text:
Hamid Dabashi is Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies, the chair of the Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures Department, and the director of Graduate Studies at the Center for Comparative Literature and Society, all at Columbia University.
Professor Dabashi's research interests include the comparative study of cultures, Islamic intellectual history, and the social and intellectual history of Iran, both modern and medieval.
Professor Dabashi's publications include Authority in Islam: From the Rise of Muhammad to the Establishment of the Umayyads (1989), Theology of Discontent: The Ideological Foundation of the Islamic Revolution in Iran (1993), Truth and Narrative: The Untimely Thoughts of Ayn Al-Qudat Al-Hamadhani (1999), Staging a Revolution: The Art of Persuasion in the Islamic Republic of Iran (with Peter Chelkowski, 1999), and Close Up: Iranian Cinema, Past, Present, Future (2001).
In this interview with The Asia Society, Professor Dabashi discusses, among other things, colonialism and religious violence, Iranian cinema, activism in the academy, American foreign policy towards Iran, and the long-term consequences of the military invasion of Iraq.
You have said that trying to understand religion (notably Islam) in the context of terrorism is a red herring, since those perpetrating acts of terror are waging a political struggle against the perceived effects of colonialism simply veiled in the language of God. Could you elaborate on this claim?
My position is this: it is impossible to understand not only modern Islam but any other religion in modernity outside the context of colonialism. This is simply because colonialism has been the single greatest source of power in modern history and has had a catalytic effect on every culture and every religion.
Historically, Islam has always been in conversation with a major interlocutor; that interlocutor could be Greek philosophy, or Buddhist asceticism, or Christian monasticism, or Jewish theology. In conversation with these moral forces, or with political forces such as the Sassanid and Byzantine empires, Islam has articulated itself.
However, over the last 200 years, what we call 'Islam' has articulated itself in conversation with colonialism. It is because of this fact that it is impossible to understand Islam outside colonialism.
What I argue has happened over the last 200 years is a systematic corrosion of the multiplicity of sites and visions of Islam as a religion and as a culture, narrowing it exclusively to a site of ideological resistance to colonialism. Let me elaborate: If you go back to pre-modernity, before the rise of colonialism, Islam is: (i) poly-vocal (it speaks with many languages); (ii) poly-local (it is located in South Asia, Western Asia, North Africa), and (iii) poly-focal (it has any number of focal points: juridical, philosophical, literary). All these narratives have existed simultaneously, although of course sometimes one discourse was more powerful than the other.
I also name these narratives "logo-centric" when the basis of Islamic self-definition is Reason, or nomo-centric when it is Law, or homo-centric, as in mysticism, which is human-based. All of these multiplicities start a process of corrosion when Islam begins a conversation with colonialism. Islam then mutates into a site of ideological resistance to colonialism.
The paramount figures and the most vocal, articulate Muslim public intellectuals from Sayyid Ahmed Khan in South Asia to Mohammed Abdou in North Africa begin to converse with colonialism. As a result, they translate and mutate a multifaceted Islamic intellectual history into a single site of ideological resistance to colonialism.
In your book, Theology of Discontent you argued that what animated the revolutionary movement in Iran was a theological language of discontent, involving the construction of a homogenized, hostile "Other" poised against an injured "Self". Is this ideological formation unique to the Iranian revolution? Do you think this prognosis could equally be applied to the present global configuration?
First of all, this ideological formation is not exclusive to Iran, it is endemic to Islamic societies. However, in Iran, it has an added momentum by virtue of the Shi'i component of the Islamic Revolution. I understand Shi'ism not exclusively as a sectarian, sub-division of Islam (constituting 15 per cent of the world's Muslim population), I understand it, as I argued in Authority and Islam, as the unfulfilled dream of Islam. Shi'ism remained a paradox: the institutionalization of an uninstitutionalizable charisma (that is, Mohammad's charismatic authority is transmuted into Ali, and from Ali, descends into twelve saintly, infallible figures).
With the disappearance of the twelfth Imam, going into occultation, as the Shi'is believe, history is at a standstill, in a state of expectation (for whenever the twelfth Imam will reappear). This gives Shi'ism the character of a religion of protest. As a religion of protest, it is predicated on a paradox: it will always have to remain in a combative position (speaking truth to power); however, as soon as it comes to power, it negates itself. This happened to the Safavids in Iran, to the Fatamids in Egypt, to the Hamdanids in Syria, and now to the Islamic republic in Iran: Shi'ism comes to power, it negates itself immediately, it is no longer Shi'ism.
This fact is best represented in Tazi'eh, which is a theatre of protest; this characterization of Shi'ism I propose is actually a kernel of Islam itself, in its entirety. As a result, if you look at the Iranian scene, immediately after the coming to power of Khomeini, Shi'ism loses its combative energy. While Saddam Hussein is in power or with the American and British colonial occupation in Iraq, Shi'ism is in its combative posture, as it was in southern Lebanon during the Israeli occupation between 1982-2000. In fact the Hezbollah in southern Lebanon were the only force that defeated the expansionist policies of Israel.
So this ideological formation is exclusive to Iran. However, by virtue of this description of Shi'ism as integral to the rest of Islamic doctrinal history, I propose it is endemic to Islam.
What precisely is the shape of this ideological formation?
It is this self/Other that I spoke of and the paradoxical generation of revolutionary energy. It has something in common with liberation theologies in Latin America, obviously.
The notion of "the West" as an iconic reference to colonial power has now, in my judgment, dissipated and disappeared. The recent bifurcation between the US and Europe is only one indication of this. Because Islam has lost its colonial interlocutor called "the West", it has now entered a different phase. But in what particular revolutionary posture Islam will re-articulate itself remains to be seen because globalized capital at this stage has an amorphous hegemony (it has not yet articulated its hegemony). The West was the hegemonic constellation of colonialism in its classical form in the 19th century. This has been dissolved.
Right now what we have in the shape of the emerging American empire does not have an identifiable hegemony because the capital that it tries to control is amorphous. The center-periphery bifurcation that we had in classical colonialism - capital based in the so-called West, colonies dispersed around the world - has disappeared. The process of globalization has shown that the centre-periphery divide was a smokescreen. The very assumption of colonialism concealed the fact that colonialism was nothing other than abused labor. Abused labor domestically generates a proletarian class vertically and colonial side effects generate the same horizontally. It is this vertical abuse of labor and colonial abuse of labor - one called colonization and one called working class - that have dissolved into one single abuse of labor by capital; the generation and accumulation of capital by abuse of labor. Whether this is done horizontally across the globe or vertically is incidental to the project. It doesn't matter if you have a sweatshop here in Manhattan or in Guatemala, it is the same abuse of labor.
As a result of the process of globalization, massive labor migrations have dismantled that center and periphery and created, what in the 1980s was horrifying people as multiculturalism: South Asians in England, North Africans in France, Turks in Germany, and all of them in the United States. They did not come here for good weather, they came here looking for work. That has now accelerated the labor migration and made capital amorphous; electronic capitalism means there is no center.
As a result, the World Trade Center was an entirely symbolic signifier without the signified. "World trade" does not take place in the World Trade Center; world trade does not have a center.
In your book on Iranian cinema, Close Up, you say that "Iranian cinema took the world by surprise simply because the world got a glimpse of our cinema only after it had decided the character of our culture through the prism of the Islamic revolution." Does this account for the continuing appeal of this genre to audiences in the West?
No, it has now assumed an entirely different momentum. Embeddedalready in Iranian cinema was a worldly conversation - to use Edward Said's language. Cinema has its own republic and Iran has been in conversation with this republic: from Satyajit Ray in Bengal to Akira Kurasawa in Japan to Souleymane Cissé in Mali, with Italian neo-realism, French new wave, Japanese masters, Russian formalism.
The emerging masters of Iranian cinema were already aware of these global masters of their craft and in conversation with them. At the popular level, people talk about the humanism of Iranian cinema. But the reason that Iranian cinema so quickly found its niche was that already embedded in its visual vocabulary was a worldly conversation with the best of world cinema. If you speak to Amir Naderi, and ask him where he learnt to direct, or where he learnt to film an exterior, or how to close a door, he will point to Ozu and Kurosawa, or he will say how he is influenced by John Ford. So when people in Cannes or Berlin see Iranian cinema, it is not a terra incognita, the sights and visions are new but the visual vocabulary is not entirely new at all.
There are other factors when considering the global reception of Iranian cinema, especially for instance in the United States, where there has been an aggressive and universal demonization of Iran since the hostage crisis. When audiences are suddenly confronted with sweet kids running around, and how cute they look and so forth, they like it; it is almost a guilty conscience over-compensating for all the harsh things that were said before.
That aspect of welcoming Iranian cinema had its phase and generated some ghastly films, in my view, because directors began to cater to it (in films like "Color of God"). But now the more genuine parts of Iranian cinema - things that were in conversation with the world - are what have proven to be more enduring and versatile.
There are other developments that have made the genre so dynamic. More recently, the emergence of women filmmakers, like Manizheh Hekmat's "Women's Prisons," or the addition of minority directors like Bahman Ghobadi, who has two incredible films on Kurdish issues. There are political questions that are also being raised, for instance in the films about Afghanistan or Iraq, or about the Kurdish predicament. These have added political momentum to the genre and injected new life into Iranian cinema. So it is a constantly changing mechanism, there is not just one factor.
Global attention also has a downside. The downside is that inexperienced people who come into the market start to cater to the worst stereotypes of Arabs, Iranians, and Muslims in the emerging American empire. These films will get immediately accepted to film festivals and propagated and bought by TV, etc. This is something we all have to be wary about.


