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[quote][i]Originally posted by Pidgeon[/i] [br]Catherine finds her way slowly but surely back to her hotel room. She slips the key into the lock and opens the door. She enters and closes the door behind her. There is a shadowy figure by the window. Hat tilted back, he watches her enter. He is sitting in a chair with his legs extended, legs crossed at the ankles, very relaxed. "Tell me, Miss Catherine, who are you really?" a low gravelly voice asks. She freezes. He laughs in his normal voice. "Oh, you shouldn't do that! You could scare a person to death!!" Catherine breathes out in relief. [/quote]
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Posted - 08/28/2007 : 11:16:58
Pet sat in the saloon nursing her whiskey thinking about the mission they had just completed. She was one step closer to her ultimate goal and that put a smile on her face. The fact that she would still be paired with the Deb quickly removed it.
Man, what was Grant thinking? And the flipping mission is over�can�t Deb be paired with someone else? Pet was deep in thought when a whispered conversation at the next table caught her ear.
�You think we kin pull this off?� One rather unsavory looking character was saying to another rough looking man.
�The boss said all we gots to do is git the President and bring him to his hideout. He�s supposed to be in Apache Junction day after tomorrow ta make the place a city or some such nonsense.�
�How we gonna git ta him?�
�Grant likes ta drink, don�t he? We can get him in the saloon. Theys tons of ways ta git ta him in there. We need one of them whatchama call ems�diversions.�
Pet decided this was something her fellow agents needed to be aware of and she thought of a way to find out more about the boss and the plot. She turned to the men and spoke in low tones.
�That is a conversation you best not have around prying ears, gentlemen.� They glared at her.
�What do you know about anything?� the first one said.
�I know a lot more than you think.� Pet glared back. �And I know you will fail. You need a leader you couldn�t find your way out of a wet paper bag with a hole in both ends.� Pet sneered.
�What makes you think we should listen to what you have to say?� he asked her.
�Simple. I used to work for the man.� Both men stared at her with open mouths.
�Then why would you want him kidnapped?� The man asked warily.
�The man fired me for blowing up a courthouse to save a friend. I could care less what happens to him.� Pet pulled her bottle of whiskey from her table and filled their glasses.
As they talked she learned the first one was called Red Taylor and the other was Zack Rollins. They had been commissioned by none other than Dr. Miguelito Loveless to kidnap Grant and bring him to him so he could experiment on Grant with a new mind controlling drug he had developed. Loveless had told them he wanted it tried out on someone called Mr. West first. Pet�s ears pricked up at this information and knew she would have to get back to her partner with it.
�I think I have enough to get started. What do you say we team up? I want to see Grant suffer and your boss wants him to suffer. Let me handle this and I can guarantee you success and the money Loveless promised you.� The men leaned their heads together in whispered conversation before turning back to her.
�We�ll try this your way. But we gotta find this Mr. West first and get him to the boss.�
�Not a problem I have someone in mind I can put on that right away. You two will be my go between with Dr. Loveless. I don�t need to meet him just yet.�
Pet left them with their instructions to wait at their hotel after they told Loveless they would have Mr. West by tomorrow night. She would contact them there. Pet left to find Apple and fill her in.
30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First)
Posted - 02/07/2008 : 18:04:39
An young man rode up to the funeral parlor tied his horse and stepped out of the rain he took off his hat and slicker and stepped into the funeral parlor he walked up to the picture of Kit and layed a single flower below it he then took a seat across the isle from the other ladies. He sat quietly and waited for the services to begin.
Jeremy and Jim came in they noticed the young man but said nothing. Jim whispered to Bess "Artemus is supposed to be bringing Pet along." and Jeremy and Jim took thier seats.
Posted - 02/06/2008 : 14:31:08
Bess and Apple and Pidge paid the waitress for breakfast then started out of the hotel. A clap of thunder sounded and a flash of lightning streaked across the dark sky. The concierge opened an umbrella and led each lady out to the cab waiting to take them to the funeral parlor.
The ladies rode in silence, silently watching the town roll by. Water rolled from rooftops and drained down gutter piping, flooding the once dusty streets. The wheels of the cab made a s*cking sound as they rolled along in the mud, but the mares pulling were quick and sure, keeping the cab moving.
At the funeral parlor the undertaker waited with another umbrella and escorted the ladies inside. There were flowers everywhere, but no casket. Just a photograph of Kitana, taken for her file at the bureau, placed on an easel at the front of the room.
Pidge walked over to the organ to prepare for her musical interlude honoring their friend and fellow agent. Bess and Apple sat down near the front of the room and held a quiet discussion concerning Pet. Would she appear? How would she react if she did?
Posted - 02/01/2008 : 12:39:34
It had been almost three weeks since Kit came to stay with the Widow and the nightmares had gotten worse. The sleeping powders the Doctor had given her were not working and she hadn't had a full nights sleep since she had been found. The Widow and her family had been very good to her but she would leave soon she had to find out what the dreams meant if anything.
She stepped out onto the porch and it looked like it was going to be a partly cloudy day, it looked like it might rain on the other side of the mountain and if luck had it it would come this way the Widow's garden could use a rain she stood on the porch for awhile and then got to work on her chores she had to earn her keep and it as the least she could do for the widow.
The widow looked out the window at Kit/Lena she knew the young woman would go soon she could see it in her eyes she just prayed that when she did leave that Lena would find what she was looking for.
Posted - 01/31/2008 : 06:49:13
The morning of the funeral dawned with clouds on the horizon, rolling in quickly. It would be overcast with a very good possiblity of rain for the funeral.
Jim and Artemus sat at the table, finishing their breakfast and reading the local newspaper. Finally Jim spoke.
"She isn't dead, you know." Arte looked up sharply. Jim met his gaze. Arte nodded.
"I was thinking the same thing, actually, partner. What makes you say so?"
"It isn't like Loveless to not leave a "calling card" when he can," Jim said flatly. Again Arte nodded.
"Just what I was thinking. What do we do about it?"
Jim grinned. "We keep searching...after the funeral of course."
"Of course!" Arte returned his partner's grin. "We must pay our respects first. She'll love the story of her funeral when we find her."
The two agents finished their breakfast then prepared for the day.
Posted - 01/20/2008 : 19:50:38
"You aren't the only one who needs a drink Artemus," Pet glared at him.
"Of course, of course," Artemus lifted his own glass and the trio of agents shared a toast to their friend and colleague. Apple set her glass down and Arte filled it from the bottle he had purchased. Pet noticed this but didn't comment. She too had downed her drink but she didn't think that Apple was still drinking like she had on their last assignment when she had been undercover.
Artemus cleared his throat. "Well ladies, I trust that the two of you discussed what needed to be discussed?" He smiled encouragingly at them. Apple nodded, but neither woman spoke for a moment. Apple finally asked Pet what she knew of Kit that she could share, any memories she had of their coworker.
Pet was uncomfortable sharing personal information about Kit, but she remembered a time when she and Kit had pulled some pranks and started to tell Artemus and Apple about them. She became animated and laughed heartily, which drew the two others in. She was quite the story teller.
The three continued to drink through the late afternoon. James, Jeremy, Pidge, and Bess joined them and finally Artemus ordered dinner for everyone. They enjoyed the company, food, and drinks, and made sure to tell as many stories about Kit as they could remember.
Posted - 01/20/2008 : 16:55:32
Artemus really wanted to be alone but he was a gentleman after all he stood when the two joined him and he ordered a round of drinks "What brings you two ladies here?" He asked as he sat down the saloon girl brought over the drinks and Artemus asked her to bring a bottle she came back and he paid for it tipping her well.
Posted - 01/20/2008 : 16:46:38
"Just like it isn't my fault that you won't talk to anyone about what is bothering you," Apple countered. Pet eyed her, then shook her head, a small grin playing across her mouth.
"Deb, am I gonna have to like you?"
"I'm afraid so, partner."
"Well then if that's the case, I need a drink. Make that 20," Apple rolled her eyes at Pet's sarcasm. "Care to join me at the saloon?" Apple laughed and the two women left the railcar and started off to the saloon.
Pet pushed the swinging doors and entered the smoky room with Apple right behind her. Apple noticed Artemus in the back corner and nudged Pet. They joined him when he waved them over.
Posted - 01/20/2008 : 14:29:02
Artie felt bad leaving Apple with Pet but knew she would do better than he could have done. He walked past the funeral parlor and straight to the saloon he ordered a drink. He silently toasted Kit and ordered another one his memory had come back and he remembered Loveless shooting Kit and he was unable to do anything he blamed himself even though he could have done nothing, Kit had been in his charge after being paired up with him on the mission and he had let her down. It was never easy losing an agent but to watch one die and not be able.... Stop it Artemus he thought and took another drink he then ordered a beer and moved to a table in the back. He knew Jim would find him when he was needed right now he needed to deal and this was a good way to do it.
Posted - 01/20/2008 : 13:32:43
"Not so fast, Deb. One thing I have learned in my life is that if something affects you this badly you need to get it out somehow. You've never dealt with how you felt about your brother because he turned around he made it." Apple looked at her shocked that Pet would or even could figure out so emotional an issue. When she didn't reply Pet continued.
"Deb you have to stop blaming yourself." At Apple's shocked look Pet knew she was on the right track so she pressed on.
"You can't be everything to everyone. It just can't be. Trust me I know what's going through your mind. You can only be the Deb...be who you are the caring individual everyone knows you to be. It's not your fault your brother couldn't handle things and chose drugs. Just like it isn't your fault..." Pet stopped not wanting to bring herself back to the forefront of their conversation.
Posted - 01/20/2008 : 13:18:47
Apple was astonished. Pet was showing concern, and ACTING on it. Then it occurred to her that perhaps Pet was trying to diminish any focus on her own pain.
