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So, you think you want a job in Computer Security, eh? Are you sure? Have you been properly informed what the work and conditions are really like? Do you have visions of Hollywood movies where Cheetos-eating one-handed-typists are madly furying away any would-be "hackers" and think you "want a job like that"? Or have you just heard about large salaries and want to make some extra do-re-mi for another coat of white paint on your picket fence? Or maybe still, you're one of those who think the "enlightened" few computer professionals rise above to the pinnacle of computer security research or applications, and you want a piece of that intellectual satisfaction?
Regardless of why you have been considering a job in computer security (or maybe you landed into one and you're wondering "How did I get here?" and "Now what?"), it is extremely likely you're missing a bit of a reality check you could have used prior to now. Now for a dose in reality ...
- Perfect Security is not possible. It's not. It's depressing, I realize, but it's not. You may be surprised to find so many people working {Computer, Information, Network, System, Application, Software, Data, IT} {Security, Assurance, whatever} jobs who don't get that. I must admit that a former, more naiive version of myself once thought computer security was just getting some complicated recipe of hardware and software components just right. There's still a surprising number of "security professionals" out there who think that way. It's very depressing, but there's a very large "surface" to protect and it only takes a microscopic "chink" in your armor to lose everything. As a result, perfect security being not possible is the foundation to all other reasons why you should seriously re-consider your career aspirations.
- Most security work is really about making sure everyone else does their job "correctly". Correctness of systems is the real task at hand in a security job. Is it correct that a website of known sex offenders allows the general public to inject records of anyone they want labeled as such? Is it correct for a web server to execute arbitrary code if it is passed 1024 letter "A" characters? Is it correct that a user can click on a link and divulge intimate secrets to a total stranger because the page looks "normal" ? None of these are "correct" assuming even a smidge of common sense looking on afterwards. Yet they all have happened, and it was some security professional's job to deal with them. To put it simply, if everyone figured out how to design and implement systems "correctly" (assuming they know what is "correct" and what is "incorrect"), then security professionals would be out of a job, but thanks to #1 (perfect security is impossible), we're guaranteed to be picking up the poo poo flung by others from now until retirement, which means the following ...
- Security Response jobs suck. It may seem like CSI or something, but jobs that deal with responding to incidents suck. Except in high profile cases, computer forensics and true chain of custody techniques are not followed-- and if you want a computer forensics job, you'll probably have to work for a large government/public sector bureaucracy (and all the fun that goes with spending tax payers' dollars), which means you'll be primarily working on child pornography or drug trafficking cases and riding daily the fine line between public good and privacy infringements (warrantless wiretaps come to mind). My anecdotal observation is that very, very seldom do drug dealers and child porn traffickers actually employ decent computer security tactics; therefore, the job is lot less "CSI" and lot more mind-numbing "lather, rinse, repeat". From the words of someone I know who does this work: "I pretty much just push the big 'Go' button on EnCase [forensics software] and then show up at court explaining what it found." Not exactly the most intellectually stimulating work. The coolness factor wears off in the first 90 days, plus there's the joy of having convicted felons know who you are and that your work put them behind bars-- but not quite long enough, as they might still have a grudge against you when they get out. Even if you're lucky enough to not have a begrudging felon on your hands, there's the deep psychological torment that will slowly boil you alive if you are constantly exposed to the content of criminal minds. Your mileage may vary, but it probably won't be what you expect.
For those who hope to work responding to computer intrusions, you should realize that very few organizations can afford to keep people on staff who perform only computer intrusion investigations. Most orgs just want to know what it will take to get things back to normal, because to do a full root cause analysis on a computer system that generates revenue, well, that likely means the org will have to forego revenue, at least long enough to take a forensic snapshot of all of the data. Very rarely (mainly just high profile cases), will an org be able to afford that. So the competition is tough. Not to mention that in many publicly traded companies, there is indemnification from not knowing exactly how an intrusion occurred. And there's even more stigma if the details are made public. So there's just no incentive for them to really find out all of the details. The 20,000 foot view is good enough (e.g. "vulnerability in a web server").
And then there is an entirely different breed of "computer security professional": those who work on disaster recovery and business continuity planning and response. As you get engrossed in this sort of work, it tends to be less about "security" (critics: I realize "availability" is a tenet of the CIA Triad) and more about the daily employ of scare tactics to get organizations to fund remote data centers that are ready for the next apocalypse. The work is surprisingly more akin to "facilities" planning work: buildings, electric, plumbing. There is a "cyber" aspect to it, but it's mainly about funding the necessary equipment and then getting sysadmins to build it and test it out. That's project manager work; tedious, nanny-like, often political. It's not for people with short attention spans or high expectations.
- Security Operations jobs suck more. Security Ops is at the bottom of the security professionals' totem pole. Most of these jobs are just sysadmins or network admins who have been promoted an extra notch, maybe because of that shiny new industry cert that some trade rag said was "hot" and would result in a 15% salary increase. But all of the usual sysadmin/network admin griefs apply here and then some. It's an operations job, so you inherit all of the problematic decisions that the project planning and implementation people lopped over the fence at you. Very rarely do Security Ops people in an org get to influence the architecture of future deployments. And besides lightweight tweaks like patches or an occasional config change, very rarely do Security Ops folks get to do much to systems "in production", especially for "legacy systems" (what part of "legacy" isn't a euphemism?). For the most part, it's sit back and watch to see if a security failure occurs. I use the word "failure" with specific intention, because Security Operations folks have to constantly keep delicate China plates spinning atop poles, because each plate represents a certain security failure. As it is with spinning plates, it's often about deciding which failure is more acceptable, not about preventing all failures (see #1, again).
In fact, there's an interesting twist: Security Ops managers or directors who experience a breach may find themselves losing their jobs on incompetence grounds. Going back to #1, this seems counter-intuitive. If we know perfect security is not possible, then we know security operations will experience a breach at some point (if we give them enough time). How, therefore, can you ever expect to be successful at a security operations job? When the shareholders want to know who was responsible for the unauthorized disclosure of thousands of company-crippling account records, the first person with the cross-hairs on their back is the person in charge of security operations. So, to survive at this game requires either company hopping before the inevitable breach occurs, OR, it requires politics (or black mail on somebody high up).
Outsourced security operations is just a variation of this. If the contract includes full accountability, it's one and the same as what is described above. If it's a "we monitor your systems that you are accountable for" scenario, then you as an individual security operations employee of the contract firm may not get fired, per se, but your company may lose the contract renewal, which means if you allow #1 (above) to be true too many times, then you might find yourself out of a job there, too.
The worst part about SecOps is that you'll either realize you've hit your Peter Principle with that job, in which case it's time to spend all of your free time on backyard barbecues and retirement planning (nothing necessarily wrong with that -- ignorance is bliss), OR, you'll want out immediately because everyone around you has hit their Peter Principle highest job and you want more.
- Security Planning jobs are set up to fail. Think about it: perfect security is not possible. So, even the most cerebral of security planners is going to deliver a work product that has flaws and holes. If you can convince yourself that's not depressing and continue on, maybe you can also be lucky enough to get into an organization whose culture thinks it is acceptable for people to deliver faulty products to a Security Operations group (#4 above)-- and that it is entirely the Operations' people's faults when it capsizes. Not to worry, though, you probably won't work for an organization that can afford a true security response group (#3 above -- it's probably just the Security Operations' people who get to handle the full response process to break up their mundane day), so nobody may know it was your fault. Besides, if you're dealing with a bunch of vendors' COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) wares, there's not a whole lot of control for you to have, which begs the question why your organization even has a position for you in the first place. They probably could have just paid some consultant for a couple weeks, rather than have you permanently on staff.
The other downsides are, of course, that you (like the Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity Planners) will also have to use scare tactics to implement draconian policies which probably won't actually amount to any real benefit, but some "power user" or Joe Software Developer will figure out he can circumvent them if he has two laptops and a flash drive (long personal anecdote story). If that doesn't work (or if you just want to cut to the chase), enter regulatory compliance into the equation: "Your project must do that stupid, expensive thing that results in no real added value because PCI says so!" It won't be a policy for something that 100% makes sense 100% of the time. Instead it will be something that makes life difficult for everyone (and everyone will love you for that), but is generally accepted by 3 out of 5 security professionals who also have no clue and are stuck in the dark ages (hence there are a lot self-perpetuating bad ideas out there, like firewalls and anti-virus). If you're an enlightened security strategist, you'll realize the futility of your job and want out, or you'll revert to also longing for weekend barbecues, vacations, and eventually retirement, all the while wondering if this is your Peter Principle job.
- Security vendors have to sell out. They sell out because they thrive on the perpetuation of problems, selling subscription services to deal with them. Scare tactics are used so frequently the vendors are numb-- finding themselves unaware they're even using them. Not to mention, there are so many security vendors out there for startups and small boutiques alike that most security professionals on the potentially-receiving side of their goods and services haven't even heard of them. Or maybe they have? The names all sound so familiar, like: Securify, Securification, EnGuardiam, Bastillification ... they all seem to make sense if you're still in that state of mind after having woken up from an afternoon nap's dream, otherwise they reek of a society with too many marketing departments and far too many copyrighted words and phrases. If the company is any good, they'll eventually be swallowed up by one of the bigger fish, like Big Yellow (Symantec), Big Red (McAfee), Big Blue (IBM), or one of the other blander colors (HP, Microsoft, Google, etc.). Only a few stand strong as boutiques, and if they do, they almost certainly have a large bank or government contract as a customer.
Once you get a job at a security vendor, you'll probably be working as a developer who maintains a security product. And, as Gary McGraw has often pointed out, that's not about writing secure software, that's about writing security features into software. If you're not maintaining it, you'll be supporting it, which is the exact same as Security Operations (#4 above). You'll be the low level person who is stuck taking tickets, interpreting manuals (RTFM!), and talking to the Security Ops people at your customers' orgs. Fun times. Don't think for a second you'll go get a job at one of those big companies and fundamentally shake up their product lines and come out with cool new security-features-software that the Security Ops folks could really benefit from. These big companies get new ideas by buying the startups that create them; rarely does a lightbulb idea make its way into fruition. In fact, if you have such an epiphany and develop it as your brainchild into a security startup, rest assured that the bigger fish that swallows you up will succeed in turning your baby into yet-another-amalgamated product in their "enterprise suite" of products and services. It will lose its luster. They'll make the UI match the "portal" their customers already love to hate, but by then, you will have sold out and you can take your new nest egg with you into early retirement (weekend barbecues, here you come!).
If you're not one of those, then you will really be a sellout-- either a sales rep or a sales engineer. If you are somebody who like repeating what you say and do, this is the job for you, because you'll repeat the same lowly power point slide deck that marketing (you remember-- the people who came up with that killer company name!) for every customer-- that is, all of the customers that let you in past the cold call. If you're the sales rep, remember to drag along your sales engineer to get you out of a sticky situation where you promise some security perpetual motion where it's just not possible. And if you're the sales engineer, try to remember the security perpetual motion is just not possible. It'll be hard to tell the customer that, though, since it will say otherwise in the power point slide deck that marketing provided. It's be right there in big red letters: "Secure", "Unbreakable", "Keeps all hackers out", etc., etc., etc.
- Pen Testers and Consultants have Commitment Issues. You can sell out, collect a paycheck, and position yourself in one of the jobs with the least amount of accountability and responsibility in the entire InfoSec space. The same is true for third party consultants, too. Any job where you are hired to come along and tell the hiring org where to put more bandaids falls into this category. Sure, there's a broad body of knowledge to comprehend ... but there are plenty of security vendors (see #6 above) who think they have a tool they can sell you so that you can point and click through your brief engagement with the hiring org, which begs the question: Why should they even hire you if an automated tool can give them their results? That's not true of all independent consultants and pen testers, though. Some of them do provide usefulness beyond that of a canned COTS tool. But they all suffer from the same problems as Security Planners (#5 above), only they probably had a prior job working directly for the org and saw how painful it was to stick around through the accountability phase after an incident. So now, they've learned their lesson: get in, get out, cash the check. They say: "Hey, it's a living." Are they the smartest security professionals around? Maybe. Do they have what it takes to do the other security jobs like Planning, Ops, and Incident Response? Maybe not.
- Exploit writers perpetuate the problem. All they do is sit on a chair all day in front of multiple computer screens (no doubt), and attempt to prove over and over again what academics have been saying since the 1970s. Yet there seems to be some economic sustainability, because otherwise the security vendors (#6 above) would have no way to sell you subscription services to access today's latest hack that a criminal otherwise might find on their own. But thanks to the vendor (and their handy, dandy exploit writer they have locked up somewhere with unlimited access to caffeine), we can all rest safely that the exploit code they just wrote won't be weaponized to prove #1 again (that happens all the time, actually), causing some poor Security Ops person (#4) to get sacked, while some Security Planner (#5) thinks "glad I'm on this side of the fence", and some Pen Tester (#7) thinks "I gotta download that into my pen testing tool for tomorrow's gig-- that way I know I'll find a hole and they'll hire me back next year".
- Security Educators either are paranoid or should be. If you're just contemplating a career in information or computer security for the first time, you probably aren't acquainted with any of the lovely people in this category, mainly because the good ones are expensive. Typically, it's only existing security professionals that get to experience security educators, because their employers realize that it's important to keep them up to date with information-- primarily thanks to exploit writers (#8) who keep the litany coming. The principles of security rarely change; only the scenery changes (and the exploit writers change scenery like the masters paint in oil).
Educators fall into one of two categories: 1) they suck because they've been out of the game for so long (if they were ever in it at all), or 2) they're spot on, but they don't want you to know what you're reading now because you may consider a career change and that's one less pupil, one less paycheck for them. If they're on top of their game, they're paranoid. They have trust issues with everything and everyone. They can't stay away from the topic, so they're very well-versed in what has happened as well as the current goings-on in the field of security, but they have worse commitment issues than Pen Testers and Consultants (#7). They have the ability to scare you, but not in the same way as the security vendors (#6) and security planners (#5); you'll be able to tell that they don't want anything in return-- it's almost a relief for them to share the information they know with someone. Sometimes a vendor sneaks in and pretends to be an educator. Beware of that; though the way to spot them is their horror stories will result in an emotion to buy a product or service. You won't come out having learned anything other than their products solve a niche need.
Becoming a security educator isn't an easy task; it typically means you were an educator of some other specialty domain and then learned how to teach security (which usually doesn't work as well as someone who has lived it), or you lived it yourself through one of the other job types and have educated yourself beyond the level of ordinary practitioners. If you're already in a security career and find yourself disheartened by the lacking options around you (because you've realized that it isn't the glamorous field you once thought), but find that you have an amazing affinity towards learning all that you can, this might be a saving grace that will prevent you from leaving everything you've learned behind and taking up a job as a dairy farmer (or some other similar job that will not require you to touch a computer). There's also the potential for life as an academic, where you can
infiltrateinspire open minds that have yet to be corrupted by corporate ways.
- Security Media don't really exist. There are like 4 or 5 real "computer security reporters" in official media outlets. Anyone wanting to aspire to be them would have nearly as good of odds at becoming a professional athlete-- and that pays better. For all intents and purposes, they're either vanilla columnists whose writing glares that they don't understand the technical underpinnings of the subject of their writing, OR, they're paid bloggers.
- And Security Bloggers are the worst above all. (Present company included.) They know some or all of the above and chronicle it where they can, thinking that just collecting their thoughts in some digital pamphlet will change things. In order to be a security blogger of any real significance, you have to be known among the security community. For most, that means affiliation with a brand, product, or service. For a very elite few (the Schneiers out there), that means being one of the first to do so, calling everyone out for who they are, and taking as many opportunities to spout off in normal press/media as they'll allow (e.g. Schneier's a self-proclaimed "media slut"). For the rest of us, this may just be an attempt to alleviate the pressure of painful security information in our brains-- a pressure-release valve.
If you hope to change the world with your career, may I suggest a rewarding opportunity teaching high school math or science in a public school system? The pay is for shite, and there will be harder days than being a security professional, but your pupils will be grateful for your job well done later in life-- even if they don't manage to get around to tell you. Besides, everyone knows Americans spend what they make-- just learn to make ends meet on a teacher's salary.
[My general apologies for starting off 2009 with a lump that is hard to swallow.]


