text:
Estela Barnes de Carlotto, human rights activistSunday, November 17, 2013
'Pope Francis has never helped us but we give him a confidence vote'
Herald Staff
Born: October 22, 1930, BA city
Position: Head of Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo
Favourite book: Como agua para chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Newspapers: Página/12, Clarín, Tiempo Argentino and Crónica. I live in the city of La Plata, so I read El Día, which says nothing. During the dictatorship, the Herald told the truth and for us was like a balm.
TV programmes: 678. I want good information, not gossip. I don't watch (Jorge) Lanata, (Mariano) Grondona or (Samuel) Gelblung's programmes because I have high blood pressure and I know what they are going to say.Estela Barnes de Carlotto is possibly the most iconic figure of the Argentine human rights movement. The 83-year-old lady travels every day from La Plata to work at the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo's headquarter in BA City. She does not stop a single minute in her struggle to find Guido, the son of her daughter Laura, who was killed by the dictatorship death squads in 1978.
"What happened to us was an aberration," she told the Herald last week. "We used to think that if our children had done something wrong, they would have been tried and given back to us. We used to think that we would be able to raise their children," she added.
In 1978, a survivor told Estela to be prepared to look for Laura's baby at hospitals. And she was. Estela even prepared the baby's layette. She must still have it, waiting for the day she could embrace Guido, the main reason for her struggle.
What's your "balance sheet" for these 30 years of democracy?
We have to celebrate because we have never lived such a long democratic period. We want democracy to last forever. We were born and were raised in different dictatorships, which ousted popularly-elected presidents. We were educated in that dictatorial background, which was also legitimated by the press. These 30 years are a popular victory, which cost 30,000 people's lives under the civic-military dictatorship that began on March 24, 1976. Our struggle to not leave our loved ones in oblivion has made this democracy possible.
What are the pending issues?
Not all governments were as good as we expected. We don't know where our forcibly disappeared children are; we haven't found our missing grandchildren: we don't know where they are, what their names are. There are also situations that keep violating human rights: people who do not have a home, a good education, good health care, a job. They are doing their best to solve this situation but we should also get involved. There is a government but we, the people, should be active. That's the Grandmothers' motto.
In the last few decades, Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo has been behind some outstanding achievements such as the scientific method to identify missing grandchildren, the possibility of taking repressors to court in spite of the Due Obedience and Full Stop Laws and the recognition by a court that the dictatorship had systematically planned children's appropriations. Are you conscious of those achievements?
Yes, because we have been walking this path for 36 years. We defied the dictatorship. Of course we were afraid of disappearing but that fear vanishes when you do what you have to do: to look for your daughter, your son, your grandchild. We were able to group together and also to combine skills. Maybe it's something too feminine but we have always taken all our chances. Once we came across an advertisement and we started thinking that blood could be used to identify our missing grandchildren. We travelled abroad to explain what was going on in the country because here the media said everything was great. Our National Genetic Database (BNDG) was created in democracy and some say that genetic studies improved thanks to our struggle.
How would you define the role played by Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo during the Kirchnerite administration?
For us, the so-called 'won decade' was a very good one, in which the rule of law has prevailed and the state has done what it was expected of it. We do not need to demand something from the state, it is open for us now. When some say that the government uses us, it's the other way round. We have seen doors open and we walked through: they give us things, we ask for others and we respond as well, that's a democratic relationship.
The Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo association was criticized for its links with the government by actor Alfredo Casero and journalist Jorge Lanata. How do you respond to those criticisms?
These are the rules of the game. Bad people can only criticize such a thing. Any citizen in spite of any ideology can deny this: a crime against humanity has to be tried in court, punished with that democratic tools. We have never wanted revenge or a "firing squad," we are totally against that. But people are bad and follow other interests. I don't think they conduct this attempt to smear our reputation for free.
What was the role played by the Catholic Church during the dictatorship?
The Church was an accomplice of the military regime, that's been proven. Maybe they do not like my words but that's the truth. The Church was an accomplice by action or omission. The ecclesiastic hierarchy was part of the dictatorship and blessed the killings; some looked the other way but there were even bishops that collaborated. Members of the Catholic grass roots were victims of the repression.
Is there any change now that there is an Argentine Pope?
Our demand to the Pope is that we want to know about the archives. We want all the information regarding our children and grandchildren.
Did Jorge Bergoglio (Pope Francis) help you before his arrival at the Vatican?
No, he never came near us. We believe he has never talked about the disappeared people or the children snatched from their mothers. I have attended some rallies in which he did not even say hello to me. The funny thing is that when we visited him at the Vatican, he recognized and remembered me at the meeting in the Metropolitan Cathedral, where he had not greeted me. He has been accused of some things but no evidence was found. Now he is the Pope and we give him a vote of confidence. He is currently proving to have progressive ideas. We have expectations and that's why we'll talk with him and his representatives in the country.
And the Judiciary's role?
They were accomplices, too. During democracy, we had the dictatorship's legacy that made our life impossible, defending perpetrators instead of defending the victims. Now, that's changing but we want to go further: we don't want court officials by inheritance. They are a corporation, though they do not want to be called that, and they do not want to lose their privileges.
Forces seem to act contradictorily: while an Air Force officer handed the archives of the repression, other security officers helped a convicted former military officers to escape. What's your opinion?
These are the contradictions of a democracy that is being built still. One is a democratic military officer who hands the archives to his boss to avoid these files from being incinerated as has happened in the past. That's a positive attitude. In the other case, he is not the only fugitive perpetrator with the collusion with the forces. Something has to be done.
César Milani's appointment as the head of the Army is an issue that has to be mentioned. Do you want him in that post despite reports involving him in cases of abductions during the dictatorship?
The Judiciary has to prove the crimes he is accused of. Nobody wants a repressor in a state position and even less as the head of the Army. If he is innocent, we'll accept him; if not, we don't want him.


text:
Speedo's LZR Racer Breaking Records
The High Price of Speed: Speedo's LZR Racer
When it comes to racing, any kind of drag can be a real drag, especially in the pool. To decrease dreaded drag, Speedo has engineered the LZR Racer, billed as the "world's fastest swimsuit." Considering that 14 world records have been broken since mid-February and 13 of those swimmers were wearing LZR, that claim just might be true.
I think the suit looks like an updated, yet colorless version of Aquaman's costume, and I mean that as a compliment. The suit, which fits like an extra layer of skin, supports the swimmers body keeping it in optimum position and the seams are ultrasonically welded together to reduce drag. Sounds super high tech, right? Although FINA, the governing body of the sport, initially approved the suit for competition, they are now reconsidering. It seems there might be some buoyancy issues as well as availability. You can pre-order a LZR Racer to be delivered "on or about July 30, 2008" according to Speedo's website, so the suits will be available to everyone just before the Beijing games. The elite suit comes with an elite price, this high neck version shown above will set you back $550. But that is the high price of speed.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Sandals worn by Mahatma Ghandi up for auction
A pair of Gandhi's wooden sandals are expected to attract great interest at auction because the austere Indian independence campaigner had so few possessions.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi — known as the Mahatma, or Great Soul — gave the chappals to Franziska Standenath, his personal assistant, in the 1920s and her family kept them. It is estimated that they will sell for more than £20,000 at Bonham's in San Francisco on October 10.


text:
Yanks' untested relievers filling in with ease
Yanks' untested relievers filling in with ease
Girardi admitted on Saturday that he's had the opportunity to see some relievers like David Phelps, Boone Logan, Cory Wade and Clay Rapada do things they never would have had the chance to do while helping keep New York in the mix in the American League East. At the same time, New York's unexpected injuries have given those relievers -- filling in for Joba Chamberlain, David Robertson and Mariano Rivera -- plenty of confidence moving forward, however the bullpen shakes out over the rest of the season.
"It's just something we have to do right now," Girardi said. "We have to be a little more creative than we were before. You know that going in. It's not a surprise, what we're going to do. We're going to try to mix and match our lefties, I'm going to let Boone face some righties. That's what we're going to do."
Unlike in years past, when the bullpen for the last third of a game was was basically set in stone, Girardi has been forced into more of a chess match lately. His relievers have fared well -- Logan entered Saturday's game having made a team-high 26 appearances, while Rapada and Wade had each made 22.
Those three relievers have inherited 49 combined baserunners and allowed just seven to score.
"I think they've done a really good job," Girardi said. "We've asked them to step up not a little bit -- we've asked them to step up a lot. You lose your eighth-inning guy, you lose your ninth-inning guy and now you ask guys to give you outs later in the game. They've done a great job."


text:
Viola Vogel Ph.D.
Dr. Viola Vogel is a Professor in the Department of Materials heading the Laboratory for Biologically Oriented Materials at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich.After completing her graduate research at the Max-Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, she received her Ph. D. in Physics at Frankfurt University, followed by two years as postdoctoral fellow at the University of California Berkeley. As faculty member, she joined the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Washington in 1990 with an adjunct appointment in the Physics. She was the Founding Director of the Center for Nanotechnology at the University of Washington ('97-'03) prior to her move to Switzerland in 2004.
Her interdisciplinary research program centers in bionanotechnology where she deciphers engineering principles of biological nanosystems for the development of new technologies. Her interests range from physical sciences to medicine and include bottom-up molecular self-assembly, single molecule mechanics, how cells sense and respond to force, bacterial adhesion, biominerals, biomaterials and tissue engineering.
Career HighlightsViola Vogel broadly served the national and international community in many capacities which includes selection committees for the British Marshall Fund Fellowships ('93-'95), the German Ministry of Science and Education (BMBF) ('98), and as US Representative on the Council of Scientists of the Human Frontier Science Program ('03-'04). She was involved in Nanotech program and technology assessments for NIH, the National Research Council ("NASA's Microgravity Research" & "Reshape the Education in Lifesciences"), as PCAST panel member preparing Clinton's "Presidential National Nanotechnology Initiative" ('99) and for the European Academy ('03-present). She organized and chaired many international meetings including the German-American Frontiers of Science Meetings ('98-'01), the National Nanotech Initiative Workshop on "Nanobiotechnology" ('03) coorganized by NSF&NIH, and Co-Chairs the Materials Research Society Spring Meeting in San Francisco ('06). She is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and an elected member of the Gordon Research Conference Selection and Scheduling Committee.
