels, largely historical, sentimental or antislavery in theme,3 have attracted scant critical attention.4 With respect to literary chronology, the antislavery narratives date from 1838, the period to which the first stirrings of the island's Romantic literature can be traced, and thus, there is a tendency to consider them products of the aesthetics of Romanticism. However, Cuban Romanticism must be examined in conjunction with other literary traditions, particularly, with a contemporary, intertwined, self-conscious, critical costumbrista expression whose significance, insofar as the antislavery novels are concerned, cannot be divorced from the history of the period. It seems to us especially significant, for example, that they first appeared in 1838, the year which, according to Ramiro Guerra, signaled the defeat, dispersal and, ultimately, the silence of the liberals and reformists of the island.5 Their growing fears of personal reprisals for acts of opposition or even thoughts of disconformity in the face of ever more restrictive colonial edicts gave rise to a generational concern for human freedom6 whose expression was sometimes veiled, at times distorted, in order to escape the vigilant eye of the viceroyal censors. Richard Henry Dana established the origins of this oppressive atmosphere even earlier—1825—from which time forward,
… vestiges of anything approaching to popular assemblies, juntas, a jury, independent tribunals, a right of voting, or a right to bear arms, have vanished from the island. The press is under censorship; and so are the theatres and operas. When "I Puritani" is played, the singers are required to substitute Lealtà for Libertà, and one singer was fined and imprisoned for recusancy; and Facciolo, the printer of a secretly circulated newspaper, advocating the cause of Cuban independence was garroted. The power of banishing, without a charge made, or a trial, or even a record, but on the mere will of the Captain-General, persons whose presence he thinks, or professes to think, prejudicial to the government, whatever their condition, rank, or office, has been frequently exercised and hangs at all hours over the head of every Cuban.7
This stifling milieu, a critical costumbrista tradition, the incipient polemic over Romantic aesthetics aired (1838) in El Album and the Diario de la Habana, dissatisfaction with the colonial regime on the part of the enlightened criollos, as well as their humanitarian concerns and economic anxieties over slavery, produced a narrative representing a countercolonial statement in support of human liberty: the antislavery narrative which depicted the slave pitted against an inalterable fate in an unjust social order.8
If one views the archetypical thematic constructs of these novels in a vacuum, and misjudges, for example, their emotional tone or their striking distortion of the slave's character, it would be logical to identify them as nothing more than a product of Romanticism's early sway. To defend this facile, simplistic attribution, however, one would have to ignore the novel's economic, political, philosophic, moral and literary contexts.
To begin with, the antislavery novels, from both an aesthetic and ideological viewpoint, were largely the product of Domingo del Monte's literary tertulias. They were commissioned by him, owed their inspiration to his leadership, and, more often than not, were modified in response to his criticism. Anselmo Suárez y Romero, Felix Tanco y Bosmeniel, José Jacinto Milanés, José Antonio Echeverría, Juan Francisco Manzano, Ramón de Palma and Cirilo Villaverde were major writers of this generation, and devotees or disciples of Del Monte on whom they relied, to varying degrees, for guidance in the writing of their prose or poetry. Suárez y Romero, whose novel Francisco provides an abundant source of prototypical exemplification, in an 1839 letter to Del Monte, establishes Francisco as a commissioned work; begs his mentor to tell him frankly "the defects of my novel … to correct those errors which lend themselves to correction," and finally, invites his correspondent to "consider my novel yours and dispose of it as you wish".9 Elsewhere he describes how Del Monte encouraged young writers with his patience, his firmness, his elegance and his firm criticism.10
On the basis of this as well as other testimonies, it is abundantly clear that we are dealing with a literature which, in large measure, represented a community of shared interests and talents. For this very reason, many of the antislavery novels of the early period must be viewed as works that reflect in a very conscious way the prevailing ideologies and aesthetics of the period, that is, those of Del Monte and José Antonio Saco, the pillars and catalysts of the educational and cultural development of this generation.11
Del Monte's influence in questions of literary sensibility was decisive. He was a defender of the cultural and linguistic unity of Cuba and Spain; a Neoclassic at heart, yet acquainted with Romantic literature; he espoused spiritual, moral, Christian values; and was one of the island's major disciples of Victor Cousin's Eclectic philosophy. Whenever possible he attempted to channel creative efforts in the direction of a didactic, moral literary expression closer to the canons of Neoclassic than to Romantic art. In 1838, he developed these very ideas in El Album, where he wrote of the poet's debt to society, underscoring his primary responsibility: He is a man before he is a poet, "and as such he will use all the sources of his talent to cooperate with all the other artists and philosophers of the century … to improve the conditions of his fellow man, spreading among them exact and wholesome ideas of morality and religion."12 He asked for an almost militant spirit in the service of mankind, for otherwise literature would be, as Bentham claimed, a puerile and useless game.13
This insistence on a moral, elevating, social expression meshes with the strain of costumbrista literature, alluded to earlier, generating a socially-conscious aesthetic and ideology, too frequently neglected in evaluating the figure of the slave in the novel. It is more common to draw the conclusion reached by Portuondo that the amorous dialogues and constant tears in a novel such as Francisco belong to the purest traditions of the Romantic school.14
One is tempted to question just how much in these novels is "pure Romantic tradition" and how much an artfully conceived, veiled counterstatement, an encoded reaction to the stifling, repressive environment in which these writers lived and wrote.15 Del Monte himself, though a patrician of no mean privilege, suffered at the hands of the colonial censors who struck eight lines of antislavery sentiment from his Romances cubanos. Having experienced this painful blow, is it not conceivable that while in theory he preferred a novel based on reflected reality, that is, a tortured slave, he was prepared to accept the turning of "pure Romantic" conventions to the social purpose of evoking sympathy for the figure of an idealized protagonist, given the fact that only a nonrealistic portrait would be acceptable to the official censors or the conservative criollos? If one studies the slave's Rousseauean nobility, his pacific nature, his sometimes excessively passionate character, his pastoral, idealized romances; in short, if one studies such allegedly Romantic traits against the ideological, philosophic and political aspirations of Del Monte and his contertulianos, or traces the evolution of the slave's depiction against a chronological schema of the Cuban slave system's vicissitudes, insights that transcend the simplistic Romantic characterization come into focus. Moreover, with regard to the antithetical pull of Realism and Romanticism, it is important to keep in mind that the costumbrista tradition, as Portuondo suggests, was a "process of Romantic literature" which on the one hand represents "the satisfaction, the pleasure of painting oneself … and on the other … correcting certain social errors, certain customs, for the benefit of the same class."16
It is not surprising therefore, as Francisco González del Valle observed, that "young writers [of 1836-1840] wished to reform customs by placing the social evils of their time in bold relief," nor that "a moralizing tendency … dominated the youth even to the prejudice of art." It was "essential to improve customs, to awaken the sentiments of goodness and justice, and to that noble task the noble and generous souls who wished to see the slave trade and slavery abolished devoted themselves."17
González del Valle exaggerates in lumping abolition with suppression of the trade. For while early examples in support of abolitionism are to be found in Cuba's literature on slavery, even Francisco de Arango y Parreño's prudent 1816 "Ideas sobre los medios de establecer el libre comercio de Cuba y de realizar un empréstito de veinte millones de pesos," frightened most in his period. So negative was the consensus of opinion on the question, that as late as 1841, El Lugareño wrote that the state of affairs in Cuba was so miserable "that not even in a rational way was it possible to speak [freely of abolition], because one is labelled an insurgent, or an abolitionist, which is worse than an insurrectionist."18 Thus, up to 1860, and certainly until the conclusion of the Escalera affair, the aim of the antislavery writers, given their ties with the economic interests of the plantation owners, was a gradual, forward-looking and humanitarian policy of limiting the growth of slaves through the enforcement of the slave traffic treaties. Translated into artistic terms, this attitude suggested the advisability of encouraging a mild rather than a bold or rebellious antislavery narrative, one in which the slave might draw tears from the reader rather than cries of fear or horror.
For all of these reasons, the Del Monte group, in developing the budding anti-slavery works, chose to temper Realism with Romanticism.19 They instilled in the novelists a concern for presenting reality faithfully; did not discourage idealized "exceptions"; but frowned upon the inflamatory, violent individualist tendencies of some of the European Romantic models.20 Their ideal was the negro racional,21 the criada de razón.22 But, if the slave was idealized in the early period, his portrayal as a being superior to his reality was, as already indicated, a socially-determined exigency and not the mere result of a derivative Romantic characterization.
In this idealization process, "white" ideals were imposed on the slave by the novelists in the interest of presenting a victim of society, unlikely to alienate the conservative elements of the sacarocracy that staunchly defended the principle of the slave's tyrannization—tiranizar o correr el riesgo de ser tiranizado—23 and the continuation of the illegal slave trade. The resultant pathetic being would, it was hoped, not only win converts to the criollo's humanitarian cause, but also court the mercy and justice of foreign readers, especially the English,24 who, in turn, might bring pressure to bear on the Spanish crown to enforce the slave treaties. All in all, Del Monte and his followers hoped to use the literature of the first period to cure a social cancer, not through abolition, envisioned only in the second period, but by reversing or at least halting the growing imbalance of white to black population, which many feared could eventually bring a repetition of the Haitian rebellion to Cuba.
