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He waved at the fourteen-year-old girl crossing the motel parking lot. She looked great: shorts, a little white blouse, her brown hair in a ponytail that bounced as she walked toward him. He was high as a kite on the methamphetamine that he'd promised her would make for a better fuck. But somewhere on the trip from Loveland to Denver to hook up with another bus that would get him to the motel in Wheat Ridge, the speed had disappeared into his arm.
He'd have to do some fast talking about the meth, just as he had in their e-mails and telephone conversations. He enjoyed playing the girl, had her wrapped around his finger. It wasn't hard; like a lot of kids cruising the chat rooms, little Katie had been looking for something she wasn't getting at home. Her dad was out of the picture, her mom a drunk who had a new boyfriend hanging around the apartment all the time. Mostly, Katie just wanted someone to care about her. She doesn't really care about you, baby. Not like I do.
Back in June 2000, he'd found her under the nickname Cutie2kewl in a chat room. He'd checked out her America Online profile and liked what he saw. A typical teenager. In the space provided for "member name," she'd written Katie T-hahahaha; under marital status, give me a break, single, 14 years. For hobbies she listed hanging; asked what computer she used, she answered like whoooo cares. Her personal quote: party on babe even if u gotta skip skewl.
He'd taken his time on the girl, nice one moment, nasty the next. A speed freak, he'd wanted to stay with her on the computer and, later, the phone for hours, late into the night. The longer he'd kept her on, the more meth he'd injected, the more graphic and violent his sex talk -- hard sex, rape fantasies. He'd told her not to worry, the meth would make it great. She'd do things she'd never dreamed of doing.
Their discussions had gone on for three weeks. Finally, after Katie told him her mom was going camping for a couple of days with her boyfriend, he'd suggested they meet. He had hoped he could just come over to her mom's apartment -- save the motel money -- but Katie had worried that the neighbors might see him and instead had suggested a motel close to her home.
Then he'd found one right across the street, even cheaper. More bang for the buck. He was seven hours late by the time he got to Wheat Ridge, but when he'd called Katie, she'd been real nice about it, said she'd be right over.
Just come to the motel playground in the middle of the parking lot and I'll see you, he'd told her. And now here she was, the girl of his fevered dreams. He recognized her from a photograph she'd scanned into her computer: Katie lying on a park bench in jeans and a leather jacket. He waved again from the walkway outside the second-story room, his eyes bright with meth and anticipation, but she didn't seem to see him.
Finally, he caught her eye. "Come on up," he called. She waved back and smiled. But then she dropped her backpack, and she took her sweet time picking everything up before she finally made her way to the stairwell. His eyes locked on the spot at the top of the stairs; when she appeared, she commanded every last molecule of his attention. She was almost his. He pulled out his room key and fumbled at the lock, his eyes hardly leaving Katie.
Suddenly, Katie shrank away, and he was shoved to the ground. He'd been so intent on the girl that he hadn't heard anyone else approaching.
He heard them now. "POLICE! You're under arrest!" Mike Harris of the Jefferson County District Attorney's Crimes Against Children unit shouted at 38-year-old Jeff Beebe.
Harris's knee was killing him from the sprint up the stairs. He'd felt a snap and heard a pop, but kept going; he had to get to Beebe before the man got to the girl. Harris never knew when one of these guys might have a gun, and the last thing he needed was a hostage situation.
He looked at the girl backing toward the stairwell. "Grab her," he shouted at the two back-up officers just reaching the top of the stairs. "I want to talk to her."
Mike Harris had always wanted to be a cop. Growing up in a high-crime area of Albuquerque, he disliked bullies -- small in stature and half-Hispanic, half-Anglo, he'd experienced his share of them -- and liked the idea of helping people. After high school, he'd come north to Denver, where he got a job first with the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office, then the Littleton Police Department and, in 1989, the Lakewood Police Department.
Harris was a gung-ho, balls-to-the-wall macho cop. Tough, aggressive and muscular, as a SWAT team volunteer he'd earned the nickname "Tazman," after the Tasmanian Devil, a whirling dervish of a cartoon character.
He had a passion for working undercover, particularly on cases involving drugs, which he saw as the root of most crimes. He'd discovered he had a knack for fitting into the drug-dealing world, a community with its own rules, its own characters. Once, he wormed his way into the inner circle of a drug dealer he'd arrested three times in the preceding two years; the dealer didn't recognize the bearded, long-haired Harris as the cop who'd busted him.
Harris wanted to be where the action was. After he'd been at Lakewood about eight months, he applied for a position open on the department's K-9 unit. Never mentioning that he was afraid of dogs (he'd been bitten as a child), he'd gone through the mandatory dress-up-in-a-bite-suit routine, letting one hundred-pound dog after another drag him around for a day. He did it because in Lakewood, the dog handlers and their charges were brought in on all the "hot calls" -- man with a gun, robbery in progress. And he enjoyed competing with other K-9 units to get to the call first -- and therefore have first crack at a "bite," the official term for when a dog sinks his teeth into a suspect. His partner was Rex, a Belgian Malinois that looks somewhat like a German shepherd, only with shorter hair and a bigger chest. Cruising with Rex, Harris would report that he was "on the scene" while still a half-mile away, hoping to discourage other units from hurrying to the call.
But in 1991, two events in almost as many weeks convinced the self-professed adrenaline junkie that he had to pull back. First, Harris was nearly shot -- and coming that close to catching a bullet made him wonder whether he was being fair to his family. Even without the danger, K-9 duty was rough on family life. Since he was generally on the job from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m., he wasn't around much for his wife and three sons.
He missed one of his son's ball games because of the near-shooting. Determined to make the next one, he drove to the field to hook up with his family. Another father came up to Harris and slapped him on the back. "You should have seen your boy yesterday," he said. "He hit a grand slam. It was really something." Harris felt about two inches tall: He should have been there to see his son's big moment.
Then, a few weeks later, Harris was broadsided in his patrol car by someone who ran a stop sign. It was time, he realized, to get into a new line of police work.
Harris hoped to be named a detective in the Lakewood PD's burglary unit. Instead, he was assigned to the Juvenile/Crimes Against Children unit.
While with the Littleton PD, Harris had met Joan Schroer, the lone detective in that department's Crimes Against Children unit, and he'd attended her seminars. Sexual-abuse cases were notoriously difficult: The crimes occurred behind closed doors, where there were no other witnesses, and usually came down to the word of a child against that of an adult. Schroer had opened his eyes to the types of crimes being perpetrated on children: assault, torture, rape. He'd developed a deep admiration for Schroer, who was exceptional at establishing rapport with children who'd been through the most godawful experiences he could imagine.
Still, he never saw himself working child-abuse cases.
Most of these crimes received little or no attention from the media. There was the six-year-old boy who'd been tortured with cigarettes by his mother's boyfriend; a teacher noticed the burns, and the case was turned over to Harris. The boy was the same age as one of Harris's sons, but he had no one to protect him. The mother said she didn't believe her son -- even though she dressed the boy in long-sleeved shirts even on the hottest days.
The boyfriend was found guilty of child abuse with intent to injure and sent away for five years. The mother was convicted of negligence and given probation. The boy was sent to live with relatives; Harris never heard from him again. But in his office, he kept a framed photograph of the boy, with the caption "Why We Do, What We Do."
Even when the media did pay attention, the public didn't always take Harris's job as seriously as he did. One boy's father bought a stripper for his son's thirteenth birthday. The dad thought it was a great joke, but a videotape of the boy showed that he was clearly uncomfortable and participated only at his father's insistence. The father, his girlfriend and the stripper were all charged with sixteen felony counts, including sexual assault on a child, but the crime became a joke on David Letterman's show. Harris just looked at the photograph in his office and continued to do his best.
His best wasn't good enough to save them all, however. Another case involved the sexual assault of a nine-year-old girl by her mother's boyfriend. Harris arrested the boyfriend, who was sent to prison, but he had no illusions that the girl's life was going to get much better. She and her mother moved from motel to motel on Colfax Avenue and hardly owned a change of clothing between them. Harris and some other officers chipped in to buy the girl some clothes, and Harris tried to point the mother toward agencies where she could get help. But other than giving the girl his pager number and asking her teachers to call if they noticed any problems, there wasn't much more he could do.
In 1995, Harris took a job with the Jeffco DA's Crimes Against Children division. He'd worked frequently with Laura Dunbar, the deputy district attorney in charge of the division, as well as Dennis Goodwin, the chief of investigators; both of them had encouraged him to apply for the slot. Working for the DA's office, Harris knew he'd have a broader reach -- and perhaps the time and resources to explore a new avenue of child abuse: the Internet.
One of the biggest frustrations with working a Crimes Against Children case was that by the time police got involved, a child had already suffered. The challenge was to find a way to be proactive, to stop the perp before he ruined a kid's life.
During a computer-class discussion of chat rooms, Harris had a thought. What would happen if I got in a chat room and pretended to be a child? Would the pedophiles who cruised the Net looking for victims approach him for sex? There was a law on the books -- attempted sexual assault on a child -- that would apply if an adult suggested sexual acts with someone under legal age and then tried to act on those suggestions. Harris would have to be careful to avoid entrapment issues -- posing as a child, he couldn't suggest a criminal act -- but if the suggestion came from the other side, he might be able to put a pedophile in prison.
In 1996, Harris broached his idea with Goodwin and Dunbar and got the blessing of District Attorney Dave Thomas. If Harris could catch a few Internet pedophiles in his spare time, that was fine with the DA.
Harris still knew next to nothing about the Internet; he'd never even logged on to a chat room. Fortunately, Julie Posey, an intern in the DA's office, was a computer whiz. And after Harris explained what he was trying to do, she not only showed him how to get into the chat rooms, but translated some of the online lingo for him, such as "LOL" for "laugh out loud."
At first, Harris ventured into chat rooms just to observe the action. He was amazed by how much information the kids -- at least, they said they were kids -- exchanged over computers. They talked about their bodies and their sexual exploits -- things many of them would never have discussed face-to-face. The Internet seemed to provide a safe buffer -- but in fact, he thought, it was a perfect hunting ground for sex offenders. Just follow the dialogue and pick a victim.
When Harris decided he'd watched enough, he created the character of Tommy, a thirteen-year-old boy whose mother had died and whose father worked all the time, leaving him home to fend for himself. When Tommy logged into a chat room for the first time, Harris was surprised at how quickly other kids responded. But it also wasn't long before he ran into men who wanted to talk about sex. While some were only interested in cyber-sex, others wanted to take it to the next step.
In one newsgroup, Harris noticed an ad: Daddy ISO Boy. After running to Posey, who told him that "ISO" stands for "in search of," he replied as Tommy. Soon he had Tobias Levi, a 54-year-old businessman, making sexual suggestions to the supposed thirteen-year-old. The pedophile was crafty; if Tommy got upset when talk of oral sex turned graphic, got gross, he'd back off for a while, then return to the sex discussion later. And little by little, Harris allowed his alter ego to be seduced.
Then an unanticipated problem came up: Levi wanted a pic, a photograph of Tommy. Harris realized that he hadn't thought through the whole process. Someday, Levi was going to want more than a picture; he was going to want to meet Tommy for sex. He needed someone who could play Tommy in person.
There was no way he was going to pass for a thirteen-year-old; he didn't know any police officers, male or female, who could. And then Posey suggested Cassandra, a 28-year-old investigator in the DA's Welfare Fraud division.