AwardsHer Awards include the Otto-Hahn Medal from the Max-Planck Society in 1988, the "FIRST" Award from the National Institutes of Health (General Medicine) in 1993, the Research Award 2005 from the Philip Morris Foundation, and the Julius Springer Award 2006 for Applied Physics.
By this Researcher
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Related post: Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 19:51:37 -0700
From: Scott Lockhart
Subject: my girlfriend made me do it-part 14I'm free! I have survived a hellish eight weeks of summer school, and now I
can finally enjoy my...last five weeks of summer by finding a new job...hmm.
Well anyway, the good news is, I can stop spending my Saturdays scrounging
the city for the lowest prices illegal fuck 12 yo
on basswood and exacto blades, and I don't
have to stay up until two o'clock in the morning pouring molds out of
Pourstone and Plaster of Paris. Do you guys know what I had to do on my
birthday? I had to find a site on campus and draw to scale EVERYTHING:
benches, trash cans, even the squares in the concrete. It took me all day.
The next day I had to make a model out of cardboard, which easily took
fifteen hours, and again they didn't give it a second glance.
Other good news, I can finally stay on top of this story, I got some sudden
inspiration, and I have written three new chapters all ready, but I'm going
to stagger them out over the next week, so that I can write some more. It's
been really fun writing this story, but a lot of pressure too. Hopefully,
the lack of an architecture studio breathing down my neck will make it
easier to write. I hope to hear from you all soon. Ciao!Since it has been so long since I last posted, I'm gonna recap for a minute:
Austin's been in LA for four days now, and so far, he feels he's done
nothing but cause problems within the group, and with JC. Last night, he
temporarily got over his fears and went ahead and made amends with JC, both
because he was guilty for feeling something for amateur 03 Lisa, the Jive receptionist,
and because he was afraid that Justin was trying to move in. This morning,
Joey reveals that he feels like sex 3gp videolar Josh has been hiding a lot from him, and
that he doesn't treat him like a real friend, just mainly like a coworker.
He resents JC's closeness to Justin and Austin, and decides to be an asshole
because he feels colombian sex 13yo
rejected. Meanwhile, Austin decides to find 3 girls give blowjobs Lisa and
explain how he's sorry, but he's gay, and therefore nothing can happen
between them, and then later tell Josh about everything.
Stunned, I stood there staring for a minute, prompting the girl to peer
concernedly cinema st germain c2l
back at me, and say, "Is there a problem?"
I hesitated for a second, then said, "No, everything's fine," and backed up
a few steps. Where was Lisa? This wasn't good...had she decided that
avoiding me was her solution? I couldn't really blame her, considering I had
made the same decision, but still. I needed to talk to her anyway, and tell
her that what we felt for each other was wrong, and that it was no good for
either of us to even dwell on it.
I slowly backed away from the garish blue plastic receptionist's desk,
still lost in my thoughts, and decided I needed to sit down. I found a handy
but uncomfortable couch sitting in the foyer, and I collapsed onto it. If
Lisa took the week off, I would never see her again, 3 shrimp
because I was leaving
at the end of the week. I didn't have any means of contacting her...we had
only been out to lunch, and we had been too terrified to exchange phone
numbers or anything. And I wanted to tell her how sorry I was. I should
probably tell her that I was with a guy, that might freak her out, but FR4E SEX ZOO at
least it was the truth.
If I were any smarter, I would have just asked the girl at the desk if she
had Lisa's home number, but I wasn't thinking. I just headed dbz episode 11 back to the
lounge, thinking that maybe it was for the best that Lisa was gone. This
way, I didn't have to hurt her feelings by staying with Josh, and she didn't
have to think she'd be hurting mine by staying with whoever she was with.
I entered the 14 yo hairless boys lounge and suddenly had an urge to hit something, really
hard, to get out all my frustration. Why couldn't Lisa just talk to me? Why
was Joey being such an asshole? Why did the people Josh worked for have to
work him so hard? That little shit in the suit, probably all of five feet
tall, just wandering around, barking orders. Were they even allowed to sit
down? If josh hadn't given me the little I-don't-need-you-to-defend-me
speech a few minutes before I would have been all over his ass. Joey and
Chris too, who the hell did they think they were?
Obviously, that solution is pretty immature and ill-thought out. But it was
the only thing I could come up with, because nobody told me a damn thing.
Everyone here treated me like I was a little kid. I wasn't allowed to see
Josh in rehearsal, I wasn't allowed to talk to him, or hang out with him,
and everyone was acting stupid about the Josh and me thing.
I bet I knew what happened. Joey told Lisa about me being gay, and she
freaked. Didn't even give me a chance to explain. And since Joey was being
such an ass about it, thinking that I was trying to play everyone, that
seemed more than likely something he would do. As for Chris...well, he and
Joey seemed pretty close. Maybe Joey had convinced him to get in on it.
But, I had a suspicion that there was more here than meets the eye, and
that something about the way Chris and Joey ditched the meeting this under 16 sexy pics morning
showed a little more than refusal to accept me and Josh as a couple. I had
noticed it a little yesterday, when Lance had chewed me out after being late
with Lisa.
There was a rift going between Josh and Justin, and Joey and Chris. Lance
was sort of in between, but that was how they always seemed to split up.
Maybe they were just closer, but I felt a little hostility going down. It
might have just been me, but I think it had been going on since before I had
come to town, and I was willing to bet that it had little to do with Josh's
being gay, although that seemed to escalate the fact. Joey was totally
pissed that both Justin and Lance knew about Josh, and that they had kept
him in the dark all this time. He resented the fact that those three were a
little closer, and it seemed more and more likely that his
nothing-really-bothers-me personality was all an act, kind of like the
strong and silent thing I had going. He had been totally the cool cucumber
at Disneyland, and at the club later. But whenever something big went down,
or something really dramatic, he totally went berserk. He didn't know how to
handle it, and I didn't exactly understand why, until I thought about how he
had reacted so violently when I had let slip that Lance and Justin had
already known before Josh and I met. At the time, I thought he was being
totally irrational, but now, if my theory that they were already slowly
dividing was true, this morning might have just been the tip of the iceberg,
and that a lot of other similar, secret-keeping had been going on for years.
Maybe Joey had handled it better in the past, but enough was enough, since
this was a pretty major secret we had been holding from him. Either way, I
felt sort of bad for him.
And now I thought I knew why he had blown up at me. I had barely met Josh,
but I knew just as much about him as Justin or Lance. Probably even more.
Joey had known him for a lot longer, and Josh still didn't tell him
everything, so I could sort of see why he would be hostile to me. Also, my
involvement with Lisa, however innocent, gave him a way to disguise his
resentment towards me as honest concern for his friend, and gave him some
dirt on me to get me out of the picture. He was now in a good position to
watch me squirm, which was why he didn't show up at the meeting.
This thinking explained a lot about Joey, but I have no idea why Chris also
didn't decide to come either, outside of possibly also feeling resentful,
and wanting to help out Joey. But I had a sneaking suspicion that it might
have nude 15 y.o
to do with his personality, which I had sort of dismissed when I first
met him. Chris reminded me of a streetpunk, someone you didn't want to mess
with. He didn't have the height like me, or the bulk like Mike, but his
hard, wiry frame and shrewd eyes made you think twice about him. He was real
quiet, and he gave off the kind of skin head attitude I've seen before. One
of those guys that hates jocks. Unfortunately, I kind of fit into that
category, so I knew we would never be the best of friends, but he had seemed
pretty decent when we 6 inch strap ons had hung out together.
In fact, he reminded me of a dude I used to work with on the school paper
back in high school. His name was Jayson, and he listened to death metal
bands and Eminem, wore stuff in all black and shaved his head. Kind tits 12yo
of a
goth, but he was pretty smart. He thought I was a typical dumb ass jock,
because I was kind of a major ball player, but he wasn't openly hostile. He
did campus issues, and I did sports. Anyway, the problem came when our
faculty editor had a meeting to vote on who would 13-17 yo no nude become the student
circulation editor senior year. Me, Jayson, and this other girl had all
decided to go for it, and after the vote I won, though narrowly. Jayson
hated me ever since, and I heard him muttering shit under his breath all
that next year, about how all jocks are Final fantasy 9 zidane
fags in secret, because they like to
grope each other and get all sweaty, and all that locker room bullshit. I
didn't let it 18 knit skirt bother me, but Chris' similar look and stance reminded me of
that. Chris might have just been one of those homophobes, but not a violent
kind. But that answer seemed too simple.
This was all getting too heavy for me to handle. I decided SEX HORSE PO5N TUBE that I wanted to
get the fuck out of this place. I wanted to spend my vacation at the beach,
not sitting in a lounge with absolutely nothing to do but mull over this
complicated, confusing situation. However, I didn't know how close the beach
was from 2010 pontiac vibe 2azfe where I was at, and I certainly had no idea how I would actually
get there. Not to mention that I had no ffx2 porn one to go with. I kind of wished I
had told Tony what I was really doing this week 14-16 old nude pics
and that he had forced me to
take him 2 swing valves with me. It would have been so much better with him around, not all
this silence and this stupid fucked up cold studio. Even knowing that I
would see Josh in a few hours wasn't enough. I needed to get my mind off of
Joey and Lisa and Justin and everything else or I'd go stir crazy.
Who could I get to go out with me? Everyone was busy. Lisa was nowhere to
be found, and she was part of the problem so I didn't want to go with her
much either. The only person I could think of would be Mike, but come on.
The dude had to be at least twenty five, and he was supposed to be working.
