text:
The people making grassland ecotourism work in Nebraska took lessons from Namibia.
BY DANIEL CLAUSEN | PHOTOS BY MICHAEL FORSBERG | THE NEW TERRITORY ISSUE 06 | PDF Version
Sarah Sortum leaned outside her tent and gazed at silhouettes of camelthorn trees backlit by the Milky Way. In southern Namibia, after the sunlight settles out of the evening sky, it gets dark. Dark in a way that, if you live within several miles of your nearest neighbor, is new. In May the unmistakable tail of Scorpio rises opposite the sunset. Antares, the red heart of the scorpion, almost pulses. To the south, the bright smudges of the Magellanic Clouds slowly circle. Now and then, a cough rings out: the call of barking geckos roughly the size of your thumb. Sometimes a hyena laughs.
NamibRand, Africa's first international dark sky reserve, stretches for hundreds of kilometers under a darkness unbroken by artificial light. At the tents or around the small campfire pits in the center of the communal deck, deep space feels surprisingly close. This kind of encounter with nature fuels NamibRand's enterprise of emptiness.
Sortum and fellow travelers were gathering intel for their own flyover tourism operations in Nebraska, Kansas and the Dakotas. In the last five years, almost 30 tourism providers have joined the Great Plains Ecotourism Coalition. Sortum, who runs Calamus Outfitters the Nebraska Sandhills, hopes that ecotourism — which has buoyed the economy of Namibia with as much as 14% of its total GDP — will gain a foothold in her region.
Sortum jumped at the chance to go to Africa several years ago because of the mystique. "I thought of Africa, and I thought 'big.' Big animals, big predators," she said. "I thought, we can't compete with that." But then her favorite day wasn't seeing those big-ticket animals. It was simply a day long outing, with a great guide in a beautiful place, where she got to see the subtle, beautiful connections that create an ecosystem, a unique place on the planet.
And she realized something. "We didn't see anything that wasn't comparable to what we have back home," she said. "That's when it clicked in my head: We can do this here."
In Namibia, a young nation on the southwestern tip of Africa, the nonprofit NamibRand is the one of the most successful of several ecotourism destinations. Nils Odendaal became CEO of NamibRand in 2008. He's a rosy-cheeked, cheerful-looking man who in another life might have been pressured to play Santa at office parties. One night at a popular pub in Windhoek last summer, he played the part of a cheerful burgher. He encouraged one of his guests to order the kudu. "Not as gamey as oryx," he smiled. He would know.
As the conversation progressed, he let his guests know what to anticipate on his reserve. It wasn't about elephants or rhinos. It was about the whole landscape. He explained that when talking to booking agents, he often encouraged them to put NamibRand late on the list. "Let them get the wildlife bug out of their system," he explained. "Then they can come down to us and see the big picture."
As a graduate fellow of the Center for Great Plains Studies (CGPS), I traveled here to see firsthand how CGPS connects ecotourism's success in Africa with helping entrepreneurs stateside. The center's director, Rick Edwards, first came here with the World Wildlife Foundation in 2007 and was impressed by the draw to a region so like the Great Plains. "The first similarity one sees is the dry, lightly-populated grasslands used for cattle ranching, but, on deeper inspection, one notices how similar the people are, in their care for and love of their land and environment," he said.
"Come to see lions, and we will show you beetles," could be one slogan of the reserve. There's no game hunting at NamibRand— it's all about observing. One morning in May 2016, I followed a guide, Sebastian, with a group of seven other tourists on a multi-day walking tour of the Tok-Tokkie Trail. Meals are catered, and cots are set up each night for sleeping under the stars (or the bright full moon, in our case). Backpacks are unnecessary.
Sebastian is a practical ecologist, and he taught us to read the apparently empty landscape. Walking through the sandy dunes, he often stopped in the sand to show us tracks the size of a pencil eraser. They surrounded the nearly invisible burrow of a spider he claimed is the size of a tarantula. Using a stem of grass, he opened the spider's trapdoor—nothing more than a thin layer of sand grains held together by web. Next he used a magnet to pull the iron out of the sand, explaining the geology of the region. He then pointed out the many long-legged, black-shelled beetles scurrying across the red sand: the tok-tokkies for which the tour company is named. They need no surface water: They absorb water droplets from occasional fog banks. Nor do the gemsbok or oryx, which get all the moisture they need from the hardy deep-rooted grasses and other plants they browse.
People travel from around the world to stay at NamibRand. On my trip, fellow visitors included retired professors from Edinburgh, a midlevel Stuttgart manager and his wife, and honeymooners from a coastal US city. They pay handsomely, though not extravagantly, to stay in semi-permanent tent colonies, or to hike for several days through the reserve to pre-pitched, open-air campsites. It's a safari without the guns. For those who don't want to hike, there are game-viewing drives, multi-course meals and gin and tonic sundowners to set the pace of the day. And for locals, who pay a discounted fee, one corner of NamibRand sports a self-catered guest house. Children from the nearby village come through week by week to the reserve's internationally recognized environmental education camp. The group of owners of nearly half a million acres — once more than a dozen ranches for sheep and cattle — now all make their living raising wildlife.
Even in dry years, wildlife is a consistent bumper crop in Namibia. The recently aired BBC documentary Planet Earth II shot hours of footage at NamibRand. One episode dramatized the hundred-kilometer commute of sandgrouse to watering holes, braving the acrobatic predations of pale chanting goshawks. David Attenborough's grandfatherly English narration enlightened viewers to the drama of the arid grassland ecosystem. And though Odendaal plays down the big animals, visitors to NamibRand will see springbok, oryx, zebra, ostrich, klipspringer, dik-dik and endemic dune larks, sometimes all in a single morning. Giraffe roam the area. Harder to see are the predators: small, wary African wild cats, cheetahs or hyenas, even leopards.
But even when the large mammals duck out of sight, NamibRand breathes with life. Shepherd's trees cast thin shadows. Red dunes mark the horizon, while ancient, arid mountains cast their shadows across a valley with barely a single dirt road. At the foot of the dunes, mysterious rings in the sand called fairy circles polka-dot the landscape. At noon the silence is so complete that birds' wingbeats boom like drums.
Odendaal explained that British and South African soldiers were awarded "empty" Namibian land for their service in World War II. But there was a reason the land was empty: it was dry too often to support agriculture. In good years the grass was hip-deep. In bad years it was nibbled down to isolated crowns of grass. The South African government drilled thousands of wells, but the land was still marginal at best. Eventually, Karakul sheepskins became the most consistent commodity. The sheep were adapted to the harsh conditions.
The sheepskin market crashed in the early '90s after exposés on the cruelty of skinning day-old lambs and the fall of the Soviet Union, the skins' biggest market. That's when a contrary German Namibian named Albi Brückner had an idea. He bought a bankrupt ranch at the edge of the Namib desert, in what was being called "the bankruptcy belt." The desert was a new national park. He convinced a few well-heeled friends to buy neighboring ranches. "It was all philanthropy at the start," Odendaal said. Brückner convinced his friends to sign an agreement to manage the land for wild animals. They would keep the wells. These would be watering holes. They would remove internal fences. Instead of farm labor, they hired game wardens. And eventually they started offering tours.
Lee and Murray Tindall are the current NamibRand rangers. They live in an old colonial-era ranch house with their children. There's a leaky water tank, a beautiful succulent garden, and an open porch full of the horns and found skulls of various African wildlife. It's not unlike a working ranch in western Nebraska. Murray's main jobs are enforcement (mostly keeping tourists with faulty information from setting up their tents on the roadside) and conservation science. There's an annual game count, and there are still fences to remove. NamibRand regularly hosts scientists from the University of Namibia and around the world. While the work is demanding and isolated, the life of adventure is exactly what they want, and their children grow up in a world where giraffe and cheetah sightings are almost routine.
The rules of the reserve stipulate that hosts called concessionaires provide the services, and pay a per-visitor fee to NamibRand. This system has given the nonprofit a budget surplus. The concessionaires also have individual agreements with the landowners, who earn what amounts to tourism rent. And they've decided this is a premium neighborhood. There is a maximum guest capacity of one tourism bed per 10 hectares (about 24 acres).
The concessionaires get to keep their profits, but they have to meet strict ecological guidelines. They've learned that such green sensibilities are themselves a selling point. Tourist activities now include tours of the solar power array, the garden and compost heaps, and education about water conservation (greywater goes to trees, while low-flow showers shut off for the day after several liters.) Much of the food is local, including meat from animals culled from burgeoning herds.
The tourists come and go, enjoying up-close encounters with exotic animals and plants, relaxing in the solitude of the open spaces. But the ecotourism industry is quietly working towards sustainable development for Namibians. At NamibRand, one concessionaire called Wolwedans has 100 full-time staff. Some have careers traditionally associated with tourism: guides, drivers, waitresses and cooks. But in a place so far off the beaten path, the ranch needs many additional jobs: carpenters, laundry staff, and a master tailor to build and maintain the tents. Gardeners to grow significant amounts of food for both tourists and the staff. Clerks, secretaries, marketing professionals, and bookkeepers to run the business end. And the reserve hires conservation scientists, game wardens, and other natural resources professionals. It also hosts a world-class environmental education center: NaDEET (Namib Desert Environmental Trust). Founded by Viktoria Keding, the camp educates locals about sustainability and living in the arid country through hands on activities. They are booked solid every week they are open and hire interns and workers from across Namibia and the globe.
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On her trip to NamibRand, Sarah Sortum began thinking about how to adapt NamibRand's approach to her own plot of open country. Sortum saw parallels between Odendaal's paradise and the land in Nebraska's Sandhills, where she runs Calamus Outfitters with her parents and brother on the Switzer Ranch. Ecologically, both regions are dry grasslands. Both are full of sandy, wind-blown soils and grassy dunes. And while Namibia's biodiversity is admittedly higher, the Plains also host megafauna with nearly mythic status. Mule deer and, increasingly, American bison on ranches roam over the mixed grass prairie. Pronghorn antelope huff warnings to one another and flare their white rump hair in warning. Swift foxes, badgers, several species of prairie dogs and even the perilously endangered black-footed ferret are present on the Great Plains. Burrowing owls — fierce, short and quizzical — stand watch at their dens, and northern harriers and red-tailed hawks are everyday sights. Lately, mountain lions have been working their way east in Nebraska. There are whispered rumors of elk returning soon. In other parts of the Great Plains, conservationists are placing bets on which month they will first find evidence of wolves. And on moonless nights the Milky Way is so bright it seems to cast a shadow, while the glowing Andromeda galaxy is easily visible if you know where to look.
As for the soldiers in Namibia, land for the Switzer Ranch came at a low monetary cost. The Switzer family originally claimed the ranch under the 1904 Kincaid Act, which allowed larger claims in western Nebraska than the national Homestead Act of 1862. The idea was to provide enough land base for ranching in the arid Sandhills, which couldn't support row crops.
Today, irrigation and other technologies have led to the production of more cattle than ever. Yet increasing efficiency and market consolidation has reduced the need for labor. It's hard to find a job in the Sandhills. The population peaked in the 1920s, and most of the same families still own the land.
The Switzers have managed their ranch for five generations. Bruce and Sue Ann Switzer still work the cattle on horseback and, like most cowboys, are proud of their working heritage. They love the land, and so do their children.
So when Bruce and Sue Ann's son, Adam, wanted to come back to live on the ranch in 2002, he started a hunting outfitting company, Calamus Outfitters. In a matter of a few years, the business grew include to more year-round, family-oriented activities. His sister Sarah and her family relocated to the ranch as well. They've renovated buildings for tourist lodging, which fill up quickly during deer season, but even quicker when the prairie chickens are dancing at their leks.
At the Switzer ranch, Sortum's family has brought what they can of this model to the Great Plains. Sortum is tall, with dirty-blond hair cut in a practical bob. She wears square-toed cowboy boots and a tan Carhartt duck vest. At the ranch, she hosts guests in a repurposed schoolhouse. She looks the part of any rancher out here in Burwell. But like Brückner, she's convinced that ranching for wildlife is the best use of the land. The tourists come to see the Sandhills and their unique wildlife. White pelicans with 6-foot wingspans fly in formation over the local reservoir, watched carefully by bald eagles perched in cottonwood trees. In March, guests get up before dawn, pile into an old school bus and drive out to a prairie chicken lek to watch the birds' elaborate mating dances.
But Nebraska is not a perfect match to Namibia in history, resources, or ecology. And so Calamus Outfitters is a different business than NamibRand. For one thing, as Sortum proudly pointed out, Calamus is still a working ranch in addition to a tourism site. That's helped in several ways to earn points with the local community. "People were hesitant," Sortum said, choosing her words. Bu, as they hire local kids during the busy seasons, and as more tourism money flows into the local economy, people have embraced both tourism and wildlife management — including setting fire to grasslands to mimic past ecological management by Native Americans and support the growth of native plants adapted to the practice.
"When we did our first prescribed burn, our neighbors were pleading with us," Sortum said. "They wanted to rent the pasture. Anything so that we wouldn't burn it." But ranchers are practical people, and the results were clearly evident: a healthier pasture than ever before, with more forage and more wildlife. Now they help neighbors with their burn plans and have a large cooperative crew that helps with burns around the area.
To Americans, ecotourism is exotic: It means going to Africa or Costa Rica to see the rainforest, some rare Antarctic bird, elephants. This nature tourism strikes a mournful tone: "See it before it's gone." When Americans go on ecotourism vacations, they go to other countries. They see their own ecosystems as either not special or simply lost.
But to Namibians, ecotourism is about caring for the ecosystems around them. It's tourism with a green sensibility — recycling, renewable energy, sustainable development. Odendaal even sees tourism that's not environmentally sustainable as parasitic: A long-term ecotourism business plan should be tied to the growth of the ecosystem. At NamibRand, the ecosystem is still growing. Murray told us that NamibRand has yet to reach carrying capacity for most species. Sortum and others like her in the Great Plains Ecotourism Coalition are betting on this type of growth for the Great Plains.
In the U.S., language describing rural areas still often depicts nature as an obstacle. Weather has to be "combatted," landscapes "improved" and resources "developed." Out of necessity, it often centers on markets and scarcity. The archetypal hero is the lonely cowboy, willing to transgress society's rules for its own good.
Calamus Outfitters resists this trend. The cowboy is a part of their story — but it's a gentler cowboy, a cowboy poet, not a gunslinger. And another piece of the American myth is in the foreground: the wide-open spaces and the earth beyond tame city life. Their products and goals overlap: to raise their kids in the Sandhills, to keep the ranch going, to sustain the wildlife and local environment that underpin it all. Bit by bit, they and others like them are working toward those goals.
But is it possible that a business like Calamus Outfitters could bridge political divides over land use? The business faces a different cultural challenge than does NamibRand.
Both Nebraska and Namibia are sparsely populated. Complex colonial histories give both a heritage of political tension between indigenous peoples and the politically powerful settlers. And one result is that most land is privately owned. There is little governmental control over much of the Sandhills region or over much of the arid grasslands of Namibia. But in Nebraska, the large-scale cooperation between landowners that created NamibRand has yet to materialize.
"It's hard to be a prophet in your hometown," said Sortum. While at least one neighbor also manages the land with a mind to conservation, many Nebraskans are suspicious of tourists and tourism. And most Americans are suspicious, somewhat paradoxically, of private tourism in particular. There is a growing movement in the West toward privatization of federal public lands, even though the reason many of these lands became public is that they couldn't support agriculture. Yet when land that is already private turns to tourism, charges of "aristocracy" begin to fly. Talk quickly turns to "land grabs" and being "buffaloed."
On the other side of the political spectrum, ecotourism faces opposition from some environmentalists due to a general suspicion of commerce. Environmental politics often comes along with hostility toward business. Though some Silicon Valley progressives might have big social entrepreneurial visions, most conservation groups are nonprofits. Of these, only a few, like the Nature Conservancy, control land. Generally, environmentalists focus their efforts on grassroots advocacy and lobbying for changes in government policy on public land.
Then there is the contentious question of government. In Namibia the government designated the geographic area encompassing NamibRand as the Greater Sossusvlei-Namib Landscape. One of several landscape-level co-management plans, it consists of state-owned National Parks, tribally managed Communal Conservancies and private landowners and cooperatives like NamibRand. Together, stakeholders work through consensus to manage the land for biodiversity and ecological sustainability as well as economic development. It's as if Badlands National Park, the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, the many indigenous sovereign nations and local ranchers co-ops all had a say in the management of the "Greater Black Hills-Pine Ridge Landscape."
In the United States, such a partnership might seem impossibly distant. But Namibia again might offer a model in local people doing more with scarce resources. The country faces its own set of challenges. Apartheid was the law of the land until independence from South Africa in 1990. Racism and its effects are pernicious and persistent. Drought is a constant presence, and when there isn't too little water, there is too much. Influence from global powers, especially China, worries locals. Corruption is a real problem. Development often seems to present itself as a trade-off between people and ecology.
And yet there is a real sense of optimism in Namibia. Perhaps it's the youth of the population and the size the landscapes. Anything seems possible here. Residents of Windhoek might see the president in the grocery store. Access to national lawmakers is fairly open. And in a society with so much change, many people do much with little. In the shantytowns of corrugated tin shacks called blikkiesdorp, barbecue shops abound. Local ingenuity finds ways to patch shoes with handmade recycled paper. Opportunities are limited, and many people are underemployed. But many with some capital and access feel a social responsibility to the community. People are hungry for knowledge, for ideas. And success — for some — feels within reach. One local man spending a Sunday afternoon in the park with his children, when approached, offered a high-level analysis of the Namibian political situation. He traced a development project to its likely source in tribal nepotism. He explained what he saw as the Chinese gaining power through infrastructure building — but he wasn't despondent. He was engaged. Enthusiastic. Insightful. A prime example of the generation of leadership who came of age after independence.
Sortum visited South Africa and Namibia last fall to attend guide school. Last May, a class of undergraduate Nebraska students spent several weeks touring Namibia as part of an ecology class. This April, the annual Great Plains Symposium will focus on Ecotourism, and Odendaal is expected to be a speaker. The idea of a more permanent exchange program has been tossed around.
"Facts and information are good," Sortum said. "But really, people want to have a story—to see the connections between those facts and themselves." She intends to further hone her skills in interpreting the landscape. And that's paid off. The business has grown steadily, in part as the ongoing national controversy over the Keystone XL pipeline drove awareness about the ecologically fragile and globally unique Sandhills ecosystem. And locally, word of mouth has been a major contributor to visitors. There's optimism in the Sandhills, too, even if it flows through different channels.
Part of this energy comes from going to African grasslands. The exchange — Namibia to Nebraska and back — is invigorating for both sides. Nebraskans are learning to see their grasslands through a different lens. Namibians are proud that they've got something to teach the American heartland and that they are getting interest from a place so far away. For a Namibian, after all, a bison is far more exotic than a giraffe.
"One of my proudest moments was when Nils came to visit us several years back," Sortum tells me. "I knew where he came from, what he had seen. But we went out to see the prairie chickens dance, and on the way back, he said, 'That was one of the greatest wildlife spectacles I've ever seen.' So you know, what we have here, it's got just as much mystique as anywhere else in the world." ψ
Daniel Clausen is finishing his PhD in American Literature at the University of Nebraska, where he captains the Great Plains Graduate Fellows. To procrastinate, he posts woodworking photos on Instagram as pequodworkshop and plans fly fishing road trips.
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text: Smarter social media engagement can drive customer loyalty The customer remains king and the internet is increasingly where he exercises his 'royal prerogative' – especially when it comes to buying cars. It makes sense therefore for ambitious car dealerships to look far more closely at how their customers and prospects are interacting with them via social media channels. They must use these new channels to develop a better understanding of them and ultimately to build customer loyalty and satisfaction. Aligning Customer eXperience Lifecycle Management or CXLM, with social media programmes to engender a 'customer centric' model is, according to sector analysts such as Ernst & Young and Tata Consultancy Services, both an opportunity and a challenge for the automotive retail sector. There is not just IT-inspired hype, we believe there is a genuine opportunity for dealers to align CXLM with their social media interactions with customers but they must approach it with two-way communication in mind for concrete success. First up, they need to buy-in to the CXLM premise and agree that a customer retained long-term will be worth significantly more (through several cycles of repeat business and servicing) than tracking down and winning brand new customers. Automotive OEMs may well be running digital advertising campaigns online, but regular 'online sociability' by dealers offers many more 'touch points' with the customer as management consultancy McKinsey has pointed out. The appeal of social media, is that car dealers can converse with their customers inside a 'digital comfort zone' that they are very unlikely to unsubscribe from. Dealers grounded in traditional soft-sell/hard-sell models of customer engagement, for whom the intricacies of social media are not natural, will need to think again. The view that social media interaction can contort and weaken sales messages needs to be junked also. Even dealerships that have established social media plans will probably need to revise them to bring them into line with CXLM goals - the two must be firmly aligned. There is work to do here: social media big-hitters like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, are constantly being refreshed. New features are being added by each channel and new links to other channels are being forged all the time. Dealers will need to keep abreast of their chosen channels and have a plan to take advantage of new features as they go mainstream. Social marketing can support dealers' efforts to build market awareness relatively cost-effectively. It doesn't cost much for dealers to invite customers to become friends and contacts on social networking platforms, or to create interest groups that connect them into relevant interest groups like car restoration in Porsche's case, localised traffic reporting – tapping into preferences that target customers express in their social media profiles. People reveal a great deal about themselves in their chosen social media channels. New additions to family, a new job, adopting new outdoor pursuits or moving to a new area are all goods triggers for you to be in touch. CXLM is predicated on taking the longer view, and should recognise that a customer's attitude toward their recently-purchased car will change over time. They may immediately like some of the new car's driving characteristics but be indifferent about others extolled by OEMs and dealers alike. Again, customers may share this information through their social media postings, providing near real-time 'field data' on satisfaction levels associated with a new model. OEMs may well be running their own sentiment-based data analyses based on what people are saying about new models via social media so get them to share their findings with you. Customers are likely to be wary of interaction that seems impersonal, inappropriate, or plain pushy. Dealers who post marketing guff posing as friendly entreaties will miss the opportunity. They'll just get bounced and a valuable source of feedback will be cut-off. This means that dealerships have to think creatively about what they can offer. Showrooms, for instance, may be an asset to be factored-in to CXLM programmes as 'clicks move to bricks'. For example, social media channel-based feedback can help determine the right day and time of the week for best take-up of family-friendly showroom events - providing vital opportunities for customers to deepen their link to you. Savvy dealers should also review the data they already get access to. Can any of this be usefully shared with customers, providing valuable insights into car manufacturers' product plans and new model timelines? It is worth also thinking about the opportunities created by the Connected Car of the near future. There is no doubt that the Connected Car has the potential to offer up a mix of data which will help establish a better understanding of drivers and (probably) their passengers through their 'infotainment' consumption and driving habits for example. It might also be able to relay its operational data direct to dealerships, creating an opportunity for them to offer preventative maintenance, ahead of a potential more expensive and more inconvenient break-down. We believe people are willing to give up data privacy if they see a concrete benefit from doing so. Provision of preventative maintenance services is one good example of where the benefit will be clear to some of your customer-base.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
If you are just starting out
Or your business has been around but it's struggling
This article is for you.
If you keep on doing the same thing
And you keep getting the same result
Then you need to change
If you want to get a different result
Old business school teaches entrepreneurs to come up with business ideas
Then to write business plans to apply for funding
With the money in their bank accounts, to then hire people and implement their business plans.
The problem with this approach is that you make too many assumptions
And the other word for assumptions is guesses
You must guess you know your customers
But you have not sold a single product to those people
You must guess your product is solving a real customer problem
But you can only be sure your product is solving a real problem when customers actually buy the product
You must assume you know your channels, how you are going to get your product in your customers' hands
The problem is that you are only a startup
And a startup knows very little about its customers, its channels, its partners.
If you are a welder, and you decide to follow your passion and make security gates
You assume homeowners are going to love your product, because you believe your product is the best thing in the market
You write your business plan and submit it to funders.
They give you the money and you rent your new workshop & sign a 5 year lease
You buy welding machines tools and the materials that you will need
You start making security gates
Opening day arrives, and you open your doors for business
No one comes. Or if they come, they leave without buying a thing
Month end is coming and workers must be paid
The bank wants its instalment, rent must be paid.
That is big trouble.
Enter the new school of starting businesses.
You still start with a business idea, however, instead of writing a business plan, you build or make the product on a small scale.
It's called a prototype. It is the best example of your product
It could be a security gate, confectionery, bio fuel, it could be anything.
The same goes for services too, you just need to be a little creative.
Use the little money you have to make a prototype of your product
Put a price on the product, show it to your customers.
Listen to their feedback, see how they react
The best feedback is when people vote with their wallets.
If they are buying, then you have hit the jackpot.
You have just found a way of making money with your idea.
And this is what every startup should be doing, looking for a consistent way to make money with their ideas.
When this happens, you are ready for funding. Funders will fight over you.
This is the right time to build your bankable business plan.
This is what successful startups do differently.
They focus on getting their first customer.
They focus on a few people and use their feedback to make better products.
It is easier to build something that 10 people love, than to build something that the whole neighbourhood loves.
If you can delight 10 customers with your product, it will be easier to delight 20, 40, 80, 160 and so on.
Before you realise it, the whole neighbourhood will be eating out of your hand.
Email comments to firstname.lastname@example.com
Whatsapp: +27 79 070 4395
Twitter handle @tmkconsult.