Cassandra had a reputation as being real gung-ho, just like Harris. He and Posey walked downstairs and stood outside the fraud office, peeking in at Cassandra as they discussed the possibility. She was certainly the right size: slight, about five feet tall, maybe a hundred pounds. Her voice was perfect, Harris thought, a "tweener" who could pass as a teenage girl or a boy in the throes of puberty.
At her desk, Cassandra wondered why the investigator from the Crimes Against Children division and an intern were standing in the hall checking her out. She was about to confront the pair when Harris finally approached and told her about his plan. He wanted to catch pedophiles on the Internet. Would she be interested?
Harris wasn't the first person to make use of Cassandra's small stature. When other investigators had had trouble serving subpoenas to reluctant witnesses, she'd sometimes helped out. She'd been to the police academy, carried a gun and everything, but she sure didn't look like a cop.
Cassandra thought Harris's idea sounded exciting: working undercover, catching sex offenders who preyed on children. After she gladly volunteered for the assignment, Harris told her that there was just one more thing: She'd be impersonating a thirteen-year-old boy.
He brought out the baseball cap he'd been hiding behind his back and asked Cassandra to put it on. With her hair tucked up into the cap, she was transformed. The next day, Cassandra met Harris in his office and posed for a photograph, wearing the cap and a loose jacket. Tommy now had a face.
Looking back, Cassandra realized she'd led a fairly sheltered childhood. She'd grown up in Denver, with a businessman father and a stay-at-home mom. Her parents were involved in her life, attending all her sporting events and keeping a close eye on her other activities. If she went to the mall, her parents knew who she was meeting and when she was supposed to be picked up. And she was never allowed to just camp in front of the TV -- or video games, once they appeared on the scene.
Like millions of other kids, she'd heard all the rules regarding strangers. Don't talk to them. Don't get in their cars. If someone approaches and suggests something inappropriate, report it to the police or a responsible adult. She also heard the stories about bad things happening to kids who ignored the rules, but they were always something that happened to someone who knew someone else.
Cassandra graduated from college with a degree in criminal justice. Like Harris, she thought of a job in law enforcement as a way of helping others. And also like Harris, she thought it would be exciting. She landed an internship with the Jeffco DA's office, which turned into a job in the Welfare Fraud division.
And now she was Tommy.
Harris sent Levi a copy of the Tommy/Cassandra photo. It worked; Levi e-mailed that he wanted to talk on the phone with Tommy.
Cassandra started studying printouts of all the e-mails and messages between Tommy and Levi so she'd know the history. Still, she knew the call was going to be difficult: On the computer, Harris had time to think out his answers, but she was going to have to improvise quickly while staying in the character of a thirteen-year-old boy. And she was going to have to be careful not to bring up sex, which might be construed as entrapment. "Let him do it," Harris reminded her.
At last they were ready. Tommy sent Levi a phone number, and soon they were having long conversations. As much as she'd prepared, Cassandra was surprised by how graphic Levi got after just a few minutes.
Is it hard? he asked.
Yeah, Tommy answered, a little bashful. Is yours?
Levi almost salivated through the telephone when he asked Tommy if he'd measured his penis, as the man had requested in an earlier chat.
Cassandra couldn't believe an adult would say that to a kid. No, Tommy giggled, I can't find a stupid ruler.
How long is it? Levi said, clearly frustrated with Tommy's lack of focus.
I don't know, probably not as long as yours.
Levi sighed. Well, you have an idea of how long an inch is..., he said, dripping sarcasm.
Yeah, Tommy replied.
Well, look at it..., Levi said.
Tommy giggled. Maybe four.
That's cool, Levi responded. At your age, give me a break...it's not like you're an adult.
Levi told Tommy he wanted to suck his penis. Cassandra was repulsed but concentrated on giving an appropriate answer. Oral sex sounded cool, Tommy said, but he was a little frightened by the prospect.
That's cool, Levi said.
What would you like me to do for you? Tommy asked.
What would you like to do? Levi answered.
I don't know, said Tommy. Maybe the same. ... But you're going to have to be patient with me. I'm still learning.
Okay, Levi replied. You don't have to if you don't want to.
I'm scared, Tommy said. Is that normal?
Sure it is, Levi purred.
A few days later, Cassandra was sitting in a booth at a local McDonald's, wearing the baseball cap and a jacket. Harris and another investigator sat in the booth next to hers, pretending to be just another couple of diners in the busy restaurant. They were all waiting for Levi, who'd arranged to meet Tommy.
Levi, balding and overweight, showed up early. He spotted Tommy, went to the counter to buy a soft drink, then came over and sat down by Cassandra. He smiled when Tommy agreed to his suggestion that they go somewhere else.
As Levi and Tommy chatted, Harris removed his jacket, revealing his badge and the ID hanging around his neck. But Levi didn't notice; he was totally absorbed with Tommy. Suddenly, Harris and the other investigator grabbed Levi's wrists. He was under arrest.
As soon as she could, Cassandra escaped into the bathroom. As far as Levi knew, Tommy was still just a teenage boy.
Levi didn't encounter Tommy again until he was on trial in Jefferson County for attempted sexual assault. Cassandra and Harris were walking down a courthouse hallway when they passed Levi sitting on a bench. At the sound of Tommy's voice, Levi looked up -- and blanched when he realized it was coming from a petite young woman wearing a skirt.
With his online sting up and running, Mike Harris was at the cutting edge of law enforcement. There was nothing like his operation anywhere in the Rocky Mountain region, nor in Kansas or Nebraska, two jurisdictions that began to call on Jeffco's expertise. And not only was Cassandra one of the earliest Internet decoys in the country, she was also the first to portray both boys and girls.
As they worked more cases, the two perfected their roles, learning to mimic the habits of adolescents. A typical teenager wouldn't be on the computer at all times of the day, for example, so they sent e-mails to suspects at 6 a.m., before I go to school, and then at 3 p.m., when Tommy or Kendra or Katie or Tigger got home. Cassandra studied how teenagers talked in the chat rooms, on the telephone. Then she'd be on the phone at 11 p.m., whispering after her fictitious mother had gone to bed.
Unfortunately, much of what Harris and Cassandra learned came from talking to victims. The kids were from a variety of backgrounds -- rich kids, poor kids, kids of all races -- but they had some things in common. They all had too much unsupervised time on their hands. Their parents were working or couldn't be bothered -- if there were two parents; another shared feature of victims was the prevalence of broken homes.
Time and again, they'd come across victims who'd spent hours on the computer, going to chat rooms, while their parents thought they were doing homework. In one case, a fourteen-year-old's parents were dropping the girl off at the mall, supposedly to meet up with friends. Instead, she was going to motels with a man she'd met on the Internet -- a man in his forties. He told her he loved her, that he would take care of her, that he would give her what her busy parents didn't. The assaults were uncovered when the girl told friends, who reported the trysts to school officials.
The offenders were as varied as their victims. Sometimes they were respected members of the community -- a minister in Evergreen, a self-made millionaire from Oregon. Other times, the investigators would get a search warrant for some filthy little apartment with a computer sitting on the floor next to a dirty mattress. But perpetrators had common habits, too, including "grooming" their targets to lower their guard. Most teenagers, even those starved for affection that they weren't getting at home, were put off by someone who started demanding to meet and have sex right off the bat. It was much more effective for the adult to pass himself off as a friend or parent figure.
You don't have a dad? I could be your dad.
You want to go shopping? I'll buy you whatever you want. You like vacations? How about I take you to Disneyland?
I got your picture. You're so cute...you can be my little girl.
Then the perp would start testing the waters, discussing sex, backing off when the target took offense, then returning later to his favorite subject. For their first meeting, the teen might drag a few friends along, and the adult might spend a little money on a meal or shopping, show how "safe" things were. The next time, it would be much easier to get his victim alone.
Some pedophiles stopped at sexual assault, which was bad enough. But others stepped much farther across the line. One twelve-year-old girl who'd met a forty-year-old perpetrator on the Internet wound up in a motel, where she was tied to a bed, injected with drugs, then raped. The process was repeated on several occasions. By the time the crimes were discovered, the girl was addicted to drugs.
Although Jeffco's online operation was more successful than Harris had ever imagined, team members still had to handle their regular caseloads while juggling computer cases. But somewhere, Harris and Cassandra found the time to fall in love. Soon they were husband and wife at home -- at least until the pager went off, turning them into crime-fighting partners.
Like the Internet, their cases stretched outside Colorado. But crossing state lines to engage in sex with a minor was a federal crime, so they frequently ended up working with the FBI. At such times, there was none of the animosity often found between federal and local law-enforcement officials; in fact, the Jeffco team appreciated the stiffer sentences handed down by federal judges.
The suspects flew or drove in from Oregon and Montana, Nebraska and Ohio. Cassandra sometimes scrambled to remember her background story, even her gender. Some of their suspects talked to so many kids that they might not notice a slip; others recalled every detail.
Harris was amazed by Cassandra's ability to think on the run. One day he walked into her office to see how a conversation with one of their latest projects, Wayne Angle, was going. He saw her put the phone down on the desk and then pat her pager twice next to the mouthpiece.
She picked the receiver up. How was that?
Only later, when he listened to a recording of the conversation, did Harris realize what had been going on.
Do you have your pants down? Angle asked Tommy from his home in Indiana.
Yeah, Tommy replied.
Is your dick big? Angle asked, and then asked Tommy to pat his penis on his stomach. Lacking the necessary appendage, Cassandra had used her pager.
It was enough to convince Angle, who twice before had served time for sexual assault on a child, to make arrangements to fly to Colorado. Two weeks before he was due to land here, though, he took a side trip to Mexico, where he filmed himself having sex with boys. When Angle told Tommy about the trip, Harris warned the FBI -- and as Angle re-entered the United States, he was arrested by the agency. The Jeffco team was able to add a count of attempted sexual assault to the feds' child-pornography charges.
Some of the suspects were just plain pathetic, like the man who complained to Tigger, supposedly an adolescent female, that he didn't have a good Internet name. He was overjoyed when Cassandra sent him one, which he recorded onto his answering machine. This is the Pooh Bear Man...
But others scared even Cassandra and Harris. Denverite Thomas Ormsby told Kendra, another character under the Cutie2kewl moniker, that he liked to physically abuse his sexual partners. He sent photographs of himself forcing a child to engage in oral sex; the girl looked about ten.
I got a big dick, huh? he boasted.
Yeah...is it really nine inches? Kendra replied, almost breathless, although Ormsby was one of those who didn't need much prompting.
Yeah, and it's really not that hard in that picture. When I shoved it down her throat, it was really hard.
Are you fingering yourself? Go ahead. When I shoved it down her throat, she gagged...I've got big balls, too.
My cum was dripping out of her nose. Somewhere on the disk, he said, he had pictures that would demonstrate how much cum he produced.
Ormsby asked if Kendra had any friends to bring with her when they finally met. Kendra replied that she didn't want anyone else to know about them, and he quickly moved on to the next subject. Do you take it in the ass?
I never have.
You'll like it.
If you're sure it won't hurt me.
Well, I do have a big cock.
Cassandra could hardly stand to listen to him; he made her skin crawl. How many other children has he hurt? she wondered. When they talked, the question was never far from her mind. She wished they could hurry up and arrest him -- but when the day came, she nearly balked.
"I hate this," she told her husband. Ormsby had demanded that she dress up for his violent fantasy: spandex shorts, a tight-fitting shirt without a bra, high heels and bright-pink lipstick. Cassandra, who rarely wore any makeup, thought she looked like a teenaged hooker.
Even worse, they were supposed to meet at a McDonald's near Columbine High School. She felt terrible showing up at the restaurant in that outfit. She tried to ignore the stares from parents, as well as her own embarrassment.
