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From Bondings 2.0 (New Ways Minsitry):
#KeepMrZ2013 is a movement of high school students in Seattle organizing for their gay vice principal fired for marrying his husband. Now one more voice is speaking out in support of these youth.
Father John Whitney, SJ, pastor of St. Joseph's Parish in Seattle, spoke about the students from Eastside Catholic High School in his homily earlier this week. He begins by describing the conflict in early Christianity about whether to accept Gentiles as members or only Jews, and he reflects on how this controversy was resolved:
"We must imagine the scene: the Church, still subject to occasional bouts of persecution and yet growing feverishly among both Jews and Gentiles alike, faces a great conflict—how are Gentiles to be admitted into the community?…
"What is most amazing about this moment in the Church is how the community comes to decide, together, what is to be done. There is debate and disruption, but it is not seen as division; rather, it is the way the Holy Spirit is working within the community. Further, this debate is grounded on human experience, and not on tradition or on the power of office. Rather than beginning with Scripture—with the Torah or the Prophets—the community begins with the experience of the faithful: with the testimony of Peter, Paul, and Barnabas—none of whom claim special authority in the face of the communal discernment, but all of whom, instead, simply testify to the way in which they have seen the Gentiles touched and filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit….Here is diversity without division, complexity with separation, debate and dissent without the need for punishment or condemnation. In listening for the living Spirit of Christ Jesus, the Church begins by listening to the sinners and seekers who are his body in the world.
"I have thought often of this scene in Acts, over the last year, and especially as I have listened to Pope Francis speak of the need for "uproar" by religious, or call young people to make "a mess" in their dioceses. Like many, I have been refreshed and renewed not by some great doctrinal changes, but by the absence of fear expressed in the words of the Holy Father; by his trust in the workings of the Holy Spirit and his passion for courageous acts of faith—even acts that risk error or end in failure. For Francis, it seems, the timidity of tightly held borders, the safe-harbor of accepted opinion and doctrinal purity risks a greater sin—a greater loss to the Church—than the dangerous paths of love and welcome….
"In the last few weeks, the students of Eastside Catholic High School, and their companions from other schools in the area, have given us an example of the kind of passionate discernment, motivated by the Gospel, that characterizes an important dimension of Catholic education—and, indeed, should characterize our faith both in and out of school. Regardless of the particulars of this situation (and personnel issues may have complexities I do not know), these students have spoken up as products of Catholic education, as women and men motivated by the Spirit and by their own experience of grace. Though it is a painful time, their teachers and their parents should be proud of the Gospel spirit that has been planted in these young hearts. Likewise, we in the broader Church should be grateful for the mess these young people bring, and should listen with compassion and openness to the Spirit that moves within them. Their love, their gentleness, their quest to make of the Church "the home of all, not a small chapel that can hold only a small group of selected people," demands more than the silence of authority; it demands communion and engagement with the Church—i.e., education, direction, dialogue—since their spirit is a sign of the Church and is life-blood for the Church. May we engage, with fearless love, at the side of our younger sisters and brothers; and may trust in the God whose Church we are all becoming."
You can read the reflection in full by clicking here.
–Bob Shine, New Ways Ministry
via Bondings 2.0.
Related articles
- Seattle Archdiocese Responds As Students Keep Fighting Unjust Firing
- Anti-LGBT Policies Create Vaccines Against Faith in Catholic Schools
- Love Always Wins: Students Inspire Hope with Their Defense of Fired Gay Teacher
- Catholic Students Protest Firings in Seattle and Philly; What You Can Do to Help
- Story of Mark Zmuda's Firing by Eastside Catholic in Seattle: End-of-Week Updates (bilgrimage.blogspot.com)
- 21,000 sign petition to support former Catholic school vice principal (krem.com)
- Eastside Catholic resumes school, protesting students will be disciplined (king5.com)
- Seattle Archdiocese Responds As Students Keep Fighting Unjust Firing (newwaysministryblog.wordpress.com)
- Student interview with gay Eastside Catholic Vice Principal released (king5.com)
- Eastside Catholic discusses second gay teacher's status (king5.com)