I'm not really used to hanging around with older people, even dudes only
like five years older. On the other hand, Josh was twenty five, and he was
relatively with it. What am I saying, he was cooler than I was. He knew all
about the right clothes, the right clubs, how to dance. Still, it just felt
In any case, Mike was my best bet, so I sought him out, looking in that
corridor I had seen him last. He was walking down the hall, looking through
doors for someone, but he spotted me at the end of the hall and stopped, so
I guessed that he was looking for me.
"Hey buddy, you have a way of disappearing," he said casually, as I walked
up to him.
"Sorry man, I just went to the front desk for something," I said casually.
"Were you looking for me?"
"Uh-huh. JC wants me to keep an eye on you, but after you guys left that
room I lost track of ya," he said, smiling.
"JC wants you to keep an eye out for me?" I repeated. That was weird. I
didn't need a bodyguard, what was Josh thinking?
"He said you'd probably be bored hanging around 12 rubber mens boots here all day, so he wanted
me to make sure you wouldn't get into any trouble," he explained. Hmm, Josh
has to stop being such a worrywart.
"Sweet," I 23 sexy latinas answered, grinning for the first time today. "I was just
thinking of finding someone to get my ass outta here."
"Wait a minute. I don't think I'm supposed to let you leave. I'm just
supposed to keep you entertained, kid."
"Getting out of here would keep me entertained," I pointed out.
"You want me to get you out of this place?" he repeated.
"Definitely. I'm gonna freak out if I don't see something besides that
lounge all week," I said.
He thought peachez 18 galleries it over. Finally, he sighed. "IF I take you out of 14 old porn here, where
do you want to go?" he said. He was trying not to say yes, but I could tell
he wanted to skip work as much as I wanted to get the hell out of here.
"Anywhere," I said, pleased that I was getting to him.
"You'll have to be a little more specific, man," said Mike, and I laughed.
"How about the beach?" I said, though the idea of going with Mike Scat man mp3
seemed kind of dumb. Maybe he could buy me some beer though...
"You wanna go to the beach?" he said, feigning surprise.
"Yeah, I wanna go to the beach," I said, taking him on.
"With me?" he said, sarcastically.
"You're the only dude I know in town right now who's free and has a car, so
shit, why not?" I said.
"All you kids wanna do is go to the beach," he said, shaking his head
"Kid, what the fuck you talking about?" I said, my chest rising out as I
struggled to seem taller than I was. 19165 acme female
Acting just like a little proud kid, no
"Arright, you got a suit?" he said, finally giving in.
"At Josh's house," I answered, and he nodded.
So we went to the beach. Mike was real cool like that, and after stopping
off at Josh's condo, which he had a key for, he took me straight to the
beach, talking about his life, and how he was just doing security work until
he got some work as an actor. I told him how it was weird that everyone here
seemed to work one job, but really wanted to be in show business, explaining
a little bit of Lisa's situation. He admitted that he didn't know Lisa all
that well, but he did know that a asian president 1948-1960 lot of people were here for the glamour,
not the wages.
He drove a pretty sweet green Beamer, and I remarked on how he was able to
afford that on his salary, and he smirked and said he had friends in high
places. I assumed 15 sex
that meant that a rich girlfriend had bought him the car,
but I was too tactful to say anything else.
Before we actually went Hentai gallery 11 to the beach, he took me to a mall, because he
claimed he didn't have a suit, and I agreed. The beach wasn't going
anywhere, but it was almost eleven o'clock. I'm not big on shopping, but I
didn't want to wait in the car, so we headed through the mall, trying to
find something for him. For me too, because I needed a pair of shades. Also,
as I noticed from summers before, 15 y.o porn if I continued to wear a ball cap as often
as I do, I develop a kind of baseball player's tan line, across my forehead.
I wanted to find a visor and some sunscreen. I didn't want my vacation to
involve a sunburn.
We got the shit from a beach supply store, then headed over to some
California Surfing store, where I waited for Mike to pick out a suit. While
we were in there, Josh called me on my phone.
"Hey," he said before I could answer. "I heard you aren't here anymore."
"Oh yeah, I got Mike to take me out," I said casually, instantly feeling
guilty that I hadn't called to tell him. "I needed to get out and stop
thinking about everything that's going on," I said.
"That's fine, but Austin, you had me worried sick! I almost called the
police before I noticed Mike was gone too!"
"I'm sorry..."
"Next time, just tell me when you decide you want to leave! I would have
let you!" He sounded frantic.
"Jesus, You hardly know your way around this city! What if you'd gotten
hurt, or..."
"Josh, calm down!" I finally said. "I'm fine alright! You have to stop
worrying about me. Nothing happened."
"I know, blow jobs 2 girls but when I came by about half an hour ago to see if you wanted
something from the deli cart, I was kind of hurt that you weren't there."
"I'm sorry," I said again, getting annoyed.
"It's not your fault. It's just...well, Joey and Chris showed up about a
half 24 porn 7
an hour late, and Johnny chewed em out, so now they're blaming me," he
"Those fuckers," I said.
"Well...I feel really bad about not telling them about us, but you know how
hard it is," he said.
"Dude, tell me about it," I said. I knew. "Don't let them bug you. They're
the ones with the problem."
"I know," he said, sighing. We stayed quiet for about a minute, me
imagining him in his dressing room, getting ready for another routine.
"I miss you," he said.
"I miss you too, but I'll see you tonight, ok? Until then, do your best,
and sex and zen 2 you'll be fine. Don't worry about me."
"Where are you anyway?"
"I'm at some mall with Mike. We're going to the beach."
"I wanted to be the one to take you to the beach," he said, protesting.
"You just want to see me in a bathing suit," I teased, looking around to
make sure there was no soccer mom or something listening to my conversation.
Coast was clear.
"Well...that too...," he said, laughing.
"You can take me tomorrow, but I can't stay in amatuer 16 anal
that fucking lounge another
second or I'll go crazy," I said.
"Yeah, I figured. Anyway, besides calling to chew you out...I also have a
surprise planned for tonight, ok? So make sure you're back here by about
nine thirty."
"A surprise?" I said hesitantly. I don't like surprises. "What kind of
"If I tell you, it wouldn't be porn under 16
a surprise now would it?"
"Oh come on, you know I hate surprises," I protested.
"You'll like this one," he said suggestively.
"If you're part of it, I'll like it," I answered.
"I'm not saying anything," he said, and I could feel him smiling. "But I
know you'll like it. Can I count on you at nine thirty then?"
"Damn straight," I answered. "See you then, sexy."
As I hung up, I looked up to see Mike looking at me oddly. How long had he
been standing there? "Who were you talking to?" he said, smiling
"No one," I said totally unconvincingly. Like Tony tells me, I can't lie
worth shit, and sure enough, Mike started prompting me with "Didn't sound
like no one."
"Well, it was just a friend," I said, blushing furiously.
"Mmm-hmm," he board3 tights
said, but didn't say anything else. "You ready for the
"Definitely," I said, anything to keep the conversation off Josh. I wasn't
so much concerned about how Mike might treat me sarah peachez 16 pics if porn for 18 I told him I might be gay
as I was concerned about Josh. Mike worked for him, and he could do a lot
more damage to Josh's career, you know by telling the whole world that Josh
was gay, if I told him that free pics 14 we were together. I just kept my trap shut,
something I'm pretty good at.
I spent the day clowning around with Mike at the beach, and then at a
couple of other places, which was 2010 nudes poppin cool. Mike was cool, because he never
asked about personal shit and stuff, and it was like we were just a couple
of guys. 15 girl nude It was b12 prostate a lot better 40s nude than having to worry about what to say, and who
not to piss off, like when I was with N'Sync. They were too dramatic for my
There were a lot of hot chicks at the beach, and more than a few of 14yo sluts them
seemed interested in me, bbw mature fat 05
which Mike commented on. He was actually quite a
ladies magnet himself, being 6'5 and about 230 lbs of solid muscle. He was a
flirt too, and actually had a couple of girls saying that he should come on
back tomorrow, but we weren't collecting phone numbers or anything. We
played some volleyball with these other dudes, and rented some boogie
boards, and stuff, and had a pretty good time.
At around sunset, though, ge silicone zzr 765 we were both pretty tired from the physical
California culture, and my shoulders were looking a little red, even though
I wore a lot of sunscreen, so we jetted and got back to the studio around
seven thirty. We stopped so that Mike could get back into his security guard
The day off had worked. I had completely forgotten all about Lisa and Joey
and Chris, and 6 kiddie porn had just had fun, which was good. But now that we were back,
a familiar feeling of gloom came over me. I was starting to hate the 1 babe 3 guys
Surprisingly, the windows were all dark. I guess I should have known that
the place closes, but never having been there after six o'clock, I guess I
hadn't given it a second thought. pussy 13 y.o. pics
During the day, Josh had called me four
more times for extremely brief chats, and each time he was slightly out of
breath, as if he had just finished dancing his cute little butt off, which I
imagined he had. The dancers had to work hard, but the security and
administration and management didn't; they got to go home before dark. What
I relayed this thought to Mike, Hentai page 4 who somewhat agreed, but also reminded me
that the group made millions, so it really wasn't such a bad trade off.
Maybe, but that still made it hard for me to see him, I reasoned. Mike told
me that it wasn't unusual for them to be working after nine at night,
especially before a big concert.
As we were walking up to the front entrance, Mike started telling me about
how many problems that there were with this performance. He said he had a
friend that was on the stage crew down in Cancun right now who had told him
that something was going wrong with their stage equipment, and they might
not be ready in time. He also said that there was also some problems with
the MTV network, but he didn't really know much about them, just that they
were giving Josh's company a hard time.
He unlocked the front glass doors after putting in a security code in the
alarm box to the right of the doors, and I walked in, hot and a little tired
from our day at the beach.
"Hey Mike," I said, suddenly getting an idea. "Do you think it would be ok
if I got to see them right now? I mean, I have nothing else to do," I said,
tying to make it sound like no big deal.
"I don't know, " he said, frowning slightly. "Management usually frowns on
having unauthorized visitors from the public in here, you know, just for
security precautions."