Finally, Harris reported over the radio that Ormsby had driven into the parking lot. "Go to the front door and act like you're looking around," he said. She did, but either Ormsby didn't see her or he was being cautious. Harris had Cassandra go to the door again, then sit back down in a booth by the window.
Ormsby saw her, parked, then went into the restaurant and took a seat across from her. He was practically licking his chops when, as Harris likes to say of these moments, his world came crashing down.
As the police moved in to arrest Ormsby, parents grabbed their children. Cassandra left as soon as she could, so she wasn't there to hear Harris address the crowd after Ormsby was escorted away. He announced that they had just witnessed a joint operation of the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office and the FBI. "We arrested a man who came here to meet someone he thought was a child," Harris said. "He wanted to hurt a child."
There was a moment of silence, and then everyone in the restaurant began applauding. It was one of the most gratifying moments of Mike Harris's career, but something was missing: His wife wasn't there to hear it.
When he got out to the car, Cassandra was steaming. "Why did you make me come to the door twice?" she yelled. "I will never dress up like this again."
Then he told her about the applause from the restaurant's patrons. "Really?" she asked quietly.
Playing decoy was not an easy job. In her guise as a minor, Cassandra had to listen to vile conversations. Photographs of her were all over the Internet. The team had seen pictures of Cassandra as a little boy pasted above a pedophile's computers, pictures of Cassandra as a teenaged girl lying on the floor next to a suspect's bed. They knew what the sick bastards were doing, but as long as the perps were concentrating on Tommy or Katie or Kendra or Tigger, they weren't hurting a real child.
In May 2000, Richard Templeton picked up a thirteen-year-old girl at Arvada Middle School; he'd met her on the Internet. He took the girl to a park, sexually assaulted her, and then threatened her. I know where you live.
He did it again, twice, before the girl's mother found a love letter from the man. The girl admitted she knew Templeton but denied that there'd been any sexual contact. Arvada detectives brought the case to Harris's team.
They knew Templeton's AOL moniker was Super225, so when the Harrises saw him sign on, they sent a message from Cutie2kewl.
Are you SuperStar25 who was John?
No, Templeton answered.
Sorry to have bothered you, they sent back, and let him go. They were getting pretty good at reading these guys. He'd check out Cutie2kewl's profile, and then they'd hear from him again.
Sure enough, when they signed on as Cutie2kewl a week later, Templeton sent an instant message. Three weeks later, after receiving a photograph showing Cassandra as a nubile cheerleader, he left a message on the undercover telephone at the Harris apartment. So I'm 40. So you're 14. Age is just a number. I don't care what people think. I don't care if it's against the law. You're mine.
Harris thought it was one of the stupidest moves he'd seen yet, but it was a great piece of evidence for the investigators. Templeton wouldn't be able to deny that he knew his victim was a minor, that he was planning to break the law.
Templeton asked if he could visit Kendra's apartment when her mother was out. Kendra told him she was worried about the neighbors and asked him instead to pick her up outside the complex where she supposedly lived. She was sitting on the curb when he pulled up without a worry in the world. Then he opened the car door, and that world came crashing down.
Harris called the Arvada mother and told her about the arrest. Ten minutes later, the mother called back. "I think you need to talk to my daughter," she said. With Templeton in jail, the girl was no longer afraid and was ready to tell her story. As a result, the Jeffco DA was able to add sexual assault to the charge of attempted sexual assault.
A month after the Templeton bust, Cassandra was crossing a motel parking lot while Jeff Beebe waved from a second-story balcony. She'd spotted him right away but had had to stall for time while her backup raced to get into place.
Beebe had made them wait seven hours, but they'd expected him to be erratic because of the drugs. Beebe's motel switch was a bigger problem. Cassandra and the rest of her team from the Jeffco DA's Crimes Against Children division, as well as the Wheat Ridge Police Department and the West Metro Drug Task Force, had planned the arrest down to the slightest detail. Even the motel clerk was a cop.
Then Beebe, that cheap bastard, had changed motels. Suddenly, the risks had escalated. Beebe had told her to come to the playground, where he'd contact her. What did that mean? What if he drove up in a car and insisted she get inside it? Or what if he was holed up in a place where it would be tough to reach him without putting herself in a great deal of danger? Cassandra didn't carry her gun while posing as a teenager.
The Harrises knew that the longer Cassandra kept posing as a target, the more her picture would get around on the Net. Someone, someday, would get a photograph and a message saying Watch out, this girl's a cop. Then it would be easy to set her up, turn the tables.
So Cassandra stalled. She dropped her pack, slowly picked up what spilled out of it. As she approached the stairwell, she could see her husband and another investigator racing beneath the balcony. And when she emerged at the top, they were coming up right behind Beebe.
He had no idea they were there. Beebe had what they'd come to know as "target lock." He had one thing and one thing only on his mind: sex with the teenager standing coyly in front of him.
A few minutes later, she was backing down the stairs as Mike Harris yelled, "Grab her. I want to talk to her." The other investigators hustled Cassandra out of sight. While the suspect lay sprawled on the ground, she proceeded to the motel office, where she picked up the registration form Beebe had filled out -- proof of his criminal intentions.
Mike Harris's office -- Cassandra calls the dimly lit space "the cave" -- is adorned with photos of his wife. Only they're not really his wife. They're Katie. They're Tommy. They're Tigger. They're Cassandra wearing coke-bottle glasses and overalls. Cassandra as a cheerleader.
There are also photographs of the sex offenders they've brought to justice -- a population of doomed men in orange jail jumpsuits. There's the framed photograph of a little boy, with the words "Why We Do, What We Do." And there's a school photograph of a pretty blonde who was once a nine-year-old girl raped by her mother's boyfriend. One night, about two years after Harris had found the girl at the motel, his pager had gone off at 1 a.m., waking him from a deep sleep. "I don't like cops, and I don't like you," a male voice said, then added that an eleven-year-old girl had given him the pager number and asked him to call. "I just left her," the man said. "She's in a motel on Colfax Avenue with her mother and three drunk guys. She was in bed with one of them when I left."
Harris jumped out of bed. He remembered the girl, remembered the mom, and knew how bad things could get. He called for backup as he drove to the motel. Alone, he knocked on the door the caller had mentioned. A man, drunk, answered.
Harris looked in. The mother was passed out on one bed with a man. The girl was on the other bed with another man, who was also passed out. The girl was nude, wide awake and staring at him, scared to death.
The adults were arrested; the girl was taken to the police department, where Harris asked a victim's advocate to talk to her. He could hear the girl yelling in the next room. "I hate Mike Harris. Fuck Mike Harris."
Three years later, he saw the girl again -- this time with her foster mother, working at a benefit for the Children's Advocacy Center, a nonprofit that helps abused children. The girl came up and hugged Harris, even as she told him she was still mad at him for taking her away from her mother.
That was several years ago. Today the girl's a straight-A high school student. "Sometimes she pages me to report cars speeding through her neighborhood," Harris says. "She asks, 'What should I do?' I tell her, 'Don't stand in the street.'"
That's a long way from "Fuck Mike Harris."
The Harrises have grown to expect hostility from the kids they're trying to save. Sometimes the victims blame themselves for whatever predicament the pedophiles find themselves in. Their pleadings on behalf of these men can be sad beyond words. The team recently arrested the forty-year-old Internet boyfriend of a fourteen-year-old girl who is extremely overweight, with no friends and not much of a home life.
"What if no one else ever says they love me? He did," she cried. "Who will want to be with me? At least he wanted to be with me."
With that bust, the Internet operation's arrest record rose over forty; Jeff Beebe -- convicted of felony enticement of a child and given an "indeterminate" sentence of between three years and life -- was number 35. "Last year was a slow year," Harris says. "The rebirthing case took up a lot of our time." The death of an eight-year-old girl at the hands of her therapists made headlines across the country.
But Cassandra and Mike Harris have made plenty of headlines, too. This spring they took their cause to the Sally Jesse Raphael show, where they warned the audience that pedophiles trolled the Internet. The show's producers had set aside four hours of film time to see if Harris could log onto a computer as Cutie2kewl and have an adult make sexual overtures within that time frame. It took ten minutes.
The Harrises hope the media exposure will remind parents to pay more attention to what their children do on the Internet. They also hope that it will plant a seed of doubt in a sex offender's mind, so that the next time he logs on, Harris says, he'll wonder: "Is it really a fourteen-year-old boy he's talking nasty to, or is it that crazy Mike Harris, and am I headed for a fall?"
For every child they save, they know many more are at risk. Even if the Jeffco team were able to work on their Internet operation full-time, the Harrises estimate they would make three arrests a week -- a good haul, but just the tip of the iceberg. And they're still squeezing the sting into their spare time.
On a national level, the government has funded regional task forces charged with protecting children against sex crimes over the Internet. A two-year federal sting operation culminated earlier this month in a hundred people being charged with receiving child pornography from an Internet provider. In a good month, Landslide Productions Inc. took in as much as $1.4 million; its Web site counted more than 250,000 subscribers.
The same day that sting broke in the news, Randall Ankeney, a member of the governor's economic development office and a volunteer coordinator for Bill Owens's re-election campaign, was taken into custody on suspicion of sexual assault. He'd met a thirteen-year-old on the Internet, authorities say, then took her home, plied her with alcohol and marijuana and sexually assaulted her. Every week, there are stories about other kids -- real kids -- violated by adults they met online.
While many local jurisdictions still have no proactive Internet operation, a few police agencies around the state have started programs modeled after Harris's Jeffco operation.
Two years ago, when the Douglas County Sheriff's Office decided to form its Internet Crimes Against Children unit, investigator Keith Penry was the first to be assigned to the job. He was aware of how the Internet was being used by pedophiles, and of some police attempts to go after suspects by posing as young teens. But after he ran into his first victim -- who'd met two men on the Internet -- he turned to Mike Harris for advice on how to catch her perpetrators. Both men are now in prison.
Penry has since logged more than eighty hours of training with the Center for Missing and Exploited Children; this year his unit was awarded a federal grant to beef up its operations. But despite his growing expertise, Penry says he still turns to Harris. "A lot of other investigators, myself included, have a lot of respect and admiration for him," he says. "He's been doing this for a long time. It takes a lot of dedication to do this -- it's a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week job. And if there's anyone who's dedicated to this, it's Mike Harris. He does it for the kids.
"Mike will bend over backwards to help anyone trying to help these kids."
Harris recently returned to an old stamping ground to help the Littleton Police Department with an Internet case. Harris is helping Littleton "prepare for the future of computer crime," Commander Bob Brandt says. "We know it's going on, and a lot of it isn't being reported. The problem is that it's very personnel-intensive, and unless you have someone to whom you can say, 'Okay, this is your primary area of focus,' it's difficult to be proactive like Mike and Cassandra."
But being too active has its drawbacks. This past spring, military police in another state spotted a cheerleader picture being used as a screensaver on a perpetrator's computer; an FBI agent recognized the photograph as Cassandra and contacted the Jeffco team.
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Cassandra was simply becoming too well known. The risk that she could be set up was growing with every picture of Katie, Kendra, Tommy, Tigger and the others sent out over the Web. So Jeffco decided to retire her face, as well as the Cutie2kewl moniker.
Although Cassandra still works on Internet cases, she now stays behind the scenes. In recent weeks, the team has found three volunteers to take her place on the front lines.
"It'll be strange watching from another viewpoint," she admits. "I used to get so hyped up and into these roles, knowing I was replacing some kid. But it was time."