"Pet, you're sure..." she hesitated, not sure how to begin. "You're sure that you don't need the powders?"
Pet was unperturbed. Apple was being herself, so be it. "No Deb, I don't. I can handle myself. Now out with it."
Apple licked her lips as she looked down at her hands in her lap. Pet was right, Apple had been holding in her emotions. Kit's disappearance and the searching, and now her death pronouncement had started to take a toll on her.
"I've told you about my brother Kent before, Pet."
"Yep. Addicted to morphine. You told me."
"And I must have told you that he almost died, right?"
"I believe that you did, yes," Pet waited expectantly.
"Well it's just that those memories have come flooding back, is all," Apple looked up at Pet, "Now your turn. How is this affecting you?"
Posted - 01/20/2008 : 13:06:33
Pet waited until Artie had left the room before she turned to face her partner.
This sure as hell won't be easy,
Pet thought as she took in her partner's appearance.
"Deb...uh...Apple, I will be fine. Don't need any powders. But you...you don't look like the Deb." Pet settled uneasily on the setter beside her.
"Pet, are you all right?" Apple asked concerned.
"I'm fine, Deb. But you are not. Something's been bothering you for a while now. Why don't you tell me what it is? Maybe I can help." Pet prodded hoping she was doing the right thing and in the right manner.
Posted - 01/20/2008 : 12:56:24
Artemus was sitting on the settee while Pet stared at a map of the territory that was usually hidden behind cabinet doors when Apple burst through the door of the parlor car, breathless. Her eyes went directly to Pet, who hadn't turned around, then to Arte. He motioned her over. She softly closed the door and went over to the settee.
"Blossom, have a seat. Calm down," Arte said quietly as he took her hand and pulled her down. She turned to look again at her partner who had not moved but kept staring at the map.
"Jim says the doctor wants her to be medicated. Is that true? Arte, she shouldn't have medication..." Arte shushed her.
"It's all right. Sleeping powders...and it was only a possibility if she didn't calm down some, and she has. I think that she really needs to talk to someone, though she will fight it." He looked at her with his familiar soft smile gracing his face. "Apple, partners look out for each other, and I know that Pet will confide in you," He kissed her forehead as he stood. "How could she not?" He winked at Apple, then left her alone with Pet.
Posted - 01/20/2008 : 12:49:41
Jim looked at Bess "I ment some sleeping powder."
He looked at the others he really was no good with his feelings and he had no idea how to help these ladies not only had Kit been a fellow class mate but also a friend.
Jeremy spoke "What can we do to help move this along I think it will do everyone a world of good not to drag this out we have alot that needs to be said and done and its time that we greve properly i think."
He stood silent wondering if the shoes were gonna fly...
Posted - 01/20/2008 : 12:30:06
Apple looked sharply at Jim. "I don't think so. She really can't have anything." She turned to Bess and Pidge, "Can you ladies handle the rest of the arrangements without me? I am going to talk to Pet."
Without waiting for an answer Apple was out the door. As fast as she could walk without flat out running Apple headed toward the train. Her partner needed her, whether she would admit it or not, and Apple was going to be there for her.
Posted - 01/20/2008 : 12:10:43
Apple nodded no that they didn't need any help and Jeremy looked at Bess "When will the araigements be ready?"
Jim spoke "Pet is getting more worked up by the moment and I know the doctor is gonna want to give her something."
Posted - 01/20/2008 : 11:52:28
"You only think you know." Pet spoke softly.
"Then tell me." Pet fidgeted in her seat, this conversation was going in a direction she was most uncomfortable with.
"Mr....Artemus, this is why I don't let my emotions get the better of mr or at least I try not to. I lost the greatest friend I ever had...losing Kit is almost as bad. That is why I don't make friends and don't want any."
Artie didn't know what to say to allay her fears. He put his hand on hers and stared at her for a moment.
"Well, just know that there are people who care about you. We are here to listen to anything you want to say. Just next time don't say it with your fists, huh?" He smiled at her and she returned the smile halfheartedly.
Posted - 01/20/2008 : 11:38:30
Jim and Jeremy made it to the funeral home and walked in Jim noticed Bess and the other ladies He and Jeremy explained that Kit's family would not be comming to the funeral and he asked if there was anythig he and Jeremy needed to do?
Meanwhile back at the train Artie manged to get Pet to at least set down "Kit wouldn't want you killing yourself over her famlies recation to the news."
Pet looked at him knowig he was right but hating every minute of it.
"Pet, we know how you feel, let us help"
Posted - 01/20/2008 : 10:18:20
Pet sent the acknowledgement and sat staring at the paper before her.
HOW could they do that? How can her family deny she even existed let alone ignore her passing? Sure Kit's done some things they might not have approved of but the woman's daed for pitty's sake! The very least they could do is come pay respects to her.
Pet slammed her fist down on the desk and crumpled the message. She threw it across the room and again slammed her fist onto the desk just as Artie, Jeremy and Jim entered the parlor.
They stared open mouthed wondering what had finally set off some kind of emotions in their fellow agent. Jeremy saw the crumpled paper and retreived it. After reading it he passed it to Jim and Artie who quickly scanned its contents then turned to look at Pet.
She was standing in the now open door to the platform, staring off into the distance.
"Pet you can't do that." Artie told her somberly, getting odd looks from Jim and Jeremy.
"Why not?" Came the stoic reply.
"It's not right, Mr....Artemus." Pet said fire burning her words.
"Because you have friends now. Your fellow agents are here to help you. We can and we will help you through this. And besides the doctor won't clear you to ride for some time yet. You wouldn't want me to ride Little Boy to find you would you?" Artie tried to add humor to get her to smile.
Pet turned to him and stared at him for a long silent moment before allowing herself to almost smile.
"That I'd like to see. That horse only allows one rider. Anyone else gets a quick trip to the ground."
"Has anyone seen the other ladies? I know Apple said something about handling arrangements..." Pet let her sentence trail off.
"Come to think of it no we haven't." Jeremy said.
"Jim amybe we should go find them I'd bet they are at the funeral home." Jim and Jeremy quietly took their leave, leaving Artie there to try and patch things up with Pet and perhaps figure her out.
Posted - 01/20/2008 : 09:18:38
At the telegraph office a message comes in and the operator hands its off to a delivery boy the young man heads towards a train parked off the main line He knocked on the back door of the varnish car and waited. A woman who was obviously very tired and handed her the message Pet tiped the boy and closing the door sat down to read the message.
Pet knew she had to let the others know that none of Kit's family would bother comming.
Posted - 01/18/2008 : 18:45:01
Bess looked over the message to give to the telegraph clerk.
Bess knew little about Kit's family but hoped she'd get an answer. She headed back over to the funeral parlor to help Apple and Pidge with the rest of the arrangements. As she stepped into the funeral parlor, that cold panic feeling hit her again.
'Come on Bess shake this off' She said to herself 'Keep yourself straight for Kit.'
Posted - 01/18/2008 : 11:21:20
As Bess stepped in the funeral parlor, the blood drained out of her face. She stumbled, accidently running into Pidge.
"Bess, what is the matter with you?" Pidge asked.
"Pidge, you and Apple take of these arrangements, I'm going to send a telegram to Kit's family." Bess replied.
Bess headed for the telegraph office.
Posted - 01/17/2008 : 20:20:11
Pidge remembers to pick up the bottle of tonic as they left. She tucks it inside her bag, stops to smooth her hair and her dress in front of the mirror and dabs her face with a clean handkerchief.
"Coming." She calls out in response to Bess and closes the door behind her.
Posted - 01/17/2008 : 20:06:04
Bess put her hand on Pidge's shoulder.
"Come on Pidge, we need to go the funeral parlor to make arrangements,
Apple's going with us."
All three headed for the funeral parlor. As they stepped inside, Bess made a mental note to herself as soon as they had finished the arrangements, she was going to arrange a telegram for Kit's family.
Posted - 01/17/2008 : 10:38:58
Pidge follows Bess to her room where Bess digs into her luggage. She pulls out a bottle with a label saying "Dr. Hatfield's All-Purpose Tonic." She pours a small amount for Pidge and hands it to her to drink.
"Down the hatch, Pidge."
"What is this stuff?"
"It's medicine, Pidge. Dr. Hatfield's All-Purpose Tonic. I got it back in the last town we were in. Kind of a side deal. Suppose to calm nerves, reduce stress, soothe aches and pains. Here. Take the whole bottle. I have another for emergencies."
Pidge downs the drink and picks up the bottle to examine.
Bess sits down and peers outside. "You know, Pidge. You ought to play the music for Kit's funeral." She continues to look outside as she speaks. "Pidge. You owe it to her. We all owe it to her. Play the music."
Bess turns towards Pidge for her response. Pidge sighs and nods her head, tears flowing down her cheeks.
Posted - 01/17/2008 : 08:55:50
Pidge pulls Bess over to the side to talk with her.
"Bess, I need something to tide me over. Got any chocolate on ya?"
"No, Pidge. Hardly." She looks her over and says, "Come on. I have a little medicine you can take that will take the edge off for you."
"Good, then lead me to it."
Posted - 01/17/2008 : 08:31:53
"Pidge..." Apple started as Bess sat down next to Pidgeon on the step of the Wanderer's platform. "We have to make these arrangements." Apple fidgeted as she stood on the depot platform. She couldn't really meet the eye of either one of them.
"Why of course we do, Apple," Pidge looked struck by Apple's attitude. She and Bess glanced at each other, then followed as Apple strode off toward town.
Posted - 01/17/2008 : 07:43:48
Pidge turned to Bess, her heart in her throat. "I..I..I don't know if I can handle this." The shock laid on her chest like a heavy weight. She sat down slowly.
