text:
Edward Joseph Mercure is an amazing kid. Known to most by his nickname "EJ," this Cranston student is far from ordinary. He is 13 years old, on the autistic spectrum, and is taking a …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account by clicking here.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
Edward Joseph Mercure is an amazing kid. Known to most by his nickname "EJ," this Cranston student is far from ordinary. He is 13 years old, on the autistic spectrum, and is taking a college-level chemistry course.
Several years ago, EJ was diagnosed with ADHD and Asperger's Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder that is characterized by impaired social interactions and is commonly called high functioning autism. Since that diagnosis, EJ has had to overcome a lot of obstacles.
"As long as I can remember I have been known as the smart, quirky kid at school," EJ explains, "and I got teased a lot."
The teasing was especially brutal once EJ entered middle school. By the spring of 7th grade at Western Hills, EJ began to melt down. Visits to his guidance counselor, Michael Watson, were a common occurrence. During one such visit, EJ mentioned that he wanted to take a chemistry class. When Watson offered to find some information on a summer science camp, EJ was insistent that it be a college-level course and asked for a letter of recommendation.
"He needed a confidence booster," said Watson. Hoping for the best, Watson wrote the letter stating that EJ "possesses strong mathematical skills and has a passion for science."
In the meantime, EJ was looking into a basic chemistry class at Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI), and he was making strides toward that goal. Due to his young age and social deficits, EJ had to truly prove himself a worthy candidate for such an opportunity. Prior to enrollment, EJ met separately with the Acting Director of Enrollment Services, Terrie Kless, and an Admissions Officer John Araujo. Both explained to him that ultimately he needed the permission of the Chemistry Department Chair, Dr. Elizabeth A. Arendt. So, EJ wrote a heartfelt letter to Dr. Arendt requesting permission to take Basic Skills Chemistry.
Dr. Arendt informed him that his was "a unique request and one that will require a bit of thought." After reading the supporting documents that EJ provided, Dr. Arendt also said that before any decision was made, EJ would have to take the Chemistry Placement Exam (CPE). This exam is designed to let CCRI know if a student is academically prepared to take classes and would be just one factor in determining his eligibility.
On Friday, June 24 (two days after completing 7th grade), EJ confidently went to the CCRI testing center and took the CPE. The following week, EJ learned that he had done exceptionally well. Dr. Arendt was impressed with EJ's scores, and she wanted to set up an interview with him. She and EJ talked for over an hour discussing his potential, the possible (if not inevitable) challenges, and the expectations of college-level courses.
Surprisingly, EJ handled himself with great aplomb. When asked what the biggest challenge might be, EJ admitted to his disorganization. Disorganization in classes is an indicator that a student will not do well, especially college-level classes in which a student is expected to work with little prompting from the professor. Considering EJ's other disabilities, he certainly had his work cut out for him. But he was tenacious, explaining to Dr. Arendt, "My future career goals are ambitious. I intend to go to Yale University and pursue a science degree—either chemistry or psychology. I'll work my hardest, study and apply myself."
In the end, Dr. Arendt granted permission (a rare and unique occurrence) for this middle schooler to enroll as a non-matriculating student and register for the basic chemistry class. The course, taught by James McCaughey at the Knight Campus, meets Monday evenings from 6 to 9:45 p.m. September through December—a tough schedule for someone who still had to keep up with his 8th grade academic load. EJ worked with the school, his parents, and other professionals to map out strategies to combat any potential challenges.
When EJ received the results of the first chemistry quiz in September, he was pleased that he scored a 95. Although, he was initially frustrated when he realized the question he got wrong. (Instead of listing the chemical symbol for Florine as F, he wrote Fl.) During the semester, EJ has held a B average in class and maintained good grades at Western Hills.
McCaughey has enjoyed having EJ in class.
"He is very inquisitive, knows a lot already and very polite," he said. "I am humbled to have been offered such an opportunity." EJ said, adjusting his safely goggles, "I have really enjoyed the class thus far. Now, here I sit a week away from my final exam. Time flies when you're analyzing covalent bonds!"
EJ may always be known as smart and quirky, but he has surely proven that he is quite an amazing kid!
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here


text:
On November 16, CBS News aired a segment full of praise for President Obama's visit to Staten Island in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. But this positive spin is in stark contrast to the scolding the network gave President Bush when he visited the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005..
In the report on CBS This Morning, correspondent Elaine Quijano favorably included Obama in her report on Sandy storm damage showing the President shaking hands with big smiles all around, pledging government support for the victims, and hugging and meeting with individual storm survivors. Mr. Obama was shown as a sympathetic figure ready to help — quite despite that the business of setting the area aright has gone on for weeks without as much progress as residents have hoped.
But this favorable treatment for Obama stands in stark contrast to the attacks CBS leveled against President Bush when he went to visit storm ravaged areas after 2005's Hurricane Katrina.
Matt Hardo reminds us that in 2005 CBS ravaged President Bush for having had a press conference in an air-conditioned tent as victims went without and pointedly said that residents wanted Bush to "wake up and smell the coffee."
CBS' Harry Smith even wondered if religious folks that came to help might become unbearable Bible thumpers forcing poor victims to "go to church."
CBS News's Harry Smith showed his silly concern over churches welcoming Katrina refugees. "Do I need to be concerned that I'm going to go live with a church family, are they going to proselytize me, are they going to say, 'You better come to church with me or else, I'm, you know, you're not going to get your breakfast this morning?'" he posed to Pastor Rick Warren.
CBS spent weeks attacking George W. Bush for his response to Katrina. You'll also recall that the storm was used as another excuse for race-baiting by the whole of the Old Media.
But this time, our President is presented as a hero. I wonder what has changed?

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The 5¼˝ Broad Stripe is created using a traditional dragging technique. The coloured ground is traditionally trough and brush applied and the stripe made by pulling the paper under open bottomed, 5¼˝ wide troughs filled with paint.
Broad Stripe 1326 in Green Ground No.206 and Cooking Apple Green No.32.
Full roll width is 53cm/21", roll length is 10m, stripe size is 13cm/5 1/4". Available in 16 colourways


text:
This article is more than 1 year old
Mexican telco exec: iPhone 4 antenna fix imminent
According to a Mexican telco exec, Apple will release an iPhone 4 with an upgrade to its problematic antenna after its "free case" giveaway ends on September 30.
"A partir del 30 de septiembre estarán disponibles ... los nuevos dispositivos que no tienen el desperfecto de la recepción," Marco Quatorze of Mexican wireless carrier Telcel told the Spanish-language tech website Canal-MX.
Our high school Spanish tells us that Quatorze said that after September 30, there will be new devices available that won't have the reception flaw. "El problema es la antena," he said — and we're confident you won't need Google to translate that straightforward assertion for you.
The Reg rushes to remind you, dear reader, that this is a mere rumor — or, en Español, rumor. Apple, as is its wont, has made no announcement of any updated iPhone 4 being in the works — and it's unlikely to do so at its musical event scheduled for this Wednesday.
But the date is an interesting one. At his "There is no Antennagate" press conference in mid-July, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that free reception-enhancing cases would be made available to any iPhone 4 owner who requested them — but only until September 30.
When asked what would happen after the giveaway ended, Jobs said that the program would be re-evaluated. Perhaps it won't need to be — perhaps the iPhone's problematic antenna will be somehow insulated so that it won't need to be bumperized. Perhaps.
Being Apple-watchers, we're reduced to reading tea leaves to divine what's going on in the minds of One Infinite Loop — and two tiny flakes of lapsang souchong have caught our eye.
One is that the elusive white iPhone 4 was delayed yet again in July, a week or so after the "TinA" press conference. Apple's announcement of that delay gave no specific date for whitey's arrival, saying only that it would appear "later this year."
Perhaps a partir del 30 de septiembre? Perhaps.
Leaf number two is the report that floated across the intertubes right before "TinA" that some users with problematic phones had returned them, only to discover that the replacement phones didn't exhibit "death grip" symptoms.
Perhaps fixed 'Phone 4s have already entered the product stream? Perhaps.
More likely, however, is that Quatorze is simply wrong. As MacRumors rightly points out in its discussion of the MexExec's claims, it strains credulity that a person in Quatorze's relatively low-level position of "Director of Value Added Services" would have insider knowledge of such matters.
Perhaps he simply misinterpreted Jobs' case-supply deadline as meaning that iPhone 4 changes were afoot.
Perhaps. ®