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Wolff Olins, New York, New York, 2005
Carter's is one of the largest wholesalers and retailers of children's apparel in the United States. Wolff Olins developed a new brand strategy based on what really matters to moms. We also established a new logo, a fresh new brand color palette and a custom font. Wolff Olins moved the graphic style away from the industry standard, perfectly poised, overly coiffed princes and princesses to real, emotional photography of kids in action, with simple, childlike illustrations.
Juror Notes
So simple, beautiful and appropriate.
Nailed the audience.
Photography is beautiful, really tasteful.
Color palette is pushed enough that it's not the expected.
Feels fresh, what you think the brand book should look like.
Children's-storybook format is great.
Collections: AIGA 365: 27 (2006)
Repository: Denver Art Museum
Discipline: Brand and identity systems design
Format: Book, Brand and identity systems
- Design firm
- Wolff Olins
- Creative director
- Karl Heiselman
- Content strategist
- Samantha Wilson
- Client
- Carter's

subset: commoncrawl


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Coenobita ConfusionRiddles are little poems or phrases that pose a question that needs answering. Riddles frequently rhyme, but this is not a requirement.
I love to climb up high in trees,
digging holes, and feeling the breeze.
I eat eggs, apples, carrots, meat,
even peanut butter, is a treat.
Around the world, my kin are found.
"Chirping" is our signature sound.
So, what am I?
HintBorn in the sea, but live on the land.
I have ten legs, but not a single hand.
AnswerA Land Hermit Crab!
Coenobita Clypeatus is the most commonly found land hermit crab in the United States. Also known as purple pinchers, or Caribbean crabs, these guys have been found miles from the coast. Hermies are scavengers by nature and enjoy having a variety of foods to choose from. My hermies happen to love peanut butter, raisins, sweet potatoes, and bananas! Purple pinchers are also known for being the most "fashion conscious" of the land hermit species. These guys LOVE to change shells, sometimes spending hours "shell swapping." Listening to these guys "chirp" is like nothing else I've ever heard. It's not quite like a cricket, or a mouse, or really anything I can think of, but it is fascinating!
What Next?
See another brain teaser just like this one...
Or, just get a random brain teaser
If you become a registered user you can vote on this riddle, keep track of
which ones you have seen, and even make your own.
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Apple, it seems, is involved in yet another lawsuit. Along with Google, HTC, LG Electronics, Motorola and Microsoft, Apple is facing a lawsuit from the very litigious patent people at NTP Corp. As it turns out, NTP is targeting the world's leading mobile phone makers regarding - you guessed it - patents. NTP alleges that all six companies are willfully and wrongfully infringing on their patent for delivering e-mail messages to mobile devices.
Having previously targeted Research In Motion, this is NTP's biggest legal endeavor thus far, claiming that eight patents in all are involved in the latest suit. It isn't yet clear, however, if the intellectual property holding company will prove as successful in this endeavor as it was against RIM, when NTP won better than $600 million in damages.
"Use of NTP's intellectual property without a license is just plain unfair to NTP and its licensees," company co-founder Donald E. Stout told the Wall Street Journal in a prepared statement. "We took the necessary action to protect our intellectual property." NTP, a privately owned company, holds a boatload of patents, but it doesn't actually produce any physical products.
If you've noticed these types of lawsuits are becoming commonplace, you're correct in your observation. As the Journal noted:
This latest move on the part of NTP follows other still-pending patent-infringement suits against wireless providers such as AT&T Inc., T-Mobile USA, Sprint Nextel Corp., Verizon Communications Inc., and Vodafone Group. According to the WSJ, the litigation "has been stayed pending a full review of the patents by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office."Legal tactics increasingly have become common among technology players looking to defend their turf, intimidate competitors or extract an additional revenue stream through a forced licensing agreement.