"Bess, what are we to do? She's gone?"
Posted - 01/14/2008 : 09:43:48
The men watched as Pet stood staring out the window no hint of emotion on her face. Jeremy glanced at Jim and shrugged his shoulders. Jim shrugged his in return and shook his head. They had no idea how to handle this agent in this state of mind. Had she blown a gasket they would have known but this quiet, reserved person before them�left them feeling quite clueless. The only one who really knew how to deal with Pet at all had just been declared dead.
Artemus took in the scene his heart full of sadness. Kitana was a handful and when combined with Pet an unstoppable whirlwind of activity. He would miss her as they all would. But there were things to be done and he knew Pet would want to do what she was able to for her friend. He recalled the argument in the hospital room between Pet and the doctor. He hadn�t wanted her released to any duty and attending a funeral was out of the question. Pet had argued and the doctor had finally relented enough to allow them to let her recuperate on the train muttering something under his breath about the sad state of the federal government if they allowed agents like her to serve the country.
�Pet,� Artie almost whispered as he rose and stood beside her, �we really need to notify Kit�s family. We don�t� have anyone listed in her file�uh�would you happen to know�� Artie let the sentence trail off. Pet finally turned to look at him working hard to keep her face an expressionless mask.
�I�ll do what needs to be done.� She turned toward the telegraph key and the men bowed out of the room quietly to give her time to compose her thoughts.
Telegrams to follow�just waiting for Kit to reply to my IM lol
Posted - 01/13/2008 : 12:19:17
Two weeks had passed with no sign of Kit. Pet hadn't recovered enough to be out searching, but she investigated as much as she could, looking for signs of her friend. The rest of the agents would go out in small groups for days at a time, tirelessly searching, relieving the previous group.
It was inevitable, the telegram.
No word on Agent Montgomery's whereabouts -stop- presumed dead -stop- End search -final stop-
Arte's face fell when he heard the message tapped out. Now he had to gather the rest of the agents and relay the news from Washington.
As they gathered aboard the Wanderer the tension was palpable. Pet paced nervously, not wanting to sit. The group watched her surreptitiously, not wanting to touch off a firestorm.
Artemus cleared his throat, not wishing to prolong the tension any longer. Everyone looked at him, and even Pet stopped pacing.
"We received a telegram from Washington," he began quietly. "About Kitana." He looked at Pet, but she turned and looked out a window. Apple moved closer to her partner, but she knew better than to touch her.
Artemus read the telegram. The group remained silent, waiting for Pet to explode. It didn't happen. Instead, she quietly said, "She deserves a funeral then. If Kit's dead, she should be remembered."
Apple touched Pet's arm, then turned to Pidge and Bess. "We can go to the funeral parlour in town to ask for the space. There should be flowers, too." The ladies left the train leaving Pet with Artemus, James, and Jeremy.
ok ladies and readers, I'm getting there! I am busy at work and can't think!
Posted - 01/09/2008 : 16:50:16
Kit was at the well when the Widow came up behind her.
�hun are you ok?�
Kit didn�t hear her at first but she felt her touch. She turned to look at the old woman.
�Dreams, things just out of reach.�
�come inside and we can talk�
The Widow nodded as Kit told her the dreams �I can�t stay and yet I owe you so much.�
�You owe it to your family if they are out there. We have a spare horse you may take and I can give you a blanket or two.� She walked to a cabinet and pulled out a revolver she sat it in fron of Kit. �That belonged to my husband, I can�t give it to just one of the boys I would like you to have it.�
Kit picked the rvolver up and checked to see if it was loaded she stare at the gun in her hand and the noise was loud she heard yelling saw a surgical tent.
�Lena, Lena� Kit looked up at the Widow and saw concern in the old woman�s eyes.�Are you sure you are up to this?�
�yes Ma�am I have to find out who I am. As soon as I know I will write and repay you for your kindness.�
She sat down �when will you leave?�
�Once Doc says I can travel.�
The widow nodded and begain to prepare dinner. Kit placed her knew things in her room and came back to help the widow for sleep was not helpful at this point.
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[WARNING: This story contains major spoilers from Wednesday's Law & Order: SVU. Read at your own risk!]
Breaking up is hard to do. Even with a serial rapist and cold-blooded killer like William "The Beast" Lewis on Law & Order: SVU.
"Every time we did an episode, it seemed to deepen so I didn't want to give it up. But on the other hand, I knew I had to," showrunner Warren Leight tells TVGuide.com of Wednesday's "Last Dance" between Benson and The Beast. "It felt like there was one last confrontation. He's not the kind of guy who's just going to go down quietly and live in prison. That's just not in his character."
After kidnapping and attacking Benson (Mariska Hargitay) in the Season 15 premiere, and subsequently being locked up in prison for his crimes, Lewis (Pablo Schreiber) managed to escape from prison for one final match with his most memorable victim after she lied about why she fractured his skull and brutally beat him with a pipe on the stand. "William Lewis has been obsessing over it for months and he knows the truth and he knows she knows the truth," Leight says. "All he wants is revenge and he wants her exposed and he wants her to go down. He knows the Achilles heel, the weak spot for her - it's what she did to him."
15 bubble shows: Which will survive?
In the gripping episode, Lewis kidnapped a 12-year-old girl after killing her mother and sexually abusing her older sister in an attempt to lure Olivia to him. He threatened to kill the girl if Olivia didn't publicly confess to perjury and so she did just that in a televised and somber statement. "She's been tormented by the fact that she lied under oath. I don't think that's part of her character. The initial lie came moments after she'd survived that ordeal and she got locked into it because that's how this system works," Leight says. "If you think of William Lewis as her character's worst nightmare, the other thing that plagued her is she is a woman of absolute integrity who lied under oath in front of a jury."
However, that public move wasn't enough for Lewis, and Olivia was forced to abandon her 24-hour protection and meet up with Lewis herself. Although he threatened to rape her as the young girl hung by her hands nearby, it was an (almost) deadly game of Russian roulette that Lewis and Benson played with a partially loaded gun that provided the most chilling moments of the hour. In the end, Lewis shot himself in the head, and his blood splash across Olivia's face as the episode cut to black. "In the season opener, she was kidnapped and held hostage against her will. She had no choice in the matter. And in this episode, she made a conscious decision to go back for him," Leight says. "There will be repercussions from that choice, but there's something very heroic about what she did and very self-aware. In the next episode, she tells her shrink, 'I knew I could die. It is what it is.' There's something almost cathartic about that."
There will also be major repercussions for her perjury confession in the next episode, titled "Postmortem Blues." "It will be all the ramifications for her personally and politically and professionally form this episode," Leight says. "There's an I.D. investigation, there's a grand jury and she's in a box. Because now if she goes to the grand jury and says that confession was the truth, she's on the hook for brutality, perjury, excessive force, assault, and if she goes to the grand jury and says it was a lie ... then she's lying again. And that's not something I think she can handle either."
Scoop: Law & Order: SVU nabs Bradley Whitford, Ann Curry for guest roles
No matter which path she chooses, Olivia will also have to deal with a new boss. Donal Logue, who reprised his role as Lt. Declan Murphy in Wednesday's episode, will stick around for the rest of the season as the temporary new captain in the wake of Olivia's demotion. "She basically gets stripped of her command in front of her unit by him. That is not meeting cute," Leight says. "And yet, I think what we'll see evolve is they have enormous respect for each other."
Lt. Murphy will shake things up a lot as someone able to offer a rare outsider's perspective on the SVU squad - something Leight drew on from his own experience as the new showrunner on the 12-year-old series. "Cragen was there that whole time so there was no one going, 'What the hell is going on here?'" Leight says. "Donal comes in fresh and he has different ways of policing and has a different take on these guys than they do."
Although Olivia will have many new obstacles to overcome, the end of her battle with Lewis is something to celebrate. "Believe it or not, I actually think that there's some closure at the end of that episode. It feels like I've been saying that about Pablo for awhile, but there is a sense of playing it through finally," Leight says. "Some doors are finally closed so I think that leaves room for others."
Could one of those other doors open to reveal a child? Olivia's desire to have a family was reignited earlier this season when she falsely thought she was pregnant. She subsequently ended things with Cassidy (Dean Winters) when she realized he didn't share her dream of parenthood. "Either people get stuck or they break out of their patterns and she is a smart enough woman to start breaking out and there's been enough change in her life. Elliot is gone, Cragen is gone, Munch is gone, she's had a relationship for the first time. ... She's faced down William Lewis," Leight says. "Maybe she's ready to change a diaper."
Although Olivia has tried, and failed, more than once in a past to care for a child, it's a very real possibility going forward. "It would be great for her character to have a kid in her life, and is that something we can accomplish in whatever time we have left here at SVU is interesting to me," Leight says. "The notion that Olivia can never be happy is probably due for a slight makeover."
The question of time is due to the fact that SVU has yet to be renewed. The show has enjoyed a strong season both story-wise, thanks to Benson's kidnapping and trial and Rollins' downward spiral, and in the ratings, which are up five percent from last season. "I think the show, on the merits, should have been picked up already and deserves to be picked up," Leight says. "There's that expression, 'Don't leave anything on the court,' and I don't think we did this year. We pushed as hard as we could all year long."
However, Leight is cautiously optimistic about a 16th season. "I would like to believe that things will play out and we'll get another year," Leight says, "but it's a complicated business."
Law & Order: SVU airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC. What did you think about Wednesday's episode? Will you miss "The Beast?"
View original Law & Order: SVU: Benson's "Worst Nightmare" Is Over - But Has the Battle Just Begun? at TVGuide.com
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Lee Harvey Oswald
Personality Profile
Who is Lee Harvey Oswald? He is an American sniper who was a former U.S. Marine that defected to the Soviet Union in October 1959, returned to homeland in June 1962, and according to 5 government investigations, assassinated President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. He was born on Wednesday October 18th 1939, in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.