text:
Amicus curiae
An amicus curiae (literally, friend of the court; plural, amici curiae) is someone who is not a party to a case and is not solicited by a party, but who assists a court by offering information that bears on the case. The decision on whether to admit the information lies at the discretion of the court. The phrase amicus curiae is legal Latin.
The amicus curiae figure originates in Roman law.[1] Starting in the 9th century, it was incorporated into English law, and it was later extended to most common law systems. Later, it was introduced in international law, in particular concerning human rights. From there, it was integrated in some civil law systems (it has recently been integrated into Argentina's law system and Honduras's 2010 civil procedures code). Today, it is used by the European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
The role of an amicus is often confused with that of an intervener. The role of an amicus is, as stated by Salmon LJ (as Lord Salmon then was) in Allen v Sir Alfred McAlpine & Sons Ltd [1968] 2 QB 229 at p. 266 F-G:
- I had always understood that the role of an amicus curiae was to help the court by expounding the law impartially, or if one of the parties were unrepresented, by advancing the legal arguments on his behalf.
The situation most often noted in the press is when an advocacy group files a brief in a case before an appellate court to which it is not a litigant. Appellate cases are normally limited to the factual record and arguments coming from the lower court case under appeal; attorneys focus on the facts and arguments most favorable to their clients. Where a case may have broader implications, amicus curiae briefs are a way to introduce those concerns, so that the possibly broad legal effects of court decisions will not depend solely on the parties directly involved in the case.
In prominent cases, amici curiae are generally organizations with sizable legal budgets. In the United States, for example, non-profit legal advocacy organizations, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the Landmark Legal Foundation, the Pacific Legal Foundation, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Center for Law and Justice or NORML, frequently submit such briefs to advocate for or against a particular legal change or interpretation. If a decision could affect an entire industry, companies other than the litigants may wish to have their concerns heard. In the United States, federal courts often hear cases involving the constitutionality of state laws. Hence states may file briefs as amici curiae when their laws are likely to be affected, as in the Supreme Court case McDonald v. Chicago, when thirty-two states under the aegis of Texas (and California independently) filed such briefs.[2]
Amici curiae who do not file briefs often present an academic perspective on the case. For example, if the law gives deference to a history of legislation of a certain topic, a historian may choose to evaluate the claim from specialized expertise. An economist, statistician, or sociologist may choose to do the same. Newspaper editorials, blogs, and other opinion pieces arguably have the capability to influence Supreme Court decisions as de facto amici curiae.[3][4] They are not, however, technically considered amicus curiae, as they do not submit materials to the Court, do not need to ask for leave, and have no guarantee that they will be read.
United States Supreme Court rules
The Supreme Court of the United States has special rules for amicus curiae briefs sought to be filed in cases pending before it. Supreme Court Rule 37 states, in part, such a brief should cover "relevant matter" not dealt with by the parties which "may be of considerable help".[5] The cover of an amicus brief must identify which party the brief is supporting, or if the brief supports only affirmance or reversal.[6] The Court also requires that, inter alia, all non-governmental amici identify those providing a monetary contribution to the preparation or submission of the brief.[7] Briefs must be prepared in booklet format, and 40 copies must be served with the Court.[8]
In the United States Supreme Court, unless the amicus brief is being filed by the federal government (or one of its officers or agents) or a U.S. state, permission of the court (by means of motion for leave) or mutual consent of the parties is generally required. Allowing an amicus curiae to present oral argument is considered "extraordinary".[9] The court can also appoint its own amicus curiae if neither party supports the decision of the lower court, which it has done at least 43 times.[10]
In the World Trade Organization
The role of amicus curiae briefs in the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement system is controversial. The controversy arises due to the governmental nature of WTO disputes.[11] As only WTO members have access to the system, any non-members such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are excluded and have no right to be heard.[12] Thus the only way for them to contribute to a WTO decision is through amicus curiae briefs. To date there is a divergence in approaches in the WTO as to the admissibility of such briefs.[12]
Panel and Appellate Body reports
The first WTO case to comprehensively examine the admissibility of amicus curiae briefs was US - Shrimp.[13] The case concerned a ban by the US on imports of all shrimp and shrimp products not caught with turtle excluder devices. The panel at first instance rejected the two amicus curiae briefs that were submitted by environmental groups, on the basis they were not expressly solicited by the panel under Article 13 of the Dispute Settlement Understanding of the WTO.[14] This was overturned by the Appellate Body who held a panel had authority to accept, consider or reject briefs under Articles 12 and 13 of the Dispute Settlement Understanding regardless of whether they were expressly solicited.[15]
The issue was re-examined in US - Lead and Bismuth II which concerned the imposition of duties by the US on certain imported hot rolled lead and bismuth carbon steel from the UK.[16] The Panel at first instance affirmed the position in the US – Shrimp case and accepted two amicus curiae briefs that were submitted.[17] On appeal, the Appellate Body relied on Article 17.9 of the Dispute Settlement Understanding and Rule 16(1) of the Working Procedures for Appellate Review to create rules to accept amicus curiae briefs.[18] This was deemed as the source of legal authority to accept such briefs by an Appellate Body.[18]
The next significant case to deal with amicus curiae briefs was EC – Asbestos, where the French government banned domestically produced and imported asbestos products.[19] Of the five amicus curiae briefs received by the Panel, only two that were submitted by the European Community, were accepted.[20] The panel did not provide any explanation as to why they were accepted or rejected. On appeal, the Appellate Body relied on Rule 16(1) of the Working Procedures for Appellate Review to create additional procedures to deal with the amicus curiae briefs.[21] Of the 11 briefs submitted, the Appellate Body accepted none on the basis they failed to comply with these additional procedures.[21]
See also
Justice, To Assist the Court: Third Party Interventions in the UK (2009)
- ↑ Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan (2005). "Congressional Participation As Amicus Curiae Before the U.S. Supreme Court". LFB Scholarly Publishing. p. 266. ISBN 1-59332-088-4.
- ↑ Gura, Alan (7 July 2009). "Thirty-four states support second amendment incorporation". ChicagoGunCase.
- ↑ Lee, Rachel C. (April 2009). "Ex Parte Blogging: The Legal Ethics of Supreme Court Advocacy in the Internet Era" (PDF). Stanford Law Review. 61 (6): 1535–1571. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-05-21.
- ↑ Dawson, Keith (8 May 2009). "Bloggers Impacting the World of Litigation". Slashdot.
- ↑ Rule 37(1).
- ↑ Supreme Court Rule 37.3(a)
- ↑ Supreme Court Rule 37.6
- ↑ United States Supreme Court Rule, 33
- ↑ http://www.stanfordlawreview.org/sites/default/files/articles/Goldman-63_Stan._L._Rev._907.pdf[]
- ↑ Van den Bossche, Peter (2013). The Law and Policy of the World Trade Organization (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 263.
- 1 2 Van den Bossche, 2013, p. 263
- ↑ Panel Report, United States – Import Prohibition on Certain Shrimp and Shrimp Products, WT/DS58/R/Corr.1 (3 November 1998)
- ↑ Panel Report, United States – Import Prohibition on Certain Shrimp and Shrimp Products, WT/DS58/R/Corr.1 (3 November 1998), [7.8]
- ↑ Appellate Body Report, United States – Import Prohibition on Certain Shrimp and Shrimp Products, WTO Doc WT/DS58/AB/R12, AB-1994-4 (12 October 1998), [89]
- ↑ Panel Report, United States – Imposition of Countervailing Duties on Certain Hot-rolled Lead and Bismuth Carbon Steel Products Originating in the United Kingdom, WTO Doc WT/DS138/R (23 December 1999)
- ↑ Panel Report, United States – Imposition of Countervailing Duties on Certain Hot-rolled Lead and Bismuth Carbon Steel Products Originating in the United Kingdom, WTO Doc WT/DS138/R (23 December 1999), [24]
- 1 2 Appellate Body Report, United States – Imposition of Countervailing Duties on Certain Hot-rolled Lead and Bismuth Carbon Steel Products Originating in the United Kingdom, WTO Doc WT/DS138/AB/R, AB-2000-1 (10 May 2000), [39]-[42]
- ↑ Panel Report, European Community – Measures Affecting Asbestos and Products Containing Asbestos, WTO Doc WT/DS135/R (18 September 2000).
- ↑ Panel Report, European Community – Measures Affecting Asbestos and Products Containing Asbestos, WTO Doc WT/DS135/R (18 September 2000), [8.12].
- 1 2 Appellate Body Report, European Community – Measures Affecting Asbestos and Products Containing Asbestos, WTO Doc WT/DS135/AB/R, AB-2000-11 (12 March 2001), [50]-[51].
External links
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Amicus Curiae. |
- Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
- Dictionary – MSN Encarta (Archived 2009-10-31)
- Definitions from Dictionary.com
- The Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia


text: There are shooting matches for geese and turkeys and ducks all over again today. Mrs. Threfall has one for geese. Alfred May, Wm. Reagan & a good many others. Henry and family stayed for dinner then afterwards went home. They was supposed to come back to Pete Reheis that Frank Dudenhoeffer was coming out from St. Louis. Mr. Louis Dudenhoeffer and wife and son and wife were here a little while then they went back to Reheis too. He wasn't in this country around here for 40 years. They was at our house about a half an hour. Hecker played their last baseball game today with Floraville for this season. Hecker won 12 to 1. Rosalia and Bertille went to church, Rosary Devotion this evening. There was a man here from E. St. Louis here and wanted to buy some eggs, so we sold him 6 doz. for .27¢ a doz. Pours got the baby christened Ethel.


text:
Mr. President, you are trying to resolve the wrong problem. Your HHS new federal rule governing mandated health care services is not just about women's services and who pays for them.
Rather, the real question is what protections and guarantees are afforded Americans and our various institutions by the Constitution. Your ill-placed focus should be frightening to all Americans.
Freedom of conscience and religious liberty are not concessions grudgingly granted by the Federal Government--either directly, or by way of exemption or exception. Our nation was founded on those basic and inalienable rights as the bedrock of who we are as Americans. Our Constitution was written precisely to reject and to avoid the dreadful English model whereby the king and the government are the granter of all rights, including religious rights--as well as the single power to withdraw, limit, or negate those rights.
As a Catholic American, I am outraged not only by your incredulous contortions to justify your untenable position, I am insulted that you would think that Americans who value and treasure our Constitutional freedoms would even question your overreaching infringement on individual freedom of religion and freedom of conscience.
Your "accommodation" actually makes the entire matter far worse. Every effort must be undertaken to reverse your ill-conceived revocation of our Constitutional rights.
I encourage all Catholics and millions of others of good will in our country to challenge candidates for election to Congress and to the presidency to take a strong stance in favor of guaranteeing and protecting our nation's Constitutional rights.
I fear, Mr. President, that you are knowingly and intentionally trampling upon and reversing our Constitutional rights.


text:
The White House announced a major restructuring of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) as a result of delays, cost overruns, and difficulties with the management and budget structure. NPOESS was conceived in 1994 as a multi-agency initiative to develop a constellation of polar orbiting environmental satellites that would provide global coverage on weather, atmosphere, oceans, land, and space.
The new program will remain as an interagency initiative involving NOAA, NASA, and the U.S. Air Force, but with new operating structures. Funding details will be included with the final federal FY 2011 budget.
For more information about the NPOESS program, see the NOAA Satellite and Information Service website.