"But you're security. Can't you let me in for just a second?" I said,
trying to see if I could test the strengths of our new friendship.
He sighed. "Well, since babysitting you is probably the most fun I get to
have on this job..., " he said, and I grinned. "I don't see why not."
"Sweet! Thanks, dude," I said, and I followed him down the forbidden
hallway to that place with all the recording equipment. He unlocked the
door, and I saw that it was dark.
Uh-oh. I thought, panicking. Not another one of those "Let's tell him that
we're working 'til ten, but bof2 katt hentai
really we quit at six, let Austin find his own
way home" bullshit is it?
But Mike looked up and said, "They must be at the dancing studio. It's the
next building over." Relieved, I followed him out of the building, and
across to another, identical building across the pavement, minus the
inviting glass double doors. He slid his key card through the slider at the
side, and we entered into a small, dimly lit hallway. It veered off to the
right, exposing a large room full of costumes and clothes on racks, that was
lit with a pair of fluorescent overhanging lights, but was empty. I could
hear some music coming from somewhere, and it got louder as I followed Mike
around the dancing studio. I was trying to look at everything at once, free 14y old porn since
this was the first time that I had been in a dance studio, and was surprised
to find rooms that Girls under 18 I couldn't quite put a name to, as well as a few
traditional rooms of simple hardwood flooring and glass mirrors all across
the walls. The music got louder, and I faintly remember it as one of N'Sync
songs, so I knew we were heading the right way.
As we were walking, I wasn't sure if Mike really knew his way around that
well. We seemed to take a long time wandering around, and he kept peeking
down hallways, then changing his erin lover 4ever mind. Maybe he was only supposed to be a
personal kind of body guard, and that usually he didn't spend his time in
the dance studio, since no one was going to abduct the band in there. Still,
we eventually reached 15 yo naked girls a room that was set up like about ten other rooms we
had passed, with a hardwood floor and mirrors ringing all four walls. There
were no windows, but the bright lights still made it seem like it was
To my surprise, there was more than five people in the room. It looked to
be about a dozen, all guys. They all were wearing the same sort of work out
clothes that people wear to the gym, and I recognized Josh right away, but
he wasn't facing the door. The music had no words to it, but it sounded
familiar. I'm sure I've heard it before, but I can't quite put my finger on
it, but I wasn't really paying attention to the music. I just smiled when I
saw Josh, and I congratulated myself on surprising him. I couldn't wait to
see the look on his face when he 10 yr porn pics
saw me. The music ended, as well as the
twirling dance routine, and one of the guys suddenly stepped out of the
three row formation and took charge.
"Ok, looking better, but I can see that everyone is dragging a little on
the fourth jiggy hold, so I want to go over that again." The dude was tall,
blond, and surprisingly athletic. He indicated to someone I couldn't see
from where I was standing, but the music came on again, and then all the
guys started doing this little dance-walk thing, before moving their hands
around and whatever. The leader didn't dance with everyone else, and
instead, walked around them, yelling criticisms to people who were doing it
wrong. Josh spotted me and smiled, and I winked back at him, but didn't want
to interrupt his routine. Unfortunately, seeing me drew him off beat, and
the leader dude yelled angrily, "Cut! What the fuck, Chasez? Think you can
find your own rhythm? You may be the big shot, but you better step when I
say step. Now let's move!" The kamila 18
music cued up again, and a few other people
looked up to see what Josh was looking at. Joey saw me and immediately
frowned before looking away. Justin also spotted me, but he had a "it
figures" kind of look on his face, and he just kept going on.
The music had only been going for about five seconds when that dude started
yelling again. "What the fuck? Now you're all off step, what the..." but
then he caught sight of me and Mike in the doorway, and he saw what had
apparently caused the hold up.
I immediately felt self conscious, as I now had every eye on me, except
Joey's, and it was quiet for a minute.
"Can I help you?" the director said rudely, checking his watch for the
time. I maintained eye contact with Josh for a minute before I realized he
was talking to me. I looked around. Mike had disappeared. "I'm talking to
you, kid, what the hell are you doing here?"
To my surprise, Justin saved my ass on this one. "That's just Austin, he's
our friend." He put a little emphasis on friend, but nothing anyone outside
the group and me ebony 45 camera would know what he was talking about.
I suddenly felt like a complete fool. I had wanted Mike to take me here,
but I didn't want everyone to know, just Josh.
"I...uh...was...just...," I stammered, not sure what I should say. Josh
opened his mouth to defend me, but before he bleach 144 sub could, one of the dancers
suddenly said, "Yo, man, let's get this shit on the go, we ain't got all
night!" He was tall, dark with two headbands instead of one. He also had
what looked like a bandaid under his left eye.
"Hold up, I want to know what this guy wants," said the director, 16yr nude silencing
the black guy.
"I was just watching, cause I got nothing better to do," I said quickly,
trying to make a joke. Noone laughed.
"Sit your ass over there and don't move," he spat, then turned back to the
group. What a dick. 30 gal metal barrel I didn't move from the doorway to where he was pointing,
in order to prove something, I don't know, but he didn't say anything. "Now
that we are through with our interruption, let's get this shit going. Again,
Marie." Marie, I saw now, was a girl in a siemens al140 glass booth at the opposite end of
the room, and she turned a switch, and music blasted out from speakers in
the corners of the the sims2 nude patch
walls. I slumped against the wall in the doorway, and
checked my own watch for the time. 8:15.
I noticed, however, that several guys in that room were definitely checking
me out. I don't know, but the stereotype goes that most dancers are gay, but
who knows what's true or not? There was no mistaking some of these stares,
though. I could practically feel the lust in their eyes. I just stayed
watching Josh and ignored everyone else.
As the routine went on, I saw that the other, non famous dancers really did
more of a work out than N'Sync, because they were constantly moving around
and throwing themselves to the ground, while 3 inch wide dildo
the group was the main
attraction, having to stand still to sing. That other dancer that had spoken
up, too, seemed to be more important, and I wondered if this was that dude
Nelly that Josh had been talking about. He always stood apart from everyone,
and did a bit of his own dance, and he was really good. Better than good,
the dude did more work than anyone else with his spins and thrusts and
It actually wasn't so bad, since I didn't have to hear the wussy pop words,
but I kind of liked watching Josh get all sweaty. He kept flashing smiles at
me that I gingerly returned, and I'm sure a few other people picked up on,
especially if most of em were gay, but who cares. Finally, after they had
literally danced their asses off after about a half an hour, the blond dude
said 30 weeks pregnant they could have another five minute break.
Josh made a beeline for me, and I stood up from where I was sitting on facial wart icd-9 code
floor, with my back against the wall. I hugged him quickly for about a
second. Then held him at arm's length.
"You thought I'd be getting a surprise," I said devilishly, crossing my
arms over my chest.
"I know, I must say I like your video free 13 surprise," he said.
"This is so great, how did you get over here?" he said, slightly out of
breath again, sweat pouring off his forehead.
"Mike," I said simply. "He kind of left after he brought me to the right
"Mike huh? I told him to keep you busy, not bring you back to distract me,"
said 30 somethings free thumbs
lupin the 3rd porn Josh, smiling, but it was little forced. He looked tired as hell.
"I kinda had to weasel him a little to get him to bring me over here, but
it was worth it," I said. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, just a little tired." He answered, but I could see dark circles
under his eyes.
"Now what are we doing tonight?" I said, hastily changing the subject.
"Patience, boy. I am not going to tell you until nine thirty like I said.
And you are over an hour early."
"I like to be punctual," I answered.
"This is ridiculous."
"Would it be so ridiculous to say that I couldn't wait to see you?"
"No, because I feel exactly the same way. Now about this afternoon..."
"Huh?" We'd already had this conversation, when he called me at the beach
store earlier.
"I really don't feel comfortable..." he started, but he was interrupted. I
smiled. I really didn't feel like being chewed out again for not letting him
know where I was going first.
"Hey Austin," someone said from behind us. It was Lance, and he was
dragging a reluctant Justin with him.
"Hey, what's up?" I said, slapping his hand.
"Not much, just a bunch of hard work. How've you been?" Lance looked almost
as tired as Josh did. Dark circles of sweat covered the arms and neck of his
T shirt, and if I wrang out his white headband, I could have gotten a whole
cup of water.
"Yeah, I've been pretty tired spending the day at the beach," I said, and
Lance and Justin both dropped their jaws in outrage.
"You went to the beach?! Let me see your arm!" demanded Lance. He grabbed
my wrist and examined my slightly tanned arm.
"With whose money?" said Justin. I ignored him, but josh didn't.
"With his own money, and I told Mike to take care of him, since he left his
homework in your car," he said, pointing to Lance. His voice sounded
defeated. I could tell he was getting tired of getting Justin off my ass.
"Justin, will you knock it off? If Josh had paid me off, I would have
probably gone to somewhere a little more expensive than a free beach," I
said, and ass2mouth porn they all laughed, but again it was really forced. They were all
falling down with exhaustion. Even Justin had to lean against the wall to
get his breath back from laughing. I smiled a little. I was determined to
turn him into an ally by the time this 40 something cunt
week was over. After all, now that I
suspected I had been wrong about how he had reacted on Sunday, I had nothing
to hold against him, and knew that since I was being a dick to him, he was
doing the same to me.
"So who is this dude?" someone said, and I saw that it was the guy I
thought might be Nelly, followed by Joey, as they joined our little group.
Joey 12yr sex wasn't frowning anymore. In fact he was beaming. I was immediately
suspicious, what the hell was going on?
"Oh hey, Austin, this fee porn 365 here's Nelly, one of our back ups," joked Josh.
"What the fuck are you talkin' bout, back up? You better back up or you
won't be able to shake your white ass," said Nelly. We all laughed.
I extended my hand, and he did this weird handshake kind of thing that I
let him do. Suddenly, Joey started talking.