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On Girls, Ray (Alex Karpovsky) recently asked Lena Dunham's Hannah, "Why don't you place just one crumb of basic human compassion on this fat-free muffin of sociopathic detachment?" That question could apply more broadly to all of the characters this season. The self-centered, self-sabotaging Brooklynites of the title are starting to seem downright unhinged. Critics have pinned the term sociopath to nearly every character, as noted in our interviews with cast members Jemima Kirke and Colin Quinn. But does Hannah's quarter-life crisis really justify such an extreme label? And does it even begin to describe Adam's sister, the disturbing newcomer played by Gaby Hoffmann? Vulture called up UCLA faculty psychiatrist Dr. Paul Puri (who has previously helped us diagnose characters from Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and more) to do some more armchair analysis of Hannah's anxiety, Jessa's daddy issues, Caroline's self-destructiveness, and Marnie's pathological need to burst into song.
When the previous season ended, we'd just learned that Hannah has OCD.
That seemed like it came a little bit out of nowhere. Many people do manifest OCD in childhood, and it can go into remission and can come back — so that was plausible. But it was very zero-to-60 with Hannah, and then back down to zero by the start of the season. I mean, it's not hugely consistent with a lot of her character. Hannah doesn't have a lot of those minor OCD-like traits when she's functional.
What would be traits that would indicate OCD?
OCD usually goes with what we call "checking behaviors." The classic ones are checking the stove or checking the locks – the idea being that you have a thought that's very intrusive, like, "someone's going to break in because I left the door unlocked," and this thought is hard to get rid of, and it creates anxiety. And then you do something to reduce that anxiety. You lock the lock. You do it a certain number of times to make sure it's locked, because it doesn't feel locked until you do that. It's not that these checking behaviors feel good; it's that they reduce anxiety. But there are other obsessive-compulsive traits that people can have, other things that they do repeatedly to seek reassurance or to reduce anxiety. Like a hypochondriac might go into emergency rooms over and over. You might expect that if Hannah had a relatively well-controlled version, that we would pick up on some of that. But I don't remember a whole lot of that ever being shown with her character.
See, I would say that she exhibits a lot of anxiety, and does irrational things to try and control it. Like that episode where she goes on that crazy partying binge, or the one where she impulsively shacks up with Patrick Wilson.
The anxiety is there, absolutely. Those examples, though, I would put a little more in the "impulsive" aspect. The Patrick Wilson thing I saw as an escape fantasy. There was something obviously impulsive about going into this stranger's house and kissing him, but it didn't seem like something that dismissed anxiety, per se. Hannah does have obvious self-esteem issues and can be — not exactly narcissistic, but selfish. She gets so focused on things related to herself and her anxiety that she does do things that are insensitive.
What did you make of Hannah's selfish reaction to her publisher's death? Did it prove she's a terrible person, or is it a reasonable reaction for a person who has no experience with losing somebody?
In many ways, it does come down to empathy, and actually thinking about what other people are feeling. And she doesn't really do that a whole lot. That's part of what leads to her supposedly being a good writer, that she goes to these extremes and she's able to reflect on what she's feeling — but she doesn't actually go into what other people are feeling. The death episode seems like it really reflects her self-involvement. Anything that stirs up anxiety is so overwhelming, she has to attend to that, to the point that she's able to suppress it. And that is consistent with a real anxiety problem.
One criticism of this season is that the characters are so self-involved, to the point where they seem to completely lack empathy.
I'd say Hannah has a very misplaced empathy, which sabotages relationships when things are going well. She tends to be empathic with someone, or with a situation, that goes against what's working for her. For example, when Adam's sister shows up, she's immediately sympathetic to her — but not to Adam, who's her boyfriend. We see a similar situation over and over again with Hannah. Whenever someone comes in who's new, even when the people she trusts tells her that they're bad news, she's still sympathetic to them, to her own detriment. One thing Hannah should work on is listening to those people that she trusts, and feeling out the situation empathically for times she might need to restrain her own needs — such as the funeral, when she couldn't stop talking about her book.
Jessa is even worse. Even her friends on the show seem to be wondering if she's a sociopath. Does that label fit?
A sociopath is basically someone with no conscience, who gets enjoyment from hurting people. Is Jessa enjoying the chaos that she's creating? Maybe a little bit, but it's not clear that it's because she's making people suffer. The way she portrays it, she has a low tolerance for people's false selves. That's how she sees her own identity. But she's not physically hurting people or doing things like that. It's more like setting people up to feel close and then sabotaging things.
She seems a little oblivious to the effect she has on people.
Yeah, and when people point it out, she seems very sensitive to it and made changes. Like when Kathryn Hahn's character, the nanny, confronted her about it, she turned around and married Thomas John. I don't think that "sociopath" is a fitting label for Jessa. I would say that she has a tendency to escape before she has to deal with any of the consequences of her actions, and therefore people aren't able to see her emotional side. But they have alluded to it now and then. When Hannah walked in and saw her crying – things like that.
Where does Jessa's dysfunctional relationship with her father come in?
There's a theory for psychodynamic therapy called control-mastery theory, which is the idea that we re-enact relationships with our parents all the time, and that we can take two roles. And what will happen is when we're trying to connect with someone – this is usually acted out in therapy, but it could really happen in any relationship – we treat another person like our parent towards us. If that person's not getting how we feel, we treat them like we felt we were treated as a kid. I think that Jessa does that a lot of the time – sort of like, oh, you don't understand how I feel, so she abandons her friends or creates the chaos so that other people can feel how she feels. She ends up sabotaging those relationships, but in a way that makes other people understand how she probably felt as a kid, which was abandoned and without stable relationships.
So what would be a way for her to heal? Was leaving rehab the worst thing she could do?
Leaving rehab wasn't great. But then, she wasn't really taking them seriously as authority figures. What would help Jessa is having what we call a reparative experience, or a corrective emotional experience. So, she builds a relationship with someone like her father, but that relationship stays close and the person is reliable. Her relationship with Richard Grant's character, the older man at the rehab that she took on as a father figure, had potential. Because as flighty as she seems, she was going to him over and over again. But then, of course, he let her down.
Let's talk about Adam. Lena Dunham has joked that she can tell who has daddy issues by whether or not they think Adam is good for Hannah.
I think what we've gotten from him is that he has a little bit of a sadistic nature. He has a lot of anger at himself, and guilt, both of which are very common with alcoholics. And that can come out in different ways, including resentment. And yet he is very clear about spelling out what he needs. He's pretty verbal about what he wants and what he doesn't want. So there's a level of honesty there. What that comes across as, though, is him being callous to his partner's needs.
It seems like their relationship is actually a little healthier this season, though the writers made a point of mentioning Adam's semi-sadistic sexual relationship with Natalia. So maybe that was supposed to be a reminder that Adam is not a good guy who swept her off her feet.
What's interesting about that is, he actually showed a lot more relationship sensitivity when he was with Natalia than he did with Hannah. He was a nicer guy, he was able to be more social and make appropriate jokes at dinners. All of these things, very clearly, were to try and satisfy her and be what she wanted him to be. And that showed a lot more range with him than he ever showed with Hannah. But then he started to let out that he had a darker side, and so he would do things that were more degrading towards her, either to see whether it might scare her off, or to purposely ruin it.
Adam's sister Caroline is a piece of work. Do you have a label for what's going on with her?
My eyeball diagnosis, meaning my impression without knowing all of her background, is that she probably has a personality disorder, and it's probably in the range of borderline-personality disorder. And that just generally means that you have very unstable relationships, and you have an unstable sense of self. You have emotional fluctuations that can be up and down and very dramatic. You can do self-injurious behavior like breaking a glass on yourself, sometimes just to get attention and sometimes to feel calmer. Those are some of the characteristics of borderline, off the top of my head, that are fitting for her. There are other things that tend to go with that, like something we call projective identification: the idea being that someone has a false belief about how other people feel about them, and then they will create a situation that reinforces that false belief. So if someone is saying, "You hate me, you hate me," and the other person keeps saying, "No, I don't," and then they say it so much that the person yells at them, "Stop saying I hate you!" And then they say, "See? You yelled at me. You hate me." They provoke a reaction that reinforces this fake belief about themselves and this false identity, so to speak. So Caroline does a lot of things that provoke responses from people. Which would fit with a general cluster-B personality disorder: borderline being one, antisocial personality disorder being another, and histrionic personality disorder being another, which is like your drama queen that has to be the center of attention. We can transition to Marnie …
You think Marnie has a histrionic personality disorder?
No, I'm joking. But she herself is very much without grounding at this point in the season, and she's floating around looking for attention anywhere she can get it, probably because she feels so alone and without any real relationships. Twice, we've seen her sing in front of people, ostensibly as a tribute to someone else, when she's really just trying to get attention for herself. The comedic parallel of that would be Jenna on 30 Rock, who is very histrionic. And Marnie is like a very minor, minor version of that. But only when she's in crisis form, because in the first season, I don't think we saw that at all. In general, we try to diagnose personality disorders only when we see something that's persistent for a long period of time. Because some people can revert to bad coping strategies when they're in crisis.
Back to Caroline. We get the impression that Adam spent a lot of his life trying to take care of her.
I would put it as either taking care of her, or keeping her chaos in check. So when she has some destructive aspects, he's putting out the fires. And that can be extremely exhausting on people, and a reason why someone with borderline personality disorder burns their bridges throughout life. People just get exhausted and they're like, "I'm not putting up with this anymore. You need to change." And many people with that don't know how to change, and so they just kind of rinse, repeat. And people end up pulling away and getting distant and not wanting to get involved in the drama over and over again.
Do we need to talk about Shoshanna or Ray?
There's less to talk about with Shoshanna, because she doesn't seem in crisis. She's someone who is actively pursuing her goals, and even though she's pretty immature, she's slowly growing. Ray is actually the most interesting guy to me, because he's pathologically honest, and he can be toxic to other people when he's angry and can't regulate it. But he shows, for the most part, an amazing amount of insight into himself and other people.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Scent of Pine
Since language is not nearly as portable as the other arts, displacement poses particular challenges for migrant writers. After abandoning the Soviet Union, Mikhail Baryshnikov barely missed a beat when he continued dancing in the West, nor did emigration to the United States prevent Mstislav Rostropovich from performing – transcendently – on the cello. However, Joseph Brodsky hit a few sour notes when he tried writing poetry in English rather than his native Russian.
Vladimir Nabokov offers the supreme example of a Russian master who managed to reinvent himself in luscious English prose. But during the past two decades, North American literature has been enriched by several other newcomers from the former Soviet Union, including David Bezmozgis, Keith Gessen, Michael Idov, Sana Krasikov, Ellen Litman, Irina Reyn, Maxim Shrayer, Gary Shteyngart, and Anya Ulinich. Shteyngart, the most celebrated of that cohort, was seven, an ideal age for acquiring a new language, when his family moved to New York. However, Lara Vapnyar was 23 in 1994 when, with scant English, she traded Moscow for Brooklyn. By 2003, she was able to publish a volume of stories, "There Are Jews in My House," in her newly adopted language. It was followed by a novel, "Memoirs of a Muse," in 2006 and another fiction collection, "Broccoli and Other Tales of Food and Love," in 2008.
Like much of her earlier work, Vapnyar's second novel, The Scent of Pine , focuses on émigré life and its discontents. At 38, Lena, who left Russia 13 years ago, considers herself a failure. Unhappily married to another immigrant, Vadim, she is an adjunct instructor at a community college in Boston. While Vadim takes their two children to visit family in California, she attends an academic conference in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Vapnyar's wry wit is evident not only in the topic of the conference – "The Aesthetics of Oppression" – but also in the fact that no one shows up for Lena's scheduled presentation, on "Sex Education in the Former Soviet Union."
However, she does strike up a conversation with a frustrated artist named Ben, who, at the conclusion of the conference, intends to drive up alone to spend a few days at his family's cabin in Maine. He offers Lena a ride as far as Boston, and she accepts. Beyond the reach of Lena's husband and Ben's girlfriend, an immediate intimacy develops between the two strangers, who begin sharing candid details about themselves. Lena decides to accompany Ben as far as Maine, and "The Scent of Pine" consists of the stories that Lena and Ben tell each other throughout their journey north into the Pine Tree State.
The scent of New England pine is the petite madeleine that transports Lena back to her freshman year, when, to fulfill a requirement of the State Pedagogical University in Moscow, she worked as a counselor in a summer camp run by the Ministry of Defense. During much of the journey to Maine, Lena recounts to Ben her experiences in the camp, a pressure cooker for nubile adolescent passions. As part of her academic studies, Lena brought along copies of "The Canterbury Tales," "The Decameron," and "The Arabian Nights," frame narratives whose structure of stories-within-stories parallels Vapnyar's own novel.
Lena notes that such works serve to cheat time: "The Canterbury Tales" because it was "about telling stories with the purpose of suppressing time, killing it so the journey seemed faster" and "The Arabian Nights" because it was "about telling stories to stretch time, to make it stop so that you don't die." During the few days they have with each other, Lena and Ben are desperate to manipulate time to fit the contours of their desires.
Lena envies the famous frame narrator in "The Arabian Nights": "If only she could learn some of Scheherazade's storytelling magic and make it last." But of course she cannot. However, in the course of recounting her experiences tending little children and discovering her own sexuality at summer camp, she arrives at truths that had eluded her before. The stories that Ben tells about himself – his troubled relationship with his Romanian-born father, his failed marriage, his current loveless cohabitation with a lawyer who left her husband for him – are not nearly as interesting as Lena's memories of an eventful Russian summer.
An aficionado of graphic novels, Ben owns one that resolves a mystery that has been haunting Lena since she was relieved of duties at the camp. Though it lacks the verbal virtuosity of Nabokov, Lapnyar's novel, written in arch and understated English, needs no drawings to illustrate the painful loneliness of its characters. Though Lapnyar borrows the tools of Giovanni Boccaccio and Geoffrey Chaucer, her wistful and waggish account of disappointments in friendship, sex, and love is closer in spirit to Anton Chekhov, who, remaining in Russia, captured the universal melancholy of human mortality.


text: Country Resources Numerous online resources feature country-by-country directories of information on travel, security, culture, legal and regulatory requirements, social and ethical practices, corruption indices, and more. Other sites focus on the specifics of an individual country. This annotated directory will tell you what resources are available, what they do, and give you easy access to each of them. Resources U.S. Embassies and Consulates The U.S. State Department provides a country-by-country (and in some cases city-by-city) directory of U.S. embassy and consulate websites. The websites feature recent news, culture, educational programs (including exchanges), and other items specific to that country. You will also find a direct link to U.S. Citizen Services, where you will find content on emergencies, safety, and contact information. U.S. State Department International Travel The U.S. State Department International Travel page contains a country-by-country list of information including travel warnings and guidance on health and safety concerns. CDC Traveler's Health Find health tips for over 200 destinations, including current health notices and warnings, information about disease prevalence and prevention, and what you can do to stay healthy while on the road. Study Abroad Student Handbook The Study Abroad Student Handbook, produced by the Center for Global Education, provides country-specific information for students planning overseas study. Select a country using the interface on their homepage, click "Go," then explore the information provided in the Student Handbook, Checklist, Questions and Resources sections. Each section will contain a combination of general study abroad and travel information and guidance specific to the country you selected. TI Corruption Perceptions Index Consult Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index for country-by-country information that will help you manage risk associated with corrupt practices. International Resource Center The NACUBO/URMIA International Resource Center's country-by-country profiles summarize legal and regulatory requirements for university travelers. Timeanddate.com Find tools to determine local time, time zones, date, weather, holidays and more. OANDA OANDA offers an online currency conversion tool that can provide you with both current and historical conver


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The Keeper of Secrets Summary and Analysis
FreeBookNotes found 2 sites with book summaries or analysis of The Keeper of Secrets. If there is a The Keeper of Secrets SparkNotes, Shmoop guide, or Cliff Notes, you can find a link to each study guide below.
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Depending on the study guide provider (SparkNotes, Shmoop, etc.), the resources below will generally offer The Keeper of Secrets chapter summaries, quotes, and analysis of themes, characters, and symbols.