text:
On 16 and 17 December, everyone's favourite electronic pop pioneers, Depeche Mode, checked into the enormous O2 Arena for the British stint of their massive Tour Of the Universe.
Taken with them were eight mega trucks, packed with gear selectively honed from over 20 years of touring experience and a 20-strong support team that's armed and ready to deal with anything the clash of live tour and hi-tech can inevitably throw up.
Put in charge of the hi-tech team is Paul Eastman, the keyboard technician and programmer for the tour and the man DM trust to make their sound happen on stage.
Things seem to have changed since Depeche Mode were a bunch of Emulators and that famous pair of Revox reel-to-reels running the show.
Paul Eastman: "Ah yes, there used to be two in case one went down. These days we're using the Radar system for the same job and have been for quite a few years too. Mainly because it's so solid. But the chap who used to press play on the tape machines for them back in the '80s ,JD, is still with them. He was around last night, in fact."
Paul Eastman at the helm of The Mode's Radar setup.
This looks like a monster rig. How long did you spend trying different options, trying to come up with the final set up?
PE: "The original plan for this tour was to take out all Martin [Gore]'s old analogue synth gear. This was because the record [Sounds Of The Universe] was all recorded with it. Increasingly over the past few years he's been working on a huge collection. For the new record they took those keyboards into the studio and obviously wanted to recreate those sounds. But obviously there's loads of problems with the gear: oscillators going out of tune, things breaking down and they've been plagued with trouble in the past with technology going down. So they wanted the old sound but - of course - wanted it to be rock-solid…
"In the past that meant they relied a lot on samplers: Emulators and the old Emax sampler, but all the samples were too grainy to use again and needed updating. So Kerry [Hopwood, Live Programmer/Musical Director] went back to the original two-inch tapes again and redid all the samples for this tour. So, we're using those new samples and some plug-ins for our sounds too.
"After we managed to convince the guys not to take all the old keyboards out we spoke to a few people about Muse Receptors and they told us that they were rock solid. So that seemed the best way to go. The last time they toured they were using Logic and the EXS sampler but they had a few glitches with it. I've used sequencers for playback for Snow Patrol and the Verve - we were using Logic - and they ran fine. But Kerry trusts the Radars. We used Pro Tools for the playback, during rehearsals but just before the tour started we printed the tracks to our pair of machines.
"Sample wise we're using Native Instruments Kontakt and Massive a lot too. We're also using a lot of GMedia ImpOSCar and Synthogy Ivory for pianos too. There are some sounds you can't get with the synths, so we use the samples for those, but there's a lot we can do and we try to use the synths as much as possible. Stripped is a good example of that. The big lead sound is Massive and ImpOSCar all layered up to create that main riff sound."
And the plug-ins are all hosted in Muse Receptors?
PE: "Yes, we've got six of them: two per keyboard player. Each pair is a main A and a backup B doing the same thing. Then we've got a custom-built switch box at the side of the stage so we can switch between each keyboard player's Receptor if something goes wrong."
Each keyboard player has a backup Muse Receptor should the worst happen.
Is there any live sequencing going on?
PE: "The Receptor stuff is completely separate from the playback side. I'm doing all the program changes on the Receptors here, off stage, but we are using both Ableton Live and Pro Tools alongside the Radars. Each is on a separate MacBook Pro. Ableton Live is being used just for live drum processing while Pro Tools is there for the program changes that are flying about on stage, changing the keyboards and stuff like that.
Paul controls the Receptors from his laptop.
"It works like this: The Radars are kicking out time-code which is going into Kerry's laptop running Pro Tools. So Pro Tools runs in time with the Radars. Program changes are fired out of Pro Tools for the guitar rig and the keyboards on stage, and into a bit of software that I wrote that controls Ableton Live in the second computer. You load all your projects into it and when it gets the change it closes songs in Ableton Live and loads the next one up. I used it on Snow Patrol and Verve too, with Logic, but it seems to work with Live too."
Sorry, Pro Tools and Ableton Live? Live is doing live drum processing?
PE: "Yes, it's quite complicated! But Kerry went down to Christian [Eigner, drummer]'s place in Austria and they ummed and ahhed about the best way to do it. And this is what they came up with. The band decided they wanted to use live drums, but they wanted them to sound like electronic drums, depending on the song, of course. "We decided not to use triggers so we're taking the live drum sounds into Live and processing them live. The drum sounds are going in via a MOTU 828 interface, processed in software then output via another 828. Live is so versatile - they tried it out and they love the sound. No latency, and we can get the electronic sounds we need whenever we need them."
So there's plenty of playing, but how many tracks come off the Radar?
PE: "18. Though it changes from track to track. The band tend to play all the lead sounds. All the big riffs that you'd recognise are all played, mainly using the Receptors. Meanwhile incidental stuff, percussion that Christian doesn't play, some of the strings that Peter [Gordino, additional keyboards] doesn't play come off the Radar.
"They've got three keyboard players so they do play a lot but sometimes it has to go to the Radar."
And are the lighting queues from the Radar?
PE: "No they're from Graham, who's front of house! He's a great lighting director. There are starts for triggering the video but as for the performance, the flashes of light, that's all old school. During the gig he's dancing around, really getting into it."
And once again, a backup Radar for your Radar?
PE: "Yes, we have two Radars, an A and a B - one is ran simultaneously for backup, so it's just like the old days. You set one off and the other is set in chase. There's a tone on a spare track on each Radar and they feed into a Radial SW8 switch box.
"If there's a green light there then it can hear the tone. If that stops it immediately switches to the output from the B machine."
How quickly can it make the switch?
PE: "You don't hear it. We've done A to B tests and the band didn't notice it. And it's happened live a few times. The daftest times was when we had these torches mounted here [Paul gestures towards a pair of mini gooseneck lights, now safely away] and they got knocked and fell perfectly and hit the stop button. We looked and went "It's on the B machine! Why's it on the B machine?" And then we realised what had happened."
Can it flip back from B to A?
PE: "Ah, it'd be out of time then. So you're stuck on B until the end of the song. But it's not like we have to make it to the end of the gig on our backup - with everyone staring at it…"
Is all the kit brand new for this tour?
PE: "The Radars were on the last tour but the keyboards are all new. We had Viruses before but we've got the newer ones for this tour. The Receptors are all new too. And this is the first tour we've done with the L-Acoustics K1 rig, only because it's so new.
"This package cost one million Euros and so far there are only ten of these in the world. We're only using the O2's house delay compensation speakers, the rest is all ours and we're very pleased with how the K1 sounds. Then there's two new Midas XL8s - one by the stage for monitor mixing and another for front of house. We're the first tour to use two XL8s."
One of the team's two Midas XL8s.
The entire rig seems incredibly well thought-out and compact. Does it pack up pretty small?
PE: "It's incredibly compact. Unbelievable, in fact. U2 were following us around and they had a hundred trucks, but then that was the whole 'claw' set up. We're doing this in eight trucks and we can pack up the backline in half an hour."
What has been the biggest gig of the tour?
PE: "Milan was 73,000. The O2 is 17 or 18,000. That's big. But Milan was 73… It was unbelievable."
Keyboard rigs
Andy Fletcher: Keyboards
PE: "This is Fletch's rig. He does a lot of the baselines off the Virus Polar here. And then there are two Edirol PCR-800 controllers, each of which triggers one the Receptors. There are two Receptors per player, and each is doing the same thing. They're pretty standard Edirol controllers but they're very good. He generally plays on this one and the other is the backup. If there are any problems he can just play the other one and the backup Receptor."
Peter Gordino: Keyboards
PE: "This is Pete's rig. He gets the big, weighted piano keyboard, a Roland RD-700. With Pete only one Receptor is live and if that goes down I can switch to his B Receptor. And then he's got another Virus, he does a lot of stuff on that, It's a TI2. Wonderful machines."
Martin Gore: Keyboards, Guitars
PE: "This is Martin's rig. He's not actually using this Virus. He's just using it as a controller. It was actually used in one of the songs on this tour, but we dropped that song from the set.
"Again, two keyboards: the Virus TI2 and an Edirol PCR-800 controller. The top one is the main Receptor and the other is a backup Receptor."
Guitar rig
While the obvious star of the show is the hi-tech setup, Martin Gore's burgeoning guitar rig is a whole gig in itself, as guitar tech Jez Webb explains.
Wow. There are a lot of guitars here.
Jez Webb: "There are a lot for a synth band. A few more than I was expecting. I should have read the contract a bit closer…"
The keyboard kit, the Radars, everything seems very state of the art over there but here… amps… stomp boxes…it's a bit more rock 'n' roll.
JW: "Well everything's off stage. This is the heart of it, the old TC Electronic G System which we used on the last tour as well and has worked well for us. Every song has its own patch, and some of them have three sounds in them. It gets a feed from Pro Tools and that switches the patches.
"Before that I had to switch all the sounds, which is a bit of a pain if you're trying to tune the next guitar ready too! The output from the TC Electronic G-System goes into this switchable audio loop which is also switched by Pro Tools. The pedals here are always on, permanently kicking their output into the switcher and their output is switched in and out automatically when it's needed. The pedals are mainly distortions because the G doesn't do distortion. Then Martin's got a wah pedal and a fuzz pedal on stage too and that feeds into the loop here too. So hopefully I don't have to touch anything."
TC Electronic's G System is the beating heart of Martin Gore's guitar setup.
Seems that every hi-tech part of the tour is backup crazy, but not over here eh?
JW: "Well I do have a bunch of spare pedals if one goes wrong. And there's a backup TC Electronic here. And a backup loop system here! But the worst thing that can happen is that one of sounds goes out without the required distortion effect on it until I can swap in another. The wiring at the back of the rack is pretty complicated but Whirlwind made a connector for me. I can leave everything in this rack connected and the output from the entire guitar system comes out on this patchbay here. And I put in a couple of auxiliary channels too and we're using those for the couple of pedals Martin has on stage."
Where does the effected guitar go next?
JW: 'I've got a stereo feed coming to two amp heads here, then onto the cabs, which are miked and which are all off stage. When I first started working on the tours - back in '93 for the Faith and Devotion tour - it went straight to the desk.
"There were no amps or anything, as that was the first time Martin had toured with guitars. I think he only played on three songs. But he's certainly come on from then!
"Now we've got the two amps and two cabs here, covered up and miked with a Shure SM57 and a Shure KSM32.
"He's got two 2-by-12 cabs with one of each mic on each cab. We need that for the sound. It would sound a bit ropey if we just went direct and they're a very rocky band at the moment."
And this bit doesn't look too hi-tech… [gestures towards a large beaten up workbench, complete with tools, vice and soldering iron]
"I've had that 20 years! This is where I'm tuning: if he breaks a string, if something needs fixing. That said, very little goes wrong here. I think on this tour he's broken one string, and then he just carried on [laughs].
"And touch wood [touches workbench] we've had no disasters. So far!"
Liked this? Then try:
The 40 greatest synth tracks ever: pt 1, 1974-1986
Radiohead's live setup revealed
Sign up for our free weekly newsletter
The free MusicRadar newsletter serves up the week's biggest artist and product news stories alongside exclusive tuition and gear reviews. Sign up here!
Follow MusicRadar on Twitter
Get instant updates and bonus content plus chat with the team. Start here!


