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Set in a world where every fairy tale character ever imagined dwells, a green ogre by the name of Shrek lives a comfortable life of solitude. His home resides in a swamp that rests in the middle of the forest, a location that's completely undesirable for anyone but an ogre. So, he typically doesn't have to worry about people butting into his business... unless of course an angry pitchfork mob has a beef they need to settle with him. However, the evil Lord Farquaad is about to put a serious damper on Shrek's lifestyle, as he's ordered all of the fairy tale characters across the land to be gathered up like outcast citizens, and dumped in the swamp. Of course, Shrek has a huge problem with this, as his swamp isn't meant to be the final stop to exile... it's his home. So, the ogre prepares to head to Farquaad's palace to ask if there's somewhere else the fairy tale characters can be shipped off to. Much to his dismay, Shrek can't even handle this task by his lonesome, as he acquires the obnoxious Donkey as a traveling companion. Upon arriving to Farquaad's palace, things get a bit more complicated than Shrek ever could have anticipated. Lord Farquaad is on a quest to become King, a prize that will only come to fruition if he marries a princess. So, Farquaad has decided to secure Princess Fiona, a damsel in distress who's been guarded in a tower by a ferocious dragon for half her life. Too small and cowardly to rescue her himself however, Farquaad sends Shrek in his place, with the promise of restoring the swamp to its once peaceful state, of course. As with any fairy tale however, there's danger lurking around every corner, and a startling revelation about Princess Fiona will undoubtedly change Shrek's life forever.
Shrek was a breath of fresh air the first time I saw it in theaters. Not only did it have all of the fun and adventure I typically would have expected from a Disney film, but it went above and beyond with a charming sense of humor that everyone could appreciate on numerous levels. Take for example the entire cast of fairy tale characters. They all have a unique comical twist to their appearance and personalities, in a way that's never been realized before - Pinocchio is a nervous, squeaky voiced wreck, the face inside the magic mirror acts out like a game show host, and the gingerbread man is literally a tough little cookie. These significant tweaks to the characters make even the smallest fairy tale cameo as memorable as the main character himself.
But, the most important reason why Shrek has been able to entertain both children and adults alike for nearly a decade? It's because the humor contained on every page of the film's script is masterfully written. The story itself is simplistic as they come, sure, but the jokes are able to strike the funny bone in each age group a different way. There are plenty of one-liners in Shrek that have innuendos only an adult would understand, but surprisingly, all of these jokes are so tastefully written, that parents will never feel like they have to cup their hands over their children's ears. Ultimately, the kids get a laugh out of the jokes on a basic level, and adults howl every time they hear an 'age appropriate only' line the kids are oblivious to. But of course, Shrek wouldn't have been such a breakthrough hit for DreamWorks if it wasn't for the cast. Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz all provide vocal performances that are, in my opinion, much more memorable than anything either of them have done since (with the exception of the other Shrek films, of course).
It's for all these reasons and more that I believe Shrek is a nearly flawless film with little, if anything, to complain about. Sure, you could complain that the animation itself isn't as pristine as what we're used to seeing nowadays, but remember, even the original Toy Story had simplistic animation to start with. No, it's the substance to the film that matters most, and there's certainly plenty for every member of the audience to appreciate - The creativity behind bringing the land of Far Far Away to life, the smart writing, excellent cast, humor, all backed with the dusting of a love story throughout - It isn't hard to see why Shrek instantly earned its place amongst the ranks as a classic. But, could DreamWorks replicate these magical elements in unison for another entry?
Shrek 2
Shrek may have preferred living life on his own terms once, but he's now happily married, ogre to ogre, with the one he shared true love's kiss with - Fiona. But just as things are looking up in Shrek's life, he receives information that has the potential to drive the ogre to the brink of madness - His in-laws, the King and Queen of Far Far Away, want to meet him. Not only do they want to meet him, but they want to throw a ball to honor their daughter's recent marriage, an event that Shrek is less than willing to participate in. Fiona bats her eyes and talks him into it however, so they set off with their pal Donkey to visit the royal family. Their arrival is met with mixed emotions however. The King and Queen are shocked to learn that Fiona married an ogre, and they're even more stunned to learn that she, too, is an ogre. But, they're not the only ones that are taken aback by this development. Fiona's Fairy Godmother made a deal with the royal parents - If her son, Prince Charming, were to rescue Fiona from the tower, he would be promised her hand in marriage. Charming had made his dangerous quest to the top of the castle, with hopes that he would marry into the royal family and one day become King... but all he found atop the tower was a wolf in drag. The Fairy Godmother and Charming accost the King until he agrees to 'rectify' the situation, and in order to do so, hires an assassin known as Puss in Boots to make Shrek disappear. If Shrek is going to live happily ever after, he's going to have to make it past Puss and Charming, all while fighting for the love of his bride.
Shrek 2 has much in common with its predecessor. On paper, the plot is still as generic as it gets, but again, it's the execution of it all that matters most. All of the elements that made the first flick such a hit are still intact, and better yet, the main characters are more refined and better realized than before. But don't misinterpret what I'm saying - Shrek 2 isn't a better film than the original, nor is it any worse. When comparing the two films, it's probably just best to say that they're different. Part of the fun of the first Shrek was discovering the land of Far Far Away, as well as all of its inhabitants. This automatically puts the second flick at a disadvantage, as that flame of discovery had already extinguished itself by the time the end credits rolled for Shrek's first adventure. Although use of the word 'sequel' is usually synonymous with 'the same old crap but in a different bag', Shrek 2 couldn't merely rely on being a rehash of its successor. The story had to continue with a natural flow - As an audience, we had to believe in Shrek and Fiona as a couple that's been happily wed, but it was also necessary to see their relationship put to the test. After all, Shrek is a short-tempered ogre that lived for nothing more than peace and quiet. Fiona spent half her life dreaming of Prince Charming while locked away in a tower. You do the math. Fortunately, everyone involved in the production of this film succeeded at driving these points home, making Shrek 2 just as enjoyable as the film that started it all.
If there's any complaints I have about the film, it's that the whole 'new husband doesn't get along with the in-laws' thing felt a little forced. Meet the Parents was a big success just four years prior to this film's release, and Meet the Fockers would hit the big screen the same year that Shrek 2 did. To me, it seems like DreamWorks was trying to capitalize on the popularity of these films since Shrek and Fiona were an item. Fortunately for them, such an idea worked well with the plot and never came close to bordering on parody.
Other than that minor quibble, Shrek 2 is a fantastic follow-up to a fantastic film. Despite the fact that the third time doesn't usually equal a charm in Hollywood though, instead of quitting while they were ahead, DreamWorks decided to move full steam ahead on yet another Shrek film.
Shrek the Third
Harold, King of Far Far Away and Fiona's father, is on his deathbed. Of course, Shrek and Fiona are next in line to be King and Queen, and the big green guy isn't havin' it. All he wants to do is go home to his swamp and enjoy a life of wedded bliss. Since Shrek is so adamant that an ogre would be a horrible King, Harold reveals that there is indeed another heir to the throne - his nephew, Arthur. With this wonderful news in mind, Shrek sails off on a ship with his good friend Donkey to find Harold's nephew, and deliver the news that he is to be King of Far Far Away. Meanwhile, Prince Charming is still fuming that an ogre of all things, ended up being the rightful heir to the throne. In Charming's mind, what's rightfully his has been stripped away from him, and he's not going to just stand by and watch it happen any longer. He enlists the help of every villain known in fairy tale lore to kill the ogre, and take back the kingdom of Far Far Away. This isn't a good predicament for the green guy to be in, or a fair one for that matter. After all, he wants nothing to do with being King. But, it doesn't matter if things go down for better or worse. Shrek's life is going to change dramatically no matter what the outcome... because Fiona also happens to drop the bomb that she's pregnant.
There's no question that Shrek the Third is the weakest of the bunch. To me, it seems like the writers were grasping at straws for ideas this time around. Half of the movie focuses on Shrek's journey to nab Harold's 16 year old nephew and make him King, an idea that doesn't instill nearly as much fun and excitement as the previous films, and the other half dredges up Prince Charming again so he can provide us with a revenge plot. Whereas the first two films were creative and fun, Shrek the Third comes off as a lazy attempt at milking a franchise dry. I know that DreamWorks had a great deal of success with the first two films (and to be fair, they did quite well with this film as well), but I rather would have waited another year or two for them to find a story worth telling. That being said, there are still plenty of comical moments throughout that save this flick from being a complete bore, but it's unfortunate that the story couldn't fit in these gags with the same effortless flow as before.
Disappointed in the third offering, I couldn't help but roll my eyes when I found out that yet another Shrek film was in the works...
Shrek Forever After
Shrek is having a hard time adjusting to his new life as a family man. He used to be able to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Now, life is all about adhering to a strict schedule - Wake up, feed the kids, change some diapers, have Donkey and his kids show up for a play date, fix up things around the hut, have dinner, read a story, put the wee ogres to bed, and then start all over again the next day. Shrek literally has no time to himself anymore. Enjoying eyeball martinis and taking filthy mud baths are a thing of the past, and our green ogre friend is beginning to feel like he's not even an ogre anymore. However, when Shrek runs into Rumpelstiltskin, a merchant who deals in magical contracts, he's given the opportunity to have his old life back for 24 hours. Being out on his own without Donkey yammering at his side, chasing and scaring the crap out of villagers - How could he resist? And all Shrek has to give in return? Just a measly 24 hours from the life he's already lived. Rumpelstiltskin suggests a day when he was a baby, a day that he wouldn't miss. "Take them all for all I care!" And with that, Shrek signs the contract and begins to terrorize his way through Far Far Away, just like in the good ole' days. What our green friend doesn't realize of course, is that his meeting with Rumpelstiltskin wasn't mere coincidence. No, that little trickster once tried to have Fiona's parents, the King and Queen of Far Far Away, sign over their kingdom with the promise that Fiona would be rescued from the tower. Shrek had gotten to Fiona first however, and Rumpel has been looking for another way to obtain the kingdom ever since. As a result of Shrek's ignorance, he now finds himself in a world where nobody knows who he is, including his bride Fiona. Realizing what he had now that it's gone, Shrek understands the only way to break the contract is to share true love's kiss with Fiona again... but that might be difficult to obtain within 24 hours, and if Shrek can't get the job done in 24 hours, he'll disappear.
