text:
Posted on May 14, 2014
"I have nothing against your stuffed ostrich: we just don't want dead birds at our Book Fair. I had enough trouble with that warthog tusk."
"I'm not offering you my ostrich: not with Memorial Day weekend coming up. I just wondered where I'd look for dead birds if you had any at the Book Fair. Would they be in Nature or Science or what?"
"At the price I'm charging, they'd be in Collectibles."
"Why such a high price?"
"We all know dead birds don't go cheep."
We will now observe a short intermission for moaning and gnashing of teeth.
I was going on in the last column about some of the unusual donations we have received during what is apparently going to become a Smurf Week, if not a full Smurf Month, and there were too many for one shot. So I felt you needed to know about some of the other things you may be seeing at the Big Thirtieth Book Fair (unless the donors feel remorse and take them back.)
We have received a lovely pair of candlesticks, carefully wrapped in bubblewrap…with tall and completely unused candles still in them. We have been given two large art prints framed under glass. The glass is very important, as it kept any of the water from draining out before the prints were utterly ruined. I may toss the prints and sell the glass.
A company in Chicago leapt into action in 1941 and produced a little pocket notebook called "My Time In the Service". It was meant to be a sort of diary or sketchbook, but this corporal used it as a notebook. The few entries are dated in 1942 and 1943 under the heading "Story Ideas" I don't know if he was a reporter, an aspiring novelist, or a would-be screenwriter. More research is obviously necessary. I DOUBT that he changed his name to J.D.Salinger or Norman Mailer after the war, but I'd just like to make sure.
We've been given a nice little collection of those children's books made of durable, washable cloth, dating to between the World Wars. Naturally, the original owners have managed to take some of these nearly indestructible volumes and reduce them to tatters, but others are in very nice shape, with bunnies and puppies still smiling hopefully at another generation. As usual, the instructional and inspirational ones are in almost pristine condition. The ABC books fared the worst, and I HOPE I have put them all back together properly. Yes, I can tell what ORDER the pages go in, but how do I tell whether A was for Airplane in this book where B is for Ball, or whether A is for Apple goes with that one and the Airplane goes to the one where B is for Bear? Maybe I should put all the pages into a bag and call it a Do-It-Yourself Collectible.
The same collection involved a Genuine original Mickey Mouse book from about 1930. (Well, maybe 80 percent of the book, and some masking tape that I think was added later.)
Running out of room, so I can only briefly touch on the collection of dorm room photos from the 70s which prove the decade wasn't ALL about marijuana, the sculpture which is supposed to be people dancing but you have to be thinking that when you look at it or it seems to be blobs of clay at a sack race, and the collection of Genuine Facsimile Newspaper Headlines. (I hate Fake Facsimile Newspapers.) Oh, and that iPod does fire up and has files on it, but we have to figure out how to use it. It IS, after all, from 2001, and no one's old enough to remember how those antiques work.
Submitted by sally petit on May 14, 2014 Permalink


text:
Pac-12 M5: 12.18.13 EditionPosted by Andrew Murawa on December 18th, 2013
- Last night Oregon welcomed back sophomores Dominic Artis and Ben Carter from suspension, as both made their season debuts after sitting out the first nine games. And, while Jonathan Loyd has come to earn plenty of well-deserved respect around the conference, we were reminded that, oh yeah, Artis is pretty darn good himself. Artis got penetration on the regular on one end of the court, then showed his ability to be a completely annoying pest on the other, and then surprised everybody as the 6'1" guard also grabbed eight rebounds in the win. Carter wasn't bad himself, showing himself to be a solid inside-outside stretch-four for the Ducks, although his offensive production didn't come easily. As for folding these guys back in with the already established players, Loyd for one continues to look good, although his minutes were hampered by fouls. Meanwhile, guys like Joseph Young and Jason Calliste saw their shot attempts drop ever so slightly, but it looks like in the long run these guys are going to be meshed back into the rotation with ease.
- Tomorrow night Kyle Anderson returns home as UCLA travels to New York City to face Duke at Madison Square Garden. Anderson is a native of a community in New Jersey that is part of the NYC metropolitan area, and he's watched his fair share of games at MSG over the years. Not only does he get to go home (where he'll have to deal with distributing tickets to his friends and family), but he'll get to renew his competition with a somewhat familiar foe in Chicago native, Jabari Parker.
- Oregon State's game tonight is their last game on the mainland before the Beavers head out to Honolulu to take part in the Diamond Head Classic on Sunday with an opening round game against Akron. As it is, they're not the only Oregon State team headed to Hawaii for the holidays, as the Beavers' football team is also going to paradise. They'll be facing Boise State on Christmas Eve in the Hawaii Bowl and it just so happens that the Diamond Head Classic features a perfectly coincidental off day. Roberto Nelson and company will not only get a nice trip to the islands for the holidays, but they'll have a chance to support their fellow OSU athletes.
- Colorado doesn't play again until Saturday against Oklahoma State, but when the team does it will have to lean heavily on sophomore forward Xavier Johnson, who has done a great job helping to fill in for the departed Andre Roberson. As Terry Frei of The Denver Post writes, while Johnson is getting plenty of help from freshman Wesley Gordon, he's made big strides in shifting his game from that of primarily a perimeter player to one who is expected to make major contributions in the paint as well.
- Lastly, while things seem to be going smoothly for Sean Miller and Arizona, the head coach is not about to let his precocious young 'Cats rest on their laurels. Last year at this time (and weeks into the future), his squad also remained undefeated only to get off to a bumpy start in conference play from which they never truly recovered. He's using that experience to teach his current team to keep its focus, avoid distractions, and keep improving.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Personal Trainers in Reno, NV
Reno Active - View club info
1595 Sky Mountain Drive
Reno, NV 89503
Browse the profiles below to learn more about our Personal Trainers in Reno, NV. Once you've found your trainer, you can purchase personal training sessions online. We'll do our best to match you up with the personal trainer that you choose but availability may vary.*
Not ready to choose a trainer? Purchase a Personal Training package and choose a trainer in club.


text:
|"FREE" MATH Tutoring - Grades K-12
Event Type: Arts Culture & Literature
Age Group(s): Elementary School Age, Teen
Date: 1/11/2014
Start Time: 10:00 AM
End Time: 12:00 PM
"Free" Math Tutoring. Registration required. Class is for students in grades K-12 that live in the South Dallas area of town. Students must sign-up to attend.Library: Martin Luther King, Jr. Branch Library Library System Map
Location: Classroom 1
Contact Number: 214-670-0344
Status: Closed


text:
"Sarkozy's 'Positive Laicism' Is a Political Error"
The president wants a "positive laicism" which will defend religious freedom, but which will not see religion as a threat. Is laicism "à la française" a dogma which needs to be put into a new context?
Catherine Kintzler: Laicism is not a doctrine in which one believes or does not believe. One can be a Muslim, a Catholic or an atheist, and still be a laicist. Laicism is a philosophical concept which, unlike "tolerance", does not ask how one can allow antagonistic freedoms to coexist as they are reflected by the various groupings in society. Laicism asks how one can construct a space a priori which will allow every individual to enjoy freedom of opinion.
This space is defined by the public authority which passes and applies legislation. And the individual only enjoys freedom of opinion within civil society because the public authority is entirely blind in its approach to religious and non-religious forms of belief.
This principle is of enormous contemporary relevance, and is a response to the urgent questions of the day. And the attempt to put this principle into a new context would be, in my view, a political error.
Why isn't simple tolerance enough, as is the case in many liberal countries?
Kintzler: There are historical reasons which have pushed France to develop its laicist system. Tolerance is present in French civil society, and in that sense there's no difference. But laicism allows one to establish a polity without reference to religion.
Laicism is incompatible with the existence of a state religion. It's a principle which is blind with regard to religious tendencies and individual religious practice. It's a principle which encourages individualism. There is no requirement for people to belong to some religious organisation.
Do you believe that laicism is bound to remain a French "speciality", or do you think that the concept can be exported?
Kintzler: Laicism "à la française" has often been misrepresented. There have been attempts to show that it is a kind of anti-religious position. But, in fact, it's the exact opposite. The principle of laicism promotes the free expression of opinion in civil society.
In the last few years, those countries which have traditionally relied on the principle of tolerance – above all, England, the Netherlands and the USA – have been looking with interest at the French model. Why? Because a regime which relies solely on the value of tolerance is too weak to confront a fundamentalist dogmatism which makes claims to hegemony.
Laicism is much better equipped to deal with such developments. It establishes its polity on a basis which is free from any religious commitment.
Laicism does not stand in opposition to religion. It only rejects the claim of religion to make law. Extreme anti-religious forces try to tear the principle away from public authority and to grant it instead to civil society, but such a step would lead to a restriction on freedom of expression. And that is exactly not what laicism is about. If there is one premise which is fundamental to laicism, it's this: the upholding of freedom.
Interview Rachid Boutayeb
© Qantara 2008
Catherine Kintzler is professor of philosophy and aesthetics at the University of Lille-III. She was head of the Collège international de philosophie. Among her publications are: La République en questions (The Republic in Questions), Tolérance et laϊcité (Tolerance and Laicism), and most recently: Qu'est-ce que la laϊcité: (What is Laicism?)
Translated from the German by Michael Lawton
Verdict in "Charlie Hebdo" Satirical Newspaper Case
When in Doubt, Choose Freedom of Speech of Speech
The majority of the French press breathed a great sigh of relief when Philippe Val, editor of satirical weekly newspaper "Charlie Hebdo", was acquitted after being brought to trial for reprinting the controversial Muhammad caricatures. Bernard Schmid reports from Paris
Interview Soheib Bencheikh
Islam and Secularism
Soheib Bencheikh is the Grand Mufti of Marseille, France. In this interview, Bencheikh argues in favour of the headscarf ban and says that, because of secularism, Islam enjoys equal rights and duties in a traditionally catholic environment
Migrants in France
Study Does Not Confirm Notion of a Growing Re-Islamization
The Center for the Study of French Life has conducted a soon-to-be-published survey on the political behavior and the social values of French people with a migrant background. Bernard Schmid had already had a look at it


text:
Plus: new Solange! And French Montana featuring everyone!
What's that? You firmly refuse to give into holiday music season, even though Vulture lovingly made you this Christmas album flowchart? Okay then, here is a Ke$ha–Iggy Pop song about cockroach sex (plus, new songs from Solange and the French Montana Company).
Ke$ha featuring Iggy Pop, "Dirty Love"
Somewhere out there on the Internet is a full Warrior leak waiting for your love and attention. It's … energetic! "Only Wanna Dance With You" is the early Vulture favorite, but "Dirty Love" is the song that involves Iggy Pop singing about cockroaches and Santorum. So it is the song we will post here.
French Montana Featuring Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, and 2 Chainz, "Marble Floors"
This is not as festive as "Pop That."
Solange, "Lovers in the Parking Lot"
True is streaming over on Spotify. Also be sure to stare at the pretty orange cover for at least half an hour; it's very soothing.