Freedom is the key to Lee's personality. Lee Harvey Oswald loves travel, adventure, variety and meeting new people, and he longs to experience all of life. He also loves to be involved in several things at the same time as long as he is not tied down to any one area. Change is constant in his world, requiring adaptability and courage.
With his upbeat and often inspiring personality, Lee Harvey Oswald makes friends easily and attracts people from all walks of life. He has a way with words and an uncanny ability to motivate others. Thus, Lee can be very successful and happy in sales, advertising, publicity, promotion, politics or any profession that requires communication skills and understanding of people.
Lee is multi-talented and possesses a variety of diverse abilities. However, discipline and focus are the true keys to his success. Without these, many of the tasks Lee begins will remain unfinished and he will fail to realize the true fruits of his abilities. With hard work and perseverance, however, the sky is the limit. Self-employment attracts Oswald powerfully, yet his challenge is to settle into one area to cultivate his ability sufficiently to earn a living and attain success. Once Lee Harvey Oswald finds his niche, the motivation and inspiration he supplies others with will bring him much in return, and he will find his friends and colleagues supporting and promoting him on the road to success.
He is often a late-bloomer and needs to experience life before he can truly know and commit to his heart's desire. Lee Harvey Oswald may be perceived as a wild child by adults and a source of concern by his family. However, he must not be obliged to hurry his choice of career or family. Lee's challenge is to learn the true meaning of freedom-from-within through his jurney. He should try to maintain an exercise program to keep his body in shape. The flexibility and durability of Oswald's body will promote security and confidence within him.
Lee Harvey Oswald is sensual and loves to taste all of life. Sex, food and other sensory experiences are essential to the enjoyment of his. He finds it difficult to commit to one relationship, but once committed, he can be as faithful as an old dog. More...
More flavors to Lee's personality
Lee Harvey Oswald tends to be quite adaptable, and he finds it easy to fit into most social set ups and vocational fields.
There are no particular virtues that can cause an imbalance in Lee's personality and life, but he has to work hard and persistently to develop those special strengths that he desires to attain.
Learning to be wisely assertive is a major lesson to be taken by Lee Harvey Oswald throughout his life.
Tour Lee's menu and gain more insight into his personality traits, relationships, strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, compatibility with you and with others, and much more.
We invite you to create your own free personality profile, in private and for your eyes only!.


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A seemingly simple phrase can sometimes become stubbornly opaque when the lawyers at the Supreme Court get to it, and that was the case Monday when the justices examined what "changing clothes" means .
It is part of a case brought by Clifton Sandifer and 800 current and former workers at the U.S. Steel plant in Gary, Ind. They claim federal law requires them to be compensated for the time they spend putting on protective gear before reporting to their work stations.
U.S. Steel said the workers need not be paid because of an exception in the law that allows employers and unions to agree not to pay for "any time spent in changing clothes or washing at the beginning or end of each workday." Such an agreement is in place in Gary.
While washing is not part of the dispute, what constitutes "clothes" is at the heart of the matter.
Sandifer's attorney, Eric Schnapper of Seattle, said that "not everything an individual wears is clothes." He said it should not be difficult to differentiate between normal clothes and something unique that industrial workers must don and doff.
"Our test is: An item is not clothes if it is worn to protect against a workplace hazard and was designed to protect against hazards," he told the justices.
But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit didn't accept that and previously ruled against the workers, who are required to wear flame-retardant jackets, pants, snood, gloves, wristlets and leggings.
That court took a picture of a model wearing the attire, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg held it up for Schnapper. "From the picture, that looks like clothes to me," she said.
Schnapper said this is a case in which a picture does not tell the story.
But Ginsburg said there were all kinds of jobs that require uniforms — bakers or doormen, for instance — and no one believes those workers should be paid for putting on clothing.
And there was a bit of real-life experience from the court. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who worked summers in a steel plant to help pay for college, said there were particularly thick blue jeans that workers would wear at the plant but not elsewhere. Don't those protect from workplace hazards? he asked.
Lawyer Lawrence DiNardo, representing the steel company, said that the focus should be not on the items a worker wears but rather on the process of getting ready for work.
"Collective bargaining does not focus on whether or not a shirt is clothes or a pair of pants are clothes or protective eye gear, and that is how the statute was written," DiNardo said. "Given those two points, the term 'clothes' as used in the statute was intended to encompass the work outfit industrial workers were required to change into and out of to be ready for work. "
Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that would make something like a scuba tank "clothes" for some workers. And she had other examples:
"Your definition would include somebody spending an hour of putting on a suit of armor if he's going to be a jouster. It would include the space people who put on that complicated white suit that has all the connections to equipment."
The government proposed that the court differentiate between clothes and equipment.
"For instance," said Assistant Solicitor General Anthony A. Yang, "the meatpacker might have a chain mail" kind of sleeve, chain-mail gloves and a plexiglass "belly guard" as part of his work attire. Those would not be considered "clothes," he said.
Interest groups representing manufacturers and others said a ruling in favor of the workers could have a huge impact in back pay and other costs.
At the end of the hour-long argument, Justice Elena Kagan wondered why a government agency had never tackled the question of what the statute means when it says "clothes."
Schnapper said he did not know, but Justice Antonin Scalia offered a reason.
"Too complicated is why," he said.
The case is Sandifer v. U.S. Steel.


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Al Neuharth, my former boss (sort of), dead at age 89
Pat Cunningham
In my years at the Rockford Register Star (and the Morning Star, earlier), I never answered directly to Al Neuharth, but he was the top man at Gannett, the company that owned our papers during most of my tenure.
I met Neuharth several times and was struck, as were so many people, by his flamboyance. But our conversations were brief and perfunctory.
Richard Benedetto eulogizes Neuharth HERE:
Neuharth died Friday at age 89 after a fall in his home in Florida. He left behind a powerful legacy as a Gannett newspaper tycoon, creator and spirit of USA Today and ...


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After a million and one leaks, the Nexus 5 has finally been announced. There aren't too many surprises on the hardware front: the device packs a 4.95-inch 1080p IPS LCD, a 2.26GHz Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM, an 8MP camera, and a 2300 mAh battery. The Nexus 5 is made by LG and internally seems very similar to the G2 (aside from a smaller battery and camera). Most importantly, the Nexus 5 ships with a new version of Android KitKat, version 4.4. KitKat brings across-the-board memory improvements, a new full-screen mode, a smart dialer, and a refreshed home screen experience.
|Specs at a glance: Nexus 5
|1920×1080 4.95" (445 PPI) IPS touchscreen
|Android 4.4 "KitKat"
|2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800
|Adreno 330
|16GB or 32GB
|Micro-USB, headphones
|8MP rear camera with OIS, 1.3MP front camera
|137.84 x 69.17 x 8.59 mm
|130 g
|2300 mAh
|Starting price
|$350, contract free
|Other perks
|Wireless charging, NFC
The Nexus 5 has the distinction of bring back LTE to the Nexus line. Verizon's CDMA network is out of the question, but it is compatible with AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile LTE bands. Like the Nexus 4, Qi wireless charging is included, but the premium-yet-delicate glass back of the N4 has been swapped out in favor of a plastic backing. The matte back and the horizontal "NEXUS" lettering make the Nexus 5 look like a mini Nexus 7.
The rear camera sensor, while seemingly normally sized, has a massive outer lens attached to it. Like the G2's camera, the Nexus 5's camera is equipped with optical image stabilization, but the G2 didn't require the huge outer lens the way the Nexus 5 does.
But KitKat is the headline feature of the Nexus 5. Google says it has slimmed down Android's memory footprint by cutting back on background services and lowering memory consumption of Android's most-used features. The announcement states that "Android can run comfortably on 512MB of RAM." The "OK Google" voice control hotword is now usable from the homescreen, but it's unclear if, like the Moto X, the Nexus 5 is equipped with an always-on listening mode.
Pricing is dependent on storage—there's a 16GB version for $350 and a 32GB version for $400. As usual, the newest Nexus is sold directly by Google, unlocked and contract-free. If you're in the market for an unlocked phone, the Nexus 5 is a fantastic deal—similarly specced devices cost upwards of $600. Google is presumably able to self-subsidize the device with income from ads and Play Store purchases.
The Nexus 5 is available right now from the Google Play Store. Hopefully Google has learned a thing or two from the Nexus 4 launch, which was a complete disaster. Back then, Google's servers were crushed by the demand for the phone, putting out long load times, unresponsive pages, and broken shopping carts. When customers did finally get through, most received a backorder message—the Nexus 4 sold out in less than one hour. Our fingers are crossed for a better experience this time.


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[Guest Post] Patting down the data on racial profiling in New York City
This is the next in a series of guest posts on criminal justice broadly speaking from Peter Wagner of the Prison Policy Initiative.
by Peter Wagner
New York City's "stop and frisk" policing strategy is getting a lot of attention. A police officer notes a "reasonable suspicion," whatever that is, and then stops the person, asks some questions and then often frisks him or her.
It's not hard to see where allegations of racial profiling come from. It's the subject of a class action lawsuit, and last week 20 people, including Cornel West, were convicted for a civil disobedience protest last year against stop and frisk.
"Stop and frisk" is a major NYC initiative that is growing:
The majority of the people being stopped and frisked are Black and Latino, and that's been a consistent fact:
A lot of the news coverage has been less than effective in explaining the racial disproportionality in New York City's stop and frisk. For example, Blacks are 52% of stops, but 23% of the population. Latinos are 31% of stops, but 29% of the population. Whites are 9% of the stops and 33% of the population. The eyes of 90% of the readers of this paragraph have glazed over and I suspect that 100% of the people reading aren't quite sure exactly what the significance is.