Although I had expected the worst from the final installment, Shrek Forever After is actually a fitting end for the series. The strength of the franchise up to this point has always been the comedy, but Forever After stops trying to find an excuse to yuck it up every few minutes, instead focusing on themes of love, and not taking the people you love for granted. Now, I know some of you probably wanted the final Shrek film to be a return to form, but personally, I believe the substance provided by the plot this time around is so much more than I could have hoped for. DreamWorks attempted to make an emotional film this time around as opposed to a gut-busting hilarious one, and it man did it pay off big-time. I'm a family man myself, and with an 8 month old boy at home, I was able to relate to repeating the same monotonous schedule over and over again, day after day. But when Shrek's world was turned upside down to the point where his wife didn't even recognize him, where his children no longer existed? My heartstrings were being pulled from beginning to end. I really felt for the big lug, and this was the kind of connection I wanted out of Shrek the Third. This was the story worth telling. Effectively being able to connect the audience to the story makes the danger seem more real, and the love more sincere. And speaking of the 'genuine' danger this time around, Rumpelstiltskin is the most diabolical villain of the franchise to date.
But, is Shrek Forever After the best film in the series? I guess it all depends on what qualities are most important to you when watching a film. For my money, it is the better film out of the four, but when it comes to having fun and sheer replay value, the first Shrek still reigns supreme.
The first three Shrek films are presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, while Shrek Forever After sports a more theatrical 2.35:1 ratio. In 1080p, all four films included in this set look quite impressive, thanks to their utilization of the AVC codec.
There's not really all that much to say about the quality on this release - As expected, each installment to the franchise looks better than the last. The first Shrek is the weakest looking title of the bunch, but that's not to say there's something wrong with the transfer. Being that this film was released nearly a decade ago, the computer animation didn't have the same 'wow' factor that it has today. Characters and landscapes weren't very detailed, and everything that moved looked a little stiff. So it's for this reason, by default, that Shrek just doesn't impress as much as the later films. But considering how the source looked, this is the Blu-ray that I've been waiting some time for. Edges are sharp, color saturation is what you'd expect for a colorful film such as this, contrast/black levels are wonderful, and all the detail that the source provides is reproduced with stunning clarity. The only minor issue is a little banding, but even that's so minimal it's hardly worth even mentioning. If there was only one other complaint I could make, is that Shrek looks digital... but again, I doubt that's a result of the encode itself.
As we progress through the series, the animation becomes more stunning, the banding becomes even less of an issue than it was, and the video quality begins looking less digital and more natural. By the time we get to Shrek Forever After, we're looking at reference quality all the way around. Yes folks, it's time away to throw away those old Shrek DVD's, or perhaps even your HD-DVD/Blu-ray of Shrek the Third, because this is the treatment we've wanted for the series all along.
Each film is presented with Dolby TrueHD 7.1 surround sound, and to say the results are impressive would be a bit of an understatement. I expected the series to sound pretty darn good, but my expectations were surpassed every step of the way. All four flicks provide an impressive amount of depth and clarity, and the 7.1 setup does a terrific job at providing pinpoint precise directional audio. Dialogue is never hard to hear over any of the action, the scenes that use popular rock songs are loud and never begin to sound 'muddy' no matter how loud you crank the volume, and there's some decent LFE when a scene calls for it. Of course, much like the video quality, the further we get in the series, the better the source has been mixed. Unsurprisingly, Shrek Forever After is the most impressive disc out of the bunch, providing reference quality audio that the entire family will have fun listening to.
First, it's worth noting the packaging. The box that houses this set is sturdy as can be. The thickness and strength of the cardboard can actually be compared to the recent Alien Anthology Blu-ray release. Inside the box are four, full-sized Blu-ray cases, one for each film. So for those of you that can't stand the thin cases, you're in luck. There's only one disc in each of the four cases, so unfortunately, there are no DVD or digital copies contained within. Personally, I'm a fan of this setup. Although I appreciate DVD and digital copies, I hardly ever use them, so I won't exactly be missing them now. The only thing I would have done differently would have been to make the Blu-ray cases green instead of the standard blue. If the Grinch can do it, why not Shrek?
Blu-ray Exclusives - This menu can be found under 'Extras' on each of the Shrek films. All four releases include:
The Animators' Corner - If you're not into listening to audio commentary tracks, then you're really going to enjoy this supplement. This is a Picture-in-Picture feature that plays throughout the film. You'll see storyboards, the computer animation in its early stages, behind-the-scenes recording sessions, cast and crew interviews, and much, much more. By the time you've finished each film with this 'video-as-behind the scenes and commentary' package, you're going to know the production of the entire franchise inside and out. The Animator's Corner simply put, is not to be missed.
Shrek's Interactive Journey (I-IV) - When first 'entering' this supplement, you'll be brought to an interactive map of the locations that appear throughout each film. You'll have a multitude of locations to choose from, and each selection hosts a variety of the original artwork that eventually shaped the land of Far Far Away, and beyond, as we know it.
Other Features Included on All Four Discs (Not Located in the Blu-ray Exclusives Tab)
Secrets of Shrek - Included on each disc under the 'Special Features' Extras menu, if there's any of the fun trivial stuff that you missed out on while watching any of these films, these featurettes are going to fill you in. You'll hear about what specific pop-culture references were utilized in the films, in-depth information on just how many fairy tales made some sort of an appearance throughout the franchise, some fun factoids about bringing the world of Far Far Away to life. Also, if you didn't get enough of watching the cast do their thing in the recording studio during The Animators' Corner, you'll see some more of that here, as well. If you're looking to arm yourself with as much trivial knowledge about the series as possible, you're not going to want to skip these featurettes.
Spot on Donkey/Puss in Boots/Fiona/Shrek - These supplements are pretty much what you'd expect. Everything about these particular characters is on display here, including an in-depth look at the actors and how they brought their character to life behind the mic, how their characters evolved throughout the franchise in its entirety, and more.
DreamWorks Animation Video Jukebox - With this, you can see music videos from the likes of Shrek, Over the Hedge, Madagascar, Bee Movie, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon. Good for the kiddies, but most adult audience members are probably going to want to skip this.
Supplements on Shrek
Deleted Scenes - There are three deleted scenes available on this disc: Fiona's Prologue, The Deal, and Fiona Gets Them Lost.
Filmmakers' Commentary - Directors Andrew Adamson & Vicky Jenson, and Producer Aron Warner - A lot of the information that's on this commentary can be seen and heard about in The Animators' Corner, so if you're not exactly the kind of person that likes to sit around and listen to commentaries, then it's safe for you to skip this track. For the rest of you however, this is an interesting track, through and through. The people behind the mic here obviously love the work they did while working on Shrek, and it shows. Everyone has plenty to say about every aspect of the film's production, the discussion never gets technically dry enough to induce yawning, and there's even a little more perspective to be found that wasn't seen in The Animators' Corner. If you have the time, give this track a whirl.
Also, under the Shrek, Rattle & Roll Extras menu, you'll find the Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party (a short piece that has all of the fairy tale characters singing a bunch of popular songs), music videos for Baha Men - "Best Years of Our Lives" and Smash Mouth - "I'm a Believer", as well a number from Shrek the Musical - "What's Up Duloc?"
Supplements on Shrek 2
Commentary with Directors Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon & Commentary with Producer Aron Warner and Editor Michael Andrews - Both of these tracks provide an interesting look at the film. The commentary featuring Directors Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon covers pretty much every aspect about the production of the film, and just like the commentary offered with the first film, there's a lot of information that's already been covered with the Picture-in-Picture track, but there's also a little extra that's worth listening to. Producer Aron Warner and Editor Michael Andrews surprisingly doesn't cover much of the same ground as the Directors, offering not so much insight on the film's production, but how all the ideas came together to produce the final package that hit theaters. If you only have enough time to check out one of these tracks, I'd recommend the one with the Producer and Editor. The Directors have a little more fun behind the mic, but learning about how the ideas for this film were conceived is invaluable.
Far Far Away Idol - An animated Simon Cowell vistis the land of Far Far Away to judge, that's right, 'Far Far Away Idol'. This is a pretty entertaining short (close to 6 minutes in length) that provides quite a few laughs. Honestly though, I'm surprised they didn't opt for a 'Hell's Kitchen' parody, considering how often Gordon Ramsay calls his subordinates 'donkeys'. Don't skip this one!
Also available are music videos for the Counting Crows - "Accidentally In Love", Puss in Boots - "These Boots Are Made For Walking", and another selection from Shrek the Musical - "I Know It's Today".
Supplements on Shrek the Third
Deleted Scenes - Deleted scenes return once again after missing out on Shrek 2. This time we're treated to four: The Fauxly Grail, Hot Lunch, Cyrano De Artie, and Doppelgangers.