text:
Find Out More Become a Member
State of The Art Car Wash Equipment
Nothing can get your car cleaner than our state of the art wash tunnels.
Unlimited Car Washes!
Always Drive Clean! For as little as $14.99, wash at any of our locations, up to once a day.
Express Detailing
When you need the professional touch, we are there for you and your car.


text:
HK LETEN - Crystal Penis Sleeve Attack Male Delay Soft Silicone Penis Sleeve Condom Enlargement Extender Reusable Condoms Extension Sleeve Adult Toy For Men Alat Seks Lelaki (Semburan Tahan Lama)
Price | RM29.00 |
Product SKU | 6920995437695 |
Size (L x W x H) | 16 cm x 11 cm x 7 cm |
Availability | In Stock |
Quantity |
- Tight and bent fit to improve performance.
- 100% brand new and high quality.
- Wearing this full sleeve for the penis reduces premature ejaculation and increases performance.
- Very long-term use.
- Simple but powerful design.
- One size fits all. Circumference increase
- Helps restrict return blood flow for stronger harder erections
- Softand comfortable, this will fly you off into a world of orgasmic
- Lengthen Grain design Stimulate G point
- Glans lengthened, body thickened,help you been a bigger man
Turn your penis into an amazing power machine with this intensely stimulating penis sleeve. A soft and flexible penis sleeve and penis extension armed with a perfectly shaped head, a noduled and veined shaft providing your partner with maximum stimulation and penetration. Get this stretchy rubber penis sleeve to make all your dreams come true, and hers! A great penis extension made of flexible soft rubber.
Reviews (0)
view all
What's in the box
As Photo Shown


text:
State Police Log: Troopers investigate fatal accident
ADDISON COUNTY — A Bristol man riding in a cement truck was killed when the truck overturned on Route 125 in Hancock on Sept. 25. The driver was seriously injured.
Vermont State Police reported that Jason Barton, 35, of Winooski was driving a cement mixer truck eastbound on Route 125 around 1:20 p.m. on that Wednesday, with 45-year-old Michael Thompson of Bristol as a passenger. The mixer was loaded with concrete on the way to a job site.
Coming down a long downhill section of the road, Barton apparently lost control of the vehicle while taking a curve in the roadway, and the truck overturned and went off the roadway. It knocked down several trees before coming to rest partially back on the roadway. The trooper described the road as dry and the weather as partly sunny.
State police and the Hancock Fire Department were dispatched to the site of the crash. They said Thompson died at the scene from injuries he sustained in the crash. Barton was air-lifted to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., with serious injuries, the nature of which were not immediately available.
Police reported that neither Thompson nor Barton were wearing seat belts.
The 1992 Mack truck sustained extensive damage making it a total loss.
Route 125 was closed for approximately seven and a half hours while the crash was investigated by the Department of Motor Vehicles Commercial Vehicle Inspectors, the wreckage was removed, and the roadway was cleaned up.
This crash remains under investigation.
In other recent activity, troopers:
• On Sept. 24 fielded a report that a person's iPhone was stolen while he was at the Ferrisburgh Mobil between 10 and 10:30 a.m. Anyone with information in regard to this theft is asked to contact VSP at 802-388-4919. Information can also be submitted anonymously online at www.vtips.info or by texting "CRIMES" (274637) to Keyword: VTIPS.
• On Sept. 24 looked into a complaint that tools had been stolen from a residence on Tri Town Road in Addison sometime between 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. that day. Several Makita power tools were stolen from the garage. Anyone with information on this theft is asked to contact VSP.
• On Sept. 25 at 7:53 p.m. cited Tyler Scherer, 24, of New Haven for driving under the influence.
• On Sept. 26 got a report that at approximately 7:57 p.m. a male subject stole fuel from property off Hewitt Road in Bristol. State police are following leads to determine who the person was. The landowner chased the suspect off the property. Anyone with information in regard to this theft is asked to contact VSP.
• On Sept. 27 at approximately 5:40 p.m. received a report of vandalism and theft from a motor vehicle parked at the Snake Mountain trailhead parking lot on Mountain Road in Addison. An unknown person smashed the front passenger side window with a rock and stole several items including a Garmin GPS unit, cash, a wallet and several credit cards. There are currently no suspects in this theft. Anyone with information regarding this incident or who may have seen any suspicious activity at the Snake Mountain trailhead is asked to contact VSP at 802-388-4919. Information can also be submitted anonymously online at www.vtips.info or by texting "CRIMES" (274637) to Keyword: VTIPS.
• On Sept. 29 at approximately 12:04 p.m. stopped a vehicle driven by Robert J. Koch Jr., 56, of Weybridge for not having a vehicle inspection sticker. Police discovered that Koch's Vermont driver's license was criminally suspended and there was also an active warrant for Koch for escape. The trooper cited Koch for driving with a criminally suspended license, second offense, and was lodged at the Chittenden County Correctional Center on the warrant.
• On Sept. 29 investigated a report that at around 3 p.m. that day two suspects entered Packard's Auto off Town Hill Road in New Haven and stole five catalytic converters from the business. The suspects were driving a silver car.
• On Sept. 29 at around 5 p.m. responded to a motorcycle crash on Route 17 in the area of the Appalachian Gap. Upon their arrival, troopers found the driver was up and walking around and had been treated by the Mad River Valley Rescue Squad and released. While traveling downhill, the driver, identified as Tyler Diesi, 29, of Lincoln, had attempted to pass a slower-moving vehicle and lost control of the Triumph motorcycle he was driving. The bike and the operator slid approximately 200 feet before coming to rest in the opposite travel lane. Diesi was wearing full protective gear, which police said saved him from more sever injuries. They said the bike was a total loss.
• On Sept. 30 at 4 p.m. responded to a report of a domestic assault in the Boro Hill Road neighborhood in Monkton. Police ended up citing Mark D. Holbrook II, 27, of Monkton for domestic assault and released him.
• On Sept. 30 heard from a business on Snake Mountain Road in Weybridge that someone had broken into a work vehicle between 7 p.m. on Sept. 29 and 5 p.m. on Sept. 30 and taken various items in the vehicle. Anyone with information is asked to contact VSP.
• On Sept. 30 cited Amanda Holt, 26, of New Haven for speeding for allegedly driving 30 mph over the posted speed limit on Plank Road in New Haven.
More News
Bernard D. Kimball, 76, of Middlebury
MIDDLEBURY — Bernard D. Kimball, 76, passed away in Bennington Hospital on Jan. 10, 2023. … (read more)
News Uncategorized
Fresh Air Fund youths returning to county
The Fresh Air Fund, initiated in 1877 to give kids from New York City the opportunity to e … (read more)
Obituaries Uncategorized
Mark A. Nelson of Bristol
BRISTOL — A memorial service for Mark A. Nelson of Bristol will be held 1 p.m. on Saturday … (read more)


text:
In a unique study, researchers at The Long Island Brain Tumor Center at Neurological Surgery, P.C. are examining whether hyperbaric oxygen therapy – breathing pure oxygen while in a pressurized chamber – may prove a useful addition to the current standard of care for patients newly diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer. The Phase II study is currently enrolling participants, and is being conducted at Neurological Surgery, P.C. offices in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, New York, as well as at Winthrop University Hospital, Mineola, NY.
"Malignant glioblastoma is the most aggressive type of brain cancer, and it generally has a poor prognosis," says neuro-oncologist J. Paul Duic, MD, principal investigator on the study and co-director of The Long Island Brain Tumor Center. "Novel treatment strategies are clearly needed."
Malignant brain tumors are the second leading cause of cancer deaths in people under 35, and the fourth leading cause of cancer death in people under 54. Glioblastoma is the most common and most aggressive primary (non-metastatic) type of brain cancer. Median survival for glioblastomas is 12-14 months, and only 26 percent of patients survive two years.
Patients enrolled in the study must be newly diagnosed with malignant glioblastoma, and have previously received brain tumor surgery, but not radiation or chemotherapy. All patients in the study will receive the current standard of care for those newly diagnosed with glioblastoma – temozolomide (Temodar®) plus radiation therapy – as well as hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
"We know that these brain tumors prefer a low-oxygen metabolic state, and there is evidence that this metabolic state may contribute to the tumors' ability to resist the effects of radiation therapy and chemotherapy," says Jai Grewal, MD, sub-investigator on the study and co-director of The Long Island Brain Tumor Center. "We want to see whether increasing the oxygen concentration of the tumor increases the effectiveness of standard therapy."
Drs. Duic and Grewal are also interested in evaluating the effect of this treatment on patients' quality of life and stress levels. Participants will be asked to complete several brief questionnaires.
Hyperbaric oxygen has shown some benefit in pre-clinical studies, and in two recent Japanese clinical trials. In the first clinical trial, published in 2006, Ogawa and colleagues found that patients who received radiation therapy immediately after hyperbaric oxygenation, combined with chemotherapy, had longer survival rates, relatively few adverse events and no late toxicities. In 2007, Kohshi and colleagues reported additional survival benefits with minimal additional toxicity for previously treated high-grade glioma patients who were given hyperbaric oxygen combined with stereotactic radiosurgery.
In the current study, which is the only one of its type underway in the U.S., patients will first receive blood and medical imaging tests. They will then be given six weeks of hyperbaric treatments combined with radiation (Monday-Friday) and chemotherapy with temozolomide, which they will take at home daily. They will then have four weeks off treatment, then resume taking temozolomide on a monthly basis.
Study participants will receive the experimental hyperbaric therapy prior to each radiation treatment during the initial six weeks of treatment. During the hyperbaric treatment, the patient will lie on a stretcher in a hyperbaric chamber and breathe oxygen at greater than normal atmospheric pressure. Blood sugar measurements will be taken, and medical imaging tests will also be done.
Patient participation in the study lasts one year, unless the patient cannot tolerate further treatment or side effects, or shows evidence of tumor progression. Patients may also voluntarily withdraw from the study.
Study results will be compared with those from the recently published multi-center trial by Stupp and colleagues, which demonstrated that temozolomide, when added to radiation therapy, can prolong the lives of those newly diagnosed with glioblastoma. This study defined the current standard of care.
The Long Island Brain Tumor Center at Neurological Surgery, P.C. provides the most comprehensive care available on Long Island, with state-of-the-art facilities located across Nassau and Suffolk Counties. The Center offers a multi-disciplinary approach to treating brain tumors, provided by a team of more than 20 physicians and surgeons with various sub-specialties. The team works in concert with patients' medical oncologists and other health care professionals, and treats primary brain and spinal tumors, as well as metastases and CNS lymphoma. The Center is currently conducting two clinical trials.
For more information on this or other brain tumor studies, please call Kerry McConie, RN, (516) 478-0010, or Julia Trojanowski, RN, (631) 864-3900.
About Neurological Surgery, P.C.
Neurological Surgery, P.C. is one of the New York City area's premier neurosurgical groups, offering patients the most advanced treatments of brain and spine disorders. These include minimally invasive procedures such as stereotactic radiosurgery (Gamma Knife® and CyberKnife®), aneurysm coiling, neuro-endoscopy, spinal stimulators, carotid stents, interventional pain management, microdiscectomy, kyphoplasty, and X-STOP®. The practice's physicians represent a range of surgical and nonsurgical specialties, combining compassionate care with highly specialized training. They are leaders in the region's medical community, with appointments as chiefs of neurosurgery in some of Long Island's best hospitals. NSPC offers eight convenient locations in Queens, Nassau and Suffolk Counties. For more information, call 1-800-775-7784 or visit www.NSPC.com.