text:
Australia's mining construction boom has well and truly peaked – and it is about to become a "notable problem" for the economy, a report says.
Deloitte Access Economics has just published its quarterly Business Outlook, a comprehensive and well-respected report on the state of the Australian economy.
It shows Australian economic activity will grow at a slower pace than usual for the next two years, while the unemployment rate will creep higher.
At the heart of the problem is the coming slow-down in mining investment.
''Not many in the business world have yet grasped the huge turnaround in major capital projects that is already under way,'' the report warns.
It paints a picture of an economy in transition, showing the dominating economic event in Australia is the so-called ''baton change'' from the ''construction phase'' of the mining boom to its ''production and export phase''.
And much will depend over the next two years on the way the economy handles it.
''There's no denying the 'construction cliff' . . . is at the heart of the debate as to Australia's short term growth prospects,'' the report says.
''Recent years saw a deluge of development dollars go into the resources sector. But those dollars have already peaked, and the key question is just how fast or slowly the bonanza of recent years unwinds.''
The report shows why it has been hard to tell if the economy has been in good health or not, despite it being the envy of the developed world in recent years.
''The only reason the Australian economy is growing is because exports are,'' the report says.
''And, as is usually true when it is exports doing the heavy lifting, the resultant growth lacks much of a feel good factor.''
But it is not all bad news.
It says record-low interest rates, and the recent substantial fall in the value of the dollar, will help to strengthen parts of the economy that have been relatively weak.
That means the slower parts of Australia's two-speed economy – the manufacturing, retail, tourism and utilities industries – will begin to pick up pace.
It says the fall in the dollar to 88¢ means its job-killing role has been seriously weakened.
Victoria will be the ''biggest single beneficiary'' of the currency's decline, but NSW will also benefit.
Thanks to low interest rates, we are also now starting to see good news coming through in the retail industry.
Forward indicators are showing that the benefits of low interest rates will soon start coming through in housing construction figures too, particularly in NSW.
''[So] we don't see the slowdown already under way in the domestic economy as being as sharp as it was during the global financial crisis, or the slowdown that followed the introduction of the GST,'' the report says.
Chris Richardson, a director at Deloitte Access Economics, says the economy is still in relatively good health, despite the boom in construction associated with mining, which has been supporting growth in Australia, shrinking in size.
"When you consider that we've never attempted a transition of this size in the modern era, it's going okay,'' Mr Richardson said.
''To say economic growth is a bit below trend and that unemployment is creeping up, it could be far worse than that.''
The story Report: Mining boom peak spells danger for the economy, but it's not all bad news first appeared on The Sydney Morning Herald.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Steele Stanwick (Attack) – University of Virginia
MLL Collegiate Draft – 1st Round (2nd overall)
Stanwick currently plays for University of Virginia, where he has played for the past three seasons, including UVA's 2011 NCAA Championship season. Stanwick began his college tenure in 2009, where he was named 2009 ACC Rookie of the Year. In 2010, Stanwick was named USILA Second Team All-American, All-ACC, All-ACC Tournament and All-NCAA Championship Team. Last season, Stanwick was the recipient of the prestigious Tewaaraton Trophy and named UVA Team Captain, USILA First Team All-American, All-NCAA Championship Team, ACC Player of the Year and All-ACC. He finished the 2011 season ranked third in the nation in assists per game and fourth in points per game.
Garber on Stanwick: "Steele could be a tremendous team player
with great vision
and has the potential to be one of the best attackman in the MLL in 2012."
Algie on Stanwick: "Not only does Steele have amazing on-field talent but his lacrosse I.Q. is staggering as well. It will be fun to watch him during his senior season with UVA."
Rob Rotanz (Midfielder) – Duke
MLL Collegiate Draft – 1st Round (8th overall)
Draftee Rob Rotanz enters his senior season at Duke University as the team's fourth leading returning scorer, finishing the 2011 season with 23 goals. After his junior season, Rotanz was named an USILA All-American honorable mention. Rotanz was also named ACC Offensive Player of the Week once during the season after tallying four goals and an assist in a victory over Virginia. Rotanz was also named to the All-ACC Academic Team and the ACC Honor Roll. During Duke's Championship season in 2010, Rotanz started in 13 games and had a goal and an assist against Johns Hopkins in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In his freshman season Rotanz also made an impact in the postseason scoring the game winning goal in the ACC Championship game against North Carolina.
Garber on Rotanz: "Rob is a big, strong initiating midfielder who could be a serious threat to create a scoring play every time he has the ball with us."
Algie on Rotanz: "Speed, size and athleticism is a dangerous combination in the MLL, and should he play for us, Rob will bring all of those attributes to the table."
Anthony Biscardi (Midfield) – UMass
MLL Collegiate Draft – 2nd Round (16th overall)
In 2011 Anthony Biscardi was named to the Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List after an outstanding sophomore season. In 2011, Biscardi finished third on the team with 30 points (20 goals, 10 assists). Biscardi netted a point in 12 of 14 games, including a game winning goal in overtime to send the Minutemen to the CAA Championship game. As a sophomore, Biscardi was a 2010 CAA Second-Team midfielder. Biscardi started 10 games at midfield before starting the final three at attack. Biscardi finished his sophomore campaign with 21 goals and 14 points. During his freshman year Biscardi had two groundballs in the NCAA First Round against Princeton and scored his first collegiate goal against Sacred Heart.
Garber on Biscardi: "Anthony is a powerful two-way player at the midfield whose explosiveness in the open field could give our transition offense some outstanding scoring opportunities if he plays for us."
Algie on Biscardi: "We love Anthony's versatility; he has the potential to be dangerous from anywhere on the field."
Billy Eisenreich (Attack) – Bucknell
MLL Collegiate Draft – 3rd Round (21st overall)
After playing the last two years at the midfield position, Eisenreich will switch back to attack for the 2012 season. In 2011, Eisenreich was named to the Patriot League's All-Conference First Team after tallying 19 goals and 14 assists in only 13 games. During his sophomore season, Eisenreich scored in nine different games, including scoring two goals against Towson. Eisenreich began his college career at attack, playing in 12 games and scoring four goals.
Garber on Eisenreich: "Billy, who is a smart, versatile goal scorer, could be very dangerous in the half-field offense."
Algie on Eisenreich: "Billy is another versatile and creative player who could possibly create matchup problems for the defense."
Alex Demopoulos (Attack) – Denver
MLL Collegiate Draft – 3rd Round (24th overall)
The 2011 season was a career year for Alex Demopoulos. Demopoulos was named to the All-ECAC Second Team after being named the ECAC Player of the Week twice. Demopoulos finished the season ranked 23rd nationally in assists with 28. Demopoulos also ranked 23rd in the nation in points per game with 3.22, as well as scooped up 40 groundballs and 10 caused turnovers. On March 6th Demopoulos tied a Denver record by netting eight points (6 goals, 2 assists) against Manhattan. In 2010, Demopoulos led the team in points with 60, scoring 36 goals and dishing out 24 assists. Demopoulos also finished with a 50.7 shot percentage and earned USILA All-America Honorable Mention honors. Demopoulos also had a successful freshman campaign, finishing the year with eight goals.
Garber on Demopoulos: "Alex is very crafty attackman with great hands and vision and is a proven point generator who could be handy for us if he decides to play in the MLL."
Algie on Demopoulos: "Alex is a guy who has proven he can get it done at attack with and make his teammates around him better."
Bobby Eilers (Midfield) – Syracuse
MLL Collegiate Draft – 5th Round (34th overall)
Bobby Eilers was named as a team captain for the 2012 season after an impressive junior year. Eilers began the year as a defensive midfielder before switching to offensive midfield later in the season. Eilers posted a .400 shooting percentage, scoring eight goals in 15 games. Eilers was also named to the Big East All-Academic Team. In 2010, Eilers played in six games collecting a career-best four ground balls against Albany and Princeton. Eilers made his collegiate debut in 2009 against Providence and played in six games as a freshman.
Garber on Eilers: "Bobby is a big strong middie who has improved his overall game skills since he has been at Syracuse and I believe he could open some eyes this summer."
Algie on Eilers: "Bobby has all of the physical tools and leadership ability to be a tremendous player in the MLL if he decides to play this summer."
Chris Langton (Midfield) – Cornell
MLL Collegiate Draft – 6th Round (42nd overall)
Midfielder Chris Langton played in all of Cornell's 17 games during his junior year, scoring eight goals and tallying seven assists. Langton also had seven ground balls and one caused turnover. Sophomore year was Langton's first season as an offensive midfielder. Langton scored a career high four goals against Yale and ended up with 12 goals for the season. During Langton's freshman year he played in 11 games scooping up four groundballs.
Garber on Langton: "Chris is a tremendous athlete with great speed and power, who could be a force to reckon with at the midfield."
Algie on Langton: "Chris is a guy that can run for days. We expect him to step up big time in his senior season with Cornell."
Marshall Burkhart (Midfielder) – Johns Hopkins
MLL Collegiate Draft – 7th Round (50th overall)
In 2011, Burkhart had career highs in games played, groundballs, assists and points. In his sophomore season Burkhart only played in eleven games due to a foot injury but scored two goals and had one assist. Before attending Johns Hopkins Burkhart was a standout lacrosse player at Dublin Jerome High School, finishing his career with 69 goals and 38 assists.
Garber on Burkhart: "Marshall is an outstanding team player who is quick on his feet and could be a key player in the MLL with experience in the League."
Algie on Burkhart: "Marshall is extremely athletic and he could fit in well with the rest of our midfield group."
Austin Bright (Attack) – Bellarmine
MLL Collegiate Draft – 8th Round (58th overall)
Austin Bright had an outstanding junior year for the Bellarmine University Knights. Bright finished the year tied for first on the team in scoring with 18 goals, and tied for third on the team in points with 23. In 2010 Bright played in all 15 games. Bright started out the season netting a hat trick against Detroit Mercy. During Bright's time at Olentangy High School he was named the 2008 Co-Player of the Year and was named to the 1st Team All-Ohio Capital Conference.
Garber on Bright: "Austin is a quick learner on the field and is a team player who could possibly do well in the MLL over time."
Algie on Bright: "Austin could possibly be capable of filling a lot of different roles for us offensively and his team-first mindset will only help him succeed."
Season tickets for the Machine's 2012 inaugural season are now on sale starting at just $100 for all seven home games. The Machine has three-game mini plans available for only $45 featuring three of its best games this season. All tickets can be purchased by contacting the Machine at (614) 754-1973 or by visiting www.theohiomachine.com/tickets.