How to Be Green - This featurette is about how you, yes you, can be 'green' by keeping our planet clean! Please, keep the preachy stuff to yourself, guys...
Worcestershire Academy Yearbook - This interactive featurette allows us to get a better understanding for Arthur, as well as some of his classmates.
Also included is the Donkey Dance short, and another video for Shrek the Musical - "Freak Flag". Unfortunately, no commentary appears on this disc.
Supplements on Shrek Forever After
Deleted Scenes - Three deleted scenes make the rounds this time: Fairy-tale Creatures Attack, Gingy Attack (test), and Emperor No Clothes (test).
Commentary by Director Mike Mitchell, Head of Story Walt Dohrn, and Producers Gina Shay and Teresa Cheng - This is probably the most 'fun' track across all four discs, which isn't that surprising considering this film was in development not all that long ago, and everything is still fresh in everyone's mind. As been par for the course thus far, there's some information that doesn't overlap with the Picture-in-Picture feature, but again, if you're not an audio commentary fan, you're not missing much by skipping this over The Animators' Corner.
Conversation with the Cast - The main cast discuss the franchise and its thematically driven concepts. This is really the first time outside of a behind the scenes look that we get to hear the actors speak candidly about their thoughts about the franchise as a whole. Not to be missed.
The Tech of Shrek Forever After - This is a brief overview of how computer animated films are made. At only 7 � minutes in length however, this really only scratches the surface.
Shrek the Musical - Under this option under 'Shrek, Rattle & Roll' in the Special Features menu, is From Swamp to Stage: The Making of Shrek the Musical, as well as a video for the tune, "Who I'd Be".
There's also a music video for "Darling I Do".
Shrek's Yule Log - This is literally a half an hour of staring at Shrek's fireplace during the holidays. Every once in a while, a fairy tale character will make a brief appearance, but I can't think of a single person that will actually have this looping on their television while they have guests over this holiday season.
Donkey's Caroling Christmas-Tacular - This 'Christmas-Tacular' is just a bunch of the characters singing some Christmas songs. This is pretty similar to the Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Party supplement found with the first film.
Deck the Swamp - There are actually 3 features included here: 12 Days of Christmas Pop-Up Book has Shrek reading his own version of the classic tale, as we watch each page of the fun pop-up book come alive. Donkey's Decoration Scramble is an interactive game for the kids to help repair Christmas ornaments, and Cookin' with Cookie features the Ogre chef featured in this film providing some his favorite recipes.
Is this the treatment that the franchise in its entirety deserved for its high-def debut? Absolutely. All four films have never looked our sounded better, and each disc serves up a good amount of fascinating supplements. The only unfortunate thing with Shrek - The Whole Story, is that it's not really the whole story. Missing from this boxed set are the Christmas and Halloween holiday specials, as well as Shrek 3-D. Perhaps these are all just meant to be fun side projects and shouldn't be considered canon to the film series itself, but there are a lot of people who fell in love with such specials (especially Shrek the Halls), and will sorely miss them when they realize they're not part of the 'whole story' package. Other than that, this really is a fantastic set. Not only is all the content across each disc (both film and extras alike) entertaining, but the price is reasonable to boot. So what are you waiting for? I highly recommend you ditch those old DVD's, or perhaps even your HD-DVD or Blu-ray of Shrek the Third, and pick this set up immediately.


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M-State has 2-year programs and newly expanded programs
An important part of any organization's staying power is its willingness to embrace change.
Nowhere is this more evident than at the Detroit Lakes Campus of M State, also known as Minnesota State Community & Technical College in Detroit Lakes.
Since the school began its operations 53 years ago, it's been creating and redesigning programs that teach students the skills and knowledge employers want.
MSCTC serves about 9,200 students annually on campuses in Detroit Lakes, Fergus Falls, Moorhead and Wadena and through online coursework.
While M State's Detroit Lakes campus still offers traditional two-year programs such as accounting and nursing, the college has steadily increased its offerings of new and improved programs to meet the needs of the 21st century workforce.
M State offers more than 100 career programs and liberal arts transfer degrees. The college is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System, which comprises 32 state universities and community and technical colleges serving the higher education needs of Minnesota.
"We are realigning our strategic framework to address three areas," said Tom Whelihan, interim provost for M State-Detroit Lakes, "to ensure access to an extraordinary education for all Minnesotans, to be the partner of choice to meet Minnesota's workforce and community needs, and third is to deliver to students, employers and tax payers the best value and most affordable education option."
This includes offering Associate of Arts degrees, especially designed for smooth transfer to a four year institution.
The addition of the A.A. program became possible with the merger of the Fergus Falls Community College with the Detroit Lakes, Moorhead and Wadena campuses of the former Northwest Technical College.
With that merger, the institution became a comprehensive community and technical college and the A.A. degree became the equivalent of the first two years of a four year degree.
The idea is for students coming out of high school who don't yet have a career in mind to get their generals through a transferable program that provides low class sizes and lower tuition.
In the past six years, M State's transfer options have continued to greatly strengthen, giving students the option of studying closer to home before solidifying four-year goals.
A.A. degree-level courses in English, math, science, history, speech, political science, psychology, art, sociology and introduction to humanities are among the classes offered.
But that doesn't mean MSCTC-DL is planning a complete shift away from its technical focus.
Online programs have also bolstered the school's growth, as non-conventional students flood the web, hungry for educational opportunities that fit into their schedules.
In addition to the transfer degree, the Detroit Lakes campus also manages eight other online programs in their entirety.
These include radiology technology, web development, network technology administration, IT or information technology support, administrative management technology, paralegal and entrepreneurial A.A.S.
M State is also placing more emphasis on working with other community entities throughout the workforce and high school to better prepare local students for in-demand jobs in the region, whether it be working more with adult basic education, a school-to-work program at the high school or professional mentors.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Cuban representative at the general assembly of the United Nations in New York delivered a lengthy, wide-ranging speech that touched on many of the key issues of the day, from the worrying situation in the Congo to the threat of nuclear warfare, from the new role of China in world affairs to the failings of monopoly capitalism. He also spelled out five demands on behalf of Cuba, the fifth of which was the US withdrawal from the Guantánamo naval base on the island.
The speech was delivered not last week but in December 1964 and the representative who signed off his address with the words "Patria o muerte!" is now the subject of a two-part film by the director Steven Soderbergh, starring Benicio Del Toro, entitled Che.
Three years after that impassioned address to the UN, Guevara was dead. Almost immediately, Hollywood, having spotted the proliferation of T-shirts with Che's image on them, commissioned a film, directed by Richard Fleischer, starring Omar Sharif and entitled Che!. It was made in 1968 in Puerto Rico, which at the time was supplying a disproportionate number of young men to fight in the Vietnam war on behalf of a country whose president they were not entitled to choose. I was living and working in Puerto Rico at the time – and sharing an apartment with an Argentinian, inevitably called Che – and some friends had parts as extras, playing guerrillas. There were heated discussions with both his admirers – mainly young draft resisters and supporters of Puerto Rican independence – and his detractors, who included some of the first wave of Cuban exiles. To the former, Che was the beacon of hope; to the latter, a ruthless Soviet stooge.
The new film means that Che Guevara is back in the dock again and it is not too difficult to predict who will line up for the prosecution and the defence. Soderbergh has already been criticised by Cuban exiles in the Miami for being too kind, although if they want an unflattering film, that old and rather weird Che! has been re-released on DVD. But what seems to have been forgotten by his current detractors is the wider world that Guevara was addressing at the time. The US was just embarking on its calamitous and destructive Vietnam adventure, was shoring up every dictator it could shake a swagger stick at in Latin America and imposing an embargo on Cuba at the same time as its CIA operatives were attempting to assassinate its leader, Fidel Castro. Guevara was the most beguiling of the international voices raised against all of that. As Richard Gott, author of Cuba: a New History, has written, Che was "the revolution made flesh".
In that 1964 address, Guevara also criticised the US for its racial divisions. It seemed unthinkable then that a black person would be elected president. Now, 50 years almost to the day since the Cuban revolution in which Guevara participated, a new beguiling, charismatic figure is having his face emblazoned on T-shirts, badges and paraphernalia. If he had been a young man in 1964, Barack Obama would surely have supported Che Guevara's demands for the US to withdraw from Guantánamo Bay, an end to the embargo of the island and for meaningful talks between the two countries. Now, as the incoming president, he has a chance to do just that.


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Put a rock-n-roll spin on a classic style with the Ed Hardy shoes. These shoes feature a canvas upper with graffiti-inspired brand detailing, a lace-up front, metal eyelets, and a padded collar. Fabric lining and a padded fabric footbed offer smooth comfort. The detailed rubber outsole provides added comfort and lasting traction. Disclaimer: Please note the product colour may differ from the colour shown in the photo.
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Road warriors one year ago, the Los Angeles Kings are hoping home-ice advantage will keep them alive in their quest to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.
The Kings host the San Jose Sharks in Tuesday's Game 7 at Staples Center.
After winning 10 consecutive road games en route to a Stanley Cup title in 2012, the Kings have won six in a row at home during this playoff run.
Overall, they're unbeaten in their past 13 skates at Staples Center, a streak that dates back to March 23.


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Summer may not have arrived yet, but in the fashion world fall winter is already on our radar. This week we invited an elite guest list of press and bloggers along to get a first look at our fall winter '14 collection. With prosecco cocktails being served up by The Cocktail. Co. and an area to make our own pom-poms (trust us, everyone was talking about these), as well as our favorite groomer Mr Natty on hand for our male guests, it was the perfect setting to discover what will be on offer at River Island next season.