text:
Player Name
NAC / NamedAfterColor
Cameron Pink
Large Male Nurse
Hulk of a Nurse: Mr.Pink is a massive man and can use this to his advantage, but his size often comes with its own pitfalls when calming injured or frightened patients.
Slow and Steady: Cameron takes his time with tasks, making sure it's done right, not fast. Unfortunately, this doesn't work out so well when time is of the essence.
Hunger Games: A nervous eater, Mr.Pink can calm his nerves some when he has a snack, but often cannot focus when he hasn't eaten in a few hours.
- Medical: 8
- Persuasion: 4
- Academics: 2 (Latin)
- Athletics: 9
- Perception: 5
- Melee Weapons: 9
- Physical Defense: 9
- Mental Defense: 4
- Body: 6
- Mind: 4
- Action Points: 3
- Load Limit: 12
- XP Held: 1
- XP Used: 8
This is only for equipment that you have unlocked using XP and that boosts your skill. List it below, along with what skill it increases, by how much, and the XP cost.
- Sedatives | 3 injectors, Medical roll of 4 to subdue a target | +0 | 1 XP
- Specially Built Sledge| Melee | +2 | 4xp 1 lp
- Physical Defense 101 | PDF | +1 | 2 xp
- Foundation Boots| Athletics | +1 | 1 xp
- One gold wedding wring on a fine chain necklace. He wears this under his clothing.
- 3 Generic Brand Granola Bars : Warning, contains nuts.
- 1 Small Medical Kit (Gauze, band-aids, disinfecting spray, latex gloves,vial of penicillin, ect.) ((Fluff only, doesn't add to his medical stat))
- 1 Cell Phone
- 1 Penlight
- 1 Portable Black Light
- 1 Journal
Personal History
Mr.Pink was employed for many years at a prison hospital in order to discourage the prisoners from attempting to go to the sick bay just to see the "Pretty nurses". As an added benefit to discouraging inmate visits, he also turned out to be an excellent nurse, managing to keep calm under pressure and able to subdue the most violent of patients. He garnered the attention of The Foundation after Class D was overheard commenting on how "This fucking Hulk-Nurse" managed to single handedly barricade the infirmary during a full scale prison riot, no doubt saving the lives of the majority of the medical staff and patients trapped inside. Mr.Pink was tracked down and offered a position, and received additional medical training under The Foundation's budget.
Cameron Pink is a massive man of over 6ft 8 in height with a shaved head and a distinct lack of blinking. With a such a large stature it is a surprise that his temperament is fairly reserved back and even gentle when he's tending to a patient. He is quite capable of making sure that there is to be no confusion that his name is not "A fucking girl's name."