text:
Schizophrenia: Warning Signs of ViolenceSkip to the navigation
Topic Overview
While most people with schizophrenia are not violent, violence is one of the reasons someone who has schizophrenia may need hospitalization. It is a way to protect the person or those around him or her until thedelusionsorhallucinationsoften associated with the violence pass.
Common signs that can indicate someone with schizophrenia may become violent include:
- Talking about violence, especially when directed toward specific people or groups of people (such as past coworkers) or places, such as churches or government buildings.
- Talking, writing, or drawing about death and violence.
- Having unexplained mood changes or behaving aggressively or violently. Aggressive acts may include teasing and taunting other people by calling them names; threatening, making fun of, or playing mind games with other people; or making threatening phone calls.
- Buying or talking about having weapons or other means, such as poisons, that could hurt or kill people.
- Not taking responsibility for his or her actions or saying that the actions are justified because of how he or she has been treated.
- Drinking alcohol or using illegal drugs more frequently.
- Increased fears of other people (paranoia).
- Telling someone that he or she hears voices telling him or her to hurt or kill another person.
Related Information
ByHealthwise Staff
Primary Medical Reviewer Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine
Specialist Medical Reviewer Christine R. Maldonado, PhD - Behavioral Health
Current as ofDecember 7, 2017
- Top of Page
Next Section:Related Information
Previous Section:Topic Overview
- Top of Page
Next Section:Credits
Previous Section:Related Information
- Top of Page
Current as of: December 7, 2017
Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review: Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine & Christine R. Maldonado, PhD - Behavioral Health
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated, disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. Learn how we develop our content.
To learn more about Healthwise, visit Healthwise.org.
© 1995-2018 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.


text:
Although there have been no major geopolitical issues that have had a significant impact on oil flow out of the MENA region the market is slowly become more aware and nervous with the issues that have occurred over the last few weeks as well as what is evolving of late from the region. The Algerian hostage situation was a wakeup call that this country is not immune to the issues that have plagued many other countries in the area. Also Libya is far from stable with strikes and sporadic fighting curtailing crude oil production levels and postponing some new drilling ventures by some of the IOC until later in the year on the premise that it will be more stable. Egypt is also flaring up once again as more of the population seems to be dismayed by the current leadership resulting in rioting and unrest in many cities in Egypt.
There are other hot spots starting to break through the surface resulting in the geopolitical risk premium starting to slowly creep back into the price of oil. At the moment I would categorize geopolitics as the floor in oil prices at a minimum with an additional premium starting to emerge. Geopolitical risk is currently coming back into the forefront in the mindset of most to the oil market participants.
Global equity values have recovered most of the losses from the first part of the week and are now almost unchanged for the week as shown in the EMI Global Equity table below. The Index is just 0.07% lower for the week with the year to date gain sitting at the 2.6% level. Brazil remains the only bourse in the Index that is still in negative territory for the year with London and the US holding the top two spots in the Index (in that order).
As I have been discussing since last week that many of the global equity bourses are in overbought territory and susceptible to a downside correction at any time. For example the London FTSE is up 7% for the month of January while the US Dow is higher by 6.5%. These are not sustainable monthly gains that are going to continue to be repeated without interruption. There is a plethora of market moving data yet to hit the media airwaves this week any of which could act as a catalyst to send the market into a round of profit taking selling. There will be a move to the downside at some point and the oil complex will also be impacted. Protect your profits from the current run higher.


text:
Facebook flings clickjack spam lawsuit at ad-slingers
Social network teams up with Washington State to hound marketing firm
Facebook and US state of Washington have filed lawsuits against marketing firm Adscend Media over alleged clickjacking and spam practices, as the social networking giant finally gets tough with scammers operating on the site.
The lawsuits were filed against the co-owners of Delaware-based Adscend in the US District Court in Seattle (PDF) and a federal court in the Northern District of California. They allege violation of the CAN-SPAM Act which prohibits the sending of misleading electronic communications. Adscend was fingered for clickjacking and other scams which netted its owners up to $1.2m a month at their height.
Such scams on Facebook work by luring the user into clicking on a link with the promise of viewing some particularly shocking or salacious content, like a semi-naked celebrity or an animal with two heads.
Before the user can view the content, however, they are asked to complete an online survey where they will be encouraged to fill in their personal information, or they could be persuaded to sign up to an expensive mobile service.
In the specific case of clickjacking, also known as likejacking, they will also be tricked into clicking on a hidden 'Like' button which then spams the scam out to all of their friends.
"We don't 'like' schemes that illegally trick Facebook users into giving up personal information or paying for unwanted subscription services through spam," said Washington State attorney general Rob McKenna.
"We applaud Facebook for devoting significant technical and legal resources to finding and stopping scams as soon as possible – and often before they even start. We're proud to join forces in order to protect Washington consumers."
Facebook also issued a strongly worded statement following the joint press conference the two scam-busting parties held at the social networking firm's Seattle office.
"Facebook's security professionals have made tremendous strides against this particular form of attack and we are intent on eradicating it completely. We will continue to use all tools at our disposal to ensure that scammers do not profit from misusing Facebook's services," said the firm's chief litigator, Craig Clark.
Despite the tough talk, however, Facebook hasn't often used the significant bundles of cash at its disposal to pursue scammers through the courts.
A notable exception came in October 2010, when a federal court awarded it a massive $360.5m in a case against prolific spammer Philip Porembski. ®


text:
Forum Post: Found DG with me.
Posted 5 years ago on June 28, 2013, 1:46 a.m. EST by Kavatz
from Edmonton, AB
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
Want to be a founder of Departmental Governance? Want to learn about it and put it into your own words?
Want to try to think of things no one else has, and try to incorporate the best other systems offered? Debate with others who disagree on the approach?
I want to seek and destroy the flaws of DG and replace them with undeniable logic.
Who will join me early? Who will join late? Who will oppose or ignore it, and how they will feel when they know.


text:
15 Non-Alcoholic Drinks to Have With a Meal
From simple tricks to store-bought sips, we have you covered when it comes to non-alcoholic drink ideas. Most of these beverages aren't too sweet, making them perfect to serve alongside food.
• 1 Sparkling Rosemary Limeade - Fizzy, punchy, and a snap to make
• 2 Fizzy Water with Raspberries - A simple, quick way to dress up a drink
• 3 Hibiscus-Earl Grey Iced Tea - Vibrantly colored and not too sweet
• 4 Rosemary Citrus Spritzer - Like Orangina with an herbal note
• 5 DIY Thai Iced Tea - A sweet drink that takes the heat off curries
• 6 Pink Grapefruit and Pomegranate Soda - A festive, grown-up soda
• 7 Homemade Rhubarb Juice - Delicious mixed with water
• 8 Sweet Basil Lemonade - A nice change from plain lemonade or water
• 9 Cinnamon Water - Infused with delicate sweetness and spice
• 10 Soda with Bitters - Make or buy alcohol-free bitters (like Stirrings Blood Orange Bitters) if you don't want the trace amount found in most bottles
• 11 12 Noon to Midnight - Light, refreshing, and not too sweet
• 12 Cascal - Fermented sodas made from fruit juice
• 13-15 Grown-Up Soda (GUS), Vignette Wine Country Soda, DRY Soda Co. - Light, sparkling drinks for adult palates
What are your favorite non-alcoholic drinks to have with a meal?
Related: Ideas for Fun Non-Alcoholic Party Drinks?
(Images: See linked recipes for full image credits)