Our fall winter womenswear collection offers everything you know and love from River Island; amazing outerwear and faux fur, luxe leathers, must-have party dresses, killer shoes and some seriously statement making jewelry. From winter whites to icy pastels and luxe metallics, we've got the new season covered.
Don't just take our word for it, check out the tweets by searching the hashtag #RiverIslandaw14.
Here's a sneak peek at what you can expect to see in store and online this fall…
For the guys, expect to see a cool mix of modern silhouettes and trend-led pieces with sporty undertones. Look out for references to 90's youth culture and rock and roll heritage which is apparent throughout our casualwear, while tailoring takes on a retro aesthetic with pops of color and considered accessorizing. Monochrome remains a strong trend across the collection and you won't want to miss our winter trend, Techno Folk, that gives traditional winter wear a strong graphic feel.
What are your favorite pieces from our fall winter collection so far? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @riverisland using the #RiverIslandaw14.


text:
In a town where original music is the exception, Chrystal Hartigans Songwriters Showcase, held the third Tuesday of every month, is a respite from the endless rotation of cover bands playing Welcome to the Jungle, Margaritaville, and Brown Eyed Girl. This Tuesdays showcase will run the oft-overlooked gamut of musical diversity in South Florida, featuring a medley of folk-blues, Latin rhythms and adult alternative. Miami band Dashboard Saints will deliver roots-rock jams that incorporate a Latin pulse and easy country. Contemplative and at times political folkie Marianne Flemming sings the exasperated mom blues and whatever happened to our planet laments, according to her website. And Ruling Mercury blends melodies and straightforward chord progressions for a not-so-strong cocktail of Top 40 alternative pop.
If you like this story, consider signing up for our email newsletters.
You have successfully signed up for your selected newsletter(s) - please keep an eye on your mailbox, we're movin' in!
Support your local musicians Tuesday at 9 p.m. at the Abdo New River Room, part of the Broward Center for the Performing Arts found at 201 S.W. Fifth Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. Admission costs $5. For more information, call 954-462-0222, or visit browardcenter.org.
Third Tuesday of every month, 9 p.m. Starts: July 21. Continues through Dec. 22, 2009


text:
Web Content Display
Web Content Display
Regional Housing Initiative
Regional Housing Initiative
An important part of implementing GO TO 2040's recommendation for increasing the range of housing options, particularly options that promote housing affordability in areas near transit, is coordinating resources that guide development decisions. Such resources can be used to implement local plans, including those produced through the Local Technical Assistance program. To address the region's housing challenges, BRicK Partners, CMAP, the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC), Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA), and ten housing authorities in the region are collaborating through the Regional Housing Initiative (RHI) to support affordable and mixed-income housing developments in opportunity areas.
Since 2002, the public housing authorities participating in RHI have pooled a portion of their available rental assistance vouchers to provide long-term support for the rehabilitation or construction of multifamily, affordable rental homes in opportunity communities across the region. That means RHI can adapt to the changing housing market and economic climate more flexibly than current federal funding flows permit. For example, despite the growing need for affordable housing in the suburbs, the Chicago and Cook County Housing Authorities receive higher levels of voucher subsidies than the suburban housing authorities. By allowing nine housing authorities to pool their resources, RHI created a mechanism through which a suburban housing development can receive subsidies even if the local housing authority lacks resources.
This innovative structure has led to the development of more than 500 apartments in 33 developments in 22 different communities around the region. The Chicago and Cook County Housing Authorities see clear benefits in contributing vouchers to other communities in the region because waiting list families from all nine geographies are offered expanded housing opportunities. This shared list, combined with the voucher portability pilot, is helping more low-income families find homes in attractive communities across the region. It also removes some of the administrative inefficiencies and barriers experienced by participating housing authorities.
While RHI addresses development challenges, an MPC survey of regional public housing authorities showed that most rent voucher holders are not moving into opportunity communities, even as public housing authorities spend $1 million each year to facilitate such moves. In an era of declining federal resources for housing and poverty interventions, in 2011 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded RHI $1 million to pilot new strategies to help families. Since that time, the Chicago region has been using a regional waiting list for families who want to move into RHI developments and providing education on mobility and portability to support families leaving high poverty, distressed communities for opportunity communities across the region.
RHI is supported by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Are you a developer interested in applying for RHI rental assistance vouchers to help financing your project? Apply here.
PartnersBRicK Partners, LLC
Chicago Housing Authority
Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning
DuPage Housing Authority
Housing Authority of Cook County
Housing Authority of Park Forest
Housing Choice Partners
Illinois Housing Development Authority
Joliet Housing Authority
Lake County Housing Authority
McHenry County Housing Authority
Metropolitan Planning Council
North Chicago Housing Authority
Oak Park Housing Authority
Waukegan Housing Authority
U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development


text:
"Gun Test" magazine any good?
View Single Post
October 3, 2012, 11:38 PM
Join Date: February 12, 2001
Location: DFW Area
Posts: 21,027
The writers are not all that knowledgeable...
That's been my experience too.
I read a recent review of a Caracal pistol from Gun Tests and noted the following errors among others.
The reviewer stated that the steel slide rails were molded into the plastic. Field stripping the gun clearly reveals that they are part of a removable steel receiver unit that is pinned into the polymer grip frame.
The reviewer stated that the rear sight was part of the slide cap. Again, a simple field strip makes it obvious that there is no slide cap, the rear sight is part of a fairly large removable steel unit that is pinned into the slide and contains the firing pin and firing pin safety.
Don't even get me started on the accuracy testing they were doing from a rest at 15 yards against turning targets that limited the number of shots they could get off.
I soured on the magazine many years ago when a reviewer panned a Makarov pistol because they said the safety lever came off when they twisted it the wrong way. Of course it does--that's how you remove the safety lever from the gun. He failed to mention that there is a spring detent which prevents the safety from being twisted around backwards by accident.
Did you know that there is a
TEXAS State Rifle Association
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text:
I hope the IT guys behind this are able to achieve a decent recovery time from this.
Had one of these a couple of years ago, took 6 months to fully recover from it.
Going to wear my tin foil hat over the weekend!
18 posts • joined 1 Nov 2010
I hope the IT guys behind this are able to achieve a decent recovery time from this.
Had one of these a couple of years ago, took 6 months to fully recover from it.
Going to wear my tin foil hat over the weekend!
"Show me an Apple product with a design like that.
Thought not."
Looks an AWFUL lot like Apples wireless keyboard and "Magic" trackpad design.
If this thing comes with Windows 8 I shall be happily purchasing it.
Prefer the White:- Jony Ive is a reader of El Reg?
I'm a developer, its not great.
From a code base perspective it just seems to be on the edge of mediocre and bloatey.
Some will cry "Ah thats because your coding just plain sucks! blah blah blah!" and they probably are right: show me one dev who who says he can code with zero memory leaks and i shall show you a liar!
The extra frameworks is great and really gives the codebase some extra depth to easily implement ideas and features. I just get the impression that Apple are over simplifying EVERYTHING, even Xcode feels too much like a "Fisher Price My First Codey Machine" when you first loads it. I might be getting a bit long in the tooth, but I don't want or need glossy anything when developing. a straight plain box with auto suggestion and variable tracking is all that a good developer should need.
As a seasoned iOS dev, I jumped to my Nokia Lumia 925 after the iOS7 beta 6 release.
When I saw the final product I jumped hard and fast! I still smile at the Carphone Warehouse rep trying to convince me "you want to stay with your iPhone for iOS7" despite admitting that he had never seen it beyond the screenshots on the Appl site :-)
I was, and still am, properly shocked how awesome this little thing is! Every time I launch Pro Cam my inner 10 year old plays with all the settings fluently like some sort of Arty Hipster!
Since seeing all the reviews and comments around, me thinks I may start looking at installing Visual Studio (as everyone who hates iOS7 seems to be heading to Nokia) Thanks El Reg!
Every english person I have ever made Masala Chai for instantly melts into my hands and recognises me as a Tea God!
I reckon if this get thrown into the mix, then it will definately be up there in the rankings.
Which Southbank were you walking around?
Here at Southbank, London (Big ben side) I have been walking around with my iPhone 5 during lunch with full EE signal.
Mines the one with a 4G telco mast in the left breast pocket.
.. And that man is Bill Murray (ladies and) gentlemen!
He would easily fit into the role, and all the while on the big screen everyman would cry for joy.
I didn't even the read the story, its just great to see the Playmobil back!
Viva le mobil de Play!
The Blue one reminds me alot of Sonic.
I have to say it, i am sitting here at my desk in tears, that was one of the funniest keynotes ever!
I was watching the live stream and even i thought his volume levels were disturbingly erratic. The image of people flinching has put me in a laughing fit that will most likely last the entire day!
Good work El Reg you made my Wednesday!
I have had Windows Phone 7 since the beginning after owning an iPhone 4. I can say that i do not miss any features.
In my opinion its the best OS i have ever used. I did try Android a while back and hated it, it seems more driven around people tweaking the setup to suit them. If Android was a desktop OS then i would agree with the tweaking, but when its a phone the last thing anyone should have to worry about is memory management!.
My HTC HD7 feels just as tight as the day i got it and have never experienced any sort of slow down or crashing like I got from the other two OSes. If you are going for a new Windows Phone i would hold out till the Nokia handsets come out, its what I am doing.
the perp says:
"We do not give up. We will stand tall"
Its Peter Jones. Where do i pick up my cheque? It better not be one of those big cardboard cheques... they are pain to cash!