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I'm much better at just posting pictures than dutifully writing posts. So here are some more testers from Terry's cookbook-in-progress.
Red Pepper Tofu Curry with Coconut Quinoa and Roasted Vegetables. Rather labor intensive making the curry paste from scratch (it's got cashews and ancho chiles in it!) but was pretty good. I loved the coconut quinoa (just coconut milk and shredded coconut mixed in).
The gyro seitan in the back there is another tester and it's awesome. I made tofu feta, roasted tomatoes, hummus, and the cucumbers and steamed broccoli for a gyro feast.
It made me so happy. The only thing missing was the tzatziki sauce, so I'll just have to make it again.
And just because, here's a picture of our goofy cat.

subset: commoncrawl


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Another big big tune loved by Laurent Garnier – Ahhhhh ….you really are a crazy mother fucker. This is maaaaadddd ……… Of course i will kill them tomorrow with this especially as i am playing in a very big room this is GREAT


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I love Madman and the surreal, pop art world that Mike Allred created. Allred also has one of the most beautiful brush strokes in the industry. I, on the other hand, drew this after four cups of coffee. Hope you dig it regardless of my shakiness,
Blake and Aaron aren't intimidating enough with their last posts, they have to up the bar by choosing Madman. I admit, I've never read the books, but Allred's art is so amazing, and the character is so much fun to look at you just WANT to draw him. So, I froze, and this is what happens. I promise to not suck next time.
For the latest theme we will be doing Mike Allred's Madman:
I remember reading my brother's copy of Madman Adventures, I got into it seriously around high school. Allred created such a vibrant and fully formed world. You should check out the Atomics as well, it's a great book. Hell read anything with his name on it.
This time around we decided to translate scenes from our favorite prose books into comics. I decided to challenge myself and attempt a passage from "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski.
If you're not familiar, the novel is one the most disturbing books I've ever read. This isn't due to any overt grossness or ickiness. I found the tale about a book, which is about a film, which in itself is about a very peculiar house (as edited by a protagonist, who is most likely mad) to challenge my perception of the boundaries between story and reality.
Danielewski never let me forget I was reading a book, yet he defied the normal terms in which a prose story is presented visually.
I'm presenting an interpretation of a scene from chapter five. This starts with the first exploration a hallway that has suddenly and surprisingly appeared in, the photo-journalist, Navidson's home..
When the theme was chosen, I knew I was going to choose a book by Vonnegut. I read Man Without A Country and never looked back. I tore through Slaughter-House Five, demolished Cat's Cradle, flew through Player Piano, etc.
My first choice for this entry was probably Slaughter-House Five, but then I remembered Mother Night. I read it directly after Jailbird, both shared similar themes, although Mother Night came out first. It's definitely the better book. I'm pretty sure Vonnegut himself said so.
Rough plot to catch you up to this chapter of the book (stolen from wikipedia):
The fictional story of Howard W. Campbell Jr, an American, who moved to Germany directly after World War I and then later became alternately a well-known playwright and a Nazi propagandist. The action of the novel is narrated by Campbell himself. The premise is that he is writing his memoirs while awaiting trial for war crimes in an Israeli prison.