text:
|Page (1) of 1 - 11/26/12
|email article
|print page
Xenon Creates a Magical "Winter MoneyLand" for N.J. State Lottery's Holiday Instant Game
In addition to Michael Wiehart and Doug Robbins the Xenon creative team included Producer Jennifer Pearlman.
Representing Brushfire, Inc. were Senior Vice President/Creative Director/Copywriter Ken Musto, Producer Liz Pollard, Production Coordinator Nicolle Pasquale, Senior VP Management Director Catherine Goss, VP Management Supervisor Mark Fraser and Senior Account Executive Tracey Jeffas.
The New Jersey State Lottery was represented by Marketing Manager Foster Krupa, New Media Director Michael DeCheser, and Product Manager, Instant Games Frances Lioudis.
All effects and post were handled by the artists at Gravity (New York, NY) under the direction of Harry Dorrington, and included Head of Production/Executive Producer Karen Bianca, Lead CG Artist Ivan Pribicevic, Offline and Online Editor Mark Steinberg, VFX Producer Raena Singh and Assistant VFX Producer Lisa Starace and Head of Art and Design Department/Gravity Tel Aviv Israel Breslev. The musical underscore was composed at Hyperballad Music (Brooklyn, NY) by Rob Niederpruem Partner/Executive Producer and Jonathan Benedict Partner/Creative Director. Chris Arbisi of Studio Center (New York, NY) provided the sound design, audio recording and final mix. The gleeful voices of Abe Lincoln and George Washington were provided by Brushfire?s Mark Fraser and the New Jersey Lottery?s Michael DeCheser.
Brushfire also created radio, billboards, bus advertising, in-store materials and Internet banner heads which support the campaign theme.
Earlier this year, Xenon and Wiehart collaborated with Brushfire on a trio of New Jersey State Lottery spots.About Xenon: Xenon is a hybrid - a commercial production team designed to address the ever changing landscape of today?s ad community. The company marries live-action, visual effects, postproduction and interactive work in one seamless environment. Xenon is headquartered at 420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 3020, New York, NY 10170. For further information about the advertising production company contact Doug Robbins at [email protected] or call (212) 212 564-4545; Please visit Xenon at www.xenonmktg.com ###
Page: 1
Keywords:Xenon, Brushfire, Inc. Michael Wiehart
Related Sites:
Related Newsletter:
Source:Digital Media Online. All Rights Reserved


text:
Regional Sales Manager(s)
- Recruiter
- Merton Group UK Ltd
- Location
- United Kingdom
- Salary
- 35k–40k Basic, + Regional Profit Sharing Bonus Scheme, + Car and Tech
- Posted
- 21 Jun 2017
- Expires
- 19 Jul 2017
- Ref
- Sector
- Sales
- Contract Type
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full Time
Job Type: Full Time Permanent Position
Closing Date: EXTENDED – 21st July 2017
Head Office Location: Merton Business Park, Foxholes Road, Leicester, LE3 1TH
Primary Work Location: Home Office/ Mobile
Potential Available Regions:
- See Area Map for more details.
Salary: 35k–40k, + Regional Profit Sharing Bonus Scheme, + Car and Tech
Hours: 40 hours per week – Monday to Friday
Start Date: Immediate (subject to notice periods)
Regional Sales Manager(s)
Merton Group UK Ltd is a long standing, successful organisation that continues to grow year on year. To service our expanding body of national accounts and nurture that growth we are expanding our Sales Force to include Regional Sales Managers.
We are looking for dynamic, experienced and accomplished Regional Sales Managers to create growth, gain new business and manage clients across a variety of industries. MGUK are looking to continue to our development as major suppliers to the Contract Cleaning and Facility Management sector whilst maintaining our trusted reputation as a UK based Disposable Paper Manufacturer and Cleaning & Hygiene product supplier, including comprehensive own label ranges.
The focus of this role is to work closely with the Directors to ensure that an effective strategy is developed to deliver the sales growth required.
Whilst looking after your regional needs you will be expected to meet sales targets and objectives by building added value relationships with key business contacts from Procurement to Stakeholder level.
We are looking for ambitious and driven individuals who understand the importance of exceeding customer expectations. Talented sales people who know what it takes to deliver an exceptional service. Pro-active in nature and driven to exceed profit targets, to contribute towards the company's objectives and further their careers within a rewarding and challenging environment.
This is an exciting opportunity for you to generate substantially enhanced earnings via the successful management and sales growth of your very own region.
As a Regional Sales Manager, you will report to the Managing Director.
As a Regional Sales Manager, you will be both office and home based depending on scheduling.
The right candidate will be considered for progression to Director level.
Key Responsibilities:
You will…
- Win new national and regional account business.
- Maximise the generation of profitable sales and achieve required sales/profit.
- Manage the customer relationship.
- Maximise sales by ensuring the highest possible levels of sales and service including individual customer attention and the negotiation of the best possible sales terms.
- Work closely with operational colleagues to ensure that account execution is in line with customer expectations.
The Candidate:
You will need…
- A thorough understanding of how to sell products and manage customers (preferably experience selling to the Contract Cleaning and FM Market).
- The ability to plan and ensure that time is managed efficiently.
- Strong influencing and financial skills.
- Excellent commercial awareness.
- A proven history of over achieving sales targets in the B2B sector.
- Strong commercial acumen and business ethics.
- Good written and verbal communication skills.
- Excellent interpersonal skills and a positive, infectiously enthusiastic attitude.
In addition you will be…
- A proven new business hunter with a passion for forging new relationships.
- A fluent presenter and communicator.
- Able to negotiate trading terms in line with MGUK company policy.
- Computer literate (MS Word, Excel, Outlook, and ERP Software).
- An excellent negotiator who can balance the requirements of both the company and the client to achieve desired results.
- Confident and articulate in all forms of communication and able to adapt their style to suit each situation or audience.
In return we offer:
- 35-40k - Dependent on Experience
- Uncapped Regional Profit Bonus Earning Potential
- Pension Scheme
- Quality Company Car
- Fuel Card
- Tablet PC and Mobile phone
- Positive Career Path to Director Level
- 28 Days Annual Leave (including BH)
Find our more about Merton Group UK Ltd at www.mertongroup.co.uk.
Please apply with your CV and a covering letter.
Job Description: Download a copy of the full job description as PDF here – RSM SPEC 2017 Regional/Area Map available here – RSM REGIONS 2017
If you would like to learn more about who MGUK are, and what we do, please watch our short introduction animation available here.


text:
Hey guys
i have 3 golden books for sale
Caverns of Fear - very good condition -10.00 plus shipping
A Hero in Need - In good condition - 10.00 plus shipping
The Rock Warriors -good condition - 10.00 plus shipping
if you take them all i'll let them go for 15 plus shipping
all have price sticker residue
if you want pics
send an email to
Thanks for looking.
Last edited by AGE; September 24, 2012 at 12:13pm.
Download!! 25% goes to help the ORG!!!!!
AGE FEEDBACK: http://www.he-man.org/forums/boards/...d.php?t=128035
album photos lots more to come: check out my profile
my want list: http://www.he-man.org/forums/boards/...d.php?t=148549
Collection PICS:http://www.crazycollectors.de/age.html


text:
BUDDING brides and grooms found plenty of inspiration for their nuptials at the latest I Will wedding show, held at Dumbleton Hall near Evesham.
Exhibitors from across the local area showcased wedding products and services from cakes and cars to honeymoons and marquees, while local boutiques displayed bridal gowns and menswear.
Visitors were also able to explore the attractive, traditional 19th-century manor house set in 19 acres of private gardens and woodland, complete with private lake, and enter the I Will prize draw to win a gorgeous wedding gown.
Exhibitor Susan Gadsby, of Greensleeves bespoke wedding gowns, was particularly pleased with the event's success.
She said: "It was a really good show for me - with a great deal of interest and lots of potential orders coming though."
The next I Will show takes place on Sunday, March 16, at the stylish Copthorne Hotel Merry Hill, Dudley. Running from 11am and 3pm, this elegant and impressive venue will be packed with all manner of wedding products and services and includes a catwalk show at 12.30pm.
With plenty of free parking available, you can spend as long as you like browsing the stands, and don't forget to enter the free prize draw to win a dream dress from this season's sponsor, Bridal Boutique of Worcester.
For more information about the I Will wedding shows, call Linda Bynion on 01384 358106 or visit iwillweddings.co.uk, where the latest edition of I Will magazine is now online.


text:
Old Sessions's House Ticketing Terms & Conditions September 2017
1. For a chance of being offered a ticket to a single workshop or class at Burberry 'Old Session's House' show space in central London between Monday 18th September – Sunday 1st October 2017 (each, an "Event"), please complete the online form available at burberry.com/london-fashion-week/september-show-2017/the-exhibition/. Tickets will be allocated on a 'first come, first served' basis and are subject to availability.
2. Forms must be submitted for the relevant Event that you'd like to attend at a minimum of 48 hours in advance. The period for requesting tickets will close on the earlier of: (i) 48 hours before the relevant Event; or (ii) when all of the available tickets have been allocated to individuals by Burberry in accordance with these terms.
3. Individuals must be at least 18 years of age and be able to travel to central London during the period Monday 18th September – Sunday 1st October 2017 (inclusive). Travel and other incidental costs and expenses will not be covered by Burberry. Tickets will not be allocated to employees, contractors, agents or representatives of Burberry.
4. Only one request per person to each Event is allowed and each person can win up to a maximum of three Event tickets.
5. No purchase is necessary but internet access and a valid email address is required.
6. Only a maximum of 30 tickets per each Workshop Event and 50 tickets per Talk Event will be allocated on a 'first come, first served' basis by Burberry and the decision of Burberry is final. No other correspondence will be entered into. There is no cash alternative to the tickets. Individuals may not substitute, assign or transfer the tickets or redeem the tickets for cash. Burberry can suspend or change these terms or the Event at any time without notice if required by law.
7. Individuals who have been allocated a ticket will be notified by email within 96 hours of the closing date of the draw. If an individual is untraceable after reasonable efforts by Burberry, Burberry may dispose of the tickets as it thinks fit without any liability.
8. Tickets are for entry for the individual only to the relevant scheduled Event. All guests will be required to show: (i) a form of valid photographic ID to prove that they are at least 18 years of age; and (ii) a copy of the email from Burberry confirming that they have been allocated a ticket to the relevant Event.
9. By requesting tickets, each individual consents to the collection, use and disclosure of his/her personal data by Burberry and Burberry's affiliates and selected service providers for the purposes of managing and administering the tickets and Event (including as set out in paragraph 10 below). Burberry will not collect, use or disclose individuals' personal data for other purposes unless the individual has consented otherwise.
10. All guests consent to being photographed, filmed and/or sound recorded at the Event for use, broadcast and/or publication in any media for all purposes throughout the world by Burberry.
11. No responsibility is accepted by Burberry for matters beyond its reasonable control, and no refund or replacement tickets will apply for any delays or cancellations caused by such matters. Burberry accepts no responsibility for any incomplete or inaccurate entries received or for system errors or other issues that may result in disruption to, lost, delayed or not received entries.
12. Guests are responsible for any tax liability accruing as a result of being allocated tickets in accordance with these terms.
13. These terms shall be governed and construed by English law and is run by Burberry Limited, Horseferry House, Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2AW.