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As an NBC chairman, Ben Silverman once mingled with true media titans. But now the fallen mogul rolls with a different crowd; we hear he's besties with CollegeHumor editor-in-chief Ricky Van Veen. Now they might be in business together.
The New York Post reports that Silverman might take over CollegeHumor at the behest of Barry Diller, who bankrolls both CollegeHumor and Silverman's new online venture. Van Veen, meanwhile. is transitioning out of CollegeHumor and into his own Diller-funded media startup, Notional, which sounds a lot like Silverman's Electus (both have something to do with online video production).
We're told Silverman and Van Veen have been working very closely together and talking to each other every day. Perhaps a grander merger is in the works that would combine Electus, Notional and CollegeHumor into one venture. Silverman may have been ousted from old media, but he could still be lord of the new media flies. Especially within a venture that actually celebrates a refusal to mature, an inability to grow emotionally and a proclivity for partying to excess. Those are Ben Silverman's specialties, right there.
(Pics: via Getty, Webbyist)


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By CNN's Peter Wilkinson
(CNN) -- The music tastes of U.S. President George W. Bush have come under scrutiny after an aide revealed the playlist of his new iPod player.
The portable digital device, given to Bush by his daughters Jenna and Barbara last July, contains much country music, but also songs by Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison and the Knack.
The MP3 player, which can store up to 10,000 songs, only contains about 250, according to the New York Times, which first reported the story.
"iPod One," as the player has been dubbed, is used by Bush while he pedals around his Texas ranch on a mountain bike, presidential media adviser Mark McKinnon told the newspaper.
The task of downloading the music falls to the 58-year-old president's personal aide, Blake Gottesman, who buys individual songs and albums from the iTunes music store.
Not every track is "on-message." The playlist -- regarded by many as a mirror to the soul -- includes musicians who campaigned against Bush, such as John Fogerty. Also on the iPod is the 1979 song "My Sharona" by the Knack, about a man pursuing a much younger woman.
One of that song's lyrics, "Such a dirty mind. Always get it up for the touch of the younger kind," prompted Spin magazine editor Dave Itzkoff to comment: "This wouldn't be consistent with Bush's image as protector of conservative values."
Bush, who quit drinking after his 40th birthday, also listens to recovering alcoholic George Jones, a country singer who sings about heartbreak and drinking. Joe Levy, deputy editor of Rolling Stone magazine, said this indicated "a little bit of taste for hard core and honky-tonk."
McKinnon advised though against too much analysis of the playlist. "The fact is that any president who would limit themselves to pro-establishment musicians would have a pretty slim collection.
"No one should psychoanalyze the song selection. It's music to get over the next hill," he told the New York Times.
The playlist does reveal a rather narrow range of babyboomer tunes. Writing in the London Times, Caitlin Moran noted: "No black artists, no gay artists, no world music, only one woman, no genre less than 25 years old, and no Beatles."
Levy agreed, telling the New York Times: "What we're talking about is a lot of great artists from the '60s and '70s and more modern artists who sound like great artists from the '60s and '70s.
"This is basically boomer rock 'n' roll and more recent music out of Nashville made for boomers. It's safe, it's reliable, it's loving. What I mean to say is, it's feel-good music. The Sex Pistols it's not."


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I have a radiator in my truck that has a slow leak which looks like it is oozing a little bit in between some of the fins. What are some of the ways to repair a radiator without replacing it? At what point should it just be replaced completely?
I have seem the little additive bottles that claim to fix small leaks. Is this the only option?


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With so many polls currently focused on the Redskins, there's another poll that centers on the Cowboys.
According to SportsBusiness Daily, a recent Harris Poll shows that the Cowboys remain the most popular team among American football fans.
The Cowboys remained on top since the last time the poll was conducted in 2011, even though the team hasn't been to the playoffs since 2009.
The Packers climbed from No. 3 to No. 2, with the Broncos shooting from a tie for No. 17 to No. 3. ("But do they have multiple Super Bowl rings?" Jim Irsay possibly would say, before remembering that they in fact do.)
The Colts, in turn, dropped from No. 6 to No. 19.
Also dropping five or more spots were the Steelers (No. 2 to No. 7), the Redskins (No. 8 to No. 14), the Jets (tied for No. 9 to No. 15), the Falcons (No. 15 to No. 20), the Panthers (No. 20 to No. 27), and the Titans (No. 21 to No. 31).
Significant climbers included the 49ers (No. 16 to No. 8), the Seahawks (No. 27 to No. 12), the Raiders (No. 25 to tied for No. 16), and the Bengals (No. 31 to No. 24).
Holding steady at No. 32 were the Jaguars, who are now 2-20 since Shahid Khan bought the team in early 2012.


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How to Be a Gentleman
How to Be a Gentleman: A Timely Guide to Timeless Manners is the revised and updated edition of the smash-hit How to Be a Gentleman and offers practical advice on being a gentleman in the twenty-first century.Should you take your BlackBerry on vacation? What is the best way to accept a compliment? Is an e-mail an acceptable means of writing a Thank-You note? While the tenets of gracious behavior never change, the situations a gentleman faces do and have changed significantly in the last ten years. In this revised, updated, and expanded version of the bestselling How to Be a Gentleman, Bridges addresses new issues such as airport security, Bluetooth and BlackBerry usage, and appropriate internet and instant message communication. Still featured are topics ranging from how to receive a compliment to how to act at funerals. Certain to be the must-have guide for the modern gentleman, this revised edition will echo the success of its predecessor.
- 2008 г.
- 9781418571993
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Fiber Optic ODF is a fiber optic management unit used to organize the fiber optic cable connections. The optic distribution frame is usually used indoor and the ODF could be very big size frame or small size similar like the patch panel boxes. We offer the fiber optical distribution frame with 1U 12 ports type, 1U 24 ports, 2U 36ports, 3U 48 ports and 4U 72 ports and 5U 96 ports types. These optical distribution frames are made of cold-rolled steel sheets and it is with proper structure and neatly looking.
The optical distribution frames are modulized design with siding type trays inside and these ODF could be pre-installed with various kinds of fiber optic adapters and pigtails. The optical distribution frame is with standard 19 inch size and it is properly designed to control the bend radius of the cable inside the enclosure to avoid extra optical loss. These optical distribution frames are ideal for indoor fiber optic cable connections storage, distribution and management.


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So, they're trying. Microsoft last night (for me) posted some more information about Windows 7. Here are the pertinent (and new) bits…
I have nothing new to add regarding RTM today.
Many believed that Microsoft would have announced RTM last Monday at WPC, and there are indications that that was the original plan. Expect news this week, however.
ISV (Independent software vendor) and IHV (Independent hardware vendor) Partners will be able to download Windows 7 RTM from Microsoft Connect or MSDN on August 6th.
Microsoft Partner Program Gold/Certified Members will be able to download Windows 7 RTM in English through the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) Portal on August 16th.
Microsoft Action Pack Subscribers will be about to download Windows 7 RTM in English starting August 23rd.
OEMs will receive Windows 7 RTM software images beginning approximately 2 days after we officially RTM.
Volume License (VL) customers with an existing Software Assurance (SA) license will be able to download Windows 7 RTM in English starting August 7th via the Volume License Service Center (VLSC).
Volume License customers without a SA license will be able to purchase Windows 7 through Volume Licensing on September 1.
TechNet and MSDN subscribers will be able to download Windows 7 RTM in English on August 6th and remaining languages by October 1st.
We are going to release an evaluation of Windows 7 Professional for IT Professionals via the Springboard Series shortly after RTM
A special thank you to our beta testers is needed for their time and effort in helping make Windows 7 a solid release ... Beta testers will not receive a free copy of Windows 7. [Emphasis mine]
The painful thing here, for beta testers, is that they've been screwed. The rationale here is priceless, too: "Many beta testers are already subscribers to TechNet; those of you who fit that description will be able to download Windows 7 RTM shortly after RTM." But later in the post, it notes that "over 40% of beta testers are IT professionals." So roughly 50 percent of beta testers probably don't, in fact, have TechNet access (as TechNet is an IT pro service). Enjoy your special thank you.
I know there have been some rumors going around about a "family pack" for Windows 7. We have heard a lot of feedback from beta testers and enthusiasts over the last 3 years that we need a better solution for homes with multiple PCs. I'm happy to confirm that we will indeed be offering a family pack of Windows 7 Home Premium (in select markets) which will allow installation on up to 3 PCs. As I've said before, stay tuned to our blog for more information on this and any other potential offers.
You know, one of my big complaints here is that we need to know the cost (and, apparently, availability) of the Family Pack in order to determine which is the better deal (the individual retail pre-orders or the Family Pack). But the promotional pre-order offer is over in the US, so it's too late there. I still think it would have been a lot classier to announce this Family Pack, and its pricing, with the promotion. That would have let customers make better educated decisions about which was best for them. Here, we see how Microsoft's lack of clarity just ends up hurting people. And I don't get that at all.
I'll update the Windows 7 FAQ with this date information today.


