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Life in Helmand, Afghanistan: soldiers' stories
My soldiers have fought with resilience... When the Taliban have tried to take them on we have won every time
The Co Down man in charge of British forces in Helmand Province has spoken of pride at his troops' achievements during one of the military's most difficult tours of duty.
Brigadier Tim Radford, head of 19 Light Brigade, the first full-sized brigade to deploy from Northern Ireland since WWII, paid tribute to the bravery, courage and sacrifice shown by the 3,000 soldiers who left bases at Antrim, Holywood, Lisburn and Ballykinler for a six-month stint in one of the world's most dangerous places.
Speaking during a rarely given media briefing, the Thiepval-based Brigadier said: "The soldiers in my brigade have worked extremely hard over a hard summer and they have fought with resilience and fortitude at every turn. And when the Taliban have tried to take them on with force we have won every time.
"I think what's really important is how they have done it in terms of the judgement and measure they have shown on the ground during very trying conditions."
He added: "19 Light Brigade is the first brigade to deploy from Northern Ireland since the Second World War. It is a reflection of military bases in Northern Ireland being treated the same as those in England and elsewhere in the UK, rather than as an operational theatre for the British Army. On a personal level I am very proud to be commanding a Task Force that has left the place where I grew up and where I still have many friends."
But Brigadier Radford, who is a former Methodist College student, also warned that peace could not be achieved by the military alone.
With the death toll soaring to 207 and casualty figures undisclosed it is the military who are taking the biggest losses.
"Afghanistan, like Northern Ireland, will not find a solution by purely military means. But the physical environment in Afghanistan is very different and the fighting here is much more intense," he said.
Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion The Mercians, 2 Rifles, 38 Engineer Regiment and Combat Service Support Battalion, deployed from Northern Ireland back in March, have been the lead forces in Helmand.
Few regiments have escaped without serious casualties or losses but for the Ballykinler-based 2nd Battalion The Rifles it has been a particularly devastating tour. The unit is based at Sangin — a Taliban stronghold in northern Helmand — and have lost 12 men to date.
For the engineers' deployment was made even more difficult after the shooting of Sappers Mark Quinsey and Patrick Azimkar in a RIRA attack at Massereene in March.
Brigadier Radford said: "We have had a tough tour but morale remains high. In many cases the loss of a colleague only serves to harden the resolve of the soldiers to continue the fight in their name.
"I speak to the Commanding Officer of 2 Rifles, Lt Colonel Rob Thomson, on a daily basis and I visit them in Sangin and the outlying stations as often as I can. Whilst they have taken some big hits during the tour the commanding officer has led them brilliantly.
"I am full of admiration for them and what they have achieved."
Asked about whether the threat from dissident republicans made it more difficult leaving family back at base in Northern Ireland, the brigadier said his soldiers were looking forward to finishing the operational tour and returning to their bases.
He added: "Everybody who leaves home for six months misses their family and friends but I think we are extremely well looked after by the home team and it will be great to be able to go back home at the end of the summer.
"I believe the public in Northern Ireland are fully behind the soldiers serving in Afghanistan, judging by the letters we receive and the send-off we received when we left back in April. We are very much looking forward to returning to Northern Ireland in October."
Pte Lee Davison
My vehicle overturned and rapidly began filling up with water
Lee Davison: dangerous job
A teenage soldier from Northern Ireland who cheated death in a freak accident has said he feared returning to road patrols in Afghanistan.
Private Lee Davison, who is on his first tour of duty with the Kinnegar-based 19 Combat Support Service Battalion, almost drowned when his Panther vehicle plunged into a canal during an operation to deliver essential supplies to an outpost in Helmand Province.
The 19-year-old from Portadown had been knocked out and was just minutes from death when he was pulled to safety by an eagle-eyed sergeant who noticed the Panther wheel spinning in the water and dived in to the rescue.
The accident happened almost two months ago, but recalling the terrifying ordeal from his base at Camp Bastion the young soldier said he is still haunted by the tragedy that could have unfolded.
He said: "I was the second last vehicle in the convoy. Just before we came to cross the canal we went down on the front to watch vehicles coming across and when the last vehicle went past we sped off. That's the last thing I can remember.
"The next thing I woke up and we were upside down and the vehicle was flooded. Whenever we were turning over the fire extinguisher clipped my head and knocked me out. It was pretty scary.
"I woke up and we were flooded with water.
"I was worried going out again at the start after it happened. And the last operation that I was on it was actually the same route that the accident happened and I sat on the roof of the vehicle for the whole way down the canal.
"At least if you're on the roof you have a hatch to jump down into if you come under attack."
Pte Davison is part of the Combat Logistics Team which travels in convoys of more than 75 vehicles delivering goods such as food, fuel and water to the dozens of outposts dotted around Helmand.
It is one of the most dangerous jobs in the military — as the convoys, which can stretch up to 5km long, are a prime target for insurgents as they snake their way through the dangerous and inhospitable Afghan desert.
He has only been in the Army for two-and-a-half years but the young communications specialist has already seen a lot of action.
"I've seen rocket-propelled grenade attacks, small arms fire and improvised explosive devices going off just a few vehicles in front of me. Luckily I've not been injured."
L/Cpl Alan Strain
I heard a whizzing and a mortar round landed near my truck
Among the thousands of soldiers serving in Helmand Province are 30 Northern Irish Territorial Army volunteers who have been tasked with keeping the vital supply convoys on the road.
The part-time unit, which has taxi drivers, post men and truck drivers in its ranks, has one of the most important jobs in Camp Bastion and can often see at first hand the devastation caused by improvised explosives devices.
One of those who has put his civilian life on hold is Lance Corporal Alan Strain (33), who has swapped his job as a Royal Mail truck driver for six months at war.
The 33-year-old from Belfast has even put his wedding off until he returns home and is planning to tie the knot this autumn.
He said: "It was a bit of a shock for my fiancee when I said I was coming out here but she's coping really well. She would speak to her friends about how much she is afraid. She doesn't say too much about it to me because she wants me to keep my head straight.
"We have four kids and so they, and planning for the wedding, are keeping her going. Hopefully she'll have everything organised by the time I get home so that all I'll have to do is put on my uniform and said 'I do'.
"She had said about getting married before I went on tour but I preferred to wait until I got back. It's something that will keep you going.
"You'll always get days when you want to lift your bags and walk away from it. But all the guys round you help. Everyone knows how everyone feels so you get each other through it."
L/Cpl is attached to 4 Squadron Combat Support Logistic Corps which delivers vital supplies to the outposts across Helmand and has come in close contact with the Taliban on numerous occasions.
He added: "I have had a few encounters with the Taliban but the worst was when I was down in a place called Patrol Base Minden where they were building a new Forward Operations Base. My job was driving down to a wadi, which is a dried up river to collect stones and sand to fill the Hesco bags.
"I did five wadi runs and was contacted every time but the worst was when I was sitting in the driver's seat, I was shattered and exhausted, and was waiting on the guy filling the container behind me when I heard these two rounds whizzing past the window.
"I just ducked out of the way and the next thing a mortar came in and landed about 30ft from the truck. It was very close. "
Massereene had a 'dreadful effect'
The Real IRA gun attack at Massereene Army barracks had a "dreadful" effect on soldiers deploying to Afghanistan from Northern Ireland, a senior soldier has said.
Lieutenant Colonel Mike Campbell (right), whose Kinnegar-based troops flew out to theatre along with comrades of Sappers Mark Quinsey and Patrick Azimkar, said they were left shocked and deeply concerned by the shooting which happened on the eve of their deployment almost six months ago.
Speaking from his base at Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, Lt Colonel Campbell recalled: "I can't say it didn't affect us. It did. It was obviously a dreadful time for everybody involved.
"We deployed at the same time as 38 Regiment and we had people on that aircraft that those lads were due to go on.
"It was probably worse for our families than us because we left our families behind. It really had the dual edge there, of us not being able to look after our families and our families being concerned that we were away. But the rear party of both our team brigade, 38 brigade, have worked tremendously hard and their part in the whole campaign shouldn't be overlooked.
"I think you worry about your family wherever they are but obviously that issue just before we left just exacerbated it."
During their time in Afghanistan Lt Colonel's troops have faced many dangers of their own as they travel to every corner of Helmand taking vital supplies to the men in remote outposts. Snaking through the desert in convoys of over 100 vehicles, which can stretch as far as 10 kilometres, the truckers from 19 CSS Battalion provide a lifeline for the battle groups posted on the front line.
Their role is to bring much-needed supplies such as food, water, fuel and ammunition to troops at the forward operating bases dotted across Helmand Province. But during their long and dangerous journeys they too become prime targets for the Taliban.
"I think it has been recognised that this summer has been a particularly demanding one and we have taken our fair share of insurgent activity," he said.
But Lieutenant Colonel Campbell is confident that they are making a difference.
He added: "I think so.
"But it's not going to happen overnight and people are going to have to accept that we will go forward inch by inch rather than mile by mile."
Michael's miraculous escape from a blazing vehicle
By Victoria O'Hara
The father of a Belfast soldier who survived an explosion in Afghanistan after dragging himself from the burning vehicle despite being severely injured today said he is "lucky to be alive".
Queen's Royal Hussars soldier Michael Stoker (22) suffered a broken pelvis and 30% burns after the vehicle he was in hit a mine and overturned at the end of May.
His father Councillor Bob Stoker — a former Lord Mayor of the city — told the Belfast Telegraph that just minutes before the explosion Michael had changed places in the vehicle with a colleague who died.
He immediately found himself trapped and covered in burning motor oil.
His army colleagues frantically tried to get Michael out of the vehicle but couldn't reach him.
Finally they managed to cut his armour off, but he still remained trapped.
Mr Stoker said "somehow" his son found the strength to drag himself free despite suffering from a broken pelvis.
He and his wife Hillary flew to Birmingham to be with their son at Selly Oak military hospital, where he was treated.
They kept a vigil at his side, not knowing how serious his condition was.
During his treatment he underwent skin grafts and continued to receive 24-hour care.
Despite his injuries Michael is now undergoing intensive rehabilitation in England and according to Mr Stoker is doing "brilliantly".
He said: "They were going to a base, and hit a mine or improvised explosive device, as they call them.
"Ten minutes beforehand Michael had been on the turret of the vehicle and stopped and changed with the driver.
"Unfortunately the guy who took over from him was killed in the explosion, Michael was extremely, extremely lucky.
"When the vehicle overturned Michael was trapped in it.
"It is coming back to him in bits and pieces. He still can't remember how he managed to get himself out of the vehicle, because he was trapped in it with the burning hot oil over him.
"His colleagues couldn't pull him out either. But they managed to cut away his armour, and he managed to pull himself out of a very tiny hole.
"From what his colleagues were telling me they were just amazed at how he was able to get himself out with the injuries, including a broken pelvis.
"It was just miraculous," he said.
Mr Stoker said his son is hoping to return to light duties following his rehabilitation which he is expected to complete by mid-September.
He said he and his family will always worry about Michael but are "100%" supportive of him.
"All family of serving military personnel always have concerns but it doesn't stop us from being supportive and extremely proud of what he does," he added.
Belfast Telegraph