text:
Topic: Clear PET
Hello to all and I hope your holidays were merry and bright! I don't post often but I am always thinking of the wonderful people on this site..I haven't posted in a while so just a little update I was first diagnosed with CC in Oct of 2009...after stents and chemo and generally not knowing what was going on I got a 2nd opinion from Myron Schwartz at Mt Sinai who deemed me operable and I had my 1st resection in Jan of 2010....after 6 months of adjuvant chemo with Dr Howard Bruckner I was turned loose....about 2 years later I had a recurrence with 2 lesions on my liver...my second resection was in Aug of 2012....I did not choose to do chemo after this surgery. In Feb of 2013 I started to become distended and my stomach was rock hard....after a CT and ultrasound it was found that I had a lesion on my ovary so off to a Gyn/Onc Dr. Rahaman also of Mt Sinai..in March he performed a laparoscopy in which he removed my right ovary and after frozen section determined that it was CC. He then referred me back to Dr Bruckner for chemotherapy. I have been receiving treatment since April 2013 I did have 2 clean CT scans prior to my clear PET scan yesterday...i will now do maintenance chemotherapy 2 x a month and have scans every 4 months...If someone would have asked me what I thought my prognosis was 4 years ago I probably would have said not very good. It is amazing the progress although never enough that has been made in the 4 years since my diagnosis. I'am thankful for so many things! I know it's been said many, many times on this site but get 2nd, even 3rd opinions be your own advocate or have a friend or family member help you...ask questions but most of all and I know this can possibly be the most difficult don't lose hope!


text:
David Beckham keen to recruit LeBron James for new Miami soccer venture
David Beckham has teamed up with another sports superstar as he attempts to get a Miami, Florida soccer team off the ground. The former England, Manchester United and L.A. Galaxy star is reportedly trying to recruit Miami Heat basketball star LeBron James as an investor in his new venture.
A source tells the New York Post, "The two have had several secret meetings in the past few weeks. LeBron would be to the soccer team what Jay Z was to the Brooklyn Nets."
Jay Z was a former shareholder in the Nets.
If Beckham lands a series of sports names to help him fund and promote his Miami soccer team, he will rival billionaire developer Steve Ross' superstar line-up of investors at another city sports franchise, the Miami Dolphins – Gloria Estefan, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony are backers of the American football team.
Reports suggest Beckham has invested $100 million (£62.5 million) of his own money into the new Major League Soccer venture.


text:
And, of course, the fine print:
Get free shipping on your next order when you spend over $100. The discount will be automatically applied to your purchase; no promo code required. The subtotal of your purchase must be $100.01 or greater after any promotional discounts have been applied. Additional fees such as tax or shipping and handling do not apply toward your minimum subtotal requirement of $100.01. Offer applies to standard shipping only. Certain items that require additional shipping and handling are excluded from this promotion and do not apply towards your $100.01 subtotal minimum. Offer subject to change.
An abstract design inspired by a deconstructed cassette tape collage is printed with care atop this silk scarf. The digitally printed design is full of black, neon yellow and cream hues, and is just the thing for enthusiasts of the abstract. Or enthusiasts of scarves, for that matter. Makes for a lovely wall hanging or headscarf.
- Silk crepe de chine
- Hemmed by machine
- Measures 35" x 35"
- Dry clean only
This product ships from the maker within 5 days, via USPS
If you're not happy with this item for any reason, you may return it for a full refund within 14 days.


text:
Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010 Product Key CardItem#: M17-1023 | Model#: T5D-00295
Currently Out Of Stock!
Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010 PKC Product Details
Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010 Product Key Card
The Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010 Product Key Card brings together the roles of managing a business, running a household and helping with homework. Get the benefits of all the programs you need to be productive with the Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010 Product Key Card, including Microsoft® Outlook® 2010 so you can tackle your busy day efficiently with powerful email, scheduling and social networking tools to keep your life and work in sync.
What It Is And Why You Need It:
- Enjoy flexibilitynow you can easily post your Office documents online and access, share and edit them with Office Web Apps. Its an ideal way to extend your Office 2010 experience to the Web.
- Work togetherbrainstorm ideas, share notes and work on documents with others simultaneously thanks to the new co-authoring tool in Word, PowerPoint® and OneNote®.
- Find it on new Backstage viewreplaces the traditional File menu to give you one go-to spot to conveniently save, open and print documents. Customize the tab commands to fit your individual needs so you can navigate tasks effortlessly.
- Programs you rely onMicrosoft® Office 2010 is an industry standard offering our latest, innovative tools to make your documents richer and more informative.
Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010 Product Key Card Features:
- Product Key, no Disc. For use with 1 new PC preloaded with Office 2010* (*Software download also available)
- Includes 2010 versions of Word, Excel®, PowerPoint®, OneNote® and Outlook®.
- Microsoft® Office Home and Business 2010 gives you the tools to help you manage home, homework and business.
- New and improved email, scheduling and social networking tools keep you in touch with clients round the clock.
- Clarify and manage your financial data with new and improved analysis tools, charts, templates and color formatting in Excel® 2010.
- The new Microsoft® Office Backstage view replaces the traditional File menu found on previous versions of Microsoft Office, to make it easier to navigate tasks, as well as access and manage files.
Enjoy the same great features you know and love with Office and get some new ones when you upgrade to Office 2010.
Outlook® 2010
Whether youre working from home or on the road, Microsoft® Outlook® 2010 helps you communicate with important contacts, manage email conversations and monitor your schedule from your PC or remotely. Simply post documents to online folders to access and edit remotely. Get improved features including:
- Sync multiple email accounts from services such as (Hotmail®, Gmail) or just about any other provider to Outlook 2010.
- Condense, categorize and even ignore lengthy email exchanges with a single click using Conversation View.
- Save time with Quick Steps and customize the tasks you use the most down to a single click.
- Share your calendar with others and access theirs, plus save frequently used groups of calendars with the new Schedule view.
- Gain attention with your emails by using new graphic and picture-editing tools.
Word 2010
From school fundraisers to company reports when you use Microsoft® Word 2010 it allcomes together efficiently. Create documents using new photo-editing features, lively text effects, then easily share them online and invite others to collaborate. Get more new tools with Word 2010:
- Add impact to your document with new picture-editing tools.
- Better illustrate your ideas with diagrams by turning bullet-point lists into compelling SmartArt® graphics.
- Apply new formatting effects to your text such as shadow, bevel, glow and reflection.
- Capture and insert screenshots directly into your document.
- Communicate with ease in many languages with improved translation tools.
Excel® 2010
Saving for retirement, keeping track of tax information, tracking business expensesall are important financial decisions. Microsoft® Excel® 2010 offers clear insight with simple templates to help you build budgets and track expenses so you can focus on financial goals. Get more new features with Excel 2010:
- Highlight data trends by creating data charts in a single cell with new Sparklines.
- Find the right data quickly with new filter enhancement in PivotTable® views.
- Analyze data quickly. Highlight specific data with new and improved Conditional Formatting options.
- Display data in a dynamic and interactive way with PivotChart® views.
- Spend less time sifting through datause the new search filter to narrow down pertinent data to display.
PowerPoint® 2010
Pressed for time on a major project? Get ideas down fast with ready-made templates, new photo- and video-editing features and eye-catching transitions all with Microsoft® PowerPoint® 2010. Get more new tools including:
- Embed and edit video files directly in your presentation.
- Set videos to fade in and out and apply a variety of video styles and formats.
- Broadcast your presentation online with new Broadcast Slide Show.
- Captivate your audience with new transitions and improved animations.
- Use slide sections to navigate, organize and print your presentation.
OneNote® 2010
Gather a wealth of business information and resources all in one spot with OneNote® 2010. Post, share and edit notes with coworkers online so everyone can work at the same time with real-time updates. Get more new features with OneNote 2010:
- Use quick filing to organize notebooks, ideal when youre working on multiple projects.
- Apply styles and formatting to selected text to another paragraph with the new Format Painter.
- See results as you type with improved Search functionality and view a prioritized list of Search results.
- Easily organize and jump between your notebooks with the improved notebook Navigation Bar.
- Take notes while working in Word, PowerPoint or in Internet Explorer and automatically link them.
Need the very best tools to grow your business?
Step up to Microsoft® Office Professional 2010 and get a comprehensive suite of tools and services to keep you organized, connected and competitiveincluding Access® for complete data management and Publisher to create professional-quality marketing materials.
System Requirements:
- Computer and Processor 500MHz or faster processor
- Memory 256MB RAM; 512MB recommended for graphics features. Outlook Instant Search and certain advanced functionality.
- Hard Disk 3.0GB available disk space
- Display 1024 x 576 or higher resolution monitor
- Operating System Windows XP with Service Pack (SP) 3 (32-bit operating system (OS) only) or Windows Vista with SP1. Windows 7, Windows Server 2003, R2 with MSX ML 6.0, Windows Server 2008, or later 32- or 64-bit OS.
- Graphics Graphics hardware acceleration requires a DirectX 9.0c graphics card with 64MB or more video memory.
- Additional Requirements Certain Microsoft OneNote features require Windows Desktop Search 3.0, Windows Media Player 9.0, Microsoft ActiveSync 4.1, microphone, audio output device, video recording device, TWAIN-compatible digital camera or scanner; sharing notebooks requires users to be on the same network.
- Additional Requirements Certain advanced functionality requires connectivity to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, and/or Windows Server 2003 with SP1 running Windows SharePoint Services 4.0
- Additional Requirements Certain features require Windows Search 4.0. Internet Internet Explorer (IE) 6 or later, 32 bit browser only, IE7 or later required to receive broadcast presentations, Internet functionality requires an Internet connection.
- Multi-Touch Multi-Touch features require Windows 7 and a touch enabled device. Inking Certain inking features require Windows XP Tablet PC Edition or later. Speech Speech recognition functionality requires a close-talk microphone and audio output device.
- Internet Fax Internet Fax not available on Windows Vista Starter, Windows Vista Home Basic, or Windows Vista Home Premium.
- IRM- Information Rights Management features require access to a Windows 2003 Server with SP1 or later running Windows Rights Management Services.
- LiveID Certain online functionality requires a Windows Live ID.
- Other Product functionality and graphics may vary based on your system configuration. Some features may require additional or advanced hardware or server connectivity; www.office.com/products.
- * 512MB RAM recommended for accessing Outlook data files larger than 1GB.
- **GHz processor or faster and 1GB RAM or more recommended for OneNote Audio Search. Close-talking microphone required. Audio Search not available in all languages.
Recommended Items
Manufactured by: Microsoft
Warranty provided by: Microsoft
UPC No: 885370037432
Mfg Part No: T5D-00295
Box Size:
( Length:10, Width:8, Depth:1)
Shipping Weight: 0.1000 pound(s)
Dimensional Weight: 1pounds
What is Dimensional weight?
Click here for full warranty and support information
- Microsoft logos are registered trademarks of Microsoft. All others trademarks and copyrights mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.