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Nicki Minaj on Critics: 'I've Already Mastered Rap'
When Nicki Minaj released 'Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded' back in April, critics frowned at the over abundance of dance-pop songs on the collection. With the 'Re-Up,' Minaj returns to her original sound that ushered her into the rap spotlight. And now she has a few choice words for the critics.
In an interview MTV News, the Queen Barbz insists that she isn't worried about criticisms anymore. In fact, Minaj maintains that the 'Re-Up' is to hush naysayers who think she has abandoned hip-hop altogether.
"'The Re-Up' is what I do naturally. It's what I came into the game doing," she explains. "So I actually don't have the fears about it being critiqued. I guess when I started doing dance songs, then there was more like a question mark there, 'cause I had never done it."
"But the songs I'm doing on the 'Re-Up,'" she adds, "I haven't even gone into it thinking about criticism. I've already mastered [rap]. When people hear it, they will hear stuff that Nicki Minaj has already mastered. I don't need approval on that."
True indeed. Songs like 'Freedom,' 'Boys' and 'Va Va Voom' are great reminders of what makes Minaj such a fierce artist in pop music — her humor, lyrical ability and her infectious flow.
Now that she's not looking for critics' approval, Minaj vows to continue taking risks with her music whether they like it or not. "[Artists] don't always get the praise but in the long run, they get the respect," she says. "Because most artists in this business are so petrified of thinking outside of the box that they will remain in one little box for their whole careers. And to each his own, but I feel like as women, we gotta dare to be different."
And that's what 'Freedom' is all about.
Watch the Nicki Minaj 'Freedom' Video
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Disney's supposed flop makes this geek happy as can be...
To insure your action figure collection, get in touch with Collectibles Insurance, the official insurance company of the Figures.com network. Say "Figures.com" to get 5% off your first term premiums.
To buy action figures, take a look at BigBadToyStore.com, RedfordFilms.com, Toynk.com, PastGenerationToys.com, BriansToys.com, ToyWiz.com, and MonkeyDepot.com.
There's no doubt there are critics out there who've continued to argue John Carter was a bust for Disney. These haters will argue the film lost money and didn't live up to the expectation set by both the studio and the fans. Of course, there are also those who, like me, are absolutely passionate about John Carter, who'll argue tooth and nail that the film is one of the finest adventure films released in the last decade.
The John Carter home video - released last week - earned the top spot on both Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales chart and Nielsens dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart, proving the film has a strong following as well as continues to turn heads. John Carter is everything great cinema should be: engaging in its story and action, dramatic in its characterization, suspenseful at times and romantic at others, and featuring a well-timed sense of humor. For those who've yet to see John Carter, allow me to explain why this movie's home video deserves a permanent place in your home video library.
Movies like John Carter are experienced, not watched. Based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' classic novel "A Princess of Mars" and only the first of a multi-part sci-fi pulp fiction series, John Carter was adapted for the big screen by Andrew Stanton, Mark Andrews and Michael Chabon with Stanton in the director's chair. The story, set in 1868, follows the adventures of Civil War veteran John Carter (played well by Taylor Kitsch) as he's transported to Mars and dropped neck deep into an alien war on an alien planet filled with alien creatures, alien weapons, and a beautiful alien princess who needs Carter's help. Carter, a native of Earth, finds himself with incredible strength and power (due to the difference in Earth and Mar's gravity) and thus Carter is thrust into the war on Mars between two factions which fight to claim the planet for their own.
With an enthralling story that reaches outside of the sci-fi genre and gorgeous special effects that near seemlessly blend with the live-action cast of virtually unknown actors, John Carter does an impressive job of providing an all-encompassing and entertaining tale that's accessible to those who have both no knowledge of sci-fi as well as an expansive understanding of the genre. Many die-hard fans have been waiting decades for this tale to take to the big screen and it's a blessing that it's become a reality.
This 4-disc set includes what has to be one of the most impressive video and audios ever released. The 3-D is both impressive as well as encompassing, providing plenty of depth which should impress fans of 3-D at home. For those without 3-D at home, it's great to know the regular blu-ray is just as impressive, with plenty of contrast, gorgeous colors with plenty of saturation, and CGI that's impressive and near seamless. Likewise, the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround track is beyond impressive and those with a surround sound system at home will be astonished at what dynamic sound mixing can come out of their system. Gunfire blasts, explosions blare, alien beasts roar, and all the while dialogue is clear, present, and easily recognizable. It's everything one could hope for and more.
As for special features, the set includes a solid selection. An audio commentary with director Andrew Stanton and producers Jim Morris and Lindsey Collins provides insight into the film's production and creation, including development of the script and idea, casting the characters, special effects and more. Disney's Second Screen Interactive Experience delivers additional info for those with an iPad, laptop, or additional device for even more bonus material. 19 minutes of deleted scenes with commentary from director Stanton provides a look at a number of interesting scenes, some incomplete, featuring storyboards and unfinished special effects. A short 10-minute "100 Years in the Making" showcases the John Carter creator, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and his life and creations as well as the quest to bring his stories to life on the big screen. The 35-minute "360 Degrees of John Carter" shows a day on the set with the director as well as visits to the costume and makeup departments. Lastly, 2 minutes of "Barsoom Bloopers" provide some laughs (depending on your sense of humor) for those looking for a little bit more.
Emotionally charged, fun, and all around entertaining, John Carter is a rare gem in today's Hollywood. Family-friendly with no human bloodshed and no harsh language and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action. John Carter is available now wherever fine home video is sold. Be sure to pick up your copy now!
- Jess C. Horsley


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This unique course covers the principles and application of checking mtb trails as part of good practice trail and land management. It includes:
This course also leads to the Volunteer Trail Repair Co-ordinator course which looks at maintaining mtb trails and liaising between volunteers, dig days and land owners / managers.
By the end of this course you will be able to:
Copyright © CTC 2016


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Puerto Rico corporations beginning with ST
In this page you can find list of Puerto Rico companies starting with "ST": Puerto Rico companies and businesses starting with ST, Puerto Rico companies beginning with ST, Puerto Rico companies with ST in the start, Puerto Rico LLCs with ST in the beginning
You have landed on PRcompanies.us - probably the biggest free database of Puerto Rico corporations. We have a huge database which consists data of 316,000 Puerto Rico organizations. All the data provided in this website is totally free! You can also try our free Puerto Rico companies search tool, which is located in the upper right corner in the header of this website.


text: Yupp, just share some of your ideas. Whether you think they are worth it or not. You might insprire someone. But only share what you want to share because remember this forum is open to all. My first idea would be instead, of postin stickers... why not just walk around town nailing some of your fine art such as canvas' and shit onto walls, signs, buildings. I know some people do it with metal works but what about canvas that would be sick. -RiskInfinity


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I was surprised to read the below.
Is it true that Ananda had to face these charges?
Charges against Ananda:
There was considerable agitation over the admission of Ananda to the Council because of Ananda's failure to reach the stage of Arahant, which he actually did attain on the eve of the Council. However, because of the conventional belief that the level of Arahant clears one of all guilt, and because of the late development of Ananda's attainment, he was still questioned by his peers on several charges as follows:
1. He could not formulate the lesser and minor precepts as he was overwhelmed with grief over the demise of the Master.
2. He had to tread upon the robe of the Master while sewing it as there was no one to help him.
3. He permitted women to salute the body of the Master first because he did not want to detain them.
4. He was under the influence of Mara (the Evil One) when he forgot to request the Master to remain for a kalpa when the Buddha announced the approach of his demise.
5. He called for the admission of women into the Order out of consideration for Mahaprajapati Gotami who nursed the Master in his infancy.
The Charges are differently framed in other accounts. The replies given may be taken to have satisfied the Assembly.


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The Minnesota high school boy's basketball tournament gets underway Wednesday at the Target Center in Minneapolis and this year marks the state's 100th boy's basketball tournament.
The Minnesota State High School League, the organization that runs all high school sports tournaments, is going all out to showcase that history. There will be a display at Target Center with scores of memorabilia, including the trophy awarded to Fosston in the first year of the tournament in 1913.
The high school league also in the weeks leading up to the tournament created several lists ranking the top five players, coaches, games and other markers in both boy's and girl's basketball history.
Kevin Merkle, Minnesota State High School League associate director, spoke with The Daily Circuit about the history of the league and the lists they created.


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"Deadly Murder" by David Foley will wrap up Western Reserve Playhouse's summer 2014 season.
The play will be staged Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Sept. 12 through 27.
In the play, Camille Dargus (Marybeth Orr) has fought her way up from humble beginnings and is a successful New York jewelry designer with a roster of high-end clients, and a glamorous loft in Soho. She has beauty, brains, wealth and her career has taken her to the leading lights of New York society. She also has a penchant for handsome young men.
One night, at a boring social function, she picks up Billy (Brian Westerley), one of the waiters, and brings him home. But there's more to Billy than meets the eye, and before long she's summoned her security man, Ted (Greg Bealer), to get him out of her apartment.
According to playwright Foley, "Deadly Murder" has its origins in Ohio.
"'Deadly Murder' began as a bit of a lark," he said. "The Ohio Theatre production of 'Cressida Among The Greeks' had just closed, and I needed a break from war and tragedy. I thought I'd try my hand at a thriller for fun and profit. Profitable it's been as it is the most produced of all my plays here as well as all over Europe. The idea of all those Camille's and Billy's out there speaking all those languages has been pretty thrilling."
Alex Nine directs.
The theatre is at 3326 Everett Road, at the Bath/Richfield Township Line in Summit County. For details, call 330-620-7314.


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Playing on frozen ponds and rivers, the first documented women's hockey game was held in Barrie, Ontario in 1892, two years before the first Stanley Cup championship. Players of the day wore traditional clothing of long skirts, wool sweaters, gloves and toques.
In the early 1900's, league and exhibition games were played in the Maritimes and Western Canada, but Ontario and Western Quebec emerged as the dominant areas for women's hockey.
The National Women's Ice Hockey Championship is not new to the Canadian Sport scene. During the early 1920's, East versus West championships occurred annually.
The match was usually organized in a community accessible by train for both teams. The teams would book several cars and live in them from the time they left their home town until they returned. The cars would be unhooked form the train and left in the host community during the Women's Championship only to be hooked up again for their return; therefore allowing each team to have their own headquarters.
The games were all played on outdoor ice and records show that during the 1920's over 3,000 spectators watched the event which took place in Fort William.
In most years each province will be represented by their women's Provincial championship team. The 20 game event will produce the national champions, who will be awarded the Abby Hoffman Cup. Abby Hoffman has played a vital role in the development of women's hockey. As a young girl, she was eliminated from a boy's team even though she was one of their top scorers. In the position of Director of Sport Canada, she played an instrumental role in getting the championship to become a reality.
1995 marked the inaugural year of the Esso Women's National Championship. The title sponsor of the national women's championship is not new to the Canadian Hockey Association, but are proud supporters to the game at all levels and in all communities across Canada. Esso is committeed to helping young people get started, learn, enjoy, compete and be rewarded for their dedication to Canada's national game and its ideals of fair play and team spirit.
For more information:
Riley Wiwchar Manager, Events & Marketing | Responsable, événements