text:
Allan Kingdom, Lizzo lead off July's Twin Cities rap roundup
This month's rap roundup features new tracks from some of Twin Cities hip-hop's biggest names and some of its most deserving upstarts.
Allan Kingdom—"Globe"
Album: Peanut Butter Prince
Label: First Gen.
My favorite song from Allan's new EP, Peanut Butter Prince, and a reminder of how complete Allan is as a songwriter. He's long since established his ability to fluidly transition between singing, rapping, and sing-rapping, but on the romantic, tropical "Globe," that talent is particularly infectious and mesmerizing.
Drelli—"Drelli Elliott"
Album: Hey Drelli
Label: Swag bOP
Drelli's new EP, Hey Drelli, is short and sweet, swiftly establishing his colorful flows, nonchalant hooks, and quirky humor. Yes, musically, he shares a lot in common with his friend and frequent collaborator Allan Kingdom, but there's also something unique about his playful energy—see Hey Drelli opener "Drelli Elliott."
J. Plaza—"Elevate"
Album: Single
Label: Self-released
The best-known member of Minneapolis group FreeWifi absolutely spazzes, trickily changing flows and fast-rapping in a two-minute burst that serves as a reminder that he's one of Minnesota's most technically talented rappers.
Lexii Alijai—"Elm Street"
Album: Unofficial remix
Label: Self-released
Last month, music lost not one but two young rap stars to gun violence on the same day: Florida's XXXTentacion and Pittsburgh's Jimmy Wopo. Here, St. Paul's Lexii Alijai remixes the latter's signature song, the propulsive, piano-pounding "Elm Street," menacingly rapping about her ability to steal your man: "Bitches be boo'd up with they dude while I be texting they man/ I'm out here wrecking every home and redirecting they plans."
Album: Single
Label: Nice Life/Atlantic
The irresistibly fun, neon new single from Lizzo is thematically self-explanatory, as the Minneapolis-launched rapper and singer ensures you there's no discrimination in her boy-craziness: "I like big boys, itty bitty boys, Mississippi boys, inner city boys"—stuff like that.
Lucien Parker—"Common Knowledge"
Album: Chapter VII: Mephoria
Label: Self-released
Minneapolis' Lucien Parker is gearing up to drop the final installment in his "chapter series," Chapter VII: Mephoria, which will include the sleek, house-influenced "Common Knowledge."
Tae Dinero—"The Big Ticket 2"
Album: Single
Label: Self-released
St. Paul's resurgent Tae Dinero normally makes hard, intimidating street rap, so his Kevin Garnett-referencing "The Big Ticket 2"—a conversational, heartfelt song with a gorgeous piano beat— is a change of pace. Here, Dinero reflects on his years of street living and remembers friends doing calendars' worth of prison time.
Tay the Air Nomad—"Dope"
Album: Single
Label: Saucelord
"This that brand new Nomad," goes the chorus of Tay the Air Nomad's "Dope." There's actually a bunch of brand new Nomad, as he's released a handful of songs in the past month, but "Dope" is my favorite, a sunny funk-rap jam that reminds me of Chance the Rapper's "Good Ass Intro." And I generally like anything that reminds me of "Good Ass Intro."
Taylor J—"84"
Album: Single
Label: Scenious Entertainment
Former Minnesota Vikings superstar Randy Moss will officially be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame next month, so Taylor J's Moss-inspired "84" arrives as a timely tribute. Taylor also has a big show this Saturday, opening for Fetty Wap at Detroit's Saint Andrew's Hall.
Tomorrow Genius ft. Gunna—"Maximized"
Album: Single
Label: Self-released
Minneapolis' Tomorrow Genius has a notable collaboration on his hands with "Maximized," featuring Gunna, ascendant star of Young Thug's YSL Records. Tomorrow and Gunna prove to be a genuinely complementary pair over the fast, tingly trap beat.