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Hinduism in Mauritius
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- http://mandir.webmauritius.com/
Hinduism originally came to Mauritius with Indians who worked as indentured servants of European settlers of the island. As of 2000, 48% of the country follows Hinduism, which makes Mauritius the only country in Africa where Hinduism is the dominant religion.
Please feel free to contribute anything that you think may pertain by emailing us. We are looking for anything pertaining to Hindu Tradition and culture and general Hinduism material. Thank you in advance for your contributions.
You may also be interested in . . .


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Activity 1: The Collection of Evidence for Regina vs. Feeney – Role Play
The role play exercise does not have to be graded. You may choose, however, to give participation marks for each student's contribution. The discussion questions may be handed in as a group and graded.
Activity 2: Forensics Jeopardy
This activity does not require grading but participation marks may be granted for this as well.


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"We need to talk about what he did to you." I asked, directly. The boy never responded to anything but directness. He thought very little of me, and feigned desire for pity.
"You know this already. He raped me." He said it simply, as if nothing had happened to him.
That wasn't the point of the treatment. We'd made sex and violence nauseating. We gave him confusion and pain. But if I didn't force the issue he would never feel what we want him to feel.
"I know. We all know, but I think it would be easier for you if you walked through it."
When he looked over at the glass table I found myself watching it as well, sudden nausea washing over me.
"Jared, i'm going to need you to look at me." I spoke calmly, keeping my eyes from the table, "Let's start with something easy. What were you doing that day?"
and he sat there, lost in his thoughts. I saw the distress building inside him and I wanted it. I wanted that distress for myself. I wanted to hear it
"Out loud." I snapped. He looked me in the eyes and he thought I didn't see how that tickled him.
"What's so funny?" I asked, he had been smiling but didn't stop. He uncrossed his legs.
"It was the knife that hit my neck first. Big blade right against here and before saying a word he just ran his tongue nice and sloooooooow against my face like I was some big ice cream cone." I could seem him smiling at me in the midst of the shock of the incident, and I felt aroused. To my peak of arousal, "I probably tasted like cream or strawberries because he pushed me back into the room and onto the nearest couch and started licking me all over."
He looked like he was going to be sick, and I smiled all over. This is what I wanted. We wanted.
"Some times I imagine that he has my face. That I enjoyed doing that to myself." He didn't even know that he was the rapist…oh the feeling of knowing so much more than him. Of being in control of him felt so good.
"It's actually quite common to have sexual arousal from your rape."
There was a knock at the door and in came my secretary, "Are you ready for your first appointment of the day?" He asked, his pale skin reddened now, by my gaze. He looked so vulnerable.


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The mini cat is my cute cross stitch design loved by many on my blog Happiness is Cross Stitching, many of you have taken him to heart and send me your completed photos of your completed mini cats, and I thought it would be nice for mini cat to have his own blog where you can post all your completed mini cat cross stitch!
If you wish to post your completed mini cat cross stitch from my mini cat range you are welcome to do so here, just email me for an invite and I will send you the link for you to post.
You can post work in progress and then your completed design. Please describe what materials you used to stitch your design as this helps anyone who wishes to stitch the same pattern.
Please centre your picture in the middle with materials listed underneath and label your mini cat using the right hand column in post settings when writing your post.
That's it, happy mini cat stitching!
Tuesday, 8 September 2015
Peggie: October #1
3 comments:
Cute. You are ahead of me I have not started mine yet.ReplyDelete
I'm stitching two of each month so I have to keep on top of them plus I love stitching them. I had been away from cross stitching for many years and now I'm lucky enough to have the time to stitchReplyDelete
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Thankyou for leaving a comment, please note, if your email is set as no reply I will be unable to reply to your email.


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Swine flu vaccine Pandemrix
Nov. 20, 2009
Batch of H1N1 vaccine pulled after bad reactions
CTV.ca News Staff
More than 100,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine are being withdrawn across the country, after Manitoba health officials announced Thursday they'd noticed a higher-than-usual number of allergic reactions from one batch.
Vaccine manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline has asked several provinces to set aside the 170,000 doses from the questionable batch.
GSK say the batch recall is a precaution an they will investigate to see whether there is something wrong with the batch.
"GSK is taking this cautionary action because the Public Health Agency of Canada has received a higher than expected number of reports of anaphylaxis in this lot number compared to other lots," the company said in a written statement Thursday.
One or two allergic reactions are expected in a batch that size. But health officials recorded six severe allergic reactions and alerted GSK.
Dr. Joel Kettner, Manitoba's Chief Medical Officer of Health, urged people not to be alarmed, noting the anaphylaxis reactions were short-lived and all the patients recovered.
"We've been asked by the manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline not to use this vaccine at this time, pending further investigation," said Kettner at a press conference Thursday.
"We are being cautious and following the advice... to hold onto the remaining stock until we get further information."
About 1,500 doses of the vaccine were sent to Ontario, but officials say none were administered. Officials are now shelving them until the investigation is complete.
The Alberta government has stopped giving out doses from the same batch, although it says it has not seen a jump in allergic reactions.
Health officials say the batch being investigated is fairly small, so it should not have an impact on the overall supply.
Earlier this week, the country's chief public health officer, Dr. David Butler-Jones, noted that of the 6.6 million doses of H1N1 vaccine given so far to Canadians, there have been 36 serious adverse reactions reported.
Most involved allergic reactions that began within minutes of vaccination. All were treated promptly by medical people at the vaccination site.
Milder side effects, such as nausea, soreness, headaches and fever, have also been seen, which is not unexpected. Seasonal flu vaccines have been known to cause such reactions every year.
One person is believed to have died from an anaphylactic reaction following vaccination, but Butler-Jones stressed the death hasn't been conclusively linked to the flu shot.
"It's important to remember that just because a medical event follows vaccination, it may not have been caused by the vaccination; it may have been caused by other factors, as unfortunate events continue to occur with or without vaccine," he told a news conference Tuesday.


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InstaStyle: Rita Ora's Instagram Jeremy Scott x Adidas JS Stars and Stripes Swimsuit
Instagram is becoming the go to spot for your celebrities most candid photos. Rita Ora recently posted a few pictures of her having a blast in Miami. Of course, Ms. R.I.P. had to hit the beach in style, right ? Rita posed in this cute Jeremy Scott x Adidas JS Stars and Stripes Swimsuit.
The printed bandage swimsuit is decked out in stars and stripes. The American Flag print swimsuit retailed for $90 , but unfortunately its sold out.
The Bandeau-style top ties in back. The Open mid-section features crisscross straps. The swimsuit's crisscross straps accentuate curves and inspire poolside patriotism.
I'm loving the patriotic swimwear. Rita's swimsuit reminds me of Wonder Woman. What do you think?
Image Credit: Rita Ora Instagram/Twitter


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Gas Technique provide gas boiler servicing, installation and repair in the New Forest, Southampton and throughout Hampshire.
Call us on: 023 8028 3161
Write to us at:
9 Oak Close
You can also enquire, ask questions or provide feedback using the form below:
Please leave a telephone number and we will be happy to call you back.
Contact us today for friendly reliable gas boiler servicing and installation in the New Forest, Southampton and Hampshire areas.
Gas Technique – proprietor: Joshua Sizer