text:
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — The 10-year-old son of a neo-Nazi leader told his younger sister that he planned to shoot their father, then a day later took a gun from his parents' bedroom and fired one bullet into his father's head as the man slept on a couch, a prosecutor alleged Tuesday.
The boy's father, Jeff Hall, was an out-of-work plumber who also was a regional leader of the National Socialist Movement.
Hall, 32, joined the group and organized rallies at synagogues and a day labor site after his sister-in-law was killed about six years ago by a hit-and-run driver who was an illegal immigrant.
In opening statements at the boy's murder trial in juvenile court, Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Michael Soccio dismissed the notion that Hall's neo-Nazi beliefs "conditioned" the child to kill. Instead, Soccio said, the boy was a violent and angry child who'd been expelled from multiple schools.
He also said the boy, now 12, suspected his father was going to leave his stepmother and he didn't want the family to split up.
"You'll learn that (the child) would have shot his father even if he'd been a member of the Peace and Freedom Party. It made no difference," Soccio said, before showing the court photos of Hall playing tea party with his young children. "They lived a relatively normal life."
The Associated Press is not identifying the child because he is a juvenile.
The boy with light brown hair sat quietly in court next to his attorney and wore a purple polo shirt and glasses. He showed little emotion when the prosecution flashed photos through a projector of his blood-spattered father, and he appeared to be taking notes in a spiral-bound notebook.
On several occasions, the boy asked his attorney how to spell the name of a witness taking the stand.
Defense attorney Matthew Hardy countered in his opening statement that his client had grown up in an abusive and violent environment and learned it was acceptable to kill people who were a threat. Hall taught his son to shoot guns, and took him to neo-Nazi rallies and once to the Mexican border to teach him how to "make sure he knew what to do to protect this place from the Mexicans," Hardy said.
"If you were going to create a monster, if you were going to create a killer, what would you do?" he said. "You'd put him in a house where there's domestic violence, child abuse, racism."
The defense also suggested that the boy's stepmother, Krista McCary, goaded the child into killing Hall because her husband planned to leave her for another woman. McCary told a police officer at the scene that she had killed her husband, but later recanted and said she lied to protect her stepson, who she'd raised since infancy.
McCary has pleaded guilty to one felony count of child endangerment and criminal storage of a firearm in the case, said John Hall, district attorney spokesman.
Prosecutors maintain that the boy intended to kill his father and saw an opportunity when Hall came home late after a day of drinking and fell asleep on the couch. The boy got a gun from his parent's room and shot Hall at near point-blank range behind his left ear on May 1, 2011, Soccio said.
"He held the gun about a foot away and, as he explained, he took four fingers and put them into the trigger and pulled the trigger back, and the gun discharged," Soccio said, showing images of a bloodied Hall on the couch covered by a blue blanket.
Several police officers testified that the boy and at least one of his siblings voluntarily gave statements immediately after the shooting that indicated the boy had killed his father.
One younger sister asked the boy why he hadn't shot their father in the stomach, as he said he planned to do, according to Officer Robert Monreal, who picked up the exchange on a belt recorder.
The two siblings talked about the shooting as they played on a swing set a day before the attack, Soccio told the court.
Another officer testified that the boy was held in a patrol car at the scene and began to talk almost nonstop from the backseat.
Officer Michael Foster said the child acknowledged shooting his father and began to show remorse.
"He was sad about it. He wished he hadn't done it," Foster recalled. "He asked me about things like, do people get more than one life, things like that. He wanted to know if he was dead or if he just had injuries."
McCary testified that she and Hall hosted a monthly meeting of the National Socialist Movement the day before the shooting and drank whiskey shots with their guests into the afternoon.
Hall left to drive some guests home and sent McCary three profanity-laced text messages while he was gone telling her he wanted a divorce and ordering her to move out. The couple argued when he returned home because he was seeing another woman, McCary said.
Sometime later, McCary said she awoke to a loud noise and came downstairs to find her husband lying on the couch bleeding from the head. Her stepson came downstairs almost immediately, stopped halfway down the staircase and confessed, she said.
"He said, 'I shot dad.' And I said, 'Why?'" she said. "He didn't answer."
The boy has a history of being expelled from school for violence, starting at age 5 when he stabbed a teacher with a pencil on the first day of kindergarten, Soccio said. He also tried to strangle a teacher with a telephone cord a few years later, he said.
His stepmother said the boy had severe learning disabilities and frequently was the target of Hall's wrath when her husband had been drinking or was high.
"He had mood swings, and you were never sure which Jeff you were going to get," she said.
Hall had said he believed in a white breakaway nation and ran for a seat on the local water board in 2010 in a move that disturbed many residents in the recession-battered suburbs southeast of Los Angeles.
Hall and the boy's biological mother previously slugged through a divorce and custody dispute in which each accused the other of child abuse. Social service workers visited Hall's home more than 20 times but never removed the children from his custody.
Kathleen M. Heide, a professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa who wrote "Why Kids Kill Parents," said children 10 and under rarely kill their parents and that only 16 such cases were documented between 1996 and 2007. Heide also said parenting and home life undoubtedly would play a role in the boy's development.
If a judge finds he murdered Hall, the boy could be held in state custody until he is 23 years old.
The state currently houses fewer than 900 juveniles.
Associated Press Writer Amy Taxin in Tustin contributed to this report.


text:
Hardie Board siding is durable and will look good for way over 50 years! More significantly, it is inexpensive! This Board is manufactured by James Hardie a leader in the industry with over 50 years of experience in producing high quality building products, the board is a composite and made out of cement and sand plus cellulose fibers, these are then blended together with resins, waxes and water. The composite material undergoes a process that uses high-pressure steam to press the mixture into a mold, which gives the material its ultimate form.
Once the material has cured and hardened paint can be applied and it holds very well to the board, you can paint the Board any color you like or get the pre-finished Board with a 15-year warranty on the paint. It is non-combustible and fire resistant, with a limited, transferable warranty for up to 50 years. It remains stable for years, it will not contract and expand, it will not crack or rot and it will not be damaged by rain and hail. It looks similar to wood, but is not vulnerable to attack from termites. It is a product which will last a lifetime.
Hardie Board siding is fast becoming the product leader in the market. Currently Hardie Board Siding costs less than good quality vinyl sidings it two and a half times cheaper than Redwood sidings. It has many other uses too, it can be used to line eaves or soffits or as an underlay for decks or indoors in the bathroom. This type of fiber cement sidings is probably one of if not the best solution for homes these days as it is low maintenance and extremely durable.
Installing Hardie Board sidings to a home is quite a simple process if done by a professional contractor, who has experience in handling and working with the product. The contractor will be able to measure, cut the board as needed, and then fit it to the building structure. To finish off the house beautifully all that needs to be done is a paint treatment and the job is complete. It will look stunning for years to come. Check out this touching story about James Hardie Siding, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Fp2_4bPM4o.
So if you are interested in learning more about the options and applications of this fantastic product you just need to contact a professional contractor or James Hardie directly. For more information visit http://www.wrkp.com/james-hardie-chicago/


text:
What are the best car diagnostic applications for iOS or Android?
Answers Given
Answers Favorited
I am interested in performing my own diagnostic tests on my car, and I am wondering what the best iOS and Android applications are for this purpose. Would we need to get a special cable to plug into the OBDII outlet in cars? Or is there a better wireless version?0
Hello, sign-in here to ask or answer a question:
Cool tools really work.
A cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website that is tried and true. All reviews on this site are written by readers who have actually used the tool and others like it. Items can be either old or new as long as they are wonderful. We post things we like and ignore the rest. Suggestions for tools much better than what is recommended here are always wanted.Tell us what you love.
- Announcements
- Aural
- Autonomous Motion
- Backpacking
- Big Systems
- Clothing
- Communications
- Community
- Computers
- Consumptivity
- Craft
- Culture
- Dead Tools
- Deals
- Design
- Destinations
- Dwelling
- Edibles
- Family
- Gardens
- General Purpose Tools
- Health
- Homestead
- Inner Space
- Kitchen
- Learning
- Life on Earth
- Livelihood
- Living on the Road
- Maker Tools
- Maker Update
- Materials
- Media Tools
- Paper World
- Photography
- Play
- Podcast
- Prove Us Wrong
- Readers' Gifts
- Recomendo
- Related Stuff
- Science Method
- Somatics
- Source Wanted
- Tips
- Tool Chest
- Uncategorized
- Vehicles
- Videos
- Visual Media
- What's in My Bag
- Workplace
- Workshop


text:
(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
Contact us for information about using this image.
Masha Arms photographed Nathan Tufts (b. 1930) in his Greenfield, Massachusetts, backyard. She then printed the photograph at the summer residence she and her husband, Billy, were renting in Chesterfield, New Hampshire, where there was no electricity or running water. Masha Arms had to wash the print with water pumped from a spring in back of the house and use an enlarger powered by a converter Billy Arms hooked up to the car battery. Masha describes this and the other prints she produced during this period as being truly handmade. Originally from Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Masha Arms arrived in Washington, DC, during the Great Depression. After buying a Model G Leica camera in 1934 and teaching herself about the technical aspects of photography, she landed a job teaching photography at the King-Smith Studio School in 1936. Masha Arms' work was published in a 1936 Washington Post review of the Junior League Gallery exhibition alongside photographs by Ansel Adams and Margaret Bourke-White. In 1941, when the United States entered World War II, Masha left Washington, married William Tyler Arms of Deerfield, Massachusetts, and moved back to New England.
top of page
Send an e-Postcard of this object
See Also...
Prentiss Childs and Chum
Masha Arms
Child Beauty (Barbara Jordan)
Home | Online Collection | Things
To Do | Turns
Exhibit | Classroom | Chronologies | My
About This Site | Site Index | Site Search | Feedback