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Statement by Dehaven regarding OIE risk recommendation
US - "In October 2006, the U.S. Department of Agriculture submitted an application and supporting documents to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) to formally request country classification for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) risk."While we recognize that a final classification decision will not be made by the OIE until May, we feel it is important to be responsive to questions we are now being asked about the risk classification recommended for the United States. The OIE Scientific Commission has endorsed the recommendation from an OIE expert panel that the United States be classified as "controlled risk" for BSE.
"The controlled risk classification recognizes that OIE-recommended, science-based mitigation measures are in place to effectively manage any possible risk of BSE in the cattle population. This recommendation provides strong support that U.S. regulatory controls are effective and that U.S cattle and products from cattle of all ages can be safely traded in accordance with international guidelines, due to our interlocking safeguards.
"The OIE risk classification process is an essential step in promoting trade and understanding of this disease. We appreciate OIE's review of our application, as well as its leadership in developing sound, science-based guidelines that will help countries standardize regulations and import requirements. We look forward to the final adoption of this classification, which will be announced at the OIE meeting in May."
ThePigSite News Desk


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The worldwide mobile phone market will grow slightly more than 4 percent in 2012 — the smallest year-over-year increase since 2009, according to IDC. The decline is attributed to a slowdown in feature phone shipments, which are projected to drop by 10 percent, and a lackluster global economy.
The other surprise in the report is that the smartphone industry — whose growth will be subdued as well — will include a competitive Windows Phone 7 OS among its major players.
Microsoft's alliance with Nokia will be largely to thank for that, Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, told the E-Commerce Times.
"The resurgence of Nokia and the rise of Windows Phone 7 market share will be concurrent trends," he said.
They will be instrumental in converting many feature phone users into smartphone users, especially in emerging markets, added Restivo.
In fact, Windows Phone 7 will claim more than 19 percent share to become the No. 2 OS in 2016, IDC predicted.
Snapshot of the Current Market
In the meantime, the mobile phone industry will have to slog through 2012, which is shaping up to be a ho hum year for vendors. Nearly 1.8 billion mobile phones are expected to ship this year, compared with 1.7 billion units shipped in 2011, according to the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. By the end of 2016, that number will have slowly risen to 2.3 billion mobile phones.
The economy is the reason for the slowdown, especially among feature phone users, who would prefer to hang on to their current handsets instead of spending money on new devices. Feature phones still comprise 61.6 percent of the total mobile phone market, IDC said.
Smartphone Growth
Smartphones will see growth this year, offsetting much of the decline in the feature phone market. The segment will grow 38.8 percent year over year, with 686 million units shipping in 2012, IDC projected.
Android will be the leading OS in the smartphone market throughout the five-year forecast period, with its share peaking this year, the research firm said.
iOS will maintain its solid foothold in the North America, Western Europe, and Asia/Pacific markets, but its growth will moderate over the next five years unless it can dig deeper into emerging markets, said IDC. iOS will likely see a small market share decline, but its overall shipment volume will continue to grow through 2016.
Microsoft's Not-So-Secret Weapon
The expected boost in Windows Phone 7 OS is clearly being fueled by Nokia's decision to phase out Symbian as it makes the shift to Windows. Symbian-powered smartphone shipments will cease by 2014, IDC predicted.
There are other factors that will drive Windows Phone 7 OS, said Rita Gunther McGrath, associate professor atColumbia Business School.
For starters, Verizon and other platform companies are eager for a third ecosystem to compete with Google and Apple, and they will embrace Windows phones, she told the E-Commerce Times. No doubt, its pricing relative to Apple products will be attractive as well.
"Some manufacturers who currently use Android are going to grow increasingly disenchanted with the fact that Google now owns a competing phone company and will divert resources toward Microsoft and away from Android," said McGrath.
In addition, "Microsoft will leverage its relationships with enterprise and other customers to support the phones," she added.
What It Must Do First
Windows Phone 7 OS owning the No. 2 perch in the market is not a foregone conclusion, however. Nokia and Microsoft need to focus on switching Symbian OS user allegiances to Windows Phone 7, IDC pointed out.
Growth will also depend on how well the two companies are able to penetrate emerging markets, where Nokia is currently favored, Restivo said.
"It has a strong brand and distribution relationships in these markets," he pointed out.
Microsoft and Nokia need to win these markets because the battle for market share in developed markets will be much harder, noted Restivo.
"Apple and Samsung have large installed bases in these markets, and it will be tougher for Windows Phone 7 OS to make inroads," he said.
Other Headwinds
Indeed, Windows Phone 7 is facing some sharp headwinds, at least in the North American market, Ben Piper, president of Ben Piper Consulting, told the E-Commerce Times.
The app factor is one. "Companies that create apps are already having to create two versions — one for iPhone and one for Android," he observed. "Unless Windows Phone begins to represent a large market segment, these companies will not develop for it. And if apps for Windows Phone are limited, most smartphone users will not even consider it."
Another is the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) to work trend, Piper continued.
"Companies that are allowing employees to use their own devices to access company resources are already supporting iPhone and Android," he pointed out. "There is no longer any need for businesses to adopt or support the Windows Phone platform. If companies won't support Windows Phone, there is disincentive to start using it."