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N Hollywood CA Real Estate & Homes for Sale
58 Properties Found
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Courtesy: Century 21 Allstars Judi Reimer
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Beautifully updated single-story home in trendy North Hollywood! Close to the NoHo Arts District and the NoHo West development. This 3 bedroom 1 bathroom home has been upgraded with laminate flooring in the common areas and carpet in the bedrooms. The kitchen has been updated with custom white cabinets, quartz counter tops, a tile back splash and a stainless steel dishwasher, range and microhood will be installed prior to close of escrow. The full bathroom has been upgraded with tile flooring, a custom vanity and tile shower surround. The backyard is a perfect blank slate to design a dream entertaining area. This property won't last long. Come see it and make an offer while you can! Tax rolls state different bathroom count, buyer to verify.
Courtesy: Gibson International - Marina Adam Rosal
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Located near the North Hollywood Arts District and Metro Line, this clean, comfortable, and contemporary single-family home offers 4 beds and 3 full baths. Built in 2015, this home has an open floor plan with a large dine-in kitchen, custom tiled bathrooms, wood flooring, and crown moulding throughout the home. Among the amenities are central heat and air with a Nest thermostat and an attached two-car automatic garage with enough driveway space for extra parking.
4827 Ledge Avenue North Hollywood, CA 91601
Courtesy: Engel & Volkers Sherman Oaks Jassmine Kabir
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Impressive brand new home, especially to the eye of the most discerning individual. Custom built home featuring 11ft. high celling's with a lot of natural light to fill up the home. Newly constructed with 5 Bedrooms and 4 Bathrooms, this two-story home is a one of a kind residence with 4138 sqft of living space. With some of the best design and contemporary styles, this home showcases PORCELANOSA tiles, landscaping, and a magnificent kitchen with high-end appliances, Caesar stone counters and Center Island. The master suite features a luxurious fireplace, large master bathroom and huge walk in closet. Entertain in the spacious family room that provides a bar with refrigerator, grand fireplace and direct access to the outdoor terrace with pool/spa and BBQ area. The great location is near riverside restaurants, Burbank studios and plenty of shopping.
Courtesy: The Real Estate Plaza Enrique Campos
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Come enjoy this beautiful house built in 1997, newer North Hollywood District 3Bed + 2.5 Bath Burbank and Toluca Lake adjacent,. Two-Story luxurious home! Interior has Beautiful accompaniments and must-see designer model exterior! Gorgeous gourmet kitchen with granite counters, stainless steel appliances and stylish wood cabinets, big pantry, Spacious kitchen opens to cozy family room and elegant dining room! Hardwood floors, Large Master suite with huge closet! Master Bath, beautiful yard with large lemon trees. First time in the market. THIS HOME IS HUGE BELOW MARKET VALUE, NO LAST LONGER.
Open House:
Sunday, 11/26 1:00-4:00PM
Courtesy: Douglas Elliman of California, Inc. Jonathan Butler
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Value still exists in this competitive market, and it's here, in North Hollywood with this idyllic 3bd/2ba pool home. Updates abound throughout this thoughtful floorplan with amazing open flow in the living spaces. Updated kitchen with granite counters and stainless steel appliances. Updated bathroom with granite, marble and beautifully tiled shower and bath. The bedrooms feature original hardwood floors and amazing custom closets. The backyard features a large pool, surrounded by lush and colorful plants as well as multiple entertaining patio areas. To top it all off, enjoy cool summers with lower electric bills thanks to your almost new solar panels. Close access to Burbank, NoHo Arts District, upcoming NoHo West and much more. Value like this does not exist much in our market today, but it does here. Act now.
Courtesy: Ramsey-Shilling Assoc. Ewa Shilling
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Charming 4BR home with fantastic curb appeal! Large living room with fireplace for cold winter evenings. Large family room/den with window opening to the kitchen for a cooking and entertaining space. Beautifully maintained kitchen with granite countertops, wood cabinets and stainless appliances. Separated laundry room with doors attached to kitchen. Fabulous hardwood floors have been refinished, new coat of paint throughout and recessed lighting. Enormous master bedroom with dark hardwood floors. Master bedroom also features a walk-in closet. Luscious green landscaping and new sod. Long driveway with detached garage and carport. Backyard showcases a patio/courtyard area and gated pool and spa.
Open House:
Sunday, 11/26 1:00-4:00PM
Courtesy: JohnHart Corp. Lilith Berko
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Gorgeous Spanish Style home tucked in the beautiful city of North Hollywood! This newly remodeled single-family home features Four bedrooms and Three bathrooms with a new roof, cooper plumbing with new electrical. Well-illuminated floor-plan with beautiful flooring, cathedral vaulted beamed ceilings with sky lights and a fireplace, recessed lighting, base board molding and sliding glass doors through-out the home giving you easy access to the backyard! The uniquely designed kitchen is equipped with stainless steel appliances, tile back-splash, granite counter-tops, ample cabinet space and bar stool seating! All the bedrooms are spacious and well-lit with mirrored sliding door closets. This home also features a wonderful bonus attached in law suit with a separate back entrance and a separate water heater!! Outside is an entertainers dream, with a heated pool and spa, open patio area and a wood burning built-in brick fireplace! Welcome to your new home… 8130 Coldwater Canyon Avenue!
Courtesy: JohnHart Real Estate Henrik Alaverdyan
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Nestled on the boarder of Valley Glen is a picturesque single-family home built in 2004 featuring 3-bedrooms and 3-bathrooms, offers a private ambiance, gated access with a tiled driveway, a foyer entry into an illuminated, spacious open floor-plan! Inside you'll find 9.5' ceilings with high end custom tile flooring in the living room and the dining area, recessed lighting, custom crown molding and a fireplace in the living room, family room and one in the master bedroom! Exquisite kitchen with a custom-made island, granite counter-tops with ample amount of cabinet space, top of the line stainless-steel appliances with a stove range and tile back-splash! Hardwood flooring in all the bedrooms. First master bedroom with en suite bathroom offers ample closet space with mirrored sliding doors. Second master bedroom is complete with an en suite bathroom with a stand-up shower and Jacuzzi, an ONYX fireplace, large walk-in closet and a sliding door giving you access to the backyard!! The beautiful backyard features a tranquil garden with beautiful tile flooring, ample number of fruit trees like pomegranate, fig, mandarin/orange, apple and persimmon, as well as charming rose plants, and a beautiful covered patio with custom decorative pillars!
Courtesy: CalStar George Arbo
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Attention! Attention! GREAT OPPORTUNITY Coming soon look no further! This is a rare find in the heart of NoHo art district border to Burbank city - this home is ready for you to move in! All remodeled in 2007 3 good size bedrooms 3 full bathrooms,two master room, family room with a gorgeous fireplace), with recessed lighting, crown moldings, beautiful marble & hardwood floors, costume made kitchen with island copper plumbing and professional landscaping in a spacious backyard! The patio is great for relaxing or enjoying a day. Detached generous size garage and long driveway good for RV or make this property one of a kind with tons of potential to make it your own or add additional sqft. Conveniently located near studios, schools, shopping, restaurants & public transportation. Garage has water and electric connections and converted into 2 bed and 1 bath can be used for in-law or guest house, extra income.
Open House:
Saturday, 11/25 2:30-4:30PM
Courtesy: Kennedy Wilson Auction Group Rhett Richar Winchell
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PROBATE AUCTION! This property will be sold as is, where is, and is subject to confirmation by the Superior Court. The sale will be conducted at the property site on the day of the auction. This Home features 4 bedrooms, 2 baths (+/- 2,553 sq. ft.). The lot size is +/- 8,250 sq. ft.
Courtesy: Titus Realty, Inc. Nerses Ananyan
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This newly constructed, built in 2015 two story custom-built property is available for purchase. There are 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms including a bonus room of high end finish material utilized. The house is located on a quiet street and affluent neighborhood of North Hollywood. It offers an open floor plan, 9 foot high ceilings throughout, pane windows, ample amount of natural light, large living room with a fireplace, crown/baseboard molding, archway door entry, new interior and exterior paint, kitchen with a center island, sliding doors for direct backyard access, custom built Espresso cabinets, quartz countertops, glass backsplash and built in stainless steel appliances, such as oven/range, dishwasher, Samsung refrigerator; hardwood floors on the first floor, custom tiled bathrooms. 4 Bedrooms are upstairs, which includes 2 master suites with walk in closets and the stylish grand master suite includes a large tub, separate shower and a private balcony. Exterior features include driveway with pavers, spacious large backyard with water-free landscaping (owner has approved plans for a pool and backyard), laundry room, fire sprinklers, alarm system with motion sensors, dual HVAC units, attached 2 car garage with direct access and much more.
Courtesy: S.T. Real Estate Group, Inc. Souren Tutundjian