For Del Monte and his disciples, the docile slave was also a source of poetic inspiration, an exotic costumbrista component of a national tradition, or, as Milanés puts it (1836), a "mine of our best poetry."25 Yet, if this was so, perhaps we need to scrutinize more thoroughly the contradictions raised by this view on the one hand, and Del Monte's insistence on stark realism on the other. Or, is it simply a case, once again, of social caution overriding literary convictions to the extent that, as Varela and Giner suggested in 1834, "in no other matter should there be more prudence than in the manifestation of truth"?26
A close examination of some of the controversial issues raised by Francisco may shed light on these quandaries. We know, for example, that Del Monte at one point was unhappy with Francisco's idealization and excessive docility.27 Responding to this criticism, Suárez y Romero, in his correspondence with Del Monte, reports an exchange of ideas with Milanés, the implications of which, in our view, constitute the nucleus of the basis for understanding the philosophic, ideological and literary complexities of the slave's characterization:
I wrote Milanés what you criticized in my novel, and he answered me among other things, the following, which I transcribe—"So you should have painted Francisco evil to have painted him with truth?28 Certainly slavery depraves the heart; but are we not counting on the temperate and pacific nature of the individual? Do we not see all the time slaves with a sweet nature who work tirelessly and contentedly without going beyond the circle of servile ideas in which they live? I do not believe you shortchanged on truth by painting Francisco of humble and melancholy disposition; for although his character is not very common, it exists and even its very exceptionality ought to excite a double interest in the work in which it shines."29
Suárez's transmittal of Milanés' ideas suggests an early critical reaction to Romanticism30 among these writers, presumably in favor of Del Monte's espousal of Balzacian Realism. In addition, Milanes' reference to counting on the temperate nature of the slave, and to the notion of exciting interest, underscores the socially utilitarian aspect of the antislavery novel's characteristics. And, finally, the question of exceptionality, which is especially pertinent, represents a notion that can be equated either with individuality or with an antithetic principle whose existence in these novels is too frequently identified with Romanticism. In explaining its presence, it...
(The entire section is 6840 words.)
Criticism: Poetry
SOURCE: Sayers, Raymond S. "Castro Alves and His Successors." In The Negro in Brazilian Literature, pp. 109-35. New York: Hispanic Institute in the United States, 1956.
[In the following excerpt, Sayers examines the themes of torture, violence, and suffering in the antislavery poetry of late-nineteenth-century Brazil, paying special attention to the work of Antônio Frederico de Castro Alves, whom he considers to be Brazil's greatest and most influential abolitionist writer.]
There are several important movements in the poetry of the last three decades of slavery. The first is represented in the work of the local color school, which has been described as being...
(The entire section is 5993 words.)
Criticism: Origins And Development
Raymond S. Sayers (essay date 1956)
SOURCE: Sayers, Raymond S. "The Negro Theme in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century." In The Negro in Brazilian Literature, pp. 65-72. New York: Hispanic Institute in the United States, 1956.
[In the following excerpt, Sayers discusses antislavery sentiment in Brazilian literature in the first half of the nineteenth century, finding that this theme was most commonly found in newspapers and periodicals that generally criticized the slave trade more than the institution of slavery itself.]
Attacks on slavery on humanitarian or moral grounds continued in France and England during the second half of the...
(The entire section is 3706 words.)
William Luis (essay date January 1981)
SOURCE: Luis, William. "The Antislavery Novel and the Concept of Modernity." Cuban Studies 11, no. 1 (January 1981): 33-47.
[In the following excerpt, Luis argues that Cuba's nineteenth-century abolitionist literature grew out of the evolution from Romanticism toward Realism and was also a response to the increasingly harsh treatment of slaves as the island's black population grew larger than the white population.]
As a politico-literary process, the antislavery novel developed in the first half of the nineteenth century at the request of Domingo del Monte, who was perhaps the most important and influential critic of his time.1 A belated Neo-classicist,...
(The entire section is 1385 words.)
William Luis (essay date 1990)
SOURCE: Luis, William. "Fiction and Fact: The Antislavery Narrative and Blacks as Counter-Discourse in Cuban History." In Literary Bondage: Slavery in Cuban Narrative, pp. 1-17. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1990.
[In the following excerpt, Luis discusses the historical and social conditions in Cuba that made the condemnation of the slave trade and slavery itself a growing concern in nineteenth-century Cuban literature.]
Antislavery narrative refers to a group of works written mainly during the 1830s, an incipient and prolific moment in Cuban literature. They include ex-slave Juan Francisco Manzano's Autobiografía...
(The entire section is 5840 words.)
Criticism: Sociopolitical Concerns
David T. Haberly (essay date December 1972)
SOURCE: Haberly, David T. "Abolition in Brazil: Anti-Slavery and Anti-Slave." Luso-Brazilian Review 9, no. 2 (December 1972): 30-46.
[In the following essay, Haberly argues that the majority of nineteenth-century Brazilian abolitionist literature depicted black slaves as sexually immoral and prone to violence, stereotypes that reinforced the demand for emancipation based less on sympathy for the victims of slavery than the supposed dangers these slaves posed for their white slave-owners.]
The abolition of African slavery is clearly one of the fundamental events of nineteenth-century Brazilian history. Its peaceful accomplishment—in sharp contrast to the bloody...
(The entire section is 6947 words.)
William Luis (essay date 1990)
SOURCE: Luis, William. "The Antislavery Narrative: Writing and the European Aesthetic." In Literary Bondage: Slavery in Cuban Narrative, pp. 27-81. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1990.
[In the following essay, Luis describes how Cuban editors Domingo del Monte and José Antonio Saco encouraged the island's liberal writers to protest slavery.]
The antislavery narrative developed as part of a movement to abolish slavery and the slave trade.1 Domingo del Monte gave rise to this form of protest by encouraging friends in his literary circle to write about slavery and the plight of the slave. These early works describe the abuses...
(The entire section is 6502 words.)
Criticism: Prose
Raymond S. Sayers (essay date 1956)
SOURCE: Sayers, Raymond S. "The Negro in the Romantic Novel." In The Negro in Brazilian Literature, pp. 165-83. New York: Hispanic Institute in the United States, 1956.
[In the following excerpt, Sayers discusses Brazilian abolitionist novels written between 1850 and 1888, many of them thematically influenced by Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.]
The period from 1850 to 1888 is marked by great development in the technique, subject matter and quality of Brazilian fiction. From the first tentative fumblings of Teixeira e Sousa and Joaquim Manuel de Macedo before the midpoint of the century, the novel traversed the stages of Indianism, historical fiction, and...
(The entire section is 7156 words.)
G. R. Coulthard (essay date 1962)
SOURCE: Coulthard, G. R. "The Anti-Slavery Novel in Cuba: Indians and Negroes." In Race and Colour in Caribbean Literature, pp. 6-26. London: Oxford University Press, 1962.
[In the following essay, Coulthard discusses antislavery themes in several nineteenth-century Cuban novels and poems, arguing that abolitionism was in many respects a cause taken up by Cuban liberals to gain the support of the island's black majority to help overthrow Spain's colonial rule.]
One of the aims of writers in Latin America in the nineteenth century was to find an original and distinctive note for their literary creations and one of the subjects they introduced to lend an unmistakable...
(The entire section is 8427 words.)
Constance García-Barrio (essay date December 1977)
SOURCE: García-Barrio, Constance. "The Abolitionist Novel in Nineteenth-Century Cuba." CLA Journal 21, no. 2 (December 1977): 224-37.
[In the following essay, García-Barrio analyzes six nineteenth-century Cuban novels commonly described as abolitionist, arguing that as a result of strict censorship laws in Cuba prohibiting the denunciation of slavery, only two Cuban novels from the period should rightly be regarded as abolitionist.]
During the first decades of the nineteenth century in Cuba, slaves became the primary source of labor for the rapidly growing sugar industry. The growth of the industry had not been matched by more efficient means of production, and...
(The entire section is 5022 words.)
Miriam Decosta-Willis (essay date July-December 1988)
SOURCE: Decosta-Willis, Miriam. "Self and Society in the Afro-Cuban Slave Narrative." Latin American Literary Review 16, no. 32 (July-December 1988): 6-15.
[In the following essay, Decosta-Willis analyzes themes of desire for freedom and self-identity in two autobiographical narratives written by former Cuban slaves—Juan Francisco Manzano and Esteban Montejo.]
As for me, from the moment that I lost my hopes, I ceased to be a faithful slave; from an humble, submissive being, I turned the most discontented of mankind: I wished to have wings to fly from the place, and to go to Havana; and from that day my only thoughts were in planning how to...
(The entire section is 4782 words.)
Sharon Romeo Fivel-Démoret (essay date January 1989)
SOURCE: Fivel-Démoret, Sharon Romeo. "The Production and Consumption of Propaganda Literature: The Cuban Anti-Slavery Novel." Bulletin of Hispanic Studies 66, no. 1 (January 1989): 1-12.
[In the following essay, Fivel-Démoret questions whether four Cuban novels written in the late 1830s should be labeled abolitionist, concluding that while they all advocated some level of reform, only Avellaneda's Sab offered a clear denunciation of Cuban slavery.]
This article is based on four Cuban novels written in 1838 and 1839: Francisco, Anselmo Suárez y Romero, 1838-39; Petrona y Rosalía, Félix Tanco y Bosmoniel, 1838; El Ranchador, Pedro...
(The entire section is 7441 words.)
Jerome Branche (essay date fall 1998)
SOURCE: Branche, Jerome. "Ennobling Savagery? Sentimentalism and the Subaltern in Sab." Afro-Hispanic Review 17, no. 2 (fall 1998): 12-23.
[In the following essay, Branche contests standard depictions of Avellaneda's Sab as a pioneering abolitionst/feminist novel, arguing that the novel's characters, plot, and themes betray the author's own deep-seated racism.]
"Rock stone a' river bottom no know sun hot."
Jamaican Saying.
Notwithstanding what seemed obvious to a contemporary reading of Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda's first novel, Sab (1841)1 there is a...
(The entire section is 8819 words.)
Further Reading
Blanchard, Peter. "Abolitionist Pressure." In Slavery and Abolition in Early Republican Peru, pp. 151-70. Wilmington, Del.: SR Books, 1992.
Describes the antislavery movement in Peru during the first half of the nineteenth century, concentrating on liberal journalistic and political efforts to abolish the slave trade and slavery itself.
Borges, Dain. "Intellectuals and the Forgetting of Slavery in Brazil." Annals of Scholarship 11, no. 1-2 (1996): 37-60.
Argues that Brazilian intellectuals in the first half of the twentieth century were slow to view race and slavery as defining features of the...
(The entire section is 600 words.)