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SLAMBOREE is a new collective of musicians, circus performers, daredevils and entertainers. Bass-driven beats mix with live orchestra, guitars, percussion, loops, visuals, brass, accordion, pyrotechnics and circus. The genres bounce around breakbeat, dubstep, drum & bass, dub, techno and electro fused with Balkan, folk, and 'gypsy' flavours… all original and all live.
County Times music critic Jess Needham caught up with the brainchild of Slamboree, DJ/ Producer, Mr Mike Freear to talk about his set at last years Boomtown, and also what he's been up to since then....
So Mike, on a scale of 1 to 10 how excited are you to perform again at this years Boomtown?
Where are you in the world right now?
Bovec, Slovenia. Playing some DJ sets up a mountain at an event called Bovec Rocks and learning to snowboard, badly.
If you had three words to describe Slamboree and what they're about, what would they be?
Fire, Rave, Tricks.
How did your performance go last year and what was the crowd like?
The crowd were massively up for a party and Bassline Circus let us run wild! Projecting videos onto cubes above the crowd, using pyrotechnics, tightrope walking and going all out with our fire tricks. Kathika and I grew up on Prodigy live videos so when she told everyone to jump and 5 thousand heads bounced it was an epic moment for us!
What do you think of Boomtown in comparison to other festies?
Whole new league, the audience are as much a part of the party as any of the acts. Wherever you go you can chat to anyone and it feels like they've been your mate for ages. Also, they do NOT mess around when it comes to bass, we like this.
Do you have anything new on the horizon that your fans can expect from your performance for this year (without giving too much away!)
Expect a widescreen Technicolor version of Slamboree drenched in bass. If all goes to plan this will be a whole new level of madness.
So what have you been up to since Boomtown 2012?
Recording the album in Studio, DJing in SE Asia and learning some new music toys that should switch things up a notch live.
What are your musical influences?
I think the artists who've really helped shape the sound I wanted to create with Slamboree have been The Prodigy, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Tipper, Gogol Bordello & Chemical Brothers.
Where are you from?
I was born in Englewood, New Jersey - USA and raised in Morecambe & Lancaster - North UK
Are you a self taught DJ/producer?
I had music lessons as a kid and in my teens then studied music tech at college & uni. Since then I've learned new things mainly by jamming with people or trying to replicate music that I'm into.
How many people are in Slamboree all together?
42 and counting...
What tour dates coming up?
Feb 16th (DJ set) Funk From the Trunk - Motion Bristol,
Feb 23rd (DJ set) Level Up, Dundee, Scotland.
1st March (Full live show) Bare Safe, Exeter
9th March (DJ Set) La La & The Boo Ya single launch party Leeds
May 25th (Full live show) Knockengorroch World Celidh 2013, Scotland
May 31st (DJ set) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Who are you most looking forward to seeing at Boomtown 2013?
They haven't announced the line up yet but I'll be looking forward to catching Beans On Toast wherever he is! My fave new folk singer and all round top bloke. We've just made a festival tune with him that we'll be launching in time for the season too.
You can check out for info on Slamboree at www.slamboree.com or here is the link for Mike's Soundcloud http://soundcloud.com/freear
See full story in the Free Press


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Adam Olson doesn't mince words when asked how he feels about someone refusing to prevent a disease he himself had no opportunity to prevent.
"Oh God, ... I'd give you all the money I have, for Nate to not deal with it," Adam said. "That kind of stuff is just infuriating to me. We couldn't control it at all."
Adam, 43, and his 13-year-old son, Nate, both cope with type 1 diabetes every day, every time they have any food or drink. Type 1 is unpreventable. Meanwhile, type 2 cases make up about 90 percent of all diabetes diagnoses.
That's why CGH diabetes coordinator Callie McClain is sensitive to Adam's point of view. After all, she says she shared that bias when she began her work in diabetes about 10 years ago. But she quickly learned to put herself in the shoes of her patients.
"They come in so guilty," McClain said. "But I think it's important for patients to understand that it's not always self-inflicted."
McClain explains that there are many causes of the significant spike in type 2 diabetes' occurrences in kids – CGH recently diagnosed a 9-year-old with the disease once referred to as adult-onset diabetes. But mostly there is a common thread: Our society is worlds apart from those of previous generations.
Like type 2 diabetes, there has been a spike in sedentary jobs in the digital age. And many modes of entertainment that didn't exist a generation ago don't require leaving your seat. For our youth, that's yielded an increase of obesity in kids ages 6 to 11 from 6.5 to 19.6 percent between 1980 and 2008. In teens, it's jumped from 5 percent to 18.1 percent.
While McClain says the greatest risk factor in type 2 diabetes is age, obesity is right on its heels. No wonder type 2 diabetes in kids rose 21 percent between 2001 and 2009. That correlation is why patients are referred to fellow CGH diabetes educator Margaret Glady and nutrition guru Bryan Frederick to lose weight.
Diet obviously is a major factor, but McClain puts a greater emphasis on simply being active.
"The activity part is huge," McClain said. "It improves insulin sensitivity, so the insulin the patient still makes, they use better."
She also points out that types 1 and 2 diabetes might be different diseases, but the long-term complications are the same. Also, type 1 diabetics often develop the same sort of insulin resistance type 2 sufferers have.
"It's like a key that can't fit the hole," McClain said.
Another thing that types 1 and 2 share is their relationship with heart disease. In fact, as Mark Jordan of Dixon pointed out in one of this series' videos, his cardiac issues – he had triple bypass surgery earlier this year – were masked by his diabetes.
"The significance of developing diabetes, is it's like you've already had a heart attack," McClain said. "That's the cardiac impact. They're not directly related to each other, but they go hand in hand. If you are told today you have diabetes, the risk of cardiac disease is astronomical."
The window of golden opportunity is a stage called pre-diabetic. There is no cure for diabetes, but lifestyle changes during what McClain says is typically a 10-year-window of pre-diabetes could restore glucose to healthy levels.
"It's scary to think how many people are walking around pre-diabetic," Hewitt said.
That's because the symptoms – fatigue, thirst and increased urination among them – are less intense during the pre-diabetic stage. And they often can be attributed to other factors. Naturally, we're going to drink more during the summer, resulting in more trips to the bathroom. But even in the dead of winter, there's the fear factor. So, despite the fact that Community Services provides free glucose screenings that could nip diabetes in the bud, it's a struggle to convince people to get tested.
The pre-diabetic period is where the magic can happen. But it takes forming relationships. Bedside manner plays perhaps the biggest role in diabetes educators' effectiveness.
"There's no point in making them feel guilty about what's already happened," said McClain, who has patients who have had the disease for as many as 60 years and are complication free. "For most patients, eventually they'll get it. When they come in here, and you see their attitude is totally different and they say to you how much better they feel, it's very, very rewarding."
She typically meets with patients in 30- or 60-minute sessions.
"A lot of it is just talking about not feeling guilty," McClain said. "It's hard to move forward when you feel guilty, or this is something you caused, so what's the point?
"A lot of it is just talking and building a relationship. A lot of opening up has to happen in this job. You get really close with patients."
Many vicious cycles are at play. The fatigue diabetes causes, of course, hinders the desire and ability to be active. So, too, does guilt. Another symptom is hunger, a massive hurdle, as research shows diabetics can make significant improvement by losing 5 to 10 percent of their weight.
"And it's not like a nagging hunger," McClain said. "It's like, 'I haven't eaten in 3 days.' And they never feel full. The patient thinks it's their appetite, but it's actually a side effect of high blood sugar."
When Olson, who works in the insurance field, sees clients with diabetes, it's a challenge.
"Someone tells me, 'I'm diabetic.' And I don't really have to ask if they're type 1 or type 2. You can tell," Olson said. "For them, it's maybe just a pill, but it's still something that could be shortening their life expectancy."
And McClain drives home that the increase in the disease's rate is scary.
"It should be scary," McClain said. "But sometimes our lifestyle is so strong. The perception of change can be very hard."
But great things can happen with change. McClain sees no reason why type 2 diabetics can't play football or run cross country.
"It's encouraging for them to be part of something physical," McClain said. "If you assume the weight is there because of inactivity, and they decide they want to do something physical – like football – I would definitely encourage that, with close monitoring.
"It really isn't the limiting disease that it was at one time. You just have to get people motivated."


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Reconsidering the Refiners
One party that continues to roll in the midst of a very quiet energy sector is refining. But be careful: many of these stocks are incredibly overextended and finally facing fundamental headwinds.
The energy sector was an awful place to be in 2012, but refiners were an island in an otherwise stormy sea. Outside of financial stocks, some of the best performers on the S&P 500 were refiners, particularly those in the midcontinent, taking advantage of an unusually wide Brent crude/West Texas Intermediate spread -- stocks like Tesoro (TSO), Western Refining (WNR) and CVR Energy (CVI)....359 more words left in this article. To read them, just click below and try Real Money FREE for 14 days.
There's no substitute for a trading floor to get great ideas, so Jim Cramer created a better one at Real Money and blogs there exclusively. We then added legendary hedge fund manager, Doug Kass, with his exclusive Daily Diary and best investing ideas. Staffed with more than 4 dozen investing pros, money managers, journalists and analysts, Real Money Pro gives you a flood of opinions, analysis and actionable trading advice found nowhere else, and allows you to interact directly with each expert.
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Research Program
Flexibility of Respiratory Electron Transport Chains
The number and types of electron transport chains used by organisms on this planet are astounding! Research in my laboratory primarily focuses on the electron transport chains in eukaryotic organelles; specifically mitochondria and plastids. Our research addresses questions about the evolutionary history, physiological role, and regulation of terminal oxidase proteins. Current work in the lab is performed on alternative oxidase (AOX) and plastoquinol terminal oxidase (PTOX). We use a wide variety of organisms as experimental systems, ranging from bacteria to invertebrate animals. Most of our research uses plants as a research model.
Dr. McDonald recently spoke about her research on Science Scoop http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DbkDlizckI
Current Research Projects
1) Alternative Oxidases of Non-Angiosperm Plants
Alternative oxidase is best characterized in angiosperms (i.e. flowering plants). Our recent results obtained using bioinformatics indicate that AOX is present in non-angiosperm plants. This provides a wonderful opportunity to compare and contrast AOX between these two groups which will hopefully lead to some great insights about the enzyme's regulation, evolutionary history, and physiological function.
2) Alternative Oxidases of Bacteria
This is a new area of research for the lab. Little is known about AOX proteins of bacteria and we are hoping to shed light on this area using a combination of molecular biology and biochemistry.
3) Alternative Oxidases of Animals
AOX sequences have now been identified in a large number of animal phyla and in more than 25 animal species (McDonald and Vanlerberghe, 2004; McDonald et al., 2009). Our lab will aim to learn more about the functional and regulatory characteristics of AOX in animals and to determine how they compare to the AOX enzymes of bacteria, plants, and other organisms.