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Attention!!! All North Hollywood Agents & Buyers! Wait Till You See This Fantastic Newer Showplace Home! Perfect As Is Or Create Your Own Entertainers Dream Home Here! Great Curb Appeal!This one of a kind home has been thoughtfully designed for today's lifestyle. Open Concept Living is the theme of this home. This complete remodel in 2017 comes with NEW Plumbing, NEW Electrical, NEW Heating & Cooling, NEW Stainless Steel Appliances, NEW Flooring, 9' Ceiling & Much Much More. Fire sprinklers throughout entire house. Main master bedroom with walk-in closets. The house has been completely rebuilt in 2017. This wonderful Home is close to Shopping Centers & Many Eateries. DON'T MISS OUT!!!!
Courtesy: Pinnacle Estate Properties Gary Keshishyan
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3 bed 2 bath corner property located on a quiet street in North Hollywood. Features include living room, huge family room with fire place, large back yard with pool and much more.
Courtesy: Park Regency Realty Maricela Alvarado
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The beautiful townhouse in nestled in one of North Hollywood's most sought after communities, BRIARCLIFFE, and the owner has priced to sell. Here are just a few of its many other fine features: A flowing 964 square foot two story floor plan with easy care tile flooring on the first floor. Bright and spacious living room. The family cook is going to appreciate the kitchen's abundant cabinets, granite counters, durable dual basin stainless steel sink, and the convenience of the adjoining dining area with its lighted ceiling fan and direct access to the front patio. Both of the spacious upstairs bedrooms are carpeted. 2 bathrooms; Guest bathroom is located on the first floor and has a stall shower with seat. Central heat & air for year-round comfort. You going to spend countless hours enjoying the two tennis courts, sparkling pool, and lush greenbelts. The laundry is functionally located in the finished 2 car direct access garage that has plenty of additional storage.
Courtesy: Titus Realty, Inc. Albert Mouradian
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Great opportunity for first-time buyers, new couples, and investors! You can own this 2 bedroom 1 bath condo in a nice, clean building with a pool and security gate. Property is in move-in condition, partially remodeled and renovated four months ago. Property features large and light living room, updated kitchen which includes dining area, two large bedrooms. Buyer will love the walk-in closet and freshly remodeled bathroom with new tub and faucets. Low HOA.
Courtesy: Renaissance Realty And Investm Navid Kohan
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TRIPLEX In NOHO Arts District. FULLY OCCUPIED! 5% CAP! TOLUCA LAKE ADJACENT! SOUTH OF BURBANK! Gross Annual Rents Are $70,128. The 3 units consist of (one) 2 bed / 1 bath and (two) 1 bed / 1 bath. There is a potential for upside with one of the 1 bed units that's currently collecting $1,494/month. The other 1 bed unit is currently rented for $1,850/month. The 2 bed front unit is currently rented for $2,500/month. Located in the Most Desirable Pocket of North Hollywood, This Investment Property is Perfect for Just Sitting Back and Collecting Rents. Luxuriously Updated Units with Privately Fenced Yard And Enclosed Patio. Each Unit has its Own Yard and Outdoor Space for Personal Gardening Touches. Washer and Dryer are Located in a Separate Enclosure on the Side of the Property for Access. All tenants have signed a lease agreement with strong security deposits. Newer Copper Plumbing and Roof with virtually no maintenance! Great Investment Opportunity with Minimal Up-Keep!
Courtesy: Moon Realty Alina Boulommavong
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Fantastic opportunity to own a newly renovated DUPLEX, situated on a large corner lot, in the desirable North Hollywood area! Each unit offers 2 bedrooms, 1 bath with private outdoor living spaces; perfect for children and pets! Curb appeal rejuvenated with a fresh coat of paint on the exterior along with new concrete walkways! Both units, with similar layout, have a spacious living room with an abundance of natural and recessed lighting. Off the living room, a cozy dining area with large windows and decorator lighting sits adjacent to the newly remodeled kitchen! Cook on ample counter space, new grey quartz counter-top, new contemporary grey/white back-splash, and a double oven! Newly remodeled bathrooms situated near 2 generously sized bedrooms! Each unit includes their own washer/dryer, 1 car garage, and one additional driveway parking spot, with plenty of street parking available! There are separate gas, water, and electric meters, as property has 2 addresses (5803 & 5805). Copper plumbing throughout and new HVAC! Tenants pay all utilities! Minutes away from NoHo Arts District, Shops, Dinning, 5, 170, and 101 freeways! 5803 Will be delivered vacant.
Courtesy: Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Californ Rick Chimienti
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A 1947 Mid-Century Modern Valley Ranch House. Remodeled & upgraded throughout. Newly Remodeled Bathrooms, Upgraded Chef's Gourmet Ki tchen, New Kitchen Island, New Kitchen Counters & Backsplash, New Engineered Wood Floors, New Interior Doors, New Closet Floors, Master Bath Heated Floors, New Front Porch, New Trellis, New Deck, New Landscaping, Custom Bird Aviary, Newly Painted. Minutes to the NoHo Arts District, Valley Village, Studio City, Toluca Lake, Burbank, Hollywood and the Universal Entertainment Complex (Universal Studios & Citywalk). Freeway Close to All including Hollywood-Burbank Airport.
Courtesy: COSS REALTY & LOANS ERIC DELAMERCED
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Beautiful detached cul-de-sac home in a highly desirable community of North Hollywood. This home has 4-Bedrooms, 2.5 baths, formal dining room, and new beautiful wooden flooring up and down throughout except for Ceramic tile flooring in bathrooms. Roof shingles are only one year old. This home has a good size Backyard for relaxing and/or for entertaining your friends and family. 2 car attached garage that features direct access.
Courtesy: Century 21 Home Realtors Pauline West
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This Charming 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath home is located in a quiet neighborhood of North Hollywood. Property features Central Heating and Air Conditioning, Living Room with hardwood floors, Perfect back yard for BBQ's and Entertaining. House has a long driveway for multiple parking space. Close to parks, shopping centers, close proximity to Interstate 5, 101 freeway and 170 Hollywood freeway. Minutes away from Valley College, NO HO Arts District, Universal Studios and City Walk, 2 miles west of Bob Hope Airport in Burbank! Seller's are motivated! Per City of Los Angeles Zoning (R2, RD, R3, R4, R5) Please Contact Agent for any questions!
Courtesy: Koenig Properties Verzhine Uzunyan
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Where will you find a house with over 2,000 SF with a pool/spa, central air & heat, 2 master bedrooms, 2 car garage, and tastefully remodeled in the heart of North Hollywood? Located minutes away from Burbank, NoHo Arts District, Hollywood, Ventura Blvd, and Metro/LADT. Bright & open living space with a huge living room, new & beautiful kitchen, amazing dining space with double doors opening to an outdoor deck area, new tile and engineered laminate flooring, some canister lighting and top of the line finishing throughout the house. All 3 bathrooms have been remodeled with modern & exquisite taste, 3 spacious bedrooms (2 of them with private baths), and an office/den area with skylight. The master bedroom has a large seating area, walk-in closet, fireplace and huge master bathroom. Nice private outdoor area for throughout the year enjoyment, and of course sparkling pool & spa. Located close to Burbank Airport/Studios and minutes away from Ventura Boulevard with endless dining options, shopping & recreation that the Boulevard has to offer. Easy access to all major freeways and trending neighborhoods.
Courtesy: California Realty Pros Isabel Soria
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Builders wanted! Amazing opportunity with preliminary plans to build up to 9 units! This is a great investment for developers to build and sell or build and hold in this higher rent up-and-coming area 1 mile from the trendy NoHo Arts District. Close to schools, shops, public transportation and freeways.
Courtesy: Keller Williams Realty-Studio Tom Hernandez
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Welcome to this ultra modern home in North Hollywood! Offers 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms on over 2400 sq.ft. of living space and built in 2009. This 3 level property boasts an large open kitchen with black granite counters, custom cabinets, breakfast bar, large dine area, wood style flooring and a private balcony perfect for that early morning coffee! The living room is light, bright, offers recessed lighting, entertainment nook and a rear balcony for that extra outdoor space to enjoy an afternoon of sun. The second level features 2 master style bedrooms, each with their own bathrooms and the rear one has its own private balcony too. The top level offers a the 3rd bedroom that is currently being used as a dance studio. It also has its own bathroom and off this room is a roof top patio the just stamps this home as a modern beauty. If your looking for that one rare unique place to call your own, this is it! Move quickly, this one will not last long!
Courtesy: Elite Residential Realty Jonathan Yosef
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This is a beautiful and peaceful 55+ Senior CO-OP complex building. This 1+1 unit is well maintained on the second level facing the courtyard. Updated laminated wood floors, dual pane windows, 2 efficient wall unit AC and a central AC unit called Chillers that the HOA pays for it, plenty of natural light. Move in condition, turn key. No investors or renters. Must be owner occupied. All cash, no loans , full stock ownership, but a shareholder certificate. HOA dues cover property tax, hot and cold water, heating, cooling, gas, trash and gardener. The community pool is solar heated during the summer. The landscaping is weekly maintained. There are two laundry rooms in the complex. There is one covered assigned carport. The complex is completely fenced and gated. Small pets allowed and has to be under 25 pounds. Potential buyer is required to have interview and approval with the board of directors and needs to have a background check. The building is conveniently located next to freeway access, shops and restaurants. Will not last!
Courtesy: Secureline Realty and Funding Ara Haritunian
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subset: commoncrawl