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Crackclaw Point: The Black Wind
The waning moon is obscured by clouds this night, though the racing wind occasionally bares a patch of sky for it to shine through. Waves slap against the anchored ships of the Prince of the Narrow Sea, for the sea races ahead of the wind on such a night, dark and full of noises. The creak of the hull, the rush of the wind, the snapping of lines and lowered sails, the shouting of the watch, all combine to fill the night with sound.
In the first mate's cabin, a trio of women try to sleep. Mellony Fossoway has only just returned from Saan's cabin, and she is lying on the single berth fast asleep. On the floor, the remaining two women have made their beds as best they may from blankets and bits of clothing. Reyna Saltcliffe lies curled on one in a restive dose, for she returned from Saan's cabin a few hours earlier, bent with pain and bearing no more information for her troubles than when she left. "Tomorrow," is all she said to Katla Greyjoy, who has pains of her own, before crumpling into her bed to find what sleep she can when there is no comfort or surcease from pain.
Occasionally, a muffled voice can be heard from the deck; save that and the night sounds of a ship at anchor, all else is quiet. The night shift is heavier than usual, but still many of the crew sleep—for with all the Westerosi ships in their possession now, what threat is there?
Then, there is another sound closer at hand. The guard outside the door asks a sleepy question.
It ends on a choked gasp—and then, silence again. Until the door creaks, pushed open. And there stand a handful of the crew, one in the doorway and the others behind him. But he holds a blood-stained dagger and at his feet lies the crumpled body of the guard. The ship rolls a little and the lantern hanging by the door sways with it. Light washes across one side of his face—hair damp as if it had been dripping wet only a little while ago, the wrapped hilt of a longsword jutting above his right shoulder, the lean, hard lines of jaw and chin.
The ironborn woman is dozing fitfully, tucked up in her corner and curled up, fingers clenched in fists even as she falls into unconsciousness, and then shifts. The pain wakes her again, and she shifts to something perhaps a hint more comfortable, and she sleeps again, and the process repeats itself. The door opens, and it startles her awake, her face shadowed, one hand folding out to hide the light, to better see who, now, has come to abuse them.
Reyna makes a low sound of pain as she lifts her head, a pathetic little whimper that is so unlike her as to be laughable. She squints against the light, then mumbles, "S'only a dream, Katla," before letting her head back down. Mellony does not stir at all, and it would seem she is the only one capable of sleep this night.
One man emerges from the shadows, dragging the guard's corpse with him and stuffing it into a darkened corner. He is dressed from head to toe in black, still sodden and dripping from the sea. His short hair is plastered to his head; his eyes are red and bloodshot, as if he had been crying. But Ammon Massey is not crying now.
He straightens from his task to look at the women, one finger raised against his lips.
Katla blinks, groggy, wincing as she shifts, biting back a noise of pain, mostly successful. She's confused, clearly, and rubs her eyes, making another pained sound. "Reyna…" her voice is soft, confused, worried, almost afraid, and she pushes herself back a little closer to the wall, groping for something.
Glancing over his shoulder, the man in the doorway says something in a quiet murmur. It sends two of the men away, one to each end of the passage to keep watch. And then, turning back, he moves into the room on silent feet, eyes shadowed in the gloom—but from the way his head is turned, his gaze seems fixed on Reyna.
And then he is kneeling beside her, a calloused swordsman's hand clamped over her mouth, his murmur loud enough to reach the other women: "Not a sound. Katla, hush!"
It is a familiar voice.
A third steps in behind Ammon Massey, his tight fitting crimson jerkin still dripping wet. His wavy black hair is tied back, though a few stray locks still cling to his face. The pale light flickers against his grey eyes.
Ser Alyard Corbray has a simple black scabbard in his left hand, the sword within not the one most commonly attributed to him, a simple black pommel has replaced the usual bright heart. He looks to Katla for a few moments, leaving Dagur to speak with her for now.
A third steps into the cabin, he is wearing dark leather and a threadbare grey woollen cloak draped over his left shoulder. His wavy black hair is tied back, though a few stray locks still cling to his face, slick with sweat perhaps. The pale light flickers against his grey eyes.
Hanging from his belt is a shortsword in an old leather scabbard and in his right hand a notched dirk. The newcomer's gaze lingers on Katla Greyjoy as the other speaks.
The squire spares only the briefest of glances over the women as Dagur takes control. Then Ammon is closing the door softly, holding it open just a crack. He leans against the wall, one hand grasping the hilt of his sword, keeping watch out into the hallway.
Reyna gasps when the hand comes over her mouth, her eyes going wide in terror and pain. But her struggle eases when she hears his voice, and then she is only confused. Mellony is awake now as well, pushing up onto her hands. "Does he want me again?" she asks in a dull voice.
A dream - could it be? Reyna had promised tomorrow, but promises have meant little with Sullehman Saan. Katla looks at the men, and then to Reyna and Mellony, her eyes wide. Her gaze flicks back and forth from face to face, but there is little brightness in it now, the blue shadowed and dull, sleepy confusion warring with physical agony.
Wordlessly, Dagur points the squire to Mellony with his free hand. Stooping, mouth to Reyna's ear, he murmurs to her, fierce and urgent—then freezes, lifting his head.
For there has been a sound from outside; a whisper of steel, a man's voice raised in question, speaking a foreign tongue, a choked half-cry as he is cut off mid-way.
And jerking upright, the Iron Serpent takes Reyna by the arm and pulls her up, his voice still low but no longer a whisper: "Katla, up. Up, woman! Mellony—Ammon, get her on her feet!"
Ammon hesitates only long enough to draw his sword before heeding Dagur's order. He grabs Mellony under the arm and hauls her roughly to her feet. His eyes never leave the doorway.
The half-cry alerts the Valeknight and he utters something under his breath before moving over to Katla. "Come on." He utters, trying to pull her up by her upper arm. There is a sense of urgency about him tonight, even as he pulls the dirk from his sword belt and slips it into her hand.
"Follow behind me, Katla." Alyard whispers before unsheathing his shortsword.
Reyna comes up to her feet, but not silently. Too many hands have gripped her arm, and too many bruised muscles are attached to it, and she lets out a sobbing "AAAH!" of pain. Her movements as she whispers a frantic apology are stiff and unnatural.
Mellony, too, whimpers in pain as she comes to her feet. "I don't want to, not again, not so soon," she says, resisting the squire's handling. "He's had me twice already, and he said I could sleep 'cause I was good at the parley. He promised I could." But she goes after a moment, weeping silently but quiescent.
Katla hisses in pain as Alyard grabs her arm, and it's not a silent sound, but better than the louder noise she clearly wants to make as another paroxysm of pain wracks her at the touch. Her eyes pinched shut, she turns bloodless-white for a moment as one hand fumbles for the berth, pulling herself up the rest of the way. It takes a few moments before she can open her eyes again, and she takes the dirk when she has control over herself again.
Dagur freezes at Reyna's cry. There is utter silence in its wake. And then, from somewhere close by, a hoarse shout of alarm. Steel clashes against steel at the other end of the passage and the night's silence is destroyed.
He closes his eyes for one brief moment. And then, the Iron Serpent, so careful with what he shows, kisses his wife fierce and hard. Then, he is pulling away, turning to the door without a backward look, reaching up and behind to draw that cruelly sharp blade as he steps out into the passage.
"Alyard. Ammon. With me. We hold them until the others come."
If Dagur's fit of romanticism and passion sway him, Ammon doesn't show it. Instead, he pushes Mellony roughly behind him, back towards the two women. He takes two quick steps towards the door, but tops suddenly. The squire offers Reyna one quick look before stepping from the cabin.
"Make sure Rys gets home," he says in a voice strained and cracking. And then he steps up next to the Iron Serpent.
Reyna raises her arms too slowly to cling to Dagur before he is already gone from her, and the longing in her eyes is as terrible as it is brief. "I will," she says hoarsely to Ammon. Then she catches Mellony and draws the girl back with her to stand beside Katla. "Is it real?" she whispers to her fellow captive. "Is it, Katla?"
Alyard has no kisses to share, just a dirk and a reassuring smile. "When the time comes, stick close, remember." He says, making sure the message is clear before he turns to leave the Greyjoy girl. The bandaged left hand drops back to his side and he strides back to Dagur's side, the dark shortsword held tightly in his right hand.
Steel rings from both ends of the passage now. At the end leading further below, the Company's man holds firm, two pirates already dead before him. He is panting, a cut on his arm bleeding, as he stares into the darkness; movement stirs there. And then, with a roar of blood-fury more a beast's than human, Vulk of Ib is emerging from the shadows, others streaming behind him; short and wide, thick with muscle, bare chest covered with a pelt of hair and a short-hafted axe in each hand, he is a fearsome figure.
"Alyard!" the Iron Serpent calls, pointing to that end with his blade. And then, spinning around, he is sprinting to the other end, calling to Ammon. For the man there is hard-pressed, trying desperately to hold off two of the crew. And behind them, more are appearing.
And reaching them, the ironman takes one of the pirates in the throat—but too late, for the other has already skewered the Company man who is dead before he hits the ground.
Ammon flicks a quick glance to Vulk, the man who protected the treacherous Saan from a brother's vengeance. But his master is calling, and so Ammon follows at Dagur's heels. The squire steps over his fallen comrade without a second and, with a contemptuous flick of his wrist, opens a red smile across the remaining pirate's throat.
"You come early!" roars Vulk, finishing the poor Company man with a blow of one axe. He kicks the body aside and advances. "I come take women like man! They virgins so, Saan say, and here I find sneaking thieves!" He grins at Alyard. "So I cut off feet and take you so instead. Is good." And he turs the axes in his hands, leering at the squire and waiting for his attack.
Katla is wary, and her hand shifts around the dirk, holding it white-knuckled as she watches the men slip away. She turns to Reyna, her voice soft, just for the other women. "I think it is. I hope…" and then she shakes her head, unwilling to even venture that this is a dream.
From one end of the passage, where Ammon and Dagur have moved, comes another pirate, another Ibbenese by the look of him - dark, short and muscled, a longaxe in his hand, bouncing with momentum to match the eager, bloodthirsty look in his eyes.
Alyard offers little more than a nod to Dagur before he starts his charge down to the passageway. His threadbare cloak flaps behind him as his boots thud against the wooden floor. The bandaged left arm is revealed now, the sodden cloth stretched as the Valeknight flexes his arm. He throws himself into the defence of the passage, hurriedly shouting, "hold firm!"
Sadly it is too late and Alyard is alone in his defence. "There are no virgins for you, pirate!" Alyard spits, thrusting at Vulk with his sword, aiming to put it between his ribs before he can do too much damage.
"Tell me if you find any in the seven hells…"
Alyard attacks Vulk of Ib with his sword… and strikes him with a powerful blow!
For just a moment, the Iron Serpent and his squire have won themselves a breathing space. It doesn't last long. Footsteps pound along the passage—and then they are boiling out of the shadows, men of the crew with bare steel and promises of death. That charge forces back the ironman and Ammon until finally they hold fast just a few paces from the cabin door.
Sparks flare as steel meets steel; the ironman fights with gritted teeth. But he still has time to call out: "Above! It's started!"
For there are cries of alarm from the deck as well—and suddenly, the ship rocks violently as if another one has scraped alongside. Dagur is thrown against the wall.
And as he steadies himself again, there is a flash of gold further down the passage; someone vaults down the ladder graceful as a hunting cat. And drawing his slim blade, blue eyes ablaze, jerkin of hardened leather buckled on over his padded doublet, the Prince of the Narrow Sea stalks towards the fight.
"Many virgins in world after world," says Vulk—then grunts in pain as blood spurts from his ribs. He says something in vile Ibbenese before swinging both axes in a nasty crosscut that looks to decapitate Alyard.
Vulk of Ib attacks Alyard with his mass weapon… and strikes him with a hard blow!
Another man moves into view as Ammon fells his foe and falls back before the onslaught. This one is short and well muscled, with a long axe. Ammon eyes the small man as he bounces here and there like a cat with a string. And for all the many advantages quickness can bring in a fight—well, size has its advantage too. With a bestial roar, Ammon leaps at the pirate, his sword crashing down from overhead.
Ammon attacks Tipuk with his sword… and strikes him with a swift blow!
Tipuk's mouth hangs open in a moment of shock, unable to quite dodge the blow in the small confines of the quarters, but he is able to block enough of it with the haft of his axe that the swordstrike cuts him thinly, blood streaking down one shoulder and along his arm. "You pretty," he says thoughtfully, "like sister. Pretty too, we all wanted turns with sister. Saan said no," Tipuk adds, swinging his axe downward towards Ammon's shoulder as if to cleave it off.
Tipuk attacks Ammon with his mass weapon… and strikes him with a hard blow!
"Not where you wi…" Alyard is cut short as the ship rocks and it almost certainly saves his life, thrown to the side he takes one of Vulk's axes to the shoulder. Split leather reveals a bloody gash that causes the knight to wince. His steadies himself and smirks at the hulking pirate before springing back into life. The shortsword comes down in a wide arc, trying to relieve Vulk of one of his axes, /and/ his right hand.
Alyard attacks Vulk of Ib with his sword… and strikes him with a powerful blow!
A pirate crumples to his knees before Dagur; the ironman lets his weight pull him off his blade. And he stares at that approaching apparition of silk and steel amidst all the carnage. Slowly, by degrees, his face hardens, skin seeming to stretch tight, eyes rimmed with red, teeth baring in a feral snarl.
The Lysene captain stops a few paces away, flicking a glance past Dagur at the women in the cabin's doorway. "After I have defeated you," he says conversationally, "I will make you watch as I take your wife in every way a man can take a woman."
And silent as death, the Iron Serpent leaps at him. Sullehman Saan brings up his own blade and the two men meet in a blur of steel.
Dagur attacks Sullehman with his sword… and strikes him with a swift blow!
Sullehman attacks Dagur with his sword… merely strikes a glancing blow!
Alyard succeeds. Vulk's left hand, still gripping its axe, goes skittering down the passageway, leaving the hulking Ibbenese to gawk at the stump. Then, with a roar of rage and pain, he cleaves down toward Alyard's head.