Your sincerely
"Now we know whatever it is, it's not flash based..."
I read that as: Now we know whatever it is, it's not flesh based...
God! the imagery! it burns!
It is Friday yet?
I just a had a meeting with a client and demonstrated how good his website looks on an ipad, for the site to be hit with this thing...the client and I were not amused.
Called up O2 after the meeting and kicked up a fuming rant with them and they offered me the verification to be removed in 30 minutes and a months free line rental.
Megaphone as thats what my phone turned into after that O2 chat.
...to be out of contract when Windows Phone 7 was released.
I seem to remember mass rioting (or queuing being the British equivalent) at phone stores this July just gone. All of those (and me) with iphones are stuck until next year before we can look at these phones... so i would suggest the numbers be taken with some realism in mind.
Fire, as thats what El Reg seems to be creating for no apparent reason!
I had to move some mini tower components into a bigger case so chose a beastly PowerEdge tower chassis for the new host...
Half way through removing the components i realised I had no mounting screws for the mobo and through my Macguyver instincts I drilled bigger holes in the chassis and mobo and used some server cage nuts I had lying around!
The machine worked for a month before dying a overheated death... that was a good weekend!
Being one of these geeks that is a product of the post 1990's ICT (my fingers feel so dirty from typing those three letters!) education system.. I couldn't aree with you all! the education system need to be reformed so that REAL members of the IT community can teach the next generation, rather than a English Teacher who simply fell into IT as the school had too many English teachers! that was some terrible times I had!
I decided to skip Uni purely for this reason and start from the ground up making tea for the IT department. 6 years on im managing my own IT department and the only thing that i put it down to is my passion for IT (and some truly great IT mentors). I still spend my spare times browsing amazon for IT books that I can learn and have broken my home servers countless times!
I still get CV's from people (im too young to even say kids!) which are the same age as me but have nothing in their CV's that truly make them standout! I have got to a point I now just sit in the interviews and ask them if they do anything IT related out of their working time... if they dont, they are out of that door faster than the French barricading a petrol station!
I am almost ashamed to be a member of the next generation's IT department.
(Grenade as thats what I feel like posting to each CS grad after typing this)


text:
Set during and after the First World War, A Very Long Engagement is the tale of a young woman's search for her fiance who she believes might still be alive despite having officially been reported as "killed in the line of duty". Unable to walk since childhood, fearless Mathilde Donnay is undeterred in her quest as she scours the country for information about five wounded French soldiers who were brutally abandoned by their own troops.
A Very Long Engagement is a mystery, a love story, and an extraordinary portrait of life in France before and after the War.
©1991 Editions Noel. Translation Copyright 1993 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Inc. (P)2004 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC
"Riveting....A fierce, elliptical novel that's both a gripping psychological thriller and highly moving meditation on the emotional consequence of war." (The New York Times)
"A classic mystery....Only the best historical fiction can make the journey into a distant time and return with a believable sense of how things really were. That Japrisot's book has done so is a mark of his great talent." (The Washington Post Book World)
"Magical....Part romance, part mystery, part history, part exploration of the dogged pursuit of the improbable, it commands attention from first to last." (The Boston Globe)
"Japrisot's eloquently easy, almost offhand style (nicely translated by Coverdale) makes even throwaway lines remarkable...and his re-creation of the nobility, futility, and horror of trench warfare is harshly beautiful." (Publishers Weekly)
"An Painfully Long Engagement"
Interesting premise, likeable & fairly fleshed-out main caracters, but loses the reader along the journey. The author has skill to create some interesting scenarios, but is unable to craft the longing the reader should have felt through Mathilde. Perhaps a fantastic short story.
No, this was a valiant attempt and some parts held my interest.
I enjoyed the narrator. Her voice embodied what I felt Mathilde should sound like. Determined, strong...
Yes, I enjoyed the original love story between the two main characters and liked the interaction between Mathilde and the detective.
"An excellent listen!"
I thoroughly enjoyed the story - the plot follows Mathilde, a young french woman as she tries to discover what happened to her missing fiancee in the closing months of World War I.
The narrator was great, although the number of French names and places (pronounced with a flawless and therefore hard-to-follow French accent) that are introduced at the beginning of the book were a bit hard for me to keep up with. I got it figured out eventually, but I had a hard time distinguishing characters at first. The one weakness this audiobook has is one that all suspense audiobooks have - as the mystery evolved, I found myself wanting to go back and re-read certain crucial scenes that happen at the beginning of the book (which is pretty-near impossible with audiobooks).
Regardless, I highly recommend this audiobook!
"Good book, excellent narration"
A very powerful book. Well written. Reflects the impact of war on the soldiers who have to live through it as well as the determination of one women in love who wants to find the truth about what happened to her man.
Narrator Isabel Keating was simply excellent.
"Lost in Translation."
A good book if you speak French. The reader speaks beautiful British English and fluent French but the many French names and borrowed French words make a complicated plot impossible to follow. I watched the movie after reading the book, and this helped, but the movie is in French with English subtitles that are plagued by the same problems, a complex plot with many unfamiliar French names. I think it would help the average reader to read the Cliff Notes first. I won?t include the ending, which should be apparent from the name of the movie, but this is a summary of the plot. Five WWI soldiers are sentenced by a French Army court marshal to execution for self-mutilation, i.e., bringing about a gunshot wound to one of their hands in order to buy a ticket home from a war that is miserable, is pointless, and seems never-ending. Each has lost hope. They are sent over the French front line trench into no man?s land to die. One of these five is the fianc? of the main character. The main character then spends the remainder of the book, a very long time, tracking down what happened to her lost fiancee, with the help of a private detective. She does this through newspaper ads, and through the exchange of letters and phone calls and a few short trips. This results in her awareness that the girlfriend of one of the other five convicted self-mutilators is conducting her own similar investigation with a different end in mind, the murder of the French officers who killed her lover, but this murderess is executed by guillotine before she is able to complete her entire mission. These two women meet just before the guillotine ends this second investigation. The main character?s investigation is then concluded joyfully and everyone lives happily ever after. War is hell. I now understand why the French drop their rifles and run rather than fight (French Foreign Legion excluded). They?ve been their and done that and they are tired of war.
"A Very Long Engagement indeed"
I stuck with this through to the end, but there were times when I felt like fast forwarding. It's probably better in the abridged version. The story is good, but it goes on for too long, and the ending seemed somewhat anti-climactic to me.
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text:
Gathered In One Volume
Reviewed by E.B. Waddell
Fascinating Personal Stories Gathered In One Volume
Reviewed by E.B. Waddell
©2002 King Features Synd., Inc.
If you picked a true story to share with the world, what would it be?
In 1999, author Paul Auster posed this question to the American public on the National Public Radio program "All Things Considered." He received more than 4,000 responses, and the majority of them were pretty darn fascinating. Auster picked the best of the lot to read on the weekly radio segment, but many worthy submissions had to be left by the wayside. Eventually, Auster decided, there would have to be a book.
This, "I Thought My Father Was God: And Other True Tales From NPR's National Story Project," edited and produced by Paul Auster (Picador USA, $15), is that book. It contains 179 of the very best stories — some appeared on the radio program while others make their first public appearance. Divided into categories like Love, Death and Animals, they are full of amazing coincidences, hilarious observations and touching memories. They are funny, disturbing and just plain odd. They are all glimpses into the lives of others, experiences that each one felt compelled to share.
Most of us are not professional photographers. But those blurry, off-center photographs of our loved ones still mean more to us than the most priceless works of art. Likewise, these stories were not selected for literary merit or style. It is just a book of stories, the kind you might hear around the table at a dinner party, the kind that might be passed down through a family, and some that are just there, ready to be taken as you will. But each one means quite a lot to someone, somewhere.


text:
Submit News
The Pirate Bay Briefly Taken Down, Admins Mock the "MAFIAA"
Jason Mick
August 25, 2009 11:20 AM
Recipient E-mail
Sender E-mail
Say what you will about The Pirate Bay and its admins, but you can't say they lack a sense of humor.
(Source: The Pirate Bay)
Arggh, the ship isn't sunk yet!
Many times the good things in life just don't last. That may yet be the case with The Pirate Bay. For years internet users worldwide used the site to get their music, TV, and movie fix. Some of the torrents were legal, others were orphaned works (technically illegal to share), and still others were blatant examples of infringement. But all these torrents had one thing in common -- they brought people across the world together through enjoyable experiences.
However, yesterday the legal woes of the world's largest torrent site forced it to temporarily go offline, signalling a potential end to those happy times. The site's legal crisis first began when Swedish courts found the site's admins guilty of copyright infringement and ordered them
jailed and fined
over $3.6M USD.
The site was
by Sweden's Global Gaming Factory, which made a bid to make the site legit under a rather nebulous plan. Now it appears that bid -- and the site -- may be in jeopardy thanks to the aggressive legal action of copyright protection organizations.
MPAA, RIAA, and IFPI sued the ISP that provided service to The Pirate Bay's ISP and won. That ISP was ordered on Monday by a Swedish court
to take down the site or face daily fines of
$70,000 USD. The site was
quickly taken down
, only to pop back up after a few hours, only to be taken down yet again.
The site owners, who are currently appealing the original judgement, write, "
The good people at the MAFIAA decided to sue. Not TPB [The Pirate Bay], not the owners of TPB. Not even TPBs ISP. They decided to sue TPBs ISPs IS
And you know what? They won. They made a court believe their #lies and they made them force the ISPs ISP to shut down access to TPB."
The MAFIAA has spent millions of dollars and endless amounts of time to get this ban in order.