"So how's things with Lisa, dude?" he said, looking right at me. Before I
could get over my shock at him talking to me and answer that she hadn't been
in to work today, Nelly interrupted me and said, "She been on my ass,
wanting money to get som'em to wear in Mexico," he said. "You know how dem
females get, you gotta give 'em all yer gold to shut sex 16 yo movies
em up!" Everyone
laughed except me. My jaw just about dropped. Could he 3 ply facial tissue
have been talking
about the same Lisa?
Joey confirmed this with, "Yeah, I didn't see her at work today. You get
her to take the week off?"
"I just said baby, get yoself ready, and she was on that phone like a
mother fucker, telling y'all she won't be in cuz she sick." They all laughed
again, and Joey fixed his stare right at me, smiling evilly.
So this was Lisa's boyfriend. She couldn't have just been going out 1960s porn movies with
someone from her school, it of course had to be the same guy that was
singing with the band in Cancun. What are the fucking odds?
And Joey knew. This wasn't just a "coincidence". He 4 1 bersetzen biel
was still glaring at
me, and I sort of ducked away from the group to get a break for a minute.
Josh raised his eyes at me, but I muttered something about needing a drink
of water, and DON'T follow me, I'm fine, and he let me, reluctantly. I could
feel his eyes on my back as I whipped out of the dance room, but I was too
preoccupied to care.
I doubted they had drinking fountains around here, and if so, I didn't know
how to get to one, so I just sort of walked a ways down the hall. A couple
of guys that I noticed from the formation were coming from one way, so I
assumed there was a bathroom or ben 10 fucks
something over there. I headed over there,
and found the door. I went in, finding it empty, and I splashed water on my
OK. This was a little too real. I mean, I knew all this time that Lisa had
a boyfriend, 13 yo nude pics
but now that he had a face, I couldn't stop thinking about her.
Did you hear him talk about her that way? How awful. I felt so bad for Lisa.
I heard the door open behind me, but I didn't see who it was. I just stared
into the sink while the water ran for the longest time. I splashed more
water on me, and some splashed down my chest, so that my shirt plastered
itself to my body. Shit, I thought, as I pulled my shirt out and started
waving it to get it dry. This is all I need.
"You might have to take it off," said a voice from behind me. I turned
suddenly to see Justin standing behind me. I almost freaked, he scared the
shit out of me.
"Oh hey, dude, what's up?" I said warily, wondering why Justin of all
people had followed me into the bathroom.
"Can I 16 girl fuck video
talk to you for a second?" This sounded familiar.
"Go ahead. I'm listening," I said, reaching for the towel dispenser.
He gave me a look as some other dancer entered the bathroom, so I followed
him out across the hallway, into another room. He closed the door behind us.
"What's up?" I said, still trying to stay friendly.
"First off, I wanted...to...um...apologize to you. I know I've been a real
asshole to you all week, and I wanna say I'm sorry," he said, not quite
looking at me. Was I hearing him right?
"Whoa, whoa. Josh didn't put you up to this, did he?" I said cautiously, a
big smile crossing my face.
He looked up, eyes flashing for a second, but seeing me grin, he smiled
too. "Fuck you, naturist girl 13 no I'm totally serious."
"In that case, I accept your apology. And I guess I'm sorry too. I can be
an asshole too, 'specially when someone's being an asshole back. Can I ask
you something though?"
"Why are you apologizing? Joey thinks I'm the biggest ass in the world, but
why are you being so cool all of a sudden?"
He sighed. Whatever it was he had to say, it was obviously hard for him. I
gave him time, and looked around the room, which seemed to be some sort of
sound booth.
"I guess you better sit down, cause this will probably take awhile," he
"Don't you only have, like a five minute break?"
He considered it. "Ok, I don't have time right now. Later, after the
rehearsal, can we talk? Without Josh?"
I bit my lip. "I don't know naked 15y.o
about that. He's still pretty pissed that I
left without calling him 4 pound jump ropes this morning, and he has some sort of surprise for
me later tonight," I answered.
"How bout you drop by my place after that then?"
"Sure. I'll tell Josh that we have to talk." I 31 december playmates got up to leave.
"No wait!!" I looked at him, confused.
"Can you like, try and not tell Josh where you are?"
I 12 yo japanese sluts studied him for caverta 10 a minute. What was so important that we had to keep it
from josh?
"Just please, I'm going to tell him later, but I think its best if you hear
it from me first."
"Please?" he interrupted. He stared into me, his eyes pleading. I really
didn't like lying to Josh. I hated it. But if he was going to tell Josh
anyway...plus he had got me curious as hell.
"I guess. It'll be hard, but I think I'll be able to come over around
eleven or so." I said finally. I hoped that whatever Josh's surprise was, it
wouldn't last long.
"Perfect. Thanks man."
"Sure, I guess." I was still unsure if this was the right thing to do. But,
I guess I had no choice. I wanted to know what was up with Justin, and I
decided that this way I would be able to ask him about how he had reacted on
Sunday (crying and everything) and how I had took it to mean he wanted Josh,
and then today how he had acted like it was no big deal. I wouldn't be able
to do that in front of Josh.
"Ok, well I gotta get back. I'll see you later, k?"
"Ok," I said dazedly. I followed him out of the suddenly very small
recording booth.
Everyone was waiting for Justin by the time we got back, and that director
glared at me for keeping him. I ignored him.
"OK, we're starting from Justin's entrance, let's go," he said, and Marie
started the music.
The rest of the rehearsal was uneventful. I tuned out everything, and
played snake on my cell phone for awhile, so that I wouldn't be distracted
imagining what Justin had to tell me. Finally, at a quarter MOVE8 ZOO SEX FREE to eleven, the
guy said "Ok, that'll do for now. I want to see your smiling faces tomorrow
at ten thirty. Don't be late."
I got up and waited for Josh to drink out of a water bottle and towel off
his forehead with a white towel before trotting over to him.
"Who were you calling?" he said as I approached.
"Huh? No one. I was just playing with my phone," I said defensively. Josh
was acting really weird lately. He was acting really overbearing. It was
probably just stress, I guess.
"Well, you ready?"
"Yeah, let's go."
"I have to change first."
"Of course," I said, smiling. hymen 14 jpg He caught the joke and blushed.
About ten minutes after that, he drove me back to the apartment complex,
and we talked a little bit about nothing in particular.
As we pulled i am fool-14 into the parking lot, I started to remind him about my
"For someone who doesn't like surprises, you sure are curious," he
commented. I socked him in the arm.
We walked down to his apartment, and I ran through my head a million things
that he could possibly surprise me with. I hoped that it would be something
dumb, like a signed CD or baseball tickets, or something, so that I wouldn't
feel so bad about having nothing to give him.
Josh unlocked his door and I followed him inside, where he turned off the
alarm system, and dumped all his stuff on the table next to the
door. Finally, I had had enough., "Is this the surprise or what?"
"So impatient. Maybe you won't get your surprise," he 9 song sex secenes teased.
I sighed again, and checked my watch. We had spent so long that it was
already twenty till midnight, and I was actually more interested in what
Justin had to say than Josh's surprise.
"Why do you keep checking your watch?" he asked. I blinked at him, but I
couldn't come up with a good enough lie.
"An I? I...um...just wanted to watch something on TV later," I said lamely.
He studied me for a minute, but I dropped my gaze and suddenly found myself
checking my watch again.
"Well, I might as well surprise you now," he said, reaching into 1940 stockings and suspenders his back
pocket. Uh oh. He pulled out a small slip of paper.
Please be Dodgers tickets. Creed tickets. Even Opera tickets. I prayed
"This is a VIP pass that'll get you into MTV Spring Break," he said,
smiling broadly. He was plainly expecting me to jump for joy. Instead, I
tried to imagine how much that piece of paper cost. At least five hundred
dollars. I couldn't believe it. He had practically forced me to come to Palm
Springs, and here he was with another very expensive plane ticket. Didn't he
I couldn't accept the pass. How could I? I would never be able to pay him
back. Plus, I wasn't helping the situation between the group any more. I was
making the wedge even wider, and my accompanying Josh to Mexico was not
going to be a good idea. Plus, Lisa was going to be in Mexico too, and I
decided that I really didn't want to talk to her anyway, especially after
Joey had already scared her off. It was better if I never saw her for the
rest of my life.
And Josh was so strained lately, trying to get everything set up for this
performance, and he felt so guilty about having to work. I'm sure that
things wouldn't get any easier in Cancun, and one frazzled, stressed-out
Josh wouldn't be a good idea. It was better if I ducked out before the
concert, so that Josh would be able to 11 march celebrity birthdays get through it clear-headed, instead
of worrying about how I was getting along like he had been doing all week,
and springing expensive lunches and surprises on me that I never would have
been able to afford.
I frowned at the paper. I didn't want to have to hurt Josh, but...
"Josh I can't go to Cancun with you."
"What?" he said, sounding surprised. "Why not?"
"Because...because it's not good for us," I said, trying to think 3gpsexmelayu com of the
right words.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you're adult bookstores 76039 really stressed out enough about this MTV thing, 15yo naked pussy and also
about Joey and Chris," I said carefully.
"What do you mean? I don't care about Joey and Chris! As long as we're
together it doesn't matter what other people th..."
"I don't mean about us, I mean about how guilty you feel about not being as
close to them as you are to Justin and Lance," I interrupted. 12yo boy naked free Josh fell
silent, so I knew I hit gold.
"I'm not an idiot. I can see that you guys aren't as close as you make it
seem on TV. And I think that my being here is making it worse," I said.
"But I want you here, with me!" Josh insisted.
"I want to be with you too, Josh, but not so that you're fighting with all
your friends and getting in trouble with your managers and stuff! You don't
need me for that, and I'd just be getting in the way."
"I don't care what anybody thinks, Austin. You know that. And 16yo illegal
you are not
causing fights, we're always like this around crunch time. We start snapping
at each other before concerts and stuff, its ok, really. No lasting damage."
"Really?" I said, though I knew he was just sugarcoating everything for my
"Yes. And if that's all you're worried about, then you have no choice. You
are coming with me, whether you like it or not."