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Cleveland State University was granted $1.78 million by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study African sleeping sickness - a sometimes fatal parasitic disease similar to malaria that has become an endemic in certain regions of sub-Saharan Africa.
Research by CSU's Dr. Bibo Li has been featured on the cover of the prestigious science journal, Cell. Since that time, she has made ground breaking discoveries in sleeping sickness and is widely considered one of the leading researchers into its treatment and cure.
Trypanosome brucei is a protozoan parasite spread by tsetse fly. The parasite enters the nervous system and begins to exhaust the human immune system. The name, sleeping sickness, comes from the host succumbing to abnormally long periods of sleep through recurring fevers, which can eventually lead to a coma. If left untreated, the condition can be fatal.
It is estimated that as many as 70,000 people are currently infected with many more cases gone unreported in underdeveloped regions of Africa. About 48,000 people died of sleeping disease in 2008, according to the World Health Organization.
The research is housed under CSU's Center for Gene Regulation in Health and Disease. In the past year the NIH has granted the CSU center with more the $5 million for various studies, including the treatment of heart attacks, strokes and other inflammatory diseases.
Founded in 1964, Cleveland State University is a public research institution that provides a dynamic setting for engaged learning. With an enrollment of more than 17,000 students, eight colleges and approximately 200 academic programs, CSU was again chosen for 2011 as one of America's Best Colleges by U.S. News & World Report.
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Raiders vs. Chargers: 4 Reasons Oakland Earned Huge Victory in San DiegoNovember 12, 2011
Raiders vs. Chargers: 4 Reasons Oakland Earned Huge Victory in San Diego
Well, well, well, what have we here? Was Hue Jackson reading one of my Bleacher Report pieces again? Sure seems like it, since the Raiders followed so many of my suggestions.
I admit, some of my recommendations were simply common sense. What's most important is that Jackson learned from the mistakes made in the loss to the Denver Broncos and adjusted accordingly. Aside from some defensive lapses in the second half, this Raiders team may have played its best game of the season.
So how did the Raiders send whiny boy Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers to sub-.500 land? Let's break it down.
They Bush-Whacked the Defense
Hue Jackson used to be a well-regarded offensive coach before he took over the Raiders, and when an offensive guy is well-known, it's usually because he's creative and/or effective. And let's face it, how creative can you be running the ball? What I'm saying is, good offensive coaches (such as Jackson) like to throw. They love to chuck it downfield—is it any wonder the late Al Davis made Jackson his head coach?
But the Raiders must be a run-first team if they want to be playing meaningful games in December, and they remembered that Thursday night. The Raiders' three backs (Michael Bush, Taiwan Jones and Marcel Reese) combined for 38 carries, rushing for nearly 200 yards in the process. Big boy Bush was given a heavy workload (30 carries) and did not disappoint, going for 157 yards and a touchdown.
The most important thing Jackson did was run the ball on first down—and did he ever. Oakland ran a whopping 21 times on first down, setting up shorter second downs and putting the offense in better position to convert.
The constant runs also allowed Oakland to control the pace of the game, and it held a five-minute advantage in time of possession (32:37 to 27:23).
They Sent Rivers Rolling
I am convinced that defense in the NFL is about one thing: pressure. If you disrupt the quarterback, everybody else's job gets a lot easier.
And for a team like the Raiders, the secondary and linebackers need all the help they can get. With multiple defensive backs injured, Rolando McClain hobbled and Aaron Curry resuming the inconsistent play that got him booted from Seattle, it was imperative for the defensive line to smack Rivers around.
Mission accomplished.
Although Rivers threw for 274 yards, his completion percentage was a pathetic 48 percent and he was sacked six times. Rivers also added to his NFL-leading interception count by throwing No. 15 to Matt Giordano in the end zone. Norv Turner and his struggling quarterback have now lost three in a row to Oakland.
They Did Moore with Less
I love the vertical passing game as much as anyone, but it has a time and a place. In the loss to Denver, Jackson was calling passing plays far too much (40 attempts). We've already covered how Oakland smartly went run-first against San Diego, but the offense was also smart about how it used the pass.
Jackson called only 22 passes Thursday, and Carson Palmer showed why Hue was so in love with him in the first place: boy's still got some zip on the ball. Palmer was mobile in the pocket, avoiding pressure and making some fantastic throws to rookie sensation Denarius Moore.
The fingertip grab Moore had in the second quarter was sensational and destined for SportsCenter's Top 10, and the physical specimen has clearly become one of Palmer's favorite targets. Palmer has looked to Moore constantly in his first two starts, and Moore has racked up nine catches for 184 yards the last two weeks.
While the national media is just starting to notice this talented Tennessee product, dedicated Raiders fans will remember that Moore has been turning heads since his first practices with the Silver and Black.
The best thing about Moore is where he was drafted: Although he has the blazing speed Al Davis coveted, the Raiders didn't reach at all for Moore, swiping him in the fifth round.
Jackson wisely used Moore to stretch the field Thursday, but did so in moderation. I'm sure he wishes he could chuck the ball around at will like the Green Bay Packers, but using the long ball sparingly and focusing on the run will be Oakland's formula for success.
They Played 60 Minutes
Technically, every game the Raiders have played this year has been 60 minutes, but they've rarely shown up for the entire game. Usually, either the offense or defense decides to take a couple of quarters off, and it has cost Oakland deeply.
In the Denver game Sunday, the defense was nonexistent as Tim Tebow and Willis McGahee ran wild. Oakland's offense didn't show up at all for the Kansas City loss, when Carson Palmer and Kyle Boller combined for six picks and zero points.
But in a refreshing change, both units played complete games Thursday. The offense scored in each of the first three quarters, and probably would have scored in the fourth if Palmer hadn't throw an interception in the red zone (in fairness, he was blindsided as he threw).
The defense was absolutely lights-out in the first half, limiting the Bolts to just three first downs and forcing numerous three-and-outs. Things got a little scary to start the third quarter, when the Chargers came out after halftime and marched right down the field for a touchdown. It seemed like the Raiders defense would fall flat in the second half yet again. But the team adjusted, and kept the Chargers from scoring on four of their final five possessions.
Overall, it was a very solid performance by the defense, the kind we should be seeing every week. If it can put together more 60-minute performances like this one, the AFC West is Oakland's division to lose.
For more foolish analysis, with the occasional witty comment, follow Fernando on