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Inspired by the NYT recipe and the recent Cooks Illustrated updated version, I am pleased with a revision of my on making that is both fast and tasty.
To make a 1.5 pound loaf mix 15 oz (3 cups) flour (bread flour is best), 1 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast. Add 10 oz water. Mix by hand or machine to get a nice ball of dough. Spray with Pam, cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 8-16 hours. I leave it overnight in an oven with the light on. Then punch down and fold a few times and shape into a nice ball, seam side down. Place on parchment paper or aluminum foil and let rise in a low container such as a 10 inch frying pan. Spray again and cover.
About an hour later place a 5 quart Dutch oven in the oven and heat to 500 degrees. Heat for 30 minutes. Dust the loaf with flour. Make one slice across the loaf about 1/2 inch deep. Lower the dough including the paper or foil into the pot and put the top on tightly. Bake 30 minutes at 500 degrees. The loaf should now be done and ready to remove.
Crispy on the outside and moist and springy on the inside. Try not to eat more than half the loaf before it cools.


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"Nobody writes better about falling in love than Alice Adams. . . . How can one person know so much?" --The New York Times Book Review
With appearances in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, and Redbook, as well as in the O. Henry Award collections for eight consecutive years, Alice Adams had established herself as a master craftsman of the short story when she published her first collection.
Her well-honed skill is on abundantt display in this collection… (more)
Publisher: Vintage (June 08, 2011)
Format: EPUB
File size: 1.8 MB
Protection: DRM
Language: English


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|[Table of Contents]
|[navigation information]
A.M. Ayling
© Sea Research ABN 51 594 242 720PO Box 810
This publication may be referred to as:
List of Tables
List of Figures
It was long thought that corals were little affected by predators thanks to the defensive action of their stinging cells or nematocysts. However, once the extensive use of scuba equipment allowed a detailed study of coral communities in their natural habitat it became clear that a large number of molluscs are associated with living corals, some of which actually feed on the coral tissue (Hadfield 1976). Of these coral feeding molluscs, the most abundant are several species in the genus Coralliophila (family: Coralliophilidae), and two species in the genus Drupella (family: Muricidae). Some 10 years ago it became clear that the two Drupella species sometimes occurred in dense aggregations capable of causing significant damage to coral communities over areas of hundreds of square metres (Moyer et al. 1982). This report from southern Japan and the Philippines suggested that these small snails were capable of causing damage to coral communities as great as that due to the grazing activities of the well known crown-of-thorns star Acanthaster planci.
There have been a number of species described in the genus Drupella but it appears that there are only two valid species (Wilson 1992). These are Drupella cornus (synonyms: D. elata, D. eburnea, D. dealbata) and D. rugosa (synonyms: D. concatenata, D. fragum). Both these species are very similar in appearance, with the major difference being in the number of spiral rows of nodules on the shell: D. cornus has 4 rows and D. rugosa has 5. Both species are white or cream in colour, sometimes with brown spots on the nodules. There is, however, a consistent difference in the size of the two species, D. cornus is larger, ranging in shell length from 30-40 mm as an adult, compared to D. rugosa which normally ranges in shell length from 20-25 mm and occasionally to 30 mm.
There were a number of reports of the presence of Drupella on coral reefs in Australia in the 1970s and early 1980s, all of these concerning small groups of snails on a single coral colony (Loch 1987). However, in 1987, during a survey of fish communities and coral communities on the Ningaloo fringing reef tract in West Australia, it was found that high density populations of Drupella cornus were causing considerable damage to reefs over a distance of about 100 km (Ayling and Ayling 1987).
The Ningaloo fringing reef system extends for 260 km along the west coast of the North West Cape Peninsula in Western Australia (WA). In preliminary surveys of a proposed marine park area made by the West Australian Museum in 1980 it was reported that the coral communities were rich and diverse and although Drupella were present they were not causing any significant coral damage (Marsh personal communication). During the 1987 survey it quickly became apparent that the rich and diverse coral cover was no longer a feature of large areas of this reef. Live coral cover measured at a range of sites over a 100 km length of this reef between Tantabiddi Creek and Winderabandi Point was less than 10%, whereas dead standing hard corals, mainly plate Acropora covered over 60% of the bottom. Many of the remaining live coral colonies were infested with large numbers of Drupella cornus that were actively grazing on the coral tissues.
Estimates of Drupella density were made by searching for all adult individuals in a number of replicate 5 x 0.5 m transects at each site visited. These counts were made in 11 areas over a 150 km length of reef and showed that Drupella was present at all sites but was especially common in the back reef habitat where mean density was over 12 per sq m (table 1). The snails were very clumped and numbers as high as 175 per sq m were recorded in single transects. Some extreme cases were observed with over 300 individuals counted on a single 20 cm diameter corymbose Acropora colony, and over 1,000 on a plate Acropora. Numbers were apparently lower in the more exposed habitats on the reef crest and front reef slope with densities of between 1 and 2 per sq m, but only single sites were surveyed in these two habitats due to access problems caused by bad weather.
The Drupella were recorded feeding on a wide variety of coral species but predominantly on all Acropora species especially plate forming species. At one site 50% of all Acropora colonies examined were infested with Drupella, as well as 60% of all Montipora colonies, 30% of pocilloporids, poritids and Astreopora colonies, 20% of mussids and less than 10% of faviids. It is interesting that the range of corals eaten almost exactly parallels those eaten by crown of thorns; this coral grazer also prefers acroporids and rejects most faviids.
During this survey of Ningaloo reefs a preliminary estimate of the feeding rate of Drupella was made by using repeated photographs of Acropora plates on the back reef over a 7 day period. The number of Drupella individuals on each colony was counted at the start and end of the 7 day period. The mean feeding rate was about 2.5 sq cm of the plate area per mollusc per day. At this rate the mean number of Drupella found per sq m in this habitat could completely eat a plate 1 m square in just over a year. Drupella is certainly capable of causing the damage that was observed.
The damage done by Drupella cornus grazing on the Ningaloo reef tract has been dramatic. These preliminary data suggest that Drupella grazing had devastated (to use a word normally applied to Crown of Thorns affected reefs) at least 100 km of the reef tract. In this area coral cover had been reduced by a mean of about 86% on the back reef and lagoon coral dominated habitats since 1980, and by 47% in the single front reef slope site surveyed.
A number of subsequent surveys of the Ningaloo reef tract have suggested that the high density Drupella populations have been moving south, presumably by recruitment from existing populations rather than movement of adults. In late 1991 high densities of Drupella (16 per sq m) were only found in the extreme south of the Park, 150 km south of where peak densities were present in 1987 (Osborne 1992). Coral cover was low over most of the rest of the back reef from NW Cape to Coral Bay.
Drupella in Other West Australian Localities.
Since 1987 destructive Drupella aggregations have been recorded from a number of other reef areas in West Australia. These sites have ranged from the Abrolhos Reefs at 29°S (800 km south of Ningaloo) (Nardi 1992) to the Montebello Islands 200 km NE of NW Cape (Hilliard and Chalmer 1992). Hilliard and Chalmer (1992) reported that Drupella cornus was common on many reefs of the inshore north west shelf between Ningaloo and the Montebello Islands. There was some evidence that numbers were increasing and spreading between 1989 and 1991 in this area. Although D. rugosa has been recorded from Bundegi Reef in the Exmouth Gulf to the north of Ningaloo this species is apparently not common in the West Australian region.
Great Barrier Reef.
Initial surveys made between 1987 and 1990 on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) showed that the most abundant species in this region was Drupella rugosa, although D. cornus is occasionally found (Ayling and Ayling 1992). Observations by aware observers have reported Drupella from the Swain Group of reefs and the Capricorn-Bunker Group at the southern end of the GBR (22-23°S) all the way to the Torres Strait (10°S).
Preliminary counts using 20 x 1 m visually searched transects on Norman Reef off Cairns (16°25'S) recorded mean densities of 1.1 per sq m. However, D. rugosa, being smaller and more secretive than D. cornus, is not easy to count visually and some preliminary destructive searches of sq m quadrats on Low Isles off Port Douglas revealed mean densities of almost 20 per sq m (Oxley 1988).
D. rugosa eats approximately the same range of coral species as did the Drupella at Ningaloo. This species preferred pocilloporids and most Acropora species but was occasionally found eating a few other corals including Porites colonies.
During a trip in July 1990 to look the extent of the damage caused by TC Ivor (Done et al. 1990) spot checks were made on a number of reefs between Lizard Island and Princess Charlotte Bay (14°S-14°30'S). On about 6 of these reefs Drupella damage was marked, especially on Davie Reef a small outer reef that had a high level of damage at all three sites visited. During January-March 1991 surveys were made of a wide variety of reef organisms on 50 reefs in the Cairns Section of the GBR Marine Park in a project funded by the GBRMPA. As part of this study the effect of Drupella grazing on coral communities was quantified.
On each reef three sites were surveyed on the front (windward) face and another three sites on the back (leeward) face. At each site four replicate 30 x 1 m transects were searched for coral colonies that had been damaged by Drupella grazing and the number recorded, along with simultaneous counts of the number of undamaged colonies. The results were converted to a percentage of the total corals that were damaged at each site and a mean percentage damage calculated for the entire reef (6 sites). Overall reef-wide damage figures ranged from an insignificant 0.4% to over 26% of coral colonies. The grand mean damage level for all 50 reefs was 6.6%. There was a significant S - N increase in the extent of Drupella damage on mid-shelf reefs of the Cairns Section, but this was not reflected on outer shelf reefs (table 2).
The maximum recorded damage at any site was on the front reef of Nymph Island (14°40'S), north of Lizard Island where 48.3% of corals were damaged. This survey suggested that these gastropods are present on at least some parts of the GBR in sufficient numbers to cause significant coral death.
Causes of Drupella Infestations.
There seems to be a perception, both in Australia, and in the world-wide context, that Drupella grazing is a new problem and anthropogenic effects must somehow be responsible. The emotive word 'outbreak' is being used to describe the high density populations that have been located.
However, preliminary studies of the basic biology of Drupella species have only recently commenced and the information available is not sufficient to be able to determine what causes high density, destructive aggregations to appear in some areas. Growth rates of D. cornus suggest that this species reaches a determinate adult size after 5-6 years with an expected further life expectance of 2 years (Black and Johnson 1992). Individuals begin to breed at an age of about 3 years with females laying egg capsules that release free swimming veliger larvae into the plankton after about 30 days. Studies in the laboratory suggest that females can produce about 60,000 larvae annually. These larvae apparently spend up to two months in the plankton before settling amongst the fingers of clump forming Acropora coral colonies (Turner 1992). The long larval life suggests that this species has the capability of wide dispersal; genetic similarity studies confirm that populations from the Abrolhos Islands to Dampier in WA (a distance of 1,200 km) are relatively similar (Johnson et al. 1992).
Unless observers are aware of the appearance and capabilities of Drupella it is easy to overlook their activities or attribute them to some other agency such as crown-of-thorns grazing, even when they are present at high densities. Although all reports of extensive coral damage caused by Drupella grazing have only occurred in the past 10 years it is possible that they were overlooked prior to this time. There has also been a marked increase in the number and range of scuba diving studies on coral reefs over that past 10 years giving a greater chance of turning up incidents of this type.
A number of mechanisms have been suggested to be responsible for the appearance of high density Drupella populations:
Jack Moyer, who reported damage over relatively small areas of reef in Japan and the Philippines, blamed siltation from coastal development for the supposed increase in Drupella numbers (Moyer et al. 1982). The WA populations could hardly be attributed to this cause as the entire coast is a desert with 200 mm annual rainfall and very low human use apart from fishing The highest density populations found to date on the GBR are remote from centres of population and from possible man-induced water quality changes.
In Ningaloo where there is a recreational fishery for the common local lethrinids it has been suggested that fishing pressure has encouraged the high density Drupella populations. Lethrinids are potential predators, at least of small Drupella - it is hypothesised that removal of the fish by fishing pressure has resulted in increased densities of Drupella. The available data suggest that high numbers of Drupella are not correlated with low numbers of their potential major predators: the fish families lethrinidae and large labrids. Densities of these families on NW Cape were many times greater than in any GBR sites (table 3) and yet destructive populations of Drupella are not widespread on the GBR.
Densities of lethrinids on the northern Cairns Section reefs were greater than those on the southern reefs - the opposite of what might be expected if these fish were affecting Drupella numbers. A plot of lethrinid density against the percentage of Drupella damaged corals on the 50 reefs surveyed in 1991 showed a positive correlation (figure 1), indicating that removal of lethrinids by fishing pressure is unlikely to have been responsible for the high densities of Drupella observed on the Lizard Island area reefs.
It is clear that the problem is not as simplistic as some previous studies have suggested. We need a lot more information on the biology and ecology of Drupella, especially some knowledge of what determines the success of particular cohorts of recruits, before the reasons for the apparent population fluctuations can be understood.
A very rough estimate of the numbers of Drupella within the Ningaloo Marine Park was made using aerial photos to estimate reef area and combining this with the measures of density from the 1987 survey. There were almost 500 million Drupella on the Ningaloo reef system, suggesting that even if it was deemed to be necessary, control of Drupella populations will not be a simple matter.
An attempt at control of Drupella populations by hand removal by divers was made on the Ningaloo Reef (Osborne and Williams 1992). Divers spent two days removing snails from a 25 m square experimental plot and numbers were compared with a nearby control plot of similar size after a period of 35 weeks. It was found that an experienced diver could remove 75% of the snails present from the experimental plot in about 3 days of intensive diving (assuming 6 hours in the water per day). Numbers in the experimental plot after 35 weeks were about 20% of those at the start of the experiment and were significantly lower than those in the control. However, it would require almost 50 diver-days to clear 75% of snails from a hectare of reef. Measurements from aerial photographs show that there is about 4,000 ha of back reef coral area in the Ningaloo Marine Park, requiring almost 200,000 diver-days, or over 500 diver-years, to clear of snails. Clearly, control using this method is not viable except for very small areas of particular interest or importance.
Ayling, A.M. and Ayling, A.L. 1987, 'A biological survey of selected sites on the Ningaloo fringing reefs', Unpublished report to the West Australian Department of Conservation and Land Management, 47 pp.
Ayling, A.M. and Ayling, A.L. 1992, 'Preliminary information on the effects of Drupella spp. grazing on the Great Barrier Reef', In S. Turner (Ed.), Drupella cornus: a Synopsis, Proceedings of a workshop held at the Department of Conservation and Land Management, Como, Western Australia 21-22 November 1991, CALM Occasional Paper No. 3/92, pp. 37-42.
Black, R. and Johnson, M.S. 1992, 'Growth rates of Drupella cornus', CALM Occasional Paper No. 3/92, pp. 51-54.
Done, T.J., Ayling, A.M. and Van Woesik, R. 1990, 'Broadscale survey of impacts of Cyclone Ivor on coral reefs', Unpublished report to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, 39 pp.
Hadfield, M.G. 1976, 'Molluscs associated with living tropical corals', Micronesica, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 133-148.
Hilliard, R.W. 1992, 'Incidence of Drupella on coral monitoring transects between Serrurier Island and Mermaid Sound', CALM Occasional Paper No. 3/92, pp. 19-36.
Johnson, M.S., Holborn, K. and Black, R. 1992, 'Population genetics of Drupella cornus', CALM Occasional Paper No. 3/92, pp. 71-76.
Loch, I. 1987, 'Whodunnit? - COT death versus the dastardly Drupella', Australian Shell News, No. 58, pp. 1-2.
Moran, P.J., Bradbury, R.H. and Reichelt, R.E, 1988, 'Distribution of recent outbreaks of the crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) along the Great Barrier Reef: 1985-1986', Coral Reefs, Vol. 7, pp. 125-137.
Moyer, J.T., Emerson, W.K. and Ross, M. 1982, 'Massive destruction of scleractinian corals by the muricid gastropod, Drupella, in Japan and the Philippines', The Nautilus, Vol. 96, pp. 69-82.
Nardi, K. 1992, 'The gametogenic cycle of Drupella cornus at Ningaloo and Abrolhos Reefs', CALM Occasional Paper No. 3/92, pp. 55-62.
Osborne, S. 1992, 'A preliminary summary of Drupella cornus distribution and abundance patterns following a survey of Ningaloo Reef in spring 1991', CALM Occasional Paper No. 3/92, pp. 11-18.
Osborne, S. and Williams, M.R. 1992, 'A preliminary summary of the effects of hand removal of Drupella cornus on Ningaloo Reef', CALM Occasional Paper No. 3/92, pp. 83-90.
Oxley, W.G. 1988, 'A sampling study of a corallivorous gastropod Drupella on inshore and midshelf reefs of the Great Barrier Reef', Honours thesis, James Cook University, Townsville, 83 pp.
Turner, S.J. 1992, 'The early life history of Drupella cornus', CALM Occasional Paper No. 3/92, pp. 63-70.
Wilson, B. 1992, 'Taxonomy of Drupella (Gastropoda, Muricidae)', CALM Occasional Paper No. 3/92, pp. 5-9.
© Copyright 2000 Sea Research
This document may be distributed freely if unmodified.