text:
Bulldogs face unenviable task against seventh-ranked Buckeyes
Dec 15, 2012 - 3:55 PM Columbus, OH (Sports Network) - The seventh-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes continue with their season-long, eight-game homestand, as they play host to the Bulldogs of UNC Asheville on Saturday afternoon.UNC Asheville opened the season with a 71-61 win over Western Carolina, but then proceeded to lose its next six games. The Bulldogs have since won two-in- a-row by topping the likes of Montreat (85-51) and Lenoir-Rhyne (66-55). Despite the modest two-game win streak, UNCA is a considerable underdog in this contest. The Bulldogs are hoping these tough non-league games will better prepare them for the rigors of Big South Conference play, which for them, begins at home versus Liberty on Jan. 5, 2013.
Ohio State is an impressive 7-1 on the season, and the team has won three straight since suffering its lone setback at Duke (73-68) on Nov. 28. The Buckeyes nearly doubled-up visiting Savannah State on Wednesday night, whipping the Tigers in an 85-45 final. OSU's average margin of victory during its current win streak is nearly 34 points per game, although the level of competition has been questionable for sure (Savannah State, Long Beach State, Northern Kentucky). The Buckeyes play host to No. 9 Kansas next Saturday, and they will open Big Ten Conference action versus Nebraska on Jan. 2, 2013.
Ohio State has never lost in four previous matchups with UNC Asheville, with the most recent meeting taking place in Columbus in 2010 (96-49).
UNC Asheville features a standout performer in Jeremy Atkinson, a 53.2 percent shooter who leads the team in both scoring (18.1 ppg) and rebounding (7.9 rpg). Keith Hornsby (12.1 ppg, 3.1 apg) and Trent Meyer (11.6 ppg, 3.9 apg) are the only other double-digit scorers for a club that averages 70.0 ppg behind typical shooting outputs of 44.7 percent overall, which includes a 30.6 percent effort from 3-point range. Defensively, the Bulldogs permit an average of 68.7 ppg, with foes connecting on 43.2 percent of their total shots, which includes a 35.8 percent showing from beyond the arc. Hornsby was high man for UNCA in the recent win over Lenoir-Rhyne, netting 21 points in draining 4-of-6 3-point attempts, while Atkinson added 12 points and eight rebounds, and D.J. Cunningham chipped in with 10 points and seven boards in 15 minutes of action off the bench. The team as a whole shot 52.1 percent from the field, while holding its overmatched opponent to 35.4 percent.
Ohio State has its own star in Deshaun Thomas, who averages 20.8 points and 6.3 caroms per contest, while shooting 48.4 percent from the field and converting 22-of-50 3-point tries (.440). Lenzelle Smith, Jr. is netting 10.6 ppg behind a 16-of-31 effort from long range, and LaQuinton Ross tacks on 10.6 ppg despite coming off the bench in all eight games. Aaron Craft tallies 9.6 ppg, but he is more interested in getting his teammates in on the action as he has 35 assists, just one off the team-leading pace set by another key reserve, Shannon Scott. OSU is knocking down 46.3 percent of its field goal attempts, which includes a 40.6 percent effort from downtown, all while holding the opposition to a meager 55.6 ppg on typical shooting outputs of .363 overall and .294 from 3-point land. The Buckeyes own a whopping +23.3 scoring margin, as well as significant advantages in both rebounding (+9.3) and turnovers (+4.3). Thomas was his usual self in the recent rout of Savannah State, knocking down four treys en route to 22 points. Ross added 13, Scott tallied a dozen and Evan Ravenel contributed 11 for OSU, which made good on 47.5 percent of its total shots, including a 10-of-19 effort from behind the arc, all while limiting the Tigers to 37.0 percent field goal efficiency, which featured a dreadful 1-of-10 effort from 3-point range. Savannah State committed 20 turnovers and was manhandled on the glass (48-21).
No one has shouted yet.
Be the first!
Be the first!
Related News
- Focused, aggressive Jacy Sheldon leading Ohio State women's basketball into Big Ten play Dec 24
- You're Nuts: What Christmas gift would you give the Ohio State women's basketball team? Dec 24
- Uncut Podcast: Zed Key, Devin Royal, and Jake Diebler discuss Ohio State's blowout win over New Orleans Dec 22
- No. 13 Ohio State women's basketball gifts Belmont 84-55 defeat Dec 22
- You're Nuts: What gift is Ohio State men's basketball hoping to get this Christmas? Dec 22
- On World Basketball Day, Jake Diebler led Ohio State to a win and reflected on how much the game means to him Dec 22
- Game Preview: No. 13 Ohio State women's basketball vs. Belmont Dec 22
- Ohio State pops the Privateers 78-36 without Holtmann, Okpara Dec 21
- Ohio State Men's Basketball vs. New Orleans: Game preview and prediction Dec 21
- Bucketheads Podcast: Joe Jackson of "Feed The Post" joins the show Dec 21
- Uncut: Following loss to UCLA, Coach McGuff, Sheldon and Thierry talk next steps for Buckeyes Dec 19
- No. 2 UCLA holds off No. 13 Ohio State 77-71 in exciting finish Dec 18


text:
Home | Reviews | Extras | Forums |
Paranoia AgentSynopsisIn present day Japan, emotionally cornered people are being attacked by a mysterious phantom figure known to the public as Lil' Slugger (or Shonen Bat, if you're too anal to call it by its English name). When two investigators are put on the trail of the street assailant, they slowly unravel the true nature of the attacks. ReviewSo, a TV series directed by Satoshi Kon and put together by Madhouse? I'm clearly hallucinating, right? Well, I'm not, and the rest of the readers aren't either. Being one of the more inspired directors and storytellers to grace the world of anime, one must be lead to wonder: what can Kon possibly do with more time to expand on his ideas? He can do a lot, actually. Hell, Kon, who ceaselessly leads me to believe that he's a genius because of the creativity to be found in his work, doesn't even need all of the allotted 13 episodes to draw a clear picture of what he wants to say. Composed of what are probably undeveloped ideas from his feature-film work, Paranoia Agent is essentially an accomplished, well thought-out and polished narrative by Satoshi Kon about how a phenomenon created from stress is sustained and developed rapidly by the mass-media and how people seem to keep on looking to this "messiah" for a quick answer to problems related to modern culture and psychology. The answer that Kon eventually, and gracefully, stumbles on to is that there is no simple, quick-and-easy way out of the situations the characters tend to find themselves in and that to delude oneself into thinking that there is a quick answer to the worries of the world only temporarily solves many of our modern society's increasingly complex problems. The penalty for building on each other's problems with these simplified solutions eventually shows itself in the form of something so huge that it can't be stopped and will only dissipate in the eyes of the compelling power of the truth. Such a commanding, yet subtle, notion in the series comes about mainly because of Kon's ability to seamlessly integrate his brilliantly insightful messages and storytelling; something deeply akin to what he did with his first directorial work: Perfect Blue. The most interesting aspect of Paranoia Agent is probably how dead-on the depiction of technology, mass-media and communication of information is and how it plays into the daily lives of many of the characters that are featured from episode-to-episode. Paranoia Agent is a very good interpretation of how people generally take in information passively without fully realizing its greater effect and influence on their daily lives and way of thinking. So vivid is the world of Satoshi Kon's Paranoia Agent that, like society, it is filled with a wide spectrum of colorful characters. Never has there been a more memorable, diverse and accurate representation in anime of many of the personalities found in modern society. What's more is that Kon is able to fully realize many of these real-world characters in just under 20-minutes, a feat only accomplished by the best of directors (at the top of my head, Akitaro Daichi). Going back to what I said in the opening, Kon doesn't actually use all 13 episodes to tell the main story. With "filler" going on for about 3 episodes, Kon actually makes the most out of it and ends up effectively satirizing everything from suicide to animation production while managing to somehow tie many of his ideas in with the main themes of the series: that being intelligent and meaningful messages about stress, commitment and how people go about dealing with both. While exaggeration is given rise to later on in the story, it actually works to convey the ideas better and didn't detract from the experience at all. Fairly dark subject matter eased into the light of satire is an approach Kon has taken to convey a lot of his ideas throughout the series, but considering how funny things would tend to get, it's amazing how thick and surreal the atmosphere can become as episodes would progress. This is mainly because of Kon's effective direction and that the animation from his regular studio, Madhouse, is just beyond godly. With most of the work being kept inside Madhouse, what comes out is a slick production of what is some of the most traditional looking animation I've seen for a modern TV series; Paranoia Agent is essentially Madhouse at the top of their game artistically and stylistically. And while Berserk remains my favorite as far as his anime endeavors go, Susumu Hirasawa's hypnotic electronic score for Paranoia Agent is still very welcomed. Naturally, if you're going to adapt Satoshi Kon's work into English, you might as well give it to the best. It's good to know that Geneon actually got some input from Kon himself in regards to how he wanted the English production to sound like. It's equally good to know that Jonathan Klein and his regular production studio, New Generation Pictures, was chosen to make it all happen. Having the majority of creative control and scripting powers, Klein has created a masterful adaptation of the series into the English language resulting in what is one of the best uses of our local LA-based actors in recent memory. Just about all of his direction, whether subtle or vigorous, and casting decisions were spot-on from end-to-end of the production and rarely was there a moment of awkward delivery to put a blemish on this stellar piece of work. To put it simply, the man clearly knows what he wants from all of his acting talent and that this dub is one of the best you'll ever hear. And it might not seem like it at first, but Liam O' Brien slowly creeps up and eventually steals the show with a memorable performance that he plays out superbly. So, at the end of the day, the question is probably whether or not Kon was able to parallel the quality of his movies. Has Kon been able to accomplish a quality that is consistent with his feature-film work? I'd say, yes. In fact, a TV series is a much better platform for him to work on, but it must be inconvenient (and stressful) for him given all of the time constraints that come with a lengthier TV production; this coming from a series that actually encourages people to take it a little easier when approaching daily modern life. For what it's worth though, this is definitely what I'd consider a landmark TV series even though this is Kon's first time going at it. And even though it's some of his movie-ideas recycled, he actually breathes new air and insight into these ideas. With strong production and direction at its forefront, Paranoia Agent is a series that easily stands out with a story and message whose execution is out-of-the-ordinary, but not entirely too hard to grasp when you just sit down, watch and enjoy. Highly recommended for any anime fan. Deduct a star if you feel that the idea of accumulated stress causing societal catastrophe is preposterous. — Dominic Laeno Recommended Audience: There's a lot of weird social and psychological issues and dark atmosphere that kind of keeps this out of the reach of anyone below 13-16 years old. It aired on Wowow and at late hours when it first came out, so it's to the point where it apparently isn't suitable to a regular Japanese TV audience. Version(s) Viewed: R1 DVD Review Status: Full (13/13) Paranoia Agent © 2004 Kon Satoshi / Madhouse / Paranoia Agent Committee |
© 1996-2015 THEM Anime Reviews. All rights reserved. |