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The CBS Evening News is the flagship daily evening television news program of CBS News, the news division of the CBS television network in the United States. The network has broadcast the program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963. The program is currently anchored by Scott Pelley on weekdays, and on weekends by Jeff Glor. It is broadcast from the CBS Broadcast Center at 524 West 57th Street in New York City.
|CBS Evening News
|Release Date
|Dec 20, 1997
|Production Company
|Melampo Cinematografica, Miramax, StudioCanal
|Production Countries
|Plot Keywords
|italy, riddle, loss of loved one, bookshop, self sacrifice, mass murder, concentration camp, fascism, world war ii, love of one's life, deportation, jew persecution, nazi, national socialism, charade, riding a bicycle, story teller, concentration camp prisoner, dying and death,


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Vietnam pledges to keep up efforts to promote civil, political rights
The UN Human Rights Committee held a session on March 11-12 in Geneva, Switzerland to review Vietnam's third national report on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Deputy Minister of Justice Nguyen Khanh Ngoc (C) (Source: VNA)
Geneva (VNA) – The UN Human Rights Committee held a session on March 11-12 in Geneva, Switzerland to review Vietnam's third national report on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
The 20-strong Vietnamese delegation to the event was led by Deputy Minister of Justice Nguyen Khanh Ngoc.
The delegation's participation in the session demonstrated Vietnam's seriousness in fulfilling its obligation of reporting its enforcement of international commitments.
Dialogue at the session is expected to help members of the UN Human Rights Committee understand more about the Vietnamese Government's commitments, the country's achievements as well as challenges and difficulties facing it in promoting and projecting human rights.
On this occasion, Deputy Minister Ngoc granted an interview to Vietnam News Agency correspondents in Geneva about new progresses and remarkable achievements that Vietnam has made in promoting and protecting human rights, including civil and political rights since the second national report was submitted to the committee in 2002.
Acquiring the committee's recommendations, Vietnam has paid great attention to law making, with many important laws related to civil and political rights promulgated or revised. Notably, the 2013 Constitution marked a breakthrough in awareness of human rights and the responsibility of the State, organisations and individuals in recognizing, respecting, protecting and ensuring human rights and citizen's rights in all fields.
Subsequently, many legal documents have been issued to institutionalize the 2013 Constitution, which have recognised most civil and political rights, while mechanisms to ensure and promote those rights have step by step been enforced. The effect of those moves can be seen clearly in reality, such as the harmonious co-existence of various religions in the country with mutual respect and non-discrimination. The press in Vietnam has also enjoyed unceasingly development, serving as the forum for social organisations and the people as well as a tool to safeguard the rights of the people and society. The litigation process has been improved towards increasing transparency with respect for and protection of human rights.
The deputy justice minister stressed that the improvements in both law making and enforcement are important legal factors to ensure that every one has opportunities and favourable conditions to exercise their human rights.
Regarding the working session with the UN Human Rights Committee, Ngoc shared that the inter-sectoral delegation had informed the committee member of Vietnam's achievements and rejected inaccurate information of several organisations and individuals about this issue.
The UN committee had appreciated the delegation's participation and dialogue in the session, he stated, adding that they had also recognised the encouraging results made by Vietnam in implementing the ICCPR.
According to him, like other developing countries, Vietnam is facing a lot of difficulties in implementing the ICCPR such as limited capacity of law making and enforcement, a lack of resources for social welfare and development, and the impact of global issues and non-traditional security challenges.
Therefore, the country hopes for continued cooperation from the UN committee. It will also work out a specific plan to implement the committee's recommendations, with the priority given to continuing to build a law-ruled Sate, intensifying law and judicial reform and effectively implementing legal regulations, he added.-VNA


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Please be advised, all NEW ENROLLMENTS entering the District will be enrolled in our Online SchoolsPLP program at this time.
Digital History: Resources for U.S. history including text, exhibits, timelines, and primary documents.
Access to a variety of languages and information about countries abroad.
Links to interesting sites of any kind. Be sure to check this one out!
Math games, puzzles, lessons, and practice.
Pictures, stories, information, games, podcasts, and more from NASA.
Facts about animals, people, and places through videos, pictures, stories, games and activities.
TeachersFirst: Reading suggestions separated by grade level.
International Reading Association: Top books chosen by young adults (grades 7-12) in 2007.


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Yesterday EFCC withdrew its application for a stay of execution on the court order granted on April 6th to unfreeze her money. The court afterwards gave Mrs Jonathan unrestrained access to the unfrozen $5.8 million. However this morning, the antigraft agency approached the court with a fresh application for an order of interim forfeiture of the funds. The EFCC alledged that the money was proceeds from financial crimes carried out by Mrs Jonathan.
EFCC wants the sum forfeited to the Federal Government pending the determination of the motion on notice. The presideing judge, Justice Mojisola Olatoregun on receiving the application, granted the request of the EFCC.


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Fly Forbo 2017/2018 competition winner
The design balances the brutalist building, designed in 1974 by Nutter Stevenson and Partners, with bold colors and graphics that are reminiscent of the supergraphics of the 1970s, while breathing contemporaneity and new life into the space.
"By working closely with Forbo and Russell we were able to realize a rather complex design and installation. Understanding the capabilities of the Marmoleum floor covering and the installer was paramount to achieving the outcome and a true example of the benefit of communication and collaboration among all parties."
|Christopher Frederick Jones
|Project name
|Queensland University
|Flooring contractor
|Russell Barnett


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Less than two years ago, the US set up another puppet government in the mid-east this time in the state of Iraq when following substantial US pressure, on August 14, 2014 then prime minister al-Maliki agreed to stepped down and be replaced with Haider al-Abadi. Today, the regime is in chaos and the system set up in Iraq by the US is collapsing when protesters loyal to popular Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr breached the heavily fortified Green Zone, home to government buildings and foreign embassies, and stormed the Iraqi parliament forcing MPs to flee and unleashing a state of emergency for all of Baghdad.
As can be seen in the photo (and live webcast below), hundreds of demonstrators occupied the country's parliament. Video from inside the building showed jubilant crowds waving Iraqi flags and shouting "peaceful, peaceful." Supporters of Sadr, whose fighters once controlled swaths of Baghdad and helped defend the capital from ISIS, have been demonstrating for weeks at the gates of the Green Zone, responding to their leader's call to pressure the government to reform.
Cited by NBC, Brig. Gen. Saad Mann, a spokesman for the Iraqi military, said that Iraq security authorities have declared a state of emergency in Baghdad. "All gates that lead to Baghdad are closed. No one is allowed to enter into Baghdad, only those who want to leave Baghdad can do so." "There is no evacuation for the American staff inside the American embassy," he said. A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the American Embassy in Baghdad was not being evacuated, contrary to local reports. We expect that should the pro-US government fall, this will promptly change.
Security forces responsible for guarding the entrance to the area were not able to stop the demonstrators without opening fire so they let them in, the security source told NBC News. As a result, the protest is mostly peaceful for now even thought Saturday was the first time the protesters breached the compound's walls.
Iraqis are checking into the Council of Representatives on #Facebook. #Baghdad #Iraq pic.twitter.com/z926EEA28O— Hayder Al-Shakeri (@HayderSH) April 30, 2016
According to Reuters, the protesters, who had gathered outside the heavily fortified district housing government buildings and many foreign embassies, crossed a bridge over the Tigris River chanting: "The cowards ran away!" in apparent reference to departing lawmakers.
There were no reports of clashes with security forces. But an army special forces unit was dispatched with armored vehicles to protect sensitive sites, two security officials said. No curfew has been imposed, they said.
Moments before the Green Zone breach, Sadr seemed to offer an ultimatum: "Either corrupt (officials) and quotas remain or the entire government will be brought down and no one will be exempt from that." In a televised speech from the holy city of Najaf announcing a two-month withdrawal from public life, Sadr said he was "waiting for the great popular uprising and the major revolution to stop the march of the corrupt."
Abadi has warned that delays to overhauling the cabinet could hamper the war against Islamic State, which controls vast swathes of northern and western Iraq. Considering the massive boost in US "troops on the ground" in Iraq in recent months, surely the US can take care of this perpetual "scapegoat" on its own.
Inside parliament hundreds of protesters danced, waved Iraqi flags and chanted pro-Sadr slogans. Some appeared to be breaking furniture. Local television showed them chanting and taking pictures of themselves inside the main chamber where moments earlier lawmakers had met.
Parliament failed to reach quorum on Saturday afternoon to complete voting on a cabinet reshuffle first urged by Abadi in February. A handful of ministers were approved on Tuesday despite disruptions by dissenting lawmakers.
Political parties have resisted Abadi's efforts to replace some ministers - chosen to balance Iraq's divisions along party, ethnic and sectarian lines - with technocrats in a bid to combat corruption.
A live webcast form the scene of the Iraqi parliament can be seen after the jump.
The latest update: protesters have now stormed Iraqi cabinet offices, effectively paralyzing the government.
Video showing protestors inside the Council of Ministers. #Baghdad #Iraq https://t.co/DmararsJX0— Hayder Al-Shakeri (@HayderSH) April 30, 2016
As night fell, demonstrators set up tents at a nearby parade ground under triumphal arches made from crossed swords held by hands modelled on those of Saddam Hussein.