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I like the idea as it probably solves our PF problem for year and gives room for PG to blossom. HoweverThis quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
1. we'd have to include at least 2 other players (say Solo and...) in order to have to cut only one
2. I guess it does not had that much of salary and years but I'm not a big fan of taking both Farmar and Morrow. Morrow I like, Farmar never been impressed. The obvious nice deal in terms of salary cap considerations unfortunately involves... taking back Murphy
3. this deal means the 3 year plan potentially becomes a more-then-3-year plan and I'm not sure Larry'd be willing to give up. I would not be upset as we've pretty much stagnated during that span


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November 11th is Veterans Day. It is an occasion to honor the sacrifices made by the men and women who have served our country, to recognize the families who have stood by them in service, and to reflect upon all of the freedoms that these men and women have fought to preserve.
This year, Oglethorpe University, together with various campus organizations and departments, will host a series of events throughout the week to honor our veterans called "Our Country, Our Voices: Oglethorpe Honors Our Veterans." The events are in conjunction with the OU Museum of Art's current exhibition "Burden of Proof: National Identity and the Legacy of War," which runs through December 9, 2012.
On November 4th, the OU Veterans' Club launched a yellow ribbon campaign to increase awareness of the day's significance. Club members constructed and installed 10-foot high sheet metal yellow ribbons at the front entrance of campus. They also plan to hand out 1000 personal ribbons on campus and will host a remembrance event, "Lest We Forget," on Friday, November 9, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. in Lupton Auditorium. (Find out more about their efforts on their Facebook page.)
Usually closed on Mondays, the OU Museum of Art will open its doors to host a Veterans' Open House, with free admission to all veterans on Monday, Nov. 12, 2012, 12 noon-7:00 p.m.. Various veterans' assistance groups will be onsite throughout the day. Plus, the OU Veterans' Club will be accepting donations for their clothing and coat drive for homeless veterans, and a giveaway of gift items from area businesses will benefit veterans' services.
Later that evening, veterans of WWII, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan will discuss their experiences and struggles in a panel discussion, "Transitioning to Civilian Life," at 6:00 p.m. Many skills learned in combat are not applicable to the workforce, and veterans are generally required to go through an arduous process of re-qualification in order to get work. Plus, many veterans feel isolated or out of place, unaccustomed to their new lives at home. In addition, policymakers in Washington recently failed to approve a bill that would have eased veterans' reintegration into the civilian workforce, and recent reports estimate that 88% of veterans will drop out of college.
"It would be wrong of me not to make people aware of this," said Jef Palframan '13, president of the OU Veterans' Club and a veteran himself. "Our military size is going to decrease… Now starts the work to take care of the guys coming home." Admission: $5; free for veterans, OUMA members or with a Petrel Pass. Co-sponsored by OUMA, the Office of Admission and the OU Veterans' Club.
Other events to commemorate Veterans Day include:
Open Forum/Open Mic: "Empower to Inspire Progress," Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012, 7:00 p.m., OU Museum of Art
What does being American mean to you? What are you doing to make your voice heard? Do you feel you have patriotic obligations? Which American alive or dead inspire you, and why? All are welcome to join this open forum and share your opinions, ideas or a story, song or poem. Admission: $5; free for OUMA members and with a Petrel Pass. Co-sponsored by OUMA and Epsilon Iota Psi.
Lecture: "On the Downstream Biological Effects of Agent Orange," Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012, 7:00 p.m., OU Museum of Art
Dr. Karen Schmeichel, associate professor of biology at Oglethorpe, will present about the hotly debated and complex subject of the widespread use by American troops during the Vietnam conflict of the defoliant called "Agent Orange" and its far reaching effects. Admission: $5; free for OUMA members and with a Petrel Pass.
Movie Screening & Discussion: Agent Orange: 30 Years Later, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012, 7:00 p.m., OU Museum of Art
OUMA and ECOS (Environmentally Concerned Oglethorpe Students) will co-host a screening of the award-winning 2009 film by John Trinh with open discussion to follow. Reel Earth – Environmental Film Festival of New Zealand said, "Despite the horror, the film is at times intensely moving and beautiful, showing also the better side of human nature—qualities like kindness, compassion, and forgiveness." This event is free and open to all.


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Beckham out for series, eyes Friday to swing bat
WASHINGTON -- The ice pack fastened to Gordon Beckham's left wrist Wednesday looked more like a wrap featured on an NFL defensive lineman getting ready for a Sunday in the trenches than one for a second baseman.
But it's all part of the healing process for Beckham, who suffered nerve irritation in his left wrist while swinging at a 2-1 pitch from Gio Gonzalez during the second inning of Tuesday's 8-7 loss. Beckham will not play in the remainder of the series against the Nationals and won't even pick up a bat until Friday.
"I actually woke up this morning, and it didn't feel much better," Beckham said. "Obviously we're taking anti-inflammatories and doing a lot of work in there. It feels better since I woke up, but I think tomorrow will be the big test.
"If I wake up, and it feels better, I think it'll be fine. If not, we'll probably have to do an MRI or something. I'm actually happy about the way I've felt since I've gotten to the field and done some work to it. That's a positive thing, and hopefully tomorrow it'll be that much better, and then best-case scenario is probably Friday, I hope, but I don't know how it's going to respond."
Beckham was quick to explain that despite feeling better since the morning, he still couldn't swing. He's going through a lot of hot-and-cold contrast treatment and getting worked on by every contraption White Sox head athletic trainer Herm Schneider has at his disposal.
Manager Robin Ventura thought Beckham might be available to run or bunt, but stressed that he wouldn't be swinging a bat. In the interim, Ventura intends to use a mix of Conor Gillaspie, Angel Sanchez and Jeff Keppinger between second and third.
Continued wrist soreness, which rolls from a dull ache to a sharp pain depending on how Beckham moves it, could lead to a disabled list stint.
"You'd think [about it] because you have to prepare for it," Ventura said of a potential trip to DL for Beckham. "We'll probably know by tomorrow. You kind of prepare for it, but you hope it doesn't happen."
"I'd like to be back on the field as soon as possible. But I don't want to rush this and make it a worse thing for the entire season," Beckham said. "As much as I want to get back out there, that's the smarter play and that's probably what we'll end up doing is be a little bit more cautious than we would be at the end of the season."
Scott Merkin is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Merk's Works, and follow him on Twitter @scottmerkin. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Topic: Suggestions for nutrition needs after resection & ways to cook chinese
I had liver resection for 8hrs in 2009,everything was fine,out of the hospital in five days. I lost about 20 lbs. and regained 30lbs later(in about 4-6months period). I had a 2nd resection three weeks ago too.I tried to provide at least 2000cal/day for my recovery.
This part was a reprinted message.
1. give your father Carnation breakfast drink (200-300cal/can)1 can in the morning in addition to what you have done for his calorie intake.(ie;oakmeal,OJ)
2.Give another can of Ensure or similar protein drinks in high calories(360 cal/can) any flavor. any time in the afternoon;between lunch and dinner time.
3. encourage him to eat vegetables and fruits(peel of the skin) ,different colors,banana(high potassium);blue berry and the like(high antioxidant) orange & (4-6servings/day minimum) ;in addition to the regular meals. eat less or no red meat ,more fish.
4.Drink enough fluids(2500-3000ml/day)to keep hydrated unless told otherwise.
5. Keep walnut on the kitchen counter or anywhere as a snack he can eat whenever he wants to. It is a good protein source.
6. Do not use regular sugar, white bread and white rice;but whole grain cereals and pasta are fine.
additional info.7/18/2011
with regard to regular meals ,try to make Asian dishes.;like stir fry vegetables of sliced ba choy,chinese cabbage or just cabbage,brussels sprouts, cauliflower and broccoli and different kinds of mushrooms,tomato , onion and peas (buy them in the frozen section if you can,they are fresher and don't need to wash );chop to bite size of different kind of fish and chicken without growth hormone(Purdue chicken).
The method of simple Chinese cooking.(a rice cooker under 8 dollar is a good investment;a small size(10-12inch diameter wide of a Chinese wok is recommended,but not required(you can do steam cooking with wok too ).
1.Use peanut or olive oil,put one-2 tsp. intoa stainless steel pan or chinese wok. medium heat the oil till see smoke coming out then add a dash or two of ginger powder or 2 ginger slices to the oil;then add the veggie and stir fry them ,cover them for a couple minute and set aside;(you can try to add tumeric and thyme to try out too)
2.then do the same but using garlic powder for meat(fish is better) for CC patient instead;cook and stir fry the meat(you can use tofu cut into cubes to replace meat) till they are almost done then add back the vegetable and add salt or soy sauce to taste. it takes 5-10 min to make for one dish of stir fry veggie with meat-easy cooking and cheap.
3. When you order chinese food outside;please remind them to use LESS oil.
Ma poo to fu,(spicy); chicken with curry sause (spice), steamed fish with ginger and green onion chopped and put on the top; sweet and sour soup;stir fry vegitable with fish or chicken;my all time favorite is stir fry bitter melon with black bean source and fish;(warning:it required a special taste buds to try it;not to mention like it or love the taste of it.)
4.The Golden rule of Chinese cooking is ADD chopped ginger and chopped green union(you can use chopped scallions) to vegetable;and chopped Garlic and/or green union to meat;if the meat is fish ,add a couple slice of ginger.
5.And the PROPORTION of veggie to meat is 3 to 1 for most of us CC patient.
6. Prefer to eat with brown rice;but if white rice is provided,just eat less.or you can eat with pasta or noodles made with whole or multi-grains instead.
6.the method of cooking rice is in the instruction booklet of the rice cooker.
good luck ;try to eat less of the western style meals instead.It will be much healthier.
5.Of another note ,one patient of lung cancer,stage IV, 6 month to live claimed that he change his diet to 70% of vegetable and 30% of just fish.and he just take IRESSA (Gefitinib) for 3 years and he is now back to work and enjoy life in Taiwan after treatment in Singapore.
Besides the diet ,he contributed his recovery to positive attitude to fight the cancer;excellent caregiver-his wife and friends to provide knowledge and information(social networking).
God bless.
Last edited by PCL1029 (Today 07:19:38)