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By John Dolfin, CFA Chief Investment Officer and Christopher Maxey,
CAIA, Senior Portfolio Manager of Steben & Company:
Managed futures have become an alternative asset class that is widely
used by investors seeking overall portfolio diversification and absolute
returns independent of the
Mark Rzepczynski, Founding Partner, Chief Investment Officer AMPHI Research and Trading, writes on Harvest Exchange:
Investment consultants are a force to the reckoned with in the pension world. They advise and drive many pension decisions around the globe. Consultants literally control trillion
Christopher Pavese, Chief Investment Officer of Broyhill Asset
Management, via Harvest Exchange:
According to Morningstar, the average US equity manager, has
underperformed the S&P 500 Index over the past one, three and five
years. Given investors natural tendency to chase what's working, an
From KB Associates, an offshore fund consulting firm.
In one of the most important political events in recent European history, the UK voted on June 23rd 2016, in an advisory referendum, to leave the EU. This has created great uncertainty. In this article, we
This hedge fund made 37% betting on banks in 2016 and remains bullish after the Trump rally
From Forbes.com: Can bank stocks continue to rise after a 28% surge in the KBW Bank Index in 2016, fueled by a post-election rally as stock pickers returned to the beaten down sector? Forget the s
From Reuters.com: China Investment Corporation (CIC), the country's sovereign wealth fund, is looking to raise alternative investments in the United States due to low returns in public markets, its chairman said on Monday.
CIC will boost its investments in private equity and hedge funds as wel
With the 2016 HSBC Hedge Weekly performance rankings in the books - a year in which the same leader-board entries pretty much dominated unchallenged throughout the year - comes a new leader board that is a hard-scrabble mix of hedge fund styles and categories. What is clear after but a few short wee
Komfie Manalo, Opalesque Asia: The last month of 2016 saw risk assets climbing higher, as part of expectations that the new U.S. administration will remove barriers to growth and investment, Lyxor Asset Management said. December also saw the Fed hik
Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque Geneva for New Managers: The Roxbury Credit Events Fund, launched in September 2015, was up 4.24% in 2016, having returned seven positive months during the year. The managers raised
Featuring : Private debt access: New multi-manager fund offers exposure to niche strategies.Bayshore Capital is a private, research driven investment advisory firm headquartered in Tampa, Florida. The firm manages $250M from high net worth clients, independent RIAs, and institutional investors. The firm provides comprehe...» Watch the video
» More
Near Term Trend: NegativeFriday's Close: $1,196.20 (- $3.10)UPDATE: Eight weeks ago we stated, "If the S&P Index sells off (25 points) from Friday's close (2268.00) - buy Gold". As of three weeks ago the S&P Index retreated 25 points for the first time in nine weeks, therefore, traders should have gone long Gold. We were clear about it being a counter-trend trade, but scalping the long side following the sell- off of $110 in Gold were odds I was willing to take. If you went long near $1,133.00 move the protective profit stop up to $1,168.90 from last week's level of $1,146.00.
Near Term Trend: Negative
Friday's Close: $1,196.20 (- $3.10)
UPDATE: Eight weeks ago we stated, "If the S&P Index sells off (25 points) from Friday's close (2268.00) - buy Gold". As of three weeks ago the S&P Index retreated 25 points for the first time in nine weeks, therefore, traders should have gone long Gold. We were clear about it being a counter-trend trade, but scalping the long side following the sell- off of $110 in Gold were odds I was willing to take. If you went long near $1,133.00 move the protective profit stop up to $1,168.90 from last week's level of $1,146.00.