Our guess is that they also bribed a bit to get it since it violates so many laws not only in Sweden but also in the EU, not to mention violations against human rights. And what do they have to show for it? [Three] hours of partial downtime."
The Pirate Bay admins refer to the MPAA, RIAA, and IFPI, collectively, as MAFIAA due to the organizations' reputation for resorting to at times thuggish legal tactics. Whatever name you know these organizations as, it is clear that they're on a roll, with massive
jury verdicts
over U.S. citizens Jammie Rassett-Thomas and Joel Tenenbaum, and securing an order to takedown of the world's largest torrent site.
However, The Pirate Bay admins remain defiant and determined. As of this morning the site was back online, with no apparent service interruptions. The admins are now offering a new T-Shirt for sale on the home page mocking the copyright protection organizations. The shirt reads, "I spent months of time and millions of dollars to close down The Pirate Bay and all I'll get is this beautiful t-shirt!"
Further, the true impact of the takedown and other potential future takedowns may be minimized by the spread of a recently released, easily accessible,
archive of the entire site
, including all its torrents, written in SQLite3.
"I mean, if you wanna break down someone's door, why don't you start with AT&T, for God sakes? They make your amazing phone unusable as a phone!" -- Jon Stewart on Apple and the iPhone
Related Articles
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August 18, 2009, 7:55 AM
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August 17, 2009, 5:40 PM
The Pirate Bay Gets Purchased, New Owners to Pay Copyright Holders
June 30, 2009, 8:42 AM
Swedish Court Sends Pirate Bay Leaders to Brig, Takes Their Bounty
April 17, 2009, 9:30 AM
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* denotes required field
With engineered tighter tolerances and self-centering 36-external / 32-internal trapezoid-shaped clutch teeth design that enable more contact surface to ensure the clutch plates properly align resulting in less friction wear, longer converter life cycle and firmer drivability. The clutch plates are also precession ground flat for smooth operation and consistent wear. Not only will this converter last longer, it also has 3x the torque holding capacity.


text:
More than one million people have taken part in protests in about 100 cities across Brazil, the latest in a wave of anti-government rallies.
Violence erupted in many places and an 18-year-old man died when a car drove through a barricade in Sao Paulo state.
President Dilma Rousseff has called off a trip to Japan to deal with the crisis and is to hold an emergency cabinet meeting.
In Rio de Janeiro, an estimated 300,000 demonstrators poured into the seaside city's central area for a "Tropical Spring" rally.
There were running clashes between riot police and groups of protesters in a number of areas.
Peaceful protesters were also caught up in the violence as police fired tear gas canisters into the crowd and at times indiscriminately used pepper spray.
At least 40 people were injured.
Police in the capital Brasilia struggled to keep hundreds of protesters from invading the Foreign Ministry, while the crowd set a small fire outside.
Other government buildings were attacked around the city's central esplanade.
Police used tear gas and rubber bullets trying to scatter demonstrators.
Clashes were also reported in the Amazon jungle city of Belem, Porto Alegre in the south, the university town Campinas north of Sao Paulo and the northeastern city of Salvador.
The protests began over plans to increase public transport fares that set off demonstrations, which grew into nationwide protests against poor public services, inflation and corruption.
Ms Rousseff has dispatched federal troops to five cities hosting games during the Confederations Cup, an international football tournament that began earlier this month.
The competition is a warm-up for the 2014 World Cup.
The unrest also comes one month before Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Brazil, raising concerns about how Brazilian officials will provide security.
On Wednesday, officials in Sao Paulo and Rio agreed to revoke the public transport fare increases.


text:
Thursday is Mike Trout's 23rd birthday, an occasion to heap plaudits on the Angels phenom now acclaimed — about two years late, but hey — as the best baseball player on the planet.
Bryce Harper owns a career .268 average, .350 on-base and .461 slugging (in other words, Roger Maris). He has 45 homers and 30 steals in less than two full seasons' worth of games. He doesn't turn 22 until the middle of October. Yet as the Nationals outfielder endures injuries and slumps in a lost 2014 campaign, public opinion has declined to the point that "Bryce Harper to the minors?" is a reasonable radio talking point in the nation's capital.
"I don't think it's stupid," Nationals manager Matt Williams said when he fielded the question Wednesday morning on 106.7 The Fan. "Generally, if you have young players, that's what you do. But this guy is a special young player. We all know that. It's different. I think he works hard every day. He's the first one in the ballpark, generally, to get his day going. He's grinding. We're doing everything we can to get a good feel going in there and help him with his confidence and all that. It's not easy, by any stretch. But I don't know if it's a good idea at this point to do that."
Notice he didn't say: "Clown question, bro."
Later Wednesday, Williams covered up for his tepid Harper endorsement by throwing a fit for the benefit of reporters.
"It [ticks] me off to even think about that somebody would take a comment I make on the radio and infer that I'm thinking one way or the other," Williams said, according to the Washington Post. "It's not fair to the kid. It's not fair to the rest of the guys in that clubhouse to even think about sending Bryce Harper to the minor leagues, or to cause a stir. It's unacceptable. It won't happen. Is that good enough for you?"
The Washington Post story notes how two major injuries — a bruised knee in 2013 that required offseason surgery and a torn thumb ligament this April — required Harper to fiddle with the whippy swing that made him the No. 1 pick of the 2010 draft and immediately successful when he arrived in the bigs in 2012.
Harper has a .250 average, three homers, 57 strikeouts and one benching for not running out a groundball in 53 games this season. Rather than seeing it as a product of growing pains, and physical pain, it's become a source of friction in the organization.
It adds up to Harper's situation being a bona fide headache for a first-place team with a comfortable division lead and a 21-year-old generational talent batting sixth.
There's a lot of middle ground between Syracuse and being the National League's answer to Trout's uninterrupted brilliance. Some folks in Washington seem to be having a hard time seeing that.


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Will Jelli's Crowdsourcing Kill the Radio Stars (and Save the Stations)? Stay Tuned
As the Web enters its third decade, it's getting harder to think of industries that haven't been transformed in major ways by its ubiquitous, disintermediating, democratizing force. But we wrote about one of them last week—banking—and there's another that's just as ubiquitous as the Web itself: broadcast radio.
"If Alexander Graham Bell came from the past and saw the current stage of the telecom industry, with its massive change in network architecture and wireless devices, for example, he wouldn't recognize it," says Mike Dougherty, CEO and co-founder of San Mateo, CA-based Jelli. "But if Charles David Harold, the first guy who started a radio station—which was in San Jose, incidentally, in 1909—came into today's radio world, he would probably recognize everything about the technology…There hasn't been a lot of innovation in radio for a long time, for lots of reasons."
At Jelli, Dougherty and co-founder and COO/CTO Jateen Parekh are doing their part to modernize terrestrial radio, one station at a time. For the last six months, San Francisco-based CBS affiliate Live 105 (KITS) has been handing over its airwaves to Jelli's automated, Web-based audience voting software six nights a week, with an electrifying effect on ratings. Through radio syndicator Triton Media, Jelli programming now airs on 18 stations nationwide, including X107.5 in Las Vegas (WZRX)—which will launch a Jelli-powered program called "Resistance Radio" at 9:00 p.m. tonight.
The basic idea behind Jelli is to let a radio station's listeners decide which songs get air time, at least for part of each day. "It's a crowdsourcing concept," says Dougherty. "Rather than being chosen by a programming director or a DJ, the playlist is now being developed by the audience itself. We call it 'social broadcasting' or 'radio democracy.'"
Of course, there's nothing new about letting listeners suggest songs. Radio stations have been taking call-in requests since the 1940s. But Jelli's concept goes well beyond that. Once listeners are logged into Jelli's website, they can not only vote for their favorite songs, but use "power-ups" to push a song to the front or back of the queue. They can also influence what's currently playing, through votes called "Rocks" or "Sucks." Enough "Sucks" votes and a song will implode in mid-stream, complete with funny sound effects. It's all a great example of what Greg has called the "gamification" of the Web—or in this case, the airwaves.
Dougherty, Parekh, and their backers—who include Battery Ventures, First Round Capital, and a variety of angel investors—hope that the Jelli concept will become the next big thing in radio, helping an industry that's been hit especially hard by the recession. The goal is to help stations find new ways of engaging with listeners while at the same time lowering programming costs. A station syndicating Jelli doesn't need a DJ during the hours Jelli's platform is in control, which makes the format "highly cost effective," in Dougherty's words.
That's key in a business that saw an 18 percent revenue decline in 2009, thanks to the evaporation of key advertising accounts with sectors like the automobile industry. "This year it's back up about 16 percent, which gives them some breathing room, but it was a wakeup call that they are at risk," Dougherty says. "They need to start thinking more about what the future of radio is."
Speaking of automobiles, Dougherty says the original idea for Jelli grew out of his work for Microsoft, which is collaborating with Ford on a system for hands-free music, phone, and navigation access called Sync. (Dougherty had joined Microsoft through the software giant's 2007 acquisition of voice applications company TellMe, where he'd been vice president of business development.)
"During that experience at TellMe and Microsoft I started getting interested in all of the things that could happen in the car that aren't happening," Dougherty says. "As part of that I was fascinated by this ubiquitous but to some degree forgotten thing that we all have, which is the radio. There are about a billion working radios in the United States and 236 million of those get turned on every week. It's a pillar of media, along with print and TV, and it has a well established business model related to local advertising."