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Safety Interlock Switch
Omron Automation and Safety introduces D4SL-N Safety Interlock Switches. Available with 4-, 5- or 6-contacts to satisfy varied application needs, the IP67-rated D4SL-N can be mounted in four different directions without needing to rotate the head. Two wiring methods minimize wiring time and make possible one-touch attachment and removal. Easy to view LED indicators allow users to quickly check switch status from any direction. D4SL-N safety switches deliver a minimum of 1 million operations and boast a minimum key holding force of 1300 N to maximize the range of potential applications that can benefit from a tough, compact safety switch. "The D4SL-N, featuring a compact body with metal-head as an option, is an ideal solution for many guard-door safety applications ranging from limited space to very demanding industrial environments.
Combined with a wide variety of mounting methods and available operating keys, and a generous key slot that accommodates the misalignment and instability of real-life door applications, the D4SL-N is a robust and simple-to-install switch that satisfies the demanding safety needs of today's door access applications," says Trang Nguyen, Product Specialist, Omron Automation and Safety. D4SL-N switches are available with two types of wiring. Connector-type wiring models feature a connector cable that reduces the potential for mis-wiring, facilitates fast maintenance, and allows easy switch replacement in the event a switch is damaged. Terminal block-type models include a detachable terminal block to significantly increase wiring efficiency. 6-contact versions of the D4SL-N safety switch enable users to independently monitor door open/closed status, as well as solenoid on/off status, from a single switch. An optional slide key prevents workers from becoming trapped inside the hazardous area, without having to use a padlock.
- 4-, 5- or 6-contacts
- can be mounted in four different directions
- simple-to-install


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Discussion in 'Miscellaneous' started by Spaceman Spiff, Oct 20, 2010.
Me, I don't get it.
Maybe it's just me but the Repeater looks remarkably like Roger Federer.
Star Trek Minions! Linky
It's a reference to the excellent video game Plants vs Zombies.
That's not the Repeater; that's the Pea shooter. The Repeater has a much larger comb and had eye brows.
How sad that I know that.
If you look in the background, you can see a Troll coming up on the prison. Use the Cherry Bomb, Rick!
I know. I wasn't referring to the image, but I went further ahead and started talking about the game itself... just to see if anyone else also got the reference.
First GIFs I've made (yayz I have achieved an internet thing!) Not really threadbombs but I like them
Love it! *swoon*
^ What's the matter...can't BEAR any more of it?
Only in The Netherlands: Student bicycle traffic jam in Wageningen.
It happens every Monday to Friday and all year (except for holidays) between 8:15 and 8:30. Hundreds or perhaps thousands of students pass that intersection in just 15 minutes.
I love my city...
Separate names with a comma.


text: I would not be confident. Show us an instance where it has happened. Show us in the Vinaya where it states one can ordain contrary to the rules set up.chownah wrote:so I am becoming more confident that neither the Buddha nor any one else whose views are recoreded in Pali has taught that only the Buddha can initiate a lineage of monks


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Note: This item is more than nine years old. Please take the publication date into consideration for any date references.
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News Release
Media Contact: TPWD News, email@example.com, 512-389-8030
March 19, 2008
Tyler State Park Lake Produces Budweiser ShareLunker
ATHENS, Texas — Tyler State Park Lake sent its second Budweiser ShareLunker and a new lake record to Athens Monday.
The 14.5-pound largemouth bass took a rainbow-trout imitating swim bait being worked in 3 feet of water by Tyler angler Brett Harris. The fish was 27.75 inches long and 20.25 inches in girth.
Harris' choice of baits seems odd until you realize that Texas Parks and Wildlife Department stocks rainbow trout into the lake during the winter to increase angling opportunity.
Largemouth bass were stocked into the 64-acre lake in 1975, 1985 and 1990.
The previous ShareLunker and old lake record weighed 13.28 pounds and was caught in 2000.
The Budweiser ShareLunker program is made possible through support from Anheuser-Busch, Inc. Since 1991, Anheuser-Busch, in partnership with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, has contributed millions of dollars in funding to support conservation causes and fishing, hunting and outdoor recreation programs in Texas.
On the Net:
- http://tpwd.texas.gov/spdest/visitorcenters/tffc/budsharelunker/archives/lunkerdetails.phtml?fishid=450
- http://tpwd.texas.gov/spdest/visitorcenters/tffc/budsharelunker/
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(5.4.16 i)


text: Kristine Bellino [ Fatal Crash In Oswego County By Kristine Bellino August 28, 2012 Pulaski, NY (WIBX) - One woman is dead after an accident late yesterday afternoon. Read More Category: New York News Tags: County Route 22, Dakota Denny, florida, Jazmarie McGrath, Jeanette Cobb, Justina Denny, McKenzie McGrath, new york state police, oswego, Richland, Sandy Creek, upstate university hospital, Zephyrhills Send to a friend! Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Pin it! Reddit This! Share on Tumblr!


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Louie A. Pellegrini II died October 12, 2013. He was 87 years old.
He is survived by his loving wife of 67 years, Vera Pellegrini, son Louie Pellegrini III (Bonnie), and daughter Teresa Patrone (Ron). Grandchildren: Brandon (Angela), Thomas, Andrew, Angelina and Emily.
Great-grandchildren: Allie, Isaiah, Grace and Samson. He is pre-deceased by his grandson Louie Pellegrini IV (Kelli).
A bay area native, he was born in San Francisco, lived in Menlo Park and eventually settled in Los Altos in 1966.
After high school Louie went to work as a garbage man. He took great pride in the garbage business and leaves us as an industry icon. He became the owner of Peninsula Sanitary Service, Inc. in 1957, serving the Stanford University Community for over 50 years, leaving it a family legacy.
He loved to hunt deer and ducks and treasured his time spent at the family ranch. Louie was a charter member of the Los Altos Rod and Gun Club, a member of the San Jose Antique Bottle Club, the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors and a lifetime NRA Member.
Louie, never at a loss for words, shared his opinions freely and colorfully. He will be greatly missed by his family and many friends.
A memorial service was held at the Gate of Heaven Catholic Cemetery Chapel, 22555 Cristo Rey Drive, Los Altos, CA 94024.


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A PIG farming company has been fined £16,000 after an accident left a worker with life-changing injuries.
Stockman Paul Teale suffered four broken ribs, a fractured spine, nerve damage and tendon damage when he was crushed by straw bales at farm near Easingwold.
Mr Teale, who worked for Pockmor Ltd farming company, had to drag himself across the farmyard in pitch black conditions after the accident to call for help. He lay injured for 45 minutes before his father and son came to his rescue.
Mr Teale worked part time Pilmoor Grange Farm, near Easingwold, fattening pigs on a satellite unit for Pockmor, which is based in Kilham near Driffield.
On the night of the accident, he was working alone to muck out the pigs and tried to lift fresh bales of straw from a seven-metre high stack, using a Weidemann loader with an improvised attachment, York Crown Court heard.
For the Health and Safety Executive, barrister Ruth Cranidge said that although Pockmor had an informal arrangement with the farm's owner that he would lift the highest bales down with a telehandler, this had stopped happening regularly and workers had been left to get on with the job.
Instead, Mr Teale used a Weidemann loader to lift the top bales down, but on the night of the accident two bales each weighing more than 250kg, fell onto the loader, pinned him to the steering wheel and left him with serious injuries.
Pockmor pleaded guilty to breaching Health and Safety laws at an earlier hearing, and defence barrister Tom Gent said the company was extremely sympathetic to Mr Teale and regreted his injuries.
"There was no element of the company putting profit before safety. This was a genuine oversight in relation to a unique site within the business," Mr Gent added.
Sentencing the company Recorder Phillip Kramer read a statement from Mr Teale which said the accident had "totally destroyed" him. "The injuries mean any kind of impact could leave him paralysed, he endures constant pain, and has not been able to work since the accident, the statement said.
Recorder Kramer ordered the company to pay a £16,000 fine and £4,500 in prosecution costs, as well as a victim surcharge.


text: Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images [ Tigers Blank Red Sox 1-0, Take ALCS Game 1 By Scott Prather October 12, 2013 The Detroit Tigers nearly had a combined no-hit bid when... Read More Category: National Sports Tags: anibal sanchez, boston red sox, daniel nava, detroit tigers, jhonny peralta, joaquin beniot, jon lester, miguel cabrera, sander bogaerts Send to a friend! Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Pin it! Reddit This! Share on Tumblr!


text:
What's your toddler's personality type?
Knowing this could impact your parenting style more than you realise. more
Visiting the doctor can be a scary thing for small children - especially if they remember their last vaccination or needle. Regular visits to the doctor are inevitable for every child, and once they have grown beyond babyhood, it gets a little trickier to handle.
Even young toddlers can be wary of a doctor's visit, becoming scared and apprehensive - perhaps even throwing a total tantrum in the waiting room.
Preparing a child for a tantrum-free visit to the doctor takes a little bit of planning and a dash of parental ingenuity. Here are some tips Kidspot has put together which may ease the pain:
Even if your toddler or child isn't talking yet, it's important to explain that you are going to visit a doctor - a person that can make everyone feel better. It is worth talking about medical help and why doctors are so important. While most mums think children only remember a conversation for a little while, if your child is particularly apprehensive about the doctor, then ramp them up at least a day in advance. Explain the reason why you have to go to the clinic or hospital so your child understands how important it is.
Doctors are friends. Your child should see the doctor as a nice and friendly person, not an enemy who would hurt him. Make the doctor's name sound familiar and explain that a doctor heals people and makes them feel better. Never use the doctor to scare your child or to get them to follow instructions.
Practice doing a medical exam at home, using toys or things that resemble actual medical devices such as stethoscope and syringe. Playing pretend doctor will get your child acquainted with the process of a check-up. Hopefully, he will be more cooperative during the actual event.
Schedule a doctor's appointment for a littlie on the same day as an older sibling. Your child would most likely feel less stressed when he sees his older brother or sister go through an examination or vaccination. Avoid hanging out in an unfamiliar waiting room for a long time. Children's fears may increase as they sit in the waiting room, waiting for the unknown. If you must wait around for your turn with the doctor, keep your child busy by giving him a snack or a toy. Play some games or read stories.
Offer comfort. Stay beside your child throughout the visit and be close to give him comfort. Hold his hand or give him a warm hug as he receives his vaccination. Let your child cry if he feels like it. At the same time, praise your child for his courage after the ordeal. The more positive experiences your child has at the doctor's, the less tantrums there should be in future appointments as your child gets used to having a positive mood when going to the doctor.
This story was written by Alex Brooks for Kidspot, Australia's leading family health resource.
Last revised: Wednesday, 30 June 2010
This article contains general information only and is not intended to replace advice from a qualified health professional.