Vulk of Ib attacks Alyard with his mass weapon… with no result as the two warriors battle!
Ammon's eye tracks the axe's descent and he steps into it. Tipuk strikes true, but Ammon's sudden move ensures that the axe's haft smashes into his shoulder, not the cruely sharp edge. Even so, there is a loud SLAP as the squire is struck and he stumbles a bit. And surprsingly, he laughs.
"Be quiet, worm," Ammon says, flicking his blade out toward's Tipuk's chin.
Ammon attacks Tipuk with his sword… and has his blow intercepted by Tipuk.
Side by side the Iron Serpent and his squire fight, holding one end of the passage. And as Dagur and the Lysene captain pull apart, both are bleeding from shallow cuts; the ironman's arm and Sullehman's cheek. The pirate captain touches a hand to it, then looks up with a look of incredulous anger. For surely it will scar.
And then he is attacking again, cutting high, low, low again—and Dagur is countering desperately, for here is a swordsman who seems his match in skill. Enough of a match, in fact, that he opens up the space for one his crew to slip right past and run for the women.
"Ware!" cries the ironman, cutting wildly at Sullehman, then spinning around, exposing his back in a desperate attempt to catch the pirate before he can reach the women.
Dagur attacks Sullehman with his sword… and strikes him with a swift blow!
Sullehman attacks Dagur with his sword… and has his blow intercepted by Dagur.
"Quiet? Ladies not so quiet when we take them. Wailing like pretty things," Tipuk says conversationally as he avoids Ammon's blow, and shifts the axe in his hands, making a matching swing again from the opposite side, again towards the shoulder.
Tipuk attacks Ammon with his mass weapon… result as the two warriors battle!
Alyard's sword comes up to meet Vulks axe and requires two hands to keep it from coming back down on him. These men are poorly matched when it comes to strength, the gap between them a chasm. The Valeknight uses all his strength to try and shove the axe to one side with his blade so he can strike once more, this time a lightning quick slash meant to open him from chin to chest.
Alyard attacks Vulk of Ib with his sword… and has his blow intercepted by Vulk.
But a lazy swing towards the sword arm is easily parried, and Ammon does so—and brings his leg up in a front kick to Tipuk's groin.
Ammon attacks Tipuk with his sword… and has his blow intercepted by Tipuk.
Ib blocks the blow with a desperately raised axe, pale now from blood loss and pain. "I will bugger you until you weep," he snarls through gritted teeth, placing himself between Alyard and the cabin to make way for his captain. "Until you bleed." Then he strikes, aiming again for the man's head.
Vulk of Ib attacks Alyard with his mass weapon… with no result as the two warriors battle!
Tipuk laughs and shifts back slightly, the longaxe's haft dropping down to block the kick. "Maybe instead, I take you, share you with crew?" Considering, looking over Ammon's shoulder to where Vulk and Alyard battle, where others have slid down the hall towards the women, and then he raises the axe slightly to cut down across Ammon's shoulders for a third time, the axe leaving little room to manouvre.
Tipuk attacks Ammon with his mass weapon…and has his blow intercepted by Ammon.
Inside the cabin, the women are clustered together in abject terror, Mellony and Reyna with their arms around one another, all of them pressed into the corner in a vain attempt at hiding. "He's coming," Mellony says almost dreamily, disengaging from Reyna suddenly. "I hear him. My sweet captain."
Alyard ducks this time and sees the axe cut clean air above his head. "Bugger me!? With what?" Alyard replies, a dark look in his eyes from his crouched position. He rises, bringing the sword up with both hands, aiming to put it just above the pirate's groin.
Alyard attacks Vulk of Ib with his sword…and has his blow intercepted by Vulk.
That wild swing proves a lucky one, for it scores another shallow cut along Sullehman's shoulder, pushing him back a pace. But then he is into the attack again and the Iron Serpent must turn back to face him or be stabbed in the back, all the while backing towards the cabin and the pirate advancing on the women.
Steel sings against steel, breaks apart, meets again; they are fighting with a skill that takes the breath, these two men, their swords flashing blurs in the swaying lamplight. And the Iron Serpent is not even bothering to defend himself now; he is on the attack, always the attack, a rumbling snarl in his throat like a wolf's, lost to blood-madness.
Dagur attacks Sullehman with his sword… and strikes him with a shattering blow!
Again, Ammon sees the pirate's attack coming. The squire moves quickly now, dropping to one knee. His left hand catches Tipuk's arm at the wrist, stopping the Tipuk's axe dead. Ammon pushes back, slashing out at the man's knees as he comes to his feet once more.
Ammon attacks Tipuk with his sword… and misses by a narrow margin!
Again Vulk blocks Alyard's blow with his axe. "Bugger you," he says, grinning a terrible red-toothed grin. "Fuck in arse," he adds helpfully, in case Alyard did not understand. Then he feints toward Alyard's head, changing his attack at the last moment to strike at his neck instead.
Vulk of Ib attacks Alyard with his mass weapon… and strikes him with a swift blow!
Katla's fingers clench, loosen, clench again around the hilt of the dirk, licking her lips, her eyes blazing for a moment at the clash of steel, almost… yearning for something. There is no red in her eyes, but there is still something that does not seem entirely pleasant, or clear of thought.
Tipuk laughs, and dodges the blade. "Oh, pretty boy, yes, yes. You do not need hands, no," the Ibbense man says to Ammon, and as he does, swings his axe to take off one of those hands.
Tipuk attacks Ammon with his mass weapon… and has his blow intercepted by Ammon.
Alyard has no time for a witty reply, the axe skims his neck, drawing a red line between it and his shoulder. He gasps, raising his left hand to touch it briefly, checking for how much blood he's losing perhaps. It only takes a moment though and he's back on the offensive, lashing out with another powerful slash to hopefully relieve Vulk of his second hand.
Alyard attacks Vulk of Ib with his sword… and strikes him with a hard blow!
Sparks fly as the head of Tipuk's axe is parried by Ammon's blade, and again Ammon surges forward. The squire doesn't seem to be aware that his own allies are being pushed back as he desperately attempts to gain ground, stabbing out with his blade.
Ammon attacks Tipuk with his sword… and strikes him with a swift blow!
Tipuk blinks, watching the sword thrust catch part of his side, clearly unexpected after so many missed blows and parries. The blood streaks down, dripping on the boards beneath their feet in the passageway as he lets out a few choice invectives in Ibbenese and then swinging his axe, hard, at Ammon's chest.
Tipuk attacks Ammon with his mass weapon…with no result as the two warriors battle!
The song of steel builds to a crescendo. They are not moving now, the Iron Serpent and the Prince of the Narrow Sea. Feet braced, they stand there in the centre of the passage; cut, parry, counter, cut again, all with the unthinking skill of men born to the sword. A single breath separates victory from defeat here.
And it is Sullehman Saan who falters, leaving himself open for just a moment too long. It is all the ironman needs. He drives the Lysene captain's blade wide—and skewers him through his shoulder, a foot of bloody steel standing out behind the man.
With a choked scream, Sullehman falls to his knees. Placing a foot on his chest, Dagur kicks him back off his blade—and then he is spinning around, sprinting down the passage, flinging himself at the pirate just as the man enters the cabin.
Whirling with a hoarse cry, the pirate meets Dagur's blade with his own, his back to the women.
Ammon hollows out as Tipuk's axe comes on—just enough to dodge the blow. The squire bellows a wordless battle-cry as his eyes catch the blood trickling from his opponent's side. Ammon comes on, swinging his sword in an up thrust in the wake of Tipuk's passing axe. The target is the pirates elbow.
Ammon attacks Tipuk with his sword… and strikes him with a powerful blow!
The hand flies, with the axe, and Vulk looks stunned. "Vulk still has cock," he says in disbelief as he watches the blood pumping from the stumps of his hands. "Vulk still has cock. Vulk still has cock. Vulk…" he goes to his knees, face bloodless pale, the flow of blood from his stumps slowing. "Still… has…. cock…" and then he keels over, eyes fixed and staring.
The Ibbenese man facing Ammon looks surprised again as his elbow cracks beneath the force of the blow, and he nearly drops the axe - if it were only a short-hafted axe. Still, he has one hand, one arm, still good—and swings again, his eyes raging now, the pain beginning to overwhelm his sense.
Tipuk attacks Ammon with his mass weapon… has his blow intercepted by Ammon's shield.
The dirk in her hands shifts again, and Katla watches the man enter the cabin, then spin to meet Dagur's blade, and she takes one step, two, raising the dirk in her hand and plunging it into the man's lower abdomen, beneath his ribs in the sweet soft unprotected spaces. She thrusts the dirk in once, withdraws it, thrusts it in again, her eyes not focused on anything but the blade and the man before her.
Reyna cries out as Mellony breaks away from her. "Mellony, no!" But the girl, taller than Reyna and heavier, and she is easily away. She slips past the tumult at the cabin door and rushes to Saan, dropping to her knees. "My poor sweet captain," she coos, rising again and stepping right out of her dress so she can press it to the bleeding sword wound in Sullehman's shoulder. Her shift is stained with blood and worse, but she sees only the bleeing Prince of the Narrow Sea, not the fighting and dying around her.
The Ibbenese man facing Ammon looks surprised again as his elbow cracks beneath the force of the blow, and he nearly drops the axe - if it were only a short-hafted axe. Still, he has one hand, one arm, still good—and swings again, his eyes raging now, the pain beginning to overwhelm his sense.
Again, the pirate's axe is slow. Again, Ammon intercepts it. And again, Ammon surges forward. The big squire is moving quickly now, pushing the pace, pushing the pirate back. Massey lets go with a vicious back swing, again toward's Tipuk's knees.
Ammon attacks Tipuk with his sword… and misses by a narrow margin!
The Massey squire barely catches the man's breeches, slicing open the leather above the knees, and it seems that such a strike was the last thing to push him over the edge - for now Tipuk begins to swing, careless of whether it is friend or foe he might strike, the axe flashing in the wavering lamplight.
Tipuk attacks Ammon with his mass weapon… and strikes him with a swift blow!
Alyard kicks Vulk's hand away, flashing the corpse a quick smile before he begins to move back to the cabin door. "How much longer?" He asks Dagur hurriedly.
Unfortunately for Ammon, Tipuk strikes him. The squire steps aside as the axe comes in, but not quick enough. It slices Ammon's shoulder; blood flies. But it is just a fleshwound, and Ammon respondes with another overhead strike.
Ammon attacks Tipuk with his sword… and strikes him with a swift blow!
A roar, a swing, a spurt of blood that cleaves well into Tipuk's shoulder, baring fat and muscle. The squat man lets out another roar of unintelligible Ibbenese as he swings again, force over focus, toward Ammon's arms and chest.
Tipuk attacks Ammon with his mass weapon… and has his blow intercepted by Ammon.
Another block by Ammon, another backswing, this time for the Ibbenese's face.
Ammon attacks Tipuk with his sword… and merely strikes a glancing blow!
"Pretty," the Ibbenese says, pushing forward. "Pretty like sister, pretty like ladies," and even Saan's fall seems to go unnoticed as he presses forward, towards the cabin - and Dagur, and Alyard, and the others.
Tipuk attacks Ammon with his mass weapon… and strikes him with a shattering blow!
It is a moment of madness. The pirate stiffens with a choked scream, back arching, as Katla plunges the dagger into him. The Iron Serpent uses it to slash his throat open—then curses, blinded by splatters of blood, groping blindly for Mellony as she slips past him. But too late.
And a few heartbeats later, Sullehman Saan is pulling himself to his feet, clutching the Fossoway girl's shoulder, calling hoarsely to his men. But they have melted away, gone abovedeck where, from the sound of it, a battle rages.
A moment of indecision—and then the pirate captain, draws Mellony before him, unsheathing his dagger with his good hand, murmuring to her: "Come, little bird. Time we left, yes? Just the two of us. Would you like that?" And he begins backing towards the ladder.
There is something wild in the ironman's eyes, beyond reason or even sanity. He only has time to rasp to Alyard, each word thick and twisted as if he has difficulty speaking: "Bring the women." Then, he is moving down the corridor, past Ammon as he falls, cutting backhanded almost casually at Tipuk as he passes, gaze never straying from Sullehman as the Lysene captain pulls himself up the ladder one-handed, then takes Mellony up after him.
Dagur attacks Tipuk with his sword… and strikes him with a hard blow!
Ammon gives ground before Tipuk. Suddenly, his eyes widen and the squire hesitates. Saan is down! Saan is esca——Ammon sees Tipuk's attack at the last second. He tries to spin aside, tries desperately to get away. He brings his shield up to parry the blow, but Ammon wears no shield. There is a scream and blood and the squire tumbles to the ground.
Tipuk roars out as Dagur swings, hits him, cleaves him shoulder to waist and then the pirate falls down with an almost surreal slowness into the passageway, the axe clattering to the floor as he tries to hold himself together, but fails.
From inside the cabin, Katla steps back as the pirate before her is struck by Dagur, and she keeps the dirk clenched tightly in her fist, breathing quick and shallow, her dulled eyes flickering with a bright inner fire before dimming again as the pirate crumples down, leaving the door open to the passageway.
Blood. Blood and blood and bloodd. It is too much for Reyna, and she screams. It is a harsh sound torn from a throat already ravaged by screaming, hoarse and almost animal in her near breakdown. "Katla," she gasps, trying to contain her panic. "Katla, I can't go out there. I can't."
Mellony smiles at Saan, however, letting him pull her along with him. "Yes, it's not nice here at all, my lord, not nice at all. Let us go away somewhere, just the two of us." And she is still speaking thus to him as he hauls her away, her face turned away from the carnage.
Another nod and the bloodied Alyard move into the cabin, his shoulder and neck now slick with crimson. "It is time, can you both walk?" He asks them both before his gaze shifts to Katla's hands, giving nothing away with his expression. "Now…" He adds, extending his left arm should either need assistance. Once the ladies are in line, he leads them out into the passageway now filled with bloody footsteps and gore.
He calls a halt at Ammon to help him up. "Come on…"
Ammon is groggy as Alyard yanks him to his feet, pale from the fight and stress and loss of blood. His left hand is a ruin of crimson; blood still flowing freely. He tucks that hand across his body, picks his fallen sword from the deck, and moves slowly after Corbray.
Katla looks to Reyna, swallows loudly. "We're trapped as fish in a net if we stay. We have to leave, Reyna. Follow Corbray," she jerks her chin at the tall knight, "close your eyes, do what you must, but we cannot stay." She looks down at her hands wet with blood, the dirk clutched tightly in them, "You go. I will follow behind you."
Reyna, wide-eyed, holds Katla's gaze. She nods suddenly, finding some last precious reserve of courage. "All right. All right," she says, squeezing her skirts in her hands and lifting them out of the gore. With her eyes fixed on the ladder, she moves stiffly but quickly out, down the passageway, and up the ladder without looking back.