subset: commoncrawl


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Perhaps I'm crazy (which is highly probable) but I can't bring myself to enjoy Earl Grey black tea tea. Every EG I am tried has made me gag and I can't quite explain why.
Is there any other tea lovers out there who don't like ol' Earl or am I the only one?


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CERN History: Discoveries and Experiments
Formed September 29th, 1954, CERN, or the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is an international organization that has fundamental physics as its main business. One of CERN's past major developments was the World Wide Web in the 1990s. Its most recent work has concentrated around the Large Hadron Collider. In 2012, scientists believe the accelerator has found the Higgs Boson, or "God Particle," which it hopes will help answer basic questions about our universe. In this WatchMojo.com video, we take a look at the history of CERN.


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Account Opened For Benefit of Officer Kenyon Youngstrom's FamilyMechanics Bank is accepting donations
View as PDF
Walnut Creek, CA, September 6, 2012 — An account has been established at Mechanics Bank for the benefit of the family of Officer Kenyon Youngstrom, the California Highway Patrol Officer who was shot and fatally injured on I-680 in Walnut Creek on September 4. Anyone wishing to contribute can do so at any Mechanics Bank branch office, via mail or through a wire transfer. Please see below for instructions.
In Person:
By Mail:
Wire Transfer:
Media Contacts
Banking Inquiries
Mr. Tony Kallingal


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TR Caps GreenCoffeX Time Release Energy - 36 Capsules
About this itemThis unique 8 hour time release energy supplement contains naturally sourced Colombian caffeine.
GreenCoffeX is a unique 8 hour time release energy supplement containing pure, unprocessed caffeine extracts sourced naturally from Colombian Green Coffee Bean. The patented time release technology provides a safe, steady level of enhanced energy, cognitive performance and alertness over an eight hour period in a once-a-day dose with no ups and downs or jitters. GreenCoffeX also helps relieve fatigue, promotes endurance and enhances motor performance. While consuming a cup of hot coffee in the morning is the most common method of administering caffeine, ingesting large amounts of such beverages requires frequent trips to the bathroom and if consumed late in the day can interfere with sleep. GreenCoffeX is intended to be consumed in the morning offering the individual all the benefits of caffeine without frequent trips to the bathroom for a steady 8 hours while allowing time for caffeine levels to diminish below the stimulation level so as not to cause sleeplessness.
TR Caps are a revolutionary approach to nutritional supplements. Formulated from over 300 identical pellets within a protective time release capsule, TR Caps not only maintain effective levels with smooth release rates but also require less dosing. Your body can only absorb so much of any vitamin, mineral or other nutrient at once and what it does not absorb, it excretes. Compounding the problem, most nutraceuticals, beneficial food extracts, have a fairly short plasma half life, which means they are only in the blood for a short time before they are eliminated. Unlike regular vitamins and supplements, TR Caps are formulated to release gradually over the course of a day. That means your bloodstream has a consistent amount of active ingredients, without having to take numerous pills per day. This means you take fewer pills while the active ingredient stays in your system for a longer period of time. TR Caps are gentle on your stomach because they do not entirely disintegrate in the stomach as they make their way through the gastro intestinal tract.
Assembled Country
Component Country


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The Vogt sterling and leather company is a small, family owned business that has been building fine sterling accessories for over 35 years. Each silver piece that comes out of the Vogt shop is individually crafted in hand engraved, solid sterling silver, and is considered to be of "heirloom quality" - something you would be proud to pass down to your children and grandchildren. And as they are built to last a lifetime, each Vogt sterling accessory comes with the Vogt Family's Unconditional Lifetime Guarantee. Money clip measures approximately 1 1/8" x 2".
This money clip is handcrafted, and no two are exactly alike. Any variance in design is part of the uniqueness of the product.