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The value of society's investment in science is strongly dependent on the ability of future scientists to build on the results of previous results. As the pace of scientific productivity has accelerated through genomics and other Big Data technologies, the ability of scientist to master the literature is increasingly dependent on computational tools. One important aspect of making data more reusable is the association of data with annotations that can be used in computer-based data mining and analyses.
My group works on the development and use of biological ontologies, which are sets of standardized controlled vocabularies for annotation. Our current focus is on the Ontology for Microbial Phenotypes, which is being constructed to facilitate the reuse and analysis of data from the awesome power of microbial genetics. We also work with the Gene Ontology Consortium on the annotation of gene functions, an have developed systems for integrating annotation with education in the Community Assessment of Community Annotation with Ontologies (CACAO)
We have also worked on developing systems for building model organism databases for community annotation, including EcoliWiki, which reuses and modifies the open source software built for Wikipedia to provide more specialized scientific data resources.
Academic Articles37
- Giglio, M., Tauber, R., Nadendla, S., Munro, J., Olley, D., Ball, S., ... Chibucos, M. C. (2019). ECO, the Evidence & Conclusion Ontology: community standard for evidence information. Nucleic acids research. 47(D1), D1186-D1194.
- Carbon, S., Douglass, E., Dunn, N., Good, B., Harris, N. L., Lewis, S. E., ... Consortium, G. O. (2019). The Gene Ontology Resource: 20 years and still GOing strong. Nucleic acids research. 47(D1), D330-D338.
- Carbon, S., Dietze, H., Lewis, S. E., Mungall, C. J., Munoz-Torres, M. C., Basu, S., ... Consortium, G. O. (2017). Expansion of the Gene Ontology knowledgebase and resources. Nucleic acids research. 45(D1), D331-D338.
- Nehring, R. B., Gu, F., Lin, H., Gibson, J. L., Blythe, M. J., Wilson, R., ... Rosenberg, S. M. (2016). An ultra-dense library resource for rapid deconvolution of mutations that cause phenotypes in Escherichia coli. Nucleic acids research. 44(5), e41-e41.
- Blake, J. A., Christie, K. R., Dolan, M. E., Drabkin, H. J., Hill, D. P., Ni, L., ... Consortium, G. O. (2015). Gene Ontology Consortium: going forward. Nucleic acids research. 43(D1), D1049-D1056.
- Chibucos, M. C., Siegele, D. A., Hu, J. C., & Giglio, M. (2017). The Evidence and Conclusion Ontology (ECO): Supporting GO Annotations.. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.). Methods in Molecular Biology. (pp. 245-259). Springer New York.
- Siegele, D. A., Campbell, L., & Hu, J. C. (2000). Green fluorescent protein as a reporter of transcriptional activity in a prokaryotic system. GUIDE TO TECHNIQUES IN MOUSE DEVELOPMENT, PT A: MICE, EMBRYOS, AND CELLS, 2ND EDITION. Bioluminescence and Chemiluminescence Part C. (pp. 499-513). Academic Press.
Conference Papers2
- Chibucos, M., Zweifel, A., Siegele, D., Uetz, P., Giglio, M., & Hu, J. (2011). The ontology of microbial phenotypes (OMP): A precomposed ontology based on cross products from multiple external ontologies that is used for guiding microbial phenotype annotation. CEUR Workshop Proceedings. 833, 237-239.
- Champion, M. M., Campbell, C. S., Siegele, D. A., Russell, D. H., & Hu, J. C. (2002). Proteome analysis of Escherichia coli K-12 by two-dimensional native-state chromatography and MALDI-MS. 59-60.
Principal Investigator1
- An Ontology for Microbial Phenotypes awarded by National Institutes of Health 2014 - 2018
Co-Principal Investigator1
- Implementing Galaxy for Community-based Phage Genomics awarded by National Science Foundation 2016 - 2020
- BICH450 Genomics Instructor
- BICH460 Genome Annot Ontologies Instructor
- BICH461 Adv Genome Annot Ontol Instructor
- BICH485 Directed Studies Instructor
- BICH491 Research Instructor
- Bonde, Aniket Sanjiv (2018-12). Identifying Expert Reviews in the Crowd: Linking Curated and Noisy Domains. (Master's Thesis)
- Huo, Zepeng (2017-12). Link Prediction with Personalized Social Influence. (Master's Thesis)
- Zweifel, Adrienne Elizabeth (2010-05). Phenotypic Characterization of Self- Assembling Protein Fragments Using Negative Dominance. (Doctoral Dissertation)
- Venkatraman, Anand (2008-12). Validation of a novel expressed sequence tag (EST) clustering method and development of a phylogenetic annotation pipeline for livestock gene families. (Doctoral Dissertation)
- Diaz Vazquez, Arnaldo Joel (2008-05). Solid-supported phospholipid bilayers: separation matrix for proteomics applications. (Doctoral Dissertation)
- Knapp, Gwendowlyn Sue (2008-05). Oligomerization of the lysr-type transcriptional regulators in Escherichia Coli. (Doctoral Dissertation)
- Niu, Lili (2007-05). Escherichia coli proteomics and bioinformatics. (Doctoral Dissertation)
- Champion, Matthew Maurice (2005-12). Functional proteomics in Escherichia coli. (Doctoral Dissertation)


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Carol Higgins Clark is the author of the bestselling Regan Reilly mysteries. She is coauthor, along with her mother, Mary Higgins Clark, of a bestselling holiday suspense series. Also an actress, Carol Higgins Clark studied at the Beverly Hills Playhouse and has recorded several novels. She received AudioFile's Earphones Award of Excellence for her reading of Jinxed. She lives in New York City. Her website is CarolHigginsClark.com.
Regan Reilly's latest clients are full of hot air-she's been asked by organizers of the nine-day Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta to find out who's threatening the event with disaster. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Set in Las Vegas, Clark's seventh Regan Reilly mystery (after 2002's Jinxed) takes aim at all sorts of eminently spoofable targets, including reality TV shows, advice columnists and screen actors. Regan answers a plea from a grade school chum who's involved in a contest where someone isn't playing by the rules. The owner of the Balloon Channel (aka Hot Air Cable) is sponsoring a contest between two groups-one developing a pilot for a sitcom, the other for a reality TV show. Both, according to the whimsical rules of magnate Roscoe Parker, must have a ballooning theme. The winning group gets its show on the air and a $1 million prize. Regan's friend Danny Madley is trying to put together the reality show, with a couple of assistants, six contestants and a couple of advice columnists. Then there's the cast of the sitcom and its producer, as well as Roscoe, his girlfriend and his assistants. Even Danny's parents show up to meddle or help, as does Danny's ex-girlfriend. The wealth of eccentric characters would be at home in a Dickens novel, but is too much for this slender volume to support. While Regan attempts to figure out who's doing what to whom, Roscoe continues to add obstacles to make the competition more exciting. It all adds up to zany, if not particularly brilliant, fun in the desert, with an ending series fans will love. (Sept. 23) FYI: With her mother, Mary Higgins Clark, Clark is the coauthor of He Sees You When You're Sleeping and Deck the Halls. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Publishers Weekly The wealth of eccentric characters would be at home in a Dickens novel.


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Cheating An Empire
The Spanish-American War was brought about over the Spanish policies in Cuba in 1898. America's victory in this war rose debate over the terms in the Treaty of Paris.
People argued furiously over whether the country should obtain the Philippines. Some believed the expansion beyond North America forsake America's political principles.
Nevertheless many wanted to expand the nation. They believed since the United States has always expanded across the continent through such purchases and conquest as the Louisiana territory, Florida, Texas, and Oregon why stop there. Republican's like Henry urged the country to make an overseas empire and use the European model of imperialism based on the acquisition and exploitation of colonial possessions. Other Americans wanted a less formal empire. One that the U.S. interest and influence would be assured by extensive trade rather than military.
Other Expansionist were more concerned for the nations security. Because of American's location lying between two coastlines in the Western Hemisphere and the ambitions of other nations Americans believed that the United States had to develop new policies to protect national security.
Alfred Mahan, a naval officer, proposed a canal across Panama to link its coast. This canal would promote trade and service the fleet. Many supported the idea for a larger navy. With a larger navy it could expand and protect America's international trade. Most all Americans favored economic growth through foreign trade.
In the 1900s, Cubans Rebelled against Spanish Rule. One rebellion lasted ten years before drawing Americans interest. Cuba was the last major European colony with and economic potential that attracted American business interest and also had a strategic importance for any Central American canal. The relations between the United States and Spain were deteriorated. Partly because Spain was not negotiating in good faith. President Mckinley demanded...