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A banjo hymnal!
Songs For Sunday is a collection of 30 hymns, country gospel and spirituals arranged for frailing banjo. Patrick Costello walks you through each song on the accompanying DVD. Songs For Sunday is spiral bound for easy viewing on a music stand. A full-length DVD included. In addition to the songs, Songs For Sunday included basic frailing instruction both in the book and on the DVD – making this a great learning resource for new banjo players! Historical information provided on each hymn. Bible verse references suggested for each hymn. Songs For Sunday features clear, easy to read and play tablature.
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The Right Way To Say Goodbye
By Jeff C.
"I saw a man who seemed mad simply because others could not hear his music."--William Van Poyck, "Death by Dominoes"
I wasn't emotionally prepared to speak. But I had to. Five years ago I spoke in front of a crowd I was beginning to loathe because I couldn't let people who didn't know my friend speak about him.
I didn't know what to say. How do you give a eulogy for a friend who wanted to die--who wanted the state to kill him? So I rambled.
I met Nate at work and even though he had OCD, personal tics, and social awkwardness issues to an almost debilitating degree, I took to him like a little brother I always wanted.
If you only ever saw him in large groups actively pacing the perimeter as if unable to step inwards to join the conversation or if you only ever saw his frail, wiry nerdiness accentuated by his aversion to group eye contact you missed out on who he was. Nate was smart, thoughtful, humorous, and extremely likeable.
But it's hard not to like a kid who would take 35 minutes to describe every detail of a 22-minute South Park episode with such excitement that it's contagious. It's hard not to like a guy whose favorite character was Butters--though I teased him that he was Tweak and could only aspire to be a Butters. (He would softly bump his knuckles together in front of his chest, even when no one was looking, and I never could figure out if it was an affectation in homage of Butters or just a happy coincidence.)
It's hard not to respect a kid who, after being manipulated into killing a person, couldn't handle the overwhelming guilt and turned himself in after a week, never mentioning to the police who it was that mentally screwed him into thinking it was the only way he could ever be loved. It's hard not to be in awe of a guy who, at his sentencing, told the judge that he wouldn't do the full 25 years because he'd kill himself first...and then, on the fifth anniversary of the murder, followed through with it. (This was after attempts with pills and once swallowing a razor blade...to no discernable result, he told me years later, wondering if it was still in him.)
Nate was my sounding board--our backs were to each other in our office and often, while composing a line, an idea, or a paper, I would swivel around and sort of brainstorm with him and he's sort of help me figure out what my intent was. I failed him as a sounding board--when he gave me a 75-page essay arguing that guys who have life sentences should be able to request that the state execute them, I could only make it through a few pages of it and gave it back to him because it was so depressing to read.
I failed him as a friend, too. I let some petty piss-ant prison argument fester and I stubbornly held out for an apology that I felt I deserved. It wasn't until after he hanged himself 20 feet from me outside of our office that his real friend told me that Nate had told him that he was the only one who never turned his back on him.
At Nate's memorial service--the first one I'd ever been to in my life--I was mad at myself for being such a pig-headed fool. And I was mad at the parade of fools speaking who admitted they didn't know him. This all contributed to making a fool out of myself by talking about Nate for what I was later told was an 18-minute ramble. But I simply couldn't have people who didn't know him talk about him in vague, meaningless ways. I had to talk even though I, myself, didn't know the right way to say goodbye.
A couple of months later, when going through the archive files in the warehouse where he killed himself, we found his glasses that he'd taken off, folded up, and put away in the boxes of old accounts payable. When I gave those glasses to the guard to (hopefully) give to his family I realized, as I got choked up about it that I was still fucked up because of Nate's suicide. Because he never gave himself a chance to feel different. Changed. Better.
I no longer felt like it was my fault--as I did that first day before I'd learned the significance of the date he chose. I mostly no longer cringed when seeing flashes of South Park. But I still missed him. I still regretted the smallness of my behavior towards him over being called a word and letting that heated word ruin a friendship. I still felt like I'd let my pathetic need to have the upper hand--the "power"--in that relationship destroy not only the friendship but damage a suffering young man's confidence.
Nate's suicide changed me. Certainly he was my closest, most intimate, experience with death. And he was my first friend who had died. But it took nearly five years for me to realize how much Nate's suicide fully affected me. How much it corrected that prison mentality of never showing your vulnerabilities. And needing power. But what made me realize I'd truly changed wasn't my friend's suicide five years ago, but the judicial murder of another friend five weeks ago.
"'As I've become older, and hopefully wiser, I've come to believe that our relationships are the most important things in life. Particularly friends and family. I mean real, true friends--the kind you'll die for."--William Van Poyck, "The Elephant's Tail"
I wasn't mentally prepared to write that letter. But I wanted to--I needed to--even though I didn't know what to say. How do you say goodbye to a friend who is about to be executed?
What's weird is that until I was told that Bill Van Poyck had had is death warrant signed I didn't even know he was on Death Row. I should have, I suppose. I'm aware that I'm in the minority on this website as a writer who has a tangible release date. But I can be incredibly naive sometimes.
I don't get to read every posting here on MB6, just whichever ones my sister prints off and mails in to me. But there have been two pieces that have moved me so deeply that I simply had to send word to the authors, telling them how much their writing touched me.
"The Ring," by Christi Buchanan, brought tears to my eyes when I first read it. Incredibly powerful, it is the story of her having to give up her newborn son for adoption after being arrested. Except it's so much more than that--my friend Steve Bartholomew and I mused about the dramatic difference between prison here and there, where there seems to be such a sense of community and caring; the only thing even remotely comparable is our educational University Beyond Bars, where we come together regardless of prison politics to help each other out. But not as dramatically as in "The Ring."
"Death by Dominoes" is the best piece of prison writing I have ever read ("The Ring" is the best non-fiction piece). And I tell this to all of my friends when I make them read it. So I simply had to also tell its author, Bill Van Poyck, as much. I sort of felt like I was writing a fan letter when I told him what I loved about the story, when I urged him to try to get it published in some magazine like Harper's or The New Yorker, and of course when I asked him how much of it was true.
He told me it was about 85 percent true, but also that it was a combination of a few different incidents. He told me about his attempts, to no avail (then), of getting it published. And he thanked me for my letter and for giving positive feedback and being "most effusive."
A few months later some fellow prisoners and I were talking and I was handed a submission request for a short story anthology on Prison Noir edited by Joyce Carol Oates. I asked for an extra copy, thinking of my fellow writers on MB6, and was met with reluctance. I was asked for who it was for, because the prisoner with the notice didn't want further competition. I mocked him, asking him if he'd like to run in a race with nobody else in it--"If there's a prize, sure." I, of course, sent the info to my fellow MB6ers anyway.
Then last month I got a message from MB6's editor saying that one of the three pieces Bill submitted had been chosen to be a part of the Prison Noir anthology. I was elated--hoping it was "Death by Dominoes" (it ended up being one I've not yet read).
But then, in the next paragraph, came the news that Florida's Governor Scott signed Bill's death warrant and that he would be executed on June 12th.
This was how I found out that Bill was on Death Row. I doubt that anyone, besides me, had ever had a conversation with him without knowing he was on Death Row, without having that fact loom oppressively over every sentence.
It's not easy, going from finding out that someone's on Death Row and due to be executed in a few weeks, to writing about it to him. I didn't know the right way to say goodbye.
Thankfully, I had the Prison Noir good news to talk about mostly. But I did manage to work up to talking about, as best as I could, his execution.
Mostly, though, I took the letter as a second chance--this time I was able to say goodbye to a friend. At Nate's eulogy even almost 20 minutes of trying to explain how quietly awesome he was wasn't enough for me; internally that eulogy came too late and not to the right person. With Bill I refused to make that same mistake.
My friend and editor, Dina, had encouraged me to write Bill and she answered my questions about how to write someone about to be executed. But much of my own need to write Bill stemmed from my regret regarding Nate. To be sure, Bill and I hadn't yet grown close and I had never shunned him because of some slight, but I saw something unique and admirable in Bill just like I saw in Nate.
This insight was confirmed after I read Bill's final letter to me, which he wrote 5 days before he was executed, but which I didn't get until 7 days after he'd said his last words. Which were, apparently, "Set me free."
It's hard not to respect a man who faced his own death with...well, with such courage and a positive attitude. It's hard not to like a man who thanked me for my friendship and for passing along the Prison Noir anthology info, who genuinely seemed to have spiritual (not religious) strength and peace, and it's hard not to be thankful to have known him--even only a little bit.
It's hard not to be changed by such an experience.
It's also hard not to be motivated by my friend Dina's advice to take this and use it as a fuel to fight the practice of judicial murder. I sort of feel like I'm a bit late to this fight--especially considering that I've been writing for a year for a Death Row site.
Or at least that's how it's publically perceived. A friend of mine was perusing the Internet, on a place called Morbid Reality, and she saw a posting there, as if in hushed tones, that spoke of a website written by Death Row prisoners. Which is the truly morbid part, though--that many of the writers on Minutes Before Six are on Death Row, or that we still have a Death Row?