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Otter declares disaster for soggy Bonner County
SANDPOINT, Idaho - Idaho's governor has issued a disaster declaration to help Bonner County in northern Idaho deal with record rain and snowmelt that have damaged roads and triggered landslides.
Gov. Butch Otter approved the declaration this week.
Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security Director Bill Shawver says record rainfall for the region created conditions ripe for wide scale damage to roads.
The Bonner County Daily Bee reports that crews are out clearing or replacing culverts across the county, removing fallen trees and patching and refilling holes in gravel roads. Officials estimate the damage to public infrastructure is nearing $1 million.
The disaster declaration can be used to help the county access government relief.


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Furniture Wood Swatches
- Overview
To help you decide on a finish, wood swatches are now available for $20 each. See our list of swatches below to add to your shopping basket. We provide a full refund for wood swatches if they're returned within 30 days (excluding shipping). Please call 1-800-430-7373 with any questions.
- Shipping & Return Info
This is a general shipping item.
View Our Shipping Information
Return Policy
At Pottery Barn Kids, we take great pride in the quality and craftsmanship of our products. Attention to design, materials, safety and construction is our priority. We carefully inspect your order prior to shipment; upon receipt, please inspect your purchase and notify us of any damage. We will arrange for a prompt replacement. If, within 7 days for Quick Ship upholstery and 30 days for all other products, you are dissatisfied for any reason, you may return your purchase for a refund of the merchandise value.
If your return for Merchandise Credit Cards is greater than $10,000, we will issue $10,000 in Merchandise Credit Cards to you that day, and then mail additional Merchandise Credit Card(s) for the amount in excess of $10,000 to you.
We cannot accept returns on monogrammed, personalized, special-order items, or on items damaged through normal wear and tear. We also cannot accept returns of final-sale items, which are identified by a price that ends in $0.99.
For returns of items purchased from your Pottery Barn Kids registry, we will gladly provide a refund or exchange for the merchandise within 90 days of your event or within 90 days of purchase, whichever date is later.
For assistance, please contact Customer Service at 800.993.4923
International Returns: Online returns are available only for items that were shipped to the United States. If you would like to return items that were shipped outside the US, please see International Returns and Exceptions.


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New York Fashion Week has held a Fashion's Night Out event to kick off its tour de runways for four years. For the first time, Columbus and other cities are trying it on for size.
Alive's well-heeled and wise older sister, Capital Style magazine, is co-hosting Thursday's event at Easton Town Center. Stores throughout the mall will offer discounts, giveaways and culinary treats. We recommend taking a stroll down the pink carpet for a couple of reasons.
One: It's always fun to shop when free cheese and cupcakes are promised (at certain locations, anyway; check Easton's website to see what every participating store is offering).
Two: Big deals and contests. H&M will have a contest for Lana Del Rey tickets and Macy's will hold a drawing for a $150 gift card. As for those discounts, check out 15 percent off at Aldo Shoes, 25 percent off $100 or more purchases at Banana Republic, and 50 percent off one regularly priced item at Eddie Bauer.


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Proposed Fredonia school budget has 2.99 percent spending hike
Fredonia Business Administrator John Forbes gave the official presentation of the budget Tuesday at the board of education meeting.
He said the budget is the same the board adopted at its April 23 meeting and the same that will be presented to voters on May 21.
The proposed budget is $28,754,508, a 2.99 percent spending increase. This translates to a 2.98 percent in the tax levy and a tax rate increase of $3.29 per $1,000 assessed valuation for Pomfret, $1.21 for Arkwright, $1.23 for Portland, $0.95 for Sheridan and $0.90 for the town of Dunkirk. This increase is also under the district's tax cap calculation of 3.49 percent.
To balance the budget the district plans to cut a 1.0 FTE career development and occupational studies teacher, a 1.0 FTE English language arts teacher, a 0.18 FTE art teacher, a 0.5 FTE speech teacher and a 0.5 and 1.0 FTE English as a second language teachers.
Forbes said if the budget is defeated twice, the district will need to cut $436,780 for a zero percent levy hike.
Board Member Michael Bobseine pointed out there are major increases in benefits, which increased $405,304 and in BOCES Services which increased $303,064.
Forbes said teacher and employee retirement increases were the main reason for the increase, which is out of the district's control. He said BOCES increased based on projected students needing special education services.
Fredonia Teachers' Association President Roger Pacos asked the board to use the money not being used on special education students in this budget line to restore teacher positions. He said if unexpected students need the services, that is what fund balance should be used for and then state aid the following year would reimburse the expense.
"You have a savings account for a rainy day, well it's pouring out, I think it's time to spend some of our savings," he said.
Forbes said only about $100,000 of the increase is not dedicated to students already in the district. He also pointed out, if extra is not put into the budget, there is no fund balance at the end of the year, which would make it hard to maintain the $1.25 million the district is currently using to offset the levy.
Math teacher Darrin Paschke also asked the board to take another look at the budget and reduce the "padding" in order to restore teacher positions.
"I think the money is there," he said.
Superintendent Paul DiFonzo said the problem is the reduction of state aid.
"We shared all this information with our legislators year after year. They have a complete breakdown of this budget prior to the state budget being approved. They know we have lost over the last four or five years $7.5 million in aid in a roughly $28 million budget. We have made it clear that those are the people who can actually impact how state aid is divided inequitably and how state aid is funded to different school districts. We have done our very best to provide programs to students while controlling costs," he said.
The board also heard a report from Siemens representatives, who explained after a 14-month review by the state, the energy efficiency project is ready to move forward. A majority of the work will be done during the summer or on second shift during the school year.
Director of Instruction Joe Reyda also reported the EXCEL project committee will present recommendations for EXCEL projects in June.
The budget vote will be held May 21 from 2 to 9 p.m. in the high school cafeteria. The board will next meet June 11 at 6:30 p.m. in high school room 636.


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Getting Ready for a Bond Bear Market
But lately the bears have been joined by some prominent fund managers who argue that the bond markets are about to enter harder times. With the government running huge deficits, inflation will appear and drive up interest rates, the managers worry. When rates rise, bond prices tend to fall.
Among the noteworthy figures sounding a cautionary tone is Jeffrey Gundlach, the star manager of DoubleLine Total Return Bond (DBLTX) . A longtime critic of Washington's policies, Gundlach has taken defensive steps, increasing his stake in cash, which can hold its value in a downturn. The portfolio now has 19% of assets in cash, up from 7% two years ago.
In addition, Gundlach has lowered his fund's duration, a measure of the portfolio's sensitivity to rising interest rates. The fund now has a duration of 1.6 years. So if rates rise by 1 percentage point, the fund could lose 1.6%. Two years ago the duration was 3.9 years.
Another prominent bear is Ben Inker, co-head of asset allocation for GMO, who manages Wells Fargo Advantage Asset Allocation (EAAFX) . GMO forecasts that U.S. bonds will enter a prolonged slump, losing 1.2% annually for the next seven years. The Wells Fargo fund holds a mix of stocks and bonds. But lately Inker has been lowering the bond allocation. The fund currently has 11% of assets in bonds, down from 22% in 2009.
Should you avoid bonds altogether? Probably not. The bond bears could be wrong again. The Federal Reserve has pledged to hold down interest rates into 2014. If that happens, bond prices could remain firm for at least another year. Whether or not rates rise, a solid bond fund can help to diversify a portfolio.
Still, this is a time for caution. One way to limit risk is by holding shorter bonds. Those tend to be relatively resilient in downturns. Many of the biggest bond funds are intermediate-term portfolios that are benchmarked against the Barclays Aggregate U.S. Bond Index , which has a duration of 5.1 years. For a bit less risk, consider a fund that is benchmarked against Barclays Capital Intermediate Government/Credit Index , which has a duration of 3.9 years.
A solid performer that tracks the intermediate government/credit benchmark is BMO Short-Intermediate Bond (MAIBX) , which has a duration of 3.2 years. Portfolio manager Jason Weiner has reduced his duration to prepare for hazards in the bond markets.
"If we get a resolution of the fiscal cliff, then we could see rates moving higher in the second half of 2013," says Weiner.