text:
Freedom Takes Hold: ASEAN journalism in transition
|Committee to Protect Journalists
|A. Lin Neumann
|Publication Date
|February 1999
|Cite as
|Committee to Protect Journalists, Freedom Takes Hold: ASEAN journalism in transition, February 1999, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/47c567c2c.html [accessed 23 September 2018]
|This report was included as a Special Report in CPJ's "Attacks on the Press in 1998".
|This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
By A. Lin Neumann
December 1998
Since July 1997, the Asian economic crisis has dragged the countries of Southeast Asia through a nightmare of currency devaluation, shattered stock markets, rising unemployment, and political instability. But paradoxically, the crisis has also created opportunities for positive social and political change, including greater press freedom. Calls for greater openness and a freer press in the region vie with more closed and authoritarian responses to the extended economic downturn.
In recent years, the robust growth enjoyed by most of the nine members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was frequently used to justify authoritarian governments and restrictive press laws. So-called "Asian values" were said to prize economic development and social harmony above individual freedom and civil liberties. The financial crisis may finally have revealed the fallacy of appealing to Asian values as a rationale for controlling the flow of information.
In Indonesia, for example, the nation hit hardest by the downturn, economic woes focused public attention on widespread corruption and a lack of government accountability. Anger over these abuses sparked massive protests and rioting, which in turn forced President Suharto to resign in May. Despite his ties to the old regime, Suharto's hand-picked successor Bacharudin Jusuf (B.J.) Habibie grasped that reform is the key to political survival. As part of that process, the government quickly lifted almost all restrictions on the press.
In contrast, as the economic crisis reached Malaysia, an internecine power struggle intensified and the government sought to muzzle dissent. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, long an outspoken advocate of Asian values, invoked the country's draconian, colonial-era Internal Security Act to arrest his one-time protegé turned reformist political rival, former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, for sodomy and corruption. The September 20 arrest prompted the largest public protests in Malaysia in a generation. Mahathir, ASEAN's longest-serving leader, has used a timid, self-censoring press and a pliant legal system to mute dissent.
During the long period of turmoil that followed the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, the Philippines was held in contempt by its authoritarian neighbors for its rowdy democracy and raucous free press. During the current crisis, however, the Philippines has held a peaceful election, withstood government transition, and wheathered the economic meltdown with fewer negative effects than its ASEAN partners.
Although Thailand's monetary policies in July 1997 unwittingly triggered the regional financial upheaval, attempts to quell the crisis with authoritarian strategies failed. When Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh blamed the media for the crisis, he was met with ridicule in the Thai press. In October 1997, Chavalit sought to impose a state of emergency, which would have included press censorship and a curfew. The military, reversing a history of intervention in civil affairs, refused to go along, and in November 1997, Chavalit resigned. The new prime minister, Chuan Leekpai, of the Democrat Party, presided over the implementation of a new constitution with the strongest press freedom protections in the region. A program of economic reforms and greater openness under Chuan has led Thailand to the forefront of the regional movement to encourage more transparency within ASEAN.
In his keynote speech at a CPJ-sponsored conference on regional press freedom in Bangkok in November, Thailand's foreign minister Surin Pitsuwan stated, "Freedom is indivisible. It is all or none. It is therefore the responsibility of each member of the society not only to safeguard the freedom of the press but also to ensure the safety of its practitioners."
The conference resulted in an unprecedented agreement among organizations advocating greater press freedom in Southeast Asia to cooperate across national boundaries. The Southeast Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA), made up of representatives from Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia, is planning to establish a working secretariat in Bangkok to monitor press freedom conditions throughout ASEAN.
Nowhere is the battle for openness more crucial than in Indonesia, where the press is suddenly free to report on corruption and investigate human rights abuses. The military so far has steered clear of taking power, authorities have given the green light to the formation of political parties, and the country appears to be on course for promised May 1999 elections.
Indonesia's liberated press, however, remains at risk; the Habibie government has yet to introduce a promised systematic reform of repressive media laws used by the Suharto government to close publications and imprison journalists. And the country's ongoing economic instability could still lead to a political backlash. But the Habibie government has surprised many analysts with its willingness to tolerate, and even encourage, far-reaching public debate in the press.
The May riots, ongoing student demonstrations, and ethnic violence have fueled fears that the country might spiral into widespread bloodletting of the sort that followed the 1965 overthrow of President Sukarno. Suharto frequently used the specter of social chaos to justify his New Order regime, and some analysts worry that reactionary forces may once again use the threat of instability as an excuse to derail reform. "Common sense is now being threatened in Indonesia," said Andreas Harsono, a journalist who works with the Institute for Studies in the Free Flow of Information. "In general, people do not feel secure these days."
But the socioeconomic particulars of Indonesian life are significantly different from those of a generation ago. Indonesia now has a substantial educated urban middle class with a stake in a stable democratic system. Today's vibrant, vigilant press can play a stabilizing role by airing the issues at the root of social strife.
As Southeast Asia's largest nation, Indonesia, with 200 million people, is the region's most important economy and a bellwether for its neighbors. Thus, if democracy takes root in Indonesia, it has the potential to change the political dynamic of the entire region. A free press in post-Suharto Indonesia can help open an ASEAN-wide dialogue on free expression, human rights, and other issues, such as the environment, that have long been kept under wraps.
"If Indonesia joins Thailand and the Philippines as a democratic state, it puts real pressure on the rest of ASEAN," said a Jakarta-based Western diplomat. "You can ignore everyone else in ASEAN, but you cannot ignore Indonesia. No one comes close to it in size and influence."
ASEAN's "free press" nations – Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines – account for more than two-thirds of the total population of Southeast Asia's 483 million people. Their cumulative clout may provide an irresistible momentum toward press freedom in the rest of Southeast Asia. The authoritarian leaders of Malaysia, Vietnam, Burma, and elsewhere will no longer be able to pretend that a timid and cautious press is the regional norm.
"Look at Indonesia," said a senior Thai foreign ministry official. "It is moving along a process of reform that was not possible under the old regime or before the crisis. The crisis brought about a change, and that change has opened up opportunities. Habibie is committed to a process of reform and a schedule of elections that will lead to more changes. This wasn't possible without the crisis. The crisis itself has ushered in some dynamics [for change] in the domestic structure of every society here."
While ongoing economic upheaval has triggered the recent changes for the Indonesian press, courageous journalists throughout Southeast Asia have worked for years to open restrictive societies.
During the Marcos dictatorship, a few journalists continued to test the regime's limits. When Marcos finally fled in 1986, it was in large part because the Philippine media had chipped away at his credibility.
In May 1992, hundreds of thousands of people, including members of an emerging Thai middle class, took to the streets to protest a military-dominated government. When troops fired on the protesters, killing dozens, popular outrage against the killings led to the government's collapse, and a period of political liberalization began. It was newspaper reporting, in defiance of a ban on coverage of the protests, that galvanized the public against the bloodshed. Since 1992, Thai newspapers have grown increasingly bold. Thailand has become the de facto center for regional reporting, as well as a haven for human rights groups and regional non-governmental organizations, which operate in Thailand with little government interference.
In the last years of the Suharto era, when the regime shut publications and sent some editors and reporters to prison, a core of dedicated Indonesian journalists pushed the limits of free expression by publishing banned magazines on websites, and flouting government licensing requirements to print underground newspapers. The hard work has now begun to pay off.
Since its founding 31 years ago, ASEAN has been an economic alliance and a forum for the resolution of intraregional tensions. Most of its nine member states have had authoritarian governments. But the current crisis is changing the way ASEAN does business and exposing a dramatic contrast between the more democratic states and their repressive allies.
In July 1998, at the annual ASEAN foreign ministers' summit in Manila, Thailand's dynamic young foreign minister, Surin Pitsuwan, challenged the ASEAN orthodoxy by discussing what he called "flexible engagement," a policy initiative designed to supersede the alliance's core principle of "non-interference" in one another's domestic affairs and to encourage formal discussion of human rights and free expression within ASEAN.
Advisors close to Surin say that greater openness is necessary if the alliance is to maintain its relevance after the economic collapse. "Globalization, liberalization, accountability, transparency, and good governance – all these things are now being felt in every society and every government," said a senior official. "If you want to compete and you want to move along, you will have to make changes."
In human terms, non-interference also meant tolerance for even the worst human rights abuses. For example, Burma, despite being a virtual pariah state internationally, gained full ASEAN membership in 1997 with the tacit understanding that member states would turn a blind eye to its domestic policies.
Surin's proposal touched a raw nerve among most other ASEAN ministers, who recognized it as a far-reaching challenge to ASEAN's repressive history. In the end, after tense discussions, the Philippines was the only member state to openly support Thailand on the issue. The alliance watered down the idea, agreeing to encourage what is now termed "enhanced interaction." Whatever it is called, the message is clear: The reformist forces within ASEAN now feel free to criticize their neighbors.
The new dynamic has already had repercussions. The presidents of the Philippines and Indonesia both publicly criticized Anwar's arrest in Malaysia. Newspapers in Jakarta, Manila, and Bangkok editorialized against Mahathir's actions. The shock of this public rebuke prompted an angry reaction from the timid pro-government Malaysian press, which complained that other ASEAN countries were interfering in what was a purely internal matter.
For decades, the Indonesian state was virtually synonymous with one man, Suharto, whose hold on his nation was so strong that many observers could hardly conceive of life without him and even local journalists were unprepared for the rapid demise of his regime.
Habibie was thrust into office by Suharto's May 21 resignation, and he seemed to have inherited an impossible task. Demonstrators immediately called for his resignation, and many observers were convinced that he couldn't last in office for more than a few weeks. But a coterie of media-savvy advisors concluded that political reform and greater openness offered a way out of the maelstrom. Habibie's government acted quickly to allow the press to operate openly, and encourage new political parties to function.
The changes caught journalists by surprise. "We were prepared for the long haul. We had safe houses, underground printing presses, and a network of discussion groups to prepare the ground gradually for the post-Suharto era," said Goenawan Mohamad, the founder and chief editor of Tempo magazine. "We are now dealing with a completely new and unforeseen situation. But of course we do not for a moment regret that Suharto is gone."
Tempo, once Indonesia's largest, most respected news magazine, is a prime example of the new openness. The information ministry revoked Tempo's publishing license in 1994, following the publication of an article that exposed government infighting over the purchase of 39 East German patrol boats. Within days of Suharto's resignation, the new regime told Goenawan and others from Tempo that they would be free to reopen. Ironically, Habibie was the target of the article that offended the government four years earlier.
"Habibie is sophisticated enough to know that his situation was hopeless unless he allowed the reforms to go forward," said Adam Schwarz, a former journalist who is now a consultant on Southeast Asian issues in Washington. "His advisors concluded that there was a lot of information out there already, and it was better for him to just open up the press."
The magazine's relaunch celebration on October 4 was a major event in Jakarta, drawing some 2,000 reporters, politicians, government ministers, and diplomats. Tempo's newsstand sales have so far exceeded expectations, leading to talk within the company of expanding operations and a sense of buoyant optimism.
The reopening of Tempo, which was founded in 1971, marks the return of a magazine that is credited by many with nurturing a generation of journalists with standards of professionalism and courage that were new to Indonesian media. When it was closed, its 150 reporters and editors dispersed to other publications, sometimes working without bylines for fear of government reprisal. By all accounts, they have had a tremendous impact throughout the industry.
After the 1994 ban, Tempo veterans, led by Goenawan, organized the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), which challenged the official Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI). Former Tempo reporter Ahmad Taufik, AJI's first president, and a 1995 recipient of CPJ's International Press Freedom Award, was sent to prison for three years in 1994, along with two other AJI staffers, for publishing articles critical of Suharto in Suara Independen, an unlicensed magazine. His case brought international condemnation to the Suharto government for its treatment of the press.
While independent journalists managed to keep the faith during the dark days of repression, support has recently come from an unexpected quarter: Lt. Gen. Mohamad Yunus, the active-duty officer who is Indonesia' minister of information and chief official champion of a free press.
Early in his career, Yunus gained a reputation as a tough combat officer during Indonesia's 1975 invasion of East Timor. His name has surfaced in official Australian government reports as the commander of troops accused in the murder of five Australia-based journalists in the town of Balibo, East Timor, in 1975, a charge he denies. But he is also a well-traveled officer who received advance training in the United States and Great Britain. During a stint at the U.S. Army's Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth in 1979, he even wrote a thesis titled, "The Role of the Mass Media in Developing Countries." Under Suharto, he rose to become Armed Forces Chief of Social-Political Affairs, responsible for coordinating the Army's significant role in Indonesian political life.
Yunus says that Habibie considered him for the post of military chief when Suharto stepped down, but instead named him to the information post on the day that Habibie took office. Since then, Yunus has consistently espoused a belief that the road to stability in his country runs through a free press.
"I want to see more publications in Indonesia," he explained during a lengthy conversation in his office. "I really believe that such a thing will provide more competitive information for the people and it will enhance their views and build the creativity of the people."
It used to take as long as seven years – or the payment of hefty bribes – to open any kind of publication in Indonesia. Censors reviewed copies of all imported newspapers and magazines. Yunus has abolished the censor's office, effectively eliminating censorship. And Yunus advocates removing the remaining government controls on the media.
He has sought advice from Goenawan and other journalists on how to reform Indonesia's press laws, and he has eliminated the stranglehold of the PWI, allowing AJI and other journalistic associations to function freely. Yunus has even been a target of criticism from within his own ministry for being too liberal.
Under Yunus, approximately 350 new publication licenses have been granted since May. New and old titles abound. Along with Tempo, other banned publications have been revived, such as the fiery magazine Detik, also shut by the government in 1994, which has reopened under a new name, Detak.
While repressive laws remain on the books, the nation's future is being openly debated, and Indonesia is no longer the exclusive province of one man's family and cronies. "The most likely thing the press could contribute in this new period is to develop a culture of transparency and accountability in the bureaucracy and the government," says Goenawan. "Tempo will hopefully become a place that will defend and expand our freedoms."
"This is a new experience for us. We are free now," adds Lukas Luwarso, the president of AJI.
Contrast the new freedom in Indonesia with Malaysia, where economic crisis and political opposition have been met with stiffer repression.
The first sign that Mahathir was going to move against Anwar Ibrahim, his erstwhile deputy, came in July, with the forced resignations of three prominent editors identified with Anwar's wing of the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party, which along with other pro-government political parties controls most of Malaysia's media. With a docile press now ensured, the charges of sodomy and corruption brought against Anwar went scarcely challenged in the media.
When foreign television reports documented the popular unrest and demonstrations that greeted Anwar's ouster, Malaysian authorities banned the use of domestic satellite facilities to transmit images of the demonstrations. A private doctor's report confirming that Anwar had been beaten made headlines abroad but wasn't reported by the Malaysian media.
Mahathir has frequently dismissed press freedom as a form of Western imperialism. In 1997, at the onset of the economic crisis, he said, "This is part of the freedom of the press – the freedom to influence adversely against other countries, the freedom to tell lies, which is part of the freedom as interpreted by them."
After Anwar's arrest, Malaysian officials predictably lashed out at the foreign press. Malaysian Information Minister Mohamed Rahmat told local reporters, "I think the role of the local media is important in defending the country from its enemies. Unfortunately, the Western media and certain foreign organizations are now working hand in hand with insiders to destroy all the good in this country."
As a result of the tight control exerted on the press, many Malaysian journalists say they live in a climate of fear and self-censorship, constantly worrying that their phones are tapped and that their jobs are at risk if they offend the powers that be. "The press is not only oppressed, it is totally shackled," said one veteran Malaysian reporter, who feared reprisals if his name was used. "They are trying to bury the press."
If the lessons of Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines are any guide, Malaysian officials can at best fight a rear-guard action against the public's right to know. "Information is just like water, in that when a rock impedes the flow, water still flows by the side of the rock, or through the crevices," wrote Goenawan in March, just as Suharto's crisis was deepening. "The more restrictions are imposed, the more new activity in the media will be generated."
The use of the Internet has had a profound effect in the region. In Indonesia, during the last days of Suharto, students went online to coordinate demonstrations and share information instantly in ways the government found impossible to control. Similarly, the Net has begun to play an effective role in disseminating news otherwise not easily available in Malaysia. Anxious to bill itself as a high-tech research and manufacturing center, Malaysia has allowed relatively easy Net access. Websites and discussion groups about Anwar's arrest have proliferated, carrying debate absent from the old-order press onto the World Wide Web.
No wonder the region's authoritarian leaders are afraid of the Internet. China, Burma, and Vietnam all restrict Internet access; Burma's generals have imposed prison terms of up to 15 years for possession of a modem. But time is on the side of those who believe in the free flow of information. Even Singapore, with its reputation for a timid press, has had to retreat from initial attempts to restrict political content on the Internet, because investors found the restriction onerous.
It has become axiomatic that the turmoil in the Asian economies was aggravated by the absence of a vibrant and vigilant press. After decades of cooperation with repressive governments and avoidance of sensitive media issues, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund now see press freedom as an ally in global economic recovery. Addressing its recent annual meeting in Washington, World Bank president James Wolfensohn called the free flow of information necessary for good governance and sustained economic growth.
Unfortunately, it took an economic collapse to focus the attention of the world on the issue of the press in Southeast Asia. But it would be a mistake to believe that international financial institutions or Western pressure alone will force governments in the region to open their systems to greater freedom and accountability.
Free expression is the first right, and without it democracy and accountability are impossible. The big lie of Asian values as a justification for repression was the demeaning notion that freedom was somehow less valuable to an Asian than it was to anyone else. Fortunately, the new openness in Indonesia, the democratization of Thailand, and the tradition of freedom in the Philippines are creating a culture of free expression that is exemplified by the recent founding of the Southeast Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA) and the growing debate within ASEAN.
Through SEAPA, independent journalists in the region can band together to promote and protect one another. The press in Burma, Vietnam, Malaysia, Laos, Singapore, and Cambodia continue to operate under severe constraints. They are either directly controlled by their governments or forced to labor under a regime of threat and self-censorship. Instead of relying on protests lodged from outside the region, SEAPA will try to expand the scope of regional press freedom in a spirit of solidarity and respect for their colleagues and neighbors.
At stake is the future of free expression in Southeast Asia and the ability of the ASEAN nations to emerge into a stable and more open future. "Those of us in Indonesia know what it is like to lose our freedom," said Goenawan Mohamad. "But if we can right ourselves, maybe we can serve as something of an example for the rest of ASEAN. There are still so many problems in the rest of the region. We have to work together."