The most useful comparison is to compare the relative number of people in each racial and ethnic group who are stopped by the police in a given year. Now it's quite clear just how big the problem is:
Blacks in New York City are 8 times as likely to be stopped by the police as Whites. And the disparity gets larger when we look at just stops that result in frisks:
And even larger still when we look at police stops that result in the use of force:
The disparity in the use of force isn't warranted by differential rates of offending, as we found that Latinos and Blacks were more likely than Whites to experience the use of force without being arrested.
The different experiences of Blacks, Latinos and Whites with stop and frisk are no doubt part of why ending stop and frisk is a priority for Black and Latino voters, but not for politicians who want White support.
And what do New Yorkers get for giving up their civil liberties? It's not a lot in the way of public safety. 93% of the stops in 2010 did not result in arrest, and the majority of the arrests were for petty offenses. And guns, the main justification for "stop and frisk"? Guns are found in a tiny portion of the stops, about 1 out of every thousand stops in 2011. And the trend isn't positive. While the police point to the tiny annual increase in the number of gun seized, the percentage of stops that result in a gun being found is plummeting:
I have no doubt that good police work can find illegal guns. Wholesale "stop and frisk," though undermines Black and Latino trust in the police without improving public safety. That's a poor investment in police resources.
Mayor Bloomberg is famous for his big-business style fixation on data and on seeing a high return on investment. Yet, for some reason, he has been reluctant to hold policing strategies up to that same cost vs. results standard. Will his successors be any different?
[* Updated on May 18, 2012 to use Census figures that more closely correspond with how the NYPD assigns people to a race and ethnicity and to add graphs about the racial disparity in frisks and in the use of force.]
The author is Executive Director of the Prison Policy Initiative. This article is one in a series of short articles exploring under-discussed facts about the criminal justice system.
2 Responses
Did you try analyzing by age or location? how about comparing to the race of those convicted of a crime?
Jeff — NYCLU, in their report that I linked to did break things down by age. (The numbers for young Black men are really frightening.) The expert report prepared for the Floyd class action case linked above does have a break down by location including a disaggregation of crime rates by location to conclude that race is the dominant factor in stop and frisk.-peter


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Scandal: Who Didn't Survive the Season Finale?
[Warning: This story contains major spoilers from Thursday's Scandal finale. Read at your own risk!]
Scandal's season finale was quite explosive - but it wasn't the bomb that was the most shocking moment.
The big bomb scare was actually quickly resolved in the opening moments of Thursday's episode, with Jake (Scott Foley) arriving at the Oval Office to tell Fitz (Tony Goldwyn) about the bomb at the church before it exploded, which allowed them to evacuate in time. Unfortunately, Sally (Kate Burton) uses the opportunity to bolster her campaign as all the news cameras focus on her saving other people. In other words, Cyrus' (Jeff Perry) plan not to alert the authorities actually backfires on the Grant campaign.
20 ridiculous ways Scandal has hidden Kerry Washington's pregnancy
When Fitz realizes that he won't win the election, he tells Olivia (Kerry Washington) that he no longer has any ties to Mellie (Bellamy Young) and he can finally be with her, but Olivia reveals that Big Jerry (Barry Bostwick) raped Mellie. When Fitz comforts Mellie, she reveals that the paternity test proves he is the father of Little Jerry (Dylan Minnette). Knowing that, Olivia accepts that she and Fitz can't be together - not now at least.
Elsewhere, after Huck (Guillermo Diaz) and Quinn (Katie Lowes) are caught having sex, Charlie (George Newbern) moves out, but not before dropping a bombshell in Quinn's lap: The location of Huck's family. Quinn brings Huck to see Kim (Jasika Nicole), but he gets angry at Quinn, telling her to never speak to him again.
Olivia skips Fitz's final election speech to stay with her father Rowan (Joe Morton), who actually survived Maya Pope (Khandi Alexander) stabbing him during last week's episode. But he's not alone in the hospital. Maya is at his side and tells Olivia that she did all of this for her. At that moment, Little Jerry collapses on stage during the speech and later dies at the hospital of bacterial meningitis. It turns out Little Jerry was murdered, and Fitz suspects Maya Pope who had tried to blow him up. Surprisingly, this turn of events could actually help Fitz win the election.
Alt TV: 21 shows you should watch
With all that's happening, Olivia asks Rowan if she can still take him up on his earlier offer to leave OPA behind and start a new life. But there's a chance she won't be alone since Jake asks to tag along so they can stand in the sun together. Abby (Darby Stanchfield) and Huck obviously don't take her quitting very well, but Harrison (Columbus Short) has bigger problems: Rowan enlists him to track down Maya Pope by showing him pictures of a dead Adnan Salif (Nazanin Boniadi). That's two dead! Maya Pope is quickly apprehended, and Rowan tells Fitz that she's dead. That's three!
Because of his loyalty, Rowan is reinstated to Command of B613. But Harrison realizes that Rowan orchestrated everything, having Jerry and Adnan killed so he take over command once again and get Olivia on that plane, as he promised in the season premiere. Fitz took away Rowan's child, so he retaliated in kind by taking Little Jerry. And now, the one thing Fitz has always wanted, to be elected president on his own, turns out to be a curse, and makes him crack under the pressure.
In the end, Olivia gets on that plane with Jake, who sent all the proof of B613's dirty deeds to David Rosen (Josh Malina) before they left. But does she regret her decision to quit OPA and leave Fitz? "There's that last look," executive producer Shonda Rhimes said on Jimmy Kimmel's Behind the Scandalabra post-finale special, referencing Olivia declining the call from the White House and telling Jake that she's sure about them leaving. "You can really see that she's not so sure, so there's possibilities."
Meanwhile, Huck shows up at Kim's door, and Rowan opens the hole to reveal that Maya is still alive, of course. But the most shocking moment is that Rowan appears to have Harrison killed by Secret Service/B613 Agent Tom (Brian Letscher). Now, that may be three! "You know I can't tell you whether he's dead or not," Rhimes said. "No comment."
What did you think of the Scandal finale? Do you think Harrison is really dead? Do you hope to see more of Kim next season?
View original Scandal: Who Didn't Survive the Season Finale? at TVGuide.com
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The Port Fairy Gazette has a lot of Byaduk news and I just love this treasure from May 31, 1915. Australia celebrated Empire Day on May 24 from 1905. School children participated in patriotic singing and speeches and flags adorned buildings. The children had a holiday from school in the afternoon. May 24 was also Cracker Night and in the evening people would gather around bonfires and let off fireworks.
Empire Day 1915 saw ggg grandfather James Harman visit the Byaduk State School and address the children. He then sang "Just Before the Battle, Mother" and I'm pleased to see he "delighted" the children. At age 85, he was only a year away from his passing.
"Just Before the Battle, Mother" was an American civil war song but given it was in the midst of WW1, it was apt. If you have not heard the song before, click on the play button below to hear a rendition courtesy of Soundcloud and P. Murray.


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Morning Jolt: Would you try a lion meat taco?
In the news
A restaurant in Florida is in the news because it's offering alion meat taco. The taco sells for $35 at Taco Fusion in Tampa. Some groups want the lion listed as an endangered species and hence illegal to eat, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hasn't called it that yet. The restaurant owner says the meat comes from lions bred to be eaten.
Happening today
The big movies opening this week are "The Great Gatsby," a PG-13 adaptation of the classic novel starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Baz Luhrmann; and "Peeples," a PG-13 comedy starring Craig Robinson, Kerry Washington and David Alan Grier.
Opening bell
The Dow Jones opened at 15,082.62, finishing down 22.50 points Thursday.
Motivational quote
"Music can change the world because it can change people." - Bono
Watercooler talk: Paratrooper sucked out of plane, misses target
A U.S. Army paratrooper was in the back of a plane, looking for a drop zone, when he was sucked out accidentally. Gayle King reports.
More Content Now


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Watch 2012's Best News Bloopers In One Epic Compilation
It's that special time of year when people take all the funny things that happen and make them all into one big thing. Here, for example, are the best funny news bloopers of 2012.
We like these videos because they not only remind us of the ones we like but forgot because they aren't from like two days ago, but because they also introduce us to some that slipped through the cracks. If you, like us, think it's hilarious when somebody accidentally says a dirty word on camera, you will love this video. Enjoy!


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For the latest updates to Global Public Square, including show information and Fareed's Take, visit the new GPS site on CNN.com.
These hindu trolls have no contribution to this world. Just a burden on global resources. Eating away the chappatis sent to them as aid by the western countries. Worth more dead than alive on the organ market
Nope. Nobody wants body parts from India. First off, Aghoris eat 'em up. What survives is diseased. No thanks.
A s hitting we will go
A s hitting we will go
We will clear sand on the ground
And take a pound
And soon be homeward bound
After making s hit on a mound
We are hindoos s hitting on the ground
We are from India and with schit we are crowned
Those Christian trolls are something else. Eh Yahoo?
...and those Christian troops will kill you with Holy carpet bombs from God above. Or below depending on your lifestyle,
I hate the hindus from the bottom of my heart. Reminds one of what the Nazis and Gestapo did to Jews. This is absolutely disgraceful that the western nations have kept quiet about it. The hindus we all know are neanderthals.
Reminds me of what the German government did to lazy Germans.
...built hundreds of forced labor camps and ordered Waffen SS to round-up every single lazy German they could find and force them to work or not eat/die at camp.
Reminds me of an ass hat that wants concentration camps in the US.
All blue trolls above eat SH IT and get sod.omized by Modi.
Is that you @chrissy? Lol
I just stole the Banasy name.
I get so do mized tonight by Modi.
Sarah Palin and banasy eat sh it.