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i've been trying WF's 365 brand organic EVOO lately. it's way less green and is much milder than the nuovo. i'll have to try sunflower oil next. here's a few from last night. back on keel with my dough after a little mix up!
we also tried a calzone a la DellaVecchia. it was amazing! i usually make those in the oven inside with leftover dough. this one had the fantastic texture of the soft dough which made the lack of cheese completely unnoticed. just frissee, olives and capers with evoo. thanks John! that is now on our menu.
over the last few years i've struggled with my dough as summer heats up. lately i've been addressing that challenge with shorter fermentation time and lower starter percentage. last night it came together really well. i used 1.5% ischia, 24 hr bulk @ 63, 10 hr balls @ 63 and a couple hours at RT. for some reason i've been reluctant to try lower starter. i'll have to keep going from here. thanks again to everyone for pointing me in the right direction. it's fun to keep learning. bill


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Well mammooth, it looks like many on this forum prefer the anonymity of the virtual world over the actual one…
I hope you do host a gathering in your area…PM me if you think there's anything I can do to help you find forum-goers in your general area that may be able to take advantage of your food and wine… or other beverage of choice. Make sure you have cookies and brownies to offer as well!
P.S. In your sig., the word coexistence is spelled wrong. It's been bugging me for awhile, just thought I'd be bold and tell ya!
Robert Mondavi has died at 94. I thought I would mention this since we were in the vicinity of his home when we met at H's house. So, follow the example of Robert Mondavi - drink a moderate amount of wine - and live to be 94. Cheers.


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Paul Glaves - "Big Bend", Texas U.S.A
"The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution." - Bertrand Russell
Nom de Plume:
Steve Aikens, Clovis, NM
We should have a contest to see how many words can be substituted for the word 'oil' in Paul's monograph above:
Xxx is good. Some xxx is better than no xxx. New xxx is better than old xxx. Good xxx is better than bad xxx.
I'd go first, but at the moment all my examples would get me banned from the forum... and I changed the last bit to: Bad xxx is better than good xxx.
Kevin Huddy
Tm Pterodactyl MT Outpost
We can not discuss XXX on the forum. or xxx.
Martin. BMW MOA Ambassador.17748
BMW MOA Charter, Life member.
Valley BMW Riders. British Columbia.
I was really hoping for another oil thread,you know,one where a couple of people bash a couple of other people's opinions and credentials and stuff...sigh.....
Sometimes,nothing is a real cool hand.
Then it's going to become a shot at us having a bit of fun with yet another oil thread instead of helping out the OP.
Then maybe - just maybe - if we stick around long enough, someone will get the arguements started.
In the meantime - we can keep it friendly and everyone's happy.
Now, how about a nice group hug....
Nom de Plume:
Steve Aikens, Clovis, NM
I'm hoping for some help from Mrs. Glaves on this. Paul is getting better? Right?
Cave contents: 16 R12RS, 13 Toyota Tacoma, 03 Simplicity Legacy, 97 Stihl FS75, Dewalt DW625 & SawStop PCS175
Not to resurrect ghosts from the past, but I'm pretty sure that I recall Rob Lentini writing about maintenance procedures for the F15 or F14 which included draining the oil, changing the oil filter, filtering the oil and reusing it.
This is a completely anecdotal comment attributed to a former technical contributor that has passed away. While it nearly meets the most rigorous standards of internet information, (no neighbor of the brother-in-law with a degree from MIT and formerly employed by the CIA), it should be enough to prompt someone within the forum of similar tech background to the deceased to chime in.
However, with that being said, I would much sooner hear how Aikens and henzilla will meld the group hug and xxx threads into one.
Cave contents: 16 R12RS, 13 Toyota Tacoma, 03 Simplicity Legacy, 97 Stihl FS75, Dewalt DW625 & SawStop PCS175
However, with that being said, I would much sooner hear how Aikens and henzilla will meld the group hug and xxx threads into one.
I'm working on it....
Nom de Plume:
Steve Aikens, Clovis, NM


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A gift to MCC is an investment in your community's well-being. Our success would not be possible without the generosity of alumni, friends, and local businesses who value a strong, affordable college opportunity right here in central western Kentucky; over $28 million in private support has been designated to MCC since 1988. Your gift can assist one of the following strategic areas that are vital to continued programming excellence.
The advantage of giving a cash gift right now is that it has an immediate impact on academic programming. Also, your actual out-of-pocket cost is less than the dollar amount of the gift because of the allowable income tax deduction.
An endowment is a permanent gift fund of at least $15,000 that provides valuable interest income to support your area of choice. Endowments may be named for a family member, an area of interest, or as memorial giving. Endowments at MCC have averaged 4.2 – 5.0% in interest earnings over the past 15 years.
There are specific types of gifts which you can plan for today that will create benefits later. They also provide a way to leave a legacy that strengthens priorities that you deem most important, including:
*This message is not offered as legal advice. For legal advice, please contact your attorney.


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It has come to my attention that a member of this board has been using MACCA Central private messages to recruit members for a their own private message board. I am very disappointed this abuse wasn't brought to my attention earlier then I could have stopped it. Was wondering why the amount of posts have decreased as of late. I have spent over 10 years building up this community and just to have the membership list raped in this manner is very hard to take. I'm devastated by this and feel so betrayed and very, very sad right now.
As a result of this massive abuse of the goodwill of this board and it's members, private messaging will be disabled until further notice.


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How To Retrieve Lost Pictures
Posted 16 November 2012 - 10:00 AM
For better possibility to achieve picture files recovery, the vital thing it is best to do is always to stop utilizing your computer. As an example, don't put anything new into your hard disk which stored the precious deleted pictures. It really is a very important point.
Tip 1: Do not allow your machine have any chances to satisfy physical damage too.
Why you can retrieve lost pictures?
Usually, only 1 delete command won't make pictures disappear completely from machine. The pictures remain inside the machine just marked as free space to be overwritten. When you keep putting something with it, the new data may take over the space where your precious deleted pictures stored. Once overwritten, it's impossible to recover lost pictures. That's why why you need to do the vital thing first. In order is clear to us, given that your pictures are certainly not written over by new data, you can definitely achieve pictures recovery for the tiny part of your machine.
Ideas suggest one to employ a try Tenorshare Data Recovery, an effective all-in-one media files recovery tool which supports someone to settle your lost pictures easily out of your computer. You can actually retrieve pictures mac on your own with Tenorshare data recovery, a fairly easy-to-use and do-it-yourself recovery program to do picture retrieval . Only 3 steps had to recover pictures easily.
Step 1: Start the photo recovery software, and select a module using the reason of data loss. "Deleted Recovery" is designed for photo deletion recovery, "Format Recovery" is for recovering data from formatted camera.
Step 2: Find the file types you intend to recover. Click 'Start Sacn' to find all lost file types.
Step 3: Choose the photo you want to recover, Click" Recover"
Tip 2:
Do not to store the recovered data inside path that you lost them before or else you will not be able to use any picture retrieval mac below to get them again.
Resource: http://www.any-data-...e-pictures.html
Posted 24 June 2013 - 06:45 AM
All right! Several days ago, I also has experienced the similar deleted picture data recovery problems. I think your posting is really useful.
Here was my issue.
That day,my little brother played my digital camera and deleted some wonderful pictures without my permission. So, as I realized it, my needed pictures had been deleted. So, in order to get them back, I had read a lot of related articles and threads, including yours. I had learned a lot and tried many useful camera memory card data recovery programs mentioned at the some time. Some of them worked well and some of them did not. But, all my pictures were all restored at the aid of a data recovery freeware online now.
Therefore, I hope my experience also could help others.
Read more information of this camera memory card data recovery freeware here: http://blog4mark.blo...d-recovery.html
Posted Today, 11:02 AM
Reply to this topic
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so we have a new projector to attach to the café ceiling.
does anyone know where the cradle from the older projector went? it's not in the action room or admin office w/ the old projector. i didn't have time to trawl through the workshop though but i'm not back in edinburgh until thursday. nix says he has looked everywhere though.. there is a cadle in the action room, but none of our projectors fit in it.
does anyone know who took it down? iirc i was away at the time so am unsure.
elodie and I tested the old projector. it seemed to work fine, though it was only on for just over a couple of hours as i had to go. it could still have the intermittant overheating issue and thus on the way out and not worth bothering with, but more through testing will have to be done. the main cause of overheading is a clogged air filter though nix cleaned the insides and i'm sure he'd have done the filter at the same time. i've heard it might have been the positioning in the cradle and potential lack of ventilation flow, but it was working for so long anyway.. not that we can check this without the old cradle.. (i also heard that one of the mirrors inside had cracked but this doesn't seem to be the case..)
so, bottom line, we need a new cradle. this'll either have to be built or purchased. does anyone know how it previously attached to the ceiling? was it bespoke hackery?