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Good news PM, there is still some love in the room
The sad irony for a government struggling for love is that the disputed use of a credit card to fill the emotional void of person or persons unnamed now threatens to end its rule prematurely.
But the bittersweet truth for the Gillard Government is that, while they are being absolutely smashed politically, the bulk of their policies actually have broad public support.
This week's Essential Report shows that, save asylum seekers and climate change, just about everything the Government has done since the last election and is planning to do is, if it maintains power, backed by the electorate.
Q. Thinking about what the Labor Government has done over the last few years, do you approve or disapprove of the following Government actions?
|Total approve
|Total disapprove
|Increased funding of health services
|Increasing the age pension
|Increasing superannuation to 12 per cent
|Managing the economy to keep unemployment and interest rates low
|Spending on new school buildings
|Introducing a national disability insurance scheme
|Stimulus spending to tackle the GFC
|Paid parental leave
|Introducing a tax on large profits of mining companies
|Building the NBN (National Broadband Network)
|Stopping live cattle exports until welfare concerns were addressed
|Abolished WorkChoices
|Sending asylum seekers to Malaysia
|Introducing a carbon tax to tackle climate change
Critically, key areas fiercely opposed by Tony Abbott are supported with equal vigour by the voting public.
School buildings - Building an Education Revolution may be seen as an acronym for government waste for rampant waste to the Opposition, most punters just see new school buildings.
Superannuation – contingent on the mining tax, but the idea of preparing for an aging population of Baby Boomers and minimising the tax burden for the rest of us, seems like a good idea.
National Disability Insurance Scheme – the Liberals are still to make a call on this one, but the government support for a scheme to revolutionise the delivery of disability services, gets a big tick.
Mining Tax – with BHP earning more than Australia's GDP, support is swinging behind a mining tax, as the collapse in manufacturing make more and more people question whether the slick ads about mining keeping the country strong are more than just self-serving hype.
Stimulus spending – 'Deficit' may be a dirty word in Canberra, but most Australians think the stimulus package played no small role in saving our bacon.
The NBN – the Liberals call it a massive White Elephant, but the public have embraced this 21st century infrastructure project.
Abolishing WorkChoices – the policy that dare not speak its name; and isn't it refreshing to see Peter Reith back out on the hustings?
Now some of you will accuse me of giving some of these policy initiatives a positive spin, but that's the job of government; and on each of these issues a proposition duly presented gets endorsement.
So what's going wrong? Where's the disconnect? There's no shortage of theories floating around.
Credit the Opposition: for running negative at every turn. The fury and white noise that defines this Parliament leaves little room for considered policy debate and there is no doubt that Tony Abbott has been dogged in keeping attention on Labor's few policy negatives.
Blame the media: for reporting it like it's a prizefight. There is no doubt that the traditional conventions that governments sets the media agenda has fallen away; that's because a minority government is only ever one vote away from oblivion.
Look in the mirror: for your failure to communicate your positives and your propensity to get waded down in the negatives. And throw in a little self-reflection for your lack of a story that holds all these popular measures together.
And rail against the Gods: for making the whole show how unwieldy, because sometimes governments are just cursed with tough luck.
But do not kid yourself that the broad policy agenda is the problem. This is not a loveless relationship, just one that needs a little TLC.
Peter Lewis is a director of Essential Media Communications (EMC).
Topics: federal-government, gillard-julia
First posted