"Don't even start! You're coming. I will handle everything. Don't you worry
your pretty little head about it."
I frowned. There was still one thing keeping me from agreeing with Josh
that everything would be fine. "How much did this cost?" I said flatly. Josh
looked up and sighed.
"I knew that this was going to be about money again. Austin, you are my
guest, and my boyfriend. Don't listen to Joey, I don't think that you are
trying to put the moves on me for money. Joey is just stupid, ok?"
"No buts. It was actually more expensive to fly you here from Seattle," he
said. I blanched, and started to apologize, but he held up a hand.
"Austin, I love you. Nothing is going to change that. Not Joey, not my
manager, and not the people that dream up ticket prices."
"I still can't go with you." I said.
"What? Why not?" he insisted, his eyes looking pained.
"Because...because...," I was going to tell him all about Lisa. I really
was. But that look in his eyes was something I never want to see again. And
telling him about Lisa would not make the look turn into a smile. free sex 70 I hung my
head. I couldn't think of anything else to say.
"Please?" he said finally, his eyes turning puppy dog, as he grabbed both
my hands in his. He leaned close and kissed me, softly. I sighed.
"When do we leave?"give me some feedback, even if its just to wish me a happy belated birthday,
which was June 24th. Nobody forget, now. scottiescothotmail.com. Later. Related links: teen lolita romania model, lolita castle ls magazine, amada model screensaver, Nn Preteen Tgp, toplist model art, tiny lolita bikini pussy, lolitas porn sex, nudism family lolita torrent, 16 weeks pregnant miscarriage, angels gays russians, pre teen nude indians, preteen swimsuit collection, xxx model thumbnail, dark porn pthc, little models girls lola, young 12 14 lolitas, voyeur young pre, nude lolitas top sites, young teen's barefooted, teen preteen lolitas nymphets, hc kiddy pics loli, little inocent models, Preteen Pthc, little lolita bald pussy, Preteen Model Nymphets, pthc hussyfa, bbs young nude girls, versace sunglasses 2010, malyshok preteen, prelolita sex years


text:
Notes: Greinke named No. 3 starter
Notes: Greinke named No. 3 starter
SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Zack Greinke will begin this season as the Royals' No. 3 starter after beginning last season on the disabled list after being diagnosed with "social anxiety." Kansas City manager Buddy Bell said Greinke would start the third game of the season, April 5 against the Red Sox, after Greinke's third straight exceptional outing on Sunday. Greinke struck out seven in five innings against the Brewers while allowing four hits and walking one. Greinke was charged with three runs in the Royals' 7-6 loss, but he easily could have not given up a run. Two runs scored on a Tony Pena Jr. throwing error in the fifth, while the other run that inning scored when Mark Teahen lost Damian Miller's routine fly ball in the sun and it was ruled a double.
"To leave at three runs is a definite win," Greinke said. "Three runs is a lot of runs to give up, but you want to get out of that inning and not be too crazy. And we're still in the game; that's pretty good. I don't remember a bad pitch that whole inning." Greinke has made few bad pitches in his past three outings, allowing 10 hits in 15 innings while striking out 16 and walking two. Greinke struck out four in a row, including the side in the second inning, although he said he does not consider himself a strikeout pitcher. "The last couple of games I was," he said. "A couple of pitches were not strikeout pitches, but they just missed them. I froze them a couple of times, and that hasn't always happened to me. I haven't always been good at freezing people for strike three." Bell has seen enough to insert Greinke into the third slot. "He doesn't need to do anymore than he is doing now," Bell said. "I just hope he stays this way and he's encouraged by all this. He's really had only one kind of shaky outing all during Spring Training. The main thing is he seems comfortable that he is a part of us. That is where he should be and needs to stay." Said Greinke: "I'm pitching good right now, but the key is who is going to be the best during the season." Bell also announced left-handed Jorge De La Rosa would start the fourth game, April 6 against the Tigers. Gil Meche and Odalis Perez are the probable starters for the first two games. Bell also indicated Brandon Duckworth, a non-roster invitee, would be on the 12-man staff.
News and features:
MLB.com coverage | Schedule | Ballpark | Tickets
Multimedia:Spring Training info:
Duckworth on making rotation: 350K
Soria talks about making team: 350K
Grudzielanek on returning to action: 350K
Skipper Bell on Royals' status: 350K
Royals GM Moore on Pena, infield: 300K
Royals' Bell on remaining spots: 350K
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Grudzielanek getting going: Mark Grudzielanek is right on his time, but he is ahead of everybody else's schedule.Grudzielanek will return to the Royals lineup on Monday night against the Padres after having arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on March 5. "Three weeks on the day," Grudzielanek said of his return. "[The medical staff is] going off how I feel and what I've been doing. I think it's time to get out there. I feel real good, so we're going to do it." Grudzielanek started running the bases and doing strenuous infield work, including the turn for double plays to test the knee. He reported no swelling or soreness. Grudzielanek said when he had little swelling the day after the surgery he figured "it was going to be pretty quick, a speedy recovery. "Usually swelling takes four or five days to get out of your system before you start rehabbing," he said. "I was starting the second day, so it sped up probably by about a week. It felt good the entire time. After the first week or 10 days, I felt like I could play. We kind of nursed it, nursed it, nursed it and then it will be three weeks. "I feel better than I have in previous years with all the stuff they've taken out of there. It was mostly over the years, the wear and tear and cleaning it out, besides the meniscus tear. It was really something that I needed. It was the best thing to do and perfect timing. It wasn't that I didn't want to have [the surgery]. It was one of those things I had to have it. Once you get your mind set on getting through it and staying positive, it healed fast. It was mind over matter." Grudzielanek said he probably would get three at-bats and play four to five innings against the Padres, then increase his workload for the final week of Spring Training depending on how his knee feels. He hopes to start at second base for the April 2 opener. "We've got some work to do here," Grudzielanek said. "Obviously, we are pushing it and see how I feel and get as close as I can. It's going to be tight." Briefly: David DeJesus, who has not played since March 14 because of an abdominal virus, also is scheduled to play on Monday. ... Commissioner Bud Selig attended the game on Sunday. ... Joey Gathright hit an inside-the-park homer, singled and walked. He also swiped two bases, running his spring total to five. On deck: Duckworth will start against right-hander Clay Hensley when the Royals and Padres play on Monday at 9:05 p.m. CT at Peoria Stadium.
Alan Eskew is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Should I Give a Birthday Present to My Ex?
"Should I Give a Birthday Present to My Ex?"
This question is from a Group Therapy post in our TrèsSugar Community. Add your advice in the comments!
My ex and I were together for about 10 months, except for a brief break in February when I ended things because I thought I didn't have feelings for him anymore. At the time, he was very upset and tried to change my mind, but I stuck with my decision. After a few weeks, though we started seeing each other again, so we were together — but not officially "dating" — until I ended things again two days ago. I just didn't see it working out in the long-term, so I thought it was better to end it now instead of letting it drag on.
I still love him so much, and I miss him, and I wish things could be different. He was really upset when I broke up with him for the second time, and I feel horrible — like I led him on by trying to get back together with him. He's (understandably) very angry with me, and thinks that I was just using him as a friend with benefits. Now his 21st birthday is coming up, and I kind of want to get him something. Is that a good idea or no? Since he's feeling so angry and hurt, do you think I should just keep my distance?
Have a dilemma of your own? Post it anonymously to Group Therapy for advice, and check out what else is happening in the TrèsSugar Community.


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Weekend Digest: Five Ways To Build A $100 Million Company
For our weekend business and political readers:
Forbes says one of the New York startup scene's recent success stories offers great insights to help entrepreneurs. The company is called Refinery29 and now after eight years in business, it's worth $100 million.
The company made mistakes, betting on commerce offerings that haven't delivered, but is profitable for the last three years and with ad revenue that's quadrupled in the last four years.
Want to learn more about Refinery29 and how its remarkable journey can help you? Click on this link for five lessons to success.
Do you know what atmospherics are and how they can influence the decision-making process? Harvard Business review says important research shows the extent to which people deciding – even on matters of great consequence – are influenced by what we could call atmospherics.
For example, to cite just a few studies:
• The type of music being played in the background of a liquor store affects purchases. When German music is played, more German wines are sold.
• Adding the color red to a medical pamphlet (versus printing it in black-and-white) raises the likelihood of a patient's opting to receive a recommended vaccination.
• Showing investment opportunities in green instead of red makes a difference, too.
The overall message of such studies is clear.
So just how clear is that overall message and could executives be influenced by it too? And what can or should we do to improve decision-making? Decide for yourself at this link.
Sound familiar? Harvard Business Review says all too often that's true, but "certainly, all-out war between the two teams drains productivity."
Yet having the two teams work in perfect harmony and reach an easy consensus on every decision is a pipedream, and in fact, is not the best answer either.
Some tension between sales and marketing is healthy and productive.
OK then what's a happy median for a healthy company?
Accomplishing the common objective of creating customer value and driving company results requires competency in a wide range of tasks which fall into three categories.
What are they? Click here to find out.
That's the Obamacare tangled mess of course, and Democrats have given the president a short leash to come up with solutions from the web catastrophe to other glaring problems, posts POLITICO.
Democratic senators facing voters next year are willing to give the White House time to resolve the glaring problems with Obamacare.
Very little time.
Democratic senators facing re-election have a green light to bash the White House and call for certain legislative fixes.
But as POLITICO reports "they've been urged by senior administration officials not to insist on delaying the controversial law's core: The mandate for individuals to purchase insurance coverage or face penalties."
For more on this tense dueling between the president and his own party over fractures within the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, click on this link.
POLITICO makes a possible case for that very interesting analogy especially after Christie's overwhelming victory for Governor of New Jersey this past week in a state that President Obama won by 17 points in 2012.
Here's a look at Christie's election stats:
Christie won 60 percent overall. He won Latinos outright and took 21 percent of the black vote. He won women and men. He won high school graduates and people with advanced degrees. He won people making more than $200,000 and people making less than $50,000.