But what radio doesn't have is much audience interactivity, let alone the kind of interoperability between content sources that makes the Web so powerful. Leaving aside streaming "Internet radio" like Pandora or Last.fm—which is an entirely separate technology—the systems that deliver music and other content to terrestrial radio stations are for the most part closed, proprietary, and siloed, Dougherty says.
"There are no open interfaces, no platforms, no room to get more advanced in terms of content management systems or podcasts or the other things we take for granted on the Web," he says. "So we started thinking about what would happen if you could create a Web platform for radio. In so doing you could create really cool things, like for the first time in a broadcast you could create a feedback loop…and combine the social Web directly with radio."
(By "we" Dougherty means himself and co-founder Parekh, who is a veteran of ReplayTV and was the first engineer recruited by Amazon to work on the Kindle e-reader. "We're both very excited about the concept of combining the Web platform with things that are very well understood, such as books with the Kindle, or the phone with TellMe," Dougherty says.)
What Dougherty, Parek, and their team built is essentially a Web-based social playlist generation system. When Jelli is on the air, a station turns its controls over to the startup's system, and everything listeners hear comes from Jelli. A given station's listeners log in at Jelli's central site, then go directly to the station's Jelli page, which is skinned with the stations' own graphics and logos. The page lists all the songs in the station's current playlist, with a point score next to each.
By clicking on "check" or "X" icons, listeners can add one point to a song's score or subtract one. The song with the highest score at any given moment is the one that gets played next. But to make things a little more fun and unpredictable, a single listener can send a song almost all the way to the top or bottom of the playlist using a power-up—either a "rocket" or a "bomb." The more times listeners vote on songs, the more rockets and bombs they're rewarded with. Users can stockpile up to five bombs and 11 rockets. If a rocketed song gets played, an automated system reads the screen name of the person who rocketed it—which may be what makes the rocket the most popular power-up. Says Dougherty, "Everyone is trying to rocket their favorite songs onto the air."
As for the music itself, that comes either from the relatively small catalog of tunes that Jelli has licensed, or can be ingested from a station's own catalog. "We're still very early in our catalog development," Dougherty says. "We have a forum where people request songs that we should have available, and those are the ones we go buy next. But because of our broadcast partners and the way people are using Jelli in this early phase, we have strong alternative rock coverage, and pretty good pop-rock, and then some eclectic stuff. We're probably light on the hip-hop and definitely light on country."
Jelli debuted its system on Live 105 in San Francisco on June 28, 2009. "They gave us the least risky time slot they could give us, which was 10 to 12 on Sunday nights," Dougherty recounts. "We were just excited to get whatever time slot. It was super cool, and we saw some interesting things that I don't think a lot of people predicted would happen. [More on that in a moment.] Importantly, our ratings were strong, which obviously, in traditional media, is the point. And about six months after running that pilot on Sunday nights, Live 105 said they would try it out on a more standard schedule, so now we have 8 to midnight six nights a week."
Jelli ended up being so successful for Live 105 that the station climbed from the No. 5 slot in the ratings for that time slot to the No. 1 slot for its demographic (alternative rock fans). And that success, in turn, helped Jelli win its syndication partnership with Triton, which is now building a national footprint for the startup.
Jelli makes money in the same way as any other provider of syndicated radio programming. A radio station buying an hour of content from Jelli gives a certain percentage of the advertising spots during that hour back to the startup, which it is free to sell directly to advertisers. (In practice, ad spot sales are handled by a national radio advertising network.) "We launched in one of the worst recessions of all time, so we said 'Let's keep the business model simple' and make the economics the same as what a radio station would typically pay for Rush Limbaugh or Ryan Seacrest," Dougherty says.
So far, so good. But if automated social playlists are really the future of radio, what will happen to old-fashioned DJs—the best of whom are valued by listeners for their skills as musical curators and introducers? Will Jelli kill the radio star?
Dougherty points out that at a lot of chain-owned radio stations—the name ClearChannel comes to mind—DJs don't really choose music anyway. Playlists are handed down by automated systems, often at far-away corporate headquarters.
"I think that true curation is very good," Dougherty says. "But I think crowdsourcing stands alongside of it. One morning you can listen to a curated experience, and when you want something different or more dynamic you can cruise over to this crazy radio station using Jelli. It's very similar to reading a highly curated blog for a while and then going over to a free-for-all like Twitter."
In fact, the experience of listening to a Jelli-driven station can be surprisingly entertaining, Dougherty says. This goes back to the point about the unexpected lessons of the Live 105 pilot.
"Before we launched, a lot of people thought this might become just another popularity chart, just another Billboard 100," he says. "And another set of people, ironically, had the 180-degree-opposite concern, that this was going to end up being gamed and controlled by a small community, who might make it like 'all Goth radio all the time' or something. What we ended up seeing, when you have a bunch of smart people who love music actually get together to shape a playlist, is that sometimes they can do things that are very unexpected, or human, or ironic."
For example, Jelli listeners have spontaneously assembled whole blocks of songs on themes such as the lunchtime munchies, schoolteachers, and even swine flu (every song contained a reference to pigs). "When these things happen on Jelli, they are truly special, and have everything to do with the audience," says Dougherty. "It really does encourage us to say that if you are a broadcaster, you should harness this very powerful group of fans for your station, who are generally knowledgeable around music and can do things that are unexpected and cool and really create entertainment value that's hard to fabricate by doing things the old way."
Jelli closed a $7 million Series A funding round with Battery Ventures and First Round Capital in May, and will use some of the money to expand its current team of 15 employees to about 20, Dougherty says. Also high on the agenda is a mobile version of the Jelli Web interface. "You can make an argument that we should have launched just with mobile," he says. "Roughly 65 percent of all radio listening occurs outside the home, and we should have Jelli available wherever listening occurs." Dougherty says the company will be making some announcements "shortly" about the company's strategy for taking advantage of the iPhone, Android phones, Twitter, and the like.
Meanwhile, Jelli continues to roll forward in its original time slot on Sunday nights on Live 105. In fact, that show has become so popular, with so much feel-good participation by fans that the station unofficially rebrands itself as "Love 105" during this time slot, Dougherty says.
"If you're going to pick a show to listen to, I really like Sunday night," he says. "It's just got an awesome vibe."
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Police have arrested a 17-year-old boy who they said was under the influence and speeding when he got into the crash that killed a RHAM high school student in August.
Paige Houston, an Amston teen, was a passenger in that 2000 Toyota Tundra pickup when it hit a tree in the area of Martin Road early on the morning of August 6.
Houston, who would have been a senior at the high school this year, was thrown from the car and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
The driver was arrested today and police said he had been traveling well above the 35-miles-per-hour speed limit, did not stop at the stop sign and lost control of the truck before crashing.
Prior to the crash, the teens had been at an underage party in Marlborough, police said. Two other passengers who had been in the truck fled and police found them back at the site of the party, police said.
The driver has been charged with manslaughter in the first degree, three counts of reckless endangerment in the first degree, interfering with an officer, false statement and operation by a person under 21 while blood alcohol content exceeds .02 percent, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, failure to obey a stop sign and two counts of license restriction violation.
The 17-year-old was held on a $150,000 court-set bond and will appear in Willimantic Juvenile Court.


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In Reply to: Re: Marijuana - Any one else addicted??? posted by kb on September 05, 2000 at 17:39:19:
: Hi V- I've wondered if I was addicted. I've smoked nearly every day for the past eight years. I'm female 28. I've realized that, more than anything else, I do it when I'm bored. Or when I have to do something I don't like doing - like going to a party I think is going to be boring or to dinner with people I don't really like or something like that. I smoke it in the evenings after work when I don't go to the gym because it makes me relax, or late at night because I'm an insomniac and pot makes TV more interesting. I smoked it constantly when my back was screwed up to help me sleep and to while away the hours I was bedridden. I think looking at why you do it, and when you do it more often, is a great way to figure out how to kick it. Or at least scale back. When I kicked it for two months in preparation for a drug test, I drank tons of water constantly, got as much physical exercise as I could, and spent LOTS of time doing things outside the house, where I couldn't just light one up. And the first coupla weeks SUCKED, but then it got better, and my memory improved and I began to sleep better and I wasn't NEARLY so scatterbrained. I think the reason it was so hard is because it was a habit, like anything else. I dont think it's impossible to quit. But I do think that if you suspect you and your husband might be worried about being straight together, that might be a job for counselors. And you can bet your 10 and 15-year-olds know what you're up to, even if you think you're hiding it (you haven't said either way). : Another thought on addiction - and in my career as a writer I've done plenty of research on addiction, while dealing with my own habits, cigarettes included - is that it feeds off guilt. So if you and your husband are sitting there smoking pot and making each other feel like hell for doing it, then chances are you're just going to feel worse about yourself and then smoke to make yourself feel better. : The good news is that this is not a heroin addiction. You're not stealing from people or robbing stores to spend $300 a day or more on a drug that could one day kill you. Another thing - breaking a marijuana habit is about like breaking a nicotine habit - kinda difficult, but nothing that requires rehab. And smoking a lot of pot isn't totally a bad thing when people's lives aren't in danger - like, you're not all stoned and driving a school bus or anything. : I'm not trying to justify - I'm just trying to put it into perspective. If you feel like you need to quit or cut down, then do that. But don't beat yourself up because you smoke a joint to keep yourself from being bored out of your mind doing housework.: I mean, it could be a lot worse.: - kb
Hi kb - I fully relate to what ur talking about. I have been smoking for the past 5 -6 years started in college & chose what in my mind was a non addictive mellow drug. The symptoms are absolutely what u describe & I too only smoke at night when I have packed up for the day. I have tried to give up various times but fall back in a 2 - 3 days. It was just reassuring to read what u had written, somehow alleviates the intense guilt which I have been feeling. What I want to know is if there is any drug I can take to help me quit.McD.