I do not!
Do too!
Do not!
Adam. Fukk you too
No thanks I've got myself. Bwa ha ha ha ha
We thought Hitler died. We thought Nazism ended. We thought Gestapo (SS) was eliminated. Boy, were we wrong.
Modi is a reincarnation of Hitler. Hindutva in India is the new Nazism. Shiv Sena (abbreviated SS) type ultra right extremist hindutva parties are the nouveau Gestapos. Welcome to fascist India .... Hindu-Stan.
Ich Bin Ein Berliner.
Ich Bin Ein Kashmiri.
Ich Bin Ein Khalistani
Ich Bin Ein Gujarati
So nicely articulated. I am an English major and couldn't have said better.
Ich Bin Ein Berliner. (I am a Berliner)
Ich Bin Ein Kashmiri. (I am a Kashmiri)
Ich Bin Ein Khalistani (I am a Khalistani)
Ich Bin Ein Gujarati (I am a Gujarati)
Sie sind verwirrt. Bwa ha ha ha ha
"I am not a plumber but the only way to solve the raype epidemic in India is to reroute the hindu male urinary tract to rear orifice. Thus enabling the butchering of the weiner to be fed to Russians/Ukranians." Reagan
Americans use stuffing in Turkeys during Thanksgiving. In India candles are stuffed in vugina of girls during rayping. Two rituals two cultures two celebrations.
I just stole the Banasy name. Lol.
I su ck Modi Indian Hindu di cks...
Tastes great
I li ck Modi's big b all s. Lol
Americans are dying over seas due to ISIS.
@ banasy. There are over 33,000 biker gangs in the United States.
They do more harm than ISIS ever could.
You dumb old stupid hag.
Stfu Philip !!!
Cow's milk is to calves what raipes and terrorism is to hinddoous in Mother India. Two mothers but with different agendas.
After reading the hindu scriptures I am of the opinion they should be used as toilet paper for pigs n cows.
OMB has published expense report that includes $1 million spent on White House fumigation after Modi's gang left White House. Expense to clean the BO left behind on furniture and in the air. Hindus defecating in the corridors and spitting paan in Oval Office. Drinking water out of toilets. In one instance a person from Bangalore was caught masturbating in west wing. Spots on furniture fabric due to indians wiping their hands off after eating curry.
Secret Service had to physically kick the Indian gang out after they wore gas masks. Nobody wanted to come close to these hindus due s hit smell. In fact President Obama refused to sit next to Modi and had the janitor dressed up in dhoti to do so.
This is too much.... ROFL.
SNL material.
Except it's all bull, you dumb whore. Bwa ha ha ha ha
You must be from Indian Embassy paid to cover up.
Hinduism is but an evil concept that must be choked to extinction. The dinosaur bones of this incestual and terrorist cult must be reduced to ashes in a furnace and buried in an urn. Hinduism must be eliminated from the folds of the civilized world.
Amen. Agreed.
Yes. Lazy men are the blight of the world. Even Jews work for a living. Deadbeat dogs feed their puppies without fanfare.
Most of these terrorist Hinddoou trolls are sitting in a temple in India with their pancha kachcham loincloth on and rats running around sipping milk. The hand wound computers generate power for half hour. That is why there is a lull in their comments. LOL
There are Even old Christian leaders butt f'ing little boys in Ameeica now. And lazy men who could still work claiming to be "disabled" as millions of mentally retarded still go to work each day. Mostly fat men who blog all day.
They do meds and even go to church. Mostly for free food though. To save on drug money,
^^^ The world according to the sociopath ^^^
Yea. Millions of Americans are fat and lazy now. Lack of productivity and stupidity are their calling cards. And "news blogging".
India among world's most violent places:
MUMBAI: The recent Maoist violence in Bastar, which left 28 people dead, is no aberration. The Global Peace Index (GPI) 2013, which was released on Tuesday, has ranked India among the 25 least peaceful nations to live in. The country was placed 141 among 162 nations, having lost more than two lives a day — or a staggering 799 persons — to internal conflicts in 2012. Others were South Sudan and Afghanistan
Even the apes in Congo are more civilized than these people from India. That is god's honest truth.
Just took a flight from Newark, NJ to Chicago. This guy sitting next to me was smelling like rotten onions. I asked him where he was from. He muttered Bangalore, India. I apologized politely to him and told him that I was nauseous due to his BO. That I will call flight attendant to move to another seat. I did so but none were available. Halfway through the flight he opens up a tupperware. It had some kind of fish curry. The smell coupled with his BO did me in. B'fore I could get up I started throwing up all over including into his curry. I was sick. The doctor on the flight helped me move to the toilet. Thank you. I was later told that guy from India kept on eating his curry and licking his fingers in sheer joyful ecstasy. More power to him. I have landed at O'Hare and am still sick from the odor.
You dont wanna be in a confined space with them smell bombs.
You do not want to be confined on a Greyhound bus with a bunch of fat focks bound for Mississippi. It's not so much the smell but that they jive all the way.
My name is Rupert and I am ashamed to be an Indian. My mama sent me a tiffin box . When I opened it there was a note from her. She asked me to go raype some girls in India tonight. I told her NO. I will now follow Islam's teaching and respect girls. My name is rupee and I am considering converting to Islam.
My name is Philip and I am ashamed to be an American now. Care to debate?
Banasy says hi


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"With Internet Explorer 8, we made significant advancements and updates to make the browser safer for our customers," a Microsoft spokesperson told Ars. "Given the security issues with plugins in general and Google Chrome in particular, Google Chrome Frame running as a plugin has doubled the attach area for malware and malicious scripts. This is not a risk we would recommend our friends and families take." The spokesperson also referred us to the latest phishing and malware data from NSS Labs, the same security company that found IE8 was the most secure browser in August 2009 via two Microsoft-sponsored reports.
Some of the points Microsoft makes in its statement are controversial, though it's not all simple PR talk. Plugins and add-ons are definitely a huge security issue; they usually remain unpatched longer than most and often end up doing more damage than vulnerabilities in the actual browser. As for IE + Google Chrome Frame potentially allowing for double the damage because the browser mutant would be open to a wider range of attacks, we're going to have to call foul. Somehow we doubt there is a significant amount of malware specifically targeting Chrome, and for whatever exists, we're pretty sure most would fail when encountering IE + Google Chrome Frame. These Web attacks would be written to be able to circumvent Chrome's security measures and would simply not expect Internet Explorer's security layers.
What about the part about Chrome having security issues in particular? Soon after Chrome was first released in September 2008, vulnerabilities were discovered and loudly trumpeted. The new browser was quickly labeled insecure days after it was made available, and remained so until a patched version was released.
After that though, Google made sure to stay on top of things, and it has paid off. In March 2009, for example, Chrome was the only browser left standing after day one of the famous Pwn2Own contest, where security researchers competed to exploit vulnerabilities in web browsers, while Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer were all successfully compromised. Microsoft argues that Chrome only remained unscathed because nobody attempted to exploit it, but the fact remains that none of the researchers had vulnerabilities for Chrome in mind before going into the contest.
Also, Swiss security researchers concluded in May 2009 that people who use Firefox or Chrome are more likely to be running the latest version of the software when compared against Safari and Opera users due to their auto-update mechanisms which require less user interaction. Internet Explorer wasn't even mentioned in the study, though we know that it relies on Windows Update and doesn't have an automatic built-in updater.
Finally, and possibly most importantly, Chrome has a market share that is easily 20 times smaller than Internet Explorer's. Even if Google reaches its 10 percent market share goal, Internet Explorer would still be six times more widely used. Microsoft doesn't like to admit it, but the fact is that market share is a disadvantage when it comes to security. It's just more profitable for the bad guys aim for the largest crowd of marks.
Google made a point to say that its plugin brings some security features to Internet Explorer. "Accessing sites using Google Chrome Frame brings Google Chrome's security features to Internet Explorer users, providing strong phishing and malware protection (absent in IE6), robust sandboxing technology, and defenses from emerging online threats that are available in days rather than months," a Google spokesperson told Ars.
While Microsoft's jabs at Chrome were a bit over the top, its points about Internet Explorer 8's security are solid. The browser has great phishing and malware protection built-in, and is overall miles ahead of its predecessors. That said, even if Microsoft claims that IE8 is more secure than Chrome, and it did in June 2008, the fact remains that Google didn't just release the plugin for IE8. It works in IE6 and IE7 as well. These old browser versions are much less secure, especially in comparison to IE8 and Chrome 3. In August 2009, Redmond confirmed that while it would continue to push IE6 and IE7 users to upgrade their browsers, it wasn't going to make the decision for them anytime soon.
For all these reasons, we don't believe that Microsoft is in a position to say that Google Chrome Frame is an unsafe choice. We do, however, understand where the software giant is coming from.


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As if being a woman wasn't difficult enough—what with all the not having control over important decisions about our own bodies, making less money than our male colleagues, and, yes, let's play the childbirth card—we are also routinely hit with financial penalties just for having the balls to be born with a vagina. That's right, women pay more for everything from razors to houses to health care for no reason other than that we are women. It's like our own personal vagina tax, and it sucks.
In fact, it's enraging. You might think such gendered pricing practices would be illegal and we wouldn't even have to worry about them, but alas they are not. Of course, there are federal civil rights laws which project against discrimination in employment and housing on the basis of race, gender, or sexual orientation, but the same cannot be said for the sales of goods and services. Some states and cities have their own statutes, but they often don't make much of a dent in these kinds of widespread problems.