But POLITICO asks: are those glaring stats "transferable to the national stage?"
For the answer and more insight from this intriguing opinion post, go to this link.
Democrat Terry McAuliffe is Virginia's new governor-elect having defeated "outspoken social conservative," Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, the Republican candidate. POLITICO reports Republicans were initially shocked at the loss, but then the spin began.
While Mr. McAuliffe called for a spirit of bipartisanship in his first news conference as governor-elect, Republicans who viewed him as a flawed, beatable candidate were engaging in recriminations about how the party had gone wrong by nominating Cuccinelli.
At the Republican Party's election night gathering in Richmond, the state party chairman, Pat Mullins, told the crowd that Mr. Cuccinelli's loss by less than three percentage points, narrower than many polls had predicted, occurred mainly because he had been outspent two-to-one. For the party's moderate wing, the loss of what it considered a winnable race was a lesson in how a candidate known mainly for promoting conservative social policies could not appeal in a state whose population is increasingly diverse.
For full post-election analysis on the outcome of this race where one Republican said after McAuliffe won, "McAuliffe was probably the weakest Democratic nominee in a generation."
Click on this link for more.
One is running for the U.S. Senate, the other is running for governor. One is the grandson of a former president, and the other is the daughter of a former senator.
Democratic strategists are hopeful for a symbiotic relationship in which Michelle Nunn's Senate campaign will benefit from Jason Carter's run for governor, and vice-versa.
Nunn, the head of the Points of Light Foundation and the daughter of former senator Sam Nunn, has already proven she can raise big bucks for her Senate bid. Carter, a state senator and grandson of former president Jimmy Carter who just announced his bid for governor, could stand to get a leg up in the money chase thanks to his own family's political roots.
The two candidates have "created an incredible amount of excitement among Georgia Democrats," but do they stand a chance, and how do the two candidates complement each other politically? The Washington Post takes a look at this link.
Twitter has gone public and made huge gains on the first day of its IPO. It also has made huge gains in to the culture of politics and political journalism, reports The Washington Post.
But long before any Tom, Dick or Harry could buy stock in Twitter, the micro-blogging service was in the process of fundamentally reshaping the way in which politics is practiced and covered. The changes, which are still in process, are profound — in the way that politicians interact (or don't) with reporters, the life cycle of news cycles and how the general public gets (or doesn't) its information.
"When everything is in 140 characters, it gives a skewed version of reality, and that impacts how editors think about what reporters should be covering, and it impacts what reporters think is important."
Find out how Twitter has set the tone for conventional wisdom in presidential debates to a "good tidbit that gets leaked" on the fast-rocketing social network by clicking this link.
A lot of people apparently do, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Demand for the well-staffed home is on the rise, according to agencies and house managers alike. Clients are calling for live-in couples, live-out housekeepers, flight attendants for private jets, stewards for the yachts and chefs for the summer house.
Why are these service jobs on the rise; how much does a good housekeeper, maid or butler make, and how do you find "good help?" Dust on over to this link for the full take.
You might be surprised to know it's called theSkimm.
When two NBC staffers realized just how many women wanted to keep up with current events but felt short on time (and intelligent dinner-party conversation), theSkimm was born.
But that's a long way from being considered a "must-read newsletter for women" says Fast Company. So what happened when these two former women NBC staffers quit their day jobs to produce theSkimm? Why is it so popular and how much growth have they seen especially through word-of-mouth advertising?
Want to skim theSkimm and learn more, plus find out what's on the horizon for the popular newsletter? Click here.


text: The January edition of the gay and lesbian newsmagazine In the Life will focus on the fight for gay rights at the community level. Stories include looks at the Methodist Church's internal battles over gay unions, the Maine referendum on nondiscrimination laws, and the funding fights over San Antonio's gay and lesbian film festival. For a list of channels and showtimes, visit www.IntheLifeTV.org.


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(Adds details and context)
LIMA, March 15 (Reuters) - Peru posted a weaker-than-expected 3.41 percent year-on-year economic expansion in January as soaring copper output offset a slump in manufacturing and construction, government data showed Tuesday.
A Reuters poll had forecast a 4 percent year-on-year expansion in January after the 6.39 percent surprise surge in December.
The economy contracted at a seasonally adjusted rate of 0.45 percent in January from December, state statistics agency Inei said. Growth in the past 12 months through January was 3.4 percent.
Manufacturing activity contracted 3.94 percent on the year in January because of weak domestic demand for goods, and construction fell 2.67 percent as public works by local governments stalled, Inei said.
Peru's mining-fueled economy rebounded to expand 3.26 percent last year, beating expectations thanks to a year-end surge of copper output from new mines.
Copper output rose 43.8 percent in January on the year.
Growth is expected to continue quickening this year as a large copper project is set to ramp up production.
Reporting By Teresa Cespedes; Editing by Andrea Ricci


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In Search of Cachet
Online programs from top-notch schools gain, as students look to add luster to their résumés
(See Corrections & Amplifications item below:)
Many people are finding there's a way to get some of the benefits of an M.B.A. degree from a top-flight school but at a fraction of the usual cost. They're heading online.
Instead of sitting in a classroom, they're taking career-specific courses and certificate programs over the Web that enable them to put a prestigious name on their résumé without breaking the bank or upending their schedule.
Consider Benjamin Berry, a project-management consultant in Eugene, Ore. Late last year, the 45-year-old noticed that the market for his type of work was drying up but the price tag and time commitment deterred him from going back to school for an M.B.A. So, he enrolled in a $3,200 certificate program from eCornell, the online arm of Cornell University.
Mr. Berry, who received his undergraduate degree from Presbyterian College in Atlanta, says the program was an inexpensive way to gain Ivy League credibility. "A lot of people out here have never heard of Presbyterian College, but everyone knows Cornell University," he says.
A Full Class
In addition to Cornell, such well-known schools as Boston University, Pennsylvania State University and the University of California at Berkeley have introduced business-related certificates to their online offerings. A handful of other big schools, such as the University of Notre Dame, the University of San Francisco, Tulane and Villanova, are offering certificate programs through partnerships with University Alliance, a Tampa-based group that provides the marketing and technology for schools' online efforts.
University Alliance has seen jumps in enrollment at all of its partner schools recently, according to Amit Sharan, the group's assistant brand manager for business-certificate programs. The people choosing these programs "need relevant skills that they can attain, and apply, immediately," Mr. Sharan says.
What's more, large companies are partnering with prestigious schools to develop online programs to train and retain employees. At eCornell, 60% of students take classes through corporate partnerships, says eCornell's president and CEO, Chris Proulx. "Our students are professionals looking to advance their career in an accelerated way," he says.
Room on the Web
One of the school's most popular certificates is in hotel revenue management. Cornell University's hotel-management program is widely regarded as top tier, and the certificate gives nondegree students the opportunity to engage with professors from the full-time program. The 23 eCornell certificate programs cost $2,000 to $6,000 about the same as students would pay for similar in-person programs.
For Mark Delisi, director of corporate responsibility at Computer Sciences Corp. and former head of the company's Leadership Academy, a partnership with eCornell over the past six years has been a success. Initially, he says, the company was looking for an Ivy League executive-education program for senior executives in the company who are spread out around the globe. Later, Computer Sciences expanded it to include managers.
"Content-wise, access-wise, [the online program] is as good if not better than the in-person experience," Mr. Delisi says. Inside the company, he adds, the program is seen as "clearly adding value; it's helping our executives and senior-level people do their jobs better."
At Your Convenience
For workers, the programs offer a number of advantages. Chad Pollitt, who works for DigitalHill.com, a Web-design and marketing firm in Goshen, Ind., says an online certificate was the only way to advance his marketing career, because there weren't any schools nearby offering a program. He could "study any time of day and anywhere in the world," he says.
The Internet marketing certificate, through the University of San Francisco and University Alliance, cost $6,000 and took about 100 hours and 12 weeks to complete. Students could choose to participate in real-time class sessions or review the lectures later on their computers.
"My boss was skeptical at first because our industry is constantly changing," says Mr. Pollitt. "Once I started bringing the 'latest and greatest' strategies and methodologies from the program to work, he became a believer."
Mr. Pollitt credits the program with helping him double his sales, and he adds that early on in his course work, co-workers began coming to him with their Internet marketing questions. "It's made me, our team and our company more successful," he says.
Another upside of programs from well-known universities is the perception that they are more rigorous and high level than some other online offerings something critics often argued was lacking from upstart online programs. "These are not 'book in a box' programs," says University Alliance's Mr. Sharan. "They are taught by the university's faculty, and in order to receive a certificate of completion, the student must complete a mastery exam."
What to Watch For
Of course, not every online program is worthwhile, and online certificates aren't for everyone, says John Fernandes, president and CEO of AACSB International, the main accrediting body for business schools. Students should have a clear understanding of what they want to achieve, he says. "You need to do your homework. Ask yourself, 'What is this course yielding for the starting point of future employment?' "
Executive recruiter Nancy Keene agrees. "No matter what school, it is important to know the brand of the school, what it might add to your [qualifications] package and how it will be received by your target hiring managers," says Ms. Keene, a director in Stanton Chase International's Dallas office.
She suggests contacting hiring managers and graduates of the program to find out how valuable the certificates have proved in the workplace before signing up. If the program checks out, Ms. Keene adds, a targeted certificate can be especially valuable when recruiters ask what you've been doing while laid off.
--Ms.Garone is a writer in Alameda, Calif. She can be reached at email@example.com.
Corrections & Amplifications:
Mark Delisi is director of corporate responsibility at Computer Sciences Corp. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said Mr. Delisi held that position at Campbell Soup Co.


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Verbal Trauma Control: Life Saving Communications
by Brian Willis
Law enforcement officers are not strangers to trauma. They respond to thousands of calls involving injuries resulting from traffic accidents, shootings and stabbings. A significant number of these incidents result in someone being seriously injured. All too often, the injured parties are fellow law enforcement officers.