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Hi, the NJ answer and question to my post is further down in the article maybe you scaned over it to fast? Remember fast on the draw only lol
Just to let you know, I received my PA permit in the mail today! Thanks so much for that suggestion and the website for the application! I sent the application in on Jan. 17th, I had no expectations of getting the permit until sometime in February or early March, yet it took two weeks, just like you said!
yep Need to know NC law also since my permit is good ther. No there are no such sinage restrictions that I know of in Pa. Just wanted to be sure from your post. Thanks
I see you are from Pa. like me. You posted law on carrying on the "mall" thread. The was in NC. Is what you posted from NC law or Pa. law? Thanks
Just a fan of the sport. :-)
You a bull hooker? CBear


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Music Monday – OMG! (sorta) Recent stuff!
How the holidays pass so fast… sometimes I think to myself 'it would be so awesome if I was the God of Time and Space', I could extend holidays, make a fortune from gambling, and redo tests (…actually that last one would be hell). However, as we all know, the only way to actually become such a being is to bet your life and cellphone in a survival game, where contestants play for the amusement of one bored God. Hey, I'm up for it. So please, if you are interest in signing up take a look at our information video, the 2nd OP to Mirai Nikki – Dead END by Faylan.
-Music stuff goes here- Moving on… ok, if I must. I actually don't really care for the op all that much, but just prefer it rather than the 1st OP, Kuso Mesorogiwi by Yousei Teikoku, but either way they are both pretty typical openings for this day and age. One thing that I did notice, or more specifically annoyed me (as did other people), is that there is a bit of footage reuse from the 1st OP, which I find a bit lazy as it does not really enhance the OP sequence in anyway other than dragging you backwards rather than forwards. I understand that style should be uniform in most cases, but repetition is something that should be used carefully.
Anyway, back to less rage worthy matters. Mirai Nikki has easily become recognised as a quality manga/anime deserving of some recognition – heck, if I'm talking about it it should be held in high regard (I swear I'm not running out of stuff to write about). It provides everything a person might want in a series with some decent characters, a plot that is genuinely interesting, and actions scenes that are not only entertaining but also push the series along while making sure they don't just act as eye candy. Funny thing is, for once I can back this up, since I have finished the manga and am up-to-date with the anime series (astonishing, I know).
But (there is always a 'but'), having seen the whole thing (in different formats no less) I have well and truly seen the good, the bad, and the wtf that the series has to offer. Sooo (cracks knuckles) let's have a little fun with this kekeke~
I've always had a thing against stories that deal with 'Time and Space', mainly because they make you feel like a bit of an idiot with the plot twists – all the pieces are in front of you, you just need to piece them together… or just keep on reading/watching till the key detail is revealed, be it smart or really, really stupid. Mirai Nikki was actually pretty good with this, with there only being one or two instances of 'time twists' and 'world rewrites'… and then came the final few chapters (or to be episodes), which nearly made me throw my computer our a window (we all know I don't have the guts for that). But in retrospect it is above passable in comparison to the many failed attempts by people who try utilise such a delicate plot element.
On a bit of a separate note – there appears to be an increasing amount of heavily guro anime releases, such as Mirai Nikki, Another, and Blood-C (which ended late last year). Not that I really mind, just find it a bit interesting the trends, with there previously being light-action, slice-of-life, and now a darker era of anime. Talking to myself again fufufu.
Back to where I was… I am quite satisfied with what Mirai Nikki had to offer, mainly since I got me, Mr. Impossible Standards, to actually sit down and watch (not just read). So on that note (of course not a musical one), try it out, I DO recommend and I hope you develop a liking to that creepy obsessive stare that will forever be burned into your mind… if you have no idea what I mean, all more reason to watch the first ep to start~~~


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Seki Edge Grooming Kit 3109Regular price 799.00 Save -799.00
Midt i Japan ligger den lille byen Seki. Der har det blitt produsert samurai-sverd i over 700 år, og i nyere tid har den stolte håndverkstradisjonen blitt overført til kniver, sakser og andre verktøy. Fortsatt er kvaliteten på stålet og håndverket høyeste prioritet, noe som merkes på produktene fra Seki Edge!
Dette praktiske settet inneholder høykvalitetsprodukter for vedlikehold av ansikt og fingernegler!
- Pinsett
- Liten fingernegleklipper.
- Negleklipper med beholder for avklipte negler
- Neglefil
- Neglerenser / neglebåndskyver
- Tåneglesaks
- Nesehårsaks
- Ørerenser
- Liten kniv med flaskeåpner
Worldwide: 200 NOK (approx. 24 USD).
Europe: 150 NOK (approx. 16 EUR).
We handle all taxes and duties for you, no surprises! This service is included in the shipping price.
Norway: Calculated at checkout.
Dapper Oslo ships internationally with DHL Express and in Norway with Bring. We do our best to ship as quickly as possible and your order is usually sent from our store the same day. Your package will be fully trackable and delivered within 1-3 days after being sent from us.
To return an item, please contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com
- New, unworn items which are in their original packaging with all original tags attached may be returned to Dapper Oslo within 14 days of receipt for refund or exchange (subject to stock availability).
- Refunds will be issued via original payment method within two weeks of our receipt of the item(s).
- Shoes returned without their original box and packaging cannot be accepted.
- The return of defective or damaged items will only be accepted if the item was defective or damaged upon receipt.
- Sale items purchased online are subject to our standard return policy.
We strongly advise you to check items thoroughly upon receipt before removing any attached tags, or disposing of any original packaging. Please notify us immediately by email if you receive any item which is defective, damaged or missing original tags/packaging.
If you wish to return an item, you can either ship it back to us with the carrier of your choice, or contact us to purchase a DHL return label for 150 NOK. We recommend that you return any items with a trackable shipping method as we cannot be responsible for untracked returns not arriving.


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Classic SLR Series
Minolta Maxxum ("Dynax") 7000
Contents appearing in this site are based on an original copy of the Maxxum 7000 to develop. There can be many reasons why you are in this site. Regardless whether you are thinking of buying an used unit or have already owned one, to ensure you get optimum results from your camera, carefully study this manual. The Minolta Maxxum 7000 is an automatic SLR camera that requires battery to power all its function. Inside its shell, despite its age and the computer technology employed may be outdated (one reason you must considered before thinking of getting yourself an used unit) but they are still adequately good enough to bring fascinating dimensions to your photography. From key control to centralized data display, every aspect of the 7000 is designed for easy operation and outstanding results.
Among its Major Features are:
* High-tech autofocusing for precise, instant sharpness with the full range of new Minolta AF lenses.
* LCD data panels on top and in viewfinder for maximum information in each mode.
* Auto multi-program mode that automatically sets an AE program to match the actual focal length in use-with unique program shift to tailor each for special needs.
* Aperture- and shutter-priority modes plus metered manual for total flexibility.
* Auto film control for loading, automatic film speed setting with DX-coded films, single-frame or continuous advance at up to two frames per second, plus power rewind.
Some Advanced Accessories that be of significant interest include:
* The Program Flash units with AF assist for autofocus in low light or total darkness, TTL metering in all modes, and a new auto fill-flash program.
* The Program Back 70 that makes data imprinting, intervalometer operation, and long exposures easier than ever.
* Many new series of Minolta AF lenses can be used on the camera and it has its own original matching series of lenses range from 24mm wideangle to 300mm f/2.8 APO tele and include five lightweight macro-zooms.
* User-changeable focusing screens, wireless remote controls, eyepiece correctors, etc., fill out the growing system.
Before using your 7000, it is always safer to spend sometime read and understand the content appeared in this manual. As you do, attach the lens, load batteries, switch on power, and learn about the camera's parts and features. Then load it with film and proceed to actual picture-taking. Be sure to follow the instructions and notes, and keep this site bookmarked, or considered to print copies from tha pages contained herein or simply download these pages onto your hard disk for offline browsing/reference. This way you can get better pictures and take full advantage of the many advanced features built into your Minolta 7000.
<<<<<<- ----- Credit: Image Copyright © 2002 Courtesy of Johannes Huntjens <yawn firstname.lastname@example.com>
If for any resons you must use this camera now,
here is a simple Operational Sequences in Setting Up the Maxxum 7000 for immediate usage.
Next, Click Open a New Browser Window for a page on Main Reference Map for Maxxum 7000
Strap and case ..... Summary of operation in P mode. . Attaching lens Remove lens.....Care of glass surface ... Batteries and power .... Check condition ... low power ... Cold weather .. Memory storage ...... Main switch ......slow speed warning ... shutter release button .. Operating button ......meter ON/OFF .. autofocus with focus hold ... Film loading ...... frame counter ...film load precaution ... Setting film speed ...... Fundamentals of exposure* ...... Exposure mode selection ....... Program mode ...... Program shift ...... Aperture-priority mode ....Set aperture ....select Aperture .. Shutter-priority mode ....set Shuter Speeds .. .. Metered-manual mode ...... Aperture and shutter speeds ...... Drive modes ..... Autofocusing ....... focus signal .. special conditions .. Manual focusing ........ Taking pictures ......... Rewinding and unloading film ...... Flash photography ...... Creative aperture control* ....... Creative shutter-speed control* ...... AE lock ....... Exposure adjustment ........... When to use AE lock and exposure adjustment ......... Depth of field* ....... Timed long exposures ("bulb" operation) ... Self-timer operation......cancel operation .. eyepicecap ... mounting camera on tripod ... Other focusing methods (Distance scale, Infrared, Film Plance index)...... Accessories .......Flash and other units .. Control Grip CG-1000 set .. Program Back Super 70 and Program back 70 ... AF lenses ...Focusing Screens ...Wireless Controller IT 1N... remote cords RC-1000L, RC 1000s... battery holder and external power pack .. eyepice corrector .. Filters and other accessories .. Note from Minolta on compatibility and warranty issues... Care, Maintenance and Storage .... Technical Specification / details .......
* Basic information on photo principles and techniques
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About this photographic site.
Home - Photography in Malaysia
Credit: Mr Aaron Oh, for lending his old Maxxum 7000 brochure to prepare certain content appeared in this site; LEONID.SL<email@example.com> for his great image of the Maxxum 9000; Johannes Huntjens <email@example.com>, LT Jack B. Nunley <firstname.lastname@example.com> and "Jarret LaMark" <firstname.lastname@example.com> huntsphotoandvideo.com for their generosity for granting permission to use some of the Maxxum 7000 images appeared in this site; email@example.com for his image of the Minolta Maxxum 7000 AF Body / Program Back 70;"Camera Works" <firstname.lastname@example.com> for some superb view of the camera; Dan Dorsey <firstname.lastname@example.com> for his shots of the 7000 Body w/ Org. Box & Manual; "Rehmat Iqbal" <firstname.lastname@example.com><firstname.lastname@example.com> for being so considerate and helpful. Certain content and images appeared in this site were either scanned from official marketing leaflets, Instruction Manual(s) & brochures published by Minolta and/or contribution from surfers who claimed originality of their work for educational purposes. The creator of the site will not be responsible for may discrepancies arise from such dispute except rectifying them after verification. "Minolta", "Rokkor", "X-700", "Dynax" & "Maxxum" are registered trade names of Minolta Optical Inc., Japan. A site dedicated to all Minolta fans worldwide. Site made with an Apple IMac.