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I hear a lot about the anti-Zionist side of things from this side of the border. Are there Zionist Israelis who oppose the State of Israel but not the Nation of Israel and also might embrace a stateless society in the region. I've seen that Israeli libertarians exist on here and I was curious if there were any such leading figures either academically or politically.
Zionism means that there should be a Jewish land/state. The idea is based on the concept that because Jews have been treated so poorly by non-Jews of Europe for so long (culminating in the Holocaust), it's better for them to have their own state, funded and protected by themselves. So, if Jews of, say, Germany are ever mistreated again, they don't have to go on a ship, go around the world asking for an asylum, be turned away from every country, eventually having to return and go to gas chambers (true story).
It would seem that such an idea dissipates if one is an anarchist, but the concept makes sense even without a state. The same way that anarchists today speak of buying off some land in NH or Lichtenstein or living in the sea, Jews in the late 19th century were talking about buying off land for mutual protection. That way, one doesn't live under jurisdiction of any government, fate to its whims. (People living in the US don't realize to what an extent Jews have lived on the edge of a razor blade for the last 2000 years.)
Since most of them were obviously not anarchist, this concept was in the form of a state, but one could imagine them saying: "let's settle in some land, privately bought, and organize an anarcho-capitalist society, in which Jews would be protected from anti-semitism".
The idea of buying land in Israel was cultural, historic, and religious. Certain Zionists believed in buying land in Argentina, in Africa, or elsewhere.
Some people (including myself) may not believe that the State (especially the secular State we have today) is an ideal situation or has any importance, but there is still a religious concept of living in the geograptic location of the land of Israel for Jews. (I consider it non-binding, but there are religious Zionists who consider it binding and may consider it so despite being anarchist.)
My family (and about 100 members of my wife's family) live in Israel. All males have served in the army, and some have helped founding the State. When people ask me whether I am in favor of a One-State solution or a Two-State solution, I answer that I am in favor of No-State solution. But... having said that, I think private protection agencies hired by Jews living in what is today Israel (whichever bank) would do almost exactly what Israeli army does. They would bomb the crap out of the bastards who shoot rockets at their clients.
There would be competition, and so they would probably be more efficient about it and cause less collateral damage (although Israeli army's record on collateral damage is the best in the world, and most collateral damage happens when the Arabs choose not to leave the buildings where the terrorists are hiding which the army says it will bomb), and, most importantly, the protection agencies would not be concerned about the international opinion, UN, UK, US, and others, and just destroy the terrorists in a more brutal, but more effective (long-term) manner.
Also, the problem in both Israel and N. Ireland is not that Arabs hate Israeli government or Israelis hate Palestinian government, but that Arabs hate Jews and Catholics and Protestants hate each other. And it's not a case of blowback. Certainly not in the case of Israel, where Jews were hated by local Arabs for a long time. So, just because the government goes away, the problem won't disappear magically. One can only learn what was going on before 1948. There were private Jewish and Arab communities living side-by-side (Jewish ones on privately bought land). Arabs would attack Jews. Jews would retaliate. And so on. The British turned a blind eye to everything.
Speaking of Hareidi Jews living in Israel -- in my opinion, they are a disgrace to their nation. And I say this as a Chassidic Jew myself. They are against the state to the point that they will not get a birth certificate for their child in a local government office, but they are so due to religious, not libertarian reasons. Which is fine with me (I won't get into the details; they are irrelevant). But they are happy to take governmental assistance and live off it. They don't work; their wives have to work and support their large families; they degenerate mentally and morally, etc., etc. Nowhere else in the world, throughout the 3500 years of Jewish history, has such a disgrace happened. Jews (including major rabbis) have always been productive. Yes, some people learned and were supported by their communities, but those were rare individuals, and the support was voluntary. Hareidi Communities living elsewhere in the world where they do not get governmental assistance (including such places as Lakewood, NJ, or Catskill Mountains in the Upstate NY) are completely different from their Israeli counterparts.
Are there any statists who oppose the state?
If Zionism can mean nothing other than a statist Jewish government, then replace it with a Jewish homestead movement I guess.
There are some Jewish religious factions among Chareidi communities, some of which live in Jersusalem, that oppose the State of Israe, and according to wikipidia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neturei_Karta), they claim that "any form of forceful recapture of the Land of Israel is a violation of divine will". Their position on Israel is quite clear, however, I do not know what their religious view would be on the instituion of government and State in general, so I wouldn't go too far and call them libertarians.
I'd have to know what you mean by 'zionist' to answer your question directly. Rest assured, there certainly are people within the territory of Israel who are anarcho-capitalists, just as there are in the UK and in the USA.
Where there is no property there is no justice; a proposition as certain as any demonstration in Euclid
Fools! not to see that what they madly desire would be a calamity to them as no hands but their own could bring
I'm not a libertarian but my brother is. He recently refused to go to jury duty, refuses to renew his license tag and is contemplating refusal of payment of the tickets he's accumulated as a result of his outdated tag.
I'm not a libertarian but my brother is.
He recently refused to go to jury duty, refuses to renew his license tag and is contemplating refusal of payment of the tickets he's accumulated as a result of his outdated tag.
I think the definition of Zionism precludes their being anti-state of Israel Zionists.
However, there are religious zionists and political zionists. The two are not necessarily dependent on each other.
Political zionists we know well (neo-cons), religious zionists believe in the abstract notion of Israeli kingdom of heaven (on Earth).
I suppose there could be 'anarchist zionists' who believe in a culturally manifest Israeli homeland, but not necessarily a State that reflects that sentiment.
This man was the first zionist (as far as I know) and envisioned an Israeli state that spanned from "Egypt to the Euphrates" (subsuming what we know today as Jordan and Lebanon in their entirety and also significant chunks of land from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Syria). This is why Arabs are suspiscious of Israeli expansion. They have a long way to go if you know what I mean...
Of course, I do not mean the Zionism currently presented. I'm ignorant as to whether there the term "Zionism" has any flexibility when it comes to the political structure. I've heard of course of the labels that Aristophanes mentioned, like Political Zionism and Religious Zionism. I guess the best description I can provide at this moment to what I'm getting at is whether or not there are Jews who reconcile their belief with a Jewish dominated land like where they currently reside with an anarco-capitalism type of structure promoted by the ideas on this site here for example.
My history on Israel is a bit shaky, but I was under the impression that the first wave of immigrants prior to official independence brought plots of land in the region cheaply and on it formed their own political system. Which, on the surface sounds like an act that was beginning to seem legitimate to libertarian ideals even if the end state itself was not. I am of course not well read in the area, and researching the area objectively is impossible because of the propoganda on both sides.
researching the area objectively is impossible because of the propoganda on both sides.
Read both sides; discern.
I'm a libertarian Zionist myself. Unfortunately socialism is quite popular in Israel; the sheer amount of fraud I see going on even in my daily life is astounding. PhDs aren't worth much, people mooch off of the government, and some car rental guy even asked my mother for a bribe. Despite the fact that everyone has cheap health care, the doctors are incompetent and people consider it an atrocity not to send your child to public school. Half of the kids there go to (state-funded) dormitories. I heard some guy blaming our debt with China on the failures of capitalism... I guess it will be a while before liberty becomes popular there.
Now that I'm done ranting, Zionism is about a Jewish homeland and has nothing to do with a Jewish "State."
Luminar: Zionism is about a Jewish homeland and has nothing to do with a Jewish "State."
Can you refer us to when and where the term Zionism was ever used in reference to something other then a Jewish State of Jewish nationalism?
It may be difficult to separate the two. If you believe that a certain territory should be settled by Jews under no non-Jewish national government's control, and you are not an anarchist, then you will be a statist zionist. The question is: why is the primary, and which the secondary, a vehicle?
Anyway, to answer your question, see some links here. It seems that this guy fits the description, as well as this one.
As an aside, it's interesting how in the early 20th century socialism has become an anti-establishment social religion of sorts. I was reading a book about just-post–WWII Japan, and basically, there were two broad classes of people: those who believed that Japanese tradition medieval society and mentality (everyone is damyo's slave) was still correct and socialists. In Russia, you either believed that Tzar was the people's father or you were a socialist. Etc.
I meant that having a state isn't necessary for Zionism. I'm not sure about the term "Zionism" but there have been attempts throughout history to immigrate to the area and establish a Jewish presence there, and I don't think that it had much to do with creating a state. Concepts evolve anyway; simply because Zionists a hundred years ago wanted a Jewish state doesn't mean that that is the eternal, fundamental tenet of Zionism.
I think Zionism is basically Jewish Nationalism. Historically, that's how the term has always been used. I'm not familiar with any other or current use of the term that does not refer to the State of Israel. If you are talking about just Jews who believe their rightful home is in the "Holy Land" but do not believe in having a State, then that is something else. I've never seen Zionism be assoicated with the latter, but you are welcome to enlighten me on this issue.
Apparently, not every Israeli is a socialist.
Here is a guy who describes himself as a "kippah-wearing settler" which means he is a religious Zionist, yet his views seem to be pretty libertarian:
I believe that being a Jew means being free. The whole Jewish message is a message of man's freedom – slavery only to God and not to any human regime. This is why I support reducing legislation in general, granting broader autonomy to the average citizen, reducing the State's authority, annulling religious laws, shutting down the Israel Land Administration and returning State-owned lands to their rightful owners – the people of Israel. I will fight against any violation of the people's right to live their lives as they see fit.
Obviously, not all of his views are libertarian or (for sure not) anarchist. He is a statist, but he seems to be sympathetic to the concept of minimum government.