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If you are a Plus member, you might want to take the time to rate sweepstakesplus.com as well !
It currently states "not enough ratings for this site".
If you are a Plus member, you might want to take the time to rate sweepstakesplus.com as well !
It currently states "not enough ratings for this site".
Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Skreamm. :cheers:
:headbang: I rated (all good of course!) and commented too.
And thanks to all who post such great sweeps here...and congratulations to all who win! It keeps me insipired.
Myself and hubby and even my mother-in-law all rated SA and SAplus, and they were all good ratings. Why don't the ratings go up after we give all excellent marks. It does not make much sense when we are all giving great marks, but still not showing a very good rating overall. Maybe when they update,, Sure did not take them long to update the negitive marks. :scratch:
Wow, I just noticed my number of post, 3000 , Do I get some kind of award or something??? Do the bells and whistles go off, where is the confetti and chocolate. Wolfie where is the lot of posting chocolate at????? :laughing:
I also gave a good review as it is all true and I must say GOOD FOR YOU AMYSHULK as I read yours to them and it was perfect. Should I have expected anything less... :sunny: I hope they don't spam me now. I used my other name though and not eflynn but eileen06.
To be honest, I think web of trust doesn't work right or is seriously behind in updating its web scores. I wouldn't be surprised if its behind as I know it takes siteadvisor 5 weeks to make any updates. :whistle:
if you read the page it says "comments do not change ratings" ...
So what does? :scratch: So, of course, Make sure that you actually "rate". But I agree that they don't update or don't care :error:
I do have WOT on my computer, and most of the time it just gives me warnings on site that generate a lot of spam, or may lead to porn sites. It does not like most of the sites that SA has for sponsors of SA contests. However when I first installed it over a year ago, I left a comment about how SA was not the one generating spam, that people pick & choose which contests to enter , and some of those send spam. EX: Mike G. contests. I think some people who rate sites do not understand that. I left good feedback back then for SA, I will try it again.
how do i vote for SA? I want to give my 2 cents.... I don't see where I can vote for us I just see "leave a comment"
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)


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We're not nutrition experts, but we are confident in saying that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Start your morning off on a good note with this fruit and vegetable packed breakfast drink!
1 banana, sliced
1 kiwi, peeled
1/2 pear, sliced [with skin left on for added fiber]
1/4 avocado
1/3 cup pineapple
1/3 cup mango
1 tbsp. ground flaxseed
1 tbsp. honey
1 cup packed spinach
1/2 cup-3/4 cup vanilla, unsweeted almond milk, depending on desired thickness
Add all ingredients into your magic bullet (or blender) and blend until smooth. If you're using a magic bullet, you may need to blend in increments - adding about half the ingredients, condensing by blending, then adding the rest.
This smoothie is the bomb. When i make it for breakfast, I notice a little kick in my step the rest of the morning. I like to think all of the vitamins and nutrients seeping from it provide an added energy boost. I'll let you in on a little secret--sometimes, I don't even drink coffee when I make it...blasphemy, I know, but it's true.
--Lauren of Love Lola
Have a recipe that you are interested in sharing? We'd love to see it! Send your instructions and unedited photos to email@example.com for a chance to join our Ruche Blogger Family and become published.


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Mothergunship mixes bullet-hell intensity with the shooting, customization, and traversal of the first-person genre.
Metro Exodus
The latest installment in the post-apocalyptic first-person shooter from 4A Games shoots to thrill on Xbox One.
Utilizing the PlayStation VR device, Moss is a big adventure with a tiny protagonist, as a mouse named Quill must overcome obstacles and perilous enemies in a lush environment.


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I love convenience as much as any mom, but at the same time I'm not willing to compromise my desire to feed my children wholesome meals in order to save a few minutes here and there.
This is why I'm always looking for easy alternatives to convenience foods, such as my homemade microwave popcorn and the homemade Bisquick substitute I shared yesterday. It puts me in control of exactly what ingredients go into a recipe, as well as the quality of those ingredients, all while putting more money in my pocket. You definitely pay a premium for convenience foods in most cases!
These homemade biscuits are the perfect side for any meal. You can have them on the table in just 15 minutes start to finish if you already have your mix on hand!
- 2 1/4 cups homemade Bisquick substitute
- 2/3 cup milk
- Mix together homemade Bisquick mix and milk to form a soft dough.
- Roll the dough out to about 1/2" thickness on a flour-dusted surface. Cut out biscuits with a 2-1/2" cutter -- we repurpose an empty Campbell's soup can with both ends cut out for this.
- Bake at 450 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.
If you have a few extra minutes to spare, you might also try your hand at making some homemade butter as a special treat. 4


text:
A mobile annuity planning application created by CUNA Mutual Group among CIO magazine's 100 award recipients for 2013.
Louis Hernandez watches people using a dongle switch on their iPad to pay their restaurant tab online through Square and knows the future is now.
CUNA Mutual CIO Rick Roy will present May 24 session on trends and strategies.
That's been the case this past year in credit union technology. That old saying is also considered a back-handed curse,
Find out how our readers ranked the top 10 stories of 2010.


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Fuerteventura Grand Slam
The howling winds continued to batter the fifty-six man slalom fleet for the second day running, testing the sailors to the edge of their ability as they battled their way through each race. The insane conditions allowed the race crew to kick off the action from 10:30am and to fly through three more eliminations in quick succession.
With thirty-five knots of wind howling across the race course, race director Juan Antonio Aragon decided to mix things up a little for the sailors. The race crew quickly re-aligned the buoys so that the course opened up with a four hundred meter speed run followed by four downwind slalom marks. The change in the course brought with it, edge of your seat action as the sailors picked up incredible speeds and fought hard to control their equipment down the opening leg.
Elimination 6
Picking up the race where we left off yesterday, round two of the elimination saw the hottest sailors of the day on fine form. Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / North), Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde), Micah Buzianis (JP / NeilPryde), Finian Maynard (RRD), Cedric Bordes (Tabou / Gaastra / Mystic) and Ross Williams (Tabou / Gaastra) charged their way around the course to secure podium positions and their pass into the semi-finals.
An over enthusiastic start to heat twelve saw four sailors hit the start line before the buzzer. Andrea Cucchi (Patrik / Point-7), Ludovic Jossin (Starboard / Loft), Kurosh Kiani (Angulo / Simmer) and Ertugrul Icingir (RRD / North) all make their way back to the beach with their heads down, while the rest of the sailors made their way into the semi-finals without having to race.
Eager to push the start, Maynard went over early in heat thirteen and had to settle for a place in the losers' final. Once the race was up and running it brought with it more drama as Jules Denel (Exocet), Josh Angulo (Angulo / Gun / Dakine) and Buzianis were all caught out by the testing conditions and went down in huge individual crashes. Buzianis managed to cover his mistakes with his impressive board speed and recovered into a qualifying position.
The action continued into heat fourteen, Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Mystic / DunkerbeckEyewear) opened the race with a fantastic start, however on his 6.2m sail he was well over-powered and unable to keep his speed in the gybes. It wasn't long before Van Der Steen (Starboard / Loft / Mystic) took advantage raising his position from sixth to third. To top it all off Bordes came out of nowhere and performed two particularly slick gybes on the inside of the fleet pushing Dunkerbeck out of a qualifying position.
Winners' Final
Albeau performed the perfect start in the winners' final leaving the rest of the fleet in his wake on the speed run. Cyril Moussilmani was trying everything to match his board speed but Albeau was too far ahead. Further down the fleet, Bordes and Arnon Dagan (Tabou / Gaastra) had a collision at the first mark, putting them at the back of the pack. Van Der Steen sailed an incredible race working his way past his opponents to finish in third. Albeau cruised over the finish line well aware that he was over one hundred meters ahead of the rest.
Elimination 7
With the wind still raging, the race crew continued directly into elimination seven. Collisions, pile ups and catapults on the straights made the first round of the races particularly exciting, although most of the big names easily secured their qualifying positions and advanced into the next round.
Van Der Steen and Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins) were the ones to watch in the second round of the elimination. Both sailors displayed incredible speed down the straights and mind-blowing control on the corners as they undercut the rest of the fleet to earn their qualifying positions.
Some of the finest starts of the day came from Germany's Gunnar Asmussen (F2 / North). Asmussen stormed ahead of the fleet and made sure he hit the mark first in every race. However Asmussen struggled with at the gybes allowing the rest of the fleet to take advantage.
Two smooth semi-finals allowed the big guns to enter the winners' final without out any upsets, Cyril Moussilmani continued with his textbook high wind sailing to win first place, whilst Dunkerbeck claimed a close second. On the other side of the elimination Albeau nailed his third heat and secured another first, miles ahead of the fleet.
Winners' Final
The winners' final kicked off with Albeau nailing another blinding start, Cyril Moussilmani and Van Der Steen weren't far behind and they were able to catch him by the first mark. Two smooth gybes later and Albeau was still in control of the fleet, Cyril Moussilmani and Van Der Steen were trying everything they could to match their experienced opponent. The crowds witnessed a drag race finish between the three, but there was no catching Albeau with his remarkable straight-line speed. Albeau claimed his second victory of the day and his fifth in the competition. By this time it looked like Albeau was in a commanding position but race director Juan Antonio Aragon called for one final race in the afternoon.
Elimination 8
After a quick lunch break the slalom elite were back on the water and fighting their way through elimination eight. Having sailed for two days in the relentless wind the sailors were becoming more dialed into the conditions, making for smooth races and faster gybes.
Benoit Moussilmani (Tabou / Simmer), wowed the crowds throughout the afternoon, charging ahead of Buzianis, Dunkerbeck and Peter Volwater (Fanatic / MauiSails) to earn a position in the winners' final. Having posted consistent places throughout the week Benoit currently sits in seventh position overall.
Heat twelve saw an explosive crash from Angulo. After a great start Angulo was holding onto a qualifying position, disaster struck at the outside mark when he went down and the rest of the fleet flew past. Angulo was unable to recover from his mistake, and he made an early exit from the elimination.
The largest crash of the day came from Albeau in the semi-finals. Albeau lead the charge down the opening leg of the course and looked to be in control but in one split second everything went wrong. Albeau and his equipment went flying and the rest of the pack charged past. Albeau accepted that he was unable to recover from the colossal crash and made his way back to the beach.
Winners' Final
After one false start from Van Der Steen, the winners' final was up and running with Dunkerbeck leading the fleet around the first and second marks. Hot on his heels the Moussilmani brothers Cyril and Benoit were waiting for their opportunity to overtake. Benoit lost control at the third mark putting him out the race, so it was up to Cyril to make his move. Cyril chose his moment on the final gybe mark undercutting Dunkerbeck and then wasted no time in pulling the power back on, knowing he had an enraged tour leader on his tail. The pair drag raced to the finish, trying pulling out all the stops squeeze out every ounce of extra speed. Cyril took the victory by a board length, claiming his second victory in Fuerteventura and enough points to just push him ahead of Albeau on the overall scores.
With three more eliminations completed the sailors were released for the day at four o'clock. Make sure you head over to the PWA website for the dramatic finale to the slalom competition tomorrow. Will Albeau claim the top spot? Will Van Der Steen take control? Will Cyril Moussilmani buckle under the pressure? The skippers' meeting will kick off at 10am with the first possible start to racing at 10:30 am.
Results (After 8 eliminations)
1st Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / North)
2nd Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde)
3rd Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Loft / Mystic)
4th Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Mystic / DunkerbeckEyewear)
5th Peter Volwater (Fanatic / MauiSails)
6th Micah Buzianis (JP / NeilPryde)
7th Benoit Moussilmani (Tabou / Simmer)
8th Finian Maynard (RRD)
9th Cedric Bordes (Tabou / Gaastra / Mystic)
10th Sylvain Moussilmani (Tabou / Simmer)
Scope the action
For more information on all the entrants, and to keep up to date with every piece of the action, click on www.pwaworldtour.com
Here you can use our:
- Live ticker service for heat-by-heat bulletins
- Check live elimination ladders
- View results
- Read daily news summaries
- Browse awesome action photo galleries
- Follow the event live, with top class commentary from pros and industry insiders.
There is also a dedicated website at www.playasdejandia.com
Or for more information, please contact the PWA office via email@example.com