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Faculty and Staff: A - Z
|Cole, Gregory M., Ph.D.
|Easton Center Interim Director; Professor, Department of Neurology & Medicine
|Alam, Mohammad Parvez, Ph.D.
|Postdoctoral Scholar & Fellow, Neurology
|Beigi, Maryam, M.D.
|Clinical Trial Physician, Kagan Alzheimer's Disease Treatment Dev. Program
|Bitan, Gal, Ph.D.
|Associate Professor in Residence, Neurology
|Bredesen, Dale E., M.D.
|Visiting Professor of Neurology
|Brook (Kotlerman), Jenny, M.S.
|Principal Statistician, Medicine and General Internal Medicine
|Campagna, Jesus, M.S.
|Staff Research Associate, Neurology
|Coppola, Giovanni, M.D.
|Assistant Professor in Residence, Neurology, Program in Neurogenetics
|Dwyer, Barbara, C.M.A.
|Administrative Assistant, Neurology
|Eisenberg, David, Ph.D.
|Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry
|Elashoff, David, Ph.D.
|Professor, Biostatistics and Medicine
|Frautschy, Sally, Ph.D.
|Professor in Residence, Neurology
|Garcia, Lauren
|Staff Research Associate, Neurology
|Gomez, Karina
|Staff Research Associate, Cognitive Neuropsychology Laboratory, Neurology
|Guerra, Norma
|Staff Research Associate, Neurology
|Guo, Ming, M.D., Ph.D.
|Professor of Neurology and Pharmacology
|Guo, Zhefeng, Ph.D.
|Assistant Professor, Neurology
|Gylys, Karen, Ph.D., R.N.
|Professor, School of Nursing
|Jagodzinska, Barbara, Ph.D.
|Senior Medicinal Chemist, Neurology
|Jiang, Lin, Ph.D.
|Assistant Professor in Residence, Neurology
|John, Varghese, Ph.D.
|Associate Adjunct Professor, Neurology
|Kremen, Sarah A., M.D.
|Clinical Physician, Neurology
|Kurakin, Alexei, Ph.D.
|Visiting Scientist, Neurology
|Lee, Lina
|Administrative Assistant, Cognitive Neuropsychology Laboratory, Neurology
|Mather (Craig), Michelle, M.A.
|Staff Research Associate, Neurology
|Mendez, Mario F., M.D., Ph.D.
|Professor in Residence, Neurology and Psychiatry
|Merrill, David, M.D., Ph.D.
|Health Sciences Assistant Clinical Professor, Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences
|Messick, Elizabeth
|Staff Research Associate, Neurology
|Moore, Monica, M.S.
|Community Health Program Manager, Neurology
|Ossinalde, Celine, M.A.
|Staff Research Associate, Neurology
|Osuch, Nancy, B.A.
|Senior Public Administrative Analyst, Neurology
|Porter, Verna R., M.D., F.A.N.A.
|Health Sciences Clinical Professor, Neurology
|Restrepo, Lucas, M.D., Ph.D.
|Clinical Assistant Professor, Neurology
|Roberg, Brandon Ph.D.
|Neuropsychology Fellow, Cognitive Neuropsychology Laboratory, Neurology
|Roderiguez, Lorena
|Staff Research Associate, Neurology
|Silverman, Daniel H., M.D., Ph.D.
|Clinical Professor, Molecular & Medical Pharmacology
|Small, Gary, M.D.
|Professor, Clinical Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences
|Spilman, Patricia R., M.A.
|Senior Staff Scientist, Neurology
|Tan, Zaldy, M.D., M.P.H.
|Associate Professor of Geriatric Medicine, Neurology
|Teplow, David B., Ph.D.
|Professor of Neurology
|Teter, Bruce, Ph.D.
|Adjunct Associate Professor, Neurology
|Torrellza, Michelle
|Staff Reserach Associate, Neurology
|Vinters, Harry, M.D.
|Professor and Division Chief of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
|Wolf, Sheldon, M.D.
|Physician of Neurology
|Woo, Ellen, Ph.D.
|Associate Clinical Professor, Neurology


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There's now a recall on "counterfeit" Samsung Galaxy Note 4 batteries
Aug 16th - A new recall for counterfeit Samsung Galaxy Note 4 batteries has been issued after the counterfeit batteries were used in AT&T refurbished devices.
Aug 16th - A new recall for counterfeit Samsung Galaxy Note 4 batteries has been issued after the counterfeit batteries were used in AT&T refurbished devices.
Apr 11th - Daily Steals is currently selling the unlocked, 32GB Verizon model of the Galaxy Note 4 for only $299.99. The condition is brand new and the sale will continue over the next 4 days.
Feb 8th - Samsung has released the latest update for the Galaxy Note 4 on Verizon. The most notable change in this update is the removal of pre-loaded Amazon software, but that's not all that's changed.
Jan 11th - Verizon has updated the Note 4 support page with software version LMY47X.N910VVRU2BOK3 based on Android 5.1.1. Included with the various bug fixes and stability improvements is Android for Work and Samsung Knox upgrades.
Dec 8th - Yesterday we were made privy to the fact that a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 received Android 6.0 Marshmallow in Hungary despite Samsung not having anything official to announce. It's possible it was fake or a mistake, but we weren't sure. That said, new evidence and information has come to light that has us believing it's the real deal.
Dec 7th - We're not sure what to make of a report that the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 received Marshmallow in Hungary, but here it is anyway. Hungarian site Napidroid reports that a Galaxy Note 4 unit randomly received the upgrade over-the-air.
Nov 30th - While those of us with 2015 flagships have our eyes firmly set on Marshmallow, it's easy to forget that many previous years flagships — those that launched back in 2014 — are still waiting for their updates to the later versions of Lollipop.
Aug 18th - Early battery tests from PhoneArena show that the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 actually lasts up to an hour longer on battery compared to the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, and is better than many other flagships on average.
Aug 13th - There were a lot of questions going into today's Unpacked event. We knew the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 would be announced, but would it be a worthy upgrade from the Samsung Galaxy Note 4?
Aug 3rd - The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 on Sprint is set to receive its Android 5.1.1 update that aside from the usual goodies, also addresses that nasty Stagefright security exploit we've been hearing so much about. No word on when the update will be going out, but the changelog was already posted by Samsung so it shouldn't be much longer.
Jul 28th - Motorola can tell us all day about their camera improvements in the Moto X Style / Pure Edition, but it helps to see something from a more objective source. A new review sees the phone getting high marks, just under the Galaxy S6/Edge, tying the Galaxy Note 4 for second place.
Jul 7th - By now you know there's a good chance the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 5 wont come with a micro SD card, or removable battery. Thankfully Samsung is offering up a pretty great deal on a Samsung Galaxy Note 4.
May 7th - Samsung's really going in with their promotion of the latest Avengers movie, and the latest will be quite nice for those in the market for a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 soon. The company is offering up 4 different Avengers-themed cases whenever you buy a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 in the United States.
Apr 24th - Samsung Galaxy Note 4 owners on T-Mobile have had it tough. They've had to sit and watch as Android 5.0 Lollipop rolled out to both the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 3 months ago. Thankfully, T-Mobile has revealed exactly when the rollout will begin for the Galaxy Note 4.
Apr 2nd - When international Samsung Galaxy Note 4 models received Android 5.0 Lollipop back in February (followed by the AT&T model last week) we knew more carrier variants would be following suit. Today, Verizon is now pushing out Lollipop to their version of the Galaxy Note 4.


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Reviews for this Amana grill: "Read customer product reviews on Amana AM30LP Grill. Rating: 1 stars from 1 consumer reviews at Epinions.com"
Read Full Review »
Reviews for this Amana grill: "Amana costumer service is terrible., review by totalivewire. I purchased this grill when we decided we needed a new grill. We knew we wanted a propane grill with a ..."
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Amarillo Animal Control accused of foul play
Tue, 12 Mar 2013 04:27:30 GMT —
An Amarillo woman is accusing Animal Control of foul play after her dog, Raider was euthanized Friday.
Ashley Hicks states that she received a phone call Friday afternoon around 4pm that he dog had escaped from her backyard and was picked up by Animal Control. She knew something was immediately wrong from the condition the dog was in. "Breathing was labored. He was totally unresponsive to anything," said Hicks.
After two visits to two different vets, Raider was put to sleep. The cause of death was Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation, also known as DIC. DIC is a serious disorder of blood clotting that could be caused by trauma.
Hicks states that it wasn't until Raider was in the care of Animal Control that he was wounded. She believes it was because her dog was a pit bull that it was profiled and then harmed. "I had lost my dog at the hands of someone else," said Hicks. "It was because of excessive force and neglect of someone else and that killed me."
Animal Control Assistant Director, Shannon Barlow states that her staff is not responsible. It had been four hours from the time they received phone calls about the dog to the time he was caught. "The dog had been out running and we don't know what happened to the dog," said Barlow. "Anything could have happened while he was out."
Barlow states that the dog did experience some traumatic damage but none of it was from her staff. â??Something did happen to that dog, but it didnâ??t happen at the hands of Animal Control officers trying to secure the animal, â?? said Barlow. â??If they didnâ??t care, they wouldnâ??t be out there trying to keep things safe for the animal.â??
The vet where Raider was taken and eventually put to sleep refused to comment on the subject.
To contact Amarillo Animal Control you can contact them at 806-378-9032