text:
A teenager was arrested Friday in this week's slaying, also of a teenager, on Charleston's West Side.
Darrell Emmett "D.J." Carter Jr., 18, was charged Saturday with first-degree murder in the death of Tymel McKinney, 19, who was shot Wednesday while sitting on his front porch.
Carter is from Charleston, unlike the two people previously charged in the slaying: Mark Anthony Gaddy, 23, and a juvenile who has not been named. Both of them are from Detroit, Charleston police said at a Saturday morning news conference.


text:
How to Use
To be a successful captain, Edward Penniman had to navigate to known whaling grounds around the globe, and then safely return to New Bedford with his ship full of whale oil and other products harvested from whales. He recorded his latitude and longitude into his daily logbook.
Latitude is the angular distance north or south of the earth's equator, measured in degrees along a meridian, as on a map or globe. Lines of latitude run parallel to the equator around the world and are marked either North or South.
Longitude is the angular distance on the earth's surface, measured east or west from the prime meridian at Greenwich, England, to the meridian passing through a position, expressed in degrees. Lines of longitude stretch from pole to pole. Degrees of longitude are marked either East or West.
1. Using a textbook or world map, locate and label the five oceans and seven continents on Map 2.
2. The shaded ellipses in the oceans indicate the known whaling grounds. Trace Captain Penniman's voyage around the globe using the coordinates listed below. Does tracing the voyage help you better understand the distances traveled and the amount of time needed for these journeys? Why or why not?
3. Whaling captains kept information like this in their logbooks. Why might records like these be useful in future voyages?
4. Would you consider taking a voyage like this one? Why or why not.
* The map on this screen has a resolution of 72 dots per inch (dpi), and therefore will print poorly. You can obtain a larger version of Map 2, but be aware that the file may take as much as 65 seconds to load with a 28.8K modem.


text:
Prize Recipient
Roman W. Jackiw
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
"For his imaginative use of quantum field theory to throw light on physical problems, including his work on topological solitons, field theory at high temperatures, the existence of anomalies, and the role of these anomalies in particle physics."Background:
Born in Poland, Jackiw received his Ph D in 1966 from Cornell University and spent the next three years as Junior Fellow at Harvard University. He joined the faculty of MIT in 1969, where he has remained for most of his career, apart from visiting professorships at numerous prominent institutions. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has held Alfred P. Sloan and Guggenheim Memorial fellowships.


text:
Well we all know they left him plenty of time...
'); var yuipath = 'clientscript/yui'; var yuicombopath = ''; var remoteyui = false; } else // Load Rest of YUI remotely (where possible) { var yuipath = 'http://yui.yahooapis.com/2.9.0/build'; var yuicombopath = 'http://yui.yahooapis.com/combo'; var remoteyui = true; if (!yuicombopath) { document.write('
Well we all know they left him plenty of time...
"Just look at the flowers ........ BANG"
Should have two shots. Maybe a penalty to get closer
One of these officials has to be a Jag fan, this is pathetic
Lots of blame to go around, but Arians should be called on the carpet and publicly flogged for his playcalling.
We blew this game. Point blank
So many growing pains on the field and on the sidlelines... snatched defeat from the warm embrace of victory today.
Take me out to the black, tell 'em I ain't coming back. Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me.
I dont even know what to say.
Wow. Just wow.
Stop quoting people I have on ignore!
I thought if we were going to lose it would be because of Josh Scobee.. again.
Ugh! And we have the bye next week then the Packers
Meanwhile the team we beat last week beat the Niners go figure.
On the bright side, we just helped our draft chances...
Don't ask Marvin Harrison what he did during the bye week. "Batman never told where the Bat Cave is," he explained.
Terrible defense, terrible o-line, terrible offensive coordination, terrible officiating. This is definitely one we should have won.
Ugh Our D sucks. Far too easy for the other teams to just march down the field and score. Almost worse than just giving up big plays all the time, because this gives their D time to rest.
No matter how much the coaching staff wants us to have a running game, we don't have one. Stop wasting 2 out of 3 downs on runs.
WRs, have got to start catching the catchable balls
Refs really hosed us with missed PI calls, and probably that offisdes call
So much rage. So much anger right now. We have flashes of looking like a real football team, then its the god damn bad news bears out there.
The biggest thing that pissed me off was the play calling. The number one determinant of our loss, for sure. Sure you can blame the D for that terrible TD or Adam for missing the FG, but we shouldn't have been in that position in the first place. 3 points in the 2nd half is not acceptable.
Don't ask Marvin Harrison what he did during the bye week. "Batman never told where the Bat Cave is," he explained.
Outside of those two big plays, our defense didn't play that bad. Obviously that play at the end was HORRIBLE but it's not the only thing that cost us the game. Our passing game isn't always in sync it seems. We drop catchable passes, Luck underthrows or throws passes behind receivers, we run routes a yrd shy of the first down. These are things we need to correct ASAP.
If we are gonna run the ball, it needs to be to the outside and not these inside power runs. I actually agree with trying to run the ball throughout the game. You cant expect a rookie QB to be successful by throwing 40 passes a game with this offensive line. With that said, its possible to be balanced without trying to be a between the tackles type of team. We dont have the personnel to be a power running team, so we shouldn't try to be.
Also I understand Luck is a rookie but give him a chance to get a score, don't hand the ball off 3 times. Or if you are, be deceptive about it, maybe a run out of a spread formation.
That play calling before the fieldgoal pissed me off, why not try something else? safe calling almost lost the game for the Colts last week and lost it for them this one.
And why not play deep if you know the other team is out of timeouts and has not time to do s***?
I know Vontae Davis has taken a lot of heat, but how did you guys think he played today? I would give him a B
This team is only gonna get 4 or 5 chances to put one in the W column. You definitely can't afford to throw one away like this.
We couldn't beat the Jags. We still have games against the Packers, Pats, Jets, Texans twice, lions, and Bills. If we couldn't beat the Jags at home; it's gonna be very unlikely we beat these teams.
I say we make adjustments and win 5 games this year. 6 if we can get lucky and sweep the Titans and beat the Jags in JAX
The missed INT call on Avery was a joke, but beyond that our play calling was an even bigger joke. Don't deserve to win when you continually let teams come back from double digit deficits. You have to let Luck keep his rhythm if he is playing well.
completely agree, they need to learn to let Luck air it out and turn that 14-3 lead into a 21-3 leadThis quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
Not that I expected the Broncos to beat the Texans but if they had and we held on we'd only be one game behind them not two.
The Colts are the only team in the division to lose today ugh
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Another irritating loss to the Jaguars.
Been Killing the Colts at the last second since 2004.
Not that it really makes it better or anything.


text:
This game was classified by the community with the following category scores - Violence=0/3, Sex=0/3, Mature Content=0/3. Divide your character into two independently controlled characters with Divided "A genuinely unique and mind boggling platform game" Divided will take you into beautifully crafted levels that are designed to test your reactions and brain power. If you get stuck splitting your brain in two then get a friend to join in with an easy drop in co-op system and tag team the wide variety of puzzles
Buy Xbox content on Xbox.com. Your Xbox 360 console will automatically download the content next time you turn it on and connect to Xbox Live.Learn More


text:
Your bird's best-loved fruits, vegetables, nuts, and specialty seeds combined into a nutritious, gourmet blend. Now contains DHA Omega-3 fatty acid to support heart, brain, and vision functions plus nutrients to help boost your bird's general health. Also contains prebiotics and probiotics, which are natural ingredients that aid in digestive health. Scientifically formulated, thoroughly tested, and packed with a variety of colorful shapes, sizes, and textures no bird can resist - all to ensure he gets the nutrients he needs for excellent health. Advanced seal closure keeps seed fresh while keeping bugs out.
Please click on "More Information" for ingredients and guaranteed analysis.