text:
Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
Show All Answers
Please refer to Article 27, Section (a) (PDF) of the Lake County Zoning Ordinance for the overall requirements for obtaining a Commercial Cannabis Cultivation license.
No, it is not required as part of the process.
Information on cannabis cultivation is found in Article 27 (PDF) of the Lake County Zoning Ordinance. Prior to submitting an application for Commercial Cannabis Cultivation, it would be beneficial for you to set up a Pre-Application meeting with a Planner at the Community Development Department.
Please note that fees are subject to change.
The process can take up to 24 months. Times may vary as each project is different
Cultivation cannot occur until all State licenses have been obtained.
Only after obtaining the required County permit and state licenses.
Hemp is monitored by the Lake County Department of Agriculture upon issuance of a zoning permit through the Lake County Community Development Department.
Cannabis is monitored by County and State agencies, and requires either a Major Use Permit or a Minor Use Permit from the County, depending on the project/license type.
First, please contact and coordinate with the Lake County Department of Agriculture.
Second, obtain the necessary permits from the Lake County Community Development Department.
Please contact the Planner on Duty as fees are subject to change.
To find the status of your submitted application, please contact the planner processing your application.


text:
JCB totally understand the rental market and realise the importance of maximising uptime over a lifetime with tough, long lasting components. Using our 70 years of engineering and manufacturing experience, we were able to take proven JCB features and bring them to the electric scissors range. Features such as the full pivot boss design on scissor pack, weld designs and motor protection plates. Also, unique to JCB are our battery and hydraulic door wearpads which support the doors weight when closed, preventing them dropping over time.
JCB also recognise the need for easy to use equipment to maximise productivity. A unique gate handle instead of a push button, makes for easier and safer entry whilst a unique roller design for the extension deck makes it easier to extend or retract. There's an ergonomic controller cradle for both left and right hand use and an automotive style foot pedal for deck extension. Everything is designed in a way that lets the operator get to site and complete the job in hand in the shortest possible time.
Again, using our experience, we recognise that an easy to service design saves time and money. With all the models within the JCB electric scissors range, you'll find we've made accessing not just serviceable parts but all parts very easy. With ground level access to batteries and hydraulics plus high quality JCB parts like filters and valve blocks, servicing time and therefore costs are kept to an absolute minimum. Livelink Lite, our innovative telematics system lets you monitor your equipment remotely and alerts you to any unplanned movements or working outside operational hours.
Quick Specs:
Load Capacity (kg/lbs): 550/1210
Platform Length: 2.25 m
Platform Width: 1.15 m
It goes without saying; safety is a priority for JCB. Bringing our expertise in off-highway safety systems to the Electric Scissor range, the machines are fitted with a whole host of systems including control interlocks, pot hole protection, speed limiting at height and a load sensing system. Multiple levels of redundancy are incorporated into the safety systems. In addition to this, steps have been taken to protect key safety componentry from accidental damage and tampering.
To view our Summer 2019 edition of our Gunn Shot magazine or any of our brochures, please click on the 'View Downloads' button below.
View Downloads'Like' us on Facebook to keep up to date with the latest product news and offers!
'Like' us on Facebook'Follow' us on Twitter to keep up to date with the latest product news and offers!
'Follow' us on TwitterJCB LiveLink
Go to Live Link


text:
Here's another bizarre keyboard mod to add to the pile. Unlike previous typewriter style mods, this one uses Scrabble tiles. All of the tiles were hand beveled and attached to a clicky keyboard. The Num, Cap, and Scroll lock buttons have their letters' hollowed out so the LED light will shine through.
[via Gizmodo]


text:
Yes, the Tigers found a way to top "The Immaculate Deflection."
Chris Davis returned a missed field-goal attempt more than 100 yards for a touchdown on the final play to lift No. 4 Auburn to a 34-28 victory over No. 1 Alabama on Saturday, upending the two-time defending national champions' BCS hopes and preserving the Tigers' own.
"We're a team of destiny," Davis said. "We won't take no for an answer."
He delivered a play that deserves its own nickname. Say the Happiest Return? Or the saddest, depending on which side of the Iron Bowl you sit. Think of some of the most memorable plays in college football history - maybe Stanford-Cal, "The Band is on the Field" or Hail Flutie. This one by Auburn now has a place on that list.
Davis caught the ball about 9 yards deep in the end zone after freshman Adam Griffith's 57-yard attempt fell short. He then sprinted down the left sideline and cut back with nothing but teammates around him in a second straight hard-to-fathom finish for the Tigers (11-1, 7-1 Southeastern Conference).
"I knew when I caught the ball I would have room to run," Davis said. "I knew they would have big guys on the field to protect on the field goal.
"When I looked back, I said, 'I can't believe this.'"
Auburn clinched a spot in the SEC championship game with the stunning victory over the powerhouse from across the state. The Crimson Tide (11-1, 7-1) several times seemed poised to continue its run toward the first three-peat in modern college football, but couldn't put the Tigers away.
Asked if it was the biggest win of his career, Tigers coach Gus Malzahn said: "It ranks right up there." But he said he'd "probably" still celebrate just like he has since his high school coaching days: With a Waffle House meal.
"That's what you coach for, that's what these kids play for, to get a chance to win the SEC championship," Malzahn said.
The Tigers put it away just when overtime on tap. The public address announcer in the stadium had already declared the game 28-28 at the end of regulation.
But Alabama got 1 second restored and one more play after a review of T.J. Yeldon's run to the Auburn 39.
That gave the Tide coach Nick Saban a chance to try the long field goal - and now he probably wished he never did, given the stunning result.
"It was a great game," Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron said. "Sometimes luck just isn't on your side.
"It's one of those crazy plays. It's almost like a video game. That's something you do on Madden or NCAA. It's just a wild play."
The entire field looked like a sea of orange shakers as the celebration continued long after the climactic finale of one of the biggest Iron Bowls in the bitter rivalry's 78-year history.
It lived up to the billing - and then some. According to NCAA records, it was only the fourth time that a missed field goal was returned for 100 yards.
This finale even one-upped Auburn's last-gasp win over Georgia two weeks earlier. A deflected 73-yard touchdown pass from Nick Marshall to Ricardo Louis dubbed "The Immaculate Deflection" with 25 seconds left set up only the second top-five Iron Bowl matchup and first since 1971.
A team that went 3-9 last season and had been destroyed by Alabama 91-14 combined the past two seasons will play for an SEC title and perhaps a trip to the BCS championship game.
Undefeated Ohio State, which was third in the BCS standings this week and figures to move up to second behind Florida State, will have something to say about which teams play for the national title, too. No doubt the Buckeyes, who won their own thriller against Michigan earlier in the day, were celebrating Auburn's win almost as much as the Tigers.
But the Tigers were already making a case to jump the Buckeyes.
Auburn Athletic Director Jay Jacobs told reporters it would be "a disservice to college football" if a one-loss SEC champion was left out of the national title game for Ohio State.
On the final play, Alabama turned to Griffith to replace Cade Foster, who had missed three field goals, with a potential clinching 44-yarder going low and getting blocked in the final minutes. Griffith was only 1 of 2 all season with a long of 20 yards.
"We told our team that this is like March Madness," Saban said. "Coming into this game that if you want to keep playing in the tournament you have to keep winning. I was really proud of the way our guys competed out there today, but the fact of the matter is that we did not make plays when we needed to."
Marshall had tied the game with a 39-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Sammie Coates with 32 seconds left after Auburn blocked a low field goal attempt. The Tigers moved 65 yards in 2 minutes all on the ground with Mason until that play.
Marshall raced toward the line with two defensive backs coming after him. Then he pulled up just in time with the ball tucked in his left hand, deftly switching it to his right and lofting the pass to Coates standing all by himself.
McCarron, a Heisman Trophy candidate, had staked Alabama to a 28-21 lead with a 99-yard pass to Amari Cooper for the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The Tide had a few chances to put the game away, but couldn't convert a fourth-and-short deep in Auburn territory, had four missed field goals - one after a false start penalty negated a make - and a dropped potential TD in the end zone by Cooper.
McCarron might have had a Heisman moment with his pass to Cooper from the end zone, when Cooper shook off a defensive back on his way to the end zone.
The quarterback, who is 36-3 as a starter, completed 17 of 29 passes for 277 yards and three touchdowns.
Marshall was 11-of-16 passing for 97 yards but also rushed 17 times for 99 yards.