According to the FBI uniform crime reporting statistics in the 10-year period from 1995 to 2004, there were 594 officers killed in the line of duty in the United States and another 717 officers died in what were classified as accidents. In that same 10-year period, 566,523 officers were assaulted, with approximately 30% of those officers being injured in the assaults. Naturally, law-enforcement officers are the first responders in the majority of these cases. Although agencies normally provide basic first aid training, many officers wish there was more they could do to help.
Communicating to Trauma Victims
Verbal Trauma Control is a method of communicating to trauma victims in a way that taps into the tremendous power of the human mind. Positive suggestion can be a powerful tool for healing and can have a tremendous effect on the psychology as well as physiology of the human body. This is especially true in trauma situations. Verbal Trauma Control is a skill that first responders can use to take command of the situation. Examples of incidents include, an officer that has been shot or stabbed, a victim of an automobile accident, a heart attack victim, an injured climber or skier where access to advanced medical care is likely to be delayed, a burn victim or other injured person. Trauma victims are in an altered state of consciousness and highly receptive to suggestion. People trained in the art of Verbal Trauma Control can use this altered state of consciousness to enhance the likelihood of a positive outcome. Verbal Trauma Control is meant to augment first aide procedures and can help stimulate the healing process prior to the arrival of medical personnel.
It is common for a person who has been injured to feel scared, alone and confused. Because people in the immediate environment may be panicked, their communication can be negative, actually compounding the victim's fear. Instead, by using the most desirable positive verbal skills, first responders may bring a sense of calm, control and focus to the injured person. In fact, Verbal Trauma Control can be used to reduce or stop bleeding, prevent shock and eliminate pain or discomfort. Law enforcement officers, paramedics, firefighters and search and rescue personnel are typically the authority in emergency situations. Regardless of whether the victim is conscious or not, their subconscious mind processes information and is receptive to direction given by trained personnel.
We often talk about the roles of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) in officer safety training. We understand that officers experience an SNS activation during times of stress such as a lethal force encounter. After the threat has diminished the PNS seeks to take back control to create a state of homeostasis (balance) in the body. However, when the officer is injured, he stays in the state of SNS activation longer because new fears are created by the injury. Positive suggestion is a tool which can be used to help with PNS activation and stimulate healing.
W.I.N. - What's Important Now
In trauma situations, officers must focus on W.I.N. This powerful acronym stands for What's Important Now? Focusing on What's Important Now allows the officer to prioritize tasks and deal with the situation effectively and efficiently. On approach, it is vitally important for the officer to calm himself by taking a deep breath and determining a plan of action. Regardless of the relationship with the injured person, or the nature of the injuries, you must remain calm and focus on projecting confidence and authority with your words and your body language. Officers must understand that the human mind may accept or reject suggestions. Therefore, they can only help those who allow them to. You must also realize that while Verbal Trauma Control is a powerful tool, it is not magic! The injured person may still die! Officers must know that although they may do everything correctly and to the best of their ability, the injured person still may not survive due to factors beyond the officer's control. One critical part of scene management is for the first responding officer to delegate responsibility to those who are assisting and keep all negative people away from the injured party.
As previously stated, the injured person is in a highly suggestible state. The object of Verbal Trauma Control is to maximize the suggestible state to enhance healing. This is why it's important to give other people jobs to do and to keep negative people away from the injured party. Because of this high level of suggestibility communication, both verbal and nonverbal, are very important elements. When communicating with the injured person, it is imperative that the officer be positive at all times. In order to enhance communication, the officer must get close to the injured person and speak slowly and clearly. He must use clear, suggestions which create expectations for success—he must paint an optimistic future. The officer should make eye contact with the injured person and project a sense of calm and confidence.
Positive suggestions must be made clear, simple and specific. They must be made with a sense of complete confidence and authority. The suggestions must be positive, affirming, believable and focused on healing. Officers should try and get positive feedback from the injured person and personally celebrate all successes with the individual. Some suggestions may be offered in the form of a question. For example, asking the injured person if he would be more comfortable lying down will be perceived less critically and more empowering than telling them to lie down.
Role of Imagination
Imagination is a key element of the subconscious mind and an important part of Verbal Trauma Control. Everyone's mind processes and codifies information in images unique to that individual. Scientific research has shown that human physiology including blood pressure, heart rate, pain response, muscular tension, respiratory rate, the contraction and expansion of blood vessels and blood coagulation can be affected by those images. This occurs regardless of whether the images are from something the person is actually seeing, or from something they are imagining or dreaming about.
With a basic understanding of the power of imagery, officers can incorporate these mental pictures into their suggestions. An example would be telling the injured person "I bet you can imagine somewhere else you would rather be right now," "If you could be doing your favorite activity right now what would it be?" or, "If you could imagine being at your favorite place in the world right now, where would you be?" This allows the injured person to tap into the power of their imagination and diverts their attention away from the injury.
Officers should avoid less desirable suggestions such as "Don't die!" Instead, use more positive terminology such as "Focus your energy on healing." Another example of less desirable terminology or suggestions would be "Don't be afraid!" It would be more desirable to tell him, "Feel safe knowing I am here." You should also avoid words such as pain. It's more desirable to use the term "discomfort" not only to the injured, but also when reporting to paramedics or hospital personnel who are taking over caring for the injured. The key here is use positive words and phrases.
The level of first aid and medical skills the officer knows will dictate the specific level of healing suggestions. If the biological, psychological or physiological needs of the injured person are unknown, suggestions may be more general. Examples include: suggestions to encourage stopping bleeding, reducing discomfort and other aspects of healing. Some examples of general healing oriented statements are:
- As soon as your wound is cleansed you can stop that bleeding and save your blood. Paramedics are on the way. Just focus on your breathing and notice how much better you begin to feel.
- Paramedics are on the way. What's important now is that you allow your body to do what needs to be done to protect your life and begin healing. I can see that your (injured area of the body) needs assistance. Allow your mind to scan the rest of your body and make sure that everything else is ok.
- As I apply pressure to your wound you can allow the bleeding to stop and save your blood. Your body knows how to heal itself. The pressure of my touch just allows you to begin to relax and let your body to do what needs to be done to protect your life and begin healing.
Team Effort
Verbal Trauma Control is a team effort. In order to be most successful it's important to establish rapport and create an alliance with the injured person. The first simple tactic for accomplishing this is for the officer to introduce himself.
"Hello. My name is ________________. I am a (police officer, state trooper, sheriff's deputy, park ranger, etc.). The worst is over. I am here to help you. Will you do as I say?" The two simple statements "The worst is over." "I am here to help you." will help establish authority, alliance and project empathy. By using this simple introduction the officer has identified himself as someone that can help. This introduction also serves to establish a verbal contract with the injured person, reinforcing that this is a team effort, and lets the injured person know that they play an important role in their own healing. It also serves to give them a sense of power and control, which may bring with it a calming effect. Even if the injured person is unconscious, it's important to use the same introduction. Tell them who you are and what you are doing.
The next step is to find out the injured person's name. If he is conscious, simply ask. If he is unconscious, find out from someone on scene. Addressing the injured with his name establishes recognition and familiarity. Ask him to describe the problem. This gives him a sense of control and demonstrates respect for this ability to communicate. Questions may also be asked to help increase his comfort level. Example: Ask him to allow his mind to scan his body for any other areas that may need attention. This takes his mind off of his primary injury and allows distraction for a few moments, possibly increasing his comfort level.
Maintain a balance of power by assuring that control is shared between the officer and the injured person. This is another important element of forging a strong alliance between the two. Officers must be aware that the balance of power may change during the situation. The officer can empower the injured person with a sense of control by having him hold an ice bag or apply pressure to a wound. If he is not willing to do this, you can calmly shift control and do it yourself or have someone else do it.
Prior to or while beginning extrication or treatment, rescuers should tell the injured person who they are, and what they are doing. This is necessary even if the injured is unconscious. By imparting this information, they provide the injured with a certain measure of control and power. He is not helplessly being tossed from one person to another without benefit of knowing what is going on. Officers can anticipate things that may create stress or a good site for the injured and be proactive in their communication. For example, other emergency vehicles responding to the scene may create anxiety for the injured. This anxiety can be reduced by communicating something along these lines, "Some people find the sound of the sirens frightening, but you can know that the sound of the sirens is calming—it means additional help is on the way. They are coming to help you!"
Once familiar with Verbal Trauma Control, you will be able to shield the injured from paramedics and emergency room staff who make negative comments regarding the nature of the injury or level of pain the injured should be in. If the injured is not prepared for these negative comments, it can reverse much of the positive work that has already been done.
Therefore it can be important to anticipate these negative comments and take proactive strategies to safeguard against them. This can be as simple as telling the injured person "You may hear other people make negative comments about how much pain you must be in, or about how bad the injury looks. Know that these people are well-trained, and there to help you. It is just that sometimes they get caught up in the moment and say things that are not good for you to hear. You know how well you are doing and that you can remain calm and in control, regardless of what the medical people say. In fact any negative statements you hear will just make you feel more calm and in control."
The object of this article is to give officers a brief insight into the potentially life saving power of Verbal Trauma Control and to encourage them to seek more training and knowledge in this critical area.
1. Performance Enhancement Imagery Course, Winning Mind Training Inc.
2. NLP and Health, McDermott and O'Connor 1996
3. Action Guide for Emergency Services Personnel, Rescue Training Associates Ltd., 1985
4. The Psychobiology of Mind-Body Healing, Rossi. 1993
5. Can I help? Stories and Reflections on Service. Dass and Gorman, 1985.
6. Guided Imagery for Self-Healing. Rossman, 2000.
7. Patient Communication for First Responders and EMS Personnel. Jacobs, 1991.
8. The Worst is Over. Acosta and Prager, 2002.
9. Emergency Hypnosis. Hastings, 1998.
10. Pain Control. Mottin and Johnson.
11. Emergency Hypnosis. Kein, 1997.