text:
Did you hear the bad news?
The Pro Bowl is in peril.
I'm thinking car washes, bake sales, maybe a telethon. I'm willing to go door-to-door with a petition. You in?
We need to save the Pro Bowl.
Because it's the one time every year when a bunch of millionaires get a free week's vacation in Hawaii in exchange for going on national TV and showing the rest of the country how lazy, selfish and disinterested they are about their jobs.
In other words, it lifts the self-esteem of the rest of us and helps us feel good about ourselves.
Is this a great country, or what?
Only in America would a group of millionaires who play a game for a living accept an all-expenses paid trip to paradise to play a game, and then not even try.
For those who have been unable to watch the last few Pro Bowls, here's a summary of some of the unique rules by which the game is now apparently played:
No tackling. No running really fast. No blitzing. None of that trickery or faking stuff on offense. Helmets are optional. Trying is optional. Even showing up is optional.
Despite the public service the game provides, the NFL is considering discontinuing the Pro Bowl because Commissioner Roger Goodell for some reason feels like the players don't care.
There were even reports last week that Peyton Manning, in hopes of saving the Pro Bowl, spoke to the players prior to the start of practices and basically said, "Come on you guys, try!"
My reaction to that is: They actually have practices for the Pro Bowl?
The players' attitude towards the Pro Bore, I mean Pro Bowl, was best summed up by Baltimore linebacker Terrell Suggs, who after the Ravens beat New England in the AFC championship game, verbally mocked the Patriots with the post-game quote, "Enjoy the Pro Bowl!"
Ironically, for most NFL players being selected to the Pro Bowl is a bigger deal than playing in the game. Everyone wants to get picked, many don't want to go to the game, and few want to actually play in it.
It happens every year. The stories written about which players made the Pro Bowl have barely reached the public before many players start begging out of the game. The three biggest "I don't want to go!" reasons Pro Bowl players give for not being able to play in the game are:
1. I'm injured.
2. I have to change the oil in one of my Mercedes.
3. I'm breaking in a new pool boy.
Because so many Pro Bowl players, the ones that show up, anyway, just go through the motions during the game, Commissioner Goodell is threatening to discontinue it.
Maybe he feels like the fans are no longer getting their money's worth -- unlike those bargain stadium seat license arrangements, by which fans give teams large sums of money for the right to give the teams even more large sums of money after that.
Yeah, that must be it.
-- OK, here's my new proposed rule for college basketball. Any team that loses a game while ranked No. 1 in the country twice in a calendar month may not be voted No. 1 in the country for the remainder of that season.
Here's looking at you, Duke.
-- I'm no NBA capologist, but you have to love it when arguably the worst team in the league, the Cavs, can acquire four players from another team -- which almost by definition means it's a better team than the Cavs -- plus a No.1 draft pick, and all the Cavs had to give up was Jon Leuer.
I haven't seen a trade this wacky since spring training of 1995, when, during the players' strike, the Indians traded five replacement players to Cincinnati, in exchange for nothing -- and Reds General Manager Jim Bowden admitted that the Indians got the better of the deal.
-- What I like best about Ray Lewis is that you can tell he doesn't even know it when the cameras are on him.
-- My guess is that last week's Ravens-Patriots AFC championship game -- one team coached by Bill Belichick, the other team being, well, the Ravens -- was over before many Browns fans had decided which team they wanted to lose the most.
-- As a public service, phone counselors will be standing by throughout Northeast Ohio early next week, should the Ravens win the Super Bowl and Art Modell get voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
What next? Locusts?
-- An official of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has told CBS' "60 Minutes" that Lance Armstrong lied during his confession to Oprah Winfrey.
I don't know about you but I am shocked -- shocked! -- anyone would accuse Armstrong of not telling the truth. Based on what?
No word yet on whether Armstrong will be scheduling a second confession to admit his first confession wasn't a full confession.
-- Given the chance to offer a ringing endorsement of Brandon Weeden as the team's quarterback for next season, new Browns coach Rob Chudzinski and offensive coordinator Norv Turner responded with an enthusiastic "Ummmmm."
So that settles that.
Next question?
-- After admitting he was "going out on the limb" by hiring Mike Lombardi as vice president of player personnel, Browns CEO Joe Banner told Sports Illustrated that Chip Kelly "was too big a gamble" for the Browns to hire as coach.
I know what you're thinking: How far out on the limb do you have to go before you reach "too big a gamble"?
What do I look like, an arborist?
-- So let me get this straight: new Philadelphia Eagles coach Kelly, the most outrageously aggressive offensive mind to come careening out of college football maybe ever, has hired Pat Shurmur, the most agonizingly conservative coach in Browns history, as offensive coordinator?
This I've got to see.
It's like releasing a CD "Marilyn Manson Sings Sinatra."
Weak of the week
Forget all the analysis of why it is happening. The facts are the Los Angeles Lakers, with four future Hall of Famers in their starting lineup when -- at least when Earl Clark doesn't start ahead of Pau Gasol (what?) -- have a record of 18-25.
Repeat: 18-25.
That's not only beyond embarrassing, it's weak. Very weak.


text:
Earlier today, rumors were circulating that Days of our Lives James Scott (EJ) was leaving the show as he could not come to contract terms with the powers that be. Scott's contract is coming up and he has been in negotiations with the show.
However, someone, someplace, jumped the gun and reported that negotiations between Scott and the show had come to an end and Scott was walking away.
Soapdom immediately got on the horn to our sources at the show who were not aware of any completed talks or the fact that Scott was leaving the show. We got them on the case and have just received the following quote from Scott himself...
"It has always been my wish to continue working with Days of our Lives, and in light of recent reassurances given, I am optimistic of my future here at Days."
It doesn't look like anything is set in stone yet, but it does appear that Scott very much wants to stay on with the show.
Why wouldn't he? Especially after the Days 2.0 reboot, in which his character will be predominantly featured.
We are remaining optimistic, as is Scott himself, that he and the show can agree to agree on new contract terms. As always, Soapodm will stay on top of the situation and report any breaking news. Stay tuned.
|< Prev
|Next >


text:
Like a fine wine, a good pop song gets better with age and has notes of chocolate that only true connoisseurs can taste. Regale your sonic palate with this GrouponLive deal to see the Mermaids of Alcatraz tour featuring Train with Michael Franti & Spearhead at Jiffy Lube Live. For $15, you get one G-Pass for general admission to the lawn on Friday, July 12, at 7 p.m. (up to a $25 value, including all fees). Doors open at 6 p.m. Because the ticket is a G-Pass, Groupon customers can use it to enter the venue directly; they will not need to redeem their Groupon at will call.
The Grammy-winning trio Train freights a cargo of breezy melodies and poignant jams, satiating legions of fans on the Mermaids of Alcatraz 2013 tour. With intrinsically catchy beats and crossover appeal, Train's euphonic anthems bridge the gap between the hearts and brains of millions. Best known for Grammy-magnet singles such as "Hey, Soul Sister," "Drops of Jupiter," and "Calling All Angels," Train's grooves, combined with Patrick Monahan's lilting vocals, stick in ears like relentless peanut butter. During the gripping live show, devotees can expect sing-alongs from Train's catalog of smashes and cochleae candy from the band's latest album, California 37. Train even tickles die-hard fans' other senses with its own wine and chocolate brand, the Save Me, San Francisco Wine Co., which features song-based libations such as the Soul Sister pinot noir and the Drops of Jupiter red wine, fermented from astronaut tears.
Singer, poet, and guitarist Michael Franti broke onto the scene with boundary-pushing experiments in industrial music, jazz, and hip-hop before channeling his heightened social consciousness into a sunnier style. With a six-piece band including vocalist Jolene Rust and Nigerian-trained drummer Manas Itiene, he conducts a peace train that rolls on deep grooves of reggae, rap, folk, and soul. The band's most recent album, The Sound of Sunshine, has global inspiration built right into its DNA: many of the acoustic-based tracks were variously written in Bali, recorded in arena locker rooms in Canada, or produced in Jamaica, influences that spill out in their onstage instrumentation.
Train – "Drops of Jupiter" (Acoustic)<p>
_Due to security restrictions, G-Passes must be printed out and presented in person at the event. They cannot be redeemed through Groupon's mobile app._