text:
"It was basically mayhem on a busy street corner," FBI special agent Jeremy Stebbins says.
The FBI learned that the 2008 firefight was dominated by Armenian Power, an international, organized-crime group, which functions more like the mob than like gangsters who flash their signs in the grittier stretches of Los Angeles and its suburbs. Although the FBI has been aware of Armenian Power for years, it was after this very public spectacle that the agency doubled down on its investigation into the group, whose documented population in Southern California is about 250.
The FBI's operations were just part of a massive task force targeting Armenian Power (AP), which also included the Los Angeles, Glendale and Burbank police departments, as well as the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, the U.S. Secret Service and other federal groups.
In 2011, after years of surveillance, wiretaps and the testimony of a kidnapping and extortion victim who put his own life at risk, 90 Armenian Power members and associates were federally indicted, and dozens more were arrested. The list of their aliases is long, and includes such names as Thick Neck, Guilty, Stomper, Gunner, Lucky, Menace and Casper. One of the few females involved answers to Sugar.
Despite the mobsters' 1940s film noir nicknames, these gun-toting defendants drove flashy BMWs and Porsches and were connected to elaborate schemes in bank fraud, identity theft and other highly sophisticated white-collar crimes. As a whole, the syndicate is estimated to have cost victims at least $20 million.
"They were like old-school Mafia, in that they go to Armenian businesses, Russian businesses, try to extort them," Assistant U.S. Attorney E. Martin Estrada says. "Go after people in the community who they thought wouldn't go to the police. Make them pay money — even though they had zero gang ties."
In April, after many of the 90 indicted men and women were convicted in plea deals that avoided trial, an AP kingpin took his chances with a federal jury. Mher Darbinyan, also known as Capone, along with two associates, appeared at the U.S. District Court House downtown, where the jury heard weeks of testimony and was presented with legions of evidence. The jury convicted Capone, aka Hollywood Mike, of 57 criminal counts, including racketeering conspiracy, extortion, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Darbinyan, one of the founders and leaders of Armenian Power, faces years in prison when he is sentenced soon — among the last of the 90 mobsters and their associates to be sent away. But his reach exceeds his freedom, especially for "Victim M.M.," a husband and father and the top informant who testified against the mob, and who now lives watching his back.
Lead prosecutor Estrada's office walls are covered with mug shots of the crime syndicate members. As each one was convicted, Estrada crossed out his or her face. (He didn't allowL.A. Weekly to take a picture of his display because it includes people who cooperated with authorities.)
Estrada's victory is a rarity in federal prosecutions. In most federal trials involving the U.S. Attorney, the defendants plead guilty because they may be able to get a more favorable deal and can't afford private attorneys to wage a full trial, which they may lose. In AP's case, however, some of the key defendants had substantial resources.
Both sides had their reasons for going to trial, Estrada says: "Part of that was because of how little these types of defendants accept responsibility, and also part of it was because we wanted to make sure we could get the highest sentences possible on some of the worst targets."
AP wasn't always this belligerent and strong. It formed fairly innocently in the 1980s as a way to protect Armenian high school students — many of them newcomers to America — from aggressive Latino gangs in North Hollywood and Hollywood, where Armenian immigrants settled in the early 1970s in what is now Little Armenia.
AP, mimicking the Latino gangs it once feared, spread through Hollywood and into suburban areas, including North Hollywood, Burbank and Glendale, now home to one of the largest populations of Armenian people in the United States.
AP doesn't fight over "turf" in these communities. Instead, it maintains "hangouts" where the gangsters gather, plan and commit crimes, FBI agent Stebbins says. Using this network, in the early 2000s, just as a notable drop in serious crime began in Los Angeles, AP went the other direction: A new wave of leadership ushered the gang into prominence.
The rise of the AP mob can largely be credited to Hollywood Mike and Paramaz Bilezikchyan, aka P or Parik.
These two men forged a strategic relationship with the notoriously violent Mexican Mafia, also known as La Eme. Darbinyan became one of the first people "validated" as a Mexican Mafia member without being Latino, Stebbins says.
The executive branch of AP began paying taxes to La Eme. In return, AP received protection within California's state prisons from La Eme, the state's most powerful prison gang, which orchestrates drug deals, arms deals and even murders on the outside.
The two gangs have become so closely knit that AP often is known as AP-13, the number "13" referring to the 13th letter of the alphabet, "M," which stands for Mexico. By forging this relationship, Armenian Power now "had the gang component, because in Los Angeles, to have power, you have to have ties to gangs and the Mexican Mafia and prisons and things like that," Estrada says. "But in terms of what they did, it was an umbrella used to commit every crime you can imagine."
Mostly, however, Armenian Power is about money. Mob boss Darbinyan, 38, stood trial for helping to orchestrate a skimming operation in which he and his associates tried to steal almost $6 million from 99 Cents Only Stores customers across the Southland; they nabbed about $2 million.
Darbinyan was joined in court by 35-year-old Arman Sharopetrosian, aka Horse, who faced extortion and racketeering conspiracy charges, and 29-year-old Rafael Parsadanyan, aka Raffi or Raffo, an AP associate also charged in the 99 Cents store operation.
Parsadanyan, Darbinyan and nine others were charged with creating a "sophisticated scheme" in which they stole debit card numbers through innocent-looking point-of-sale (POS) systems.
The caper actually was pretty simple. Darbinyan and his crew bought the same POS keypads used in the 99 Cents Only Stores (you can find them on Amazon or eBay, starting used at around $20). The schemers inserted a skimming device inside their POS, which would record customers' debit and credit information at checkout, then used it to create fraudulent cards and tap customers' bank accounts.
Video evidence showed defendants in 99 Cents Only Stores using distraction techniques — coupled with quick hands — to swap out legitimate POS keypads for altered ones. Sometimes a "customer" would go through checkout with oversized items such as paper towels and baking pans, obstructing the teller's view of the keypad while the criminals made the switch.
As in many expertly overseen money schemes, the AP mob set up a tiered system of operation. While Darbinyan oversaw the process, Parsadanyan was on the ground floor, collecting cash and distributing debit cards to the lower-downs as he worked at his day job — running the AT&T Mobility store not far from Glendale's Americana at Brand.
When the three appeared in court, they didn't exactly fit the image of ruthless gangsters.
Darbinyan sat with his hands in his lap, wearing a pastel V-neck sweater and hair combed back under a thick sheen of gel. Seated next to him was Sharopetrosian — Horse — quiet and subdued with dark circles under his eyes. At a table behind them was Parsadanyan — Raffo — wearing a suit that looked a bit too big for his diminutive frame.
But their fairly polished looks belied their dirty hands. Armenian Power maintains control through violence and the targeting of "civilians" — Armenians who are not involved in gang enterprises.
"These guys aren't drive-by–ing, hitting other gangs," Estrada says. "When they commit violence, it's against other members of the Armenian community."
The victims often are chosen because they are committing less serious illegal activities of their own, such as mortgage fraud or health care fraud, and they don't have the gang ties to protect them, Estrada says. When AP chooses a target to lean on, the victim is hesitant to go to the police for fear of getting busted himself. And even though this is California, even some innocent Armenian residents are distrustful of or reluctant to cooperate with law enforcement.
You might think elected officials who are seen as leaders in the Armenian community would be clamoring to discuss the FBI's and U.S. Attorney's success in decimating the local wing of Armenian Power — but many shy away instead. The office of L.A. City Councilman Paul Krekorian, for example, said it had no comment and referred L.A. Weekly to a local LAPD station. Krekorian held elected office in Burbank for years, and his Council District 2 in L.A. encompasses portions of AP's stronghold.
Authorities say cultural stigma and the community's silence have allowed AP to thrive. Which is exactly how a witness who helped the feds target Armenian Power — Victim M.M. — got himself into the mob's grip. The gangsters targeted him with an extortion gambit, squeezing him so hard that he ultimately broke — and went to the feds.
Victim M.M. got in deep with AP when he took out a "business loan" from Sharopetrosian's sister-in-law, according to court documents. But her brother-in-law soon assumed responsibility for Victim M.M.'s repayment, and the "vig" demanded by the mobster reeled out of control: Victim M.M.'s initial loan of about $95,000 snowballed into an arbitrarily fluctuating debt that at one point reached more than $160,000.
Horse turned Victim M.M. into his personal piggy bank, extracting money from him to pay off drug debts or people in prison, Estrada says. Sharopetrosian ultimately ordered the kidnapping of Victim M.M. in a Porsche Cayenne, orchestrating the abduction from his cell in Avenal State Prison in Kings County, where he was serving time for assault with a deadly weapon.
Horse used smuggled cellphones to communicate with AP members on the outside. Authorities believe that corrupt prison guards and family members are the key cellphone supply chains; in 2011 Governor Jerry Brown signed a law making it a criminal misdemeanor to smuggle a cellphone into prison.
But Sharopetrosian wasn't as cunning as he thought. Many of his prison calls were being recorded by the FBI and were played during the mobster's trial.
The recordings made clear that Darbinyan and Sharopetrosian spoke often about holding Victim M.M. for ransom, threatening M.M. with disfigurement and other bodily harm, according to the indictment. In the exchanges, the men speak Russian or Armenian — the two countries to which AP is deeply tied.
The FBI says they often speak their native languages to confuse law enforcement. But Darbinyan's meaning comes through loud and clear in the transcripts:
"You are lying. I'll jerk off on the liar's mother's head," Darbinyan tells Victim M.M. one day.
"If you get the brother upset on the inside, you make our dicks stand up on you and we are going to chase after you and it won't be good for you," the AP leader says in another threatening call.
The defense argued that this language was merely a form of Armenian "trash talk" — meant as a jab, not a threat — and that certain words or phrases have multiple meanings, so the translation was open to interpretation.
But in many of the taped calls, the AP's message is pretty clear.
"I will skin you … if that deposit does not happen by 6 o'clock," Sharopetrosian says. "I will not give a fuck. Good luck to you."
Everything changed for Victim M.M. as he stood outside a Blockbuster Video in Hollywood one day, and a guy asked him for a cigarette. M.M. turned to find Emil Airapetian, aka Clever, standing there with a gun — "one of the most violent, dangerous Armenian Power guys there is," Stebbins says.
Victim M.M. says Clever motioned for him to get inside a waiting Porsche Cayenne, within which were more AP members. One held a cellphone — on the other end was Sharopetrosian, delivering Victim M.M. a heightened new threat from inside Avenal State Prison. Horse said he'd see to it that Victim M.M.'s wife and young child were kidnapped and murdered.
After months of living in fear and under the mob's thumb, struggling to pay mounting extortion demands, Victim M.M., accompanied by his father, walked into the FBI's office to tell his story.
Little did he know that the FBI was already building a case against Armenian Power and had been hearing about his ordeal over wiretaps — for months.
Victim M.M. became a collaborator with the U.S. justice system. In return, the FBI protected him while it gathered evidence to crush Armenian Power's upper tiers. Law enforcement beefed up surveillance on key AP players and began providing cash for Victim M.M to pay Sharopetrosian in small installments, enough to buy time and keep him out of harm's way.
"We couldn't have kept that up for a long period of time," Stebbins says. "Every day they wanted money, every day they threatened his life."
Then one day, out of the blue, someone called from Armenia and offered to take responsibility for Victim M.M.'s debt. The FBI has a pretty good idea who it was but won't discuss it. For Victim M.M., his debt got paid and the unbearable pressure was off.
Meanwhile, on Feb. 16, 2011, more than 1,000 officers from federal and local agencies conducted a massive sweep, arresting more than 90 Armenian Power members and associates, Stebbins says. Most were taken to a secret airport hangar for interrogation and processing, and then bused to a U.S. Marshals facility.
Victim M.M. was relocated to an undisclosed location before trial, but eventually faced, in court, the very men he helped indict. But not before he suffered two heart attacks, flatlining once for more than a minute. Estrada points to the immense stress M.M. was under.
Although the FBI was operating wiretaps prior to Victim M.M.'s cooperation, investigators said he helped to fill in holes in the overarching Armenian Power narrative, allowing the FBI to lengthen the list of criminals it indicted.
Darbinyan — Hollywood Mike — was convicted of 57 counts, including extortion, bank fraud, identity theft and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Sharopetrosian was convicted of three counts, but that sentence is merely icing on the cake since he faces a 25-year prison sentence for a bank fraud scheme. Parsadanyan was convicted of 14 counts of bank fraud, with each count carrying a maximum of 30 years.
Parsadanyan's lawyer, Andrew Flier, maintains his client's innocence. He says Raffo has no gang ties, and is merely a small-business owner who was railroaded through to trial based on "guilt by association."
"When the fisherman are fishing for profit and collecting tuna, unfortunately, sometimes they get a dolphin in a net," Flier says of the investigators.
While these three face sentencing sometime this summer, Victim M.M. is trying to cope with his uneasy status as a known "snitch."
"Every day we're concerned, and he lives his life in a completely fearful manner," Stebbins says. "He's always careful about where he goes, who he goes with, what he tells people."
Despite being on the wrong side of an organized crime syndicate, it was Victim M.M.'s choice not to go into the federal witness protection program, where he would have been "disappeared" by the FBI. He decided not to leave behind his life as he knows it.
But the alternative is pretty bleak. He remains in danger, and among his daily safety precautions, Victim M.M. drives with at least 1½ car lengths in front of him so he has maneuvering room to evade pursuers if need be.
"This is a guy who was kidnapped at gunpoint — he's going to be scared for a long time, if not forever," Stebbins says.
Victim M.M. is right to be afraid. Throughout the FBI's investigation of Armenian Power, the mob and its associates committed kidnappings, extortions and murders, Stebbins says.
In 2009, through existing wiretaps, the FBI learned of a kidnapping in progress by Armenian Power associates, Estrada says. The target was Sandro Karmryan. It was the second harrowing time AP had kidnapped Karmryan, whose business is shipping cars to Russia, where he also owns a café.
During Karmryan's first abduction, his family in the L.A. area quietly paid $50,000 for his return.
"Then they decided they could kidnap him again, since he was sort of a 'patsy,' " Estrada says. "[He] couldn't do anything against them, didn't have ties to Armenian Power, wasn't a gang member, had no way to sort of protect himself."
One early morning in July 2009, Karmryan was again snatched, this time from a parking garage in Van Nuys. When his captors approached him, he took off running — only to be accidentally shot by a friend who was with him. The defendants grabbed the severely injured Karmryan, threw him in a van and took off, Estrada says.
For nearly five days, he was moved from stash house to stash house as the kidnappers used his debit card to withdraw money from ATMs across Southern California. His ransom was set at $1 million, a fee they hoped his family in Russia would pay, Estrada says. But his friend's gunshots had torn through Karmryan's abdomen, causing his intestines to rupture and leak fluid into his body. He was vomiting stool and bleeding severely internally, Estrada says, when the FBI tracked Karmryan to a marijuana grow house in Mira Loma. They found him in agony, blindfolded on an air mattress, with a pit bull standing guard over him.
Karmryan was rushed to surgery. What happened next was like something out of a horror movie.
"The [trauma] surgeon actually testified at trial," Estrada says. "He said everyone was in shock, had never seen what they saw, which was basically a fountain of liquid stool erupt from his stomach because of all the pressure that was building up for the five days."
Karmryan was hospitalized for nearly a month, undergoing multiple surgeries. His kidnappers each got 15 to 30 years in prison.
Vagan Adzhemyan, a reported Armenian Power associate and former wrestling champion in Armenia, received the steepest sentence and showed "no conscience or remorse," according to a statement from the judge.
If it appears that Armenian Power has a lot of "associates," it's because it does. In addition to kidnapping and extortion, Armenian Power dabbles in whatever makes money, from buying and growing high-end marijuana to bank fraud, Estrada says. AP looks for people with expertise in certain areas and cozies up to them — no matter what their allegiance.
"If Darbinyan wanted guns, he'd find a source of guns. … He'd befriend him, get involved with him, and suddenly he's got a source of guns coming in," Estrada explains. "Their reach was really wide, much wider than you'd ever see with a traditional gang."
The organization even made friends in federal court, in what Estrada calls an "unprecedented" breach.
In 2012, a female employee of the federal district court clerk's office in L.A. and her husband were arrested for disclosing confidential information to members and associates of Armenian Power. The couple was accused of accessing sealed federal court documents and tipping off defendants before they were to be arrested. The wife, Nune Gevorkyan, was sentenced to six months; the husband, Oganes Koshkaryan, got almost five years.
With nearly all 90 of the indicted AP members now either serving time or awaiting sentencing this summer, the prosecution feels confident that it took out the "biggest, baddest" criminals and put a serious kink in Armenian Power's ability to operate.
But they can't arrest everyone. And there's always a squad of up-and-comers waiting in the wings to take control of all that illegal income.
"Somebody else will rise to leadership positions, and they'll create new, better ways to do fraud schemes," Stebbins says. "And we'll have to catch up and find those people and figure out who they are and how to prosecute them again."
By Hayley Fox
LA Weekly