"McFarlane did not answer for a long time. 'I had big dreams once. But it's been too many years since I was a kid. Enough long years can wear a man down to nothing, and burn your dreams down even more.'"--William Van Poyck, "The Elephant's Tail"
In preparation for this piece I didn't feel intellectually prepared to write about judicial murder--or the death penalty, if you prefer to sugar-coat it--so I dove into a plethora of academic research about it.
But all those intellectual debates rang out about as hollow as someone speaking at a eulogy who didn't even know the deceased. At least it feels that way right now, with the acrid taste of Bill's murder still so fresh.
In all that research I did, I came across arguments that the death penalty isn't a deterrent. I read that the media manipulates us into thinking evil monsters (and not a broken system) are to blame. But it was actually an argument for the death penalty that stuck with me the most. Ernest van den Haag argued that:
Life imprisonment also becomes undeserved over time. A person who committed a murder when twenty years old and is executed within five years--far too long and cruel a delay, in my opinion--is, when executed, still the same person who committed the murder for which he is punished. His identity changes little in five years. However, a person who committed a murder when he was twenty years old and is kept in prison when sixty years old is no longer the same person who committed the crime for which he is still being punished. The sexagenarian is unlikely to have much in common with the twenty-year-old for whose act he is being punished; his legal identity no longer reflects reality. Personality and actual identity are not that continuous. In effect, we punish an innocent sexagenarian who does not deserve punishment instead of a guilty twenty-year-old who did. This spectacle should offend our moral sensibilities more than the deserved execution of the twenty-year-old. Those who deserve the death penalty should be executed while they still deserve it, not kept in prison when they no longer deserve punishment. [Ernest van den Haag, "Refuting Reiman and Nathanson," Philosophy and Public Affairs 14 (Spring 1985), Princeton University Press]
What's odd to me is van den Haag's inability to see that by this very reasoning there shouldn't be any death penalty. Because if a person ages out of being the same, guilty person over time, they why should we want to avoid giving them the chance to become a new person?
Maybe this struck me so clearly not because of the speciousness of the argument, but because it reminded me of the correlation to Bill's letter which said, in part, "After 40+ years in adult prison (plus 3-4 in juvy) I'm weary of this existence & a big part of me is ready to move on."
In the Supreme Court case Gregg v. Georgia [428 U.S. 153 (1976)], the majority opinion, written by Mr. Justice Steward, with Justices Powell and Stevens concurring, wrote that, "[t]he death penalty is said to serve two principal purposes: retribution and deterrence of capital crimes by prospective offenders."
Jeffrey H. Reiman, in "Justice, Civilization, and the Death Penalty," [Philosophy and Public Affairs 14 (Spring 1985), Princeton University Press], states that "[t]he available research by no means clearly indicates that the death penalty reduces the incidence of homicide more than life imprisonment does."
So, if the death penalty isn't an actual deterrent, then is it really just about vengeance? Or rather, are we, as a society, just about vengeance?
I hope to have kids someday soon and I'm proud of the fact that our country seems to be moving in the direction of non-discrimination in regards to gay marriage. But what about the death penalty--what does it say about us that we still have this as part of our society? What does it say that presidential candidates like Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry gets applause when saying no, he's never lost any sleep over all the executions he presided over in his state? Why is America still aligned with countries like Iran, North Korea, and Russia and not Western Europe in this issue? What do I tell my kids when they ask about this? What should we tell ourselves--that we either want this, as a society, or accept it?
I, of course, don't have answers to these questions--just as I didn't know how to write Bill and apologize, on behalf of society, for this mess. But Bill, before thanking me again and encouraging me with my writing endeavors, said something that is a type of an answer to all this:
If I'm gone on the 12th [of June], as I expect will be the case, I'll be free literally & metaphorically. I am at peace with it. Given I've been a fighter & rebel all my life it seems odd for me to take that position, but my spiritual strength (not religious) allows me to have that peace. And, the idea of finally being free of chains & shackles and prison bars is very appealing.
From this I think it's doubtful that Bill is the same person who committed the crime for which he was executed. I know this spectacle doesn't offend everyone's moral sensibilities, but it does mine.
"Seventeen years inside is akin to a century elsewhere. They're long, bitter years that can dull the soul and anneal the spirit, sealing up your heart as sure and tight as the sewn-up lips of a carnival shrunken head. If you let it."--William Van Poyck, "Death by Dominoes"
Most people aren't empathetically prepared to imagine what it would be like to be on Death Row. I'm certainly not. But I have thought about it. Quite a bit. Likely more than most. But that's because I came inches away from being on Death Row.
But for the grace of bad aim, I would be the eighth man on Death Row in Washington State. Or maybe it'd still be seven because they might have executed me by now if I'd've hit that policeman.
Thankfully, though, there's not a scratch on him. Because if I had actually hurt or killed a person I'd have suicidal guilt like Nate or be ready to move on like Bill.
But that van den Haag line ("Personality and actual identity are not that continuous.") keeps echoing in my mind. I'm 40 now and I can't get into the mind of the 23-year-old I was. Not only can I not rework the (lack of) thinking that got me to rob a bank and then get in a reactionary shoot-out with the police, but I can't identify with the unthinking idiot that I was.
Yeah, by far, the stupidest person I ever met was the person that I once was. But it's more than maturity or an ability to think rationally that's changed. Everything's changed. I don't want the things I used to want and I don't care about all those petty things I used to care about.
I certainly wouldn't sacrifice a friendship over something as ridiculous as being called a bitch--no matter what the "convict code" says about being supposedly punked out. And that was just five years ago. The kid I was 17 years ago is entirely beyond my grasp.
Thankfully, though, I'm not overwhelmed with unending guilt that can only be assuaged by my suicide. Thankfully my aim was worse than my intent. I am no longer the me I used to be. But neither was Bill. Or Nate. Or many hundreds on Death Row who we're regularly murdering, not to deter immoral actions, but to perpetuate them.
After being so late to abolish chattel slavery compared to the rest of the world, you'd think that America would look to countries that have low incarceration rates, low recidivism rates, and low murder rates instead of blindly lynching along in our repugnant ways. But we don't. Yet I expect (and hope) my kids' generation will look at our flimsy reasons to justify judicial murder like we do towards the reasoning we once had for the three-fifths compromise.
I'm certainly not innocent in all this. During 9/11 I proclaimed that I was glad that the Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh, had been executed "so I don't have to hear his opinion about this." But think of how disturbing that thought really is: I'd rather a person that I've never actually heard a word from be killed for my convenience, than have to be bothered to roll my eyes at his presumed supportive comments about a national tragedy.
I don't think that way anymore. And I hope that we all grow out of that selfish mentality. That feeling that my feelings are more important than another person's life.
But maybe I can't logic anyone to be against judicial murder. Maybe they have to have an experience to change them. But I hope that the readers of Minutes Before Six gain that experience and, even if only slightly, become different. Changed. Better.
--July 2013
Admin note: "Death By Dominoes" took second prize in the fiction division of the 2012-2013 PEN Prison Writing Awards. Unfortunately, Bill was executed before the news reached him.
Jeff C.
By Jeremiah Bourgeois
Recently, another MB6 writer, Jeff Conner, allowed me to read a letter sent to him by a death row prisoner, Bill Van Poyck. Bill had just lost his final appeal, and he felt that the last ditch legal maneuvers by his lawyer were nothing more than a Hail Mary; the odds of success so long that he considered them laughable. What struck me about the letter was the fact that he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the State of Florida was going to kill him. Very soon. And he had come to terms with his fate.
After I read his words, I exchanged a solemn look with Jeff, and then I walked away.
Over the years, I have said to people, I'm going to die in prison. Yet in retrospect, I cannot say with certainty that I truly believed that this was going to be my fate. Although a sentence of life without parole results in most prisoners dying behind bars, this other death penalty is not always meted out. Executive clemency, while extremely rare, can be granted in exceptional cases.
As one of the youngest people to receive a sentence of life without parole in this country, and the second youngest to receive this sentence in this State, I have always known that my case was, indeed, exceptional. After my appeals were exhausted, I knew, deep down, that I had a legitimate shot at receiving a sentence commutation. Yet after reading Bill's letter, I now wonder if my declarations about dying imprisoned were, if not hyperbole, then simply a way for me to psychologically prepare myself in case a future clemency petition was denied. I wonder.
As for Bill, I have no doubt about what he felt on the matter of his fate. Dismissing the last ditch efforts of his attorneys was not some sort of protective mind trickery. He did not say that he was at peace with being executed to have an affect. He was a clear eyed realist. He knew his days were, literally, numbered. There was little his lawyers could do. He had no options left.
The U.S. Supreme Court's invalidation of mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles has given me plenty of options. Looking at my own situation with clear eyes, I see that my days are probably numbered too. Six attorneys are doing everything in their power to ensure that I am ultimately freed. Relief could come from the courts, the legislature, or the Governor. I may get to, finally, say goodbye to this life. And I am ready to go home.
Bill Van Poyck was ready to say goodbye to this life too. He was executed on June 12, 2013.