text:
Foden boosts Saints treble hopes
Fit-again Ben Foden can bolster Northampton Saints' three-pronged push for silverware, according to boss Jim Mallinder.
Foden returned from knee ligament trouble for his first appearance since November as Northampton overwhelmed Gloucester 39-13 at Franklin's Gardens.
The Saints blasted five tries past limited Gloucester, to step back to the Aviva Premiership summit.
Error-strewn Northampton needed the cavalry of their replacements to turn a 13-13 second-half lead into a five-try romp, with full-back Foden prominent on the attack after coming off the bench.
Rugby director Mallinder backed the 28-year-old to hit top form as Northampton line up for an LV=Cup semi-final and Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final, all while leading the league.
"I was really delighted to see Ben Foden back, he was particularly sharp," said Mallinder.
"That's pleasing for us now and fingers crossed he can have a really good run-in until the end of the season.
"Ben is realistic enough to know where he is at the moment.
"We know he's a quality player who is a good international player.
"He's had a long lay-off, he won't expect to walk into an international team, particularly when someone like Mike Brown is playing so well.
"So he knows what he's got to do, and that's find his form playing for Northampton.
"And I think if he can do that then there's no reason why Stuart won't be looking at him, hopefully sooner rather than later.
"I think he'll need game-time now, so it may make sense.
"Ben Foden needs games now, so he'll be involved in the LV= Cup game against Saracens, definitely."
Ken Pisi, Calum Clark, Tom Stephenson, Alex Waller and Will Hooley claimed Northampton's tries, with Stephen Myler slotting four conversions and two penalties.
Henry Trinder grabbed Gloucester's solitary score, with Freddie Burns landing a conversion and two penalty goals.
Until flanker Clark powered home just before the hour, Northampton had struggled to shrug off a litany of errors.
Saints demolished Gloucester in a scrum to set up Clark's score, with front-row replacements Alex Waller and Tom Mercey having immediate impact.
Hailing his pack's second-half effort, Mallinder praised captain Clark.
"Calum was only talking last week in the team meeting about how he's not bothered about ever being man of the match, how he never scores tries, but how he's very, very happy to be part of the team," said Mallinder.
"So he's just completely gone against everything he said there and turned it on its head.
"I think the replacements did a really good job, it was a question of looking after the ball and continuing to apply pressure.
"We were guilty, particularly in that first half, of even though we created chances, trying to force the ball.
"In the second half the replacements came on, and I think it was a continued pressure.
"We made the changes, and a massive scrum on their ball, and that pressure just counted in the end."
Northampton extended their club-record unbeaten Premiership run to 13, avenging their defeat at Gloucester back in September, still the Saints' only loss in the league.
Gloucester edged home 26-24 at Kingsholm courtesy of a hotly-contested overtime penalty from Billy Twelvetrees.
Mallinder said there were no thoughts of revenge when facing the only side to beat them in the Premiership this term though.
"The only thing we've talked about is our play in the other 78 minutes, not the last two minutes from that game, because there's some things you can't do anything about," said Mallinder.
"It wasn't about that last game, or revenge, simply about how we could beat them."
Gloucester's 11th defeat of the season leaves them in ninth place, with rugby director Nigel Davies frustrated not to capitalise on the previous week's win over Harlequins.
"We didn't impose ourselves on any aspect of the game today, I'm really disappointed," said Davies.
"We were inaccurate, we gave away sloppy penalties, and you can't afford to do that against a team of this quality.
"The most disappointing thing for me is that we didn't have control in any single aspect of the match."


text: This past Saturday 3 of the 4 of us had a band meeting to discuss some problems that have creeped up over the last month or so. The main problems have been building between the lead guitarist and the singer. I had some issues to address also but the main problems were between the Lead guitarist and the singer. After the lead guitarists and singer worked out their differences it was brought up about the singer to basically NOT play rhythm guitar during our shows! He makes a lot of mistakes. He was actually very understanding and agreed. (He would always admit he was a "hack" guitarist any way)We also agreed to not bring another guitarist because we all work and another schedule to work around just isn't going to cut it! So the lead guitarist brings up the fact that if no Rythm guitar playing that I need to play the "Rhythm only and not "lead bass" during his "wonderful" guitar leads in the song. Mind you I have been playing bass since I was 16.... Im 41 now so I'm like duh what!no ****. But I keep my mouth shut and let him proceed and then the singer chimes in too yeah if we have no rhythm guitar you might have to play more "chords and stuff". First off I do like to play "aggressively" and I like to "attack the bass guitar and make it more melodic instead of 8th notes with minor fills.but usually during the writing period to try stuff out record it listen to it to see how it sounds etc...with the current originals I actually was holding back on many of them..there has been many times in the past where I wrote something that was fun to play but just didn't jive with the song so I scratched it and played something else. Then the guitarist brought up the fact that I record and send out ideas via email he's like "what am I supposed to do with this?" Basically when I get inspired while working at home I'll record a track on "garage band" and email out to the guys hoping it will inspire the others to write! Instead I get the answer of well I can't hear any of this stuff on my phone excuse! You. Ever heard of ear buds or playing it on your computer speakers? Anyways then singer starts in with yeah I just can't write lyrics to your stuff "too many notes"! I've come up with several bass lines that I ran it past old friends that are musicians saying hey that cool you should use that! Instead it just get pushed to the side and we just work on the mostly the singers songs although we were able to get song done from the guitarist but he still hates it the last band I was in we used to mind each other's own instrument write the music then add lyrics to it and tweek the music here and there. Now it's all ****ed up! At this point I'm just venting on here but it's really ****ing bothering me. At this point going forward we are going to try a different writing style to write "our" stuff and I'm waiting to see how it goes if we can't get another song finished by end of feb. I might start looking else were


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|December 25, 2006, 10:32 AM
Join Date: December 19, 2006
Posts: 18
Challenging boar hunt?
In sw florida is there such a thing? It seems that they are all fenced in and the dogs catch them within minutes. Even though it is only my second time hunting, I want it to be challenging. I don't want to shoot something sitting there eating from a feeding bin you know? Does anyone know of a good place for a challenging hunt for boar? Thanks and merry christmas.
|December 25, 2006, 03:03 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: June 25, 2006
Location: The Keystone State
Posts: 1,288
Consider hunting w/o dogs. It's much more challaging. Also, take a ride up north to the Carolinas. Take enough gun!
"The Constitution is not an instrument for government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government, lest it come to dominate our lives and interests."
Patrick Henry, American Patriot
Last edited by ammo.crafter; December 25, 2006 at 03:04 PM. Reason: .
|December 25, 2006, 03:36 PM
Junior member
Join Date: November 30, 2006
Posts: 355
come out to citrus county. pulled in a 200 pounder last weekend. we use dogs to and they catch them pretty easy. hardest part is findin a fresh trail for the dogs
|December 25, 2006, 04:25 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: December 20, 2005
Location: Lutz
Posts: 1,514
I wanted to do a guided hunt but they all seem to be either dog hunts or one where they drive you around til you see something and you shoot it from the vehicle. Where's the sport in that?
Load up and go to a WMA. No guide, no dogs, no tree stands. Just you, your cammies and your rifle, or shotgun. They are ALL OVER the Green Swamp, sign is very easy to find. I just got back from an overnight trip but alas, the weather turned quite sour and my wife already being sick we had to pack it in early, or else I would still be out there. The closest we got to them today was squealing, fresh digging and poop. We never caught them, the wind was too shifty and kept giving us away. They're there, alot of the time right off the side of the roads, you just have to catch up with them.
|December 25, 2006, 06:29 PM
Junior Member
Join Date: October 27, 2006
Posts: 8
A WMA might be a good start. If you place the shot well a .357 will do the trick easily. A .44 mag is probably the most popular because of the fact that so many people believe everything that is written and so called "dangerous game" will make a man out of the hunter. A recent outdoor magazine just finished hyping up the wild boar. Good reading, hunting preserve owners will profit from it and I'll guarantee that some crazy hunter is going to be packing 2-3 guns, a huge knife and kevlar from the ground to their waster thinking they are going to risking their lives hunting these dangerous man eaters.
I first started hunting wild boar in 1979 and for some reason it's still my favorite. Like any wild game in North America except for maybe the grizzly, they'll run away from any noise or hint of a human. A lot of the boar in TN or the hunting preserves around the country, come from trappers in Florida or some other southern state.
Just remember this ...deer kill more people than bear in north america.
|December 26, 2006, 01:17 AM
Senior Member
Join Date: March 19, 2006
Posts: 693
wild boar once wounded, i hear they have a tendency to not try to run away and come after you? any truth to this or is it just more hype?
i mean i've read this from people on forums like www.texasboars.com so i'm inclined to beleive it is true, but again it could be BS like anything else.
|December 26, 2006, 02:10 AM
Senior Member
Join Date: March 18, 2005
Posts: 1,276
My experience tells me that if they are cornered, they will come at you. If there is an escape route, the pigs will normally use it...Not always, but usually.
|December 26, 2006, 12:40 PM
Junior member
Join Date: November 30, 2006
Posts: 355
ive had sows and boars charge me when they werent cornered
|December 26, 2006, 02:32 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: August 11, 2005
Posts: 1,170
They'll run AWAY if nor cornered. Last year I stalked a whole pack - - 2 @ around 50#, 2 around 70# one big sow around 100# and way too many little ones to count. I was able to get a shooting lane in a ditch, and shot the wrong head bobbing in, took one of the 70# pigs instead of the big sow. Before I knew it the whole herd was bearing down on me (kneeling in the tall grass alongside the road). As soon as I stood up, they all changed direction directly away from me.
I'm not sure about SW FL, but here in North FL WMA's offer good challenging hunts hunting. Going home empty-handed is the status quo, makes getting one real special.
America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards. Claire Wolfe
|December 26, 2006, 03:09 PM
Join Date: December 19, 2006
Posts: 18
thanks, I actually live in illinois but don't know where to hunt boar around here. what is wma?
|December 26, 2006, 09:14 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: December 20, 2005
Location: Lutz
Posts: 1,514
Wildlife Management Area, aka public land. You have hogs in Illinois?
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text:
This tea smells absolutely divine. You can smell notes of citrus, orange, and grapefruit. After brewing, it still retains the smell of the dry tea. The taste is a light bitter citrus, but improves with sweetener. The taste is not as defined as the smell, but you can still taste the orange and grapefruit and there is a slight sour berry taste (almost like cherry). Despite the citrus flavour, it seems to be a relaxing blend, perfect for after a heavy meal.
This is a herbal tisane.
1.5 tsp in 8oz water
Smell of dry tea: very aromatic, notes of citrus, orange and grapefruit.
Appearance of dry tea: various different sized pieces of dried fruit, apple slices, orange peel, and flower petals.
Appearance of steeped tea: deep ruby red colour, dense.
Smell of steeped tea: aromatic, light citrus smell, more bitter citrus than sweet citrus.
Taste of steeped tea: citrus fruits, orange, grapefruit, slight sour cherry taste. Bitter. With rock sugar (one piece), sweeter taste. Light and refreshing.