In fact, this problem is so pervasive that often we don't even notice it's happening—we just accept the cost of items as a given, sort of like the air around us. But there are lots of little ways we're charged more than men. Marie Claire has a detailed run-down of how this plays out, and they point specifically to dry cleaners, who often charge women three times as much to clean shirts which are virtually identical to mens' dress shirts. They justify this by saying that these "blouses" require extra labor to press. Hmm, seeing as I wear a larger shirt size than some of my male friends, yet their shirts fit on the pressing machine, this hardly seems possible.
Then there are things like haircuts and women's toiletries, which are typically priced higher than their men's counterparts, despite the fact that, even though they are all wrapped up in them purty pale pink packages, they are virtually the same products. (Maybe pink ink is just astronomically expensive?) Obviously retailers don't like to admit to it, since if they did, we'd come running at them, nails filed to a point and extra-gentle razors in hand, demanding a refund, but it is happening.
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A study done at the University of Central Florida found that on average, women's deodorant costs 30 cents more per ounce than men's, even when the only difference between the products was the smell. The study's coauthor, Megan Duesterhaus said, "These companies have us convinced that men and women are so biologically different that we need completely different products, as though we are a different species." Well, they are from Mars, and we're from Venus, which probably has an atmosphere that affects our sweat differently and necessitates special deodorant technology to neutralize our female brand of stank.
We could consider ourselves "lucky" if these price gaps stopped at relatively trivial expenditures like dry cleaning and hair products, but unfortunately they extend into far more substantial purchases like cars, homes, and even health insurance. Blergh. In the case of buying cars, it's long been known that women often get the shaft, and it doesn't seem to have improved one bit. On average, women now pay $200 more for a car than a white man would, and black women pay a whopping $400 more.
When it comes to home loans, the Consumer Federation of America found in 2006 that women were 32 percent more likely to end up with high-interest subprime loans, even if when they had better credit ratings than the men. This may not be a case of discrimination, but rather the result of the way women tend to shop for things. Economists theorize that we rely on word-of-mouth rather than just taking the lowest rate from whomever is offering it. We aren't as likely to negotiate either, which puts us at a disadvantage when buying cars, homes, or other big items like appliances. As Yale Law School professor Ian Ayres explains, "The idea of just giving a discount to those who ask for one puts women at a strong disadvantage since they are less inclined to ask." (Here is some help for this very problem, should you need it.)
Perhaps the most disturbing part of this whole situation is that women pay so much more in health care premiums because of a practice called gender rating—basically charging more because they can claim that a person's gender affects how much it will cost to cover them. The National Women's Law Center has just issued a new report that found more than 90 percent of the best-selling health plans charge women more than they do men. This practice has already been made illegal in 14 states, but the rest the country is still shit out of luck.
Just how bad is the gap? Pretty bad. According to eHealthInsurance.com, in Chicago a 30-year-old woman pays 31 percent more than a man of her same age pays. In Louisville, Kentucky, a 40-year-old nonsmoking woman pays 53 percent more than a nonsmoking man of the same age. The nonsmoking woman even pays 14 percent more than the premium a male smoker pays.
Why, pray tell, would insurers charge women so much more than men? It's mostly because, "[Women] are more likely to visit doctors, to get regular checkups, to take prescription drugs and to have certain chronic illnesses." Oh good, because it totally makes sense to charge people more for keeping themselves healthy, thereby saving you money in the long run. Also, the fact that the gender gaps vary so widely between insurers indicates there is no "fixed cost" associated with covering the fairer sex, so their whole premise is pretty much bullshit. But to be fair, we are awfully needy in the drugs department. After all, we keep demanding those pricey whore pills, month after month.
The gender gap mainly applies to people purchasing insurance individually, because civil rights law prohibits employers from charging higher premiums for the same benefits to female employees. Though for group plans, if they have more women than men, an employer can choose to raise everyone's premiums to cover the higher cost of women's premiums. (That must really make our male colleagues love us.) But, wait, there's more where that came from: The premium gap isn't the only penalty against women who are buying their own insurance—they often also have to pay for maternity coverage separately, which can add to their costs significantly. For instance, in Springfield, Illinois, a 30-year-old woman must pay $278 for her monthly plan, plus $270 a month for maternity coverage. It sure is nice that having a baby isn't considered a normal part of human bodily function.
Fortunately, the evil socialist plot known as Obama's health care reform law addresses this and will eliminate gender rating in 2014. It will also require insurance plans to cover maternity care as one of the "essential health benefits." That is, if the whole thing doesn't get struck down by the Supreme Court… Fingers crossed!
So, when all is said and done and you add this all up, what exactly is the penalty we pay for being card-carrying vagina owners? Well, Marie Claire reports that California (where gender pricing has been banned since 1996) found that ladies paid about $1,351 a year in extra costs and fees. If you take that figure and run it across the entire country, it results in a total burden on women of about 151 billion dollars. That, in case you're one of them there ladies that isn't so good with numbers, is a lot of money. As it happens, it's more than what the federal government spent on education in 2011. Gee, it sure would be nice to have some of that back in our bank account, but hahaha. Yeah, right.
Sadly, given that this is such a far-reaching problem, and there's no one organization causing it, fighting this kind of gendered pricing is insanely difficult. But there are some ways we can fight for the right to pay what guys pay. (God, it's so crazy that that sentence even needs to be typed.) First of all, start paying attention to where gender pricing is happening and try to avoid it. Second, it is certainly in our interest to continue supporting Obama's health care bill, however imperfect it might be, against the constant onslaught of Republican attacks, and to that end you might want to write to your state and local representatives about all of these issues. Other than that, your only other option is to simply complain on a company-by-company basis and stop buying things from places that insist on overcharging you. It's the power of the purse, people—the beautifully crafted, high fashion purse you'll finally be able to afford when you no longer have to pay the Vagina Tax.
Why Women Pay More [Marie Claire]
Gender Gap Persists in Cost of Health Insurance [New York Times]
Image via wavebreakmedia ltd/Shutterstock.


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Home Sweet Home Sunflower SVG DXF
Product Description
This is a DIGITAL product. I will NOT be sending or mailing a physical product.
This item is created ONLY for the customer to use with cutting machine software, such as Cricut Design Space or Silhouette Studio Designer Edition.
You are responsible for knowing what files are compatible with your machine software. If you do still have issues please let me know and I will do what I can to get it fixed for you!
You can use my designs for paper crafting, vinyl, and other DIY projects.
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1 ZIP Folder containing the following for EACH design:
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NEW Kantai Collection KanColle 43CM Black Classic straight Cosplay Anime Wig Synthetic Hair,Colorful Candy Colored synthetic Hair Extension Hair piece 1pcs WIG-577A
NEW Kantai Collection KanColle 43CM Black Classic straight Cosplay Anime Wig Synthetic Hair,Colorful Candy Colored synthetic Hair Extension Hair piece 1pcs WIG-577A
Material: Synthetic Hair
Net Weight:240G
Material: 100% High Temperature FiberLength:43cm (16.93Inch)
High quality
Shiney and Soft with highlights
One size fits most heads with adjustable ventilated net cap with elastic straps
Comfortable for daily wear, no damage to own hair
Trendy style,soft touch feeling, easy to wash and care
Use a loose tooth comb to brush out wig.
Extra Information:
Try to keep the wig away from any high temperature, because they cannot withstand extreme temperatures.
Brush the wig gently. Comb out the wig before wearing and brush it a little after wearing is done. Loose tooth brush is your best choice. Do not brush harshly in order to avoid hair loss
Avoid using clips that might easily damage net cap, but the decorative headbands are available to hold hair in place.
It is normal for some hair loss during wearing. The hair loss results from the loose part of production process, and it will disappear in several brushing.
If you find any knots, please don't pull, spray a thin layer of non-oily conditioner and gently comb the knots out. The conditioner can make wig smooth and prevent static.
Do not spray gel, water, hair pomade or hairsprays as it will make your wig greasy.
Static is usually a problem for your hair in the winter months. To get a perfect hairstyle, you can touch the wall to discharge static before styling your hair to avoid causing tangles.


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I recently wrote the following response to APS Observer Forum criticism, "Not So Situational," June/July 2007. This response is also published on LuciferEffect. com, the official website of The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil (Random House, 2007).
* * *
Personal criticism has been leveled against me as representing an excessive "situationist" perspective by 43 psychologists and 6 of their graduate student signatories in a letter to Observer Forum, June/July 2007. (Even more have signed on to this bandwagon on Internet list serves.) They report: "We are concerned by the message that has been conveyed to the general public regarding the power of the situation to 'trump individual dispositions.'" That statement was never made by me, nor was the other extreme characterization that was mis-attributed to me by the author of the APS review of my book. It is his conclusion that is objectionable not only to personality psychologists, but to me even more so. The personal attack by my distinguished colleagues is based upon the summary statement in that book review which stated: "The main argument in The Lucifer Effect is that there are no bad apples, only bad barrels. That is Zimbardo's metaphor for the power of the situation to trump individual differences." (Wray, 2007, p. 11)
It is the reviewer who has over-simplified and distorted the set of arguments in my book, where I make evident that there are indeed some people whose extended careers as evil-doers qualify them as "evil people," or "bad apples," such as Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, serial killers, and others. However, many people who engage in actions that could be deemed evil are more likely to be ordinary people caught up in behavioral contexts that are unfamiliar, and in which their habitual response patterns and moral judgments become "disengaged." In addition, I never said: "situations trump individual differences." "Trump" is a term that I rarely use, in fact, used only once in more than 500 pages in my book, The Lucifer Effect. My only use of "trumps" was in discussing the "banality of evil" in Nazi concentration camps. Sociologist John Steiner, an Auschwitz survivor, described, "how roles can trump character traits" of the Nazi guards. He reports, "that not everyone playing a brutal role has to have sadistic traits of character. Those who continued in roles originally not conducive to their personality often changed their values (i.e., had a tendency to adjust to what was expected of them in their roles)." (Lucifer, p. 287)
Most psychologists who have actually read my newest book, The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil (2007) will readily identify my research orientation as that of a "social interactionist." Social psychologists, like myself, follow the Lewinian tradition of studying individual and group behavior in situational-social contexts (See Ross & Nisbett, 1991). We do so because as I say up front, "People and situations are usually in a state of dynamic interaction." (Lucifer, p. 8) I go on to define these concepts as follows: "The Person is an actor on the stage of life whose behavioral freedom is informed by his or her makeup–genetic, biological, physical, and psychological. The Situation is the behavioral context that has the power, through its reward and normative functions, to give meaning and identity to the actor's roles and status." (Lucifer, p. 445)
A major task of psychological science is to explain behavioral variance, often by determining the extent to which observed behavior can be attributed to internal variables, such as individual differences, to external situation-based variables, and to their interaction. A major difference between personality and social psychologists lies primarily in their emphasis on dispositional versus situational variables; rarely do they disagree on endorsing the inevitable interaction between them. But more psychologists give lip service to being interactionists than those whose research actually gathers both dispositional and situational evidence. The central issue for social psychologists is not the relative predictive power of person versus situation, rather it is the typical underestimation of situational factors and "channel factors" that lead laypeople, social scientists, policy makers, and criminal justice personnel to make erroneous predictions and misattributions of behavior whenever such external factors are operating in substantial ways.