text:
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A state judge said Friday that a small city can continue to ban state-licensed marijuana businesses, in a case with big implications for Washington's experiment in legal pot.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Ronald Culpepper issued the ruling after extensive arguments over whether Initiative 502, the voter-approved state law that legalizes adults' recreational use of marijuana, left any room for such local bans.
The case concerned a ban in the Tacoma suburb of Fife. Would-be pot proprietor Tedd Wetherbee sued, saying he was entitled to do business but the city wasn't letting him. Culpepper disagreed.
"Fife's ordinance is not pre-empted by I-502 or other state law," he said in an oral ruling.
Wetherbee said he'd appeal.
Washington's experiment is built around the notion that it can bring marijuana out of the black market and into a regulated system that protects public health and safety better than prohibition did. Advocates say local bans threaten the state's ability to do that.
Besides the 28 cities and two counties that have banned pot shops, scores more have issued long-running moratoriums preventing the stores from opening while officials review zoning and other issues.
Fife's lawyers argued that nothing in the state law overruled cities' zoning authority, while Wetherbee's attorneys insisted that if local governments can ban licensed growers, processor and sellers, it would undermine voters' desire to displace illegal pot sales.
Culpepper said Wetherbee did not prove that banning pot shops in such a small city — 5 square miles and fewer than 10,000 people — would thwart the will of the voters; there are shops open in neighboring Tacoma.
The analysis might be different for bans in Pierce County or other more populous or larger parts of the state, Culpepper suggested.
The case posed a serious threat to Washington's entire system for regulating marijuana. Fife had asked the judge, if he struck down the city's ban, to consider whether the state law should be invalidated as incompatible with marijuana's prohibition under federal law.
Culpepper said offhandedly that he did not believe I-502 conflicts with federal law, but he did not reach that question in his ruling.
Nevertheless, Culpepper's ruling doesn't end the challenge to Fife's ban. The judge said Wetherbee could pursue procedural arguments that the city didn't adopt the ordinance properly.
The lawsuit attracted a lot of attention, with the state, the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, and other counties and towns weighing in.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson took the position that I-502 did not negate local zoning authority to ban the shops, but he insisted that the state's law is not pre-empted by the federal Controlled Substances Act. He called Fife's arguments "a significant threat to the implementation of Initiative 502."
Ferguson said after the ruling that I-502's drafters could have addressed the issue with a single sentence requiring local governments to allow the businesses.
Alison Holcomb, the ACLU of Washington lawyer who wrote the law, said she hopes the Legislature addresses the question.
Rep. Chris Hurst, the Enumclaw Democrat who heads the House committee that oversees the pot industry, said lawmakers might do just that, unless the state Supreme Court overrules Culpepper by January.
"If you carve out large chunks of the state and say they are able to pre-empt state law, you'll have pockets where the criminal element flourishes," Hurst said.
Colorado, the only other state with legal pot for adults, expressly allows cities to ban pot businesses, and dozens have done so.
Holcomb said the ACLU chapter would support letting cities ban pot businesses, as long as that decision is made by voters, not elected officials.
Associated Press writer Rachel La Corte in Olympia contributed to this report.
Follow Johnson at https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle .


text:
or just 4 payments of $16.75 with More info
Mix and match with our organic reversible duvet covers, florals and checks to create your own individual bedroom style. Part of our new must have basic range the Organic cotton fitted sheets are available in true Camomile London colours.
Colours: Teal
Sizes: Cot - 70 x 140cm, 107 x 203cm (fits up to king single)
Care: Machine wash up to 30 degrees.
Where do you ship?
We ship worldwide.
How much is shipping?
Within Australia you have three options:
International shipping is via Australia Post and costs are dependent upon where the order is being shipped. Shipping costs can be calculated upon checkout.
How do you ship items?
We ship via Australia Post or a variety of couriers, depending on which option will be quickest for you. Within Australia, tracking is standard. Where possible we will use tracking for international parcels but please note that for many destinations this service is not available. Where this service is not available please note that we will not be liable for non-receipt of your order.
If you would like your parcel left in a safe place if you are not home, please let us know in the comments section during checkout. Please note that if you request that your parcel be left without signature we will not be liable for non-receipt of your order.
When will you ship my order?
We aim to ship all orders within two business days (though during peak periods, such as during sales, items may take slightly longer to ship).
The exception to this is items on pre-order. If you ordered an item on pre-order we will ship it as soon as we receive it into stock.
If you ordered items that are in stock at the same time, we will hold those items and ship your entire order once your pre-order item(s) come into stock.
Unfortunately we are unable to ship your in stock items separately after your order is placed. If you would like in stock items shipped separately, please order pre-order items in a separate transaction.
Can I return items if they don't suit?
We will gladly exchange items in your order or provide you with a store credit, provided you follow the usual sort of return conditions as set out below.
To be eligible for an exchange or credit:
(1) your item(s) must be unused, unworn (if applicable), with all tags and original packaging still intact and in saleable condition;
(2) not be a sale item; and
(2) your returns request must be submitted via our Returns Portal within 7 days of receipt of your order.
Upon receipt, we will review your return request and, if approved, we will provide details on how you should return your items. We note that you should:
(a) package your item(s) appropriately to ensure they will not be damaged in transit (any damage during transit will be your responsibility as we are unable to accept returns for items that arrive damaged); and
(b) use a tracked service with insurance, as we are unable to accept liability for return parcels not received by us.
Once we receive your return we will process it within 5 business days.
You will be responsible for the cost of shipping the returned item(s) and any exchange items. A $9.95 reshipping fee will be applicable in the event you would like an exchange.
Please note that we DO NOT provide refunds for change or mind, or other similar circumstances that do not require a refund under the Australian Consumer Law.
Can I cancel my order before it is shipped?
Due to the volume of orders and correspondence we receive we are unfortunately unable to cancel an order once it has been placed. You are however most welcome to return your order for an exchange or credit note once you receive it, utilising the returns process outlined above.
Can I obtain a refund?
If required in accordance with the consumer guarantees contained in the Australian Consumer Law we will gladly provide a refund (or exchange or credit note) and any return shipping will be at our cost. If you would like details on the consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law please see the ACCC resources available here.
For clarity, we note that the following situations will generally NOT give rise to a refund under the Australian Consumer Law:
(1) your parcel delivery being delayed by our shipping provider and/or your parcel arriving after the date you required it;
(2) an item you receive is a different colour in person to what it appears to be on your computer or mobile phone screen (excepting cases where the item is in fact incorrect - for example, receiving a blue version of a blanket instead of the pink version); or
(3) you change your mind about the item or the item doesn't fit or look the way you anticipated (excepting situations where the item is actually faulty of course).
If you believe you are entitled to a refund under Australian Consumer Law please contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com and we will work with you to resolve your issue as swiftly as possible.
Non-Approved Returns
If you send us a return that is not pre-approved as noted above, we will contact you to obtain your instructions as to how you would like the item to be dealt with (return to you at your cost or destruction).
Items returned to us without their original packaging and tags or returned due to incorrect address or non-pick up will incur a $14.95 restocking fee, as well as any re-delivery costs.


text:
So yeah, digital cameras don't have it and never can - at least, not to an older generation.
Whoa there, that's one hell of a generalisation.
I think that if you believe a camera body has "character" you probably should check in at Nikonians, where people appear to have bought Nikon D800's to test them rather than to make pictures with them. They carefully calibrate autofocus for each of their lenses, making adjustments of a millimeter or two -- an adjustment that changes in a zoom lens as you zoom.I do think that a violin has character. But each violin is different and has a different voice -- which is why a Stradivarius will cost you more than two million bucks. There's no other voice with that character. The same thing isn't true of cameras. One Nikon D4 will make the same pictures as another Nikon D4. On the other hand, one 24-70 won't necessarily give you exactly the same result as another 24-70. So I believe a lens might be said to have character.
I started with a Russian brick called a Zenith B, I'm not sure it had character but it had attitude.I loved my old Canon A1 more than my Pentax MX or my Nikon FE.I had a little Ricoh 500 something that I enjoyed using.My Broni ETR-S never really had character or any of the Hassleblads I used.My Cambo was just industrial but the MPP had something about it.The Canon DSLRs are like plastic handled axes, work well but nothing you could love.When my G10 broke down I bought a Fuji X10 to replace it as a pocket notepad. I liked the look of it and went against all the online grumbling.I have to say it's put a lot of the fun back into photography for me. It's a long way from being my best camera but using it puts a smile on my face.
But, Rob, thats exactly what you did!
They sure did: avoirdupois!Rob C
You're not kidding, it's certainly a lump to carry around.
Did you ever come across an English photographer called Rob Talbot? He had some success with picture books, one of which I bought, English Landscapes,SBN 0297 83475 4, and then (he) vanished off the radar - at least, I can't find him.Looking at a lot of television documentaries about Britain, I conclude that the ideal way to enjoy it is by air on a good summer's day. Those endlessly repeated journeys by Portillo on his railway rides illustrate this well: from ground level there's not always a heap to see, but from the air, even an ordinary old railroad track has glamour!Rob C
I still use the 5D. Often with a small or wide prime. Its a nice camera. It has character.