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Whether the damage to your vehicle's body is minor enough to just spoil the look of the car, or extensive enough to make driving a hazard, we can get your vehicle back into shape.
Our team of experienced panel beaters and tradespeople use precision equipment to get your vehicle's outer shell back into seamless shape, and can conduct welding with metals of a variety of alloys. Your car will leave our workshop looking just like it did before the accident, if not better.
To find out more about our services, give us a call today!
In instances where panel damage is minor enough to cause no harm to the vehicle's paintwork, our team of highly skilled repairers can use an array of specialised heat and leverage tools to smooth out your vehicle's metal work without any further damage to the paint, saving you money on expensive repainting work.
Our workshop is fitted out with two baking ovens, allowing us to handle all sizes of spray painting projects.
Whether you want individual panels spray painted or a whole vehicle, we can do the job with our range of Sikkens, Xonable and Glasurit solvent-based auto painting and refinishing products, ensuring that your new paint job meets strict Australian road standards.
If your vehicle is in need of a new coat of paint, give us a call today!
Once your vehicle is repaired, we provide a comprehensive detailing service when requested by our customers. This service will have you vehicle looking its very best for when you're back on the road. During your vehicle's detailing we perform a full body and trim wash and thorough clean of your interior's plastics and upholstery. We provide a complimentary vacuum service with all repairs.
To find out more about this service, give us a call today!
Our workshop offers a variety of additional services, including:


text: So, you've decided to start a self-hosted WordPress blog, confident in the knowledge that there's a wealth of plugins out there that will enable you to customize your site. Getting this blog started has not been without a few ups and downs. There has been a fair amount of experimentation, plenty of learning, and a few false starts as well. After the first week or so of twiddling with the available settings, it's time to get serious. Here's my list of essential WordPress plugins that no startup site should be without. Continue reading


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New York state Sen. Roxanne Persaud and Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon want to gut your right to buy and possess ammunition for your firearms, but they're now trying to claim that they're the ones being victimized.
New York lawmakers are responding to what they call an "unacceptable" photo posted by a National Rifle Association publication.
The image, published in an editorial in America's 1st Freedom, shows photos of New York state Sen. Roxanne Persaud and Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon with four bullets beside them.
The editorial focuses on a proposal by the New York lawmakers, both Democrats, to limit the sale of ammunition to gun owners.
Persaud called the image "outrageous" and said it contains "subliminal messages of violence."
"If the NRA is so interested in our process, they should reach out to us," Persaud told CNN.
"We have an issue of rising gun violence and stockpiling ammunition, so that's my focus right now — not the national agenda of the NRA."
Simon said the photo was "clearly" intended to be "threatening and intimidating."
Witches, please.
You ran for elected office of your own free will, because you have the desire to tell other people how they should live their lives.
With that power and responsibility comes public visibility and the possibility of criticism. Some of that criticism comes in the form of words, but it has been common for centuries for politicians to be lampooned in print cartoons. More recently, this criticism has taken the form of photo illustrations, both amateur and professional. Many of these illustrations are mocking, mean-spirited and crude.
This illustration is none of those things.
The NRA photo illustration did nothing more or less than show pictures of the two politicians driving this legislation, along with the item they want to legislate.
This is an incredibly common formulation, and is used for even the most mundane of proposed bills, including car registration.
Perhaps it's time for state Sen. Roxanne Persaud and Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon to climb down off their imagined crosses, stop imagining subliminal threats where none exist, and stop portraying themselves as the victims.
The real victims here are the millions of gun-owning New Yorkers that this pair of shrill and sensitive pair of harpies would constrain with pointless laws driven by fear, ignorance, and hate.


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The Story
Angela, Sera, and Leah lead the rebellion in the underworld to overthrow Hela, while simultaneously racing to escape the ghosts of their past! Aaaand we're pretty much upending the toybox that is Hel and shaking out all the cool characters — and ANGELA AND SERA ARE GONNA FIGHT 'EM!
Free Marvel Comic Download
Angela – Queen of Hel #4
Language : English | Year : 2016 | Size : 76 MB
Screenshots :
Notes :
- If you have any difficulties to download the files, please refer to this how-to download page.
- All of the comic files are packed on .CBR and/or .CBZ file formats. Here are some of the reader apps that i can recommend : YAC Reader (Win, OSX, Linux, iOS), ComicRack (Win, Android, iOS), CDisplayEx.
- To extract any compressed files, I recommend using 7-Zip.
- If you encounter any broken links or corrupt files, please write on the comment section or message me through the contact form.
- Want to see all the comic list? Please go to this page.


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Soft watercoloured flowers with different colour gradients cover individual pieces from the Five Senses porcelain series. The inspiration for the decor is found not least in the transient nature and the fragility of these plants, which are partly threatened with extinction.
for KAHLA/Thüringen Porzellan GmbH
photo credits: skinnycouple
Wildblume decor


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Michelle Sabotic appointed as life member
At the recent Annual General Meeting of Swimming Gold Coast a nomination was received for the induction of Michelle Sabotic as a life member to Swimming Gold Coast. This was accepted. The following is the nomination received on behalf of All Saints Swim Club.
Michelle Sabotic (All Saints). Nominated by Leigh Monahan (All Saints)
To Swimming Gold Coast
I would like to nominate Michelle Sabotic as a life member of Swimming Gold Coast.I believe Michelle exceeds all the criteria to obtain life membership and has been an integral part of The All Saints Club since its inception some 23 years ago. Michelle has without a doubt been the lifeblood of our club and over the years has touched many people's lives.
Since my son first joined All Saints back in 2006 I have witnessed firsthand the dedication of Michelle and her commitment to the sport. Whilst being a new swim parent back then we were guided by Michele's laid back advice and her assistance and guidance any time a new milestone was reached. I know how much time she put into my child's development and when I multiply that by the number of swimmers and parents she has helped over the years the numbers would be staggering and the time outlaid would be unaffordable to any but the richest of organizations.
Within the club Michele works tirelessly and since I have been with the club Michele has held the role of registrar. I don't know what a normal registrar does but in the case of Michele it also seems to take on a umber of other functions within the club. Michelle is responsible for our annual carnivals that seem to always run smoothly but in the background Michelle is ticking off the boxes ensuring everyone is organized and working towards the common goal. If that isn't enough she still seems to find the time to knock out the best profiteroles on the coast to make sure the officials are well fed. Add to this weekly club nights that are well organized, end of year presentations that have trophies and gifts for the swimmers and of course the dreaded point scores that will be so closely scrutinized are kept up to date by Michelle.
Planning of club trips away, social outings, coaching and of course ensuring the correct amount of wine is in the fridge for Friday night are all just part of what just seems to happen when Michelle is around.
Michelle was made a life member of The All Saints Club 4 years ago in recognition to her outstanding commitment to our club.
Michelle has also held both the Treasurer and the Secretary jobs at a regional level at Swimming Gold Coast for a number of years as well as assisted at countless meets around the region. It is our clubs sincere wish that Swimming Gold Coast recognize Michelle Sabotic for all of her dedication by bestowing on her the honour of life membership.
Yours in swimming
Leigh Monahan
President All Saints Gold Coast
Michelle, on behalf of Swimming Gold Coast we would like to thank you for your hard work and dedication to swimming and the region of Swimming Gold Coast.