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PORTLAND — They won in Missouri, Massachusetts and Florida.
But until Friday night, the University of Maine Black Bears hadn't figured out a way to win in their home state.
Freshman Ryan Lomberg's power-play goal with a little more than six minutes left capped a men's college hockey comeback as Maine beat Mercyhurst 2-1 before a crowd of 4,650 at the Cumberland County Civic Center Friday night.
Maine (5-11-2 overall, 1-7-2 Hockey East) has won three straight games, its best stretch of the season. The two teams now move on to Orono for a Saturday game at Alfond Arena.
Mercyhurst (8-7-1 overall, 7-3-0 Atlantic Hockey) took a 1-0 lead on the first of two penalties incurred by Maine for having too many skaters on the ice. A Nick Jones wrist shot from the point found its way past screened Maine goalie Martin Ouellette in the game's fourth minute.
That was all Ouellette allowed, however, as he finished with 25 saves, including one at the final buzzer as Mercyhurst emptied its net for an extra attacker.
The Black Bears evened the score six minutes after falling behind when Steven Swavely won a draw back to Joey Diamond, who one-timed a shot inside the right post for his fourth goal of the season.


text:
Ortiz, Veppert capture gold
bob ford/times news Levi Veppert (right) earned District 11 Class AA gold in the 182-pound weight class. Veppert recorded an 11-7 victory over Jose Ortiz of Bethlehem Catholic in the final.
BETHLEHEM Ever since he started wrestling, Northwestern's Michael Ortiz has been used to being the shorter guy.
At 5-5, the Tiger junior has found himself looking up to most of his opponents when taking the mat.
On Saturday night, in the 152-pound District 11 Class AA championship match against Palmerton's Cody Grohotolski at Liberty High School, the same held true.
But despite giving up seven inches to his fellow Colonial League wrestler, Ortiz did what he does most times. He won.
Jumping out to a comfortable lead and then hanging on at the end, the Northwestern grappler earned a 6-4 decision. The victory allowed him to stand taller than any of his competitors atop the medal stand.
"I've been the shorter guy most of the time," said Ortiz. "I've been wrestling taller guys since I've been five. I'm used to it.
"Height has always been an issue. My strategy is to stay low. Ever since I've been little I've been dreaming of this. It's not over yet, but it's definitely a step toward states."
Ortiz was one of two TIMES NEWS area wrestlers to win a AA title and will join 10 other locals heading to Regionals.
His teammate, Levi Veppert, also earned gold with an 11-7 victory over Jose Ortiz of Bethlehem Catholic at 182 pounds.
Area runner-ups included Palmerton's Grohotolski and Josh Evans (113), Tamaqua's Colin Mashack (106), Northern Lehigh's Ty Herzog (145) and Northwestern's David Tirpak (195).
Others who finished in the top four and will travel to Wilson West Lawn Friday for the start of the Southeast Regionals are Palmerton's Sam Oberlander (third at 120) and Kane Kralik (third at 220), and Lehighton's Mike Balliet (third at 170) and Anthony Farole (fourth at 145).
"I've been working on being aggressive," said Ortiz. "I used to be a real tentative wrestler and my coaches have told me that since I got stronger I should go out and be more aggressive. In my semifinal match, it helped. And it helped out here too."
The Tiger, who earned a trip to the finals by registering a 6-0 win over Northern Lehigh's Dylan Hofmann in the semis, opened a 3-0 lead on Grohotolski thanks to a penalty point (on an illegal hold) and a takedown.
The lead swelled to 6-0 midway though the bout on another takedown and escape.
"I knew he was tough," said Ortiz. "It definitely helped getting a point in the beginning and the lead gave me confidence throughout the rest of the match and allowed me to stay strong."
Grohotolski got on the board late in the second period and eventually closed the gap to two points, but the deficit was just too much to make up.
"I got off to a rough start," said Grohotolski. "About halfway through the second period I felt like I really started to come around. But it was too late to come back in a match like that. I can't complain about second."
Veppert almost had to settle for second, but the 182-pound Tiger fought off a close call to claim his championship.
"I'm overwhelmed," said Veppert. "I can't explain it. Once I got the first takedown I felt really good. They always say the first takedown wins the match and I believe in that."
The Northwestern senior used a pair of takedowns and a reversal to take a 6-1 lead into the final period. The advantage reached 9-1 before Becahi's Ortiz rallied. Ortiz got a takedown and almost put Veppert on his back with 30 seconds left. The Tiger used his strength, though, to avoid the pin and turned it into a reversal and a final 11-7 score.
"That was scary," said Veppert. "I can't explain that either. I just tried to stay off my back. I was thinking I hope I don't get pinned.
"Now I'm already thinking about practice for next week and Regionals."
After failing to cop gold medals, a number of other area wrestlers are now focused on Regionals.
Tamaqua's Colin Mashack is geared to the future and beyond after settling for silver.
The Raider sophomore had his hands full against Bethlehem Catholic's Darian Cruz, who is ranked second in the country at 106 pounds. Cruz took Mashack down three times in the first period before his fourth resulted in a fall at 2:43.
"I watched a couple videos to look at his technique but I didn't wrestle well," said Maschak, who handed Wilson's Jaryd Flank his first loss of the season in the semis. "I wasn't on my game."
"He's a sophomore who had a goal of getting to the finals and he accomplished that, said Tamaqua coach Jim McCabe. "He's not happy with the outcome here and I'm happy that he's not happy with that. I know what kind of work ethic he's had ... and he's going to work that much harder now."
Nolehi's Herzog worked hard late during his 145-pound championship match with Becahi's Ryan Todora to force a tie, but the Golden Hawk earned an escape to pull out one of his team's eight individual titles.
The Bulldog junior fell behind 2-0 in the first and still trailed 3-1 in the third. Herzog, however, managed a takedown with 40 seconds left in regulation. After one near escape, Todora worked free with just six seconds left to earn the gold.
"I was going to try and snap him back and go for the win right away but I guess I just ran out of steam," said Herzog. "I wasn't able to hold him down.
"I have optimistic thoughts. I'm not going to let it bring me down. I'm going to look at Regionals as a brand new tournament."
Palmerton's Evans is also optimistic despite losing a fourth straight decision to Pen Argyl's Matt Williams in Saturday's 113-pound final.
Evans allowed just one takedown to his nemesis, but it stood up. The two-pointer came midway through the first period. Both wrestlers exchanged escapes after that, but the Bomber sophomore just couldn't generate any offense.
"I was fairly relaxed going into the match," said Evans. "I've wrestled him three times before this and I think this was the best I've done against him.
"It would have been nice to score a takedown. I was trying to work on my feet a little more and get a little more offensive. Hopefully next time I meet him, I can finally beat him."
Northwestern's Tirpak faced a monumental task in beating Saucon Valley's Ray O'Donnell in the 195-pound finals.
The undefeated Panther junior rolled into the title bout by virtue of three pins in a total of 49 seconds. And while Tirpak provided a little more competition, the Tiger senior proved no match for O'Donnell.
Forty-nine seconds into their matchup, the Saucon sensation gained a takedown. Tirpak fought to escape but eventually got turned onto his back with 14 seconds remaining in the first period.
"I went into this tournament with the attitude of just doing my best," said Tirpak. "I didn't expect to get this far, but I did. He's real strong and he's a great wrestler."
Prior to the finals, Palmerton received the Lehigh Valley Chapter of Wrestling Officials Sportsmanship Award while Lehighton's Farole was named the District 11 Officials Scholarship Fund winner.