text:
Confessions of a PT Apologist
My name is Gabe Powers, and I am a Star Wars Prequel Trilogy Apologist...
Reader discretion is advised.
'I am a Star Wars Prequel Trilogy Apologist. Hath not a Star Wars Prequel Trilogy Apologist eyes? Hath not a Star Wars Prequel Trilogy Apologist hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same blue milk, hurt with the same DL-44 blaster pistol, subject to the same Krytos virus', healed by the same bacta, warmed and cooled by the same Tatooine and Hoth as any unaltered OT fanatic? If you prick our robotic hands do they not quiver in verification of stimulation? If you run us through with a double bladed lightsaber do we not cauterize instantly and fall dead without bleeding? If you destroy our planet with your super-powered, planet sized space station do we not die?'
Part One: The Delusional Nuisance
I hereby call to order this meeting of SWPTAA ( Star Wars Prequel Trilogy Apologists Anonymous). We have a new member joining us tonight. This brings our standing total to three. Would you like to introduce yourself?
My name is Gabe Powers, and I am a Star Wars Prequel Trilogy Apologist. ('Hi Gabe') It has been three months, two weeks, and three days since the last time I watched the Prequel Trilogy. My story starts the day I was born. The number one film in America was The Empire Strikes Back, and my foolish parents decided to take me to the theatre to see it while I was still in an infantile state. I don't blame them, though, it was Star Wars. I don't remember the experience, obviously, but apparently the film burned itself thoroughly into my colour blind, non-cognitive little mind. Over the next eight years I spent my time creating new Star Wars adventures with my toy collection (I wasn't allowed action figures with guns, but 'blasters' and 'laser swords' were okay). At the age of three I got to see the final instalment of the Star Wars series, Return of the Jedi in a theatre, though my mother made me leave the theatre temporarily during the Rancor scene, which she had read was scary.
George Lucas never touched my childhood in the bathing suit area.
At the age of ten I finally felt I had outgrown Star Wars (I was much more interested in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Ghostbusters by that time), and sold my entire toy collection (including the ghost Anakin Skywalker and Emperor figures you had to send away proof of purchases to get) to my collector uncle for the hefty sum of $100, which is a lot of money for a ten year old in the year 1990. I've since realized it was a mistake. It seemed the closest I was ever going to get to a new Star Wars movie were two awful made for video Ewok flicks, which I enjoyed as a child but now recognize as unwatchable tripe (except the monsters, those are still cool. Remember that stop-motion thing that tried to get the little bastards in the tree?). I went on with my life, only reliving a small part of the series when I was left home sick from school. Empire and Ghostbusters were the only two videos my family owned, and daytime television is awful.
Along came college, and my interest in film beyond occasional entertainment, specifically horror films, bloomed into a full-on obsession. This obsession led me to film related magazines and websites where I learned that George Lucas was in fact making a series of three prequels to the original Star Wars Trilogy. My interest was reinvigorated, thanks in no small part to my college roommate, whose father worked at a local grocery store and 'borrowed' the Phantom Menace promos on his son's behalf. It's hard not to get excited about a film when life-size Pepsi stand-up versions of its characters watch TV with you every night. For an entire summer I didn't throw out a Pepsi can without making sure it didn't feature a golden Yoda.
I lived close to a brand new theatre in Phoenix, Arizona (at the Metro Center Mall, where Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure had been filmed), and would take a trip to Suncoast Video every Tuesday to check out new releases. I decided I wasn't going to see The Phantom Menace opening weekend when I saw a small line of people forming two weeks before release. Two weeks! There was no way this, or any film was going to be worth this much time in the Phoenix sun.
After about a week the fan line filled out into the dozens, and the mall management decided to let them inside, even overnight (apparently a bunch of unbathed people in Storm Trooper costumes and brown robes expiring on the front steps isn't good for business). The geeks were partitioned off in the food court, like some kind of surrealist Science Fictional zoo attraction. I felt like I had walked onto the Preserver's ship, and half expected to find Superman behind glass. You had to walk around the geeks and through a gaggle of pre-teen mallrat goslings to enter the consumer utopia. The early word from these emporium barnacles was that the film was awesome, a juggernaut of satisfaction, and I had to take their word for it because I was going to wait another two weeks before I was going to pass my own judgment.
I was too concerned with bleeding all the local video stores dry of obscure foreign horror titles (one store had both Necromantic movies, and I only had to drive forty minutes there and back to rent them!) and finishing school to have even noticed the vehement hatred of all things Phantom Menace throughout the rest of 1999. I saw the film twice that year, the second time with a troop of ankle-biters from the local day-care I worked at, and they ate it up. I tried to show them the OT on video in the coming weeks but they were bored out of their minds. Little bastards. Before the Episode 1 DVD was finally released some time later I had finally been made aware that people really didn't like the film. At that point it was really too late for me to care.
Then came November of 2001, and I sat down in a theatre full of screaming toddlers to see Pixar Studios' Monsters Inc.. I never miss a Pixar film. The trailers ran, the theatre promo came and went, I was told to buy stuff from the concession stands and turn off my cell phone, then the screen went black. But then there was another green trailer screen. The following Attack of the Clones trailer is, in my opinion, one of the most effective trailers ever made. The images edited to the familiar rhythmic breathing of Darth Vader, the building music, glimpses of Jango Fett, C-3PO, and holy shit, was that Christopher Lee? I was born ready for May of 2002.
Due to a lack of lines I decided to see Attack of the Clones the Saturday after it opened. By the time the credits rolled Lucas' baited hook was firmly caught within the fleshy tissues of inner cheek. I was a born again Star Wars fan. I saw it three times total, once with my mother (and I didn't even make her leave the theatre during the monster scenes). I am ashamed and humbled when I admit that it was Attack of the Clones, that reinvigorated my fanaticism for the series.
The day I downloaded the final HD trailer for Episode III: Revenge of the Sith my failing health was looking up, and I found a quiet complacency in knowing my friend George was going to be there for me in my time of need. Attending a few midnight showings of the Lord of the Rings films had fuelled my appetite, and I bought tickets for the first showing of the final Star Wars film. A friend and I got to the theatre at 9:00 PM and were shocked to hear that the theatre had been seating for over an hour already. It was okay though, we got decent seats, and some kindly strangers paid us twenty bucks a piece to hold seats for them (they came back drunk). I embarrassingly watched costumed freaks make spectacles of themselves, and laughed like a drug-addled hyena as one theatregoer tripped and spilled his popcorn in a glorious arc across the front row. The movie came and went, and once again, I enjoyed myself immensely.
Part Two: Blitzkrieg of the Facsimiles
How could I have been so wrong? What good did I see in these cinematic equivalents to Auschwitz? I try to explain this to the hordes of angry OT fans that egg my house every night, I try to put this unbelievable affection into words, and time and time again I fail. Come with me my friends, on a Technicolor journey of over-analysis.
I enjoy A New Hope and the Prequel Trilogy for pretty much the same reasons I enjoy Tarantino's Kill Bill series. I like straight-faced, postmodern homage. I'm not a very big fan of spoof, and most blatantly referential cinema is spoof. If I were to critique Grindhouse it'd read as pretty much the exact opposite of most opinions I've come across. I think Rodriguez's Planet Terror was entertaining but missed the point of the exercise. It was a spoof of exploitation cinema rather than an homage. Tarantino's Death Proof is a modern equivalent to a grindhouse film, complete with space filling exposition and an entirely abrupt ending. It may be winking at its audience a bit, but I don't see it as dishonest as a spoof.
Hold on a sec, let me strap on my SWPTAA members' exclusive Kevlar vest…
Empire Strikes Back is more or less universally accepted as the best of the Star Wars series. I agree that it is the best film with the word Star Wars in the title. I would, however, argue (against my better judgment) that it is actually the worst Star Wars film. It's too realistic, too emotionally centred, too well acted, too well structured, and too empathetic. It's a real movie, with real characters that an audience really cares for. Return of the Jedi, Ewoks aside, has a solid and I believe affecting emotional core, that of Luke and Vader. Though generations of fans focus on the Ewoks as the negative aspect, I see them as more true to Lucas' model than the rest of the film, and they even play into the '60s leftist political stance found in the PT.
The four movies in the series that were actually directed by Lucas are stylistically and thematically very similar. They feel like old movies with new special effects. The acting is purposefully stilted, the dialogue is corny, and the situations entirely fantastic within the realms of pop familiarity. Attack of the Clones is especially attuned to the notion of homage in that it effectively references dozens of film types, from '30s era romance and swashbuckling, to '50s era, stop-motion monster movies and '60s era James Bond flicks. The romance is the one and only factor that even I can't argue works, but it is definitely played out in the old fashion mould.
The final act of the PT (the one people actually seemed to have liked) diverts from this formula (the way I see it Attack of the Clones and A New Hope are the 'purest' Star Wars films), and goes more for an operatic representation of such unbelievable events. I thought this worked, many people did not. It's overwrought, but then, so is just about every famous Opera ever written. Like Empire and Jedi (my two favourites), it takes the formula and matures it to a place where maybe it doesn't belong. It's almost like, a real movie.
I think people wanted Star Wars to grow up with them, but that's not what Star Wars is about, at least not the way I was made to understand it.
I once tried to explain the merits of digital effects to a kid on line at a comic book store. He slashed my neck with a Magic: The Gathering card protected within a thick mylar sleeve. I still bare the scare to remind me to keep my mouth shut. I learned a valuable lesson that day—people take the Star Wars universe very, very seriously. Why, just minutes before the incident I was having a civil discussion with my attacker about abortion rights. We disagreed by the guy didn't raise a finger, I mention the fact that I like digital Yoda and BAM, I wake up in the hospital.
From a visual standpoint, I believe the digital realm has afforded the PT a wonderful painterly feel, and I find it hard to believe that even the harshest critics honestly found the films graphically unattractive. The digital set designs are gorgeous, often evoking sci-fi fantasy novel covers from the '50s and '60s. They also evoke the painted backdrops of '30s serials, and are uncannily unrealistic yet tangible. The overall colour pallets of the three films represent a day to night transition ( TPM equals day, AOTC equals dawn, ROTS equals night). I'll never understand the critical stance that praised Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and Sin City for their all digital backdrops, while bashing the PT for the same reasons. There are other moments of real graphic purity in these films, like the beautiful cutting of flashing colours and faces when Anakin and Dooku first face-off in Attack of the Clones.
I absolutely agree that this is in contrast to the OT, where everything was rough and dirty, but I was under the impression that that was kind of the point—there's no room for aesthetic beauty in Palpatine's Empire, a function over fashion kind of thing (even the Emperor himself ditches his flowing red robe for a dull black one). Maybe I'm the guy taking this all too seriously now.
I was also under the impression that the Star Wars films, as a whole, were suppose to be old fashion serials from every angle except that of their state of the art special effects. This is the mindset I've taken to these films since I was old and wise enough to think critically about such a mundane subject, I may be wrong. This mindset is what causes me to object to the digital changes in the OT. The OT changes don't bother me exponentially, but from a theoretical standpoint they go against my version of the series 'thesis statement'. I'm of the theory that each film should represent the height of special effects technology for its given time. The effects in Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon were the best for their eras, right? That's a story for another support group though.
Though I love a Muppet as much as the next guy, the puppets in the OT were only ever as real as their performers and the performances around them, and the same goes for the digital creatures of the PT. Jar Jar isn't a bad character because he's made out of CG rather than rubber, he's a bad character because he's badly written and annoyingly realized. I was just as enthralled by Yoda's performance in parts two and three as I was in part five, because the character is well written, beloved, and Frank Oz is a great actor. I've actually heard people say that they didn't like the digital creatures because they weren't as 'realistic; as the rubber creatures in the OT. At the risk of grievous bodily harm, I'll say that I honestly think the end results of both the OT and PT are comparably 'realistic'.
Do fans want more grown-up versions of the exact same three movies they fell in love with in the '70s and '80s? Do they want to pick and choose their specific favourite elements? Do they want rubber masked thespians, rod puppets, and stop-motion monsters speaking David Mamet level dialogue? This isn't me being facetious; I actually want an answer because I don't know.
On a completely unpretentious and non-analytical level, it comes down to taste. Good almost always outweighs bad per capita for me, and that's probably the reason I can enjoy so many Italian horror flicks. I can actually enjoy an entire film for a few good set pieces. The Star Wars Prequels have plenty of bits I don't enjoy, I'm not entirely insane, but each film has its fair share of bits I love. This is not a matter of lowering my expectations; this is a matter of me appreciating films in parts more than most folks I know. Just so we agree my taste is in question, rather than my methods.
Let's get down to brass tacks; here are some images I'll always remember:
The Phantom Menace: the giant fish scene (minus Jar Jar's screaming), R2-D2's introduction (I know it's short, but watching R2 units blasted off the wing of the ship is always good for a laugh), the pod race (as an exercise in image and sound, it doesn't get much better), and the final saber match (still not matched).
Attack of the Clones: the flying car chase, all of Obi-Wan's 'secret agent' bits on Kamino, anything involving Christopher Lee, and the film's final act where we go from Harryhausen monster movie, to full-on war film, to awesome Yoda vs. Dooku saber fight.
Revenge of the Sith is a film I honestly love. I don't love it in that 'at least it's not as bad as the others' way, I really, honestly adore it. I love its structure, I love its story, and I love its best bits more than any of the other best bits in the Prequel Trilogy. The opening rescue, Obi-Wan's stalking and killing of Grievous, Anakin's turn (I must be crazy, because I bought it), the purge (that score is heartbreaking), the flashy, and colour-coated final battle. I even thought Vader's James Whale-esque birth and subsequent giant 'No' was spot on.
I love these movies for what they mean to me, not what they mean to the legions of die-hard fans the world over. That is why I honestly think future generations will forget the anti-hype and embrace the entire series as two separate but strangely equal wholes.
That's not to say I wouldn't change a few things if given the chance…
Part 3: Counterinsurgency of the Reason
After month of intensive consoling, drying up, and heavy medication, I'm finally able to admit that my love for the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy is not unshakable. I've found some problems with the films, and at the suggestion of my sponsor Blake (thanks for being there for me all those late nights brother, and thank your wife for the cookies), and because it is step six in my twelve step program, I've compiled a list of things I'd like to see Lucas change when he eventually starts tinkering with the PT. I've broken each down by film.
The Phantom Menace:
While watching the documentary on the Phantom Menace DVD, I noticed there were two other finalists for the role of young Anakin Skywalker. Both young actors seem better equipped for the role. I propose that ILM digitally insert one of these children into all of Jake Lloyd's scenes.
I'm pretty sure that no one here is a very big fan of Jar Jar Binks. I totally understand the point of the character; he's meant as another Kurosawa-esque servant character who acts as the audience's eyes through the fantastic journey. Unfortunately he's no C-3P0 or R2-D2, and if this is how Lucas views his audience, we really all should be a little insulted. I suggest the character design remain the same, but he be re-voiced and reanimated as a more soft-spoken character, preferably one that isn't a racial stereotype. If racial stereotypes are a necessity, then I suggest a Japanese character, in keeping with those in Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress.
More time should be spent on the political intricacies of Darth Sideous' plan. Way too much screen time is devoted to frivolous scenes on Tatooine and the Gungan city (though the pod race and giant fish scenes that follow are cool). I understand that the plot against the Republic was meant to unfold over the first two films, but Lucas spends way too much time explaining this part of the story on his DVD commentary track.
Though the fact that the destruction of the droid mothership shuts down the droids attacking Naboo is important to Palpatine's choice in clones over droids, I wish that the Gungans could have actually been victorious during the Battle of Naboo. Anakin accidentally saving an entire planet is weak storytelling all around.
Darth Maul is too cool to die in the first film, and playing hours and hours of the Battlefront 2 video game planted the awesome idea of him as a general in the Clone Wars. The guy is raised to kill Jedi from, like, birth, and he gets offed by the second one he comes across? Obi-Wan should probably still get the best of him, but he shouldn't have died (there's a neat 'what-if' comic short I read where Maul is repaired with a robot lower half and confronts an older Obi-Wan on Tatooine). Palpatine could just break the rule of two and take on Dooku anyway as the wealthy ex-Jedi is politically more powerful than Maul, but Maul as the ultimate, war-time heavy would've been great fun. We can insert him digitally, and give him spider legs or something.
Attack of the Clones
I've never had a particular problem with Hayden Christianson's whiny portrayal of teenaged Anakin. It seems appropriate to me that the early reasons for his downfall are his normal teenage behaviour, including rebellion against authority figures and having a childish crush on the wrong girl. These are all things that the Jedi should figuratively beat out of force sensitive youths at a very young age, but Anakin is just too old when he's finally trained. I actually wouldn't change this aspect of the film at all.
I would remove the frivolous and tacked on droid factory sequence, and replace it with the DVD's deleted scenes of Anakin and Padme getting to know each other. The love story should be sappy and old fashion (Han and Leia's was, no matter how you remember it), but it can stand to be a little more heartfelt. And the droid factory sequence is dumb.
I also would've taken the time to hire a few martial arts experts to fill out my Jedi armada rather than craft services and members of N'Sync. When Mace Windu comes to Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padme's rescue his Jedi soldier look a little, um, 'unrefined'. Then imagine Windu and Jango Fett fighting as they do, Obi-Wan (having just killed that screaming spider-monster) rushes to Windu assistance, but stops short as a black cloaked character (who had been lurking at Dukoo's side the whole film) lands hard in front of him. The character removes his cowl to reveal a newly repaired Darth Maul. He could tear through a couple of the lesser Jedi on his way to Obi-Wan, who'd be nearly overpowered. This time Obi-Wan would barely escape to join Anakin on the trail of Dooku.
Revenge of the Sith
General Grievous, no matter how cool looking he may be, is frivolous, and the film's weakest story element. He serves only two purposes—a Darth Vader prototype (part machine, part organic creature), and a reason to separate Anakin and Obi-Wan, who at this point in the story arc are actually getting along. Though the sequence where Anakin kills Dooku is important, Dooku is a more valuable and well structured character, and should've been the one that Obi-Wan confronted on Utapau. This would feed Anakin's frustration further, as he would find himself unable to avenge his missing limb. I'd replace Dooku in the rescue scene with my new hypothetical Robo-Maul, who Anakin would behead at Palpatine's behest as revenge for the death of Qui-Gon Jinn, thus making the same upsetting lurch towards the Dark Side.
Though I still love the operatic drama of the scene, I probably would've made the saber duel between Windu and Palpatine a bit more spectacular. I like Lucas' re-cutting the original footage to not have Anakin in the room the whole fight, but wish that we'd have a glimpse at Palatine's real power before he threw the fight for Anakin's benefit. Even as a PT apologist I find Lucas' handling of such an important battle very weak.
I like Anakin's initial fall, but like everyone else I wanted to actually see the new Darth Vader offing Jedi in the temple. We don't need to see him murdering children (that scene works perfectly as is), but a few short duels with Jedi like Shaak Ti would've been appropriate.
If you'll excuse me I've got a few other support groups to get to, including 'Remaining Puny Banner Together', my biweekly Hulk group, 'Our Love is Real', my Friday night A.I.: Artificial Intelligence group, and the latest addition to my self-help repertoire, 'Symbiotes Are OK and So Am I', my tri-weekly Spider-Man 3 group. Coffee and donuts are available in the back, if anyone cares to talk constructively among themselves on how to deal with the ever growing problem of Prequel Trilogy Apologism.
Editorial by Gabriel Powers
Follow our updates
Latest News
Superman: The Movie US - BD RA School Daze US - BD RB Prehystaria US - BD RA Invasion of the Body Snatchers: Olive Signature Edition US - BD RA BlacKkKlansman US - DVD R1 | BD RA
New Editorials
Joe Lynch DVD | HD | BD David Hayter US - DVD R1 | BD RA SXSW Film 2013 - Part 1 US - DVD | HD | BD Will streaming kill physical media? DVD | HD | BD Gabe's 2012 Wrap-Up DVD | BD
Hot News
Superman: The Movie US - BD RA School Daze US - BD RB BlacKkKlansman US - DVD R1 | BD RA Incredibles 2 US - DVD R1 | BD RA Prehystaria US - BD RA
Most Talked About
Bound: Olive Signature Collection US - BD RA Arrow November Releases US - BD RA Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot US - DVD R1 | BD RA Minute to Pray, A Minute to Die, A US - BD RA Shout Factory Updates US - BD RA