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Former Bolingbrook Police Sergeant Drew Peterson's young wife Stacy mysteriously disappeared in October 2007,1 just three and a half years after his third wife, Kathleen, was found dead in a dry bathtub.2 Not surprisingly, Peterson has been in the spotlight since. Though Kathleen's death was originally deemed accidental,3 Stacy's disappearance reignited the suspicions of Kathleen's family as well as those of law enforcement. While investigations into Peterson were ongoing, the Illinois legislature passed the Hearsay Exception for Intentional Murder of a Witness through Public Act 95-1004,4 which has caused quite a stir. The statute allows for hearsay evidence to be admitted if, among other criteria, the proponent of the evidence can prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the party whom the statement is offered against intentionally murdered the declarant.5 Peterson and his legal team have generated much media attention by alleging that the new hearsay exception was directed at Peterson; the law even having been dubbed, "Drew's Law."
Last year Peterson filed a motion to declare the statute unconstitutional based on ex post facto and confrontation grounds,6 which the trial court denied.7 At the time of this writing, the trial court has yet to rule on what, if any, hearsay evidence will be allowed at Peterson's trial under this hearsay exception. If all goes as scheduled, by the time this article is published, the court will have ruled on this issue and Peterson will be on trial for Kathleen's murder.8
The Drew Peterson Case
The facts of the Peterson case have the makings of a true crime novel. Upon Stacy's disappearance, people began coming forward with information about statements made by Kathleen Savio and Stacy Peterson relative to Peterson's potential involvement. The following statements were at issue:
· Kathleen Savio wrote a letter to an Assistant State's Attorney in Will County in July 2002 detailing abuse by Peterson, including an alleged attack where he put a knife to her throat.
· A woman who rented Savio's basement in 2003 came forward with statements made by Savio that she was afraid Peterson would kill her.
· One of Savio's junior college classmates, as well as one of Savio's co-workers, each saw red marks on Savio's neck, Savio told them they were made by Peterson.
· One of Savio's sister told of Savio's fears that Peterson would kill her.
· Another of Savio's sisters claimed Savio had said that Peterson wanted to kill her and asked her to care for Savio's children if she died.
· Savio's divorce attorney claimed Stacy contacted him about divorcing Peterson shortly before she vanished.
· Stacy's friend said Stacy told him that Peterson coached her as an alibi witness in Savio's death.
Hearsay Exception for Intentional Murder of a Witness
The language of the statute was enacted as follows:
(a) A statement is not rendered inadmissible by the hearsay rule if it is offered against a party that has killed the declarant in violation of clauses (a)(1) and (a)(2) of Section 9-1 of the Criminal Code of 1961 intending to procure the unavailability of the declarant as a witness in a criminal or civil proceeding.
(b) While intent to procure the unavailability of the witness is a necessary element for the introduction of the statements, it need not be the sole motivation behind the murder which procured the unavailability of the declarant as a witness.
(c) The murder of the declarant may, but need not, be the subject of the trial at which the statement is being offered. If the murder of the declarant is not the subject of the trial at which the statement is being offered, the murder need not have ever been prosecuted.
(d) The proponent of the statements shall give the adverse party reasonable written notice of its intention to offer the statements and the substance of the particulars of each statement of the declarant. For purposes of this Section, identifying the location of the statements in tendered discovery shall be sufficient to satisfy the substance of the particulars of the statement.
(e) The admissibility of the statements shall be determined by the court at a pretrial hearing. At the hearing, the proponent of the statement bears the burden of establishing 3 criteria by a preponderance of the evidence:
(1) first, that the adverse party murdered the declarant and that the murder was intended to cause the unavailability of the declarant as a witness;
(2) second, that the time, content, and circumstances of the statements provide sufficient safeguards of reliability;
(2) second, that the time, content, and circumstances of the statements provide sufficient safeguards of reliability;
(3) third, the interests of justice will best be served by admission of the statement into evidence.
(f) The court shall make specific findings as to each of these criteria on the record before ruling on the admissibility of said statements.
(g) This Section in no way precludes or changes the application of the existing common law doctrine of forfeiture by wrongdoing.20
Doctrine of Forfeiture by Wrongdoing in Illinois and the United States
Courts were split regarding whether specific intent to cause the unavailability of a witness was required in order to trigger the doctrine of forfeiture by wrongdoing prior to the United States Supreme Court's decision in Giles v. California.28 In fact, in People v. Stechly, the Illinois Supreme Court stated, in dicta, that "the total certainty that a murdered witness will be unavailable to testify could theoretically support presuming intent in the context of murder, while requiring proof of intent in all other situations,"29 suggesting a broad interpretation of the doctrine with respect to murder. The United States Supreme Court, in its decision in Giles v. California, addressed the murder scenario, resolving the split. Intent to prevent a witness from testifying is required in order for the forfeiture doctrine to apply. The Court held that "the evidence had to show that the defendant engaged in witness tampering or some type of conduct designed to prevent the witness from testifying, thwart the judicial process, or procure the witness' absence from trial."30
ExPost Facto
At first blush, the latter provision seems applicable to the Peterson case. After all, adding a new hearsay exception potentially allows more evidence to be admitted against the defendant making it easier to convict. However, the applicable standard is that the rules of evidence be altered to change the quantum of evidence required to convict. The burden of proof for murder, unchanged by the statute, is still beyond a reasonable doubt. Stated differently, Illinois' new hearsay exception does not fit the criteria to qualify as a violation of ex post facto.
Confrontation Clause argument
Peterson argues that Illinois' new hearsay exception is an unconstitutional violation of the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause, which provides that, "in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right…to be confronted with the witnesses against him." Testimonial statements are normally admitted only when the witness will be present at trial for cross-examination, and if the witness is unavailable, his prior testimony will be introduced only if the defendant had a prior opportunity to cross-examine him.35
"Testimonial" Hearsay
The Peterson case will not likely turn on his ex post facto argument, instead, the case will bring to focus two specific issues with respect to whether various pieces of hearsay evidence are admitted. First, whether each potential statement being offered is "testimonial" in nature, thus placing it under the purview of the Confrontation Clause and requiring utilization of the hearsay statute. Second, whether Peterson "intended, at least in part" to make the potential witness(es) unavailable in a criminal or civil proceeding. While particulars of how the statute will be interpreted in the Peterson case are unclear, we have not seen the last of Drew Peterson or the controversy his case has generated regarding the "Hearsay Exception for Intentional Murder of a Witness" statute.
1 Christy Gutowski, Stacy Peterson's Aunt said wife wanted out, miserable in marriage, Daily Herald, 1/26/10, available at http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=353947.
2 Jeff Goldblatt and Melissa Underwood, Authorities Exhume Cop's 3rd Ex-Wife's Body, Search Continues for Missing 4th Wife Stacy Peterson, November 13, 2007, available at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21769873/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/.
3 Erika Slife, Joel Hood and Lolly Bowean, Drew Peterson: Ex-cop arrested on murder charges in '04 death of third wife, Chicago Tribune, May 8, 2009, available at http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-drew-peterson-08.1may08,0,5422413.story.
4 See, Public Act 095-1004, available at http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/fulltext.asp?Name=095-1004.
5 725 ILCS 5/115-10.6 (West 2008).
7 Steve Schmadeke, Drew Peterson Trial: Hearsay Law Upheld, Statements from Peterson's 3rd, 4th wives admissible at trial, October 3, 2009, available at http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-10-03/news/0910020324_1_hearsay-murder-trial-defense-attorneys.
8 Joe Hosey, Year after arrest, Peterson eager for trial, May 7, 2010, available at http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/2243952,Peterson-arrest-anniversary-JO050610.article.
9 Giles v. California, 128 S.Ct. 2678, 2688 (2008).
10 See, People v. Stechly, 870 N.E.2d 333 (Ill. 2007), Giles v. California, 128 S. Ct. 2678 (2008).
11 Crawford v. Washington, 124 S. Ct. 1354, 1370 (2004).
12 Id.
13 Christy Gutowski, Stacy Peterson's Aunt said wife wanted out, miserable in marriage, Daily Herald, 1/26/10, available at http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=353947.
14 Kara Spak, Drew Peterson and fiancée Christina Raines make 'Today Show' appearance, Chicago Sun-Times, February 13, 2009, available at http://www.suntimes.com/news/peterson/1429484,drew-peterson-christina-raines-today-show-021309.article.
15 Chicago Tribune, February 23, 2010, Witnesses and hearsay statements that a judge is considering whether to allow in Drew Peterson's Trial, available at http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-02-23/news/ct-met-drew-peterson-box-0224-20100223_1_kathleen-savio-hearsay-testified.
16 Stephanie Chen, Drew Peterson, you have the right to remain silent, February 3, 2010, CNN, available at http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/03/illinois.drew. peterson.quotes/index.html.
17 Id.
18 Erika Slife, Joel Hood and Lolly Bowean, Drew Peterson: Ex-cop arrested on murder charges in '04 death of third wife, Chicago Tribune, May 8, 2009, available at http://www.chicago tribune.com/news/local/chi-drew-peterson-08.1may 08,0,5422413.story.
19 Joe Hosey, Year after arrest, Peterson eager for trial, May 7, 2010, available at http://www.suburban chicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/2243952,Peterson-arrest-anniversary-JO050610.article.
21 Christy Gutowski, Prosecutors use 'Drew Peterson' hearsay law in Warrenville murder, Daily Herald, 5/14/09, available at http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=293711.
22 Id.
23 725 ILCS 115-10.6(e).
24 Giles v. California, 128 S. Ct. 2678 (2008).
25 725 ILCS 5/115-10.6(g).
26 See, People v. Stechly, 870 N.E.2d 333 (Ill. 2007), Giles v. California, 128 S. Ct. 2678 (2008).
27 Davis v. Washington, 547 U.S. 813, 833 (2006).
28 In re Rolandis G., 232 Ill.2d 13, 38 (2008).
29 Stechly, 870 N.E.2d at 353.
30 In Re Rolandis G., 232 Ill.2d 13, 40 (2008).
31 Giles, 128 S.Ct. at 2693.
32 Id.
33 Defendant's Motion to Declare 725 ILCS 5/115-10.6 Unconstitutional, available at http://drewpetersondocuments.com/#hldu.
34 People v. Konetski, 233 Ill.2d 185, 208 (2009).
35 Giles, 128 S. Ct. at 2682.
36 Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 66 (1980).
37 Crawford v. Washington, 124 S. Ct. 1354, 1368 (2004).
38 Davis, 547 U.S. at 821.
39 Hill v. Cowan, 202 Ill.2d 151, 157 (2002).
40 Crawford, 124 S. Ct. 1354, 1354-1355 (2004).
41 Id.
42 Id. at 1368.
43 Davis, 547 U.S. at 822.
44 Joe Hosey, Year after arrest, Peterson eager for trial, May 7, 2010, available at http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/2243952,Peterson-arrest-anniversary-JO050610.article.
Rachel Hernandez is a Special Appointed Assistant State's Attorney in Winnebago County, working part-time while raising two wonderful children. She received her J.D. from Northern Illinois College of Law in 2005. She has also served as an Assistant State's Attorney in Boone County and an intern pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 711 in Kane County. She has worked on a variety of criminal misdemeanor and felony cases, including murder.


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Israel uses Arrow 3 anti-aircraft defense for first time, as Israeli jets target Hezbollah weapons convoy
The Israeli military shot down one of three anti-aircraft missiles fired as Israel's air force struck targets inside Syria on Friday.
Arab media said the Israeli warplanes targeted a Hezbollah weapons convoy, after the Israel Defense Forces issued a statement:
Overnight IAF [Israel Air Forces] aircraft targeted several targets in Syria. Several anti-aircraft missiles were launched from Syria following the mission and IDF Aerial Defence Systems intercepted one of the missiles.
The officials said the Arrow defense battery was used for the first time to carry out the interception.
It is unclear why the Arrow, primarily designed to shoot down intercontinental ballistic missiles, was used in what appeared to be an attack by an SA-5 surface-to-air missile.
The blast was heard about 2:45 a.m. in Jerusalem, dozens of miles from the Syrian border, as warning sirens went off in Israeli settlements in the Jordan Valley in the Palestinian West Bank.
There were no reports of casualties or damage.
Israel has regularly carried out airstrikes during Syria's six-year conflict. The Israelis have attacked to prevent the movement of missiles and other weapons to Lebanon's Hezbollah, allied with the Assad regime, and in response to mortar and rocket fire near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Last week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin to reiterate Israel's message that Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed forces should be kept far from the Golan Heights in southwest Syria.
Israel's Arrow 3 anti-aircraft missile, used for the first time on Friday, in a test launch in December 2015


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CLEVELAND, OH (TM216) — As the dust settles on a shocked city of Cleveland, some of the top names in Cleveland sports and entertainment react to a rough (0-3) situation.
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