Although I am most known for my social psychological research, I have long been engaged as well in studying both personality and individual difference contributions to a variety of behavioral outcomes. My pioneering research on shyness in adults helped to understand individual differences within cultural, familial, and school contexts in its causes, correlates, and consequences, and in the treatment strategies that Lynne Henderson and I developed and effectively utilized in our Shyness Clinic. (See http://www.shyness.com) Research with Jack Hilgard established the hypnotizability construct as one of psychology's most reliable individual difference measures, with a 25-year test-retest correlation of .71. (Picione, Hilgard, & Zimbardo, 1989). Similarly, the most reliable and valid measure of individual differences in time perspective is found in the scale I developed, the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory. (Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999) A decade's long research program on personality and politics (using the BFQ) with my Italian colleague, Gian Vittorio Caprara, always focused on the interplay of personality traits and values with political perceptions and preferences. (Caprara & Zimbardo, 2004) Finally, recent research with Al Bandura explored the role of self-efficacy in understanding the social dynamics associated with those on prison execution teams. (Osofsky, Bandura & Zimbardo, 2005)
Before turning to the criticism that is most personally distressing regarding understanding of the Abu Ghraib abuses, it is important to mention that while personality and social psychologists spar about the relative contributions of dispositions and situations, we have ignored the most significant factor in the behavioral equation–the System. "The System consists of those agents and agencies whose ideology, values, and power create situations and dictate the roles and expectations for approved behaviors of actors within its spheres of influence. "Bad Systems" create "Bad Situations" create "Bad Apples" create "Bad Behaviors," even in good people. (Lucifer, p. 445-6) It is not possible to really understand what happened at Abu Ghraib without a comprehensive appreciation of the influences of the Military and Civilian chain of command operating top-down in that prison and other detention centers that were created as part of the "war on terror." When understanding complex behavior in the real world, beyond our laboratories or classroom surveys and personality scale data collection, it is essential to begin with a systems level top-down analysis because that is where the real power lies. Such understanding gives us the necessity leverage to develop public health paradigms designed to change unacceptable situations as well as the perpetrators of evil functioning in those situations (See Haney & Zimbardo, In press).
Finally, my critics assert: "Our concern is that Dr. Zimbardo has misrepresented the scientific evidence in an attempt to offer a purely situational account of the antisocial acts perpetrated at Abu Ghraib." What seems like a "situation-only" analysis by me and other social psychologists, is always a counter-reaction and our attempt at a counter-balance to the "rush to the dispositional" by authorities, lay people, and too many other psychologists who have adopted an entirely individualistic perspective. We believe that the significance of situational-environmental-context variables has been under-appreciated by our colleagues as well as the legal system. The dispositional approach ends by blaming the perpetrators for wrongdoing without sufficiently considering the situational dynamics that were in operation at the time, exerting powerful influences that can be transformative in modifying the behavior of ordinary, even good persons. It is always the tactic of the System in any scandal to blame the grunts, to pick out the few "bad apples," thereby deflecting attention away from its complicity, and the need to change corrupt systems not merely to punish its operatives– the G. I. Joes. I tried to counter the dispositional allegation by the Military and Bush Administration spokespeople that the abusers were just "a few rogue soldiers," or " a few bad apples." Instead, I offered the hypothesis that maybe they were initially "good apples" who were corrupted by the "bad barrel" in which they were forced to function—in that prison dungeon in that war zone operating under a new definition of prisoners of the war on terror that excluded those detainees from the traditional safeguards against torture.
I have become an expert on the conditions that existed in Abu Ghraib Prison, Tier 1A and B, where the abuses occurred, and document my extensive research about the people, place, and system associated with those crimes against humanity in two detailed chapters of Lucifer. As expert witness for the Staff Sergeant in charge of those Army Reserve MPs, I reviewed all of the available investigative reports, all of the photos and videos, arranged for psychometric evaluations, did in-depth interviews with him as well as a member of the abuse investigating team, and with a senior military officer sent to repair and prevent such damages, and more. A Colonel and also the General who did the most thorough investigation of the abuses also reviewed my conclusions. Thus, my conclusions are not abstract conceptual ones as these critics assert, rather they are based on the best available evidence that highlights the role of a set of specific environmental risk factors combined with a set of systemic factors in contributing to these abuses.
"As one of the senior Criminal Investigation Division agents who saw conditions at Abu Ghraib first hand, it is clear to me that Phil Zimbardo truly understands all the factors that come into play there." (Marcia Drewry, retired USA DISC special agent, 2007, Lucifer Effect endorsement)
One of the investigations into the causes of the abuses was conducted by Generals George Fay and Anthony Jones They identify six of seven contributing factors to the abuses as traceable to systemic or situational factors, and but one to dispositional factors. Their report then proceeds to expand on this overview by highlighting numerous systemic failures that played key roles in facilitating the abuses. They conclude: "Looking beyond personal responsibility, leader responsibility and command responsibility, systemic problems and issues also contributed to the volatile environment in which abuse occurred. The report lists several dozen specific systemic failures ranging from doctrine and policy concerns to leadership and command and control issues to resource and training issues." (Lucifer, p. 393)
General Antonio Taguba has written me: "I received your book this weekend. From a glance, you have done such an in depth analysis which I think is difficult to refute." And in addition: "Phil…You've certainly have done a magnificent job in your factual research." (Personal email communication, July 12, 2007)
A committee headed by James Schlesinger, former Secretary of Defense, led another investigation into the Abu Ghraib abuses. The Schlesinger Report boldly proclaims that the "landmark Stanford study provides a cautionary tale for all military detention operations." It notes, "The potential for abusive treatment of detainees during the Global War on Terrorism was entirely predictable based on a fundamental understanding of social psychology principles coupled with an awareness of numerous known environmental risk factors…. Findings from the field of social psychology suggest that the conditions of war and the dynamics of detainee operations carry inherent risks for human mistreatment, and therefore must be approached with great caution and careful planning and training." Their report continues, "Psychologists have attempted to understand how and why individuals and groups who usually act humanely can sometimes act otherwise in certain circumstances." Among the concepts outlined to help explain why abusive behaviors occur among ordinarily humane individuals are the following: deindividuation; dehumanization; enemy image; groupthink; moral disengagement; social facilitation, and other environmental factors. (See Lucifer, p. 402, and Notes to source of the original document)
Over and above such focus on "environmental factors," I still make explicit that any analysis of complex human behavior demands a tri-part focus. "What I learned from the SPE [Stanford Prison Experiment] paradigm about investigating institutional abuses is the need to evaluate various factors (dispositional, situational and systemic) that lead to the behavioral outcomes we want to understand." (Lucifer, p. 330)
In conclusion, I hope that a careful reading of what I actually say in The Lucifer Effect, and not merely the allegations of its book reviewer, or unsubstantiated rumors, will defuse some of the alarm that these colleagues have about my messages going out to the general public. But regardless, I will continue my life-long mission of trying to give to the American and International public what I consider to be sound psychological science through my text books and trade books, my PBS-TV series, Discovering Psychology, informative web sites (www.psychologymatters.org; http://www.prisonexp.org; http://www.luciferEffect.com), media interviews, and my public lectures.
[A condensed version of this reply will appear in the September issue of the APS Observer. Please note that I do not have the time nor the inclination to enter into any further discussion or debate about this matter.]
* * *
Caprara, G. V., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2004). Personalizing politics: A congruency model of political preference. American Psychologist, 59, 581-594.
Haney, C., & Zimbardo, P. G. (In press). Persistent Dispositionalism in Interactionist Clothing: Fundamental Attribution Error in Explaining Prison Abuse. Personality and Social Psychological Bulletin.
Osofsky, M. J., Bandura, A., & Zimbardo, P.G. (2005) The Role of Moral Disengagement in the Execution Process. Law and Human Behavior, 29, 371-393.
Piccione, C., Hilgard, E. R., & Zimbardo, P. G. (1989). On the degree of stability of measured hypnotizability over a 25-year period. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 289-295.
Ross, L., & Nisbett, R. (1991). The Person and the Situation: Perspectives on Social Psychology. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
Wray, H. (2007, June/July). The banality of evil. APS Observer, p. 11.
Zimbardo, P. G. (2007). The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil. New York: Random House.
Zimbardo, P. G., & Boyd, J. N. (1999). Putting time in perspective: A valid, reliable individual-differences metric. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 1271-1288.