text:
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (AP) — A replica 18th-century sailing ship that sank off North Carolina during Hurricane Sandy had a decaying frame with an undetermined amount of rot in it before leaving port, a Maine shipyard worker told federal officials Wednesday.
One member of the HMS Bounty's 16-person-crew died, and the captain was never found after the ship sank 90 miles off Cape Hatteras during the October storm. The three-mast sailing ship was built for the 1962 film "Mutiny on the Bounty" starring Marlon Brando, and was featured in several other films over the years, including one of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies.
Officials from the Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board are holding eight days of hearings to determine what caused it to sink and make recommendations to prevent similar deaths.
Todd Kosakowski told the panel that he showed Capt. Robin Walbridge the rot he found in the ship when his workers were replacing several planks at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard several weeks before the storm.
"I told him that I was more than worried about what we found," Kosakowski said.
Rather than replacing the rotted wood — as Kosakowski said was the only way to fix it — the ship's crew painted it over, he said.
Walbridge was 'terrified' at what he saw, but he decided against removing additional planks to see how extensive the damage was and going ahead and replacing it, he said.
"It was very quickly shot down by the captain," Kosakowski said. "That would have required a significant amount of time and money."
Kosakowski said he was concerned about the ship's condition when it left the shipyard and that he had advised Walbridge to avoid 'heavy weather.' The ship would later head directly for the path of the hurricane before taking on water, losing power and rolling over as it tossed the crew into the Atlantic Ocean.
After the ship left the Maine shipyard, it headed to New London, Connecticut. There, it provided a tour for Navy sailors stationed at a submarine base. HMS Bounty officials also met with a potential buyer for the ship before it started making its way to Florida and heading directly for the hurricane.
Before leaving Maine, Kosakowski said that Walbridge had told him that he had told the ship's owner, Robert Hansen, that he should get rid of the boat as soon as possible.
Hansen has declined to testify at the hearings, invoking his Fifth Amendment right to be protected from incriminating himself.
Although the hearing being administered by the panel isn't a criminal proceeding, any evidence of wrongdoing could be referred to federal prosecutors.
Brock Vergakis can be reached at www.twitter.com/BrockVergakis


text:
NFL and reality TV star Chad Ochocinco is going back to the name on his birth certificate.
The outspoken Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver told ESPN he will soon answer to Chad Johnson, the name on his jersey from 2001-07, when he was one of the league's most electrifying pass catchers.
"I've done enough with Ocho Cinco," Ocho, er, Johnson told the sports network's Trey Wingo on a phone call.
The 33-year-old Johnson began calling himself Ochocinco in 2006, based on his jersey number, 85. Two years later, he changed it officially.
Ochocinco's knack for self-promotion kicked in just as his on the field performance was fading. He made it to last year's final four on "Dacing with The Stars" and then got his own reality TV show on VH1 called "Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch," in which he sifted through a gaggle of women competing to be his girlfriend.
Last season was a disappointing one for Ochocinco and his tea. The receiver caught just four touchdown passes as his team posted a 4-12 record.
Selected Reading: CBS Sports, ESPN, Bengals.com.