text:
If you're in the UK, this is a long weekend (big up the bank holiday!) so you've no excuse for not settling down to watch this week's best of YouTube.
The Black Keys, Raphael Saadiq, Grand Funk Railroad and a horror-themed return for Eminem. The perfectly random soundtrack to a perfectly sunny weekend… hopefully.
The Black Keys play Your Touch in a record store
Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach visits the UK in a matter of days to promote his excellent solo album. We have tickets for the London show, and we can't wait. In honour of his grimy blues prowess, here's The Black Keys making a sublime noise at an instore gig in Nashville. Chris Vinnicombe
Raphael Saadiq - Sure Hope You Mean It
Saadiq's excellent Motown-inspired album The Way I See It has been available for a while in the US, but it's only just landed in the UK. Here he is performing on this week's Later Live show, proving that he's got the look, the band and - most importantly - the songs to carry off his old-school soul routine with aplomb. Ben Rogerson
Grand Funk Railroad - I'm Your Captain (Closer To Home) - Shea Stadium
A sell-out concert at Shea...screaming girls...a record attendance...The Beatles are playing, right? Wrong-em, boyo. It was Grand Funk Railroad back in 1971. Although Rolling Stone magazine had tagged them "the worst band in the world," thereal truth is, theywere atight power trio who knew their way around a hit tune. And check out Don Brewer going ape behind the drums at the song's crescendo. Joe Bosso
Eminem does horror at 3 A.M.
3am is the third Relapse release, the video makes its debut today (Sat 2 May) and if this trailer is anything to go by, it's a real horror. Watch it, if you dare. Tom Porter


text:
- Home
- Government
- Boards & Commissions A - G
Boards & Commissions A - G
Board of Assessors
Here you can find information on the Board of Assessors.
Board of Health
The mission of the Board of Health is to assist the Health Division to protect, promote and sustain the health, well being and quality of life for residents, the community and the environment through health assessment, education and prevention.
Board of License Commissioners
The Board is charged with the responsibility of granting licenses and enforcing rules, regulations, local ordinances, and state laws pertaining to the licenses under their jurisdiction.
Board of Registrars
Learn information about the Board of Registrars.
Braintree Contributory Retirement System Board
Established in 1936 the Braintree Contributory Retirement System (BCRS) currently has over 700 active members, and in excess of 500 retirees.
Braintree Historical Commission (BHC)
The Braintree Historical Commission (BHC) is established in accordance with provisions of Chapter 40; Section 8D of the General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with all the powers and duties of a Historic District Commission in accordance with Chapter 40C of the General Laws of the Commonwealth.
Commission on Disabilities
The Commissions on Disability were established by vote of Town Meeting or City or Town Councils to promote the inclusion and integration of persons with disabilities in the activities, services and employment opportunities in the community.
Community Preservation Committee (CPC)
The Community Preservation Committee (CPC) is a seven member volunteer committee that is responsible for oversight of the Town's Community Preservation Act (CPA) program.
Conservation Commission
The Conservation Commission focuses on protection of resource areas such as wetlands and vernal pools, rivers and streams, and the wildlife that inhabits these areas.
DPW Advisory Board
The DPW Advisory Board hears all appeals on water, sewer, and trash bills; advises the Mayor on water, sewer, and trash rates; reviews the operations of the DPW as requested by the Mayor; and makes recommendations to the Mayor on the policies and procedures of the DPW.