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Pro-Tec Plantar Massage Balls
Product Information:
Get rid of the tightness and increase your flexibility in the arch and forefoot with the Plantar Massage Balls from Pro-Tec. Hard maple wood massage balls roll on the bottom of your feet, targeting the deep tissues and speeding the healing process. The massage balls come in two sizes and target the arch, heel or metatarsal area while fighting conditions of plantar fasciitis.
- Hard maple wooden massage balls
- Fights tightness, boosts flexibility in arch, forefoot
- Stops symptoms from plantar fasciitis
- Targets compression applied to deep tissues, speeds healing process
- Includes two medium (1.5" diameter) and two small (1" diameter) massage balls
- Microfiber carrying bag
- 4 per pack
- Style: PTMASSBALL
- Pro-Tec
Country of Origin: United StatesWeb ID: 18314076


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This event is expired.
Tip-toe with CLASH SF through the tulips in the Barbro Osher Sculpture Garden for a treasure hunt using traditional maps and new tools for navigation. Youngsters and adults alike will be delighted when they discover goodies celebrating spring scattered about the lawn. Don't forget to find the delectable Ghirardelli chocolates (while supplies last)!


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USA versus USA is Tough Draw for Teams
B.J. Hoeptner Evans, Manager, Communications, Phone: (719) 228-6800, E-Mail: email@example.com
USAV Facebook - @USA_Volleyball - @USAV Beach
LONG BEACH, Calif. (July 25, 2013) – U.S. beach volleyball teams are used to playing each other in domestic tournaments, but they know the stakes are different when they have to play each other in an international tourney like the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam.
"We always seem to line up in these elimination-round matches and it's always tough to play your own country," said Lauren Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.), who teamed with Brittany Hochevar (Fowler, Colo.) to defeat fellow Americans Jennifer Fopma (Bellflower, Calif.) and Brooke Sweat (Fort Myers, Fla.), 21-18, 22-20 in the second round on Thursday.
"We hate to see our fellow countrymen in those medal rounds," Hochevar agreed. "We do want to flood the medal stand. We want to have as many American teams on the medal stand as possible.
"But it is what it is. That's competition and that's the way the draw goes."
Fopma and Sweat finished the tournament tied for ninth. Fendrick and Hochevar later lost in the third round. With Summer Ross (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Emily Day (Torrance, Calif.) as the last U.S. women's team in the tournament, there will be no more USA versus USA women's matches in Long Beach.
On the men's side, Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and partner Ryan Doherty (Toms River, N.J.) found themselves playing their compatriots Casey Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Stafford Slick (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) in the first round of single elimination on Thursday.
Rogers and Doherty took a hard-fought 21-13, 19-21, 15-12 over Jennings and Slick, who finished 17th in only their second FIVB tournament as a team.
"We don't want to get matched up with those guys," Doherty said.
"We have nothing but respect for Casey and Stafford, who is another young big guy on the tour who I don't want to see get any better," he added with a laugh.
Three U.S. men's teams have advanced to the second round in Long Beach – along with Rogers and Doherty, Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Casey Patterson (Van Nuys, Calif.) advanced as did Phil Dalhausser (Ventura, Calif.) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.) – meaning there could be more USA versus USA matches to come.


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Fish in ashes:� …place it tenderly in fig leaves and tie them on top with a string, then put it under hot ashes, bethinking thee wisely of the time when it is done and burn it up not …"� Archestratus, 4th century BC, Roman.
Inspired traditional salmon for July Fourth menu.� At fish store, where they will have sides of salmon, I will ask them to take out the pin bones.� And they will try.� But I'll have the tweezers ready in case they miss any.
It's hot as hell, so I'm n a shortcut, using bottled dressing for the dill sauce. Yesterday I tried a bottled buttermilk dressing as a cheat on my Caesar salad.� I just didn't feel like standing around making the mayo, after making homemade croutons.� The dressing comes in one of those old-fashioned bottles that the milkman once used to deliver cream.� After I processed in a few anchovies and a clove of garlic, only one person guessed it wasn't homemade.
For tomorrow's salmon, I plan to use it again, chopping in some fresh dill leaves.� I'll oil the grill, put the salmon, skin still on.� Skinless side first, for 2 minutes, then skin side down til that skin starts to crackle and burn around the edges.� It doesn't take long.� And I'll boil up some new potatoes and toss with oil, vinegar, and mustard.� And a green salad.� Vanilla ice cream for dessert topped with red and blue berries.


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Watch Monty Python 40th Anniversary Reunion Live on October 15, 2009
The Pythons are coming! The Pythons are coming!
As part of the 40th Anniversary of Monty Python visit PythOnline.com on October 15 @ 6:00PM PST (9:00 PM EST) to see the Pythons live streaming webcast from the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City!
By visiting PythOnline.com you can watch this historic event. Watch John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin as they take to the stage for a Q&A discussion with the audience. The event will be streamed live in conjunction with Ustream.
So get ready! Because you'll be able to go behind the velvet rope and watch the Monty Python troupe LIVE on PythOnline.com. The invitation-only event at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City, will celebrate the group's 40th anniversary and premiere the original IFC documentary, "Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut)." But you'll be there too, through the power of streaming!
The Pythons will also accept a Special Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) honoring their outstanding contribution to film and television.
Be there. Thursday, October 15 at approximately 6:00PM PST (9:00 PM EST)
Here's to another 40 years!
The PythOnline.com Team


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Jessica Oates, AKA "Bonecrusher" #116, is featured as the USARS Derby Spotlight athlete for March. Jessica is a member of the Bakersfield Rollergirls. She not only works on her own game, but she sees potential in all of her teammates and will stop to give advice when she sees something specific that can be fixed to get a better result. Bonecrusher stresses that "Teamwork makes the Dreamwork!"
Jessica also coaches the Bakersfield Junior Roller Derby league, which is going on their 3rd year together. The juniors look up to her and strive to be an adult skater like her when they turn 18. She gives more than 100% at everything she does and keeps going no matter what obstacles come her way.
Hometown: I was born and raised in Bakersfield California.
Personal website/journal/web log (blog) address: ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬Facebook/Bonecrusher116
Occupation & current employer: I am a full time Mom, Wife, Student, Coach
Career goals: I would love to be a Flight Nurse for the Los Angeles County Fire Department!
Current league: I help coach Bakersfield Junior Roller Derby and I skate for Bakersfield Rollergirls, Team CRUZ and The Rejects.
Derby name & number: My Roller Derby name and number is Bonecrusher #116.
Years involved in derby: I started playing and obsessing over Roller Derby in October of 2006
Coaches name: My Coach's name is Gary Maxwell.
Favorite derby position (blocker, pivot, jammer): I love to play, put me in wherever you want me!
When did you begin skating: I start skating around age 7.
Fondest memory of skating: My husband proposed to me in the center of the track at one of BRG's first home bouts. It was so awesome!
Future goals you hope to obtain as a skater: My derby dream as a coach is to take BjRD to the junior Olympics. My derby dream a skater is to play w some great skaters and continue to grow and learn every season. I would love to play in a few big time advanced skilled tourneys. That would be a cherry on top!
Awards, honors and statistics received in roller sports: I have received a few MVP awards as well as jammer and blocker awards, but I am more proud and humbled to be sponsored by 187 Killer Pads.
Other sports you currently participate in: There are other sports besides roller Derby?
Who is your favorite sports figure: Joy Collision!
Who is the person you most admire/greatest influence in your life and why: My folks, they gave me the tools to get where I am today. It is a pretty good place.
List your hobbies: My hobbies outside of roller derby are going to concerts with my fine husband and anything I can do with my family to stay active and healthy.
What music do you listen to during training or competition? All music is good loud.
What makes you a unique and special person: That is not for me to answer.
Favorite food before a competition: I eat everything!
Favorite movie: My favorite movie is the Outsiders, based on the book by S E Hinton. I love that movie.
Favorite place to shop: My favorite place to shop for derby gear and cool derby merch is Cruz Skateshop. I really need to stay away from 6pm.com.
Most prized possession: My most prized possessions are my dudes, as far as my stuffs? My SKATES!
If you could pick one word to describe you, what would it be: REAL
Anything else you would like us to know about you: I just want to say thank you! I am extremely flattered and appreciative of this opportunity.