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BERLIN- Stephen Decatur's varsity cross-country teams made a strong showing in the Bayside Conference championship meet last week with both the boys and girls teams finishing second in their respective divisions.
On the boys' side, the Seahawks finished with 89 points, second only to Kent Island, which finished with 47. Ben Rakowski was Decatur's top finisher at 12th, while James Davidson was 13th, Christopher David was 18th, Daniel Winters was 22nd, Tristan Peeples was 24th, Kyle Kelly was 38th and Andrew Bradshaw finished 47th.
On the girls' side, Decatur also finished second overall with 54 points, right behind Kent Island, which finished with 45. Lauren Buckman was the top Seahawk finisher at 4th, followed by Anastasia Priest (10), Ravyn Saunders (12) Lauren Bodolus (18) Jordan Klebe (19), Alexandra Tushup (24) and Layla Fowler (30).


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A NASA probe orbiting Earth has confirmed two key predictions of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, which describes how gravity causes masses to warp space-time around them.
The Gravity Probe B (GP-B) mission was launched in 2004 to study two aspects of Einstein's theory about gravity: the geodetic effect, or the warping of space and time around a gravitational body, and frame-dragging, which describes the amount of space and time a spinning objects pulls with it as it rotates.
"Imagine the Earth as if it were immersed in honey," Francis Everitt, GP-B principal investigator at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., said in a statement. "As the planet rotates, the honey around it would swirl, and it's the same with space and time. GP-B confirmed two of the most profound predictions of Einstein's universe, having far-reaching implications across astrophysics research." [6 Weird Facts About Gravity]
Gravity Probe B used four ultra-precise gyroscopes to measure the two gravitational hypotheses. The probe confirmed both effects with unprecedented precision by pointing its instruments at a single star called IM Pegasi.
If gravity did not affect space and time, GP-B's gyroscopes would always point in the same direction while the probe was in polar orbit around Earth. However, the gyroscopes experienced small but measurable changes in the direction of their spin while Earth's gravity pulled at them, thereby confirming Einstein's theories.
"The mission results will have a long-term impact on the work of theoretical physicists," said Bill Danchi, senior astrophysicist and program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. "Every future challenge to Einstein's theories of general relativity will have to seek more precise measurements than the remarkable work GP-B accomplished." [Top 10 Strangest Things in Space]
A long time coming
These results conclude one of the longest-running projects in NASA history. The space agency became involved in the development of a relativity gyroscope experiment in 1963.
Decades of research and testing led to groundbreaking technologies to control environmental disturbances that could affect the spacecraft, such as aerodynamic drag, magnetic fields and thermal variations. Furthermore, the mission's star tracker and gyroscopes were the most precise ever designed and produced.
The GP-B project has led to advancements in GPS technologies that help guide airplanes to landings. Additional innovations were applied to NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer mission, which accurately determined the universe's background radiation left over from shortly after the Big Bang.
The drag-free satellite concept pioneered by GP-B made a number of Earth-observing satellites possible, including NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment. These satellites provide the most precise measurements of the shape of the Earth, which are critical for navigation on land and sea, and understanding the relationship between ocean circulation and climate patterns.
Gravity Probe B's wide reach
The GP-B mission also acted as a training ground for students across the United States, from candidates for doctorates and master's degrees to undergraduates and high school students. In fact, one undergraduate who worked on GP-B went on to become the first female astronaut in space, Sally Ride.
"GP-B adds to the knowledge base on relativity in important ways and its positive impact will be felt in the careers of students whose educations were enriched by the project," said Ed Weiler, associate administrator for the science mission directorate at NASA headquarters.
GP-B completed its data collection operations and was decommissioned in December 2010. The probe's findings were published online in the journal Physical Review Letters.
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