text:
Droopy pants drag on surfside town: US politician
Ocean City, Maryland: Serious crime was up in Ocean City last month, and pants were down. So, too, were tourism revenues.
Insisting there was a connection - that low-riding pants are bad for business and public safety - Brent Ashley, a city council member in Ocean City, Maryland wants to ban sagging pants and shorts on the state's most popular beachfront boardwalk.
"We have to change the perception of Ocean City," Ashley said one recent afternoon. He sounded utterly urgent, although he acknowledged that a rash of violent incidents last month, including stabbings and a nonfatal shooting, haven't been repeated.
Visitors are returning in increasing numbers as the weather has improved, and most aren't sporting droopy drawers, a style that spread years ago from prisons to mainstream youth culture via hip-hop.
"It's more of a problem in June," Ashley said. But unless the council passes an anti-sagging ordinance, he warned, the look will be back next June, when Ocean City is overrun by high school students for Senior Week.
"If you dress like a thug and think like a thug," said Ashley, 62, "chances are you're going to act like a thug."
His crusade to force young, male visitors to pull up their pants and shorts - "to turn this into Maryland's first crack-free city," he cracked - has the American Civil Liberties Union on edge and has led to much hand-wringing at City Hall.
The Ocean City Council president told him to stop stirring the sand.
The city solicitor told him a ban might be unconstitutional, even if more than a dozen jurisdictions around the country have introduced laws to govern waistband levels, including, just last week, Wildwood, NJ. The mayor told him there were less-controversial ways to address public safety and perception concerns.
"I understand he wants to have a discussion about public decency," Mayor Richard W. Meehan said in an interview. "But I'm not a big proponent of his idea. I don't personally approve of that look, but I don't really know if stereotyping a certain type of dress as being the cause of problems is really fair or the proper way to go."
Ashley is pressing on with his proposal - or trying to, anyway. He keeps asking the council to schedule a formal discussion about his idea, he said, and the council president keeps leaving it off the agenda.
"I just want to take some action to change the environment," said Ashley, a former Chamber of Commerce president who has lived in Ocean City year-round since the 1970s. "But I can't even get the town to discuss it. Why wouldn't any elected official in Ocean City want more decency and dignity on our boardwalk, our crown jewel?"
In the lobby at City Hall, two large lithographs depict Ocean City a century ago, when men and boys wore tops and tightfitting shorts and women and girls wore long dresses, even in the water. "Times have changed," the mayor said.
One constant: Ocean City's popularity. The town attracts about 8 million visitors each year, becoming Maryland's second-largest city on its busiest summer days, when the population swells to about 250,000.
The visitation cycle never changes: Kids on graduation trips come in May and June, then come the families. Crime rates in most categories peak every June, according to Ocean City police data, then drop as the demographics shift.
What made this year different was a June 29 incident in which two people were shot in a late-night altercation near a motel pool. There hadn't been a comparable crime in nearly a decade, said police spokeswoman Lindsay O'Neal.
The shooting came two weeks after a multiple stabbing and several other violent incidents.
The crime "gets worse every year," said Ashley, a former motel and vacation-rental owner. This June, he said, he made sure not to walk on the boardwalk after 10pm. "I didn't feel safe. . . . People here don't want big-city problems. We should be selling fantasy and fun, not crimes."
"Those were isolated incidents," Mayor Meehan said. Ocean City does not have a crime problem, "and that's not by accident," he said.
Ocean City has 104 year-round police officers, plus about 100 seasonal officers. A veteran Baltimore police commander, Ross Buzzuro, took over as Ocean City's police chief this month, and there were no major incidents over the Fourth of July holiday, when the town was packed. "This is a very safe place," Meehan said.
One afternoon last week, the boardwalk was bustling with families. Teenagers flirted. Parents shopped. Children squealed. Everybody gorged on Thrasher's boardwalk fries and stopped at Dumser's Dairyland for a scoop of nostalgia.
Saggy pants and shorts were in such short supply that it took a walk to the south end of the boardwalk to spot a single offender. There stood Richard Belote near the Life-Saving Station Museum, his cargo shorts hanging on to his buttocks for dear life. His underwear was covered by an extra-large, extra-long Allen Iverson jersey.
"They're not that low," he said of his shorts.
The idea of a fatwa on low-hanging pants sounds absurd, said Belote, 21, of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. "I don't think they need that law," he said. "They can't say I'm a thug just because of what I'm wearing."
Two loud pops rang across the boardwalk. Belote looked up. No worries: They were from the arcade, where kids were trying to win Smurfs dolls in a balloon race. He lit a cigarette and headed back up the boardwalk, past a restaurant called Sandy Bottoms, past a mother pushing her infant daughter in a stroller.
The woman, Lyn Riggins of Severna Park, didn't look twice at Belote's outfit. "I think when you're on the boardwalk," Riggins said, "anything goes."
Ann McDermott, a full-time resident and longtime retiree, sees it differently. "Sometimes, their belt is below their cheeks," McDermott said. "It's pretty bad." She supports the idea of forcing people to pull up their pants. "Now, whether their civil liberties are infringed upon is another thing," she said.
More than a dozen jurisdictions around the country have outlawed low-riding pants. But in 2009, a Palm Beach County, Florida, judge ruled that a Riviera Beach saggy-pants ban was unconstitutional.
The ACLU is monitoring the progress of the Ocean City proposal but says it has a more pressing concern: the decency ordinance that went into effect last Tuesday in Wildwood, NJ. That law includes a ban on pants, shorts, skirts and swimsuits that hang more than 3 inches below the waistline. Violators can be fined $US25 to $US200 and sentenced to community service.
"The courts have said we can express ourselves through our appearance and what we wear," said Udi Ofer, executive director of the ACLU of New Jersey, which is considering litigation to challenge the ban. "Wildwood has no right to act like the fashion police."
In Ocean City, the texts, e-mails and phone calls that Ashley has fielded about his proposal have been almost unanimously supportive, he said. An editorial in the local newspaper backed a broad decency ordinance for Ocean City.
Every afternoon, Ashley said, he walks the entire two-and-a-half-mile boardwalk. And every day, he said, he is repulsed by the way some people wear their pants.
"I love Ocean City," he said as he walked in his high-riding dad jeans. "This is my town. I just want to be able to say to people that have been scared away: Come back."
Washington Post
Get the Morning Edition
Sign up for our daily wrap of the news you need to start your day.


text: Midwife's career takes a novel turn By Bill Lynch September 22, 2012 Story Share Lingbing Hang Patricia Harman, a certified nurse-midwife, has helped mothers in all sorts of situations with the births of their children over her 40-year career. Those experiences have given her a lot of rich literary material. Lingbing Hang On a wall inside the clinic, there's an explosion of cute, sometimes bewildered faces -- photographs of some of the babies Tom and Patricia Harman have helped deliver during the past 20 years. Lingbing Hang Patricia Harman's life has taken some interesting turns. A former hippie and member of the peace movement of the 1960s, Harman traveled to West Virginia to live on a commune and eventually became a certified nurse-midwife. Lingbing Hang Patricia Harman gives a lot of credit to her husband, Dr. Tom Harman, for supporting and encouraging her while she's embarked on her latter-life literary career. The two operate the Partners in Women's Healthcare clinic in Morgantown. MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- They say there are no second acts in American lives, but that's not always true. Certified nurse-midwife Patricia Harman used to help deliver babies, then became a writer after the insurance premiums for herself and her obstetrician/gynecologist husband suddenly doubled."Eight years ago, we had a nationwide medical malpractice crisis," the silver-haired 68-year-old, who goes by Patsy, explained.Across the country, the cost of malpractice insurance for OB/GYN professionals, including doctors and midwives, went up sharply. Harman and her husband, Tom, went from paying $140,000 a year to $280,000 a year.While the couple still operate the Partners in Women's Healthcare clinic in Morgantown, the cost to continue delivering babies was too much for them to absorb."Everybody gave up delivering babies," Harman said, sounding a little bitter. "And we did too."Harman turned to writing to help fill the empty space left from no longer being called at all hours to help bring children into the world. Her third book, "The Midwife of Hope River," was recently released by William Morrow Paperback, a division of HarperCollins Publishers.The author will talk about her book at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Kanawha County Public Library main branch in Charleston.A midwife is madeBabies and their mothers have been a way of life for Harman for decades. She gave birth to her first child in 1970 and delivered her first for someone else in 1977, back when she and her husband lived on a commune in rural Roane County.In those days, Harman wasn't a midwife, and her husband wasn't a doctor. They were just a couple of young hippies who'd come together through the anti-war movement.Harman was interested in natural childbirth and had taken a few classes, which she in turn taught to others who were also interested in natural childbirth. But that first delivery was mostly an accident. She and her husband had gone to dinner at the home of a couple expecting a child and decided to stay over.Late in the evening, the woman went into labor. The nearest hospital was two hours away.In the home, a converted barn, Harman and her husband together delivered the first of what would be thousands of children. They began together what became a calling. Harman's husband later went to medical school and became an obstetrician, and Harman turned to midwifery.Hippie to 'local expert' Harman met her husband at a commune in Ohio, between war protests and the occasional arrest for civil disobedience.Like many of the other "back-to-the-landers," they left the urban sprawl with some like-minded individuals to clean the slate and start over."We came to West Virginia because it seemed like an ideal situation," she said. "The land was cheap, and it was beautiful."They wanted to grow their own food and find a better way to live. While in Spencer, the two started a natural food co-op and began teaching childbirth classes, something she'd done while living in Minnesota. Midwifery grew out of local need."I became this kind of local expert," she said. "I used to carry this big textbook around with me, 'Williams Obstetrics.' I'd take it with me when I helped deliver babies."In the beginning, she helped deliver babies for the women in and around the communes. "I couldn't have picked a better group to do that with," she said. "We were all very confident in our bodies."The women on the communes were also mostly young and in good health.Eventually, traveling around with a book under her arm wasn't enough. She trained with a collective of home-birth midwives in Austin, Texas, got a nursing degree from the Arch A. Moore Vocational School, and helped found the West Virginia Cooperative of Midwives.She also started seeing women beyond the loose borders of the communes: expectant mothers who lived in real poverty, who didn't have good nutrition and often came from dire circumstances."These were the kind of women who really needed to go to hospitals for delivery," she said. "They just couldn't."Leaving the communeHarman continued her education, getting a four-year degree in nursing administration, but by the start of the 1980s, life at the commune was winding down. People were leaving."The commune didn't fall apart all at once," she said. "I think through most of the time we all lived on the commune, we were united against the Vietnam War. When that ended, we started looking at each other and asking, 'What are we doing out here in the sticks?'"There were other subtle pressures too. Harman said that it seemed like every time she spoke to her mother, she heard how well old friends from high school were doing. They had careers and lives that seemed bigger and more important than what she had on the commune."I wanted to do something more," she said.So, in 1985, not long after the birth of their third son, the family left West Virginia. Patsy studied at the University of Minnesota, where she earned a master's degree in midwifery, while Tom earned a medical degree from Ohio State University. They stayed away from West Virginia until the early 1990s, when they settled in Morgantown and opened a clinic. Coming back to West Virginia was easy, Harman said."We knew the state, and we knew the people."Harman said she and her husband have had a lot of good years here.On a wall inside the clinic, there's an explosion of cute, sometimes bewildered faces -- photographs of just some of the babies the couple has helped deliver during the past 20 years.Their office still cares for expectant mothers up through the first trimester and offers a variety of other kinds of treatment and care for women. They just don't handle births anymore."It's sad what happened with the insurance," Harman said, looking at the photos. "The good news is I have more time to write."On writingGetting published wasn't instant. Harman said she was rejected more than 80 times before an agent took her first book, "The Blue Cotton Gown," a memoir that covered her daily struggles as a nurse-midwife and some of the women she came to know.Her second book, "Arms Wide Open," was a kind of prequel to the first book. It talked more about her "hippie days" and how she gradually became a midwife.Both books are surprisingly frank."I started with writing about myself and the courage of ordinary women," she said. "People often write about important people, but I think it takes quite a bit of strength to go through life."Harman's latest book, "The Midwife of Hope River," is her first foray into fiction."I decided I wanted to stop milking my own life," she laughed.Set in coal country at the start of the Great Depression, the book follows the story of Patience Murphy, a 36-year-old midwife, Harman described as "too old for courting and wanted in two states."She chuckled. "There are a lot of issues in the book besides birthing babies. The book deals with race relations of the time, coal mining, poverty."Still, the novel does draw quite a bit from Harman's background, though she added that unlike her memoirs, she had to do a lot more research."Like taillights," she explained. "I wrote a scene that included a reference to taillights on a car, and I wasn't sure if they even had taillights in 1929."Some cars did and some didn't, Harman found out.Looking forward, looking backHarman is pleased with her surprise second career, though becoming a writer wasn't something she imagined for herself when she started out living in that first commune in Minnesota.Where she is now in her life is so far away from where she was. Sometimes she misses the life of the commune."It was a peak time in people's histories," she said and smiled. "It was a great time to share work and make music at night."However, Harman didn't think most of them were very realistic about the life they'd embraced.The routine, the struggle for sustenance and the austerity of trying to live outside of society ground her down."I've always loved nature, the beauty of it, but the plodding of the work on the commune, the life, I stopped looking at nature. I felt like a beast of burden."Harman said, "Our problem was we were so extreme. I think it might have worked if we'd have made some compromises. We were always striving for sustainability, but the lifestyle wasn't really sustainable. Living life on 'Little House on the Prairie' sounds great, but after 10 years it wasn't a lot of fun."Still, she added, communal living hasn't lost its attraction. There are still a lot of positive ideas in trying to create a sustainable society outside the hustle of the mainstream.Harman said she knew people who'd gone back to it -- gray-haired retirees, mostly. People who've embraced the ethic of group living but with the wisdom to accept a few compromises, like keeping a vehicle and taking advantage of improved technologies like solar and wind power to retain a certain amount of comfort without losing independence."Get away from what you don't want, but don't give up running water," she added.Harman is happy with her life now. With her first novel under her belt, she's already considering a sequel and also working on a children's book. She isn't really considering giving up her day job, though."I love what I do," Harman said. "I love my patients, and I love being a writer. I think it's just easier to get up and get going when you love what you're going to do."Reach Bill Lynch at firstname.lastname@example.com or 304-348-5195. Story Share Story Share Trending Now 1 WVU pulls away from Kansas for 56-34 win 2 Philanthropist Betty Schoenbaum of Shoney's fortune turns 100 3 'Heroin(e)' spotlights women helping combat Huntington's drug crisis 4 WVU notebook: Defense feeling a bit run down 5 New company planning $73M synthetic fuel plant in Greenbrier County Food Notes: Sept. 19, 2012 Previous Story 'Biggest Loser' to motivate W.Va. weight-strugglers Next Story