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Our hair is not the same and that's OK
In my last blog, I shared a little of my experience in the Urban Suburban Program, ultimately an experience I wouldn't trade for all of the tea in China. Actually I'm not really a fan of tea, so let's say it's an experience I wouldn't trade for all of the ice cream in Haagen-Dazs or Ben & Jerry's. I shared the post centered around my time in Penfield on Facebook where many of my high school counterparts are pretty active. One area I've received follow up inquires about was this line: (more…)


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The nation of Botswana, Africa is endangered by a health crisis of catastrophic proportions. One in every four people living in Botswana is infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. In 1965, the life expectancy in Botswana was 65 years; by 2005, AIDS had cut that life span to a mere 40.
Children are not immune to the ravages of the disease. Botswana is home to more children orphaned by AIDS than any other nation on earth. Some 93,000 children have lost at least one parent; many of the children are infected from birth themselves.
For Allison Hunter and Kasey Ambrose, these statistics are more than just numbers. They are the haunted eyes, the pain-filled faces, and the tiny, outstretched hands of the children of Botswana. Taking Christ's call to care for orphans and widows to heart, Hunter and Ambrose left all they knew in America behind to relocate 8,541 miles away to the small city of Lobatse, Botswana, where they are sharing a message of hope with children living in the Valley of the Shadow.
Hunter and Ambrose, both 23, are the founders of the Orphan Care Center, a program that provides 10 orphaned and vulnerable children in Lobatse, Botswana, with a daily meal, a safe place to play games or sing songs, and a loving touch they might not experience at any other time or place in their lives. Most importantly, the Orphan Care Center offers children hope in the love of Christ and training in the Word of God. In a country marked by death and despair, the Orphan Care Center is equipping the smallest and weakest to become a new generation of strong spiritual leaders.
"There is such a loss of hope that comes from contracting AIDS. Everyone here in Botswana either has AIDS or has watched a friend or relative die from it," Hunter says. "But there is a reason to live, even if you are HIV positive, or your parents are dead, or you don't know who will take care of you tomorrow. There is always hope in Christ, and that hope is what Kasey and I are here to share."
While HIV treatment is made free to every citizen of Botswana by the government, the stigma attached to the disease means some people do not seek treatment for themselves or for the children in their care. For many of those suffering from AIDS, death — even the death of a child — is preferable to bearing the stigma that comes with the disease. The suicide rate is high; many people who find they are HIV positive kill themselves rather than face the shame of living and the agony of dying of AIDS.
Children here have little opportunity for a childhood. It is not unusual to find young children caring for their sick parents, and after their parents die, caring for their younger siblings. The streets of Lobatse are filled with small children carrying even smaller children on their backs, sometimes pushing them in wheelbarrows to clinics for HIV drugs.
In this daunting place, at a time in life when most of their friends are taking their first steps up the career ladder or sending out wedding invitations, Hunter and Ambrose are fulfilling a calling that brought them together and led them to Botswana.
"This is my purpose," Ambrose says. "I have joy, peace, and a sense of comfort in my heart knowing this is exactly where I am supposed to be."
One in every four adults in Botswana — some 300,000 people — has AIDS or is positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
The life expectancy in Botswana in 1965 was 65. The life expectancy in Botswana in 2005 was 40.
Botswana is home to more children orphaned by AIDS than any other nation on earth. An estimated 93,000 children have lost at least one parent to AIDS.
The cost of medical care, loss of income due to illness or death, and funeral expenses have pushed families and entire communities into poverty.
The economic output of the country as a whole has been reduced by the loss of workers and their skills.
In 2009, Allison Hunter spent five months in Botswana working with Hands-On, a program of the International Mission Board (IMB) that connects college students with missions worldwide.
"Our focus was on church planting, but the house where I stayed was across the street from this rundown orphan care center," Hunter recalls. "In the afternoons, I would go there and play with the kids. The truest relationships I formed in Botswana were with those children. Of everything I did during those five months, when I returned home, that's what I kept thinking about — those children."
Kasey Ambrose heard the call to Africa when she was just 15 years old. Ambrose sponsored a child in Tanzania through a missions program. The little girl was an AIDS orphan and was infected with the disease herself, prompting Ambrose to research the issue of AIDS and orphans in Africa.
"The Lord put the children of Africa on my heart," Ambrose says. "I didn't have any idea how I would get there, but I began saving money to go to Africa."
Five years later, during her sophomore year at Mississippi College, Ambrose received the opportunity she'd been praying for in the form of a college student mission to Botswana organized through First Baptist Church Jackson.
"From the minute I got on the plane, I felt peace," Ambrose recalls. "I was finally going to the place I knew I had been called to be."
Ambrose spent much of that two-week mission trip ministering to children in an AIDS orphan center.
"When I got back home, I kept seeing those children's eyes," Ambrose says. "I would think about specific children that I had held and how I'd told them everything would be okay..." Ambrose's voice breaks as her own blue eyes fill with tears. "Their eyes, their faces wouldn't leave my mind. I had this uneasiness in my heart. All I could think was, 'Lord, I have to go back.'"
When Ambrose had the opportunity to participate in another mission trip to Botswana in 2009, she jumped at the opportunity, this time staying for three months. During that time, Ambrose met Hunter, who was there with Hands-On. The two became friends, returning for more mission work in Botswana together the following year.
"This time when I came home, it wasn't a sad feeling, it was more of a battle, an adrenaline rush," Ambrose recalls. "The problem there with the orphans was so big. I kept asking God how He could use me to help solve it. I prayed that He would equip me to go back and make a difference."
Allison Hunter was also struggling with the sense of an unfulfilled calling.
"Kasey and I both felt there was an unfinished chapter waiting for us in Africa."
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
While still working to complete their elementary education degrees at MC, Hunter and Ambrose began researching what they could do to make an impact for Christ in Botswana. One of their favorite meeting sites was Barnes & Noble, where they had access to both coffee and an entire shelf full of books on how to build a ministry from the ground up.
There, in the bookstore, on a Subway napkin, they wrote out the description of their vision – a self-sustaining orphan care center in Lobatse, supported by the local church and run by local women. That scribbled dream became the outline for a proposal the women submitted to the International Mission Board. Less than two months later, they received a response. The IMB wanted them to return to Lobatse.
"Right then, we got down on our knees and prayed that the Lord would give us strength beyond our own," Hunter recalls. "We knew that just the two of us right out of college didn't have much to offer beyond what God would equip us with. Then went out and got garlic bread sticks to celebrate."
What emerged was a partnership between Hunter and Ambrose, the IMB, and the Lobatse Baptist Church in Botswana. Hunter and Ambrose committed to spend a minimum of two years in Lobatse to establish an orphan care program. While they would receive no financial support from IMB, Hunter and Ambrose would live in a comfortable house on a mission compound in Lobatse for a modest monthly rental fee, and have the security of knowing they were considered part of the IMB team in Botswana.
The pastor and congregation of Lobatse Baptist Church agreed to allow the women to operate the Orphan Care Center out of the small church and to pay three local women a modest stipend — approximately $225 in U.S. dollars per month for all three — to work with Hunter and Ambrose to establish and operate the program. Hunter and Ambrose would serve as volunteer leaders, raising their own support and receiving no compensation from the church.
In January of 2012, after graduating from MC and raising two years worth of living expenses, Hunter and Ambrose returned to Botswana.
"We knew this was the beginning of the biggest adventure of our lives," Hunter says. "We didn't know exactly where the next two years would take us or what would happen after that, but we knew that trying to do something was better than doing nothing."
Hunter and Ambrose realized the key to building a lasting ministry would be rooting that ministry in the local church.
"People from outside Botswana come with the best of intentions," Hunter says. "They build brand new facilities and start new programs, but the local people think of it as that person's program, not as their own. When that person or group leaves, the building falls into disrepair and the ministry ends. And if too much help comes from outside, the people here say, 'Oh, we have to have help, we don't really have anything to offer ourselves.'
"Mine and Kasey's goal wasn't to start the Allison and Kasey Orphan Care Center. It was to empower the women in Lobatse to start an orphan care center with their own knowledge and resources and the love they have in their hearts," Hunter continues. "They are capable of doing it — more so than we are. They know this country, its culture, its language, and its children, and they've grown up in its problems. All they needed was someone to tell them they could do it."
Hunter and Ambrose's faith was tested when Hunter hung a sign-up sheet in the Lobatse Baptist Church inviting local women interested in working on the project to sign up for interviews. She left 10 spaces on the sheet.
Not a single woman signed up.
"We'd go back every day to check and see nothing," Hunter recalls. "One day, I just stood staring at that blank sheet of paper. All I could think about was all of the people who had invested in us, and I thought, 'What are we doing? This is never going to happen. We're not going to find one person, let alone three, who is willing to do this.' I went home and wrote in my journal that night, 'Maybe I should have just stayed home.'
"Three days later, five women had signed up," Hunter continues. "One woman had already quit her job in hopes of joining our team. She was willing to risk it, she told me, because the Lord had told her to work with us. I realized He had been working in their hearts before their names were ever on my list."
Three local women, Josephine Chiparra, Boipelo Segadika, and Neo Eteetsang, were chosen for the program. Key to training the women was instilling in them a sense of their own worth. Born into lives of struggle with little education and very limited resources, the women initially felt they had little to offer. Their work with the Orphan Care Center has changed that.
Boipelo Segadika is a single mother with three children who left a steady job in a printing shop to be a part of the Orphan Care Center. Before finding work at the print shop, Boipelo had known extreme poverty; at times, she confesses, she thought of killing her children and then herself rather than watch them die of sickness or starvation. Boipelo's faith in God saw her through those dark times, and it is that faith she now shares with the children of Lobatse.
"I am not so very educated, but I am educated enough to share the Word of God. I am not ashamed to say that God is good," Boipelo says. "When I left my job to work with Allison and Kasey, people laughed at me. They asked me who would provide for my children. I said, 'God will provide.'"
Tall and slim with high cheekbones and warm brown eyes, Josephine Chiparra is strikingly beautiful. But Josephine grew up with a father who beat and belittled her, telling her that she was ugly, stupid, and worthless. Josephine recalls fleeing to the bush to cry.
"I needed love, but there was no love," Josephine says, her eyes filling with tears. "Then I came to know Christ, and I knew the things my father said to me were not true. I knew that Christ loved me. Now I am so happy to tell these children they are loved and can do anything through Christ. Even when there is suffering, if you know Christ, you have hope."
With no money for the bus, Josephine walks the five miles from her home to the church and back every day to share that hope with the orphaned children.
"These orphans feel alone or rejected because their parents have been killed by HIV," Josephine says. "They have no clothes, they go to sleep with nothing to eat. We will make sure they have food and something to put on, but the most important thing is to tell them that God is their loving Father. I don't have a lot of money to offer, but what I have to give is love."
At 23, Neo Eteetsang is the youngest of the three women. Her dream is to be a part of a ministry that will change the future of her country. "I would like to see this ministry change the lives of children in Lobatse, to help them become children who know God. God chose us to do this work, to let these children know that He loves them."
"One of the most exciting things has been to see the women come to believe in this project," Hunter says. "One day Kasey and I overheard them talking. One of them said, 'I think this ministry could change Lobatse.' Then another said, 'No, this ministry could change Botswana.' Then the third said, 'No. Our ministry is going to change Africa.'"
Hunter and Ambrose turned a knack for sewing into a fund-raising opportunity for the Orphan Care Center. The women asked a tailor in Lobatse if they could purchase small pieces of the costly, traditional African tribal fabric left over from his dressmaking, explaining that they planned to turn the scraps into hand- sewn headbands they could sell. When the tailor learned they planned to use the funds raised to support the Orphan Care Center, he donated bags full of the colorful fabric to their cause. Allison, Kasey, Josephine, Boipelo, and Neo spent hours stitching each unique headband, then sold the headbands locally to buyers who not only appreciated their craftsmanship, but also their mission.
With their team in place, Hunter and Ambrose were ready to welcome the children.
Immediately upon arriving in Lobatse, the women had written a letter to the City Council asking for official approval of their program and help in choosing 10 children to register as its participants. The women deliberately limited the number of children to 10, realizing that keeping the number manageable would be critical to providing food and meeting other physical needs, and also to building a personal relationship not only with each child, but also with that child's siblings and caregivers.
While they waited for approval, Hunter, Ambrose, and their team of local women filled the long weeks ministering to the children in the neighborhood surrounding the church and to groups of "street kids" who roamed Lobatse, engaging them in games of soccer, serving them peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and introducing them to the Word of God.
Then in late May, after five months of waiting, the children of the Orphan Care Center arrived.
"Finding out that we would finally be getting our children was one of the best moments of my life," Hunter says. "The first little boy I met was Thabang. I was speaking to his caretaker — both his parents died of AIDS — when he came around the corner. I don't know what it feels like to be a new mother, but that was the greatest joy I've ever experienced.
"The first day was incredible," Hunter continues. "The children were all very shy and quiet. They have a lot of pain in their lives, and you can see that in the way they carry themselves, but they are also normal kids. They love to play soccer and they love to hold your hand."
"I feel so much love for these children. I see them walking down the street and my heart is just filled with love for them," Ambrose says. "The children here in Botswana don't get touched. They don't get held. When I see these children who are hurting or suffering, my first response is to say, 'Come here, let me hold you.' I want them to know that I'm right here. I'm close. I'm not leaving you, and if you need me, I'll be here."
The children, who range in ages from six to 10 years old, walk to the Lobatse Baptist Church every afternoon after school, where Hunter, Ambrose, Josephine, Boipelo, and Neo serve them a meal, then spend three to four hours singing songs, playing games, sharing Bible stories, and praying with them. At the end of the day Hunter and Ambrose walk them home, a ritual Hunter describes as "my favorite part of the day," where they might have an opportunity to minister to the children's caregivers or siblings. The plan is for the children to participate in the program until they are 12 years old — enough time to build lasting relationships and a strong spiritual foundation.
Despite all they had seen and experienced on previous missions to Botswana, Hunter says she "had no idea how bad the children's situations would be." The children are desperately poor; when served their first meal, Hunter says, "They were so hungry. We piled their plates so high, I felt certain none of them would finish the meal. Two of our tiniest little girls went back for another huge plate." Two of the little boys sleep on the floor of a "tuck shop," a tiny shed-like building used for selling food, in a relative's front yard. Another child's entire wardrobe consists of two pairs of panties and a single, hand-me-down dress. One little boy will barely speak or make eye contact; his grandmother explains that he stopped communicating after his parents died.
Hunter and Ambrose believe that at least five of their 10 children have AIDS. One little girl has already suffered a heart attack triggered by taking HIV medicine without food. She is nine years old. A little boy has trouble walking; he is covered in sores that the women suspect were caused by a sexually transmitted disease.
"He is so tiny and innocent, and he has no idea," Hunter says. "Mixed with all of the excitement, there are deep pangs of sadness. Some of our children may not have very long."
Just outside the walls of the mission compound where Hunter and Ambrose live is a cemetery, a constant reminder of the epidemic that threatens the children they have come to love. Every week in Lobatse sees yet another funeral, yet another child left parentless. The harsh reality is that some of the 10 children with whom Hunter and Ambrose sing cheerful songs, play silly games, and share cookies will not live to adulthood.
"I have thought about what it will be like if one of them dies," Ambrose says. "It ignites a fire in me to want to share the love of Christ with them even more. I want to know that if they are going to die, they know Christ. I want to know that I will see them again one day in Heaven. That gives me hope."
Allison Hunter and Kasey Ambrose are working in Botswana strictly as volunteers, and must raise their own support. A fund for the Orphan Care Center has been established at First Baptist Church Jackson. Please send tax-deductible donations to:
Lobatse Orphan Care Center
c/o First Baptist Church
431 North State Street
Jackson, MS 39201
Please make checks payable to First Baptist Jackson and include "Lobatse Orphan Care Center" in the memo line.
While gifts of any size are welcomed, the women stress that what they need the most is prayer. "If you offered us a check for $10,000 or your prayers, honestly, we'd rather have your prayers," Hunter says. "We know we can accomplish more through prayer here in two years than we could in a thousand years through our own efforts."


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by Anton Shilov
Nvidia Corp. on Thursday said that it had filed a countersuit in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware against Intel Corp. for breach of contract. The action also seeks to terminate Intel's license to Nvidia's patent portfolio.
Nvidia's countersuit was brought in response to a filing by Intel last month in the Delaware court, alleging that the four-year-old chipset license agreement does not extend to Intel's future generation central processing units with integrated memory controllers, such as its Nehalem processor.
"Nvidia did not initiate this legal dispute. But we must defend ourselves and the rights we negotiated for when we provided Intel access to our valuable patents. Intel's actions are intended to block us from making use of the very license rights that they agreed to provide," said Jen-Hsun Huang, president and chief executive officer at Nvidia.
Nvidia entered into the disputed agreement in 2004 to be able to address with Intel-based platforms. In return, Intel took a license to Nvidia's rich portfolio of 3D, GPU, and other computing patents.
Nvidia claims that it had been attempting for more than a year to resolve the disagreement with Intel in a fair and reasonable manner. Intel claims the same.