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Posts Tagged 'Shoreditch'
Hunter Shoreditch Biker Boot Wellies in Black
The Hunter Shoreditch Biker Boot Wellies are black rubber calf length boots which have the Hunter plaque in gunmetal on the front, a decorative buckle fastening strap across the front with a branded "H" stud on the inner side.
The boots have a fleecy fabric lining and a removable fleecy insole for extra comfort.
Material: 100% natural rubber upper and sole with a fabric lining.
Heel height: 3.5cm / 1.5″; leg opening 33cm / 12.9″; all measurements are approximate.
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I've never read the Koran.
I don't know what's in it. But I do know that burning a book holy to millions of Americans and more than a billion people worldwide is a stupid, narrow-minded thing to do.
There is no value more American than tolerance. Declaring "Burn a Koran Day" doesn't just insult Muslims -- it insults all Americans. It puts our troops overseas in danger.
Worst of all, it helps terrorists recruit new members and spread the message that their war is a holy one between Islam and the West.
So instead of burning a Qur'an on September 11, join me in reading one instead. Let's learn about other cultures -- instead of insulting them.
You can add your name to the list of people who pledge to read a Qur'an and send a message to the fools behind the International Burn a Koran Day at the Read a Qur'an Day website.


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Hi Folks,
Not sure if this is wholly on topic, but it may be of related interest.
The term 'wiki' as you may know derives from the Hawaiian word for 'quick' and the Hawaiian Honolulu Airport bus called the 'wiki wiki' bus. However this is hardly a novel use of 'quick' as those of you in the States of Chinese descent will know. After the railroads were constructed and the gold dug, the early Chinese worked as cooks. You could imagine them not knowing English and the cowboys not knowing Chinese - so when the food was ready, the Chinese would call out "chop chop" and the folks would hear that the food was ready ; "food food" they thought. And those two sticks used by the Chinese to cook with - rather than call them 'food-sticks' - became the misnomer 'chopsticks'. I still remember my working days when the factory foreman would yell at us "chop chop" meaning "hurry up" or "quick quick !"
This is unrelated to the 'chopshop' where I bought my car ...
It is early morning here, so bear with me ;-)
All Best Wishes
17 July 2007
On Chopsticks and Wikis
Posted by Paul Kawachi at Tuesday, July 17, 2007
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Albert Anastasia Biography
Albert Anastasia was born on September 26, 1902, in Tropea, Italy. After becoming a hitman at a young age, he became one of the most powerful crime bosses of the 20th century. He helped run the deadly organization known as Murder Inc. and headed up what later became known as the Gambino crime family. In 1957, Anastasi was brutally shot to death in New York City by two masked men under the orders of his underboss, Carlo Gambino.
Early Life
Born Umberto Anastasio on September 26, 1902, in Tropea, Italy, Albert Anastasia became a hitman at a young age, and later became one of the most powerful crime bosses of the 20th century. He helped run the deadly organization known as Murder Inc. and headed up what later became known as the Gambino crime family.
The oldest son of a railroad worker, Anastasia grew up in a small fishing village in the Calabria region. He had eight brothers and three sisters, according to an FBI report. In his early teens, Anastasia made his way to the United States in 1917 by working on a ship with his brothers, Anthony and Joseph. He and his brother Anthony, also later known as "Tough Tony," soon got involved in crime.
'The Executioner'
In 1921, Anastasia killed a man during a fight. He was convicted of the crime, but he later beat the charge at a retrial. The key witness in the case had fled the country. Anastasia later spent time in prison on a gun-possession charge. Around this time, he became a rising player in the criminal underworld that thrived on the Brooklyn waterfront. Anastasia had befriended the likes of Lucky Luciano and Frank Costello.
Anastasia earned the nickname "The Executioner" for his work as a hitman. According to some reports, he enjoyed watching his victims die. Anastasia established a reputation for being especially brutal and cruel. In addition to murder, he engaged in a number of different crimes, including loan-sharking and gambling. His brother Anthony became a local union boss, which helped Albert gain greater strength in the underworld of the Brooklyn waterfront.
Working with Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, Anastasia oversaw many of the mob murders carried out by Murder Inc. This organization handled contract killings for the five crime families of New York, using its own team of hitmen. Anastasia served as the "finger" or "fingerman" by ordering the killings. According to some reports, Murder Inc. was responsible for the murder of at least 63 men with some estimates running much higher. The organization fell apart in the early 1940s after one of the hitmen turned against the group.
In 1942, Anastasia enlisted in the U.S. Army. He was released from duty two years later. Anastasia was part of the Mangano crime family (later known as the Gambino crime family), but he did not get along with the boss Vincenzo "Vincent" Mangano. In 1951, he had Mangano killed and seized control of the organization.
Anastasia's reign did not run smoothly, however. The United States government worked hard to bring down this crime boss. They tried to have him deported in 1954 after revoking his citizenship. He was also brought up on tax charges that same year. Yet it was someone within Anastasia's organization who proved to be his downfall.
Death and Legacy
On October 25, 1957, Anastasia went to the barber shop at the Park Sheraton Hotel in New York City for a haircut. But instead of getting a trim, he was killed in a hail of bullets. Two masked gunmen attacked him while he sat in the barber's chair, hitting him five times. Anastasia's underboss, Carlo Gambino, reportedly orchestrated the killing after he convinced the mob that Anastasia had become a liability.
Anastasia's brutal murder made headlines, and is still remembered as one of the mob's most gruesome killings. Unlike some mob bosses, Anastasia had a very simple funeral and burial. Only a few friends and family members were on hand when he was laid to rest at the Green-Wood Cemetery in South Brooklyn, New York, on October 28, 1957. His killers were never caught.
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How Once Cutting-Edge Tech Evolved Into 'Digital 'Dinosaurs'
How Once Cutting-Edge Tech Evolved Into 'Digital 'Dinosaurs'
This slide show looks at "extinct" technologies that once dominated our world and how they've evolved into what we use in our current day-to-day activities.
Extinct: Dial-Up Modems —> Ethernet/Broadband —> WiFi
Millennials may not believe it, but there was a time where you couldn't walk around the office and have wireless Internet access. In the early days of the Web, PCs used modems that plugged into conventional telephone lines to dial up a local Internet service provider (ISP). The most advanced dial-up modem boasted blistering connection speeds of 56 kilobytes per second. These were eventually replaced by broadband Internet access via cable, digital subscriber line, satellite and Fiber to the X (FTTx) in many parts of the world. Now, with WiFi free and available in any office, coffee shop and even on airplanes, the dial-up modem is officially a dinosaur.
Extinct: Floppy Disks —> USB Drive —> Flash/Cloud Storage Technology
Outside of the symbol for "Save" in Microsoft Word, many people entering the workforce today have never seen a floppy disk. The floppy disk was a revolution in the computer industry when it was developed by IBM in the late 1960s as a reliable and inexpensive method of storage and data transfer. It remained a popular portable digital-storage medium for nearly 40 years, until the USB/thumb drive was introduced. Today, USB sticks can store up to 128GB of memory—a massive difference to the floppy disk, which could only hold up to 1.44MB. USB flash drives were the most popular form of storage for consumers from 1998 through the early 2000s, but now they too are on the verge of extinction with the increased popularity, and availability, of cloud storage technology.
Nearly Extinct: File Cabinets —> Enterprise File Sync/Share Technologies
A generation ago, offices depended on paper-based file systems that held contracts, reports and other data. The majority of businesses today, whether they're an enterprise or a small or medium-sized business, uses digital files and implements some kind of digitized file sync and share technology (such as ShareFile). This kind of technology has become an integral part of content management systems and document workflows. There are still some industries, such as health care and legal, that rely on a paper-based file cabinet document management system, and therefore file cabinets can't be considered fully extinct, though they're well on their way.
Extinct: Pagers —> PDAs —> Mobile Devices and Tablets
It's hard to believe that as recently as the 1980s, the pager was the state of the art for instant communication, with 3.2 million pager users worldwide. For a long time, a pager was a status symbol for physicians, emergency personnel and others who were on call. While cellular phones emerged in the '80s, they didn't become widely used until the 21st century. That being said, with the technological advances that led to PDAs/PalmPilots, and eventually today's modern mobile devices and tablets, pagers have become as extinct as the T. rex.
Nearly Extinct: In-Person Meetings —> Video Conferencing
The technological revolution has led to a decrease in face-to-face conversations and interactions—and the workplace is no exception. Video conferencing and virtual meeting conferencing technologies—once limited to the largest governments and corporations—are now available on smartphones, tablets and laptops. This newly efficient way to communicate virtually has transformed how small and large businesses train employees and collaborate. Virtual events are now as common as major conferences, enabling a more efficient way to market and reach customers while significantly reducing business travel costs. Today, video conferences enable global collaboration while significantly reducing the need for business travel. While in-person meetings still exist, this newer and oftentimes more convenient form of communication has transformed how companies large and small operate.
Nearly Extinct: Fax Machines —> Electronic Signature Technologies & PDF
The emergence of the fax machine sparked a revolution in the 1980s. Before then, the only way to share contracts and other important documents was through couriers, package delivery services and the mail. While many offices still have a fax machine, it's fast becoming another dust-covered fossil, thanks to the development of scanning. In fact, even signing important and sensitive documents can be done without a fax machine thanks to Adobe PDF and electronic signature technologies such as RightSignature.
Nearly Extinct: Traditional Telephone —> Mobile Phone and VoIP
The traditional telephone is fast becoming a dinosaur, a decline that began once mobile phones became everyday items. This trend, which started as consumers began canceling their home phone subscription, has begun to extend into the office as large corporations increasingly turn to unified communications tools like Skype for Business and smaller businesses embrace Grasshopper and VirtualPBX, frequently accessed through softphone applications on laptops, tablets and smartphones. While office and home phones have yet to disappear, they have certainly become endangered species.
Endangered? Email —> Real-Time Collaboration/Messaging Tools
Email has been around even longer than the World Wide Web. While tools like instant messaging and other collaboration tools have emerged, email remains a key communications tool. "I've been hearing about the decline of email for 20 years." says Calvin Hsu of Citrix. "I don't think it will ever be completely extinct, but real-time collaboration tools are continuing to infiltrate the enterprise, definitely giving email a run for its money." More recently, tools like Asana, Slack, Trello and Podio collaboration environments, as well as other communications tools, have become popular with organizations as email alternatives. Time will tell if the days of email dominance are limited.
Endangered? Mobile Devices and Tablets —> Wearable Technologies
Smartphones and tablets have successfully replaced dinosaurs such as the pager and PDA, but are they also at risk of becoming extinct thanks to the rapid advancement of wearable technologies? IT professionals have already begun to adapt their bring-your-own-device (BYOD) and mobile device management (MDM) policies to accommodate the growth of wearables in the enterprise. This growth will only continue, with a recent report from Gartner predicting that the sales of wearable electronic devices will generate revenue of $28.7 billion in 2016. But will today's dominant mobile devices ever become extinct?
Endangered? Key Fob —> Bluetooth-Enabled/Connected Door Lock
The majority of offices today allow their employees to come and go thanks to secure smart card entry systems. However, connected technology, the Internet of things and smart home technologies suggest that more advanced Bluetooth-enabled systems may endanger the smart card moving forward. The day may come when smartphones or a wearable technology that has yet to emerge may replace today's entry system.


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Monday moment of GratitudeMonday, February 29, 2016
Last week I forgot to post this ( I had it drafted) I'm such a terrible blogger! LOL So this is a combination of two weeks of being grateful:) Linking up with Shaunacey today!
What have you been grateful for this week?
6 comments
Thanks for linking up!ReplyDelete
I got some pretty solid snuggles while dealing with Nicole's loss too, it helped!
Hahah wine as a hug for your insides, so so true! Best hug ever!
LOL, wine being a hug from the insides, so true! Man funeral dress shopping :( Glad that you had people in your life to support you. And wow make-up does wonders! Good luck with the weight loss, both of my parents and my MIL had the surgery and all are loving the results. Glad you have a different route to take!ReplyDelete
Yes to wine and yes to sunsets! I look forward to reading about your journey!ReplyDelete
Hey I just found you via the linkup. Love this before and after pics. I really admire when bloggers keep it real on their pages.ReplyDelete
Aren't daddies and mommies wonderful!? I'm thankful for mine too! Glad you got to carve out time with your man!ReplyDelete
Making the Most of Every Day
Teach me your makeup skills, oh jedi master. Breastfeeding means I have acne and wrinkles and I am so done with my FACE! You are gorgeous!ReplyDelete