text:
TPWD Print-Friendly Page: http://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/print.phtml?req=20091007bMedia Contact: TPWD News, email@example.com, 512-389-8030 [TH]
TPWD Website: http://tpwd.texas.gov
TPWD News Release — Oct. 7, 2009
Paying for his crime: On September 20th, a Galveston County game warden received an OGT call about an individual who had killed a pelican. When the warden arrived at the location, he found a dead brown pelican on the beach. Statements were taken from witnesses and when his investigation was completed, he was able to obtain a confession from the violator. Citations were issued and a $4,720 restitution bill is pending.
Record-speed law enforcement: A Coke County game warden received a call about a deer that had possibly been shot on the Coke/Runnels county line inside a high fence. The deer was found on top of a tank dam and had been moved and drug up against the fence. Four hours later, a suspect arrived at the scene, threw over an unidentified object and went to work on the 8-point buck head. The warden was there in record time and the landowner signed affidavit class B criminal trespass; possession of illegally killed deer during closed season. One poacher went to jail.
All the elk in El Paso: Two El Paso game wardens received a call from the El Paso PD about an elk that was discovered in the backyard of a northeast El Paso residence when the owner went out to clean the pool. They arrived to find a very large and very unhappy Aoudad buck. With assistance from the Texas Department of Health veterinarian and his tranquilizer gun, they were able to move the animal without incident.
Educational rattlesnake: On September 20, a Grayson County Game Warden received a call from a man whose 9-year-old son had caught a baby snake that he believed might be a rattlesnake. Warden Moses went to the location and confirmed that the boy had indeed caught a baby Timber Rattler, which is a threatened species. The snake did not have its rattle yet. The snake was confiscated and will be used for educational purposes.
Protecting doves: On September 19, a Somervell County game warden and a Hamilton County game warden were patrolling Hamilton County when they entered a field with eight hunters, five of whom were kids, who were finishing up for the day. When the wardens checked the bag of one of the kids, they found an Inca dove. The hunters were all educated about the Inca dove. They were taught that it is a protected species and they were shown how to identify it. The dove was confiscated.
Rolling on the river: On September 20, a Somervell County game warden was patrolling along the banks of the Paluxy River in Somervell County when she observed three children on two ATVs riding in the river. When Warden Kuykendall pulled up, the kids took off down the river. Warden Kuykendall borrowed an ATV from the Dinosaur Valley State Park and with the assistance of a Park Ranger, the kids were found riding in the river upstream. When the warden and Park Ranger found the boys, they had sunk one of the ATVs up to the seat and were trying to get it out. Warnings were issued to the three juveniles for violations of the 2003 state law prohibited motor vehicle traffic in riverbeds, and the parents were contacted.
Right into the hands of the law: During the early morning hours of Sunday, September 20, a Coryell County game warden was patrolling an area near the Leon River known for poaching activity when he saw a vehicle on a nearby county road stopped on the bridge crossing the river. Several people got out and began moving around. Soon several shots rang out, and the vehicle sped away from the area unknowingly heading straight for the warden. He waited on the highway and when the vehicle exited the county road, a traffic stop was conducted. The driver, a young woman dressed in camouflage, admitted that she and her boyfriend had just shot from the road into the Leon River. The woman stated that she had just gotten a new pistol and needed a place to shoot it. Citations were issued for shooting from a public roadway.
Changing his story: On Sept.17th, a Houston County game warden was contacted by the Houston County Sheriff's Office regarding the remains of a deer that was found on property that was the subject of a sheriff's department investigation. The suspect, who was also a convicted felon, was located, and he admitted to killing the deer by running it over with a 4-wheeler. After a three-hour search, the warden located a .22-caliber Magnum rifle hidden under the steps of a residence. The suspect confessed shortly thereafter to killing the deer with the rifle. Later that day, the warden received more information about another carcass left on the side of the road near the location where the first deer had been killed. A subsequent interview with the same suspect the following day yielded another confession for killing the second deer. Another game warden interviewed a second suspect who also admitted to hunting from the road. Cases are pending. Charges include taking game animal from a public roadway; possession of stolen firearms, a 4-wheeler and other miscellaneous personal property; fictitious plates; and felon in possession of a firearm.
Coming clean: On September 20th, a Cherokee County game warden received a call from a landowner who had found a deer carcass on his property with the antlers removed. The warden collected a .22-caliber Magnum shell casing from the scene and noted that 4-wheeler tracks lead from the carcass to a neighbor's house. The initial interview with neighbor and his grandson resulted in a denial of involvement, but subsequent investigation yielded the collection of a machete used to remove the antlers from the carcass and a full confession from the grandson. Case pending.
Sweaty sleep: On September 17th, a Hardin County game warden received information that a Saratoga resident was in the process of skinning a white-tailed deer behind his residence. Upon the game warden's arrival, he observed a subject running under a vapor light in the direction of the residence. Moments later, the subject in question appeared from behind his house sweating from head to toe. He told the warden that he had been in bed trying to get some sleep and denied he had been hunting. After receiving consent to search, the warden noticed fresh drag marks leading into the woods. The warden recovered a freshly killed deer that his subject had tried to conceal after hearing the sound of a vehicle entering the neighborhood. Cases pending.
Deer rescue opens dove season: On September 20, an Atascosa County game warden went to Charlotte to donate some confiscated doves. The warden noticed a fawn deer in a dog kennel surrounded by hog dogs at a residence in Charlotte. The warden made contact with the homeowner, wrote a citation, confiscated the fawn deer, took it to a licensed deer rehabber and then continued with his confiscated dove donation.
Hunting in the rain: While working dove hunters in central Duval County on the morning of Sept. 19, a game warden and a deputy game warden heard numerous shots from various locations. After checking three groups of hunters, they issued four citations, and confiscated 23 doves. After lunch, the deputy game warden received a call that a truck was driving down a nearby county road with men were shooting doves off of power lines from the bed of the truck. Three wardens broke camp and conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle. One of the wardens issued two citations for hunting from a public road and having an open container. That afternoon, scattered showers crept into the area. As the deputy game warden and game warden drove into the showers, hope of finding the hunter became slim. Within the hour, however, two of the wardens heard a number of shots, even though it was raining. As they moved into position to check the field of hunters, the sky was filled with doves. After making contact with the hunters, many of whom were hunting in rain jackets and slickers, 462 doves were confiscated and 23 citations were issued for hunting over bait. At the end of the day, the game wardens and deputy game warden had issued 27 citations and confiscated 485 doves that were illegally killed over baited fields in Duval County. Cases pending.
Fishing in the rain: On Sept. 24, four game wardens helped present a Kidfish youth fishing event for Coronado fifth graders. The event was held at Ceta Canyon. There were about 80 kids and most were able to catch a fish, despite the cold weather and rain.
Birds and burritos: On September 19, a Coleman County game warden helped sponsor a dove hunt at Talpa for six 8-to 10-year-old Webelo Boy Scouts from Troop 644 of Muenster. The boys harvested 18 doves, cooked burritos for breakfast, shot clay birds and camped out in tents to work on their camping badges. The Texas Game Warden Association presented each Boy Scout with a cap.
Drowning in Lake Fork: On Sept. 18 at approximately 6:15 a.m., a 63-year-old Garland man fishing the McDonald's Tournament (estimated 4,000 participants) on Lake Fork fell overboard. A two-day search ended in recovering the victim's body in approximately 26 feet of water. Side Scan Sonar was used to locate the victim and divers were used to recover the body. Three District 3 game wardens along with the Wood County SO, Quitman Fire Department, North East TX Search & Recovery Team and the Alert Academy Dive Team assisted in the recovery.
All in a day's work: September 20th, two Travis County game wardens were patrolling Lady Bird Lake by kayak when they came across two subjects who were just breaking camp from a night's stay on the shore. While approaching, the wardens noticed a stringer coming off of the end of the kayak beached on the shore. After a short discussion with the subjects, it was determined that neither had a current fishing license nor any identification. After checking the subjects through dispatch, it was discovered that one subject was wanted for failure to report for probation on a theft charge from Hays County. A check of the contents of the kayak revealed a .22-caliber Sig Sauer Pistol, several illegal knives and drug paraphernalia. The subjects were asked to collect their belongings and escorted upstream to a local park where both where cited and one was turned over to Austin PD and charged with possession of prohibited weapons and the outstanding warrant. The wardens went back to kayaking.