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Open source software is a software where source code is provided along with the binaries so that user can modify it according to his/her mode of usage. Generally open source software creators connect and collaborate over the internet.
Open source software is available over the internet and available for everyone for modification or enhancement. Users can modify/add functionality according to their requirements and distribute the modified software. Open source softwares could be operating system, database, server, cloud product, internet browser, office software, content management software and other similar utilities.
Some examples of open source software are:
a) Linux: which is a computer operating system and kernel
b) MySQL: which is an open source database
c) OpenOffice: which is an office application set (word, spreadsheet, database access etc.) for windows, mac and linux operating system
d) Firefox: which is an open source web browser available for windows, mac and linux systems
e) Apache: which is an open source web server that provides webpages when an user requests some page over the internet
f) Thunderbird: which is an open source email client program
g) Gnome: which is an open source environment for developing desktop application for linux systems.
Hence, this concludes the definition of Open Source Software along with its overview.
Browse the definition and meaning of more terms similar to Open Source Software. The Management Dictionary covers over 7000 business concepts from 6 categories.
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We Wish All of Our Friends A Happy Holiday Season! Our Online store will be on a holiday (along with us) until January 3.
SERIES: BraceletsITEM CODE: B-9732
Boulder Opal Link Bracelet in Sterling & 14K
Every piece of jewelry features the award winning artistry of Margie & Bill Lombard. Every piece is unique and designed and constructed to be beautiful and to last for generations.
If you see an item that has been sold please be aware that we can custom craft your own unique piece from a similar stone and materials. We do this all the time so please contact us.
© 2018 MB Lombard Jewelry. call 518-583-3595Dirt Road Web Design


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Welcome to Champlain Seniors Service Club's home on the Internet. The purpose of our website is to provide information to the general public about our service club and to provide our members with timely information regarding club events and activities, to distribute our newsletter and to promote club activities.
The Champlain Seniors Service Club was established in 2004 and was registered under the Ontario Registration Number 001645954 on March 16, 2005.
CSSC Objectives:
The Champlain Seniors Service Club of Orillia is a non-profit association of retirees and semi-retirees of the Greater Orillia area who subscribe to the ideals of benevolence, loyalty, community service, patriotism and good citizenship; and the advancement of spirituality, good will and justice within their community and across the world. Volunteer service to a wide spectrum of worthy causes, both local and national, is the first obligation of membership. Members subscribe as well to the value of weekly programs which foster enlightenment, provide entertainment, encourage camaraderie and promote mutual support as an important therapeutic aid to those coping with the challenges of aging.
We have weekly meetings held at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 34 on the beautiful Orillia waterfront. We publish a monthly bulletin that can be viewed online here by clicking on the link to the left. We have current and archived bulletins that will give you a good idea of the things we do in the community.
Our weekly meetings consist of routine club business, presentations by members on a Pause for Thought, a short inspirational message, Tributes to long term members or "My Life so Far", and a program of sing along and music by the Music Makers. Guests from the community are invited to inform the Club about various services, organizations or other items of interest in Orillia. The meetings begin at 10:00 am and end at 11:30 am.
Click here to view a list of our Volunteering Activities and Groups we help.
Message From The President
Copyright 2010 Champlain Seniors Service Club
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E-mail: email@example.com


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I was hit hard today by the obituary I read in Publishers Weekly today for Perry Knowlton.
It's impossible to say that I knew him well, or that we were ever close. In fact, I don't think I've seen or heard of him in more than 15 years. Yet, today's news inspired feelings similar to what I felt when a close uncle recently passed away.
When I first started Quality Solutions in 1988, about the only mechanism I had for marketing our services was to attend BISAC meetings. After being involved with BISAC for about a year, Carol Mann approached the BISAC committee seeking a solution to the nagging problem that author royalty statements were all so dissimilar, and usually impossible to believe.
Having just spent the better part of the preceding four years building royalty systems for the likes of Random House, William Morrow, and Prentice Hall, this was an area where I thought I could help. So, the BISAC Royalty Statement Subcommittee was formed, and I was it's first chair.
It was through this work that I met Perry. Perry, and Curtis Brown were kind enough to host our meetings. While I was 'technically' the chair of the committee, there was no doubt who was in charge of the meetings. For a young man (at the time), Perry was larger than life. He inspired an incredible level of respect from everyone around him. I remember distinctly how it seemed like everyone who worked at Curtis Brown would stop what they were doing when he passed through a room. It was like something in a movie from the 1950's.
In the PW obituary, Perry's son, Timothy, was quoted, "To his family, friends and colleagues, he was always a dedicated mentor, advocate, enthusiast and enabler. He was one of the few true 'renaissance men' I've ever known." I've never met Timothy, but what he said here is more eloquent than anything I could ever come up with. Perry was all of these things - to me, personally - during that brief period of 2 or 3 years when the committee hammered out the first version of the standard royalty statement.
After that first version of the royalty statement standard was completed, I left the committee in the capable hands of Judy Appelbaum, and I had no further reason to be in contact with Perry or anyone else on that committee.
My sincerest condolences go out to all of Perry's family. I am sure that everyone who ever had the pleasure of working with him would agree that Perry was one of those individuals who make society stronger, just for being part of it. The world is a bit weaker today for his passing.
Friday, July 13, 2007
When distant colleagues pass
Posted by Fran Toolan at 11:16 AM
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In 1977 Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope was released and the computer image that the rebel pilots viewed when attacking the Death Star was the first extensive use of animated 3-D Computer animation (or CGI).
In 1979 Alien was released and the film used a raster wireframe 3-D model rendering for the Nostromo's navigational charts on its computer monitors. The film is best know for the chest-burster scene where a small alien bursts from one of the character's chest before looking around and scurrying away.
In 1981 Raiders of the lost ark was released and it's more remarkable shots were where a giant bolder was rolling after Harrison Ford's character in the opening and the final image of the government warehouse where the Ark was stored — a lengthy matte shot.
In 1986 Labyrinth was released and the opening CGI credits/title sequence featured a glass ball and a flying digital owl – the first realistic CGI animal. The film also included an impressive M.C. Escher-style production design, including the final "stairway sequence"


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Mimaki joins Caterham F1 Team as technical partner.
It's been announced that Mimaki has formed a new technical partnership with the Caterham F1® Team, making it the team's official technical graphics supplier. As a result of this partnership, all Formula One communication, vehicle graphics and visuals for the Caterham F1 Team will be now be printed and cut with Mimaki's range of solutions.
In the hot seat and fast paced world of Formula One racing, it is vital that teams have graphics that stand out from the rest of the field and give them a commercial and competitive edge. Manfredi Ravetto, Team Principal of the Caterham F1 Team, knows all about standing out. His appointment at Caterham is to drive the team towards greater success and Ravetto acknowledges how important it is to have a partner capable of translating the team's core values into visuals that reflect these goals. "Whether it is on the track or projecting our image across various media, our team is focused on results", he said. "That is why we required a technical partner that could deliver quality that matches our high engineering standards. Mimaki impressed us with the creative versatility their solutions have to offer and won us over immediately."
Mike Horsten, General Manager Marketing EMEA for Mimaki Europe, is very enthusiastic about the new partnership: "Formula One is all about precision, flexibility, quality and success; characteristics we also associate with every print and cut solution Mimaki develops and puts into the market. This close cooperation allows us to demonstrate the sheer breadth of what Mimaki can deliver. Our solutions are as flexible, creative and qualitative as a highly demanding race team management requires them to be. We consider it an honour and a privilege to supply the team with the latest printing and cutting solutions, the results of which will be highly visible in the pits and paddock areas of race tracks around the world."
The Caterham F1 Graphics Team also agrees about the importance of visual presentation throughout the racing season: "Our team is under a lot of time pressure - and so are our communication efforts. We need to effectively translate the key values of Caterham F1 Team into a visual representation that is all about speed, outstanding performance, flexibility and quality. To achieve that success, we selected a reliable partner we can count on for quality and consistency. We're convinced this partnership with Mimaki will deliver the right solutions for the job."
John de la Roche, national sales manager – sign & graphics at Mimaki's UK and Irish distributors, Hybrid Services, echoed these sentiments; "We are delighted to have this fantastic opportunity to work with the Caterham F1 Team and to help them to maximize the benefits of the Mimaki equipment in support of their sporting and commercial objectives"
The green flag on the partnership was waved on the first day of Viscom Paris, September 9-11 in the Porte de Versailles in Paris, France. Obviously, the Mimaki team and booth D60 were appropriately dressed for the occasion!
Mimaki is exclusively distributed in the UK and Ireland by Hybrid Services Ltd and full details of the entire product range can be found at www.hybridservices.co.uk
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PORTLAND — A Falmouth doctor was found guilty of tax evasion, drug distribution and health-care fraud in U.S. District Court on Friday.
Joel A. Sabean, 69, was found guilty Nov. 18 of five counts of tax evasion, 52 counts of drug distribution for other than legitimate purposes, and one count of health-care fraud. He was indicted Oct. 20, 2015.
Between 2008 and 2013, Sabean, whose dermatology practice is in South Portland, sent more than $2.3 million to a relative in Florida, who would then fabricate and send him phony medical bills so that he could write off about $3 million in medical expenses on his 2008 through 2012 income tax returns, federal prosecutors said.
From 2007 to 2014, he also wrote invalid prescriptions for that relative, in her name and others, for controlled and non-controlled drugs. Some of them were illegally reimbursed by Sabean's insurance company, which did not cover the relative.
Sabean could face up to five years in prison and a $100,000 fine on the tax charges; up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the drug charges; and up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the health-care fraud charges. He will be sentenced after the completion of a pre-sentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.